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:
- 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? - 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.
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 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.
Critical Elements Proficient (100%) Needs Improvement (75%) Not Evident (0%) Value
Justification:
Financial Impact:
Expansion
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
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
Does not project expansion’s
incremental, annual, and
cumulative cash benefits and
outflows over specified time
period
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
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
Does not develop consolidated
financial projection for overall
business with and without the
proposed investment over
specified time period
15
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
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
Does not weigh pros and cons of
raising money using internal
financing versus global capital
market mechanisms
15
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
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
Does not assess viability of a
business combination as a
mechanism for expanding into the
new market
15
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
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 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
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
Does not argue for organization’s
trustworthiness, providing
evidence of legal and ethical
financial behavior
15
Articulation of
Response
Submission has no major errors
related to citations, grammar,
spelling, syntax, or organization
Submission has major errors
related to citations, grammar,
spelling, syntax, or organization
that negatively impact readability
and articulation of main ideas
Submission has critical errors
related to citations, grammar,
spelling, syntax, or organization
that prevent understanding of
ideas
10
Total 100%
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