Business reports typically adopt the sections listed below. Your assignment question may specify the appropriate sections to
use.
Introduction :
This is the first section of the report and is easiest to write after you have written the other report sections, as then you
know what your outcomes will be, which you can briefly summarise in the introduction. The purpose of the introduction is to
• State the purpose or aim of the report, which may include who has commissioned it, if relevant.
• Provide background details relevant to the situation, such as a brief overview of historical developments, as well as
definitions of any terms that are unlikely to be recognised by the audience.
• Summarise the problems and recommended solutions.
• Clarify any limitations, restrictions, and/or assumptions made in undertaking your investigation of the situation,
such as restrictions on time, lack of money, limited access to information and people, and/or assumptions made about the
organisation because of the lack of information available.
In general, one page is more than adequate to address the issues typically required in an introduction.
Discussion :
This section is traditionally allocated the most marks, so it is well worth your investment in time to do it thoroughly.
The discussion section is generally the only section where you are able to support your analysis and reasoning with
theoretical ideas, concepts, and models available within the course. Secondly, it is the only place where you can actually
provide evidence to back up your conclusions and recommendations. Therefore, ensure that you draw on evidence from the
literature, course materials, as well as your own observations from the actual case or organisation, where applicable.
A key task of the discussion is for you to be able to identify the problem(s) and then consider a range of possible
solutions. Consequently, it may be useful in preparing this section to identify your conclusions and recommendations first,
before proceeding to support these outcomes in the discussion.
Once you have planned the points you need to cover in your discussion, it is very appropriate to look at creating different
sub-sections within the discussion that encompass and frame each of the issues, with meaningful headings for each sub-
section. When writing each sub-section within the discussion, the following structure may be useful for demonstrating the
process you used to carry out your analysis and evaluation.
• Identify the problem
Example: The problem involves a lack of coordination at top-level management.
• Identify the causes
Example: This is caused by a lack of organisational skills and a lack of assistance from support people.
• Identify the symptoms
Example: As a result, the department is constantly in a state of flux, with no knowledge of where it should be heading.
• Identify possible solutions
This can be achieved by explaining advantages and disadvantages of a few options, which may involve describing short-term and
long-term benefits.