CALIFORNIA STATE UNIVERSITY, FULLERTON Mihaylo College of Business & Economics Department of Management Professor David Leibsohn ===============================================================

Term Project Guidelines MGMT 449 Summer 2013 Session A =============================================================== The Group Term Project consists of a comprehensive industry and firm-level analysis. More specifically, your group will collect information on an industry, analyze the industry and two of the firmsthe top performer and the worst performerin that industry. This guideline supplements the course syllabus and discusses the term project (including the interim and final report), the in-class presentation, and the term project peer critique in greater detail. I. Group Formation and Industry Selection 4-5 members per group Provide group member names to me by the end of the first day of class A definition of the industry that the group would like to analyze should be submitted no later than the start of class on Wednesday, June 5th. Note: As mentioned in the syllabus, no two groups may analyze the same industry. In the event that two groups decide on the same industry, the industry will be assigned to the group that submitted its request first. The second group will have to choose another industry. An industry discussed in class cannot be analyzed by any group unless the context is sufficiently different and the industry has been approved by me in advance. II. The Group Term Project For this assignment, your team should assume the role of strategy consultants. An entrepreneurial professor at the California State University, Fullertons College of Business and Economics has founded a new strategy consulting firm, called Turnaround Consultants, which specializes in analyzing industries and advising poorly-performing firms on strategies they can use to turn things around and gain or regain competitive advantage in their industry. To identify and attract potential clients, the Founder has hired your team to produce a written report that analyzes an industry of your choice and the factors affecting the performance of two firmsthe top and bottom performerwithin that industry. These reports will then be sent to the bottom-performing company identified in the teams report in hopes of securing a consultancy contract. The project will be completed in two parts, (1) an interim report (5 to 7 pages in length; 1 excluding exhibits) that analyzes the industry you have selected, defines criteria with which performance should be measured within the industry, and identifies the top and bottom-performing firm, and (2) a final report (12 to 15 pages in length, excluding exhibits) that includes material from the interim report, in addition to an analysis of the factors driving the performance of the top and bottom-performing firms within the
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The text of the interim and final reports should be formatted with a minimum of 11-point font and 1 spacing (to avoid blurring the Founders vision!) and a maximum of 12 -point, double-spacing (which is reasonable).

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industry and recommendations on strategic actions the bottom performer can take in hopes of gaining competitive advantage within the industry. Papers should be written in a clear and concise manner, integrate material from multiple primary and secondary sources, and logically weave together strategic insights derived from applying concepts covered in the course. The Founder values reports that (1) provide insights substantiated with well-reasoned analysis (i.e. that move beyond simply reporting and describing facts), (2) substantiate claims and assertions with supporting evidence or examples and (3) make recommendations that are useful, relevant, and consistent with the underlying analysis. II.A. Interim Report An interim report of your group project is due by the start of class on Tuesday, June 18th and represents 10% of your semester grade. Your interim report should be no more than 7 pages in length (excluding exhibits). Please provide 6 copies of your report so that your colleagues will be able to conduct their written reviews. Submissions made after the end of class on June 18th will receive NO CREDIT as this disrespects not only me but also your colleagues that are dependent on your work to perform theirs! Your interim report should include five main components: 1. An executive summary that briefly states the industry you have selected and that summarizes the results of your industry analysis, the criteria you are using to measure performance within the industry, and the results of your analysis (i.e., the identity of
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the top and bottom-performing firms) (1 paragraph) ; 2. An analysis of the factors driving overall profitability within the industry, with your justification for selecting the specific factors that you identify (3-4 pages); 3. A discussion of the criteria you are using to measure firm performance and why they are relevant within the context of this industry (1-2 paragraphs); 4. The results of applying these criteria to firms within the industry and your selection of the top and bottom-performing firm (1 page); and 5. A list of references for the final paper (does not count towards the page limit). I encourage you to use both secondary sources (e.g., newspapers or magazines) and primary sources (company newsletters, press releases, annual reports, analyst reports, company websites, or conversations with individuals familiar with the industry or the firms you have chosen). In both the interim and final reports, sources of data including interviews and press articles should be properly cited, as exemplified by the HBS cases used in class. Dont forget to include page numbers in the body of your report. HOWEVER, you are encouraged to organize the submission so as to most clearly and persuasively convey your views while responding to the above assignment requirements.

The page lengths listed beside each component are suggestions only and should not be considered binding. However, in some measure they do reflect the relative importance of each section.

