Task 1 Capstone

Introduction

An important aspect of running a successful start-up business is acquiring funding from potential investors based on information about the business. In this task, you will use the skills you have acquired in the MBA coursework to complete the start-up phase in a business simulation. The simulation is accessed through your course. Using data from the Q1Q4 phase of the simulation, you will create and deliver a presentation for potential business investors using the attached Presentation Template PowerPoint slide deck and information from the scenario. The objective of the presentation is to obtain capital to grow your business.

Before you begin working on Task 1, you must finish and submit the simulation up to the end of the third quarter (Q3). Begin working through the fourth quarter (Q4) and load the data from the simulation into the tactical plan. Next, manually fill out your projections for the fifth (Q5) and sixth quarters (Q6) within the tactical plan, ensuring the tactical plan is fully updated through Q6 before beginning this task.

Submit Task 1 concurrently with submitting your decisions for Q4 within the simulation. When you have passed Task 1, submit Q4 again and you will be allowed to proceed with the simulation into Q5.

Scenario

You are the owner of a start-up business that creates 3D-printed, carbon fiber bicycles. Up through the businesss third quarter (Q3), you have used your own money to fund the business. The business model shows promise, but you are now seeking an additional $2.5 million in equity funding to execute your business plan. You will create and deliver a multimedia presentation that shows your business plan to potential investors and illustrates how the additional funding will be used and will provide a return to your investors.

Requirements

Your submission must represent your original work and understanding of the course material. Most performance assessment submissions are automatically scanned through the WGU similarity checker. Students are strongly encouraged to wait for the similarity report to generate after uploading their work and then review it to ensure Academic Authenticity guidelines are met before submitting the file for evaluation. See for more information.

Grammarly Note:

Professional Communication will be automatically assessed through Grammarly for Education in most performance assessments before a student submits work for evaluation. Students are strongly encouraged to review the Grammarly for Education feedback prior to submitting work for evaluation, as the overall submission will not pass without this aspect passing. See for more information.

Microsoft Files Note:

Write your paper in Microsoft Word (.doc or .docx) unless another Microsoft product, or pdf, is specified in the task directions. Tasks may not be submitted as cloud links, such as links to Google Docs, Google Slides, OneDrive, etc. All supporting documentation, such as screenshots and proof of experience, should be collected in a pdf file and submitted separately from the main file. For more information, please see

A. Attach a completed copy of each of the following:

an Excel file (.xlsx) containing the companys completed tactical plan from quarter four (Q4), downloaded from within the business simulation

a PowerPoint file (.ppt) using the attached Presentation Template, including presenter notes to accompany the slides

a link to the Panopto recording of yourself delivering the presentation created in part B

Note: The companys completed tactical plan, and market share or sales report must be exported from within the simulation. You may copy and paste the information for the market share or sales report directly into the attached Presentation Template, or you may take a screenshot of the information to insert it into the template as an image file.

B. Create a Panopto video recording (suggested length of 2030 minutes) that includes you delivering the presentation slides from part A. Using the attached Presentation Template, you will present your business plan to ask venture capitalists for $2.5 million in funding based on the scenario. The slides in your presentation should include only the main points you wish to make. More extensive information should be included in the presenter notes section of the presentation to refer to when speaking about the slide. In the presentation of your business plan, you must do the following:

Note: The audiovisual recording should feature you visibly presenting the material (i.e., not in voice-over or embedded video) and should simultaneously capture both you and your presentation slides.

Note: For instructions on how to access and use Panopto, use the “Panopto How-To Videos” web link provided below. To access Panopto’s website, navigate to the web link titled “Panopto Access” and then choose to log in using the WGU option. If prompted, log in using your WGU student portal credentials, and then it will forward you to Panoptos website.

To submit your recording, upload it to the Panopto drop box titled C219: MBA, Healthcare Management Capstone C219 (Student Creators) (Drop Box). Once the recording has been uploaded and processed in Panopto’s system, retrieve the URL of the recording from Panopto and copy and paste it into the Links option. Upload the remaining task requirements using the Attachments option. Submitting the video on an external site (e.g., Prezi or YouTube) is not permitted.

