Business reports: introduction
time to complete: 20-25 minutes
As we have mentioned earlier, reports in the social sciences can have different purposes and structures. It is important that you check your briefing carefully to make sure your work complies with the requirements of the task. An essential decision that you need to make is whether you will approach the task in a deductive or an inductive way:
- In a deductive, or direct, approach, the recommendations and conclusions appear in the beginning and justifications for recommendations are provided in the body of the report.
- In an inductive, or indirect, approach you will present the discussion first followed by recommendations and conclusions.
Adapted from Victoria Business School (2017)
Think about the approach that you would like to follow before creating an outline for your report. Or, perhaps check with your tutors or in your handbook/assignment brief to see which approach you are required to take.
The introduction
Let’s start by looking at the introduction section of a business report . In this section, you typically include the following elements (Emerson, 1995):
- Brief description of the context
- Presentation of the problem/ issue to be discussed
- Explanation of the specific questions/ areas that you address
- Outline of the report
- Any limitations of your report
NOTE: You might not be required to include some of these elements, so always check with your department’s requirements. Sometimes, it depends on the aims/objectives of the report or its length (word count).
We are going to look at the introduction of a business report and identify its elements. Keep in mind that you will be working with authentic student writing, and though it is of high standard, there will always be room for improvement.
Task: Read the introduction below and identify which elements it includes:
- Brief description of the context
- Presentation of the topic/ issue to be discussed
- Explanation of the specific questions/ areas that you address
- Outline of the report
- Any limitations of your report
Emap’s Launch of Grazia Magazine
Grazia is Britain’s first weekly glossy magazine which has recently been launched onto the UK market. It is based on the upmarket Italian Grazia published by the market leading Mondadori Group, from whom Emap has secured a license for the title. In a similar manner to the Italian publication Grazia UK will be targeted at the ‘elegant up-market women aged between 25 and 45’.
Its characteristics include the usual “glossy arra of fashion and lifestyle news accompanied by high-end advertising in the beauty and cosmetic markets” (Media Week, Emap confirms Grazia launch). Grazia’s launch in the UK market is bold and innovative and is likely to expand the market bringing something new to readers and advertisers. Emap’s partnership with Mondadori Group has guaranteed Grazia UK a favoured position with the likes of Armani and Prada.
Adapted from the British Academic Written English corpus via Flax
The introduction includes a brief description of the context as it is evident in the factual information presented. The topic is indicated in the title and some words, but the introduction does not provide an explanation, outline or limitations. Interestingly, the writer has used some evaluative language, which shows her positive view.
Emap’s Launch of Grazia Magazine
Grazia is Britain’s first weekly glossy magazine which has recently been launched onto the UK market. It is based on the upmarket Italian Grazia published by the market leading Mondadori Group, from whom Emap has secured a license for the title. In a similar manner to the Italian publication Grazia UK will be targeted at the ‘elegant up-market women aged between 25 and 45’.
Its characteristics include the usual “glossy arra of fashion and lifestyle news accompanied by high-end advertising in the beauty and cosmetic markets” (Media Week, Emap confirms Grazia launch). Grazia’s launch in the UK market is bold and innovative and is likely to expand the market bringing something new to readers and advertisers. Emap’s partnership with Mondadori Group has guaranteed Grazia UK a favoured position with the likes of Armani and Prada.
How could we improve the introduction? Perhaps, by adding an explanation of the question/area to be discussed and an outline of the report. Let’s practise that by doing the following task.
Task: Read the introduction again as well as the headings of the report. Use the headings to help you write a few sentences that explain the question/area to be discussed and offer an outline. Then, compare with our suggested answer.
Emap’s Launch of Grazia Magazine
Grazia is Britain’s first weekly glossy magazine which has recently been launched onto the UK market. It is based on the upmarket Italian Grazia published by the market leading Mondadori Group, from whom Emap has secured a license for the title. In a similar manner to the Italian publication Grazia UK will be targeted at the ‘elegant up-market women aged between 25 and 45’.
Its characteristics include the usual “glossy arra of fashion and lifestyle news accompanied by high-end advertising in the beauty and cosmetic markets” (Media Week, Emap confirms Grazia launch). Grazia’s launch in the UK market is bold and innovative and is likely to expand the market bringing something new to readers and advertisers. Emap’s partnership with Mondadori Group has guaranteed Grazia UK a favoured position with the likes of Armani and Prada.
Grazia’s Target Consumer Market
Market Research
The Competition
Marketing Mix
E-marketing
Post sales performance
Conclusion
Emap’s Launch of Grazia Magazine
Grazia is Britain’s first weekly glossy magazine which has recently been launched onto the UK market. It is based on the upmarket Italian Grazia published by the market leading Mondadori Group, from whom Emap has secured a license for the title. In a similar manner to the Italian publication Grazia UK will be targeted at the ‘elegant up-market women aged between 25 and 45’.
Its characteristics include the usual “glossy arra of fashion and lifestyle news accompanied by high-end advertising in the beauty and cosmetic markets” (Media Week, Emap confirms Grazia launch). Grazia’s launch in the UK market is bold and innovative and is likely to expand the market bringing something new to readers and advertisers. Emap’s partnership with Mondadori Group has guaranteed Grazia UK a favoured position with the likes of Armani and Prada.
The aim of this report is to explore the marketing strategy employed by Emap when launching Grazia in the UK. This report starts by introducing the product’s target market and the market research. The third section provides a brief account of the competition followed by an exploration of the 4 Ps of marketing mix. The next section explores the e-marketing followed by a brief analysis on the sales performance. The report finishes with a summary of the key ideas explored.