Business writing incorporates basic principles of effective writing based on proper grammar and composition. The style of formal business papers and reports typically conforms to The Chicago Manual of Style and Turabian's A Manual for Writers of Term Papers, Theses, and Dissertations.

UMUC students should accurately represent sources through footnotes or endnotes, bibliographies, and reference citations. The style of documentation may be left to your personal preference, but all sources must be documented in some fashion, whether notes or references. Whether to document is not left up to personal preference!

For more information on writing for business and management, see Bouves, Courtland L., and John V. Thill. Business Communication Today. 6th ed. New York: Random House, 2000.

Writing a Case Report

Business instructors use case studies to help students integrate theoretical concepts with practical real world occurrences. Realistic problem solving develops and sharpens managerial skills in working with complex problems. Each case analysis requires the following tasks:

1. Identify the major issues, concerns, or problems.
2. Assemble and prioritize relevant facts (not opinions) affecting the issues or problems.
3. Formulate feasible alternative courses of action or possible solutions (usually three or more), describing the advantages and disadvantages of each.
4. Recommend a course of action, comparing the pros and cons described in #3 above. Give a specific rationale for the course of action chosen.
5. Outline a plan for implementing the recommended course of action.

A written case report normally includes identifying information and a summary, followed by the analysis, including the setting, major problems or issues and their consequences, relevant facts and their effects, the list of alternatives and their pros and cons, recommendations with rationale, and plan of implementation. The outline below represents this pattern of organization.

1. Identifying Information
   To:
   From:
   Date:
   Subject:
2. Summary: Concise statement of situation, stating problems, writer's conclusions and recommendations
3. Analysis and Discussion (Steps 1 through 3 above)
4. Recommendations/Plan of Action (Steps 4 and 5 above)

Writing a Research Paper

A research paper should be well-organized, well-written, and include the following components:

1. An introduction clearly stating the research topic and the reason you selected it; the scope and limitations of the paper; issues, questions, and problems to be addressed; and any assumptions you made in writing the report.
2. A body which includes the major and supporting information together with your analysis or explanation of your research findings. Appropriate documentation is expected. Give credit to sources of information that you borrowed, summarized, or quoted.
3. Summary and recommendations which include your opinions on the research findings, specific recommendations, and plan of action.