Report on footwear manufacturing

Research Report
Context
For this project, you will take on the role of a new employee of ASU’s Career and Professional Development
Services. In this role you are supporting the W.P. Carey School of Business Internship fair for this semester. You
will research and write a report that provides information for students attending the fair. Your report will focus
on a specific industry, and a representative company from that industry that will be attending the fair. You will
provide information about industry trends and company culture, and explain the relevance of that information
for your audience.
The Assignment
To get started, you will select a specific industry that you have interest in. You should be able to define that
industry by describing the kinds of economic activities it engages in (products or services produced) and by
providing examples of multiple extant companies that operate in that industry. For instance, if I wanted to
write about “the meat substitute industry” I could say that it’s an industry that produces products, sold at
grocery stores and sometimes in restaurants, that provide plant-based protein in meals. These usually strive to
replicate the taste and texture of meats. Example companies include Beyond Meat, MorningStar Farms, and
Quorn. You’ll eventually narrow your focus to a single company, but start with a few possibilities.
Note: The industry you select for the Report will form the basis of work you do in the Proposal Project. So think
carefully about the brand you choose. You will be working with these ideas for the remainder of the semester.
Research
You have access to an excellent resource in your efforts to understand this industry: Arizona State University’s
library database. You will use that database to develop expertise on your chosen topic. Your final report will
include a minimum of three secondary sources, at least two of which must be drawn from these databases.
You will then do primary research on this company by examining their websites and one social media presence
they use. For example, for the topic of “meat substitute industry” I could examine Beyond Meat’s mission
statement and press releases on their website. I could also check their Twitter page, where I find video
interviews with Beyond Meat’s CEO.
An alternative form for primary research would be an interview with someone who works at this company (or at
least in this industry). You may perform an interview (rather than social media research) if you have access to an
interview participant.
Across the secondary and primary research, your goal is to understand what it means to work in this industry.
Because your audience is diverse college students, you are not addressing specific job types (i.e. marketing), but
you are thinking about the implications for entry-level employees or interns.
Assignment Requirements
You will produce a short, ~4-5 page reference report for students attending the fair.
Consider carefully what questions your audience would have in this situation.
While you are not trying to persuade the audience to a particular course of action, the report is nevertheless a
persuasive document. You are presenting critical insights, drawn from your own experiences, your critical
thinking, and your research. In other words, you are making a claim about what is important, what should be
known. You must persuade the audience to take your assessment of the topic seriously.
Remember that your report is about the industry, primarily. Career and Professional Development Services does
not have the resources to produce a similar report for EVERY company at the fair; instead, one will be produced
for each industry that is represented at the fair. You will use one company as an “institutional case” – a closely
examined example of larger trends.
Your report must contain report-style framing material, such as a title page (including the title of your report, a
graphic, your name), sections and section headers, and a references list in APA format. This material does not
count towards the minimum length.

Last Completed Projects