Evaluation of a Car company
Word Count: 1,750 to 2,000 words (required)
Scenario: The email you drafted was successful and generated a great deal of interest;
in fact, after some skillful negotiation and an extended dialogue, you were able to
secure a job at the company you initially emailed. As a result, you now enjoy a number
of friendships with some very interesting co-workers, one of whom being — of course —
Milton. This company you work for has outperformed the market considerably. As a
result, the company has decided to invest significant capital into another business, but
there is some debate within your company as to which business should be funded. You
now have been asked (because of your impressive composition skills) to create a report
that evaluates, significantly, another company. This report will be used by an executive
body to decide whether or not to invest in the company you have reviewed. Select any
company you wish (with the exceptions of McDonaldʼs, Red Bull, Apple, UnderArmour,
Netflix, Google, Nike, and Starbucks — you may use Peetʼs Coffee or some other coffee
shop), but select a company you are interested in because this company will be your
focus for assignments two AND three (and quite possibly assignment four). While
considering which company you would like to research, you should think carefully about
researching a small to mid size company because you may find that the larger Fortune
500 companies can be unwieldy. Smaller companies will pose their own problems.
Sometimes research is harder to secure. Companies that are privately owned, like In-
N-Out, will often pose serious challenges because they are not required to disclose
financials in the same way that publically traded companies are. Research in privately
owned companies can be very challenging, so you should consider this factor as well.
Once you choose a company, evaluate that company as you see fit. This short report
will require a title page (that does NOT count towards the word total) and an executive
summary. Consider chapter nine in Business Communication as you create your report,
and rely heavily on the suggestions in chapter nine for formatting. This report will NOT
be MLA formatted; instead, you will place page numbers in the lower right hand corner
(with no affiliated name). The pages leading up to and including the Table of Contents
(Title Page, Executive Summary, and Table of Contents — in that order) must have lower
case Roman numerals (i, ii, iii) in the lower right hand corner, even if handwritten. The
first page is your title page, and you include a title, “date,” “prepared for” (professorʼs
name), “written for” (TAʼs name), “prepared by” (studentʼs name), problem statement,
and purpose statement. You will then need an Executive Summary that outlines your
categories, sources for research, justification of categories/sources, and general
recommendations. The page after the Executive Summary will be your Table of
Contents, which should include all categories, sub-categories, and visuals (with page
numbers). After the Table of Contents, you will begin the body of your essay with your
primary text, and you begin the body of the essay with arabic numerals (1, 2, 3 . . . ),
again in the lower right hand corner (wtih no affiliated name). You must cite all sources
(including yourself if you used material generated previously) using MLA format (both in
text and in a “works cited” page at the end of the report). Generate discrete categories
for evaluation (categories and sub-categories), and provide a supplemental table of
contents (does NOT count towards the word total) for the report. Consider all aspects
you feel are relevant. The evaluation could investigate any of the following aspects, or,
for those who are particularly creative, you can develop your own categories: business
strategies, quality concerns with the product, labor practices, business ethics, market
share, advertising strategies, Internet and cyber presence, product presence in the
general marketplace, financial standings, research and development, growth, or any
other aspects of the company you feel are relevant. Two or three categories should be
considered extensively, and research is expected. All essays should provide an
ultimate and general evaluation of the company in question, but strong essays will
provide nuanced considerations of different categories and explain how those varied
individual evaluations interrelate to each category.
Linguistic requirement: you must include and underline one complex sentence
(subordination).
Begin by carefully reviewing and considering chapters eight and nine in the Rentz.
Also, consider any lectures and discussions that pertain to the topic of reports.
Continue by pursuing all avenues of research from formal articles and analyses at The
Rivera Library (you may wish to consider FACTIVA, for example) to the primary analysis
of web sites or individual products. Reserve drawing a final evaluation until you have
conducted your research and fully contemplated the company under review. In other
words, let the research guide your evaluation. Do not be married to a position and then
attempt to justify the analysis of that position. You may be surprised about what you
learn as you begin to dig into the company you are evaluating. Remember, this report
does have a persuasive aspect connected to it, so you should consider audience and
think about strategies to persuade your audience that your insight is logical, factual,
unbiased, and thoughtful.