Overview, SWOT Analysis, Marketing Mix, and Recommendations - Final Project

Section A: Overview, Mission Statement and SWOT Analysis

Task:

A.Overview, Mission Statement and SWOT Analysis
This section begins with 1) a brief overview of the company, 2) its competitors and 3) its current strategy.  
1)Brief overview of company - Tell me about the company (what you have learned so far by reading the annual reports and articles about the company).  From the annual report you should find revenues, profits, number of employees, factories, ect. The mission statement is usually found on the company’s website or in the annual report.  Most major companies have a mission statement in their annual report on their corporate web site.  
2)Tell me about their competitors – top 2 at least, listing their strengths and weaknesses. A google search of top competitors should work.
3)Your company’s strategy? See pages 64-66.  After reading about Generic, Competitive (Porter’s) and Miles and Snow’s Strategy Types, choose the strategy you think best describes your company’s strategy.  You can change this in your Final Project if your opinion changes as you learn more about your company.
 
B. SWOT Analysis

Complete a SWOT analysis on the firm (sometimes this is listed in their annual report, depends on the firm).  Either way, you will need to take the available information and format it so it is easily understood. Bullets are fine as long as they are documented and give enough information.  Otherwise, write a couple of paragraphs for each (Strength, Weaknesses, Opportunities, and Threats).  If you quote something, put it in quotation marks and list your reference at the end of the sentence.  I won’t consider it plagiarism if you use quotation marks AND document your sources within the text.   

At the end of each paragraph list the references used in that paragraph so I can understand where your information was found.  Also at the end of your paper, use a Works Cited page which should include the Company’s Annual Report and at least two other references.  Do this for all the projects. Note: A company’s annual report can usually be located on their web page at the bottom under “investor relations”.
section 2 Mar 1
A.Discuss the company’s plans in terms of the ‘global experience learning curve’ as described on pages 26-27.   Tell me what stage your company is in.
B.Ethics- does your company have a code of ethics listed on their website.
C.Sustainability- How does your company rate using the Triple Bottom Line. Be sure to use a Works Cited page and list your references in the text after the sentence or paragraph if using the same source (Author, Date).

You should do some research (Library’s electronic database), and there are usually some articles on Google that discuss the company’s target market.  You may also find additional information in the annual report.  Large retailers attract different markets (the people who buy their products).
B.Products and Services
Discuss their products (products include services).  Then tell me what new products they plan to introduce or new concepts (JCP has a new concept in the works and McDonald’s is always introducing something new). 
Please include Works Cited page and include references after each paragraph.
Discuss their pricing strategy.  It is obvious that Starbucks attracts a different market than Family Dollar.  Both companies have different pricing strategies.

B.Distribution/Place Strategy – Chapter 12
Discuss their Distribution and/or Place strategy.  This includes how the product gets to the consumer.  For example, some companies have their own fleet of trucks and distribution centers, others outsource their logistics and others use a combination.  Also, included in this section is how and where the target market purchases the product (retailing).  Think about Starbucks.  You can buy a cup of coffee in a Starbucks store, in a Target store, at the airport and you can buy their coffee products online or at your local grocery store. Their distribution strategy which began as exclusive has become much more intensive since almost every convenience store sells some version of a Starbucks’s coffee. 

Discuss the company’s promotional strategy in terms of advertising, sales promotion, public relations, personal selling, digital advertising and social media.  Along with the annual report, a Google search on your company and the words promotional strategy will usually find something.  At this point you should have looked into the Library’s electronic resources to find more information about your firm.  You can do your own research on Facebook, Twitter or other social media.  Look at their website for current advertisements.

A.The Final Project is the compilation of all the above sections with corrections from the feedback you received from earlier projects. Next, add an Updated SWOT analysis and Recommendations. Also, be sure to update your project to include any new information you found as the project progressed.  I expect to see new information in the final project so put it in italics to make sure I see it as new information.  This is a dynamic project that will change as your understanding of the material deepens throughout the semester.   During the semester your company will face challenges as well as opportunities.  Be sure to stay abreast of all the news impacting your firm.  And make all changes in italics!

Then, as I said earlier, add an updated SWOT analysis, and your recommendations (See below for more information).

SWOT analysis

At this time, you are ready to update your SWOT analysis from all the information you have learned.  So update your SWOT analysis for the company.  In your final report, use this updated SWOT analysis. You should leave your original SWOT in the first section.

Finally, now it’s your turn.  Up to this point you have been discussing what the company has been doing.  Now, what recommendations do you have for the company?  It’s time to recommend strategies based on your SWOT analysis.  What do you think the company should do in terms of the target market and marketing mix (product, price, place and promotion)?