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People in business produce a great variety of documents among which letters, memos, and reports are the most commonly found types of writing in a business organization.
At first glance, the variety seems overwhelming. However, the labor of classification becomes much easier if we make two significant distinctions among them.
The first distinction is that between direct communication and indirect communication. The former refers to writing which is specifically addressed to a person or group of people, while the latter is intended for a large number of people who might or might not read it, depending on whether they have time and inclination.
The second distinction is that between an expository communication, which is designed primarily to provide information and objective interpretation for its readers, and reaction-evoking communication, which aims at evoking a specific response from its recipients.
With these two distinctions in mind, any particular piece of business writing can conveniently be classified as either direct or indirect, and as either expository or reaction-evoking. We have, then, four kinds of written communications in business:
Indirect expositor: articles in business journal, annual report
Indirect reaction-evoker: quotation, leaflet, brochure, catalogue, advertisement
Direct expositor: monthly & quarterly report, minutes of meeting, policy & procedure bulletin
Direct reaction-evokers: memo of congratulations, thank-you letter, performance appraisal, claims adjustment
中文翻译：
商业人士创作很多不同的写作文件，比如：信件，备忘录和报告，这些都是商业组织中最常见的写作格式。
第一眼看上去，这么多的格式很繁乱，但是如果我们能发现两个明显的差别那么分类是很简单的。
第一个差别是直接交流和间接交流。前者是指写给某个组织中某个特定的人的，后者则是有意地发给一大群人，而这些人中或许会有人来读，这就要取决于他有没有时间和兴趣来读。
第二差别是说明性的交流和期待性（希望得到回应）的交流。前者是提供信息和间接地向读者解释说明，后者则是希望得到收件人某种具体的反应。
根据以上两种差别，任何特殊的商务写作都可以简单地被分为直接或间接交流，说明性或期待性交流。那么我们就得到四种写作类别：
间接说明性：商业周刊及年度报告中的文章
间接期待性：行情表，报价单，传单，目录，广告
直接说明性：月刊和季刊报告，会议记录，政策和程序公告
直接期待性：祝词备忘录，感谢信，成绩评价，权益调整
[责编：胡月]
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