Writing a Strategic Management Report

This document summarises what I have learnt about report writing in my own career in industry, consultancy and academia. I believe that it constitutes a reasonable guide to good practice. But this is an area in which opinions and practices differ - for example, some people DO like to see the different theoretical models laid out in detail, something that I regard as unnecessary. You are advised to check with your tutor to make sure that what is written here accords with their own requirements and preferences. Adrian Haberberg 2001
Please remember that you are writing a business report and not an academic essay, and that you are writing it for a busy and intelligent manager. More specifically: Do not waste time and paper reproducing information from the case study. In particular, do not bore your "client" with a long history of the organisation you are studying. You should assume that they have read and understood everything in the case study. Your job is to add value to that information. Remember that a report, like any other good piece of writing, tells a story in an interesting and coherent way. There should be a clear flow from one section of your writing to another, and each part of the report should draw upon what has gone before, and feed analysis forward to what follows. Do not assume that, if you write down all the theoretical models one after the other, you have done your job. If all you write is a PEST, followed by a Five Forces Analysis, followed by a SWOT analysis, followed by a., then you will end up with a tedious and repetitive list of unrelated points that will probably not answer the question very well. You need to acquire the ability to select the relevant parts of each analysis (and only the relevant parts) and put them together so as to answer the question you have been set. Avoid jargon. Write simply and concisely, avoiding unnecessary use of theoretical terms (more on this below). Avoid adjectives like "huge", "massive" or "disastrous". Use a number instead "50% growth per year" which makes your analysis seem more considered and credible.

Format
There is no set format for a report, but typically it should contain the following: 1. An Executive Summary. This is, as the name suggests, a summary containing all the main findings and conclusions, so that a busy executive can get a flavour of what the report says and decide whether or not s/he needs to read it all. It is not to be confused with the Introduction (see below) 2. An Introduction. This sets the scene for what is to follow. It should contain: a brief (1-2 paragraphs) summary of the events which have led to the report being written the terms of reference or objective of the report a description of the method the report follows to achieve this objective. This can be thought of as a kind of annotated table of contents, e.g. "In Section 1, we analyse the firms changing environment. In Section 2, we assess your capacity to respond to those changes. In Section 3, we assess the options at your disposal. In Section 4, we present our detailed recommendations and implementation proposals." This signposting is very important in preparing the reader for the delights to come. 3. An analysis of the data in the case, a description of the findings and conclusions from the analysis and your recommendations (if you are asked for them). This does not mean that you need sections or chapters called Data Analysis, Findings and Recommendations. You may want to use jazzier terms than this, and if you are dealing with two or three issues in one report, it may make sense to group the analysis, findings and recommendations on one issue together before tackling the next. Please make sure that the pages are numbered; you are also advised to number the sections in the report. This helps you make cross-references from one part of the report to another, which can help save you words by avoiding repeating in one place what you say again in the next.

Appendices
Appendices are there to supplement the points you make in the main body of your report. They contain data that is useful, but not essential, or they may discuss subsidiary points that are relevant and demonstrate the depth and breadth of your thinking. The reader should not have to look at appendices in order to understand your conclusions and the reasons that you have reached them the main body of the report should contain all the key points and essential supporting evidence. If you need to support your argument with quantitative analysis, the results should be summarised in tables included with the main part of the text. If you do put something into an appendix, it is vital to include, at an appropriate point, a reference to it (e.g. " see Appendix 1" or "Appendix 2 contains a detailed breakeven analysis of our proposals"). If you dont ask people to look at something, dont be surprised if they don't bother!

Graphics
It is good practice to use appropriate charts and figures to summarise data and findings, and you may get extra credit for doing so. However: Make sure that your report makes sense as a stand-alone document. If you use a figure or a chart, make sure that its message is clear - or add some narrative to bring out the point Don't use graphics for their own sake - a pretty chart that says nothing of importance will lose you time and probably marks as well. Simply plotting the firms sales or profit figures on an Excel graph rarely adds anything why not pick out an interesting ratio, like profit margins or sales per employee, and use a graph to show how it has been behaving over time Make sure you use the right kind of graphic for the job. Dont use a pie chart for a time series use a line graph or a bar chart. Flashy presentation is not a substitute for clear thinking. A nice cover and coloured charts may put a few marks on to the grade of a good piece of work, but will not rescue a poor one.

Tables
A well-designed table or matrix is an excellent way of summarising data succinctly, particularly when you are trying to compare things, for example: competition in an industry at different stages in its evolution the features of different products the performance of different firms the resources possessed by a firm with the survival/success factors in an industry the features of different businesses within a diversified corporation. Sometimes, the very process of putting facts side by side in a table will expose important similarities or differences that you had previously overlooked. It may also alert you to gaps in your data or analysis.

Language - keep it simple!

A senior manager is quite likely to be an engineer or accountant with little or no theoretical background in strategy, economics or organisation studies. You should not assume that your reader understands the secret language in which management theory is often encoded. Some concepts, like economies of scale, barriers to entry and core competences, have become part of everyday management vocabulary, but if you start talking about "time compression diseconomies" or "agency costs" then you are unlikely to be understood. You should, of course, use all these concepts when developing your analysis. When you write up your report, however, you have to find simpler ways of expressing your findings. For example, you may have identified a source of cost advantage, a lack of vertical integration in manufacturing, as a distinctive element in a company's value chain. What you say in the report is that the firm "keeps costs low by outsourcing manufacturing to carefully selected partners" - you don't need to mention vertical integration, or even the value chain! If you must use jargon, make sure you use it correctly! Sloppy use of concepts like economies of scale, vertical integration and substitutes is quite common, and will cost you valuable marks.

Make sure it is clear what you are recommending...

If you are asked for a particular decision or recommendation, make sure that it is clearly stated (i.e. not just implied) in the report. You may have come up with fifteen good reasons why the company should enter the market in Utopia, but unless you clearly state that that is what you recommend, you have not fulfilled your brief - and will probably lose marks

...and why
Make sure that, in developing recommendations: You have considered the alternatives. There is hardly ever just one, single "obvious" response to a strategic problem. And bear in mind that, if there is, all the companys competitors will have thought of it, too! You have made it clear why the recommendation you have chosen is the best of the available alternatives. That means showing what is wrong with the others! You have looked at the downside of your proposals. Try to avoid proposals that would bankrupt the company if they failed, or which can be easily copied by the competition.

And finally Make sure that, above all, you submit work that: is intellectually thorough is well structured is coherently and logically argued answers the question.