Project 1: Leading StrategicallyStart HereScenarioOver the past several years of working for the Baltimore-based consulting company, Maryland Creative Solutions, LLC, you have seen quite a bit of growth in the agency. The organization’s recent expansion, led by CEO Jillian Best, to incorporate clientele in need of digital strategy consultation has led to another boost in company revenues as well as a promotion for you. As a part of your new leadership role, you have been asked to attend the Future Directions Conference in Chicago, Illinois, to further your knowledge of best practices in business leadership, trends in the field, and project management.Additionally, Jillian has already emailed all MCS conference attendees requesting follow-up activities upon your return: (1) a discussion with other MCS attendees about strategic leadership, and (2) a report on current strategic management and leadership theory and practice.As you prepare for your trip to the conference, you receive an email from MCS Human Resources requesting that you submit a new skills gap analysis, which will serve as a reminder of your current leadership skills and experiences and direct your focus for the conference.TranscriptIntroductionThis course is the final step in your MBA journey. In this course, you will develop your skills in strategic decision making, planning, and implementation. You will also have the opportunity to reflect upon your growth and accomplishments as a result of your participation in the MBA program.This project invites you to expand your knowledge of the principles behind strategic leadership to cope with the emerging challenges and steer the organization to greater heights and to consider those principles in a discussion with your classmates and in a final report.Project 1: Leading StrategicallyStep 2: Expand Your Knowledge of Strategic LeadershipNow that you’ve downloaded and tested Microsoft Project for the IT department, you’re all set to travel. You pack your bags for the Future Directions Conference and put up your out-of-office email response. After a smooth flight into Chicago, you catch a ride to the conference center to get settled.The focus of the Future Directions Conference is strategic leadership, and you capture some notes from each presenter as you attend various sessions throughout the weekend.Notes from Future Directions Conference—Chicago, ILSarah Emerson, COO of Digital BlitzKeynote: Why Leading is StrategyNotes on strategic leadershipJeffree Daily, Digital Strategist for Pyle ForceSession 1: Deep Roots: Theories and Research Still ApplyNotes on perspectives in leadership theory and researchCarson Sizemore, VP of Human Resources for Enterprise TodaySession 2: Spare ChangeNotes on management of change and trustNote on ResilienceNote on Circular EconomyJohanna Gillmont, President of Continental ShiftSession 3: Quite the ContraryNotes on managing ambivalenceJarrell Faust, Entrepreneur and Founder of SOURCE3Session 4: Pulling in the PiecesNotes on shared and distributed leadershipCatherine Condorro, Director of Leadership at Parsons Institute for Finance Session 5: Connecting on Another Level Notes on relational leadership Nina Orenstein, Experience Engineer at Hefler-Miller SystemsClosing Keynote: Complicated Yet SophisticatedNotes on complexity theory of leadershipThe conference concludes and you are exhausted—there was a lot of information to digest. After the conference reception, you grab a bite to eat while reviewing your notes in depth. You know that the CEO, Jillian Best, expects you to not only report out on these materials, but also to discuss many of the highlights with your peers and other attendees from Maryland Creative Solutions, LLC.Please review all materials in the links above and then proceed to the next step.Project 1: Leading StrategicallyStep 3: Discuss Conference MaterialsYour first day back in the office, Jillian Best has requested that you participate in an open discussion with your peers about some of the takeaways from the recent Future Directions Conference you attended in Chicago as well as your professional leadership experiences outside of the company. Now that you have returned to the office, it’s time to get the discussion underway.Based on your reading, research, and analysis, respond to the two discussion questions below and adhere to Jillian’s discussion requirements:Your two main postings, one each for topic 1 and topic 2, should be completed by the end of Week 1.The titles of your two main postings should indicate the discussion topic number (e.g., #1, #2).Respond to a minimum of two postings from your classmates, one each for each topic 1 and topic 2, before the discussion area is locked at the end of Week 1.For the choice of your organization, you can choose your current employer, past employer, a supplier or customer that you are very familiar with, or an organization where you volunteer.DiscussionDiscuss the two topics listed below:Discussion Topic 1: Drivers of ChangeWhat are the major external and internal drivers of change in your organization?Discussion Topic 2: Strategic LeadershipWhat is, or should be, the role of the strategic leadership in your organization to meet its performance objectives, develop a resilient organization and respond to the challenges of environment and sustainability?Review the MBA Discussion Guidelines for instructions on participation in discussions.After the discussion, proceed to the next step, where you will write a report on strategic management and leadership.Project 1: Leading StrategicallyStep 4: Complete Your Project 1 ReportFollowing up on Jillian’s request, it is time to write a report that responds to the questions below. Your answers should demonstrate your understanding of strategic management and leadership theories. You should not only incorporate references to class discussions and learning topics but also cite at least two relevant scholarly resources on strategic leadership, such as many of those listed in the reference list of your course readings.What values, traits and abilities do you think are most important in a CEO to meet its performance objectives, while simultaneously developing a resilient organization that can respond to the challenges of sustainability? Why are resilience and sustainability important?Identify a CEO who has those values, traits and abilities. How have they played a role in the company’s success?What are the major barriers to being an effective CEO?Which theory or theories of leadership do you feel are relevant to your situation at work?Describe an instance when you demonstrated leadership.The report should be six to seven pages, excluding cover page, executive summary, reference list, and appendices. Any tables, graphs, and figures should be included as appendices. Your report should have one-inch margins and be double spaced in 12-point Times New Roman font. In-text citations and references should abide by APA format. The report should be organized using headings and subheadings to improve its readability.Submit your Project 1 Report to the dropbox located in the final step of this project. In the next step, you’ll prepare for your next assignment by forming a work team.

