An organization cannot effectively design or implement strategic initiatives without an excellent understanding of their financial health. This understanding can only be determined by properly analyzing financial statements. In this assignment, you will evaluate the financial health of three organizations by examining the organizations' financial statements which document their assets, liabilities, equity, revenues, and expenses.A company's financial performance is broken down into four main performance categories: profitability, liquidity, asset utilization, and debt/leverage. The most effective way to analyze financial statements and measure performance in these critical areas is to compute and interpret financial ratios.InstructionsYou are a senior financial analyst for Capital Financial, a fictitious investment firm based in Dallas, TX. Capital Financial would like to allocate at least $500,000 of their capital to purchase shares in a firm in the software section within the technology sector. As the analyst, you must make an informed recommendation to the senior leadership team in a report that addresses the following:Identify three similarly sized firms (small to mid-cap) in the software section of the technology sector.For each of the three firms, calculate three ratios from each of the four performance categories (12 ratios for each company) and incorporate them into the body of your report.Select the ratio from each performance category that you feel is essential to use when comparing the firms. Use the ratio selected from each category to create a bar chart that illustrates the firms' performance relative to one another. Click here to see an example chart.Explain why the ratios you selected are the best for determining the strength of the three firms.Use your ratio computations to describe each firm's level of strength in each performance category.Provide a final recommendation indicating which of the three firms Capital Financial should purchase shares in.

Projects of all sizes may seem daunting at first. Breaking the project down into smaller, more manageable pieces allows you to develop an achievable plan for completing the project. The work breakdown structure (WBS) is one of the tools that you can use to outline your project into smaller, more manageable pieces called work packages. Refer to Case 4.1 of your text. In this case, Brandon has been chosen to chair the 5K charity run for his fraternity, and you are presented with the details of this project. In a 5-page report, you should address the following: How would developing a WBS help to alleviate Brandon’s problems during the initial meeting? How can the WBS be used to organize and plan the project? Describe the process for creating the WBS. Create a list of the major deliverables for this project, and use them to develop a draft WBS with at least 3 levels of detail. Are there any interdependencies that need to be considered and, if so, which ones? Assign cost and activity durations to the work packages (these may be made up). Use either a top-down or a bottom-up approach to determine the overall cost of the project and discuss the approach used. Be sure to cite your sources using APA; include your references and in-text citations. Use this template to complete this assignment. Case 4.1 Celebration of Colors 5K Brandon was having an ale with his girlfriend, Sierra, when the subject of the Omega Theta Pi 5K-run project came up. Brandon has been chosen to chair the 5K-charity run for his fraternity. At the time, Brandon thought it would look good on his resume and wouldn’t be too difficult to pull off. This would be the first running event Omega Theta Pi had organized. In the past Delta Tau Chi always organized the spring running event. However, Delta Tau had been dissolved after a highly publicized hazing scandal. Brandon and his brothers at Omega Theta Pi thought that organizing a 5K-run would be a lot more fun and profitable than the normal spring cleaning service they offered the local community. Early on in the discussions, everyone agreed that partnering with a sorority would be an advantage. Not only would they help manage the event, but they would have useful contacts to recruit sponsors and participants. Brandon pitched the fund raising idea to the sisters at Delta Nu, and they agreed to co-manage the event. Olivia Pomerleau volunteered and was named co-chair by Delta Nu. Brandon told Sierra about the task force’s first meeting, which was held last night and included five members from each living group. Olivia and Brandon tried, but failed, to meet beforehand due to scheduling conflicts. The meeting began with the attendees introducing themselves and telling what experience they had had with running events. Only one person had not run at past events, but no one had been involved in managing an event other than volunteering as intersection flaggers. page 131 Olivia then said she thought the first thing they should decide on was the theme of the 5K-race. Brandon hadn’t thought much about this, but everyone agreed that the race had to have a theme. People began to suggest themes and ideas based on other runs they knew about. The group seemed stumped when Olivia said, “Do you know that the last Friday in March is a full moon? In India, Holi, the celebration of colors, occurs on the last full moon in March. Maybe you’ve seen pictures of this, but this is where people go crazy tossing dye and color water balloons at each other. I looked it up and the Holi festival signifies a victory of good over evil, the arrival of spring and the end of winter. It is a day to meet others, play, laugh, and forgive and forget. I think it would be neat if we organized our 5K-run as a Holi festival. At different points in the race we would have people toss dye on runners. The run would end with a giant water balloon fight. We could even see if Evergreen [the local Indian restaurant] would cater the event!” Brandon and the other boys looked at each other, while the girls immediately supported the idea. The deal maker occurred when Olivia showed a YouTube video of a similar event last year at a university in Canada that had over 700 participants and raised over $14,000. Once the theme was decided the discussion turned into a free-for-all of ideas and suggestions. One member said she may know an artist who could create really neat T-shirts for the event. Others wondered where you get the dye and if it is safe. Another talked about the importance of a website and creating a digital account for registration. Others began to argue whether the run should be done on campus or through the streets of their small college town. One by one students excused themselves due to other commitments. With only a few members remaining Brandon and Olivia adjourned the meeting. While Brandon took a sip of his IPA beer, Sierra pulled a book out of her knapsack. “Sounds like what you need to do is create what my project management professor calls a WBS for your project.” She pointed to a page in her project management textbook showing a diagram of a WBS. Make a list of the major deliverables for the 5k-run color project and use them to develop a draft of the work breakdown structure for the project that contains, when appropriate, at least three levels of detail. How would developing a WBS alleviate some of the problems that occurred during the first meeting and help Brandon organize and plan the project?