what is an executive summary in a research report

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An executive summary is a thorough overview of a research report or other type of document that synthesizes key points for its readers, saving them time and preparing them to understand the study's overall content. It is a separate, stand-alone document of sufficient detail and clarity to ensure that the reader can completely understand the contents of the main research study. An executive summary can be anywhere from 1-10 pages long depending on the length of the report, or it can be the summary of more than one document [e.g., papers submitted for a group project].

Bailey, Edward, P. The Plain English Approach to Business Writing . (New York: Oxford University Press, 1997), p. 73-80 Todorovic, Zelimir William and Marietta Wolczacka Frye. “Writing Effective Executive Summaries: An Interdisciplinary Examination.” In United States Association for Small Business and Entrepreneurship. Conference Proceedings . (Decatur, IL: United States Association for Small Business and Entrepreneurship, 2009): pp. 662-691.

Importance of a Good Executive Summary

Although an executive summary is similar to an abstract in that they both summarize the contents of a research study, there are several key differences. With research abstracts, the author's recommendations are rarely included, or if they are, they are implicit rather than explicit. Recommendations are generally not stated in academic abstracts because scholars operate in a discursive environment, where debates, discussions, and dialogs are meant to precede the implementation of any new research findings. The conceptual nature of much academic writing also means that recommendations arising from the findings are distributed widely and not easily or usefully encapsulated. Executive summaries are used mainly when a research study has been developed for an organizational partner, funding entity, or other external group that participated in the research . In such cases, the research report and executive summary are often written for policy makers outside of academe, while abstracts are written for the academic community. Professors, therefore, assign the writing of executive summaries so students can practice synthesizing and writing about the contents of comprehensive research studies for external stakeholder groups.

When preparing to write, keep in mind that:

• An executive summary is not an abstract.
• An executive summary is not an introduction.
• An executive summary is not a preface.
• An executive summary is not a random collection of highlights.

Christensen, Jay. Executive Summaries Complete The Report. California State University Northridge; Clayton, John. "Writing an Executive Summary that Means Business." Harvard Management Communication Letter (July 2003): 2-4; Keller, Chuck. "Stay Healthy with a Winning Executive Summary." Technical Communication 41 (1994): 511-517; Murphy, Herta A., Herbert W. Hildebrandt, and Jane P. Thomas. Effective Business Communications . New York: McGraw-Hill, 1997; Vassallo, Philip. "Executive Summaries: Where Less Really is More." ETC.: A Review of General Semantics 60 (Spring 2003): 83-90 .

Structure and Writing Style

Writing an Executive Summary

Read the Entire Document This may go without saying, but it is critically important that you read the entire research study thoroughly from start to finish before you begin to write the executive summary. Take notes as you go along, highlighting important statements of fact, key findings, and recommended courses of action. This will better prepare you for how to organize and summarize the study. Remember this is not a brief abstract of 300 words or less but, essentially, a mini-paper of your paper, with a focus on recommendations.

Isolate the Major Points Within the Original Document Choose which parts of the document are the most important to those who will read it. These points must be included within the executive summary in order to provide a thorough and complete explanation of what the document is trying to convey.

Separate the Main Sections Closely examine each section of the original document and discern the main differences in each. After you have a firm understanding about what each section offers in respect to the other sections, write a few sentences for each section describing the main ideas. Although the format may vary, the main sections of an executive summary likely will include the following:

• An opening statement, with brief background information,
• The purpose of research study,
• Method of data gathering and analysis,
• Overview of findings, and,
• A description of each recommendation, accompanied by a justification. Note that the recommendations are sometimes quoted verbatim from the research study.

Combine the Information Use the information gathered to combine them into an executive summary that is no longer than 10% of the original document. Be concise! The purpose is to provide a brief explanation of the entire document with a focus on the recommendations that have emerged from your research. How you word this will likely differ depending on your audience and what they care about most. If necessary, selectively incorporate bullet points for emphasis and brevity. Re-read your Executive Summary After you've completed your executive summary, let it sit for a while before coming back to re-read it. Check to make sure that the summary will make sense as a separate document from the full research study. By taking some time before re-reading it, you allow yourself to see the summary with fresh, unbiased eyes.

Common Mistakes to Avoid

Length of the Executive Summary As a general rule, the correct length of an executive summary is that it meets the criteria of no more pages than 10% of the number of pages in the original document, with an upper limit of no more than ten pages [i.e., ten pages for a 100 page document]. This requirement keeps the document short enough to be read by your audience, but long enough to allow it to be a complete, stand-alone synopsis. Cutting and Pasting With the exception of specific recommendations made in the study, do not simply cut and paste whole sections of the original document into the executive summary. You should paraphrase information from the longer document. Avoid taking up space with excessive subtitles and lists, unless they are absolutely necessary for the reader to have a complete understanding of the original document. Consider the Audience Although unlikely to be required by your professor, there is the possibility that more than one executive summary will have to be written for a given document [e.g., one for policy-makers, one for private industry, one for philanthropists]. This may only necessitate the rewriting of the introduction and conclusion, but it could require rewriting the entire summary in order to fit the needs of the reader. If necessary, be sure to consider the types of audiences who may benefit from your study and make adjustments accordingly. Clarity in Writing One of the biggest mistakes you can make is related to the clarity of your executive summary. Always note that your audience [or audiences] are likely seeing your research study for the first time. The best way to avoid a disorganized or cluttered executive summary is to write it after the study is completed. Always follow the same strategies for proofreading that you would for any research paper. Use Strong and Positive Language Don’t weaken your executive summary with passive, imprecise language. The executive summary is a stand-alone document intended to convince the reader to make a decision concerning whether to implement the recommendations you make. Once convinced, it is assumed that the full document will provide the details needed to implement the recommendations. Although you should resist the temptation to pad your summary with pleas or biased statements, do pay particular attention to ensuring that a sense of urgency is created in the implications, recommendations, and conclusions presented in the executive summary. Be sure to target readers who are likely to implement the recommendations.

Bailey, Edward, P. The Plain English Approach to Business Writing . (New York: Oxford University Press, 1997), p. 73-80; Christensen, Jay. Executive Summaries Complete The Report. California State University Northridge; Executive Summaries. Writing@CSU. Colorado State University; Clayton, John. "Writing an Executive Summary That Means Business." Harvard Management Communication Letter , 2003; Executive Summary. University Writing Center. Texas A&M University;  Green, Duncan. Writing an Executive Summary.   Oxfam’s Research Guidelines series ; Guidelines for Writing an Executive Summary. Astia.org; Markowitz, Eric. How to Write an Executive Summary. Inc. Magazine, September, 15, 2010; Kawaski, Guy. The Art of the Executive Summary. "How to Change the World" blog; Keller, Chuck. "Stay Healthy with a Winning Executive Summary." Technical Communication 41 (1994): 511-517; The Report Abstract and Executive Summary. The Writing Lab and The OWL. Purdue University; Writing Executive Summaries. Effective Writing Center. University of Maryland; Kolin, Philip. Successful Writing at Work . 10th edition. (Boston, MA: Cengage Learning, 2013), p. 435-437; Moral, Mary. "Writing Recommendations and Executive Summaries." Keeping Good Companies 64 (June 2012): 274-278; Todorovic, Zelimir William and Marietta Wolczacka Frye. “Writing Effective Executive Summaries: An Interdisciplinary Examination.” In United States Association for Small Business and Entrepreneurship. Conference Proceedings . (Decatur, IL: United States Association for Small Business and Entrepreneurship, 2009): pp. 662-691.

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Home » Research Executive Summary: Examples and Best Practices

Executive summary tips are crucial for crafting impactful research reports. These concise overviews serve as the gateway to your findings, capturing the essence of your work in a digestible format. Mastering the art of executive summaries can significantly enhance the reach and influence of your research.

In today's fast-paced world, decision-makers often rely on these summaries to quickly grasp key insights. By honing your skills in creating compelling executive summaries, you can effectively communicate complex ideas and ensure your research resonates with its intended audience. This guide will explore best practices and examples to help you elevate your executive summary writing skills.

Importance of a Well-Crafted Executive Summary

A well-crafted executive summary serves as the gateway to your research findings, offering a concise yet comprehensive overview of your work. This crucial component distills complex information into a digestible format, allowing busy decision-makers to grasp key points quickly. An effective summary highlights the most significant aspects of your research, including objectives, methodologies, and critical outcomes.

To create an impactful executive summary, focus on clarity and brevity. Start by clearly stating the purpose of your research and its relevance to the target audience. Then, outline your main findings and their implications, emphasizing how they address the initial research questions. Conclude with actionable recommendations based on your insights, providing a clear path forward for stakeholders. Remember, a well-written executive summary can make the difference between your research being acted upon or overlooked, so invest time in refining this essential element of your report.

Executive Summary Tips: Key Benefits for Stakeholders

Executive summaries serve as powerful tools for stakeholders, offering concise insights into complex research findings. By distilling key information, these summaries enable decision-makers to grasp essential points quickly and efficiently. One primary benefit is time-saving, allowing busy executives to absorb critical data without sifting through lengthy reports.

Moreover, well-crafted executive summaries facilitate better decision-making by highlighting actionable insights. They provide a clear overview of research objectives, methodologies, and outcomes, empowering stakeholders to make informed choices. Additionally, these summaries foster improved communication among team members, ensuring everyone is aligned on crucial findings and recommendations. By presenting a snapshot of the research, executive summaries help stakeholders prioritize resources and focus on areas that require immediate attention, ultimately driving more effective strategic planning and implementation.

Enhancing Decision-Making with Concise Summaries

Crafting an effective executive summary is crucial for decision-makers who need quick access to key information. A well-structured summary distills complex research into actionable insights, saving time and facilitating informed choices. To create impactful summaries, focus on clarity, conciseness, and relevance.

Start by identifying the main objectives and findings of your research. Highlight critical data points and recommendations, ensuring they align with the intended audience's needs. Use clear, jargon-free language to explain complex concepts, and organize information logically. Include visual aids like charts or graphs to enhance understanding. Remember, the goal is to provide a comprehensive overview that enables swift decision-making without overwhelming the reader with unnecessary details.

Crafting an Effective Research Executive Summary

Crafting an effective research executive summary requires a blend of concision and clarity. This crucial document distills complex findings into digestible insights for decision-makers. To create a compelling summary, start by identifying the key objectives and methodologies of your research. Then, highlight the most significant results and their implications for the business or project at hand.

Best practices for executive summaries include using clear, jargon-free language and organizing information in a logical flow. Consider incorporating visual elements like charts or graphs to illustrate key points quickly. Remember to tailor the content to your audience's needs and knowledge level. By following these executive summary tips, you'll ensure your research findings make a lasting impact and drive informed decision-making within your organization.

Research Executive Summary Tips: Essential Elements

Creating an effective executive summary for research reports is crucial for conveying key findings and recommendations succinctly. To craft a compelling summary, focus on distilling the most important information into a concise format. Begin by clearly stating the research objectives and methodology used. Then, highlight the main findings, emphasizing their significance and implications for the client's business.

Include actionable insights and recommendations, ensuring they are specific and aligned with the client's goals. Use visuals sparingly but effectively to illustrate key points or trends. Keep the language clear and jargon-free, making it accessible to all stakeholders. Remember to tailor the content to your audience, addressing their primary concerns and interests. By following these executive summary tips, you'll create a powerful tool that captures the essence of your research and drives decision-making.

Structuring Your Summary for Maximum Impact

Crafting an effective executive summary requires a strategic approach to structure and content. By following a template-style format, you can ensure your summary covers all essential topics while remaining concise and readable. Start by identifying the key themes from your research or interview guide, such as market trends, customer pain points, or product recommendations.

Next, organize these themes into distinct sections within your summary. For each section, provide a brief overview of the main findings, supported by relevant data or quotes. Use bullet points or short paragraphs to enhance readability. Remember to tailor the content to your audience, focusing on the information most relevant to their needs and decision-making processes. By structuring your executive summary in this way, you'll create a powerful tool that quickly conveys the most critical insights from your research.

Common Pitfalls and How to Avoid Them

When crafting an executive summary, it's crucial to avoid common pitfalls that can diminish its effectiveness. One frequent mistake is information overload, where authors include too much detail, obscuring the main points. To prevent this, focus on distilling the most critical information and presenting it concisely.

Another pitfall is failing to tailor the summary to the intended audience. Different stakeholders may require different levels of detail or emphasis on specific aspects. To address this, research your audience beforehand and customize the content accordingly. Additionally, avoid using jargon or technical terms without explanation, as this can alienate readers unfamiliar with industry-specific language. Instead, opt for clear, accessible language that conveys your message effectively. By steering clear of these common mistakes and following best practices, you can create an executive summary that captures attention and delivers key insights efficiently.

Executive Summary Tips: Frequent Mistakes to Watch Out For

When crafting an executive summary, it's crucial to avoid common pitfalls that can undermine its effectiveness. One frequent mistake is information overload, where authors include too much detail, obscuring the main points. Remember, brevity is key – aim to distill complex information into concise, impactful statements.

Another error to watch out for is neglecting to tailor the summary to your audience. Different stakeholders have varying interests and levels of expertise, so customize your content accordingly. Additionally, many summaries fall short by failing to provide clear, actionable recommendations. Your executive summary should not only present findings but also offer strategic insights and next steps. By steering clear of these mistakes, you'll create a more compelling and useful executive summary that resonates with your readers.

Best Practices for Clear and Persuasive Summaries

Creating a clear and persuasive executive summary is crucial for effectively communicating research findings. To craft an impactful summary, start by distilling the main points of your research into concise, easy-to-understand statements. Focus on highlighting key insights, methodologies, and outcomes that are most relevant to your audience.

When writing your executive summary, use straightforward language and avoid jargon. Structure your content logically, presenting information in a flow that guides readers through your research journey. Include visual elements like charts or graphs to illustrate complex data points quickly. Remember to tailor your summary to your specific audience, emphasizing aspects that align with their interests and needs. By following these best practices, you'll create an executive summary that captures attention and conveys your research's value effectively.

Conclusion: Mastering Executive Summary Tips for Research

Mastering executive summary tips is crucial for researchers aiming to convey their findings effectively. As we've explored various strategies and best practices, it's clear that a well-crafted executive summary can significantly impact the reception of your research. By distilling complex information into concise, actionable insights, you empower decision-makers and stakeholders to grasp the essence of your work quickly.

Remember, the key to a compelling executive summary lies in its clarity, brevity, and relevance. Focus on highlighting the most critical aspects of your research, including methodology, key findings, and recommendations. As you refine your skills in creating these summaries, you'll find that they not only enhance the accessibility of your research but also increase its potential for real-world application and impact.

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The First Impression: Executive Summary In A Research Paper

Having trouble writing the executive summary for your research paper? Learn how to write it in a research paper with our step-by-step guide.

Do you think a scholar has the time to read all the content of your research paper? They will have infinite papers to check, so they definitely won’t read it thoroughly, so how do they know if it is worth reading or not? Now, you must’ve seen short summaries in front of every research paper; ever wondered what that is? 

Well, that is your first impression of the article and as the saying goes, “first impression is always the best impression”, it is important to make sure that the summary is catchy and perfect to grab the scholar’s attention. 

Those types of summaries are known as Executive Summaries and in this article, we are going to learn in-depth about the executive summary in a research paper, along with tips and guidelines for writing them.

What Is An Executive Summary In A Research Paper?

In a research paper, the executive summary serves as a condensed version of the entire paper. It provides a snapshot of the key elements and findings of the research, allowing readers to quickly grasp the purpose, methodology, and main outcomes without having to read the entire document.

Why Do We Compose An Executive Summary?

We compose an executive summary for several important reasons:

1. Decision-Making Support

Executives, stakeholders, or decision-makers rely on executive summaries to make informed decisions. By presenting key information clearly and concisely, an executive summary helps decision-makers understand the essence of the document and evaluate its significance and potential impact.

2. Accessible To A Wide Audience

Executive summaries are shared with diverse audiences, including those without specialized knowledge. By distilling complex information, executive summaries make the content more accessible to a broader range of readers.

3. Overview Of Research Or Project

An executive summary offers a high-level overview of the research or project, outlining objectives, methodology, and main findings. It provides a snapshot of the work, allowing readers to quickly assess its relevance and determine if they need to explore the full document. Also Read: How to Write a Summary of an Article

The Executive Summary Length And Placement

The length and placement of an executive summary can vary depending on specific requirements and guidelines. However, there are some general considerations to keep in mind:

• Length : Executive summaries are typically kept relatively short, ranging from a few paragraphs to a couple of pages. They aim to provide a concise overview of the main points and findings of the document.
• Placement : In most cases, the executive summary is placed at the beginning of the document, before the main body or introduction. This allows readers to quickly access the key information without having to go through the entire document. However, in some cases, it may be placed at the end, serving as a summary or recap of the main points for those who have already read the document.

It’s important to note that the length and placement of the executive summary can be influenced by specific guidelines or requirements set by the organization or publication. 

Structure Of An Executive Summary For A Research Paper

The structure of an executive summary for a research paper can vary slightly depending on the specific requirements and nature of the research. However, a commonly used structure includes the following key elements:

Introduction

Provide a brief introduction that sets the context for the research. Clearly state the purpose, objectives, and significance of the study.

Research Methodology

Summarize the research methodology used in the study. Briefly explain the data collection methods, sample size, research design, and any statistical analyses employed. This helps establish the credibility and reliability of the research.

Key Findings

Present the most significant findings of the research. Summarize the main results, trends, or patterns that emerged from the data analysis. Focus on the key outcomes that directly address the research objectives.

Conclude the executive summary by summarizing the main points and emphasizing the overall significance of the research. Restate the main findings and their implications in a concise manner. Also read our content about Thesis Conclusion: Making Your Research Paper Outstanding .

Executive Summary For A Research Paper Formatting

When formatting an executive summary for a research paper, it’s important to follow the specific guidelines provided by the target journal or publication. General formatting considerations to keep in mind:

• Title : Include a clear and descriptive title for the executive summary at the top of the page. It should reflect the content and focus of the research paper.
• Length : The length of the executive summary can vary, but it is typically recommended to be concise, ranging from a few paragraphs to a maximum of one or two pages. Adhere to any specified word count or page limit guidelines.
• Formatting Style: Follow the formatting style required by the target journal or publication. This may include font type, font size, line spacing, and margins. Typically, a professional and readable font such as Times New Roman or Arial with a standard font size of 12 points is used.
• Structure and Subheadings: Use clear and informative subheadings to structure the content of the executive summary. This helps guide the reader through the main sections, such as Introduction, Methodology, Key Findings, Implications, Recommendations, and Conclusion .
• Concise Writing: Write in a concise and focused manner, using clear and simple language. Avoid unnecessary technical jargon or complex explanations. Use bullet points or numbered lists to present key findings or recommendations, making them easy to read and comprehend.
• Proofreading and Editing: Before finalizing the executive summary, carefully proofread and edit the content for clarity, coherence, and grammatical correctness. Ensure that the summary is free from errors and presents a professional image.

The Executive Summary Mistakes To Avoid

When crafting an executive summary, it’s important to be mindful of certain mistakes that can diminish its effectiveness. Here are common mistakes to avoid:

Lack Of Clarity

Ensure that the executive summary is clear and concise. Avoid using jargon, complex language, or technical terms that may confuse readers. Aim for straightforward and accessible language that can be understood by a diverse audience.

Excessive Length

Remember that an executive summary is meant to be a condensed version of the main document. Avoid making it too long or including unnecessary details. Keep it concise and focused on the most important information.

Lack of Context

Provide sufficient context to help readers understand the research and its significance. Avoid jumping straight into the findings without setting the stage. Briefly explain the background, objectives, and methodology to provide a clear context for the research.

Inconsistent Tone

Maintain a consistent and professional tone throughout the executive summary. Avoid using overly casual language or an inconsistent writing style that may undermine the credibility of the research.

Missing Contact Information

Include relevant contact information, such as names, email addresses, or phone numbers, so that readers can reach out for further inquiries or discussions. This ensures that interested parties can easily connect with the authors.

Executive Summary Writing Tips And Recommendations

When writing an executive summary, consider the following tips and recommendations to ensure its effectiveness:

• Start Strong : Begin the executive summary with a compelling introduction that grabs the reader’s attention. Clearly state the purpose, importance, and relevance of the research to engage the audience from the start.
• Be Succinct: Keep the executive summary concise and to the point. Focus on the most critical information and avoid unnecessary tangents or excessive details. Use clear and concise language to convey the key points effectively.
• Structure with Headings: Organize the executive summary with headings and subheadings to create a logical flow of information. This helps readers navigate the content and locate specific sections quickly.
• Maintain Consistency: Ensure that the executive summary aligns with the main document in terms of key points, language, and style. Avoid introducing new information or contradictory statements that may confuse the reader.
• Use Visuals Sparingly: Incorporate visuals such as charts, graphs, or diagrams if they significantly enhance the understanding of the research. Ensure they are clear, well-labeled, and easy to interpret.
• Seek Feedback: Consider sharing the executive summary with colleagues, mentors, or experts in the field for feedback and suggestions. Incorporate their insights to improve the clarity and effectiveness of the summary.

In conclusion, the executive summary plays a crucial role in research papers by providing a condensed yet comprehensive overview of the study’s main points and findings. It serves as a valuable tool for busy readers, decision-makers, and stakeholders who require a concise understanding of the research without delving into the full document.

Also Read: How to Write an Abstract for a Research Paper (Example and Tips)

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About Sowjanya Pedada

Sowjanya is a passionate writer and an avid reader. She holds MBA in Agribusiness Management and now is working as a content writer. She loves to play with words and hopes to make a difference in the world through her writings. Apart from writing, she is interested in reading fiction novels and doing craftwork. She also loves to travel and explore different cuisines and spend time with her family and friends.

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How to Write an Executive Summary for a Report: Step By Step Guide with Examples

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So you have finally written a great comprehensive business report that took you weeks to create. You have included all the data from the different departments, compared it, done the analysis, made forecasts, and provided solutions to specific problems.

There is just one problem – the key stakeholders in the company don’t have enough time to go through the whole report.

Since the data and the KPIs that you included in the report are necessary for quality decision-making, you can see why this can become a huge issue.

Luckily, there is a way to present all of your key findings and not take too much of their time. This is done through executive summaries.

An executive summary is exactly what the name suggests – a summary. It is essentially a quick overview of all the most important metrics in the report. The purpose of this summary is to bring the attention of the highest-ranking members in the company to the most important KPIs that they will consider when making decisions.

While an executive summary is a rather short section, it doesn’t mean that it’s easy to write. You will have to pay extra attention to every single sentence in order to avoid unnecessary information.

Do you want to learn how to create an informative executive summary? This guide will show you all you need to know.

What Is an Executive Report?

What is an executive summary in a report, how long should an executive summary be, who is the audience of an executive summary, what should be included in an executive summary report, how to write an executive summary report, common mistakes to avoid when writing executive summaries, executive report examples, executive summary templates, create executive reports in databox.

Executive reports are used for keeping senior managers updated on the latest and most significant activities in the company. These reports have to be concise and accurate since they will have a huge impact on the most important business-related decisions.

Working for any sort of company requires writing different types of reports such as financial reports , marketing reports , sales reports , internal reports, and more.

What all of these reports have in common is that they are very comprehensive and typically require a lot of time to go through them –way too much time, if you ask busy managers.

They include a wealthy amount of data and a bunch of different metrics which are more useful for a particular team in the company. However, the highest-ranking members tend to be more focused on only the most essential KPIs that they need for making future decisions and strategies.

This is why executive reports come in handy. They are usually only a few pages long and they include only the most relevant details and data that incurred in a specific period.

An executive summary is the brief overview section included in a long report or document. This part of the report primarily focuses on the key topics and most important data within it. It can include an overall business goal of the company or short-term strategic objectives.

This summary is primarily useful for C-level managers who don’t have time to read the whole report but want to have an insight into the main KPIs and latest business performances.

Bank officials also may use executive summaries since it’s the quickest way for them to estimate whether your company represents a good investment opportunity.

Depending on your company’s practice, executive summaries can either be placed at the beginning of the report or as a formal section in the table of contents. 

The length of the summary depends on the type of report, but it is typically one or two pages long.

To know whether you have written a good executive summary, you can ask yourself, “Are the stakeholders going to have all the information they need to make decisions?”

If the answer is yes, you have done a good job.

There is no strict rule about how long executive summaries should be. Each company is unique which means the length will always vary. In most cases, it will depend on the size of the report/business plan.

However, a universal consensus is that it should be anywhere from one to four pages long or five to ten percent of the length of the report.

This is typically more than enough space to summarize the story behind the data and provide your stakeholders with the most important KPIs for future decision-making.

The people most interested in reading the executive summary are typically the ones who don’t have time to read the whole report and want a quick overview of the most important data and information.

These include:

• Project stakeholders – The individuals or organizations that are actively involved in a project with your company.
• Management personnel (decision-makers) – The highest-ranking employees in your company (manager, partner, general partner, etc.)
• Investors – As we said, this could be bank officials who want a quick recap of your company’s performance so they can make an easier investment decision.
• Venture capitalists – Investors who provide capital in exchange for equity stakes.
• C-level executives – The chief executives in your business.

Related : Reporting Strategy for Multiple Audiences: 6 Tips for Getting Started

The components of your executive summary depend on what is included in the overall larger document. Executive summary elements may also vary depending on the type of document (business plan, project, report, etc.), but there are several components that are considered universal.

These are the main elements you should include:

• Methods of analyzing the problem
• Solutions to the problem
• The ‘Why Now’ segment

Well-defined conclusion

The purpose of the summary should typically be included in the introduction as an opening statement. Explain what you aim to achieve with the document and communicate the value of your desired objective.

This part is supposed to grab your reader’s attention, so make sure they pay extra attention when writing it.

Problems are an unavoidable element in modern-day businesses, even in the most successful companies.

The second thing your executive summary needs to outline is what specific problem you are dealing with. It could be anything from product plans and customer feedback to sales revenue and marketing strategies.

Define the problems clearly so all the members know which areas need fixing.

3. Methods of analyzing the problem

Problem analysis methods are key for identifying the causes of the issue.

While figuring out the problems and the methods to solve them is immensely important, you shouldn’t overlook the things that caused them. This will help you from avoiding similar issues in the future.

4. Solutions to the problem

Now that you’ve introduced the stakeholders to the problems, it’s time to move on to your solutions. Think of a few different ways that could solve the issue and include as many details as you can.

5. The ‘Why Now’ segment

This is one of the most important parts of your executive summary.

The ‘Why Now’ segment showcases why the problem needs to be solved in a timely manner. You don’t want the readers to get the impression that there is plenty of time to fix the issue.

By displaying urgency in your summary, your report will have a much bigger impact.

One of the ways to display urgency visually is by adding performance benchmarks to your report. In case your business is not performing well as other companies within your industry, only one image showcasing which metrics are below the median could make a compelling case for the reader.

For example, if you have discovered that your churn rate is much higher than for an average SaaS company, this may be a good indication that you have issues with poor customer service, poor marketing, pricing issues, potentially outdated product features, etc.

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Lastly, you should end your executive summary with a well-defined conclusion.

Make sure to include a recap of the problems, solutions, and the overall most important KPIs from the document.

Okay, so you understand the basics of executive summaries and why they are so important. However, you still aren’t sure how to write one.

Don’t worry.

Here are some of the best practices you can use to create amazing executive summaries that will impress your key stakeholders and high-ranking members.

Write it Last

Grab their attention, use appropriate language, talk strategy, include forecasts, highlight funding needs, make it short.

The most natural way to write your executive summary is by writing it at the end of your report/business plan.

This is because you will already have gone through all the most important information and data that should later be included.

A good suggestion is to take notes of all the significant KPIs that you think should be incorporated in the summary, it will make it easier for you to later categorize the data and you will have a clearer overview of the key parts of the report.

You may think that you already know which data you are going to include, but once you wrap up your report, you will probably run into certain things that you forgot to implement. It’s much easier to create an executive summary with all the data segmented in one place, than to rewrite it later.

While your primary goal when creating the executive summary is to make it informative, you also have to grab the attention of your readers so that you can motivate them to read the rest of the document.

Once they finish reading the last few sentences of the summary, the audience should be looking forward to checking out the remanding parts to get the full story.

If you are having trouble with finding ways to capture the reader’s attention, you can ask some of your colleagues from the sales department to lend a hand. After all, that’s their specialty.

One more important element is the type of language you use in the summary. Keep in mind who will be reading the summary, your language should be adjusted to a group of executives.

Make the summary understandable and avoid using complicated terms that may cause confusion, your goal is to feed the stakeholders with important information that will affect their decision-making.

This doesn’t only refer to the words that you use, the way in which you provide explanation should also be taken into consideration. People reading the report should be able to easily and quickly understand the main pain points that you highlighted.

You should have a specific part in your executive summary where you will focus on future strategies. This part should include information regarding your project, target market, program, and the problems that you think should be solved as soon as possible.

Also, you should provide some useful insights into the overall industry or field that your business operates in. Showcase some of the competitive advantages of your company and specific marketing insights that you think the readers would find interesting.

Related : What Is Strategic Reporting? 4 Report Examples to Get Inspiration From

Make one of the sections revolve around financial and sales forecasts for the next 1-3 years. Provide details of your breakeven points, such as where the expenses/revenues are equal and when you expect certain profits from your strategies.

This practice is mainly useful for business plans, but the same principle can be applied to reports. You can include predictions on how your overall objectives and goals will bring profit to the company.

Related : How Lone Fir Creative Uses Databox to Forecast, Set, & Achieve Agency & Client Goals

Don’t forget to talk about the funding needs for your projects since there is a high chance that investors will find their way to the executive summary as well.

You can even use a quotation from an influential figure that supports your upcoming projects. Include the costs that will incur but also provide profitability predictions that will persuade the investors to fund your projects.

While your report should include all of the most important metrics and data, aim for maximum conciseness.

Don’t include any information that may be abundant and try to keep the executive summary as short as possible. Creating a summary that takes up dozens of pages will lose its original purpose.

With a concise summary and clear communication of your messages, your readers will have an easy time understanding your thoughts and then take them into consideration.

Also, one last tip is to use a positive tone throughout the summary. You want your report to exude confidence and reassure the readers.

PRO TIP: How Well Are Your Marketing KPIs Performing?

Like most marketers and marketing managers, you want to know how well your efforts are translating into results each month. How much traffic and new contact conversions do you get? How many new contacts do you get from organic sessions? How are your email campaigns performing? How well are your landing pages converting? You might have to scramble to put all of this together in a single report, but now you can have it all at your fingertips in a single Databox dashboard.

