BSP5071 Business in Action

Use the suggested structure/content below to build your business report

1. Introduction (250 words)

• What is the purpose of the report?
• What will it discuss?
• Who is the organisation and what do they do?
• What do you want the report to achieve?

2. Extended Context (750 words)

• The Business Challenge

• What exact problem have you identified?
• Reframe your problem as a question- State your business challenge problem as a question e.g. “in what ways could…..?”
• Apply a thinking bubbles technique to explore the challenge in more detail

By framing problems as questions, you shift from focusing on obstacles to solutions.  This provides the freedom to creatively explore ideas.

• Organisational Context

You will need to consider the organisational context.

• What are the organisational specific factors such as constraints which help us to understand why we need to answer our business challenge question?
• Who are the stakeholders interested in answering this business challenge question?
• What are the wider business environment factors which impact on answering the business challenge question? – e.g. policies, strategies etc.

Consider Theory and Concepts 

• What does the literature say in relation to the underlying key issues and/or contributory factors identified in the business challenge and problem?
• What relevant theory and/or concepts could be considered and evaluated as applied to these issues to evidence your depth of understanding.

You will need to evidence your consideration of these supported by credible academic and industry literature. For example, if your analysis suggests communication or education/awareness is at the core of the problem and you are considering the use of social media it is not suffice to say it works because my friends and I use it – you need to use and apply academic evidence on its efficacy to support your case. Similarly, again for example, if your analysis suggests behaviour change is a factor, use academic literature to support your discussion and analysis. You MUST use and apply academic and industry literature to substantiate your analysis of the business challenge and proposed solution, referenced correctly throughout the report.

3. Solutions (1500 words)

Within this section, you should focus on “yes, and” instead of “no, but”- using negative words like “no” discourages creative thinking.  Use positive language in this section to maintain innovations within your exploration of ideas.

3.1  Options

To answer your business challenge question (the problem) you should think of between 3-5 different approaches you could use as a solution.  You should then consider these 3-5 approaches when answering the below questions within your report.

What options have you considered? Describe these briefly given the word count limit.Consider using the ‘cherry split’ approach.

Consider applying the ‘SCAMPER’ technique to formulate your ideas about this challenge

What criteria are used to evaluate options?

How have you objectively evaluated the selection of your preferred option/solution?

• How did the seminar brainstorming class support your thinking process?

You can use options appraisal here to evidence the objective evaluation of options and selection of the preferred option/solution.

3.2  The Preferred Option/Solution

From your 3-5 different options (stated above) you will need to pick ONE and describe this preferred option/solution in more detail.

• What is your preferred Solution?
• What does the literature, theory, concepts suggest about your solution?

You can use appendices here to include something you may have considered as part of the solution such asreference to examples of best practice elsewhere.

3.3  Implementation

Your solution will need to be implemented

• Is there an implementation plan, i.e. Gantt Chart and is it realistic rather than optimistic? The Gantt chart should represent the implementation of the preferred option/solution and not your completion of the assessment.
• What are the consequences, e.g. time, finance, HR, marketing, legal, IT, other? Remember these need to be consistent with any constraints identified earlier in the report.
• Are there risks associated with the solution and its implementation (or not implementing the solution) and how do you assess their significance?
• What practical issues may be encountered when implementing your solution?
• Consider ‘Alternative Worlds’- how would another ‘world/profession’ approach the problem? Is there anything that could be considered by the organisation related to this ‘alternative world’ view.

3.4  Evaluation

• How will you know if your solution is successful?
• What are the goals/objectives and/or targets?
• What are the tangible measures of success and how will these be measured?
• What about a process of monitoring and review? Think about KPIs, performance metrics etc.

4. Conclusion and Recommendations (300 words)

• Provide a brief conclusion to the report summarising the key messages in the report. Do not introduce anything new in the conclusion. Remember keep it brief.
• Identify and list your recommendations which will be derived from your analysis, problem solving and solution. These can be bullet points – no more than six. One generic example below:
  • management is asked to note the contents of this report and approve the following specific recommendations

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