FE&D-Mile01

MBA 640 Final Project Milestone One Guidelines and Rubric Overview: The final project for t his 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 ma nagers to forecast, plan, and make decisions based on a thorough understanding of both internal and external factors that can affect a company’s financ ial success. For the summative assessment in this course, you will bring your finance and economics know ledge 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 inves tment 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 t he 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 ha ve started a narrative description of your e xpansion project into another country. In this milestone, you will build on that narrative description providing sufficient detail about the expans ion, 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 w ith your company. This milestone address es 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 determi ning 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 natu ral 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 tra de regulations, foreign currency consideratio ns, 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 Guidel ines 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 in formation, review these instructions . Critical Elements Proficient (100 %) Needs Improvement (75% ) Not Evident (0% ) Value Investment Project:

Describe Describe s investment project, providing sufficient detail to give a firm sense of the parameters of activity, market need, and relevant financial metrics for determining success Describes investment project, but description lacks detail, contains inaccuracies, or omits key information on parameters, market need, and relevant financial metrics for determining success Does not describe investment project 13 Investment Project:

Resources Specifies resources require d, including amount of loan and other physical and financial resources, along with where resources will come from Specifies resources require d, 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 specify resources require d 13 Investment Project: Time Frame Determines when project will start , anticipated economic life, and exit process, j ustify ing choices with appropriate financial metrics Determines when project will start , anticipated economic life, and exit process, j ustify ing choices with financial metrics , but response contains inaccuracies, omits key details, or financial metrics are not appropriate Does not determine when project will start , anticipated economic life, and exit process 13 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 fi nancial decisions in justifying response 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 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 13 Justification:

Strategic Fit:

Priorities Persuasively argues how the investment align s with the company’s organizational and financial priorities , support ed by evidence from company reports and financial statement analysis Argues h ow the investment align s with the company’s organizational and financial priori ties , support ed by evidence, but argument is cursory, illogical, contains inaccuracies, or is poorly supported by evidence and sound financial analysis Does not argue h ow the investment align s with the company’s organizational and financial priorities 13 Justification:

Strategic Fit:

Microeconomic Assesses h ow the project fit s within the global microeconomic environment , support ed by evidence Assesses h ow the project fit s within the global microeconomic environment , support ed by evidence , but response is cursory, poorly supported, contains inaccuracies, or links between microeconomic factors and project are tenuous Does not assess h ow the project fit s within the global microeconomic environment 13 Justification:

Strategic Fit:

Comparative Advantage Evaluates h ow project build s on organization’s core competencies and comparative advantage in explaining why the project makes sense strategically Evaluates h ow project build s 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 Does not evaluate h ow project build s on organization’s core competencies and comparative advantage in explaining why the project makes sense strategically 13 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 t hat prevent understanding of ideas 9 Total 100%