1. Analyze how specific decisions made within the simulation affected your companys competitive sales and financial performance during the previous three quarters (Q1Q3) by doing the following:

a. Explain two decisions that have affected the companys past competitive sales performance in the carbon fiber bicycle market as shown in either the market share report or sales performance report.

b. Explain two decisions that have affected the companys past financial performance as shown on the financial summary table in your presentation slides.

Note: The market share report, and sales performance report are all provided in the business simulation. The Q3 numbers can be found on the Q4 tab.

2. Conduct a SWOT analysis and include the completed SWOT table in your presentation slides.

a. Discuss your companys greatest strength and biggest weakness.

b. Discuss your companys best opportunity and greatest threat.

Note: The accepted model for a SWOT analysis defines strengths and weaknesses as internal to the organization and opportunities and threats as external to the organization.

3. Explain each of the following company strategies for the next three quarters (Q4Q6) based on past performance in the simulation:

marketing strategy

sales channel strategy

human resource strategy

manufacturing strategy

financial strategy

a. Discuss two anticipated benefits the strategies will yield for your company in the next three quarters of the business.

4. Select two strategies from the bulleted list in part B3. For each selected strategy, recommend two specific implementation steps (decisions planned to occur in Q4, Q5, or Q6), using the tactical plan you created.

C. Acknowledge sources, using in-text citations and references, for content that is quoted, paraphrased, or summarized.

D. Demonstrate professional communication in the content and presentation of your submission.

File Restrictions

File name may contain only letters, numbers, spaces, and these symbols: ! – _ . * ‘ ( )

File size limit: 200 MB

File types allowed: doc, docx, rtf, xls, xlsx, ppt, pptx, odt, pdf, csv, txt, qt, mov, mpg, avi, mp3, wav, mp4, wma, flv, asf, mpeg, wmv, m4v, svg, tif, tiff, jpeg, jpg, gif, png, zip, rar, tar, 7z

Rubric

A:ATTACHMENTS

Not Evident

The submission does not include each of the required attachments.

Approaching Competence

The submission includes each of the required attachments, but 1 or more of the attachments is incomplete or not in the correct format.

Competent

The submission includes completed copies of each of the required attachments in the correct format.

B:PANOPTO RECORDING

Not Evident

A recording of the candidate delivering an audiovisual presentation using the Panopto system and the Presentation Template is not provided.

Approaching Competence

The provided recording includes the candidate delivering the audiovisual presentation using the Panopto system and the Presentation Template, but the audiovisual presentation is not based on the scenario to ask venture capitalists for funding. Or the slides in the audiovisual presentation do not include the main points with more extensive information included in the notes section.

Competent

The provided recording includes the candidate presenting the audiovisual presentation from part A using the Panopto system and the Presentation Template to ask venture capitalists for funding based on the scenario. The slides in the presentation include the main points with more extensive information included in the notes section.

B1a:PAST COMPETITIVE SALES PERFORMANCE

Not Evident

An explanation of 2 decisions that have affected past competitive sales performance is not provided.

Approaching Competence

The explanation identifies 2 decisions that have affected past competitive sales performance, but the explanation does not logically describe how 1 or more of the decisions affected competitive sales performance. Or the explanation does not include relevant information from the past three quarters as shown in either the market share or sales performance reports provided in the business simulation.

Competent

The explanation identifies 2 specific decisions that have affected past competitive sales performance and logically describes how the decisions affected competitive sales performance and includes relevant information from the past three quarters as shown in either the market share or sales performance reports provided in the business simulation.

B1b:PAST FINANCIAL PERFORMANCE

Not Evident

An explanation of 2 decisions that have affected past financial performance is not provided.

