FIN 320 Final Project Guidelines and Rubric
Final Project Part I
Part I Overview Business professionals typically need to demonstrate a core set of financial knowledge to earn the job and to succeed on a job. For this part of the assessment, you will be given a scenario in which you are asked to illustrate your financial management knowledge. This part of the final project addresses the following course outcomes:
Analyze the roles and responsibilities of financial managers in confirming compliance with federal and shareholder requirements
Differentiate between various financial markets and institutions by comparing and contrasting options when selecting appropriate private and corporate investments
Part I Prompt You have completed an internship in the finance division of a fast-growing information technology corporation. Your boss, the financial manager, is considering hiring you for a full-time job. He first wants to evaluate your financial knowledge and has provided you with a short examination. When composing your answers to this employment examination, ensure that they are cohesive and read like a short essay.
Your submission must address the following critical elements:
I. Analyze Roles and Responsibilities for Compliance A. Examine the types of decisions financial managers make. How are these decisions related to the primary objective of financial managers? B. Analyze the various ethical issues a financial manager could potentially face and how these could be handled. C. Compare and contrast the different federal safeguards that are in place to reduce financial reporting abuse. Why are these considered
appropriate safeguards? II. Investment Options
A. If a private company is “going public,” what does this mean, and how would the company do this? What are the advantages of doing this? Do you see any disadvantages? If so, what are they?
B. How do the largest U.S. stock markets differ? Out of those choices, which would be the smartest private investment option, in your opinion? Why?
C. Compare and contrast the various investment products that are available and the types of institutions that sell them.
Final Project Part I Rubric Guidelines for Submission: Ensure that your employment examination is submitted as one comprehensive and cohesive short essay. It should use double spacing, 12-point Times New Roman font, and one-inch margins. Citations should be formatted according to APA style. 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 (85%) Needs Improvement (55%) Not Evident (0%) Value
Roles and Responsibilities:
Examine
Meets “Proficient” criteria and includes examples in analysis
Comprehensively examines the types of decisions financial managers make, including how these decisions are related to their primary objective
Examines the types of decisions financial managers make, including how these decisions are related to their primary objective, but examination is not comprehensive
Does not examine the types of decisions financial managers make
15.83
Roles and Responsibilities:
Analyze
Meets “Proficient” criteria, and analysis indicates a clear understanding of ethical standards in finance
Comprehensively analyzes the various ethical issues a financial manager could potentially face and how these issues could be handled
Analyzes the various ethical issues a financial manager could potentially face and how these issues could be handled, but analysis is not comprehensive
Does not analyze the various ethical issues a financial manager could potentially face and how these issues could be handled
15.83
Roles and Responsibilities:
Compare and Contrast
Meets “Proficient” criteria, and analysis indicates a clear understanding of federal safeguards in finance
Accurately analyzes different federal safeguards that are in place to reduce financial reporting abuse, including why these safeguards are appropriate
Analyzes different federal safeguards that are in place to reduce financial reporting abuse, but analysis is inaccurate or cursory, or analysis of why these safeguards are appropriate is inaccurate or cursory
Does not analyze different federal safeguards
15.83
Investment: Private Company
Meets “Proficient” criteria and includes examples in analysis
Comprehensively compares and contrasts the advantages and disadvantages of a company “going public” versus staying private
Compares and contrasts the advantages and disadvantages of a company “going public” versus staying private, but analysis is not comprehensive
Does not compare and contrast the advantages and disadvantages of a company “going public” versus staying private
15.83
Investment: U.S. Stock Markets
Meets “Proficient” criteria and explains choice of smartest stock market to invest private money into
Comprehensively and accurately differentiates between the largest U.S. stock markets and indicates choice of smartest stock market to invest private money into
Differentiates between the largest U.S. stock markets, but analysis is inaccurate or cursory or is missing choice of smartest stock market to invest private money into
Does not differentiate between the largest U.S. stock markets
15.83
http://snhu-media.snhu.edu/files/production_documentation/formatting/rubric_feedback_instructions_student.pdf
Investment: Compare and Contrast
Meets “Proficient” criteria and includes both foreign and domestic institutions
Comprehensively compares and contrasts the various investment products available and the types of institutions that sell them
Compares and contrasts the various investment products and the types of institutions that sell them, but analysis is not comprehensive
Does not compare and contrast the various investment products and the types of institutions that sell them
15.83
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
5.02
Earned Total 100%
Final Project Part II
Part II Overview For this part of the final project, you will be given a scenario in which you are asked to illustrate your financial computation and analysis skills. This part of the assessment addresses the following course outcomes:
Compute financial ratios, time value, variables, and returns using industry standard tools for optimizing financial success
Analyze corporate financial data for multiple companies in evaluating past and future financial performances
Part II Prompt For this section of your employment exam, you will select two companies. The first company needs to come from your TDAU thinkorswim portfolio. The second needs to be a competitor of the first company from the same industry. You will be responsible for collecting, synthesizing, and making decisions regarding both companies. After evaluating these companies’ financial data, you will then decide which company’s stock is the better investment. This section of your employment examination must be submitted in two parts. Part A will contain the workbooks that house all of your quantitative data and formulas, along with any of the information that is relevant for your chosen companies. Part B will contain your answers to the questions asked below, composed in a cohesive manner. If you are referring to data that is found within the workbooks in Part A, be sure to include a citation—for example, “rate of return is 3.570 USD (E64, WB2),” where E64 is the cell that the calculation took place in and WB2 is designating “workbook 2.” This ensures that your instructor can quickly and accurately check data entry, formula use, and financial calculations. Your submission must address the following critical elements: