Project 5: Financial Decision Making for ManagersStart HereOver the past eight weeks working at Maryland Creative Solutions, LLC (MCS), you have continued to prove your expertise through your ethical organizational analysis and ability to build effective virtual teams, while working hard in the areas of economics, finance, and accounting. Frank Marinara and Elisa Izuki are happy with your progress, and have decided to offer you a junior partner position with MCS. Congratulations! You’re excited to continue working for the company and believe you are on the right path to someday making senior partner.INBOX (2 NEW EMAILS)From: Frank Marinara, MCS Director of FinanceTo: YouCongrats on the promotion, we couldn’t have asked for a better junior partner. Keep it up!FrankFrom: Elisa, MCS Managing Senior Director PartnershipsTo: YouWe’re glad to have you as the newest junior partner at MCS. You will now be responsible for a greater depth of analysis as you make recommendations for our clients.McCormick & Company is very satisfied with the work finance analysts did on the previous project, and they would like us to continue working with them. In our ongoing work with this client, we are expecting you to be able to determine the cost of capital and make capital budgeting decisions.McCormick has expanded their current product line through an acquisition and is now considering a new project that requires an initial investment to build a new plant and purchase equipment. Given the information on capital structure and valuation that I’ll pass along to you, you’ll need to determine if McCormick should accept this project. You’ll be digging into the company’s market capitalization figures and value of debt to make cost of capital decisions and you’ll be analyzing the valuation of multiple cash flows to provide guidance on key budgeting choices.I also want you to join a meeting next week on the topic of capital budgeting with the other financial analysts. This discussion will help the client decide how they should organize their capital budget for making financial decisions.Ultimately, we’d like you to summarize your guidance and file a report that highlights your recommendations through an executive summary. Now that you are junior partner, I am expecting you to give the executive summary to the client. I’ll need all of these tasks complete within the next two weeks. I know it’s a lot, but I have no doubts about your abilities.Reach out if you need anything,Elisa As usual, you can get started in Step 1, but first, take two minutes to view the video below.TranscriptCourse TouchpointProject 5: Financial Decision Making for ManagersStep 1: Make Cost of Capital DecisionsMCS provides consulting services for clients to help them identify areas of improvement in their financial structure and apply industry best practices in future business decisions. McCormick needs the expertise of MCS consultants to better understand the financial implications of developing a capital structure for a recent acquisition of new product lines. To provide these services, a junior partner must first understand the cost of capital by exploring weighted average cost of capital (WACC), capital asset pricing model (CAPM), and market value ratios.Working in this Project 5 McCormick Workbook that Elisa has provided, complete the Cost of Capital worksheet. The Cost of Capital worksheet contains information about weight of equity and debt, cost of equity and debt, and the weighted average cost of capital, as well as questions that will help the client in selecting the best financing decision.When you have completed the Cost of Capital worksheet, submit it to the submission folder located in the final step of this project.Now that you have completed Step 1, proceed to Step 2, where you will make capital budgeting decisions.Project 5: Financial Decision Making for ManagersStep 2: Make Capital Budgeting DecisionsMcCormick & Company will also need assistance in understanding how their anticipated growth, debt, market return, and marginal tax rate will affect their bottom line if they choose to pursue this new project.Recalling what you have learned in the previous project about the time value of money and present value, you will also need to be knowledgeable about the ROE, ROA, and the DuPont Equationas well as valuation of multiple cash flows to help McCormick make the decision on the project.Working with the same Project 5 Excel Workbook you will use in Step 1, complete the Capital Budgeting worksheet. This worksheet contains additional information on the data that will drive McCormick’s investment decision—whether or not to build a new plant and purchase equipment.When you have completed the Capital Budgeting worksheet, submit the Project 5 Excel Workbook to the folder located in the final step of this project. Proceed to Step 3, in which you will discuss capital budgeting with the finance team.Project 5: Financial Decision Making for ManagersStep 3: Discuss Capital BudgetingCalendar InviteEvent: Capital Budgeting DiscussionLocation: Compass RoomMeeting Organizer: Elisa Izuki, MCS Managing Senior Director PartnershipsElisa has asked the finance team to meet and discuss how capital budgeting will influence McCormick’s investment decision. Complete the following tasks within your group:Discuss the best estimates of McCormick & Company’s capital structure used for the acquisition of new product lines. Give credit to any sources you use to support your statements.Discuss how understanding capital budgeting will impact the decision of McCormick and Company’s potential investment in a new factory. Give credit to any sources you use to support your statements.Later in the week, after you are back in your office, you have a follow-up discussion with your MCS colleagues in an effort to summarize the key lessons from your discussion on capital budgeting at the meeting. Respond to your colleagues' original discussion posts and give credit to any sources you use to support your statements. Submit one original posting of at least 250 words in the Capital Budgeting Discussion . See MBA discussion guidelines.When you have completed Step 3, proceed to Step 4, where you will prepare an executive summary about the work you have completedProject 5: Financial Decision Making for ManagersStep 4: Prepare Executive SummaryINBOX (1 NEW EMAIL)From: Frank Marinara, Director of FinanceTo: YouHope all is going well.Now that you’re concluding your project for McCormick & Company, please