Business Report Development Project

Representative case study: This case study illustrates a representative business-report development project. It does not identify a real client or disclose confidential commercial information, private data, or proprietary research findings.

Project Overview

A professional business report should do more than collect information in one document.

Its primary purpose is to help a reader understand something important and, where appropriate, decide what should happen next.

Business reports may be used for many different purposes, including:

• understanding business performance;
• evaluating a project;
• documenting research findings;
• assessing an operational problem;
• reviewing a market;
• presenting financial or operational information;
• evaluating a process;
• documenting an investigation;
• comparing strategic options;
• reporting project progress;
• communicating management information;
• assessing risks;
• documenting organisational changes;
• or presenting recommendations to decision-makers.

The challenge is that the underlying information is often fragmented.

Relevant information may exist in:

• spreadsheets;
• interview notes;
• meeting minutes;
• survey results;
• databases;
• emails;
• internal documents;
• research papers;
• financial records;
• operational records;
• customer feedback;
• project documentation;
• contracts;
• policies;
• previous reports;
• management presentations;
• or external sources.

A strong business report brings appropriate information together and transforms it into a coherent decision-support document.

This representative project focused on designing and developing such a report.

The Business Problem

The organisation had accumulated a substantial amount of information relating to an important business issue.

However, the information was not yet organised into a document that senior managers and other stakeholders could easily use.

Several problems were identified.

Information Was Fragmented

Relevant evidence existed across multiple sources.

No single source provided the complete picture.

This meant the report development process first required an inventory of available information.

The information had to be classified according to:

• relevance;
• source;
• date;
• reliability;
• subject;
• intended use;
• and limitations.

Evidence and Interpretation Were Mixed

Some statements represented factual observations while others represented:

• assumptions;
• explanations;
• opinions;
• interpretations;
• predictions;
• estimates;
• or recommendations.

These categories needed to be distinguished.

For example:

Sales declined by 8% during the reporting period.

This is a statement that can potentially be verified from appropriate records.

By contrast:

The decline occurred because customers were dissatisfied with service.

This is an explanation or interpretation that requires supporting evidence.

The distinction is important because presenting an assumption as an established fact can weaken a report.

Important Findings Were Difficult to Locate

The reader had to work through large amounts of background information before reaching the most important conclusions.

The report therefore needed a stronger information hierarchy.

Important findings needed to be visible without eliminating the supporting detail required by technical or operational readers.

Recommendations Were Insufficiently Connected to Evidence

A recommendation without an identifiable basis can be difficult for decision-makers to evaluate.

The report needed a visible connection between:

Evidence
    ↓
Analysis
    ↓
Finding
    ↓
Interpretation
    ↓
Recommendation
    ↓
Action