A study on difficulties in writing reports in sales department of tien vinh trading investment limited liability company

ABSTRACT
In this paper, I describe my interaction as an English practitioner with my
supervisor Vu Thi Thanh Hoa M.A who had many valuable experiences in English
Faculty. This thesis presents and assesses the difficulties in writing reports in Sales
Department of Tien Vinh Trading Investment Limited Liability Company to help
them have a general understanding of business reports and identify the common
problems while writing a business report.
Experimental and quantitative approaches are employed in this study with
multivariate statistical analysis steps and my valuable experiences within internship.
From the results of the analysis, it can be included that business reports play a vital
part in international business and the difficulties as well as errors of writing a
business report are completely easily resolved.
In addition, the research results also show some suggestions for improving
English business reports writing skills as well as indicate the limitations of the
research.
Key words: Report, Business Reports, Writing a Business Report, Structure
of a business report.

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ACKNOWLEDGEMENT
A completed study would not be done without any assistance. Therefore, I
gratefully give acknowledgement to their support and motivation during the time of
doing this research as a requirement of completing my Degree of English Business.
First of all, I am very grateful to Nguyen Thi Thanh Huyen M.A, the Dean of
English Faculty and all of my beloved teachers whose helpful lectures on the field
of valuable knowledge have enlightened the arguments in this study.
In particular, I would like to express my endless thanks and gratefulness to my
supervisor Vu Thi Thanh Hoa, M.A. Her kindly support and continuous advices
went through the process of completion of my thesis. Her encouragement and

comments had significantly enriched and improved my work. Without her
motivation and instructions, the thesis would have been impossible to be done
effectively.
My thesis has been done by contribution of all relevant staff. So far, I would like to
thanks to groups who took charge in the process of data collection and data entry for
doing this research as a part of the project. I also acknowledge my thankfulness to
all respondents at Sales Department of Tien Vinh Trading Investment Limited
Liability Company where data would be collected for their valuable time, kind
assistances and support in participating in the surveys
Besides, I take this opportunity to express my indebtedness to my parents for their
endless love, care and have most assistances and motivation me for the whole of my
life.
Finally, I wish to thank my readers for their interest and comments on this study.
Ha Noi, April 22nd 2018
Student
Tran Thi Kieu

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TABLE OF CONTENTS

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LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS
1

4

CO.,LTD

Limited Liability Company


LIST OF TABLES AND FIGURES
Table 1.

Parts of speech errors

Figure 3.3.1

Grammar errors in writing business reports

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CHAPTER 1: OVERVIEW OF THE STUDY

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Rationale
Language is our primary source of communication. It's the method through
which people share our ideas and thoughts with others. Some people even say that
language is what separates us from animals and makes us human. There are
thousands of languages in whole world. Each country has its own national
languages in addition to a variety of local languages spoken and understood by all
people in different regions. Some languages are spoken by billions of people,
including English.
Nowadays, with the development of the international relationship among

countries, English is the most widely used language in the world of trade and
commerce, becomes one tool that opens windows to the world, unlocks doors to
opportunities, and expands our minds to new ideas. As a result, having an excellent
knowledge of English for business is getting necessary for success in any
employee’s career.
As a senior of Thuongmai University, under the recommendation of the
English Faculty, I had a great opportunity to experience as a trainee position at the
office of the Tien Vinh Company. After nearly two months working here (from
January 6th to March 5th 2018), with the help and guidance of dedicated team
leaders and staff, I have opportunities to apply the knowledge that I learned in
practice, and learn the basic information to complete my internship report.
As far as I am concerned, writing business report is a very essential task in
Sales Department. Writing an effective business report is a necessary skill for
communicating ideas in the business environment. A report that details the last type
could highlight a problem and suggest a solution which might involve analysing a
business’s history, operations, problems, competition and goals, followed by a
number of possible solutions (including their advantages and disadvantages).
However, this skill of staff at Sales Departments is not really good enough which

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makes the work time-wasting, decreases their work productivity and other bad
results. Therefore, the topic “A study on difficulties in writing reports in Sales
Department of Tien Vinh Trading Investment Limited Liability Company” is
feasible and useful for staff at this department. Furthermore, it is a strong hope that
the study will be a useful reference helping improve writing skill for not only all
staff at the company but also all students who feel interested in the job related to
commercial documents.

