HANDBOOK OF DECISION REPORTS

Structuring and Presenting the Decision Report

A decision report can be structured and presented effectively in multiple ways. However, it is
insisted that the structure given below should be followed as this process involves a rational
decision making.

1. Situation Analysis
2. The Problem Statement
3. The Options
4. Criteria for Evaluation
5. Evaluation of Options
6. The Recommendation
7. Action Plan
8. Contingency Plan
9. Exhibits (if any)

The report should also have a cover page, a letter of transmittal, an executive summary, and a
content page, respectively. The preliminary pages are not to be listed on the content page. A
brief description of each of these are given below.

The Preliminary Pages

Cover Page

The cover page ought to contain-

 Title of the Report (Title of the Case)

 Title of the Course
 Names of the Instructor
 Own Name/Names, Section, and Date of Submission

Letter of Transmittal (LoT)

The LoT is a cover note addressed to the reader of the report. It gives an overview of the
contents of the report and the key recommendation. If the report is for an internal reader

33
(such as the author’s superior), it will follow the memo format. Otherwise, the letter format is
followed.

Executive Summary

The executive summery is a miniature report. It contains the first six out of the nine parts of a
report, mentioned above. The ES should not exceed ten percent of the full report. (At the end
of the ES, the number of words used should be indicated).

Contents Page

As the Decision reports are very short (the word limit is normally 1000, plus or minus 10
percent), a separate content page is not necessary. However, providing a content page will
develop the habit of providing one for the longer reports as well. Page numbering in the main
report is compulsory to make the contents page meaningful.

The Report

Situation Analysis (SA)

The entire report is built upon the SA. It exhibits the reading or the analysis of the situation. It
should not be a description of the situation nor a summary of the case facts. The focus should
be on the facts that are relevant for decision making and indicate the relationships that can be
perceived between those facts. In more specific terms, the relationships are to be discerned
are of the cause-effect type. What factor or combination of factors, under what circumstances,
could have possibly led to an observed phenomenon? While structuring the situation analysis,
it should be remembered that merely stating facts is not sufficient. Drawing the analysis from
the same is crucial.

The Problem Statement (PS)

This is where one has to articulate briefly and precisely the problem facing the protagonist for
which a course of action has to be developed. The common-sense understanding of the word
‘problem’ is something that is harmful or undesirable and needing to be ‘solved’. In the
rational decision making framework, the term ‘problem’ is understood in a broader sense- as
a gap between what is desired and what exists, or between what would be expected in the
normal course of events and what has been achieved. Hence, the current state is being
compared with a desired state. In other words, the desired state implies an objective, a state
that may be explicitly articulated in a business situation or may to be derived from the

34
situation analysis. This focus on objectives is the first aspect of the rationality that underpins
the rational decision making framework. Identify the problem sharply and correctly to
address the cause of the deviation or gap that constitutes the problem. Make the problem
statement brief and crisp. The structuring of more complex problems will be further
discussed, so that such problems may be broken down into their component parts, each of
which may have multiple answer options or alternative courses of action.

The Options

In decision Reports, the focus is on problems that can be countered by multiple options,
thereby forcing one to choose the best course of action. The options or alternatives available
to the decision-make can be many, but credible options, those that have a reasonable chance
of being adopted, may be few in number. There are two important points about alternatives.
First, the fact that one has to make a choice between competing alternatives, means that the
alternatives are mutually exclusive. The phrases ‘decision dilemma’ or ‘decision problem’
imply that one has to choose one course of action from among a number of alternatives, each
of which may have a set of positives and negatives. Second, to make a choice, certain criteria
or yardsticks are needed. The use of criteria to evaluate options constitutes the second aspect
of the rationality underpinning the rational decision making framework.

Criteria for Evaluation

When faced with different options, to identify the best, one has to develop criteria and
evaluate each option against the generated criteria. Criteria are norms that an option should
meet for it to be adopted as the solution. These criteria are not universal; they stem from the
analysis of a given situation. Identifying the best option is relatively simple if there is just one
criterion. If there are multiple criteria, they should be prioritised first. In other words, arrange
them in the order of which criteria is more important and which criteria is less important. If
an option fails the most important criterion, it cannot be adopted even if it meets all the other

criteria. The number of criteria should be restricted to three or four. Too many criteria rob
the writer of the space to argue cogently on an issue. The framing and prioritization of criteria
stems from the analysis of the situation. One may need to justify the prioritization unless it is
obvious.

35
Evaluation of Options

Once the criteria are prioritised, apply them to ALL the options identified. It is not enough to
apply these to just one of the most promising options for the evaluation to appear sound and
objective.

The Recommendation

Recommendation is the option that has met all the identified criteria. If none of the options
meet the requirements of all the criteria, the option that meets most of the criteria, especially
the most important ones, is the one that is supposed to be recommended to the decision-
maker. If the options do not meet the criteria, one has to back to the analysis of the situation,
generate more options, and repeat the process and then write the report. Good planning must
address this issue.

