FIN 330 Final Project I Guidelines and Rubric
Overview
Corporate financial managers must have a business-wide perspective to successfully navigate the corporate environment. The skills you will develop in this
course will support you in your future business career and set the foundation for the concepts that will be covered in the next course, Multinational Corporate
Finance. Your final project for FIN 330 will allow you to showcase your mastery of the varied skills a finance professional must obtain: It will require you to
analyze a real-world corporation from a quantitative perspective while also investigating the challenges and decisions a manager must face.
To accomplish this, your final assessment will be broken up into two separate but related projects. For your first project,, a corporate valuation report, you will
choose one of the U.S. corporations from the provided list, analyze the historical financials of your chosen corporation using the provided Excel template, and
estimate the value of your corporation in a brief report.
The second final project is a risk management and ethical analysis that will focus on the same corporation, highlighting the management and leadership
considerations and decisions required of top-level financial managers. In this written report, you will discuss ethics, corporate social responsibility, and the
challenges related to attaining short-term and long-term goals.
Combined, these two projects will assess your knowledge regarding the quantitative and qualitative concepts of corporate finance and leadership.
The first final project is divided into two milestones, 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 Two and Five. The final corporate valuation report is due in Module Seven, and the final risk
management and ethical analysis is due in Module Eight.
In this assignment, you will demonstrate your mastery of the following course outcomes:
Estimate the value of corporations based on quantitative and qualitative analysis of financial history, industry trends, and projections of future
performance
Analyze the relationships between capital structure, risk, and cost of capital for informing financial decisions that can optimize the value of corporations
Analyze challenges financial managers face regarding short-term and long-term planning for informing decision making
Prompt
Your corporate valuation report should analyze your chosen corporation from the provided list and estimate its overall value.
Throughout this assignment, you will use a provided Excel template. To complete this assignment, you will submit both a written paper and the completed Excel
template with the “Financial History,” “Capital Structure,” and “Valuation” tabs filled in.
Specifically, the following critical elements must be addressed:
I. Overview: This section of your report will be devoted to providing a thorough overview of the background of the corporation you selected and setting
the foundation for your later discussion of the challenges financial managers face. Specifically, you must address the following:
A. Describe the market to which your corporation belongs, identifying the products or services your corporation sells and the share of the market it
has.
B. Describe the customer base of your corporation and the top competitors for this customer base. Be sure to consider what motivates the
customers and the challenges the organization faces in retaining the customer base.
C. Describe the key inputs (and sources of those inputs) used to create the products or services, as well as the key resources for corporate
operation (such as staff, facilities, technologies, etc.) and the extent to which attaining all these resources presents a challenge to the particular
organization.
D. Analyze key market trends and issues within the industry for potential risks to the organization.
II. Financial History: The next section of your report should focus on the financial history and capital structure of your organization.
A. Quantitatively analyze three years’ worth of the corporation’s finances using the provided Excel template. You will submit this template along
with your report, and may embed pieces of the Excel template into your report to show key financial highlights in the following critical element.
B. Summarize the financial highlights you determined from the analysis in the Excel template, explaining the significance of the key ratios for the
overall financial health of the organization.
III. Capital Structure: In the third section of your report, discuss the capital structure of the corporation.
A. Outline the most recent year’s debt, equity, and total capital using the provided template to show the overall capital structure of the
corporation.
B. Articulate the corporation’s dividend policy and what impact it has on the investors.
C. Analyze the relationship between capital structure, cost of capital, and risk, using examples from your chosen organization.
D. Explain how the relationship between capital structure, cost of capital, and risk can help inform decision making and maximize corporate value.
IV. Valuation: The final section of your report will focus on calculating current value, outlining assumptions, and estimating the future value of the
corporation through forecasting the cash flows. Specifically, respond to the following:
A. Calculate the current market value of equity for your corporation, using the three-year history and provided Excel template, and explain what it
means for the corporation.
B. Outline any assumptions you have made in calculating the current value and estimating the future value of the corporation, explaining why you
made them and why they are important. (Hint: Assumptions can include growth rates, margins, trends, etc.)
