Analysis of a Company

Each student will write a brief paper using web-based research on a
company of their choice (i.e., any company with a website [i.e., public, private, for/non-profit, etc.])
Requirements and grading of the WBR will be noted below. The WBR Paper is worth 5% of the total course grade.
 Formatting, grammar, and overall quality is (20%) of the research papers total score: The paper should be
one-page, single spaced with 12-point Times New Roman font with a one-inch margin (papers longer or
shorter than one page will be penalized). The paper must be well written in paragraph format and should
be both spell-checked and clarity-checked. Spelling errors, poorly structured thoughts, and grammar
mistakes will be penalized. Papers submitted in bullet point format will also be penalized.
 Company info (20%): The paper must include the name of the company, description of the business,
primary goods/services, location of headquarters, the internet address and why you selected this
particular company. You should not select a company where you previously or currently work.
 The paper must address two (2) Operations Management topics as listed in the course schedule.
Addressing these two topics represent (40%) of the overall research papers total score. If only one OM
topic is addressed, the student will be penalized by 20% on the WBR paper score. Some examples of past
topics used are:
 What is the company’s approach to outsourcing and/or offshoring?
 What type of forecasting & scheduling practices does the company use?
 What are the competitive dimensions / strategies that form the competitive position of the
company?
 What type of production and/or service processes does the company utilize?
 How has the company incorporated lean, TPS, and six sigma principles into the culture?
 What are the company’s order qualifier(s) and order winner(s)?
 What is the company’s approach to sustainability?
 Any other topic covered in this course…
 Three (3) Questions (20%): Lastly, you must include three (3) questions that you would ask the CEO if you
had the opportunity to meet with him/her. These (3) questions should be Operations Management
related; like if you were interviewing the CEO for a newspaper or magazine article. Questions you might
ask them would be about international strategies, past scandals, supply chain / sourcing practices, social
responsibility, company culture, etc. Questions need to be more thought provoking than “where do you
see the company in 5 years,” or “what are you most proud of in your career;” they need to be related to
Operations Management issues covered in this course.
In general, the WBR Paper should be about 4 paragraphs. The first paragraph explains the company info,
the second paragraph will address the first OM topic, the third paragraph will address the second OM
topic, and the fourth paragraph will be the three questions you’d ask if interviewing the CEO of your
chosen company.