Pick a real company to analyze. It could be a local, small business or a large national firm. It's up to you.

Your report should be divided into formal sections and labeled as follows: I. Company Profile II. Consumer Demand III. Cost Structure IV. Market Structure V. References VI. A Reflection on Microeconomics

Company Profile: A brief overview of the organization. o Two or three paragraphs is appropriate. o This is information you might typically find in the "About" or "History" portion of a company's website. o Potential questions to address: When was the company founded? Where do they operate? What good or service do they produce? What are the company's values or mission? This is a natural section of your analysis to reference at least one credible source, likely the company website, or a personal interview with the owner, manager, or employee.

Consumer Demand: Discuss past, current, and projected future demand for your company's products/services and the elasticity of demand for their product or service o At minimum, you should have two paragraphs: one on determinants of demand (factors that shift the demand curve) and one on elasticity of demand. High quality submissions will go beyond this minimum. o Identify the primary drivers of demand for their product/service using the determinants of demand. o Has the company made efforts to increase demand? How? o While this discussion should be rooted in fact, you may discuss it in generalities. For example, you do not need to report exact sales figures but you do need to specifically reference the determinants of demand to discuss how demand has changed over time or may change in the future. Ex: As the population of Utah has increased over the last ten years, there has been an increase in demand for residential construction services. o Given your knowledge of the factors that influence elasticity of demand, what does the elasticity of demand look like for the company's products? How does elasticity of demand impact their pricing strategies? o You might introduce another credible source here if you are able to find data to support your claims or an industry report that discusses changes or trends. Ex: The U.S. Census reports that the population of Utah increased from 2.76 million in 2010 to 3.27 million in 2020.

Costs: Discuss the company's cost structure, including analysis of major costs. Be sure to identify costs as either fixed costs or variable costs, and incorporate at least one other cost concept such as economies of scale or implicit costs. Consider if their cost structure may change in the future. o At minimum, you should have two to three paragraphs in this section. o Again, you do not need to present actual dollar amounts for costs, but you should be able to describe costs in general. o Potential questions to address: What fixed costs do they have? What variable costs? Which category of costs do you think are bigger, fixed or variable? What implicit costs may impact firm decision making? Does the company experience economies of scale? Are diminishing marginal returns a concern? Are their costs sensitive to changes in the external market? How are costs predicted to change in the future?

Market Structure: Structure of the market in which your company operates. o At minimum, you should have two to three paragraphs in this section. o Identify if the firm operates under perfect competition, monopolistic competition, oligopoly, or monopoly. o Explain the defining characteristics of the market structure you select. o Support your choice of market structure with strong supporting details. Who are your firm's major competitors? How do competitor's products/services compare to each other? Is there product differentiation? If yes, how does the company differentiate its product/service? If applicable, what are the barriers to entry? o How does its market structure impact how the firm operates (pricing setting, advertising, etc.)? o Is the market structure likely to change in the future?

References: Include information from at minimum two credible sources. Correctly cite your references using a citation method of your choice (APA, MLA, etc.). o Your selected firm's website, if they have one, is an easy source of information. o You might also conduct an interview as a primary source of information. o Another suggestion is to research the industry or product. This could be especially helpful in your section on demand. o Wikipedia will NOT be considered an appropriate source. However, all Wikipedia articles should list the sources used to generate the Wikipedia article. You might instead visit those sources directly. o If you need help with correctly formatting citations, visit https://owl.purdue.edu/owl/research_and_citation/resources.html.

your reflection should be divided into two sections: Paragraph 1: Reflect on one of the general education outcomes. Making specific references to your work in this course, tell me how you have progressed toward achieving one of the outcomes listed above. Paragraph 2: Reflect on another one of the general education outcomes. Making specific references to your work in this course, tell me how you have progressed toward achieving another one of the outcomes listed above. Paragraph 3: General reflection. Reflect on how you thought about microeconomics before you took this course and how you think about it now that the course is over. Here are some questions that you might consider: Have any of your assumptions or understandings changed? Why?