v Objectives · To compare and contrast the market types of two major corporations. · To determine the various key elasticity indicators of these companies and the main goods they produ

v

Objectives

·        To compare and contrast the market types of two major corporations.

·        To determine the various key elasticity indicators of these companies and the main goods they produce.

·        To analyze the market of each corporation to determine their competition, and any substitute, complementary goods, or services.

·        To determine the relative value of each company, its potential future growth, and make recommendations as to whether one is a better investment than the other.

·        To work constructively and collaboratively in a small group to produce an engaging and informative package.

Description

In this group case study project, you will join forces with three of your peers to make an investment recommendation on either of two corporations: Pfizer or McDonalds Corporation. The task for your team will be to compare the two companies based on both the supporting information and any external research that you conduct, and ultimately recommend one over the other as having stronger investment potential.

As a further twist, your team will have some competition. Other teams will be given the same opportunity to prepare their information package on the same two companies using the same case studies as a starting point. Consequently, your team should try to package your information and recommendation that is the most engaging, creative, and persuasive.

·        Part 1 - By the end of Unit 3, students will have been assigned to a group which will meet online in the Group Case Study Project Discussion Forum (found in Unit 1) and brainstorm a strategy (ungraded, but with feedback).

·        Part 2 - In Unit 4, the group will submit a Learning Team Agreement, which will spell out who is responsible for what in the packaging of the information, and a list of their research sources (ungraded, but with feedback).

·        Part 3 - In Unit 8, the group will submit a draft of their project report, but without their recommendations (ungraded, but with feedback).

·        Part 4 - In Unit 9, the group will submit their final package (project report [8 pages, APA format, and double-spaced] and presentation), including their recommendation about which company the team recommends. The final package should incorporate feedback from Parts 2-3 (Weight 20% of project total).

Report Content

The report should not exceed EIGHT content pages (excluding cover page, table of contents, references, appendices, etc.). Do not exceed the page limit. Use only the following SIX titles for your report’s content:

1.      Introduction

2.      Company profile, product and industry position

3.      Financial performance

4.      The Market: Demand, Competition, Rival and Complement products, and consumer target segments

5.      Strategies and initiatives for efficiency, profitability, and sustainability

6.      Future outlook and investment recommendation

Approach to Writing

Write this report in comparative mode for all sections. In each paragraph compare and contrast both companies on you are focusing on in that paragraph. Make it a running comparison on each aspect you evaluate instead of writing about each company separately. For example, when comparing financial assets, you may write, “While the market capitalization of McDonalds as of July 2019 is $162.63B, Pfizer’s stands at 45% higher at $235.74B.”

At the end of each section, state which company is superior based on the metrics you just examined and explain clearly to your investor what this information means with respect to profit/returns for now and the future.

Guiding Questions for this Assignment

As your team conducts research on the companies to obtain appropriate information for making a financial investment in either company, here is a list of relevant questions to improve your comparative analysis between the two companies:

·        What is the current financial situation of the company?

·        What kind of market/industry structure (Perfect Competition, Monopolistic Competition, or Monopoly) does the company belong to?

·        What is the Price Elasticity of Demand for the goods that the company sells? Is the demand elastic or inelastic?

·        What kind income elasticity the product(s) of the company face?

·        Who are the company’s closest competitors?

·        Are there any close substitutes or complements?

·        Is the demand for the product of your chosen company growing? Explain why.

·        Can the labor force of your chosen company be trained further to increase productivity and lower cost of production?

·        As a business is your chosen company profitable? Will it be able sustain profitability?

·        How can it make its profit grow?

·        What is the price elasticity of demand for brand name drugs? Is it elastic or inelastic? How about fast food?

·        What is the Income Elasticity of demand for these products? Which one has the higher income elasticity and why?

·        What is the cross price elasticity of demand (if any) between the main products of the two companies? What about among Pfizer’s main products and related products, and among McDonalds’ main products and related products?

·        Which company has higher fixed costs? Which has higher marketing costs? Why?

·        What other issues with regards to the social, political, labour, legal or environmental practices of these two companies might you include that could impact your decision?

·        What specific innovations or strategies is each company pursuing and how might this impact the investment decision?

Project Deliverables

Remember that your ultimate goal is two-fold:

·        to provide the best evidence to support the choice of one company over the other as a place to invest and

·        to do so in the most compelling, informative, and creative way you can.

·        To that end, your group will need to produce a package consisting of the following:

·        An eight-page research report in which all your information about the two companies is organized, the comparison indicators presented, and your ultimate choices for investment are made. Your report should be a maximum of 8 pages, double-spaced with 12-point font, not including cover page and references. Your paper should follow APA formatting standards. The file should be submitted in Microsoft Word format only.

·        An accompanying media presentation of your findings that will be posted for your classmates in the Final Case Work Discussion Forum, listed in Unit 9. This can take any form your group has the skills to produce, but it is where your package will really distinguish itself from the others:

·        This is not to be a live (synchronous) presentation, but rather the creation of some sort of digitally submittable file that will most help support and sell your findings to your client. (If you need motivation, imagine that your client will only pay for the most interesting and engaging package submitted – your reputations are at stake!)

·        It can take the form of a PowerPoint presentation, a photo collage, or an audio or video recording – anything goes. Just be sure that you have permission to use any copyrighted materials (photos, audio, or video), because these packages will be shown to the class online and in our online world, unlike the brick and mortar classroom, that constitutes “republishing,” which is a copyright infringement unless you have permission.

Select a member of the group to submit your package as a digital document (preferably a single, multi-page PDF file) to the Submission link below no later than 11:00 p.m. on Thursday of Unit 9. At that same time EVERY member of the group must submit a confidential Peer Evaluation Form in which they will indicate the relative participation levels of everyone in the project work (no slackers allowed!) – Strong evidence that you didn’t pull your weight will be taken into consideration in the final grading of the project.