prepare an executive summary based on your analysis and recommendations from the previous steps. This executive summary, along with citations for any sources you use, should be about one page in length.Within your executive summary, I'd like you to highlight your analysis and recommendations to help McCormick & Company identify areas of improvement in their operations and explore options to make cost of capital decisions based on capital budgeting.Can’t wait to see the executive summary.Best,FrankPost your executive summary in the submission folder located in the final step of this project.The executive summary should demonstrate your ability to think critically. This is your chance to be recognized for your knowledge in the accounting and finance field.When you have completed Step 4, proceed to Step 5, where you will complete and submit your skills gap analysis to MCS’ Human Resources office.Project 5: Financial Decision Making for ManagersStep 5: Complete Skills Gap AnalysisINBOX (1 NEW EMAIL)From: Jennifer Craylin, Human Resources GeneralistTo: YouGood morning,At MCS, LLC our Human Resources department conducts a 10 week post-project self-evaluation of your skills. Using the same skills gap analysis file that was sent to you when you began with us, self-evaluate your project-related knowledge and skills accounting for your growth as you have worked on the other projects within MCS.The skills gap analysis will help you identify the skill areas you have enhanced by completing the previous five projects. This self-evaluation measures the gains in competencies you have developed.Complete your preliminary skills gap analysis by the end of Week 10. Carefully follow the instructions below:Use the same skills gap analysis file you used at the beginning of the course to self-evaluate the knowledge and skills you gained from working with MCS. Use the Project 5 worksheet within the file to complete this step.Identify the skill gaps you worked to reduce over the past 10 weeks and ascertain whether and how much you improved those skills. Take a moment to reflect on the activities you pursed to help you hone those skills. Include your reflection of no more than 200 words in the space provided in the skills gap analysis file.Submit your updated skills gap analysis to the submission folder located in the final step of this project.Please complete as soon as possible and submit. I’m sure you’ll be pleased with your progress.Best,JenniferWhen you have completed Step 4, move onto Step 5 where you will submit all work for Project 5.

Assignment 1: Discussion—Applying Systems Thinking Organizations are rarely composed of just a single person or a single organization that functions without interacting with other people or organizations. There are many components or parts in an organization’s make-up, each contributing to the overall functioning of the organization and its behavior. If all the parts are working well, the organization operates efficiently. However, if one part stops functioning, this affects all the other parts and the overall organization. Though other parts may be able to compensate for the nonfunctioning part so that the organization continues to function, efficiency is lowered. Organizations have both internal and external parts—such as stakeholders. The challenges of nonfunctioning stakeholders can be internal, external, or both. Consider the aforementioned aspects, and using the module readings and the Argosy University online library resources, research the application of systems theory to organizations and their stakeholders. Then, respond to the following: •How does systems thinking apply to an organization’s culture, goals, and structures? •How are the stakeholders of an organization interconnected and interrelated? Integrate various types of systems, such as open and closed systems, that might be present in organizations in your answer. Give reasons and examples, supported with appropriate academic literature, when developing your responses. Be sure to cite to APA writing standards for paraphrases and direct quotes. By the due date assigned, post your response to the appropriate Discussion Area. Through the end of the week, review and comment on at least two peers’ responses. Write your initial response in 300–500 words. Your response should be thorough and address all components of the discussion question in detail, include citations of all sources, where needed, according to the APA Style, and demonstrate accurate spelling, grammar, and punctuation Do the following when responding to your peers: •Read your peers’ answers. •Provide substantive comments by ◦contributing new, relevant information from course readings, Web sites, or other sources; ◦building on the remarks or questions of others; or ◦sharing practical examples of key concepts from your professional or personal experiences •Respond to feedback on your posting and provide feedback to other students on their ideas. •Make sure your writing ◦is clear, concise, and organized; ◦demonstrates ethical scholarship in accurate representation and attribution of sources; and ◦displays accurate spelling, grammar, and punctuation. Grading Criteria Grading Criteria Maximum Points Quality of initial posting, including fulfillment of assignment instructions 16 Quality of responses to classmates 12 Frequency of responses to classmates 4 Reference to supporting readings and other materials 4 Language and grammar 4 Total: 40

Write a leader guidebook of best practices for new supervisors in your current organization or an organization with which you are familiar, based on the new science realities. This assessment provides you the opportunity to demonstrate a solid theory of leadership in a practical application that you can use in your organization.SHOW LESSBy successfully completing this assessment, you will demonstrate your proficiency in the following course competencies and assessment criteria:Competency 1: Analyze the art and science of leadership. Write a leader guidebook of best practices that reflect the new science realities.Describe how the new science guidelines impact the success of an enterprise.Competency 3: Create an effective theory of leadership. Describe behaviors of effective leaders.Competency MapCHECK YOUR PROGRESSUse this online tool to track your performance and progress through your course.Toggle DrawerContextThe resources provided in this assessment cover both change renewal and chaos. Even though we fear change