Product Overview

This case examines the financial performance of Bob’s Baloney, a leader in the ultrapremium bologna market. While the business appears to be doing well with respect to most of its stakeholders, its largest equity investor has recently expressed strong dissatisfaction with the company’s financial performance. Students are invited to examine the financial statements and ratios associated with the business to understand the source of the underperformance and to provide recommendations for business policy changes.

Learning Objectives

This case is meant to provide an introductory experience in financial performance evaluation. It offers opportunities for the instructor to develop any of the following teaching objectives: 1) Consider the importance of financial performance in the overall evaluation of business performance. 2) Introduce financial ratios and financial analysis in the context of a simple and approachable business. 3) Feature the use of the DuPont return decomposition in identifying the source of abnormal performance.