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Final project presentations: The final
project in this class requires the development of a financing proposal for a
small business, based on a published case. This semester's case is College
Couriers [Ivey Publishing]. Read the following instructions and notes
carefully. Close attention to the information given here will save you much
pain in completing the analysis of this case. This is a group project. Groups will consist of 2 or 3 [NOT 4] people. Groups should be assembled by November 1. You are free to make up your own groups. I will not serve as a matchmaker. Each group will meet to agree upon their own "rules of engagement," which are to be submitted to me in writing on November 10th. Each member of the group must sign the rules of engagement, which I will retain. In the event of a group "blow-up," your rules of engagement will be the framework for a decision about what to do. Your "rules" should address such things as [but not restricted to] sharing of effort, attendance at meetings and procedures for arranging meetings. The rules of engagement are not graded--indeed, I will not even read them--UNLESS someone in your group comes to me and complains that so-and-so is not doing his/her share of the work, not showing up for meetings, or whatever. I will then produce YOUR rules of engagement and ask you what you propose to do to resolve the situation. If your team is experiencing problems, PLEASE report the situation to me BEFORE you get to the "breaking point." I cannot force you to cooperate if you don't want to, but I do insist that major problems be reported to me immediately simply to ensure that I know what is going on. As a last resort, groups may FIRE recalcitrant members who refuse to cooperate according to the rules you have established; such action REQUIRES a meeting with me first. At this meeting, we will determine whether reconciliation and continued work as a group is possible. If not, I will toss a coin to determine who gets to continue with the original case. The loser of the toss will have to start from scratch on a new case, which is virtually guaranteed to be more difficult that the original. This procedure will be followed even even if the "divorce decree" is filed the day before the final is due. Consequently, there are significant incentives for cooperation and learning to work together. Trust me: You do not want to go down this road; pick your partners carefully and learn to work with one another. [Welcome to the real world. We seldom get to choose our professional colleagues, and we may well wind up working with folks who are irritating or downright nasty.] Each team will meet with me and Craig Chance, a PLU MBA alum and a commercial banker with Columbia Bank. We will "interview" you as applicants for the financing which the Lanzettas need to finance their business. All meetings will be held during the final exam period. A schedule for specific group meeting times will be announced after groups are formed. College Couriers: Notes, Hints, and Other Stuff The section that follows below contains a number of simplifying assumptions and explanatory notes; these are designed to provide some guidance for the case. Careful attention will spare you many hours of agony. Read carefully, and remember the rule: METICULOUS ORGANIZATION OF LARGE AMOUNTS OF INFORMATION.
Project deliverables [organization-speak for the materials you have to produce]: You are to prepare a detailed master budget for College Couriers, including a sales budget, cash receipts budget, purchases budget, expense budget, cash budget, income statements, and balance sheets. All quantitative work MUST be done on Excel. For the presentation itself, please do not bring Power Points. Bring a hard copy for each person in the room [one for each group member + 2] and email me your file no later than an hour before your scheduled final exam session i.e., 7:00 am on 12/16 for section 01 and noon on 12/17 for section 02.. Use the last name of one group member and the word "courier" in the filename [e.g., smithcourier.xls]. Your email subject line MUST contain the phrase college courier. Please do not use other phrases or descriptive words. Failure to follow these procedures will result in a failing grade on the exam for all group members. Requirements: The minimum requirements for the final project include:
These are minimum requirements. Simple completion of 1 and 2, above, cannot get you an A on the project; if you do all of these, and do them extremely well, you would probably get a B, subject to the qualifications below. Weak performance on the above items will result in a commensurately lower grade. In evaluating your work I look particularly for an understanding of the conceptual material related to the assignment. Incorrect cell references and clerical errors are a problem, but they are typically easily corrected. However, evidence of a lack of understanding of basic concepts [e.g., contribution margins, what goes on the balance sheet and where, cash vs. accrual, having the content and organization of the income statement correct] is far more serious. Equally serious is the inability to interpret or use numerical results, when the results themselves are correct. The presence of one or more conceptual errors will differentiate between B papers and those which descend to the C [or lower] category. One or two major conceptual errors can have an enormous impact on your grade, so your ability to demonstrate a thorough understanding of the concepts is critical. Remember that quantitative and graphical exhibits do not stand for themselves. They require interpretation and understanding. You cannot assume that the bankers will see what you want them to see. By this time, you should have developed enough expertise in financial modeling using Excel so that evaluation of alternative scenarios is facilitated by thoughtful workbook organization, use of Excel functions, and other techniques. Your calculation of the line of credit balance and associated interest MUST use the =IF( ) modeling that we have used in class. Failure to use this capability will result in a failing grade on the project. Another differentiating factor will be credit awarded for things like the items below, based on thoroughness, creativity, and quantitative accuracy. Bear in mind that all analyses must be reasonable; for example, it would be highly unrealistic to assume that the demand for could be double the amount given in the case,
Discussion of such issues must be supported by appropriate quantitative analysis. It must be reasonable and based on an understanding of the industry and of relevant market phenomena. For example sales would be unlikely to be ten times the amount projected in the case. Professional presentation is expected. Poorly written, badly organized, sloppy work will receive no credit. |
Copyright © 2008 Gerald M. Myers
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