research report

DATE: January 31, 2005

TO: Bob Smithinson, English Instructor

FROM: A. Student, Business Writing Student AS

SUBJECT: Research Report #1: Reynolds & Reynolds

For my first research report I chose Reynolds & Reynolds. I selected this company because it is very well known in my field, marketing, and I am considering trying to get an internship their in the near future. I will now share with you some of my findings on this company.

Business overview

Reynolds & Reynolds company is a North American provider of integrated software solutions and services that help automotive retailers grow, manage the information in their businesses, and connect seamlessly with car companies and with consumers.

The company supplies a full range of retail and enterprise management systems, networking and support, e-business applications, Web services, learning and consulting services, customer relationship management solutions, document management and financing services for automotive retailers and manufacturers.

The company’s headquarters are right here in Dayton, Ohio, located in Miami Valley Research Park. They have two manufacturing facilities in Celina, Ohio and Grand Prairie, Texas. Reynolds also operates out of major facilities in Atlanta, Chicago, Philadelphia, Virginia Beach, Tampa, Hunt Valley, Maryland, Irvine, California, Mississauga, Ontario, Canada and Montreal, Quebec, Canada.

History

Reynolds and Reynolds has been a trademark since their founding in 1866. Some of the major accomplishments in the company’s history include:

1927- Began producing standard business forms and paper-based

accounting systems, leading to the establishment of an automotive division

1961- Sold its first stock to the public

1977- Reached $100 million in annual sales for the first time in company history

1988- Achieved the “Fortune 500”

1989- Announced its listing on the NYSE with the symbol REY

2001- Earned spots on Information Week's "Information Week 500"

and eWeek's list of "2001 FastTrack 500 eBusiness Innovators”

Today, Reynolds is a billion-dollar company with over 70 years of experience in the automotive retailing industry and operations in 20 countries. The company has a presence in over 90% of North America’s automotive retailers, with nearly half of all cars sold in North American are sold through Reynolds

Financials

For the six months ended 3/31/03, revenues increased 3% to $501.7 million. Net income before accounting change increased 6% to $57.8 million. The company’s stock is traded publicly and can be found under NYSE: REY. It has a book value of $6.71 per share, Price/Book is 4.30.

The Reynolds and Reynolds Employee Stock Purchase Plan provides associates with the opportunity to purchase Reynolds and Reynolds Class A common stock through payroll deduction.

People

The last reported count for employees was 4,602. The company has been run by 51-year-old Lloyd “Buzz” Waterhouse, an early participant in the formation of the Internet, since 1999 and is backed up by VP Dale Medford, 52.

Salaries vary for the positions, but according to Salary.com, the median expected salary for a typical beginning market research analyst is $42,185.

Reynolds offers a highly competitive total compensation and benefits package that allows its employees to pick and choose. These include 4 major areas:

1) Health Care and Wellness: Employees can choose from medical plans that offer dental care, prescription drug care, disability, vision care, and other options.

2) Work/Family Balance: Reynolds offers all associates a minimum of two weeks vacation after their first year of employment, with newly hired associates receiving a pro-rated amount of vacation days within their first year of work. Additional weeks are earned with subsequent years of service. In addition, there are nine company-designated paid holidays, discount programs, family and medical leave, educational and even adoption assistance.

3) Financial Plans: This includes choosing from stock options, a 401 (K) savings plan, and the Reynolds and Reynolds company retirement plan.

4) Compensation and Recognition: The company’s strategy is to offer market-competitive base pay and a variety of recognition, reward, commission, incentive and bonus programs that allow their associates to impact their financial rewards based on performance results.

Perceptions

The public has nothing but a positive image of this company. Here are just a few samples of what others are saying about Reynolds:

· Investment Bankers Robertson Stephens believe "Reynolds and Reynolds is

uniquely positioned to be the Cisco (e.g. the backbone) of the auto retailing

industry.”

· Analyst Baba Shetty of the Forrester Group writes: "Which technology firm currently has the vCRM edge? We vote for industry veterans The Reynolds and Reynolds Company…(they are) poised to market vCRM solutions to retailers directly-or to OEM's…which want a vendor with deep domain expertise."

The only instance of legal action that I came across was in 1972 when Reynolds filed

an anti-trust suit against Volkswagen of America that was settled out of court.

The only recent news stories involving the company have been about ACDelco

selecting Reynolds.

The company is very involved in the community, supporting such groups as ACE program, Alliance for Education, Muse Machine, Economic Development Coalition, Culture Works, Dayton Art Institute, DCDC, Dayton Black Cultural Festival and more.

Competitors

The company’s main three competitors are Automatic Data Processing, Inc. (ADP), Electronic Data Systems Corporation (EDS), and International Business Machines Corporation (IBM). The company’s market share for core systems surpasses that of their top two competitors combined.

Reynolds has held this competitive position through a widely recognized obsession with customer satisfaction and a commitment to deliver value, not just technology. In order to generate solutions for their customers, Reynolds partners with some of the world’s leading technology companies such as Cisco, Dell, Hewlett-Packard, Microsoft, and Sun Systems.

Future

The automotive industry has undergone more change in the last five years than in the previous 50 and it will continue to change ever more rapidly. Today, the marketplace is again asking the company to innovate, and, once again, they are leading the charge-this time as a “billion-dollar information services company pursuing the best possibilities of the new economy while remaining firmly grounded in successful, substantive business models of the old economy.”

The company believes that by focusing on their six core values (Focus on Customers, People are the Essence, Speed is Essential, Strive for Innovation, Standard of Integrity, and Sustained, Profitable Growth is Key) they will achieve their vision and create value for their customer, shareholders, and associates.

Employment prospects

Reynolds and Reynolds is always looking for new, diverse people who are passionate about making a difference, eager to embrace the next challenge, and unafraid to reinvent themselves and their work. The company has a variety of positions and seems excited to get graduates involved.

The company seems to mostly advertise these open positions on their website, www.reyrey.com; however, some openings can be found on monster.com or hot jobs.com.

My connection

I can definitely see myself fitting in with this company. I love the fact that they offer their employees a chance to make a difference and provide the training and tools for them to do so. The company states that it is very team oriented, something else that I value in a job. I believe that I have the ambition and knowledge to help Reynolds grow as a company.

I now feel that I have enough background information on the company that I will be able to have a good interview and to ask intelligent questions concerning their operations and what I can bring to Reynolds and Reynolds.