DirectionsStep One: Select your product or service offering from the list in Writing Assignment Instructions. The same product/service will be used in all four of your writing assignments.Step Two: Research your product or service offering through the Internet and UMGC’s virtual library. Your references will need to be mostly academic sources; see library services if you do not know what an academic source means and your own outside research. Do not limit yourself to searching solely on the product or service name. Look up the industry it is in. Hoovers.com database is a good place to search for this information in the UMGC library; search on that industry as well. Look up the direct competitors. Check industry journals and the trade press. Ask your family, friends, coworkers and others what they think about the product and each of the competitors. If relevant and possible, you may want to visit a retailer to compare the products on the shelves or visit all of the websites. Keep all your research as you will need it for future writing assignments. [Optional] You may want to calculate the lifetime value of a customer. See the discussion of the lifetime value calculation in the week's reading, and calculate the LTV using this simple equation: LTV = (Price) * number of annual purchases * number of years expected to purchase - initial acquisition costs. For simplicity sake, you can assume your customer will have a relationship with you for ten years and you can make an educated guess as to how much the initial acquisition costs were to get that person as a customer in terms of advertising or other types of promotion efforts. If you are not a customer yourself, make and share your assumptions about your calculation. If you are not a customer, you might want to find someone who is. Ask them why they are loyal to the product or service. Step Three: Prepare your assignment to answer each of the following questions (two in part 1 and two in part 2). Although you do not need to repeat the question, each section should have a heading. The paper should contain approximately 4-5 total pages of analysis for the responses to the questions. See Writing Assignment Instructions for full details of the requirements. Part 1 – Customer Value & Role in MissionCreating Value for Customers. Consider the customers you believe currently use your product or service and the definition of marketing offered in the course content. Discuss how you think the company creates value for its customers based on the concepts in this week's readings. Role of the Customer in the Company's Mission. The readings indicate that the best marketing begins with the customer and that commitment to the customer begins with including the customer in the company's mission statement. Find your company's mission statement. Copy, paste and cite the company mission statement (or attach as an exhibit if it is too long). Comment on its effectiveness in demonstrating the company's commitment to having a customer focus. Could the mission statement have more focus on the customer? How would you recommend it be modified? Is it supported with value statements or other evidence of a customer focus? Part 2 – Company AnalysisSWOT analysis. Perform a SWOT analysis for your company and create a table in which you display and explain your results. Identify at least one element of each of the SWOT categories (a strength, a weakness, an opportunity, and a threat). Explain your choice using a citation to support your explanation. Then identify possible implications for each of the four elements. Create and include a Table in which these elements are posted. For example, if a strength is a strong national brand name, the implication is that the company may be able to launch other related products under the positive umbrella of the same brand name. Conversely, if a major weakness is the company is carrying a lot of debt, the implication is that the company not be able to achieve significant growth, but may have to consider retrenchment strategies. Your response will be enhanced by including elements related to your product. Do not simply reproduce a SWOT analysis you find somewhere; you are being asked to perform your own analysis and create your own SWOT.Competitive Analysis. Identify at least two major competitors that are trying to sell essentially identical products to the same type of consumer. Then, identify at least three criteria that are important to those consumers when they are making their decision as to which of the three competing offers to buy (e.g. price, specific benefit, service, warranty, convenience, specific feature, etc.). Make a chart with the three criteria along the left-hand side and the competitor products (including your own product) across the top. Rank each of the products on a scale from 1= low to 5= high on each performs on each of the three criteria. Add down each column. Which product ranked highest overall based on the sum of the columns? Then, look at the highest score in each of the criteria boxes. Explain the following…Which products ranked the highest on each of the three criteria? Was it the same product, was it three different products? What do these results tell you about the competitive environment of your product category. Which product is the leader? Which product is the follower, challenger and nicher, if those categories apply? Include your chart in your text.Please use only US Sources

A literature review takes an exhaustive look at a specific vein of existing research, synthesizing and evaluating what has been published on the topic in order to guide the researcher on an informed journey into their own line of inquiry. A literature review is not an annotated bibliography or a summary of source information, so the student must analyze and synthesize the information they find in order to find patterns in the concepts, themes, or ideas. This literature review should focus on 3-5 themes or main points. These themes will guide the literature review; a literature review highlights comparisons and contrasts among the research findings of various authors for each identified theme. A good literature review will also  identify questions that remain unaddressed and locate gaps in the literature that  ultimately point to directions for future research. Only scholarly (preferably peer-reviewed), empirical (qualitative or quantitative) research will count toward the 8 source requirement; however, students may use other sources to develop their literature review. All sources must be fully cited in APA format both in-text and in the bibliography. The Final Paper Will Include: Section Description Length Title page Should be its own page APA Format (does not count toward 5 page minimum) 1 page Abstract/Executive Summary Should be its own page APA Format (does not count toward 5 page minimum) 1 page Body of Literature Review: Introduction Body of the paper should include a clear introduction that provides a preview of the major themes identified in the reviewed literature. 1 paragraph Body of Literature Review: Synthesis of Research Body of the paper should include 3-5 main points derived from synthesizing the research. Each main point should be supported with at least two different sources. This is not an annotated bibliography, this is a more comprehensive look at the research you read. You are encouraged to use headings, but follow APA guidelines for spacing (this source may help you:  https://owl.english.purdue.edu/owl/resource/560/01/ (Links to an external site.). Be sure to appropriately cite sources in-text and be aware of plagiarism (there will be a TurnItIn Report on your submitted paper--if you are not in the green, you had better double check for plagiarism) Anticipate about 5 pages Body of Literature Review: Conclusions and Recommendations for Future Research Body of the paper should include a conclusion that not only summarizes what the research revealed, but what was missing in the research or what potential issues you identified with the methods the research was conducted--think of it as an evaluation of the research that you read. This conclusion should also include your recommendations for further study.