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The Case of the Unidentified Industries—2006

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The Case of the Unidentified Industries—2006

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If you were asked to visualize (in income statement and balance sheet form) the financial structure of a typical firm in one particular industry, do you think you could do it? How close to your “vision” do you think the “reality” would be? What if you were asked to do the same experiment covering 14 firms drawn from 14 different industries? How many of the 14 do you think you would get right?
You may be surprised by how much you already know!
Exhibit 1 presents the balance sheets (in percentage form) and other selected financial data for 14 firms drawn from 14 different industries. While there are clear differences in the financial structures of different firms within a single industry, the firms selected have figures that are broadly typical of those in their industry.
Try to match the 14 firms operating in the 14 industries named below with the 14 sets of financial data presented in Exhibit 1. Use any approach you find helpful.
Advertising agency (about half of total revenue derived from commissions that equal 15% of media purchases for clients)
Airline
Bookstore chain
Commercial bank (fitted into the most nearly comparable balance sheet and ratio categories of the nonfinancial companies)
Computer software developer
Department store chain (with its “own brand” charge card)
Electric and gas utility (with 72% of its revenue from electricity sales and 28% of its revenue from natural gas sales)
Family restaurant chain
Health maintenance organization
Online bookseller
________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
Professor William E. Fruhan, Jr. prepared the original version of this

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