Business Assignment Report: Evaluation of a company

Word Count: 1,750 to 2,000 words.

Scenario: The email you drafted was successful and generated a great deal of interest; in fact, after some skillful negotiation and an extended dialogue, you were able to secure a job at the company you initially emailed. As a result, you now enjoy a number of friendships with some very interesting co-workers, one of whom being -- of course -- Milton. This company you work for has outperformed the market considerably. As a result, the company has decided to invest significant capital into another business, but there is some debate within your company as to which business should be funded. You now have been asked (because of your impressive composition skills) to create a report that evaluates, significantly, another company. This report will be used by an executive body to decide whether or not to invest in the company you have reviewed. Select any company you wish (with the exceptions of McDonald's, Red Bull, Apple, UnderArmour, Netflix, Google, Nike, and Starbucks -- you may use Peet's Coffee or some other coffee shop), but select a company you are interested in because this company will be your focus for assignments two AND three (and quite possibly assignment four). While considering which company you would like to research, you should think carefully about researching a small to mid size company because you may find that the larger Fortune 500 companies can be unwieldy. Smaller companies will pose their own problems.

Sometimes research is harder to secure. Companies that are privately owned, like In- N-Out, will often pose serious challenges because they are not required to disclose financials in the same way that publically traded companies are. Research in privately owned companies can be very challenging, so you should consider this factor as well. Once you choose a company, evaluate that company as you see fit. This short report will require a title page (that does NOT count towards the word total) and an executive summary. Consider chapter nine in Business Communication as you create your report, and rely heavily on the suggestions in chapter nine for formatting. This report will NOT be MLA formatted; instead, you will place page numbers in the lower right hand corner (with no affiliated name). The pages leading up to and including the Table of Contents (Title Page, Executive Summary, and Table of Contents -- in that order) must have lower case Roman numerals (i, ii, iii) in the lower right hand corner, even if handwritten. The first page is your title page, and you include a title, "date," "prepared for" (professor's name), "written for" (TA's name), "prepared by" (student's name), problem statement, and purpose statement. You will then need an Executive Summary that outlines your categories, sources for research, justification of categories/sources, and general recommendations.

The page after the Executive Summary will be your Table of Contents, which should include all categories, sub-categories, and visuals (with page numbers). After the Table of Contents, you will begin the body of your essay with your primary text, and you begin the body of the essay with arabic numerals (1, 2, 3 . . . ), again in the lower right hand corner (wtih no affiliated name). You must cite all sources (including yourself if you used material generated previously) using MLA format (both in text and in a "works cited" page at the end of the report). Generate discrete categories for evaluation (categories and sub-categories), and provide a supplemental table of contents (does NOT count towards the word total) for the report. Consider all aspects you feel are relevant. The evaluation could investigate any of the following aspects, or, for those who are particularly creative, you can develop your own categories: business strategies, quality concerns with the product, labor practices, business ethics, market share, advertising strategies, Internet and cyber presence, product presence in the general marketplace, financial standings, research and development, growth, or any other aspects of the company you feel are relevant. Two or three categories should be considered extensively, and research is expected. All essays should provide an ultimate and general evaluation of the company in question, but strong essays will provide nuanced considerations of different categories and explain how those varied individual evaluations interrelate to each category.

Linguistic requirement: you must include and underline one complex sentence (subordination).

Begin by carefully reviewing and considering chapters eight and nine in the Rentz. Also, consider any lectures and discussions that pertain to the topic of reports.

Continue by pursuing all avenues of research from formal articles and analyses at The Rivera Library (you may wish to consider FACTIVA, for example) to the primary analysis of web sites or individual products. Reserve drawing a final evaluation until you have conducted your research and fully contemplated the company under review. In other words, let the research guide your evaluation. Do not be married to a position and then attempt to justify the analysis of that position. You may be surprised about what you learn as you begin to dig into the company you are evaluating. Remember, this report does have a persuasive aspect connected to it, so you should consider audience and think about strategies to persuade your audience that your insight is logical, factual, unbiased, and thoughtful.