Executive summaries

The executive summary is a one- or two-page summary of the main points in the body of the TOA. A good format is to use titled paragraphs or sections, where a sequence of paragraphs or sections are headed by a headline in a bold font. 

Good executive summaries are hard to write because they need to be brief yet contain the key ideas in a form that is easily and quickly grasped. A good process to follow is to write the individual sections of the opportunity assessment first, and then work on condensing the larger sections down to their essentials. 

A key to this condensation step is to think primarily in terms of what the decision maker or investor needs to know to make a decision in your favor. Thinking in these terms usually (a) eliminates technical detail unrelated to competitive advantage, (b) boils financials down to aggregate numbers and key profitably statistics such as time to breakeven and return on investment, and (c) increases the use of familiar products and companies as analogies. 

This condensation step should be taken a step further in the preparation of an elevator pitch. Imagine you are riding in an elevator with a famous venture capitalist (VC). You have one minute to interest this person in your idea before the elevator door opens. What would you say Probably you need to tell the VC the following  

Consider a technology opportunity that might lead to a new business. Do a preliminary Web search to see if there are companies doing something similar. Write an elevator pitch for the idea as a prelude to preparing a full TOA. 

Of course, within this aggregated picture, there remains considerable variation. Most notably, heroin production continued to expand in the conflict-ridden provinces of southern Afghanistan. While global heroin consumption does not appear to be growing, the impact of this surge in supply needs to be monitored carefully. 

Most of the world s drug markets start with the farmer. Unlike other crops, however, the cultivation of opium poppy, coca leaf and cannabis take place under threat of eradication, and so the location and the number of hectares tilled vary substantially from year to year. UNODC, in cooperation with the relevant national authorities, conducts drug crop monitoring surveys in all of the worlds major opium poppy and coca producing countries. Changes in the number and location of hectares under cultivation, as well as crop yields, can thus be tracked with some precision. 

Around 92 per cent of the world s heroin comes from poppies grown in Afghanistan. Despite a massive increase in opium poppy cultivation in Afghanistan in 2006, the global area under poppy was actually 10 per cent lower than in 2000. This decline was mainly due to sustained success in reducing cultivation in South-East Asia. Poppy cultivation in the Golden Triangle has fallen by some 80 per cent since 2000. 

Most of the world s cocaine comes from coca leaf cultivated in Colombia, Peru and Bolivia. The global area under coca cultivation fell by 29 per cent to some 156,900 hectares between 2000-2006, largely due to reductions of coca cultivation in Colombia. The areas under coca cultivation in Peru and Bolivia increased over this period but remained significantly below the levels reported a decade earlier. 

As discussed in last year s World Drug Report, it is impossible to accurately estimate the location and total number of hectares under cannabis, because it is grown in at least 172 countries, often in small plots by the users themselves. The one country where reliable estimates are available is Morocco, the source of about 70 per cent of the hashish consumed in Europe. UNODC and the Government of Morocco have been monitoring large-scale hashish production since 2003. Based on these surveys, cannabis cultivation in Morocco has declined in recent years, from a peak of 134,000 hectares in 2003 to just 76,400 hectares in 2005. Outside Morocco, there have been few national or regional studies of the extent of cannabis cultivation. 

Because of the influence of the ligand, physicochemical properties and environmental fate modelling derived from them are often uncertain for the organotins. 

Water solubility across the group is low however, hydrolysis of the reactive ligands and/or ligand exchange in the environment or tissues of organisms could lead to the formation of species that are more soluble, casting doubt on the relevance of some of the modelled data. 

Methyltins are less likely than the butyl- and octyl-tins to partition to sediments, soils, and organic carbon. Modelled data for K c suggest much lower capacity for binding to organic carbon than do measured values, often by several orders of magnitude. Measured data have been used in preference to model environmental fate of the compounds. The compounds also bind strongly to clay minerals, montmorillonite in particular. 

The organotins have a wide range of uses, which are largely specific for the different organotins. Thus, mono-and disubstituted organotin compounds are not suitable as biocides, and trisubstituted organotin compounds are not suitable as PVC stabilizers. 

