FUNCTIONS AND STRUCTURES OF EXECUTIVE SUMMARIES IN BUSINESS REPORTS

Abstract

This study sets out to investigate two specific functions - the persuasive and the informative - of executive summaries in business reports. The report and its summary are generally assumed to be strictly informative in function. This study is an attempt to establish that the summary can perform a persuasive function and that this is reflected in its linguistic features . Chapter One contains the rationale objectives, methodology and theoretical framework for the study. Chapter Two discusses some of the linguistic features of the summaries and how the summaries may be categorized as more persuasive or more interactive in function on the basis of these features. Chapter Three explores the possible structures of the summaries and attempts to relate some of the differences to structure to their responsive functions. Chapter Four explores ways of which the summaries can be derived. In Chapter Five, some implications for teachers of report writing are noted. It was found that there are considerable differences between the persuasive and the informative summaries in terms of the linguistic features analyzed, their overall structures and the way the summaries were derived from the original reports. However, distinction between the two types of summaries may not be absolutely clear-cut. Individually, the summaries vary in degree of persuasiveness. Hence, it may be better to rank them on a cline with the most persuasive at one end and the least persuasive – and consequently the most informative – at the other.