Formal reports and proposals will include a number of sections, each including subsections. As shown in the previous chapter, proposals involve persuasive effort to encourage an audience to implement recommendations toward addressing a problem or situation. An outline of a proposal was included in that chapter. Typical sections for a report or proposal include:
Executive Summary: Summarizes the important information for a report or proposal’s contents.
Introduction: Identifies the topic or problem, purpose of the report, background, and scope.
Discussion: Develops each potential solution or discusses the single-proposed solution; reports research findings and provides analysis.
Conclusion: Identifies specific conclusions that emerged from the information presented.
Recommendation: Identifies and discusses specific recommendations and how to implement them.
Appendixes: Provide secondary or tertiary graphics or data (data that is relevant to the report but not vital to the purpose of the report; for example, statistical analyses of research data).
References: Lists all outside sources used.
Business plans represent a different kind of business document. Specific sections depend on the nature of the business. However, most plans will include the following:
Business Description: Identifies the legal status of the company, its background or history, and mission statement or vision statement.
Product or Services Plan: Lists and describes specific products or services the company offers.
Marketing Plan: Provides analysis of market segments, competition, competitive advantage, identifying marketing strategy, and possible tactics for target segments.
Operating Plan: Identifies suppliers, processes for operation (depends on whether a manufacturing company, retailer, service company…) facilities used, staffing needs, and other elements of the business operation.
Financial Plan: Includes pro forma (forecasted) accounting statements for periods involved. Considers various scenarios relative to the economy and business conditions (best case; worst case; most likely).
Audit Schedule: Identifies when the plan will be reviewed, with comparison of actual figures to pro forma statements, with resulting necessary adjustments.
Most reports follow these patterns of sections and organization. Such structure facilitates efficient access and presentation of information. A section or subsection may be a paragraph or more; there is no minimum or maximum length limitation to the number of paragraphs a given section or subsection may have.
Formal reports often integrate research, much as academic essays include research. The next section addresses some differences between the forms of research associated with each—business reports and academic essays.
Practical Research for Business Settings
One of the big differences between academic writing and business writing is the research required to develop points. What you learned about research for academic writing will help you understand valued research in business writing; however, the audience and context or situation affect what kinds of research are valued in business.
The academic writing you did for college classes likely involved secondary research. Such resources were generally considered to be authored by recognized experts on a topic or published empirical studies, either of which appeared in publications recognized as valued. Anecdotal information (such as something a friend said or a single experience you or a friend had) was considered less valuable, but it could be used as an example to illustrate a point. Nevertheless, you were generally expected to cite a number of outside sources.
Business people value both anecdotal as well as secondary sources; however, either needs to be immediately relevant to the situation and be related to that particular business or industry. So, in one situation one might be able to use only anecdotal evidence to make a point (e.g., citing two other companies in the same industry as your company that use a given social media tool a certain way within a proposal for the company to use that tool as well). In a different situation one may need to refer to secondary resources recognized as valuable to make a point (e.g., locating empirical studies showing how a certain social media tool is benefitting companies generally).
What research you use depends on the situation and the reader’s perspective—what information will the reader value? By extension, then, even your approach to research integrates elements of neuroscience. By integrating research valued by the reader, you are eliciting mirror neurons relative to the audience’s values.
Example
Your company is trying to reach more consumers in the 18 to 30 age demographic, and the economy is generally weak. You know your company does not use social media much for marketing, and you think using it may help with this effort. What research do you need to help support your idea?
1. If you can find two companies with which your company competes directly and that use Facebook for marketing, those may be the ONLY sources you need, and they are considered anecdotal.
“A friend of mine works at [Competitor X] and another works at [Competitor Y], and both said they have increased sales to this demographic in the past year. The only difference in their strategy and ours is their use of Facebook this year.”
In a competitive environment, everyone is looking for ways to beat their competition, and if others in the industry are having success with a given tool, your company will want to use it, too. It wants to mirror similar companies that are having success, and that potential success elicits reward neurons.
