AMAZON
For this assignment you will play the role of an investor researching a company for an investment. Companies who are publicly traded on an exchange sell stock to earn capital for investment, growth, or operating expenses. When a company sells stock to an investor, that investor now owns a portion of the company. Before investors purchase stock they often research that company over time to investigate if it is a smart investment. They look at the history of the company, social influences, consumer needs etc. All these factors can affect the price of a stock. So, you will choose a publicly traded company, research the stock values and influences and determine if you would purchase that stock.
Activity Objectives
This activity is designed to support the following Learning Objectives:
Develop the basic skills of business research, problem solving, and decision-making.
Develop the basic skills necessary to begin development of a business plan.
Analyze and compare business operations in a global setting.
Analyze production and operations management processes.
Examine the economic and financial challenges of business.
Project Instructions
Select a publicly held company that produces a product or provides a service that interests you. Challenge yourself and select a company that is not as popular as Starbucks, Google, or Apple. Prepare a report that includes the following:
Format: (10 pts)
Title Page – Include the company name, the URL to their website, your name, and the date. This is the first page of the report.
Layout – Single spaced, identify each section with a heading, and consistently format the paragraphs.
The report should contain clear statements and be free of spelling and grammatical errors. This is a requirement in all sections. More than 10 points may be deducted for unclear statements.
Introduction – (20 pts) (This section should be about 1 page in length)
In this section:
Identify the company and explain how the company developed. Share the historical evolution of the company.
Identify the major products and/or services provided. Also, identify any products that have been discontinued and any products or services that are in development.
Discuss the competitors and the company’s strategic alliances.
Each main idea should be complete paragraphs with a narrative and an appropriate topic sentence, do not copy and paste lists from the Internet. These should be three paragraphs one for each bullet. Do not include bullets.
Current News (55 pts) (This section should be about 2 pages in length.)
For five weeks follow the current news and stock value of this company. In the report identify and explain:
The week and summarize at least two factors for the week that affected the stock value of the company and explain why you think they impacted the stock value. These factors could be internal or external factors. Here is an article that explains Factors Affecting the Direction of Stock Prices.Links to an external site.
For each week identify the stock value at the beginning of the week and at the end f the seek.
For each week the stock values are worth 2 points and the narrative with the 2 factors are worth 4 pts for each factor. Make sure you clearly explain why you think the factors impacted the stock – do not just list current events.
Links to an external site.Clearly identify the ticker symbol – this is worth 5 pts.
Each week should be a paragraph with a narrative explaining the factors that could have affected the stock value either positive, negative, or kept the stock value from moving. Also, identify the beginning and ending stock value for the week. Feel free to copy graphs from the financial websites, however make sure the sites are identified.
Summary (15 pts) (This section should be about 1/2 page in length.)
In this section explain:
The current and future social trends that may affect the company. A trend is something that is changing, for example consumer tastes, technology etc. Clearly identify which is a current trend and a future trend. This is not the stock value trend.
Why you would or why you would not invest in this company.
Each main idea should be a paragraph with a narrative.
Here is a formatting template for the project – Business Project 1 Template.pdf Download Business Project 1 Template.pdf.
Citations
Be sure to include citations on where you found specific:
numbers
financial statements
research findings
direct of indirect quotations
Citations can be displayed in the form of hyperlinks, APA or MLA format.

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