Home

Competency
In this project, you will demonstrate your mastery of the following competency:
Utilize information from industry and scholarly sources to inform problem solving and decision making
Scenario
You are the sales department manager for a U.S.-based company that
builds engines for the automotive manufacturing industry. Your company
is considering diversifying into other business opportunities where your
motors can be sold in order to bolster the company’s portfolio and
increase revenue. Based on your knowledge of the national sales
landscape, your manager would like you to conduct preliminary research
and prepare a presentation with your recommendation for opportunity in a
chosen industry that will allow for this diversification through a new
sales division and increased sales. You have been asked to make your
presentation at the next stakeholder meeting, where you will address
internal stakeholders from across the company as well as external
stakeholders such as customers, investors, and suppliers.
As a preliminary step in developing this presentation, your manager
would like to see an executive summary of your research findings and
evaluate your decision modeling.
Directions
Complete the Project One Worksheet in your Soomo webtext and submit it for instructor feedback.
Part 1: Define
You will first conduct research on the U.S.-based automotive
manufacturing industry using the Shapiro Library database links provided
in the supporting materials section below. Then, prepare an analysis
report that addresses the following:
Define the problem.
Explain the type of qualitative and quantitative data you will be targeting in your research.
Provide a broad description of the U.S. automotive manufacturing industry and its value. Include:
Total value of the industry
Sales by region
Sales by fuel type: electric, hybrid, and gas
Describe the current trends in the automotive market.
The trend toward different types of motors for the vehicles being made and sold, such as electric and hybrid
Trends in customer demands such as vehicle color, extra features, and styles
Trends in the body types of vehicles sold (SUVs, trucks, sedans)
Part 2: Research
In Module One, you chose an industry that you think would provide
opportunity for your company. Now, using industry-specific and scholarly
resources to inform your decision, prepare an industry analysis report
that includes the following:
Provide a broad description of the chosen industry.
Describe the overall attractiveness of the industry.
Is this a growing industry?
Is this an industry that has a lot of growth potential?
What outside factors are affecting its growth?
Identify the factors that have allowed competitors to be successful in this industry thus far.
Summarize the overall value of the industry.
How is the industry currently trending?
Summarize the sales. Speculate if sales vary based on the region of
the country. (For example, there would be very few snow plow sales in
the southern United States, if any at all.)
Define expected growth areas.
Describe the current market trends for the chosen industry.
What products or services are trending?
What are some current customer demands?
Perform a Porter’s Five Forces analysis to determine the potential success of moving into this chosen industry.
Explain your rationale.
Part 3: Compare
Compare the two industries and summarize your findings.
Perform a Porter’s Five Forces analysis to compare the two industries.
Summarize how your findings address the problem.
What to Submit
To complete this project, submit an executive summary report
of 3 to 4 pages using the provided templates, or the document you
downloaded from Soomo. Sources should be cited according to APA style.