Summary  Report

The  report  format  suggested  above  does  not  contain  any  summary  section. This exclusion  is deliberate. The summary  should  not be  prepared until the full  report  is written. Once  the report  is completed a summary  can be  prepared quickly  and efficiently. A summary  however  is usually  prepared. Its objects is to  present   the highlights  of the  complete  report so  that  executive can  get the main  ideas  quickly. Some  companies treat the summary as a separate report  and sent  it  to certain  executives instead  of the  full report.

Report writers  often  place  the summary at the  beginning  of the  findings sections, in  which  case the summary  covers only  the findings it does not  include any mention of the other sections in the report. If this  is done  the findings  section is broken into two parts (1) the summary  and (2) the detailed  account of the findings. Other  writers prefer to make  the summary  a separate section at the  start of  the report. This latter method makes it easy for busy  executives to read  the summary and decide  whether to go further. It also  permits  them to  determine quickly  who else  in the  organizations  should  read  the report  when the  summary  is made  first  part of  the report the objectives  abbreviated findings conclusions  and recommendations are included in it.