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Overview of previous studies
As my research, in the world generally and in Vietnam particularly, there are a
few the studies of how to write a good business report and reviewing some its
common errors. However, the studies mention to difficulties often dealt with while
writing reports are limited. While making this thesis, I have consulted it, selected
some good ideas from the following studies:
The handbook “How to write a business report” (by Orauariki, April 2017,
Victoria Business School, p.4-p.9) brings all readers great knowledge about a good
report and its characteristics. In this book, the author deeply mentions purpose,
structure of a report, emphasize the way to make a report clear, coherent and easy to
understand for the readers.
The study: “Business writing skill” (By students of Charle Sturt University,
2008) reviews particular style and standard of some common correspondence type
such as email, report, memos; mentions requirements and skills necessary for
formal business writing. Besides, the authors also instruct the readers how to make
each of this type and give them quick writing tips in order to create a professional
document.
These two studies are much valuable reference for me to do this study.

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Aims of the study
The minor purpose of study focuses on helping Sales Department’s staff of
Tien Vinh Trading Investment CO.,LTD to have a general understanding of business
reports. The major aim is identifying the common problems while writing reports,

their possible causes of making these errors and suggested solutions. Therefore, in
this thesis, I would like to focus on:
Finding out the outstanding problems dealt by all staff of Sales Department at
Tien Vinh company
Interpreting possible causes as well as effective solutions for these frequently made errors.

2 Research Subject
The subject of this thesis is main difficulties in writing business report of Sale
Department’s staff at Tien Vinh Trading Investment CO.,LTD which has mainly
imported a various series of industrial and pure chemicals from America, Singapore,
Philippin, Malaysia, Indonesia, China, Taiwan, Korea and Japan.

3 Scope of the study
Making reports is an indispensable part of doing business as well as business
correspondence. Moreover, because of limited time and knowledge, the study only
concentrates on finding out the most common problems made by all staff of Sales
Department at Tien Vinh company when they write daily, monthly or annual
business report. This study is carried out within my internship (lasting from January
6th to March 5th this year). Then, I hope to be able to identify biggest problems of
writing reports and help these employees draw effective solutions to increase their
work productivity.

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4 Research methodology
Doing this study, I use experimental and quantitative research methodology. In
order to attain the primary aims, I have consulted several ideas from my supervisor,
manager and some colleagues. All the theories have been carefully selected and
gathered through reference books and documents in the Internet as well.

In addition, the survey was conducted for all staff of Sales Department about
their assignments, evaluations about their matters and the difficulties that they have
to cope with when writing business reports.
Direct interview: Three employees who achieve the best results at this
department are directly interviewed to explore their recognition, attitudes,
evaluations of the matter and the difficulties.

5 Organization of the thesis
Besides introduction, table of contents, list of abbreviations, list of tables and
charts, the main content of the study is divided into three chapters below:
Chapter 1: “Overview of the study” shows the reasons to choose the study, the
aims, scope, methods and design of the study.
Chapter 2: “Literature reviews” aims to answer all general questions related to
business report writing as well as theoretical background of difficulties in writing
business report.
Chapter 3: “Findings”. This chapter refers to the analysis and the findings
obtained from survey questionnaire and direct interviews made to staff of Sales
Department at Tien Vinh Trading Investment CO.,LTD. This results examine the
real situation of writing reports at the company.
Chapter 4:

“Recommendations and suggestions”. The research proposed

solutions to enhance reports writing skills of Sales Department’s staff at Tien Vinh

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Trading Investment CO.,LTD” deals with techniques and lesions that can be
applicable to improve business writing report skills of all staff at the company.

