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. Alteryx
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 credit-
worthy 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 Module Due Grading
One Investment Project and Justification (Parts A and B) Four Graded separately; Milestone One Rubric
Two Risks Six Graded separately; Milestone Two Rubric
Three 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 Exemplary (100%) Proficient (90%) Needs Improvement (70%) Not Evident (0%) Value
Executive Summary Meets “Proficient” criteria and
response is especially convincing,
engaging, and/or well suited for
target audience
Briefly summarizes the key points
of proposal, giving audience the
most essential information while
convincing them to read further
Summarizes key points of
proposal, but summary is lengthy,
omits essential information,
contains inaccuracies, or does not
induce the audience to read
further
Does not summarize key points of
proposal
2
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
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, providing sufficient detail
to give a firm sense of the
parameters of activity, market
need, and relevant financial
metrics for determining success
5.33
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
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
Does not specify resources
required
5.33
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
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
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
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
5.33
Justification: Strategic
Fit: Priorities
Meets “Proficient” criteria and
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
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
Does not argue how the
investment aligns with the
company’s organizational and
financial priorities, supported by
evidence from company reports
and financial statement analysis
4
Justification: Strategic
Fit: Microeconomic
Meets “Proficient” criteria and
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
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
Does not assess how the project
fits within the global
microeconomic environment
5.34
Justification: Strategic
Fit: Comparative
Advantage
Meets “Proficient” criteria and
response is especially nuanced
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
Evaluates how project builds 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 how project
builds on organization’s core
competencies and comparative
advantage
5.33
Justification: Financial
Impact: Expansion
Meets “Proficient” criteria and
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
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
5.33
Justification: Financial
Impact: Consolidated
Meets “Proficient” criteria and
projections demonstrate
especially keen insight into the
short and longer-term financial
impact of the expansion on the
company’s overall performance
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
5.34
Risks: Internal
Meets “Proficient” criteria and
demonstrates especially keen
insight into the links between
internal risks and opportunities,
financial projections, and planning
for business expansion
Projects how company’s most
significant internal risks and
opportunities might affect
financial estimates and how they
will be addressed, supported by
specific examples
Projects how company’s most
significant internal risks and
opportunities might affect
financial estimates and how they
will be addressed, supported by
specific examples, but response
contains inaccuracies, omits key
details, or links between
projections and planning are
tenuous
Does not project how company’s
most significant internal risks and
opportunities might affect
financial estimates and how they
will be addressed
5.33
Risks: External
Meets “Proficient” criteria and
demonstrates particularly keen
insight into how external risks
affect project success and
financial decisions
Evaluates how significant external,
non-financial risks that might
affect project success will be
addressed, giving specific
examples
Evaluates how significant external,
non-financial risks that might
affect project success will be
addressed, giving specific
examples, but response contains
inaccuracies, omits key details, or
examples are not relevant
Does not evaluate how significant
external, non-financial risks that
might affect project success will
be addressed
5.34
Risks: Microeconomic
Meets “Proficient” criteria and
assessment is especially is
especially nuanced and well
aligned with strategic needs of
project
Assesses the microeconomic
factors that might affect decisions
about the proposed investment,
supported by specific examples
Assesses the microeconomic
factors that might affect decisions
about the proposed investment,
supported by specific examples,
but response contains
inaccuracies, omits key details, or
examples are not relevant
Does not assess the
microeconomic factors that might
affect decisions about the
proposed investment
5.33
Risks: Alternate
Financial: Sales Fall
Meets “Proficient” criteria and
discussion of implications for
planning and financial
performance is particularly
nuanced and well supported
Projects how financial
performance would change if
sales fall 20% short of or are 20%
higher than base assumption,
including what analysis of two
scenarios implies for the proposed
investment, justifying response
Projects how financial
performance would change if
sales fall 20% short of or are 20%
higher than base assumption,
including what analysis implies for
the proposed investment, but
response contains inaccuracies,
omits key details, or is poorly
justified
Does not project how financial
performance would change if
sales fall 20% short of or are 20%
higher than base assumption
5.33
Risks: Alternate
Financial: Time Value of
Money
Meets “Proficient” criteria and
demonstrates keen insight into
how diverse scenarios and
financial metrics affect project
projections and subsequent
business decisions
Assesses what net present value,
internal rate of return, and
payback values from base and
sales variation scenarios imply for
the proposed investment,
including how time value of
money affects calculations and
analysis
Assesses what net present value,
internal rate of return, and
payback values from base and
sales variation scenarios imply for
the proposed investment,
including how time value of
money affects calculations and
analysis, but response contains
inaccuracies or omits key details
Does not assess what net present
value, internal rate of return, and
payback values from base and
sales variation scenarios imply for
the proposed investment
5.34
Financing: Global
Capital Markets
Meets “Proficient” criteria and
assessment is particularly
nuanced and relevant to the
specific needs of the expansion
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
5.34
Financing: Business
Combination
Meets “Proficient” criteria and
assessment is particularly
nuanced and relevant to the
specific needs of the expansion
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, supported by
research and evidence
5.33
Track Record: Financial
Performance
Meets “Proficient” criteria and
response is particularly insightful
and well suited for convincing
target audience to grant funding
request
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
4
Track Record: Legal and
Ethical
Meets “Proficient” criteria and
response is particularly insightful
and well suited for convincing
target audience to grant funding
request
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
4
Questions and Answers
Meets “Proficient” criteria and
response is particularly insightful
and well-suited for convincing
target audience to grant funding
request
Constructs persuasive, evidence-
based question and answer
section that addresses additional
financial questions loan
committee might ask, including
legal and ethical concerns and
why the loan would be attractive
to the bank
Constructs question and answer
section that addresses potential
loan committee questions,
including legal and ethical
concerns and why loan would be
attractive to bank, but response
contains inaccuracies, is not
persuasive, or is not well-
grounded in evidence
Does not construct question and
answer section that addresses
additional financial questions loan
committee might ask
4
Articulation of
Response
Submission is free of errors
related to citations, grammar,
spelling, syntax, and organization
and is presented in a professional
and easy-to-read format
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
2
Total 100%