CHAPTER 2

Writing Nonroutine Reports

The need to write or read reports differs for everyone almost daily. As you carry out your work, you sometimes confront circumstances, make decisions, or take actions that deviate from your normal routine yet fall within your range of responsibility. These situations often require that you report your actions or decisions to upper-level management, your subordinates, or even to the public or stockholders. Those reports may be classified as nonroutine reports.

Naturally, this book cannot illustrate all nonroutine reports that you may encounter. However, it will present the following nonroutine reports that you might send and receive.

• Interview reports: individual job applicant, focus group
• Recommendation reports: justification report, feasibility report
• Public relations (PR) reports: press release, fact sheet, and backgrounder
• Marketing reports: whitepaper and business proposal
• Summaries: abstract, overview, and executive summary

Interview Reports

Although you may not interview people regularly in your job, you may occasionally be requested to interview a job applicant to your company. Additionally, you may now and then be on a special project team that requires you to obtain critical information by interviewing a group of people. In both cases, rather than provide verbatim transcripts of your interviews, you will likely be expected to condense the information you obtained in a report to whomever asked you to conduct the interview.

Individual’s Interview Report

Appropriate content for an interview report includes the following information.

• When, where, and how the interview was conducted
• Summary of the information obtained
• Relevant comments about the interview experience, such as problems encountered or recommendations related to interview procedure.

Figure 2.1 demonstrates an interview report for an individual job applicant.

Figure 2.1 Interview report for individual job applicant

Figure 2.1 (Continued)

Focus Group’s Interview Report

Focus group interviews are often used to determine interest in a new product or service, the effectiveness of advertising and communications research, background studies on consumers’ frames of reference, or consumer attitudes and behaviors toward an idea, organization, and so on.²

The standard focus group interview involves six to twelve similar individuals—such as male customers, young professionals, or those who regularly purchase a certain laundry detergent—who are brought together to discuss a topic. The respondents are selected according to the relevant sampling plan and meet at a central location that has equipment to make an audio or audiovisual record of the discussion. Note: In recent years, online focus groups have been increasingly useful for consumer research. An interviewer, also called a facilitator or moderator, invites vetted interviewees to sign into a web conference at a pre-arranged time and to participate in an online focus group.³

In face-to-face and online focus groups, the facilitator keeps discussion moving and focused on the topic. Usually the interviewer also analyzes the transcript or recording of the session and prepares a summary of the meeting. Figure 2.2 shows a focus group interview report.

Figure 2.2 Focus group interview report

Both interview reports provide the information necessary for others to evaluate the interviews and to act on them.

Recommendation-Based Reports

A feasibility report analyzes the potential success of a major undertaking. A justification report describes or proposes an action and gives reasons for that action. In both reports, the person reporting recommends action and provides supporting data.

Feasibility Reports

Feasibility report is the term often used to identify a special type of recommendation report, which analyzes the potential success of a major undertaking. Feasibility studies are often conducted before a company commits itself to a large capital investment, a new product or service, or a new plant location. A feasibility study involves three questions.

1. Is the undertaking technically possible?
2. Is the undertaking achievable within budget?
3. Will the undertaking do what it is supposed to do and also be ­profitable?

Although most feasibility studies result in lengthy, analytical reports, some feasibility reports are presented as short reports. For example, analyzing the feasibility of opening a textile manufacturing plant in ­Honduras would surely require considerable research and analysis and would result in a lengthy report. In contrast, analyzing the feasibility of changing the hours of operation of a local restaurant would require considerably less data collection and analysis, and the result could be ­presented in a short-report format.

The person requesting the report is primarily interested in the recommendation—whether positive or negative. Therefore, feasibility reports usually present the recommendation at or near the beginning of the report. ­­Figure 2.3 shows an unusually short feasibility report. Note: The report is shown in business letter format. Information about letter format follows ­Figure 2.3. Meanwhile, notice the feasibility report’s, content, and writing style.

Figure 2.3 Feasibility report

Figure 2.3 (Continued)

Figure 2.3 (Concluded)

As noted, Figure 2.3 demonstrates letter format, used for external reports of one to three pages. (If a report exceeds three pages, it should be produced in manuscript format, as shown in Appendix B.)

This specific format is called block because all parts of the letter are aligned on the left. As you review the report again, notice the parts and their sequence, which apply to all business letters. Figure 2.4 describes each letter part.

