Writing a 7 - 10 page paper focused on COLGATE company that was able to meet the challenges that it faced moving into the new Millennium.
The focus of your paper must be two-fold. First, you must describe the challenges that the company faced (explaining why these were challenges for the company) and second, what actions the company took in order to mitigate or eliminate these challenges.
Structure: In order to write this paper, the student must understand my expectations of a 13 - 17 page paper. Your paper must have the following sections:
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Section
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? of pages
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Notes
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1
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title page
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1
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2
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Abstract
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1
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Approximately 200 words in length, an abstract is a summary of your paper
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3
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Executive summary
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2 pages
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a minimalistic overview of the essential information concerning the company that you have chosen to write about (see below for added details)
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4
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Introduction
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1 - 2
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a short introduction to your paper identifying the industry in which your company works, the company that you have chosen to analyze, and a breakdown by sections as to how your paper will unfold.
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5
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Body
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5 - 8
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The body contains the meat of your paper in which you will do a kind of comparative analysis in which you will look at what the company was like (pre-change), the environmental conditions that necessitated change and how the company changed so as to overcome the challenges of the new millennium and adapt to a new set of environmental conditions (factors)
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6
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Conclusion
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1
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Summing up your paper and making recommendations as to what the company needs to do in order to more successfully move forward.
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7
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Bibliography
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1
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the primary and secondary references that you used to gather information concerning the company
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8
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Appendixes
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2*/ 1
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* Your first appendix will be your executive summary that you will refer to in your paper. The other appendix is a historical timeline profile of major points in the company's development from startup.
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Executive Summary
What to Include in Your Executive Summary If You Are an Established Business:
Below are several key points that your executive summary should include based on the stage of your business. If you are an established business, be sure to include the following information:
1. The Mission Statement - This explains what your business is all about. It should be between several sentences and a paragraph.
2. Company Information - Include a short statement that covers when your business was formed, the names of the founders and their roles, your number of employees, and your business location(s).
3. Strategic objectives - List the company's financial and non-financial strategic objectives in this section.
4. Growth Highlights - Include examples of company growth, such as financial or market highlights (for example, "XYZ Firm increased profit margins and market share year-over-year since its foundation). Graphs and charts can be helpful in this section.
5. Strategic Business Units - If a company is large and performs a number of separate activities each of which has market share and has or lacks the [potential for growth or no growth, this will give you an indication as to how the company might look with regard to such tools as BCG's Boston Box.
6. Your Products/Services -- Briefly describe the products or services you provide. Of note, when looking at the product line and/or services offered by the company, an indication of its organizational strategy (as referenced by Miles and snow) may become apparent.
7. Financial Information - If you are seeking financing, include any information about your current bank and investors.
8. Major competitors - Though not necessarily germane to the writing of the 'usual executive summary', creating a side by side table of the strengths and weaknesses of your company and its major competitor(s) will force you to look deeper into the company that you are about to analyze giving you valuable information for inclusion in your SWOT analysis.
9. Summarize future plans - Explain where you would like to take your business.
With the exception of the mission statement, all of the information in the executive summary should be covered in a concise fashion and kept to one to two pages. Therefore make every word count.
Body
When writing the body, you must be sure to focus on the environmental factors that were emergingi.e. the overriding issues/ factors that needed to be addressed, their apparent cause(s), systems affected and alternatives considered (briefly) - from doing nothing to major change.