Project Objectives and Group Information a Objectives Businesses operate in dynamic, competitive markets. The costs of activities can vary with changes in laws-e.g. taxes and tariffs, environmental regulations, minimum wage-and the actions of competitors. As Chapter 4 addresses, companies frequently evaluate decide to outsource an activity. or to undertake an activity previously outsourced. An overseas operating region may be dropped due to local economic conditions or an increase in competition in that region. A product line may be added or dropped due to changes in demand. In this project, you will evaluate a real-world business decision and research the reason(s) for that decision. Consider what change(s) influenced the company's decision, and the extent to which fixed and/or variable costs were at issue. You will research a particular company that made such a decision within the last ten years, and obtain information from the company itself and from other sources in order to perform this evaluation. Groups You may complete this project individually or in a group of up to three. If you do not timely notify the instructor of your group by Thursday. September 29 , you will complete the project individually. Only one member of the group should submit the project. All group members will receive the same grade. The project due date will not be extended if your partner drops the class or for other unforeseen circumstances. In case of plagiarism or other issues of academic integrity in a submitted group project, all group members will receive 0 points for the project. Each student or group must choose a unique topic. Topics will not be aliowed if they have already been chosen by another student or group -first come, first served. It is advised that you verify the avaliability of suificient information to complete project early, to assure the topic will meet assignment criteria. You may complete this project indlvidually or in a group of up to three. If you wish to complete the project as a group, notify the instructor no later than Thursday, September 29 . Notification consists of an cmall to the instructor with a ce to your project partner(s). The instructor will reply to your email to acknowledge any group formation. The project due date will not be extended for unforescen circumstances, including partners dropping the class. If you do not timely notify the instructor of your group, you will complete the project individually. If you wish to remove a partner from your group due to insufficient contribution or communication, please notify the instructor. Topic Each student or group must choose a unique topic. Notify the instructor of your topic no later than Thursday, October 27 . It is strongly advised that before selecting your topic, you identify sutfcient sources to meet the requirements described below. Project 1. Select a publicly traded U.S.-based company that made a significant make-it or buy-it decision or a decision to add or drop a product line or close a business unit within the last ten years. A public company is one whose stock traded at the time of the decision on a stock exchange such as the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) or NASDAQ. and therefore has financial statements available. The decision must represent an actual change, not a declsion to maintain the status quo. An example of maintaining the status quo would be continuing to buy a component after analyzing the costs of making the component. 2. Research the company for the year of the change and as necessary. prior and subsequent years, to understand why the company made this decision. Review and describe the information obtained from, at a minimum: - Company's annual report for the year of the decision - Orve compary press release from around the time of the decision, describing the reason(s) for the decision - Two credible online sources that discuss the reasonis) for the decision and/or expected effects of the change, from sources that are not affiliated with the comoany or with each other ithe Los Rios libraries have additional information about website credibility fa) fooursey/1 65406/pages/ project-1askstinoduhesitem,id=12630332 close a business unit within the last ten years. A public company is one whose stock traded at the time of the decision on a stock exchange such as the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) or NASDAQ. and thercfore has frnancial statements available. The decision must represent an actual change, not a decision to maintain the status quo. An example of maintaining the status quo would be continuing to buy a component after analyzing the costs of making the component. 2. Research the company for the year of the change and as necessary. prior and subsequent years, to understand why the compary made this decision. Review and describe the information obtained from, at a minimum: - Company's annual report for the year of the decision - One company press release from around the time of the decision, describing the reason(s) for the decision - Two credible online sources that discuss the reason(s) for the decision and/or expected effects of the change, from sources that are not affilated with the company or with each other (the Los Rios libraries have additional information about website credibility B) 3. Analyze financial data from the annual report, considering segment data if available, and non-financial considerations. 4. Fully and clearly explain your findings in writing, regarding the reason(s) for the decision and its effects on the company. Did new competitors enter the market? Did a product line become obsolete? Did regulations or taxes change? Analyze financial and non-financial data and describe what you see. What, If anything, can you infer about fixed and variable costs from your research? Was it a good decision? Explain how your research supports your conclusions. If information from different sources conflicts, describe the differences and explain which information you believe is most credible and why. Write professionally. Avoid redundancy and ornate language. 