Informal business reports generally fall into one of six categories. In many instances the boundaries of the categories overlap; distinctions are not always clear-cut. Individual situations, goals, and needs may make one report take on some characteristics of a report in another category. Still, these general categories, presented herein a brief overview, are helpful to beginning writers. Later youll learn how to fully develop each of these reports.Information reports.Reports that collect and organize information are informative or investigative. They may record routine activities such as daily, weekly, and monthly reports of sales or profits. They may investigate options, performance, or equipment. Although they provide information, they do not analyze that information.Progress reports.Progress reports monitor the headway of unusual or non-routine activities. For example, progress reports would keep management informed about a committees preparations for a trade show 14 months from now. Such reports usually answer three questions: (1) Is the project on schedule? (2) Are corrective measures needed? (3) What activities are next?Justification/recommendation reports.Justification and recommendation reports are similar to information reports in that they present information. However, they offer analysis in addition to data. They attempt to solve problems by evaluating options and offering recommendations. These reports are often solicited; that is, the writer has been asked to investigate and report.Feasibility reports.When a company must decide whether to proceed with a plan of action, it may require a feasibility report. For example, should a company invest thousands of dollars to expand its Web site? A feasibility report would ex-amine the practicality of implementing the proposal.Minutes of meetings.A record of the proceedings of a meeting is called the minutes. This record is generally kept by a secretary or recorder. Minutes may be kept for groups that convene regularly, such asclubs, committees, and boards of directors.Summaries.Asummary condenses the primary ideas, conclusions, and recommendations of a longer report or publication. Employees may be asked to write summaries of technical reports. Students may be asked to write summaries of periodical articles or books to sharpen their writing skills. Executive summaries condense long reports such as business plans and proposals. Well now look more closely at each of these report categories, beginning with in-formation reports.

progress reports:Continuing projects often require progress reports to describe their status. These reports may be external (advising customers regarding the headway of their projects)or internal (informing management of the status of activities). Progress reports typically follow this pattern of development:Specify in the opening the purpose and nature of the project.Provide background information if the audience requires filling in.Describe the work completedExplain the work currently in progress, including personnel, activities, methods, and locations.Anticipate problems and possible remedies.Discuss future activities and provide the expected completion date. As a location manager in the film industry, Katherine Granado frequently writes progress reports, such as the one shown in Figure 9.5. Producers want to be informed of what shes doing, and a phone call doesnt provide a permanent record. Notice that her progress report identifies the project and provides brief background information. She then explains what has been completed, what is yet to be completed, and what problems she expects.

QuaStar ProductionsInteroffice MemoDATE: February 7, 200xTO: Mark Bidema, Executive ProducerFROM: Katherine Granado, Location ManagerSUBJECT: Sites for Bodega Bay Telefilm

This memo describes the progress of my search for an appropriate rustic home, villa, or ranch to be used for the wine country sequences in the telefilm Bodega Bay. Three sites will be available for you to inspect on February 21,as you requested.Background:In preparation for this assignment, I consulted Director Damien Fitzgerald, who gave me his preferences for the site. He suggested a picturesque ranch home situated near vineyards, preferably with redwoods in the background. I also consulted Producer Meghan Friederichs, who told me that the site must accommodate 55 to 70 production crew members for approximately three weeks of filming. Valerie Hannah, telefilm accountant, requested that the cost of the site not exceed $24,000 for a three-week lease.Work Completed:For the past eight days I have searched the Russian River area in the Northern California wine country. Possible sites include turn-of-the-century estates, Victorian mansions, and rustic farmhouses in the towns of Duncans Mills, Sebastopol, and Guerneville. One exceptional site is the Country Meadow Inn, a 97-year-old farmhouse nestled among vineyards with a breathtaking view of valleys, redwoods, and distant mountains.Work to BeCompleted.In the next five days, Ill search the Sonoma County countryside, including several wineries such as Geyser Peak, Canyon Road, and Rodney Strong. Many old wineries contain charming structures that may present exactly the degree of atmosphere and mystery we need. These wineries have the added advantage of easy access. I will also inspect possible structures at the Armstrong Redwoods State Reserve and the Kruse Rhododendron Reserve, both within 100 miles of Guerneville. Ive made an appointment with the director of state parks to discuss our project, use ofstate lands, restrictions, and costs.Anticipated Problems:You should beaware of twocomplications for filmingin this area.1. Property owners seem unfamiliar with the making of films and are suspicious of short-term leases.2. Many trees wont have leaves again until May. You may wish to change the filming schedule somewhat. By February 14 youll have my final report describing the three most promising locations. Arrangements will be made for you to visit these sites February 21.FIGURE 9.5Progress ReportMemo FormatTips for Writing Progress ReportsIdentify the purpose and the nature of the project immediately.Supply background information only if the reader must be educated.Describe the work completed.Discuss the work in progress, including personnel, activities, methods, and locationsIdentify problems and possible remediesConsider future activitiesClose by telling the expected date of completion.

