Client Background Objective:

The report is to be a situation analysis for our client using the code name College Prep Service.  This is a real client, but I cannot reveal who it is or what would be the real name of the business.  The client is a professor right here at TAMU-T; we'll call him Dr. Smith.  (And no, it is not me, but this really is a real situation and a real person who is serious about this business idea.)  Dr. Smith and his wife are considering launching a college preparation service for local (Texarkana, USA) high school students.  They have absolutely no business experience and have come to me to ask if this is a good idea.

Dr. Smith is typical of most professors in the US in that he is on a nine-month contract.  That is, he receives a salary for teaching during the regular nine month school year, and might receive additional compensation if he teaches any courses during the summer.  Summer courses are not guaranteed, however, and it is unlikely that students would take courses in his discipline during the summer. 

Mrs. Smith is a local high school teacher, and she, too, is on a nine month contract with no summer employment.  Importantly, Mrs. Smith has developed health issues that are making it increasingly painful for her to stand for the long periods of time that are required of a high school teacher.  She likes her job, but she doesn't think that she can continue to work as a full time teacher for much longer.  The family needs the incomes of both parents to live at the lifestyle that they currently enjoy; Mrs. Smith must continue working as long as she can endure the pain, but she knows that she only has a few more years left. 

The Smiths live in a professional-class neighborhood.  Most of the families in this neighborhood hope to send their children to universities that have professional programs that are not offered locally (e.g., law and medicine).  The Smiths believe that there is a local market for services that would increase the chances of entrance into universities that offer these programs and to increase the chances of making it through the first year at these schools.  They believe that there are parents in the local area who would be willing to pay for services that would prepare their children for the SAT, improve reading speed, improve memory, improve study habits, and such.

Our clients are also smart enough to know that this simple belief does not necessarily suggest this to be a viable business idea.  They want to know, is this idea worth pursuing?

Getting Started:

For the next several weeks, you will have weekly assignments that are designed to guide you through the process of researching and assessing this case.  These will lead up to the final report and should give you direction with regard to how to research and assess the situation and how to structure the final report.  Although you may start researching this case immediately, keep in mind that you don't yet have the necessary insights to complete the project -- that's why you are taking this course.  If you were hoping that you can complete all of the requirements for the course in the first week, you probably won't do well on this project and should drop the course.  Marketing analysis requires a methodical approach and you absolutely must take the time to develop the associated knowledge, skills, and insights in order to conduct and report the analysis for this project.

Those of you who are unfamiliar with the local Texarkana area probably have a bit of an advantage over us locals in that you can assess the situation more objectively without any personal biases or opinions.  I can give you some hints as we move ahead regarding where to find information about population density, income levels, and such, but for now, everyone should browse through TexarkanaMSA.org for local information and should do a search on the Web to become familiar with the college prep industry.  Note that the local city is often referenced as Texarkana, USA because it is actually two cities divided right down the middle by a state line - it has two city governments (Texarkana, TX and Texarkana, AR), two county governments (Bowie County, TX and Miller County, AR) and two state governments.  This is not an issue that really affects our client's proposition, but it will make a difference when you look up local statistics and such.  For example, if you state the population of Texarkana, TX in your report, you are not correctly stating the population of the local market in Texarkana, USA.

Analysis and Report:

This report should maintain focus on the marketing environment and should be suitable as the first part of a larger strategic or business plan.  The attached outline should also provide some guidance, but strict adherence to this outline is not required if the presentation is appropriate for our client.  This is not a creative writing assignment; it is a technical writing assignment.  Personal philosophy and "shooting from the hip" are not appropriate for this business analysis and report.  Length is expected to be no more than 2500 words of text (exclusive of appendices).

You are expected to do outside secondary research for this project.  This could include, for example, finding demographic information that is related to estimating the size and location of potential target markets for this product or organization, finding information regarding industry trends, and such.  Keep copies of all information that you find and make sure that you have the exact URL of Web sources because you will be required to cite all sources of information. 

For a variety of reasons, you are prohibited from conducting primary research excepting some kinds of observational research that would not reveal the nature of our project.  You might, for example, stand on a street corner to count customer traffic of a competitor, but you may not call competitors for an interview and you may not conduct a formal survey.  This latter issue has caused serious enough problems in the past that I will immediately drop you from the course if I have reason to suspect that you have interviewed or surveyed competitors, business leaders, or prospective buyers.  (Engaging in these activities could, for example, jeopardize relationships with business school clients, could jeopardize relationships with college donors, or could jeopardize federal funding.)

All reports must have some sort of introduction that explains the nature, focus, and objective of the report to the reader.  The body of all reports must in some way address opportunities and threats in the environment and address the strengths and weaknesses of our client organization.  All reports must also end with some sort of recommendation. That is, the report should lead to some speculation regarding the outlook for our client's business, the strategy which should be set for the business, and possibly some suggestions regarding how it is that strategy for this product can be implemented (tactics).