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CHAPTER 2: LITERATURE REVIEW
This chapter only contains explanation about the concept of related theories
used in this research which include: report, business reports, grammar, grammatical
error, report text, characteristics of English business report, etc.
2.1. Definition of a business report
A report is an impersonal presentation of facts. A report is a document that
presents information in an organized format for a specific audience and purpose.
Report is very much important in the field of business, trade and commerce.
"Reports can fulfill four differences, and sometimes related functions. They can be
used as controls to ensure that all departments are functioning properly, to give
information, to provide an analysis, and to persuade others to act." (H. Dan O'Hair,
James S. O'Rourke, and Mary John O'Hair, Business Communication: A Framework
for Success. South-Western College Publishing, 2001)
A business report may be defined as an organized statement of facts or events
or any situation relating to business or commercial interests prepared after an
investigation and presented to the interested persons with or without
recommendations. It facilitates the evaluation of progress and decision making
process for business purpose. A business report is usually a type of upward
communication in which communication process starts from lower level to upper
level i.e. An employee makes a report and submits to related upper person to make
usage of it.
Different famous authors have defined business report in the following way:
Lesikar and Petit defined as "A business report is an orderly, objective
communication of factual information that serves some business purposes."
Bettly and Kay stated as "A business report is a written message presenting
information that will help a decision maker to solve a business problem."

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Louise E. Boone quoted as "A business report is a document organizes
information on a specific topic for a specific business purpose."
Kuiper and Clippinger defined business reports as "organized, objective
presentations of observations, experiences, or facts used in the decision-making
process"
(Contemporary Business Reports, 2013).
From the above opinion, it can be said that a business report is the systematic
presentation of output arising from investigation related to business or commercial
affairs with a clear intention to make decisions to solve various business problems.

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Classification of a business report
As mentioned, report is a one kind of tool for communication. It is considered
report as upward communication tool. Reports come in all sizes and the type of
report depends on its function. The function of the report is its essential purpose,
often indicated in the thesis or purpose statement. The function will also influence
the types of visual content or visual aids, representing words, numbers, and their
relationships to the central purpose in graphic, representational ways that are easy
for the reader to understand. The function may also contribute to parameters like
report length (page or word count) or word choice and readability. “Focusing on the
content of your longer business documents is not only natural but necessary because
doing so helps ensure complete, correct information” (Bovee, C., and Thill, J.,
2010).
Reports vary by function, and they also vary by style and tradition. Within
your organization, there may be employer-specific expectations that need to be

addressed to meet audience expectations. A good report writer keeps deep
knowledge on the part of his arena. A business or commercial person should also
keep the knowledge on various types of reports.
As a whole, all types of reports have been discussed on the following way:

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On the basis of mode of presentation:
Oral report
When report on a matter presented verbally or through oral media then it is
known as oral report. In this case, after investigating the matter the investigator
express his/her findings verbally to the top management. It is simple and easy to
present, because there is no problem of writing. Such report can be designed at any
time and can easily raise confusion because there is no written evidence at all. Such
report is not used so commonly because of its less benefit.
Written report
On the other hand, when reports are presented in written form then it is called
written report. Written reports are prepared by following specific format. Because of
being given in a black and white, such report can be acted as evidence for any
incident and can be used as future reference.
On the basis of degree of formality:
Business reports can be prepared either by following specific formats and
formalities or it can be drafted informally without maintaining much formalities.
Thus, on the basis of degree of formality business reports can be of two types:
Formal and informal:
Formal
Formal reports are usually detailed. It examines a complex problem in depth
and provides recommendations. Formal reports are prepared accounting to specific
formats. This type of report again can be divided in two categories:

Informational: This type of report presents information on particular topic but
does not provide any explanation and recommendations.

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Analytical: Analytical reports not only present and analyze data but also
interpret the data and make recommendation. Usually critical problems are analyzed
through analytical repots.
Informal
These types of reports are prepared to assists routine managerial functions.
These reports are usually written by subordinates. Informal reports are short in
length and written in letter or memo, format. These reports are less planned.
On the basis of length:
In the professional world, decision makers rely on two broad types of report:
Some reports focus primarily on information ('what we're doing now,' 'what we did
last month,' 'what our customer survey found,' 'what went on at the department
meeting'). But beyond merely providing information, many reports also include
analysis ('what this information means for us,' 'what courses of action should be
considered,' 'what we recommend, and why'). . . .
For every long (formal) report, countless short (informal) reports lead to
informed decisions on matters as diverse as the most comfortable office chairs to
buy or the best recruit to hire for management training. Unlike long reports, most
short reports require no extended planning, are quickly prepared, contain little or no
background information, and have no front or end matter (title page, table of
contents, glossary, etc.). But despite their conciseness, short reports do provide the
information and analysis that readers need.
(John M. Lannon, Technical Communication. Pearson, 2006)
Based on length of report, there are two types: Short report and long report

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Short report
Interim progress reports, personal activity repot, etc. are examples of short
report. Length of these reports can be on page or several pages. Routine reports are
shot in length. Less time is allotted for the preparation of this type of report.
Long report
Length of long report may be more than hundred pages depending on the
nature and importance of the matter. In depth analysis is made to prepare a long
report. It is time consuming and formal in nature.

