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520 Writing Recommendation Reports

The easiest way to draft a report is to think of it as consisting of three
sections: the front matter, the body, and the back matter. Table 19.1 shows
the purposes of and typical elements in these three sections.
You will probably draft the body before the front and the back matter.
This sequence is easiest because you think through what you want to say in
the body, and then draft the front and back matter based on it.
If you are writing your recommendation report for readers from another
culture, keep in mind that conventions differ from one culture to another. In
the United States, reports are commonly organized from general to specific.
That is, the most general information (the abstract and the executive sum-
mary) appears early in the report. In many cultures, however, reports are or-
ganized from specific to general. Detailed discussions of methods and results
precede discussions of the important findings.
Similarly, elements of the front and back matter are rooted in culture. For
instance, in some cultures — or in some organizations — writers do not create
executive summaries, or their executive summaries differ in length or orga-

table 19.1 c elements of a typical Report
Section of Typical elements
the report Purposes of the section in the section

Front matter • to orient the reader to the subject • letter of transmittal (p. 523)
• to provide summaries for technical • cover (p. 523)
and managerial readers • title page (p. 524)
• to help readers navigate the report • abstract (p. 524)
• to help readers decide whether to • table of contents (p. 525)
read the document
• list of illustrations (p. 526)
• executive summary (p. 526)
Body • to provide the most comprehensive • introduction (p. 521)
account of the project, from • methods (p. 522)
the problem or opportunity that
motivated it, to the methods and • results (p. 522)
the most important findings • conclusions (p. 522)
• recommendations (p. 522)
Back matter • to present supplementary • glossary (p. 530)
information, such as more-detailed • list of symbols (p. 530)
explanations than are provided in
the body • references (p. 531)
• appendixes (p. 531)
• to enable readers to consult the
secondary sources the writers used

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