Role: You and your team members as professional accountants. We will assign companies within an industry to a team so you are able to confer over industry characteristics.
Audience: The partner in charge of a major accounting firm who wants to learn about this industry prior to taking on clients there. She has asked you for an overview of your company. She wants information (facts, description) AND analysis (what the facts/numbers mean), so you need to give her an appropriate perspective and context for your findings by using a variety of sources and interpreting them. (See Hirsch pp. 54-55 on description vs. analysis.)
Format is important as this is a very structured assignment. Each section builds on previous work, so you need to complete each part as fully as possible to help you succeed on the next part. Part of the assignment is research (finding and gathering appropriate materials to build your case about your company) and part of it is analysis of this research—what does it tell you about your company? What conclusions can YOU draw? Gather expert opinions and then think about what you have found—the purpose here is not just to retype what other people have figured out about the company, but to form conclusions from your information. Write a report that helps your audience draw an informed conclusion about taking on this company as a client.
Task: You will turn this project in by completing two parts. Please follow instructions carefully.
Part 1: Annotated Source List (25%) Gather information on your company, including at a minimum the most recent annual report, 10K, Forbes industry report and ratio screen, industry characteristics and comparison figures from Value Line or other industry guides, news releases (these may appear as press releases OR as articles in WSJ and other newspapers), AND independent business press articles on your company and industry. Use APA or MLA format. Cite electronic sources with address and date accessed at end of item. Alphabetize under title if no author. You can number the list and refer to items by number if you wish. You MUST cite all borrowing of words or ideas whether quote or paraphrase. (VG App. C) Annotate each source in one sentence of description.
Part 2: Description and Analysis (75%) Analyze your company, looking at BOTH company sources AND business press sources so you can give an independent picture of the company and its place in the industry. You may use two-three pages of narrative and appropriate limited attachments (graphs? ratios? CITE any borrowed attachments at the bottom) for this section. What does the company do? Where is it? How is it organized? What are its future prospects? How do the main industry players compare in size, market share, corporate culture, etc.? What issues related to this company: technology, rapid growth, new products, restructurings, global operations, personnel, accounting pronouncements, etc? What are the risks to the company and to potential auditors? What does the information you have gathered and described MEAN? What conclusions can you draw about the company, the industry, and the future? You must include discussion of financial ratios for your company and comparisons (solvency, efficiency, profitability, performance) within your segment of the industry.
Grading points: Professional proofreading is expected, with fatal errors lowering the grade drastically. Plagiarism (not citing sources of borrowed words and ideas) causes paper to receive a grade of zero and be referred to the Campus Judicial Authority for appropriate punishment.
Part 1: Sources Enough sources of both company and outside sources to indicate that you can develop a decent independent picture of the company. Annotation included.
Part 2: Description and Analysis Coverage of topic, organization of material, professional style, and professional appearance; proofreading; meaningful analysis of the issues facing the company and the risks to a potential auditor. Analysis of the ratios once they are figured. Effective graphics if used.
Length and format: ALL in 11 point Arial or 12 point Times Roman font, single spaced, with at least 1 ¼ inch margins all around.
Part 1: Bibliography 1-2 pages. Single space each item on your list, indenting lines after first.
Part 2: Description and analysis 2-3 pages. Single space text, double space between paragraphs (do not indent). Use headings; double space before headings but not after them.
Heading each page:
IDS 390 Spring 1999 Name/Class (MW4 or TT10) /Team Number
Important dates: