Question

Explain why it is important for an analyst to know when to create a policy memorandum versus an executive summary when presenting information.

Answer 1

There are several reason why an analyst should distinguish between policy memo and executive summary.

First and foremost the length of these two varies. Policy memos can be several pages long while the executive summary is usually a paragraph or two.

Secondly, policy memo focuses on explaining the objective of a policy and a thorough analysis of the policy. On the other hand executive summary just takes the key points and mentions them without going into the details.

Finally, policy memo are targeted towards audiences who will be willing to invest time and effort to read the whole memo. For example, lawyers and other analysts may like more details and thus a policy memo suits those types of audience. On the other hand executive summary is more suitable for CXO level managers and employees that just need to know the bullet points.