Finance project
Finance 325

Project Details

Instructions: You will draft a written report of approximately 800 to 1000 words plus tables. The report should explain your analysis, address the prompts, make a recommendation, and justify the recommendation. You may choose to address the case described on Blackboard (in the Course Information folder) or a real-world case of your own choosing that I approve in advance.

You may work individually or in groups of up to three people. If you decide to work in a group, however, any disputes between group members must be resolved within the group and you will not have the option of working independently if you commit to working in a group. In general, all group members will earn the same grade on their assignment. However, group members will be asked to evaluate each other and I may use these evaluations to adjust the grades assigned to individual group members.

Important details:

1. If you plan to work in a group, please send your section instructor an email by November 1 indicating who will be working together. Please be sure to cc all group members.

2. You (or your group) will turn in your final report, including tables and text, in a Word or PDF format. You will also submit your excel spreadsheet. You will submit all of this to your section instructor via email by Wednesday, December 9, 5pm. You will lose 10% every day it is late.

3. You (if doing the project individually) or your group must work independently. You must do the calculations and writing independent of other groups or individuals. Any evidence of collaboration between groups or individuals will result in a zero score for the groups/individuals involved. Conversation and discussion is fine, but any evidence of sharing excel files or the written report will be treated as evidence of a violation of academic integrity, and everyone involved (regardless of their role) will receive a zero score.

4. 50% of your grade on the project will be based on the accuracy of your calculations. We will grade individual portions of the calculations separately with the goal of not penalizing you twice for one mistake. That is, if you make a mistake in calculating OCF (as an example), but then use that incorrect number correctly from that point forward, you will receive credit for correctly using the incorrect number.

5. 30% of your grade will be based on the content of your written report. We will focus on how clearly and accurately you explained your analysis and responded to the prompts. We will also be concerned about whether the written report aligns with the calculations and tables. Do not make the mistake of glossing over important details or assuming we understand what you are intending with your writeup. Our advice is to write your report as though you were explaining your analysis to another student who is smart but does not understand project analysis as well as you. Such an approach will usually yield the right level of detail in your explanations.

6. 20% of your grade will be based on polish. Is it well written? Are there typos? Are there grammar mistakes? Is it well formatted? Does it look nice? Do the tables make sense? The answers to these questions will directly influence 20% of your grade (and indirectly influence the rest of your grade).

7. If you work in a group, you will be asked to evaluate your group members based on their teamwork. Were they actively engaged in the project? Did they put in the same effort as others? Did they do what they said they would do? Were they helpful and supportive of other group members? Would you work with that person again? Note that this will focus on attitude and engagement more than the quality of their contributions. The results of these evaluations MAY cause me to adjust an individual group member’s grade by up to 20%.

Please read this details carefully and let me know if you have any questions.