Business Essay Format: Types & a Writing Guide

UPD: Jun 7th, 2024

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Business essay format implies many details that are equally important to consider. Start with defining a business research paper type and then go deeper into the details of the work.

We offer to follow this proven algorithm. Take simple steps to make business management essay writing easier:

First, let’s figure out the main challenges of business essay
Second, get familiar with the methods you can use for your essay about business.
Then, follow the steps necessary for writing a good quality paper.
Finally, check out the real business essay examples we picked for you.

⬇️ Don’t waste time – all of this is below! ⬇️

Overview

🏁 Business Paper Format
📑 Business Paper Types
✍️ How to Write a Good Paper
⏲️ After You Wrote Your Paper

🏁 Business Paper Format

The Business essay format requires an analytical description of a specific situation in the market. Depending on the assignment, a student shall provide a way to explain, improve, or stabilize the situation.

During your studies, you will be asked to write essays about business many times. Even if management and finance are not your key subjects.

Students intending to link their careers with ventures and management are assigned more specific research papers about business (business plans, marketing analysis, and description of the business environment). In such a way, they can train their strategy-planning skills and global vision.

Research Paper about Business. Main Challenges

Undefinable focus group size. If business research does not consider a vast target audience, its results may be inaccurate. Meanwhile, only budget and time determines how many people will be surveyed. Nobody knows how many is enough or too few.
Biased population. The people surveyed in the course of business research may have the same background and income level. The researcher shall address different groups of people to see the whole picture.
High cost. Some business research requires much investment. In particular, this statement is valid for long-term analysis that explores business cycles. But there are many NGOs and international organizations that offer grants to projects with a feasible business proposal.
The research quickly outlives its usefulness. The modern world evolves exponentially. For business ideas, two-year-old research data is desperately outdated.
Low precision of findings. Research papers about business are based on assumptions. It is possible to study the current situation, but no predictions are 100% accurate.

📑 Business Research Paper Types

Business research is a valuable source of detailed information on all business levels. Its findings are crucial for the development of an enterprise and its return on investments. The research helps establish the goals, find the weak points, and test a venture’s opportunities. There are multiple types of research in business.

Let’s dive in!

Business Research Paper. Quantitative Methods

Survey-based Research

Survey-based research involves asking questions through online polls, surveys, or questionnaires. Companies use this method to collect market data and make correct business decisions. Previously, marketing specialists surveyed people in person. Now they question the population online via mailout or social media.

There are four types of survey research. The first two of them focus on the time frame. The last two differ by the purpose and do not emphasize statistical accuracy.

Cross-sectional surveys gather data from the audience at a selected point in time.
Longitudinal surveys collect data from the audience across a long period to understand how the respondents’ behavior changes throughout the given period.
Explanatory surveys collect ideas and insights for business challenges.
Descriptive surveys explore the public opinion, typical behavior, or attitude of a group of people.

Correlation Analysis

Correlation analysis is done to understand the co-dependence between two or several entities. In methodology, it is similar to a cause-effect study. But the results of correlation analysis are not conclusive. They require qualitative research or descriptive conclusions. The main features of correlation analysis are:

It establishes the relationship strength between two numerical variables.
The result is formulated as a positive (strong or weak), a negative, or no relationship.
It is usually calculated in percentage.

Experimental Research

Experimental research intends to prove a theory. It is useful in exploring the consumer’s behavioral traits and finding out the possible ways to increase revenue. The researchers watch a focus group that undergoes the predesigned scenarios. Later they analyze the audience’s typical and divergent behavior to use the knowledge in improving their business.

It consists of a hypothesis, a variable that the researcher manipulates, and a set of evaluated variables.
Experimental research is done in a controlled environment.
The results can be used in a cause-effect study.

Cause-Effect Study

Cause-effect study shows which factors are the cause and which are the consequences. It is planned and structured, which makes its findings conclusive. The researchers select a set of variables and apply mathematical analysis to their evolution in time.

More than often, this study is the next step to experimental research. Having determined the relationships between the variables, researchers can predict their future development. These are the most typical features of a cause-effect study:

It is quasi-experimental research.
It uses experimentation to find if a relationship between factors is causal or they are not related.
There are always dependent and independent variables, so the main challenge is to consider all the elements.

Business Research Paper. Qualitative Methods

Case Study: Research Papers about Business

Case studies are the most wide-spread practice in marketing research. They provide insights into the client’s behavior and preferences. It is also the best way to explore the possibilities of a given product in the market.

A case study usually describes and explains the success or effectiveness of a product or activity. As well as allows analyzing their negative aspects.

The researchers need to explain why they selected such or another case.
The right selection of the point of view on the subject defines the efficiency of the study.
Many companies publish their case studies on their websites to boast of their success and attract new clients.
A case study investigates a fact in a real-life context to find trends.

Online Research Paper about Business

Researchers find literature sources online, analyze their relevance to the given problem, and compare it. This comparison makes online research a semi-qualitative method as it requires ranging the materials by their importance. Still, it is a collection of secondary data, and one shall be very selective about the resources.

