Week 3 - Discussion Forum 1Prior to beginning work on this discussion forum, read Chapter 9: The Time Value of Money in the Foundations of Financial Management In this discussion forum, you will determine the rate of return of your MBA degree. Initial Response: For this discussion forum, The first step is to calculate the cost of your MBA. If your employer sponsors the cost of your education, you can either use what you would have paid or use opportunity costs as a basis.After you determine your initial investment, determine the net present value (NPV) of that investment. As an example, let us say “Joe” will be changing jobs when he achieves his MBA and will make 10% more annually as a result. Joe plans to work for 20 more years. His MBA cost was $50,000. Do you forecast that pursuing an MBA is worth the financial investment? Be sure to show all your calculations. Week 3 - Discussion Forum 2 Prior to beginning work on this discussion forum, read Chapter 11: Cost of Capital in the Foundations of Financial Management textbook, watch the Week 3 Discussion video with Dr. Kevin Kuznia, DBA, CSSBB, PMP, and review the WACC and Cost of Capital Allocation (Links to an external site.) interactive. Initial Response: For this discussion forum, you will provide a real-world example of how capital allocation was successfully (or unsuccessfully) applied. In your response, please address the following: First, use the University of Arizona Global Campus Library to research an article on capital allocation; many articles are available in the library.Select and review the article.For your initial post, summarize the article and provide a connection between the article’s concepts and readings for the week. Do any of the concepts in your article agree or disagree with the text?Additionally, based on the findings in your article, explain how the Weighted Average of Cost Capital (WACC) influences investment decisions. Your initial response should be a minimum of 300 words for each discussion. Graduate school students learn to assess the perspectives of several scholars. Support your response with at least one scholarly and/or credible resource in addition to the text.

The final project for this course is the development of a strategic marketing plan based on a new product or service supplied by an existing corporation. The overall goal of the strategic plan is to successfully bring the product from concept to market, based on research and analysis. The project is broken down into milestones that will help guide the student through the distinct components of the plan, which will be utilized within the final project. The final project is divided into nine milestones, which will be submitted at various points throughout the course to scaffold learning and ensure quality final submissions. There is one milestone due in each of the first nine modules. The final project is due in Module Ten. The company choice, as well as the type of product or service, requires instructor approval. Your overall goal is the creation of a strategic plan to successfully bring your product from concept to market, based on research and analysis. The project is broken down into milestones that will help guide you through distinct components of the plan, which will be used in the final project. The components of this project will be addressed in milestones spread throughout the course, allowing for practice and feedback before incorporation. These milestones include choice and research of a corporation, along with determination of suggested new product; analysis of the business mission statement; SWOT analysis; development of marketing objectives; development of a marketing strategy; and determination of an appropriate implementation, evaluation, and control program. The final submission incorporates all components into a strategic marketing plan. In this assignment, you will demonstrate your mastery of the following course outcomes:  MKT-500-01: Analyze qualitative and quantitative consumer data for use in determining appropriate marketing techniques that align with an organization’s strategic focus, culture, and current business processes  MKT-500-02: Recommend product, price, promotional, and distribution strategies for a pre-defined target market through organizational marketing plans  MKT-500-03: Maximize internal and external opportunities through the integration of marketing concepts, theories, and models  MKT-500-04: Develop effective marketing strategies that address commercial, legal, and cultural aspects in global business environments  MKT-500-05: Analyze marketing practices for compliance with legal systems, regulatory standards, and ethical practices Prompt Specifically, your marketing plan should contain an in-depth analysis that addresses the following critical elements: I. Business Mission Statement – For an effective and focused mission statement, market environment and consumer data should be properly analyzed. The overall analysis and mission statement formation aid in the determination of appropriate marketing techniques based on the stated focus of the business. A. Overview – Give an overall description your chosen business and proposed product/service, specifically defining the marketing environment, the intended target markets, and the benefits sought by potential customers. B. Mission Statement – Analyze the mission statement of your chosen business. Does the company’s mission statement focus on the market or markets that your new product is attempting to serve? Is it broad enough to adequately describe the company focus and core values? Is it too broad? Does it encompass minute details? II. SWOT Analysis – The SWOT analysis, sometimes referred to as a situational analysis, identifies an organization’s internal strengths and weaknesses, as well as external opportunities and threats. For your company, perform a SWOT analysis, detailing the elements below: A. Internal – Determine the internal components (strengths and weaknesses) of the marketing environment. Make sure to consider production costs, marketing skills, financial resources, company or brand image, employee capabilities, and available technologies. B. External – Determine the external components (opportunities and threats) through an environmental scan. Make sure to consider political, economic, social, and technological events, as well as trends and expectations. III. Marketing Objectives – Before the specific details of a marketing plan can be developed, objectives for the plan must be stated. Without objectives, there is no basis for measuring the success of your marketing plan activities. Marketing objectives are statements of what is to be accomplished through marketing activities. A. For your company, formulate a statement of marketing objectives related to the new product/service that are realistic, measurable, time specific and comparable to a benchmark. Why were