Week 2: 2.1.2 components of a needs analysis
Why do the executive summary and the introduction reveal the end of the report at the beginning?
If there is no market research available, what should be used to inform the needs analysis?
What sorts of materials are useful to inform your initial strategy statement?
1. A precis is necessary as senior decision makers are time poor, and require only overview and summary. Further down the executive chain are others who interrogate detail more thoroughly, and enforce probity/compliance etc. This is a standard method (the end at the beginning) for much business communication and reporting.
2. Research:
market research in relation to the client and their products and services or the objectives
Information about a client, their products, their services and an understanding of their objectives can be drawn from multiple published sources from blogs to actual data sets, noting that most industries have a proliferation of data available online if you dig a bit. SUMMARISE with actual data in Appendix if available.
3. Scholarly articles, studies and research papers in aligned industries/comparable client situations, published guides to good practice, industry publications