I. Title Page
Title of Report
Introduction to Report
Name of Client

II. Executive Summary
Tasks Performed by Consultant
Summary of Problem/Opportunity
Methodology
Conclusions
Recommendations

III. Introduction to the Report
What is the problem or the opportunity?
What is the purpose of the proposal?
What is the background of the problem or the opportunity?
What are your sources of information?
What is the scope of your proposal?
What is the organization of the proposal?
What are the key terms that will be used in the proposal?

IV. Background (Sections)
Introduction to Sections.
List each section with its corresponding letter label (C, D, E, etc.) of the sections discussed in the background.
V. Client Profile
Places of residence
Educational and training background
Career experience
Civic interests and activities
How and why your client became interested in this business
Your client’s business philosophy and/or attitude towards business
Any other information that contributes to a portrait of your client as a person

VI. Defining the Dunn’s Objectives
A description of Dunn’s short-term and long-term objectives
Prioritization of primary and secondary objectives for Dunn
VII. Defining the Consultant’s Tasks
List of tasks the Consultant has undertaken (B,C,D etc. labeled)
Explanation of how each task was carried out (past tense).
VIII. Carrying out the Consultant’s Tasks: Problem, Methodology, Conclusions, Recommendations
List each task separately and address the following points
Current status of problem or opportunity (needs or opportunities it creates)
Procedure followed by the consultant in addressing the needs created by the situation
Conclusions from the research and procedures
Recommendations

IX. Summary Conclusion
Careful summary your findings
Clients Prospects for client’s business as you see them

X. Bibliography (“Bibliography” or “Works Cited”)

XI. Appendices

EXPLANATION OF THE OUTLINE MATERIAL
I. Title Page
The title page of a formal report works in collaboration with the cover page to provide a solid
introduction to the consulting report. Your report will certainly have a sense of
permanence; it will likely be filed and periodically reviewed and consulted. Therefore, the title
page should include specific information regarding the report:
• Names of the consultant including contact information and the name of
the organization you’re working within.
• A very good and specific title that reflects, as much as possible, the main points of the
report
• The name of the consulting business or organization if appropriate

II. Executive Summary
An executive summary is designed primarily to serve the person who, at least initially, does not
intend to read the entire report. It usually states the main points of each section and emphasizes
results, conclusions, and recommendations, usually in around three pages.

Executive summaries are ideally suited to the needs of readers who are seeking advice about a decision or a course of action. These summaries are called executive summaries because some decision makers
rely wholly upon their advisers to read and evaluate the rest of the report.

For the purposes of this assignment, the executive summary concentrate on the tasks performed by the consultant. This would involve summarizing the problem/opportunity areas, methodology, conclusions, and recommendations. It’s not a bad idea to develop an executive summary during the early stages of the writing process, as this summary can help to provide focus to the tasks. Keep in mind, however, that this will also be a document that will need to be revised to properly reflect your report.

III. Introduction to the Report
The introduction allows your readers to preview the nature of the project you have undertaken for
your client. Essentially, the introduction forecasts the basic organization of the report. Some
writers and readers insist that the following questions should always be addressed and/or
considered in the introduction to the report:
• What is the problem or the opportunity? Be specific. Whenever you can, quantify.
Describe the problem or opportunity that is under review by the consultant.
• What is the purpose of the proposal? Even through it might seem obvious to you, the
purpose of the proposal is to describe a problem or opportunity and propose a course of
action. Be specific in explaining what you want to do.
• What is the background of the problem or the opportunity? In answering this
question, you probably will not be telling your readers anything they don’t already know.
Your goal here is to show them that you understand the problem or opportunity, as well
as the relationships or events that will affect the problem and its solution.
• What are your sources of information? Review the relevant literature, including
internal reports, memos, external public articles, or even books, so that your readers will
understand the context of your work. Clients are looking to you for sound advice. If your
research is sloppy, incomplete, and rather nominal (for example, you checked out a few
websites that the client could do on his or her own free time), your report will be less
convincing, and your ethos as a provider of sound advice will be suspect. The best
reports always contain complete and thorough research–and complete and thorough
research cannot be completed in the waning moments of the semester.
• What is the scope of your proposal? If appropriate, indicate what you are proposing to
do as well as what you are not proposing to do.
• What is the organization of the proposal? Indicate the organizational pattern used in the proposal.
• What are the key terms that will be used in the proposal? If you will use any new,
specialized, or unusual terms, the introduction is an appropriate place to define them.
In addition, you will want to include the following information in your introduction:
• The report is written both to provide the client with a record of the project and to tell them what the consultant intended to do in the assignment.
• List the consultant’s name, and acknowledge anyone who has provided the
assistance, including the faculty who have taught BMGT365.

