Economics

  

Description of assessment: 

                       

You are an advisor to the   Management Board in your company. 

In determining the company’s   strategy in the next 5 years, your managers have required you to prepare a   2,500-word market report. The market report should, as a minimum, address the   following key issues: 

1. A description of your company and the industry your   company is in, including: 

o ·    An overview of the company. 

o ·    An overview of the industry (including some key statistics such as 

revenue,   employment, the industry’s contribution to national GDP, 

and   industry growth rate). 

2. An analysis of the market structure the industry is in,   including: 

o ·    The type of market structure it is in and why (based on the   characteristics of the industry). 

o ·    The market leaders in the industry and some statistics about them. 

3. A discussion about (i) two determinants of demand, and   (ii)two determinants of supply for your product(s) or service(s) that you   consider to be the most 

influential.   

4. A discussion about the demand elasticity for your   product(s) or service(s) 

which   answers the following questions: 

o ·    Is your product(s) or service(s) elastic or inelastic? Why? 

o ·    What are two factors that you consider affect the elasticity of demand 

for   your product (or line of products) the most? Why so? (You can 

research   for evidence to justify your argument(s)). 

5. Ananalysisofarecenteventthathas(orislikelytohave)substantialimpacts   

on   your industry. The analysis may include: 

o ·    A brief description about that event. 

o ·    How has that event affected (or is likely to affect) the market demand?   and/or supply? 

1 

· What is the likely effect of that event on the market price and quantity? Note that relevant empirical evidence can be researched and provided to support your arguments. 

Note: if your company has many products and/or services, you can select a representative product/service to discuss for points (2); (3); (4); and (5). 

You may choose one of the following companies for your market report: Wesfarmers, CBA, and BHP Billiton. 

This report should provide useful information for your company’s Management Board. It should use a variety of resources, including the textbook, newspapers, industry reports, the ABS website, and other sources. A list of several websites that may be useful to you is attached. 

Your report should include a table of contents, an executive summary, and sub- headings. It needs to be properly referenced using the Harvard style and at least 5 references.   

Your report will be graded on the following criteria: 

· ·  The degree of understanding and knowledge about the company and the industry which is shown in the description and analysis of market structure (25%). 

· ·  The degree of analysis of demand and supply determinants; determinants of price elasticity of demand (25%). 

· ·  The analysis of a recent event that has some substantial impacts on the industry (25%). 

· ·  The degree of research, the format, structure, presentation, and writing of the report (25%). 

· Some websites that may be useful for your assignment 

· Australia GDP and employment by sectors (the ABS website abs.gov.au) http://www.abs.gov.au/AUSSTATS/abs@.nsf/Lookup/8155.0Main+Features12016- 17?OpenDocument 

· Australian Industry Report (where you can find output and employment by industry and industry competitiveness) https://publications.industry.gov.au/publications/australianindustryreport2016/assets/ Australian-Industry-Report-2016.pdf 

· Company report for any company listed on the ASX 

· https://www.asx.com.au/asx/research/listedCompanies.do 

· (Click on the name of the company, you will be directed to a page with information about the company’s stock price. On the right hand side, under RESOURCES you can find the latest company report). 

· Top 500 companies in Australia by the AFR 

· https://www.afr.com/leadership/afr-lists/top-500-private-companies/top-500-private- companies-2018-the-full-list-20180903-h14w4v 

· Top 200 agribusiness companies 

· http://www.agrifood.info/Agrifood/members/stats/Top200.htm 

· Top Australian banks 

· https://corporatefinanceinstitute.com/resources/careers/companies/top-australian- banks/ 

· Top 50 mining companies by revenue 

· http://www.mining.com/top-50-biggest-mining-companies/ 

· Mining industry report. 

· https://www.pwc.com.au/eum/aussie-mine-2017-decisionsdecisions_nov17.pdf 

· Retail industry - The future of retail in Australia 

· https://business.nab.com.au/wp-content/uploads/2017/09/The-future-of-retail- September-2017.pdf 

· Wine production – Industry report 

· file:///C:/Users/nxpham/Downloads/C1214%20Wine%20Production%20in%20Austral ia%20Industry%20Report.pdf 

· Retail food sector - Industry report 

· https://gain.fas.usda.gov/Recent%20GAIN%20Publications/Retail%20Foods_Canber ra_Australia_12-18-2017.pdf 

· Large auditing companies such as Deloitte, EY, KPMG, PWC, or big banks may also have industry report for various industries that you can find useful.