JoAnn Syverson

Carlson School of Management

University of Minnesota
Title Page
 Name of report (all caps)
 Name, title, organization of receiver
 Author’s name, title, organization
 Date submitted
Table of Contents
 Show beginning page number where each report
heading appears
 Connect page numbers with leaders (spaced dots)
Executive Summary
 One of most important parts of report
 Synopsis (overview) of report
 Concentrate on what management needs to know
 Summarizes
 Purpose
 Scope
 Methodology
 Findings
 Conclusions
 Recommendations
Executive Summary
 Organized same as report
 Style and tone same as report
 Avoid unexplained jargon/abbreviations
 Do not refer to figures/tables presented later
 Should not contain exhibits or footnotes
 Include headings/make skimmable
 Use transitional words
 Length should be generally 1/10 of whole report
Introduction
 Explain problem motivating report
 Describe its background and significance
 Clarify scope and limitations of report
 Describe data sources, methods, key terms
 Close by previewing report’s organization
Body
 Discuss, analyze, interpret research findings
 Arrange findings in logical segments following
outline
 Use clear, descriptive headings/skimmable
Conclusions
 Explain findings in relation to original problem
Recommendations
 Make recommendations on suggested action to be
taken
Appendix
 All items must be referred to in the text and listed on
the table of contents
 Items of interest to some, but not all, readers
 For example, data questionnaires or computer printouts
References
 List all references in section called “Works Cited” or
“References”
 Include all text, online, and live sources
 Follow style manual for citing sources
Single- or double-spaced
About 2500 words (not counting appendix)
Tables of Contents will help you organize and
write report—write early!
Headings of same level must be consistent
 First, second, third levels
Same-level headings must be written
consistently!
(For example)
Level 1: CENTERED UPPER-CASE
Level 2: Centered Upper-case and Lower-case
Level 3: Centered, Underlined, Upper-case and Lower-
case
Level 4: Flush left, Underlined, Upper-case
and Lower-case
Level 5: Indented, underlined, lower-case paragraph
heading ending with a period.
1. Introduce
2. Label/Number/Informative Title
3. Discuss