The purpose of this research is to select from among five publicly listed companies the common stock of one of the com panies for investment. Each of the five companies competes in a different industry. The companies, together with the indus tries in which they compete, are as follows: 1. Alaska Air Group, Inc. Air Transport Industry.
2. Eastman Kodak company Precision Instruments Indus try.
3. Ford Motor Company Automobile and Truck Industry.
4. General Public Utilities Corp. Electric Utility Industry.
5. Johnson & Johnson Medical Supplies Industry.
Each of the companies is assessed separately. Following these company assessments, the companies are compared, and an investment selection is made.
Johnson & Johnson is the leading manufacturer in the United States of health care products (Benway, 1989). In the mid 1980s, the company was seriously affected by acts of crimi nal product tampering involving "Tylenol" analgesic products. Tylenol products are manufactured and marketed by McNeil
1 2Consumer Products, a wholly owned subsidiary of Johnson & John son. The company responded quickly and responsibly, and, thus, retained public support.
Financial data on the company are presented for the 1987 1994 time period. Actual data are presented for 1987 1989, while projected data are presented for 1990 and 1994. Data are presented in Tables 1 through 4 with respect to (1) sales, (2) return on equity, (3) dividends
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