Q Introduction Your team project spans Units 2-8 of this course. Below you will find the information regarding the project. • Team Project Description • Deliverables • Due Dates Team Project Description: Exploring Target Acquisitions Click for Unit Learning Outcomes 1. o Directions You team works for XYZ Company, which has a directional strategy focused on expanding the company through horizontal integration. Your team can determine the official name of the company and industry. The company does a great job keeping close watch on its cash position and consistently maintains a positive cash flow; is very solvent; controls its overhead expenses; has solid marketing and sales, production, and human resources performance metrics, and fosters a culture of strategic thinkers. Historically, your company has expanded through a combination of organic (new startups) and inorganic growth and feels it’s time to consider acquisition opportunities. The Board is looking to engage in a friendly acquisition of a company that will not only increase its market share, but allow it to penetrate new markets and increase the company’s abilities to meet current and future consumer needs and expectations. Since management’s attitude is to pursue a friendly acquisition as opposed to a hostile takeover, your team may consider looking at conglomerates that have experienced significant growth through inorganic growth (acquisitions) and may now be looking to refocus on their core business and are willing to consider divesting some of its businesses that are within your industry. There could be other companies that are under financial duress and receptive to acquisition offers. Your team is a part of the corporate mergers and acquisition (M&A) department and has been assigned the task of identifying two potential acquisition targets. Since your Board is committed to a strategy of horizontally integration, you will be looking for possible acquisitions from within your industry. You are aware that the Board strategizes and supports green technology in companies that are guided by core values. You will be performing a preliminary analysis of the companies under consideration, and then ultimately recommend one of the companies move forward for a more in-depth valuation by M&A Department. Notes: The target acquisitions should be publicly traded and have the same fiscal year end, preferably December 31st. In addition, your team is encouraged to select a proper name for your company and the industry for which it is aligned. High-Level Process Flow To successfully complete your preliminary analysis of the target acquisitions, your team should follow this high-level process flow: Step 1: Select Comparable Companies that Satisfy Inclusion Criteria Step 2: Conduct Qualitative Research on the Companies Step 3: Conduct Quantitative Analyses of the Companies (financial) Step 4: Prepare Report of Findings with Recommendation Step 5: Construct Graphic or Analytics to depict your recommendation • Step 1 • Step 2 • Step 3 • Step 4 • Step 5 Select Comparable Companies Describe the methodology used to select the target acquisitions. You may want to consider utilizing the North American Industry Classification System (NAICS) to identify companies within your industry. Of course, there are a variety of Internet sites that can assist you in locating firms within your chosen industry, such as Google Finance and Yahoo Finance. Rubric Team Project Deliverable Rubric Team Project Deliverable Rubric Criteria Ratings Pts This criterion is linked to a Learning OutcomeContent 120 to >107.0 pts Excellent All components of the assignment have been explicitly addressed. The content reflects graduate-level execution with clear evidence of critical thinking, synthesis of relevant information from credible sources, and clear mastery of the concepts necessary to successfully execute each component of the assignment. The content is logically organized and contains only that information necessary meet the expectations of the assignment and does not contain content that could be considered superfluous or distracting. All arguments, recommendation, and positions are logically presented and properly supported with credible or scholarly sources. The submission includes PowerPoint slides or an Excel spreadsheet if required in the assignment directions. 107 to >95.0 pts Good Most of the components of the assignment have been explicitly addressed. There are some aspects of the assignment that appear to have been implicitly addressed. The content mostly reflects a graduate-level effort in the execution. While there is evidence of critical thinking, synthesis of information from credible sources it isn’t consistent throughout the submission. It appears that the student was somewhat comfortable with many of the concepts necessary to successfully complete each component of the assignment. The content is mostly organized in a logical manner; however, it contains some content which could be considered superfluous and mildly distracting. Most of the arguments, recommendations, and positions are logically present and supported with credible and scholarly sources. The submission includes PowerPoint slides or an Excel spreadsheet if required in the assignment directions. 95 to >0 pts Fair Few of the components of the assignment have been explicitly addressed. Most of the components were either implicitly addressed or not covered. The content is not consistent with what would typically associate with a graduate leaner. There is little evidence of critical thinking or synthesis of credible sources to support the completion of the assignment. It appears that the student has little to not understanding of the concepts necessary to successfully address the components of the assignment. The content isn’t well organized and difficult to follow. It contains a large amount of content which considered superfluous and distracting. Few of the arguments, recommendations, or positions are logically presented and supported with appropriate sources. The submission does not include PowerPoint slides or an Excel spreadsheet if required in the assignment directions. 120 pts This criterion is linked to a Learning OutcomeAPA 20 to >17.9 pts Excellent Those elements of the assignment that are required to adhere to the APA writing style are prepared consistent with the APA Manual (7th edition) and include a title and reference page. Note: The instructor may require adherence to certain APA form and style guidelines and not others based on the nature and scope of the project. The sources are properly in-text cited and listed in a reference page consistent with the APA Manual (7th edition). The submission contains very few or no grammatical, punctuation, syntax, and verb-tense agreement errors. 17.9 to >15.9 pts Good Those elements of the assignment that are required to adhere to the APA writing style are mostly consistent with the APA Manual (7th edition) and include a title and reference page. Note: The instructor may require adherence to certain APA form and style guidelines and not others based on the nature and scope of the project. The sources are mostly in-text cited and properly listed in the reference page consistent with the APA Manual (7th edition). The submission contains some grammatical, punctuation, syntax, and verb-tense agreement errors. 15.9 to >0 pts Fair Those elements of the assignment that are required to adhere to the APA writing style contain a large number of inconsistencies with the APA Manual (7th edition). Note: The instructor may require adherence to certain APA form and style guidelines and not others based on the nature and scope of the project. The sources aren’t properly in-text cited and listed in the reference page consistent with the APA Manual (7th edition). The submission is poorly written and contains a large number of grammatical, punctuation, syntax, and verb-tense agreement errors. 20 pts This criterion is linked to a Learning OutcomeLength 10 to >8.99 pts Excellent The submission meets the length requirements as specified within the assignment expectations. 8.99 to >7.99 pts Good The submission is slightly outside page length requirements as specified within the assignment expectations. As a result, the student may have struggled to fully meet all of the assignment expectations. 7.99 to >0 pts Fair The submission is not consistent with the page length requirement as specified within the assignment expectations. As a result, the student was largely unsuccessful in meeting the assignment expectations. 10 pts Total Points: 150 PreviousNext