MG760 Assignments Spring 2021
- You were hired recently by a Wall Street firm. A couple of weeks after you started the job, your boss got into an argument with another manager. The other manager said that Bitcoin has a good future and that he thought crypto currency would be a good investment. He said he had pretty strong holdings of Nestle stock, Russian bonds and Volkswagen stock. Your boss told the other manager he would be “crazy” to trade in his holdings for cryptocurrency.
Write a paper that provides reasons and evidence your boss could use the next time he confronts the other manager. As an MBA candidate, you should be able to,
- Cite the specific advantages of Nestle stock, Russian bonds and Volkswagen stock.
- Point out the financial weaknesses of cryptocurrency.
As a diligent, hard-working MBA, follow these paper checklist items:
- Give facts and analysis. Go to the Wall St. Journal for facts and analysis. Stay away from Google. “Facts and analysis” means just that. No opinions, no generalizations. What is Nestle doing to improve itself, for example? What is attractive about Russian bonds? Etc.
- Stick to the topic. Do not veer off, defining cryptocurrency, giving its history and offering vague opinions.
- Show that you can tackle an assignment and produce a strong, worthwhile product you and your boss would be proud of.
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- Find a country – member of the Euro Zone, or South America – that has a relatively small middle class. Use the US and the Euro Zone as the standard. Make sure you understand what the euro zone means. Look at the performance of the stock market for that country. Draw two or three conclusions about the financial and business prospects for that nation.
Do not select a country with a large middle class. It would be good to look at efforts to build the middle class in the country you choose. Make your conclusions sensible. For example, will the country’s wealth increase? How would its business base grow? How will it protect its middle class in the future?
Use this checklist:
- Make sure the country actually has “a relatively small middle class.” Do not guess. Look it up!
- “Financial and business prospects” should be taken seriously by an MBA candidate. This does not mean a blogger’s opinion or a Facebook like. It means that the country has – or does not have – good products and services to sell. It does – or does not – have strong prospects for gaining wealth in the years ahead.
- Your paper was carefully put together – something you would be proud of. You used page headers, page numbers, have a bibliography of recent articles and proofread the paper.
- You turned in the paper on time.
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- Read about China’s “belt and road” program. Go immediately to the Wall Street Journal. What is the scope of the program? How successful has it been? How do the other countries involved feel about it?
Make a prediction of where the program will be in five years. Remember, this is a course in business not political science. Also, do not swallow China’s predictions of success without a careful assessment. Focus on the program’s likely revenue outcome and its ability to spur new business.
Use the following checklist:
- You answered the question of where the project will be in five years.
- You focused on financial analysis not political views or opinions.
- You removed vague opinions and generalizations.
- You did not waste time defining the history of the countries or the “belt and road” initiative.
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