Company Profile Instructions

Description

Imagine your boss has said, “I’d like to know more about this company. Go see what you can find out, and put together a report about it.” This profile is the kind of report you might make. 

This profile is an overview of the company and industry that you will use during the semester to learn and practice using strategy concepts. You will find, analyze, and integrate sources of information to create a report about your company and industry right now. As we move through the semester, you will also be able to use this information to complete many of the other group assignments. 

In some ways, this assignment is intentionally ambiguous. It is your job to decide what is most important about your company and your industry, because that will be different in each case. This assignment is an individual assignment. 

Purpose

The purposes of this assignment are

• To familiarize yourself with your company and industry
• To interpret and explain financial information and ratios
• To collect information about your company and industry that you will use throughout the semester to conduct strategic analyses
• To find, interpret, and integrate information 

Formatting and General Guidelines

1. Use a heading for each section of the profile. This is a report, not an essay; headings make it easier for your readers to find the information that they are looking for. 
2. Write the text of all sections in complete paragraphs using full sentences; do not just use a list of bullets. Remember that each paragraph has one main topic or idea, and usually starts with a topic sentence followed by evidence. 
3. Make all charts and graphs yourself, and include them in the body of the report.  Hint: use Excel to collect data and make graphs
4. Cite the source of every fact that you use, whether or not it is a direct quote. 

Yes, really, every fact. Including financial information. 

Hint: Use in-text citations as you go along. 

Hint: Your readers want to know where you got your information, and they want to know what ideas/analyses are yours vs. those written by someone else.

5. Use sample profiles from previous semesters as guides, but not in place of instructions. 
6. If there are any sections that you need to adjust for your company—for example, if your company only has three years of financial information—do what makes sense and then make a note. 

BA 490 Fall 2021

Company Profile Contents

Your profile must include the following information/sections, in this order.  Give each section its own heading. 

1. Opening Information (FYI, this is not a section that needs a heading) 

1. Your name
2. The company name and its logo
3. At least one picture that tells your audience something about the company
4. A caption that explains the picture and its relevance for this profile

2. About Your Company

1. A description of the company (What does it do?)
2. A company history that is 100 to 110 words long.  (how did it start? How has it changed over the years? What do you know about its founder, values, etc.? )  This should be a description you have written using at least three sources. It should not be copied and pasted from any source. 
3. A description of its business model (How does the company make a profit? What/who is its target market? How does it distinguish itself from other companies?) 

3. About Your Company’s Industry 

1. What industry is your company in? Support your answer with evidence. 

Note:  This industry should be small enough so that other companies in this industry are relevant competitors for you company (for example, “cosmetics” rather than

“personal care” or “consumer products.”) 

2. How big is this industry? What larger category of industries is this part of? How big is that industry? 

4. Your Company vs. Its Competitors: General Analysis

1. Who are your company’s closest competitors? How big are they? What are their market shares? What do their sizes and market shares tell you? 

Hint: Your company’s closest competitors may be different from the companies in your industry group for class. 

2. In what ways are these companies similar or different? This may include target markets, products, business models, etc. 
3. What other information should we know about the competitors? 

5. Your Company vs. Its Competitors: Financial Information and Analyses

1. Make a table of basic financial information for your company and its 3 closest competitors (see blank table below). This is a “snapshot”—one year of data, comparing several companies. 

Hint: If one or more of your closest competitors are private, so that financial information is not available, please include that fact in your profile, and choose another public company so that you can use its data to make comparisons. 

1. 1. Use the most recent complete fiscal year available for each company. 
   2. Set up the table using the one below as a model. 

Hint: Format numbers correctly for each type—percentage, decimal, dollar amount, etc. 

Hint: Make it easy to read and understand! 

2. Graph, explain, and analyze the financial information for your company and its closest competitors. For each part of the analysis, make graphs AND explain and analyze the graphs, in words. Be sure to include these areas of financial analysis: 
   1. Size (please use gross revenue. For some industries, number of stores/locations is also relevant.)  
   2. Profitability (gross margin, operating margin, net profit margin, return on equity, return on assets)
   3. Liquidity and Leverage (current ratio, debt-to-assets, debt-to-equity, long term debt-to-equity)
   4. Anything else you think is interesting or important.  

6. Your Company: Financial Information and Analyses (Same information as in blank table ab0ve)

1. Make a table of basic financial information for your company for the past 5 years
   1. Use the 5 most recent complete fiscal years available
   2. Set up the table using the one above as a model, but put a different  year in each column instead of a competitor
   3. Financial information is usually presented with the most recent year to the left of the page.
2. Graph, explain, and analyze the financial information for each of these categories. For each category, make grap of all 5 years of data for EACH financial measure listed in I—iii below. 

Then, explain and analyze in words what the graphs illustrate in pictures. 

1. 1. 1. Size and growth (Size each year, change in size from previous year)
      2. Profitability (gross margin, operating margin, net profit margin, return on equity, return on assets)
      3. Liquidity and Leverage (current ratio, debt-to-assets, debt-to-equity, long term debt-to-equity)

7. List of sources 

1. Format your sources in MLA or APA format, whichever you prefer. 
2. Use in-text citations for every fact, whether it is a direct quote or not, including sources of financial information. 
3. You may choose your preferred format (APA, MLA, or other), as long as you are consistent in using it.
4. For any web sites OTHER THAN from the library’s databases, include the url, even if it is not required in the citation format that you chose. 

Hint: Remember to list your sources in alphabetical order! 

Hint: The “make a citation” tools may or may not be correct, so double-check before you turn in your work.