I have attached the rubrics grading sheet for this assignment, will need to ensure that they are all there and ready by Saturday by noon. Assess the global microeconomic environment for determining the driving factors that affect business financial decisions Develop financial models that project the impact of different business scenarios on financial performance and business planning Assess decision alternatives by using time value of money (TVM) and other appropriate financial metrics Evaluate the potential impact of internal and external qualitative factors on business activities for supporting strategic financial decisions Weigh internal and external funding alternatives for carrying out investment decisions Construct persuasive, evidence-based arguments that incorporate legal and ethical behavior and sound financial analysis for soliciting external business fundingDeliverablesUnder this section I will need you to make sure that they are all there.
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MBA 640 Final Project 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.
The project is divided into three milestones prior to the final submission, which will be submitted at various points throughout the course to scaffold learning and
ensure quality final submissions. These milestones will be submitted in Modules Four, Six, and Seven. The final submission will occur in Module Nine.
In this assignment, you will demonstrate your mastery of the following course outcomes:
Assess the global microeconomic environment for determining the driving factors that affect business financial decisions
Develop financial models that project the impact of different business scenarios on financial performance and business planning
Assess decision alternatives by using time value of money (TVM) and other appropriate financial metrics
Evaluate the potential impact of internal and external qualitative factors on business activities for supporting strategic financial decisions
Weigh internal and external funding alternatives for carrying out investment decisions
Construct persuasive, evidence-based arguments that incorporate legal and ethical behavior and sound financial analysis for soliciting external business
funding
Prompt
Imagine you are a manager working at a publicly traded company. (You will select a company from the list below.) You have been tasked with preparing an
investment proposal for a large bank loan to finance a major expansion into another country. Your funding request will include both narrative text and financial
models designed to clearly explain and justify the investment proposal, how it will be financed, and its likely impact on the company. As support, you will show
the proposal’s most likely financial implications and the consolidated financial projection with and without the project. You should also consider risks—including
global microeconomic factors outside the company that may affect the investment’s success in the targeted country—and describe alternative financial scenarios
should sales exceed or underperform your assumptions.
Your funding request should be well organized, clear, concise, and free of distracting errors. Because business executives seldom have perfect or complete
information, you should base your proposal on data from authoritative sources when possible and make reasonable assumptions where information is not
available. As in real life, however, you must clearly specify your assumptions.
To begin, choose one of the following publicly traded companies. Once you have chosen your company, you will determine the investment opportunity for which
you are seeking funding as well as the country into which your company will be expanding:
1. Keurig Green Mountain
2. L.S. Starrett Company
3. Nordstrom, Inc.
Specifically, the following critical elements must be addressed:
I.
Executive Summary: Briefly summarize the key points of your proposal, giving the loan committee the most essential information while convincing them
to read further. Remember this is the first, and sometimes the only, section a selection committee will read in an initial screening.
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 in regards to intellectual property, regional expertise, suppliers, or organizational structure?
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.
Risks: Use this section to discuss any risks that might affect the success of the project and how you have planned for those contingencies. In particular:
A. 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.
B. 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?
C. 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?
D. Alternate financial scenarios. Use this section to discuss the sensitivity of your financial projections to different scenarios. Be sure to address:
1. 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.
2. 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.
V.
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 recent 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.
VII.
Questions and Answers: End your proposal by constructing a persuasive, evidence-based question-and-answer section that addresses additional
financial questions you think the loan committee might ask, including legal and ethical concerns and why the loan would be attractive to the bank.
Milestones
Milestone One: Investment Project and Justification (Parts A and B)
In Module Four, you will submit a draft of Section II (Investment Project) and Section III (Justification), Parts A and B only, of the final project. Submit 8-10 pages
of narrative, building on the narrative you began in the Module Three executive memo short paper. Include references to past financial results, growth rates, and
other financial ratios as exhibited in the spreadsheet you created in Module Two, and end with appropriate reference citations. This milestone is graded with the
Milestone One Rubric.
Milestone Two: Risks
In Module Six, you will submit a draft of Section IV (Risks) of the final project. Analyze internal and external risks and discuss how they might affect your financial
estimates and how you might plan for such risks. You will assess the microeconomic factors that affect decisions about the proposed investment, and you will
analyze alternative financial scenarios. This milestone is graded with the Milestone Two Rubric.