Our Marketing Overview Dashboard includes data from Google Analytics 4 and HubSpot Marketing with key performance metrics like:

• Sessions . The number of sessions can tell you how many times people are returning to your website. Obviously, the higher the better.
• New Contacts from Sessions . How well is your campaign driving new contacts and customers?
• Marketing Performance KPIs . Tracking the number of MQLs, SQLs, New Contacts and similar will help you identify how your marketing efforts contribute to sales.
• Email Performance . Measure the success of your email campaigns from HubSpot. Keep an eye on your most important email marketing metrics such as number of sent emails, number of opened emails, open rate, email click-through rate, and more.
• Blog Posts and Landing Pages . How many people have viewed your blog recently? How well are your landing pages performing?

Now you can benefit from the experience of our Google Analytics and HubSpot Marketing experts, who have put together a plug-and-play Databox template that contains all the essential metrics for monitoring your leads. It’s simple to implement and start using as a standalone dashboard or in marketing reports, and best of all, it’s free!

You can easily set it up in just a few clicks – no coding required.

To set up the dashboard, follow these 3 simple steps:

Step 1: Get the template 

Step 2: Connect your HubSpot and Google Analytics 4 accounts with Databox. 

Step 3: Watch your dashboard populate in seconds.

No one expects you to become an expert executive summary writer overnight. Learning how to create great and meaningful summaries will inevitably take some time.

With the above-mentioned best practices in mind, you should also pay attention to avoiding certain mistakes that could reduce the value of your summaries.

Here are some examples.

Don’t use jargon

Avoid going into details, the summary should be able to stand alone, don’t forget to proofread.

From project stakeholders to C-level executives, everyone should be able to easily understand and read the information you gather in your summary.

Keep in mind, you are probably much more familiar with some of the technical terms that your departments use since you are closer to the daily work and individual tasks than your stakeholders.

Read your summary once again after you finish it to make sure there are no jargons you forgot to elaborate on.

Remember, your summary should be as short as possible, but still include all the key metrics and KPIs. There is no reason to go into details of specific projects, due dates, department performances, etc.

When creating the summary, ask yourself twice whether the information you included truly needs to be there.

Of course, there are certain details that bring value to the summary, but learn how to categorize the useful ones from the unnecessary ones.

While you will know your way around the project, that doesn’t apply to the readers.

After wrapping up the summary, go over it once again to see whether it can stand on its own. This means checking out if there is any sort of context that the readers will need in order to understand the summary.

If the answer is yes, you will have to redo the parts that can’t be understood by first-time readers.

Your executive summary is prone to changes, so making a typo isn’t the end of the world, you can always go back and fix it.

However, it’s not a bad idea to ask one of your colleagues to proofread it as well, just so you have an additional set of eyes.

Using reporting tools such as dashboards for executive reports can provide you with a birds-eye view of your company’s most important KPIs and data.

These dashboards work as visualization tools that will make all the important metrics much more understandable to your internal stakeholders.

Since executive reports on their own don’t include any visual elements such as graphs or charts, these dashboards basically grant them superpowers.

Executive reporting dashboards also make the decision-making process easier since there won’t be any misunderstandings regarding the meaning of the data.

Not only will you be able to gather the data in real-time, but you can also connect different sources onto the dashboard can use the visuals for performance comparisons.

Interested in giving executive report dashboards a try? Let’s check out some of the best examples.

Marketing Performance Dashboard

Customer support performance dashboard, financial overview dashboard, saas management dashboard, sales kpi dashboard.

To stay on top of your key user acquisition metrics, such as visit to leads conversion rates, email traffic, blog traffic, and more, you can use this Marketing Performance Dashboard .

You can pull in data from advanced tools such as HubSpot Marketing and Google Analytics to get a full overview of how your website generates leads.

Some of the things you will learn through this dashboard are:

• Which traffic sources are generating the most amount of leads
• How to track which number of users are new to your website
• How to compare the traffic you are getting from your email with blog traffic
• How to stay on top of lead generation goals each month
• How to be sure that your marketing activities are paying off

The key metrics included are bounce rate, new users, page/session, pageview, and average session duration.

You can use the Customer Support Performance Dashboard to track the overall performance of your customer service and check out how efficient individual agents are.

This simple and customizable dashboard will help you stay in touch with new conversation numbers, open/closed conversations by teammates, number of leads, and much more.

Also, you will get the answers to questions such as:

• How many new conversations did my customer support agents deal with yesterday/last week/last month?
• How many conversations are currently in progress?
• In which way are customer conversations tagged on Intercom?
• How to track the number of leads that the support team is generating?
• What is the best way to measure the performance of my customer support team?

Some of the key metrics are leads, open conversations, new conversations, tags by tag name, closed conversations, and more.

Want to know how much income your business generated last month? How to measure the financial health of your business? How about figuring out the best way to track credit card purchases?

You can track all of these things and more by using the Financial Overview Dashboard .

This free customizable dashboard will help you gain an insight into all of your business’s financial operations, cash flow, bank accounts, sales, expenses, and plenty more.

Understanding your company from a financial standpoint is one of the most important ingredients of good decision-making.

With key metrics such as gross profit, net income, open invoices, total expenses, and dozens more – all gathered in one financial reporting software , you will have no problems staying on top of your financial activities.

Use this SaaS Management Dashboard to have a clear overview of your business’s KPIs in real-time. This customizable dashboard will help you stay competitive in the SaaS industry by providing you with comprehensive data that can you can visualize, making it more understandable.

You will be able to:

• See how your company is growing on an annual basis
• Have a detailed outline of your weakest and strongest months
• Determine which strategies are most efficient in driving revenue

The key metrics included in this dashboard are recurring revenue, churn by type, MRR changes, and customer changes.

Do you want to monitor your sales team’s output and outcomes? Interested in tracking average deal sizes, number of won deals, new deals created, and more?

This Sales KPI Dashboard can help you do just that.

It serves as a perfect tool for sales managers that are looking for the best way to create detailed overviews of their performances. It also helps achieve sales manager goals for the pre-set time periods.

By connecting your HubSpot account to this customizable dashboard, you can learn:

• What’s the average deal size
• The number of open, closed, and lost deals each month
• How much revenue you can expect from the new deals
• How your business is progressing towards the overall sales goals

Although you probably understand what your executive summary should include by now, you may still need a bit of help with creating a clear outline to follow.

We thought about that too. Here are some template examples that will help you create executive summaries for different kinds of business needs.

Here is an executive summary template for a business plan:

• [Company profile (with relevant history)]
• [Company contact details]
• [Description of products and/or services]
• [Unique proposition]
• [Competitive advantage]
• [Intellectual property]
• [Development status]
• [Market opportunity]
• [Target market]
• [Competitors]
• [Funding needs]
• [Potential price of goods]
• [Projected profit margins for year one and two]
• [Summarize main points]

Executive summary template for marketing plan:

• [Product description]
• [Unique customer characteristics]
• [Customer spending habits]
• [Relationship to product]
• [Access channels]
• [Value and credibility of product]
• [Product competitive advantage]
• [Creative outlook]
• [Goal statement]
• [Forecasted cost]
• [Next week]
• [Next month]

Executive summary template for a research report

• [Project topic]
• [Name | Date]
• [Report introduction]
• [Background]
• [Research methods]
• [Conclusions]
• [Recommendations]

Executive summary template for project executive

• [Project name]
• [Program name]
• [Project lead]
• [Prepared by]
• [Project milestones]
• [Status overviews]
• [New requests]
• [Issues summary]
• [Project notes]

For the longest time, writing executive reports has been seen as a grueling and time-consuming process that will require many sleepless nights to get the job done right.

While there is plenty of truth to this, modern automated reporting software has revolutionized these writing nightmares.

Databox is one of those tools.

With Databox, you will be able to connect data from multiple sources into one comprehensive dashboard. Also, you are going to gain access to different types of charts and graphs that you can use for data visualization and make the report much more understandable to the readers.

Using a modernized tool like Databox will provide you with a faster, more accurate, and more efficient reporting process.

This advanced software allows you easily create your own customizable reports that can be adjusted in real-time as soon as new data emerges.

Who says executive reporting has to be a tedious process? Sign up for our free trial and see how easy creating executive reports can be. 

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How To Write A High-Impact Executive Summary

By Derek Jansen | January 2018

In this post, I’ll deconstruct the often-misunderstood executive summary and show you how to develop a high-impact executive summary for your assignment, research report or even your dissertation or thesis.

So, what is an executive summary?

An executive summary (sometimes called an abstract ) is quite simply a summary of summaries. In other words, an executive summary provides a concise summary of each of your assignment or report chapters/sections . More specifically, it should communicate the key points/insights/findings/suggestions from the following chapters:

• Introduction
• Recommendations
• Implementation (if applicable)
• Reflection (if applicable)

I’ll discuss which key points from each section need to be addressed a bit later. On a separate note – if you’re writing an executive summary for a dissertation or thesis, all of the concepts described in this post will still apply to you, however, you’ll include an additional paragraph about your methodology, and you’ll likely spend more word count discussing your analysis findings.

The 4 Important Attributes Of An Exec Summary

Before I discuss what goes into the executive summary, let’s quickly look at 4 attributes that make for a strong executive summary:

#1 – It should be able to stand alone.

The executive summary should be able to stand independently as an informative document . In other words, the reader should be able to grasp your broad argument without having to read the full document. Further reading should be purely for attaining more detail. Simply put, the executive summary should be a “Mini-Me” of the assignment.

This independence means that anything you write in the executive summary will need to be re-stated in the body of your assignment. A common mistake that students make is to introduce key points in the executive summary and then not discuss them again in the document – accordingly, the marker must view the main document as missing these key points. Simply put – make sure you discuss key points in both the executive summary and the main body . It will feel repetitive at times – this is normal.

#2 – It should be written for the intelligent layman.

When crafting your executive summary, its useful to keep the intelligent layman front of mind. What I mean by this is that you should write your summary assuming that your reader (i.e. the marker) will be intelligent but won’t be familiar with your topic and/or industry. This means that you should explain any technical concepts, avoid jargon and explain acronyms before using them.

#3 – It should be concise.

Typically, your executive summary should be a one-pager (one and a half pages at worst). To summarise a 3000 – 5000-word document into one page is no easy task, so you’ll need to:

• Present only the most important information (key insights, recommendations, etc).
• Write concisely – i.e. with brevity and completeness.

To the first point, I’ll explain what the “most important” information is for each chapter shortly. To the second point (writing concisely), there are various ways to do this, including:

• Using simple, straightforward language.
• Using the active voice.
• Removing bloaty adverbs and adjectives.
• Reducing prepositional phrases.
• Avoiding noun strings.

Does this sound like gibberish to you? Don’t worry! The Writing Center at the University of Wisconson-Madison provides a practical guide to writing more concisely, which you can download here.

On a related note, you typically would not include headings, citations or bulleted/numbered lists in your executive summary. These visual components tend to use a lot of space, which comes at a premium, as you know.

#4 – It should be written last.

Given that your executive summary is a summary of summaries, it needs to be written last , only once you’ve identified all your key insights, recommendations and so on. This probably sounds obvious, but many students start writing the summary first (potentially because of its position in the document) and then end up re-writing it multiple times, or they don’t rewrite it and consequently end up with an executive summary which is misaligned with the main document.

Simply put, you should leave this section until everything else is completed. Once your core body content is completed, you should read through the entire document again and create a bullet-point list of all the key points . From this list, you should then craft your executive summary . The approach will also help you identify gaps, contradictions and misalignments in your main document.

So, what goes into an executive summary?

Right, let’s get into the meat of it and consider what exactly should go into your executive summary. As I’ve mentioned, you need to present only the absolutely key point points from each of your chapters, but what does this mean exactly?

Each chapter will typically take the form of 1 paragraph (with no headings) in your executive summary. So, 5 chapters means 5 paragraphs. Naturally, some will be longer than others (let this be informed by the mark allocation), but assuming one page contains 500 words, you’re aiming for roughly 100 words per paragraph (assuming a 5-paragraph structure). See why conciseness is key!

Now, let’s look at what the key points are for each chapter in the case of a typical MBA assignment or report. In the case of a dissertation or thesis, the paragraph structure would still mimic the chapter structure – you’d just have more chapters, and therefore, more paragraphs.

Paragraph 1: Introduction

This paragraph should cover the following points:

• A very brief explanation of the business (what does it do, for whom and where?).
• Clear identification and explanation of the problem or opportunity that will be the focus of the assignment/report.
• A clear statement of the purpose of the assignment (i.e. what research questions will you seek to answer?).
• Brief mention of what data sources were utilised (i.e. secondary research) and any fieldwork undertaken (i.e. primary research ).

In other words, your first paragraph should introduce the business, the problem/opportunity to be addressed, why it’s important, and how you approached your analysis. This paragraph should make it clear to the reader what the assignment is all about at a broad level. Here’s a practical example:

This assignment focuses on ABC Ltd, a XXX business based in XXX, which provides XXX to XXX customers. To date, the firm has relied almost exclusively on XXX marketing channel. Consequently, ABC Ltd has little understanding of consumer segments, wants, and needs. This marketing channel is now under regulatory threat due to XXX.  The core challenge, therefore, is that whilst ABC Ltd seeks to grow its market share, it has little understanding of its market characteristics or competitive set, and its sole marketing channel under regulatory threat. Accordingly, the objective of this assignment is XXX. The assignment draws on survey, interview, and industry data.

Paragraph 2: Analysis and findings

In this paragraph, you should discuss the following:

• What exactly did you analyse? For example, you might have analysed the macro context (i.e. PESTLE analysis), followed by the meso (i.e. competitor or industry analysis) and then the micro (i.e. internal organisational analysis).
• What were your key findings in relation to the purpose of the assignment? For example, you may have identified 4 potential causes of a problem and would then state them.

In other words, your second paragraph should concisely explain what you analysed and what your main findings were . An example of this:

Segmentation analysis, consisting of macro, industry and firm-level analyses, revealed a strong segmentation variable in the form of XXX, with distinct needs in each segment. Macro analysis revealed XXX, while industry and firm-level analyses suggested XXX. Subsequently, three potential target segments were established, namely XXX, XXX and XXX.  These were then evaluated using the Directional Policy Matrix, and the results indicated XXX.

From a presentation perspective, you might structure this section as:

• Analysis 1, findings from analysis 1.
• Analysis 2, findings from analysis 2.
• Analysis 3, findings from analysis 3.

Importantly, you should only discuss the findings that are directly linked to the research questions (i.e. the purpose of the assignment) – don’t digress into interesting but less relevant findings. Given that the analysis chapter typically counts for a large proportion of marks, you could viably write 2-3 paragraphs for this. Be guided by the mark allocation.

Lastly, you should ensure that the findings you present here align well with the recommendations you’ll make in the next paragraph. Think about what your recommendations are, and, if necessary, reverse engineer this paragraph to create a strong link and logical flow from analysis to recommendations.

Paragraph 3: Recommendations

With the key findings from your analysis presented in the preceding paragraph, you should now discuss the following:

• What are your key recommendations?
• How do these solve the problems you found in your analysis?
• Were there any further conclusions?

Simply put, this paragraph (or two) should present the main recommendations and justify their use (i.e. explain how they resolve the key issue). As mentioned before, it’s critically important that your recommendations tightly align with (and resolve) the key issues that you identified in the analysis. An example:

Based on the Directional Policy Matrix analysis, it is recommended that the firm target XXX segment, because of XXX. On this basis, a positioning of XXX is proposed, as this aligns with the segment’s key needs. Furthermore, a provisional high-level marketing mix is proposed. The key aspects of the marketing mix include XXX, XXX and XXX, as these align with the firm’s positioning of XXX. By adopting these recommendations, the key issue of XXX will be resolved.

Also, note that (typically) the tone changes from past to present tense when you get to the recommendations section.

Paragraph 4: Implementation

If your assignment brief requires an implementation/project plan-type section, this paragraph will typically include the following points:

• Time requirements (how long will it take?)
• People requirements (what skills are needed and where do you find them?)
• Money requirements (what budget is required?)
• How will the project or change be managed? (i.e. project management plan)
• What risks exist and how will these be managed?

Depending on what level of detail is required by your assignment brief, you may need to present more, less or other details in this section. As always, be guided by the assignment brief.

A practical example:

A high-level implementation plan is proposed, including a stakeholder analysis, project plan and business case. Resource requirements are presented, detailing XXX, XXX and XXX requirements. A risk analysis is presented, revealing key risks including XXX, XXX and XXX. Risk management solutions are proposed, including XXX and XXX.  

Paragraph 5: Reflection

As with the implementation chapter, the need for a reflection chapter/section will vary between assignments and universities. If your assignment has this requirement, it’s typically good to cover the following points:

• What were your key learnings? What were your ah-ha moments?
• What has changed in the real world as a consequence of these learnings? I.e. how has your actual behaviour and approach to “X” changed, if any?
• What are the benefits and/or disadvantages of this change, if any?

This section is very personal, and so each person’s reflections will be different. Don’t take the above points as gospel.

Time to test it out.

Once you’ve written up your executive summary and feel confident that it’s in good shape, it’s time to test it out on an unsuspecting intelligent layman. This is a critically important step, since you, as the writer, are simply too close to the work to judge whether it all makes sense to a first-time reader. In fact, you are the least suitable person on the planet!

So, find someone who is not familiar with your assignment topic (and ideally, not familiar with your industry), and ask them to have a read through your executive summary. Friends and family will usually tell you its great, regardless of the quality, so you need to test them on their understanding. Do this by asking them to give the details back to you in their own words. Poke and prod – can they tell you what the key issues and recommendations were (in their own words!). You’ll quickly spot the gaps this way, and be able to flesh out any weak areas.

  Wrapping up.

In this post, I’ve discussed how to write the all too often undercooked executive summary. I’ve discussed some important attributes of a strong executive summary, as well as the contents that typically go into it. To recap on the key points:

The key attributes of a high-impact executive summary:

• It should be able to stand alone.
• It should be written for the intelligent layman.
• It should be concise.
• It should be written last.

The key contents of a high-impact executive summary:

Each paragraph should cover a chapter from the document. For example, In the case of a typical assignment, it would be something like:

• Summary of the introduction chapter.
• Summary of the analysis chapter.
• Summary of the recommendations and/or conclusions chapter.
• Depending – summary of the implementation and reflection.

Lastly, don’t forget to test out your executive summary on an unsuspecting layman or two. This is probably the most important step of them all!

If you have any questions or suggestions, we’d love to hear from you. Please get in touch here or leave a comment below.

Thanks so much for your methodical process and explanation of Executive Summary. It is exactly what I was researching for.

Regards Saane

It’s a pleasure!

This was really helpful with how to structure my assignment.

Thank you so much for the step by step process. It’s so helpful for beginners like me.

Great! This post is very informative and gives clear guidance on to write an executive summary. Thanks very much for sharing this information, it’s very helpful.

Thanks for the feedback, Anna. Best of luck with your writing 🙂

Thank you for the great article, really helped explain what was needed.

Great insight and tips . Thanks

Thank you so much for sharing this. It was exactly what I was looking for.

Thank you for your help

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Executive Summary: Research Guidelines for A+ Papers

• Icon Calendar 30 July 2024
• Icon Page 5955 words
• Icon Clock 27 min read

When people work on organizing their research papers, they need effective guidelines on how to write an executive summary. This article provides insights students should grasp to create high-standard texts, including defining what is an executive summary, its meaning, and its basic format and structure. About its structure and format, a particular guideline teaches students all the sections of an executive summary, such as introduction, purpose statement, methods, findings, recommendations, limitations, implementation, and conclusion elements, corresponding contents of each part, and how to write each element. Other insights include 20 tips for producing a high-standard executive summary, including 10 dos and 10 don’ts, what to include, and 10 common mistakes. Lastly, the article gives a sample outline template for writing a good executive summary and a practical example of this section of a research paper.

General Aspects

A habit of reading different types of papers is helpful to a student’s mental preparation for course assessments but, more importantly, to their intellectual development. Reading various types of essays, reports, and research papers also induces mental faculties of intellect, reason, imagination, and intuition, which are essential for academic discourse. Indeed, one can tell a writer who reads habitually by how they construct and defend arguments and ideas in their works. Basically, this guideline for writing an effective executive summary includes essential insights into what students should and should not do when writing this element. In principle, the three main elements of an executive summary are an introduction, key findings, and recommendations. A provided article also defines what is an executive summary and its meaning, outlines its format and distinctive features, shows how to write each part of this section of a research paper, explains concepts, and gives helpful tips for producing a high-standard document. In turn, this guideline gives a sample outline template of a project paper and an example of an executive summary, as well as what people can include and what they should avoid when organizing such an element.

What Is an Executive Summary and Its Purpose

According to its definition, an executive summary is a brief text that accounts for main points of a longer document, mainly a market study report, project plan, and business proposal. In this respect, such a text serves the same purpose as an abstract, the only difference being that it is not used in research papers (Thomas, 2022). Ideally, an abstract is a short and descriptive section of essential details of a research paper, such as background, methodology, results, and conclusion. In contrast, an executive summary means writing a comprehensive overview of a report, research proposal, or project that explains its main points, including recommendations (Rehart, 2021). As such, the main purpose of writing an executive summary is to highlight key points, findings, and recommendations without requiring a reader to read a full report. Practically, an abstract is between 0.5-1 page, while an executive summary is about 5-10% of a document’s total word count. Since the primary purpose of an executive summary is to summarize an entire paper and its research comprehensively, this part precedes an introduction section of a report, proposal, or business plan (Rehart, 2021). In terms of pages and words, the length of an executive summary depends on academic levels and document complexities, while general writing guidelines are:

High School

• Length: 0.5-1 page
• Word Count: 125-250 words
• Length: 1-2 pages
• Word Count: 250-500 words

University (Undergraduate)

• Length: 1-3 pages
• Word Count: 250-750 words

Master’s

• Length: 2-4 pages
• Word Count: 500-1,000 words
• Length: 3-6 pages
• Word Count: 750-1,500 words

Note: Some sections of an executive summary can be added, deleted, or combined with each other, and it depends on an entire paper’s length and its scope of research. Basically, the five main parts of an executive summary are an introduction, problem or purpose, methodology, key findings, and recommendations (Thomas, 2022). Moreover, an executive summary typically appears at the beginning of most documents, before an introduction section and after a title page. In turn, an executive summary is usually one to two pages long, or about 10% of a total length of a main document. Finally, to start an executive summary, people begin with a concise statement that introduces a main paper’s purpose and research scope of a document.

Distinctive Features

An executive summary is identifiable by specific features that distinguish it from other texts, including essays and research papers. For example, to write an executive summary, people clearly and concisely present a main purpose for research, key findings, conclusions, and recommendations of a document, ensuring this part captures a paper’s essence and an actual importance of a full report (Giampalmi, 2023). Essentially, all scholarly documents require the same level of mental preparation by writers to produce high-quality work. However, students must understand that some papers are demanding because of their contents, which underscore a basic essay outline. The main contents that earmark distinctive features of an executive summary are an introduction, a purpose statement, methods, findings, recommendations, limitations, an implementation plan, and a conclusion.

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1️⃣ Introduction

An introduction of an executive summary highlights a document’s topic, which emphasizes the type of paper it is, such as a business proposal, project report, or market research report. In principle, an executive summary must be short and precise because a central focus is a chosen topic, and one should use a bridge sentence or short paragraph for an introduction (Falkenberg et al., 2024). In turn, some examples of sentence starters for beginning an executive summary are:

• This executive summary includes critical findings and strategic recommendations derived from a comprehensive analysis of [topic/issue].
• A primary objective of this report is to present main results and implications of extensive research on [topic/issue].
• This document synthesizes essential insights and proposed actions based on a presented investigation of [topic/issue].
• This proposal covers significant outcomes and strategic recommendations for an in-depth study of [topic/issue].
• A particular purpose of this study is to examine key conclusions and actionable insights from an entire evaluation of [topic/issue].
• This plan provides a concise overview of major findings and strategic advice resulting from a particular analysis of [topic/issue].
• A current business report outlines primary discoveries and strategic proposals from a rigorous examination of [topic/issue].
• This project paper aims to present pivotal results and recommendations identified through comprehensive research on [topic/issue].
• This business proposal offers a valid presentation of critical points and strategic implications derived from a particular study on [topic/issue].
• This executive summary for a research paper highlights core findings and proposed strategies based on a detailed literature review of [topic/issue].

2️⃣ Purpose Statement

A purpose statement of an executive summary communicates a document’s primary objective. In this respect, such an element provides a brief background of an assigned topic to enhance a reader’s understanding of an actual essence of an entire document (Rehart, 2021). In turn, a particular language in this part reflects an expected end, while common terms include ‘aim,’ ‘goal,’ ‘purpose,’ or ‘objective.’

3️⃣ Methods

In an executive summary, methods outline a scholar’s approach to achieving a primary objective, such as examining official data, conducting a field study, reviewing existing literature, or interviewing stakeholders. Basically, people need to understand that this component differs from methodology and literature review sections of research papers (Younas & Ali, 2021). In other words, this element does not detail the methods one has used to complete an entire work. On the other hand, authors need to outline particular strategies that help writers to better understand critical issues, such as challenges to a sector, stakeholder sentiments, industry insights, or potential barriers.

4️⃣ Findings

Findings in an executive summary are study outcomes of discussed methods. For example, it is what a scholar has discovered about a specific issue, such as an industry, stakeholders, or a project (Rehart, 2021). This component is crucial to readers because it offers a sneak peek into study outcomes that underscore a primary purpose of an entire document: project report, market research report, or business proposal.

5️⃣ Recommendations

Recommendations in an executive summary underscore a writer’s perspective regarding different issues that a research paper addresses as a challenge or problem. For example, if a given paper is a report about healthcare status, potential challenges or problems it identifies may be nursing shortages or medical errors (Thomas, 2022). In turn, provided recommendations should highlight what stakeholders, like the government and health institutions, must do to overcome these challenges or problems. Finally, such recommendations address what must be done to rectify a situation or make it possible to achieve specific outcomes.

6️⃣ Limitations

Like a research paper, an executive summary must point out some limitations that a document’s author encountered in reporting about a project or business plan. For example, these limitations may include a lack of goodwill among stakeholders, sufficient time to investigate a matter, or resources to execute a particular task (Thomas, 2022). This information is essential to a target audience because it indicates some dynamics influencing a primary objective.

7️⃣ Implementation Plan

An implementation plan is a component in an executive summary that provides a framework for adopting and implementing the recommendations. Typically, this information includes claims and activities, people responsible, a specific timeframe, and budget allocation (Rehart, 2021). Sometimes, an evaluation plan is also part of an implementation section.

8️⃣ Conclusion

A conclusion part of an executive summary is a call to action about a project paper, market research report, or business proposal. Unlike conclusions in other academic papers and essays that summarize paper’s main points, a conclusion part of an executive summary gives a direction about a whole document (Morris et al., 2024). Essentially, writers use this component to call to action an intended audience to adopt offered recommendations or compel stakeholders to adopt a particular perspective. In turn, this part also persuades a target audience to adopt a particular stance regarding a report or proposal.

Length Differences

Students should know the length of each of the above sections, except introduction and conclusion parts, depending on a document’s total length, which determines a specific word count of an executive summary. For example, a long and robust project report or business proposal requires a long executive summary with an extended purpose statement, methods, findings, recommendations, limitations, and implementation, which means the length of 4-10 double-spaced pages, or 2-5 single-spaced pages, or 1,000–2,500 words, depending on a particular volume of an overall work (Rehart, 2021). Typically, introduction and conclusion sections take a statement or short paragraph of 0.5-1 double-spaced page or 125-250 words, irrespective of a research paper or executive summary’s length. However, if a research paper is a long work of more than 10 double-spaced pages, 5 single-spaced pages, or 2,500 words, introduction and conclusion parts should not exceed 5-10% of a whole word count (Rehart, 2021). Besides, a corresponding body section of an executive summary must take about 80-90% of a total word count of a research paper, not less. The word count of a title page, a table of contents, an abstract, a reference page, and an appendix is not considered since these parts are technical and do not mean writing itself.

Structure and Writing of Each Section

Writing an executive summary requires students to demonstrate an understanding of its purpose. This understanding means students should know when to write its content, what to talk about, and how to write each of the sections above. On the other hand, to write a well-organized executive summary for a report, people concisely summarize a paper’s purpose and its scope of research, methodology, key findings, conclusions, and recommendations (Giampalmi, 2023). Therefore, writing an executive summary is essential to approach carefully and with the utmost focus.

1️⃣ Writing an Executive Summary as a Last Action

Because an executive summary overviews an entire research paper, students should write this part after finishing their market research papers, project reports, or business proposals. However, one should read and reread a whole document to know the most significant points forming part of brief components (Thomas, 2022). By writing an executive summary as a last item, one can have a mental picture of what to address to give a target audience a comprehensive sneak peek into a research document.

2️⃣ Making Notes of Important Aspects

While reading and rereading a research paper, students should take notes of the most critical aspects of their work that must appear in an executive summary. Moreover, one should identify crucial information in an introduction, a purpose statement, methods, findings, recommendations, limitations, an implementation plan, and a conclusion (Rehart, 2021). As such, these aspects must address each section above.

Writing an Introduction Part

When writing a college essay introduction, students must refrain from going into details about a specific purpose of a whole text because they will have an opportunity to do so later. While one may mention a document’s background, this person should make it concise to contextualize an assigned topic (Giampalmi, 2023). The most crucial detail is that an introduction part of an executive summary should be a sentence or brief paragraph. In turn, to write a well-structured executive summary for an essay, people succinctly present a main argument, key points, and conclusions of an entire paper, ensuring it captures an actual essence and significance of its content.

Writing a Purpose Statement Part

When writing a research paper’s purpose, students should communicate a specific type of document, such as a business proposal, a market report, or a project composition. The next thing is to state a valid background, provide a particular reason for writing, like sourcing funds, recommend solutions, or report progress and challenges (Rehart, 2021). However, one should avoid going into detail because they will do so later in an executive summary of a research paper.

Writing a Methods Part

When writing a methods section, one should focus on giving an intended audience a sense of a particular strategy that helps achieve study outcomes. However, students should approach this part differently than a methodology section of a research paper (Giampalmi, 2023). Instead, they should mention what they did to execute an entire work, such as interviewing stakeholders or analyzing official data. The best way to approach this section is to list everything one did to make a research paper.

Writing a Findings Part

Since a primary purpose of a findings section in a research paper is to narrate outcomes, students should write it in the past tense. Therefore, when writing this section of an executive summary, authors should see themselves as reporters educating a target audience about what they have learned in executing a particular task (Giampalmi, 2023). An essential detail students should note when writing this section is to refer to credible sources of information that lead to the findings. These reliable sources can be documents, organizations, individuals in leadership, or industry experts.