Figure 2.4 Business letter parts and sequence

Figure 2.4 (Continued)

Justification Reports

Generally, routine reports (Chapter 1), interview reports, and feasibility reports are requested by the reader. However, justification reports are almost always initiated by the writer. For example, an automobile manufacturer notifies auto owners that they should take their cars to a dealership to check for a possible defect in the steering mechanism. This notice is a justification report: The manufacturer requests a specific action and provides reasons for it. These reports differ from the others we have discussed in another way: Justification reports involve persuading readers in addition to informing them.

Figure 2.5 Common logical fallacies

A justification report appears in Figure 2.6. Notice how the nine-step persuasive strategy has been applied here.

Figure 2.6 Justification report

Public Relations (Publicity) Reports

In the business world, PR is communication designed to create and ­maintain goodwill between an organization and its publics (current and prospective customers, employees, partners, stockholders, suppliers, and others). PR takes a variety of forms, but the most recognizable form is publicity: newsworthy company information distributed by traditional mass media (newspapers, magazines, radio, and TV), blogs, podcasts, and social media to gain favorable public attention. Publicity, unlike advertising and direct marketing, spreads information about a company for free.⁶

Large organizations typically have a corporate communication division that is responsible for PR, or the company hires a PR professional at a PR agency or marketing firm. A key function of a PR professional is creating media kits (also called press kits) for clients. A media kit contains various reports, each with a unique purpose, assembled to provide information about an organization to reporters. We will discuss three components: press release, fact sheet, and backgrounder. Though press kits vary widely, the main report in every kit is the press, or media, release. Note: For information about other kit components, see blogs by ­Duncan,⁷ Ferreira,⁸ and Tapia.⁹

Press Release

A press release—also called media release, news release, and press statement—is a report announcing notable information to the news media and beyond. Small businesses and nonprofit organizations usually forego a media kit. Instead, press releases are prepared by managers and submitted directly for publication.

Occasions calling for a press release include the following examples.¹⁰

• Introducing a new partnership
• Launching a new product
• Opening a new office
• Promoting or hiring a new executive
• Rebranding (creating a new identity for an established brand by changing its name, logo, or packaging, or a combination of these features)
• Receiving an award
• Updating existing products

An effective press release contains the following information:

• Name of organization releasing the news
• Target date for publication of the news
• A headline that states the core of the story
• The information source, when applicable
• Answers to the basic communication questions: Who? What? When? Where? Why? How?
• Name of person to contact for further information, along with phone or fax number and e-mail address

The body of the press release should be organized in an inverted ­pyramid form: Answers to basic questions appear first, followed by ­supporting details. This structure permits the reporter to cut the story without deleting vital facts. Figure 2.7 shows an effective structure and format for a press release. (The two-page release probably would be sent as an e-mail attachment.)

Figure 2.7 Press release

Figure 2.7 (Continued)

Guides to Writing a Press Release

This list of best practices will help you write effective press releases. Whether you send a printed or e-mail release, post it on your company’s website media page, or post it to a media distribution service, these guides will help you achieve good results time after time.¹²

The technology company Telit maintains an impressive bank of news releases in its Telit News Center (https://telit.com/about/press-media). Perusing several of them will reveal consistency in organization, writing style, and word choice.

Video News Release (VNR)

A video news release, or VNR, is a press release (usually a 90-second video with voiceover) sent free of charge by satellite link to TV and online newsrooms. VNRs are usually produced by PR professionals and used to cover product innovations, company milestones, and current consumer issues.¹⁸

Networks and local television stations are free to air the videos or not. Some stations air VNRs as they are presented; most stations use parts of the presentation or take its ideas and build their own stories. To increase the probability of having videos aired, companies should produce them in an objective, newsworthy fashion. To attract the interest of the news media, the story must capture the interest of the average consumer in the viewing audience.

Television stations are required by the Federal Communication Commission to identify the company or government agency that produces any aired VNR. Ideally, such identification is built into the VNR during production. In addition, the PR professional who produces a VNR should monitor the airing of it to ensure the source is disclosed on air.

Social Media News Release (SMNR)¹⁹

Much of the foregoing information about press releases applies to SMNRs. In fact, content of an SMNR can be prepared in the narrative style depicted in Figure 2.7—with the likely addition of more photos and links to multimedia. Another way to do an SMNR is to deconstruct it and send the separate elements—boilerplate, contact information, core facts, quotations, and audio-visual components (graphics, photos, podcasts, sound bites, and video). Thus, users can combine the elements in various ways.

Traditionally, press releases have been written with journalists—the writers of print media—in mind. An SMNR needs to appeal simultaneously to those journalists as well as to bloggers, publishers, and the public. The main way to add appeal? Limit text; add visual content (infographics, photos, slides, and videos).

To see several examples of an SMNR, visit this Prezly web page (https://.prezly.com/press-release-examples).

