Project Description

Project Description-

Conduct a 60-90 minute interview with a key manager/executive. Prepare a term research paper that will include the interview, research and personal experiences with the company. Prior to the interview a questionnaire should be developed and used as a tool to guide the discussion. You should obtain and review the company annual report. An outline should be developed to structure the organization and prepare a draft of the paper. The questionnaire may contain all of some of the following questions-

Key Interview Questions-

• What is the company’s background, core business, product lines and magnitude of size/operations (total revenue, revenue from international operations, other…)? A great part of this can be researched prior to interview, example- annual report, company web site and other sources such as the Wall Street Journal.
• Who are your major competitors?
• What has attributed to the growth of the company? Has the company grown through acquisition or organically?
• Does the company have any innovative technologies that have contributed to its growth and competitive edge? If so, can you provide an example?
• Do you consider the company to have an innovative culture? Explain?
• What has the company done foster innovative thinking among its employees?
• Can you identify new product ideas that have been developed by an employee? Did these ideas result in application for intellectual property that is currently being commercialized?
• When hiring an engineer what traits does your company consider to be the most valuable?
• How does an employee increase their value to the company?
• Can you identify any engineers in your company who think like entrepreneurs?
• How does company find engineers who are innovative?
• What does company reward employees who are innovative thinkers?
• What advice would you have for an engineering student who is seeking to work for a company that has an innovative culture?

Requirements-

You are required to prepare a research paper that focuses on the corporate entrepreneurial cultural and activity of a company. You are responsible for identifying company, contact person, interview date, questionnaire, outline, draft and final document. You are required to have an understanding of the corporate culture and how it fosters corporate entrepreneurship. You may select a company from any market segment – automotive or non-automotive.

Research and Reference Source-

Based on the results of the interview, conduct research on the company and the industry if necessary. The research should be well documented and included in the reference section of your final paper.