Writing a Recommendations Part

When writing a recommendations section in an executive summary for a research paper, students should focus on giving a clear and brief paragraph of what should happen after the findings. Essentially, one should address key decision-makers or stakeholders because they are responsible for creating change through policy (Rehart, 2021). The best approach to writing recommendations is to interrogate each challenge or problem and related findings to understand what must happen to create positive outcomes.

Writing a Limitations Part

The best approach to writing a limitations section in an executive summary for a research paper is to interrogate possible challenges. For example, such aspects that one has faced in a discussed project may include as a lack of goodwill among stakeholders or sufficient time, resources, or support (Rehart, 2021). Ideally, authors aim to inform an intended audience of some factors that have complicated their work or may complicate an overall implementation of offered recommendations.

Writing an Implementation Plan Part

When writing an implementation plan in an executive summary, students should focus on telling a target audience a specific procedure for actualizing provided recommendations. In this respect, the best approach to writing this section is to interrogate offered recommendations to determine what must happen to actualize each (Giampalmi, 2023). In principle, some issues to consider may include people in charge of implementation, such as an organization’s human resource director, a specific time it would take to actualize (timeline), a study budget, and how to measure success (evaluation).

Writing a Conclusion Part

When writing a conclusion part, students should aim to persuade an intended audience to adopt a particular stance regarding a research paper or proposal. Although one might reiterate a particular topic, it is not necessary to mention each of the preceding sections (Giampalmi, 2023). Instead, authors should focus on sending a strong communication regarding a central theme of a document. The best approach to writing a conclusion section is to influence a target audience’s perspective on an assigned topic in accordance with offered recommendations and implementation plan steps.

3️⃣ Explaining Acronyms, Abbreviations, and Key Terms

Since an executive summary is an overview of a market research paper, project report, or business plan, authors should write it clearly and precisely. For example, to write a correct executive summary for a research proposal, people briefly summarize a suggested purpose, key objectives, methodology, expected outcomes, and recommendations (Thomas, 2022). As such, the best approach is to use simple language and define all acronyms, abbreviations, and key terms. In turn, students should not assume that readers know what each acronym, abbreviation, and key term means when they read complete documents.

4️⃣ Proofreading, Revising, and Editing

After completing writing a research paper, students should proofread a complete document to identify grammatical and formatting mistakes and inconsistent arguments and ideas. For example, the best way to fix these mistakes and flaws is to revise a whole research paper by fixing mistakes, like missing punctuation and wrong citations, and editing a document by adding or deleting words and sentences to create a logical order of thoughts and ideas (Giampalmi, 2023). In turn, authors must be factual, not use word count fillers, and avoid unnecessary repetitions. Besides, they should know that a target audience is not interested in stories but in factual communication that makes logical sense.

Outline Template

Like essays, executive summaries have a specific structure students should demonstrate in their writing. The sections above underscore this outline template, meaning students should know what each section of writing an executive summary for a research paper entails and how to write it. Basically, the best way to write a high-quality executive summary is to create a template and populate this outline with ideas for a project, a business plan, a proposal, or a report (Giampalmi, 2023). In turn, such a preparation helps students to have a mental picture of a particular kind of document they want to have and a right attitude when writing.

I. Introduction: [Introduce a specific topic and state a particular kind of document, such as a market research paper, project report, or business plan].

II. Purpose Statement: [Explain a primary objective of a research paper, such as investigating a problem, souring some funds, or reporting its progress].

III. Methods: [Enumerate how a specific task is accomplished, such as examining official data, interviewing stakeholders, or reviewing existing literature].

IV. Findings: [Provide study outcomes of discussed methods, such as what official data reveals, stakeholders’ sentiments, or what research says].

V. Recommendations: [State clearly what stakeholders or key decisions must do to address possible challenges or problems that the findings reveal].

VI. Limitations: [Discuss defined challenges or problems that were encountered in completing a particular task, such as poor time management, a lack of support, or absent goodwill by stakeholders].

VII. Implementation Plan: [Include what stakeholders or key decision-makers must do to actualize provided recommendations, such as identifying a person responsible and establishing a budget and timeline].

VIII. Conclusion: [Persuade a target audience to adopt offered recommendations and work toward creating change by facilitating an implementation plan].

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Executive Summary Example

Topic: A Need for Proactive Climate Change Initiatives

I. Introduction

Stakeholders in a particular climate change discourse must shift their focus from discourse to practical, proactive measures to demonstrate seriousness in tackling the biggest threat of the millennium.

II. Purpose Statement

A Particular purpose of writing this executive study is to examine a current status of a climate change discourse, interrogate dynamics that make it unpromising as a practical solution to a particular crisis, and recommend what stakeholders must do to restore hope to millions globally who are afraid that climate change poses the biggest threat to an overall existence of current and future generations.

III. Methods

An executive report employs several data-gathering methods to achieve these objectives, including examining a climate change discourse over the decades to identify key themes: environmental policies, greenhouse gases, industrial pollution, natural disasters, weather forecasts, and others. Another method is interrogating research and official data on climate change by government agencies in the last three decades. A current report also considers interviews with environmentalists, social justice advocates, government officials, and leaders of organizations that dedicate their mission to creating awareness about a particular need for environmental conservation and preservation.

IV. Findings

Overall, the methods above reveal worrying findings about a discussed climate change discourse:

• Human activities, including industries and deforestation, have increased global warming to 1.1 degrees C, triggering unprecedented changes to the Earth’s climate. The lack of consensus on reversing human-induced global warming among the most industrialized countries suggests that such a trend will worsen in the coming decades.
• Adverse impacts of climate change are evident on people and ecosystems. Without urgent practical interventions, these impacts will become more widespread and severe with every additional degree of global warming.
• Developing and implementing adaptation measures in communities can effectively build and foster the resilience of people and ecosystems. However, stakeholders must interrogate their climate change funding priorities for effective proactive interventions.
• Communities will continue recording climate-induced losses and damages as long as communities cannot adapt to some impacts of this global problem. An example is 1.1 degrees C of global warming.
• Projections indicate global greenhouse gas (GHC) emissions will peak at 1.5 degrees C before 2025 in selected at-risk pathways.
• Burning fossil fuels remains a leading cause of a global climate crisis.
• Carbon removal is the most effective and practical solution to limiting global warming from peaking at 1.5 degrees C.
• There is a lack of commitment by key stakeholders to finance climate change mitigation and adaptation.
• Climate change and collective efforts to mitigate and adapt to its impacts will exacerbate global inequity if stakeholders do not prioritize just transition.

These findings of a research paper confirm that a climate change discourse is alive to the threat the global problem poses to people and ecosystems and the weaknesses in current interventions.

V. Recommendations

This executive report recommends that key stakeholders, including governments, communities, policy experts, and financiers, must adopt to prioritize practical solutions to the global climate crisis.

• Stakeholders must target a net-zero climate-resilient future through urgent, systemwide transformations.
• Adopt policies that enhance access to fresh produce by establishing a relationship between farmers and consumers.
• Improve awareness about the critical benefits of organic foods.
• Consider policies that promote regenerative farm practices to eliminate toxins and revitalize soils.
• Create infrastructures for transforming waste into compost manure for farm use.
• Develop policies that encourage communities to embrace a green neighborhood.

VI. Limitations

This executive report recognizes several limitations that have made a real fight against climate change unproductive and threaten current and future endeavors to arrest the crisis. For example, stakeholders need to note that these limitations may undermine a particular implementation of provided recommendations in this report. One limitation is a lack of goodwill among key stakeholders. The four leading industrial powers, namely the United States, China, India, and Brazil, contribute to significant global atmospheric temperature increases. Traditionally, these countries have refused to agree on how to cut back on industries primarily because they are the main drivers of their economies. Another limitation is the mis-prioritization of financing, where much focus is on theoretical interventions, such as agreements and seminars, at the expense of practical solutions like building infrastructures for transforming waste into usable products. While stakeholders agree on an actual essence of the 3R (reuse, reduce, and recycle) framework, there is little practical implementation at the community level.

VII. Implementation Plan

A particular implementation plan for recommendations provided above recognizes government agencies as the most suitable implementers because official bodies are key stakeholders who finance climate change initiatives. A proposed business plan considers that, to shift a current climate change fight from mere discourse to practical evidence, stakeholders must prioritize the following:

• A budget of at least $50 million annually at the country level;
• A period of between 2-5 years; and
• Periodic evaluation of progress through at least one annual seminar or conference.

VIII. Conclusion

This executive research paper calls on all stakeholders in a discussed climate change discourse to reconsider a current focus by recognizing its failure to create meaningful change as evidence shows this crisis continues to worsen. Instead, they should focus on practical, proactive interventions focusing on communities because that is where much environmental damage happens. It is also where defined adversities of a current crisis manifest most powerfully.

Steps on How to Write an Executive Summary

Writing an executive summary is a technical undertaking requiring students to consider each section’s basic structure and essential details. When writing a research paper, one must know when to write each section and what to say (Thomas, 2022). In this respect, preparation, stage setup, writing a first draft of an executive section, and wrap-up are essential steps students should follow to produce a research paper document that meets quality standards. As a result, an executive summary should include a document’s purpose, key findings, conclusions, and recommendations.

Step 1: Preparation

As a first step in writing an executive summary, preparation helps auhtors to develop a proper mindset. For example, this step involves knowing a basic structure and what to write in each section of a research paper (Giampalmi, 2023). Therefore, a critical task for students in this stage is constructing a basic structure and stating what must happen in each section.

Step 2: Stage Setup

Setting up a stage is a second step in writing an executive summary. For instance, this step involves reading and rereading a document to identify critical details to address in each section of a basic structure (Giampalmi, 2023). The best approach to achieve this outcome is to make notes of the most vital data when reading a research paper.

Step 3: Writing a First Draft

A third step is to create a first draft of an executive summary by putting all the critical data into relevant sections. Ideally, people must start with a clear introduction where they point out a focal point of a research paper and then move to a study’s purpose statement, methods, findings, recommendations, limitations, implementation plan, and conclusion (Rehart, 2021). Each research section must summarize and not explain the most critical data.

Step 4: Wrap-Up

Wrapping a first draft into a final version of a research paper is a last step in writing an executive summary. This stage involves proofreading, revising, and editing a first version of an executive section to eliminate grammar mistakes and inconsistent statements (Rehart, 2021). As a result, authors must perfect their executive summaries of research papers by fixing errors and flaws that affect a logical progression of ideas and thoughts and an overall quality of an entire text.

Writing an executive summary can be demanding, particularly for students who do not prepare well or do not know what is most important. The following tips can be helpful: begin an executive summary by explaining why a specific topic is important; state a particular purpose of a research paper by outlining a unique problem and why it is essential or relevant to an intended audience; explain study methods that help to execute a defined task; state research findings; enumerate some limitations by addressing dynamics that undermine an overall implementation of solutions; consider different recommendations and list them using numbers or bullet points; outline an implementation plan that identifies a person or entity that oversee its execution, a budget allocation, and how to evaluate progress; and write a conclusion that persuades a target audience to adopt a particular perspective about a chosen topic. In turn, 10 dos and 10 don’ts that people should consider when writing their executive summaries in their research papers are:

• reading a research paper thoroughly to identify a primary objective, methods for collecting data, key findings, recommendations, significant limitations, and an implementation strategy;
• considering an intended audience of an executive summary to determine whether to use simple or technical language;
• writing formally and avoiding jargon;
• outlining a specific structure that considers all the main sections (introduction, purpose statement, methods, key findings, recommendations, limitations, implementation, and conclusion);
• organizing a brief text in a summary format;
• using a short, clear, precise, and captivating opening statement to hook readers;
• including each section to state the most critical details;
• focusing on summarizing a research paper rather than explaining its contents;
• reviewing a complete document for incorrect information;
• proofreading, revising, and editing an executive summary to eliminate all mistakes.

10 Dont’s

• using jargon to simplify complex terms and phrases;
• explaining rather than summarizing a research paper;
• creating too many grammar mistakes, such as missing punctuation and confusing words with a similar pronunciation;
• ignoring a basic outline for writing;
• writing a lengthy introduction;
• concentrating on some sections more than others;
• explaining ideas or concepts not discussed in a main text;
• providing a very short or long summary that does not align with a document’s total word count;
• beginning an executive summary with anecdote or irrelevant information;
• placing an executive summary at the end of a research paper.

Things to Remember

An executive summary in APA or any other format is a brief and well-structured summary of a long scholarly document, such as a research paper, that follows corresponding style guidelines, including a title, a clear statement of main points, and proper citations. In turn, general writing recommendations to remember include:

• Tell an interesting story. Writers should approach an executive summary as a platform for inducing a reader’s interest in reading a research paper. As such, one should use each section to tell what is most crucial to an intended audience.
• Highlight critical data. Writers should focus on what is most critical in each section of a brief text, emphasizing statistical data because it is visually captivating.
• Maintain a formal tone from beginning to end. Writers should avoid using jargon to simplify complex concepts or terminologies.
• Write an executive summary after completing an actual research paper. Writing an executive summary as a last element of a research paper helps one to approach this document as a final overview of main points. In turn, a typical mistake of starting an executive summary before writing an actual research paper is that authors can write about details they fail to address in a final version of a document.

What to Include

Common Mistakes

• Being Too Lengthy: An executive summary should be concise and straight to a single point, avoiding unnecessary details.
• Lacking Clarity: Failure to clearly present main points can confuse readers and dilute the impact.
• Ignoring a Target Audience: Not tailoring a presented content to specific needs and interests of an intended audience can make it less relevant and engaging.
• Overloading With Technical Jargon: Using too much technical language can make it difficult for non-expert readers to understand its content.
• Missing Key Information: Omitting essential findings or recommendations can leave readers without a clear understanding of a report’s significance.
• Focusing on Minor Details: Including trivial details can distract from a main message and reduce a research paper’s effectiveness.
• Inconsistent Tone: An inconsistent tone can make a brief text appear unprofessional and disorganized.
• Lack of Structure: Without a clear structure, a particular content can be hard to follow and fail to highlight the most important points.
• Repeating Content: Repeating the same information all the time can make a text redundant and longer than needed.
• Failing to Highlight Conclusions: Not emphasizing main conclusions and recommendations can leave readers uncertain about next steps.

This guide on how to write a well-organized executive summary of a research paper emphasizes its purpose and structure. Basically, such an element covers key sections, such as an introduction, background, objective, methods, findings, analysis, conclusions, and recommendations. Furthermore, effective executive summaries are clear, concise, and relevant, providing essential information without unnecessary details. As a result, following structured tips, like avoiding jargon and emphasizing key points, ensures this part of a research or any other type of paper communicates a document’s essence effectively.

Falkenberg, L. J., Joyce, P. W., & Soranno, P. A. (2024). How to write lay summaries of research articles for wider accessibility. Limnology and Oceanography Letters , 9 (2), 93–98. https://doi.org/10.1002/lol2.10373

Giampalmi, J. (2023). College research papers for dummies . John Wiley & Sons, Inc.

Morris, W., Crossley, S., Holmes, L., Ou, C., Dascalu, M., & McNamara, D. (2024). Formative feedback on student-authored summaries in intelligent textbooks using large language models. International Journal of Artificial Intelligence in Education , 1–22. https://doi.org/10.1007/s40593-024-00395-0

Rehart, M. J. (2021). Writing business research reports: A guide to scientific writing . Routledge.

Thomas, C. G. (2022). Research methodology and scientific writing . Springer.

Younas, A., & Ali, P. (2021). Five tips for developing useful literature summary tables for writing review articles. Evidence Based Nursing , 24 (2), 32–34. https://doi.org/10.1136/ebnurs-2021-103417

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How to write an executive summary in 10 steps

Whether presenting a business plan, sharing project updates with stakeholders, or submitting a project proposal, an executive summary helps you grab attention and convey key insights.

Think of it as a condensed version of a document, report, or proposal that highlights the most important information clearly and concisely. It's like a "cheat sheet" that gives you a snapshot of the main points without reading the entire thing.

Throughout the article, we'll explore some examples of executive summaries to give you a better understanding of how they can be applied. Plus, we'll provide you with ready-to-use templates and best practices for writing compelling executive summaries.

What is an executive summary?

An executive summary is a concise overview of a longer document or report. It is typically written for busy executives or decision-makers who may not have the time to read the entire document but still need to grasp its key points and recommendations. 

An effective executive summary should capture the essence of the document, highlighting the most important information in a brief and easily understandable way. It should provide a snapshot of the document's purpose, methodology, major findings, and key recommendations. The summary should be written in a way that allows the reader to quickly grasp the main ideas and make informed decisions based on the information presented.

Why do you need to write one?

For a business owner , an executive summary is one of the most important documents you will have. Like a business plan , they help you lay out the potential value of your business and your potential for success. 

Unlike a business proposal, however, an executive summary is designed to be read in a brief amount of time. That makes them ideal for a variety of uses, like project proposals and research summaries. Sending your strategic plan to a prospective investor or stakeholder likely won’t get you far. But a brief report that clearly states your key findings and what’s in it for them might help you — and your proposal — stand out. It isn't all the details. It's what gets you the meeting to share more.

An executive summary is also a business document that can travel without you. It may be presented to other leaders and potential investors. If it’s written well, it will take on a life of its own. You may find that you get support and resources from places you never imagined.

What should be included in an executive summary?

Your executive summary should include brief descriptions of who your product, service, or proposal is for and your competitive advantage. Be sure to introduce your report concisely yet clearly . Note the most important points and its overall purpose––what do you hope to achieve with this report? 

Also, include any necessary background information and statistics about the industry, high-level information about your business model, necessary financial information, or other insights you discuss in the report. Depending on your proposal, you may want to consider summarizing a market analysis of your target market.

Typically, an executive summary follows a structured format, including sections such as:

• Introduction: Provides a brief background and context for the document.
• Objective or purpose: Clearly states the goal of the document and what it aims to achieve.
• Methodology: Briefly describes the approach, data sources, and methods used to conduct the research or analysis.
• Findings: Summarizes the main findings, conclusions, or results derived from the document.
• Recommendations: Outlines the key recommendations or proposed actions based on the findings.
• Conclusion: Provides a concise wrap-up of the main points and emphasizes the significance of the document.

How do you write an executive summary?

When tackling an executive summary, it's all about following a structured approach to ensure you effectively communicate those crucial points, findings, and recommendations. Let’s walk through some steps and best practices to make it a breeze:

Step 1: Get to know the document

Take the time to dive into the full document or report that your executive summary will be based on. Read it thoroughly and identify the main objectives, key findings, conclusions, and recommendations.

Step 2: Know your audience

Think about who you're writing the executive summary for. Consider their knowledge level, interests, and priorities. This helps you tailor the summary to their needs and make it relevant and impactful.

Step 3: Outline the structure

Create an outline for your executive summary with sections like introduction, objective, methodology, findings, recommendations, and conclusion. This way, you'll have a logical flow that's easy to follow.

Step 4: Start strong

Kick off your executive summary with a captivating opening statement. Make it concise, engaging, and impactful to hook the reader and make them want to keep reading.

Step 5: Summarize objectives and methodology

Give a brief overview of the document's objectives and the methodology used to achieve them. This sets the context and helps the reader understand the approach taken.

Step 6: Highlight key findings

Summarize the main findings, conclusions, or results. Focus on the juiciest and most relevant points that support the document's purpose. Keep it clear and concise to get the message across effectively.

Step 7: Present key recommendations

Outline the important recommendations or proposed actions based on the findings. Clearly state what needs to be done, why it matters, and how it aligns with the document's objectives. Make those recommendations actionable and realistic.

Step 8: Keep it snappy

Remember, an executive summary should be short and sweet. Skip unnecessary details, jargon, or technical language . Use straightforward language that hits the mark.

Step 9: Review and polish

Once you've written the executive summary, give it a careful review for clarity, coherence, and accuracy. Make sure it captures the essence of the full document and represents its content faithfully. Take the extra step to edit out any fluff or repetition.

Step 10: Dress to impress

Consider formatting and presentation. Use headings, bullet points, and formatting styles to make it visually appealing and easy to skim. If it makes sense, include some graphs, charts, or visuals to highlight key points.

Tips for writing an effective executive summary

• Adapt your language and tone to suit your audience.
• Keep things concise and crystal clear—say no to jargon.
• Focus on the most important info that packs a punch.
• Give enough context without overwhelming your reader.
• Use strong and persuasive language to make your recommendations shine.
• Make sure your executive summary makes sense even if the full document isn't read.
• Proofread like a pro to catch any pesky grammar, spelling, or punctuation errors.

Executive summary template for business plans

Here's a general template for creating an executive summary specifically for business plans:

[Your Company Name]

[Business Plan Title]

Business overview

Provide a brief introduction to your company, including its name, location, industry, and mission statement . Describe your unique value proposition and what sets your business apart from competitors.

Market analysis

Summarize the key findings of your market research. Provide an overview of the target market, its size, growth potential, and relevant trends. Highlight your understanding of customer needs, preferences, and behaviors.

Product or service offering

Outline your core products or services, including their key features and benefits. Emphasize how your offerings address customer pain points and provide value. Highlight any unique selling points or competitive advantages.

Business model

Explain your business model and revenue generation strategy. Describe how you will generate revenue, the pricing structure, and any distribution channels or partnerships that contribute to your business's success.

Marketing and sales strategy

Summarize your marketing and sales approach. Highlight the key tactics and channels you will use to reach and attract customers. Discuss your promotional strategies, pricing strategies, and customer acquisition plans.

Management team

Introduce the key members of your management team and their relevant experience. Highlight their expertise and how it positions the team to execute the business plan successfully. Include any notable advisors or board members.

Financial projections

Summarize your financial projections, including revenue forecasts, expected expenses, and projected profitability. Highlight any key financial metrics or milestones. Briefly mention your funding needs, if applicable.

Funding requirements

If seeking funding, outline your funding requirements, including the amount needed, its purpose, and the potential sources of funding you are considering. Summarize the expected return on investment for potential investors.

Reiterate the vision and potential of your business. Summarize the key points of your business plan, emphasizing its viability, market potential, and the expertise of your team. Convey confidence in the success of your venture.

Note: Keep the executive summary concise and focused, typically within one to two pages. Use clear and compelling language, emphasizing the unique aspects of your business. Tailor the template to suit your specific business plan, adjusting sections and details accordingly.

Remember, the executive summary serves as an introduction to your business plan and should pique the reader's interest, conveying the value and potential of your business in a concise and persuasive manner.

Executive summary examples

Every executive summary will be unique to the organization's goals, vision, and brand identity. We put together two general examples of executive summaries to spark your creativity and offer some inspiration. 

These are not intended to be used as-is but more to offer ideas for how you may want to put your own executive summary together. Be sure to personalize your own summary with specific statistics and relevant data points to make the most impact.

Example 1: executive summary for a communications business plan

Introduction:

We're thrilled to present our innovative [insert product] that aims to revolutionize the way people connect and engage. Our vision is to empower individuals and businesses with seamless communication solutions that break barriers and foster meaningful connections.

Market opportunity:

The communications industry is evolving rapidly, and we've identified a significant opportunity in the market. With the proliferation of remote work, the need for reliable and efficient communication tools has skyrocketed. Our extensive market research indicates a demand for solutions that prioritize user experience, security, and flexibility.

Product offering:

At [Company Name], we've developed a suite of cutting-edge communication tools designed to meet the diverse needs of our customers. Our flagship product is a unified communication platform that integrates voice, video, messaging, and collaboration features into a seamless user experience. We also offer customizable solutions for businesses of all sizes, catering to their unique communication requirements.

Unique value proposition:

What sets us apart from the competition? Our user-centric approach and commitment to innovation. We prioritize user experience by creating intuitive interfaces and seamless interactions. Our solutions are scalable, adaptable, and designed to keep up with evolving technological trends. By combining ease of use with advanced features, we deliver unparalleled value to our customers.

Target market:

Our primary focus is on small and medium-sized businesses (SMBs) that require efficient and cost-effective communication tools. We also cater to individuals, remote teams, and larger enterprises seeking reliable and secure communication solutions. Our target market encompasses industries such as technology, finance, healthcare, and professional services.

Business model:

To generate revenue, we employ a subscription-based business model. Customers can choose from different plans tailored to their specific needs, paying a monthly or annual fee. We also offer additional services such as customization, integration, and customer support, creating additional revenue streams and fostering long-term customer relationships.

Marketing and sales strategy:

Our marketing strategy centers around building brand awareness through targeted digital campaigns, content marketing, and strategic partnerships. We'll leverage social media, industry influencers, and online communities to reach our target audience. Additionally, our sales team will engage in proactive outreach, nurturing leads and providing personalized consultations to convert prospects into loyal customers.

Team and expertise:

Our team is composed of experienced professionals with a deep understanding of the communications industry. Led by our visionary founder and supported by a skilled and diverse team, we have the expertise to drive innovation, develop robust products, and deliver exceptional customer service. We're passionate about our mission and dedicated to making a lasting impact in the market.

Financial projections:

Based on extensive market research and financial analysis, we anticipate strong growth and profitability. Our financial projections indicate steady revenue streams, with increasing customer adoption and market share. We're committed to managing costs effectively, optimizing our resources, and continuously reinvesting in research and development.

Funding requirements:

To fuel our ambitious growth plans and accelerate product development, we're seeking [funding amount] in funding. These funds will be allocated towards expanding our team, scaling our infrastructure, marketing efforts, and ongoing product innovation. We believe this investment will position us for success and solidify our market presence.

Conclusion:

In summary, [Company Name] is poised to disrupt the communications industry with our innovative solutions and customer-centric approach. We're ready to make a positive impact by empowering individuals and businesses to communicate effectively and effortlessly. Join us on this exciting journey as we redefine the future of communication. Together, we'll shape a connected world like never before.

Example 2: executive summary for a project proposal

[Project Name]

[Project Proposal Date]

Hello! We're thrilled to present our project proposal for [Project Name]. This executive summary will provide you with a high-level overview of the project, its objectives, and the value it brings.

Project overview:

Our project aims to [describe the project's purpose and scope]. It's a response to [identify the problem or opportunity] and has the potential to bring significant benefits to [stakeholders or target audience]. Through meticulous planning and execution, we're confident in our ability to achieve the desired outcomes.

Objectives:

The primary goal of our project is to [state the overarching objective]. In addition, we have specific objectives such as [list specific objectives]. By accomplishing these goals, we'll create a positive impact and drive meaningful change.

Our proposed approach for this project is based on a thorough analysis of the situation and best practices. We'll adopt a structured methodology that includes [describe the key project phases or activities]. This approach ensures efficient utilization of resources and maximizes project outcomes.

The benefits of this project are truly exciting. Through its implementation, we anticipate [describe the anticipated benefits or outcomes]. These benefits include [list specific benefits], which will have a lasting and positive effect on [stakeholders or target audience].

Implementation timeline:

We've devised a comprehensive timeline to guide the project from initiation to completion. The project is divided into distinct phases, with well-defined milestones and deliverables. Our timeline ensures that tasks are executed in a timely manner, allowing us to stay on track and deliver results.

Resource requirements:

To successfully execute this project, we've identified the key resources needed. This includes [list the resources required, such as human resources, technology, equipment, and funding]. We're confident in our ability to secure the necessary resources and allocate them effectively to ensure project success.

A project of this nature requires a well-planned budget. Based on our analysis, we've estimated the required funding to be [state the budget amount]. This budget encompasses all project-related costs and aligns with the anticipated benefits and outcomes.

Our project proposal is an exciting opportunity to address [the problem or opportunity] and create tangible value for [stakeholders or target audience]. With a clear vision, defined objectives, and a robust implementation plan, we're ready to embark on this journey. Join us as we bring this project to life and make a lasting impact. 

Is an executive summary the same as a project plan?

While both are important components of project management and documentation , they serve different purposes and contain distinct information.

An executive summary, as discussed earlier, is a concise overview of a longer document or report. It provides a snapshot of the key points, findings, and recommendations. It focuses on high-level information and aims to provide an overview of the document's purpose, methodology, findings, and recommendations.

On the other hand, a project plan is a detailed document that outlines the specific activities, tasks, timelines, resources, and milestones associated with a project. It serves as a roadmap for project execution, providing a comprehensive understanding of how the project will be carried out.

A project plan typically includes objectives, scope, deliverables, schedule, budget, resource allocation, risk management, and communication strategies. It is intended for project team members, stakeholders, and those directly involved in the execution.

In summary, an executive summary offers a condensed overview of a document's key points, while a project plan provides a comprehensive and detailed roadmap for executing a project.

Executive summaries vs. abstracts

An executive summary is not the same as an abstract. Executive summaries focus on the main points of a proposal. They highlight when and why a reader should invest in the company or project.

An abstract, on the other hand, concentrates on what the business does and its marketing plan. It typically doesn’t include detailed information about finances.

While it is usually compelling, it’s less of an elevator pitch and more of a summary. The goal of an abstract is to inform, not to persuade. On the other hand, the goal of an executive summary is to give readers who are pressed for time just enough information that they’ll want to look further into your proposition.

When do you use an executive summary?

An executive summary is used in various situations where there is a need to present a condensed overview of a longer document or report. Here are some common instances when an executive summary is used:

• Business proposals: When submitting a business proposal to potential investors, partners, or stakeholders, an executive summary is often included. It provides a concise overview of the proposal, highlighting the key aspects such as the business idea, market analysis, competitive advantage, financial projections, and recommended actions.
• Reports and research studies: Lengthy reports or research studies often include an executive summary at the beginning. This allows decision-makers, executives, or other stakeholders to quickly understand the purpose, methodology, findings, and recommendations of the report without going through the entire document.
• Project updates: During the course of a project, project managers may prepare executive summaries to provide updates to stakeholders or higher-level management. These summaries give a brief overview of the project's progress, achievements, challenges, and upcoming milestones.
• Strategic plans: When developing strategic plans for an organization, an executive summary is often included to provide an overview of the plan's goals, objectives, strategies, and key initiatives. It allows executives and stakeholders to grasp the essence of the strategic plan and its implications without reading the entire document.
• Funding requests: When seeking funding for a project or venture, an executive summary is commonly used as part of the funding proposal. It provides a succinct summary of the project, highlighting its significance, potential impact, financial requirements, and expected outcomes.

In general, an executive summary is used whenever there is a need to communicate the main points, findings, and recommendations of a document concisely and efficiently to individuals who may not have the time or inclination to read the entire content. It serves as a valuable tool for understanding and facilitates quick decision-making.

