Case study proposal and outline

 

Ocean Spray

This short proposal should be 250 words and also include a suggested outline (The 250-word limit applies to clearly state your chosen enterprise and the business issue addressed only).   

Our group chose the Ocean Spray. I will have a final project. I will complete a business case study on a cooperative business of my choice in the future. This time is only to write a proposal for the final project. I have uploaded the rubric for this proposal and guidelines for the final. 

ARE 132: Cooperative Business Enterprises Kiesel

Final Project: Case Study of Cooperative Business Enterprises
Goal:
Learning is not a spectator sport. This project allows you to apply the material covered throughout
the quarter in an analysis of an existing cooperative business or marketing order of your choice.
It also serves a preparation for possible internship position, job applications, or as a writing sample
to be included in job or advanced degree applications.
An important aspect of successfully completing this project is to identify a business issue and
clearly focus your case study on offering possible solutions. The more specific you are, the easier
it will be to complete your project successfully. Throughout your analysis, you are expected to
develop an in-depth understanding of the business and think about potential strategies to address
your identified issue. I strongly encourage you to reach out to the business you are analyzing and
talk to management, members and/or patrons.

Content and Structure:
Your final project can be no longer than 10 pages (double-spaced), and should provide an answer
to each of the following seven questions:

1) What is a pressing issue the business is currently facing (It may not necessarily relate to
being a co-op)?

2) Description of the co-op
a) industry cooperative is operating in
b) products and/or services provided
c) organizational structure(e.g. who is horizontally coordinating and are they vertically

integrating?
3) What economic conditions (production, market, regulatory) are affecting the cooperative

(either its formation or its current operations)?
4) What economic rationale supports the cooperative’s existence (More than one rationale

may be relevant.)?
5) How are contemporary cooperative principles demonstrated in this case? (At the

minimum, address the three principles defined by the USDA, but you might also refer to
the seven principles defined by ICA depending on the business.)?

6) Has the firm’s cooperative structure (either the co-op principles or government
regulations specifically related to co-ops) had an adverse impact on the cooperative’s
business performance? What are specific challenges faced in the context of management,
or market strategies?

7) How do our derived keys to success relate to your analyzed business and what specific
recommendations and suggestions can you give based on your analysis? Why do think
they might be successful?

Sample Outlines:
Please note that you do not have to follow the structure suggested here and that your headings
could either be based on structure or content.

Executive Summary

The Business Issue
Description of the Co-op and Business History
Application of Contemporary Principles
Economic Rationale and Insights from the Literature
Business Performance and Challenges Faced
Next Steps and Recommended Strategies
References
or (less detailed but similar content)
Executive Summary
The Business Issue
Analysis
Recommendations
References

I will continuously provide additional guidance throughout the quarter and have posted
previously completed plans on Canvas as illustrative examples of a general structure as well.

Groups:
You will be working on this project in groups of 4 to 5 students. Groups will be assigned during
the second week of instructions. In a first round, we will try match students according to their
interests in certain businesses. Students that are undecided or do not have well established
preferences at that time will be randomly assigned to groups.
While I encourage you to assign tasks to each other, each member should be familiar with and
contribute to all aspects of this project. That includes reading and editing drafts before
submissions.
All group members will receive the same grade for the final project. Please reach out if you
experience issues in terms of group participation. If a member has not participated until week
8 of the quarter (Thursday, February 25th) he/she/they can be removed from the group
and will have to complete their own project. A 5 point penalty will be applied to their grade.

Deliverables:
You are asked to submit a case study proposal and outline by the end of the third week (Friday,
January 22) to receive initial feedback.
Your complete case study is due at the beginning of our last lecture (Thursday, March 11).
While you have to upload a pdf version to Canvas, you can also bring a printed version to class
that day. Further instructions are provided on Canvas.
A grading rubric s posted on Canvas for both of those deliverables.

References:
You are free to use academic resources, reports, and websites. Please do not just copy and paste
information and be sure to reference all your sources, however. You are required to cite a
reference even if you rephrase what you have read. That is also true for graphs or tables that you
are including, unless you are creating those yourself.

Proper citation: If you are citing an article or other sources in the text, you do not have to write
out the title and full author name. Instead, you cite by using the last name and publication year
only. If you cite word for word, you will also have to reference the page number as well.
You then include the complete information for all of your references used in the reference
section at the end of your paper.
Citation styles vary slightly across academic outlets and other publications in Economics. I do
not require that you follow a particular style as long as you are consistent throughout and include
all information to identify and access your source. Please refer to sample references and styles
published by AEA (https://www.aeaweb.org/journals/policies/sample-references) for additional
guidance.

Cooperative Business Enterprises for your Analysis:
You are free to complete your analysis on any enterprise with a cooperative business structure.
Please check the NCB Co-op 100 list (top 100 cooperatives in America) for a wide variety of
businesses and contact names. Below, I also provide a list of possible co-ops for which I can
provide you with contact information to reach out to:
Possible Businesses, Marketing orders and agreements:

1. Blue Diamond
2. BUCRA (Butte County Rice Growers Association)
3. California Leafy Greens Marketing Agreement (LGMA)
4. California Pears Advisory Board (Marketing order)
5. CoBank
6. Davis Natural Food Co-op
7. E&I Cooperative Services (Purchasing Co-op that UC Davis uses for

procurement)
8. Fruit Growers Supply (Cooperative association for farm supplies)
9. Full Belly Farm (CSA, Yolo County)
10. Golden State Power
11. Land O’Lakes
12. LBMX (Purchasing Co-op)
13. Pachamama Coffee (Global Farmer’s Cooperative)
14. Sacramento Natural Food Co-op
15. SunMaid Growers
16. The Cheese Board Collective
17. Three Stone Hearth (Community supported kitchen, Berkeley)
18. Dos Pinos (Housing Co-op, Davis)
19.

https://www.aeaweb.org/journals/policies/sample-references