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                                        Milestone 1

The purpose of this milestone is for students to introduce a firm for analysis in their research paper. This milestone requires students to provide an overview of the firm, which will lay the groundwork for their analysis. Students will provide a history of the firm as well as current information about its goods/services and areas of operation. This milestone will also ensure that students are familiar with APA formatting for in-text citations and reference lists.

Prompt: Submit a draft of the introduction (Section I) of your research paper for your selected firm, which was approved by your instructor in Module One. Include all critical elements listed below. You will detail the purpose of the paper, summarize the history of the firm, and provide an overview of the firm.

Specifically the following critical elements must be addressed:

I. Introduction
In Module One, you worked with your instructor to choose a firm that matches the following criteria: a publicly traded company operating in the U.S. market that is currently in business. Write a one- to two-page paper that includes the following elements for your chosen firm:

1. a)  Outline the purpose of your final project research paper and explain how it will inform your conclusion.

2. b)  Summarize the history of your chosen firm and provide an overview for what it does and what goods/services it sells.

Guidelines for Submission: Your paper must be submitted as a one- to two-page Microsoft Word document with double spacing, 12-point Times New Roman font, one-inch margins, and sources cited in APA format 

The purpose of this milestone is for students to explore the various costs their firm faces and to describe their firm’s market. Using the concepts and tools developed in Modules Four and Five, students will analyze the fixed and variable costs of their firm, how those costs have changed over time, and how those changes have impacted their firm’s overall health and sustainability. In analyzing their firm’s market, students will detail the extent of their firm’s market power and their firm’s ability to influence the market. Students will also describe major trends in the market, specifically concerning new products, technologies, and new entrants. Students can further determine the future health of their firm to inform their final recommendations by examining their firm’s place within the market.

Prompt: Submit a draft of the Costs of Production (Section IV), Overall Market (Section V), and Recommendation (Section VI) of your research paper, including all critical elements listed below. You will review your firm’s financial reports and other relevant data sources to collect and analyze cost information for your firm over the past five or so years. Using real data and the economic tools developed in Module Four, you will analyze your firm’s profitability and how costs impact its growth. Additionally, you will find data on your firm’s competitors in order to detail your firm’s place within the market currently and over the past five or so years. Lastly, you will develop a recommendation for how the firm can manage its future production.

Specifically the following critical elements must be addressed:

IV. Examine the costs of production for your firm.

1. a)  Analyze the various costs a firm faces, their trends over time, and how they have impacted your firm’s profitability.

2. b)  Apply the concepts of variable and fixed costs to your firm for informing its output decisions. For instance, analyze how different kinds of costs

   (labor, research and development, raw materials) affect the firm’s level of output.

1. Explore

   1. a)  Discuss the market share of the firm and its top competitors by providing details on current percentages for each firm and describing the trend

      over time. You might consider presenting the data graphically.

   2. b)  Analyze the barriers to entry in this market to illustrate the potential for new competition and its impact on your firm’s future in the market.

   3. c)  Describe the market structure for this firm and analyze how this affects the firm’s ability to influence the market.

2. Recommendation

   1. a)  Develop a recommendation for how the firm can manage its future production by synthesizing the data presented.

   2. b)  Suggest how the firm’s position within the market and among its competitors will allow it to take your recommended action.

   3. c)  Describe how the firm can sustain its success going forward by evaluating the findings from demand trends and price elasticity.

the overall market for your firm.

Rubric
Guidelines for Submission: Your paper must be submitted as a three- to six-page Microsoft Word document (each section should be one to two pages) with

double spacing, 12-point Times New Roman font, one-inch margins, and sources cited in APA format. 

The final project for this course is the creation of a research paper. Every day, millions of economic choices are made by people—from what brand of soap to buy

to how many employees to hire for a factory. Microeconomics provides us with the tools, models, and concepts to better understand individual choices in the marketplace and how resource allocation is determined at the micro level. The decisions made by individuals and households impact the market and influence decisions made by firms. Firms use these tools as a way to determine pricing, output, and profit maximization. As a student of economics, you can use the microeconomic principles to gain an understanding of how firms and individuals make decisions and also to make your own conclusions about actions we can take to improve those decisions.

