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ECOF1004
The Business Environment
Week 9
Writing A Company Report
Sue Lord

Preview of Todays Lecture

News story of the day

Assessment Task 3 requirements
Writing a Company Report
Company of the day
Unpacking the Company Report

- Why, what, how

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News Story of the Day

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Global Energy Demand

Coal Seam Gas

Coal Seam Gas Deposits in Australia

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Assessment Task 3

Assessment 3: Company Report

Company: Gunns Limited (ASX: GNS)

Task: Write a report on the attractiveness
of investment in Gunns over the next 3
5 years
Audience: Investment Company

Assessment 3: Company Report

Written report of no more than 3000 words

Conclusion and Recommendation
- Do not invest; Neutral; Invest
Powerpoint presentation no more 6 slides,
attached as an appendix
Reference List
Due date: Monday, 31 October by 11.59pm.
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Assessment 3: Company Report

Incorporate into your report any relevant:

- Political and/or regulatory factors
- Economic considerations
- Demographic or socio-cultural issues
- Technological developments or factors
- CSR issues

that are likely to impact

on the attractiveness of the investment
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What is a Company Report

Company Report

A company report is a clearly

structured document that:
-p
presents information on the
outcomes of an investigation
- makes recommendations on
what should happen in the future
- is well structured and concisely
written.
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21st Century Knowledge Work

The role of
knowledge workers:
Identifyy data
Process (organise)
Interpret (make sense)

Communicate

ECOF1004 Assessment Tasks

Embedded Skills

ECOF1004 Company Report

1. Locate information, summarise and analyse the
key issues using key concepts company
background research questions

2. Identify the key strengths and weaknesses of the

company
3. Identify key opportunities and threats (risks)
4. Provide a rationale:
Argument
Counter-argument
Rebuttal of counter argument
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ECOF1004 Company Report

5. Practice

these steps x4 for each

environment: Economic; Political;
Regulatory; Socio-cultural;
Technological

6. Evaluate CSR issues

7. Make a recommendation
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Company of the Day

Santos Limited (STO)

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Santos Limited (STO)

Current projects include:

- Gladstone in Queensland - converting coal
seam gas into LNG;
project
- Papua New Guinea LNG project.
LNG natural
gas temporarily
converted to a
liquid for ease of
storage and
transport

Santos Limited (STO)

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Santos Limited (STO)

BUT:
- Its $US16 billion ($A15.4) investment in
Queensland Coal Seam Gas (CSG) has been
negatively affected by anti-CSG demonstrations in
an unclear political environment
- Its $US2.1 billion conventional gas project in PNG
has been negatively affected by sovereign risk
due to the new mining ministers claim that PNGs
resources will return to traditional ownership.
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How to write a Company Report

Writing Plan

Consider
the
audience

Plan

Research
and read

Outline

Draft and
redraft

Edit and
proofread

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Preparation for writing

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Step 1

Consider
the
audience

Who are you writing

for?
Wh will
Who
ill read
d th
the
report?
Why does this
matter?
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Step 2

How long is the Company

Report?

Plan
length
time

How will you structure your

report?
How many words will you
allocate to each section?
How long will it take to
complete?
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Step 3

Where will you locate

information?
Research
and Read

What information do you

need?
How will you make sense of
all of the information that you
gather?
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Step 3 - What information do you need?

Question

Research
Findings

Indicator

Judgement
(O or R)

Reasoning

What information do you need?

1. Overall external
conditions

2. Company-related
conditions

Weighing Up Economic Environment

Economic
environment

Opportunities

Risks

Significant

Moderate
Minor

Overall Judgement: opportunity or risk? Why?

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Filtering: External Conditions

Political/ regulatory
Socio-cultural
Technological

1. Overall external conditions

2. Company-related
What are the overall economic,
conditions
conditions?
What are the main external
What changes/trends have
conditions required for
occurred in recent years? May
Santos to maintain
occur in the future?
sustainable competitive
advantage?

Final Analysis
Opportunities

Risks

Economic

Political
and/or
regulatory
Socio-cultural
Technological

One final Judgement: opportunity or risk?

