BUSINESS RESEARCH AND REPORT WRITING.
By Robert L. Shurter andProfessors J. Peter Williamson and WayneG. Broehl Jr. (Tuck School). New York:McGraw-Hill Inc., 1965. 204 pp. $4.95.
"Business badly needs people who can write clear, concise, accurate, readable reports," says this how-to-do-it book, "and if you can fill this need, you will go far. It is no exaggeration to say that in modern business a man is known by the quality of the reports he writes."
Those are strong words, but if you've ever had to read any large number of business reports, you will join me in a quick "Amen."
Moreover, it is not just in business that good communication is essential. In all fields, we are becoming isolated from each other by our growing numbers, expanding technologies, and increasing specialization, and success will come to him who can communicate with others, in ways they can understand. Few of us can afford to evoke the response, given by a Grafton County farmer at a political meeting to a new arrival who asked what the speaker was talking about, "He don't say."
This book will teach you how to spot the flaws in someone else's reports (or any other informational communication), and how to avoid them in your own. It covers the usual rules for good writing, but contains much more: chapters on how to plan a report, when and how to do research, what types of statistics you may encounter and hew best to present them graphically, how to arrange ideas in sequence and with what to begin and end your message.
Possibly you don't need such assistance yourself. If you graduated from Tuck recently, you may have heard most of this directly from Professors Williamson and Broehl, who with Professor Shurter of Case, authored the book. Or perhaps you have no doubt about the clarity, conciseness, accuracy, and readability of your own writing. But if you have an associate who needs help, and you are looking for a gentle way to tell him, get a copy of the book and give it to him — if you find that you can part with it, after you've read it yourself.
A ttorney
