Locate the 10-K reports and proxy statements of Macy’s, Inc. (NYSE:M) using the EDGAR site maintained by the Securities and Exchange Commission and answer the following questions. Each item requires you to do certain tasks and contains open-ended question(s) based on the tasks. While you need to have a basic understanding of the financial statements to do this assignment, please remind yourself that numbers need to be accompanied by narratives for the assignment. Your focus should be on what strategic and operational decisions led to changes in numbers. You should examine both the firm’s financial statements and its internal and external environment to be able to deliver an excellent answer to each of the following questions. The page limit for the assignment is 10 single-spaced pages. Be strategic about what to include and what to leave out. I will not consider anything irrelevant for the specific questions in grading your work.
1. According to the consolidated statements of income of the firm, the selling, general and administrative expenses (operating expenses in short) in 2019: 2024 – Online Assignment Homework Writing Help Service By Expert Research Writers amounted to $8.998 billion. Using the footnotes to the financial statements and other information available throughout the 10-K and the proxy statement, try to identify specific cost items that are included in the expenses such as advertising, rent, etc. Some of the specific costs are listed in the 10-K report, while others may need to be estimated based on available facts. If you need to make an estimation, set up a set of reasonable assumptions based on relevant facts and make the assumptions explicit. Explain what strategic insights you could get from analyzing operating expenses more specifically.
2. Strategic change or persistence of multiple firms could be measured and compared based on the following six indicators: (1) advertising intensity (advertising/sales), (2) research and development intensity (R&D/sales), (3) plant and equipment newness (net PP&E/gross PP&E), (4) nonproduction overhead (SGA expenses/sales), (5) inventory levels (inventories/sales), and (6) financial leverage (debt/equity). As Macy’s, Inc. does not report R&D, calculate the remaining five indicators for the most recent 10 years and generate a line graph for each. Do you see any distinct patterns in the indicators? Try to interpret the trajectories based on the firm’s strategies for the past 10 years.
The rubric for the assignment is on attachment
