Step 1:  Research

In completing the report, students will use the chapters in the eBook as a guide and perform research on the company from Assignment 1, answer the required elements below in narrative form following the steps.

Library Resources

You will be using scholarly material and Mergent Online to research privately held companies.  On the main navigation bar in the classroom select, Resources and then select Library.  Select Databases by Title (A – Z).  Select M from the alphabet list, and then select Mergent Online.  

UMUC library is available for providing resources and services. Seek library support for excellence in your academic pursuit.  

Library Support

Extensive library resources and services are available online, 24 hours a day, seven days a week at https://www.umuc.edu/library/index.cfm to support you in your studies.  The UMUC Library provides research assistance in creating search strategies, selecting relevant databases, and evaluating and citing resources in a variety of formats via its Ask a Librarian service at https://www.umuc.edu/library/libask/index.cfm.

Step 2:  Company Selection

The companies used in Assignment 1 are below.  Students will use the same company to complete this project as they did in Project 1.  Students who fail to use the companies on the list or use an unapproved company will receive a zero for the assignment.

• Ball Corporation [NYSE: BLL]- My company from week 1( use this company)
• Michael Kors Corporation [NYSE:  KORS]
• National Beverage Corporation [NASDAQ:  FIZZ]
• YUM China Holdings, Inc. (YUMC)

Step 3: Preparation for the Assignment

Before you begin writing the report, you will read the following requirements that will help you meet the writing and APA requirements. 

• You will be doing an analysis on the selected company.  When doing an analysis you are not merely making statements that may be cited.  Instead, you will be supporting the statements made.  “Support” is the process of explaining, discussing and analyzing “why” and “how,” which is a higher level critical analytical skill that is required.  Support is needed to do well on this project.
•  Read the grading rubric for the assignment.  Use the grading rubric while writing the report to ensure all requirements are met that will lead to the highest possible grade.

Step 4:  Introduction

Create an introductory paragraph.  The Introduction should clearly and concisely convey the main points of the assignment’s requirements.

Step 5:  How to Set Up the Report (Ensure these are followed)

Create a Word or Rich Text Format (RTF) document using 12-point font.  The final product cannot be longer than 16 pages in length, which includes all tables and matrices but excludes the title page and reference page.  Those items identified in the technical analysis should appear under the appropriate heading in the paper.  Do no use an Appendix.

 Follow the following format using these topics as headings:

• Title page with title, your name, the course number, the instructor’s name;
• Company Background/Information
• Internal Environmental Analysis
• Strategic Analysis & Strategy Selection
• Reference page

Step 5:  Required Elements for the Report

Under the appropriate heading listed above, include the following:  

• Background analysis including vision and mission statements and objectives
• Internal Environmental Analysis
• Corporate Level Strategy
• Business Unit Level Strategy
• Functional Level Strategy
  • Explain how these strategies align with the company’s vision and mission statements;
  • Assess the company’s interactions with its stakeholders, the organizational structure, the organizational culture, and communication/decision making among managers within human resources, marketing production, operations, finance and accounting, R&D, and computer information systems, which can be accomplished by viewing the company’s website, interviews, and surveys.
• Financial analysis for the last reported fiscal year 

Use the company’s income statement and balance sheet to calculate no less than a total of ten (10) key financial ratios to the business.  There must be a mix of four different key categories inclusive of the leverage, liquidity, profitability, and efficiency ratios so that the ratios do not all come from the same category. The specific ratios selection must come from the following categories.

• Leverage Ratios (Long term debt ratio, Total debt ratio, Debt-to-equity ratio, Times interest earned ratio, and Cash coverage ratio).
• Liquidity Ratios (Net working capital to total assets ratio, current ratio, quick ratio, and cash ratio)
• Efficiency Ratios (Asset turnover ratio, Average collection period, Inventory turnover ratio, and Days sales outstanding)
• Profitability Ratios (Net profit margin, Return on assets, and Return on equity) 
• Technique Analysis
•  Develop and explain an IFE, BCG matrix, Grand Strategy Matrix, and QSPM.  The expectation is not to copy from the Internet but to develop one’s own.  If copied from the Internet, a zero will be assigned. The various tools are to appear in the appropriate area of the paper and not in one section of the paper.  When placing any table or figure in a table, it must be explained in detail.
• Strategy Analysis
• Identify and explain company strengths and weaknesses. Discuss success factors and what the company must do to perform successfully in the industry?  Discuss what strategies would allow the company to capitalize on its major strengths.  Discuss strategies that would allow the company to improve upon its major weaknesses
• Alternative Strategies
• Generate a minimum of three possible alternative strategies for the company;
  • Identify and discuss cultural factors that should be considered in analyzing and choosing among the alternative strategies;
• Prioritize and explain the selection of alternative strategies
• Recommendation
• Recommend the best one or two strategies among the alternative strategies and explain why these strategies are the best; 

Step 6:  Report Requirements to Follow

In writing the report,

• Use the grading rubric while completing the project to ensure all requirements are met that will lead to the highest possible grade. 
• Third person writing is required.  Third person means that there are no words such as “I, me, my, we, or us” (first person writing), nor is there use of “you or your” (second person writing).  
• Contractions are not used in business writing, so do not use them. 
• No direct quotes except for mission statement and vision statement.  For all other source material used in the analysis, you will not use direct quotation marks but will instead paraphrase.  What this means is that you will put the ideas of an author or article into your own words rather than lifting directly from a source document.  You may not use more than four consecutive words from a source document, as doing so would require direct quotation marks.  Changing words from a passage does not exclude the passage from having quotation marks. 
• Use in-text citations and provide a reference list that contains the reference associated with each in-text citation.
• You may not use books in completing this project.
• Provide the page or paragraph number in every in-text citation presented. 

DEADLINE: NEED THIS DONE BY FRIDAY JUNE 29.