[SOLVED]- MBA 640 Final Project Milestone Three Guidelines and Rubric Overview: The final project for this course is the creation of an external capital

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

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 themto 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, orhow 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 traderegulations, 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.

these instructions.

 

Critical Elements	Exemplary (100%)	Proficient (90%)	Needs Improvement (70%)	Not Evident (0%)	Value
Executive Summary	Meets “Proficient” criteria and	Briefly summarizes the key points	Summarizes key points of	Does not summarize key points of	2
	response is especially convincing,	of proposal, giving audience the	proposal, but summary is lengthy,	proposal
	engaging, and/or well suited for	most essential information while	omits essential information,
	target audience	convincing them to read further	contains inaccuracies, or does not
			induce the audience to read
			further
Investment Project:	Meets “Proficient” criteria and	Describes investment project,	Describes investment project, but	Does not describe investment	5.33
Describe	provides target audience with an	providing sufficient detail to give a	description lacks detail, contains	project, providing sufficient detail
	especially clear and complete	firm sense of the parameters of	inaccuracies, or omits key	to give a firm sense of the
	understanding of project and	activity, market need, and relevant	information on parameters,	parameters of activity, market
	alternatives for evaluating success	financial metrics for determining	market need, and relevant	need, and relevant financial
		success	financial metrics for determining	metrics for determining success
			success
Investment Project:	Meets “Proficient” criteria and	Specifies resources required,	Specifies resources required,	Does not specify resources	5.33
Resources	response is particularly	including amount of loan and	including amount of loan	required
	comprehensive and well aligned	other physical and financial	requested, other physical and
	with needs of expansion project	resources, along with where	financial resources, and where
		resources will come from	resources will come from, but
			response contains inaccuracies or
			omits key details
Investment Project:	Meets “Proficient” criteria and	Determines when project will	Determines when project will	Does not determine when project	5.33
Time Frame	suggested time frame and metrics	start, anticipated economic life,	start, anticipated economic life,	will start, anticipated economic
	are especially appropriate given	and exit process, justifying choices	and exit process, justifying choices	life, and exit process, justifying
	diverse alternatives and needs of	with appropriate financial metrics	with financial metrics, but	choices with financial metrics
	specific project		response contains inaccuracies,
			omits key details, or financial
			metrics are not appropriate

Justification: Why Now	Meets “Proficient” criteria and	Evaluates why now is a good time	Evaluates why now is a good time	Does not evaluate why now is a	5.33
	demonstrates especially keen	for this investment in the global	for this investment in the global	good time for this investment in
	insight into the range of external	context, citing specific external	context, citing specific external	the global context, citing specific
	factors that might impact global	factors that might affect business	factors, but response contains	external factors that might affect
	business activities and how they	financial decisions in justifying	inaccuracies, omits key details, or	business financial decisions in
	would do so	response	links to business financial	justifying response
			decisions are tenuous
Justification: Strategic	Meets “Proficient” criteria and	Persuasively argues how the	Argues how the investment aligns	Does not argue how the	4
Fit: Priorities	response is particularly insightful	investment aligns with the	with the company’s organizational	investment aligns with the
	and well suited for convincing	company’s organizational and	and financial priorities, supported	company’s organizational and
	target audience to grant funding	financial priorities, supported by	by evidence, but argument is	financial priorities, supported by
	request	evidence from company reports	cursory, illogical, contains	evidence from company reports
		and financial statement analysis	inaccuracies, or is poorly	and financial statement analysis
			supported by evidence and sound
			financial analysis
Justification: Strategic	Meets “Proficient” criteria and	Assesses how the project fits	Assesses how the project fits	Does not assess how the project	5.34
Fit: Microeconomic	demonstrates especially strong	within the global microeconomic	within the global microeconomic	fits within the global
	insight into which microeconomic	environment, supported by	environment, supported by	microeconomic environment
	factors are most relevant in	evidence	evidence, but response is cursory,
	determining strategic fit		poorly supported, contains
			inaccuracies, or links between
			microeconomic factors and
			project are tenuous
Justification: Strategic	Meets “Proficient” criteria and	Evaluates how project builds on	Evaluates how project builds on	Does not evaluate how project	5.33
Fit: Comparative	response is especially nuanced	organization’s core competencies	organization’s core competencies	builds on organization’s core
Advantage	and well-aligned with strategic	and comparative advantage in	and comparative advantage in	competencies and comparative
	needs of project	explaining why the project makes	explaining why the project makes	advantage
		sense strategically	sense, but response is cursory,
			contains inaccuracies or is only
			tangentially related to strategic fit
Justification: Financial	Meets “Proficient” criteria and	Projects expansion’s incremental,	Projects cash benefits and	Does not project expansion’s	5.33
Impact: Expansion	response demonstrates a nuanced	annual, and cumulative cash	outflows over specified time	incremental, annual, and
	understanding of the	benefits and outflows over	period, using relevant	cumulative cash benefits and
	microeconomic and financial	specified time period, using	presentation vehicle and justifying	outflows over specified time
	principles that underlie business	relevant presentation vehicle to	assumptions and methodology,	period
	projections	support narrative and justifying	but response contains
		assumptions and methodology	inaccuracies, omits key details, or
		based on sound microeconomic	is poorly grounded in
		and financial principles	microeconomic and financial
			principles