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Role of a business report
A business report is an important document which reveals specific information
about a business. It is written to attract investors to the organization. Additionally,
the purpose of a business report is to keep the employees abreast of the company’s
goals and achievements.
Provide the overview about the enterprise
A corporation has to produce an annual report each year as part of its legal
fiduciary obligations to its stockholders and the government agencies that oversee
corporate businesses. Through this process, large companies have come to learn
about the many benefits they can reap from producing an annual report. You can tap
into those same resources if you create a summary and overview of your previous
year in business. The annual report usually is a glossy report with pictures and
contact information that doubles nicely as a marketing package. It is useful when
making introductions to new clients or trying to build name recognition in your
community. An annual report is an effective tool for providing employees, investors
and clients with a complete picture of you and your business.

Report aligned with KPIs

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The reporting objectives should align with the overall strategy of an
organization. The key performance indicators or the KPI’s should be borne in mind
during the reporting activities. Accurate reports can provide decision support and
can help in corporate strategies. It has been seen in the past that reporting activities
which are in line with KPI’s play an integral role in helping an organization attain
its objectives.
Highlight the standing of a business
At times, business reports are written to highlight a specific problem which
has been existing in the company. The reports are presented with effective solutions
which help solve the problem. One good example is when a company wants to
downsize and which in turn can affect the employees. A business report in this case
will state the standing of the business and why it is aiming at down-sizing. It will
suggest strategies which can be adopted so that the employees are not affected with
the down-sizing.
Help use right marketing strategy
A business report plays a vital role when companies have to set up marketing
strategies. When a company tries to target a specific section of consumers and wants
to enter a new market, it can consider handing over the business report to an
advertising agency. The business report will help the advertising agency to come up
with an effective and successful marketing strategy.
Help making business decisions easily
Not only does an annual report help employees, investors and clients to get the
complete picture of your business, but can help considerably in decision making. A
high quality and accurate report can help a company to keep track of the revenues
and expenses which are crucial not only in improving the operations but for setting

new goals as well. While reading the annual report you can easily find the bottlenecks and devise strategies to eliminate them.

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4

Features of a business report
In the book “Contemporary Business Reports”, to evaluate How is an effective
report”, Shirley Kuiper and Dorinda Clippinger said that: "Effective reports are
understood by the reader as the writer intended, and they influence the reader to act
as the writer desired. The writer's objectives are most likely to be achieved if they
correspond with the needs and objectives of the reader. An effective report is
empathetic, accurate, complete, concise, and clear. Above all, an effective report
presents information ethically."
Complete and Compact Document
Report is a complete and compact written document giving updated
information about a specific problem. Reports need to be complete in what they are
trying to convey. The best way to ensure complete report writing is to make sure
you cover all of your objectives.
Systematic Presentation of Facts
Report is a systematic presentation of facts, figures, conclusions and
recommendations. Report writers closely study the problem under investigation and
prepare a report after analyzing all relevant information regarding the problem.
Report is supported by facts and evidence. There is no scope for imagination in a
report which is basically a factual document.
Prepared in Writing Reports are usually in writing
Writing reports are useful for reference purpose. It serves as complete,
compact and self-explanatory document over a long period. Oral reporting is
possible in the case of secret and confidential matters.

Provides Information and Guidance

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Report is a valuable document which gives information and guidance to the
management while framing future policies. It facilitates planning and decision
making. Reports are also useful for solving problems faced by a business enterprise.
Self-explanatory Document
Report is a comprehensive document and covers all aspects of the subject
matter of study. It is a self-explanatory and complete document by itself.
As a Tool of Internal Communication
Report is an effective tool of communication between top executives and
subordinate staff working in an organization. It provides feedback to employees and
to executives for decision making. Reports are generally submitted to higher
authorities. It is an example of upward communication. Similarly, reports are also
sent by company executives to the lower levels of management. This is treated as
downward communication. In addition, reports are also sent to shareholders and
others connected with the company. It may be pointed out that report writing /
preparation acts as a backbone of any system of communication.
Acts as Permanent Record
A report serves as a permanent record relating to certain business matter. It is
useful for future reference and guidance.
Time Consuming and Costly Activity
Report writing is a time consuming, lengthy and costly activity as it involves
collection of facts, drawing conclusion and making recommendations.

