Target

The Executive Summary is key part of the report. Many of the busy managers who buy these reports will never read anything but the Executive Summary. Therefore, it must tell what are the most important points a company competing with, selling to, buying from, or possibly contemplating a large investment in the firm must know. It must also tell what lessons other businesspeople can learn from the firm and from its efforts to compete.

To do this, the Executive Summary must, at least, answer these basic questions about the company:

1) What does it do for its customers?

2 Has it created (or does it seem to be on the way to creating) sustained competitive advantage in its industry? If so, how? How can other businesspeople learn from the way it created sustained competitive advantage? If not, what are the prospects that it will be a profitable and successful firm in the future? What lessons can be learned from its struggles?

3) What actions do you think the senior executives of your firm have to take to continue its success (if it is successful) or to make it successful (if it is not successful now)?

The Executive Summary should be no more than 2 double-spaced pages in length. You do not get extra credit for writing a longer introduction. But you do have to provide clear answers to the above questions. The first draft of the Executive Summary is due November 8.

Do not start to think about actually writing the Summary until perhaps two-thirds of the way through the course. But do keep the above questions in mind from the beginning of your study. They will guide you in your analysis.