If you decide not to create SMNRs yourself, do what many business managers do: Turn over SMNR production to your organization’s PR department, a PR firm, or a media release distribution service (examples on page 90).

Fact Sheet

After your press release itself, your fact sheet (factsheet or fact file) may be the most important item in your media kit.²⁰ The fact sheet concisely summarizes your organization and gives perspective to your news release to induce a journalist to write about the subject. Usually confined to one printed page, a fact sheet presents key points, using bullets, headings, tables, and other means to make it concise and easy to follow. A fact sheet may be a simple bulleted list focusing on numbers and statistics, like the example in Figure 2.8.

Figure 2.8 Fact sheet in list format

Source: Dubai Aviation Corporation, 2018. Used by permission.

Fact sheets often contain answers to common questions (FAQs), educational facts, how-to advice, product information, statistics, and technical data. Sometimes fact sheets go beyond just the facts and develop an interesting story to engage the journalist. Infographics format is ideal for storytelling, as shown in Figure 2.9.

Figure 2.9 Fact sheet in infographic format

Source: Jetstar Airlines, 2018. Used by permission.

Backgrounder

A backgrounder, found in most business press kits, may summarize all important aspects of a company.²¹ For example, it may include the following background information.

• Contributions to society and the industry
• History
• Organizational structure and capitalization (nonprofits include fundraising sources)
• Management team (board of directors of nonprofit organizations)
• Market, sales volume, and market position
• Mission statement
• Strengths
• Technologies

Alternatively, your backgrounder may focus on interesting points about the specific product, place, organization, issue, event, or controversy in your press release. A backgrounder expands on the press release it accompanies and helps keep that release extremely concise.

One important purpose of a backgrounder is to establish the accuracy of your press release information and the authenticity of your company, especially a new business or one entering a new market. Backgrounders also help journalists decide whether coverage of your company’s news fits the media outlet’s policies and purposes. An individual journalist reading your backgrounder has likely read your press release and is intrigued. Now he or she reads the backgrounder to answer two important questions.

• Is the press release information coming from a credible, solid source?
• Do I have enough information to create a news story?

Opinions vary on the appropriate length of a backgrounder: Some bloggers say it—like the press release—should be confined to one page. Others say a backgrounder may contain two or three pages, and one writer recommended four or five pages. Ideally, you will let your topic and available information determine the length rather than aiming for a specific page count.

Backgrounder Elements

Writers of media kit pieces often confuse backgrounders and fact sheets, including some of the same content in both documents. To avoid this error, think of a backgrounder as a narrative including five components.

• Overview. Backgrounders usually begin with a one-­paragraph overview that often ties into the press release subject. The remaining components may appear in any order that seems appropriate to the writer and some may involve two or three paragraphs.
• Scope. This component describes who is affected by your press release’s subject. The scope usually entails demographic or geographic data or both.
• Objectives or Process. This backgrounder component often refers to founding principles and involves an organization’s mission statement or philosophy. Alternatively, this component may focus on organizational process—the way a company is organized, the way it operates, and key players (management team members) relevant to your story. Note: For well-written biography examples, visit the Softonic website (https://hello.softonic.com/press/#exec-bios), which contains a dozen bios of Softonic leaders and board of directors.
• History. This element describes the origins and major milestones of the whole company or the product, place, organization, issue, event, or controversy in the press release. History may be written as a single paragraph or as a timeline in list form. In any case, include historical highlights only.

  Previous press coverage may go a long way in establishing legitimacy of your organization. Therefore, consider listing news outlets that publicized your company in the past few years, along with each item’s headline and any pull quotes (text from an article that also appears in a box and ­distinct font).

• Conclusion. The last paragraph may include the boilerplate information from your press release. At least give the location of the company’s offices and plants, its Internet home page, and a separate media kit or newsroom web page if one exists.

Practically all backgrounders involve the five elements somehow, and occasionally a company backgrounder uses Scope, History, and so on as subheadings, as shown in Figure 2.10.

Figure 2.10 Company backgrounder

Source: Rain Bird Corporation, 2018. Used by permission.

Figure 2.10 (Continued)

Notice the following features of Figure 2.10.

• Though not printed on Rain Bird Corporation letterhead, the heading clearly identifies the company, as well as contact information.
• The trademarked subheading under the company name adds perspective to this report.
• While Rain Bird Corporation’s overview contains more than one paragraph, it omits reference to a specific news topic; but that information, if desired, could be inserted by each writer of a press release.
• The use of bold font and bullets makes for easier and quicker reading.
• The backgrounder omits visuals. However, the Rain Bird Corporation website (address concludes the report) includes photographs, an infographic summarizing The Intelligent Use of Water^TM, and videos and podcasts for VNRs or SMNRs.
• The backgrounder does not reference past publicity because the company website includes all Rain Bird Corporation media releases dating to 2009.
• At the bottom of page 1, inclusion of the word more is essential. Likewise, at the bottom of page 2, inclusion of the hashmarks is vital to indicate the end of the backgrounder.

