1. THE FORD COMPANY Prepared for: client Faculty Prepaired by Team #: names

2. E XECUTIVE S UMMARY Plain text 12 pt font Full justify Refer to page 13 of the communications quick guide available on the class forum 2

3. T ABLE OF C ONTENTS Introduction Industry Overview Main Competitors Porter’s Five Forces PEST-D Analysis Industry Statistics Company Analysis SWOT Analysis Current Ratios Recommendations REC 1: Decrease Music Section, Add a Textbook Section REC 2: Restructure Marketing Strategy 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8-12 13 14 15- 18 19-23 REC 3: Offer Monthly Plan for Nook 24-27 Conclusion 28 References 29-30 Appendices 31 APPX A: Comparing Current Ratios 32 APPX B: Explanations of Financial Impacts33-35 APPX C: 5 Year Forecast36-40

4. T ABLE OF C ONTENTS Introduction……………………………………………………………………………1 Industry Analysis……………………………………………….………………..2-7 External Environment…………………………………………………3 Porter’s Five Forces…………………………………………………….4 Key Industry Issues……………………………………………………..5 Key Success Factors…………………………………………………….6 Opportunities and Threats………………………………………….7 Company Analysis…………………………………………………..…………8-18 Company Overview…………………………………………………….9 Company Structure…………………………………………………..10 Sales……………………….………………………………………………..11 Organizational Structure…………………………………………..12 Suppliers and Customers…………………………..……………..13 Marketing Strategies………………………………………………..14 Competitor Profile: Borders Group, Inc…………………….15 Competitor Profile: Books-A-Million…………………………16 Competitor Profile: Amazon.com, Inc……………………….17 Market Share……………………………………………………………18 Benchmarking……………………………………............…………..……19-25 Liquidity Ratios………………………………………………..….……20 Profitability Ratios………………………………………..……..21-22 Debt Ratios………………………………………………………….……23 Strengths and Weaknesses………………………………..….….24 SWOT Summary…………………………………………………….….25 Recommendations…………………………………………………………..26-44 Recommendations Overview……………………………….……27 Print on Demand…………………………………………......….28-31 Improve Customer Loyalty Program…….….……………32-35 Expand Marketing With Text Message Alerts…….….36-39 Expanding the Digital Bookstore…………………….….…40-43 Conclusion……………………………………………………………………….…..44 Works Cited and Appendicies…………………………………………45-???

5. I NTRODUCTION 12 pt font Full justify Introduction to the topic: The purpose of the report An overview of how you will go about presenting the material 5

6. INDUSTRY ANALYSIS Overview of the section about to cover 12pt font Intro to topic of the section. You may state your thesis for the section. Why you are covering it How you are covering it Example: The auto industry is plagued by high executive pay, operations inefficiencies, high healthcare costs etc etc. Industry profit margins have declined steadily in the last 2 decades. In this section we analyze the auto industry by conducting a PEST analysis to identify the factors contributing to the auto industry’s decline and utilizing Porter’s Five Forces Model to understand the competitive nature of the industry. We conclude this section by summarizing the findings from our analysis and indicating the key success factors critical to the success of industry’s players.

7. I NDUSTRY A NALYSIS Fiscal Year 2005 Annual Report Quarter Ended1 st Qtr.2 nd Qtr.3 rd Qtr.4 th Qtr.Total Fiscal year 2003 Revenue$7,746$8,541$7,835$8,065$32,187 Gross profit6,4026,4046,5616,76126,128 Net income2,0411,8652,1421,4837,531 Basic earnings per share0.190.170.20.140.7 Diluted earnings per share0.190.170.20.140.69 Fiscal year 2004 Revenue$8,215$10,153$9,175$9,292$36,835 Gross profit6,7357,8097,7647,81130,119 Net income2,6141,5491,3152,6908,168 Basic earnings per share0.240.140.120.250.76 Diluted earnings per share0.240.140.120.250.75 Fiscal year 2005 Revenue$9,189$10,818$9,620$10,161$39,788 Gross profit7,7208,8968,2218,75133,588 Net income2,5283,4632,5633,70012,254 Basic earnings per share0.230.320.240.341.13 Diluted earnings per share0.230.320.230.341.12 (1)Includes charges totaling $750 million (pre-tax) related to the Fabrikam settlement and $1.15 billion in impairments of investments. (2)Includes stock-based compensation charges totaling $2.2 billion for the employee stock option transfer program. (3)Includes charges totaling $756 million (pre-tax) related to Contoso subsidiaries and other matters. Market Risk Fiscal Year 2004 7 Narrative should be in 12 pt font Add narrative to summarize your interpretations of data and what you are concluding. The so what question.