The mono- and disubstituted organotins considered here are used as stabilizers in PVC or as catalysts for the production of electrodeposited coatings (mainly in motor vehicle primers), sihcone rubbers, esterification and powder coatings, and polyurethanes, as well as for coating glass. 

1Chemistry Opportunities and Needs, National Research Council, National Academy Press, Washington, D.C., 1965. 

Chapters 3 to 11 of the report then take up particular areas of fundamental or applied chemistry and chemical engineering. Each chapter starts with a specific list of some important challenges for the future. Then the chapter has a section on goals of the field, a section on progress to date to meet those goals, a section on challenges and opportunities for the future, and finally a section on why this is important. 

Chapter 4 discusses chemical and physical transformations of matter, both those that occur naturally in the environment and in living organisms and those that are invented by chemical scientists. The study of transformations spans the range from efforts to gain a fundamental understanding of naturally occurring 

As a response to the events of September 11,2001, the National Security and Homeland Defense Workshop was included as one of six workshops held as part of Challenges for the Chemical Sciences in the 21st Century. The workshop topics reflect areas of societal need—materials and manufacturing, energy and transportation, national security and homeland defense, public health, information and communications, and environment. The charge for each workshop was to address the four themes of discovery, interfaces, challenges, and infrastructure as they relate to the workshop topic  

Discovery—major discoveries or advances in the chemical sciences during the past several decades. 

Interfaces—interfaces that exist between chemistiy/cheniical engineering and snch areas as biology, enviromnental science, materials science, medicine, and physics. 

Challenges— the grand challenges that exist in the chemical sciences today. 

Infrastractnre—infrastractnre that will be reqnired to allow the potential of future advances in the chemical sciences to be realized. 

Chemical analyses of seawater are uniquely difficult given the poorly known speciation and the low concentration of many of the analytes of interest. Analyses of suspended and sedimentary marine particulate materials present their own distinct challenges, primarily due to potential interference by predominant mineral phases of different types (e.g., opal, carbonate, and aluminosilicate). Of all the analytical methods applied to marine waters and particles, at present only a small fraction can be systematically evaluated via comparison to reference materials that represent the appropriate natural concentrations and matrices. 

Reference materials are homogeneous, stable substances whose properties are sufficiently established as to make them useful for calibrating analytical instruments or validating measurement techniques. High-quality reference materials not only provide essential support for large-scale research studies, but also ensure accuracy of long time-series measure- 

These circumstances make the continued use of available chemical reference materials and the development of new reference materials essential. The National Research Council formed a commiffee in April 2001 to provide a comprehensive review of chemical reference maferial status and needs for those elements and compounds essential for investigating ocean processes. In addition, the committee was charged to provide advice on the elements and compoxmds requiring the development of reference maferials and/or reference material improvement. Specifically, the committee was charged with the following tasks  

Reference Materials for Dissolved Organic Carbon NSF via Dr. D. Hansell) 

Various Standard Reference Materials from NIST (see text) 

On a letter dated June 28, 2001, to the president of the National Academy of Sciences, the CNO wrote I am especially pleased that the [Naval Studies] Board is now about to initiate a study of naval force defense capabilities against chemical and biological warfare threats. Recent world events demonstrate that forward-deployed naval forces are constantly at risk even in today s relatively peaceful world. I look forward to supporting this study and receiving the conclusions on issues with direct operational implications such as developing concepts of naval operations to deal with emerging terrorist threats.  

Both the chemical and the biological threats of today are characterized by wide availability of agents and a variety of delivery methods, from simple to complex. The threats posed by various agents and delivery methods are real today almost everywhere the Navy operates—on the open ocean and in the littorals, and especially in port and at shore installations. Because of the Navy s dependence on foreign ports and its growing emphasis on warfighting in the littorals, the committee believes that the Navy should, in fact, be more concerned about limited, asymmetric attacks in such environments than about more massive, open-ocean encounters on which its defensive posture has been historically based. 

