General Mills

You will analyze (C) the economy and industry, and (E) the forecast of economy, industry, and
company for next year for the company General Mills.
Core Learning Assessment (Due Unit 8)
All  University courses must include a core assessment that measures the course’s Core
Learning Outcomes. The purpose of this assessment is to determine if expectations have been
met concerning the mastery of learning outcomes across all instructional modalities.
For this capstone course, the core assessment is a team project that involves a strategic

analysis of a publicly held company to be administered in all sections of MG495. This team
project is worth 20 percent of the student’s final grade and will test students’ mastery of the Core
Learning Outcomes through a detailed analysis of managerial decisions and actions that help
determine the long-term performance of an organization. It includes the environmental scanning
(both external and internal), strategy formulation (strategic or long-range planning), strategic
implementation, and evaluation and control.
The teams for the core assessment project will consist of 3 – 5 members. Each team must
submit the name of their company for the instructor’s approval by midnight on Sunday of Unit 1.
Each team will have a designated Live Case Analysis Work Area to communicate among
members and work on their projects.
Live Case Analysis:
This team project is worth 200 points.
Required:
A) Executive summary
B) Historical overview of a company your team selects and products and/or services provided by
that company

(C) Analysis of economy and industry.
D) SWOT analysis of the company.
E) Forecast of the economy, industry, and company for next year.
F) Pro-forma Income Statement and Balance Sheet
G) Recommendations and conclusions.
Guides and Tips: (Overall length: 10 – 15 pages, not including references, charts, etc.)
A) A team must select a publicly held company where financial data is readily available. Most
publicly held companies have this information readily available. You will need at least 3 years of
historical data (5 – 10 years is preferred). A private company can be used if they provide you
access to financial data.
B) Discuss the relationship, if any, between the economy and industry, and the industry and
company.
C) Provide an overview of the company’s Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities, and Threats.

Please note that Strengths and Weakness are internal, Threats are external, and Opportunities
tend to be a combination of internal Strengths combined with favorable industry/economy factors.
There is a difference between Opportunities and Options.
D) Use one of the readily available forecasts of the economy versus trying to develop your own
economic forecasting model. Most major industries are forecasted by the government, think
tanks, and/or industry trade groups. Use their information for your forecast of the industry. For
the company, use historical sales data and perform regression analysis. Regression analysis for
most publicly held companies will provide strong R squared and R values to be used in
forecasting future sales. In those cases where R squared and R values are too low for
forecasting purposes, you will have to develop your own methodology to forecast sales. Be sure
and explain how you arrive at a forecasted sales value.
E) An abbreviated Pro-forma Income Statement and Balance Sheet is needed. You do no need
to encompass all the variables but rather show sales, cost of goods sold or cost of services
provides, and fixed costs. Other noteworthy items can be included if they are significant.
F) Draw conclusions based on your forecast and analysis of the company including the
challenges faced by the company and industry.