5 ways project managers can use executive summaries

Project managers can use executive summaries in various ways to effectively communicate project updates, status reports, or proposals to stakeholders and higher-level management. Here are some ways project managers can use executive summaries:

• Project status updates: Project managers can provide regular executive summaries to stakeholders and management to communicate the current status of the project. The summary should include key achievements, milestones reached, challenges encountered, and any adjustments to the project plan. It allows stakeholders to quickly grasp the project's progress and make informed decisions or provide guidance as needed.
• Project proposals: When pitching a project idea or seeking approval for a new project, project managers can prepare an executive summary to present the essential aspects of the project. The summary should outline the project's objectives, scope, anticipated benefits, resource requirements, estimated timeline, and potential risks. It helps decision-makers understand the project's value and make an informed choice about its initiation.
• Project closure reports: At the end of a project, project managers can prepare an executive summary as part of the project closure report. The summary should highlight the project's overall success, key deliverables achieved, lessons learned, and recommendations for future projects. It provides a concise overview of the project's outcomes and acts as a valuable reference for future initiatives.
• Steering committee meetings: When project managers present updates or seek guidance from a steering committee or governance board, an executive summary can be an effective tool. The summary should cover the important aspects of the project, such as progress, issues, risks, and upcoming milestones. It ensures that decision-makers are well-informed about the project's status and can provide relevant guidance or support.
• Change requests: When submitting a change request for a project, project managers can include an executive summary to summarize the proposed change, its impact on the project, potential risks, and benefits. It helps stakeholders and decision-makers quickly assess the change request and make informed decisions about its implementation.

Using executive summaries, project managers can efficiently communicate project-related information to stakeholders, executives, and decision-makers. The summaries provide a concise overview of the project's status, proposals, or closure reports, allowing stakeholders to quickly understand the key points and take appropriate action.

When should you not use an executive summary?

While executive summaries are widely used in many situations, there are some cases where they may not be necessary or suitable. Here are a few scenarios where an executive summary may not be appropriate, along with alternative approaches:

• Highly technical documents: If the document contains highly technical or specialized information that requires a detailed understanding, an executive summary alone may not be sufficient. In such cases, it is better to provide the complete document and supplement it with explanatory materials, presentations , or meetings where experts can explain and discuss the technical details.
• Personal or creative writing: Executive summaries are typically used for informational or analytical documents. If the content is more personal in nature, such as a memoir, novel, or creative piece, an executive summary may not be relevant. Instead, focus on providing an engaging introduction or book blurb that entices readers and conveys the essence of the work.
• Short documents: If the document itself is already concise and can be easily read in its entirety, an executive summary may be redundant. In these cases, it is more effective to present the complete document without an additional summary.
• Interactive presentations: In situations where you can present information interactively, such as in meetings, workshops, or conferences, it may be more effective to engage the audience directly rather than relying solely on an executive summary. Use visual aids, demonstrations, discussions, and Q&A sessions to convey the necessary information and capture the audience's attention.

Final thoughts on writing a compelling executive summary

An executive summary isn’t the kitchen sink — it’s the bells and whistles. Geared toward busy decision-makers, these one-pagers communicate your case for action and proposed solutions. When it’s written well, your audience will walk away with an understanding of what needs to be done, why it needs to happen, and why they should help it move forward. 

But writing it well doesn’t just mean spell-checking. It means tailoring your communication to an influential, yet busy and distracted audience. To be effective, you’ll need to write your proposal with empathy and an understanding of what matters to them .

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Allaya Cooks-Campbell

With over 15 years of content experience, Allaya Cooks Campbell has written for outlets such as ScaryMommy, HRzone, and HuffPost. She holds a B.A. in Psychology and is a certified yoga instructor as well as a certified Integrative Wellness & Life Coach. Allaya is passionate about whole-person wellness, yoga, and mental health.

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How to Write an Executive Summary for a Research Paper

Updated 12 Sep 2023

What is an Executive Summary In a Research Paper? 

When you are asked to compose an executive summary for your research paper, the main purpose is to provide a detailed overview in a report form or any other specified paper type with a clear synthesis of all the essential key points that will help your readers to understand the objectives and the vital elements of your research. Learning how to write an executive summary for a research paper, you should prepare your target audience and save their time as they aim to understand and evaluate your main message and the content. Although there may be several deviations, depending on your subject, it is necessary to state the purpose of your report right in the first paragraph and highlight all the information that will help your readers to understand the results of your research with all the relevant descriptions, conclusions, or further recommendations. 

Why Do We Compose an Executive Summary?  

It’s done to increase the clarity and the purpose of your research for the academic community, college professors, general audience, and publishers. The executive summary in a research paper writing can be encountered in any academic discipline. It aims to help the readers understand the vital points of lengthy research work and focus one’s attention and expectations without having to read through every complex paper paragraph. Starting from colleges and universities to business circles and presentations, the role of an executive summary for research is paramount! 

The Executive Summary Length and Placement 

In the majority of cases, your summary should not exceed 5-10% of the total length of your report. For example, if your research paper is about forty pages, your executive summary should fit within two pages of text. As it appears after the table of contents, the length is critical and should play a role of a summary before your introduction part starts. Your executive summary should reflect what has been researched with a brief explanation of the problem (or series of challenges) with the methodology and solutions that you have provided before resulting in a list of outcomes. 

Structure of an Executive Summary For a Research Paper 

Even when they have an example of executive summary for research paper to look through, most students still find it challenging to learn what must be present in each part of their paper and what information is relevant or unnecessary for a specific part. While your grading rubric may have recommendations that one must follow, let's break down each part in greater depth to understand the purpose: 

• Introduction. This is where you must introduce your subject and talk about the importance of a chosen topic. Your first paragraph must provide sufficient and clear information about the discipline and the range of your research by either including the target audience or explaining why the issue matters. It should be about three to five sentences. 

For example:  “The problem of the Amazon Forests have often been discussed through the lens of environmental damage, yet not many social aspects of the almost extinct populations have been explored”.   

• Purpose of Study. When writing an executive summary, one of the hardest tasks is to explain why you are researching something and what you would like to achieve. In practice, if you want to make a point and prove that something is harmful, it must be specified along with your assumption. In a certain sense, it works like a thesis statement.  

For example: “The main objective of the research is to determine the volume of African Americans with the cardiovascular conditions living in the criminal regions of Alabama State and document the findings ”.  

• Methods to Gather Data. Also known as the methodology, it is either qualitative or quantitative analysis  that comes first. The methods may include surveys, interviews, lab experiments, or field recordings. If you are using specific technical equipment or electronic devices, it is also necessary to include a brief list, especially if it will make more sense to the readers. 

For example: “The surveys and private interviews have been chosen as the methodology for the maximum efficiency of this research project. The consent for the interviews has been received and permission has been granted by the educational counselors at the local community”. 

• Findings. This section should list your findings in a short form without getting too much into details. The most important is to explain what has been discovered and what significance it has in relation to your assumption or the methods that have been used. 

For example: “ The research on the implementation of multimedia solutions for the cognitive development of autistic children has shown that the inspiration factor has helped to motivate the young learners to adjust and work with the flexible software, thus becoming more socially aware of the socialization and the teamwork ”. 

• Recommendations. In case you have discovered certain facts or information through the course of your research, this part of a summary of research must list the order of actions that must be taken or the further research that may be helpful to achieve your goals. Also known as the call to action, this part should not introduce any new ideas but must stay within the scope of your research.

For example: “ The works by J.R. Lawson explore the subject of brain metamorphoses in virtuo at greater depth, which can further explain the main hypothesis explored by this research” . 

• Report Limitations. If you are using surveys or interviews, there are apparent limitations and challenges that you may encounter. In practice, if your sample group has been limited or you could not obtain information related to some lab research, mention it here. If something is missing from the research on the topic, it must be documented as well. Do your best to organize the limitations by the importance or the order of their occurrence by explaining why they have affected the clarity or validity of your research. 

For example: “ The lack of social contacts with the remote tribes in New Zealand has made it almost impossible to collect data about social life patterns and interactions within the tribe. The published linguistic guides have been insufficient to analyze the language specifics in full ”. 

• Implementation. This section basically helps your target audience to learn about the practical implementation of your research. Composing your summary of a research paper, it is essential to explain the practical value of your work and show the most efficient ways to use the recommendations or locate information that will help to understand the importance of your research. 

For example: “The presence of the innovative research labs in NYC for the journalistic community has also made it possible to explore the subject even further by starting with the open journalism projects and sharing them on social media or the television networks involved in the social development campaign” .

• Conclusion. This part must summarize the information that has been provided in the aforementioned sections. Remember that you should not exceed the given word count and keep your conclusion short by restating the main thesis and letting your target audience see the most important key points. Do not introduce any new ideas or mention things that have not been discussed before. 

In practical terms, think of your executive summary of a research paper as if it is a brief advertisement where you explain and promote your research paper by explaining the main purposes and the methodologies with the results. While it may sound complex to most college and university students, executive summary writing must be done when your research work has already been finished. Collect all the vital information and use it to fill in the relevant section as shown in the structure parts above. 

Executive Summary for a Research Paper Formatting 

It will always depend on your writing style and the specified formatting since this section follows the same guidelines as what has been specified for the rest of your research paper. For example, if you are composing an executive summary in APA or MLA format , you must follow the same fonts and indents that have been mentioned in the style manual. The majority of scientific writing papers do not mention anything specific regarding executive summary format other than the bullet point form in certain cases, especially when taking a report form. Always consult your academic advisor to ensure that you are not violating any writing rules before submitting your work! 

The Executive Summary Mistakes to Avoid  

Starting with an executive summary paper, many students misunderstand the purpose of each section and forget that the summary, in this case, is not the same as their introduction section or a part where they have to write about how good or bad their research is. It’s not a preface either as you have to provide a mini version of your research paper. There are at least five aspects that one must consider in terms of mistakes and the ways to avoid them, including:  

• Clarity of Your Tone. Keep your tone clear and do not introduce any new ideas or assumptions. Use information from your research and try to keep all the vital elements in 2-3 sentences at most for each section. The key aspect is to keep things brief as you write. 
• Knowing Your Target Audience. When you already know your target audience well, you can narrow things down and avoid explaining the concepts and the problems that may already be clear to your readers. It will also affect the depth of your comments and recommendations. 
• Avoid Pasting Parts of Your Existing Research. The worst mistake that can make your research paper sound weaker is copying and pasting the parts of your research paper for an executive summary. When you do so, you are also risking being blamed for self-plagiarism or repetitions that may affect the final score of your research paper. 
• Getting Too Lengthy or Overly Complex. Your executive summary report should not become overly long and go beyond 2 pages for a short paper. The same relates to the structure and complexity of each section. The purpose here is to achieve clarity and a good structure. 
• Forgetting to Proofread and Connect The Concepts. This aspect is often ignored, yet proofreading and editing your executive summary should always come first as you check the wording and readability of your work. Each section of your executive summary must represent a continuation of each preceding part. 

An executive summary is essentially a compressed representation of your research paper. If your target audience manages to understand the purpose of your research paper quickly, you have been able to compose a good executive summary report. Think of a busy person who doesn’t have much time to read your paper and imagine as if you are talking to a good friend, explaining the purpose of your writing! 

Executive Summary Writing Tips and Recommendations 

Speaking of tips for writing an executive summary, you must take notes when reading through your research paper to remember all the vital points that must be discussed. Here is what you must do to achieve success with your executive report writing: 

• Mention your purpose right away and outline the methods and sources of information that have been used.  
• As you make recommendations, do not be vague and stay specific. Mention the authors or research projects that can be helpful. 
• Learn to specify your methods and explain why choosing case studies was better or possible compared to interviews. 
• Stay focused on your subject! 
• If you have used experimental research, discuss the benefits. 
• Speaking of limitations, mention the time that has been spent on the implementation of the methods. 
• The skills and lack of communication in certain areas may also be used as the barrier to research implementation. 
• Mention the risks involved when you share recommendations. 

Note: Some college professors recommend skipping the conclusion part of an executive summary for business courses or brief reports. Dealing with a serious research paper that’s meant for publishing, the final conclusion part of 2-3 sentences must be present! 

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Being asked to write an executive summary, whether for a policy paper, pamphlet, briefing paper or report, may be a daunting prospect if you’ve never done it before.

However, ask a few questions, and keep a few simple rules in your mind and it becomes much more straightforward. This page sets out the questions to ask, whether of yourself or someone else, and a few warnings and conventions to bear in mind.

Executive Summary Content

Two key questions you need to ask before you start

• Who is the intended audience of my executive summary?
• Which of the contents of the paper that I am summarising do they really need to know?

These questions are important because they tell you what you need to include in the executive summary, so let’s unpack them a little:

The Intended Audience

As with all writing projects it is important to know your audience . The intended audience for an executive summary may be quite different from the intended audience for the longer document, whether it’s a policy paper, report, or something else.

The executive summary serves several possible purposes.

People may read the executive summary to find out if they need to read the full report. This group may include people within the organisation and outside, but the report is likely to touch on what they do every day. They will often be subject experts; they just need to know if there is anything new that they should read. This group will be looking for a broad summary of the contents of the wider paper.

People may want to find out if they’d find the full report interesting and relevant , even if not strictly essential. Again, this group is likely to be subject experts, but may also include analysts searching for a particular ‘angle’ on the subject. This group will also welcome a straightforward summary of the contents.

They may read the executive summary instead of the full report . It’s this group that you really need to worry about, because they’re likely to include the Board or executive team of your organisation, as well as journalists. What goes into the executive summary, therefore, is the message that they’re going to take away, that may well be spread more widely. For these people, the executive summary is their window onto the subject and it needs to be transparent, not opaque, if they are to understand it.

Think about your intended audience: who do you want to read your executive summary and why?

Don’t worry about other people who might read it; this is your intended audience , the people to whom you or your immediate line manager are going to send the summary. If the summary is for publication, which groups do you most want to read it?

What Does Your Intended Audience Need to Know?

Once you have identified your intended audience, you can then think about what they need to know or do as a result of reading your paper. This can be split into two parts:

First categorise the document by whether it needs action or is for information only. This will determine the language that you use.

Next, you need to identify what, when they have finished reading, are the key messages that you want your audience to have in their heads. Information and concepts that they did not have before.

Top Tip A good way to think about the key content is to imagine meeting your boss or CEO in the car park or at the coffee machine. What three key points about your document would you want to tell them?

Work on reducing your key messages down to three, or at the most, five bullet points of one or two sentences. Working on them before you start writing will mean that they are absolutely clear in your head as you write.

Writing your Executive Summary

Some organisations have very clear structures that are used for documents like executive summaries and others are more open.

Before you start, check whether you need to work within a specific structure or not. For example, if you are writing a summary of an academic report for submission, you may have a word count restriction, or need to remain within one side of paper.

When you are writing your executive summary, you should keep your intended audience in mind at all times and write it for them.

If your audience includes your boss or Chief Executive think: how much do they already know, and how much do you need to explain?

If your audience includes journalists, you probably need to explain everything. If it’s simply as a summary of a paper because you have to publish one, then you simply need to summarise the paper.

If you find yourself getting bogged down in the detail at this stage, it’s a good idea to talk to someone else about what to include.

The language you use needs to be fairly formal, whether or not the summary is intended for publication. If in doubt, check out our page: Formal and Informal Writing .

Broadly, an executive summary, as you might expect, summarises the main points of the underlying paper, and draws out the key points. It usually has three sections: introduction, main body and conclusion.

The introduction sets the scene, and explains what the paper is about, including what action needs to be taken as a result. It doesn’t need to be more than one or two sentences. For an internal paper, you might write:

This paper explains the findings of the research about [subject] and its relevance to the organisation. It notes five key findings, and makes three recommendations for action within the organisation. You are asked to take note of these, and decide whether the recommendations should be implemented.

For an executive summary of a published paper, it is not unusual for the first paragraph to be more attention-grabbing.

For example, from a recently-published report about green energy and the internet:

For the estimated 2.5 billion people around the world who are connected to the internet, it is impossible to imagine life without it. The internet has rewoven the fabric of our daily lives – how we communicate with each other, work and entertain ourselves – and become a foundation of the global economy.

[Source: Greenpeace, Clicking Clean ].

This example still sets the scene: the importance of the internet, but the idea here is to keep people reading, not just provide information. Again, it’s all about your audience and what they need or want.

The main body of the text outlines the key findings and/or recommendations from the report or paper to which this is the summary. The main section needs to focus on the interesting and most relevant bits of the report.

Most importantly, the main section of the executive summary needs to stand alone without the reader having to refer to the main body of the report or policy paper. This is worth checking by getting someone who doesn’t know much about the subject to read it over for you.

Finally, you need a conclusion , which outlines the take-home messages or action needed from the person reading the report. Bullet points are a useful form to highlight the key points, and this is where your three to five messages come in.

Once you’ve finished, check it against our checklist to make sure that you’ve covered everything.

Checklist for writing an executive summary

• Have you kept in mind the audience at all times?
• Have you addressed it to them?
• Have you met any word count or structural requirements?
• Have you clearly outlined the key messages and any action needed as a result?
• Does the executive summary make sense by itself, without the report attached?

Final Words of Warning

An executive summary cannot be all things to all people. You only have a few hundred words. You need to focus firmly on your intended audience and their needs. Other people may find it useful; your intended audience relies on it.

Continue to: How to Write a Report How to Write a Business Case

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• How to write an executive summary, with ...

How to write an executive summary, with examples

The best way to do that is with an executive summary. If you’ve never written an executive summary, this article has all you need to know to plan, write, and share them with your team.

What is an executive summary?

An executive summary is an overview of a document. The length and scope of your executive summary will differ depending on the document it’s summarizing, but in general an executive summary can be anywhere from one to two pages long. In the document, you’ll want to share all of the information your readers and important stakeholders need to know.

Imagine it this way: if your high-level stakeholders were to only read your executive summary, would they have all of the information they need to succeed? If so, your summary has done its job.

You’ll often find executive summaries of:

Business cases

Project proposals

Research documents

Environmental studies

Market surveys

In general, there are four parts to any executive summary:

Start with the problem or need the document is solving.

Outline the recommended solution.

Explain the solution’s value.

Wrap up with a conclusion about the importance of the work.

What is an executive summary in project management?

In project management, an executive summary is a way to bring clarity to cross-functional collaborators, team leadership, and project stakeholders . Think of it like a project’s “ elevator pitch ” for team members who don’t have the time or the need to dive into all of the project’s details.

The main difference between an executive summary in project management and a more traditional executive summary in a business plan is that the former should be created at the beginning of your project—whereas the latter should be created after you’ve written your business plan. For example, to write an executive summary of an environmental study, you would compile a report on the results and findings once your study was over. But for an executive summary in project management, you want to cover what the project is aiming to achieve and why those goals matter.

The same four parts apply to an executive summary in project management:

Start with the problem or need the project is solving.  Why is this project happening? What insight, customer feedback, product plan, or other need caused it to come to life?

Outline the recommended solution, or the project’s objectives.  How is the project going to solve the problem you established in the first part? What are the project goals and objectives?

Explain the solution’s value.  Once you’ve finished your project, what will happen? How will this improve and solve the problem you established in the first part?

Wrap up with a conclusion about the importance of the work.  This is another opportunity to reiterate why the problem is important, and why the project matters. It can also be helpful to reference your audience and how your solution will solve their problem. Finally, include any relevant next steps.

If you’ve never written an executive summary before, you might be curious about where it fits into other project management elements. Here’s how executive summaries stack up:

Executive summary vs. project plan

A  project plan  is a blueprint of the key elements your project will accomplish in order to hit your project goals and objectives. Project plans will include your goals, success metrics, stakeholders and roles, budget, milestones and deliverables, timeline and schedule, and communication plan .

An executive summary is a summary of the most important information in your project plan. Think of the absolutely crucial things your management team needs to know when they land in your project, before they even have a chance to look at the project plan—that’s your executive summary.

Executive summary vs. project overview

Project overviews and executive summaries often have similar elements—they both contain a summary of important project information. However, your project overview should be directly attached to your project. There should be a direct line of sight between your project and your project overview.

While you can include your executive summary in your project depending on what type of  project management tool  you use, it may also be a stand-alone document.

Executive summary vs. project objectives

Your executive summary should contain and expand upon your  project objectives  in the second part ( Outline the recommended solution, or the project’s objectives ). In addition to including your project objectives, your executive summary should also include why achieving your project objectives will add value, as well as provide details about how you’re going to get there.

The benefits of an executive summary

You may be asking: why should I write an executive summary for my project? Isn’t the project plan enough?

Well, like we mentioned earlier, not everyone has the time or need to dive into your project and see, from a glance, what the goals are and why they matter.  Work management tools  like Asana help you capture a lot of crucial information about a project, so you and your team have clarity on who’s doing what by when. Your executive summary is designed less for team members who are actively working on the project and more for stakeholders outside of the project who want quick insight and answers about why your project matters.

An effective executive summary gives stakeholders a big-picture view of the entire project and its important points—without requiring them to dive into all the details. Then, if they want more information, they can access the project plan or navigate through tasks in your work management tool.

How to write a great executive summary, with examples

Every executive summary has four parts. In order to write a great executive summary, follow this template. Then once you’ve written your executive summary, read it again to make sure it includes all of the key information your stakeholders need to know.

1. Start with the problem or need the project is solving

At the beginning of your executive summary, start by explaining why this document (and the project it represents) matter. Take some time to outline what the problem is, including any research or customer feedback you’ve gotten . Clarify how this problem is important and relevant to your customers, and why solving it matters.

For example, let’s imagine you work for a watch manufacturing company. Your project is to devise a simpler, cheaper watch that still appeals to luxury buyers while also targeting a new bracket of customers.

Example executive summary:

In recent customer feedback sessions, 52% of customers have expressed a need for a simpler and cheaper version of our product. In surveys of customers who have chosen competitor watches, price is mentioned 87% of the time. To best serve our existing customers, and to branch into new markets, we need to develop a series of watches that we can sell at an appropriate price point for this market.

2. Outline the recommended solution, or the project’s objectives

Now that you’ve outlined the problem, explain what your solution is. Unlike an abstract or outline, you should be  prescriptive  in your solution—that is to say, you should work to convince your readers that your solution is the right one. This is less of a brainstorming section and more of a place to support your recommended solution.

Because you’re creating your executive summary at the beginning of your project, it’s ok if you don’t have all of your deliverables and milestones mapped out. But this is your chance to describe, in broad strokes, what will happen during the project. If you need help formulating a high-level overview of your project’s main deliverables and timeline, consider creating a  project roadmap  before diving into your executive summary.

Continuing our example executive summary:

Our new watch series will begin at 20% cheaper than our current cheapest option, with the potential for 40%+ cheaper options depending on material and movement. In order to offer these prices, we will do the following:

Offer watches in new materials, including potentially silicone or wood

Use high-quality quartz movement instead of in-house automatic movement

Introduce customizable band options, with a focus on choice and flexibility over traditional luxury

Note that every watch will still be rigorously quality controlled in order to maintain the same world-class speed and precision of our current offerings.

3. Explain the solution’s value

At this point, you begin to get into more details about how your solution will impact and improve upon the problem you outlined in the beginning. What, if any, results do you expect? This is the section to include any relevant financial information, project risks, or potential benefits. You should also relate this project back to your company goals or  OKRs . How does this work map to your company objectives?

With new offerings that are between 20% and 40% cheaper than our current cheapest option, we expect to be able to break into the casual watch market, while still supporting our luxury brand. That will help us hit FY22’s Objective 3: Expanding the brand. These new offerings have the potential to bring in upwards of three million dollars in profits annually, which will help us hit FY22’s Objective 1: 7 million dollars in annual profit.

Early customer feedback sessions indicate that cheaper options will not impact the value or prestige of the luxury brand, though this is a risk that should be factored in during design. In order to mitigate that risk, the product marketing team will begin working on their go-to-market strategy six months before the launch.

4. Wrap up with a conclusion about the importance of the work

Now that you’ve shared all of this important information with executive stakeholders, this final section is your chance to guide their understanding of the impact and importance of this work on the organization. What, if anything, should they take away from your executive summary?

To round out our example executive summary:

Cheaper and varied offerings not only allow us to break into a new market—it will also expand our brand in a positive way. With the attention from these new offerings, plus the anticipated demand for cheaper watches, we expect to increase market share by 2% annually. For more information, read our  go-to-market strategy  and  customer feedback documentation .

Example of an executive summary

When you put it all together, this is what your executive summary might look like:

Common mistakes people make when writing executive summaries

You’re not going to become an executive summary-writing pro overnight, and that’s ok. As you get started, use the four-part template provided in this article as a guide. Then, as you continue to hone your executive summary writing skills, here are a few common pitfalls to avoid:

Avoid using jargon

Your executive summary is a document that anyone, from project contributors to executive stakeholders, should be able to read and understand. Remember that you’re much closer to the daily work and individual tasks than your stakeholders will be, so read your executive summary once over to make sure there’s no unnecessary jargon. Where you can, explain the jargon, or skip it all together.

Remember: this isn’t a full report

Your executive summary is just that—a summary. If you find yourself getting into the details of specific tasks, due dates, and attachments, try taking a step back and asking yourself if that information really belongs in your executive summary. Some details are important—you want your summary to be actionable and engaging. But keep in mind that the wealth of information in your project will be captured in your  work management tool , not your executive summary.

Make sure the summary can stand alone

You know this project inside and out, but your stakeholders won’t. Once you’ve written your executive summary, take a second look to make sure the summary can stand on its own. Is there any context your stakeholders need in order to understand the summary? If so, weave it into your executive summary, or consider linking out to it as additional information.

Always proofread

Your executive summary is a living document, and if you miss a typo you can always go back in and fix it. But it never hurts to proofread or send to a colleague for a fresh set of eyes.

In summary: an executive summary is a must-have

Executive summaries are a great way to get everyone up to date and on the same page about your project. If you have a lot of project stakeholders who need quick insight into what the project is solving and why it matters, an executive summary is the perfect way to give them the information they need.

For more tips about how to connect high-level strategy and plans to daily execution, read our article about strategic planning .

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How to write an executive summary: Templates and examples

Imagine you are a CEO or chief product officer (CPO) with a day full of meetings, business agreements, and high-level initiatives to manage.

At the same time, you have to review market research and usability testing reports your team has come up with. Not to mention signing off on any big feature initiatives that require significant investments and thus executive approval.

Does that leave you enough time to go through a 100-page report detailing the minutiae of your team’s operations and every bit of data that went into each and every decision? Of course not! This is where an executive summary comes in handy.

What is an executive summary?

An executive summary (ES) is a high-level document or paragraph written as part of a report or a handout that summarizes the critical information of a specific project or feature.

The executive summary, also called the speed read or management summary, is written specifically to provide key stakeholders, such as C-suite executives, senior managers, and investors, with a very abstract and holistic understanding of what is going on.

The executive summary can be a great way for product managers to secure buy-in quickly from upper management and other stakeholders.

Executive summary vs. project overview

Before we delve deeper into executive summaries for product managers, we should note some important differences between an executive summary and a project overview.

Executive summary examples and templates

In product management, you’ll come across various situations that require you to prepare and present an executive summary. Each scenario calls for a different format.

Below are some examples of reports that require executive summaries when presenting to senior stakeholders:

Product updates

Investor pitch, annual or quarterly product review.

After one or more development cycles have been executed and release is imminent, the product manager may need to write an executive summary to communicate any fundamental changes in the product, such as new features, UI/UX enhancements, and fixed bugs.

An executive summary for product updates should be written in straightforward language with minimal jargon. For a clean, succinct format, use the following template:

• Problem — (Describe the problem you solved) 
• Change — (Describe the solution you came up with)
• Problem — (Describe the problem you solved)

In some early-stage startups, product managers represent the voice of the market and customers. As such, they are often tasked with writing investor pitches.

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In this case, the product manager should prepare a handout with slides along with an executive summary page. The executive summary should include the following details on a single page:

• Target user problems
• Summary of your competitive edge
• What is your solution?
• Total addressable market (TAM)
• Return on investment (ROI)

Product managers in large corporations often need to write an annual or quarterly product review report that details the critical performance of the product, including key objectives, improved or declined product metrics, notable achievements, and obstacles faced during a given time span.

For a periodic product review, you should prepare an executive summary of only one paragraph, stating the improved and declined metrics and linking them with the reasons behind success and failure.

How to write an executive summary

There’s no broad, established template for writing an executive summary because the requirements differ based on your function, role, project, goal, and situation. However, any executive summary should include the following components:

In product management alone, you will be using at least three different executive summaries in multiple situations. However, all of them should include some components. Those components are:

• State the problem
• Propose a solution
• Summarize the impact

1. State the problem

The executive summary should always start by detailing a problem. This problem should be evidenced and supported by either qualitative or quantitative data.

In our recent product analytics report, we discovered that it takes the user at least seven hours to place an order after initiating a search session. This is damaging our monthly conversion rates.

2. Propose a solution

The executive summary should outline a clear solution. It should be focused on persuading the reader that you chose the right solution. As always, the best way to do that is to include hard data as evidence that your solution is viable.

Based on our latest design sprint and our user testing, we believe that building an integrated recommendation system into our search function will decrease the time to place an order from search by 20 percent. This is because we uncovered the highest drop-off rate happens when there are no results available.

3. Summarize the impact

The final section should include the achieved impact (if you are sharing it in a product update) or the expected impact (if it is a feature proposal like in the example above). In this section, you should also restate any significant takeaways from your executive summary.

Finally, based on our extensive research, we believe that building the recommendation with some search enhancements, such as search results filters and sorting, will not only help decrease the time to place an order from a search by 20 percent, but will also increase the basket size by 27 percent. For more information, go through our design sprint, user research synthesis, and product requirement documentation.

Executive summary checklist

Below is a checklist that you can use to evaluate your executive summary and make sure it’s compelling and practical before you present it to stakeholders. If you can answer “yes” to each question, your executive summary is in good shape:

• Does it have a clear opening statement packed with data? E.g., In recent user interviews we ran, 60 percent of our interviewed users explicitly mentioned the need for new payment methods
• Does it mention the problem that you want executives to consider?
• Does it describe the solution you and your product team are proposing?
• Is it contained to no more than two pages?
• Does it use clear and simple language?
• Was it reviewed by another product manager or product associate?

Final thoughts

An executive summary is an essential tool for product managers to communicate various aspects of product development effectively to senior executives at all stages of product development. A well-crafted executive summary can help you gain the buy-in you need from senior executives and product leaders.

By following the checklist above, you can ensure that they are providing you senior stakeholders with the best executive summary possible.