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II.B. Final Report A final version of your report is due by the start of class on Wednesday, July 3rd and represents 25% of your semester grade. Your final report should not exceed 15 pages in length (again, excluding exhibits). Submissions arriving after the start of class on July 3rd will be automatically graded down by 50%, unless approved by the professor. No submissions will be accepted after 5:00 pm on Friday, June 5th unless pre-approved (which is highly unlikely). Your final report should include the background section from your interim report, although you are free to rewrite parts (or the entirety) of your interim report if you are unsatisfied with your original grade. In addition, to understand the underpinnings of success within the industry, you should analyze the factors driving the performance of the top and bottom firms you identified. Finally, your final report should include specific recommendations directed to the CEO of the bottom-performing firm within the industry: Based on your analysis of the industry and factors driving performance within the industry, what actions can the worst performing firmyour clienttake to gain (or regain) competitive advantage within the industry? High quality recommendations are insightful (e.g., based on insights about the nature of competition and determinants of success within the industry or predictions about where the industry is headed), consistent with prior analysis contained in the report as well as fundamental concepts and principles of strategy (i.e., ones we cover in the course), and likely to be feasible given the competitive, financial and organizational context in which the firm is operating. The final report should include the following: An expanded executive summary (1 page) that, in addition to the information requested in the executive summary for your interim report, summarizes key insights derived from analyzing the performance of the top and bottom performers within the industry, and your recommendations for the CEO of the bottom-performing firm; Material from the interim report as outlined above (approximately 6 pages); An analysis of the factors driving performance at the top and bottom firms identified (45 pages); Recommendations to the CEO of the bottom-performing firm (3 pages), including a section that identifies options available to the bottom-performing firm on how to turn things around and an evaluation of the trade-offs among these options; A complete bibliography and exhibits (these do not count towards the total page limit). As before, you are encouraged to organize the submission so as to most clearly and persuasively convey your views while responding to the above assignment requirements. Be wary of falling into the trap of telling your client what you did; instead, present the evidence and logic that provides a basis for compelling your client to act on your recommendations.
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Again, the page lengths in parentheses are suggestions and should not be considered binding. The complete final report must, however, fall within the 15 page limit and adhere to the herein specified formatting requirements.

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Formatting of the Final Report: In addition to points discussed above, all written final reports are expected to adhere to the following formatting requirements. Points will be assigned for adhering to these requirements. The paper should not exceed 15 pages in length (excluding appendices), as mentioned earlier. Page numbers should be included for the text in both the interim and final reports. As also mentioned earlier, the text of your reports should be formatted with 12-point font and either 1 1/2 spacing or doublespacing. The final report should include a cover page with the title of the project and the names of the group members. A page with the table of contents is desirable. These two pages are excluded from the 15 page limit for the report. The names of the group members should not be on any page other than the cover page. Relevant financial information, market share data, and references should be presented in the appendices and discussed appropriately throughout the report. All appendices should be referred to and discussed in the text. All sources should be cited in the text and included in the bibliography. The sources should include the authors names, the exact title of the article, the source, date of publication and relevant page numbers. Data (text, numbers, and figures) should not be incorporated unless they are attributed properly. Otherwise, they expose you to the risk of plagiarism, which violates University policy! III. Presentation of Your Group Term Project in Class Each group will present its project to the class on Wednesday, July 3rd. The presentation should include the main results from the industry and firm-level analyses, possible ways in which the bottom-performing firm could gain or regain competitive advantage within the industry, and your teams recommendations to the CEO of the bottom performer based on your analysis. Each group will have approximately 20 minutes for the presentation. Groups are expected to submit the powerpoint slides to the professor by email at least 2 hours before class on the day of your presentation so that transition time is minimized. The grade for the presentation will comprise 5% of the total semester grade. IV. Term Project Peer Critique Each team member will provide a critique of all other team members in the group. These critiques will factor significantly into your individual total grade for the term project. I will weight your score on the final term project by your teammates appreciation of your contribution to the work product over the course of the semester. I do, however, reserve the right to have a direct influence on the peer critique if deemed appropriate. Also, if a member is identified as effectively not having contributed to the team product, I reserve the right to lower the grade that you receive on all components of the term project! All peer reviews are to be submitted by e-mail to me by midnight on Wednesday, July 3rd. If I do not receive the email by then, you run the risk of being penalized for your own contribution to the term project, irrespective of your fellow team members critiques.
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