Each assignment in this course focuses on a different portion of an industry analysis. The activities and discussion questions serve as an introduction to the process of critically evaluating a corporation, one of its direct competitors, and the industry as a whole which constitute a thorough and complete industry analysis. Your MB609 Capstone Project will be a complete industry analysis including a publicly traded company, its industry, and two of its competitors. (Be sure that you keep your textbook from this course as well as all of the projects you write.)
This Industry Analysis project (MB601) is an introductory project to prepare you for the Capstone Project (MB609). At this time you will only analyze a publicly traded company and its industry (none of its competitors will be analyzed). To begin this project, select a publicly traded corporation to study. In other words, you should be able to purchase stock in the corporation you select. The corporation must be large enough for the business and trade press to have written about it, but not so large that the amount of available information is overwhelming making your ability to suggest innovative recommendations for the corporation’s survival and success. Consequently, make sure that you do not choose one in which any and all potential strategies and recommendations have been discussed at length in the press. A table of contents and a bibliography listing only those works that you cited in your analysis are required. Your Stand-Alone Project responses should be both grammatically and mechanically correct, and formatted in the same fashion as the project itself. If there is a Part A, your response should identify a Part A, etc. In addition, you must appropriately cite all resources used in your response and document in a bibliography using APA style. (200 points) (A 10-page response is required for the combination of Parts A through H.)
First, collect the following documents and information.
1. The corporation’s annual report
2. At least 15 business or trade articles concerning the current status of your corporation and predictions of its future success
3. Information on your corporation’s CEO and Board of Directors
4. Information about the industry in general, including major players, consumers,
trends, etc.