The Executive
Summary
An executive summary is a
report, proposal, or portfolio, etc in miniature (usually one page or
shorter). That is, the executive summary contains enough information
for the readers to become acquainted with the full document without
reading it. Usually, it contains
- a statement of the problem,
- some
background information,
- a description of any alternatives,
- and
the major conclusions.
Someone reading an executive summary
should get a good idea of main points of the document without
becoming bogged down with details.
An executive summary
differs from an abstract in that an abstract is usually only about
six to eight lines long. Its purpose is to inform the reader of the
points to be covered in the report without any attempt to tell what
is said about them. Covering no more than a page in length, the
executive summary is longer and is a highly condensed version of the
most important information the full document contains. Both the
executive summary and the abstract are independent elements rather
than a part of the body of the document. Both are placed at the
beginning of the document.
With the possible
exception of the conclusion and recommendation, the executive summary
is the most important part of a report. As such, it should be the
best-written and most polished piece of the document. This is because
many readers may only look at the executive summary when deciding
whether or not to read the entire document. In some companies, the
executive summaries are distributed so that employees are informed
as to what information is available, and interested readers may
request the entire document. In short, you may expect that an
executive summary will be read more frequently and by more people
than will your entire document.
When writing your
executive summary, ask yourself if those who read the summary will
be those who will read the entire report. If you are dealing with
two different groups of people, you will have to decide how much
technical detail to include in the summary. If it is likely that some
who read only the executive summary will not have the technical
background of the writer or final reader, keep the technical
information and vocabulary to a minimum. You might have three types
of readers: those who want a full picture but won't check the details
(they might read the executive summary, some of the body, the
conclusions, and the recommendations), those who read everything
(they read the appendixes, all the data, the calculations, etc.),
and those who are in executive positions, wish to be kept informed
on what is going on in the company, and will say "yes" or "no" to
a project (they will read the executive summary, the conclusions,
and the recommendations). Your executive summary must address
all three types of readers.
Since the executive
summary is a condensation, when creating it, you omit any
preliminaries, details, and illustrative examples. You do include
the main ideas, the facts, the necessary background to understand
the problem, the alternatives, and the major conclusions. Brevity
and conciseness are the keys to a well-written summary. Do not
take a few sentences from key sections of the document and string
them together. Rather, go over the entire document and make notes
of the elements you consider important. From your notes, create
a rough draft of the summary. Then, polish what you have written
until it is smooth and seamless without unnecessary wordiness.
Do not include any introductory or transitional material. Finally,
ensure that your executive summary is accurate and representative
of your full document. It should not be misleading, but it should
give readers the same impression as if they had read the entire
report.
An
Example of an Executive Summary
For the past eighteen months,
the Satellite Products laboratory has been developing a system that
will permit the companies with large fleets of trucks to communicate
directly with their drivers. This communication is intended to take
place at any time through a satellite link.
During the week of May 18,
1999, we tested our concepts for the first time, using the ATS-6
satellite and five trucks that were driven over an eleven-state
region. All trucks carried our prototype mobile radios.
More than 91% of the 25000
data transmissions were successful. In addition, over 98% of the
voice transmissions were judged to be of commercial quality with
exceptional clarity. The most important factor limiting the success
of the transmissions (8.5% of the total data transmissions and 1.7%
of the voice transmissions) was movement outside the
satelliteís broadcast footprint. Other factors include the
obstruction of the line of sight between the truck and the satellite
by highway overpasses, mountains and hills, trees, and
buildings.
Overall, the test
demonstrated the soundness of the prototype design. Our work on it
should continue as rapidly as possible. We recommend the following
actions:
- Develop a new antenna
designed specifically for use in communications between satellites
and mobile radios.
- Explore the
configuration of satellites needed to provide thorough footprint
coverage for the 48 contiguous states, Alaska, and Southern Canada
at a elevation of 25o or more.
(Source: Technical Writing: A Reader-Centered
Approach,
2nd ed. By Paul V. Anderson, Harcourt,
Brace, Jovanovich Publishers, 1991)
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