IV. Background
Because not all clients will necessarily be competent in your field, the background section needs
to clearly articulate the context behind your research. The Background Sections require you to conduct comprehensive research. Your suggestions need to be based on the research that was conducted, and this research needs to be demonstrated to your client. Again, your ethos as a sound provider of business advice is largely based on the research that supports your findings and ideas.
Background Sections
Normally all of the categories of background information listed in the report outline can be fully
developed. The order of these sections can be varied if such an alteration makes sense.
Open the “background” sequence with a major heading, BACKGROUND, followed by a brief
introduction that explains how the background sections help to key frames of reference for your
analysis. Open each section with an appropriate heading. The generic headings can be revised
so that they are more specific. For example, Client Profile can be revised to read A Look at Our
Client: Historic Dunn Emporium.
Clearly organize each of the sections. Open each section with an introductory preview of the
material. Even more importantly, end each section with a conclusion that summarizes and
explains to the client what the information is designed to demonstrate.
Relate and unify all of the sections so that it reads as a coherent whole. Use good transitions
between sections, and conclude with a section in which you pull together and evaluate the
background.
Please remember that the Background section is not the place to analyze problems and
opportunities. These sections provide the background and frame of reference for the analysis of
the problems.

V. Client Profile
The purpose of the Client Profile is to both “bring the client to life” and to tie the information
together by explaining how it helps portray your client as a member of the business community.
Do not hesitate to interpret information and to draw conclusions. If your client is a group of
people of whom your contact person is a member, you may want to treat the group as a
“collective client.” Do a profile of the group as a whole (for example, the history and makeup of a
governing board.)

Some things that you will want to include in the Client Profile:
• Places of residence
• Educational and training background
• Career experience
• Civic interests and activities
• How and why your client became interested in this business
• Your client’s business philosophy and/or attitude towards business
• Any other information that contributes to a portrait of your client

VI. Defining the Dunn’s Objectives
This section should include:
• A description of the firm’s short-term and long-term objectives
• Prioritization of primary and secondary objectives

VII. Defining the Consultant’s Tasks
First, this section should clearly describe the tasks that the consultant has agreed to carry
out and explain how the consultant and client chose those tasks. Normally, these tasks can be
identified concisely (for example, “Task One: Developing a leadership plan. Task Two: Selecting a
new replacement for George”).

Second, this section should also identify any tasks that the consultant originally agreed to perform but which, for whatever reason, was unable to complete.

Third the consultant must clearly point out how a general task breaks down into component tasks. For example, “Developing a Leadership Plan” will involve several component tasks. The tasks may include: “Designing changes in the organizational structure”; “Aligning the Deli and Sporting goods store employees”, etc.

By the same token, if the consultant is presented with only one general task, such as “Crafting a
Leadership Plan”, they will need to break that general assignment into component tasks. The goal
is to break down each task into its smallest components.

Fourth, this section is pivotal because it serves as a preview for the following section, in which
The consultant explains how they actually carried out each of the tasks.

Finally, write about your team’s tasks in the past tense, as if the tasks have already been completed.

VIII. Carrying out the Consultant’s Tasks: Problem, Methodology, Conclusions,
Recommendations

This is a rather lengthy section that is organized around the consultant’s basic tasks. A “Table of
Contents” might list as follows:
Task One: Developing a Leadership Plan
Task Two: Create Culture Changes
Task Three: etc.

Each task section should be organized to:
• Describe the current situation (in effect, the “problem and /or opportunity”) and the
needs / opportunities it creates
• Narrate and explain the procedure you followed in addressing the needs
created by the market situation
• Draw conclusions and make recommendations

The following example illustrates such an organization, using “Task Two” from the sample above:
Task Two: Selecting a New Location
• Evaluating the Current Location
This is a headed section that describes any advantages but more significantly the
disadvantages of the current business location. This section explains the problem
and the needs it creates.
• Identifying and Evaluating Alternative Locations
This is a headed section that describes alternative locations and compares them to
the current location and to each other. This section narrates and explains the consultant’s method of operation that addresses the needs created by the problem; it shows the consultant in action.
• Conclusion and Recommendations
This is a headed section that pulls the evaluations together, states the solution, and
justifies one or more recommendations.

Important Note: The organization of the conclusion and recommendation section should be marked by clear headings and subheadings. Also, this is a good time to reflect back on the research that your team conducted. Your ideas should not appear as if they developed out of “thin air.” Use sentences that point your reader back to the research that conducted by the consultant.

IX. Summary Conclusion

This final section pulls the report together, offers some words of assurance to the client, and
states the consultants (I hope) pleasure in having undertaken this consulting project. In pulling the report together, carefully summarize your findings and what you see as the prospects for your
client’s business.

X. Bibliography
“Bibliography” or “Works Cited” – call this section what you want. Whatever the case, you must
list all resources that you used for this report. Therefore, it is imperative that you keep track of all
the sources that your team used in the report. Furthermore, in the text of the report you must cite your sources whenever you use ideas or data generated by someone else. You must cite these sources, even if you do not quote or paraphrase from them directly.

XI. Appendices
Depending on the nature of a consultant’s tasks, appendices will be more or less useful to the client. They are meant to clarify areas where the material may be more analytical or statistical in nature. Among the kinds of material which might be included in appendices would be the OCAI performed by the consultant. A chart for the organizational structure. Articles that explain the meaning of the structure recommended by the consultant. Lists of ideas or items that might help to suggest additional courses of action to the client which are referred to in summary form in the body of the report. Less is often more in this area. Too much additional material can be confusing to the client.