1) Introduction… The ‘body’ of the report: a presentation of arguments and evidence.
2) Background … The subject of the report, who asked for it, why it has been written.
3) Findings … Practical suggestions for action, often written as a list or bullet point.
4) Conclusion … The context: what has happened up to now and the general situation.
5) Recommendations … A judgment or decision based on the facts and discussion in the ‘body’.
You are a Senior Business Development partner of ABC Company whose sales have been falling steadily across product lines. You have been requested by the Board to review ways to reduce costs across the company, produce a report and circulate the report among all department managers to request them to give their comments by October 14 at the latest.
You analyzed the cause of lower sales and found that the drop in sales is partially due to the economic situation and other reasons including new products that have not generated any excitement amongst consumers, marketing has been unfocussed and the sales force is poorly motivated. Your first recommendation is that the Marketing Team needs to reduce the advertising budget 10% or 15% as you found that they are still spending large sums on ineffective magazine and billboard advertising. The Marketing effort needs to be refocused and move forward with a smaller budget. The second recommendation raised from your finding is that the production cost is too high and it needs productivity improvements to reduce cost of the firm’s inputs so you suggest that they improve productivity and find alternative suppliers. You believe this is easily achievable. You also recommend to Head office that they dismiss a small number of back-office staff in some unpopular areas. The decision on how to proceed in this sensitive matter should be made by Head office.