1. WRITING WORKSHOP 1
152707 Leading and Organizing Change
These slides can be viewed at:
tinyurl.com/152707W1

2. Use our assignment planning calculator at owll.massey.ac.nz
1: Leading change report (30%)
2: Chapter for book section (30%)
3: Reflective Journal (30%) & group presentation
(10%)
152707 ASSIGNMENTS

3. 1: Report writing (assignment 1) and story structure
(assignment 3)
2: Chapter for book section (assignment 2) and story structure
review (assignment 3)
3: Analysis of experience (assignment 3)
4: Scholarly critique of experience (assignment 3)
5: Introducing, linking, & concluding a reflective
journal (assignment 3)
152707 WRITING WORKSHOPS

4. You will learn how to:
• Structure a business report (for
assignment 1)
• Structure a story about a personal
experience of leadership (for assignment
3)
Learning outcomes

5. ASSIGNMENT 1

6. SEE tinyurl.com/masseyreportvideo
3 main parts

8. REPORT FORMATS
DEDUCTIVE INDUCTIVE
Introduction
Conclusions
Recommendations
Discussion
Suitable if the audience is busy,
as it gets to the conclusions &
recommendations more quickly
Introduction
Discussion
Conclusions
Recommendations
Suitable for a more critical /
academic audience as it builds up
the case through discussion, before
conclusion & recommendations

9. TASK 1
You will read a formal cover letter which
accompanies a business report.
There are 8 mistakes of grammar or style.
You have five minutes to find them all.

10. Dear Dr Ralph,
Please find attached the report titled ‘Adding Value via Change’, which I
commissioned from my consultancy, Strategic SolutioNZ, last month.
As detailed in the project brief, the report analysed the problem of staffs
retention at Pak ‘n’ Save, Albany and proposes an appropriate organizational
change. Suggestions are included regarding to implementation, milestones and
resource requirements, but it is understood that these may need to be refined
followed consideration by the board.
Do not hesitate to contact me would you have any comments or queries
regarding the report,
Yours sincerely,
Paul Hand (Senior Consultant, Strategic SolutioNZ)

11. Dear Dr Ralph,
Please find attached the report titled ‘Adding Value via Change’ which I
commissioned from Strategic SolutioNZ last month.
As detailed in the project brief, the report analysed the problem of staffs
retention at Pak ‘n’ Save, Albany and proposes an appropriate organizational
change. Suggestions are included regarding to implementation, milestones and
resource requirements, but it is understood that these may need to be refined
followed consideration by the board.
Do not hesitate to contact me would you have any comments or queries
regarding the report,
Yours sincerely,
Paul Hand (Senior Consultant, Strategic SolutioNZ)

12. DO NOT PLAGIARISE THIS LETTER IN YOUR ASSIGNMENT.
INSTEAD, USE IT AS AN EXAMPLE OF APPROPRIATE STYLE
AND STRUCTURE.
THE ONLY WORDS THAT MAY BE THE SAME IN YOUR
ASSIGNMENT ARE STANDARD EXPRESSIONS WHICH ARE
TYPICALLY FOUND IN BUSINESS LETTERS.

13. REPORT STRUCTURE

14. TITLE PAGE
TITLE OF
REPORT
(xx.xx.20xx)
To: Dr. Brown
AUTHOR’S
NAME
COURSE NUMBER
TO WHOM REPORT
IS ADDRESSED
Course: 152.707
To: Dr. Bathurst
By: H Anon
Rewarding creativity in a
family-owned retail
business in Gujurat
DATE OF
SUBMISSION

15. TASK 2
At which stage in your report writing do you write
the executive summary?
Which of these tenses is NOT found in an
executive summary: past / present / future?
How many paragraphs would you normally include
in an executive summary for a 1500 word
business report?

