Last updated on September 23rd, 2023 at 03:37 pm

CMS301 Project 1: Company Analysis. 

PROJECT 1: COMPANY ANALYSIS

Objective

The purpose of this project is to demonstrate your understanding of the following course concepts:

1. How companies use digital and social media to effectively communicate ideas, information, arguments, and messages to achieve a specific goal.
   
2. How digital media has transformed the communication of an idea, information, and arguments in society.

 Project Description
The use of digital media has transformed how companies communicate with their customers. The use of the websites, YouTube, e-books, e-mail and various forms of social media such as Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest, Snapchat, Instagram, and blogs has shaped current day communication strategies.

Project 1 Consists of:

1. Project Requirements (topics and content to cover)
   2. Paper Requirements (content organization)
   3. Submission Requirements (how to submit your assignment)
   4. APA Resources (how to cite and select sources)
   5. Due Date Information and Late Policy

 Project Requirements
Select a company that utilizes digital or social media to communicate with customers to complete Section 1.

NOTE 1: You are required to complete ALL THREE SECTIONS of this project (Sections 1, 2, and 3).

SECTION 1: COMPANY INFORMATION
Provide the following information about the company you select:
Item 1: What is the name of the company?
Item 2: What year was the company established?
Item 3: What is the company’s goal or mission?
Item 4: What products and services does the company offer or provide?
Item 5: Provide the company website address (URL).
Item 6: How many employees does the company employ?
Item 7: Where is the company’s headquarters located?
Item 8: What are the company’s most recent earnings?

Section 1 Source: Include at least one source for Section 1. Include this source as an in-paper citation and on your Reference page.
Section 1 Example: The Henkel Company
To help you with completing Section 1, an example is provided below:
“…Henkel was founded in 1876. People around the world trust Henkel’s innovations, brands, and technologies. In the fiscal year 2016, the company reported sales of approx. 18.7 billion euros and an operating profit of around 3.2 billion euros (adjusted for one-time gains/charges and restructuring charges). The DAX-30 company has its headquarters in Düsseldorf, Germany. Henkel employs more than 50,000 people worldwide, over 80 percent of whom work outside of Germany. Henkel is thus one of the most international German companies…”

Henkel. (2019). Company Profile. In Company Profile. Retrieved 1/15/19, from https://www.henkel.com/press-and-media/facts-and-figures/company-profile

NOTE 2: You cannot use the Henkel Company in your project.

SECTION 2: DIGITAL AND SOCIAL MEDIA USE
How does the company use Digital and Social Media to communicate with their customers?

Item 1: List all of the digital and social media platforms the company uses to communicate with customers (including websites, YouTube, e-books, e-mail and various forms of social media such as Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest, Snapchat, Instagram, and blogs).
Item 2: Describe how the company uses EACH digital and social media listed in Item 1 above to achieve its goals or mission.

Section 2 Source: Include at least one source for Section 2. Include this source as an in-paper citation and on your References page.

SECTION 3: ANALYSIS
Provide an example of how the company uses digital and/or social media to accomplish an objective (e.g. to address a serious public relations issue, promote a cause, market a product, achieve a strategic advantage by using Big Data, or promote an event).

Item 1:  Describe the situation or example in detail.
Item 2:  How successful was the company in accomplishing the objective? Support your answer with reference (s).
Item 3:  List one thing the company could have done better to accomplish their objective. Be sure to focus on the use of digital or social media here.
Item 4: If you decide to discuss the company’s use of Big Data to achieve a strategic advantage, does their use of Big Data concern you as a potential customer? Why or why not?

To help you with completing Section 3, we have provided two sample topics below:

Section 3 Example 1: Target’s Data Breach
Target’s December 2013 data breach was a public relations nightmare, but the company responded swiftly over social media, posting safety guidelines on Twitter and keeping an open dialog with its aggrieved customers.

Section 3 Example 2: Target’s Use of Big Data
Target is renowned in the industry for its data collection practices. Target maintains a customer relationship management database which includes information from in-store purchases (they link all of your purchases to a unique customer identifier) and data they collect externally (e.g. data from Facebook and other sources).  Combine the two data streams and Target can predict, with a high degree of certainty, what your gender is, where you live, how far you travel to work, your relationship status, and they can even tell if you are pregnant and if so when you are due. The amount of money spent each year on pregnancy-related purchases is tremendous. In efforts to win the market share in this profit area, Target has hired a team of statisticians to perform predictive analysis. The goal, in this particular situation, is to predict which women are expecting (or soon to be), without asking them directly, by analyzing their purchasing behavior (e.g. cribs, baby clothes, prenatal vitamins, etc.). This way Target can “target” this particular demographic (with coupons, discounts, and other offers) very early, thus getting a jump on the competition.

Section 3 Sources: Include at least two sources for Section 3. Include the two sources as in-paper citations and on your References page. At least one source should be professional or scholarly. 

NOTE 3: You cannot use Target in your project or any company we discussed in class (e.g. Google).

 Paper Requirements
1. Your paper must follow APA format guidelines throughout.
(A sample APA template for you to use is attached to the bottom of this page). Be sure to use the the sample template.