Online research consists of analyzing available materials at libraries, annual reports, company listings, etc.
The advancement of online databases has made this method the quickest and simplest one.
It can be used at the initial stages of more in-depth investigations, like cause-effect or experimental studies.

Website Visitor Profiling

The method is also called website intercept surveys. It has emerged in recent years as thousands of new companies appear on the market.

Enterprises need to find out which of their website visitors are potential clients. They place client surveys right on their websites to collect direct feedback. Another source of visitor profiling is website analytical information. It shows the number and frequency of visits, returning clients, and which data they consume the most.

These are the main features of the profiling:

It provides companies with extensive comprehension of who visits their website and why. No business can succeed without knowing their clientele!
Most survey questions are about client satisfaction, path, and intentions.
The demographical profiling follows all the statistical laws. That is why the more people answer the survey questions, the more accurate the results become.
The researchers can explore user experience with the website and analyze questions and answers on more global client-related issues.

Interview

Interviews are similar to surveys, with the only difference in the depth of answers. Interviews allow clients to give open-ended responses, express themselves, and share their experience of dealing with the company.

Interviews are perfect for finding a solution to a question that could not be answered through quantitative research. For example, why a particular group of clients avoids purchasing certain goods.

Extensive answers are a benefit, as they provide more accurate and personal information than standardized questionaries. But they are also a drawback, making feedback analysis a lengthy and resource-consuming task.
The method is highly effective in collecting in-depth information on personal opinions, preferences, and experiences.
For business research purposes, interviews contain the same set of questions for all the clients. It facilitates processing the answers.

✍️ How to Write a Good Business Research Paper

Conduct a Primary Research

It is the broadest stage that encompasses all the possible sources, including social media posts and blogs. Not only research materials contain the information that is essential for a business.

Go beyond the boundaries!

Sometimes, unexpected insights wait in the most unexpected places. If your subject area involves the human factor, ask your friends and relatives what they think about the topic. It happens that people who are distant from your research issues show the most realistic view of things.

Literature for Your Business Essay Writing

This step is required to generate ideas and decide which information you are going to use. The latter will help you when choosing a topic and outlining the structure.

Review the books, guidelines, reports, and journals on the subject matter. Soon you will learn that not all its aspects are equally covered in the literature. Make a note of the most and the least accessible and reliable literature.

Most research, including business one, starts with a literature review part. To write something new, you should know what has been written by others and build your paper.

Choose Your Business Essay Topic

Avoid selecting topics that are insufficiently discussed in the literature (you have noted them in the previous step). Still, if you have much to write on the poorly covered topics, it is your advantage, and you will meet less competition.

If you have too few options, conduct brainstorming. Write down everything that comes to your mind, then cross out the weakest versions until the best one is left.

You can as well use the list of topics on the most perspective spheres in business.

Outline Your Business Essay Structure

The structure of all essays about business varies enormously according to the subject field, expected length, writer’s qualification, and research purpose. Still, some sections remain in all of them. The following paragraphs are the crucial parts that you can use as a template.

Introduction. If you doubt how to write a business essay introduction, write it after the background information. Summarize the critical idea and comment on how you will address it. You can add definitions of terms you will use in the essay. Conclude the introduction with a thesis statement. It should consist of a sentence or two that concisely represent the purposes and scope of your paper.
Literature review. This section describes any available background information you consider relevant to the title of your essay.
Findings or analysis. If you write a research paper, this part discusses the results of your research. For a business essay, dedicate this section to analyzing the literature from the previous paragraph or the given business situation.
Conclusion. Start with reiterating the main points of your findings. Then draw a logical conclusion of these points. Make your point of view transparent to the reader. Finally, give some recommendations for further study of the subject matter.
Bibliography. The citation style determines the rules of this part.
Appendices. Insert here the supporting materials (graphs or charts) that are too large to be included in the main body.

⏲️ After You Wrote a Business Paper

Edit & Proofread

The difference between proofreading and editing is the level of text taken into account for each check and correction. You edit words (spelling) and sentences (grammar, punctuation, and syntaxis). Meanwhile, you proofread the entire paper, verifying its logical flow, overall focus, and organization.

For this reason, put your work aside for a day or two before you start proofreading it. Try to read it as if it was for the first time. If you have to read something several times to understand, change that part or delete it. Eliminate all the unnecessary filler words.

Use Our Business Paper Checklist

Now,

Here’s a very helpful checklist with the aspects necessary for a good research paper. Go through the questions below and make notes on what needs to be revised.

Does the title of your paper match the thesis statement and conclusion?
Does your business essay follow a logical order?
Are all the numerical examples taken from reliable sources, and are they up-to-date?
Is the topical sentence at the beginning of each main body paragraph supported by what follows it?
Are there references to all the used sources?
Are there sources in your bibliography that you never referenced? (If yes, delete them)
Is the language academic and easy to understand?
Is the spelling, grammar, syntaxis, and punctuation correct?

Good.

We sincerely hope that this guide improved your understanding of how to write a research paper about business.

If something is still not fully clear, go through it again, try to find another angle of perception.

Remember that creativity is always welcome in any kind of writing, though be careful – don’t overdo it.

Below you can find additional sources that we recommend to read.

Breathe out and just do it!

🔗 References