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Organizing Academic Research Papers: Executive Summary

• Purpose of Guide
• Design Flaws to Avoid
• Glossary of Research Terms
• Narrowing a Topic Idea
• Broadening a Topic Idea
• Extending the Timeliness of a Topic Idea
• Academic Writing Style
• Choosing a Title
• Making an Outline
• Paragraph Development
• Executive Summary
• Background Information
• The Research Problem/Question
• Theoretical Framework
• Citation Tracking
• Content Alert Services
• Evaluating Sources
• Primary Sources
• Secondary Sources
• Tertiary Sources
• What Is Scholarly vs. Popular?
• Qualitative Methods
• Quantitative Methods
• Using Non-Textual Elements
• Limitations of the Study
• Common Grammar Mistakes
• Avoiding Plagiarism
• Footnotes or Endnotes?
• Further Readings
• Annotated Bibliography
• Dealing with Nervousness
• Using Visual Aids
• Grading Someone Else's Paper
• How to Manage Group Projects
• Multiple Book Review Essay
• Reviewing Collected Essays
• About Informed Consent
• Writing Field Notes
• Writing a Policy Memo
• Writing a Research Proposal
• Acknowledgements

An executive summary is an overview of a research report or other type of document that summarizes key points for its readers, saving them time and preparing them for the upcoming content. It must be a separate, stand-alone document, with sufficient content to ensure that the reader can completely understand the contents of the longer research study. An executive summary can be anywhere from 1-10 pages long, depending on the research report's length and may summarize more than one document [e.g., papers submitted for a group project].

Importance of a Good Executive Summary

Although an executive summary is similar to an abstract in that they both summarize the contents of a research study, there are several key differences. With research abstracts, the author's recommendations are rarely included, or if they are, they are implicit rather than explicit. Recommendations are generally not stated in academic abstracts because scholars operate in a discursive environment, where debates, discussions and dialogue are meant to precede the implementation of any new research findings. The conceptual nature of much academic writing also means that recommendations arising from the findings are widespread and not easily or usefully encapsulated. Executive summaries are used mainly when a research study has been developed for an organizational partner, funding entity, or other external group that participated in the research . In such cases, the research report and executive summary are often written for policy makers outside of academe, while abstracts are written for the academic community. Professors, therefore, assign the writing of executive summaries so students can practice writing about and summarizing comprehensive research studies for external stakeholder groups.

When preparing to write, keep in mind that:

• An executive summary is not an abstract.
• An executive summary is not an introduction.
• An executive summary is not a preface.
• An executive summary is not a random collection of highlights.

Christensen, Jay. Executive Summaries Complete The Report. California State University Northridge.

Structure and Writing Style

I.  Writing an Executive Summary

Read the Entire Document This may go without saying, but it is critically important that you read your entire research study thoroughly from start to finish before beginning to write the executive summary. This will better prepare you for how to organize and summarize the key points of your study. Remember this is not a brief abstract of 300 words or less but, essentially, a mini-paper of your paper, with a focus on recommendations.

Isolate the Major Points Within the Original Document Choose which parts of the document are the most important to those who will read it. These points must be included within the executive summary in order to provide a thorough and complete explanation of what the document is trying to convey.

Separate the Main Sections Closely examine each section of the original document and discern the main differences in each. After you have a firm understanding about what each section offers in respect to the other sections, write a few sentences for each section describing the main ideas. Although the format may vary, the main sections of an executive summary likely will include the following:

• the opening statement, brief background information,
• the purpose of research study,
• the method of data gathering and analysis,
• an overview of findings, and,
• a description of each recommendation, accompanied by a justification. Note that the recommendations are sometimes quoted verbatim from the research study.

Combine the Information Use the information gathered to combine them into an executive summary that is no longer than 10% of the original document. Be concise! The purpose is to provide a brief explanation of the entire document with a focus on the recommendations that have emerged from your research. How you word this will likely differ depending on your audience and what they care most about. If necessary, selectively incorporate bullet points for emphasis and brevity. Re-read the Executive Summary After you've completed your executive summary, let it sit for a while before coming back to re-read it. Check to make sure that the summary will make sense as a separate document from the full research study. By taking some time before re-reading it, you allow yourself to see the summary with unbiased eyes.

II.  Common Mistakes to Avoid

Length of the Executive Summary As a general rule, the correct length of an executive summary is that it meets the criteria of no more pages than 10% of the number of pages in the original document, with an upper limit of ten pages. This requirement keeps the document short enough to be read by your audience, but long enough to allow it to be a complete, stand-alone document. Cutting and Pasting With the exception of specific recommendations made in the study, do not simply cut and paste whole sections of the original document into the executive summary. You should paraphrase information from the longer document. Avoid taking up space with excessive subtitles and lists, unless they are absolutely necessary for the reader to have a complete understanding of the original document. Consider the Audience Although unlikely to be required by your professor, there is the possibility that more than one executive summary will have to be written for a given document [e.g., one for policy-makers, one for private industry]. This may only necessitate the rewriting of the conclusion, but it may require rewriting the entire summary in order to fit the needs of the reader. If necessary, be sure to consider the types of audiences who may benefit from your study and make adjustments accordingly. Clarity in Writing One of the biggest mistakes you can make is related to the clarity of your executive summary. Always note that your audience [or audiences] are likely seeing your research study for the first time. The best way to avoid a disorganized or cluttered executive summary is to write it after the study is completed. Always follow the same strategies for proofreading that you would for any research paper. Use Strong and Positive Language Don’t weaken your executive summary with passive, imprecise language. The executive summary is a stand-alone document intended to convince the reader to make a decision concerning whether to implement the recommendations you make. Once convinced, it is assumed that the full document will provide the details needed to implement the recommendations. Although you should resist the tempation to pad your summary with pleas or biased statements, do pay particular attention to ensuring that a sense of urgency is created in the implications, recommendations, and conclusions presented in the executive summary. Be sure to target readers who are likely to implement the recommendations.

Christensen, Jay. Executive Summaries Complete The Report. California State University Northridge; Executive Summaries . Writing@CSU. Colorado State University; Executive Summary. University Writing Center. Texas A&M University; Guidelines for Writing an Executive Summary. Astia.org; Markowitz, Eric. How to Write an Executive Summary . Inc. Magazine, September, 15, 2010; Kawaski, Guy. The Art of the Executive Summary. "How to Change the World" blog; The Report Abstract and Executive Summary . The Writing Lab and The OWL. Purdue University; Writing Executive Summaries. Effective Writing Center. University of Maryland.

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How To Write an Effective Executive Summary to Yield Results

By Kate Eby | April 3, 2018

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In this article, you'll learn how to craft an organized, well written executive summary the next time you have to gain the attention of a time-strapped audience.

Included on this page, you’ll find information on how to write an executive summary that wins the proposal, how to format your executive summary , an executive summary checklist , and more. 

What Is the Purpose of the Executive Summary?

An executive summary should be clear and concise (typically one to two pages long) and present the main points in a formal tone. The purpose of an executive summary is to pique the reader’s curiosity by presenting facts from the larger piece of content it is summarizing.

The executive summary can be either a portion of a business document (a business plan, project proposal, or report) or long articles and documents common in research-driven communities and academia. When crafted correctly, the executive summary provides an overview of the information and objectives in the larger document. The executive summary stands alone from the content it summarizes, and should include the essential information, the recommendations, the findings, and the conclusion of the more extensive document.

The Benefits of a Well Written Executive Summary

A well planned, well written executive summary is a valuable tool because it prioritizes the reader’s time and reduces the effort required to learn the critical aspects of the content. The summary can convey the purpose of your business plan, project proposal, product launch presentation, or sales pitch to keep the reader engaged and reading further, or empowered to take action. Even if it is the only thing your audience reads, a strong executive summary creates value for the reader as a first impression. Use the executive summary to make a business case, support a position, or tell a story. The reader should know how the subject of your content impacts them, benefits their work, their company, or their projects after reading the executive summary.  

Various industries use executive summaries as a communication tool, including healthcare, education, government, technology, real estate, finance, law, the nonprofit sector, and more. One of the benefits of using an executive summary is that it is not exclusive to one type of communication. Executive summaries show up in a variety of use cases, including the following:

Business plans

Legal briefs

Product launch plans

College campus surveys

Market research reports

Environmental studies

Project proposals

Hospital planning and evaluation

How to Write an Executive Summary

Crafting a useful executive summary requires more than simply cutting and pasting vital information from the body of your report or proposal. The executive summary may be the only part of the report your target audience reads, so you should spend the time to make it valuable.

It doesn’t have to be an intimidating process, but before you begin writing, you should ask the following critical questions:

Who depends on the information? When you write the executive summary, decide who you are targeting and the critical information that audience needs. What do they need to know to make a decision? What would they already know? Do you have a specific customer you want to reach with your message or story? Writing the executive summary with that audience in mind will make it useful because the story you’re telling about your business, project, or proposal will resonate.

What is the objective? While it’s true that an executive summary recaps essential information from the body of the content it summarizes, that is its function, not its purpose. Write the summary to your intended audience and include the crucial information that supports your objective for creating the document. What do you need the reader to understand? Is the aim to recommend change based on the results of your research? What needs to happen for the project plan to succeed based on your proposal? Let your objectives determine the content and context of your summary.  

What are you recommending? Use the executive summary to draw conclusions and make recommendations to the reader. If your report presents the need for change, recommend the actions that the body of your document supports in the summary. State the benefits of your product or service, or the solutions you provide more detail on in the proposal. Ultimately, don’t make the reader work to find out what action they need to take: Make your recommendations clear in the executive summary.

How will you make an impression? The “executive” summary earned its name from the need to get the upper management’s attention. Executives did not have the time to read every word of every document. The summary had to make an impression because it might be the only part of the material that would be read. Regardless of its origins, the principle of using the summary to make an impression on the reader is sound, as that impression might encourage the reader to keep reading or take action. Consider how you shape the message, organize the sections of your summary, or present research to stand out in a brief space.

Executive Summary Checklist

After you answer these questions and begin writing your document, refer to the following checklist as you develop the executive summary.

Download Executive Summary Checklist

What Is the Format of an Executive Summary?

Every executive summary intends to distill information to the reader upfront, so it is typically placed first in the document. (Sometimes it is a separate section of a formal business document listed in the table of contents.)

When used in a less formal manner, the executive summary is an opening paragraph, a separate one-page summary memo, or the first page of a report. For example, if your goal is to raise capital, use the executive summary like an investor profile that provides the reader the information necessary to land the meeting or get the funding, without further reading.

The format and length vary based on the purpose of the content that you are summarizing; there is no set structure to follow. Here are some formatting tips that you can use for any executive summary, regardless of the style:

Order of Appearance : Beyond the introduction, decide what sections of the summary are most important to the purpose of the document. Organize your subheadings or sections in that order. Use bullet points and plenty of spacing between the different parts of the summary to make the content more accessible to scanning eyes. By doing so, you naturally discard information better left to the body of the document, and you honor the reader’s time by prioritizing the message, recommendations, conclusions, or solutions in the longer document.  

How Much Is Too Much : Executive summaries vary in length based on the type of content they summarize or their purpose. Some recommend keeping the summary to a specific percentage of the overall document, while others advocate a set number of pages. Focus on keeping the summary brief but comprehensive, with the most important information available to the reader.

Audience Aim : The tone and language of the executive summary should match that of the target audience. Avoid using technical jargon that requires definitions, and present the information in an accessible manner based on the knowledge and expertise of your intended audience. Do not include acronyms or highlight data that need an extensive background for context, and avoid using casual, informal tones. That said, an executive summary used in internal communications will have a different tone and style than one used in external communication tools.

One-page Executive Summary Template

This template is designed to fit your executive summary on one page. Take advantage of the short sections and bullet points to keep the document concise and hook the reader with the information that will keep them reading. Organize the key points by customizing the subheadings to emphasize their importance based on your purpose for the document.

Download One-page Executive Summary Template

Excel  |  Word  |  PDF

What Are the Common Pitfalls of Executive Summaries?

When formatting and organizing the executive summary, beware of the following pitfalls that plague poorly written and poorly planned summaries:

Fact or Persuasion : Support your motives and the objective of the executive summary with the facts. If the summary is for a sales proposal or pitch deck, persuade your reader up front with data and information, not buzzwords and cliches. If the executive summary includes generalizations or opinions that you don't support within your material with market research, project examples, independent data, testimonials, etc., you risk misleading the reader. Avoid writing a summary that leads clients, policy makers, or management to an unsupported recommendation or conclusion for the sake of persuasion — instead, focus on the facts.  

Relevance Over Repetition : By nature, the executive summary is a repetitive summary of content. Therefore, only include the most relevant details — those that summarize the true purpose of the overall content. Use the rest of your business plan, research report, or client proposal to cover topics relevant background information at length. If you try to cut and paste too much information and context from your longer business or research document into the summary, the details might overshadow the impression you want to make on the reader. The background becomes the introduction, and you risk losing a reader’s attention (especially an online audience).

Consistency Is Key : The executive summary highlights the substance of the larger piece of content. Don’t feature information here that is not covered in the body of the proposal. Avoid using different subheadings to organize copy in the body of the report. For example, if you highlight “Project Milestones” in the executive summary, do not list them in a new section for “Project Goals” in the business proposal. Use the tone and language you establish in the summary throughout the material. If you target an audience without expertise in the subject matter, don’t switch to highly technical analysis in the body copy. Finally, if you cover something in the executive summary, cover it again in the report. Don’t make the reader work to learn more about something you highlighted in the summary.

Draw a Clear Conclusion : Write an executive summary that comes to a conclusion and supports your purpose for creating the document. Keep the reader’s interest in mind when you summarize a lengthy project proposal or report. Does the reader have a clear understanding of the solutions you propose? Can they identify the problems you solve? If the executive summary is the only thing they read, can they take action on your recommendations or anticipate a desired outcome based on the information you included?

Executive Summary Outline Template - PowerPoint

Use this free template to outline your next big presentation, or keep it updated as a live meeting record to keep up with your evolving internal business plans or funding needs. The slides are formatted to outline the important elements of a formal business plan summary. You can customize the slides to fit the order of importance for your content’s purpose or extend each. Use the slides as an outline to keep track of the content you want to summarize after every update or draft of the report.

‌ Download Executive Summary Outline Template - PowerPoint

What to Include in an Executive Summary

You will determine the components of each executive summary you write based on the reason for writing it and your target audience.

For example, a business plan for an external audience includes financial information and details on the size and scale of a company; startups seeking funding and investors will highlight specific financial requirements and how they impact the business strategy. Executive summaries vary in the content they cover, but here is a common framework:

Introduction : This opening statement, paragraph, or section should clearly state the document’s purpose and the content to follow. How you will use this section depends on the desired outcome for the reader or audience, who should immediately find value in the information you present. Therefore, the details included in the introduction should grab and hold the reader’s attention.  

Company Information : When writing an executive summary for an external audience, include your company name, a description of your mission or purpose, contact information, location, and the size and scale of your operations. In some cases, the summary introduces the founders, investors, and corporate leadership. It might include background information of each that outlines previous industry or startup experience, or historical context on the current state of the company. When used in a presentation or research report, introduce the team presenting or responsible for the report’s findings.

Products and Services : The executive summary is the place to highlight the problem you solve or the need you fulfill. For a report, this is where you might highlight what you researched and what the reader should know about your findings. For a project proposal, include what you’re planning to accomplish and what you need to make it successful. For marketing plans or product launch presentations, tell the reader why your service or product is relevant at this particular moment in time.

Market Analysis : The executive summary of a business plan might profile the target customer and explain the market opportunity for a product or service. Consider answering questions like: Is there a five year plan for this market? How do you anticipate growing the customer base and improving market share? What stands out from your research about your customers that the reader should know?

Competition Analysis : This section should include answers to the following questions:

What is the competitive advantage of your proposed solution or product and who or what do you compete with in this market?

What are the opportunities now and in the future?

What are the risks in your market and your product or service?

Do you have relevant experience with major competitors?

What are the future plans for growth and what obstacles do you anticipate addressing?

Financials : The executive summary might summarize key financial data that is relevant to the reader or data that supports your research. If the purpose is to secure funding, include the specific amount you are requesting. Be sure to provide context for the financial data or any number you highlight in the executive summary. This section is a great way to highlight growth, or to use metrics to provide perspective on the company.

Conclusions : Recap your findings, the problem and solution discussed, or the project and work proposed. If there is a decision the reader needs to make, be direct about it. Make the outcomes obvious, but leave enough intrigue for the rest of the content to follow.

How Do You End An Executive Summary?

Although the executive summary begins a document, it concludes so that it can stand alone from the rest of the content and still be of value. Use the conclusion to recap your findings, make recommendations, and propose solutions to the problem.

If there is a decision you want the reader to make, ask make a call to action in this section. If you are summarizing a research report, summarize the findings and the research methods used to conclude the work. Make the outcomes or recommendations visible, but leave enough out to incentivize the audience to continue reading. Close the executive summary with a strong statement or transition that sets up the theme or central message to the story you tell in the report or proposal.

What Should Be in the Executive Summary of a Business Plan?

Traditional business plans differ in context and content based on if the audience is internal or external. Both audiences benefit from some of the previously discussed elements of the executive summary (like a substantial introduction).

However, the summary of an internal business plan does not require a section that introduces management or key personnel. An external business plan targets an audience that expects to find crucial financial information in the summary. When you develop the executive summary of the business plan, determine the information to include based on the audience and purpose of the document.

Business Plan Executive Summary Template

This executive summary template is designed to get your business plan noticed and reviewed. In this scenario, you’re presenting to an external audience and therefore should include more attention to detail with a standard business plan document. Use bullet points and clear, formal language to guide the reader to the most important information about your company.

Download Business Plan Executive Summary Template

Excel  |  Word  |  PDF  | Smartsheet

You can find a variety of templates for various industries and needs by reading “Free Executive Summary Templates.”

What Should Be in an Executive Summary of a Report?

Josh Bernoff spent 20 years writing and editing reports for Forrester Research. He is an advocate of creating actionable reports that tell a story. He believes that the executive summary is crucial.

“If the report is a story, the right executive summary is the same story, written briefly,” writes Bernoff . He recommends imagining that your readers ask you questions like, “What’s the coolest stuff in this report?” and “What did you find out?” while writing the report.

“Your answer, written directly to the reader, is the executive summary,” Bernoff explains in his book.

The executive summary of a report requires vivid details that grab online readers’ attention in a hurry. According to Bernoff, the summary recaps the story you want to tell behind all the words in the report. Using this advice as a guidepost, consider including the following answers to these questions to create your report’s summary:

What is the central plot of your report?

Why is this story important?

What are the most memorable scenes (examples, data, case study results, etc.) from the different sections of the report?

How does your research address the story’s central conflict (the problem solved)?

How does your research support the story’s conclusion?

What actions does the story recommend the reader be aware of?

The executive summary of lengthy research reports — especially those used in academic articles, scientific journals, government studies, or healthcare initiatives — require additional formatting considerations and elements not found in business plans or proposals. Consider the following guidelines when developing the executive summary of a research report:

Present the sections of the executive summary in the same order as in the main report.

Do not include information or research that is not supported and presented in the body of the report.

Draw a conclusion with the executive summary that justifies the research and provides recommendations.

Use a tone and language to describe technical information that readers without advanced knowledge or expertise of the subject matter can understand.

Remember that an executive summary of a report is distinct from an abstract. Abstracts are shorter overviews of a report and are common in academia. They familiarize the reader with a synopsis of the research that is much shorter than an executive summary. You can also think of an abstract as a standalone statement that helps the reader determine if they will read on. The executive summary, by contrast, summarizes the research in a structure that includes the summary, methods, results, conclusions, and recommendations for the reader without necessarily having to read further.

Research Report Executive Summary Template

Use this template to create a synopsis of research results for reports — these will typically be longer than an executive summary for a business plan and proposal. The template is formatted to accommodate in-depth reports that need space for charts and tables to illustrate research data. It is designed to summarize technical information in a concise manner, with clear subheadings that communicate key findings to readers with various expertise and interest.

Download Research Report Executive Summary Template

Word  |  PDF

Get Funding with Your Executive Summary

Startups seeking capital investment from venture capital funds and angel investors can repurpose the executive summary from a business plan as a more concise, less formal investor profile.

This type of summary memo is stripped down and focused on the specific financial requirements and how the funding makes an impact on the business strategy. It is the perfect template to create a profile on investor platform websites like AngelList and Gust . Use the following tips to transform traditional business plan summaries into the pitch that lands you a meeting or funding:

Include the specific dollar amount you’re requesting, the purpose for the funds raised, and any relevant data such as repayment terms, collateral, equity share information, etc.

Keep the financial data simple and round to the nearest whole dollar amount.

List founders, partners, and key management personnel and highlight specific domain expertise or previous startup experience.

Describe your company’s growth plan and the proposed exit strategy.

Remove any industry buzzwords, meaningless phrases, and cliches (for example “the Uber of…,” “game-changing,” “disruptive,” “next Facebook,” “world-class,” etc.).

Mention noteworthy achievements, intellectual property, important business partnerships, or information on product development stages in test markets.

Describe work in progress and highlight relevant information about customer growth, market demand, and product development.

Startup Executive Summary Template

Transform your executive summary into an investor document with this template. It acts as a one-page pitch that serves as your company profile on investor platforms. You can repurpose this template and save it as a PDF summary memo to land future meetings with investors. For more information on business plans for startups, including free budget templates, read “ Free Startup Plan, Budget & Cost Templates .”

Download Startup Executive Summary Template

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Common Assignments: Executive Summaries

Basics of executive summaries.

Executive summaries are common in the Walden MBA program, but they are also found as part of some government and business documents. As a student, you should complete an executive summary when specifically requested to do so. An executive summary is a comprehensive review of a larger document. For example, a 35-page report may begin with a single-page executive summary all of the main information in the longer report. Any findings, conclusions, recommendations, or other details that appear in the larger document must be touched on in the executive summary. Readers should be able to read the executive summary alone and have a complete understanding of the larger document in its entirety.

How to Write an Executive Summary

It is important to meet all length and content expectations, so be sure to review the specific directions for your assignment. Also remember that the executive summary can only be written after the full-length document is complete.

Tips for completing the executive summary from Walden University (2013) include:

• List all of the main points in the same order in which they occur in the paper that you are summarizing.
• Take each point and turn it into a sentence.
• Add additional sentences to clarify or explain each point.
• Add a short introduction and a short conclusion. Include the name of the article, report, etc. and the author(s) in the introduction.
• Check grammar, spelling, and punctuation.
• Check for plagiarism.
• Read the summary slowly and carefully to make sure it covers all of the main points clearly, yet concisely. Also, check to be sure it is interesting. You want to catch your reader’s attention.
• Set it aside. Let some time pass and read it again. Often, you will catch items that you did not see the first time.

For academic writing, be sure to include appropriate citations and a reference. This is typically not part of a business executive summary but should be included for purposes of this program.

Executive Summary Versus Abstract

Like an executive summary, an abstract is a short summary of a larger text. Both executive summaries and abstracts are meant to capture the main ideas, findings, and conclusions of a longer document.  Executive summaries, however, tend to include more details than abstracts. An abstract includes enough information for readers to decide if they want to read the full-length document. Executive summaries must include enough information for readers to understand the full-length document without reading it.

Another difference between executive summaries and abstracts are the fields where they are used. Generally, executive summaries are common in business and government, while abstracts are more common in academia and at Walden, especially when seeking publication in a professional journal.

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How to Write an Executive Summary (Example & Template Included)

Here’s the good news: an executive summary is short. It’s part of a larger document like a business plan, business case or project proposal and, as the name implies, summarizes the longer report.

Here’s the bad news: it’s a critical document that can be challenging to write because an executive summary serves several important purposes. On one hand, executive summaries are used to outline each section of your business plan, an investment proposal or project proposal. On the other hand, they’re used to introduce your business or project to investors and other stakeholders, so they must be persuasive to spark their interest.

What Is an Executive Summary?

An executive summary is a short section of a larger document like a business plan , investment proposal or project proposal. It’s mostly used to give investors and stakeholders a quick overview of important information about a business plan like the company description, market analysis and financial information.

It contains a short statement that addresses the problem or proposal detailed in the attached documents and features background information, a concise analysis and a conclusion. An executive summary is designed to help executives and investors decide whether to go forth with the proposal, making it critically important. Pitch decks are often used along with executive summaries to talk about the benefits and main selling points of a business plan or project.

Unlike an abstract, which is a short overview, an executive summary format is a condensed form of the documents contained in the proposal. Abstracts are more commonly used in academic and research-oriented writing and act as a teaser for the reader to see if they want to read on.

Executive Summary Format & Template

To put all of that information together, here’s the basic format of an executive summary. You can find this same information in our free executive summary template :

• Introduction, be sure to know your audience
• Table of contents in the form of a bulleted list
• Explain the company’s role and identify strengths
• Explain the need, or the problem, and its importance
• Recommend a solution and explain its value
• Justify said solution by explaining how it fits the organization
• A strong conclusion that once more wraps up the importance of the project

You can use it as an executive summary example and add or remove some of its elements to adjust it to your needs. Our sample executive summary has the main elements that you’ll need project executive summary.

How to Write an Executive Summary

The pressure of writing an executive summary comes from the fact that everyone will pay attention to it, as it sits at the top of that heap of documents. It explains all that follows and can make or break your business plan or project plan . The executive summary must know the needs of the potential clients or investors and zero in on them like a laser. Fortunately, we’ll show you how to write and format your executive summary to do just that.

Executive summaries vary depending on the document they’re attached to. You can write an executive summary for a business plan, project proposal, research document, or business case, among other documents and reports. However, when writing an executive summary, there are guidelines to ensure you hit all the bases.

Executive Summary Length

According to the many books that have been written about executive summaries, as well as training courses, seminars and professional speakers, the agreed-upon length for an executive summary format should be about five to 10 percent of the length of the whole report.

Appropriate Language

The language used should be appropriate for the target audience. One of the most important things to know before you write professionally is to understand who you’re addressing. If you’re writing for a group of engineers, the language you’ll use will differ greatly from how you would write to a group of financiers.

That includes more than just the words, but the content and depth of explanation. Remember, it’s a summary, and people will be reading it to quickly and easily pull out the main points.

Pithy Introduction

You also want to capture a reader’s attention immediately in the opening paragraph. Just like a speech often opens with a joke to break the tension and put people at ease, a strong introductory paragraph can pull a reader in and make them want to read on. That doesn’t mean you start with a joke. Stick to your strengths, but remember, most readers only give you a few sentences to win them over before they move on.

Don’t forget to explain who you are as an organization and why you have the skills, personnel and experience to solve the problem raised in the proposal. This doesn’t have to be a lengthy biography, often just your name, address and contact information will do, though you’ll also want to highlight your strengths as they pertain to the business plan or project proposal .

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Executive Summary Template

Use this free Executive Summary Template for Word to manage your projects better.

Relevant Information

The executive summary shouldn’t stray from the material that follows it. It’s a summary, not a place to bring up new ideas. To do so would be confusing and would jeopardize your whole proposal.

Establish the need or the problem, and convince the target audience that it must be solved. Once that’s set up, it’s important to recommend the solution and show what the value is. Be clear and firm in your recommendation.

Justify your cause. Be sure to note the key reasons why your organization is the perfect fit for the solution you’re proposing. This is the point where you differentiate yourself from competitors, be that due to methodology, testimonials from satisfied clients or whatever else you offer that’s unique. But don’t make this too much about you. Be sure to keep the name of the potential client at the forefront.

Don’t neglect a strong conclusion, where you can wrap things up and once more highlight the main points.

Related: 10 Essential Excel Report Templates

What to Include in an Executive Summary

The content of your executive summary must reflect what’s in the larger document which it is part of. You’ll find many executive summary examples on the web, but to keep things simple, we’ll focus on business plans and project proposals.

Getting everything organized for your executive summary can be challenging. ProjectManager can help you get your thoughts in order and collaborate with your team. Our powerful task management tools make it easy to get everything prioritized and done on time. Try it free today.

How to Write an Executive Summary for a Business Plan

As we’ve learned above, your executive summary must extract the main points of all the sections of your business plan. A business plan is a document that describes all the aspects of a business, such as its business model, products or services, objectives and marketing plan , among other things. They’re commonly used by startups to pitch their ideas to investors.

Here are the most commonly used business plan sections:

• Company description: Provide a brief background of your company, such as when it was established, its mission, vision and core values.
• Products & services: Describe the products or services your company will provide to its customers.
• Organization and management: Explain the legal structure of your business and the members of the top management team.
• SWOT analysis: A SWOT analysis explains the strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats of your business. They describe the internal and external factors that impact your business competitiveness.
• Industry & market analysis: This section should provide an overview of the industry and market in which your business will compete.
• Operations: Explain the main aspects of your business operations and what sets it apart from competitors.
• Marketing plan: Your marketing plan describes the various strategies that your business will use to reach its customers and sell products or services.
• Financial planning: Here, you should provide an overview of the financial state of your business. Include income statements, balance sheets and cash flow statements.
• Funding request: If you’re creating your business plan to request funding, make sure to explain what type of funding you need, the timeframe for your funding request and an explanation of how the funds will be used.

We’ve created an executive summary example to help you better understand how this document works when using it, to sum up a business plan.

Executive Summary Example

For this executive summary example, we’ll imagine a company named ABC Clothing, a small business that manufactures eco-friendly clothing products and it’s preparing a business plan to secure funding from new investors.

Company Description We are ABC Clothing, an environmentally-friendly manufacturer of apparel. We’ve developed a unique method of production and sourcing of materials that allows us to create eco-friendly products at a low cost . We have intellectual property for our production processes and materials, which gives us an advantage in the market.

• Mission: Our mission is to use recycled materials and sustainable methods of production to create clothing products that are great for our customers and our planet.
• Vision: Becoming a leader in the apparel industry while generating a positive impact on the environment.

Products & Services We offer high-quality clothing products for men, women and all genders. (Here you should include pictures of your product portfolio to spark the interest of your readers)

Industry & Market Analysis Even though the fashion industry’s year-over-year growth has been affected by pandemics in recent years, the global apparel market is expected to continue growing at a steady pace. In addition, the market share of sustainable apparel has grown year-over-year at a higher pace than the overall fashion industry.

Marketing Plan Our marketing plan relies on the use of digital marketing strategies and online sales, which gives us a competitive advantage over traditional retailers that focus their marketing efforts on brick-and-mortar stores.

Operations Our production plant is able to recycle different types of plastic and cotton waste to turn it into materials that we use to manufacture our products . We’ve partnered with a transportation company that sorts and distributes our products inside the United States efficiently and cost-effectively.

Financial Planning Our business is profitable, as documented in our balance sheet, income statement and cash flow statement. The company doesn’t have any significant debt that might compromise its continuity. These and other financial factors make it a healthy investment.

