Ashford University HISCO Annual Report Task

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Decisions for Quarter Four and Final Qualitative Competitive Ranking

[WLOs: 2, 4] [CLOs: 1, 3, 4]

Prior to beginning work on this assignment, carefully review the content found in the “Suggestions for Quarter 4” pop-up screen and read any Quarter Three Internal Emails and/or Memos available through your Growing Your Business simulation. The pop-up will be available at the lower left (Blue Guidelines) of the Executive Summary Decisions Tab and the emails and memos can be re-accessed through the Help section.

As in prior quarters, you will revise and submit your Quarter 4 Decisions. If there is any quarter that requires balancing the short- and long-term this is it. You need not only to meet and/or exceed your Financial Targets within your budget/plan but are creating shareholder value for the long-term. Reminder, if you have the ability to exceed plan as you saw in the Internal Emails, go for it.

After your fourth quarter results are returned, the first screen you will see will be your Final Quantitative Competitive Ranking. This will be followed by Guidelines for “When Q4 Results are returned.” The Winning Chart can always be found on the Quarterly Dashboard under “Winner.” The ranking you receive from these results will determine your grade for Part I of the Week 5 Assignment. 1st = 10, 2nd = 9.25, 3rd = 8.5.

In your Growing Your Business simulation,

  • Evaluate quantitative and qualitative techniques for business analysis and decision-making.
  • Utilize tools from finance, marketing, information technology and human resources management to manage the profitability of overall business operations specific to Quarter 4.
  • Create specific business tactics to achieve organizational survival and growth.

The Decisions for Quarter Four and Final Qualitative Competitive Ranking

  • Must use the Role Play
    • It is critical you read the details of the role play very carefully and any questions should immediately be referred to the Help Desk.
    • You can gain differentiated competitive advantage through effective use of the role play.
    • Some role players only provide qualitative information, while others provide the ability to negotiate with quantitatively.
    • The role play is a scarce resource because of the limited number of calls per quarter.
  • Must submit your Quarter Four Budget Plan.
    • Periodically, as you modify inputs, use the “Model My Plan” at the lower right to see the impact of your decisions on the Financial Metrics.
    • Input your financial decision and then click on the blue Submit My SRO button on the bottom right of the Quarterly Decisions screen.
  • You must submit your Quarter Four Decisions prior to moving on to this week’s Annual Operating Review assignment.

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Explanation & Answer

Attached. Please let me know if you have any questions or need revisions.

HISCO Annual Report
There are two sections to this assignment:
1) The Annual Report, and
2) The “Stan Sloane Letter”
Part 1 (Annual Report) is detailed below. Part 2 is described first.
The “Stan Sloane Letter”. HISCO’s owner, Stan Sloane, is very happy that he
decided to hire you to help turn the company around. He is interested in having
you stay on with the company. However, he will need assurance from you that you
are committed to continuing to grow HISCO. In three to four pages, explain to
Stan how you plan on running the company over the next two years. You should
discuss the majority of the items you developed when you first came on with the
company, including: whether you would make any changes to the SWOT analysis,
whether you would change the company strategy, negotiations you would make
with company stakeholders, future technology suggestions, growth expectations
in general for the industry and specifically for HISCO over the next two years, any
concerns that occurred in the past year that you would address, and any other
information you believe would be relevant in order to reassure Stan that he has
placed the company in the right hands. You will add this letter at the end of the
standard Annual Report. This letter is not part of a traditional Annual Report.

HISCO Summary Annual Report Template
This HISCO summary annual report template needs to be completed as part of your year-end activities.
The due date is no later than Day 7 of Week 6 and is your final deliverable in BUS687. The HISCO
summary annual report is worth 20% of your overall grade.
Our goal is to capture the essence of the “Major” sections of an annual report and provide an
opportunity to synthesize your learnings from the simulation. This is the reason we refer to it as a
summary annual report. You will simply not have enough detail to complete the typical nine sections.
For example, you are not responsible for the Auditor’s Report. Naturally, you are encouraged to review
real-world annual reports, which can be used as a strawman in preparation. Your HISCO Annual Report
should be your own original work. Your recently completed Annual Operating Review in Week 5 should
be very aligned to your Annual Report.
Preparing your HISCO summary annual report will be one of the most comprehensive assignments you
will have completed during your MBA. You will gain an appreciation for the complexity and
responsibility the senior executives continually face. Hopefully, you have experienced the holistic and
competitive environment from the simulation. Your recently completed Annual Operating Review will
provide the basics.
The information - qualitative and quantitative - in an annual report should provide current and
prospective investors (as well as any stakeholder) a complete insight into the company’s historic
performance and its plans for growth and improvement over the next few years, as defined by its
strategy. Publicly traded companies are required by law to prepare and submit to many constituencies a
variety of filings. The most well-known are the Annual Report to Shareholders and related Form 10-K.
An Annual Report is technically an unofficial document. The Form 10-K will typically provide the most
comprehensive summary of the company’s history, financials, risks and opportunities, and current
operations. The Form 10-K is submitted annually to the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).
Technically, HISCO is a private company (you may have sold equity to the venture capitalist) and only if it
had publically trades debt would be required to file a Form 10-K.
As a future leader of a public or private company, you will learn the integrative nature of any business
while you complete the HISCO summary Annual Report. This document can become an important part
of your e-portfolio as you continue throughout the program. Your owner, Stanley Sloane, looks forward
to reading your HISCO summary Annual Report. While details may vary state by state, even if your
career leads to growing a small private business, you will need to file an Annual Report with The
Secretary of State in your jurisdiction; another benefit to learning from our fina...


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Really helped me to better understand my coursework. Super recommended.

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