Assignment:
You are required to construct a case study/research paper using the knowledge gaining in the MBA 502 course.You will work with a classmate on this project. The primary purpose of the paper is to:
• Further understand the economic way of thinking
• Give you an incentive to think critically about course information
• Apply economic principles to analyze a firm at the microeconomic level in the U.S and utilize macroeconomic information to evaluate the firm's potential in a specific location.
Goal: Construct a case study/research paper that examines a firm in the U.S. from a microeconomic standpoint, consider the impact of macroeconomic issues, and provide suggestions based on your findings.
• Step 1: Choose a firm for your focus. In addition to picking a firm that you find interesting, you will need to pick a firm that you can examine in detail.Publicly traded companies file reports with a great deal of information, although you may have insight into specific firms. Feel free to use any firm that you want (large or small, local or international).
• Step 2: You will need to complete an analysis of the following categories for your firm. BE SURE TO CREATE A SEPARATE SECTION WITH A HEADING FOR EACH CATEGORY BELOW!The following must be included:
• Step 3: Construct the paper:
Part 1: Analyze the firm from a microeconomic perspective:
o Introduce your firm. Feel free to provide any background information that you feel is important.
o How have supply and demand conditions impacted the firm in recent years? Note: Be sure to examine the various factors that can shift supply and demand.
o Examine the elasticity of demand for you firm's product.
o What is (are) your firm's primary competitive advantage(s)? In other words, what does your firm do well?
o Are there entry barriers for firms in this industry?
o What substitutes are available for your product?
o What is the market share for firms in the industry?
o What market structure best describes the conditions your firm faces?
Part 2: Consider the impact of macroeconomic conditions on your firm:
o How have recessions/expansions, GDP, unemployment, and inflation impacted your firm in the past?
o How is the current macroeconomic environment impacting your firm?
Part 3: Given your research, provide advice for the firm
o Choose a new location that you feel has potential for your firm to expand and explain why you think the firm may be able to expand in the location. You can use both microeconomic and macroeconomic concepts.
o Based on the characteristics of your firm, provide advice regarding what you think the firm should do going forward.
Step 4: Present an overview of your research and suggestions to the class. The time requirement for the presentation is between 5 and 8 minutes in length. You should utilize PowerPoint or a similar program for your presentation.
Paper Requirements:
• Be sure to include a separate section with the introduction, each category above, and the conclusion.
• Length: I expect that paper will be approximately 13-15pages; title page and reference page do not count toward the total.
• Title page including the name of your paper, your name, and a paper abstract (this is a brief summary of your paper; around 100).
• Paper section:
o An introduction that clearly introduces your firmand the goal of the paper. This is very important as it conveys the importance of your paper.
o The main body of the paper should clearly describe your findings and your suggestions.
o A conclusion that summarizes and emphasizes your contribution. This is also very important.
• The paper should be double spaced with times new roman font (size 12), 1 inch margins and justified text.
• You should cite all sources that you use for data and analysis.
• Resources should be cited on a reference page using APA format:
o https://owl.english.purdue.edu/owl/section/2/10/
• Be sure to use proper spelling and grammar.
• Additional resources are available from scholarly journals (these can be found through the EconLit database through the SNHU library online resources A-Z or JSTOR), scholarly books, government publications, or business news media (for example, the Wall Street Journal).