Funding Request We’re requesting funding for the expansion of our production capacity, which will allow us to increase our production output in order to meet our increasing customer demand, enter new markets, reduce our costs and improve our competitiveness.

If you’d like to see more executive summary examples for your business plan, you can visit the U.S. small business administration website. They have business plans with executive summary examples you can download and use.

Executive summaries are also a great way to outline the elements of a project plan for a project proposal. Let’s learn what those elements are.

How to Write an Executive Summary for a Project Proposal

An executive summary for your project proposal will capture the most important information from your project management plan. Here’s the structure of our executive summary template:

• Introduction: What’s the purpose of your project?
• Company description: Show why you’re the right team to take on the project.
• Need/problem: What is the problem that it’s solving?
• Unique solution: What is your value proposition and what are the main selling points of your project?
• Proof: Evidence, research and feasibility studies that support how your company can solve the issue.
• Resources: Outline the resources needed for the project
• Return on investment/funding request: Explain the profitability of your project and what’s in for the investors.
• Competition/market analysis: What’s your target market? Who are your competitors? How does your company differentiate from them?
• Marketing plan: Create a marketing plan that describes your company’s marketing strategies, sales and partnership plans.
• Budget/financial planning: What’s the budget that you need for your project plan?
• Timeline: What’s the estimated timeline to complete the project?
• Team: Who are the project team members and why are they qualified?
• Conclusions:  What are the project takeaways?

Now that we’ve learned that executive summaries can vary depending on the type of document you’re working on, you’re ready for the next step.

What to Do After Writing an Executive Summary

As with anything you write, you should always start with a draft. The first draft should hit all the marks addressed above but don’t bog yourself down in making the prose perfect. Think of the first draft as an exploratory mission. You’re gathering all the pertinent information.

Next, you want to thoroughly review the document to ensure that nothing important has been left out or missed. Make sure the focus is sharp and clear, and that it speaks directly to your potential client’s needs.

Proofread for Style & Grammar

But don’t neglect the writing. Be sure that you’re not repeating words, falling into cliché or other hallmarks of bad writing. You don’t want to bore the reader to the point that they miss the reason why you’re the organization that can help them succeed.

You’ve checked the content and the prose, but don’t forget the style. You want to write in a way that’s natural and not overly formal, but one that speaks in the manner of your target audience . If they’re a conservative firm, well then, maybe formality is called for. But more and more modern companies have a casual corporate culture, and formal writing could mistakenly cause them to think of you as old and outdated.

The last run should be proofing the copy. That means double-checking to ensure that spelling is correct, and there are no typos or grammatical mistakes. Whoever wrote the executive summary isn’t the best person to edit it, however. They can easily gloss over errors because of their familiarity with the work. Find someone who excels at copy-editing. If you deliver sloppy content, it shows a lack of professionalism that’ll surely color how a reader thinks of your company.

Criticism of Executive Summaries

While we’re advocating for the proper use of an executive summary, it’d be neglectful to avoid mentioning some critiques. The most common is that an executive summary by design is too simple to capture the complexity of a large and complicated project.

It’s true that many executives might only read the summary, and in so doing, miss the nuance of the proposal. That’s a risk. But if the executive summary follows the guidelines stated above, it should give a full picture of the proposal and create interest for the reader to delve deeper into the documents to get the details.

Remember, executive summaries can be written poorly or well. They can fail to focus on results or the solution to the proposal’s problem or do so in a vague, general way that has no impact on the reader. You can do a hundred things wrong, but if you follow the rules, then the onus falls on the reader.

ProjectManager Turns an Executive Summary Into a Project

Your executive summary got the project approved. Now the real work begins. ProjectManager is award-winning project management software that helps you organize tasks, projects and teams. We have everything you need to manage each phase of your project, so you can complete your work on time and under budget.

Work How You Want

Because project managers and teams work differently, our software is flexible. We have multiple project views, such as the kanban board, which visualizes workflow. Managers like the transparency it provides in the production cycle, while teams get to focus only on those tasks they have the capacity to complete. Are you more comfortable with tasks lists or Gantt charts? We have those, too.

Live Tracking for Better Management

To ensure your project meets time and cost expectations, we have features that monitor and track progress so you can control any deviations that might occur. Our software is cloud-based, so the data you see on our dashboard is always up to date, helping you make better decisions. Make that executive summary a reality with ProjectManager.

You’ve now researched and written a persuasive executive summary to lead your proposal. You’ve put in the work and the potential client sees that and contracts you for the project. However, if you don’t have a reliable set of project management tools like Gantt charts , kanban boards and project calendars at hand to plan, monitor and report on the work, then all that preparation will be for nothing.

ProjectManager is online project management software that gives you real-time data and a collaborative platform to work efficiently and productively. But don’t take our word for it, take a free 30-day trial.

Deliver your projects on time and on budget

Start planning your projects.

Executive Summary: 5 Do’s, 5 Don’ts, 5 Examples for Writing Effective Ones

• Written By Lindsay Tigar
• Updated: September 8, 2024

An executive summary is a short recap of what is presented in lengthier reports but still includes all of the necessary facts, figures and content to help him or her make an informed decision.

Though there are plenty of subjects we can disagree on as a community — there is one constant truth for freelancers: there never seems to be enough time. Everyone is busy — our clients, our editors and ourselves — so the ability to read, digest and understand on the fly is essential. This is where executive summaries (and wordsmiths who are masters at writing them) are beneficial. Not to be confused with an executive biography that tells the background of a C-level professional, summaries are often used to explain lengthy documents in a brief, tangible way.

You can think of it as the back cover of a book, the cliff notes of a novel or even as the trailer for a movie: it gives you the information you need to know without hashing out every last detail. They are often used during a company’s proposal process, as part of a business plan or even used to introduce potential investors to an emerging brand.

Writers are hired for their ability to mull over double-digit pages of information and condense it into an executive summary that’s engaging, accurate and most importantly, effective for the goal at stake.

If you’re interested in adding this  marketable skill to your portfolio, consider this your 101 guide to the executive summary — complete with do’s and don’ts and examples that really hit the mark.

So what is an executive summary?

The best way to think of an executive summary is to take a step backward before the document is created — and think about the reader. Sure, that’s journalism basics but it’s something that is sometimes forgotten in the hustle-and-bustle of content writing. The purpose of an executive summary is found in the first word: busy, overworked and in-demand leaders often have limited time. Even so, their opinion, expertise and guidance is needed to grow a business or to approve certain investments or funds.

When we are putting together executive summaries, we want to always keep that manager, founder and boss lady or man in mind. What do we need to provide for them that makes their jobs easier, faster and more efficient? How can we provide the data points, the background, the goals and the current state-of-affairs in a way that’s not overwhelming? How can we get to the point — without losing the point of the proposal or the plan?

Basically: How can we summarize in a way that makes sense and holds the attention of our reader? Through an executive summary that follows the best practices, of course.

As defined by industrial-organizational psychology practitioner and  workplace expert   Amy Cooper Hakim , Ph.D., an executive summary is a short recap of what is presented in lengthier reports but still includes all of the necessary facts, figures and content to help him or her make an informed decision.

Hakim explains:

“It is usually found on the first page of a proposal and is designed to highlight all major aspects of the document. The executive can read the summary and then decide if she wants to ask questions or take a deeper dive into the bigger document.”

Though all executive summaries are approached differently and may include various information, you can expect to find some similarities. It may seem elementary but an executive summary is generally trying to answer the  basics of writing 101 : the who, the what, the when, the where, the why and the how. Without going into extreme detail, most executive summaries will briefly touch on all of these buckets, providing a clear, informative perspective into the goal of the document.

Typically, you can expect something along these lines:

• The sender of the document.
• The document’s contents.
• A key takeaway lists, often in bulleted form.
• The purpose or goal of the document.
• The next steps required from the reader or executive.

How do you write an executive summary?

If you have been a freelance writer and content marketer for a while, you know it’s often the shorter pieces of content that take the most time. After all, finding the most important, intriguing and impactful tidbits from a handful of interviews is no easy task when you’re limited to 500 words in a print publication.

The same can be compared to creating an executive summary. Because these are used for presentations, long-winded proposals and other extensive bodies of work, writers are tasked with reading through every last word, or in some cases, writing the bigger document, all before getting to work on the executive summary. Whew. If you’re new to the process, consider these tips from career coaches and a writer who has been-there, written-that.

Top 5 do’s for writing executive summaries

• Do use an outline.
• Do use bullets for clarity.
• Do provide a call-to-action.
• Do tell the whole story.
• Do direct the reader’s attention.

1. Do use an outline.

If you can think back that far, try to put yourself back into your high school classroom. Without a doubt, English hour was your favorite since tying together paragraphs came easily to you. Do you remember what your teacher demanded before you set down to scribble your essay? An outline.

No matter how long you’ve been in the game, how many books you’ve published or how successful you are, making a game plan before writing is a smart idea. In fact,  author, journalist and speaker   John-Manuel Andriote  begins every writing project — from articles and blog posts to executive summaries — with an outline he calls a skeleton.

Then, he adds the ‘meat’ on the bones by fleshing out the sections, piece-by-piece, using supportive data, research, interviews and more. “Having the outline provides you with the main topics and sections that you will want to highlight in your executive summary and makes it easy to organize and write your executive summary,” he explains.

2. Do use bullets for clarity.

Unless you’re reading a novel on a lazy Saturday afternoon, seeing a page that only has texts is intimidating. Especially in a business environment that capitalizes on speed and efficiency. When writing an executive summary, certified business coach  and author Ivy Slater  suggests shying away from long paragraphs and use bullets instead.

Because sentences tend to run together when they aren’t organized for clarity and scanning, separating your executive summary into sections will hold the attention of the reader. And as a bonus, this is typically an easier way to write, too. Without having to use long-winded paragraphs, you can cut to the chase and provide a roadmap for the reader.

3. Do provide a call-to-action.

Executive summaries should serve a purpose. And not just any purpose but a very specific, concrete purpose. Without explaining the goal of the attached document, you don’t provide the reader any information on why they need to read the document in front of them. You also don’t instill a sense of urgency or timeline when you forget to list a call-to-action.

As  chief brand and engagement officer of EHE Health , Joy Altimare explains, an executive summary should provide the cursory view while highlighting key points and providing an action item:

“Think about the audience reviewing it to ensure you are providing a clear, concise point of view around results, conclusion or recommendations.”

Most of the time, a call-to-action (or a CTA) is to reach out to the sender for more information. Other times, it is a document for additional funds or manpower that needs to be approved. It can also be simply the seal of recognition for where a company is right now, and how the executive will help it to grow even larger. While it depends on the scope of the proposal, project, plan or document, no executive summary is complete without a CTA.

4. Do tell the whole story.

As a journalist, you likely already have your own set of standards and ethics that you follow when bringing on new clients or working for brands. At the heart of an executive summary is accuracy. Since the reader may or may not have time to read the entire document that’s behind the one-pager, fact-checking is required. Or as Slater puts it: an executive summary should tell the whole story, without being misleading. “Get the needed points across and have the next steps outlined so the reader can take the document and use it to formulate action items,” she advises.

When you’re writing the executive summary, look out for any holes that you can alert to your client. They may not even be aware there are mishaps in their stats or missing information that could make a more compelling proposal. Being able to identify if all checkboxes are met will set you apart from other writers hired to write the same task.

5. Do direct the reader’s attention.

For a document that’s particularly clunky and full of hard-to-comprehend information, Hakim suggests going a step further by adding annotations to your executive summary. You can do this by highlighting the most vital bullet points and referencing specific page numbers they can turn to.

Hakim shares:

“The executive should be able to skim the summary and know what’s in the proposal and what is not in the proposal. A well-written executive summary directs the leader to open the discussion or to move past the proposal and on to a more pressing or fitting task.”

Though you don’t want to be misleading or to steer your reader in a specific direction, providing a reference point will keep them focused and make it more likely they’ll read the summary and move forward to next steps.

Top 5 don’ts for writing executive summaries

• Don’t write it until you’ve read or written it.
• Don’t give away too much information.
• Don’t include personal opinions.
• Don’t be inconsistent.
• Don’t leave the reader with questions.

1. Don’t write it until you’ve read it.

Though this seems simple enough, Andriote says, all too often, writers make the mistake of trying to piece together the executive summary as an outline to work off of, rather than creating a separate blueprint.

Sometimes companies will want a wordsmith to take over the whole project — from proposal to summary — while others will send over the document and pay for the one-pager. Regardless, he says to not even think about writing the executive summary until you have read or written the full report, book or document. If you’ve been contracted to craft it all, Andriote can’t stress the outline enough:

“The time you spend organizing your outline will be time you save writing the executive summary as it will practically write itself from the outline.”

2. Don’t give away too much information.

Have you ever read the back cover or the side sleeve of a book and felt like you already know everything that is going to happen? Or watch a movie trailer and lose interest, since the plotline was obvious?

When you’re piecing together executive summaries, remember to give the necessary info — but not all of it. This is especially true when you’re writing a summary for someone who is applying for a new leadership opportunity. The employer should be intrigued by the executive summary that describes their body of work — but also left wanting more, according to Slater.

3. Don’t include personal opinions.

There’s a time and a place for sharing your two cents — and that’s after the reader has had a chance to digest the executive summary. Say a company is seeking seed funding to move their budding business to the next level. They have created an impressive proposal but chances are slim interested ‘sharks’ will look beyond the executive summary.

This document should be compelling enough to get their attention so they contact the founder for a meeting. Then, the founder can share their opinion, but not before, according to Altimare.

4. Don’t be inconsistent.

If your executive summary states sales grew 30 percent over the past two quarters, but a later page says 20 percent — you have a problem. Because the executive summary is a preview and condensed version of an existing document, it should be a mirror image of other info.

And when at all possible, the executive summary should follow the same format of the presentation or proposal, according to Slater. This means if you have the mission first, the numbers second and the goals last in the big document, the bite-sized one should feature the same order.

5. Don’t leave your reader with questions.

Or rather: The reader shouldn’t be scratching their head trying to understand the purpose of your executive summary. This is when your creative writing skill can take a backseat. Lofty language and an impressive vocabulary are great attributes of a talented wordsmith but it’s better to be thorough and basic when writing these documents.

“Even though your focus is on a short and sweet summary, you shouldn’t leave out key points,” Hakim continues. “A good rule of thumb is to cover the material found in each of the major subheadings of your document. You might also look at your table of contents to ensure that you haven’t missed any key highlights.”

Top 5 executive summary examples

There are plenty of ways to utilize executive summaries throughout nearly every industry. You’ve likely even read a few without realizing they had a special name or were part of a unique market of freelancing opportunities. Slater says executive summary examples include business plans, a plan for expansion, a report on finances, and many other instances.

Here, a few examples:

• A business plan or pitch for investors.
• A year-end summary for a business.
• A team training or onboarding guide.
• A financial or technical report.

1. Executive summary example for a business plan or pitch for investors

After coming up with what they hope will be a million-dollar idea, the founder of a beauty company that’s disrupting the industry is looking for investors. To earn their interest and eventually, their financial means, they need to create a business plan and pitch.

Slater says this document will include everything from their background and the mission of the company to their sales to date and how they intend to use the funds. The one-page executive summary would serve as the guide for this all-too-important pitching process.

It may include:

• A brief background on the company
• What makes them different
• Impressive and interesting statistics and figures to back their brand
• Their future goals
• The CTA to the reader

2. Executive summary example for a year-end summary for a business

When you were traditionally employed before going freelance full-time, you likely had a year-end meeting to reflect on the past 12 months. Slater says this report is often conducted for public companies and will be used for private companies that have investors.

Often, executives will even ask for information like this quarter-by-quarter from the leadership team so they always have a pulse on every department. “By including an executive summary, the leader gets a quick overview of what is in the report. If interested, he may then go straight to the table of contents to focus in more detail on a specific area of the report,” Hakim shares.

Here’s what it might include:

• The purpose of the report
• Bulleted list separated by successes of every quarter
• Bulleted list of goals for the upcoming year
• A CTA for the reader

3. Executive summary example for a job application

Yep, you read that correctly: executive summaries can be used in place of a cover letter! Though this is typically only used once you reach a leadership or expert-level in your career, they can be incredibly helpful when working with recruiters.

Because it’s meant to demonstrate the most impressive skills and information from your background, Altimare says hiring managers and recruiters can easily digest your candidacy. And, they often set you apart from those folks who only provide a resume.

This type of executive summary may include:

• Brief, two-sentence biography
• Bulleted list of past three positions
• Bulleted list of impressive ways you helped past companies succeed, using percentages of growth and other figures
• Current salary requirements
• CTA and contact information to set up an interview

4. Executive summary example for a financial or technical report

Though it may not be your cup-of-tea, technical and financial reports are not only an important investment for businesses — but a necessary one. As Altimare explains, these very dense, data-driven documents include tons of information, often teetering over 100 pages in length.

It’s highly unlikely anyone will read every last line, which is where a solid executive summary makes a difference in comprehension. “Executive summaries to keep the reader engaged and excited to read and reference the entire document for future use,” she explains.

• Mission of the document
• Current state of business
• State of business over the past year, in a bulleted list
• Current hurdles or roadblocks
• Current projections
• CTA for the reader

5. Executive summary example for a training project

Though it is dependent on industry, Hakim says training projects are often a good case study for an executive summary. Take, for instance, a company offsite for the marketing team. The leader wants to go through every aspect of the business from each team leader. They also want to state their own goals as a collective, save time for feedback and brainstorming, as well as team bonding.

Sure, this information isn’t as cumbersome to understand as other documents but when it’s 50 pages long, an executive summary keeps everyone on task.

• Mission of the day and offsite
• Schedule of events
• State of business from each team lead, in bulleted form
• Goals of business from each team lead, in bulleted form
• CTA for readers

Executive summaries are widespread and effective for companies of all sizes and industries. Writers who can condense mega-guides into comprehensive executive summaries are in high demand, especially as more and more companies are founded every day. Take these skills and try them yourself — you never know what client you may land!

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Home > AACR Cancer Progress Report > Contents > Executive Summary

• Executive Summary

We are witnessing tremendous progress against the collection of diseases we call cancer. The rapid pace of these advances is attributable to research discoveries in basic, translational, clinical, and population science as well as technological innovations that are continually being translated to improvements in cancer prevention, detection, diagnosis, and treatment.

As the first and largest professional organization in the world whose mission is to prevent and cure all cancers, the American Association for Cancer Research (AACR) is dedicated to increasing public understanding of cancer and the importance of medical research for saving lives. It is also committed to advocating for increased federal funding to government entities that fuel progress against cancer, in particular, the National Institutes of Health (NIH), National Cancer Institute (NCI), United States (US) Food and Drug Administration (FDA), and Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).

The annual AACR Cancer Progress Report to Congress and the American public is a cornerstone of AACR’s educational and advocacy efforts. This fourteenth edition of the report highlights how medical research continues to extend and improve lives, like the lives of the courageous individuals featured in this report who have shared their experiences with cancer. It also underscores how federal funding for NIH, NCI, FDA, and CDC is vital if we are to maintain the momentum of progress against cancer for the benefit of all patients.

• Cancer in 2024

The spectacular progress being made against cancer is resulting in a steady decline in cancer death rates, and a consistent rise in the number of people who live longer and fuller lives after a cancer diagnosis. In fact, the overall cancer death rate in the United States has fallen by 33 percent between 1991 and 2021, a reduction that translates into averting more than 4.1 million deaths from cancer. The drop in overall cancer mortality is attributable to reductions in smoking, as well as improvements in early detection and treatment of certain cancers.

The steady decline in death rates for colorectal cancer and female breast cancer since the 1990s has helped drive down overall US cancer mortality. In addition, the decrease in US lung cancer death rate, the pace of which has accelerated in recent years, has contributed significantly to reducing the overall US cancer death rate in the past decade. Further contributing to the progress are the downward trends in death rates for leukemia, melanoma, and kidney cancer, attributable to breakthroughs in precision medicine.

Thanks to the research-driven advances, more than 18 million individuals with a history of cancer were alive in the United States as of January 1, 2022, and the number is projected to rise to 26 million by 2040.

Even though significant progress has been made, cancer continues to be an ongoing public health challenge in the United States and around the world. In the United States alone, it is estimated that more than two million new cancer cases will be diagnosed in 2024. Among the challenges we face is that the advances have not been uniform for all types and stages of cancer. As one example, while the overall cancer incidence in the United States has stabilized in recent years, cases of certain cancer types, such as pancreatic cancer, uterine cancer, and human papillomavirus (HPV)-associated oral cancers, are increasing. Furthermore, the age- and sex-specific incidence of certain cancers is on the rise. For instance, a growing concern among public health experts is the rising incidence of early-onset colorectal cancer—cancer in adults younger than 50 years.

Another significant challenge we face is the disproportionately higher burden of cancer in US racial and ethnic minority groups and other medically underserved populations. Cancer disparities are driven largely by complex and interrelated structural and social factors. Increased collaboration among all stakeholders working toward the bold vision of health equity is vital if we are to ensure that research-driven advances against cancer benefit all patients, regardless of their race, ethnicity, age, sexual orientation, gender identity, socioeconomic status, or geographic location.

The burden of cancer and its economic toll, both on individuals and on the US health care system, are expected to rise in the coming decades, underscoring the urgent need for more research in medicine and public health to accelerate the pace of progress against cancer. The progress highlighted in this report was made as a direct result of the cumulative efforts of individuals working across the spectrum of medical research and the support from the federal government. Importantly, public sector funding from NIH and NCI directly benefits patients through the development of lifesaving anticancer therapeutics and preventive interventions. Continued federal investments in NIH, NCI, FDA, and CDC will help the medical research community maintain the momentum of scientific and technological innovation and ensure that we meet the President’s goal of reducing US cancer death rates by half by 2047.

The Landscape of Childhood, Adolescent and Young Adult (AYA) Cancers

This edition of the AACR Cancer Progress Report highlights the state of cancer in children and AYAs across the cancer continuum. A dedicated spotlight is included in all the relevant sections throughout the report.

Cancers are rare in children (14 years and younger), adolescents (15 to 19 years), and young adults (20 to 39 years). In the United States in 2024, approximately 9,620 children and 5,290 adolescents will be diagnosed with cancer. Leukemia and cancers of the nervous system, including brain tumors, are the most common cancers in children. Among adolescents, brain and nervous system tumors are the leading causes of new cancer cases, followed by lymphoma and leukemia. In contrast, young adults are most commonly diagnosed with solid tumors, including thyroid cancer, melanoma, and breast cancer.

Research over the past two decades has uncovered key biological differences between childhood and adult cancers. For example, emerging evidence indicates that genetic mutations inherited from parents play an important role in the development of childhood cancers. Another difference is the greater prevalence of structural DNA alterations, such as chromosomal rearrangements, in childhood cancers. Recent findings have identified nearly 300 fusion genes arising from chromosomal rearrangements that are associated with childhood cancers.

The knowledge that inherited genetic mutations play an important role in the development of childhood cancers is also helping researchers to develop surveillance strategies for monitoring and managing the risk of childhood cancers. For example, researchers have developed specific genetic tests, as well as surveillance recommendations, to monitor children who have Li–Fraumeni syndrome, a collection of diseases that is caused by inherited mutations in the TP53 gene and predisposes children to a wide range of early-onset cancers, including soft tissue sarcomas, osteosarcomas, breast cancer, brain tumors, and leukemia.

Modifiable risk factors play a far less critical role in the development of childhood cancers compared to cancers in adults. Regardless, there is some evidence that exposure to certain modifiable factors can increase the risk of cancer among children. AYA individuals diagnosed with cancer can be exposed to similar modifiable cancer risk factors as adults, and for a greater length of time compared to children. When combined with genetic predispositions, e.g., Lynch syndrome, such exposures can further increase the risk of cancer development.

According to NCI, an estimated 84,100 AYA individuals will be diagnosed with cancer in the United States in 2024, which is 4.2 percent of all cancer diagnoses. Although this is a small percentage compared to adults who receive a diagnosis of cancer, there has been a rise in certain types of early-onset cancers that are caused by a combination of factors including genetic predisposition, diet, microbiome, excess body weight, and environmental exposures. Infection with certain pathogens can also increase the risk of cancer in this group.

The unprecedented progress in the treatment of childhood and AYA cancers is reflected in the greater than 85 percent 5-year relative survival rates for all cancers combined among childhood and AYA patients. Many of the initial advances in the treatment of childhood cancers were made through intensification of cytotoxic chemotherapeutics, which while effective were associated with significant toxicities, including late and long-term adverse effects. With greater understanding of the biology of childhood and AYA cancers and innovations in technology, there is an increasing focus on utilizing personalized approaches to target cancers more precisely as well as on reducing treatment intensities among patients who have a favorable prognosis, to improve their quality of life. The National Cancer Institute is leading the efforts to harness the knowledge gleaned from genomic analyses of childhood cancers to develop strategies for precision or personalized medicine. In recent years, FDA has approved a broad array of precision therapeutics to treat a variety of childhood cancers.

Just in the 12 months covered by this report (July 1, 2023–June 30, 2024), FDA approved a new molecularly targeted therapy, tovorafenib (Ojemda), for the treatment of children with certain brain tumor types. During the same period, FDA also expanded the use of a molecularly targeted therapeutic, eflornithine (Iwilfin), previously approved for certain infectious and hormonal diseases, as the first treatment to reduce the risk of relapse in children with high-risk neuroblastoma. In addition, FDA expanded the use of a molecularly targeted therapeutic, repotrectinib (Augtyro) previously approved for patients with certain type of lung cancer for the treatment of children with any solid tumor that has certain genetic alterations. Furthermore, several molecularly targeted therapeutics and immunotherapeutics that were already approved by FDA for use in adults with certain cancers received expanded approvals for the treatment of children with the same types of cancer. The promise of these therapeutics is illustrated through the personal experiences of Michael Methner and Parker Shaw .

Despite major progress, some cancers in children and AYA, such as sarcomas or certain brain tumors, have been difficult to treat and continue to have poor survival. Childhood and AYA cancer survivors such as Lourdes Monje also face unique challenges compared to their peers who have never been diagnosed with cancer. These challenges include long and late-term side effects from cancer and its treatments, financial toxicity, difficulty finding work, lower levels of educational attainment, psychosocial issues, and others. Because of the unique challenges faced by this population, researchers and care providers must ensure that the needs of this population are adequately addressed across the spectrum of cancer care.

• Understanding the Path to Cancer Development

Seminal contributions from decades of research in basic, clinical, translational, and population science have established cancer as a collection of diseases that are characterized by uncontrolled cell division. A key insight from this knowledge is that different cancer types share many characteristics or hallmarks, including the ability of cancer cells to acquire changes that make their genome unstable, divide limitlessly, grow uncontrollably, escape cell death, spread to other tissues in the body, evade destruction by the immune system, and increase nutrients and oxygen supply to tumors.

Research has shown that hallmarks of cancer are primarily acquired through mutations in the genetic material of normal cells. There are two types of genetic mutations associated with cancer: inherited and somatic. Inherited mutations are passed on from parents to children and contribute to about 10 percent of all cancer cases. The remaining 90 percent of all cancer cases stem from somatic mutations, which are acquired throughout a person’s lifetime and can arise in multiple ways, such as from errors made during cell division, or due to exposure to modifiable risk factors including smoking, certain viral infections, and UV radiation and/or cancer-causing chemicals.

Cancer initiation, development, and progression are all multistep processes that are further influenced by changes inside and outside the cell. As the disease progresses, cancer cells acquire additional characteristics that enable them to establish mutually beneficial interactions with their surroundings, known as the tumor microenvironment. Research has shown that the tumor microenvironment affects the growth of cancer cells and cancer cells influence the tumor microenvironment to promote their survival.

Technological advances in understanding cancer at the levels of single cells and molecules have demonstrated that each patient’s cancer is unique. This important insight is the basis for precision medicine, or personalized medicine, which is broadly defined as treating patients based on molecular characteristics that distinguish them from other individuals with the same disease. Rapid developments in precision medicine are yielding new and effective anticancer therapeutics to treat cancer types for which there were no effective treatment options just two decades ago.

• Reducing the Risk of Cancer Development

Research in basic, translational, and population sciences has broadened our understanding of the factors that increase an individual’s risk of developing cancer. It is estimated that 40 percent of all cancer cases in the United States are attributable to preventable causes. Many of these risk factors are modifiable, such as reducing tobacco use, avoiding an unhealthy diet, staying physically active, limiting exposure to UV radiation, reducing or eliminating alcohol consumption, and preventing and treating cancer-causing pathogenic infections.

Between 1991 and 2021 the overall cancer mortality in the United States declined by 33 percent, in part due to the implementation of public health campaigns and policy initiatives that helped reduce smoking and increase early detection of cancers. Although smoking rates have declined, the increasing prevalence of other risk factors, including obesity among US children and adults, are cause for public health concern. Additionally, there is a lack of widespread utilization in the United States of preventive interventions, such as vaccination against cancer-causing pathogens, including HPV, which is the primary cause of cervical cancer.

Environmental risk factors, such as air pollution, water contamination, and naturally occurring radon gas, also increase a person’s risk for certain types of cancers, such as lung cancer. There is also an increasing recognition that endocrine-disrupting chemicals, such as those found in hair straightening products, food packaging, and many other consumer products, can increase the risk of certain diseases, including cancers of the breast and thyroid.

Exposure to elevated levels of carcinogens in certain occupations, such as firefighting or welding, can increase the risk of certain types of cancer. Furthermore, occupations that involve night shift work, which can disrupt the body’s natural sleep patterns, as well as the lack of sleep due to overwork, can increase an individual’s risk of developing cancer. Finally, hormonal factors that result from normal physiology, such as pregnancy and breastfeeding can also increase or decrease the risk of developing certain types of cancer.

As we learn more about cancer risk factors and identify segments of the US population who are exposed to elevated levels of these factors, new and equitable policies must be developed and implemented to reduce cancer risk and improve the health of all populations, including those exposed to environmental and occupational cancer risk factors.

• Screening for Early Detection

Cancer screening refers to checking for cancer, or for abnormal cells that may become cancerous, in people who do not have any signs or symptoms of the disease. Cancer screening can help detect cancer at the earliest possible stage when it can be treated successfully, with a higher likelihood of cure. Accruing evidence shows that cancer screening saves lives and reduces the burden of the disease at a population level.

In the United States, the US Preventive Services Task Force, a panel of experts in preventive medicine, periodically issues evidence-based screening recommendations for cancers of breast, cervix, colon and rectum, lung and bronchus, and prostate. Key considerations that determine who should receive screening and for which cancer include biological sex and age of the individual, as well as genetic, environmental, behavioral, and social influences.