Module 3 - Case CAPITAL BUDGETING AND THE COST OF CAPITALAssignment OverviewBefore starting on this assignment, make sure to thoroughly review the required background materials. Make sure you fully understand both the basic concepts as well as how to calculate payback period, NPV, IRR, and WACC. Submit your answers in a Word document. Make sure to show your work for all quantitative questions and fully explain your answers using references to the background readings for any conceptual questions. Questions 1 and 2 will require Excel. Attach an Excel file to show your computations for Questions 1 and 2. Case AssignmentThe table below gives the initial investment and expected cash flows over the next five years for two different projects. Assume that the industry you are in expects a return of 10%, which you use as the discount rate in net present value (NPV) calculations and as the required rate of return for purposes of deciding on projects. Also, assume that management only wants to invest in projects that pay off within four years.For each project, compute the payback period, NPV, and internal rate of return (IRR). Then explain whether each project should be accepted based on these three criteria.Project AProject BInitial Investment$40,000$28,000YearCash Flows1$10,000$10,0002$10,000$13,0003$10,000$5,0004$10,000$5,0005$10,000$6,000Suppose you are planning on becoming a vendor at the arena where your favorite sports team plays. You are trying to decide between opening up a souvenir stand selling T-shirts, caps, etc., with your sports team’s logo or opening up a hot dog and beer stand. It is more expensive to open up the hot dog and beer stand because you need to purchase a license to serve alcohol and you need to spend money to comply with health department regulations. Revenue from the souvenir stand is likely to be unpredictable because fans of your favorite team tend to want to purchase hats and T-shirts only when the team is winning. Revenue from hot dogs and beer seem to be a little more steady since fans want to eat and drink regardless of whether the team is winning.Below is a table with the initial investment cost of each type of stand and the annual payments you expect over the next five years. The annual payments will be different depending on how well your team does. Therefore, you will estimate how much cash flow you will get depending on whether your team does better than expected (optimistic), the same as the past few years (most likely), and worse than expected (pessimistic). Use a discount rate of 8%.Based on the table below, answer the following items:Calculate the net present value (NPV) for each type of stand under each of the three scenarios. Calculate the range of possible NPV values for each type of stand.Based on your answer to A) above and your own guesses about how well you think your favorite team will do over the next five years, which type of stand would you rather invest in?Souvenir StandHot Dog and Beer StandInitial Investment$100,000$150,000 Annual Cash Inflows (5 Years)Outcome Pessimistic$30,000$50,000 Most likely$50,000$60,000 Optimistic$70,000$70,000Suppose you are a corn farmer in your home state. You have to decide between two projects. One project is to purchase new equipment for your farm that will help boost your profits for the next 10 years. You also find out that you can purchase a large banana farm in Brazil for the same price as the equipment, and at the current market price for bananas you will make a lot more profit than you would from purchasing new corn farming equipment.After asking around, you find out that the standard discount rate for evaluating the NPV of the farming project is 6%. Most farmers in your home state seem to use this rate successfully. However, you don’t know any other banana farmers and you don’t know too much about farming in Brazil, so you have to make a guess on an appropriate discount rate for the Brazilian banana farm. Based on the concepts from the background readings, would you say the Brazilian banana farm will need a lower or higher discount rate? A lot larger or smaller, or only a little?Calculate the following:The cost of equity if the risk-free rate is 2%, the market risk premium is 8%, and the beta for the company is 1.3.The cost of equity if the company paid a dividend of $2 last year and is expected to grow at a constant rate of 7%. The stock price is currently $40.The weighted average cost of capital (WACC) if the company has a total value of $1 million with a market value of its debt at $600,000 and a market value of its equity at $400,000. Its cost of debt is 6% and its cost of equity is 15%. The tax rate it pays is 25%.Suppose you own a chain of dry cleaners and the WACC you’ve been using to make decisions on new purchases of dry cleaning equipment is a steady 9%. Recently, gambling has been made legal in your home town so you decide to expand and open up a casino. Should you use the same WACC to evaluate purchases of casino equipment? Why or why not? What are some alternatives to using the same WACC to make decisions on casino equipment? Explain your reasoning, and make references to concepts from the background readings.