MBA 640 Final Project Milestone One Guidelines and Rubric Overview: The final project for this course is the creation of an external capital funding proposal. Most businesses face a landscape of uncertainty and a never-ending stream of risks and opportunities. Managers must continually project the likely financial impact of decisions, make recommendations, act on those decisions, determine how to pay for them, and evaluate the costs and effectiveness of what has been done. Many decisions are short-term, routine, and operational. Others are longer-term investment decisions that require substantial new resources, such as developing new services, expanding into new geographic markets, or undertaking business combinations or spin-offs. Each requires managers to forecast, plan, and make decisions based on a thorough understanding of both internal and external factors that can affect a company’s financial success. For the summative assessment in this course, you will bring your finance and economics knowledge to bear by preparing an external capital funding proposal for a major international investment at a publicly traded corporation. In order to secure the support of potential financial backers, your proposal will need to lay out what the proposed investment opportunity is, how it fits within the company’s broader mission and goals, its financial impact, and the amount being requested and why (including alternative funding mechanisms considered). In addition, it will also need to include information on the organization’s context, risk factors, and microeconomic assumptions that could affect the success of the investment. Prompt: You have already chosen the company you will use for your final project, and you have started a narrative description of your expansion project into another country. In this milestone, you will build on that narrative description providing sufficient detail about the expansion, its costs, and its time frame to give a loan committee a firm sense of the proposed investment. You will also analyze the impact of the investment proposal on your business by explaining why now is the right time for this investment given the global context and by explaining how the investment is a good strategic fit with your company. This milestone addresses all of Section II and Section III (Parts A and B only) of the final project. Specifically, the following critical elements must be addressed: II. Investment Project: Use this section to describe the investment for which you are seeking funding, its costs, and time frame. Specifically, you should: A. Describe the investment project. Be sure to provide sufficient detail to give the loan committee a firm sense of the parameters of the activity, the need for it, and what financial metrics are relevant for determining success. In other words, what do you propose to do, where, what marketplace need will it fill, and how will you measure success? B. Specify the resources the project will require and where these resources will come from. In addition to noting the amount of the loan you are requesting, you should also consider human resources, facilities, government approvals, intellectual property, access to natural resources, and other resources that might be required to carry out the project. C. Time frame. When will the project start, what is the anticipated economic life of the proposed expansion, and how will you decide if, when, or how to exit? Justify your choices with appropriate financial metrics. III. Justification: In this section, you should analyze the impact of the investment proposal on your business. In particular, you should cover: A. Why is now a good time for this investment given the global context? Justify your response, citing specific external factors such as trade regulations, foreign currency considerations, or trends in foreign direct investment that might affect business financial decisions. B. Strategic fit. Use this section to discuss why the investment proposal makes sense for your company strategically. Specifically: 1. How does the investment align with the company’s organizational and financial priorities? Support your argument with evidence from company reports and financial statement analysis designed to persuade the lender that the investment is a good strategic fit for your company. 2. How does the project fit within the global microeconomic environment? Support your response with evidence. For example, would the expansion tap unmet demand for the company’s key products or services or fill a new niche? How do you know? 3. How does the project build on the organization’s core competencies and comparative advantage? For example, does the company have a strategic advantage from intellectual property, regional expertise, suppliers, or organizational structure? Rubric Guidelines for Submission: Your investment project and justification paper should be approximately 8-10 pages in length (excluding spreadsheets, other exhibits, and list of references as necessary). It should be double-spaced with 12-point Times New Roman font and one-inch margins, and should use APA format for references and citations. Instructor Feedback: This activity uses an integrated rubric in Blackboard. Students can view instructor feedback in the Grade Center. For more information, review these instructions. Critical Elements Investment Project: Describe Investment Project: Resources Proficient (100%) Describes investment project, providing sufficient detail to give a firm sense of the parameters of activity, market need, and relevant financial metrics for determining success Specifies resources required, including amount of loan and other physical and financial resources, along with where resources will come from Needs Improvement (75%) Not Evident (0%) Value Describes investment project, but description lacks detail, contains inaccuracies, or omits key information on parameters, market need, and relevant financial metrics for determining success Specifies resources required, including amount of loan requested, other physical and financial resources, and where resources will come from, but response contains inaccuracies or omits key details Does not describe investment project 13 Does not specify resources required 13 Investment Project: Time Frame Determines when project will start, anticipated economic life, and exit process, justifying choices with appropriate financial metrics