Cancer screening is a multistep process that includes receiving the recommended test, as well as follow-up care if the initial test shows abnormal findings. Unfortunately, disadvantaged segments of the US population experience inequities in receiving the recommended cancer screening and follow-up care. There are several reasons for low rates of cancer screening, including social and structural barriers; bias and discrimination against marginalized populations in the health care system; mistrust of health care professionals among minoritized populations; lack of access to quality health insurance; low health literacy; and miscommunication between patients and providers.

Researchers have identified evidence-based interventions that are proving effective in increasing adherence to recommended screening guidelines and follow-up care. These interventions include using electronic health records to educate and inform patients and providers about routine cancer screening; reducing structural barriers so that it is easier for people to take the routine cancer screening test; and implementing culturally tailored strategies to build trust between patients and providers.

Researchers are also cautiously optimistic about the potential of recent technological advances, such as implementation of artificial intelligence (AI) and minimally invasive screening tests, in improving early detection of cancers. In recent years, FDA has approved several AI-assisted medical devices to aid clinicians in cancer diagnosis. During the 12 months covered by this report (July 1, 2023–June 30, 2024), FDA also approved two minimally invasive tests for inherited risk prediction or early detection of cancer. These approvals underscore the potential of AI and minimally invasive screening tests to detect cancers early. However, large prospective studies are required to establish that these approaches will improve early detection of cancers without increasing harm for individuals and/or further exacerbating existing inequities in the receipt of cancer screening and follow-up care.

• Inspiring Science. Fueling Progress. Revolutionizing Care.

The dedicated efforts of researchers working across the continuum of cancer science and medicine power breakthroughs in clinical care that are improving survival and quality of life for patients in the United States and around the world. Clinical trials are a vital part of medical research because they establish whether new cancer treatments are safe and effective. Therefore, it is imperative that participants in clinical trials represent the full spectrum of the patient population who may use these treatments if they are approved. Unfortunately, participation in cancer clinical trials is low, and there is a significant lack of sociodemographic diversity among those who do participate. It is imperative that researchers and policymakers work together to address the many barriers to clinical trial participation. Enhancing the availability of clinical studies, particularly in community settings, can be transformative for patients, as reflected in the personal story of Dr. Humberto M. Guiot .

Surgery, radiotherapy, and cytotoxic chemotherapy constitute three of the five main pillars of cancer treatment. However, these therapies can have long-term adverse effects on patients. Through ongoing clinical studies, researchers are evaluating whether less aggressive surgery, radiotherapy, and cytotoxic chemotherapy can be appropriate for some patients with cancer, allowing these patients to experience improved quality of life.

Among the advances made between July 1, 2023, and June 30, 2024, are the 15 new anticancer therapeutics approved for use by FDA. During the same period, FDA also approved a new imaging agent to aid breast cancer surgery and expanded the use of 15 previously approved anticancer therapeutics to treat additional cancer types.

Included in the FDA approvals are the first tumor-infiltrating lymphocyte-based cellular immunotherapy that is benefiting patients with advanced melanoma such as Jennifer Ficko , a new T cell–engaging bispecific antibody against a novel target for patients with small cell lung cancer, the first AKT-targeted therapeutic for patients with breast cancer such as Julia K. Levine , the first KRAS-targeted therapy for certain patients with colorectal cancer, and several new molecularly targeted therapeutics and immunotherapeutics for the treatment of patients with an array of blood cancers, such as Vicki W. Jones who is receiving a new molecularly targeted therapeutic to treat her multiple myeloma. While these exciting new advances have the potential to transform clinical care, much work is needed to ensure equitable access to these treatments for all patient populations.

• Supporting Cancer Patients and Survivors

According to NCI, a person is considered a cancer survivor from the time of cancer diagnosis through the balance of their life. As of January 2022, the most recent year for which such data are available, there were more than 18 million people living in the United States with a history of a cancer diagnosis, which equates to about 5 percent of the US population. This is a significant improvement from 50 years ago when cancer survivors constituted only 1.4 percent of the US population. Understanding and addressing the short- and long-term challenges faced by cancer survivors, supporting their quality of life, and ensuring that care is accessible and equitable are important priorities in cancer survivorship research.

Each person diagnosed with cancer has a unique experience ranging from successful treatment and living cancer free for the remainder of life to living a high-quality life through successful management of metastatic cancer to experiencing varying degrees of side effects to a subsequent cancer diagnosis with the same or a different type of cancer. Survivors often face physical, psychosocial, and financial challenges, both during and after the conclusion of treatment.

Cancer survivors should adhere to a healthy diet, engage in physical activity, reduce or eliminate the consumption of alcohol, and stop smoking, all of which help mitigate the physical challenges associated with a diagnosis of cancer. Researchers are also using other evidence-based strategies, including palliative care, pyscho-oncology, patient-reported outcomes, and patient navigation, to help reduce the adverse impact of a cancer diagnosis on the physical, mental, and financial health of cancer survivors. Understanding the survivorship challenges, as well as how to reduce or eliminate them, is an active area of research that is continually evolving as new therapies are introduced in the clinic.

Challenges experienced by patients and survivors of cancer also extend to friends and family members who often act as informal caregivers. There are an estimated four million caregivers who are caring for an adult cancer patient in the United States. These caregivers support cancer survivors in multiple ways, such as by arranging transportation for clinical appointments, helping with day-to-day activities, assisting in medical care or other clinical tasks, coordinating care, and providing emotional support. Caregiving often leads to burnout, which negatively impacts caregivers’ psychological and emotional well-being. More evidence of the challenges faced by caregivers is emerging through ongoing research, which also highlights the many opportunities to assist this vulnerable population.

• Envisioning the Future of Cancer Science and Medicine

Breakthrough discoveries and technological advances across the fields of medicine have substantially increased the understanding of cancer initiation and progression, providing the foundational knowledge for better strategies to reduce the risk of developing cancer, detect cancer at the earliest possible stage, and treat cancer effectively and more precisely. As a result, cancer deaths are declining, and survivors are living longer and fuller lives. Researchers, including AACR president (2024-2025) Patricia M. LoRusso, DO, PhD (hc), FAACR , firmly believe that the fast-paced trajectory of progress against cancer can be further accelerated through sustained and predictable funding for cancer research.

Radiotherapy, one of the pillars of cancer treatment, has experienced a wave of innovation in the past decade, including delivering radiation precisely to tumors, thus minimizing harm to the surrounding normal tissues. Radiotheranostics is another promising technique for detecting and treating cancer using radioisotopes that has shown remarkable success against multiple cancer types, marking a significant advance in radiation-based cancer treatment.

Advances in non-invasive cancer imaging are revolutionizing visualization of tumor metabolism and assessment and monitoring of treatment response inside the body, thus enabling clinicians to make informed treatment decisions in a timely manner. Another exciting advance is the emergence of cancer engineering, a powerful interdisciplinary approach that combines principles from engineering, biology, and medicine for understanding the complexities of cancer development to improve health outcomes.

• Advancing Cancer Research and Patient Care Through Evidence-based Policies

Sustained investments in medical research are critical for progress against cancer, including risk reduction, early detection, and treatment. As the largest public source of funding for medical research, NIH supports a vast array of scientific and educational programs that enable breakthroughs, which benefit human health and train the next generation of researchers. Within NIH, NCI leads the National Cancer Program and is the world’s largest single supporter of cancer research and training.

Federal support is also needed to ensure that the benefits of medical research are shared by all populations. Achieving health equity requires further investments in NIH and NCI on cancer disparities research and in education and training programs to ensure that the cancer research and care workforce is broadly representative of society. Other key investments include FDA programs for improving access to and diversity of cancer clinical trials; CDC initiatives for building a robust public health infrastructure and programs to improve cancer screening and reduce the use of tobacco; and US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) actions and environmental health policies for reducing environmental exposures to carcinogens.

In recent decades, cancer mortality rates have declined for many childhood cancers. However, further policy solutions are needed to continue to expand research on cancer in children and adolescents, improve data collection, and expand and increase access to clinical trials for children and AYA with cancer. Congress has begun considering several pieces of legislation to address these issues, but more work is needed to speed progress against childhood, AYA, and other rare cancers.

• AACR Call to Action

From fiscal year FY 2016 to FY 2023, Congress increased NIH funding for eight consecutive years. These funding increases for medical research accelerated the pace of scientific progress and contributed to the longer-term decline in cancer mortality in the United States. Unfortunately, after years of growing federal budgets for medical research, Congress cut NIH funding in FY 2024. This budget reduction threatens to curtail the progress seen in recent years and stymie future advancements. AACR urges Congress to continue to support robust, sustained, and predictable funding growth for the medical research and health programs that are vital to the fight against cancer.

We call on Congress to:

• Appropriate at least $51.3 billion in FY 2025 for the base budget of NIH and at least $7.934 billion for NCI.
• Provide $3.6 billion in dedicated funding for Cancer Moonshot activities through FY 2026 in addition to other funding, consistent with the President’s FY 2025 budget.
• Appropriate at least $472.4 million in FY 2025 for the CDC Division of Cancer Prevention to support comprehensive cancer control, central cancer registries, and screening and awareness programs for specific cancers.
• Allocate $55 million in funding for the Oncology Center of Excellence at FDA in FY 2025 to provide regulators with the staff and tools necessary to conduct expedited review of cancer-related medical products.

By following these recommendations, Congress will help speed the rate of discovery and create vital pathways for young scientists to contribute to future advances in cancer research. This investment will improve our nation’s health, including the lives of the millions of people who have been affected by cancer.

• Message From AACR
• Snapshot of a Year of Progress
• AACR President’s Vision: A Healthier Future for All Cancer Patients
• AACR Initiatives Accelerating Cancer Research
• AACR Cancer Progress Report 2024: Steering Committee

Your donation to the American Association for Cancer Research helps our more than 58,000 members worldwide drive progress against cancer.

Just Transition Planning for Fossil Fuel-Dependent Regions: A Framework for Economic Diversification

November 16, 2023

Deeksha Pande, Sandeep Pai, Rishi Kishore | November 2023

[Click to read the full report]

Executive summary.

The planet has already warmed by over 1o C over pre-industrial levels and is causing severe weather events around the world. In 2022, there were at least 10 climate-related extreme weather events – from flooding and drought in China to Hurricane Ian in the United States – that caused over $3 billion worth of damage each. Continued emissions will warm the planet even further and will likely intensify extreme weather events. In order to keep global warming well below 2o C – a goal enshrined in the Paris agreement – coal, oil and gas will need to be phased out rapidly. But phasing out fossil fuels will also impact local and regional economies, as these industries provide jobs, revenues, and other services to local communities. To mitigate these impacts, policymakers and key stakeholders have argued for a just transition that is centered around economic diversification of fossil fuel dependent regions. To gain a holistic understanding of how fossil fuel regions can diversify their economies, we conducted a global review of case studies of past economic diversification efforts in natural resource sectors. Overall, we reviewed 87 papers spanning case studies ranging from countries like Malaysia, Norway to local regions like Appalachia and Ruhr.

Based on the review, we created a holistic framework of economic diversification. Our framework constitutes five key elements:

• Institutionalize the diversification process;
• Develop local infrastructure;
• Identify specific sectors based on competence;
• Mobilize finance for economic diversification; and,
• Invest in human capital development

We further categorized each element into several actionable strategies undertaken for diversification.

As fossil-fuel regions decline, economic diversification to sustainable sectors will be at the heart of just transition planning. Our first of its kind framework will be a helpful starting point for key stakeholders including government officials, transition practitioners and task force members who are interested in pursuing economic diversification of fossil fuel regions.

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Developing resilience standards in UK infrastructure

Status: Final report complete .   Published: 19 Sep 2024

Report showing current gaps in resilience standards and ideas on how government could address these.

The problem with resilience is we only truly realise it’s important when things go wrong.

Download the resilience standards report

When a container ship blocked the Suez Canal for six days in 2021, up to $10 billion worth of trade was stranded and knock-on delays to everyday supplies lasted for months.

When a heavy storm struck the coastal track in Devon ten years ago, Cornwall’s only rail link to the rest of the country was severed for eight weeks.

And more recently, when hot weather last summer led to water shortages in parts of Kent and Sussex, several schools were forced to close at short notice.

Pre-empting and mitigating for such incidents requires a fresh approach to resilience. One that values resilience properly before incidents occur.

The logical starting point is to agree an objective set of resilience standards that citizens can expect from key infrastructure services, such as the service levels available in different scenarios and the speed of recovery from major incidents.

Deciding upon the right standards involves looking at the costs of meeting them, as well as the impacts for everyone of having standards that are not rigorous enough.

This is not straightforward and requires extensive analysis of these different factors, particularly where there are interdependencies between different sectors.

Given this complexity, the inevitable trade-offs to be considered and the importance of proper enforcement, government is the only place where such decisions can be settled.

This report offers one input into this process, setting out where the Commission has identified current gaps in resilience standards and some ideas on how government could address these.

It is a timely moment for government to act, as it considers priorities for a new national infrastructure strategy, informed by the Commission’s second National Infrastructure Assessment .

Without clear standards across relevant sectors, the billions of pounds of investment in new assets envisaged in our Assessment could be built in ways that we end up regretting – and so taxpayers or billpayers face extra costs to pay for emergency measures when things go wrong.

The process of setting standards is made even more urgent by the pressures of a changing climate and increased weather extremes – one of the biggest threats to infrastructure resilience.

We will never be able to fully adapt to every risk from climate change.

But our proposals seek to at least provide the public with greater transparency – and consistency – in what to expect from everyday services when major shocks occur.

The Commission stands ready to support departments to make this a reality.

Professor Jim Hall FREng

Commissioner

Next Section: Executive summary

The UK’s economic infrastructure has, for the most part, proved resilient to shocks and stresses over recent years. However, infrastructure service disruptions over the last couple of years have demonstrated the potential for widespread failures including knock on effects such as school closures. Infrastructure systems face a range of threats, including cyber or terrorist attacks. This report focuses on measurable threats – climate change, a lack of capacity or redundancy in systems, and the impact of an aging asset base – which can be addressed by setting resilience standards. In the second National Infrastructure Assessment the Commission recommended that government should publish resilience standards for the digital and telecoms, energy, transport and water sectors by 2025. This report sets out how government can implement this recommendation.

Executive summary

Investing now in the resilience of infrastructure services is critical. A changing climate will lead to new threats – extreme heat buckling rails, drought related subsidence bursting pipes, and increased flood risk. Infrastructure services are also adapting to limit carbon emissions – changing the nature of risks such as the electrification of transport and household heating increasing the consequences of failure of the electricity system. Finally, the second National Infrastructure Assessment set out a programme of investment required to deliver net zero and enable growth across regions. It will be cheaper to ensure these systems are resilient as this investment is made – but to do so requires knowing the standard of resilience expected.

The Commission recommended that government should publish an initial set of resilience standards by 2025 so that around £400 billion of investment decisions due in the next five years can factor in these targets. This will enable operators to begin to build resilience towards the desired levels into their systems and to plan for future climate change. It will also enable system designers to take advantage of the uptick in investment in systems for other reasons – achieving net zero and supporting growth – to achieve these targets. It is much more efficient to build in resilience from the outset than to rely on costly retrofits.

The report considers three kinds of standard:

• Customer outcome standards: Service quality and reliability outcomes for customers – such as average length of service outages in a year
• System performance standards: standards a system is required to meet – such as being able to deliver a service even after the failure of the biggest asset within a system
• System recovery standards: Expected service recovery times after a service outage and the level of backup services which must be supplied to consumers in the event of an outage.

The report does not consider technical asset standards due to the number of assets and standards within infrastructure systems, but the Commission recognises the importance of these standards for supporting system level resilience.

Setting standards requires trade-offs. High level customer outcome standards give infrastructure operators the flexibility to decide how to deliver their services. However, they are lagging indicators, because current system performance is not an indicator of how systems will perform in future. This can be resolved by stress testing systems against certain scenarios or by setting system performance standards, such as specifying levels of redundancy. This may provide greater certainty about the underlying resilience of systems, but increasing output requirements may reduce the scope for operators to find efficiencies in delivering their services. As a result, choosing which standards to set involves trade-offs between a set of resilience goals and costs. In making these trade-offs, government should consider the system of standards. While individual standards may be affordable on their own, they may add incremental costs to the system. Government must therefore prioritise the standards it wishes to set.

The Commission has investigated potential gaps in existing service standards to support a first round of standard setting by 2025. Stakeholders were engaged through a series of workshops across the digital and telecoms, energy, transport and water sectors, supported by a literature review to understand the existing standards landscape. The Commission confirmed that in many cases measures which could serve as resilience standards already exist, with some notable gaps, in both standards and in stress testing to ensure systems meet the standards that are in place.

Resilience gaps

Government has recently committed to reviewing its approach to national resilience. 1 As part of this, government should explore the above gaps and consider if there are others when publishing its first round of resilience standards for economic infrastructure.

Publishing resilience standards in each sector will not only support future resilience planning. It will also enable each sector to understand levels of resilience in other sectors to help manage interdependency risks. Government department should set standards for each sector, with the method and timetable depending on the different regulatory structures in each. Cabinet Office can then play a coordinating role in ensuring that cross-sector interdependency risks, such as the reliance of digital and telecoms, transport, and water networks on power, are managed effectively.

Next Section: Background

Resilient infrastructure can continue to provide the services business and communities rely on despite short term shocks. Resilience often requires additional investment which may cost money in the short term but avoid costly impacts during shocks.

The Commission’s analysis has previously demonstrated that the cost of proactively building additional water supply capacity would be significantly less expensive than emergency measures in the event of a severe drought. 2 However, many service shocks are infrequent, and while the cost of intervention is immediately evident, future benefits are uncertain. Both the public and private sectors are likely to underinvest in infrastructure resilience unless the government sets expectations across regulatory and spending cycles, and through standards which have public backing. This will limit the impact of shocks and support recovery, so disruption from events does not lead to major harm.

Setting out clear resilience standards will also help businesses and consumers to plan. If clear standards are in place, then consumers and businesses can understand the degree to which they might need to plan for their own resilience, such as through storing water on the premises or using alternate routes to make journeys. It will also enable government to advise on what levels of individual resilience might be appropriate for households and businesses.

In its second National Infrastructure Assessment the Commission recommended that government should publish resilience standards for the digital and telecoms, energy, transport, and water sectors by the end of 2025 (see box below). This report sets out how government can progress this recommendation.

National Infrastructure Assessment resilience recommendation

By 2025, government should

• Following advice from regulators, publish a full set of outcome based resilience standards for digital, energy, transport and water services, committing to future reviews every five years
• Require regulators to ensure their determinations in future regulatory settlements are consistent with operators meeting these resilience standards in the short and longer term
• Require regulators to put in place a system for cross sector stress testing which addresses interdependencies and the risk of cascade failures.

What are resilience standards?

Standards in infrastructure operate at different levels, from the outcome based resilience standards the Commission has recommended to detailed technical standards for specific assets. There are four broad categories of standards:

Customer outcome standards

These standards are based on the quality of service received by customers. Regulatory performance incentives on levels of service can be regarded as a type of standard. For example, water supply interruptions above three hours are both measurable and are regarded as having a material impact on customers, and so the total duration of any interruptions above three hours is subject to regulatory incentives and penalties. 3

System performance standards

These standards dictate how the system is expected to perform in certain circumstances, but only indirectly link to customer experience. For example, in the energy sector there are codes specifying the level of resilience required in the electricity transmission system. In the water sector, the Drinking Water Inspectorate’s Compliance Risk Index score measures the risk arising from specified treated water compliance failures. 4

Technical asset standards

System assets are also required to meet specific technical standards which dictate their tolerance to different events, including changes in the surrounding climate. For example, rails in the UK are designed to a stress free temperature of 27°C. If they experience temperature significantly above this, rail buckling can lead to service disruption. 5 These standards also cover how assets are used – such as thermal ratings for overhead lines

Recovery standards

These standards set out what is expected in the event of a service failure, both in terms of restoration of service and in terms of support services to customers while the service is down. Consumers are entitled to compensation if their water supply is not restored within a 12 hour period, implying a standard for water companies to restore supply within that time. While supplies are down, customers are entitled to at least ten litres of water per person per day within 24 hours. By contrast, for digital services, customers registered with companies signed up to Ofcom’s automatic compensation scheme are entitled to compensation if a fault is not resolved within two full working days. 6

In this report the standards the Commission is referring to are customer outcome standards, underlying system performance standards for proactively designing resilient networks, and recovery standards. Technical asset standards are out of scope, though the Commission recognises that they will play a key role in ensuring asset systems achieve service level resilience standards.

The case for action

Future resilience is critically important because as the third Climate Change Risk Assessment highlighted, a changing climate will lead to new threats to infrastructure services. 7 Extreme heat could create problems for rail networks, drought related subsidence could damage underground water pipes and rail embankments, and increased flood risk could threaten most services. In its second National Infrastructure Assessment the Commission found that no infrastructure operators had yet publicly set out the costs of making the delivery of their services resilient to climate change. Infrastructure operators need to understand the standard of resilience they are expected to provide in order to design and cost future resilience.

The resilience of the UK’s infrastructure services is also evolving due to technological change and because of the need to transition to net zero carbon emissions by 2050. Increasingly, infrastructure services are dependent on telecoms infrastructure for control and monitoring and so the consequences of these systems failing are becoming more severe. Equally, the transition to net zero is driving an increasing reliance on the electricity system for heating homes and powering transport, also adding to the consequences of the system’s failure.

Finally, resilience will be less costly if it is designed into systems which are already investing for other reasons. For several decades, sectors such as energy transmission and distribution, transport and water have operated as mature systems maintaining a steady state and managing incremental growth. But the second National Infrastructure Assessment highlighted that to deliver net zero, enable growth across regions, and to support resilience to a changing climate, this status quo is not sustainable. The UK will need to start building infrastructure networks at scale to ensure we can transmit enough electricity to power electric cars and heat pumps, have enough water to support a growing number of homes and improve mobility in congested cities.

To support the government in developing resilience standards, the Commission has conducted a literature review to understand current potential gaps in standards that government may wish to fill. It has also engaged stakeholders in a series of sector specific roundtables in the digital and telecoms, energy, transport and water sectors to understand how government can take this recommendation forward. The report sets out some indicative resilience gaps the Commission has identified, core principles for setting resilience standards and next steps for government.

The challenge of setting resilience standards

Resilience standards can be challenging to set. Firstly, a patchwork of resilience standards already exists across the digital and telecoms, energy, transport and water sectors. The Commission has reviewed these standards set out in Annex 1. Government will need to consider these gaps and identify priority areas for a first round of standard setting and determine whether existing standards need to be updated. The Commission has recommended that standards should be reviewed every five years to address changes in the threat environment, in the technology available to address them, and in public attitudes to disruption. This means that there is potential for systems to become more resilient over time as new standards are added in each review period or as existing standards are strengthened. Five year reviews are also an opportunity to consider which are the most high priority standards within the system based on the government’s risk appetite – how it decides to approach the trade-off between additional resilience and affordability.

A second challenge to standard setting is identifying a ‘first mover’. Government is reluctant to set a resilience standard without understanding the costs of that standard. But infrastructure operators argue that they cannot cost resilience until they understand what the target level of resilience is. Setting standards is therefore necessarily iterative, as providers must draw up a menu of costed options which government should ultimately choose from. A blueprint for this is the Commission’s identification of a drought resilience standard. The Commission identified the costs and benefits of several drought resilience options. It then recommended that water companies should be asked to plan for a drought with a 0.2 per cent annual probability because proactive resilience – managing leakage and demand and building new supply infrastructure – would cost roughly half as much as reactive measures. Since then, the water industry has assessed options and proposed costed programmes for achieving this standard.

There is a trade-off for government in setting service standards. Setting a high level customer outcome standard gives consumers an understanding of the level of service they should expect, while giving infrastructure operators the flexibility to deliver that standard in the most efficient way possible. However, this approach makes it hard to measure whether desired levels of resilience have been achieved because for long life infrastructure assets system performance is a lagging indicator. For example, short term performance can be maintained by reducing redundancy in a system, such as reducing the number of water mains supplying an area from two to one. This would not lead to an immediate change in outcomes for consumers, but overall resilience would be reduced. To resolve this, regulators can require network operators to maintain specified levels of redundancy in their systems, or specify stress tests to explore the underlying resilience of systems. However, increasing output requirements, in terms of specific infrastructure interventions, can remove the flexibility for system operators to innovate when delivering system outcomes. The question for government is how far innovation and efficiency should be valued over standardised and more predictable system resilience.

Finally, there is also a potential trade-off between stringent requirements to maintain services at all costs and the need to restore systems as quickly as possible if service is lost. For example, if a very high level of resilience is too expensive, it may be preferable to focus efforts on restoring service swiftly in the event of an outage and to rely on emergency measures in the meantime. For example, having teams available to clear routes of debris left by flood waters or landslips can ensure the rapid recovery of transport networks. As the Commission’s resilience framework (Figure 1) highlights, operators should have recovery strategies in place as well as maintaining required levels of service resilience, as 100 per cent resilience is rarely if ever achievable or cost effective. Additionally, if systems propose to rely on emergency measures, such as the provision of bottled water in the event of water system outages, these must be tested with the public to ensure they are tolerable and preferable to proactive resilience.

Figure 1: Resilience requires anticipating threats, and adapting through a combination of resisting or absorbing threats, recovery strategies and transforming systems

National Infrastructure Commission Resilience Framework

Next Section: Principles for setting resilience standards

Stakeholders across all sectors reported common principles that departments should consider when setting resilience standards:

Principles for setting resilience standards

• Common scenarios: It is not sufficient for government to set a common resilience standard across a sector. This must be underpinned by common planning scenarios across all infrastructure sectors, such as climate change and population growth scenarios, to ensure standards are truly consistent. For example, the rail industry has recently agreed a set of common scenarios for planning across the sector. Regulators should also collaborate on collective challenges, such as on developing forward looking asset health metrics.
• Make trade-offs: Resilience standards often reflect a trade-off between the cost of achieving greater resilience and the benefits of avoided losses. It is in theory possible to optimise this trade-off for every single asset and system, but that is time consuming, so setting standards that will be safe and not excessively costly in most situations makes sense. Nonetheless, in special cases it may be necessary to explicitly examine the trade-off.
• Don’t let the perfect be the enemy of the good: Standard setting will be an iterative process. There will always be uncertainties and data gaps in setting service levels, so standard setting should be based on best estimations and what can be known at that point in time. As more information comes to light, for example, as the future trajectory of system changes due to the net zero transition become clearer, standards can be reviewed at the next cyclical review point.
• Consider the widest range of possible impacts including interdependencies: Standards should consider risks beyond the failure of individual infrastructure systems. A failure in the electricity system may cause failures in digital and telecoms, transport systems and/or water and wastewater.
• Use a wide range of methods to understand consumer views: A wide range of methods should be used to understand consumer views to make standards politically sustainable. 8
• Different approaches for new build compared to retrofitting: The cost of building in resilience in new or renewed infrastructure may be a lot less than the cost of retrofit. Different approaches should therefore be taken for each – asset design standards can be set to determine the resilience of new build and some renewed infrastructure, while risk based prioritisation should be used to plan a sequence of retrofit interventions within an overall budget for existing assets. Government should recognise that in long life infrastructure systems, the risks posed by existing infrastructure are far greater. As the second National Infrastructure Assessment set out, on current rates of replacement 88 per cent of existing water mains and 85 per cent of rail assets could still be in place by 2055 so prioritising retrofit options is a larger factor when considering system resilience. 9
• Consider standards collectively: Government must ensure that when introducing new standards the collective cost impact of the system of standards is taken into account when considering the trade-off between resilience goals and costs.
• Phase the introduction of standards: It may not be possible to achieve desired levels of resilience at speed given the relatively long lives of infrastructure assets. These standards may need to be phased in over a specified period of time, especially if they are designed to address emerging threats like projected levels of climate change. Different infrastructure operators may need different timelines for introducing standards to reflect the different starting positions of their asset bases.

The Commission undertook a literature review and four sector specific roundtables to identify possible gaps in resilience standards in the digital and telecoms, energy, transport and water sectors. The Commission found a series of sector specific gaps which individual government departments should consider addressing in a first round of standard setting. The roundtables also highlighted a more general concern about interdependency risks.

Managing interdependencies

In the second National Infrastructure Assessment , the Commission recommended that a system should be put in place for cross sector stress testing which addresses interdependencies and the risk of cascade failures. Stress testing, through simulating how systems might react to shocks and stresses, can help infrastructure operators identify and address vulnerabilities in advance of an event. It can also help infrastructure operators test decision making processes, preparing operators for disruptions other than those in the scenarios set out in the stress tests. To ensure the stress tests address vulnerabilities, regulators should set out scenarios and scope for stress tests – providing guidance for developing bespoke tests where necessary – and oversee them, scrutinising outcomes and requiring operators to develop and implement plans to remedy any vulnerabilities identified. To ensure these stress tests are carried out as effectively as possible, in its 2020 report the Commission called for the UK Regulators Network to promote sharing of best practice in stress testing across relevant regulators, including learning lessons from the financial sector and other stress testing already in operation. 10

While each sector needs to take action to manage its own risks, in some cases a systems approach may be more efficient. The Climate Resilience Demonstrator has been exploring how information sharing about risks facing all sectors in a geographical area could lead to more efficient common solutions. 11 For example, a communally funded flood defence covering digital and telecoms services, energy and water networks, may be more affordable than individual defences for all three kinds of assets. Greater data sharing must be enabled and encouraged to allow these kinds of efficient investments to emerge and they must be fundable by each sector’s regulatory system. Regulators should work together to overcome potential challenges caused by differing timelines for regulatory reviews and budget setting in each sector. Greater sharing of data will also enable more strategic decisions about which services might need to be restored first in the event of a service outage in one sector – such as a power cut – to limit the impact of cascade failures. This action is in addition to addressing sector specific challenges set out below.

Digital and telecoms sector

Public telecoms networks – including fixed broadband and landline and mobile services – are subject to a different model of regulation than the private and public regulated asset bases in the energy, transport and water sectors. Ofcom provides guidance to service providers on the approach that it would normally expect them to take to ensure service security and resilience. Service providers can adopt different solutions but are required to justify this approach in the event of a service outage. This guidance sets out relatively detailed expectations on the level of redundancy required in systems and on how to account for flood risk to core sites.

No standards are set for service levels. Instead Ofcom provides consumers with information about provider service levels such as the number of faults per 1,000 customers per month and the median average download speed by connection type. Additionally, most providers are signed up to the automatic compensation scheme in the event of long duration service outages, which should incentivise companies to recover services rapidly. Government should consider whether it wishes to set target customer outcome standards in addition to Ofcom’s existing resilience guidance for networks.