1. Double-spaced
   b. 1-inch Margins
   c. 12-point size professional font (e.g. Times New Roman)
   d. Header
   e. Automatic Page numbers
   f. Title page
   g. Reference page
2. Length: Minimum of 1,000; Maximum of 1,500 words.
   (Title page, Reference page, and direct quotes do not count toward the total word count).

NOTE 4: Going over 1,500 words is fine, but if you are under 1,000 you will be penalized (10% or one letter grade) if you have under 900 words.

3. Include one Image.
   Include at least one table, graph, or image of an appropriate size that is relevant and supports the information provided in your paper. Feel free to create the image if you like.Image Example: The Henkel Company Infographic
   To help you with completing your project, we have included a sample image.This is a great infographic that provides data on the Henkel Company. This infographic would work well in Section 1.

Henkel Company Infographic [Digital image]. (n.d.). Retrieved January 15, 2019, from here:

4. Title Page
   Your title page must be APA formatted and include the following:
5. Project Name
   b. Your Name
   c. Instructor’s Name
   d. Course name
   e. Due date of the assignment.
   f. Title of Company Analysis
6. References Page
   Your References page must be APA formatted.
7. Sources:Include at least Four (4) Sources (Total)
   a. Include at least One (1) Source for Section 1.
   b. Include at least One (1) Source for Section 2.
   c. Include at least Two (2) Sources for Section 3. At least one of the two sources must be a Professional or Scholarly Source.

Clarification: Please do not use unprofessional sources such as Wikipedia, About.com, Answers.com, Dictionary.com, How.com, or anything remotely similar.  Examples of scholarly sources include textbooks, articles, academic journals, and conference proceedings. Scholarly resources are written by experts in their fields, grounded in research, and often refereed (reviewed and edited by researchers in the field). Examples of professional sources include trade journals or magazines. Professional sources are written for a specific audience that works in a certain field. They are not research-based. You can also use our course content (e.g. Read & Watch resources) as a source as well. UMGC has a top-notch, extensive online library. You can find many scholarly and professional sources there.

NOTE 5: You can also use social media (e.g. Twitter posts, blogs, YouTube) sources as well as this is a paper about the use of digital and social media.

7. Setup & Organization
Your paper must include the following pages and Level 1 Headings:

1. Cover Page
   b. Company Profile (Section 1)
   c. Digital and Social Media Use (Section 2)
   d. Analysis (Section 3)
   e. Reference Page

 APA Resources
UMGC’s Library offers several resources for APA formatting and citation style, including the resources below:
APA 7^th Edition:

 Submission Requirements
Please submit your completed paper to your Assignments Folder in our CMST 301 LEO Classroom before the due date.

 Due Date

Five (5) Day Late Period: The Assignments Folder will remain open 5 days after the due date for late submissions. There will be a 10% (or 2 point) reduction each day (24-hour period) the assignment is late.  After 5 days, late assignments will not be accepted or graded. The Assignments Folder will be closed at this point as well and you will not be able to physically submit the assignment.

Exceptions may be allowed, on a case-by-case basis, for life situations (military deployment, medical illness, death in the family, etc). In all cases, timely notification of a “life situation” is critical to the approval of any extensions. All exceptions must be accompanied by official documentation, which is subject to inspection and approval. Workload, course load, vacations, or bad memory are not acceptable excuses.

Running Close to the Deadline?: Please do not wait until the last minute to submit your assignment. Give yourself at least a 5-hour window to account for any technical difficulties that might arise. If you experience technical difficulties beyond your control that do not allow you to successfully complete the assignment, immediately follow the steps below:

Step 1: Contact theUMGC Help Center. Inform them of the problem you are having. Get a problem ticket number from them to document the situation.
Step 2: E-mail me ASAP and include (a) your class and section, (b) description of the problem you are having, (c) your problem ticket number from the Help Center, and (d) your name, so I can investigate the situation.
Step 3: Attempt to attach your assignment to a message to me inside of LEO.
Step 4: E-mail the assignment to me.

 Grade Value
This project is worth 100 points or 20% of your total grade for the course.

 Grade Reductions 
You will lose points for issues such as: not following directions, not submitting your work on time, and failure to include all required elements. Each omission will result in a partial point deduction.

 Submitting Your Assignment
To complete this project and receive full credit, you must submit your completed presentation to your Assignments Folder unless you encounter problems–discussed above).

 CYA (Copy Your Assignment)
Please make sure you keep a copy of your project stored on your computer. Technical difficulties do happen–you may need to resubmit your assignment for a number of reasons. It is always a good policy to CYA!

 Having Problems?
Please contact me in advance if you are having problems understanding what is required of you.

 Do Your Own Work
UMGC has strict policies regarding turning in work that is not 100% your own creation. I will enforce these policies.

 Verify Your Assignment Has Been Posted ( *** Very Important *** )
It is your responsibility to make sure you have posted your assignment CORRECTLY! Once you have posted your assignment, immediately attempt to view it, just to make sure your post was accepted by LEO, that it is formatted correctly, and you have posted the correct file.

NOTE 6: You will be held responsible for posting your assignments correctly.