Justification: Why Now Evaluates why now is a good time for this investment in the global context, citing specific external factors that might affect business financial decisions in justifying response Justification: Strategic Fit: Priorities Persuasively argues how the investment aligns with the company’s organizational and financial priorities, supported by evidence from company reports and financial statement analysis Justification: Strategic Fit: Microeconomic Assesses how the project fits within the global microeconomic environment, supported by evidence Justification: Strategic Fit: Comparative Advantage Evaluates how project builds on organization’s core competencies and comparative advantage in explaining why the project makes sense strategically Articulation of Response Submission has no major errors related to citations, grammar, spelling, syntax, or organization Determines when project will start, anticipated economic life, and exit process, justifying choices with financial metrics, but response contains inaccuracies, omits key details, or financial metrics are not appropriate Evaluates why now is a good time for this investment in the global context, citing specific external factors, but response contains inaccuracies, omits key details, or links to business financial decisions are tenuous Argues how the investment aligns with the company’s organizational and financial priorities, supported by evidence, but argument is cursory, illogical, contains inaccuracies, or is poorly supported by evidence and sound financial analysis Assesses how the project fits within the global microeconomic environment, supported by evidence, but response is cursory, poorly supported, contains inaccuracies, or links between microeconomic factors and project are tenuous Evaluates how project builds on organization’s core competencies and comparative advantage in explaining why the project makes sense, but response is cursory, contains inaccuracies, or is only tangentially related to strategic fit Submission has major errors related to citations, grammar, spelling, syntax, or organization that negatively impact readability and articulation of main ideas Does not determine when project will start, anticipated economic life, and exit process 13 Does not evaluate why now is a good time for this investment in the global context, citing specific external factors that might affect business financial decisions in justifying response Does not argue how the investment aligns with the company’s organizational and financial priorities 13 Does not assess how the project fits within the global microeconomic environment 13 Does not evaluate how project builds on organization’s core competencies and comparative advantage in explaining why the project makes sense strategically 13 Submission has critical errors related to citations, grammar, spelling, syntax, or organization that prevent understanding of ideas 9 Total 13 100% MBA 640 Final Project Milestone Two Guidelines and Rubric Overview: The final project for this course is the creation of an external capital funding proposal. Most businesses face a landscape of uncertainty and a never-ending stream of risks and opportunities. Managers must continually project the likely financial impact of decisions, make recommendations, act on those decisions, determine how to pay for them, and evaluate the costs and effectiveness of what has been done. Many decisions are short-term, routine, and operational. Others are longer-term investment decisions that require substantial new resources, such as developing new services, expanding into new geographic markets, or undertaking business combinations or spin-offs. Each requires managers to forecast, plan, and make decisions based on a thorough understanding of both internal and external factors that can affect a company’s financial success. For the summative assessment in this course, you will bring your finance and economics knowledge to bear by preparing an external capital funding proposal for a major international investment at a publicly traded corporation. In order to secure the support of potential financial backers, your proposal will need to lay out what the proposed investment opportunity is, how it fits within the company’s broader mission and goals, its financial impact, and the amount being requested and why (including alternative funding mechanisms considered). In addition, it will also need to include information on the organization’s context, risk factors, and microeconomic assumptions that could affect the success of the investment. Prompt: Submit a paper that addresses critical element IV, Risks, of the final project. Discuss any risks that might affect the success of the project and how you have planned for those contingencies. Note: The risks (and opportunities) you identify should demonstrate your understanding of the company you selected, the industry, the investment project you are proposing, and your project’s country and timing. Your estimates of financial impacts will be only preliminary; you will most likely revise them in your final submission at the end of Module Nine. Specifically, the following critical elements must be addressed: Section IV Risks: 1. Internal. What are the company’s most significant internal risks and opportunities related to the project? How might they affect your financial estimates and how will you address them? Support your response with specific examples. 2. External. How will you address significant qualitative risks outside the company that might affect project success? Give specific examples. For example, how might culture or politics in the target country affect the proposed investment’s financial success? Natural disasters? How have you planned for these risks? 3. Microeconomic. Assess the microeconomic factors that might affect decisions about the proposed investment. Support your response with specific examples. For example, how competitive is the market you will be entering? How elastic is the price for your product or service? 