The following progress report has faults in grammar, punctuation, spelling, number form, wordiness, and word use. Use standard proofreading marks (see Appendix B)to correct the errors. When you finish, your instructor can show you the revised version of this report.DATE: November 9, 200xTO: Mark Edelstein, PresidentFROM: Darmisha Pierson, Development OfficerSUBJECT: Progress Reporton Constructionof SeattleBranch Office Construction of Vintage Realtys Seattle Branch Office has entered Phase three. Although we are 1 week behind the contractors original schedule the building should be already for occupancy on March 10.Past ProgressPhase one involved development of the architects plans, this process was completed on June 5. Phase two involved submission of the plans for county building department approval. Each of the plans were then given to the following 2 contractors for the purpose of eliciting estimates, David Gray Construction, and Millennium Builders. The lowest bidder was David Gray Construction, consequently this firm began construction on July 15.Present StatusPhase three includes initial construction processes. We have completed the following steps as of November 9:Demolition of existing building at 11485 NW 27 AvenueExcavationof foundation footingsfor the building andfor the surroundingwallSteel reinforcing rods installed in building pad andwallPouring of concrete foundation David Gray Construction indicated that he was 1 week behind schedule for these reasons. The building inspectors required more steel reinforcement then was showed on the architects blueprints. In addition excavation of the footings requiredmore time then the contractor anticipated because the 18 inch footings were all below grade.Future ScheduleIn spite of the fact that we lost time in Phase 3 we are substantially on target for the completion of this office building by March 1. Phase 4 include the following activities, framing dry walling and installation of plumbing.

