Guideline document for writing an effective internship report

Prepared by:
Internship Management Committee

BRAC Business School

BRAC University

Version 1.0

Date: June 19, 2016

 Guideline document for writing an effective internship report

The guideline document is prepared for the students of BBA and MBA program who have
enrolled to the internship program by taking BUS400 and BUS699 course respectively. It aims to
provide holistic idea on how to prepare a well-structured report as part of internship. Once the
student under any of these programs has successfully completed all the coursework, he/she is
required to start internship. For BBA, Internship is considered as 4 credits and for MBA it is a
non-credit compulsory course with few exceptions. The internship provides on-the-job training
exposure to the students and an opportunity to translate the theoretical concepts into real life
working environment. Students are required to be attached with a business enterprise, NGOs and
research institutions for internship. The duration of the internship program is 10 weeks of
organizational attachment and 2 weeks of report finalization work. The report is graded and a
student must get at least C grade, which is the passing grade in the internship program. Failure to
obtain the passing grade will require the student to repeat the internship.

Structure of the report:

Although the students have the flexibility and are given enough freedom to plan for designing
the structure of the report mutually agreed by the assigned academic supervisor, however are
suggested to address basic requirements to meet the standard and expectation of BRAC
University. The report can be divided into three fundamental blocks as follows:

1. Prefatory part:

This preliminary part consists of the title page, approval page, abstract/ executive summary,
acknowledgments, table of contents, list of tables, list of figures, other lists and the preface.
Preliminary pages are paginated separately from the rest of the text. Proper order of Preliminary
Pages:

1.1 Title fly and Title page: The title fly is a plain sheet of paper with only the title of the report
on it. One may not really need this part, but it adds a touch of formality. Title page: includes four
blocks of information: (1) title of the report; (2) name, title, and address of the person, group, or
organization that authorized the report; (3) name, title, and address of the person, group, or
organization to whom it is submitted; and (4) date on which the report was submitted. Report
title should be clear and specific, without been too wordy. Derive the report title from the
primary objective, and try to give a sense of the scope of the project.

1.2 Approval page and Letter of Transmittal: This page indicates the consent of the supervisor
(with signature) to the fact that one has completed his/her internship project as per instruction.
Since this page is part of the formal report, students have to obtain the signature of his/her
academic supervisor on this page.

1.3 Acknowledgments: A report must have a brief paragraph acknowledging the contributions of
supervisor and others who helped the student complete the report.

1.4 Table of Contents, List of Tables and List of figures: The table of contents indicates in outline
from the coverage, sequence, and relative importance of the information in the report. Some
reports also refer to tables and visual aids as illustrations or exhibits. In some, tables are labeled

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 Guideline document for writing an effective internship report

separately from figures. Regardless of the system used to label visual aids, the list of illustrations
gives their titles and page numbers.

1.5 Synopsis, Abstract or Executive Summary: A brief overview of a report's most important
points is called a synopsis (or abstract in technical or academic reports). An executive summary
is a fully developed "mini" version of the report. This part should summarize the aims, methods,
conclusions or results, and significance of the study.

2. Body of the report:

2.1 Introduction: This should include some background context, i.e., what problems exist, why
those problems are significant and who they affect. For example, it may be a problem which
affects a particular industry, or a particular population, such as production workers or senior
managers. It should also provide a justification for why it is important to research this topic.
Indicate also, what impact resolving this problem, or some aspect of it, will have. The
introduction is the part of the paper that provides readers with the background information for
the research reported in the paper. Its purpose is to establish a framework for the report, go on to
review the relevant literature.

2.2 Problem Statement: State the problem understandable to someone who is generally
sophisticated but relatively unapprised in the area of the investigation. A problem statement
should be presented within a context, and that context should be provided and briefly explained,
including a discussion of the conceptual or theoretical framework in which it is embedded.
Clearly and briefly identify and explain the theoretical framework that guides the study.

