FAQ
Hispanic Broadcasting Corporation
Note that these responses are not official additions to the questions; only explanations of what is required to answer them. Be sure you read the question and understand it fully before answering.
Research - I have been trying to send the companies on the list e-mails regarding their annual reports and my request doesn't seem to be going through. It advises that the address was incorrect and would not let me send it through. I wanted to know if I should try to call them direct or send a letter requesting this information.
E-mail is not a good method of contacting them for this purpose as you need a specific person's name for e-mail to be effective. Either regular mail or a telephone call is better. Ask for (or address to) investor relations.
I have a question regarding one of the companies, Spanish Broadcasting System, Inc. They sent me an annual report ending September 2001. Is it ok to use it, or should a request the one for 2000. I suspect that some of the 2000 information is included in the 2001 K-10.
SBS has a year-end of 9/30, so you could use either the report for 9/30/2000 or 9/30/2001. The data for the year ended 9/30/2000 would be more comparable to HBC's 12/31/2000 and would be preferable to use. An annual report normally has a least two years of data in it so the 9/30/2001 report would have 9/30/2000 data in it.
To get the data in full for the year-ended 9/30/2000, get the 10-K from the SEC website: http://www.sec.gov/edgar/searchedgar/formpick.htm
Data is also available there for any other companies you do not receive reports on. Be sure to use only 10-K (the annual report) and for the correct year.
1. B. How should I go about supporting my definition of the market?
For each part of your definition (for example, the geographic area), explain how this is appropriate in terms of being 1) a real market from the customer's view, and 2) includes most (at least 90%) of the company's current business. Repeat for each of the other parts of the definition (at least the customer and product/service and perhaps the position in the chain or distribution method if appropriate).
2. B. can you provide additional insight into the two levels of analysis required for question 2B?
See the sample: Sample part B - CPM
2. B. For question 2B, when we provide the description of their market(s), does it need to be a formal definition like we did for HBC in question 1A?
No. This should be more a discussion of how the definition varies which should cover the four factors in 1.A., but also other factors which might be appropriate.
3. I have identified "x" as a competitive factor. What happens if we don’t have that information? Should I not use that as a competitive factor, or should I guesstimate ... ? also I am currently listing the factors for the CPM and while I have listed excellent factors, (example- "x", or "y") I cannot figure out how to research these answers.
You have several choices:
1. Use other factors, but note in your paper that you think that "x" or "y" are better factors, but you don't have information to rate it.
2. Check to see if HBC says something about this in either their 10K or annual report, or perhaps on their web site and then use that to document them versus competitors.
3. Guess - but that should be a last resort. If so, note that you are doing this.
4. A. How do I go about doing the BCG for the three companies?
You only do the BCG for HBC, not for it's competitors. The question requires only one point to be plotted on the BCG - the total company HBC's. From that, you can do part B: what the theory recommends for HBC. Do not be confused by what is in the book, follow the instructions in the handout and given in class.
4. A. I can't find the market share for HBC. How can I do the BCG?
Review the BCG theory. You do not need the market share, only the sales for HBC and the comparable sales for its largest competitor in the same industry. If HBC and its largest competitor do not share approximately the same market definition, you may need to modify the numbers - if so, be sure you very clearly indicate what you did and why.
4. A. I found a growth rate in HBC's report, can I use it for the BCG?
No. You must find a supportable industry growth rate. One company's assessment is not sufficient. You must either find reputable statistics from an industry source, or document agreement on the industry growth rate from two or more companies in the same industry.
4. A. In the BCG matrix, if a company has a niche in a certain industry can the growth rate be for the entire industry or does it need to be the growth rate of just the niche market that the company has targeted?
It is supposed to be for the specific market you have defined for the company. If that is a "niche" then you should use the "niche" growth rate.
4. A. If you are the #1 competitor and your ratio is greater than one do I keep the same chart label as in class 0, 0.5, and 1 OR do I adjust the numbers to fit in the result???
Labels on the x-axis of the BCG are: 1or more (not 1); 0.5; and 0. So, if you get a number more than 1, they are the largest company in their industry, then it goes on the left line of the chart.
General. The Viacom report doesn't include a breakout of "radio" revenues versus "outdoor" within the Infinity division. How can I get this information?
Since Infinity was a separate company in 1999 and Viacom reports the change in revenue from 1999 to 2000, it can be estimated. See Infinity Broadcasting - Supplementary Information for more on this.
- 06/09/2001, 02/24/2002 -