FIN-310: PRINCIPLES OF FINANCE Final Paper

Final Paper

OVERVIEW

One of the most effective means of learning is to apply what has been learned. The final project provides you with the opportunity to use work from previous papers and discussion forums, but you will also be required to conduct additional research regarding a specific business and country. You are required to adhere to APA guidelines and to cite your sources. Do not copy tables or material and present them as your own. A feature of good academic writing is building on the work of others in presenting a new approach to a business issue.

Imagine that you have been tasked by the Director of Finance of your company to perform an analysis of one of your competitors. Please select a publicly traded company; it can be a competitor of the company you work for or any publicly traded company you want to choose. Your assignment is to examine the company on the factors listed below and provide an evidence-based opinion regarding its financial soundness.

For this analysis, you will need to investigate the company on the Internet and through the NJ State Library, examining the various reports that are available. Through the NJ State Library, you should search the electronic databases Mergent Online, Mergent Intellect, and Hoover’s Online. You may find additional information using their subject guides for business at http://libguides.njstatelib.org/business.

Obtaining a Library Card

For your final project, you are required to conduct research. Resources can be accessed through the New Jersey State Library, EBSCOhost, and ProQuest, which you can find through the myEdison portal under the Research Resources tab.

REQUIREMENTS

Your final project must include:

1. Introduction. Provide a brief focus statement about your paper and what the reader can expect.

2. Selection of the company. Provide a brief profile of the selected company and your rationale for selecting it.

3. Short- and long-range financial problems. From your analysis of research materials, examine the company and provide a report on the short- and long-range financial problems that are evident from the review. If you find no short- or long-range financial problems, provide the evidence to justify this conclusion.

4. Optimal capital structure to manage financial performance. Define capital structure. Provide examples of the company’s capital structure and its influence, or lack of influence, on the financial performance of the firm.

5. Financial statements and financial decisions. Analyze the firm’s financial statements and the decisions that appear to have been made to prepare the financial statement.

6. Articulate how the cost of capital is defined and measured. Define the cost of capital and how it appears to be measured in your selected firm.

7. Present value. Calculate present value using applicable present value tables.

8. Summary. Provide a few concluding paragraphs about how your chosen company adheres or does not adhere to sound financial principles.

GUIDELINES

For this final paper, thoroughly discuss the topics described above and, when possible, provide specific examples or recommendations. Your paper should have at least 10 references from academic books, journal articles, and/or credible online sources.

Your paper should:

● Be 14 to 20 pages in length.

● Include a cover sheet and a table of contents.

● Follow academic research approaches and APA citation format, including in-text citations and a References list.

● Be well-developed and convey your understanding of the readings and concepts.

● Be organized, coherent, and unified.

● Be free of spelling, structure, and grammatical errors.

If you have questions about the requirements of the paper, be sure to discuss them with your mentor well in advance of the final submission. Consult the Course Calendar for this paper's due date. It must be submitted by the last day of the semester.

WRITING AND RESEARCH RESOURCES

The following links provide online writing and research aids to help you with your paper assignments.

● OWL (Online Writing Lab) at Purdue University

● Writer's Handbook, the Writing Center at the University of Wisconsin–Madison

● APA Guidelines

● Information Literacy for TESU Students (an online guide from the New Jersey State Library to assist you in starting your research, searching databases for articles, citing sources, using ILLiad to request books or articles, etc.)