Langara School of Management
BUSM 1100 Introduction to Business in Canada Spring 2017 INDIVIDUAL PROJECT: BUSINESS PROFILE ASSIGNMENT
Overview
The assignment is to research one Canadian company and write a profile about it using
concepts learned in the course and business research materials found in the library.
This is an individual assignment (not a group project). You will write a 3-4 page essay about one
company based on your research. The goal is that each person in the class:
• knows the basics of essay/report writing;
• knows how to research business related subjects;
• knows how to avoid plagiarism and demonstrates this by effectively paraphrasing
and referencing the published works that they use
• becomes more knowledgeable about one Canadian company and gains experience in
applying some of the concepts we’ve covered in class.
Due: Sunday February 26, 11:59 pm – submit to D2L assignment folder
Late submissions will not be accepted, and will not be marked.
Length
The profile should be about 1,000 words long, about 3 typed pages using 12 pt font, 1.5
spaced, with normal margins (about 350 words per page). No more than 5 pages will be
marked.
References
You MUST use a minimum of six sources and list them in your references. They must not all be
published by the company: your job is to find some information about the company that is not
produced by the company itself.
The following six sources are recommended (you can use more):
• Our course textbook
• One annual report published by your company
• The company’s website
• At least one general business article about the company’s industry
• Two general business articles about the company itself (this means not published by the
company)
All references must be cited using Chicago style.
Outline
Use the following outline for your Business Profile. Write briefly and to the point. Each of the
points below should be approximately one-two paragraphs.
I. Company history and general information
a) General information about the company: what does it produce, how was it
founded, how old is it, how did it grow/ develop (etc.)
b) Key business statistics that may be available: annual revenues, size of company,
other important background.
Page 1 Langara School of Management
BUSM 1100 Introduction to Business in Canada Spring 2017
II. Operations and human resources
a) Where it is located, number of facilities and number of employees
b) Does it operate only in Canada or is it a global company?
c) Employees: what type of specialized skills or other notable human resources
challenges does this company need to manage? III. Social responsibility
a) What does the company say about social responsibility?
b) What do other sources say about the company’s treatment of employees /
communities / environment (etc.)? IV. Analysis of Industry
Use Porter’s five forces (p. 35 in textbook) to analyze the competitive environment the
company faces. This means writing a brief comment (2 sentences each) about:
i. Who are the suppliers? Do they hold a lot of power compared to the
company?
ii. Who are the buyers (consumers)? Do they hold a lot of power compared
to the company?
iii. How significant is the threat of new entrants into the industry?
iv. How significant is the threat of substitutes?
v. How much competition is there within the industry itself? V. Conclusion / your comments
a) Based on your research, what do you think about this company? Would you work
for it? Would you consider it to be a good investment? Why?
b) Based on what the company says and what others say about the company, do
you think it is socially responsible? Explain your reasons. Note: you may not find a lot of information for every section of this outline – but try to find
enough to cover most of these points. That is what research is for!
Grading:
This assignment will be graded out of 10 marks and is worth 5% of your course grade.
• 5 marks for content: one for each of the five sections in the outline above.
• Writing and grammar: 2.5 marks – good sentence structure, clarity of idea, proper
grammar and spelling. Double-check and edit your work. (Read it out loud to yourself to
hear the structure.) Get help with proof-reading from the Writing Centre.
• Research: 2.5 marks – use of at least six references (see above), properly cited with
Chicago style.
*Note: papers will be uploaded to the plagiarism-checking site Turnitin. Please ensure you
properly reference your work. Consult the materials in our course module on plagiarism for
guidance, or ask at the library. Page 2 Langara School of Management
BUSM 1100 Introduction to Business in Canada Spring 2017 Resources:
• Use the Writing Centre for help planning, structuring, or editing your paper
• Use the Library’s link to “Assignment Help” with business research databases to find
information about your company. If you need help, contact Vivian Feng, the business
librarian.
• Use WriteAway. It is an online tutoring service that Langara subscribes to gives students
the opportunity to upload an entire draft of a paper and get extensive feedback on it.
They don’t edit or proofread (use Writing Centre for that) but they can help with
argument, thesis statements, structure, paragraphing, all of that. It takes 48 hours (and
sometimes more) to get the paper back, but early in the semester it is a great way to
get timely feedback. For the Langara login, go to:
https://etutoringcanada.ca/login.cfm?institutionid=45&returnPage=
• Use your company’s own website for some core information. Use articles published in
other sources for information about the industry, or for other viewpoints about your
company (what others say about it). YOU MUST USE SEVERAL DIFFERENT SOURCES OF
INFORMATION. Re-writing everything from the company website is not a research
project and may result in a failing grade.
Possible company choices
These companies are all publicly traded (shares sold on the stock market) and therefore, there
is more information available about them. To choose a company, first check if you can easily
find some articles about it. If there doesn’t appear to be much out there – choose a different
company! The point of this assignment is to read and make use of several different sources of
information.
1. Magna International Inc. (TSX: MG) – Auto Components
2. Saputo Inc. (TSX: SAP) – Food Products
3. Brookfield Asset Management Inc. (TSX: BAM.A) – Real Estate
4. IMAX Corporation (TSX: IMX) – Media
5. TransForce Inc. (TSX: TFI) – Road & Rail
6. New Gold (TSX:NGD) – Metals & Mining
7. West Fraser Timber Co. Ltd. (TSX: WFT) – Paper & Forest Products
8. MacDonald, Dettwiler and Associates Ltd. (TSX: MDA) – Software, Aerospace & Robotics
9. Power Financial. (TSX: PWF) – Financial Services
10. Cenovus Energy. (TSX: CVE) – Oil and Gas
11. Agrium Inc. (TSX: AGU) – Chemicals
12. Bombardier Inc. (TSX: BBD.B) – Transportation Equipment & Components
13. Shoppers DrugMart. (TSX: SC) – Specialty Stores
14. Fortis Inc. (TSX: FTS) – Electrical Utilities
15. Gildan Activewear. (TSX: GIL) – Clothing and Textiles
16. Astral Media (TSX:ACM.A) – Entertainment Services.
17. Restaurant Brands International TSX: QSR – Fast food (Tim Horton’s & Burger King)
18. Mountain Equipment Coop mec.ca (cooperative, not publicly traded) Page 3