Although some sort of recommendation is required, most of the text of the report will be associated with a scan and assessment of the current environment.  Note that a report that ends with a negative outlook can be as valuable as a report that ends with a positive outlook.

The Assignment:

1. This is a real world assignment.  The written report will be scored in large part on the professor's perception of the usefulness and acceptability of the report to the real client within the framework that this is to be a situation analysis.  A common problem is that students tend to include irrelevant and inappropriate material in a report to show evidence that some particular concept has been learned in the course.  Note that a minimal requirement is that reports be relatively free of problems of grammar, spelling, typing, and such.  Do not fabricate material for the sake of creating a report.  Again, remember that this is not a creative writing assignment but is a technical writing assignment.

2. The exact format of the finished report is of your own choosing.  Although a suggested format for a situation analysis is attached for guidance, it is not necessary that this be followed exactly.  HOWEVER, the attached outline does cover the major issues that are generally important in such an analysis; whatever format that you choose must be appropriate for this assignment.  Other published formats commonly called "situation analysis," "market analysis," "environmental analysis," "business plan," and such might or might not be appropriate and acceptable.  No two finished reports would be the same, and it is unlikely that a report could ever be constructed to exactly fit an imposed outline.

3. ALL facts in the report must be substantiated except those that are obviously common knowledge.  This necessarily requires that the source of each and every piece information be cited. Watch for statements that lend themselves to red-ink comments such as, "says who" or "I disagree."  For example, if a statement is made that the local economy is likely to get better or worse over the next five years, then the report MUST indicate the source of this expectation.  Additionally, related questions associated with substantiating this statement might have to be answered, e.g., Who expects this?  How did this person or organization or publication arrive at this expectation?  How many others agree with this expectation?  How many others disagree?  If the speculation is your own, be sure that it is substantiated with charts, graphs, tables, or figures that indicate the source of the information contained therein. 

4. Information sources must be as close to the original source as possible.  For example, reporting population statistics that you found on a Chamber of Commerce or real estate agency Web site is not appropriate in a professional report and these third-party compilations are very often in error.  Such statistics are easily obtained directly from Census Bureau and you have absolutely no excuses for not citing directly to an exact page at this original source.

5. You are required to cite all sources of information.  A less obtrusive method of citing in a business report is to list the references at the end of the report in a numbered list: List all sources at the end of the report in alphabetical order.  Number them in this order, starting the list with number 1.  Whenever a statement is made that must reference that source, indicate the source by a number in parentheses after the statement, like this (12).  Note that the first time in a report that a source is referenced, the number is not necessarily (1), the second is not necessarily (2), etc.  Also note that the same source may appear multiple times in the same report, like this (23).  If several sources support the same statement, they should all be included like this (4, 7, 12, 15); a greater number of sources often strengthens an assertion.  If several statements are made in the same paragraph that use the same source, list that source only once after all such statements within a single paragraph.  That is, do not source this (8) and this again (8) for two separate issues that are included in the same statement.

6. If you cite information that was obtained from a Web site, your reference list must provide a complete URL to the exact page that you cite.  Since Web pages sometimes disappear, you must also indicate the date on which you accessed the page.  (Assume that I WILL look up those references to verify information and that I will seek out cached and archived pages if I cannot find them.  The more work you make for me, the lower your grade.)  For more information on citing Web sources, see a recent style manual such as APA - this information can be found online if your notes and books from a writing course are getting too old.

7. The written report will be submitted electronically.  Rather than a page limit, you have a word limit of 2500 words (about ten double-spaced pages), exclusive of appendices.  I doubt that you will need any appendices for this analysis, but you will have an attached reference listing for citations to information that you use in the report; this reference listing does not count in the 2500 word limit.

1. Introduction and Overview

   • focus of the report
   • objective of the client
   • objective of the report
   • brief summary of the report

2. Assessment of Organizational Resources, Strengths, and Weaknesses

   • mission and objectives
   • portfolio analysis
   • resources and competencies
   • organizational weaknesses

3. Assessment of External Environmental Opportunities and Threats

   • demographic
   • sociocultural
   • economic
   • technological
   • competitive
   • political
   • legal and regulatory
   • etc.

4. Product-level Assessment

   • Consumer/customer Assessment

     • who buys?
     • why do buyers buy?
     • how do buyers make choices?
     • what are bases for market segmentation?
     • what are potential target markets?

   • Competitor Assessment

     • who are direct competitors?
     • who are indirect competitors?
     • what is the likelihood of new competition?
     • what is the intensity of competition?
     • what are competitors' advantages and disadvantages?

   • Market measurement

     • estimate market potential
     • determine potential of each geographic area
     • assess trends
     • make forecasts

5. Summary and Recommendations

   • define opportunities and threats
   • define strengths and weaknesses
   • suggest objectives or future direction
   • suggest strategy for reaching objectives
   • suggest tactics to implement strategy

Adapted from Guiltinan and Paul (1990), Marketing Management: Strategies and Programs, New York: McGraw-Hill.