文档介绍：R e a d e r –
F r i e n d l y
R e p o r t s
A Manual Prepared for Students at the
Rutgers Faculty of Management
by
Carter A. Daniel
9th edition
2000
IF WE HAVE TO CHOOSE BETWEEN CANDIDATES WHO CAN WRITE
WELL AND CANDIDATES WHO KNOW ACCOUNTING, WE
CHOOSE THE ONES WHO CAN WRITE. WE CAN
TEACH ACCOUNTING IN A FEW WEEKS,
BUT BAD WRITING CREATES SUCH
A DRAG ON PERFORMANCE
WE PREFER NOT TO
GET INVOLVED.
--the Senior Vice-President of
a major bank in New York
NEVER, FOR EVEN A MOMENT, LET OUT OF YOUR
SIGHT THE SINGLE PURPOSE OF BUSINESS
WRITING: TO PERSUADE YOUR READER,
AS EFFICIENTLY AS POSSIBLE, OF
THE VALIDITY OF
YOUR THESIS.
ONLY TWO THINGS IN THIS BOOK ARE IMPORTANT:
(1) ORGANIZE AROUND CONCLUSIONS
AND (2) TELL PEOPLE WHAT
YOU'RE GOING TO SAY
BEFORE YOU
SAY IT.
Earlier editions copyright 1980, 1981, 1982,
1985, 1987, 1992, 1994, 1996.
Copyright 2000 by Carter A. Daniel.
Produced at Rutgers, the State University of New Jersey.
2
CHAPTER ONE:
PLANNING A READER-FRIENDLY
REPORT
1. Right and Wrong, Boss and Book 4
2. What Business Writing Isn't and Is 5
3. Understanding the Assignment 7
4. Assessing the Audience 9
5. Determining the Controlling Purpose 11
6. Organizing a Report 13
--topic and thesis 14
--thesis paragraph 17
--subheaded segments 22
7. Afterword 24
3
1. RIGHT AND WRONG, BOSS AND BOOK
For some reason, questions of writing style and correctness bring out people's
most mule-headed private opinions. A boss who doesn't know anything about calculus or
linear programming would never think of overruling a subordinate on one of those
subjects. But just let that same subordinate do something contrary to what the boss's
ignorant sixth-