Action Plan

A decision which is not backed by an action plan is incomplete. Once the process of
recommendation is completed, it is followed by how to implement it through drawing up a
list of actions. This helps in thinking through the consequences of the recommendation and at
times forces one to revise it. A well laid-out action plan helps the reader take the
recommendation seriously and adopt it without hesitation.

Contingency Plan

With the action plan, the report is technically complete. But it is suggested to go an extra
mile. Anticipate things that may go wrong when recommendation is put into action.one needs
to suggest what to do in such cases of contingency. This forms the contingency plan. The
contingency plan should NOT be an adaptation of one of the rejected options.

A good contingency plan enhances the report. However, one should not look for outlandish
contingencies just to fill on a slot in the report. While it is advised to suggest a contingency
plan, it is not a mandate.

Exhibits

36
Exhibits are tables, charts, graphs, worksheets, and other similar collections of data which
support the argument in the report. Incorporating such data as running text in the report may
make the report unnecessarily lengthy and less readable. Some reports may not have exhibits
while others may have several.

Exhibits should be given brief, explanatory titles and should be numbered according to the
order in which they are mentioned in the body of the report. If there are only one or two small
exhibits, they can be placed within the body of the report, close to where they are mentioned.
But if the exhibits are many, they should be placed at the end of the report in the same order
as they have been mentioned in the body of the report. The decision of where to place the
exhibits should be based on readability.

The discussions, analysis and interpretations should not be placed in the exhibits; these
should be a part of the main body of the report. Orphan exhibits should also not be provided-
tables and charts that are not mentioned in the body of the report. Do remember to include all
the exhibits that are mentioned in the report.

Exhibits need to be prepared and presented as follows:

Style for presentation of exhibits-

 Select suitable font size and line spacing so that the exhibits are legible, make sense
and look tidy.
 Number all exhibits in the order in which they appear in the text and give each of
them short, descriptive title. In other words, the first exhibit to be mentioned in the
text is numbered one, the next two, and so on. (If there is only one exhibit, it is just
called Exhibit; it is not numbered, but it must have a title.)
 Present exhibits in the serial number order.
 Avoid splitting exhibit into two pages when it is small enough to fit into one. If it
cannot, break it sensibly. Number and title the exhibit and (Contd.) next to it. For
example- Exhibit 3 (Contd.).
 Mention the appropriate unit of measurement for qualities shown in the exhibit.
 Place a heading for every column and every row.
 Right-align columns with numbers.
 If ‘verbal’ exhibits are used, their words will be counted towards the word limit.
 State the assumptions made and the formulae used in the calculations in the exhibit.

37
  Provide an explanation behind arriving at the numbers used in the exhibit unless the
numbers are copied from the case. Also, specify the method used to interpret and
analyse the data.
 If shading, colouring or other means are used to distinguish data in pie charts, graphs,
bar graphs, etc., it should be remembered that the printed copy may not have as sharp
demarcations as seen an the soft copy.

Writing and Submitting Assignments

A. Writing

Collaboration with fellow students

Do not copy from other groups. Also, do not let anyone else copy from your report.

Academic Integrity

For the purpose of the course, participants will be expected to maintain academic integrity
by adequately and appropriately acknowledging the use of others’ ideas and words. A
participant will be guilty of violation of academic integrity if he/she-

 Represents the work of others as his/her own

 Uses material (written or graphic) from elsewhere in his/her own work without
following due procedures of quotation and acknowledging the source.
 Presents an edited or paraphrased version of someone else’s work as his or her
own
 Attributes to a source referenced material which was not in fact obtained from that
source
 Submits for evaluation or for meeting course requirements work which is not the
result of his/her own thought and effort and which is not in his/her own words.
(Except for quotation, duly acknowledged).

If a participant is in doubt regarding any matter relating to the standards of academic

integrity in a given assignment, he/she is required to consult with the faculty member
responsible for the course before presenting the work.

Length

38
The maximum number of words to be used in the main text excluding any exhibits is
specified foe each assignment. There is a penalty of a sub-grade for exceeding the word
limit.

At the end of the body of the report, please indicate the total number of words that have
been used. Similarly, at the end of the executive summary, indicate the number of words
that have been used.

Acknowledgements

Borrowing ideas from external sources is quite a common practice in managerial and
scholarly writing. But borrowing without acknowledging the source of the idea is plain
stealing. The ideas that are borrowed must be acknowledged.

There are a number of ways in which borrowings are acknowledged or cited. The most
common style followed in managerial field is that of APA (American Psychological
Association).for Decision reports, this style will be followed.

B. Submission of Assignments

Details will be provided during the classroom sessions.

39
Wampers Manufacturing and Supplyz

A Report submitted to

Dr. Diti Vyas

Adani Institute of Infrastructure Management, Ahmedabad

July 8, 2020

In partial fulfilment of the requirement of the course

Written analysis and communication

By

Student Name

Roll Number

40
41