The committee found that effective approaches to chemical and biological warfare defense are based on a few important principles  

2Rumsfeld, Donald H., Secretary of Defense. 2001. Quadrennial Defense Review Report, Wash-ington, D.C., September 30. Available online at www.defenselink.mil/pubs/qdr2001.pdf . 

In developing operational and technical findings and recommendations as directed by this study s terms of reference, the committee observed that two general themes emerged. Both are foundational and must be addressed for achieving the improvements in defensive posture needed. They are (1) leadership for lasting improvements and (2) the approach for getting started  

The following tables and graphs summarize the exporters markets in Africa for imported inorganic chemical elements, oxides and halogen salts  

Target Markets for Imported Inorganic Chemical Elements, Oxides and Halogen 

Target Market Rank Value (000 US ) % of Africa Cumulative % 

Source Philip M. PARKER, Professor, INSEAD, copyright 2002, www.icongrouDonline.com 

The base case results, using the DOE data, indicate that in the absence of externality costs, or renewable tax credits, pulverized coal and nuclear are the least cost alternatives at 4.5 and 5.3 cents/kWh, respectively. A complete sensitivity analysis on fuel, capital, capacity factor, and construction time shows that the results for coal and gas are much more sensitive to assumptions about fuel prices than they are to capital costs or construction times, while nuclear results are more sensitive to 

GenSim is written in Powersim Studio Enterprise 2005, a dynamic simulation-modeling software package. The model s easy-to-use policy screens allow the user to explore what if questions, such as 

This chapter provides an overview of the model structure base case results for two different data sets detailed sensitivity analyses on capital costs, fuel prices, and construction times and externality analyses for the four key pollutants. 

Up to 99% of the world s cottonfarmers live and work in the developing world, where cotton is predominantly a smallholder crop grown by the rural poor .  

Dr Gerd Walter-Echols, FAO (Regional office for Asia and the Pacific) 

Up to 99% of the world s cotton farmers live and work in developing world countries with almost two-thirds residing in either India or China, and with many of the remainder located in West Africa, or South America. Predominantly members of the rural poor, these smallholders typically cultivate cotton on plots of less than one-half hectare, or on parts of their farms, as a means of supplementing their income. 

This report reveals the way in which most of the developing world s cotton farmers work and the hazardous pesticides diich contaminate their environment and threaten their health. It presents an astonishing picture of the harm caused to supply wealthy predominantly western consumers, and with it, presents a compelling case for immediate action by all parties involved business, consumers, politicians, unions, and farmers. 

More tJuiii three quarters of eollon output is ueeaunted (or hv developinp eountries 

The United States holds a large amount of untapped wind energy, both land-based and offshore. The strongest and most consistent winds are either offshore or in rural areas, far from population centers that could benefit from the electricity produced. As of December 31, 2012, the United States had more than 60,000 megawatts of installed wind capacity—second only to China—all of it from land-based wind farms. Offshore wind development would supply energy to nearby population centers, especially on the East Coast. Yet the United States has no offshore turbines installed many European nations have developed dozens of offshore wind farms over the past 15 years. 

In August 2011, DOI requested that the Marine Board of the National Research Council assess its approach for regulating the health and safety of wind farm workers on the OCS. The committee s three main tasks were as follows  

Although the federal government has regulated the production of offshore oil and gas for decades, it has no experience with offshore wind farms. Land-based and offshore wind development share many of the same tasks and hazards in fact, once a technician is inside a wind turbine, most tasks are exactly the same. However, the challenge of working on and from vessels and in and over the water with massive offshore wind turbine equipment introduces additional hazards and different risks (see Chapters 2 and 4). The oil and gas and wind industries share most of these offshore hazards, but overall, the risk associated with oil and gas hazards is greater than that associated with offshore wind. In this context, workplace risk is viewed as the product of the probability and the consequence of a hazardous event. The oil and gas industry works with a more volatile product, so the risk of explosion or fire on offshore platforms is greater than on offshore wind turbines. 

