- This paper should have 5-8 pages of narrative (3,000 – 4,000 words), plus exhibits. Place particular emphasis on risk management and offshore borrowing/investing activities. Every student must use a
CORPORATE RESEARCH PAPER
Required of all students
This paper should have 5-8 pages of narrative (3,000 – 4,000 words), plus exhibits. Place particular emphasis on risk management and offshore borrowing/investing activities. Every student must use a different publicly traded, multinational firm as the subject for their paper. Here are some examples:
Dow Chemical
Ford Motor Co.
GE
Honda
IBM
Intel
Merck
Pfizer
P&G
Samsung
Toyota
Suggested Outline:
A. Introduction
What is the global reach of the corporation? Detail the number of overseas subsidiaries, the geographic breakdown of sales, assets and income, and their involvement in international trade.
B. What is the company’s Foreign Exchange (FX) Risk Management Policy?
Is centralized or decentralized?
Head Office, Regional Offices, or Operating Subsidiaries
What types of exposure are measured and managed?
Translation, Transaction and Economic or Operating Exposure
How has “Other Comprehensive Income”, an equity account, changed
in recent years?
What hedging transactions are used for each type of exposure?
Forward Contracts, Futures, Options and Swaps
Cash Flow, Fair Value and Net Investment Hedges
How long a time frame is used to manage this risk?
One year, several years etc.
C. How does the company use derivatives for funding, investing, and other price risks?
D. What is the extent of the company’s offshore and Euromarket funding and investing activities?
E. Conclusion: How effective is this firm’s international financial strategy? How have they created value with it? How have they destroyed value with it? What do you believe will be the future result of continuing to follow this strategy?
F. Sources: You should have at least three sources, plus the company’s published financial report & associated notes. List any sources of data or information used in creating this paper. Make sure to use the company’s 10-k as one of the sources.