Informal ReportsProgress Report: Connecting With E-MailIf you are working on a long report for either this chapter or Chapter 10, keep your instructor informed of your progress.Your Task.Send your instructor a report via e-mail detailing the progress you are making on your long report assignment. Discuss (1) the purpose of the report, (2) the work already completed, (3) the work currently in progress, and (4) your schedule for completing the report.Justification/Recommendation Report:Expanding the CompanyLibraryDespite the interest in online publications, managers and employees at your company still like to browse through magazines in the company library. Andy Kivel, the company librarian, wants to add business periodicals to the library subscription list and has requested help fromvarious company divisions.Your Task.Youve been asked to recommend four periodicals in your particular specialty (accounting, marketing, etc.). Visit your library and use appropriate indexes and guides to select four periodicals to recommend. Write a memo report to Mr. Kivel describing the particular readership, usual contents, and scope of each periodical. To judge each adequately, you should examine several issues. Explain why you think each periodical should be ordered and who would read it. Convince the librarian that your choices would be beneficial to your department.Justification/Recommendation Report:Solving a Campus ProblemIn any organization, room for improvement always exists. Your college campus is no different. You are the member of a student task force that has been asked to identify problems and suggest solutions.Your Task.In groups of two to five, investigate a problem on your campus, such as inadequate parking, slow registration, poor class schedules, inefficient bookstore, weak job-placement program, unrealistic degree requirements, or lack of internship programs. Within your group develop a solution to the problem. If possible, consult the officials involved to ask for their input in arriving at a feasible solution. Do not attack existing programs; instead, strive for constructive discussion and harmonious improvements. After reviewing persuasive techniques discussed in Chapter 7, write a justification/recommendation report in memo or letter format. Address your report to the college president.Justification/Recommendation Report:Developing a Company E-Mail and Web -Use PolicyAs a manager in a midsized financial services firm, you are aware that members of your department frequently use e-mail and the Internet for private messages, shopping, games, and other personal activities. In addition to the strain on your companys computer network, you worry about declining productivity, security problems, and liability issues. When you walked by one workers computer and saw what looked like pornography on the screen, you knew you had to do something. Although workplace privacy is a controversial issue for unions and employee-rights groups, employers have legitimate reasons for wanting to know what is happening on their computers. A high percentage of lawsuits involve the use and abuse of e-mail. You think that the executive council should establish some kind of e-mail and Web-use policy. The council is generally receptive to sound suggestions, especially if they are inexpensive. You decide to talk with other managers about the problemand write a justification/recommendation report.Your Task.In teams of two to five, discuss the need for an e-mail and Web-use policy. Using InfoTrac andthe Web, find sample policies used by other firms. Look for examples of companies struggling with lawsuits over e-mail abuse. Find information about employers rights to monitor employees e-mail and Web use. Use this research to determine what your companys e-mail and Web-use policy should cover. Each member of the teamshould present and support his or her ideas regarding what should be included in the policy and how to best present your ideas to the executive council. Write a convincing justification/recommendation re-port in memo or letter format to the executive council based on the conclusions you draw from your research and discussion. Decide whether you should be direct or indirect.

Feasibility Report: Professional Business OrganizationTo fulfil a student project in your department, you have been asked to submit a letter report to the dean evaluating the feasibility of starting a Phi Beta Lambda (http://www.fbla-pbl.org/) chapter on campus.WEB CRITICALTHINKINGINFO T R A CC R IT I CA LT H INK INGT E A ME - M A I LT E A MC R IT I CA LT H INK ING

YourTask.Find out howmany business students are on your campus, the benefits Phi Beta Lambda wouldprovide for students, how one goes about starting a chapter, and whether a faculty sponsor is needed.Assume that you conducted an informal survey of business students. Of the 39 who filled out the survey, 31said they would be interested in joining. Write a report inmemo or letter format to the dean outlining thepracticality and advisability of starting a Phi Beta Lambda chapter on your college campus.9.11FeasibilityReport:ImprovingEmployeeFitnessYour company is considering ways to promote employee fitness andmorale.YourTask.Select a possible fitness programthat seems reasonable for your company. Consider a softballleague, bowling teams, a basketball league, lunchtime walks, lunchtime fitness speakers and demos,company-sponsored health clubmemberships, a workout room, a fitness center, nutrition programs, and soon. Assume that your supervisor has tentatively agreed to one of the programs and has asked you to write amemo report investigating its feasibility.9.12Minutes:RecordingtheProceedingsofaMeetingAttend an openmeeting of an organization at your school, in your community, or elsewhere. Assume that youare asked to record the proceedings.YourTask.Record themeeting proceedings in formal or informalminutes. Review the chapter to be sure youinclude all the data necessary forminutes. Focus onmotions, votes, decisions reached, and action taken.9.13Summary:UsingWeblogsforResearchYour supervisor has just learned about the popularity of using weblogs (or blogs) as research tools. This isthe first hes heard of this new communication tool, and he wants to learnmore. He asks you to conductInternet research to see what has been written on the subject.YourTask.Using InfoTrac or the Web, find an article that discusses the use of weblogs in the workplace forresearch purposes. In amemo report addressed to your boss, Charlie Shi, summarize the primary ideas,conclusions, and recommendations presented in the article. Be sure to identify the author, article name,journal, and date of publication in your summary.9.14ExecutiveSummary:KeepingtheBossInformedLikemany executives, your boss is too rushed to read long journal articles. But she is eager to keep up withdevelopments in her field. Assume she has asked you to help her stay abreast of research in her field. Sheasks you to submit to her one executive summary everymonth on an article of interest.YourTask.In your field of study, select a professional journal, such as theJournal of Management. Using anInfoTrac Advanced search or a Web search, look for articles in your target journal. Select an article that is atleast five pages long and is interesting to you. Write an executive summary inmemo format. Include an intro-duction thatmight begin withAs you requested, I amsubmitting this executive summaryof....Identify theauthor, article name, journal, and date of publication. Explain what the author intended to do in the study orarticle. Summarize three or four of themost important findings of the study or article. Use descriptive ratherthan functional headings. Summarize any recommendationsmade. Your boss would also like a concludingstatement indicating your reaction to the article. Address yourmemo to Martha Laham.9.15ReportTopicsA list of over 90 report topics is available at your book companion site (http://guffey.swlearning.com). The top-ics are divided into the following categories: accounting, finance, human resources,marketing, informationsystems,management, and general business/education/campus issues. You can collect information formanyof these reports by using InfoTrac and the Web. Your instructormay assign themas individual or teamprojects. All involve critical thinking in collecting and organizing information into logical reports.INF O T R A CW E BC R IT I CA LT H INK INGINF O T R A CW E B262Unit4Reporting WorkplaceData