CSR
Corporate
Social
Responsibility

1. Overall external conditions

What are the overall external,
conditions?
What changes/trends have
occurred in recent years? May
occur in the future?

2. Company-related
conditions
What are the main
external conditions
required for Santos to
maintain sustainable
competitive advantage?

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Final Analysis
Opportunities

Risks

Economic
Political
and/or
g
y
regulatory
Socio-cultural
Technological
CSR

One final Judgement: opportunity or risk?

Structuring the Company Report

The way you structure and organise
each section of your report is vital:
1. Introduction
2. Body of report
3. Conclusion and recommendation

The first secret to an HD . . .

Recommendation:
over-arching idea shaping the
p
structure of the entire report:
1. Introduction (preview the recommendation)
2. Body (rationalise it with evidence and your
interpretation)
3. Conclusion (justify it in your rationale)

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Good Introduction

5 key elements:
1. Orientation to topic
2. Setting the scene
3. Preview of main opportunities/risks and
CSR issues
4. Preview of report structure
5. Preview of the recommendation

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Making a Recommendation

The second secret to an HD . . .

Not the quantity of

opportunities or risks
but their weight thats
important

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Outcome of weighing up

Recommendation:
If the opportunities are greater: invest
If the risks are greater: do not invest
If neither the opportunities nor the
risks outweighs the other: neutral

Structuring the Company Report

The way you structure and organise
each section of your report is vital:
1. Introduction
2. Body of report
3. Conclusion and recommendation

Step 4

Listen carefully to all key

elements

Outline

Analyse and understand

both structures
Develop your own
The introduction and the
conclusion are often the
worst sections!
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Structure A

Structure B

Introduction
Opportunities
1...........
2..........
2
3...........
Risks
1..........
2..........
3..........
Conclusion and
recommendation

Introduction
Political/regulatory Factors
...........
Economic Factors
........
Socio-economic Factors
........
Technological Factors
.........
CSR Issues
..........
Conclusion and
recommendation
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1. INTRODUCTION
+ Orientation: seems overwhelmingly attractive
+ Setting the context: OPPORTUNITY
+ Recommendation: invest

2. BODY:
opportunities vs risks
CSR issues

3. CONCLUSION: aligns with the

introduction and body
+ Recommendation: invest

Good Introduction

5 key elements:
1. Orientation to topic
2. Setting the scene
3. Preview of main opportunities/risks and
CSR issues
4. Preview of report structure
5. Preview of the recommendation

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Body of the Report

Sections and subsections

Option 1:

Opportunities, Risks

OR
Option 2:
Economic, Politicalregulatory,
Socio-cultural,
Technological, CSR
OR
Option 3

Your own structure

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2. Body of the Report

Developing your argument

Section preview
Summary of main arguments
Interpretation
p
of arguments
g
Use of language
NOTE: Each section must begin with a
section preview sentence
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2. Body of the report: paragraphs

Paragraph structure:
Topic sentence; Evidence; Interpretation (explicit)

Structure
3 Conclusion/recommendation
3.

Conclusion

Consider the relative importance of

the opportunities and risks
Consider the implications of CSR
issues
Make a recommendation
Use argument, counter-argument,
rebuttal

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Step 5

Draft and
redraft

Option 1. Write down everything

you know. Add points as you do
more research. Then order
ideas into sections.
Option2. Make a list of headings
and sub-headings. Arrange
points under headings. You may
need to re-arrange headings
and information after more
research.
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Step 6

CHECK
Spelling, punctuation,
grammar

Edit and
proofread

Sentence structure
Referencing/ Reference List
Logical structure of argument
Introduction, body and
conclusion are aligned
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Powerpoint Presentation

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How to Avoid Death by Powerpoint

Keep it clean
Keep it simple
Select or create a theme
6 x 6 rule
Use graphics only to
emphasise key points
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Finally the to do list

1. Complete all your research and distil the key
ideas into a one page grid summary
2. Weigh the O/R: which is stronger?
3. Analyse CSR issues
4. Choose a report structure & develop a plan
5. Before and after you write each section, review
your notes to make sure that you have included
all the key components
6. Edit your draft and proofread the final version
(good rewriting!)
7. Dont forget to include in-text referencing and a
reference list!
8. Create powerpoint slides

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