Chapter 10: Proposals and Formal Reports

Preparing Informal Proposals

 Businesspeople write proposals to solve problems, provide services, or sell equipment.
Some proposals are internal, often taking the form of justification and recommendation
reports.

Understanding the Components of Informal Proposals

Introduction
 To make your introduction more persuasive, you need to provide a “hook,” such as the
following:
 Hint at extraordinary results, with details to be revealed shortly.
 Promise low costs or speedy results.
 Mention a remarkable resource available exclusively to you.
 Identify a serious problem and promise a solution, to be explained later.
 Specify a key issue or benefit that you feel is the heart of the proposal.

 Addressing the client’s needs may be the ticket to getting off to a good start.

Background, Problem, and Purpose

 In an unsolicited proposal, your goal is to convince the reader that a problem exists.
Therefore, you must present the problem in detail, discussing such factors as monetary
losses, failure to comply with government regulations, or loss of customers.

 In a solicited proposal, your aim is to persuade the reader that you understand the
problem completely. Therefore, if you are responding to an RFP (request for proposal),
this means repeating its language.

Proposal, Plan, and Schedule

 Discuss your plan for solving the problem. Tell what you propose to do and how it will
benefit the reader.

 Most writers also include a schedule of activities or timetable showing when events will
take place.

Staffing
 Shows the credentials and expertise of the project leaders. It may also identify the size
and qualifications of the support staff, along with other resources such as computer
facilities and special programs for analyzing statistics.

 Promote your staff and demonstrate to the client that your company can do the job.
 Budget
 List of proposed project costs.

 You need to prepare this section carefully because it represents a contract; you cannot
raise the price later—even if your costs increase. You can—and should—protect yourself
with an acceptance deadline.

Authorization Request
 Informal proposals often close with a request for approval or authorization. The closing
should remind the reader of key benefits and motivate action. It might also include a
deadline date beyond which the offer is invalid.

Preparing Formal Proposals

 Formal proposals respond to big projects and may range from 5 to 200 or more pages.
 To facilitate comprehension and reference, they are organized into many parts.
 In addition to the six basic parts described for informal proposals, formal proposals may
contain some or all of the following additional parts:
 Copy of the RFP
 Letter or memo of transmittal
 Abstract and/or executive summary
 Title page
 Table of contents
 List of figures
 List of illustrations
 Appendix

Writing Formal Business Reports

 Represent the end product of thorough investigation and analysis.
 They present ordered information to decision makers in business, industry, government,
and education.
 The Process of Writing a Formal Report:
 Preparing to write
 Researching secondary data
 Generating primary data
 Documenting data
  Organizing and outlining data
 Illustrating data
 Presenting the final report
 Preparing a written statement of purpose is a good idea because it defines the
focus of the report and provides a standard that keeps the project on target.
 In writing useful statements or purpose, choose action verbs telling what you
intend to do: analyze, choose, investigate, compare, justify, evaluate, explain,
establish, determine, and so on.

Researching Secondary Data

 Because a report is only as good as its data, you will want to spend considerable time
collecting data before you begin writing.
Print Resources
1) Books
2) Periodicals
3) Bibliographic Indexes

Electronic Databases
 The four databases more useful to business writers for general searches are
ABI/INFORM Complete (ProQuest), Factiva (Dow Jones), LexisNexis Academy, and
Academic Search Premier (EBSCO).

The Web
Web Browsers
Search Tools

 Google

 Bing

 Yahoo Search

 AOL

 Ask.com
Internet Search Tips and Techniques

 To conduct a thorough search for the information you need, apply these tips and
techniques:
 Use two or three search tools.
 Know your search tool.
  Understand case sensitivity.
 Use nouns as search words and as many as eight words in a query.
 Combine keywords into phrases.
 Omit articles and prepositions.
 Use wild cards.
 Proofread your search words.
 Bookmark the best.
 Keep trying.

Blogs and Social Networks

 Blogs can provide honest customer feedback fast and inexpensively.

Generating Primary Data

Surveys
Interviews

 To elicit the most useful data, try these techniques:

 Locate an expert.
 Prepare for the interview.
 Maintain a professional attitude.
 Make your questions objective and friendly.
 Watch the time.
 End graciously.

Observation and Experimentation

 Most important is deciding what or whom you are observing and how often those
observations are necessary to provide reliable data.

Documenting Information
Recognizing the Purposes of Documentation
 You should take pains to document report data properly for the following reasons:
 To strengthen your argument.
 To instruct the reader.
 To protect yourself against charges of plagiarism.
Learning What to Document
 To avoid plagiarism, you must give credit whenever you use the following:
 Another person’s ideas, opinions, examples, or theory
 Any facts, statistics, graphs, and drawings that are not common knowledge
 Quotations of another person’s actual spoken or written words
 Paraphrases of another person’s spoken or written words

Developing Good Research Habits

 There are two methods available for recording information: note-taking or saving sources
onto a portable memory drive.

