MGT 325: Finance for Managers

Writing Assignment Guidelines and Rubric

 

Select a publicly traded company that trades on the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) or on the NASDAQ to analyze. Please note that it is usually easier to find more recent information on larger or well-known companies. The analysis in your essay should answer the following questions:

 

Why did you choose to analyze this company?
What were the opinions of some of your referenced articles on this stock as an investment? Please note that it is best if there is at least some disagreement on this question.
Is an investment in the stock a higher or lower risk investment than an investment in other stocks as a whole? Why or why not?
How large is the company in relation to its competitors?
How fast is the company growing?
How profitable is the company?
What is the company’s price-to-earnings ratio? What does this tell you about the company?
Does it have a dividend? If so, what is the dividend yield?
Does the future of the company appear to be promising?
On which exchange does the company trade and what is its ticker symbol?
Key Point: Do you recommend or not recommend this company’s stock as an investment for investors that are considering stock investments? Why?

The Writing Assignment is to be 750 – 1,250 words in length (this range includes everything in the assignment including your name, title, and citations). Turnitin.com software will be used to ensure that submitted assignments are original works.

The writing assignment should be in an essay format. Additionally, you are required to support your position by using at least one recent reference from an academic journal or prominent business publication (e.g., The Wall Street Journal, Barron’s, Fortune, Investor’s Business Daily, etc.). A recent reference is one that has a publication date that is less than one year old as of the beginning of the semester. Importantly, references from websites do not qualify unless those websites are part of a reputable print publication. For example, Investopedia.com can be used, but it does not count as a reference that satisfies the criteria of a recent reference.

 The ProQuest database at the Saint Leo University Library website can be a useful tool for completing this assignment.

 Submit the Writing Assignment to the Dropbox in Module 7. (This Dropbox basket is linked to Turnitin.)

Elements
Criteria
Score

Not Attempted

(Criterion is missing or not in evidence)

Novice

(does not meet expectations; performance is substandard)

Basic

(works toward meeting expectations; performance needs improvement)

Proficient

(meets expectations; performance is satisfactory)

Exemplary

(exceeds expectations; performance is outstanding)

Paper Topic

 

There was little or no evidence of an essay.

 

 

 

 

 

The paper fails to address multiple parts of the essay prompt, and/or the paper lacks a thesis statement.

 

 

 

 

The paper addresses most, but not all, parts of the essay prompt, and/or the paper’s thesis is difficult to discern.
The paper addresses all parts of the essay prompt but not adequately, and/or the paper has an adequate thesis, but it is not explicitly stated in the introductory paragraph.
The paper adequately addresses all parts of the essay prompt, and the paper clearly states a well-defined thesis in the introductory paragraph.
 

 

 

__/20

Proper References and Citations

 

Recent references and proper sources were not used or rarely used.
Recent references and proper sources were rarely used.
Some recent references and proper sources were used but not as required in the assignment.
Recent references and proper sources were used repeatedly but not as required in the assignment.
Recent references and proper sources were used as required.
__/20

Length Requirements

 

There was little or no evidence of an essay.

 

The paper is entirely too short.

 

 

The paper contains a great deal of “fluff” and still doesn’t meet the length requirements.
The paper is just a little on the short side, and/or it meets the requirements only because it contains “fluff” that could use trimming.
The paper falls within the required length requirements without going over and without straying from the main topic.
__/20

Mechanics of Writing

 

Little to no evidence of proper writing mechanics.

 

The grammar of the paper greatly impedes understanding of content, and/or the paper contains no citations.
The paper needs a good deal of improvement with respect to grammar, citations, spelling, and/or style.
The paper is mostly free of errors with respect to grammar, citations, spelling, and/or style but needs some improvement in this area.
The paper is nearly perfect with respect to grammar, citations, spelling, and style.
__/20

Understanding

 

The paper exhibits a complete lack of understanding of the text and/or course materials.
The paper exhibits very little understanding of the text and/or course materials.
The paper exhibits basic understanding of the text and/or course materials but needs improvement in this area.
The paper exhibits sufficient understanding of the text and/or course materials, but some improvement needed.
The paper does an excellent job demonstrating an accurate understanding of the text and/or course materials.
 

__/20

 

____/100