C. Estimate the current value of your corporation by forecasting the cash flows over five years using the provided Excel template, and explain your
findings. Calculate EVA, NPV, IRR and MIRR.
Milestones
Milestone One: Overview and Financial History
In Module Two, you will submit Milestone One, which provides you an opportunity to work on the overview and financial history sections of your Final Project I:
Corporate Valuation. As part of this assignment, you will also complete specific elements of the provided excel template. This milestone will be graded with the
Final Project I Milestone One Rubric.
Milestone Two: Capital Structure and Valuation
In Module Five, you will submit Milestone Two, which provides you an opportunity to work on the capital structure and valuation sections of your Final Project I:
Corporate Valuation. As part of this assignment, you will also complete specific elements of the provided excel template. This milestone will be graded with the
Final Project I Milestone Two Rubric.
Final Submission: Corporate Valuation Report
In Module Seven, you will submit your Final Project I: Corporate Valuation Report. It should be a complete, polished artifact containing all of the critical
elements of the final product. It should reflect the incorporation of feedback gained throughout the course on your milestone assignments. This submission will
be graded with the Final Project I Rubric.
Final Project I Rubric
Guidelines for Submission: Your corporate valuation report should be 6–9 pages in length, double spaced, with 12-point Times New Roman font, one-inch
margins, and APA formatting. Along with your corporate valuation report, you will submit your complete Excel template as a separate file. You may use pieces of
your Excel template as images within your report, but you must still submit the completed Excel template with your final report submission.
Critical Elements Exemplary Proficient Needs Improvement Not Evident Value
Overview: Market Meets “Proficient” criteria, and
description demonstrates deep
insight into the corporation’s
place in the market (100%)
Accurately describes the
market, products or services,
and portion of the market held
by the chosen corporation
(85%)
Describes the market, products
or services, and portion of the
market held by the chosen
corporation, but lacks accuracy
or necessary detail (55%)
Does not describe the market,
products or services, and portion
of the market held by the chosen
corporation (0%)
4
Overview: Customer Meets “Proficient” criteria and
makes cogent connections
between customer base and
competitors (100%)
Accurately describes the
customer base and the
corporation’s top competitors
for those customers (85%)
Describes the customer base
and the corporation’s top
competitors for those
customers, but lacks accuracy
or detail (55%)
Does not describe the customer
base and the corporation’s top
competitors (0%)
5
Overview: Resources Meets “Proficient” criteria and
shows keen insight into the
varied resources required for
corporate operation (100%)
Accurately describes the key
inputs and resources the
corporation needs (85%)
Describes the key inputs and
resources the corporation
needs but lacks accuracy or
detail (55%)
Does not describe inputs and
resources the corporation needs
(0%)
5
Overview: Trends Meets “Proficient” criteria and
shows keen insight into
corporate risks associated with
market-wide trends and issues
(100%)
Critically analyzes the market
for key trends and issues that
may pose risks for the
corporation (85%)
Analyzes the market for key
trends and issues but lacks
detail, logic, or focus on issues
that may pose risks for the
corporation (55%)
Does not analyze the market for
trends and issues (0%)
4
Financial History:
Excel
Correctly analyzes three years
of corporate financial
statements using the provided
Excel template (100%)
Analyzes three years of
corporate financial statements
using the provided Excel
template, but analysis contains
miscalculations or is
incomplete (55%)
Does not analyze three years of
corporate financial statements
using the provided Excel
template (0%)
7.7
Financial History:
Highlights
Meets “Proficient” criteria and
shows keen insight into the
significance of specific financial
calculations for determining
financial health (100%)
Accurately summarizes the
financial highlights determined
from the Excel analysis of the
corporate financial statements,
citing key ratios that give a
picture of the overall financial
health (85%)
Summarizes the financial
highlights determined from the
Excel analysis of the corporate
financial statements but lacks
accuracy or details regarding
key ratios that give a picture of