In collaboration with other regulatory agencies and industry stakeholders, BOEM should lead development and implementation of a comprehensive health and safety program for workers on offshore wind farms. Through new or updated memoranda of understanding with OSHA and USCG, BOEM should clearly define roles and responsibilities and indicate which standards could apply for all phases of wind 

Nevertheless, no offshore wind turbines have been installed in U.S. waters as of December 2012. Development of offshore wind farms is more advanced in Europe. Countries such as Denmark, Germany, Norway, and the United Kingdom already produce electricity offshore, with an installed capacity of more than 4,900 MW (EWEA2013).  

Multiple health organizations endorse breastfeeding as the optimal form of nutrition for human infants because of its potential advantages to the infant, including prevention of infectious diseases and its role in neurodevelopment. Despite these recommendations, the vast majority of infants worldwide are fed infant formulas (e.g., liquid or reconstituted powders) at some point in their first year of life, whether as their sole source of nutrition or in combination with human milk, supplemental foods, or both. Infant formulas have been modified over the years to improve flavor, increase shelf life and, recently, to mirror the composition of human milk and the performance of breastfeeding. 

This report, prepared at the request of the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and Health Canada (with potential international utility), addresses the regulatory and research issues that are critical in assessing the safety of the addition of new ingredients to infant formulas. 

The Committee on the Evaluation of the Addition of Ingredients New to Infant Formula, convened by the Institute of Medicine, was asked to  

The committee reviewed U.S., Canadian, and European laws and regulations to examine current processes for manufacturers who wish to add new ingredients to infant formulas a GRAS Notification and a Food Additive Petition. The committee drew on this review, especially the GRAS Notification process, as it developed its recommendations. The committee also reviewed the special needs of infants and their implications for evaluating the safety of infant formulas. 

The committee recognizes that some of its recommendations may require statutory changes. Even with this limitation, the committee encourages dialogue among members of government agencies, the public, industry, and academia to act on the recommendations set forth by this report in the best interest of our most vulnerable members of society—our infants. 

Nanotechnology is extending its influence to many areas of electronics with the UK reported to be a global leader in commercialising nanotechnology. Nanomaterials are coming to the fore as potential fillers along with the more traditional options of alumina trihydrate, barium sulfate, calcium carbonate, kaolin and talc. 

It is difficult to come to terms with the consequences of gross domestic product (GDP) growth of 8% per year in China where the economy is forecast to maintain this growth rate over the next few years. China s population is currently around 1.3 billion and its annual consumption of plastics products is approximately 1 kg per head compared with a 40 kg per head figure for Western Europe. 

The European Union market for electronic components, according to the industry s European Component Manufacturers Association (EECA), is dominated by three countries which collectively account for 61 % of the total 2004 market which the association stated was 47.7 billion. Germany leads, with a national market of around 12.79 billion, followed by the UK with a market size of around 10.73 billion and Erance with an approximate figure of 5.57 billion. In 2004 sales of passive components were 3.78 billion thus accounting for approximately 8% of European components sales with the semiconductor sales of 31.7 billion representing a share of around 66.5%. 

Analysed by application the largest market in 2004 for electronic components in Europe is the computing sector with a market size of 13.51 billion which represents a 29% share of the overall market. The communications market, especially mobile phones, was the second largest and amounted to 10.97 billion or 23% of the market. It was followed by automotive where the figure of 9.15 billion represented a 19% share. Consumer and industrial categories, accounted for 6.5 billion and 6.2 billion, respectively, with market shares of 14% and 13%. 

Polymers used in a typical mobile phone include acrylonitrile-butadiene-styrene (ABS) or PC for the outer case because of their weight reducing qualities and their durability. Good transparency is imperative for the screen for which PC or PMMA may be chosen. Connector manufacturers have several options with polybutylene terephthalate (PBT) and polyamide (PA) providing stability. Eor safety reasons elastomers provide the raw material for antennas. PCB base material is invariably an epoxy resin because it offers heat resistance and design flexibility. The components themselves may 

Since the attacks of September 11, 2001, federal, state, local, and tribal governments, aided by the private sector, have undertaken an unprecedented review of the nation s infrastructure to determine potential targets for future terrorist attacks. At the national level, the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) has divided the nation s infrastructure into 17 categories of critical infrastructures and key resources, one of which is the chemical industry and hazardous materials sector. 

