Recommendation and justification reports present a problem and then provide the evidence required to justify a recommended solution to that problem. Unlike most reports, which are written at the request of management, recommendation and justification reports are often initiated by the writer, who has observed a problem and wishes to suggest a solution. They employ deductive structure and begin with a clear statement of purpose or a problem to be solved.
Recommendation reports, more often than justification reports, may be assigned tasks. Whether reader-initiated or writer-initiated, however, a recommendation report employs the following structure:
1. Problem: What is it, and how will the reader benefit if it is solved?
2. Facts: What is known about the situation? Where and how was that information obtained?
3. Assumptions: What can be assumed on the basis of the facts?
4. Recommendations: What should the reader do, and why will that action (or those actions) solve the problem?
As is true for all headings, the headings in a recommendation report should be specific rather than general:
Not this: Problem
Say this: Need for Increased Computer Security
Use your headings to specify what problem, facts, assumptions, and recommendations. Use generic headings only when your reader expects to see them.
Justification reports serve essentially the same function as recommendation reports. The problems they attempt to solve, however, are usually financial—solving the problem will result in saving money. Also, unlike recommendation reports, justification reports typically use the following generic headings:
1. Purpose.
2. Cost and Savings (or Advantages).
3. Method (or Procedure).
4. Conclusions.
5. Discussion.
The conclusion of a justification report should show convincingly that the recommendation is justified by the advantages that will be realized.