Backgrounder Writing Guides

Managers with backgrounder writing experience recommended these practices.22

Though writing PR reports may not be an on-the-job routine for you, you may want to keep up with activity in the PR field. These recommended websites will help you do so.²⁴

• Bad Pitch Blog (www.badpitchblog.com). This blog helps a writer prevent typical PR blunders.
• PR In Your Pajamas (http://prinyourpajamas.com). This blog is ideal for a person just starting PR writing.
• Ragan’s PR Daily (https://prdaily.com/Main/Home.aspx). This website continually offers tips for keeping up to date in the PR arena.
• Spinsucks (https://spinsucks.com). This site provides expert advice on a range of PR topics—from advertising and communication to search engine optimization (SEO) and social media.

The reports just discussed publicize, or promote, a company that uses them; and promotion is part of most organizations’ marketing plan. However, the two reports shown in the following section are all-out marketing reports, designed to identify prospective customers or pin-down sales of specific products or services.

Marketing Reports

Even if you are not directly involved in planning and executing marketing and sales activities in your organization, you may be appointed to a team charged with publishing a white paper or preparing a business proposal. White papers educate readers (potential customers) about a company’s area of expertise and can be useful for generating sales leads. Thus, white papers support an organization’s overall marketing efforts. (Note: A 2015 study by Content Marketing Institute and Marketing Profs found that 68% of marketers used white papers.²⁵) Business proposals lay out plans for meeting a reader’s business need or solving a business problem. Thus, business proposals affect an organization’s sales of goods and services.

White Papers

Traditional marketing involved pitching—using carefully planned presentation strategies to persuade consumers to buy products or services. Those traditional practices have given way to content marketing—creating and distributing valuable content (online material, such as blogs, e-mail newsletters, social media posts, and videos) that helps existing and prospective customers solve their business problems. Without promoting their brand, content marketers stimulate customer interest and demonstrate their companies’ expertise. As a result, they draw and keep a well-defined audience, many of whom will make a purchase.²⁶

White Papers Then and Now

As already noted, many marketers deliver content in reports called white papers to instruct potential customers on a single topic involving a product, service, solution, or technique the organization offers for sale. Since the 1920s, businesses have used white papers to teach future buyers. Except for an increase in color printing and illustration, white papers changed little over the decades—until about 20 years ago. Most contemporary white papers differ markedly from their forerunners.

• Today’s white papers contain fewer pages. Traditionally, business white papers contained 15 to 30 or more (up to 50) pages. Current white papers typically contain 7 to 15 pages. Experts recommend a minimum of six pages for introducing, developing, and concluding a topic. The same experts note that in the modern, time-conscious business world, readers are likely to read (skim) for a maximum of, say, 5 to 10 minutes.
• Businesses use different distribution methods. Originally, white papers were printed on very high-quality paper and mailed to prospective customers—mostly other businesses. Today’s white papers are PDF documents posted on companies’ websites, accessible to business-to-business (B2B) and business-to-consumer (B2C) markets.
• Today’s white papers may have a different appearance. Traditionally, white papers used plain, letter-sized (8.5 in. by 11 in.) pages, and many still do. These days, though, white papers often resemble a slide deck (16-in. by 12-in. pages).

  In the past, text-heavy pages filled these reports, with minimal blank space and few graphic elements and visuals to break the monotony. More recently, pages may contain extremely spare text and sophisticated graphics.

• Today’s white papers have fewer parts. Because these marketing reports today tend to be shorter than their forerunners, they also tend to be less structured, resulting in fewer parts. Historically, most white papers contained the following elements; and some current ones contain vestiges of these parts.
  • Title page—opening page displaying the white paper’s title and publisher.
  • Table of contents—list of section titles or descriptions, along with the beginning page number of each section.
  • Executive summary or Abstract—a 200-word (approximate) overview of the white paper, allowing readers to become aware of its content without having to read the entire document.
  • Introduction—opening paragraph(s) laying groundwork for understanding the main text. Points made here were expanded in the report body.
  • Report body—several pages of text outlining a common business problem, followed by several pages offering a solution and several more pages noting examples of results obtained using said solution. Occasional illustrations, ­sidebars (columns of supplementary information), and frequent subheadings helped offset large amounts of text.
  • Conclusion—synthesis of information in the report body, showing its importance to readers and propelling them to a new understanding of the subject.
• Today’s white papers usually end with a call to action. As you know, a call to action consists of words carefully chosen to motivate readers to respond quickly or purchase immediately. A call to action example follows.²⁷
• The writing style, though, differs only slightly. Today’s successful writers of white papers use a professional writing style, but not extremely formal. Traditionally, though, these marketing reports involved a formal writing style, marked by impersonal language. Currently, as in the past, white papers omit the hype or puffery that are common in advertisements and company brochures. The latter are usually ostentatious and include recognizable sales pitches. A white paper also omits opinions and unverified claims. Instead it is designed to persuade with facts and data that backup those facts.

