Countless numbers of people have spent countless numbers of hours trying to categorize the various types of reports. There are:-
Factually, it is not rudely important which tag is placed on a report so long as the report is construct according to good report-writing principles and helps management to solve a business problem. If a report assignment is well made, the report writer knows not only the type report. When you are asked to write a report, the person making the assignment should specify the purpose of the report that is you should be told
Whether you should merely supply data.
Whether you should make some analysis or interpretation of the data
Whether you should go a little further and specify some action.
Dawe and Lord categorize report at these three stages.
Informational report
Interpretative report
Analytical report
Report concerning proposed nationwide expansion of a company will differ greatly from a report on the adoption of a new caretaker service for the company.
A report may be classified effectively under the two major headings of formal and informal. The corporate annual report is the third category which we will look into respectively.
Whether a report should be formal, informal, or somewhere in between in determined by one or more of several factors. Surrounded by these factors are :- size and or complexity of the research effort; company policy regarding reporting and report writing: cost of the research effort upon which the report is based method of funding, especially if government or foundation funds are used; relationship of the superior to the subordinate. You will usually want a record of everything connected with the project from definition of the problem thought the research to the final write-up of the result.
Within the limits specified b company policy, the superior-subordinate relationship and the need for written “evidence” will sometimes determine the degree of formality/informality that can be permitted. As with any form of communication, a report must be prepared in terms of the decoder. The audience to whom a report is directed and the relationship of that and the type of data that must be available to help management make a decision and the amount and type of documentation that must then be kept on file to support that decision will help determine the type of report as well.
Sometimes company policy specifies what type report should be written. Obviously, this solves one problem for the writer. If is impossible to predict what name a company should give a particular type of report or what format (to be discussed in the next section) a company will require.
CORPORATE ANNUAL REPORT
The corporate annual report is a type needing special attention here.