4. Alternate financial scenarios. Use this section to discuss the sensitivity of your financial projections to different scenarios. Be sure to address: a. How would your projected financial performance change if sales fall 20% short of or are 20% higher than your base assumption? What does your analysis of these two scenarios imply for the proposed investment? Justify your response. b. What do the net present value, internal rate of return, and payback values from your base scenario and the sales variation scenarios above imply for the proposed investment? Be sure to explain how the time value of money affects your calculations and analysis. Rubric Guidelines for Submission: Your risk assessment paper should be approximately 8-10 pages in length (excluding any tables, other exhibits, and list of references as necessary). It should be double-spaced with 12-point Times New Roman font and one-inch margins, and should use APA format for references and citations. Instructor Feedback: This activity uses an integrated rubric in Blackboard. Students can view instructor feedback in the Grade Center. For more information, review these instructions. Critical Elements Risks: Internal Proficient (100%) Projects how company’s most significant internal risks and opportunities might affect financial estimates and how they will be addressed, supported by specific examples Risks: External Evaluates how significant external, non-financial risks that might affect project success will be addressed, giving specific examples Risks: Microeconomic Assesses the microeconomic factors that might affect decisions about the proposed investment, supported by specific examples Needs Improvement (75%) Projects how company’s most significant internal risks and opportunities might affect financial estimates and how they will be addressed, supported by specific examples, but response contains inaccuracies, omits key details, or links between projections and planning are tenuous Evaluates how significant external, non-financial risks that might affect project success will be addressed, giving specific examples, but response contains inaccuracies, omits key details, or examples are not relevant Assesses the microeconomic factors that might affect decisions about the proposed investment, supported by specific examples, but response contains inaccuracies, omits key details, or examples are not relevant Not Evident (0%) Does not project how company’s most significant internal risks and opportunities might affect financial estimates and how they will be addressed Value 18 Does not evaluate how significant external, non-financial risks that might affect project success will be addressed 18 Does not assess the microeconomic factors that might affect decisions about the proposed investment 18 Risks: Alternate Financial: Sales Fall Projects how financial performance would change if sales fall 20% short of or are 20% higher than base assumption, including what analysis of two scenarios implies for the proposed investment, justifying response Risks: Alternate Financial: Time Value of Money Assesses what net present value, internal rate of return, and payback values from base and sales variation scenarios imply for the proposed investment, including how time value of money affects calculations and analysis Articulation of Response Submission has no major errors related to citations, grammar, spelling, syntax, or organization Projects how financial performance would change if sales fall 20% short of or are 20% higher than base assumption, including what analysis implies for the proposed investment, but response contains inaccuracies, omits key details, or is poorly justified Assesses what net present value, internal rate of return, and payback values from base and sales variation scenarios imply for the proposed investment, including how time value of money affects calculations and analysis, but response contains inaccuracies or omits key details Submission has major errors related to citations, grammar, spelling, syntax, or organization that negatively impact readability and articulation of main ideas Does not project how financial performance would change if sales fall 20% short of or are 20% higher than base assumption 18 Does not assess what net present value, internal rate of return, and payback values from base and sales variation scenarios imply for the proposed investment 18 Submission has critical errors related to citations, grammar, spelling, syntax, or organization that prevent understanding of ideas Total 10 100% MBA 640 Final Project Milestone Three Guidelines and Rubric Overview: The final project for this course is the creation of an external capital funding proposal. Most businesses face a landscape of uncertainty and a never-ending stream of risks and opportunities. Managers must continually project the likely financial impact of decisions, make recommendations, act on those decisions, determine how to pay for them, and evaluate the costs and effectiveness of what has been done. Many decisions are short-term, routine, and operational. Others are longer-term investment decisions that require substantial new resources, such as developing new services, expanding into new geographic markets, or undertaking business combinations or spin-offs. Each requires managers to forecast, plan, and make decisions based on a thorough understanding of both internal and external factors that can affect a company’s financial success. For the summative assessment in this course, you will bring your finance and economics knowledge to bear by preparing an external capital funding proposal for a major international investment at a publicly traded corporation. In order to secure the support of potential financial backers, your proposal will need to lay out what the proposed investment opportunity is, how it fits within the company’s broader mission and goals, its financial impact, and the amount being requested and why (including alternative funding mechanisms considered). In addition, it will also need to include information on the organization’s context, risk factors, and microeconomic assumptions that could affect the success of the investment. Prompt: Submit a short paper that addresses Section III, Part C; Section V; and Section VI of the final project. Specifically, the following critical elements must be addressed: III. Justification: C. Financial impact. This section should discuss the project’s most likely financial implications and the consolidated financial projection with and without the project. Be sure to: 1. Project the incremental, annual, and cumulative cash benefits and outflows associated with the proposed expansion for the next seven to 10 years, using a spreadsheet or other relevant presentation vehicle to support your narrative. Be sure to justify your assumptions