Practicing the Fine Art of Paraphrasing

 To do a good job paraphrasing, follow these steps:
1. Read the original material carefully to comprehend its full meaning.
2. Write your own version without looking at the original.
3. Avoid repeating the grammatical structure of the original and merely replacing
words with synonyms.
4. Reread the original to be sure you covered the main points but did not borrow
specific language.

Knowing When and How to Quote

 Wise writers and speakers use direct quotations for three purposes only:
 To provide objective background data and establish the severity of a problem as
seen by experts
 To repeat identical phrasing because of its precision, clarity, or aptness
 To duplicate exact wording before criticizing

 To introduce quotations or paraphrases, use wording such as the following:

 According to Waller, …
 Waller argues that …
 In his recent study, Waller reported …

Using Citation Formats

 MLA (Modern Language Association)
 [required for ENG 250 – Professional Communications]

 APA (American Psychological Association)

Organizing and Outlining Data
Organizational Strategies
 As you begin the process of organization, ask yourself two important questions: (1)
Where should I place the conclusions/recommendations? And (2) How should I organize
the findings?
Where to Place the Findings, Conclusions, and Recommendations

 Using the direct strategy means you would need to begin with your conclusions
and recommendations. Use this strategy when the reader is supportive and
knowledgeable.

 Using the indirect strategy means presenting information first, followed by

conclusions and recommendations. Since formal reports often seek to educate the
reader, this order of presentation is often most effective.
How to Organize the Findings
 Chronological Order: effective for presenting historical data or
describing a procedure
 Geographical or Spatial Arrangement: organized by physical location
 Simple/Complex Arrangement: proceed from simple concept to more
complex ideas.

Outlines and Headings

 The main points used to outline a report often become the main headings of the written
report.

Creating Effective Graphics

Matching Graphics and Objectives
Tables

 Pro: presents quantitative or verbal information in systematic columns and rows,

and can clarify large quantities of data in small spaces

 Con: cannot readily display trends

Bar Charts

 Pro: make emphatic visual comparisons

 Con: lack precision

Line Charts

 Pro: show trends; changes over time

 Con: lack precision

 Pie Charts

 Pro: enable readers to see a whole and the proportion of its components

 Con: less flexible than bar or line charts

Flowcharts

 Pro: procedures are simplified and clarified (made concise)

 Con: useful only for clarifying processes or procedures

Organization Charts

 Pro: hierarchical

 Con: not very descriptive

Photographs, Maps, and Illustrations

 Photographs: add authenticity and provide a visual record

 Maps: depict activities or concentrations geographically

 Illustrations/Diagrams: indicate how an object looks or operates

Incorporating Graphics in Reports

 In putting graphics into your reports, follow these suggestions for best effects:
 Evaluate the audience.
 Use restraint.
 Be accurate and ethical.
 Introduce a graph meaningfully.
 Choose an appropriate caption or title style.

Using Your Computer to Produce Charts

 Microsoft Excel and PowerPoint allow people to design high-quality graphics.

Presenting the Final Report

Font Matter Components
Title Page
1) Name of report typed in uppercase letters (no underscore or quotations marks)
2) Prepared for/Submitted to Name, Title, Organization
3) Prepared by/Submitted by Author’s Name
4) Date of Submission
 The information should be evenly spaced and balanced on the page.
 Letter or Memo of Transmittal
1) Announces the topic of the report and tells how it was authorized
2) Briefly describes the project
3) Highlights the report’s findings, conclusions, and recommendations
4) Closes with appreciation for the assignment, instructions for the reader’s follow-
up actions, acknowledgment of help from others, or offers assistance in
answering questions
Table of Contents

 Shows the Headings in a report and their page numbers

List of Figures

 For each figure or table, include a title and page number.

Executive Summary

 Usually no longer than 10% of the original document

Body of Report
Introduction

 A good report introduction typically covers the following elements, although not
necessarily in this order:
 Background
 Problem or Purpose
 Significance
 Scope
 Sources and Methods
 Organization
Discussion of Findings

 The main section of the report and contains numerous headings and subheadings.

 Present your findings logically and objectively.

Conclusions and Recommendations

 Explains what the findings mean and answers the research questions.

 Recommendations advocating a course of action may be placed in a separate

section or incorporated with the conclusions.
Supplementary Parts of Report
Works Cited, References, or Bibliography

 MLA: listed alphabetically in the “Works Cited” page.

 APA: “References” page.

Appendixes

 Incidental or supporting materials at the end of a formal report.

 These materials are relevant to some readers but not to all.

 May include survey forms, copies of other reports, and tables of data, large
graphics, and related correspondence.