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Undid revision 863421399 by Pth33 (talk) vague/speculation, not a reliable source, possible WP:CITESPAM
An '''executive summary''', or '''management summary''', is a short document or section of a document, produced for [[business]] purposes, that summarizes a longer report or proposal or a group of related reports in such a way that readers can rapidly become acquainted with a large body of material without having to read it all. It usually contains a brief statement of the problem or proposal covered in the major document(s), background information, concise analysis and main conclusions. It is intended as an aid to decision-making by managers and has been described as the most important part of a [[business plan]].<ref>{{cite web|url=http://writing.colostate.edu/guides/documents/execsum/pop2a.cfm|title=Writing@CSU|website=writing.colostate.edu|accessdate=7 October 2018}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://hbswk.hbs.edu/archive/3660.html|title=Crafting a Powerful Executive Summary|publisher=|accessdate=7 October 2018}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.forbes.com/sites/davelavinsky/2013/12/03/business-plan-outline-23-point-checklist-for-success/|title=Business Plan Outline - 23 Point Checklist For Success|first=Dave|last=Lavinsky|publisher=|accessdate=7 October 2018}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.changeupmerseyside.org.uk/changeupdocs/CTA%20Business%20Planning%20Guide.pdf|title=Rough Guide to Business Planning|work=Greater Merseyside Changeup|accessdate=16 January 2015}}</ref>
An executive summary differs from an [[Abstract (summary)|abstract]] in that an abstract will usually be shorter and is typically intended as an overview or orientation rather than being a condensed version of the full document. Abstracts are extensively used in academic research where the concept of the executive summary is not in common usage. "An abstract is a brief summarizing statement... read by parties who are trying to decide whether or not to read the main document", while "an executive summary, unlike an abstract, is a document in miniature that may be read in place of the longer document".<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.mhhe.com/mayfieldpub/tsw/abstract.htm|title=Abstract|website=www.mhhe.com|accessdate=7 October 2018}}</ref>
== Structure ==
There is general agreement on the structure of an executive summary - books and training courses emphasise similar points.<ref name=greenhall>{{cite book|last=Greenhall|first=Margaret|title=Report Writing Skills Training Course - How to Write a Report and Executive Summary, and Plan, Design and Present Your Report - An Easy Format for ... of Exercises and Free Downloadable Workbook [|year=2010|publisher=Universe of Learning Ltd|isbn=978-1-84937-036-3|url=http://www.uolearn.com/reportwriting/writingexecutivesummaries.html}}</ref><ref name=csuwg>{{cite web|title=Writing Guide: Executive Summaries|url=http://writing.colostate.edu/guides/documents/execsum/index.cfm|publisher=Colorado State University|accessdate=13 June 2011}}</ref><ref name=howe>{{cite web|title=Executive Summary |url=http://www.fsb.muohio.edu/fsb/content/programs/howe-writing-initiative/student-resources/Writing%20an%20Executive%20Summary.doc |work=Howe Writing Initiative |publisher=Miami School of Business. Farmer School of Business |accessdate=13 June 2011 |deadurl=yes |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20100614153932/http://www.fsb.muohio.edu/fsb/content/programs/howe-writing-initiative/student-resources/Writing%20an%20Executive%20Summary.doc |archivedate=14 June 2010 }}</ref><ref name=protein>{{cite web|title=Guidelines for the writing of an executive summary to accompany reports|url=http://www.proteinresearch.net/index.php?dirname=html_docs_010research_projects/06000funding_of_projects/05000guidelines_english/00300guide_executive_summary.php|work=Funding of Projects, Guidelines|publisher=Protein Research Foundation|accessdate=13 June 2011}}</ref><ref name=foster>{{cite web|last=Foster|first=Lorne|title=Writing the Executive Summary|url=http://www.yorku.ca/lfoster/2005-06/soci4440b/lectures/PolicyPaperWriting_TheExecutiveSummary.html|publisher=York University, Toronto|accessdate=13 June 2011}}</ref> Typically, an executive summary will:
* be approximately 5-10% of the length of the main report<ref name=howe /><ref name=foster />
* be written in language appropriate for the target audience<ref name=csuwg /><ref name=foster />
* consist of short, concise paragraphs<ref name=csuwg /><ref name=foster />
* begin with a summary<ref name=csuwg /><ref name=foster />
* be written in the same order as the main report<ref name=greenhall /><ref name=howe />
* only include material present in the main report<ref name=greenhall /><ref name=howe />
* make recommendations<ref name=csuwg /><ref name=foster />
* provide a justification<ref name=csuwg /><ref name=foster />
