<P> An executive summary, or management summary, is a short document or section of a document, produced for business purposes, that summarizes a longer report or proposal or a group of related reports in such a way that readers can rapidly become acquainted with a large body of material without having to read it all . It usually contains a brief statement of the problem or proposal covered in the major document (s), background information, concise analysis and main conclusions . It is intended as an aid to decision - making by managers and has been described as the most important part of a business plan . </P> <P> An executive summary differs from an abstract in that an abstract will usually be shorter and is typically intended as an overview or orientation rather than being a condensed version of the full document . Abstracts are extensively used in academic research where the concept of the executive summary is not in common usage . "An abstract is a brief summarizing statement...read by parties who are trying to decide whether or not to read the main document", while "an executive summary, unlike an abstract, is a document in miniature that may be read in place of the longer document". </P> <P> There is general agreement on the structure of an executive summary - books and training courses emphasise similar points . Typically, an executive summary will: </P>

Where is executive summary placed in a report