The textbook for the course is Foundations of Business
BUS 110 Company Research Project and Presentation (35 points)
Prof. Teubner
Objective: To practice researching and reporting business information.
Each student will be required to select a company that is publicly traded to research during the semester. These assignments must be typed and submitted by the due dates announced.
Part 1
: Ethics and Social Responsibility (5 points)
Read chapter 2 on Ethics and Social Responsibility.
1. Go to your company’s website and read what it states about ethics and social responsibility. In a minimum two page typed report, discuss what you have learned about your company from reading the website. Has your company been ethical and socially responsible? Include why you think a company should be ethical and socially responsible. How can a company benefit from being ethical and socially responsible?
Part 2: The 4 P’s of Marketing (5 points)
1. Read chapters 11 and 12 in the textbook about marketing.
2. Write a three page typed report discussing how the 4 P’s of marketing relate to your company’s products or services. Be sure to discuss each of the 4 P’s.
Part 3: FIVE ARTICLE SUMMARIES (5 points)
You must research your company in the news and write a one page summary of the article and include your opinion or reaction to the article. In total you must include five (5) articles and the summaries. Be sure to include the title and date of the article and the name of the publication, i.e., The New York Times, Business Week, Forbes, Fortune, The Wall Street Journal, etc. You can access articles through the library databases or go to the publication’s website, such as Businessweek.com, Fortune.com, nytimes.com etc. The one page summary must be a typed and might include information, such as:
MY COMPANY…..
announced an acquisition or merger with another company because…
was involved in a crisis or scandal because…
announced changes in its management because…
was affected by global developments because…
was affected by changes in U.S. government regulations because…
was affected by competitor activities because…
reported an increase (decrease) in sales because…
Note:
You will not find news articles on all of the above. These are just some examples of what you might find in the news about the company.
Part 4: STOCK PRICE (2 points)
Each week you will monitor the stock price and news regarding the stock that you selected. If you notice a significant change in the stock price on a particular day/week, review the news about the stock to determine what caused the change in price. Include the stock price for 5 weeks.
Part 5: STOCK MARKET GAME (3 points)
Assume you have $10,000 to invest in the company’s stock. Use the stock quotations section of your newspaper or a financial website such as
www.finance.yahoo.com
to find the current stock price. How many shares of the stock can you purchase with your $10,000? ($10,000/price per share = ____shares)
Some stocks pay a dividend, which is shown next to the stock price in the stock quotations. The dividend is normally quoted on an annualized basis and is paid four times a year, so assume that you receive one dividend payment over the semester (one-fourth of the annual dividend).
At the beginning of the semester, you will fill in rows 2 through 4 in the table below. At the end of the semester, you will sell your shares to determine how your investment performed. At that time, you can determine your return on your investment by filling in rows 5 through 8 in the table.
Record the following:
1. Your initial investment
$10,000
Stock price beginning of the semester _______
2. Number of shares purchases
_______
3. Dividend per share received (if paid)
_______
4. Dollar amount of dividends received
equal to row 2 x row 3)
_______
5. Stock price at end of the semester when you
sell the stock
_______
6
. Dollar amount received from selling the stock
(equal to row 2 x row 5)
_______
7. Total amount of dollars you have at the
end of the semester
(equal to row 4 + row 6)
_______
8. RETURN ON YOUR INVESTMENT
equal to (row 7 – row 1)
_______
Part 6: COMPANY PROFILE (5 points)
Refer to the assignment sheet attached.
Part 7: Company Research Project Summary and Oral Presentation (10 points)
Write a three page report covering each of these topics:
a. What are some of the strengths and weaknesses of the organization? Research a SWOT analysis for this company.
b. You are a stockbroker. Give three well thought out reasons why you would call your clients and recommend that they buy the stock. Remember that you work on commission and have to be very persuasive while still doing what is in the best interest of the clients. Why should investors buy this stock? If you would not recommend the stock, why not?
c. If you were the CEO of the organization, what would you do
differently to increase sales and be more competitive in the global marketplace?
Some suggested companies to follow:
Microsoft, Ford, General Motors, Apple, McDonald’s, FedEx, UPS, CBS, Google,
Wal-Mart, General Electric, IBM, Sears Roebuck, RCA, Nike, Intel, CNN, Boeing, Hewlett Packard, The Walt Disney Co., Coca-Cola, Proctor & Gamble, Yahoo!, Toyota, Toys “R” Us, Kellogg, Starbucks, Avon Products, Hilton Hotels, L.L. Bean, H.J. Heinz, Amazon.com, Exxon Mobil Corp., United Airlines, Southwest Airlines, Delta Airlines, Timberland, Computer Associates, or another company of your choice, subject to instructor’s approval. You may select a company where you have been employed or hope to be employed, if it is publicly traded.
Some helpful suggestions:
You can access information through NCC’s library. Go to
www.ncc.edu
and click on Library. You will need your N # to gain access to the databases from a computer off campus. Some especially useful databases are available through the library’s website, including LexisNexis and InfoTrac General Onefile for the articles and for the company profile Business Insights: Global or Business Source Complete.
You can do an Internet search for the company’s website, follow the company’s stock price, and also find company profiles on the Internet. Some suggested sites to help you with the company profile or to follow the stock prices are:
www.cnnmoney.com
www.hoovers.com
www.fortune.com/fortune/companies
www.finance.yahoo.com
If you have questions, please do not hesitate to see me.
BUS110
Prof. Teubner
Company Research Report and Presentation Project
Part 6: Company Profile (5 points)
Objective: To practice researching and gathering business information.
This assignment will be collected at the start of class on _____________. You are required to cite the source of the information. Papers submitted without sources will not be graded. All work must be typed.
Choose any company with publically traded stock and answer the following questions.
1.
Name of the Corporation and stock (ticker) symbol: __________________________________
2.
Address of Corporate Headquarters:
__________________________________________
__________________________________________
__________________________________________
_______________________________________________
3.
Name of Principal Officers:
3a.
Chairman of the Board of Directors:
__________________________________________________________________
3b.
President or Chief Executive Office:
_
_________________________________________________________________
4.
Type of Industry:
__________________________________________________________________
5.
Description of the major goods and services the Corporation produces:
__________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________
6.
Major subsidiaries the Corporation owns:
__________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________
7.
What overseas (international) operations does it have?
__________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________
8.
Corporate financial history for the past three years: (Go to yahoofinance.com and type in the name of your company or go to the library database Business Insights: Global or Business Source Complete.
Year: |
200_ |
||
Revenue/Sales |
|||
Total Expenses* |
|||
Net Profit (Income) |
|||
Earnings per share |
|||
Dividends/share |
|||
Total Assets |
|||
Total Liabilities |
* Total revenue minus net income equals total expenses
9.
Outlook for the Corporation as described by an independent Investment Service (financial service). Hint: Go to the Business Insights: Global or Business Source Complete database, type in the name of the company. What is the recommendation to investors regarding the purchase/sale of the company’s stock?
__________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________
10.
In the past year, what was the:
a. Highest price per share of common stock?
__________________
b. Lowest price per share of common stock?
__________________
c. Last (closing) price per share of common stock on the most recent date:
Price: ________ Date: ________
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