8. I NDUSTRY A NALYSIS Market Distribution1 st Year Sales Figures Our perennial 3 rd Quarter boost was larger than expected contributing to an exceptionally strong year. Distribution of sales across the geographic markets looks fairly steady. Our new product line, released this year, is early in its adoption phase. We expect to see substantial revenue contribution from these products over the next two years. Financial Summary 8 Use 12 pt font and full justify

9. I NDUSTRY A NALYSIS Market Share by Division Product Division2002200320042005 Electronics10.3 %12.1%13.2%17.0% Consumer Goods1.3%2.3%2.2%2.7% Services12.0%11.0%8.9%9.2% Widget Sales78.0%82.3%82.5%84.0% Installations5.3%7.9%12.2%15.1% (1)Percentages based on domestic comparison to competitors in directly related industries. (2)Percentages based on standing at the end of each fiscal year. (3)Values provided by a third party agency. Organizational Structure Contoso Product Development DesignManufacturing Quality Assurance Human Resources HeadquartersSubsidiaries Finance Business Process Model Summary On the last page of each section include a summary of the main lessons learned. The lessons learned would carry over to other sections and be linked to your recommendations. This helps the flow of the argument throughout the report. Summaries of industry analysis may include opportunities and threats. Example: In summary, it is clear that environmental concerns and the fluctuating prices of oil have affected consumer demands for American cars and changed the focus of automakers on producing more fuel efficient cars. IT innovations present further opportunities to enhance consumer experiences and increase demand. OperatingSupportingOptimizingChanging 9 Section Summary

10. COMPANY ANALYSIS 10 Overview of the section about to cover 12pt font Intro to topic of the section. You may state your thesis for the section. Why you are covering it How you are covering it Link the section to the previous section Example: The previous section identified key success factors necessary for success in the auto industry today. In this section we analyze the Ford company in light of these factors. Our analysis will include a review of Ford’s current performance and plans. We conclude this section by identifying For’s main strengths and weaknesses. (you may list the strengths and weaknesses here too).

11. C OMPANY A NALYSIS Company background Cost 11 Make sure these headings are 14 pt font (heading level 2)

12. I NDUSTRY A NALYSIS Summary Summarize the company analysis by highlighting the main strength and weaknesses. Particularly, the main weakness they are facing and must address. You may reiterate the main issues by presenting the SWOT summary. 12 Summary of section

13. C OMPANY A NALYSIS 13 SWOT Summary of SWOT

14. RECOMMENDATIONS 14 Overview of the section about to cover 12pt font Link the analysis to the recommendation: Restate the main problems and opportunities identified through your analysis (and listed in the SWOT). State that you will provide a number of recommendations to address problems and opportunities. You may list your recommendations Example: As identified in our analysis, the Ford company suffers from a number of problems and opportunities. We identify inefficiencies in operations and high executive pay to be the most significant of their problems. In the following section we provide two recommendations to address these problems. Our following section will illustrate that our recommendations will decrease operation costs by 20% and company moral. Each recommendations section will conclude with a detailed financial forecast to illustrate the impact of each recommendation. ProblemRecommendation High Executive PayRestructuring Reward System Inefficient OperationsBusiness Process Reengineering

15. R ECOMMENDATIONS Recommendation 1: Restructure Reward System State the problem State the solution Why 15

16. R ECOMMENDATIONS Recommendation 1: Restructure Reward System Summary Reiterate the problem and solution. Also restate the financial impact. 16

17. R ECOMMENDATIONS Recommendation 2: Business Process Reengineering State the problem State the solution Why 17

18. R ECOMMENDATIONS Recommendation 2: Business Process (cont.) Reengineering Summary Reiterate the problem and solution. Also restate the financial impact. 18

19. C ONCLUSION Restate the purpose of the report. Restate the main findings of your analysis. Identify your recommendations and how they might impact the company. 19

20. R EFERENCES Refer to communications quick guide 20

21. A PPENDICES 21