16. Executive Summary
This report analyses xxxxxxx.
Specific objectives were to xxxxx
and xxxxx. A problem was
identified in relation to xxxx. A
change initiative was proposed
based on xxx in order to xxxx. Xxxx
method was selected because
xxxx. The report concludes that
xxxx and recommends that xxx.
Aims
Objectives
Main Findings
Conclusions &
Recommendations
EXAMPLE EXECUTIVE
SUMMARY

17. LAYOUT OF TABLE OF
CONTENTS Table of Contents
Executive Summary
Table of Contents
1. Introduction 1
3. Conclusions & Recommendations 8
2. Discussion
2.1 xxxxxx 2
2.2 xxxxxx 4
2.3 xxxxxx 6
2.3.1 xxxx
2.3.2 xxxx
References 9
Appendix 10

18. SEE THE REPORT WRITING VIDEO FOR MORE SUGGESTIONS ABOUT
BUSINESS REPORT WRITING.
YOU WILL NEED TO DECIDE HOW TO STRUCTURE YOUR
DISCUSSION.
ONE POSSIBILITY IS TO HAVE 3 MAIN SUBSECTIONS, BASED ON THE
THREE MAIN PARTS OF THE QUESTION.

19. SUGGESTED
PARAGRAPH PLAN Executive Summary 1 paragraph (see slide 16)
1. Introduction 1 paragraph (or 2 / 3 short)
3. Conclusions & Recommendations 1* paragraph (or 3 x 2 sentences)
3.1 xxx
3.2 xxx
3.3 xxx
2. Discussion 6 - 9 paragraphs
2.1 xxxxxx 2 / 3 paragraphs
2.2 xxxxxx 2 / 3 paragraphs
2.3 xxxxxx 2 / 3 paragraphs
Table of Contents (see slide 17)
References (see slide 20)
Cover letter (see slide 11)

20. END OF TEXT
REFERENCES References
Finkelstein, S., Whitehead, J., & Campbell, A. (2009). Think again: Why good
leaders make bad decisions and how to stop it happening to you.
Cambridge, MA: Harvard Business School Press.
Kahnemann, D. (2003). Maps of bounded rationality: Psychology for
behavioural economics. The American Economic Review 93(5), 1449-
1475.
Kahnemann, D., Fredrickson, B. I., Schreiber, C.A., & Redelmeier, D.A.
(1993). When more pain is preferred to less: Adding a better end.
Psychological Science 4(6), 401-405.
Krause, T. R. (2008). The role of cognitive bias in safety decisions.
Occupational Hazards 70(6), 28.
Simon, H. A. (1955). A behavioural model of rational choice. Quarterly Journal
of Economics 69(1), 99-118.
White, E. (2009, February 14). Why good leaders make bad decisions. The
Wall Street Journal. Retrieved March 13, 2012 from:
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB123438338010974235.html
Use a YouTube video to help you with formatting – e.g. http://tinyurl.com/APAindenting

21. ASSIGNMENT 3

22. Assignment 3 will include three
stories based on your personal
experience of leadership

23. TASK 3
Listen to the example of an experience.
How many parts is the story made up of?

24. Components of a story
Context
Issue / Challenge / Problem
Response
Outcome
Evaluation

25. TASK 4
Choose a leadership story of your own and be
prepared to tell other students in workshop 2.

26. OTHER WORKSHOPS &
RESOURCES
SEE:
OWLL.MASSEY.AC.NZ
ACADEMIC SUPPORT (ON STREAM)
These sites include details of our regular STUDY UP and
POSTGRADUATE STUDY UP workshops, as well as VIDEOS.

27. © 2018
This PowerPoint Presentation and the accompanying handouts are
copyrighted by Centre for Teaching and Learning, Massey
University and may not be used, except for personal study,
without written permission from the copyright owner. Please
note that examples are provided for illustration of writing
principles only and no reliance should be placed on any of the
ideas referred to in the texts.
Martin McMorrow, Centre for Teaching and Learning
ctlalb@massey.ac.nz
These slides can be viewed at: tinyurl.com/152707W1