Chapter9InformalReports263GRAMMAR/MECHANICS CHECKUP9SemicolonsandColonsReview Sections 2.162.19 in the Grammar/Mechanics Handbook. Then study eachof the following statements. Insert any necessary punctuation. Use the delete sign toomit unnecessary punctuation. In the space provided indicate the number of changesyoumade and record the number of the G/M principle(s) illustrated. (When you re-place one punctuationmark with another, count it as one change.) If youmake nochanges, write0.This exercise concentrates on semicolon and colon use, but youwill also be responsible for correct comma use. When you finish, compare your re-sponses with those shown at the end of the book. If your responses differ, study care-fully the specific principles shown in parentheses.2(2.16a)ExampleGonzaloCinosjobistomakesurethathiscompanyhasenoughcashtomeetitsobligationsmoreoverheisresponsibleforfindingwaystoreduceoperatingexpenses.1.Short-termfinancing refers to a period of one year or less long-termfinancing onthe other hand refers to a period ofmore than one year.2.Cash resulting fromholiday product sales does not arrive until January thereforeour cash flow becomes critical in November and December.3.Wemust negotiate short-termfinancing during the followingmonths OctoberNovember and December.4.LargeAmerican corporations that offer a variety of financial services are, Bank ofAmerica and Citibank.5.Althoughsome firms rarely need to borrow short-termmoneymany businesses findthat they require significant credit to pay for current production and sales costs.6.Asupermarket probably requires no short-termcredit a seasonal company such asa ski resort however typically would need considerable short-termcredit.7.We offer three basictypesof short-termlines of credit commercial paper andsingle-payer credit.8.Speakers at the conference on credit include the following businesspeople LynneKrause financialmanager American International Investments Patrick Coughlincomptroller NationsBank and Shannon Daly legal counsel Fidelity NationalFinancial.9.Theprime interest rate is set by one ormore of the nations largest banks and thisrate is offered to a banks best customers.10.Manymethods are used to calculate finance charges for example average dailybalance adjusted balance two-cycle average daily balance and previous balance.11.HotTopic,which is a small clothing retailer with a solid credit rating recently appliedfor a loan but Union Bank refused the loan application because the bank was shorton cash.12.When Hot Topic was refused by Union Bank its financialmanagers submittedapplications to: Chemical Bank, Washington Mutual, and Wells Fargo.13.The cost offinancing capitalinvestments at the present time is very high thereforeHot Topicsmanagers elected to postpone certain expansion projects.14.If interest rates reach as high as 18 percent the cost of borrowing becomesprohibitive andmany businesses are forced to reconsider or abandon projects thatrequire financing.15.Several investorsdecided topool theirresources thenthey couldfind attractiveinvestments for large-scale projects.

