Components of Business Documents

“When is it appropriate to submit a report in business?” Compare 3 types of business documents, look at the components of each and recommend the ideal business scenario for each.

Executive Summary

A business report is a written document, which provides comprehensive information and specific topic for a business purpose. The study investigated about definition, content and purpose of a business report. The study consisted of an analysis of three types of business documents and the ideal business scenario for each, and was based on information collected from a variety of sources: textbook, books and the Internet.

1. Introduction

A business report is a written document, which constitutes comprehensive information and specific topic for a significant business purpose.

The purpose of a business report is typically used to make plans for the future, assist in decision-making, and propose a business idea.

There are various types of reports that depending on different situations such as: informational reports, analytical reports, research reports and so on.

The report is divided into two main sections: a Findings section, which presents information about three types of business documents, and a Recommendations section that provides specific suggestion about using each of business documents in distinct situations.

1. Types of business documents
   1. Emails

An email is considered as a form of business communication that is fast and convenient for everyone to use. They just need to access to the Internet to send and receive documents via emails. Business emails are generally brief, positive and professional.

There are various benefits for people to use the email. It is a useful medium that can reach anywhere in the world after few minutes of being sent. With the available of the Internet, it can be connected quickly through laptops, computers or smart phones and can be sent fast to many people at the same time. Beside, the writers can send combinable emails that have text, pictures, videos and sounds. They also can attach documents or other files to the email. Nowadays, more enterprises are using email communications as an effectively communicational tool that helps them to share necessary information with customers, employees, and prospects.

However, there are some disadvantages to take into consideration to use the email efficiently. Firstly, it is quiet difficult to discriminate between casual and formal emails because of their similar layout. Secondly, it takes us a lot of time to deal with spam and may cause information overload. It has some difficulty in solving viruses that affect an organization’s online systems. Moreover, it can lead to interactive obstacle and decrease relationship building in environmental working. Finally, it also may lead to misunderstandings because the receivers just can read without knowing the writer’s tone and expression.

There are six common types of email: instruction emails, request emails, announcement emails, transmittal emails, authorization emails and confirmation emails.

1. Memorandums

A memorandum is brief summary used as a means of internal communication. It provides suggestions, conveys information, seeks explanation and may solve problems. It includes detailed information on routine activities of an organization and is used by many companies for distinct purposes.

The body of the memo is a short piece of writing that has numbered paragraphs and contains the subject sentence. It has a specific structure and is written in Plain English to show an actual, objective description of the topic with readers.

Memos can be sent accurately to many receivers with just a single click. It provides a snapshot of what is happening in a workplace at a particular point and who is involved in company activities. It is considered as a written record or evidence of communication for reference. Therefore, managers and employees can refer to the memo to solve problems when they have a contradiction. In addition, memos are usually be short and to the point that enable the writer to disseminate information logically.

One of the disadvantages of memos is lack of explanation. Because of the concise form, the readers sometime cannot understand clearly about the main content of the memo. It also can lead to the lack of formality because memos provide only informal communication.

There are six types of memos: instruction emails, request emails, announcement emails, transmittal emails, authorization emails, confirmation emails.

1. Report

A report, whether long or short, shows comprehensive information on a specific issue. It provides specific information that help managers in making a decision, controlling progress or planning for the future action.

Business reports play a vital role in conveying information to everyone in an organization. It is necessary management tool for managers to make a decision and resolve problems. Reports not only transmit internal information but also supply important information for customers, shareholders, agencies, suppliers and so on. Moreover, reports are used to develop information base in a company in two main ways: Firstly, day-to-day information is recorded endlessly for writing reports. Secondly, the saved reports will be used for future reference. By these ways, reports assist in boosting a secure information base.

Although there is no doubt that reports are useful management tool, they also have several drawbacks. One of limitations of reports is cost of valuable time and money. Sometimes, reports become misunderstanding because it is not interact and the readers cannot give questions and get feedback.

The viability of establishing a new salon was considered in relation to two broad areas the mega environment and the task environment (Bartol et al. 2008). Each of these areas is discussed below.