Figure 2.11 shows excerpts from an 18-page white paper.²⁸ Notice the smart graphics, page dimensions, and sparse text on this trendy example.

Figure 2.11 Pages of a white paper with slide-size pages, stylish graphics, and succinct text

Source: Tableaux Software, 2018. Used by permission.

Figure 2.12 (pp. 107 and 108) also displays selections from an 18-page white paper.²⁹

In this example, notice that the report body includes active links to various websites. Thus, readers can verify data cited in the white paper and delve into it more deeply as they read.

Figure 2.12 Pages of a white paper with drop-in quotations, embedded links, and source citations

Source: Hootsuite Inc. 2018. Used by permission.

Figure 2.12 (Continued)

Notice, also, that the arrow points to a citation of a publication. This report contains five such notes, and a list of endnotes ends the white paper. All cited titles are web documents, and links in the endnotes enables readers to navigate those sources easily.

In addition, notice the drop-in quotations in large print. Besides supplying pertinent information, they add visual interest to the pages.

For additional examples, see the diverse collection of 12 business white papers authored by Gordon Graham, That White Paper Guy.³⁰In addition, the American Marketing Association’s website includes a white papers library.³¹

White Paper Best Practices

Marketers who distribute them know the positive result that white papers can have on buying decisions. They also know that effective white papers require more time, effort, and dollars than most other forms of content. Therefore, anyone faced with creating a white paper or contributing to one needs to know what to do—and not do—to make it highly successful.

Besides an e-mail address, this landing page requests first and last name, company name, job title, ZIP code, country, company revenue, and industry.

Guides for Creating White Paper Content

Readers of white papers rightfully expect high-quality content—information that is easy to read, understand, and remember. Therefore, white paper writers must build in all the characteristics of effective reports described in Chapter 1, under Planning a Narrative Report (p. 6). The following list highlights other actions to take and some to avoid.33

Guides for Designing a White Paper

Assume that readers of your white paper will expect a visual masterpiece in addition to high-quality content. Therefore, whenever you begin planning content, start imagining the white paper’s appearance.³⁷

Use design to enhance content. The design must never distract, present obstacles, or call attention to itself. The design should help readers by adding clarity. Design entails page layout, images, fonts, and colors. Even if you hire a designer rather than designing it yourself, be prepared to tell the designer what you have in mind. Achieve your visual masterpiece using the following design guides.

Since white papers support an organization’s overall marketing efforts, you will do well to follow these best practices.

Business Proposals

A proposal offers a plan of action. The objective of a proposal is to influence others—to persuade someone to act in a way that the proposer considers good or desirable. Business proposals share that general purpose, even though they have many different specific purposes.

Purposes of Proposals

A proposal may be solicited or unsolicited. A solicited proposal is presented in response to a request for proposal (often abbreviated RFP). In the RFP, the requesting person or agency indicates its needs, and the proposal writer attempts to show that the proposed action can satisfy those needs. Note: When sending RFPs, companies naturally send identical requests to several likely providers. Thus, proposal writing in some cases becomes a highly competitive undertaking.

An unsolicited proposal is initiated by the proposer. That individual perceives a need or problem and offers a research plan, a product or service, or an action to satisfy the need. The proposal may be submitted to someone who is unaware of the situation. The writer’s purpose is twofold: (1) to convince the reader that a need or problem exists and (2) to show how the proposed action will result in benefits to the reader.