the overall financial health
(55%)
Does not summarize the financial
highlights determined from the
Excel analysis (0%)
7.7
Capital Structure:
Overall
Meets “Proficient” criteria, and
outline shows mastery of
determining a corporation’s
capital structure from
financials (100%)
Accurately outlines the most
recent year’s debt, equity, and
total capital using the provided
template to show the overall
capital structure of the
corporation (85%)
Outlines the most recent year’s
debt, equity, and total capital
using the provided template,
but with gaps in accuracy (55%)
Does not outline the most recent
year’s debt, equity, and total
capital using the provided
template (0%)
9.6
Capital Structure:
Dividend Policy
Meets “Proficient” criteria and
makes cogent connections
between dividend policy and
investor impact (100%)
Accurately articulates the
corporation’s dividend policy
and the impact it has on
investors (85%)
Articulates the corporation’s
dividend policy and its impact
on investors, but does so
inaccurately or with gaps in
details (55%)
Does not articulate the
corporation’s dividend policy and
its impact on investors (0%)
9.6
Capital Structure:
Relationship
Meets “Proficient” criteria and
makes cogent connections
between capital structure, cost
of capital, and corporate risk
(100%)
Accurately analyzes the
relationship between capital
structure, cost of capital, and
risk, using examples to
highlight claims (85%)
Analyzes the relationship
between capital structure, cost
of capital, and risk, but lacks
accuracy or does not use
examples that highlight claims
(55%)
Does not analyze the relationship
between capital structure, cost of
capital, and risk (0%)
9.65
Capital Structure:
Maximize Value
Meets “Proficient” criteria and
shows keen insight into using
knowledge of the relationship
between cost of capital, capital
structure, and risk to maximize
corporate value (100%)
Accurately explains how the
relationship between capital
structure, cost of capital, and
risk should inform corporate
decision making and maximize
corporate value (85%)
Explains how the relationship
between capital structure, cost
of capital, and risk should
inform corporate decision
making and maximize
corporate value, but lacks
accuracy or necessary detail
(55%)
Does not explain how the
relationship between capital
structure, cost of capital, and risk
should inform corporate decision
making and maximize corporate
value (0%)
9.65
Valuation: Current
Value
Meets “Proficient” criteria and
shows mastery of determining
current corporate market value
(100%)
Accurately calculates the
current market value of the
chosen corporation using the
three-year history and
provided Excel template,
explaining findings in the
report (85%)
Calculates the current market
value of the chosen
corporation using the threeyear history and provided Excel
template, explaining findings in
the report, but lacks accuracy
in calculations or lacks detail in
explanation of findings (55%)
Does not calculate the current
market value of the corporation
or does not explain findings in
the report (0%)
7.7
Valuation:
Assumptions
Meets “Proficient” criteria and
shows keen insight into the
role of assumptions in
corporate valuation (100%)
Clearly outlines reasonable
assumptions, explaining why
the assumptions were made
and why they matter (85%)
Outlines assumptions,
explaining why the
assumptions were made and
why they matter, but with gaps
in clarity or reason (55%)
Does not outline assumptions or
explain why they were made and
why they matter (0%)
7.7
Valuation: Estimate Meets “Proficient” criteria and
shows advanced grasp of
future valuation (100%)
Logically estimates the current
value of the corporation
through five-year cash flow
forecasting using the provided
Excel template (85%)
Estimates the current value of
the corporation through fiveyear cash flow forecasting
using the provided Excel
template, but with gaps in logic
or accuracy of calculations
(55%)
Does not estimate the current
value of the corporation through
five-year cash-flow forecasting
using the Excel template (0%)
7.7
Articulation of
Response
Submission is free of errors
related to citations, grammar,
spelling, syntax, and
organization and is presented
in a professional and easy-toread format (100%)
Submission has no major errors
related to citations, grammar,
spelling, syntax, or organization
(85%)
Submission has major errors
related to citations, grammar,
spelling, syntax, or
organization that negatively
impact readability and
articulation of main ideas
(55%)
Submission has critical errors
related to citations, grammar,
spelling, syntax, or organization
that prevent understanding of
ideas (0%)
5
Total 100%