2.3 Purposes of the Study: The purpose statement should provide a specific and accurate
synopsis of the overall objective of the study. In some cases, there may be one primary objective,
relating to what the major output of the project will be, and a number of subsidiary objectives
which indicate the purpose of specific phases of the work, ultimately culminating in the
achievement of the primary objective. There is no right number of objectives, but if the
number exceeds 4, consider whether the project is too ambitious or too broad. Finally, before
proceeding further check that your research objective/question:
- Is it clear, specific and focused, i.e., is it an objective rather than an
aim?
- Does it clearly indicate what is to be studied?
- Are the boundaries of the study clear, i.e. what it will include and
what it will not?
- Does it provide some indication as to how to collect your data and from what
sources?

2.4 Timeline: Provide a general outline of the time schedule you expect to follow.

2.5 Limitations: A limitation identifies potential weaknesses of the study. Think about the
analysis, the nature of report, your instruments, and the sample. Interns are required to explain
these weaknesses.

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 Guideline document for writing an effective internship report

2.6 Organization part: At this stage the internee should give an overview of the organization in 5-
10 pages. The content should include nature and type of the enterprise, product and services,
business operation, structure of the organization etc. It is suggested that this part should not be
the major highlight of the report where as the internee should more focus on his/her learning and
main project part of the report. It is also expected that the internee should give a summary of
his/her key responsibilities that was performed in last three months. This part also includes major
learning reflections gained working for the organization.

2.7 The Literature Review (Optional): In order to establish the scope of the project and determine
what your contribution to the field could be, it will have been necessary to do some preliminary
reading of the literature. This section therefore requires that the intern must write a detailed
background literature review, which will provide the basis for the full literature review required
for the project. One should therefore ensure that it is critically discussed current thinking
regarding the chosen research topic, and any relevant, related research. In some cases, project
topics will span more than one theme or topic in the literature, and one should therefore ensure
that all relevant areas are addressed, and show how each contributes to the research problem that
are addressing. Remember that the most up-to-date literature will not be found in books one
need to include up-to-date journal papers in order for your literature review to be considered
valid.

Example:
To develop a strategy for successful entry into emerging Asian markets for automotive
manufacturers. A number of topics are relevant to this research question, for example:
International business strategy
Modes of market entry
Specific issues relating to entering the Asian market
Research specific to the automotive industry, especially manufacturing

2.8 Methodology: Consider carefully which research methods will be needed in order to achieve
the project objectives. Primarily it depends on the type of study you are conducting; descriptive,
exploratory or causal. For example, case studies will give in-depth and more suitable for
exploratory type of study, detailed insights into a problem, by using a wide range of sources of
evidence to build a detailed picture of a specific situation or problem. Therefore, case selection
should be very carefully thought through in order to make the best use of this method. For a
survey which is more appropriate for descriptive type however, much larger sample sizes are
possible. This means that survey samples can generally be regarded as statistically representative
of a larger population. The downside of this method is that in order to achieve a large enough
sample size to be representative of a given population, a great deal of depth and detail must be
sacrificed questions must be relatively simple, in order to ensure that the process of analysis
remains manageable. For this reason, surveys will enable you to determine, for example, how
frequently a problem occurs, or how many people hold a certain view, but it will not provide
sufficient detail as to why or how a problem occurs.

If you are going to conduct experiments (may be your are conducting a causal type of study),
which major parameters will you need to test in order to answer your research question? Which

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 Guideline document for writing an effective internship report

type of experimental design will you use a classical design, Taguchi? How many experiments
are likely to be necessary?

It is a good idea to think carefully about where you will collect your data from and your strategy
for collecting it. If this is not thought through clearly at the outset, you may waste a lot of time
collecting data that ultimately does not answer your questions, or resolve your research problem.
Think carefully about where (or from whom) you can get the information; primary or secondary
that you need to resolve your chosen problem. If relevant information is already available should
not then wait to collect primary data. For example, do you need to talk to a specific company?
Which individuals within the department, business unit, etc., do you need to approach?
Furthermore, consider which data collection techniques are appropriate for your project
interviews, questionnaires? Can you obtain additional documentary evidence, such as project
documentation, company reports, minutes of meetings, in order to verify information provided
through interviews?

