Tips for Success in 2011 SEO-U
Case Study Competition
PRESENTED BY:
JASON VE
Overview
 Allows you to apply your Zoologic coursework into a real-life application on
analysis of a company
 You should have already chosen to study Johnson & Johnson, Xerox, or EMC
 Goals




Improve understanding of financial analysis
Improve presentation skills
Learn about teamwork
Powerful interview example
Best Practices
 Set expectations NOW if you have not already


When you will meet
Schedule for the summer
 Everyone puts in best foot forward
 Help each other

Identify each other’s strengths and use them to your advantage
 Don’t stress yourself out! You should have fun with it.
Part 1 of Case Study (Current company snapshot)
 This is where you give the overview of the company and what the company
looks like NOW and historically (2008-2010)

Focus on current company financials/operations
 Financials deep dive - Analyze the 3 statements (use 10-K, 10-Q reports)
 Make sure you understand how the company makes its money
Part 2 of Case Study (Forward looking)
 More forward looking/strategy/recommendation-focused
 Organize based on how you want to tell the story
 Research the company
 Research the industry / industry trends
 Look at the competition
o Identify opportunities and threats within the company’s external environment.
Special items to note include competition within the industry, bargaining powers,
and the threat of substitute products.
Part 2 of Case Study (Forward looking)
 Create basic financial model to project income statements annually for next 10
years
o Key items
o Income statement
o Try discounted cash flow model if you can
Research resources
 SEO-U Resources & Zoologic Coursework
 10K, 10Q reports
 Google Finance
 Yahoo Finance
 Company website
 Others – you can be creative…
Presentation Format
 Presented in Powerpoint
 Two parts to the presentation


Part one (current company financials/operations) is 15 minutes
Part two is 30-45 minutes (more forward looking/strategy/recommendation-focused)
 Will be over Skype
 Practice Makes Perfect!

Before your virtual Skype presentation, practice your presentation several times so it
goes smoothly.
The winning case study will have…

Sound business judgment – demonstrated throughout presentation starting with strong
understanding of current company operations

Creativity – do you think you discovered something that might not be initially apparent?

A recommendation that makes sense and is backed up by financial projections

Convincing argument
Additional Info
SEO-U NING
 SEO-U Case Study Competition Guidelines
http://api.ning.com/files/Jaz0st7eb93yWIDInrD3sD9bQz2ZQL624NEdZsq61amXsUVQ
j9clG9IwFQqDmefljSzUCEfytUBlr1dNdITLf67XE5IC8ESF/SEOUCaseStudyCompetition.
doc
 SEO-U Case Study Challenge web page: http://seouonline.ning.com/page/case-studychallenge
 SEO-U Finance Resources: http://seouonline.ning.com/page/finance-resources
Tools to work as a team more efficiently
 A.
Skype Group Conferencing: Skype instructions for group Skype calls to
collaborate on analysis and practice presentations. http://www.skype.com/intl/enus/support/user-guides/conference-calling/
 B.
Free Conference Call Lines: Sign up for a free conference line for weekly or biweekly meetings with your teammates. http://www.freeconferencecall.com
C. Google Documents: Share your findings and working documents with your team
using this simple tool. http://docs.google.com/support/?hl=en_US
May the Strongest Case Win!