Approaching Competence

The explanation identifies 2 decisions that have affected past financial performance but does not logically describe how 1 or more of the identified decisions affected past financial performance. Or the information entered into the financial summary table within the presentation slides is incomplete or inaccurate.

Competent

The explanation identifies 2 specific decisions that have affected past financial performance and logically describes how the decisions affected financial performance. All relevant information from the past three quarters is accurately entered into the financial summary table within the presentation slides.

B2:SWOT ANALYSIS

Not Evident

A copy of the SWOT analysis table is not included in the audiovisual presentation.

Approaching Competence

A copy of the SWOT analysis table is included in the audiovisual presentation, but it is incomplete.

Competent

A copy of the completed SWOT analysis table is included in the audiovisual presentation.

B2a:GREATEST STRENGTH AND WEAKNESS

Not Evident

A discussion of both the companys greatest strength and biggest weakness is not provided.

Approaching Competence

The discussion includes both the companys greatest strength and biggest weakness, but 1 or more are not internally focused or are not based on the SWOT analysis. Or specific details are not provided for both the companys greatest strength and biggest weakness.

Competent

The discussion includes specific details about both the companys greatest strength and biggest weakness. Each is internally focused and based on the SWOT analysis.

B2b:BEST OPPORTUNITY AND THREAT

Not Evident

A discussion of both the companys best opportunity and greatest threat is not provided.

Approaching Competence

The discussion includes both the companys best opportunity and greatest threat, but 1 or more are not externally focused or are not based on the SWOT analysis. Or specific details are not provided for both the companys best opportunity and greatest threat.

Competent

The discussion includes specific details about both the companys best opportunity and greatest threat. Each is externally focused and based on the SWOT analysis.

B3:COMPANY STRATEGIES

Not Evident

An explanation of each of the given company strategies for the next three quarters is not provided.

Approaching Competence

The explanation identifies each of the given company strategies for the next three quarters, but the explanation does not logically discuss the rationale for 1 or more of the strategies using specific examples of past performance from the simulation.

Competent

The explanation identifies each of the given company strategies for the next three quarters and logically discusses the rationale for each strategy using specific examples of past performance from the simulation.

B3a:ANTICIPATED BENEFITS

Not Evident

A discussion of 2 anticipated benefits for the company is not provided.

Approaching Competence

The discussion of 2 anticipated benefits for the company is not based on the strategies identified in part B3, or the potential benefits are not logical for the company for the next three quarters of the business.

Competent

The discussion includes 2 logical anticipated benefits of the strategies identified in part B3 for the next three quarters of the business.

B4:IMPLEMENTATION STEPS

Not Evident

Recommendations for 2 of the given strategies are not provided.

Approaching Competence

The recommendations of 2 of the given strategies do not logically outline specific implementation steps for the next three quarters for each strategy, or the recommendations are not based on the tactical plan from the simulation.

Competent

The recommendations of 2 of the given strategies logically outline specific implementation steps for the next three quarters for each strategy based on the tactical plan from the simulation.

C:

Not Evident

The submission does not include both in-text citations and a reference list for sources that are quoted, paraphrased, or summarized.

Approaching Competence

The submission includes in-text citations for sources that are quoted, paraphrased, or summarized and a reference list; however, the citations or reference list is incomplete or inaccurate.

Competent

The submission includes in-text citations for sources that are properly quoted, paraphrased, or summarized and a reference list that accurately identifies the author, date, title, and source location as available.

D:

Not Evident

This submission includes pervasive errors in professional communication related to grammar, sentence fluency, contextual spelling, or punctuation, negatively impacting the professional quality and clarity of the writing. Specific errors have been identified by Grammarly for Education under the Correctness category.

Approaching Competence

This submission includes substantial errors in professional communication related to grammar, sentence fluency, contextual spelling, or punctuation. Specific errors have been identified by Grammarly for Education under the Correctness category.

Competent

This submission includes satisfactory use of grammar, sentence fluency, contextual spelling, and punctuation, which promote accurate interpretation and under