Assignment

Instructions and Checklist for the Globus Written Report

This document explains the specifications you should follow for the written report. It also includes a list of real-world camera companies from which you may choose for the real-world part of your report.

Expected Length

This text of the report will be about 2 to 2 ½ single-spaced pages (approximately 1,500 words as an estimate if using Times New Roman, 12-point font). It must be single-spaced, and the expected length of the text portion is roughly 2 to 2 ½ pages. Note that this page limit includes only the text part of the report - the tables that will be attached to the report and the CEO's letter requirement are additional pages.

Required Components of the Report

The components of the report are described here in items A through D. As you'll see in the grading rubric, points are assigned to each component - if you omit a component, you cannot receive any points for that component (and one component does not make up for a missing one).

A.The text of the report will consist of two parts - (i) a discussion of your Globus company and (ii) an analysis of a real-world camera company.

Part (i) will cover the Glo-Bus company and should be the longer part of the paper. Part (i) should address the following questions, with the bulk of the discussion devoted to the performance and strategy:

(1) What strategy did your firm pursue? What decisions did you make in the implementation of that strategy? What about that strategy was effective and what was ineffective?

(2) Explain your simulation company's financial performance over the 8-year period. (Make references to the table that shows the financial results.) Explain why you made the decisions you made --- what effect did these decisions have on the performance results and why did these decisions have these results? You made dozens of decisions over eight graded rounds of this simulation - give an overview of those key decisions (such as pricing, quality, distribution, pay for employees, social responsibility expenditures, dividends, and so on).

(3) How has the simulation helped you improve your understanding of and ability to interpret and analyze the strategy and performance of actual businesses? If you participated in the simulation again, what would you do differently and why? This will be a brief paragraph.

Part (ii) should address the following elements for the real-world camera firm (also included in these instructions is a list of real-world camera companies you can choose from):

(1) Overview of the firm and its position in the industry (size of the firm, age of the firm, location, subsidiaries, products, markets served, etc.). Description of key resources and capabilities.

(2) Identification of key trends in the external environment.

(3) Major strategic issues the company is facing and actions they are taking.

B.A table of your simulation company's financial results. Prepare (i.e., type) this table yourself from data available within the Glo-Bus system. Do NOT merely print the graphs or tables prepared for you by the Glo-Bus system. Include not only the five metrics that Glo-Bus used to rank the teams each week, but also items that are typically important in financial statements (e.g., revenues, total expenses, specific expenses relevant to your strategy, debt level, etc.) and year-to-year percentage changes in these items.

C.A table summarizing the real-world camera company's financial performance for the preceding four years. Include key performance indicators such as revenues, net income, debt, and stock price and others that you think are important. Prepare this table yourself from data available in the company's publicly available financial reports. If your company's financial reports are denominated in currency other than U.S. dollars, do not convert to dollars. Simply report the results in the currency as given, making sure that your table indicates what currency is being used.

D.For your real-world company, include a copy of the most recent CEO's letter from the annual report or Strategy summary from an annual regulatory filing (such as the SEC 10-K with a "Management's Discussion and Analysis"). Underline (or highlight) ten statements or points in this letter that relate to topics discussed in this course this semester. Indicate in the margin the specific topic from class that the point illustrates (e.g., "power of suppliers in the industry", "economic sector of the external environment", "core competency as an internal strength").

Real-World Camera Companies

Part ii gives students a chance to see how their simulation experience is relevant to actual business practice. Each student will choose a real-world digital camera company for analysis. As stated above, a company description, an environmental assessment, and a performance analysis for this company will be included in the report.

The following list includes companies that make cameras of various types. These are public companies for which the information you need to complete your report should be available. It is recommended that you choose from this list. A link is provided to the Investor Relations section of the company's website.

AeroVironment - camera-equipped drones
Canon
Casio
Fujifilm
GoPro- principally wearable cameras
Mobileye- cameras for autonomous cars
Nikon
Olympus
Panasonic
Parrott- camera-equipped drones
Ricoh- makes Pentax cameras
Samsung
Sony

Do not compare your simulation company to the real-world company - such a comparison would be too contrived. The purpose of investigating a real-world company is to apply some of the knowledge you have gained about assessing strategy and performance outcomes.