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Structure of a business report

A key feature of reports is that they are formally structured in sections. The
use of sections makes it easy for the reader to jump straight to the information they
need. Unlike an essay which is written in a single narrative style from start to finish,
each section of a report has its own purpose and will need to be written in an

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appropriate style to suit – for example, the methods and results sections are mainly
descriptive, whereas the discussion section needs to be analytical.
Different organizations may have different requirements but a report can
generally be structured as follows. Given the nature of report or business, you can
choose to skip one or more sections.
Title
The title needs to concisely state the topic of the report. It needs to be informative
and descriptive so that readers just reading the title will understand the main issue
of your report. The writer don’t need to include excessive detail in title but avoid
being vague and too general.
Contents
If the report is lengthy, you should include a table of contents. In this section, list
the chapter and corresponding section headings. You should also include a page
number with for every row in table of contents.
Executive Summary (Abstract)
Generally this is prepared at the end of report writing but placed first for
senior management who might not have the time to read the entire report. It should
enable the reader to make an informed decision about whether they want to read the
whole report. The length will depend on the extent of the work reported but it is
usually a paragraph or two and always less than a page. A good way to write an
abstract is to think of it as a series of brief answers to questions. These would
probably include:

What is the purpose of the work?
What methods did you use for your research?
What were the main findings and conclusions reached as a result of your
research?

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Did your work lead you to make any recommendations for future actions?
What is the purpose of the work?
What methods did you use for your research?
What were the main findings and conclusions reached as a result of your
research?
Did your work lead you to make any recommendations for future actions?
Introduction
Here the writer should provide the background information and describe
developments in detail that led to this report. In this section you explain the
rationale for undertaking the work reported on, including what you have been asked
(or chosen) to do, the reasons for doing it and the background to the study. It should
be written in an explanatory style.
State what the report is about - what is the question you are trying to answer?
If it is a brief for a specific reader (e.g. a feasibility report on a construction project
for a client), say who they are. Describe your starting point and the background to
the subject, for instance: what research has already been done (if you have been
asked to include a Literature Survey later in the report, you only need a brief outline
of previous research in the Introduction); what are the relevant themes and issues;
why are you being asked to investigate it now?
Explain how you are going to go about responding to the brief. If you are
going to test a hypothesis in your research, include this at the end of your
introduction. Include a brief outline of your method of enquiry. State the limits of

your research and reasons for them, for example; “Research will focus on native
English speakers only, as a proper consideration of the issues arising from speaking
English as a second language is beyond the scope of this project”.
Procedure or method of gathering information
Describe the method of gathering information and its limitations in detail. The

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author can also talk about steps taken to overcome the limitations of method of
gathering information. You need to state clearly how you carried out your
investigation. Explain why you chose this particular method (questionnaires, focus
group, experimental procedure etc), include techniques and any equipment you
used. If there were participants in your research, who were they? How many? How
were they selected?
Findings
The writer should corroborate your findings with enough data to show that they
have carried out the research thoroughly.
To justify your recommendations, the writer may also include opinions of
experts of the industry, consumer reports, statistical data and his own observations.
Do remember that while the objective of their business report is to provide the best
solution to a business problem, you may include analysis of other options available
and prove them otherwise. You can also help the reader to point to further readings
if it is not possible to include them in the report.
Conclusions
The section lists the major inferences that can be drawn from the findings and
propose recommendations. It sums up the assessment of current situation based on
your observations, findings and proposes future plan of action. Your conclusions
should be a short section with no new arguments or evidence. Sum up the main
points of your research - how do they answer the original brief for the work

reported on? This section may also include:
• Recommendations for action
• Suggestions for further research
Reference list
The reference list, in alphabetical order, mentions all resources used in
creation of your report. Whenever you use information from other sources such as

