Boston University Remote Working Paper

Audience: Instructor and Peers (Academic)

In business, reports are often based on significant research and are commonly packed with critical details and data. These documents deliver substantive information and analysis that organizations need to plan, produce, evaluate, and advance their work, including major projects. The task for these reports is to study the topic, analyze it, and present the readers the details of your analysis. They are written in objective, impersonal (yet readable) style. This project asks you to write a report for your fellow peers in which you discuss and analyze the current debate or conflict in the business field you researched for Project 1 and provide conclusions about its history, current state, and future.

Project 2 serves many purposes. First, it is intended to give you practice in writing toward a particular audience and working in a particular genre. Second, it aims to build upon the awareness and knowledge of the current state of your discipline. Third, it gives you practice with researching, analyzing sources (critical reading and thinking), and citing in APA format. Fourth, it aims to give you practice digesting large amounts of information into smaller, more succinct sections (something commonly associated with writing in the business professions).

The report should begin with a title page and be organized as follows (again, see template report for formatting specifics):

Introduction:

• State the issue or problem that the report addresses.
• Provide brief background information and the big picture.
• Preview the report’s content, and relate the report’s scope.

Findings:

• Organize your findings section by addressing the background/history, the current state, and the future of your topic.
• Analyze the findings completely, accurately, and appropriately, including all relevant data and excluding all irrelevant data.
• Interpret the findings (discuss their importance and implications) rather than just present them.
• Present the findings using informative, parallel headings to signal the contents of sections.

Conclusion:

• Summarize the main points of the findings and key facts about the problem, issue, or need.
• Draw conclusions that are supported by the evidence in your findings.
• End the report with a sense of completion that conveys an impression that the project is important for your readers—this is known as purpose.

Back Matter:

• At the end of your report include a properly formatted (APA) reference page.
• Include an appendix with additional information, if called for (e.g., figures, tables, etc.).