these particular objectives chosen? B. Discuss the objectives as they relate to commercial, legal, and cultural aspects of a global business environment. IV. Marketing Strategy – The marketing strategy involves all of the activities of selecting and describing one or more target market segments and developing and maintaining a marketing mix that will produce mutually satisfying exchanges with target markets. A. For your new product, recommend a detailed marketing strategy that describes your target market. Possible variables include demographics, psychographics, geographies, and behavioral segments. You may also choose to describe the market in terms of anticipated growth, revenue opportunities, past performance, etc. The strategy needs to be measurable, sustainable, accessible, and reachable. Describe your rationale for selecting the target market(s). Why are these markets attractive from a marketing standpoint? B. Provide a detailed description of the marketing mix, including product, place (distribution), promotion, and pricing strategies. C. Does the recommended marketing strategy specifically relate to the company’s strategic focus, culture, and current business processes? Discuss how each component is addressed. V. Implementation, Evaluation, and Control (IEC) – Implementation is the process that turns a marketing plan into action assignments and ensures assignments are executed in a way that accomplishes the plan’s objectives. Evaluation involves gauging the extent to which the marketing objectives have been achieved during the specified time period. Control provides mechanisms for evaluating marketing results in light of the plans of objectives and for correcting actions that do not help the organization reach those objectives within budget guidelines. A. How do you intend to implement your marketing plan? Detail specific action items and describe how they will be executed. B. Does your marketing plan comply with legal systems, regulatory standards, and ethical practices? How do you know? Is there a formal process of evaluation? Should there be? Explain. C. After initial implementation, how you intend to evaluate and control the overall marketing plan? Milestones Milestone One: Product Idea In activity 1-2, you will choose an existing organization and submit a proposal describing a new product or service that it should bring to market. If your idea is a product, describe the product, its functionality, and how it works. If it is a service, describe the service offering so that readers understand what they would receive. Your product or service should address a problem that is not currently being sufficiently addressed by current solution providers, i.e., your competition. This milestone is due in Module One. Milestone Two: Mission Statement In activity 2-1, you will develop the organizational mission statement for the company for which you are writing a marketing plan. The mission statement should address the business your organization is in and should focus on the market(s) rather than the good or service it sells. This milestone is due in Module Two. Milestone Three: SWOT Analysis In activity 3-1, you will develop the SWOT analysis for your company. The SWOT analysis is written in narrative form, with bulleted items for each of the strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats. This milestone is due in Module Three. Milestone Four: Organizational Objectives & Strategy In activity 4-1, you will address the organizational objectives and the target market plan for your company. You need to develop at least five marketing objectives as part of your planning process. These answer the question, “What do you plan to accomplish?” Objectives should be realistic, measurable, and time specific. Objectives must also be consistent, and indicate the priorities of the organization. This milestone is due in Module Four. Milestone Five: Marketing Strategy—Products In activity 5-1, you will describe for your audience what it is that you wish to bring to market. If it is a product, describe the product, its functionality, and how it works. If it is a service, describe the service offering so that readers understand what they would receive. This milestone is due in Module Five. Milestone Six: Marketing Strategy—Pricing In activity 6-1, you will determine the price you will charge for your product, or if you have chosen a service, determine its pricing (this may be based on an “average” price per service rendered). This milestone is due in Module Six. Milestone Seven: Marketing Strategy—Distribution In activity 7-1, you will describe the channels of distribution structure you will use to get your product or service into the market. This milestone is due in Module Seven. Milestone Eight: Marketing Strategy—Promotion In activity 8-1, you will develop a promotional effort for your marketing plan that embraces integrated marketing communications (IMC). This includes a clearlystated message that is consistently communicated to your stakeholders. This milestone is due in Module Eight. Milestone Nine: Implementation, Evaluation, and Control In activity 9-1, you will write a paper that addresses how you intend to implement, evaluate, and control (IEC) all of the marketing activities that are described throughout your marketing plan. This milestone is due in Module Nine. Deliverable Milestones Milestone Deliverables Module Due Grading 1 Product Idea One Graded separately; Milestone One Rubric 2 Mission Statement Two Graded separately Milestone Two Rubric 3 SWOT Analysis Three Graded separately; Milestone Three Rubric 4 Organizational Objectives & Strategy Four Graded separately; Milestone Four Rubric 5 Marketing Strategy—Products Five Graded separately; Milestone Five Rubric 6 Marketing Strategy—Pricing Six Graded separately; Milestone Six Rubric 7 Marketing Strategy—Distribution Seven Graded separately; Milestone Seven Rubric 8 Marketing Strategy—Promotion Eight Graded separately; Milestone Eight Rubric 9 Implementation, Evaluation, and Control Nine Graded separately; Milestone Nine Rubric Final Project: Marketing Plan Ten Graded separately; Final Project Rubric Marketing Plan Rubric Guidelines for Submission: Students should submit a well-developed marketing plan in 15–20 pages, including a title page and reference page. The paper should be a Microsoft Word document with double spacing, a minimum of five references, 12-point Times New Roman font, one-inch margins and APA formatting.

Provide a reflection of at least 500 words (2 to 3 pages double spaced) of how the knowledge, skills, or theories of this course have been applied or could be applied, in a practical manner to your current work environment. If you are not currently working, share times when you have or could observe these theories and knowledge applied to an employment opportunity in your field of study. Course : DSRT 734 Infer stats in Decision Making