Prompt: The idea behind this exercise is for the class to generate data comparing companies in many different industries. These data will be used to compare these industries from an operations and supply chain view to better understand differences. Be prepared for a lively class discussion for this session.

Step 1: Pick an industry you find interesting. This may be driven by a company by which you would like to be employed or by some other factor. Within the industry, identify three companies that compete with one another. To find the data for this exercise two sites are suggested http://finance.yahoo.com and http://www.msn.com/money/. These sites are updated frequently, and the data needed should be available for most companies listed on the United States stock exchanges.

Step 2: Collect data related to each company. At a minimum, try to find the income per employee, revenue per employee, receivables turnover, inventory turnover, and asset turnover for each company. It may be necessary to calculate the income per employee and revenue per employee ratios by taking the financial data and dividing by the number of company employees. For the other data, look for efficiency ratios on the Website.

Step 3: Compare the companies based on what you have found. Which company appears to have the most productive employees? Which company has the best operations and supply chain processes? Which company is most efficient in its use of credit? Which company makes the best use of its facility and equipment assets?

Step 4: What insights can you draw from your analysis? What could your companies learn from benchmarking each other?