5. Cite all sources used. The source of any information or opinion other than your own original thought must be cited. Provide the web address and the date retrieved/accessed. Plagiarism is the use of someone else's work or ideas without properly citing the source. The ARC Library has more information about plagiarism C.. 6. Submit your assignment as a Word document or PDF file by the due date. In the case of a group, only one submission is necessary. Be sure to refer to the grading rubric, included with the Assigoment. Consider posting questions and sharing additional tips in the Protect. Discussion. Your favorite search engine will be very useful in finding information for this project, and possibly also in selecting a topic. You can search for news articles related to a specific news item, or more broadly to find a topic. A general search may yield results that are not crecfible, citable sources, but that give you some ideas for topics. Examples of search terms that you can build on to find a topic: - Specific 'XYZ & Co's store closures 20184 - Generat: "recent outsourcing" - Generat "dropped product line" Ot course you can narrow these down by specifying an industry. year, or any other criterion you choose. Once you have identified a company decision to analyze, find the company's website and look over its annual report for that year and if retevant, prior and subsequent years. Search the company's press releases for relevant information. Tips on this are shown below. Hews agencies and investors may haye taken an interest in the decision you have chosen to analyze. Return to the search engine to find their opinions of the decision. Did they doubt the company's explanation? Did they see the decision as a good or bad sign for the company's future eamings and competitiveness? Before You Begin Read the grading rubric provided with the Assignnent. Be familiar with how the project will be graded to assure you select a topic that will allow you to meet all assigned criteria. Financial Statements and Press Releases See the document linked bere for tips and examples of how to tind corporate financial statements and press releases. Writing Your Analysis company's press releases for relevant information. Tips on this are shewn below. News agencies and imvestors may have taken an interest in the decision you have chosen to analyze. Return to the scarch engine to find their opinions of the decision. Did they doubt the company's explanation? Did they see the decision as a good or bad sign for the company's future earnings and competitiveness? Before You Begin Read the grading rubric provided with the Assignment. Be familiar with how the project will be graded to assure you select a topic that will allow you to meet all assigned criteria. Financial Statements and Press Releases See the document linked bers for tips and examples of how to find corporate financial statements and press releases. Writing Your Analysis Proofreading your own work can be difficult so rely on others. Consider any errors your word processing software identifies. Have someone with a sharp eye proofread for professional language. To determine whether your explanations are thorough, have someone read your write-up who is unfamillar with your research. if the reader does not understand your conclusions, he or she may be able to point you to areas to expand. Links Website credibility: Los Ros libraties B Plagiarism: ARC library E tructure.com/courses/165406/assignments/4192119?module item id=12630340 Project Objectives and Group Information a Objectives Businesses operate in dynamic, competitive markets. The costs of activities can vary with changes in laws-e.g. taxes and tariffs, environmental regulations, minimum wage-and the actions of competitors. As Chapter 4 addresses, companies frequently evaluate decide to outsource an activity. or to undertake an activity previously outsourced. An overseas operating region may be dropped due to local economic conditions or an increase in competition in that region. A product line may be added or dropped due to changes in demand. In this project, you will evaluate a real-world business decision and research the reason(s) for that decision. Consider what change(s) influenced the company's decision, and the extent to which fixed and/or variable costs were at issue. You will research a particular company that made such a decision within the last ten years, and obtain information from the company itself and from other sources in order to perform this evaluation. Groups You may complete this project individually or in a group of up to three. If you do not timely notify the instructor of your group by Thursday. September 29 , you will complete the project individually. Only one member of the group should submit the project. All group members will receive the same grade. The project due date will not be extended if your partner drops the class or for other unforeseen circumstances. In case of plagiarism or other issues of academic integrity in a submitted group project, all group members will receive 0 points for the project. Each student or group must choose a unique topic. Topics will not be aliowed if they have already been chosen by another student or group -first come, first served. It is advised that you verify the avaliability of suificient information to complete project early, to assure the topic will meet assignment criteria. You may complete this project indlvidually or in a group of up to three. If you wish to complete the project as a group, notify the instructor no later than Thursday, September 29 . Notification consists of an cmall to the instructor with a ce to your project partner(s). The instructor will reply to your email to acknowledge any group formation. The project due date will not be extended for unforescen circumstances, including partners dropping the class. If you do not timely notify the instructor of your group, you will complete the project individually. If you wish to remove a partner from your group due to insufficient contribution or communication, please notify the instructor. Topic Each student or group must choose a unique topic. Notify the instructor of your topic no later than Thursday, October 27 . It is strongly advised that before selecting your topic, you identify sutfcient sources to meet the requirements described below. Project 1. Select a publicly traded U.S.-based company that made a significant make-it or buy-it decision or a decision to add or drop a product line or close a business unit within the last ten years. A public company is one whose stock traded at the time of the decision on a stock exchange such as the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) or NASDAQ. and therefore has financial statements available. The decision must represent an actual change, not a declsion to maintain the status quo. An example of maintaining the status quo would be continuing to buy a component after analyzing the costs of making the component. 