Applying Marketing Concepts to a Real-World Business

This assignment will require you to apply marketing concepts to a real-world company. You may continue researching the company you chose for Discussion 4 Applying Management Concepts or you may change to a different company. If you decide to change companies, go to the link for Reserving Your Company to reserve your new company. Please make sure no one else has already reserved it. If you decide to stay with the same company you used for Discussion 4, there is no need to re-reserve it.

You will be using the following company sources to prepare your report:

• 10-K Report
• Annual Report
• Web site

The 10-K is an annual report that publicly-traded companies are required to submit to the SEC. It is a less pretty, more detailed version of the Annual Report that is sent to stockholders. The 10-K can be found on the company’s web site. Start by looking for a link for Investors. From there, look for a link for financial reports or SEC filings. Look for a pull-down box that allows you to search for “annual” SEC filings. Choose the most recent 10-K report available.

Use the following headings to organize your report.

• Name of Company: Company Name, Ticker Symbol
• 10-K: provide the complete URL for the 10-K report
• Annual Report: provide the complete URL for the Annual Report
• Company Web Site: type the URL of the company’s web site
• Company Overview (2 points): Part I, Item 1 of the 10-K report will provide an overview of the company’s business model. It is okay to copy and paste directly from 10-K for this part of the report as long as you cite your source immediately following the pasted information.
• Segment Data (5 points): Item 1 also includes information on how the company segments its business. Often, there is a sentence that reads “Our company consists of the following operating segments…” Most often, companies segment their business according to product lines or geographically.
  In either Item 1 or Item 7 of the 10-K, you will find information showing how much each product line or segment contributes to sales, also known as revenues, and/or operating profits, also known as operating income. List the company’s operating segments along with how much each segment contributes to sales/profits in percentage terms. Be sure to label the data.
  If the data you find is in dollars, you will need to convert it to percentages. The 10-K contains lots of data presented in percentage terms. Be careful not to select data showing the percentage increase or decrease from the previous period. The percentages for all segments combined should total 100.
  Note: Please do not include extraneous information in this section. The inclusion of immaterial information will result in a deduction.
• Description of Product Lines/Segments (3 points): Create a heading for each segment and describe its products or services. It is okay to copy and paste directly from the 10-Ks for this part of the report as long as you cite your source immediately following the pasted information.
  Note: Please do not include information in this section that isn’t requested. The inclusion of immaterial information will result in a deduction.
• Competitive Advantage (5 points): Review the text to develop an understanding of what is meant by “competitive advantage.” In your own words describe how the company has created a competitive advantage. Fully support your evaluation with specific information from the research you have done.

Final Tip: Be sure to include the name of the company, its ticker symbol, and the URLs to your company’s Annual Report and 10-K Report.