Justification: Financial	Meets “Proficient” criteria and	Develops consolidated financial	Develops consolidated financial	Does not develop consolidated	5.34
Impact: Consolidated	projections demonstrate	projection for overall business	projection for overall business	financial projection for overall
	especially keen insight into the	with and without the proposed	with and without the proposed	business with and without the
	short and longer-term financial	investment over specified time	investment over specified time	proposed investment over
	impact of the expansion on the	period, using relevant	period, using relevant	specified time period
	company’s overall performance	presentation vehicle to support	presentation vehicle and
		narrative and describing relevant	describing assumptions, but
		assumptions	response contains inaccuracies or
			omits key details
Risks: Internal	Meets “Proficient” criteria and	Projects how company’s most	Projects how company’s most	Does not project how company’s	5.33
	demonstrates especially keen	significant internal risks and	significant internal risks and	most significant internal risks and
	insight into the links between	opportunities might affect	opportunities might affect	opportunities might affect
	internal risks and opportunities,	financial estimates and how they	financial estimates and how they	financial estimates and how they
	financial projections, and planning	will be addressed, supported by	will be addressed, supported by	will be addressed
	for business expansion	specific examples	specific examples, but response
			contains inaccuracies, omits key
			details, or links between
			projections and planning are
			tenuous
Risks: External	Meets “Proficient” criteria and	Evaluates how significant external,	Evaluates how significant external,	Does not evaluate how significant	5.34
	demonstrates particularly keen	non-financial risks that might	non-financial risks that might	external, non-financial risks that
	insight into how external risks	affect project success will be	affect project success will be	might affect project success will
	affect project success and	addressed, giving specific	addressed, giving specific	be addressed
	financial decisions	examples	examples, but response contains
			inaccuracies, omits key details, or
			examples are not relevant
Risks: Microeconomic	Meets “Proficient” criteria and	Assesses the microeconomic	Assesses the microeconomic	Does not assess the	5.33
	assessment is especially is	factors that might affect decisions	factors that might affect decisions	microeconomic factors that might
	especially nuanced and well	about the proposed investment,	about the proposed investment,	affect decisions about the
	aligned with strategic needs of	supported by specific examples	supported by specific examples,	proposed investment
	project		but response contains
			inaccuracies, omits key details, or
			examples are not relevant

Risks: Alternate	Meets “Proficient” criteria and	Projects how financial	Projects how financial	Does not project how financial	5.33
Financial: Sales Fall	discussion of implications for	performance would change if	performance would change if	performance would change if
	planning and financial	sales fall 20% short of or are 20%	sales fall 20% short of or are 20%	sales fall 20% short of or are 20%
	performance is particularly	higher than base assumption,	higher than base assumption,	higher than base assumption
	nuanced and well supported	including what analysis of two	including what analysis implies for
		scenarios implies for the proposed	the proposed investment, but
		investment, justifying response	response contains inaccuracies,
			omits key details, or is poorly
			justified
Risks: Alternate	Meets “Proficient” criteria and	Assesses what net present value,	Assesses what net present value,	Does not assess what net present	5.34
Financial: Time Value of	demonstrates keen insight into	internal rate of return, and	internal rate of return, and	value, internal rate of return, and
Money	how diverse scenarios and	payback values from base and	payback values from base and	payback values from base and
	financial metrics affect project	sales variation scenarios imply for	sales variation scenarios imply for	sales variation scenarios imply for
	projections and subsequent	the proposed investment,	the proposed investment,	the proposed investment
	business decisions	including how time value of	including how time value of
		money affects calculations and	money affects calculations and
		analysis	analysis, but response contains
			inaccuracies or omits key details
Financing: Global	Meets “Proficient” criteria and	Weighs pros and cons of raising	Weighs pros and cons of internal	Does not weigh pros and cons of	5.34
Capital Markets	assessment is particularly	money using internal financing	financing versus global capital	raising money using internal
	nuanced and relevant to the	versus global capital market	market mechanisms, identifying	financing versus global capital
	specific needs of the expansion	mechanisms, identifying viable	viable alternatives based on	market mechanisms
		alternatives based on appropriate	research and evidence, but
		research and evidence	response contains inaccuracies,
			omits key details, or research and
			evidence are not relevant or
			cursory
Financing: Business	Meets “Proficient” criteria and	Assesses the viability of a business	Assesses the viability of a business	Does not assess viability of a	5.33
Combination	assessment is particularly	combination as a mechanism for	combination as a mechanism for	business combination as a
	nuanced and relevant to the	expanding into the new market,	expanding, supported by research	mechanism for expanding into the
	specific needs of the expansion	supported by appropriate	and evidence, but response is	new market, supported by
		research and evidence	cursory, contains inaccuracies, or	research and evidence
			research and evidence are not
			appropriate