2. If other companies in your industry are not yet using social media, you may need to look into a few empirical studies (secondary sources, which are published accounts of the research conducted by others) to show that Facebook is used by people in that demographic, and it is helping other companies in various industries increase sales to that demographic.
“A study by researchers at Harvard that was reported in the magazine Inc. found that 80 percent of 18 to 30 year-olds use Facebook at least three times a week (citation). Another study reported in Ad Age found that companies using Facebook are increasing sales to that demographic (citation).”
You will need to show evidence that it is an effective tool generally, and citing reliable sources will help with that. Generally, executives respect both Inc. magazine and Harvard researchers; both mirror their values—excellence in practice. Alternatively, you may be able to refer to an article published in the Harvard Business Review, authored by a CEO or entrepreneur who has had success with the strategy. Executives tend to respect such publications; such publications mirror their values, and executives want to mirror success of other executives.
3. If you are aware of a company in another industry that uses social media effectively, you may combine the secondary sources and that anecdotal evidence to develop your argument to implement it at your company.
“A friend of mine who works in [different field] said her company increased sales by 20 percent to that demographic last year when they started using Facebook for marketing. Also, a study by researchers at Harvard that was reported in the magazine Inc. found that 80 percent of people in that demographic use Facebook at least three times a week (citation). Another study reported in Ad Age found that companies using Facebook are increasing sales to that demographic without increasing costs much (citation).”
Again, in a weak economy, you may need a few different kinds of sources to make a strong argument, depending on how big a risk your boss perceives. Again, too, this elicits reward and mirror neurons. Finally, change this scenario to a strong economy (more money available for risk taking), and you may need only anecdotal evidence.
A friend of mine who works in [different field] said her company increased sales by 20 percent to that demographic last year when they started using Facebook for marketing. So, let’s give it a try. We can collect data on how well it goes, too [suggesting primary, empirical research to assess effectiveness].
The potential reward (reward neurons) outweighs the risk; so, executives may be willing to spend the money to try it.
At times you may want to gather your own first-hand information about the topic you are researching. For instance, you might conduct a survey of potential consumers in your demographic as to how much they are influenced by Facebook for making purchase decisions. This type of research gathering is referred to as primary research because you are gathering it directly.
As you look into articles in respected practitioner-oriented publications, such as Inc., Fortune, Harvard Business Review, and those that are published by professional organizations, you will find that many do not cite outside sources or use only interviews with executives or researchers. The content and related arguments are based entirely on the author’s experience or the testimony of those executives and researchers. These represent anecdotal and general observations conveyed by people with unique experience in a leadership position.
Some of these articles report narratives of particular experiences by these leaders and executives. A narrative represents a “story” about a real experience the speaker or writer had. It includes a number of details about the experience and reflection about the experience. Readers who have had a similar kind of experience connect quickly with such narratives, because they appeal to mirror neurons. Much has been written about narrative’s persuasive effects on audiences, including an article by Stephen Denning published in the Harvard Business Review.1 The experience of the reader mirrors that of the respected author or executive; and the reader values that reflection.
Again, anecdote and theorization based on experience are valued by readers depending on how relevant they are to the reader’s situation. Mirror neurons of managers or executives will be very active as they read of narratives, observations and tips by another executive who has been successful, especially if their success came in a similar industry.
Narrative can be an effective part of any managerial message as well. Just as it has value in practical research for describing specific applications of tactics to address a problem, it is valued as a device to develop a point. You can, for example, provide a narrative describing an experience and how that experience is problematic or is a symptom of a problem that needs to be addressed. One can use a narrative to explain why a new policy needs to be implemented. Narrative used this way helps the audience relate to the problem more clearly; they may be able to understand the experience from a similar experience they had. So, narrative may draw upon an audience’s prior experiences, affecting neural activity.
Analysis
Analysis is a systematic approach to reviewing data collected through research or from observations toward identifying findings or conclusions about that data. The starting point is a problem that needs to be addressed or a decision that needs to be made about something.