The chemical sector is a key part of the national economy. Although its products represent only 2 percent of the U.S. gross domestic product, they underpin most other manufactured goods. Direct products of the chemical industry include plastics, fibers, and dru, and many more products such as paper, fabrics, cosmetics, and electronics are dependent on the products of the chemical industry. 

This report addresses the most significant general types of vulnerabilities associated with the chemical infrastructure, not site-specific vulnerabilities. Other government and private sector efforts are developing vulnerability and risk assessments that account for site-specific factors such as the amount of chemical on a site and the size of the potentially affected population near a site. This study is intended to supplement those efforts. 

This report adopts the definition of catastrophic incident outlined in DHSs National Response Plan—one that results in large numbers of casualties and/or displaced persons, possibly in the tens of thousands. Similarly, an economic impact on the order of tens to hundreds of billions of dollars would be considered catastrophic. A catastrophic event is one whose consequences are so extensive that they overwhelm the ability of emergency responders, local and federal vernment officials, and/or the general public to adequately and/or fiilly respond in a timely fashion. 

flammable, and explosive materials present the greatest risk of catastrophic incident. 

Sustained mutual growth and interdependence of the chemical and information communities should take account of several unique aspects of the chemical sciences. These include extensive and complex databases that characterize the chemical disciplines the importance of multiscale simulations that range from molecules to technological processes the global economic impact of the chemical industry and the industry s major influence on the nation s health, environment, security, and economic well-being. In planning the future of the chemical 

In October 2002, as part of Challenges for the Chemical Sciences in the 21st Century, the Board on Chemical Sciences and Technology convened a workshop in Washington, D.C., on Information Communications. The charge to the organizing committee (Appendix A) addressed four specific themes  

The structure of the Workshop on Information Communications followed that of the parent project and each of the other workshops that were held as part of the study of Challenges for the Chemical Sciences in the 21st Century (Materials and Manufacturing, Energy and Transportation, National Security and Homeland Defense, the Environment, and Health and Medicine). 

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Bechtel Corporation, Calfomia Euel Methanol Cost Study Chevron Corporation, U.S., Vol. 1 (Executive Summary, Jan. 1989) Vol. 2, (Einal Report, Dec. 1988), San Francisco, Calif., 1988-1989. 

Acurex Corporation, California s Methanol Program Evaluation Report, Vol. 1 (Executive Summary), Pub. P500-86-012, California Energy Commission, Sacramento, Calif., Nov. 1986. 

Oral reports usually involve use of either sHdes or flip charts as visual aids. It has been found that more executives will attend an oral report presentation than will read a 100-page written report. Combiaations and variations of oral and written reports are also widely used. For example, both consultants and ia-house groups often present a brief oral executive summary with or without visual aids several weeks ia advance of the written report. 

Westinghouse AP600 Executive Summary, Westinghouse Electric Corp., Pittsburgh, Pa. 

Nuclear Proliferation and Civilian Nuclear Power-Report of the Nonproliferation Alternative Systems Assessment Program, Executive Summary, DOE Report DOE/NE-0001, U.S. Department of Energy, Washington, D.C., June 1980. 

W. H. Avery, R. W. Blevins, G. L. Dugyer, and E. J. Francis, Executive Summary—Maritime and Construction Aspects of Ocean Thermal Energy Conversion (OTEC) Plant Ships, Apphed Physics Laboratory, The Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, Md., Apr. 1976. 

A thorough review of the health aspects of talc was presented ia an EDA-sponsored seminar ia Bethesda, Maryland, ia January 1994 (9). The executive summary states that the probabiUty of human risk is likely nonexistent under customary conditions of use. Used for decades ia a wide variety of cosmetic and other appHcations, talc has proven to be among the safest of all consumer products. 

