Managerial Decision Making Research and Analysis
Focus of the Final Paper
Research a specific company of your choice and identify some of the managerial decisions that were made over time and in response to changes in its market or competitive environment. Use the University Library and web-based sources for your research. At least three external scholarly sources must be used in addition to the textbook.
Address all of the following areas:
Describe the company and provide a brief history of its operations. Find or use graphs to illustrate its financial performance over the years.
Describe any sources of risk or uncertainty in its operations. Do the financial reports indicate risky or uncertain activities or changes to the economic environment that ultimately appear to have affected the company’s financial outcomes? Be specific.
Are there any government regulations that have affected this company’s operations domestically or abroad? Explain.
Describe the inputs that are used in this company’s production function and identify any challenges to securing these inputs.
Determine if the company has introduced new products in existing markets or created new markets over time. What is the impact on its finances?
Determine if the price of its products increased or declined over time and analyze the reasons for price fluctuations. Study the demand elasticity for its products and discuss the availability of close substitutes for its products. How does that affect pricing decisions?
Analyze the company’s profitability. Identify the economy or industry influences on its costs, operations, and profitability.
Describe the competitive environment in which the firm operates, the distribution of market power, and the strategic behavior of the firm and its competitors. Apply your knowledge of the theory of this company’s market structure. How does the company make pricing and production decisions? Is your observation supported by the theoretical models? Refer to the financial reports for illustration.
Describe any non-price competitive strategies that the company might be engaging in. Provide specific examples.
Evaluate if the company made any mistakes in its decisions over time, and recommend any changes or improvements for future operations. Refer to the financial reports when making specific observations or recommendations.
Use economic language and demonstrate your understanding of the concepts and theories of this course.
Writing the Final Paper
The Final Paper:
Must be 8 to 10 double-spaced pages in length (excluding including the title and reference pages), and formatted according to APA style as outlined in the Writing Center.
Must include a title page with the following:
Must begin with an introductory paragraph that has a succinct thesis statement which identifies the focus of the paper.
Must address the topic of the paper with critical thought.
Must end with a conclusion that reaffirms your thesis.
Must use at least three scholarly sources, in addition to the text.
Must document all sources in APA style, as outlined in the Writing Center.
Must include a separate reference page, formatted according to APA style as outlined in the Writing Center.
Guidance:
Focus of the Final Paper
Describe the company and provide a brief history of its operations. Find or use graphs to illustrate its financial performance over the years. (consult with the finance dept., be sure that these files can be used, alternatively if you use a “publically traded company” this information may be found online.)
Identify any sources of risk or uncertainty in its operations. Do the financial reports indicate risky or uncertain activities or changes to the economic environment that ultimately appear to have affected the company’s financial outcomes? Be specific. (look in the audited financial statements for clues from the auditors….the “MDA letter”…management discussion and analysis).
Are there any government regulations that have affected this company’s operations domestically or abroad? Explain. (environmental, competition, health/safety related)
Describe the inputs that are used in this company’s production function and identify any challenges to securing these inputs. (recall the production function, fixed/ variable costs…then break it down to discuss further. )
Determine if the company has introduced new products in existing markets or created new markets over time. What is the impact on its finances? (Note the annoted portion of the budget/ performance of the budget, or similarly named)
Determine if the price of its products increased or declined over time and analyze the reasons for price fluctuations. Study the demand elasticity for its products and discuss the availability of close substitutes for its products. How does that affect pricing decisions? (recall how elasticity is calculated and discuss the finer points. )
Analyze the company’s profitability. Identify the economy or industry influences on its costs, operations, and profitability. (recall that profit = total costs -total revenues…….are these stable? trending ? )
Describe the competitive environment in which the firm operates, the distribution of market power, and the strategic behavior of the firm and its competitors. Apply your knowledge of the theory of this company’s market structure. How does the company make pricing and production decisions? Is your observation supported by the theoretical models? Refer to the financial reports for illustration.
Identify any non-price competitive strategies that the company might be engaging in? Provide specific examples. Many were discussed in this course, find them, review your notes….advertising…product differentiation….
Evaluate if the company made any mistakes in its decisions over time, and recommend any changes or improvements for the future operations. Refer to the financial reports when making specific observations or recommendations. These mistakes may be hard to locate, but remain persistant. Look for news articles, pres releases etc.
Use economic language and demonstrate your understanding of the concepts and theories of this course.
Required Text:
Douglas, E. (2012). Managerial Economics (1st ed.). San Diego, CA: Bridgepoint Education.
