Amazon Industry and Economic Analysis

ACC 345 Milestone Three Guidelines and Rubric Overview: This milestone will help you complete Section IV of the final project. You will analyze your selected company using SWOT, industry, and economic analysis. Discuss any emerging trends in technologies that affect your company. Prompt: Produce a financial statement analysis and valuation report that summarizes the financial health, projected future performance, and estimated value of the publicly traded (S&P 500) company that you selected at the beginning of the course. As an independent financial accounting analyst working for a major trade journal, your report is intended to inform a general audience about the overall financial well-being of the company and how it compares to a major competitor. Your report should cover information of interest to both internal and external stakeholders—summarizing major findings, suggesting ways to improve operational performance, and assessing investment potential. Keep in mind that brief, clear communications are essential in effectively reaching business and media audiences. Specifically, the following critical elements must be addressed:

I. Industry and Economic Analysis. This section will focus on evaluating the selected company’s industry, its market structure, competitors, supply and demand, regulations, outlook or forecast, and other relevant factors specific to that industry. The section should also cover macro and microeconomic trends. This considers current monetary policy, GDP growth, the current economic health of the country of origin, and/or the company's global presence, all of which are relevant for valuing a company.

A. General economic overview. This will explore trends in economic indicators. It will also cover output of goods and services produced by the domestic and global economy.

i. Economic output and consumption. Identify national trends that could impact your chosen company or its industry as a whole based on macroeconomic qualitative data.

ii. Current monetary and trade policy. Evaluate upcoming changes to policies or regulations that would impact your selected company or its industry.

iii. Explain relationships these policies and regulations would have with the company’s sales or expenses. B. Industry analysis. This piece involves researching the industry in which the target company operates to understand its strengths, weaknesses,

opportunities, and threats. It will explore the following issues: i. Supply and demand. Ascertain key supply and demand issues relevant to your company's industry, pinpointing critical issues that could

benefit or harm your chosen company's operations. ii. Market share and competitive landscape. Approximate your company's market share within its own industry, and distinguish its

strengths and weaknesses from those of its major competitors. iii. Regulation. Evaluate new regulation that is specific to your chosen company's industry, and determine whether it benefits or harms

your company. iv. Employment issues. Explain how the labor markets and the constraints that exist impact your company’s operations. v. Industry outlook. Determine how industry trends and relevant emerging technologies impact your chosen company's industry in the

future.

Rubric Guidelines for Submission: Your milestone should be completed using the Economic Outlook Section of the Business Valuation Report template. Sources should be cited according to APA Style. For the analysis, use and submit the pertinent sections of the Business Valuation Model Excel file. Include a link to the chosen company’s financial information for confirmation purposes.

Critical Elements Proficient (100%) Needs Improvement (75%) Not Evident (0%) Value

Industry and Economic Analysis: General Economic Overview:

Output and Consumption

Identifies national trends that could impact the chosen company or its industry as a whole based on macroeconomic qualitative data

Identifies national trends that could impact the selected company but does not base findings on macroeconomic qualitative data

Does not identify national trends that could impact the chosen company or its industry

12

Industry and Economic Analysis: General Economic Overview: Monetary and Trade Policy

Evaluates upcoming changes to policies or regulations that would impact the selected company or its industry

Evaluates upcoming changes to policies or regulations, but response contains errors or is inaccurate

Does not evaluate upcoming changes to policies or regulations

12

Industry and Economic Analysis: General Overview: Policies and

Regulations

Explains the relationships the policies and regulations would have with the company’s sales or expenses

Explains the relationships the policies and regulations would have with the company’s sales or expenses, but explanation is cursory, contains errors, or is inaccurate

Does not explain the relationships the policies and regulations would have with the company’s sales or expenses

12

Industry and Economic Analysis: Industry Analysis: Supply and

Demand

Ascertains key supply and demand issues relevant to the selected company’s industry and pinpoints critical issues that could benefit or harm the company

Ascertains key supply and demand issues relevant to the selected company’s industry but does not pinpoint critical issues that could benefit or harm the company

Does not ascertain key supply and demand issues nor pinpoint critical issues that could benefit or harm the company

12

Industry and Economic Analysis: Industry Analysis: Market Share

and Competitive Landscape

Approximates the selected company’s market share within its own industry and distinguishes its strengths and weaknesses from its major competitors

Approximates the selected company’s market share within its own industry but does not distinguish its strengths and weaknesses from its major competitors

Does not approximate the selected company’s market share within its own industry nor distinguish its strengths and weaknesses from its major competitors

12

Industry and Economic Analysis: Industry Analysis: Regulation

Evaluates new regulation that is specific to the chosen company’s industry and determines whether it benefits or harms the company

Evaluates new regulation that is specific to the chosen company's industry but does not determine whether it benefits or harms the company

Does not evaluate new regulation that is specific to the chosen company’s industry nor determine whether it benefits or harms the company

12

Industry and Economic Analysis: Industry Analysis: Employment

Issues

Explains how the labor markets and the constraints that exist impact the selected company's operations

Explains how the labor markets and the constraints that exist impact the selected company’s operations, but response contains errors or is illogical

Does not explain how the labor markets and constraints that exist impact the selected company’s operations

12

Critical Elements Proficient (100%) Needs Improvement (75%) Not Evident (0%) Value

Industry and Economic Analysis: Industry Analysis: Industry Outlook

Determines how industry trends and relevant emerging technologies will impact the chosen company’s industry in the future

Determines how industry trends and relevant emerging technologies will impact the chosen company's industry in the future, but response contains errors or is illogical

Does not determine how industry trends and relevant emerging technologies will impact the chosen company’s industry in the future

12

Articulation of Response Submission has no major errors related to citations, grammar, spelling, syntax, or organization

Submission has major errors related to citations, grammar, spelling, syntax, or organization that negatively impact readability and articulation of main ideas

Submission has critical errors related to citations, grammar, spelling, syntax, or organization that prevent understanding of ideas

4

Total 100%