Assignment Paper

In a professional career, one may be called upon to conduct research and deliver findings in professional settings. No matter how extensive the research or
accurate the conclusions, a weak presentation can undermine an argument. A presentation is a tool to help make an argument. When creating presentations,
students develop skills in researching an issue, synthesizing the information, organizing data logically, and presenting findings in an effective manner.
You will prepare a five- to six-slide PowerPoint presentation that describes the progression of your Capsim company during Competitive Rounds 1 through 3.
Your audience consists of new topic members for your company’s topic of directors, and the presentation is intended to quickly bring them up to speed.
In referring to Foundation FastTrack, describe the progression of your Capsim company during Competitive Rounds 1 through 3 relative to the following:
I. Your Product
Pay particular attention to the sections on the low-tech segment, high-tech segment, and perceptual map.
i. Where is your product positioned? (Low-tech? High-tech?)
ii. Does your product fit the consumers’ desires for the product segment?
iii. How did the release data of your product impact its performance?
II. Production Analysis
Pay particular attention to the sections on R&D, capacity, and funding your plant improvements.
i. What is your production schedule?
ii. How did capacity for your product(s) change over the years?
iii. How did automation change over the years? What impact did it have on your organization?
iv. Did you discontinue a product?
III. Market Segmentation
Pay particular attention to the sections on market segmentation, pricing, the low-tech segment, the high-tech segment, and the contribution margin.
i. What is the price of your product?
ii. What was your promotional budget?
iii. What was your sales budget?
iv. What was the sales forecast for each product?
v. What were the accounts receivable (A/R) and accounts payable (A/P) implications of the decisions?
IV. Financial Performance
i. How did you pay for your R&D expenses?
ii. How did you pay for marketing expenses?
iii. How did you fund your production activities?
iv. Did you buy back stock?
v. Did you retire bonds?

vi. Did you take an emergency loan?
vii. Did you pay dividends?
viii. What is your cash percentage?
Use bullet points, graphs, charts, and relevant images in the slides. Further, since you will not actually be giving this presentation in person, use
the notes section to write out what you would say if you were.
This assignment is your opportunity to demonstrate your understanding of your Capsim company. Use the checklist below to guide the
development of your presentation.
Articulate the progression of the Capsim company in a well-organized and clear manner.
Appropriately synthesize information, organize the data logically, and present findings in an effective and efficient manner.
Use innovative and creative methods that are reflective of your Capsim company. Remember that you are seeking to quickly update
your company’s topic of directors, so knowing your audience and tailoring your message to the audience is crucial. Present and
organize the information in a way that is appropriate and relevant for the intended audience.
Create a professional presentation that adheres to the principles of an effective presentation (below) while properly citing all relevant
sources.
Principles of an Effective Presentation
• You may utilize a product such as PowerPoint or Google Presentation to create your presentation.
• There are various template designs that you can find on the web for your presentation. Before selecting a specific style, however,
consider your presentation from the perspective of your audience. Distracting backgrounds, large blocks of text, all uppercase fonts,
elaborate font styles, grammatical errors, and misspellings are distracting. Be consistent with the style of text, bullets, and sub-points in
order to support a powerful presentation that allows your content to be the focus.
• Each slide should include your key point(s). Do not place large blocks of text on the visual. Your presentation is not a means of presenting
a short paper.
In an actual presentation, you would not read directly from your slides but rather use them as prompts.
• Any notes or narration you would use in delivering this presentation to a group should be included in the notes section of the slide.
• References should be listed at the bottom of the slide in slightly smaller text.
• Use clip art, AutoShapes, pictures, charts, tables, and diagrams to enhance but not overwhelm your content.
• Be mindful of the intended audience and seek to assess the presentation’s effectiveness by gauging audience comprehension
(when possible)
The following sources offer helpful tips and examples for developing your presentations:
 Making PowerPoint Slides
 How to Learn PowerPoint Quickly
 How to Use PowerPoint
Rubric
Critical Elements Proficient (100%) Not Proficient (0%) Value
Content:
Inquiry and Analysis
Includes most of the main elements and
requirements; provides in-depth analysis that
demonstrates complete understanding of some
concepts
Includes none or few of the main elements and
requirements and/or does not provide analysis
25
Organization Slides are organized in a logical way and transitions
are paced so that the material is easily accessible
Slides are organized in a way that is illogical and/or
transitions are paced so that the material cannot be
understood
20
Critical Thinking Draws informed conclusions that are justified with
evidence
Does not draw logical conclusions 25
Visual Appeal Graphics are created and effectively used to enhance
the content, using proper size and resolution; includes
more than one type or style of media
Graphics are unrelated to content and/or are
disjointed, busy, haphazardly placed, improperly
sized, and detract from presentation
15
Narration
(Research/Writing)
Mechanics and style promote clarity; incorporates
some properly cited scholarly resources
Multiple mechanical errors and/or does not
incorporate scholarly resources
15
Earned Total 100%