Research helps us gather information that will contribute to helping us make a decision or address a problem.
Once data is collected, we need to analyze it; it is the analysis that shapes findings and conclusions. There are many forms of business analysis, including the following:
• SWOT analysis: SWOT analysis includes an examination of the Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities, and Threats inherent to the problem under consideration. It is highly focused on competitors and market conditions and is often used when preparing a business plan.
• Cost-benefit analysis: Cost-benefit analysis considers the cost of implementing a new program versus the benefit of implementing it; does the benefit outweigh the cost? Cost-benefit analysis is often useful when developing the arguments in a proposal.
• Feasibility analysis: Feasibility analysis assesses the feasibility of a project or action relative to established criteria and conditions.
• Economic criteria analysis: Economic analysis examines these issues: (1) Do we have the money to build, staff, and maintain the project, and (2) Where will it come from?
Analyses facilitate ascertaining findings about the data, which directly contribute to conclusions.
Example
“80 percent of respondents indicated they would be willing to contribute to funding a parking garage.”
(Analysis is based on looking at frequency of responses to a question or set of questions from a survey tool.)
Conclusion
“The data shows that students are willing to contribute to funding the construction and maintenance of a parking garage.”
Conclusions and Recommendations
Many people do not understand the difference between conclusions and recommendations. Asked to identify a recommendation from a study, they will identify a conclusion.
Conclusions are based on analysis of data collected in research—be it anecdotal, published, or primary research, as shown in the previous section. Recommendations are based on conclusions AND are relative to the purpose of the report.
Using the previous example conclusion:
“The data shows that students are willing to contribute to funding the construction and maintenance of a parking garage.”
If the purpose of the report is to ascertain ways to address a problem with parking, a recommendation from this conclusion would be: “Build a parking deck, and charge students $100 per semester to fund the new deck.”
Recommendations can be phrased to elicit reward neurons as well. You could add the potential benefits of acting on the recommendation: “A parking deck, funded by students, will reduce congestion around campus while making the campus appear favorable to prospective students.”
Executive Summary
The executive summary (sometimes referred to as an abstract) provides concise information about the most important elements of a proposal or report. At the very least, a good executive summary identifies the problem being addressed, or the topic of the report, and recommendations. Such a summary may range in length from a half page to a full page.
A longer executive summary will also include information about the research approach and findings. Such a summary may be one to three pages long. Longer reports (over 30 pages) may require a longer executive summary. However, an executive summary’s informative value far exceeds the importance of its length; a long, informative summary detailing recommendations is more valuable than a short, unclear one.
This important section should have the heading “Executive Summary,” and it may include subheadings such as “Topic and Purpose,” “Findings,” and “Recommendations.” While the summary is the last part of the document that is written, it should be placed before the Introductory section.
Here is an example of an executive summary appropriate for the example used earlier in this chapter.
Topic and Purpose
This report considers a problem with parking availability and ways to address it. A survey of students was conducted to ascertain student attitudes about the parking situation and what to do about it.
Recommendations
The University should construct a parking deck in a central location on campus. A $100 fee will be added to each student’s semester bill to help fund construction and maintenance. A parking deck, funded by students, will reduce congestion around campus while making the campus appear favorable to prospective students.
As we saw in an earlier chapter, the executive summary is the only section of a report that all managers will always read. It is not clear how much of a report or proposal a given manager or executive will read; however, it is virtually guaranteed that she will read the executive summary. This section must be written in a way that allows the reader to infer the contents of the report.
Because of the conciseness of an executive summary, neuroscientific implications are limited for the most part to reward neurons (identifying specific recommendations to address a problem); mirroring values of conciseness and clarity; and allaying fear, if possible.
Presenting Information Visually: Graphics and Neuroscience
Graphics such as pie charts, bar graphs, tables, line graphs, and diagrams are popular in business reports for several reasons:
1. Conciseness: They provide a large amount of information concisely.
2. Synergy: The entire image can be more informative than showing just a few parts of the picture or data to consider at a time (“the whole is greater than the sum of the parts”).