2. Research the company for the year of the change and as necessary. prior and subsequent years, to understand why the company made this decision. Review and describe the information obtained from, at a minimum: - Company's annual report for the year of the decision - Orve compary press release from around the time of the decision, describing the reason(s) for the decision - Two credible online sources that discuss the reasonis) for the decision and/or expected effects of the change, from sources that are not affiliated with the comoany or with each other ithe Los Rios libraries have additional information about website credibility fa) fooursey/1 65406/pages/ project-1askstinoduhesitem,id=12630332 close a business unit within the last ten years. A public company is one whose stock traded at the time of the decision on a stock exchange such as the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) or NASDAQ. and thercfore has frnancial statements available. The decision must represent an actual change, not a decision to maintain the status quo. An example of maintaining the status quo would be continuing to buy a component after analyzing the costs of making the component. 2. Research the company for the year of the change and as necessary. prior and subsequent years, to understand why the compary made this decision. Review and describe the information obtained from, at a minimum: - Company's annual report for the year of the decision - One company press release from around the time of the decision, describing the reason(s) for the decision - Two credible online sources that discuss the reason(s) for the decision and/or expected effects of the change, from sources that are not affilated with the company or with each other (the Los Rios libraries have additional information about website credibility B) 3. Analyze financial data from the annual report, considering segment data if available, and non-financial considerations. 4. Fully and clearly explain your findings in writing, regarding the reason(s) for the decision and its effects on the company. Did new competitors enter the market? Did a product line become obsolete? Did regulations or taxes change? Analyze financial and non-financial data and describe what you see. What, If anything, can you infer about fixed and variable costs from your research? Was it a good decision? Explain how your research supports your conclusions. If information from different sources conflicts, describe the differences and explain which information you believe is most credible and why. Write professionally. Avoid redundancy and ornate language. 5. Cite all sources used. The source of any information or opinion other than your own original thought must be cited. Provide the web address and the date retrieved/accessed. Plagiarism is the use of someone else's work or ideas without properly citing the source. The ARC Library has more information about plagiarism C.. 6. Submit your assignment as a Word document or PDF file by the due date. In the case of a group, only one submission is necessary. Be sure to refer to the grading rubric, included with the Assigoment. Consider posting questions and sharing additional tips in the Protect. Discussion. Your favorite search engine will be very useful in finding information for this project, and possibly also in selecting a topic. You can search for news articles related to a specific news item, or more broadly to find a topic. A general search may yield results that are not crecfible, citable sources, but that give you some ideas for topics. Examples of search terms that you can build on to find a topic: - Specific 'XYZ & Co's store closures 20184 - Generat: "recent outsourcing" - Generat "dropped product line" Ot course you can narrow these down by specifying an industry. year, or any other criterion you choose. Once you have identified a company decision to analyze, find the company's website and look over its annual report for that year and if retevant, prior and subsequent years. Search the company's press releases for relevant information. Tips on this are shown below. Hews agencies and investors may haye taken an interest in the decision you have chosen to analyze. Return to the search engine to find their opinions of the decision. Did they doubt the company's explanation? Did they see the decision as a good or bad sign for the company's future eamings and competitiveness? Before You Begin Read the grading rubric provided with the Assignnent. Be familiar with how the project will be graded to assure you select a topic that will allow you to meet all assigned criteria. Financial Statements and Press Releases See the document linked bere for tips and examples of how to tind corporate financial statements and press releases. Writing Your Analysis company's press releases for relevant information. Tips on this are shewn below. News agencies and imvestors may have taken an interest in the decision you have chosen to analyze. Return to the scarch engine to find their opinions of the decision. Did they doubt the company's explanation? Did they see the decision as a good or bad sign for the company's future earnings and competitiveness? Before You Begin Read the grading rubric provided with the Assignment. Be familiar with how the project will be graded to assure you select a topic that will allow you to meet all assigned criteria. Financial Statements and Press Releases See the document linked bers for tips and examples of how to find corporate financial statements and press releases. Writing Your Analysis Proofreading your own work can be difficult so rely on others. Consider any errors your word processing software identifies. Have someone with a sharp eye proofread for professional language. To determine whether your explanations are thorough, have someone read your write-up who is unfamillar with your research. if the reader does not understand your conclusions, he or she may be able to point you to areas to expand. Links Website credibility: Los Ros libraties B Plagiarism: ARC library E tructure.com/courses/165406/assignments/4192119?module item id=12630340