Milestone Three: Justification (Part C), Financing, and Track Record
In Module Seven you will submit a draft of Section III Part C (Justification), Section V (Financing), and Section VI (Track Record) of the final project. You will discuss
the project’s most likely financial implications and the consolidated financial projection with and without the project; compare the proposed loan to alternative
financing methods by weighing the pros and cons of raising money internally versus seeking funding through global capital markets; and assess the viability of a
business combination as a mechanism for expanding into the new market. You will also use this section to persuade the lender that your company is creditworthy by presenting appropriate financial information and by providing evidence of your company’s legal and ethical behavior. This milestone is graded with
the Milestone Three Rubric.
Final Submission: External Capital Funding Proposal
In Module Nine, you will write Section I (Executive Summary) and Section VII (Questions and Answers) of your final project and submit your final external capital
funding proposal. It should be a complete, polished artifact containing all of the critical elements of the final project. It should reflect the incorporation of
feedback gained throughout the course. This submission will be graded using the Final Project Rubric (below).
Deliverables
Milestone
Deliverable
One
Investment Project and Justification (Parts A and B)
Two
Risks
Three
Module Due
Grading
Four
Graded separately; Milestone One Rubric
Six
Graded separately; Milestone Two Rubric
Justification (Part C), Financing, and Track Record
Seven
Graded separately; Milestone Three Rubric
Final Submission: External Capital Funding Proposal
Nine
Graded separately; Final Project Rubric (below)
Final Project Rubric
Guidelines for Submission: Your Investment Funding Proposal should be approximately 15-20 pages in length (excluding title page, table of contents,
spreadsheets and other exhibits, and list of references). It should be double spaced with 12-point Times New Roman font and one-inch margins. 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
Executive Summary
Exemplary (100%)
Meets “Proficient” criteria and
response is especially convincing,
engaging, and/or well suited for
target audience
Proficient (90%)
Briefly summarizes the key points
of proposal, giving audience the
most essential information while
convincing them to read further
Investment Project:
Describe
Meets “Proficient” criteria and
provides target audience with an
especially clear and complete
understanding of project and
alternatives for evaluating success
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
Investment Project:
Resources
Meets “Proficient” criteria and
response is particularly
comprehensive and well aligned
with needs of expansion project
Specifies resources required,
including amount of loan and
other physical and financial
resources, along with where
resources will come from
Investment Project:
Time Frame
Meets “Proficient” criteria and
suggested time frame and metrics
are especially appropriate given
diverse alternatives and needs of
specific project
Determines when project will
start, anticipated economic life,
and exit process, justifying choices
with appropriate financial metrics
Needs Improvement (70%)
Summarizes key points of
proposal, but summary is lengthy,
omits essential information,
contains inaccuracies, or does not
induce the audience to read
further
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
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
Not Evident (0%)
Does not summarize key points of
proposal
Value
2
Does not describe investment
project, providing sufficient detail
to give a firm sense of the
parameters of activity, market
need, and relevant financial
metrics for determining success
5.33
Does not specify resources
required
5.33
Does not determine when project
will start, anticipated economic
life, and exit process, justifying
choices with financial metrics
5.33
Justification: Why Now Meets “Proficient” criteria and
demonstrates especially keen
insight into the range of external
factors that might impact global
business activities and how they
would do so
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 Meets “Proficient” criteria and
Fit: Priorities
response is particularly insightful
and well suited for convincing
target audience to grant funding
request
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 Meets “Proficient” criteria and
Fit: Microeconomic
demonstrates especially strong
insight into which microeconomic
factors are most relevant in
determining strategic fit
Assesses how the project fits
within the global microeconomic
environment, supported by
evidence
Justification: Strategic Meets “Proficient” criteria and
Fit: Comparative
response is especially nuanced
Advantage
and well-aligned with strategic
needs of project
Evaluates how project builds on
organization’s core competencies
and comparative advantage in
explaining why the project makes
sense strategically
Justification: Financial Meets “Proficient” criteria and
Impact: Expansion
response demonstrates a nuanced
understanding of the
microeconomic and financial
principles that underlie business
projections
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
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 compar …
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