Tips for assignments & report writing in BPM class

Marco van der Woude, HAN, september 2014

Based on the reports that I’ve seen so far in this course, here are a couple of tips for assignments in general and, more specifically, for the 4th and the final assignment in this course.

Technicalities:1. Use a cover page with your names and student numbers on it.2. Use a table of contents3. Structure your report, start with a (short) introduction (why are you writing

this?), end with conclusions (maybe about what you learned?)4. Use page numbers5. Mention your sources in a consistent manner (preferably APA)6. Let one person do the final editing to make sure that everything is consistent

Content:1. Do research, both about the background of the industry that the assignment is

about and about the specific companies you’re studying2. Analyze the situation as it is today (use Porter, PESTEL, SWOT if necessary

and useful, other models if you want)3. Describe what you want to achieve, keeping in mind what is realistic (GOALS)4. Describe HOW you want to achieve your targets (what are you suggesting to

DO in order to achieve the GOALS). This is also known as a Strategy. Which activities are you hoping will lead to the desired results?

5. Describe how you will measure both the efforts / actions and the results (a.k.a. Performance Indicators or PI’s). Measuring means clarity, so try to describe things that can be measured and expressed as numbers in some way.

6. Describe when you can tell that your suggested strategy was successful.

Good luck with the assignments and with the final report!