5 Guide for report writing
Author: Verena Stingl
5.1 Structuring your report
While there are many ways to structure your report, there is typically an underlying logic related to how you “tell a compelling story” in any of these reports. The typical story flow is the following:
Story flow
5.2 General recommendations
A report is not a mystery novel. Never leave the reader wondering why they are reading about some topic or why they should care. That means:
Start your report on point with introducing the specific problem area, and what makes that area problematic. E.g. “Day-to-day delivery operations operate under high fluctuations in demand. This variability creates challenges for both efficient stock keeping and staff planning, when actual needs are known less than 24h before they should be met.”
Give an outlook how you will help understand and overcome the challenge, i.e. what the reader can expect to get out of this report.
When you introduce a new section or theme, tell the reader why this is important - especially in the “literature” or “theory” section. E.g. “Day-to-day delivery operations can cope with demand fluctuation through three approaches: improving forecasts, working with buffers, or increasing flexibility in their processes. In the following we are introducing these three approaches and under which condition they are sensible strategies, and thereafter will discuss them in the context of our case company.”
5.3 Define your golden thread (rød tråd)
This should ideally be done before starting detail writing and make sure that it does not make twists and loops. A report should have a clear argumentative structure, that means:
If a section does not help the reader to understand better what the problem is, what you did to tackle it, or what your problem solution really is, it probably has no place in the report.
If a section requires knowledge from later in the report to be understandable, it is probably badly placed
If you cannot formulate a conclusion regarding the current section that will build a bridge to what you will tell in the next section(s), it is probably not necessary to have that section.
If a section repeats what has been written earlier in the report, you should probably cut down on the redundancies
5.4 Create signposts
It is massively helpful for the flow of the text to start a section with a purpose statement, and conclude it with some sort of summary. However, there are good and bad ways to do it.
Good ways to start provide the reader with a frame in which they can “mentally” place the details provided later in the section. Bad ways just state the obvious and take up space. For example:
BAD way to start a section: “The purpose of this section is to introduce the methodology and give an overview of the collected data.” does not tell you anything that a section header could have implied; does not connect to what has been written before.
GOOD way to start a section: “To investigate this problem further, we relied on a combination of qualitative and quantitative data collection methods that provided insights on the current warehousing practices. Specifically we…” \(\rightarrow\) links to the previous section (i.e. the problem introduced before), gives an outlook on what will be covered (“qualitative and quantitative data collection methods”) and why this is relevant (to understand more about the current warehousing practices).
Good ways to end provide the reader with a reminder of the most important points of the section, and how it relates both to the general theme and to what will come after. Bad ways, again, just state the obvious and take up space. For example:
BAD way to end a section: “In this section we have presented the theory on forecasting, buffering, and flexible process design.” \(\rightarrow\) tells nothing more than a section heading would have told you. Does not build a bridge to the next section.
GOOD way to end a section: “Each of the discussed approaches for dealing with demand fluctuation comes with specific advantages and disadvantages that are dependent on the context of the organization. In the following section we will discuss how these approaches could be relevant for the case of [case company].” \(\rightarrow\) Highlights what the important points of the theory section were (applicability of the different approaches is dependent on context) and links to whats coming next (using the newly build understanding of which approach can succeed where to analyse the options of the case company)
5.5 Use precise and professional language
Colloquialisms can take attention away from otherwise thorough work and can make the report appear unprofessional. A great resource for finding the right words is the “Academic Phrasebank” by Manchester University: https://www.phrasebank.manchester.ac.uk/
5.6 Make convincing claims
Especially in the introduction, you have to make claims about the case company or the industry that they are working in, for example regarding trends, or specific challenges or problems. In this section you want to persuade the reader that they should care, so make sure that your claims are convincing and specific (e.g. by using numbers or quotes instead of mere descriptions and by referencing to trustworthy sources). For example:
Unconvincing claim: “Demand in construction material has skyrocketed” What does “skyrocket” mean? Where and when has demand increased? What’s covered by construction material?
Convincing claim: "Due to increased home renovations during the Corona pandemic, the demand for construction material in Denmark has increased by X% (of sales volume in DKK) in Q1 2021 compared to Q1 2020 (REFERENCE TO SOURCE). While all types of construction material have seen a rise in demand, the groups [material 1], [material 2] and [material 3] have had the highest increase by X%, Y%, and Z%."
Unconvincing claim: “The most important aspect to manage when introducing green policies are social issues” What is meant by “social issues” and “green policies?” Who does the managing? Why exactly is it important (and more so than other aspects)?
Convincing claim: “To reduce overall green-house gas emissions within a society, policies need to address technological, economic, and social issues (REFERENCE TO RELIABLE SOURCE). Social issues here refer to the potential (negative) consequences of these policies for some groups within society, or all people in society. Fears of such negative consequences could trigger substantial civil opposition to these policies, even as technological solutions become increasingly available. Acknowledging this risk, EU commission’s vice-president Frans Timmermans recently stated in an interview with the Guardian ‘[We] should make the social issue the pivotal issue in all of this. [..] This could become the biggest stumbling block’ (REFERENCE TO INTERVIEW).”
5.7 Filling the pages is not the goal
You will not be given a higher grade for filling all of your allocated pages with pointless text. You will also not be penalised if you can get your message across clearly in fewer pages.
5.8 Don’t try to save the world
You only need to address one well-scoped problem, and address it in a manner that is reasonable in relation to your time and skill. Thus, you will have to make decisions on what aspects of the problem area you focus on, and which areas you will not tackle in your project.
Similar you will make decisions regarding which solution paths to follow and which to abandon. Clearly articulate your decisions, mention briefly those aspects/solutions that you are aware of but have decided not to investigate (either in the problem definition and/or in the discussion). Don’t write long theoretical sections on issues/approaches that were out of scope for you! For example:
In the problem statement: "There are a number of known barriers to the adoption of digital technologies in manufacturing, typically grouped as technical, structural, and cultural barriers [REFERENCE]. For this project, we focus only on technical barriers in our solution development. However, we will consider potential implications of structural and cultural barriers in the discussion of this report."
Concluding the theory section: “Advanced forecasting techniques can be a promising approach to manage demand fluctuation in context where [CONTEXTS WHERE IT WORKS]. However, as we have described in the company background, [case company]’s demand is driven by [DIFFERENT FACTORS]. Thus, we will focus instead on approaches related to increasing the process flexibility as an alternative approach to handle their daily demand fluctuations.”
In the discussion: “Our project has helped to identify the main technological barriers for the adoption of [technology X] in [case company]. We have made several propositions how to overcome these technological barriers in moving forward in their digitalization, such as [EXAMPLES]. However, our propositions have not yet considered structural and cultural barriers, such as the fit of the technology with current processes and business models, or potential fear of changes related to the digitalization. Thus, in developing implementation plans for these propositions, we advise [case company] to investigate into potential barriers related to their organizational structure and culture. Specifically, throughout our project, we have noted [… your thoughts on these other barriers]”
5.9 Reading & revising is just as important as writing
I will of course read and comment on your report, but I will never go to the detail level that you can provide to each other (and I will not re-read sections on which I have commented earlier in the project). So set time aside to read the sections of your colleagues (or assign one or two of the group members the role of reviewer). Read critically against questions such as:
Is the golden thread (rød tråd) clear?
Does the argument have a logical structure?
Are the claims convincing?
Is the language appropriate?
Is there text that serves no purpose?
Then give constructive feedback – be specific and give examples (and be nice). For example:
“In the second paragraph you introduce [Theme X] but it is a bit unclear how this connects to the paragraph before. Maybe you could add…”
“I remember we had a quote from the production manager, we could use it to strengthen the argument you make here..”