How to Analyze a Business Report

Business reports are structured in an easy-to-understand manner.

Business reports are written in a manner appropriate for quick assessment and understanding. The people reading such reports are often involved in a number of simultaneous activities and they need to be able to find the information they want quickly and easily. For this reason, business reports tend to be broken down into a number of clearly marked sections for ease of reading. They are also usually worded in a manner that the client can easily understand.

Instructions

1. Read the executive summary of the report, normally located at the beginning. The executive summary is much like it sounds. It is designed to provide a brief and insightful overview of the most important aspects of the report. Reading the executive summary gives you crucial information with regard to the content and direction of the rest of the report.

2. Check for a table of contents if the business report you are analyzing is long (more than a few pages). The table of contents acts as a schematic for the report, providing you with a quick reference of its contents. The table of contents is a critical tool in your analysis, providing you with a summary of the contents of the report in one place.

3. Read the introduction of the report. The introduction should contain a number of components that are necessary for a good report. While similar to the executive summary, an introduction serves as an outline while also explaining the methodology used by those who created the report. Check to make certain the report contains all of the following elements: the reason why the report was written, its purpose, a research topic definition, definitions of terms used within the report, an outline, section overviews and relevancy, the extent (boundaries) of the report, a description of sources, as well as recognition of any assistance in the report's creation. These elements make a good introduction of a business report.

4. Read through the body of the report. Depending on the length of the report, the body may contain multiple headings and subheadings. Check for a number of elements in your analysis of the report. Check to make certain that the body follows the structure outlined by the introduction. The body should reflect that schematic, as well as expanding and developing the ideas outlined therein. A good business report relates its findings to relevant theories.

5. Read through the conclusion of the report. The conclusion provides a summary of the findings of the report, while also answering the problem or question explored thereby. In the business world, those reading the reports often read the conclusion first. This means that a good conclusion provides a clear summary of the report's points. Check that the conclusion refers back to the objective of the report, that it provides useful applications of its findings, that it also touches upon both the advantages and disadvantages of its findings and that it does so objectively with minimal authorial bias.

6. Check for a bibliography, a reference list and appendices. They will contain information on the sources of information for the business report to which you can refer to see if they correctly interpreted information.

References

• University of Wollongong UniLearning: The Structure of Business Reports