* have a conclusion<ref name=csuwg/><ref name=howe /><ref name=foster />
* be readable separately from the main report<ref name=greenhall /><ref name=csuwg /><ref name=howe />
* sometimes summarize more than one document<ref name=csuwg />
== Importance ==
Executive summaries are important as a communication tool in both academia and business. For example, members of [[Texas A&M University]] Department of Agricultural Economics observes that "An executive summary is an initial interaction between the writers of the report and their target readers: decision makers, potential customers, and/or peers. A business leader’s decision to continue reading a certain report often depends on the impression the executive summary gives."<ref>{{cite web|url=http://agecon2.tamu.edu/people/faculty/williams-gary/429/Complete%20Writing%20Guidelines.pdf|title=Texas A&M University Department of Agricultural Economics|publisher=|accessdate=7 October 2018}}</ref>
== Criticisms ==
It has been said that, by providing an easy digest of an often complex matter, an executive summary can lead policy makers and others to overlook important issues.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.vision.org/visionmedia/article.aspx?id=409|title=Murky Media|website=www.vision.org|accessdate=7 October 2018}}</ref> Prof. Amanda Sinclair of the [[University of Melbourne]] has argued that this is often an active rather than a passive process. In one study, centred on globalization, she found that policy makers face "pressures to adopt a simple reading of complex issues" and "to depoliticise and universalize all sorts of differences". She claims that "all research was framed under pre-defined and generic headings, such as business case points. The partners' reports were supposed to look the same. The standardization of research occurred via vehicles such as executive summaries: “executives only read the summaries” we were told”.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://unpan1.un.org/intradoc/groups/public/documents/apcity/unpan003381.pdf|title="Doing Critical Research for the Government of Australia By Amanda Sinclair"|publisher=|accessdate=7 October 2018}}</ref> Similarly [[Colin Leys]], writing in The [[Socialist Register]], argues that executive summaries are used to present dumbed down arguments: "there is remarkably little adverse comment on the steep decline that has occurred since 1980 in the quality of government policy documents, whose level of argumentation and use of evidence is all too often inversely related to the quality of their presentation (in the style of corporate reports, complete with executive summaries and flashy graphics)."<ref>[http://www.comunicazione.uniroma1.it/materiali/19.25.02_THE%20CYNICAL%20STATE.doc "The cynical state" by Colin Lays, Socialist Register 2006 p1-27]</ref>
== See also ==
* [[Business plan#Presentation formats|Business plan]]
== References ==
{{Reflist|2}}
== External links ==
* [http://www.iea.org/textbase/npsum/weo2009sum.pdf An executive summary of a major report by an international body]
* [https://www.state.gov/documents/organization/153139.pdf An executive summary published by the US Department of State]
{{Use dmy dates|date=June 2011}}
[[Category:Business documents]]
An executive summary differs from an [[Abstract (summary)|abstract]] in that an abstract will usually be shorter and is typically intended as an overview or orientation rather than being a condensed version of the full document. Abstracts are extensively used in academic research where the concept of the executive summary is not in common usage. "An abstract is a brief summarizing statement... read by parties who are trying to decide whether or not to read the main document", while "an executive summary, unlike an abstract, is a document in miniature that may be read in place of the longer document".<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.mhhe.com/mayfieldpub/tsw/abstract.htm|title=Abstract|website=www.mhhe.com|accessdate=7 October 2018}}</ref>
== Structure ==
There is general agreement on the structure of an executive summary - books and training courses emphasise similar points.<ref name=greenhall>{{cite book|last=Greenhall|first=Margaret|title=Report Writing Skills Training Course - How to Write a Report and Executive Summary, and Plan, Design and Present Your Report - An Easy Format for ... of Exercises and Free Downloadable Workbook [|year=2010|publisher=Universe of Learning Ltd|isbn=978-1-84937-036-3|url=http://www.uolearn.com/reportwriting/writingexecutivesummaries.html}}</ref><ref name=csuwg>{{cite web|title=Writing Guide: Executive Summaries|url=http://writing.colostate.edu/guides/documents/execsum/index.cfm|publisher=Colorado State University|accessdate=13 June 2011}}</ref><ref name=howe>{{cite web|title=Executive Summary |url=http://www.fsb.muohio.edu/fsb/content/programs/howe-writing-initiative/student-resources/Writing%20an%20Executive%20Summary.doc |work=Howe Writing Initiative |publisher=Miami School of Business. Farmer School of Business |accessdate=13 June 2011 |deadurl=yes |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20100614153932/http://www.fsb.muohio.edu/fsb/content/programs/howe-writing-initiative/student-resources/Writing%20an%20Executive%20Summary.doc |archivedate=14 June 2010 }}</ref><ref name=protein>{{cite web|title=Guidelines for the writing of an executive summary to accompany reports|url=http://www.proteinresearch.net/index.php?dirname=html_docs_010research_projects/06000funding_of_projects/05000guidelines_english/00300guide_executive_summary.php|work=Funding of Projects, Guidelines|publisher=Protein Research Foundation|accessdate=13 June 2011}}</ref><ref name=foster>{{cite web|last=Foster|first=Lorne|title=Writing the Executive Summary|url=http://www.yorku.ca/lfoster/2005-06/soci4440b/lectures/PolicyPaperWriting_TheExecutiveSummary.html|publisher=York University, Toronto|accessdate=13 June 2011}}</ref> Typically, an executive summary will:
* be approximately 5-10% of the length of the main report<ref name=howe /><ref name=foster />
* be written in language appropriate for the target audience<ref name=csuwg /><ref name=foster />
* consist of short, concise paragraphs<ref name=csuwg /><ref name=foster />
* begin with a summary<ref name=csuwg /><ref name=foster />
* be written in the same order as the main report<ref name=greenhall /><ref name=howe />
* only include material present in the main report<ref name=greenhall /><ref name=howe />
* make recommendations<ref name=csuwg /><ref name=foster />
* provide a justification<ref name=csuwg /><ref name=foster />
* have a conclusion<ref name=csuwg/><ref name=howe /><ref name=foster />
* be readable separately from the main report<ref name=greenhall /><ref name=csuwg /><ref name=howe />
* sometimes summarize more than one document<ref name=csuwg />
== Importance ==
Executive summaries are important as a communication tool in both academia and business. For example, members of [[Texas A&M University]] Department of Agricultural Economics observes that "An executive summary is an initial interaction between the writers of the report and their target readers: decision makers, potential customers, and/or peers. A business leader’s decision to continue reading a certain report often depends on the impression the executive summary gives."<ref>{{cite web|url=http://agecon2.tamu.edu/people/faculty/williams-gary/429/Complete%20Writing%20Guidelines.pdf|title=Texas A&M University Department of Agricultural Economics|publisher=|accessdate=7 October 2018}}</ref>
== Criticisms ==
It has been said that, by providing an easy digest of an often complex matter, an executive summary can lead policy makers and others to overlook important issues.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.vision.org/visionmedia/article.aspx?id=409|title=Murky Media|website=www.vision.org|accessdate=7 October 2018}}</ref> Prof. Amanda Sinclair of the [[University of Melbourne]] has argued that this is often an active rather than a passive process. In one study, centred on globalization, she found that policy makers face "pressures to adopt a simple reading of complex issues" and "to depoliticise and universalize all sorts of differences". She claims that "all research was framed under pre-defined and generic headings, such as business case points. The partners' reports were supposed to look the same. The standardization of research occurred via vehicles such as executive summaries: “executives only read the summaries” we were told”.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://unpan1.un.org/intradoc/groups/public/documents/apcity/unpan003381.pdf|title="Doing Critical Research for the Government of Australia By Amanda Sinclair"|publisher=|accessdate=7 October 2018}}</ref> Similarly [[Colin Leys]], writing in The [[Socialist Register]], argues that executive summaries are used to present dumbed down arguments: "there is remarkably little adverse comment on the steep decline that has occurred since 1980 in the quality of government policy documents, whose level of argumentation and use of evidence is all too often inversely related to the quality of their presentation (in the style of corporate reports, complete with executive summaries and flashy graphics)."<ref>[http://www.comunicazione.uniroma1.it/materiali/19.25.02_THE%20CYNICAL%20STATE.doc "The cynical state" by Colin Lays, Socialist Register 2006 p1-27]</ref>
== See also ==
* [[Business plan#Presentation formats|Business plan]]
== References ==
{{Reflist|2}}
== External links ==
* [http://www.iea.org/textbase/npsum/weo2009sum.pdf An executive summary of a major report by an international body]
* [https://www.state.gov/documents/organization/153139.pdf An executive summary published by the US Department of State]
{{Use dmy dates|date=June 2011}}
[[Category:Business documents]]
