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The Executive Summary
Instructions & Rubric
When writing a report at the request of a superior, remember that this report may go up the chain towards busier and busier executives. The only thing that changes is the name on the report as your boss has you write a report that she was assigned, and her boss puts his name on report and sends it to the boss who assigned it to him, etc.
If you write good reports, you will make your boss look good and when your boss is promoted, you move up as well. I have personally known people who arrived at the top of their profession by the time they are in their early thirties. They told me that this was because they could write a good, logical executive summary.
These instructions are for the Executive Summary that is taught in several major MBA programs across this country. This format is a success because it allows the busy executive to see your logic in barebones form, without details, but has exhibits attached for perusal if details are needed.
If your decision process, as outlined, does not match those of the executive, it can be kicked back down the chain of command with new instructions after less than a minute of examination by said boss. On the other hand, if your decision process is crisp, logical, and matches the goals defined by the boss, then the boss is likely to believe you have done a good job of examining the assigned problem and will be impressed with whomever has their name on the report, and kudos will follow down the chain of command to you, the writer.
Note that the font, margin settings, etc. will differ per institution. I know one company where the CEO has bad eyesight, so wants all reports in a large font. I know another large, scientific, engineering corporation that wants all reports in tiny, engineering blueprint style font.
The thing that does not change is the logical outline. This will always be essential.
THE OUTLINE
Objective
–This is a statement of the issue that you have been assigned to study.
Criteria
–This is a list of the rules for deciding whether a solution is correct.
Alternatives
–This is a list of potential choices to achieve the objective.
Analysis
–This is a list of the results when each alternative is analyzed.
Conclusion
–This is where the results of each alternative are compared with the criteria, and a solution is chosen.
Exhibits
–This is where the details of each step are presented. This is the thickest part of the report. The summary will be just