Can you interview more than one source in order to minimize bias? Remember that your time is
limited, so be efficient in your data collection! And remember that if you are conducting a survey
or using a questionnaire to structure interviews, you will need to allow time for questionnaire
development and piloting.

Another important consideration in deciding on your data collection strategy and research design
is how will I make sense of all the data once collected? Again, your project objectives should
indicate the kind of answer that is needed, and therefore the type of analysis required. Consider
your project objectives what questions need to be answered in order to achieve this
objective(s), i.e., what are your research questions? If your research question is of the how
much or how many type, for example, it is likely that you will be conducting some kind of
survey and that some form of quantitative statistical analysis will be required. If your research
question is concerned with how or why a particular problem occurs, then your answer is
likely to involve a certain amount of qualitative data analysis, designed to help you structure an
interpret the results of interviews and text-based information contained in documents and reports.

2.9 Hypotheses (optional): Hypotheses are testable propositions deduced and directly derived
from theory. A research question poses a relationship between two or more variables but phrases
the relationship as a question; a hypothesis represents a declarative statement of the relations
between two or more variables. Describe the design and clearly spell out the independent and
dependent variables.

2.10 Findings and Conclusion: The purpose of this section is to evaluate and interpret the results,
especially with respect to the original research question. Briefly state the main findings in both
tables and words. That is, first give a general description, and then go into the details. When
presenting the results of statistical tests, give descriptive statistics, and reliability value before the
corresponding inferential statistics. During presenting the results, try to emphasize the meaning
of the statistics. It is also important to discuss how the results relate to the literature cited in the
introduction. The report must end up with few recommendations and be it consistent with the
other parts of the report. Use your own words to explain the solutions.

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 Guideline document for writing an effective internship report

3. Supplementary part:
Supplementary parts follow the text of the report and provide information for readers who seek
more detailed discussion. Supplements are to be included properly and typically include the
appendixes, bibliography, and index.

3.1 Appendix: An appendix contains materials related to the report but not included in the text
because they're too lengthy or bulky or because they lack direct relevance. Frequently included
in appendixes are sample questionnaires and cover letters, sample forms, computer printouts,
statistical formulas, financial statements and spreadsheets, copies of important documents, and
complex illustrations; a glossary may be put in an appendix or may stand as a separate
supplementary part. The best place to include visual aids is in the text body nearest the point of
discussion. But if any visuals are too large to fit on one page or are only indirectly relevant to
your report, they too may be put in an appendix.

3.2 Bibliography: You have an ethical and a legal obligation to give other people credit for their
work. A bibliography is a list of secondary sources consulted when preparing the report.

3.3 Index: An index is an alphabetical list of names, places, and subjects mentioned in the report,
along with the pages on which they occur (see the index for this book). An index is rarely
included in unpublished reports.

Additional Information:
Avoiding Plagiarism:

Two methods, paraphrasing and direct quotations, are used by all writers to report facts, information,
and ideas that originate from another person. Both methods require appropriate credit to the
originator of the material.

Paraphrases: When you paraphrase, you restate the others material in your own words. You do
not need to place quotations around paraphrased material, but you must appropriately cite the
source of the material.
Direct quotations: When you quote an author directly, you use the exact words of another person.
Direct quotes should be used less often than paraphrasing. Direct quotes must be enclosed in
quotation marks, and the appropriate citation must follow the quote. (This includes material taken
from all sources, including interviews, books, journal articles, and websites.)

NOTE: Failure to properly attribute direct quotes and paraphrased material in your report will be
considered plagiarism and academic dishonesty. Otherwise, the process may be asked to be
conducted again. For detail explanation on how to make a reference, students are suggested to go
through the referencing guideline document attached with internship package.

BRAC Business School, 2016