How to Write Recommendations in a Business TMA

Most business TMAs end with a section that asks you to advise the organisation in the case study. This is where many students lose easy marks. They spend 2,000 words analysing a company with SWOT, PESTLE or ratio analysis, then finish with three vague lines such as “the company should improve its marketing”. Your tutor has read the analysis. What they want now is proof that you can turn it into decisions a manager could act on on Monday morning.

This guide shows you how to write recommendations in a business report that are specific, linked to your evidence and realistic. It works for SUSS, OU, Wawasan, OUM and AOU business modules, but always check your own TMA question and marking guide first, because some questions ask for recommendations in a separate section and others want them built into the discussion.

What do tutors actually want from the recommendations section of a business TMA?

Recommendations answer one question: “Given what you found, what should this organisation do next?” Tutors usually look for four things.

• A clear link to your findings. Every recommendation should solve a problem or exploit an opportunity you have already shown in the analysis. Nothing should appear from nowhere.
• Action, not aspiration. “Improve customer service” is a wish. “Introduce a 24-hour response target for online complaints, tracked weekly by the customer service manager” is an action.
• Realism. The organisation must be able to afford it, staff it and carry it out within its context.
• Some awareness of trade-offs. Strong answers mention cost, risk or what the company gives up by choosing this option.

If your marking rubric has a criterion such as “application to the case” or “quality of conclusions and recommendations”, this is the section that carries it. Read that criterion before you write a single sentence.

How are recommendations different from conclusions in a business report?

Students often merge the two, and it weakens both. A conclusion summarises what you found. A recommendation tells the reader what to do about it.

Conclusion	Recommendation
Looks back at the analysis	Looks forward to action
“Staff turnover in the retail division is well above the sector average and is linked to irregular shift patterns.”	“Introduce fixed shift rosters published four weeks in advance for all retail staff, starting with the two highest-turnover branches.”
No new information	No new analysis, but new detail on how, who and when
Uses past or present tense	Uses “should”, “recommend that” or “propose”

In a formal report structure, recommendations normally come after the conclusion and before any appendices. In an essay-style TMA, they may sit in the final section. Follow whatever format the question sets out.

How can I make every recommendation link back to my analysis?

The simplest method is to build a short “problem to action” map before you write. Go through your analysis and list each key issue. Then write one recommendation against each issue. If a recommendation has no matching issue, either cut it or go back and add the evidence that supports it.

When you write the section, open each recommendation with a phrase that points back to the problem. For example:

• “To address the falling gross margin identified in Section 3…”
• “Given the threat from lower-cost online competitors shown in the Porter’s Five Forces analysis…”
• “Because the employee survey points to weak communication between head office and branches…”

This takes one line, but it shows the marker that your recommendations come from evidence rather than general business common sense. It also stops you drifting into advice about issues you never discussed.

Should I use SMART recommendations in my TMA?

SMART (specific, measurable, achievable, relevant or results-focused, time-bound) is a useful checklist, and many business tutors expect to see it reflected in the detail. You do not need to label each letter in your answer, and some tutors find that mechanical. Use it as a test instead.

A worked example

Imagine a TMA case on a small Singapore café chain with rising costs and flat sales. A weak recommendation would be:

“The company should use social media more to attract customers.”

Run it through SMART and it becomes:

“The company should launch a targeted Instagram and TikTok campaign promoting its weekday lunch set to office workers within one kilometre of its three CBD outlets. A part-time marketing executive should run the campaign for an initial three months, with a budget agreed against current marketing spend. Success should be measured by weekday lunch covers and redemption of an online-only voucher code, reviewed monthly by the operations manager.”

Notice that it does not invent precise numbers the case study does not give. If the case gives figures, use them. If it does not, describe how the target would be set and measured rather than making up statistics.

How many recommendations should a business TMA include?

There is no fixed number, and the question or word count usually decides it. As a rough guide, three to five well-developed recommendations are stronger than eight one-liners. Depth beats length.

Prioritise them. Put the most urgent or highest-impact recommendation first and say why. You might separate them into short-term actions (the next three to six months) and longer-term actions (one to three years). This shows the tutor you understand that organisations cannot do everything at once.

Number each recommendation and give it a short sub-heading if your format allows. It makes the section easy to scan and easy for the marker to award credit for each point.

How do I show cost, risk and feasibility without the full figures?

Most TMA case studies do not give you a complete budget, so you will rarely be able to cost a recommendation precisely. That is fine. What tutors want is evidence that you have thought about it. For each recommendation, add a sentence or two on:

• Resources: who would carry it out, and does the organisation have those skills?
• Cost and benefit: is the likely benefit worth the outlay, and what is the opportunity cost?
• Risk: what could go wrong, and how would the company reduce that risk?
• Fit: does it suit the company’s strategy, culture and legal or ethical obligations?

If your module has covered a tool such as a feasibility, acceptability and suitability test, or a simple cost-benefit table, applying it here is a quick way to show module knowledge. For finance-heavy cases, our guide on interpreting financial ratios rather than just calculating them shows how to turn numbers into evidence your recommendations can rest on.

What language should I use when writing recommendations?

Keep it formal, direct and confident. A few practical points:

• Use “should” for actions you are confident about and “could” or “may wish to consider” for options that depend on further information.
• Write “I recommend that the company introduces…” or “It is recommended that…” rather than “I recommend to introduce”, which is a common grammar slip.
• Use “will” or “would” when you describe the expected result: “This would reduce dependence on a single supplier.”
• Avoid hedging every sentence. One or two qualifications are good critical practice; constant hedging makes the advice sound unsure.
• Check whether your module wants first person. Many business TMAs written as consultancy reports accept “I recommend”; others prefer the impersonal form.

What mistakes cost the most marks in business TMA recommendations?

Use this checklist before you submit:

1. New analysis appears. If you introduce a new model or new data in the recommendations, move it back into the analysis section.
2. Recommendations are generic. If you could paste the same advice into any company’s report, it is too vague. Name the department, product, market or staff group.
3. No link to the case. Each point should mention something specific to the organisation in the TMA.
4. Unrealistic scale. Telling a five-outlet café to build a regional distribution centre is not credible.
5. Ignoring the question. If the question asks for recommendations to the HR director, do not advise on pricing strategy.
6. Running out of words. Plan your word budget so this section gets the space it deserves. It often carries a meaningful share of the marks.

It also helps to check that your opening matches your ending. If your introduction promised to advise on supplier risk, your recommendations must cover it. Our guide to writing a strong TMA introduction and conclusion explains how to keep both ends of the assignment aligned.

When should I ask a business tutor to look at my recommendations?

If you have finished your analysis but your recommendations still feel thin, or you are not sure whether they are specific enough for your rubric, a second pair of eyes before submission can help. Our business TMA tutors can talk you through models such as SWOT, PESTLE and Porter, and our TMA draft review gives written feedback on a draft you have written yourself, so you can strengthen it in your own words. We do not write or submit work for you, and you should always follow your university’s academic integrity rules.