Assignment:
Select a publicly traded company and utilize the economic concepts discussed in class to discuss this company. The body of the paper (not counting title page or references) must be double spaced and at least 5 pages in length using 12-point font, 1-inch top and bottom margins, and 1-inch side margins. Don't forget to put the title of your paper and your name on the front page. You should use at least three sources for your references. Your sources can be a journal, a book, a newspaper articles, or a magazine article. At least one source must be your prescribed textbook for this course. Use the American Psychological Association (APA) style for writing to organize your paper.
Suggested contents include:
Company Profile: Briefly describe the company, and why you selected this company. Include the size of the company and the mission and vision statements.
Product analysis: What types of products are traded in this company. What are the substitutes and complementary products within the firm and within its industry?
Demand and Sales: What strategies has the firm used to increase its sale? (Review the firm's annual report or business publications.) Indicate which variables you would use to forecast this particular firm's demand curve; this industry's demand curve
Elasticity:How price elastic are the firm's products?
Suppliers:What suppliers does this firm/industry use? What external factors might affect supplier product/service availability?
Competitor analysis: What type of market structure is applicable to the firm's industry? What would typical demand curves look like for this firm? What type of strategies would be used by firms in this market structure? Comment on any strategies that this firm has used based on business publication articles found in the Wall St. Journal, the Economist.
Profitability analysis: What strategies have the firms deployed or plan to deploy to increase profitability? What were the results? Based on the type of market structure that the firm operates in, what is the optimal strategy to increase profitability for this type of firm?