It always pleases me when my executives can read and write, it makes things so much more orderly.

Usually the company's chief executive will write a letter to shareholders, describing management's performance and the company's financial highlights.

"I put it in a directory with 37 other old files," the executive wrote.

Another executive wrote of "an agreement between the participating companies not to publish the amount of the individual donations."

Some executives write yearly reports to let their communities know what has been accomplished.

The proposed improvements were so small that top executives from nine utilities, including some of the largest, wrote objections.

A senior executive has written to me proposing a radical change to the dynamics of the recruitment industry.

"We expect the union will request further bargaining," the executives wrote.

"We underestimated the affection people have for the Diary," an executive wrote in a letter of apology to readers.

At the same time, the returning executive writes a report, assessing his skills and describing his career goals.