3. Eye candy: People prefer looking at an image than reading words, if the image illustrates what the words are trying to communicate—be that a point, a spatial relationship, or general concept.
If a diagram showing how a machine performs a given task is provided along with text describing that process, readers will look at the image before they look at the text; and it may be more productive to look at that image instead of the text.2, 3, 4 Indeed, they might look ONLY at the IMAGE to try to understand the process. Numerous publications report studies finding that our brains prefer using images to understand concepts. Images are important to understanding abstract ideas and concepts and the relationship of image to text.5, 6 This applies to qualitative information as well as quantitative information.
Arnheim (1969) was among the earliest scholars to argue for the value of images to facilitate cognition.7 A concept or data can be shown in its entirety whereas words are processed individually, breaking up the flow of information. If the idea or concept is presented graphically for readers, it is more efficient than having the readers try to imagine it themselves. An individual may be able to better understand a concept that is represented graphically, because the brain processes the entire image toward understanding relationships within it. Arnheim’s point about cognition and visual representation is that the image needs to convey meaning explicitly or link closely to the reader’s prior experiences. So, the writer or designer of the image needs to consider how to link the concept to the reader’s prior experiences.
Hicks (1973), Mitchell (1995), and Mayer (2001) called attention to a relationship that exists between words and images.8, 9, 10 Text has only one way of being read, while visual forms can be read any number of ways. With the right words, the visual can perform its function better. Mayer noted that if a picture is provided, people can make the visual connection more readily.
General Principles of Integrating Visuals into Managerial Writing
One can show a process involved in manufacturing a product to help the audience understand the various stages involved in the process. A diagram can illustrate the various components of a particular product. A map can help the audience understand the relative location of a given city where a new office for a business might open and other cities and related market demographics nearby. These graphics illustrate qualitative information.
Quantitative information such as revenues, profits, and costs can be represented graphically, too. A graphic representation is ideal for such data, especially if showing trends (line graph or bar graph) or a breakdown of variables involved (bar graph or pie chart). These graphics provide a visual form of narrative related to quantitative data.
Principles related to designing and using graphics are identified by many writers. Different kinds of graphics facilitate different kinds of cognition. Table 4.1 shows different kinds of graphics and how they can best be utilized in a business document.
In addition to understanding which type of graphic to include, you must understand HOW to use graphics; avoid placing a graphic on a page or slide without engaging it well. These are tips for integration of graphics:
1. Referral: Refer to the graphic in the text, place appropriately, and discuss. Don’t just place a graphic on a page without referring to it and discussing it.
a. Examples of textual reference:
i. “Table 4.1 shows that…” or
ii. “… (see Table 4.1).”
Table 4.1 Uses of various graphics
Graphic |
Description or purpose(s) |
Table |
Lists specific numeric data using rows or columns; emphasis on numbers—less on relationships. |
Line graph |
Shows data points on a plot graph with a line connecting data points; shows trends over time or relationships across data points. |
Pie chart |
Shows proportions of a whole (100 percent). Each section should look unique from any other section, and percentages should add up to 100 percent. |
Map |
Shows specific location of something and relation to other location points. |
Diagram |
Shows spatial relationships and or progression. |
Organizational diagram (chart) |
Shows relationships within an organization—who is responsible for whom; who reports to whom. |
2. Placement: Place in the text of the report those graphics that include primary information—that is, information immediately relevant to the purpose of the report. Graphics that include secondary or tertiary information—that is, information relevant to the report but not directly relevant to the purpose of the report—should be placed in the appendix.
3. Balance: Be sure the graphic is balanced on the page, with adequate use of white space.
4. Sizing: Size the graphic appropriately so information can be read. Don’t force the graphic to fit into a limited space on a page. Be sure to use enough space so information represented is clearly shown.
