Financial Management

PART A- Assignment 1 excel spreadsheet

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1. The purpose of this template is to gather data that will be analyzed and discussed in the Assignment Part B submission. Insert the name of the company in the “Company 1 AMAZON or Company 2 WALMART

2” headings so we know which company is being reviewed.

2. The template uses the terminology in the CFO Guidebook chapter on Risks.

3. Risks of the company are disclosed in the annual 10-K report section Item 1A Risk Factors. Use the risks in the 10-K as your basis for your template. You can also get additional risks from the Morningstar Analyst Report, or from news articles about the company. Try to narrow down the laundry list of risks to a few unique (only applies to one company but not the other) and major risks.

4. There is no “magic” number of risks to be included in your template. Try to aim for 3-5 risks per company to compare and analyze. Pick the risks.

5. You can delete extra rows or add rows. You can also change the font size and the column widths. Keep the headings standard. While not a requirement, if you believe an additional column is required to better describe/classify your risks, then add it.

6. While not a requirement, you can copy/paste the Excel completed table as a picture to your Word document if it makes it easier to reference in your analysis and recommendations.

PART B

Summarize your Analysis and Recommendations by addressing the following questions:
1. Where is each company in its corporate lifecycle (startup, growth, maturity, or decline)? Explain.
2. Based on your review of the analysts’ reports and the 10-K reports, which company appears to have more risk? Why?
3. Which categories of risk pose the greatest threat to each organization? Why?
4. Which company has the stronger economic moat? Explain.
5. For the company that has the weaker economic moat, what two risk factors should they prioritize to improve their risk mitigation and strengthen their competitive advantage? Make specific reference to the applicable risk management tools discussed on pages 30- 63 of The CFO Guidebook.

531 – Assignment 1 (1202) Page 1 of 3

JWI 531: Financial Management II

Assignment 1

© Strayer University. All Rights Reserved. This document contains Strayer University confidential and proprietary information and may not be copied, further distributed, or otherwise disclosed, in whole or in part, without the expressed written permission of Strayer University. This document is subject to change based on the needs of the class.

Assignment 1: Enterprise Risk Management and Moat Strength

Due Week 3, Sunday (18% of final grade)

Congratulations! You have just gotten the opportunity of a lifetime to work as a senior financial advisor for

Warren Buffett. You will be responsible for conducting financial analyses on companies Mr. Buffett is

reviewing, and providing recommendations for action to the CFOs of those companies. The names of

these companies will be provided by your professor in the first week of the course.

Instructions

In this assignment, you will evaluate several risk scenarios and make recommendations on how to position

the company for success by putting in place “reasonable” protections against downsides. To prepare for

the assignment: (1) download and review the latest annual reports for both companies from the Investor

Relations page of each company’s website; (2) read the Shareholder Letter and the Risks section

carefully, and (3) read the Morningstar Analyst Reports with particular emphasis on the Moat and Risk

sections.

A. Complete the Assignment 1 Worksheet to create risk profiles for both companies. The guidance

for this is found on pages 24-29 of The CFO Guidebook.

B. Summarize your Analysis and Recommendations by addressing the following questions:

i. Where is each company in its corporate lifecycle (startup, growth, maturity, or decline)?

Explain.

ii. Based on your review of the analysts’ reports and the 10-K reports, which company

appears to have more risk? Why?

iii. Which categories of risk pose the greatest threat to each organization? Why?

iv. Which company has the stronger economic moat? Explain.

v. For the company that has the weaker economic moat, what two risk factors should they

prioritize to improve their risk mitigation and strengthen their competitive advantage?

Make specific reference to the applicable risk management tools discussed on pages 30-

63 of The CFO Guidebook.

531 – Assignment 1 (1202) Page 2 of 3

JWI 531: Financial Management II

Assignment 1

Submission Requirements

A. Complete and submit the Assignment 1 Worksheet component of the Workbook, along with your

written work for Part B, through the assignment link in Blackboard.

B. Format your written responses for Analysis and Recommendation as follows:

 Typed, double-spaced, professional font (size 10-12), including headings and subheadings (to

identify main topics and subtopics), with one-inch margins on all sides.

 References must be included and provide appropriate information that enables the reader to

locate the original source.

o Application and analysis of course materials and resources is expected.

o At least one additional source beyond the course materials must be cited to support

your analysis and recommendations.

 Include a cover page containing the title of the assignment, your name, the professor’s name,

the course title, and the date.

 The maximum length is 4 pages, excluding your cover page, completed worksheets, and

reference list.

531 – Assignment 1 (1202) Page 3 of 3

JWI 531: Financial Management II

Assignment 1

RUBRIC

Weight: 18% of

Course Grade

Assignment 1:

Enterprise Risk Management and Moat Strength

CRITERIA Unsatisfactory Low Pass Pass High Pass Honors

1. Complete the

assignment

worksheet

Weight: 30%

Did not submit

worksheet or had

fewer than 60%

correct data sets

entered.

Submitted

worksheet had

between 60%

and 69% correct

data sets.

Submitted

worksheet had

between 70%

and 79% correct

data sets.

Submitted

worksheet had

between 80%

and 89% correct

data sets.

Submitted

worksheet had

90% or higher

correct data sets.

2. Present

synopsis of

data

Weight: 30%

Synopsis was

missing,

incomplete,

inaccurate, or did

not align with

data.

Synopsis was

overly simplistic;

restated the

data, but did not

provide a

coherent

overview.

Synopsis was

good; provided

general snapshot

of key data, but

did not focus on

the most critical

elements.

Synopsis was

very good;

focused on the

most critical

elements with

only minor

elements

unclear/missing.

Data synopsis

was excellent;

accurately

highlighted key

data presented in

both annual

reports and third-

party sources.

3. Present and

defend sound

recommended

finance

strategies

Weight: 30%

Recommended

strategies were

missing,

superficial,

and/or were not

supported by

data and

analysis. No

options were

presented.

Recommended

strategies were

basic or were not

supported by

data and

analysis or tied

to desired

outcomes. Made

minimal

reference to

options, and did

not explain why

these were not

recommended.

Recommended

strategies were

good, but lacked

clarity on how

they could be

implemented to

drive outcomes.

Addressed other

options, but was

unclear why

these were not

chosen.

Presented and

defended very

good finance

strategies; solid

connection to

core finance

principles and to

real-world

circumstances.

Very good

consideration of

viable options

with good

rationale for why

options were not

chosen.

Presented and

defended

excellent finance

strategies;

exemplary

connection to core

finance principles

and to real-world

circumstances.

Excellent

consideration of

viable options with

very clear

rationale for why

options were not

chosen.

4. Include

appropriate

citations and

use

professional

writing

standards

Weight: 10%

No citations

provided and/or

references to

course materials

were missing or

did not support

key content in

submission;

numerous writing

mistakes.

Included some

citations and

references to

course materials,

but failed to cite

for several key

references;

contained

distracting

grammatical or

formatting errors.

Citations and

references to

both course

materials and

additional

sources were

properly

documented;

contained some

grammatical and

formatting errors.

Citations and

references to

both course

materials and

additional

sources were

properly

documented;

contained minor

grammatical and

formatting errors.

Citations and

references to both

course materials

and additional

sources were

properly

documented; free

from grammatical

and formatting

errors; adhered to

maximum length.