Company Introduction & Background
Provide a brief introduction to the company, discussing its industry, brief history, current
market size and position among competitors, name some major competitors, and any other
information you deemed as important to introduce the company you have chosen. Make sure
to cover current and future opportunities and challenges the company may face.
Company Structure & Strategies (Chapters 6-8)
What is the company’s mission and vision statement?
Conduct a SWOT analysis for your company. What are the company’s strengths, weaknesses,
opportunities, and threats? See handout in Project folder for additional information.
What are some of the short-term and long-term strategies that your company is implementing
right now? How is the company achieving these strategies?
Human Resource Analysis (Chapter 9-10)
Who are the chief executives (CEO, CFO, COO, CIO, etc.)?
How many employees work for the company?
What are the various duties for employees in the company?
How are employees trained?
What benefits are provided to employees?
How does the company’s compensation & benefits compare to its competitors?
Marketing (Chapters 11-12)
Discuss the marketing mix for your company’s products or services (“4 Ps”).
Are the company’s customers consumers, other businesses (B2B), or both?
What is the company’s target markets?
What is the company’s product mix? What product lines exist in this mix?
How does the company differentiate its products or services from competitor products or
services?
Does the company’s brand name carry significant weight in the market? Is there a sense of
brand loyalty and brand awareness associated with the company’s brand?
Where are the company’s products or services on the product life cycle?
How are the company’s products or services priced compared to competitors?
What pricing strategy does the company use for its products or services or services?
Is there any non-pricing competition being performed?
What distribution channels and marketing intermediaries are being used by the company?
Discuss the promotion mix used by the company.
Finance & Accounting (Chapters 14-16)
Looking at the company’s financial statements, does the company issue financial statements
according to GAAP or IFRS (or some other accounting standard)?
What is the company’s total assets, liabilities, and equity from its balance sheet for the most
recent year?
What is the company’s 3 largest assets and 3 largest liabilities for the most recent year?? Why
do you think these are the largest?
What is the company’s total revenue for the most recent year?
What is the company’s net income for the most recent year?
Use the following ratios to determine the company’s financial performance and health.
Interpret each ratio and discuss how it reflects on the company. If you want to, you can pick a
competitor and compare the competitor’s ratio to your company’s ratio.
• Current Ratio
• Debt to Equity Ratio
• Basic Earnings per Share (Basic EPS)
• Return on Assets (ROA)
• Return on Equity (ROE)
• Inventory Turnover Ratio
What type of financing does the company employ – stock, debt, or a mix? How much?
What is the company’s current common stock price (at the time of your answering this
question)? Give the date of the stock quote and the source. If there are multiple classes or
types of stock, provide this information for each class or type.
What is the company’s current market capitalization (at the time of your answering this
question)? Give the date of the quote and the source.
What is the company’s beta for common stock (at the time of your answering this question)?
Give the date of the quote and the source. Is this stock (based on the Beta) considered “risky”
or not?
What stock exchange does the company’s stock trade on?
Does the company pay dividends? If so, how much was the most recent dividend paid? What
date was it paid? Provide source used.
Does the company use bonds? If so, how much bond debt is on the balance sheet?