5. Labeling: Label all elements in a graphic appropriately. Use a legend when needed to identify colors or patterns used in the graphic. A measure of scale is helpful when using maps (example: “1 inch equals 5 feet”).
6. Acknowledgment: Provide the source for all graphics if borrowed from another source.
Figure 4.1 shows effective integration of a graphic into a market study I conducted for an educational organization several years ago. The purpose of the study was to report findings of various research approaches toward addressing enrollment decline. The illustration includes both the introductory passage, setting up the graphic; the placement of the graphic; and the concise statement interpreting the data in the graphic.
In addition to the reduction in TOTAL enrollment during this period, there has been a reduction in the percentage of traditional students relative to the total population from 2010 to 2013. Figure 4 illustrates this data.
Figure 4
Traditional student enrollment as percentage of
total student population (2010–2013)
2010 |
2011 |
2012 |
2013 |
51 |
56 |
48 |
40 |
While there is an increase initially, a decline occurs and drops significantly.
Figure 4.1 Effective Integration of Graphic in Report
The graphic in Figure 4.1 reports a breakdown of the pattern of student enrollment over a period of time. The graphic (Figure 4 in the report) provides a breakdown showing a trend of enrollment decline. This graphic is of primary information relative to the purpose of the report.
Notice that the graphic summarizes some findings regarding the trend. I referred to the graphic PRIOR to its placement on the same page. Finally, I offer a single sentence to capture the gist of the information in the graphic.
The following case provides application in using graphics that meet audience needs.
Case 4.1 Using Graphics Effectively
Situation
Critique the effectiveness of the design and use of the graphic Figure 4 in the example above relative to the audience considerations. The audience comprises administrators and faculty at an academic institution.
Tasks
1. What attributes of the audience can you assume?
2. How could the graphic have been formatted differently, considering the audience considerations elements (in the following list)?
Rewards:
What will motivate this person to respond a certain way (what reward can I offer?)?
How can I phrase the message so that reward is explicitly stated?
Mirroring:
What does the audience think of me (including my trustworthiness)?
What of my attributes or qualities does the audience value or admire?
How can I appeal to that perception?
What attributes or qualities of my audience do I value or admire?
How can I integrate those into my message?
What terms can I use that my audience values and will get their attention?
What about this situation may invoke fear in my audience?
Do I want to raise fear to provide some kind of motivation toward action?
How can I defuse or minimize that fear for my audience?
To what from their experiences might my audience compare this situation, and how can I help them overcome that fear or the fear they experienced before?
3. Do you consider the graphic to be effective as is, or should it have been formatted differently? Why? If it should have been formatted differently, how?
Links to the Neuroscience Formula
Just as a graphic can represent information more concisely, you can integrate the various attributes of the formula into a graphic concisely. For example, you can activate another’s reward neurons by showing a line graph that represents future growth trending upwards. Such a graph mirrors the audience’s values (profit and growth). Likewise, you can elicit fear in an audience by showing a line graph that depicts profits trending downward.
Placing a downward-trending line graph in the portion of a proposal identifying a problem and why it needs to be addressed will have the particular impact the proposer wants from the audience—fear. That fear is minimized by showing the upward-trending line graph when describing the potential solution.
The following case reinforces the need for graphics and text to work together to achieve maximum impact on the audience.
Case 4.2 Making Graphics and Text Work Together
Situation
You work for a large company in your field of interest. Your company deals with customers or clients on a regular basis. A recent study by the Customer Service Department has found that with each additional representative a customer or client has to speak with about a given issue, the more frustrated that customer/client feels. Indeed, with each new person he or she has to talk to, the customer or client becomes 20 percent more frustrated about the situation generally. By the time the customer has talked to five different people, his or her frustration level has doubled.
Task
Develop a graphic showing this phenomenon, and compose a message acknowledging the phenomenon and why the company needs to address the problem. Be sure to refer to the graphic in your passage. The passage should be not more than 50 words.