Commercial Paper during the Financial Crisis of 2007-2009

FMIS 3647 - Term Paper Guidelines Overview Both domestically and internationally, there is a movement away from manufacturing-based economies toward service-based economies. In other words, firms are focusing less attention on the production of tangible goods and are increasingly opting toward selling knowledge- and expertise-based services. Accordingly, the ability to effectively communicate complex ideas to clients is becoming highly valued. However, despite the premium that these abilities can command on the labor market, a common complaint from employers today is that students often times lack the necessary oral and written communication skills to establish relationships with clients. The purpose of this project is to help students hone these skills. Please read the follow instructions carefully, but feel free to contact me with any questions, comments, or concerns. Details Students will form teams of two members and analyze an academic article related to the topics we have either discussed, or will discuss, throughout the term. • Students will be allowed to select their own teams, if they so choose. – If you choose to self-select into a team with another student you must email me the names of the team members no later than Sunday, November 1, 2015 by 11:59 PM. Any student that has not chosen a group by that deadline will be assigned into a group by myself. – In addition to emailing me the group members names, you should also include the title of article you wish to analyze as well as you preferred presentation day and time (more on these issues later). ∗ Groups that are formed by me will have an article of my choosing selected for them. I will additionally choose a presentation slot for them. • A selection of 30+ articles pertaining to our course material has been posted on Moodle under the “Projects” tab. I highly recommend selecting your article from this set. – Most of the articles come from either the Journal of Economic Perspectives or the Journal of Applied Corporate Finance. Each of these outlets is geared toward making academic research more accessible to a broader audience. Therefore, the articles that I have chosen should be readable by an individual with a basic introduction to core economic concepts. ∗ To avoid duplication, articles will be awarded on a first-come-first-served basis. In other words, if two groups email me requesting to analyze the same paper, the group that emails me first will be given the right to handle that article, while the other group will be forced to make another selection. ∗ Groups that have not chosen an article by Sunday, November 1, 2015 at 11:59 PM will be assigned into an article by myself. – I am open to groups requesting an article of their own choosing. If a team chooses to select an article not posted on Moodle, they must receive permission from me to do so. – Part of the goal of this project is for students to familiarize themselves with areas in financial markets and institutions about which they may not know a great deal. While the onus is on students to do the necessary research to understand the issues discussed in the article, I am making myself available as a resource to discuss any issues or concepts that you are having difficulty understanding. 1 Ultimately, teams will prepare a written analysis of their selected article in addition to presenting their analysis to their fellow students: Written Portion • The written portion of the project should be approximately seven to ten pages long. 1 It is worth 80.00 points of your project score and is due on Monday, December 7, 2015. • The paper should follow this basic structure: – Provide an introduction which provides some background about what the paper is about and summarizes the main findings of the article (Approximately two pages in length). – Discuss how the article fits under the purview of financial markets and institutions (e.g. what types of issues are discussed in the paper that were discussed in class?) (Approximately one to two pages in length). – Critically analyze the article. For example, do you agree with the authors’ methods and/or conclusions? Are there important issues that the author has dismissed or ignored? If the author has made any sort of predictions, have these predictions come true? Discuss why or why not. (Approximately two pages in length) ∗ It should go without saying at this stage in your careers, but you should be referencing other works throughout your paper. Be sure to properly cite any works referenced both in-text as well as in a works cited page at the end of your term paper. Failure to properly cite any work will be considered plagiarism and dealt with accordingly. ∗ One way of approaching this section of the paper, is to try to find works that discuss the same issue or argue an opposing viewpoint and compare them to your article. – Discuss why the issues discussed in the article matter for the general community and/or businesses (Approximately one to two pages) ∗ Be specific here! Tossing out generalities will not garner good marks for analysis. – Provide a conclusion that briefly states your opinion of the article and the issue at hand (Approximately one page) • All papers should follow these formatting criteria: – (1.) All papers should include a title page with the title of the article and group members’ names in alphabetical order – (2.) All pages should be double-spaced and set in Times New Roman font of no larger than 11 points – (3.) Margins on all pages should be set to one inch on all sides – (4.) The paper should cite all relevant resources both in-text and in a works cited page at the end of the document. I am indifferent as to which citation style students choose to use. • The final draft of the term paper is due at the beginning of class on Monday, December 7, 2015. – I am willing to provide comments on drafts prior to your final deadline. However, keep in mind that the end of the term tends to be very hectic, so the earlier I get the draft, the better quality feedback I can provide. Also, note that I am usually scanning drafts for major mistakes, therefore I may find additional errors that went unnoticed before when grading the term paper later on. 1Note, this differs from the length guidelines discussed in the syllabus. 2 • Your written analysis will be graded on the following criteria: – Depth of analysis: 50.00 points out of 80.00 – Ability to follow formatting guidelines: 15.00 points out of 80.00 – Grammar, spelling, and clarity: 15.00 points out of 80.00 In-class Presentation – Presentations should be about five to six minutes in length and feature a small Powerpoint presentation (e.g. no more than three slides or so). Presentations should be emailed to me before your scheduled presentation time so I can load them before class. – When emailing your groups to me, you should also select a day you would like to present. I will try to accommodate teams’ choices, but time slots will be assigned on a first-come-first-served basis. – The presentation should address three questions: ∗ (1.) What issues are being discussed in the article? ∗ (2.) Why do these issues matter to a general audience? ∗ (3.) What are the main takeaways and/or findings of the article? – Grading for this presentation will be based on how well the student addressed the aforementioned questions. ∗ Both team members should make comments during the presentation! ∗ I reserve the right to pull final exam questions from what is discussed during the presentations. Therefore, it is recommended that students show up to both presentation dates.