Union Carbide Chemicals and Plastics Company, Inc., Ethylene Oxide Producer s Technology Conference, Executive Summary, Adanta, Ga., J an. 22, 1992. 

The Quality of Our Nation s Water 1996. Executive Summary of the National Water Quality Inventory 1996 Report to Congress. EPA 841-S-97-001. April 1998. 197p. 

Having completed the risk analyses, computed the uncertainties, and identified critical systems by importance measures (which also identifies valuable systems improvements having low costs), the PSA results must be presented. An executive summary compares the risk of operations that were analyzed with the risks of similar operations. It identifies and explains the main contributors to the risk to people untrained in PSA and statistical methods. Figure 6.3-5 shows two pie-charts that show the risk contributions of various initiators for PWRs and BWRs. A chart similar to one of these would be an effective way of showing the risk contributions in simplified form. 

Even, limited PSAs use and contain much information. This information may come as memos and process reports and flow sheets, equipment layout, system descriptions, toxic inventory, hazardous chemical reactions, test, maintenance and operating descriptions. From this, data and analyses are prepared regarding release quantities, doses, equipment reliability, probability of exposure, and the risk to workers, public, and environment. An executive summary analysis is detailed, and recommendations made for risk reduction. Thus the information will be text, calculations of envelope fracture stresses, temperatures, fire propagation, air dispersion, doses, and failure probabilities - primarily in tabular form. 

Executive summaries can be very useful because they help your audience remember the highlights of a lengthier presentation, and provide them with a "script" on the subject. For example, a CEO or division president may decide... 

Depending on your company s style, the executive summary may be the primary selling document, with the full proposal acting as backup or provided as an appendix. 

Following Is an example of an executive summary developed to accompany the presentation shown as Figure 2.2. Executive summaries highiight the key points of a detailed presentation for easy access. The longer and more complex your presentation, the greater the value of an executive summary, which should be organized to parallel the structure of the longer document. 

Executive summaries generally appear at the beginning of a document, just after a table of contents. 

Prepare a briefing document, drawn from the PSM proposal and executive summary, that executives, colleagues, and staff can use in responding to media queries or in crafting speeches and other presentations. 

Provide support materials to key people. Prepare a briefing document, drawn from the integration proposal and executive summary, that executives, colleagues, and staff can use in responding to internal or external enquiries or in crafting speeches and other presentations. This document is often framed in terms of providing answers to questions that employees or other interested parties may ask. Some sample questions and answers are provided at the end of this chapter. 

Attachment 3.1 Selected Slides from Executive Summary of the Assessment of Existing Systems for Xmple, Inc. 

This Executive Summary provides an overview of the findings of the assessment of the existing PSM and ESH systems ... 

Watson, R. Ozone Trends Panel, Executive Summary. NASA,... 

An additional area of concern with respect to stratospheric ozone is possible direct emissions of NOj into the stratosphere by high-flying supersonic aircraft. This issue has come up repeatedly over the past 20 years, as air travel and pressure from commercial airlines has increased. However, despite substantial research effort to understand stratospheric chemistry, the question is complicated by the changing levels of stratospheric chlorine, first due to a rapid accumulation of tropospheric CFCs, followed by a rapid decline in CFC emissions due to the Montreal Protocol. To quote from the from the 1994 WMO/UN Scientific assessment of ozone depletion, executive summary (WMO 1995) ... 

The committee s balanced portfoho of priority research areas has already been discussed in the Executive Summary and the preceding chapters of the report. A discussion of the portfolio of funding sources is presented later in this chapter and, more comprehensively, in Appendix A. The following section discusses the committee s views on a balanced portfolio of support mechanisms. 

While every effort is made to ensure that CICADs represent the current status of knowledge, new information is being developed constantly. Unless otherwise stated, CICADs are based on a search of the scientific hterature to the date shown in the executive summary. In the event that a reader becomes aware of new information that would change the conclusions drawn in a CICAD, the reader is requested to contact IPCS to inform it of the new information. 

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