Kinds of Proposals

Business proposals fall into three categories: (1) proposals to provide a product or service; (2) proposals to change a policy, procedure, or organizational structure; and (3) proposals to investigate or conduct research. Each may be independent of the others, but the three may also be related to one another. For example, assume that as a human resources director you recognize that rising worker-compensation costs require the company to find alternatives to losing trained employees who have been injured on the job. You first write a proposal to investigate the feasibility of implementing a rehabilitation program for injured employees. Upon receiving approval for the proposed research, you ask one of your associates to conduct the research. Perhaps the research plan calls for a survey of employees to determine their attitudes about rehabilitating injured employees and integrating them into the work force. You decide that you want an external agency to conduct that employee survey, and you request that a professional testing agency submit a proposal to provide that service. If the completed research shows that an employee rehabilitation program is a cost-effective way of returning injured employees to the workplace, you will write an operational proposal to management recommending immediate adoption of such a program.

Service Proposals

Service or product proposals (sometimes called bids) offer to provide something for the recipient. Such proposals are often solicited. The RFP frequently specifies the exact content and format desired by the receiver. To increase the probability that your proposal will be considered, you must adhere to those specifications.

Some organizations use relatively informal procedures to solicit product or service proposals. For example, a training director may call a consultant, describe a training need, and ask for a proposal. In such a situation, the consultant chooses the proposal’s content and structure. Both must convince the training director that the consultant understands the need and can satisfy it. Figure 2.14 demonstrates a service proposal.

Figure 2.14 Service proposal

Figure 2.14 Service proposal

Notice that the service proposal includes five things the reader requires for an informed decision.

• General description of the reader’s problem or needs
• Description of the service the writer can provide
• Cost of the proposed service
• Proposed completion date
• Qualifications of the service provider

Notice also that the proposal requests a specific action: the approval to proceed.

Operational Proposals

Operational or organizational proposals set forth a plan for changes in operations or organizational structure and provide objective information to justify the plan. Thus, operational proposals are like justification reports. This kind of proposal is often accompanied by an oral presentation containing more of the detailed data that make up the justification.

An example of an operational proposal appears in Figure 2.15.

Figure 2.15 Operational proposal

Notice that the report structure and content complement the needs of busy executive committee members.

• Direct, clear statement of the proposed action
• Easy-to-read justification for that action
• Clear, concrete restatement of the desired action in closing

Research Proposals

The objective of a research proposal is to persuade the recipient to ­authorize the time and money required to carry out a significant research project.

The persuasiveness of the proposal will depend on your ability to show that you understand the problem and have the knowledge and skills to conduct the study. Additional persuasive elements are honest, realistic estimates of time and resources needed for the project and evidence that you have considered how you will present your results. Before ­attempting to draft a research proposal, do careful preparation in 12 areas.³⁸ See ­Figure 2.16.

Figure 2.16 Plans contained in a research proposal

Figure 2.16 (Continued)

Proposal Content

As you prepare a research proposal, use this list of 12 planning areas as a guide. Include all parts that are relevant to the proposed study. The situation may justify omission of certain parts. For example, stating delimitations or limitations is not necessary if the scope of the project is already stated very narrowly and no obvious limitations are foreseen.

In contrast, you may want to add specific information to increase the persuasiveness and thoroughness of your proposal. For example, the decision to narrow the scope—that is, include some elements and exclude others—implies a judgment that one route of analysis will lead to better results than another. Such a decision is an ethical judgment. Discussing a research problem with a group of colleagues who can judge the work impartially may help you identify the best set of factors to include in the scope. Then include a summary of that discussion in your proposal. Thus, you show the readers you thought through the problem, and you enable them to follow your reasoning.

Regarding data collection, if primary data are to be used in the research, the researcher and the person who authorizes the research have an ethical obligation to protect the confidentiality of the data and the safety of human and nonhuman subjects. In your proposal, explain the specific techniques you will use to protect confidentiality or provide safety or both.

The request for approval is more than a request for authorization of funds. Do you have (or can you acquire) the skills needed to carry out the research as proposed? Conversely, the person who gives approval has an ethical responsibility to evaluate the quality of the proposed research, its value to the organization, and the competence of those who will conduct the research. For that reason, include the qualifications of the person or team who will conduct the study to demonstrate competence to fulfill the proposal. Information of this type usually appears in an appendix with a reference to it in the proposal’s request for approval section.

The order in which the parts are presented must contribute to the ­reader’s understanding of what you plan to study. The presentation sequence should also lead the reader to appreciate the significance of the research. Since a research proposal is a complex document, structural devices such as headings, numbering, and tables can be used advantageously, as Figures 2.17a-d demonstrate.

A research proposal is meant to persuade its recipient to approve a research project and commit the time and funds necessary to do it. Therefore, Figure 2.17 demonstrates the nine-step persuasive writing strategy discussed earlier (p. 79–81).

