In an advisory report, you give the client concrete advice resulting from your research. You work out various scenarios and measures the client can use to solve their problem. At the end of your report, you indicate what your final advice is and why you give this particular advice. This article explains what an advice report is and what the structure of an advice report looks like.
What is an advisory report?
In an advisory report, you present your advice to the client. You do so based on thorough research and by evaluating various possible solutions. An advisory report is therefore always based on written research, such as a thesis. The advisory report is a stand-alone document which enables the client to clearly see what you recommend as the solution to the problem.
Structure of an advisory report
Each study programme and educational institution may have different requirements for an advisory report. Thus, check with your supervisor which structure you should follow for yours.
Sometimes you write an advisory report instead of a thesis. In that case, your advisory report may look slightly different from the structure below. You will then often stick to the standard thesis structure and not always have to work out various alternatives.
In general, the structure of an advisory report is as follows:
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Title page: include the title and any subtitle, your name, the client's name and the place and date of publication here.
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Management summary: in no more than one A4 page, briefly and concisely describe the reason for the problem, the main question, the research methods used, the main results and conclusions, the alternatives, and final advice.
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Table of contents: have Word automatically generate a table of contents reflecting all sections of the advisory report.
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Introduction: introduce your client, the purpose of the advisory report and the research (the reason, problem definition and research question). In addition, discuss the framework conditions (the budget, deadlines and any laws and regulations).
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Research summary: summarise the most important information about your research design, name the results found and give the conclusions. Refer to your research without elaborating too much on your research in the advisory report itself. Furthermore, include your research publication in the bibliography).
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Elaboration of the various alternatives (note: sometimes the term 'measures' or 'scenarios' is used instead of 'alternatives'): give a short description of each alternative, describe how the alternative helps to solve the problem and within what timeframe you can implement it. Also, name the advantages and disadvantages of each alternative, and indicate what the client needs to invest in terms of money, time and people for this it.
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Conclude with your final advice: describe your final advice and indicate why you came to this conclusion rather than the alternatives. In addition, make an action plan in which you elaborate on the necessary steps for implementation, the planning you recommend, and the budget it requires.
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Literature list with the sources used: prepare it according to the source citation style used by your course, e.g. APA or the Guideline for Legal Authors.
Which solutions do you include in the advisory report?
There are often a variety of ways to solve a problem. So how do you know which alternative deserves a place in the advisory report and which does not? Several considerations are important for this.
Working out an alternative in your advisory report is usually only done if...
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...the alternative is in fact a solution to the problem.
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...the alternative meets the preconditions, meaning there is sufficient budget available, the alternative fits within the time available, and there are enough employees who can spare time for this.
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...the alternative is organisationally feasible.
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...the right technology is available to execute it.
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...the alternative complies with laws and regulations.
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...the alternative is ethically and politically sound.
Example advisory report
Are you curious about examples of an advisory report? In the college knowledge base, you will find several previously written advisory reports. Just keep in mind that these have been written for all kinds of study programmes. It is often wise to ask your supervisor specifically about a sample advice report for your programme.
The writing style in the advisory report
As with a thesis, you also use an academic writing style for an advisory report. This means you describe your advice in an impersonal and professional tone. It is important to be as specific as possible when doing so. It should be clear to the client what should be done and why this is a good step to take.
Furthermore, it is helpful to write in an active manner. This way, the advice report does not become unnecessarily complicated and the advice is clear at a glance.
For example, don't write:
"It is advised to start an Instagram account, as this social media channel is the most used by the target audience."
Instead, write:
"The advice is to start an Instagram account, as the target audience uses this social media channel the most."
Get your advisory report reviewed for writing style
Your writing style will be graded as part of the assessment of your advisory report. Also, reviewers often check for language and spelling mistakes or incomprehensible sentences. Do you want to be sure that these do not occur in your advisory report and that your advice is well presented in the report? Then have your advisory report reviewed by our editors. They will be happy to help you!