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books, online periodicals, articles that helped you write the report, you should
include it in your report.
Appendices
At the end, the writer can use an appendix to group similar items together. Any
important material/supplementary information for their discussion can be included
in appendix and referred to from within the report. A single appendix can be titled
as APPENDIX. If the report has multiple items appended, they can be titles as
APPENDIX A, APPENDIX B, etc. Also appendices should appear in the order they
are mentioned in the report.
So, which section should I write first?
It can be helpful to write up sections as you go along. This means that you
write about what you've done while it's still fresh in your mind and you can see
more easily if there are any gaps that might need additional research to fill them. In
addition, you don't end up with a large piece of writing to do in one go - that can be
overwhelming. Here is a suggested order for writing the main sections:
1. Methods and Data/Results: As a rough guide, the more factual the section,
the earlier you should write it. So sections describing “what you did and what you
found” are likely to be written first.
2. Introduction and Literature Survey: Sections that explain or expand on the
purpose of the research should be next. What questions are you seeking to answer,

how did they arise, why are they worth investigating? These will help you to see
how to interpret and analyse your findings.
3. Discussion: Once you’ve established the questions your research is seeking
to answer, you will be able to see how your results contribute to the answers and
what kind of answers they point to. Write this early enough that you still have time
to fill any gaps you find.

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4. Conclusions and Recommendations: These should follow logically from
your Discussion. They should state your conclusions and recommendations clearly
and simply.
5. Abstract/Executive Summary: Once the main body is finished you can write
a succinct and accurate summary of the main features

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CHAPTER 3. RESEARCH FINDINGS
It is essential to understand that a report must have a specific language, a
specific length, and no ‘rambling’ should be included. As much as possible, focus
on the main points and do not write like we would write an essay with log narration
and figures of speech. In my job, I and my colleagues faced different kinds of
difficulties in writing a report. The linguistic aspects of staff’s difficulties in writing
a report will include problems mainly with grammar, vocabulary, punctuation and
spelling. Academics set on some quality and standards which all academic writings
must follow. It is a great challenge for most employees to be able to write in good
English. By learning what these challenges are, we will be more prepared and more
confident in finishing our paper. Most importantly, we will be able to avoid

committing common mistakes and get higher appreciation.
My internship was completed in Sales Department of Tien Vinh Trading
Investment CO.,LTD. Through this internship, I was exposed to various exportimport activities, including business reporting and experiencing finding out foreign
clients as well as domestic ones. All employees at Sales Department are well-trained
in English and business knowledges, however, it is unavoidable to make mistakes in
writing reports. In this thesis, I mainly concentrate on analyzing the most common
mistakes in writing report including linguistic challenges and writing style.
3.1. Linguistic challenges

• GRAMMAR
Grammar is the basic elements of an area of knowledge or skill, or it is a set of
prescriptive notions about correct use of a language. In writing, we have some
problems on grammar and still find difficulties to express our ideas into words or
sentences, especially express ideas through written form.
I have observed that there are certain grammar mistakes that frequently occur
in writing report. The most frequently noted mistakes involve problems with:

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Parts of speech
Subject/verb agreement
Articles
Tenses
Independent/dependent clauses

The pie chart illustrates the most frequently noted grammar mistakes of Sales
Department’s staff in writing business report. At first glance it is clear that
significant difference between main errors. According to the given data, Parts of
speech errors account for the largest proportion, up to 42.6%, as nearly twice as

Subject/verb agreement and Articles ones. Only 9.6% and 4% mistakes related to
Tenses and Independent/dependent, respectively. These figures mean that sales staff
do not really master grammar knowledge, particularly Parts of speech.
Part of speech
In the English language, words can be considered as the smallest elements that
have distinctive meanings. Based on their use and functions, words are categorized
into several types or parts of speech. The term “part of speech” refers to the
categories: verb, noun, adjective, adverb, pronoun, article and preposition. Some
non-native speakers of English have difficulty selecting the appropriate part of
speech. This is particularly a problem for speakers of languages in which the form
of a word does not change when the grammatical role of the word changes.
This is also the most frequently-made error while employees draft an English
business report. Of all my collected business reports, there are 8/14 reports with
parts of speech errors, equivalent to 57 per cent and 92/228 errors (42.6%)

Error

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Q