Figure 2.17a Research proposal (authorization, problem, and purpose)

Figure 2.17b Research proposal (scope, definitions, delimitations and limitations, and description of data)

Figure 2.17c Research proposal (data collection and analysis and schedule)

Figure 2.17d Research proposal (resources, presentation, and approval)

Proposal Approval

The person who receives a proposal from you may send you an e-mail, letter, or memo indicating approval and stating what the next step(s) will be, leading to a formal contract. You could save time and effort, though, by using electronic signature technology to, in effect, turn your proposal into a signed contract.

For relatively short, simple proposals involving comparatively few resources, you might insert spaces for an electronic signature, or ­e-­signature, at the end of the proposal itself. In high-stakes situations, you might include a formal contract—sanctioned by your organization’s legal counsel—in an appendix, with spaces for one or more e-signatures. To do this, you would upload your proposal file to an online signing service and mark or tag it where you want signatures to appear.39 The signing service would then e-mail this marked-up file to whomever you specify. A receiver of the tagged file could sign it using the options available. For example:

• Type his or her name and select from various fonts to make the name look like an authentic signature.
• Draw the signature using a computer mouse or touchpad.
• Take a photo on a smart phone of his or her signature and upload it.
• Draw the signature with a finger on a mobile device that has the e-sign application installed.

The numerous online e-signing services vary in ease of use, features, pricing, and how they prove the validity of e-signatures over time. Therefore, the choice of an e-signing service requires study. A few reputable examples include the following.⁴⁰

E-signing is a means of expediting proposals. Approving a proposal by e-signing it makes it a legally binding contract, just as would a handwritten signature.

Summation Reports

Other nonroutine reports that you may be required to prepare include an abstract, an overview, and an executive summary. All three report types are summaries, and you may hear the terms used interchangeably. However, the following discussion emphasizes subtle differences in these reports.

Abstract

An abstract is text about a text—an abridgement of an entire published work. In the business world, abstracts are used to help managers keep up with current trends or issues in the industry. For example, assume your CEO skims each issue of Academy of Management Journal. In the latest issue, her attention was drawn to a 70-page research article of special interest. Her current schedule does not include the time needed for close reading and assimilation of the article. Thus, you may be asked to read the article and write a condensed version.

An abstract has the following attributes.⁴¹

• Introduces new information in each sentence.
• Follows the sequence of the text being summarized.
• Contains at least one sentence about each section of the text but omits all minor details.
• Involves impersonal, or third-person, language.
• Omits the abstract writer’s interpretations and opinions.
• Includes title of the publication in the subject line or report title.
• Includes summary subheadings if the abstract exceeds one page.
• Emphasizes the author’s conclusions and recommendations (if any).
• Includes in-text citations when the author is quoted along with complete references in a recognized documentation style, such as American Psychological Association (APA).⁴²

Article abstracts may be viewed in Harvard Business Review online (https://hbr.org/magazine). Choose a magazine issue; display the table of contents; then view abstracts, which the publisher calls executive summaries.

Overview

Overviews, too, are used to help managers keep up with current trends or issues in their fields. An overview is a capsule, or very succinct review, of a single subject. Two examples highlight the importance of overview reports.

Example:

Example:

An overview has the following characteristics.⁴³

• Covers the who, what, when, and where questions of the ­subject; touches on the why and how questions.
• Uses headings and subheadings to show how the report is organized and how topics interrelate.
• Includes charts, graphs, maps, photos, and tables to aid clarity and conciseness.
• Integrates information from the various sources.
• Includes the report writer’s interpretation and synthesis of information.
• Often shows conclusions and recommended actions.
• Includes a glossary if the subject involves technical terms.
• Often includes a keywords list, facilitating future study of the subject.

These characteristics—except the final two—can be observed in ­Figure 2.18 (pp. 134–37).

Figure 2.18 Overview of a topic (data visualization)

Figure 2.18 (Continued)

Figure 2.18 (Continued)

Figure 2.18 (Concluded)

Executive Summary

An executive summary is a condensed version of a longer business document, such as a business plan, research proposal, or lengthy analytical report. Typically, an executive summary identifies the analyzed issue or researched problem, reports major findings about the matter, draws concise conclusions, and recommends appropriate action. See Figure 2.19.

Figure 2.19 Executive summary for an analytical research report

Some executives may read the executive summary to determine if they need to read or skim the entire report. Others read it and begin immediate action on the recommendations, without reading the full report.