Informal ReportsFEASIBILITY REPORTSFeasibility reports examine the practicality and advisability of following a course of action. They answer this question: Will this plan or proposal work? Feasibility reports typically are internal reports written to advise on matters such as consolidating departments, offering a wellness programto employees, or hiring an outside firmto handle a companys accounting or computing operations. These reports may also be written by consultants called in to investigate a problem. The focus in these reports is on the decision: stopping orproceeding with the proposal. Since your roleis not topersuade the reader to accept the decision, youll want to present the decision immediately. In writing feasibility reports, as shown in Figure 9.7, consider these suggestions:Announce your decision immediately.Describe the background and problem necessitating the proposal.Discuss the benefits of the proposal.Describe any problems that may result.Calculate the costs associated with the proposal, if appropriate.Show the time frame necessary for implementing the proposal.DATE: March 12, 200xTO: Shannon ODonnell, Vice PresidentFROM: Allison Myers-Whitman, Human Resources ManagerSUBJECT: FEASIBILITY OF AN E-MAIL AND INTERNET MONITORING PROGRAM

The plan calling for implementing an employee e-mail and Internet monitoringprogram is workable, and I think it could be fully implemented by May 1.This report discusses the background, benefits, problems, costs, and timeframe involved in executing the plan.Background:Current Misuse of E-Mail and the Internet.We currently provide all employees with a company e-mail account to use for interoffice correspondence and for communicating with outside clients. E-mail is a fast, efficient, and cost-effective means of communication when used correctly. We also allow employees full Internet access to help them perform their job duties more effectively. However, we have received numerous reports that many employees are using e-mail and the Internet for personal reasons, resulting in lowered productivity, higher costs, and a strain on our network. These problems were submitted to an outside consultant, who suggested an e-mail and Internet monitoring program.Benefits of Plan:Appropriate Use of E-Mail and the Internet.The proposedplan calls for installing e-mail and Internet monitoring software such asEmployeeMonitoring(http://www.employeemonitoring.net/), UntraView Plus(http://www.awarenesstech.com/), or Spector CNE (http://www.spectorcne.com/).We would fullydisclose toemployees that this softwarewill bemonitoringtheir e-mail and Internet activity. We will also conduct training to teachemployees what e-mail and Internet use is considered appropriate andinappropriate. The software will limit any liability that may result fromcharges of sexual harassment, workplace harassment, or cyberstalking. It willhelp us avoid copyright infringement from employees illegally downloadingsoftware. In addition, the software can help ensure our credibility andprofessional reputation.Problems of Plan:Difficulty in Convincing Employees to Accept the Plan.Oneof the biggest problems will be convincing employees to accept this new policywithout feeling as if their privacy is being violated. However, I believe that,with the help of our consultant, we can communicate the reasons for thispolicy in a way that employees will understand. In addition, if we provideadequate training, we can help employees understand appropriate andinappropriate use of e-mail and the Internet on the job.Costs.Implementing the employee e-mail and monitoring plan involves twodirect costs. The first is the initial cost of the software, which will be $200to $500, depending on the package we choose. The second cost involvesemployee training, including the cost of the trainer. I estimate initial trainingwill cost approximately $800. I believe, however, that the costs involved arewithin the estimates planned for this project.Time Frame.Selecting the software package to purchase will take about twoweeks. Preparing a training program will require another three weeks. Oncethe program is started, I expect a breaking-in period of at least three months.By May 1 the e-mail and Internet monitoring program will be fully implementedand showing positive results in increased productivity, decreased costs,lowered liability, and improved network performance.FIGURE 9.7Feasibility ReportMemo FormatDescribes problemand backgroundReveals decisionimmediatelyPresents costs andschedule; omitsunnecessarysummaryOutlinesorganizationof the reportEvaluatespositive andnegativeaspects ofproposalobjectivelyFeasibility reports analyzewhether a proposal or plan willwork.