and long for the comfort of equilibrium, this closed and insulated stance means choosing to wear down and decay. When allowed to grow and evolve, living systems integrate diverse information through open feedback loops. Through self-referencing of values, traditions, aspirations, competency, and culture, systems recreate themselves in similar shapes, or what Wheatley (2006), calls fractals. A leader's role is to invite disturbance, to create dangerously, because disturbance leads to dis-equilibrium and, therefore, growth and resilience.SHOW LESSBy choosing to openly engage with change and remembering identity, leaders can increase speed to market and shape consumer preference. Although counterintuitive, the more freedom allowed in a self-organizing system, the more creative and adaptive it can be. Most innovation to the marketplace occurs through the adaptation to a customer's request by one or two individuals. Information, rather than needing to be managed, needs to be shared and processed to increase awareness and consciousness of complexity and ambiguity. In the absence of information, people make it up. They will make their own meaning.It seems the leader's role is to openly invite new and disturbing information and to allow the organization to learn, make sense of, and respond or adapt to a changing environment, trusting self-referencing and stressing long-term identity.The resources in this assessment also explore the paradox of order and chaos—how, over time and with a perspective toward wholeness, what might appear as chaos begins to build up a repeatable pattern of the strange attractor. In human systems, meaning, purpose, and mission are the organizing principles. Even a small change may result in a big impact on the whole system, and it is sometimes the slow but constant factor that is the unseen danger. So it is a combination of a leader holding tightly to vision and values while allowing individuals the freedom to act.ReferenceWheatley, M. J. (2006). Leadership and the new science: Discovering order in a chaotic world. San Francisco, CA: Berrett–Koehler.Toggle DrawerQuestions to ConsiderTo deepen your understanding, you are encouraged to consider the questions below and discuss them with a fellow learner, a work associate, an interested friend, or a member of the business community.Disruptive Information: Tell a story about a time in your life where you encountered disruptive information that resulted in innovation or growth. Describe the tension between ignoring, insulating, and avoiding this new information and how it gave way to opening, embracing, and integrating this disturbance. What was the role of self-referencing, remembering who you are and your values, aspirations, and gifts, to the eventual innovation or growth? Why is this an important capability for leaders, and why are you a better leader as a result of this experience?Adaptation: Think of a technology that was once cutting edge but later ceased to exist. Why did it die? Was it insulated? Did it die because it presented a closed posture to new or disturbing information? Also, tell a story of a technology that has survived due to the creativity of one or two individuals who adapted to their environment and who had the freedom to be flexible and adapt to a new reality. What role did a leader have in both of these situations? How would you write a self-organizing story for the self-destructed technology? What would a growth scenario look like for the technology that became obsolete? Visualize the leadership behavior that would encourage this renewal phenomenon.Discovery: Surprise is the only route to discovery. Given the new science, the New Business Realities, and the Thinking Habits, consider how a leader might include others in a journey of discovery that encourages empowerment, independence, and diversity while assuring alignment to values and mission.Toggle DrawerResourcesSuggested ResourcesThe following optional resources are provided to support you in completing the assessment or to provide a helpful context. For additional resources, refer to the Research Resources and Supplemental Resources in the left navigation menu of your courseroom.Library ResourcesThe following e-books or articles from the Capella University Library are linked directly in this course:Wheatley, M. J. (2006). Leadership and the new science: Discovering order in a chaotic world (3rd ed.). San Francisco, CA: Berrett-Koehler. Chapters 5, 6, 7, 8, and the Epilogue are particularly applicable.SHOW LESSCourse Library GuideA Capella University library guide has been created specifically for your use in this course. You are encouraged to refer to the resources in the BUS-FP4012 – Leadership in Organizations Library Guide to help direct your research.Internet Resources Access the following resources by clicking the links provided. Please note that URLs change frequently. Permissions for the following links have been either granted or deemed appropriate for educational use at the time of course publication.The Berkana Institute. (2012). Retrieved from http://www.berkana.org/Margaret J. Wheatley. (2012). Retrieved from http://www.margaretwheatley.com/Assessment InstructionsImagine it is your job to write a leader guidebook for new supervisors in your current organization or an organization with which you are familiar, based on the new science realities. Your guide should include the following:Descriptions of effective best practices and day-to-day behaviors that leaders should follow for planning, measuring, motivating people, managing change and information, designing jobs, and encouraging relationships.Descriptions of ineffective practices that leaders should avoid in order to be successful.Explanation of the importance and implications of these new science guidelines to the success of the enterprise.Examples and explanations for the positions you take.Additional RequirementsLength: Your leader guidebook should be double-spaced and long enough to meet the expectations of the assessment and scoring guide criteria.Font and size: Use a standard font—either Times New Roman or Arial. The font size must be 12 point.Margins: The paper margins should be 1 inch on each side.Components: Include a title page, table of contents, and reference page.Formatting: APA format is required for all aspects of your guidebook, including citations and references. Your writing should be well organized and clear. Writing structure, spelling, and grammar should be correct as well.