Chapter 16  Business Reports

Section 1  Introduction

Reports take many forms and lengths, but common purpose to gather, process, evaluate and disseminate information

Aims of chapter: to understand structure of short reports, sections to be typically included, and the language of reports

 

 

Section 2   Specimen Documents
Specimen 1

Report on the Staff Canteen (员工餐厅) at Whesson Ltd.

 

1. Terms of Reference

On 10 October 2012, the HR Manager asked the undersigned, John Partridge and Moira Smith, to investigate the services provided by the staff canteen at Whesson Ltd., as some dissatisfaction had been expressed for a considerable time by its users. We were instructed to look into the services and physical space of the canteen, report our findings and make appropriate recommendations for improvement.

 

2. Procedure

We visited the canteen twice daily during the coffee breaks and lunch breaks over a three-week period from 15 October to 7 November 2012 and observed the way the canteen was organized and operated, making notes on the services provided. We examined the food and drink for quantity and quality and interviewed personnel who were taking coffee and lunch there.

 

3. Findings

3.1 Provision of Food

The quality of the food. We had lunch every day for three weeks and interviewed the personnel. All agreed that the quality of the food on offer was consistently good.

The quantity of the food. The size of the portions was adequate on most occasions, but the lunch was sometimes rather small and especially the meat portions were sometimes inadequate.

 

 

Specimen 1 (Cont.1)

The distribution of the food. Staff who wanted only coffee or tea or a snack had to join the general lunch queue and had to wait for some minutes to be served. There was typically only one person serving all the refreshments and food and this resulted sometimes in a wait of 10 minutes to be served. There were many complaints from the staff who wanted only a hot drink and/or snack, and many staff complained about the waiting time to be served lunch.

 

 3.2 Seating

 The size of the canteen. The seating area is only 16m by 6m. This seemed sufficient in the lunch break and at other times, but in the morning coffee break there were not enough seats for everyone, which resulted in an overspill into the corridor outside.

The seating. At lunchtime, everyone was able to find a table space, but sometimes there was a lack of chairs. The tables are also placed rather close together, so the movement of chairs, and in some cases, getting into a chair, were difficult.

Specimen 1 (Cont.2)

4. Conclusions

4.1 Provision of food

Although the meals were well cooked, they were sometimes inadequate and the portions, especially the meat portions, too small. Moreover, because of poor serving arrangements, many staff were kept waiting far too long to be served.

 

4.2 Seating

The floor space in the canteen was sufficient overall, but the seating arrangement was not adequate at peak periods, especially at the morning coffee break and to some extent at lunchtime.

 

5. Recommendations

5.1 Portion size (份量)

It is recommended that there should be an increase in the size of the portions, especially the meat portions.

 

5.2 Serving arrangements

Extra staff should be employed in the serving of food, and arrangements made for a separate queue for drinks and snacks during the lunch hour. There should be one line for hot food and full-scale lunches and another for drinks, sandwiches, cakes and other snacks.

 

5.3 Tables

The distribution of the food. Staff who wanted only coffee or tea or a snack had to join the general lunch queue and had to wait for some minutes to be served. There was typically only one person serving all the refreshments and food and this resulted sometimes in a wait of 10 minutes to be served. There were many complaints from the staff who wanted only a hot drink and/or snack, and many staff complained about the waiting time to be served lunch.

 

5.4 Staggered breaks

We recommend that the management of Whesson Ltd also consider the possibility of organizing the breaks for different departments at different times, which would then relieve congestion and also cut waiting times in the canteen.

 

 

15 November 2012 J. Partridge M. Smith staggered breaks Specimen 1 (Cont.3)

5.3 Tables

The distribution of the food. Staff who wanted only coffee or tea or a snack had to join the general lunch queue and had to wait for some minutes to be served. There was typically only one person serving all the refreshments and food and this resulted sometimes in a wait of 10 minutes to be served. There were many complaints from the staff who wanted only a hot drink and/or snack, and many staff complained about the waiting time to be served lunch.

 

5.4 Staggered breaks

We recommend that the management of Whesson Ltd also consider the possibility of organizing the breaks for different departments at different times, which would then relieve congestion and also cut waiting times in the canteen.

 

15 November 2012 J. Partridge  M. Smith staggered breaks

Specimen 2

Report on Sales of JWB Electric Fences for Year ending December 2011

 

As requested in your memo of 15 March 2012, I am sending you a brief report on the decline in sales of JWB cattle fencing systems over the past five years, and in particular the past year, 2011, together with my recommendations for turning round this trend. My findings are based on data received from your own company, market reports, my own observation and experience of the EU markets over the past five years and a questionnaire sent to EU farmers in November 2012.

 

Total sales and turnover in the EU area are summarized in the Appendix to this report. As you will see from the data and my more detailed comments there, the figures show a gradual decrease in demand, which has accelerated particularly fast over the past year. Under the present market conditions, no upturn in sales is foreseen in the near future.

 

The data reveals that the following factors may be operating to cause the decline in sales:

There has been an overall reduction in demand. This is probably because the market in the EU is at near-saturation point and farmers will only buy to replace existing equipment. EU subsidies have enabled farmers to purchase hi-tech equipment, and your company may well have to look outside the EU to increase sales significantly in the future.

There has been an increase in the intensive rearing of cattle, so that the demand for outdoor fencing is being proportionately reduced. Only a change in EU farming policy is likely to change this situation.

Intensified competition from low cost manufacturers from outside Europe has led to decreased sales around the world and also to some extent in Europe.

Specimen 2 (Cont.)

My research has shown that EU farmers lack awareness of JWB agricultural machinery. Less than 50% of the respondents to the questionnaire had heard of JWB and most had little knowledge of the product range and the high quality of the products.

A detailed analysis and discussion of the data and questionnaire results are contained in the Appendix to this report. Based on these, my recommendations are as follows:

Market diversification. Two areas where use of JWB fencing systems can be promoted are in zoos, particularly private zoos, where the animals are semi-domesticated, and in market gardens, where vegetable and fruit growers could use the fences to keep wild animals out.

Price revision. JWB has unsuccessfully tried to compete on price with Asian competitors: this has not worked and will not work in the future. JWB should consider improving the quality features of the equipment and re-branding with a higher price and marketing the products appropriately.

Advertising. Since JWB products are not widely known in the EU, we suggest a marketing and promotion campaign, starting with advertising in the agricultural press. An outlay of 25, 000€ would pay for a series of half-page adverts in the EU farming press and would yield good results.

 

27 February, 2012 JS/MR The appendix is omitted here.