and methodology based on sound microeconomic and financial principles. For example, what assumptions have you made about demand, price, volume, capital purchase costs, incremental hiring, and so on? 2. Develop a consolidated financial projection of revenue, pretax income, and cash flow for the overall business, over that same number of years, both with and without the proposed investment. Use a spreadsheet or other relevant presentation vehicle to support your narrative, being sure to describe any relevant assumptions. IV. Financing: In this section, compare the proposed loan to alternative financing methods. Specifically: A. Weigh the pros and cons of raising money using internal financing mechanisms versus seeking funding through global capital markets via loans, commercial paper, bonds, or equity financing. Which might be viable alternatives should the loan not be approved? Support your answer with appropriate research and evidence. B. Assess the viability of a business combination as a mechanism for expanding into the new market. Is this a reasonable option for the company? Why or why not? Support your answer with appropriate research and evidence. VI. Track Record: Use this section to persuade the lender that you are credit-worthy. You must: A. Convincingly argue that your organization is on solid financial footing, and thus at a low risk for default, supporting your argument with appropriate financial statements, ratios, and other indicators of financial performance and health. B. Convincingly argue for your organization’s trustworthiness, providing credible evidence of legal and ethical financial behavior. For example, this might include recent audit results; credit history; absence of significant lawsuits, recalls, or regulatory judgments; or other evidence designed to show that the company holds itself to the highest legal and ethical standards. Rubric Guidelines for Submission: Your investment project and justification paper should be approximately 8–10 pages in length (excluding spreadsheets, other exhibits, and list of references as necessary). It should be double-spaced with 12-point Times New Roman font and one-inch margins, and should use APA format for references and citations. Instructor Feedback: This activity uses an integrated rubric in Blackboard. Students can view instructor feedback in the Grade Center. For more information, review these instructions. Critical Elements Justification: Financial Impact: Expansion Proficient (100%) Projects expansion’s incremental, annual, and cumulative cash benefits and outflows over specified time period, using relevant presentation vehicle to support narrative and justifying assumptions and methodology based on sound microeconomic and financial principles Needs Improvement (75%) Projects cash benefits and outflows over specified time period, using relevant presentation vehicle and justifying assumptions and methodology, but response contains inaccuracies, omits key details, or is poorly grounded in microeconomic and financial principles Not Evident (0%) Does not project expansion’s incremental, annual, and cumulative cash benefits and outflows over specified time period Value 15 Justification: Financial Impact: Consolidated Develops consolidated financial projection for overall business with and without the proposed investment over specified time period, using relevant presentation vehicle to support narrative and describing relevant assumptions Financing: Global Capital Markets Weighs pros and cons of raising money using internal financing versus global capital market mechanisms, identifying viable alternatives based on appropriate research and evidence Financing: Business Combination Assesses the viability of a business combination as a mechanism for expanding into the new market, supported by appropriate research and evidence Track Record: Financial Performance Convincingly argues that organization is on solid financial footing, supported by appropriate financial statements, ratios, and other indicators of financial performance and health Develops consolidated financial projection for overall business with and without the proposed investment over specified time period, using relevant presentation vehicle and describing assumptions, but response contains inaccuracies or omits key details Weighs pros and cons of internal financing versus global capital market mechanisms, identifying viable alternatives based on research and evidence, but response contains inaccuracies, omits key details, or research and evidence are not relevant or cursory Assesses the viability of a business combination as a mechanism for expanding, supported by research and evidence, but response is cursory, contains inaccuracies, or research and evidence are not appropriate Argues that organization is on solid financial footing, supported by financial statements, ratios, and other indicators of financial performance and health, but argument is cursory, contains inaccuracies, or supporting evidence is not credible, appropriate, or convincing for lenders Does not develop consolidated financial projection for overall business with and without the proposed investment over specified time period 15 Does not weigh pros and cons of raising money using internal financing versus global capital market mechanisms 15 Does not assess viability of a business combination as a mechanism for expanding into the new market 15 Does not argue that organization is on solid financial footing 15 Track Record: Legal and Ethical Convincingly argues for organization’s trustworthiness, providing credible evidence of legal and ethical financial behavior Articulation of Response Submission has no major errors related to citations, grammar, spelling, syntax, or organization Argues for organization’s trustworthiness, providing evidence of legal and ethical financial behavior, but argument is cursory, contains inaccuracies, or evidence is not credible or convincing to lenders Submission has major errors related to citations, grammar, spelling, syntax, or organization that negatively impact readability and articulation of main ideas Does not argue for organization’s trustworthiness, providing evidence of legal and ethical financial behavior 15 Submission has critical errors related to citations, grammar, spelling, syntax, or organization that prevent understanding of ideas Total 10 100%
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