However, Ofcom should review its information for consumers on service levels provided by networks to ensure its information on resilience is adequate and accessible. For example, Ofcom has a requirement for customers dependent on a landline to be able to contact 999 for at least an hour in the event of a power cut. 12 But customers who are dependent on mobile services may find themselves unable to contact 999 if their mobile service goes down and they are using a mobile provider that has not enabled voice over WiFi calling as a back up. Consumers may struggle to understand these differences in service provision when choosing a provider unless information is accessible.

Private networks

Other infrastructure networks – energy, transport and water – use private telecoms networks for some services. Private telecoms networks are not subject to Ofcom’s guidance, and this could create resilience challenges where these networks serve critical national infrastructure. Some stakeholders have suggested that these networks may not need to meet the same resilience requirements as public networks because private customers are already very resilience focused and so the market will drive resilience, and that stringent requirements might stifle innovation. However, there are several reasons why private telecoms networks may need to be subject to clear standards where they serve critical national infrastructure:

• Increasing reliance on digital solutions: The consequences of failure of private telecoms networks are becoming more severe as more use cases are built into other infrastructure networks. For example, some water companies are building digital sensors into their sewer network as part of schemes to extract further capacity from the existing network by reconfiguring it to optimise the system for forecast storms. If this system were to fail before a storm, not only would the sewer system not be optimised for a flood, but the flood would likely be worse because the water company had invested in a digital solution instead of expanding sewer capacity. 13 Similarly, in the energy sector, as the electricity distribution system becomes more complex and volatile, digitisation is increasingly required to operate the system reliably and efficiently. 14
• Variable resilience outcomes: If resilience is left to the market then there could be considerable differences in levels of resilience between providers as a level of resilience would be dependent at least in part on the skills and expertise of individual contract negotiators. This could create variability which may only be revealed in the event of service failure.
• Investment in regulated asset bases: Even if individual contract negotiators are skilled in setting out resilience requirements, in sectors with a public or private regulated asset base (energy, transport and water) without a clear standard to meet they may not be able to make the case for this investment to regulators in price or spending period reviews.

There are a number of options for ensuring the resilience of private telecoms networks, set out below:

• Retain current regulatory model : Infrastructure operators are held to account for their current outcome based resilience standards regardless of whether service failures are caused by their own infrastructure or by private telecoms networks they use.
• Government, following advice from regulators, specifies levels of resilience : Sector regulators could specify levels of resilience they require telecoms networks used by infrastructure operators to meet.
• Reform Ofcom’s remit : Change Ofcom’s remit so it has the ability to regulate private telecoms networks for critical national infrastructure.

In this report the Commission has not been able to assess the scale of current and future threats to resilient services caused by a reliance on private telecoms networks, or the relative benefits of the above options for addressing them. Government should consider these options as it considers future resilience standards.

The increased use of digital systems in critical infrastructure systems does not just require the resilience of private telecoms networks, it also requires that the digital systems making use of the information from these networks is resilient. For example, water companies will need to develop software and hardware to deal with an exponential increase in data from customers as households transition from bi-annual meter readings to hourly data collected by smart meters. For the overall system to deliver its intended service, these systems, alongside the telecoms networks supporting them, will need to be resilient. Departments, following advice from regulators, should monitor possible threats to services created by reliance on these systems to consider whether clearer or more stringent resilience standards are required.

Next steps for the Department for Science, Innovation and Technology

Ofcom has recently consulted on resilience guidelines for public digital and telecoms networks in the UK. 15 The regulator should seek to review this guidance on a five yearly basis, with a next review in 2028, and government should consider at that point whether changes in levels of dependency on public networks necessitates the setting of customer outcome resilience standards. Any standards may require improvements in the metrics that Ofcom currently use to measure and communicate network performance. Ofcom should keep its information for consumers on these measures of service reliability and resilience under review to ensure it is adequate and accessible to enable consumers to make an informed choice.

Next steps for government

For private networks it will ultimately be for government to determine whether the increasing reliance on private networks for critical national infrastructure requires a change in how private networks are regulated. This should be considered as part of five yearly reviews of resilience standards.

Energy sector

In the energy sector the Commission noted that there was already a set of resilience standards covering the ability of the system to transmit and distribute energy through a mixture of legislation and regulation. These standards include requirements for system redundancy, expected levels of system availability and service recovery times. All of these standards will enable or incentivise resilience in the face of events which damage or disable transmission and distribution assets. However, stakeholders agreed that there was no clear understanding of the system’s long term resilience, particularly in terms of its ability to reliably meet electricity demand.

A version of supply standards exists for the gas sector. For gas transmission and distribution the network is required to be designed to be able to withstand the failure of its single biggest asset and still deliver a peak day’s demand in a winter with a five per cent chance of occurring in any given year – or a one in twenty year winter. 16 A draft system performance standard has also now been produced for gas supply. This will require the National Energy System Operator to assess whether the gas supply will be sufficient to meet demand in defined weather events such as a 7, 11 or 15 day cold snap. 17 There is also an existing measure for the electricity system – loss of load expectation – which is defined as the number of hours per year in which supply is expected to be unable to meet demand under normal operation of the system. 18 But this metric is based on an average weather year and does not stress test against extreme conditions such as a wind and solar drought in winter when demand is highest.

In the future it will be more challenging to understand the system’s capacity to supply electricity. There are multiple forms of electricity supply, each with its own risks. For example, the system as a whole will need to cope with a wind drought where a large proportion of wind turbines are not generating. Uncertainties about the future make-up of the system also add to the challenge as consumers increasingly feed into the network as well as draw from it. Consumers feeding domestically generated renewable energy or electric vehicle battery storage into the grid increase the number of unknown variables and while this could make the system more resilient, it increases the challenge of understanding the system’s underlying level of resilience. Uncertainties also arise because different parts of the system are governed by a patchwork of different licences, standards and expectations and no one part of the system has an overarching understanding of how these fit together to deliver overall system resilience.

There are multiple means of building resilience into the system. Government could further strengthen system capacity through the Capacity Market to provide generation at times of system stress, and use the Demand Flexibility Service to incentivise demand reduction. This is broadly how the system is managed today, but government could choose to go further – for example, by developing a strategic energy reserve to deal with severe scenarios, as the Commission recommended in its second National Infrastructure Assessment . 19 This would provide a long term store of energy, though it would still require accompanying generation capacity to ensure the required electricity can be generated. These approaches may or may not be augmented by an overarching electricity supply customer outcome standard, but whichever solution government adopts, it should meet the tests below, raised by stakeholders at the Commission’s energy sector resilience roundtable:

• Be measurable: The National Energy System Operator should compare demand scenarios with available sources of supply.
• Consider probabilistic scenarios: The National Energy System Operator should be able to assess whether the system will be able to cope with scenarios such as wind drought with a specified annual probability.
• Stress test against a range of future energy generation scenarios: The future makeup of the electricity system is unclear, particularly the take up of domestic renewables and flexibility, such as vehicle to grid. The system operator should consider a range of scenarios and assess the supply and demand balance against a reasonable worst case.
• Consider the system as a whole: Generation, transmission and distribution must be considered together to avoid a situation where, for example, enough electricity is generated but cannot be transmitted due to resilience failings in the transmission or distribution network.
• Make use of existing measures: Any resilience measure or standard should make use of existing measures. For example, generators with Environment Agency issued permits are already required to develop climate change risk assessments to help them address future resilience threats. Equally, reporting under the Task Force on Climate Related Financial Disclosures requires scenario planning which could help build understanding of the sector’s resilience.
• The need to differentiate the new normal from extremes: Energy system service restoration targets are already subject to conditions in the case of extreme weather events. With a changing climate, Ofgem will need to review its extreme weather trigger thresholds to set out what constitutes ‘new normal’ weather where services are expected to function as normal, and what constitutes a climate extreme where service may be less reliable or take longer to restore.

In addition to understanding the impact of climate extremes on the system’s ability to generate and transmit energy, investment in the transmission and distribution system must factor in changes in the climate which might affect asset lives, and therefore maintenance expenditure. Ofgem’s existing Network Asset Risk Metric considers the existing health of assets in the system and the likely efficient funding required to maintain system performance. This metric should incorporate threats to the system from increased deterioration due to chronic stresses caused by changing climate conditions. Distribution and transmission systems should also be stress tested against acute threats including flooding.

Next steps for the Department for Energy Security and Net Zero, Ofgem and the National Energy System Operator

Across the energy transmission and distribution systems, the Department for Energy Security and Net Zero should consider how existing measures of future asset health can adequately factor in changes in climate related threats. Across the generation, transmission and distribution systems, the department should consider the existing standards landscape to consider whether an additional future energy supply system performance standard is required to ensure resilient supplies. Indicative timelines for this activity for each sector are set out below.

Electricity distribution

Ofgem will need to consider whether existing resilience standards for electricity distribution are appropriate as part of the price control process that will begin later this year. Work on resilience should be carried forward in the next electricity distribution price control. Distribution Network Operators should explore what action would be required to maintain their existing service levels in the climate resilience strategies they are required to submit as part of that price control. The Commission will also consider resilience as part of its distribution study and will work with Ofgem and the Department to ensure recommendations in this area can effectively inform the process.

Electricity transmission and gas transmission and distribution

As the price control for the period 2026-31 is already well advanced for electricity transmission and gas transmission and distribution, the Commission recommends that any additional resilience standards could be factored into the following price control (2031-36), with reopeners enabling earlier investment if desirable.

• December 2025: Ofgem and the Department should identify gaps in levels of service where resilience standards would be appropriate.
• December 2027: Companies submit evidence on indicative costs of different levels of resilience, including factoring in climate resilience.
• December 2028 : Ofgem publish 2031-36 price control methodology consultation, and government decides appropriate resilience levels for any new standards for that price control.
• July 2030 : Draft determinations give an initial view on funding for resilience in the 2031-36 price control.

Electricity generation

As highlighted above, electricity generation could present new challenges in future as the system’s complexity grows. The National Energy System Operator will be conducting annual risk assessments to set out risks to the system in 1-5 years, 5-10 years and in more than ten years. While it will not be possible to do so in time for the first risk assessment in summer 2025, in future years the National Energy System Operator should quantitatively assess future risks to supply, with government taking action to ensure appropriate levels of resilience are designed into the system as it evolves. The Commission’s second National Infrastructure Assessment has supported this process by modelling future flexibility needs and recommending the development of 60GW of short duration flexibility and 30TWh of persistent flexible generation by 2035. 20

Transport sector

Transport is a critical enabler for the wider economy, ensuring workers can travel to their workplaces and ultimately keeping other critical services such as schools and hospitals open. Yet, as a sector, transport has the fewest resilience standards and measures of the sectors the Commission considered.

The analysis at Annex 1 suggests resilience gaps for National Highways because there are no targets for structural condition, technology availability, drainage resilience or the geotechnical condition of assets. While there are sometimes detailed requirements for new assets, such as a requirement for drainage design for new roads to be resilient to floods with a one per cent annual probability, this does not apply to existing assets. 21 With climate change, it is also likely that the probability of severe flooding will increase, potentially requiring upgrades to drainage even for those roads originally designed to that standard.

In the local roads sector, the position is worse because there is now not only no required condition score for local roads, but there is also no consistent measurement metric. 22 This means it is not possible to compare the condition of local roads in different local authority areas.

For the national rail network there are metrics which consider future asset condition, such as the Composite Reliability Index and the Common Safety Indicators, but these do not consider how future threats such as climate change may alter the future sustainability of the asset base. 23 There is currently no target for expected service recovery times, above and beyond overarching punctuality and reliability metrics which will be more affected the longer services are not recovered.

Ports in the UK operate through three main models: privately owned ports, ports which are run by trusts, and ports which are owned by Local Authorities. All of these ports are subject to safety regulations. 24 Closures of port services can be driven by a range of factors including adverse weather conditions and vessel groundings. Many ports compete for custom, incentivising resilience, because if one port is closed, some shipping can be diverted to another port. However, as preparations for leaving the EU demonstrated, some ports, such as the Port of Dover, are key and irreplaceable nodes in the UK’s transport system. Government should establish a comprehensive list of such key sites and the resilience they are expected to provide. In some instances, major wharves are also safeguarded by the Secretary of State for Housing Communities and Local Government for the purposes of water-borne freight handling. Major wharves should be considered as part of the key sites review. 25

In the airport sector all airports offering commercial services are required to have a safety licence. These include requirements for back up power to keep runway lights on to enable planes to land in emergencies. Both Heathrow and Gatwick are subject to economic licences reviewed by the Civil Aviation Authority and these licenses include resilience conditions. The Civil Aviation Authority also regulates the two arms of air traffic control – control towers at airports which are competitive services, and high air traffic control which is an economic monopoly run by NATS (formerly the National Air Traffic Services). The latter is subject to an economic licence which includes resilience requirements. 26 As with road, rail and ports, government should establish a key route and node strategy which indicates if and where it might require specified levels of resilience for priority routes or airports.

Overall, there are two major potential gaps across the sector:

• Forward looking asset health standard: In both the road and rail sectors, resilience is in part a facet of overall asset health. Neither the road nor rail sectors have a comprehensive, consistent, or forward looking measure of asset health which incorporates future threats such as climate change. Without a target for this, it is difficult to see how government can determine whether the levels of funding it is allocating for maintenance are sustainable in the long term without creating a cliff edge backlog of asset maintenance.
• Resilience of key nodes: Some journeys are critical because they are inherently single modal or enable critical services. Equally, as with the energy and water networks, the transport network is in some locations dense and in others sparse. This is driven, in the road and rail sectors, by factors such as population density and the geographical challenges of building out the network. The result is that some journeys are relatively replaceable, as with journeys over Hammersmith Bridge, which has been closed to motor traffic since 2019, but which lies in a dense part of the network where traffic can divert to Chiswick or Putney two miles away to cross the Thames. But the consequences of failure of the QE2 bridge are far more severe, as anyone wishing to cross the Thames from Essex or Kent would need to divert through the already congested Blackwall Tunnel 19 miles upstream. Government should explore whether key nodes and routes in the UK’s road, rail, port and airport transport network should have different service levels – such as being kept open even in extreme weather scenarios. It should also set out trigger scenarios whereby for some routes action changes from maintaining services to advising against travel. Past studies have called for this and the government set out an initial view of key routes. 27 Government also identified some routes during the Covid-19 pandemic. 28 This could be a starting point for an overarching and wider review of key route resilience.

In the transport sector resilience roundtable, stakeholders highlighted the following considerations when drawing up future resilience standards:

• The need to fund data collection: In the transport sector some assets, such as rail embankments, can be almost 200 years old, with little data about how they were constructed. Further funding is required to understand the condition of some of these assets as well as how they respond to climate extremes before the level of resilience systems can offer can be understood.
• The need to differentiate the new normal from extremes: Service reliability on the rail network in particular already has exclusions for extreme weather, such as heavy snowfall, where it might be unsafe to encourage passengers to travel unless necessary. With a changing climate, decisions will have to be taken about what constitutes ‘new normal’ weather, and what is a climate extreme where it is allowable to limit service provision. These should be informed by the potential for risks to passenger safety such as needing to ‘detrain’ passengers from stranded trains.
• Funding needs long term focus: Stakeholders reported that to be funded, schemes often need to demonstrate that they can deliver outputs in one to two years. As projects aimed at strengthening resilience rely on probabilistic events occurring, their benefits may not materialise in the short term and, as a result, they can be overlooked for funding. However, building in resilience can be cheaper in the long run if the alternative is expensive rebuilds in the event of weather hazards materialising.
• Resilience must be cross-modal: A resilience strategy should consider the multi-modal nature of transport and ensure that if, for example, a rail or road route needs to close, there is an alternative route or mode of transport available, especially for essential workers. Any strategy should also encompass all required uses of the road, rail, port and airport networks, including freight. In developing this strategy government should manage tensions between infrastructure in public ownership which can access government support, and privately owned and operated infrastructure which cannot. It must also manage tensions between different modes which can be in competition for both passengers and freight.
• Communicating resilience gaps: Information on key nodes in the UK’s transport system is potentially sensitive as publicly setting out critical points could make them more vulnerable to attack from malign actors. Government will need to strike a balance between communicating a level of service the public can expect and protecting sensitive information.

Next steps for the Department for Transport

Government should explore filling the gaps the Commission has identified relating to forward looking asset health and a high level resilience strategy for key nodes and routes. Operators report that if they had a high level view, for example setting out that a particular railway line should be almost always operational, while a different specified route can be expected to shut down once a year, they would be able to develop and cost solutions to deliver this. This would then enable government to review these costs and determine whether the overall level of resilience proposed is appropriate. While this review may not be publishable in full due to the security implications of publicly identifying key routes, the Department should consider how it can communicate levels of resilience users can expect from the transport network.

Timelines for filling these gaps are set out below:

National Highways

Highways investment is driven by the Road Investment Strategy. The next strategy, the third covering 2025-30, is due to be announced shortly. National Highways should develop forward looking asset health metrics to inform their maintenance strategy in this road period and planning for the next strategy, covering 2030-35. A high level timetable for planning is set out below:

• December 2025 : National Highways and regulators agree gaps in standards they wish to address in Road Investment Strategy 4, providing advice to government for a final decision. Government should support this with a high level steer on which routes should be subject to which expected levels of resilience.
• March 2027 : National Highways submits evidence to regulators on indicative costs of different levels of resilience, including climate resilience.
• September 2028 : Government selects a desired level of resilience which can then begin to be factored into investment decisions. Investment may need to be delivered over several strategy periods.
• 2029: Final decision on Road Investment Strategy 4 investment.

Network Rail

Strategic rail investment will be driven by the next control period, which commences in 2029. If government sets out a high level strategic direction, Network Rail can advise how much this might cost and how long this might take to be designed into its systems.

• December 2025 : Network Rail and regulators agree gaps in standards they wish to address, submitting advice to government for a final decision. Government should support this with a high level steer on which routes should be subject to which expected levels of resilience.
• 2026-28: Network Rail sets out the cost of the high level steer on resilience levels, including climate resilience and the timelines required to achieve them. The appropriate timeline may span several control periods depending on the quantum of investment required.
• 2028: Government takes a final decision on control period eight investment, including determining whether its proposed level of investment is appropriate. Government may also begin the process of revising its high level resilience strategy for control period nine.
• April 2029: Control period eight investment commences.

Ports and airports

By the end of 2025, to the same timeframe as a high level strategy for strategic roads and rail, government should identify key nodes in the UK’s port and airport networks and set out high level expectations for service resilience. Government should also consider whether the existing governance frameworks are sufficient to support the implementation of desired levels of resilience.

Local roads

The workshops found that no expected levels of resilience exist for local roads and that there is no consistent metric for comparing the condition of local roads between authorities. In its second National Infrastructure Assessment , the Commission recommended that government devolve five year transport budgets to local authorities in time for the next spending review. The next multi year spending review will run for at least three years from 2026-29. 29 Government should devolve funding in this spending review and, in the longer term, develop a consistent metric for measuring the condition of local roads and set out a high level ambition for a target level of resilience, set out in Local Transport Plan Guidance. In 2023, 20 per cent of local authorities did not share data with the Department for Transport on the proportion of A Roads that should be considered for maintenance. 30 The Department will need to increase its understanding to assess the extent of any maintenance backlog and the timeframe needed to both bridge this backlog and achieve desired levels of resilience.

Transport in Mayoral Combined Authorities

In its second National Infrastructure Assessment the Commission confirmed its belief that local transport decisions are best taken at local level. In this report the Commission has not been able to analyse the resilience requirements of regional transport bodies under Mayoral Combined Authorities such as Transport for Greater Manchester. However, in order to ensure their services are resilient, regional transport bodies should be clear about the levels of resilience they are targeting, and that this factors in the levels of resilience set out for the strategic road and rail network above.

Water sector

There is already a set of resilience standards covering the water sector through a mixture of legislation and regulation. However, stakeholders in the water sector workshop agreed that there were notable gaps in expected resilience to peak water demand and in water resource system redundancy. Both of these areas would ultimately lead to water companies receiving regulatory penalties through the Outcome Delivery Incentive for customer supply interruptions but relying on this has disadvantages:

• This is a lagging measure : By the time these resilience failings become regular enough issues to affect Outcome Delivery Incentives, it could be costly to build in proactive resilience. Without forward looking resilience measures it is possible that water companies will be incentivised towards investments which maintain services short term at the expense of long term resilience.
• Investment case: Without measurable resilience standards it will be challenging for companies to build further resilience into their systems. Without a clear target to aim for, the need for resilience spend could be challenged by regulators trying to manage upward pressure on bills.
• Consumer tolerance : If the alternative to proactive water supply resilience is to supply customers with bottled water in the event of an outage, this needs to be tested with customers to ensure they would not instead be willing to pay any additional cost of building greater resilience into systems rather than facing this inconvenience.
• Lost opportunity for efficient investment: No new major reservoirs have been built in the last thirty years, but the development of twenty new water resource schemes, including nine new reservoirs is funded in Ofwat’s draft determinations for Price Review 24. 31 This investment will also require additions to the overall supply network to support moving water around the system from these new schemes. If effectively planned and phased in, supply resilience could be delivered as an additional benefit of this investment at less additional cost than if delivered as a standalone investment programme.

All resilience standards require careful scoping and planning to ensure they do not incentivise unnecessary or poor value for money investments. Below are some considerations for the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs in setting resilience standards for the resilience gaps the Commission has identified.

Peak water demand

Water resource systems rely on treatment works treating water continuously, but consumers do not use water at the same volume across a week because usage often looks different on a weekday compared to a weekend and in the daytime compared to the middle of the night. Treated water is therefore stored in service reservoirs so it is available to be put into supply when it is needed. If demand outstrips supply over a long hot period, as was seen in summer 2022, then it is possible that service reservoirs will run out of water and treatment works will not be able to treat and store enough water to supply households. The ultimate result is consumer loss of water supply. This creates the real risk that while the Commission’s estimated £21 billion programme of investment in long term drought resilience will deliver enough raw water to meet needs over a dry summer, water companies may not be able to treat and put this water into supply fast enough to meet daily or weekly demand. 32

When setting a resilience standard to address this problem the department should consider:

• Timing: The standard should be phased in so it can be delivered alongside investment in long term drought resilience.
• Relationship with demand management: Water companies have a key role to play in the Environment Act target to reduce water demand to 110 litres per person per day by 2050 and to reduce non-household demand by 15 per cent. 33 Any peak standard should consider how it factors in activity to flatten overall demand and how the embrace of digital technologies might potentially support the movement of demand peaks in different supply areas. It should also consider the possibility of future demand side responses such as enabling interruptible supplies for business customers in exchange for tariff reductions.
• Consider demography: The metric would need to consider differing levels of peak demand for areas with houses with gardens compared to areas with flats.
• Creating new resilience risks: A balance should be struck between action to meet peak demand and avoiding causing new problems. Too much water in the supply system so that supply reservoir turnover decreases too much could lead to stagnation threatening drinking water quality.
• The need to differentiate the new normal from extremes: With a changing climate, decisions will have to be taken about what constitutes ‘new normal’ weather under which systems are expected to function as normal, and what is a climate extreme where it is allowable to limit service provision. This will include updating return periods as the climate changes so that, for example, due to climate change a storm with a two per cent annual probability in 2050 will be more severe than a storm with a two percent annual probability in 2025.

Single source of supply

There is also a risk that there is insufficient redundancy in the water supply system. In some areas properties rely on a single supply asset and if this fails all of the households supplied will lose access to clean water. This risk may be obscured in the short term. For example, the number of mains serving an area may be reduced from two to one due to cuts in maintenance, meaning an area is vulnerable to single asset failure, but this would not immediately lead to customer supply interruptions. Any standard should consider the system as a whole, from water source to treated water discharged from taps at sub Water Resource Zone level.

When setting a resilience standard to address this problem, the department should consider setting limits on the level of resilience expected. In some areas, such as isolated hamlets, it may not be practical or affordable to develop more than one source of supply. This could be addressed by setting a population cap, by saying for example that no group of more than a set number of houses should be supplied by a single source of supply. The exact cap will need to be determined by cost modelling and discussion between regulators and water companies. Alternatively, companies could undertake risk modelling to understand the probability and consequences of failure from single sources of supply.

Infrastructure operators should also consider single sources of failure caused by system interdependencies when planning to address single sources of supply – such as two sources of supply which rely on the same electricity substation.

Forward looking asset health standard for water and wastewater assets

As the Commission highlighted in its Chair’s letter to the economic regulator, Ofwat, in 2023, currently the metrics used to assess long term system resilience – mains repairs, unplanned outages, and sewer collapses – are lagging indicators. While they provide information about the condition of assets today, they do not on their own give insight into the future condition of assets because their only data point is the point of failure. At present there does not appear to be a comprehensive and consistent understanding of asset condition across the sector and how this may change in future. A more complete view of asset health in the sector would support a multi-asset management period view of the investment required to maintain asset health and, consequently, service performance and reliability. 34

Sewer flooding

The Commission identified a gap in resilience standards for wastewater services relating to the risk of sewer flooding. Ofwat has an Outcome Delivery Incentive for companies to reduce the risk of properties suffering internal sewer flooding. Alongside this, Ofwat issues reporting guidelines, though without targets, on the number of properties at risk of flooding from a storm event with a two per cent annual probability – or a one in 50 year storm. 35 This metric is forward looking and designing to a target risk reduction level would improve system resilience to future threats rather than only addressing current system issues. The target would be to reduce the number of properties at risk of being affected, and consequently the number of properties actually affected would reduce over time.

Interventions which reduce the risk of storm related sewer flooding can also help to address the risk of surface water flooding, which has the same cause – heavy rainfall overwhelming the drainage network. The Commission has previously recommended that the government set a long term target for reducing the number of properties at high and medium risk of surface water flooding. It also called for upper tier local authorities, water and wastewater companies and, where relevant, internal drainage boards, to produce joint costed plans to reduce risk. 36 Any metric used to apply a service standard for storm relate sewer flooding should factor in these targets.

The other area where resilience failings have been highlighted – storm overflow discharges – is currently subject to a target of reducing spills to ten a year. 37 While this target may be subject to review, the presence of measurable targets, regardless of the level at which they are set, enables clarity about the desired level of resilience.

Further considerations

There are further considerations which are applicable to all of the resilience gaps highlighted above.

• Different starting positions: As there has been no clear resilience target to date, different companies will require different levels of investment and different target dates to achieve a new resilience standard
• Common metric: Any metric should be common across all companies to avoid the risk of a resilience postcode lottery. This would give consumers and businesses across the country clarity about what level of resilience they can expect. The level of the standard may vary depending on the risk being addressed. For example, reducing sewer flooding in some areas will be more costly than in others.
• Relationship with Outcome Delivery Incentives: These standards would help companies achieve an Outcome Delivery Incentive – mains bursts – which is currently standardised across all companies in England. The resilience target should therefore also be standardised to avoid giving some companies an unfair advantage in outperforming this incentive.
• Consider the system as a whole: Whole systems – such as raw water storage, transport and treatment and clean water distribution – must be considered together to avoid a situation where, for example, enough water can be stored, but cannot be treated and circulated.
• Consider what is being incentivised: Standards should where possible avoid incentivising specific behaviours – such as building additional unnecessary redundancy into systems – when other forms of resilience such as enhanced reliability and robustness of existing assets may be more efficient.
• Consumer preference: Setting standards will ultimately be a political decision but it should be informed by centrally coordinated investigation of consumer preferences using a range of methodologies as different methods can yield very different results. 38

Next steps for the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

In the water sector, the setting of resilience standards will be too late to influence the 2024 Price Review, so standard setting should be done over the next asset management period to target investment for Price Review 2029 and influence earlier system planning by water companies. The Commission proposes four stages to developing and implementing those resilience standards:

• December 2025: The Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, Ofwat, the Environment Agency and the Drinking Water Inspectorate should collectively identify gaps where resilience standards would be appropriate. As a starting point the department should consider the gaps the Commission has highlighted above.
• December 2026: Water companies submit evidence on indicative costs of different levels of resilience, including factoring in climate resilience. Regulators would supplement this with centralised consistent analysis of consumer views to avoid resilience varying by region.
• December 2027: Ofwat finalises Price Review 29 methodology incorporating the government’s target resilience standards. Ultimately, selecting a level of resilience is a political choice which must be in the hands of government. Government may or may not wish to override the cost/benefit analyses it receives because it believes the importance of resilience goes beyond cost. While the level of service is a choice for government, in order to ensure stability of delivery, this choice should not be revisited once made until the next price review cycle.
• 2028-29: The selected level of resilience should be factored into the price control cycle.

Next steps for Cabinet Office

This report has set out issues for government to consider on a sector by sector basis, with a view to enabling the consideration of interdependency risks once sectoral level resilience is revealed. Once these interdependencies are identified it will be for Cabinet Office, as the government body with overall responsibility for resilience, to support departments in identifying how these can be managed. 39 For example, a water treatment works which does not have a resilient electricity supply – because it is supplied by only one source – may find it cheaper to invest in additional back up generation as the cost of additional supply would be too expensive or too carbon intensive. But if several critical infrastructure facilities are located in the same place, it may be more cost effective or less carbon intensive to build a new line rather than expect them all to rely on additional back up generation. As noted above, tools such as the Climate Resilience Demonstrator have shown how data sharing can enable more efficient collective systems level resilience investment.

To support the sharing of information Cabinet Office should consider how it can enable greater data sharing between sectors to avoid individual operators having to engage in lengthy legal discussions on the implications of sharing data.

The below timetable sets out how Cabinet Office could support the management of interdependency risks to ensure efficient and resilient outcomes over the next standard setting cycle:

• End of 2025: Cabinet Office collates and publishes resilience standards for the digital and telecoms, energy, transport and water sectors.
• End of 2027: Cabinet Office sets out tools and principles for managing interdependency risks across all sectors. This could include making available funding for tools such as the Climate Resilience Demonstrator to spatially map resilience threats and inform collective decision making.
• End of 2030: Where necessary, Cabinet Office collates and publishes updated resilience standards produced by departments which include deeper consideration of interdependency risks.

Next Section: Glossary

Next Section: Annex 1: Existing resilience standards

The Commission’s report on resilience standards highlights a number of potential gaps in resilience standards that government may want to address in a first round of standard setting. However, a range of customer outcome, system performance and recovery standards already exist across the digital and telecoms, energy, transport and water sectors.

Annex 1: Existing resilience standards

The table below sets out these standards. For the Commission’s purpose a standard is a measured level of service provided to customers, a measured expected level of system performance, a measured speed of service recovery after an outage or required level of service during recovery.

[ Note : due to our website style formatting, references for the elements of the table below are not shown; please refer to the .pdf version of the report for any references]

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