The purpose of this assignment is to:

• Learn about your assigned company and a competitor, provide a simple analysis and comparison of both companies’ financial performance, and learn about the industry in which your company and competitor operate.
• Practice effective business communication skills by writing in a common business format, the information sheet style report.
• Become familiar with many of the business reference sources available at ASU West Fletcher Library.

Finding information about companies and industries is a skill you will use countless times throughout your college and business career. The more you practice, the better skilled you will become at analyzing each situation and going straight to the information you need. Through this assignment, you will become more skilled at determining if the situation requires stating facts or opinions about the company, and whether the information source should be the company itself, a local or national newspaper, or a business analyst with a critical eye on the competitors within the whole industry. In addition, you will begin to learn how to determine what contextual information about the industry you need to understand a company's performance.

In this first assignment you will work individually to prepare a short information sheet style report (4-6 pages) for which you will gather information about specific companies within an industry group, and about the industry's environment, and you will compare the companies. Your report will present the information using an information sheet style report which includes the use of written text, bulleted lists, and tables.

As with all business research, you will need to gather information from several different sources, evaluate which sources are most appropriate (current, accurate, complete), and synthesize the results from the different sources. A minimum of five (5) sources must be used and cited for this assignment.

• Select a competitor company from your industry group
• Gather information on your assigned company and the selected competitor

NOTE: sales and profit figures for both companies should be for the same three years, and the

data must be displayed in a table(s)

• Research issues and facts about the industry and the environment in which it operates

(see section #2 "Learn about the industry environment" below)

• Analyze the individual, financial performance of your company and the selected industry competitor, and compare their financial performances to each other (see section #3 below)
• Analyze information contained in each company’s Web site (see section #3 below)

Key Terms from Management:

Sales: Sales and revenues are equivalent terms. Revenues are the total amount of money received from the sale of goods or services, as well as from related business activities.

Profits: Profits are defined and expressed in many ways. For the purpose of this paper, profits are the same as net income which is defined as the total profit (or loss) after all expenses including taxes have been deducted from revenue; also called net earnings.

Industry A distinct group of business types, e.g., automobiles, beverages, airlines, entertainment, etc.

General Environment: the overall context in which a business organization and its industry exist; the external background conditions that encompass an industry and influence how an industry and its particular business organizations operate. The General Environment is made up of: economic, technological, socio-cultural, political-legal, and international environments.

Economic Environment: the condition of the economy in terms of inflation, interest rates, employment levels, e.g., factors that impact supply and demand.

Technological Environment: the methods used to convert resources to services and products; possessing or not possessing technological advances often determines if a company is competitive or not.

Socio-Cultural Environment: the prevailing social values and customs, and the demographic characteristics of the society in which the industry and its businesses function; social customs and demographics impact taste and the marketability of products and services.

Political-Legal Environment the relationship between business and government and the regulation of business; political views and laws impact business vis-à-vis taxes and regulation.

International Environment the forces that extend beyond national boundaries; these forces impact the number of foreign competitors for local markets, the number of foreign markets for exported goods; the availability of low cost labor forces outside the U.S.

As you work through this assignment you will:

Organize research ideas and questions, information sources, and the information you gather

Analyze the information to understand it

Synthesize the information to present it in clear, concise and orderly manner

Evaluate similar information found in multiple sources to determine the best information to use

Researching Assignment #1:

1. Gather the following information about both companies:

• Financial performance. Analyze the financial performance of your company and compare its performance to its industry group competitor. Display financial information in tables, and present the financial analysis as text.

• Web presence. What information do Web sites contain for consumers? for investors? for e-commerce? Is the information useful, easy to find, up-to-date for both companies? Give examples. How does each company’s web site portray the company's image? Does each Web site contain marketing "hype"? Explain what kind of information does each site contain that could be used for research about the company? Give two examples.

Your first writing assignment will provide an opportunity to gather information and to think and write about the company, a competitor, and the industry environment in both factual and analytical ways.

The assignment should be written as if your boss (e.g., your professor) asked you to gather some information about your company and a competitor, to provide a simple financial analysis and comparison of the two firms in the context of the industry environment. Keeping in mind that your boss is very busy and that she/he places a premium on precision and accuracy, the detail and presentation of your information should be aimed to meet that end; and, the information sheet report should be soundly researched and easy to read.

The information sheet report should be presented in such a way that it is easy for the reader to quickly find specifics facts and ideas. To help accomplish this, use design tools such as:

• headings
• bolding
• offset text
• bullet points
• tables

These formatting devices are used extensively in business reports, particularly fact sheets, so you should rely on them to successfully complete this assignment.

Scope, length, citations:

The report should be 4-6 pages, and all sources, including Internet sources, should be documented in the American Psychological Association (APA) style. Please cite the source(s) in which you obtained information or data by using "in-text" citations throughout the document, and also include references. In a fact sheet style report, it is appropriate to place in-text citations next to headings.

NOTE: A minimum of five (5) sources must be used and cited for this assignment. Guidelines for using APA style will be provided, and additional APA materials may be found on Web sites maintained by Fletcher Library and the Writing Center.

Your report will be graded on:

• accuracy and completeness of content
• observations and meaningful analysis of financial performance and the industry environment

• clarity and organization of writing
• appropriate use of report style.