Access Six Flags Entertainment Corporation’s 2016 Annual Report/10-K

Access Six Flags Entertainment Corporation’s 2016 Annual Report/10-K

This is not a case from the textbook. Access Six Flags Entertainment Corporation’s 2016 Annual Report/10-K  (Feb 18,2016).  {Google it, or go directly to Six Flags corporate website, go to Investors, SEC Filings, Select Annual reports..and the Feb 18 A/R 10-K should be the first listed.

 

For this case assignment, you will need to locate and use the income statement and balance sheet found under ‘Selected Financial Data’.

 

Assess Six Flag’s performance using the approach we discussed and practiced in class. Show all of your work and include that detail in an ‘appendix’. Your text memo should summarize your findings and conclusions about Six Flag’s performance. You should make and describe conclusions about their trends and relative performance in creating and capturing value with notes about specific issues/measures (i.e. symptoms) you find that may signal strategic issues needing to be investigated further.Do not try to diagnose what is wrong or prescribe what they should do.

 

IMPORTANT NOTES: The income statement for Six Flags is a bit unique due to the industry. And, as discussed in the video and slides, you can get data beyond the income statement. For assessing VALUE CREATION, use total revenues. BUT…ALSO read these pages in the annual report (5 – “Marketing/Promotions”; 28 – “Overview”; and 32 – “Revenue”. What else do you find there that signals creation of value? For Capturing Value, I recommend you calculate Operating Profit and Margin by summing what they list as Operating Expenses, SG&A, and Cost of Products Sold. That will sort of give you EBITDA and BizMIner gives you an EBITDA-to-sales ratio. For industry comparison data, look at both the BizMiner data (and look at the IBIS World report for NAICS 71311

 

As before…..Standard Memo Format for this class:

 

Prepare a brief memo using professional business writing style as if you were responding to your boss on the question and case given. Type your memo in a Microsoft WORD document (.doc or .docx format) using 12-point font, Calibri or Times New Roman preferred;  1” margins all around; single spaced. You will submit your memo via the Sakai Assignments tab where you will find a folder for Six Flags.

 

The memo heading/title should be in upper left like this:

 

TO:         

FROM: Your name

RE:          Case description

DATE:    Due date

 

Provide a very short (3-4 sentence) introduction to tell me what the memo is about. If the assignment involves arriving at one or more key conclusions, summarize them here, too. Tell me what you are going to tell me.

 

Then answer the question(s) of the assignment. Use an appropriate mix of paragraphs, bullet points, and/or tables to best communicate your answers. Do not use JUST bullet points or a table. These cannot adequately communicate your analysis. Use section headers if you have a lot of paragraphs. As necessary, use underlines or otherwise highlight key terms or components of your answers and analysis. For your business communication to be effective, I should be able to find and understand ALL of the necessary points required to complete the assignment and answer the question(s). “Your boss” wants you to get to the point, but be thorough. “Your boss” would be very busy and wouldn’t appreciate having to read carefully to decipher your meaning or search to find all the key points you are to communicate. So, practice good organization and NOT writing stuff that isn’t necessary for your memo.Almost all of us tend to OVERWRITE. Write a draft, review it for ‘fluff’ and focus on being both clear and concise.

Good quality case memos will generally be at least a page and a half but rarely will require more than two and a half pages.

 

Grading will be based on completeness (did you answer every element of the assignment), quality of work (did you correctly/effectively apply what you’ve learned in the course), and professionalism (format, clarity, timeliness, etc.).