Now, imagine that you are a consultant to the firm of your choice. The firm has hired you to advise it on how it can ensure its future success as a company in its current market. To do this, you will write a 7–9-page research paper analyzing market and business data to explain how the core microeconomic principles impact the sustainability of the firm and what actions it can take to ensure success.

The project is divided into three milestones, which will be submitted at various points throughout the course to scaffold learning and ensure quality final submissions. These milestones will be submitted in Modules Two, Four, and Five. The final submission will occur in Module Seven.

In this assignment, you will demonstrate your mastery of the following course outcomes:

•   Apply microeconomic models to real-world situations for informing effective business decisions

•   Analyze business and market data using microeconomic tools for their impact on business sustainability

•   Evaluate the structure of various markets for informing effective decision-making strategies

•   Assess the behavior and decisions of individuals and firms for their relation to the microeconomic framework

  Prompt

  You will work with your instructor to choose a firm for which you can find reliable data and information, both at the firm level and the industry level. The firm you select must be a publicly traded company, must operate in the U.S. market, and must currently be in business. You will need instructor approval before continuing on with your research paper in order to ensure you have met the necessary requirements. Publicly traded companies file reports with a great deal of data that you will find useful for your analysis. Once you have selected a firm for your case study, you will gather information and data relevant to the firm and its industry and use the core microeconomic principles you have learned in class to analyze the information and make a recommendation for your firm. You will compose a 7–9-page research paper in which you will analyze the market and business data to explain how the core microeconomic principles impact the sustainability of the firm, and your recommendation will suggest the actions the firm can take to ensure success.

Specifically the following critical elements must be addressed:

1. Introduction
   Work with your instructor to choose a firm that matches the following criteria: a publicly traded company operating in the U.S. market that is currently in business.

   a) Outline the purpose of this paper and how it will inform your conclusion.

   b) Summarize the history of the firm, and provide an overview for what the firm does and what goods/services it sells.

2. Explore the supply and demand conditions for your firm’s product.

   a) Evaluate trends in demand over time, and explain their impact on the industry and the firm. You should consider including annual sales figures for the product your firm sells.

   b) Analyze information and data related to the demand and supply for your firm’s product(s) to support your recommendation for the firm’s actions. Remember to include a graphical representation of the data and information used in your analysis.

3. Examine the price elasticity of demand for the product(s) your firm sells.

   1. a)  Analyze the available data and information, such as pricing and the availability of substitutes, and justify how you determine the price elasticity

      of demand for your firm’s product.

   2. b)  Explain the factors that affect consumer responsiveness to price changes for this product, using the concept of price elasticity of demand as your

      guide.

   3. c)  Assess how the price elasticity of demand impacts the firm’s pricing decisions and revenue growth.

4. Examine the costs of production for your firm.

   1. a)  Analyze the various costs a firm faces, their trends over time, and how they have impacted your firm’s profitability.

   2. b)  Apply the concepts of variable and fixed costs to your firm for informing its output decisions. For instance, analyze how different kinds of costs

      (labor, research and development, raw materials) affect the firm’s level of output.

1. Explore

   1. a)  Discuss the market share of the firm and its top competitors by providing details on current percentages for each firm and describing the trend

      over time. You might consider presenting the data graphically.

   2. b)  Analyze the barriers to entry in this market to illustrate the potential for new competition and its impact on your firm’s future in the market.

   3. c)  Describe the market structure for this firm, and analyze how this affects the firm’s ability to influence the market.

2. Recommendation

   1. a)  Develop a recommendation for how the firm can manage its future production by synthesizing the data presented.

   2. b)  Suggest how the firm’s position within the market and among its competitors will allow it to take your recommended action.

   3. c)  Describe how the firm can sustain its success going forward by evaluating the findings from demand trends and price elasticity.