Due by Class 10: Executive Summary concerning your company, and analyzing your company's strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats. Click here for details and suggestions concerning the assignment and your in-class presentation.

Executive summary format details and suggestions:

Page 1: a cover page showing your company's name and logo (if available--and/or, your own creation or picture symbolizing your company).  

Pages 2-4: write the report in memo form, as with previous group memos. Each group member should initial their name on the memo.  The memo part of your report should be 2 or 3 (at most, 4) pages using 1.5-spacing.  So, the total page count including the cover page will be 3-5 pages.  In consideration of your workload, citing references is optional for this report, but in general you will want to be in the habit of doing so.

Please first provide an overview of your company's operations and policies in the fundamental functional areas we have covered in class: Management, Marketing, and Finance.  This might include integrating other topics we covered, such as Global (international) Business, Corporate Governance, Business Ethics, etc.  Please refer to Figure 1.1 of your textbook to see what other elements you might discuss; e.g., how people (internal and external) matter to the business, and how the external environment affects it.

Examples of issues to address (note you need not address every facet of each functional area--pick issues interesting to you):

• Management: Summarize operations--how does your co. manufacture its product, or provide its service?  Does the company's approach to manufacturing confer a competitive advantage?  Has it been growing and hiring, or has it laid off workers? Any news regarding the firm's operations, or general strategies for competing?  Other issues (some you've covered earlier in the course) might include corporate governance; commitment to sustainability and/or diversity; policies; mission; ideals, etc.  Comment on any other elements in management that interest you--this could include bold initiatives or positions taken by executives, political maneuvers, scandals, etc. 
• Marketing: how does your company advertise, sell, distribute their products?  Which of the four P's (see your previous memo) do they seem to emphasize in the competition for customers?  Comment on any other elements in marketing that interest you--this could include amusing ads, interesting new products (or inferior products), etc.
• Finance/Accounting: Where do their revenues come from?  What are their sales (revenue) and profit figures?  How do they compare to their peers?  Do their current and fixed assets proportions make sense in light of the nature of their business?  Have recent investments or product launches occurred?  How does the company finance its investments--that is, what are the proportions of debt versus equity?  How has major news or announcements affected their stock price?  How has their stock price performed relative to broad market indices (e.g., S&P500, DJIA)?  In your opinion, has your company's stock been, or would it be, a good investment?  

For the above, you may use sentences or paragraphs from previous memos (verbatim or paraphrased), so long as the paper flows logically. One of the aims of the previous memos was to build up material and understanding such that this final summary is more oriented towards integration of all the parts.  For example: Costco Wholesale Corp. offers members very low prices on a limited selection of nationally branded and selected private label products in a wide range of merchandise categories, with the result of producing high sales volumes and rapid inventory turnover. This rapid inventory turnover enables Costco to operate profitably at significantly lower gross margins than traditional wholesalers, discount retailers and supermarkets. (In this example, we've linked the marketing and finance disciplines.)

Then summarize your perception and analysis of your company's strengths and weaknesses.  If you are feeling ambitious, try to think of what opportunities and threats also exist.  Wikipedia (in general, be careful using this) actually provides helpful guidance in this instance: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/SWOT_analysis  For example, you might note that your company has a great product but could market it better.  Or, that it doesn't seem to be selling as much overseas as it could.  Or, that competitors have launched better or less expensive products, and your company has been slow in responding.  Or, that your company dominates its product market, and here's why.  Or, that profits (typically, look at profit margin) are better or worse than competitors.  Or, the stock price has outperformed or under-performed relative to industry peers or the market.

Lastly, you may recommend some action your company might take to improve any aspect of its business.   

The most ambitious papers will succinctly summarize the state of the firm's business in the three functional areas, then spend the bulk of the remaining space analyzing and integrating these facets of the business, and recommending actions for improvement.

Presentations: Based on your report, you will make a brief presentation during Class 10.  Your in-class presentation should focus on the areas of your report that you find most interesting to talk about.  Please summarize what your company does (products/services sold), then launch a brief presentation consisting of 2 or 3 slides.  (If you are comfortable presenting without slides, that is okay too).  Consider that you are educating your peers about a significant business on this planet--what aspect(s) about your company did you find most interesting, or even surprising? There will be a strict 5 minute time limit, so you will want to rehearse this a couple times with your group.  We will discuss this a bit more in class.

You may all speak, or you may designate one or two group members to speak (refer to your StrengthsFinder results ;} ) -- but all group members should stand in front as a team during the presentation.

The order of presentations will follow group numbers. Please see related announcement.

A slide presentation is preferred, but is optional.  If you prepare slides, please email them to me at barnesjw@seattleu.edu Please do so by 12pm before our final class.  Emails after 12pm will not be received in time.  Please include your group number in the file name; e.g., "Group ## - BUAD 100 presentation.ppt".  As a backup please bring your slides on a USB memory stick, and arrive early to class (5 or 10 minutes).  Or if you use a web-based service, please come early so we can get you set up ahead of time.