An executive summary has these qualities.⁴⁴

• Usually involves direct structure, beginning with an indication of the main conclusion(s) reached following analysis or research. The readers likely have some knowledge about the general problem and are eager to know what you, the report writer, recommend.
• Is a self-contained, stand-alone mini-report that highlights findings, conclusions, and recommendations.
• Includes only material present in the main report, but rarely repeats it verbatim.
• Omits all data displays (graphs, tables, and so on) in the report.
• Contains concise paragraphs running 5% to 10% of the length of the report it accompanies. Opinions vary on ­appropriate length.
  • Some business people insist on confining the executive summary to a page or two. These individuals also favor the practice of using a one-page infographic (little or no text) for the executive summary.
  • Other people say a maximum of 5% of the length (report body only) is optimum. While readers need brevity, they might say, they also need enough information to choose between reading the executive summary only and reading the full report.
  • Still other business people note the increasing tendency of today’s readers to read the executive summary only, without so much as skimming the report body. To ensure adequate information for wise actions, these individuals advocate making the executive summary 10% the length of the report body. Note: Use the percentages as a guide to overall length of your executive summaries, but not to the length of each section. For example, an eight-page description of the study may be condensed in a sentence or two while a two-page presentation of the findings may involve a four-sentence paragraph or more.
• Demands careful revising and editing because decisions will be made based on the executive summary by people who have not read the full report.

Guides for Writing a Summation Report

Summary

Nonroutine reports address significant problems that are job-related yet not confronted daily. The ability to prepare effective nonroutine reports—such as interview reports, feasibility reports, justification reports; press releases, fact sheets, and backgrounders; white papers; business proposals; and abstracts, overviews, and executive summaries—can have a significant effect on a person’s business career.

The chapter includes reports in various formats, including ­business form, e-mail, infographic, and memo. In addition, it demonstrates block letter format, which is often used for external reports of one to three pages.

Condensing the information obtained during an individual or group interview is the key to interview reports. When you report an individual applicant’s employment interview, this checklist keeps you from omitting needed information.

When you report the results of a focus group interview, use this checklist to make sure the report is complete.

Both feasibility and justification reports require the writer to recommend action and offer supporting data. A feasibility report analyzes the possible success of a significant initiative, while a justification report advocates an action and presents reasons for it. When you draft a feasibility report, use this checklist to evaluate it.

Justification reports differ from most other reports in two ways: They are rarely assigned but are initiated by the report writer and they involve persuading readers. This checklist may help you write persuasively.

PR professionals create media kits, which always contain a press release and often include a fact sheet and backgrounder. A press release announces notable information; for example, a new executive, office, partnership, or product. When called upon to write a press release, this checklist can help you assess it.

Organize the body of the press release as an inverted pyramid: answers to basic questions followed by supporting details. Use this checklist to review press release components.

Use this checklist to evaluate press release content.

For major news that can be communicated visually, use a VNR. This short checklist may help you with VNR production.

An SMNR needs to appeal at once to traditional journalists as well as to bloggers, publishers, and the public. High-quality visual content is key. If you are involved in creating SMNR content, check off these items.

A fact sheet summarizes your organization and gives context to your news releases. It also may contain a range of information, such as technical data, product descriptions, and answers to FAQs.

A backgrounder includes an overview and scope of the release and company objectives, history, and basics, like location. For effective backgrounders, check off these items as you write.

White papers can be useful for generating sales leads as they disseminate information for solving readers’ business problems. As you plan a white paper, check off each item as you complete it.

Readers of white papers duly expect high-quality content. They are seeking solutions for existing problems. Use this checklist to evaluate a white paper draft.

White paper design entails page layout, images, fonts, and colors. These elements can be used to enhance content. Use this checklist to ensure that design enriches content and helps readers.

Proposal writers outline a course of action and try to convince another business person to follow that course. All service, operational, and research proposals share this goal, whether solicited or unsolicited. When responding to an RFP for a product or service proposal, include the information on this checklist.

Whenever initiating an unsolicited operational (organizational) proposal, focus on justifying the proposed changes. This proposal is comparable to a justification report. The checklist contains just three items.

Research proposals are usually more complex than service or operational proposals. When replying to an RFP for a research proposal, write persuasively to show that you understand the problem and that you can conduct the study. Use the following checklist to plan the research and again when drafting your proposal, though some items may be irrelevant.

Electronic signatures provide a way for turning proposals into signed contracts. Take the steps in this checklist to include an e-signature on a proposal or an accompanying contract.

Your nonroutine reports may include summaries: abstracts, overviews, and executive summaries. Whenever writing any kind of summary, use this checklist as a guide.

After writing an abstract (summary of a publication), evaluate it using this checklist.

After preparing a topic overview, assess your report using this checklist.

Evaluate your executive summaries using this checklist.

While the variations in the reports described and illustrated here are important, remember that the success of any report depends mostly on the writer’s understanding of what readers need from it.