5.3: Composing Feasibility and Recommendation Reports

When are Feasibility and Recommendation Reports Used?

Feasibility and recommendation reports are most often the final step in a series of documents, often beginning with a proposal and perhaps a series of progress reports, or they can be created in response to a smaller challenge. Feasibility, recommendation, evaluation, and assessment reports, are analytic reports that all do roughly the same thing—provide a careful study of a situation or problem, and often recommend what should be done to improve a situation. There are some subtle differences among these types, and names for them can vary. They can be written as long reports in response to complex situations as well as shorter reports for less complex ones.

To view examples of feasibility and recommendation reports, please visit David McMurrey’s Online Technical Writing: Examples, Cases, and Models.

What Are Feasibility Reports?

A feasibility report presents an opinion about a situation and a plan for doing something about it. The report then discusses whether that plan is “feasible”—whether it is practical in terms of current technology, economics, time frame, social needs and preferences, and so on. The feasibility report answers the question “Should we implement Plan X?” by stating “yes,” “no,” or sometimes a “maybe” or “under certain conditions.” Not only does it indicate whether the idea is feasible, it also provides the data and the reasoning behind that determination; conversely, it might outline the reasons why the idea cannot or should not be implemented, or what obstacles must be overcome before the idea can become feasible. Typical questions addressed in these reports include the following:

• Is it possible?  Can this be done within the allotted budget, time frame, legal and regulatory conditions, and technical capabilities?
• Is it financially viable?  Even if it falls within our budget, should we do it?  Will it have long-term benefits that outweigh costs? Is there a less expensive or financially risky way to achieving the same result? How does it compare to the cost of doing nothing about this situation?
• Will it be accepted by the community?  Will people be in favour of this idea? Will anyone be opposed to it?  How much public support is necessary to make this successful? (What kind of stakeholder consultation might be necessary to determine this?)
• Do we have the expertise and human capital to proceed? Does the company have the expertise, resources, and time to commit to the completion of the project within a specified time?

What Are Recommendation Reports?

A recommendation report starts from a stated need; it outlines criteria for assessing the options, it offers a selection of solution options, presents a detailed comparative analysis of the options (in a detailed form of the report), and then makes recommendations. For example, a company might be looking at grammar-checking software and want a recommendation on which product is the best fit for them. Criteria for selection might be cost, installation, training, and privacy. As the report writer on this project, you could study the market for this type of application and recommend one particular product, two-to-three possible products (differing perhaps in their strengths and their weaknesses), or none (maybe none of them are appropriate for the client’s specific needs) after comparing each using the criteria for selection. The recommendation report answers the question “Which option should we choose?” (or in some cases “Which are the best options?) by recommending Product B, or maybe both Products B and C, or none of the products. These recommendations might arise from questions such as the following:

• What should we do about Problem X?
• What features or characteristics would address our needs?
• What is the best way to provide Function or Service A?
• Should we use Technology X or Technology Y to perform Function Z?

What Are the Typical Contents of Recommendation and Feasibility Reports?

Whatever variety of feasibility or recommendation report you write, most of the sections and the organization of those sections are roughly the same.

The structural principle fundamental to this type of report is this: You provide not only your recommendation, choice, or judgment, but also the data, analysis, discussion, and the conclusions leading to it. That way, readers can check your findings, your logic, and your conclusions to make sure your methodology was sound and that they can agree with your recommendation. Your goal is to convince the reader to agree with you by using your careful research, detailed analysis, rhetorical style, and documentation.

 Your report will be divided into several sections that will likely include most or all of the following elements:

1. INTRODUCTION: The introduction should clearly state the document’s purpose. Your introduction will include the problem definition, which discusses the “unsatisfactory situation” or opportunity that has given rise to this report and the requirements that must be met. You should also include some background information to describe the circumstances leading up to the situation and your report. Finally, provide an overview of the contents of the report.
2. TECHNICAL BACKGROUND:  Most recommendation or feasibility reports may require a technical background section in order to make the rest of the report meaningful.
3. REQUIREMENTS AND CRITERIA:  A critical part of feasibility and recommendation reports is the discussion of the requirements (objectives and constraints) you’ll use to reach the final decision or recommendation. Requirements can be defined in several ways:
   • Numerical values: Many requirements are stated as maximum or minimum numerical values. For example, there may be a cost requirement such as “the tablet should cost no more than $900.”
   • Yes/no values:  Some requirements are simply a yes-no question. Does the tablet come equipped with Bluetooth? Is the car equipped with voice recognition?
   • Ratings values:  In some cases, key considerations cannot be handled either with numerical values or yes/no values. For example, your organization might want a tablet that has an ease-of-use rating of at least “good” by some nationally accepted ratings group. Or you may have to assign ratings yourself.
4. DISCUSSION OF SOLUTION OPTIONS: In certain kinds of feasibility or recommendation reports, you’ll need to explain how you narrowed the field of choices down to the ones your report focuses on. Often, this follows right after the discussion of the requirements.
5. COMPARATIVE ANALYSIS (exclude from simplified report): One of the most important parts of a feasibility or recommendation report is the comparison of the options. Remember that you include this section so that readers can follow the logic of your analysis and come up with different conclusions if they desire. This comparison can be structured using a “block” (whole-to-whole) approach, or an “alternating” (point-by-point) approach.
   

   Block Approach	Alternating (Point-by-Point) Approach
   All the information about Option 1	Compare all Options according to Criteria A (cost)
   All the information about Option 2	Compare all Options according to Criteria B (functionality)
   All the information about Option 3	Compare all options according to Criteria C (ease of use)
   Direct Comparative Analysis of all three options and Summary of Results	Summary of Results

6. CONCLUSIONS:  The conclusions section of a feasibility or recommendation report sums up the report.
7. RECOMMENDATIONS: The final section of feasibility and recommendation reports states the recommendations which flow directly from your conclusions and directly address the problem outlined in the introduction. These may sometimes be repetitive, but remember that some readers may skip right to the recommendation section.

Here is a summary of the sections of a recommendation report: