Category: Risk Management

FIN-3820: RISK MANAGEMENT
Final Project
OVERVIEW
For your final project, which is worth 25 percent of your total grade, you will communicate your knowledge of risk management with a research paper that analyzes the risk management practices of a real-world corporation. It should reflect both an academic and a professional viewpoint.  
The body of your paper, not including a title page and any reference/citation pages, should be between 2500 and 3000 words. With a typical font and double spacing, this will be approximately 10 to 12 pages.
GENERAL PLAN
PAPER REQUIREMENTS
Obtain the most recent financial statements of a Fortune 500 financial institution of your choice. Carefully study the audited financial statements, including the Management Discussion and Analysis (MD&A) section, with emphasis on the lending and investment practices of the company. In addition, visit relevant company websites and obtain Moody’s and S&P 500 information as supplementals. 
Provide an analysis of the risk management processes the institution uses, focusing primarily on:
Market risk.
Business/operational risk (including interest rate risk and exchange rate risk).
Financial risk.
Liquidity risk .
In your analysis, where necessary, create simulations from financial data obtained and cover the following:
Identify your company’s business and regulatory environment.
Discuss the traditional approaches used in the management of each category of risk listed above.
Explain the applicability, usefulness, and limitations of methodologies and models covered in the course (mainly VaR, RAROC, Black-Scholes, Altman’s Z-score, Vasicek’s and Merton’s models), and determine if any is used by your company.
Identify any risk management mistakes the company may be making or may have made in the past.
Provide recommendations and suggestions for areas in need of improvement.
Your paper should conform to APA style in terms of in-text citations and the list of works cited. It should display a clear style and proper grammar, spelling, and punctuation. It should discuss course concepts accurately and effectively. 
GRADING CRITERIA
Below is a list of criteria that will be used to grade your paper:
Focus: Does the paper address the questions or tasks?
Completeness: Are all the elements of the assignment covered? 
Depth: Does the paper address the topic in sufficient depth? Does it include and apply the text readings and other appropriate resources? 
Critical Thinking: Are the relevant concepts explored and analyzed at an appropriate level?
Organization: Is the paper organized in a coherent and systematic manner?  Are headings included?
Clarity: Is the writing clear and are the concepts articulated properly?  
Use of Resources: Are paraphrasing and synthesis of concepts the primary means of response to the questions (as contrasted with excessive use of quotations)? 
References and Citations: Are the sources cited correctly (APA style) within the text? Are all sources listed correctly on the Works Cited page? Does the paper adhere strictly to APA format?
The course site includes a link to the rubric that will be used to grade your paper.

5 Questions that need to be answered. Questions with guidelines are attached. Also, the other class reading is “Disaster Recovery, 2nd edition by Brenda Phillips. I have the ebook and can share the login if need be. I believe the 1st edition PDF is free online.

Please follow the intructions closely and upload a plagiarism report. Use the textbook if 
needed please. 
PART 1: Around 150 words 
Answer/comment on the following:
Discussion #1:  Why is identifying and quantifying “people” resource risks so challenging?
Discussion #2:  Modifications to a plan can always be challenging. Describe a situation where you had to modify scope, resources, or schedule and ran into problems.
PART 2: At least 200 words (See attached picture of CLASS PROJECT RISK IDENTIFICATION)
Document the potential resource risks and any “missing risks” associated with the Class Project case study scenario.  In addition to the table, include a description of the method(s) you used to identify the “missing” risks. Again, note that the Risk # that you assign to each risk will carry on throughout the Class Project assignments.

IMPORTANT: Please follow the intructions and do NOT use ANY plagiarism, please upload a 
plagiarism report with the files. 
Write around 200 words for part 1 and 200 words for part 2, thank you. 
Please use the textbook if needed: https://read.amazon.com/sample/B00TRF2OGW?f=1&r=b1b82c5c&sid=147-8543008-5339441&rid=&cid=A1HIGG3UZTV8GO&clientId=kfw&l=en_US&asin=B00TRF2OGW&revisionId=b1b82c5c&format=1&depth=1
PART 1: Defining Deliverables and Activity
Answer/comment on the following:
Discussion #1:  How can the way that you define the “deliverables” due in a contract, aid you in reducing risk?  Describe a situation where a poor definition of the deliverable caused you problems.
Discussion #2: Why can defining and estimating “activity” be so difficult? Describe a situation where a poor estimate of activity caused you problems.
PART 2: Scope and Schedule Risk
Submit a 200-300 word paper addressing the following: 
Document the potential scope and schedule risks associated with the Class Project case study scenario.  I recommend a table (Hint: MS Word™ table should work nicely) that has columns for category, risk description, and rationale.  A template is provided here for you to use: Moku Liko Risk Identification Template (See template added as a file) Please put your name at the top of the table at the location shown.  Note that the Risk # that you assign to each risk will carry on throughout the Class Project assignments. 
With regards to the “”Rationale” column in the Risk Identification table, I am looking for a brief description of why you consider the item to be a risk to the project, e.g. what is the possible impact that the item could have on the project, how might it effect other tasks on the project, might the item lead to the need for possible changes to the project in the future. Let’s say that you identified a Schedule risk of “Adequate, properly trained local labor may not be available at project start (Learning curve for local labor force exceeds estimates).”  The Rationale might be something like:
Unknown level of current skills and capabilities of local labor.
Specific specialized skills are required for system installation and test.
A training protocol has not yet been defined at the program level.
Inability of local labor to perform technical tasks may require changes to project staffing.
Note that you are not yet being asked to “quantify” these risks in terms of likelihood or impact (that comes in Week 4)…simply identify and describe them.
See added template and picture expample from professor! 
PART 3: Submit chosen topic for instructor approval
This week, you will need to submit your proposed Final Research Paper topic for approval.  I encourage you to select a risk management topic that is meaningful and supportive of your own endeavors, either personally or professionally. The following example topics are provided to help get your ideas flowing:
1)      The Role of Decision-making in Risk Management
2)      Bias in Risk Management: The Optimist or the Pessimist
3)      Mobile Device Impact on Risk Management
4)      Developing a “Risk-Aware” Culture
For the purpose of submitting your topic this week, all that is needed is 1-2 sentences describing the focus of your intended research. The actual research paper should include a description of the topic, its value in helping to successfully execute projects, an examination of how different project roles may apply to the topic, and an analysis of how the technique or approach can be applied to projects in the student’s professional or personal life.   Please submit your topic, including a brief description

IMPORTANT: Please follow the intructions and do NOT use ANY plagiarism, please upload a 
plagiarism report with the files. 
Write around 200 words for part 1 and 200 words for part 2, thank you. 
See textbook added for Part 2: https://read.amazon.com/sample/B00TRF2OGW?f=1&r=b1b82c5c&sid=147-8543008-5339441&rid=&cid=A1HIGG3UZTV8GO&clientId=kfw&l=en_US&asin=B00TRF2OGW&revisionId=b1b82c5c&format=1&depth=1
PART 1: 
Identifying and Managing Risk
Answer/comment on the following:
Discussion #1: How do you identify and manage risk in your daily life (personal and/or professional)? 
Do you have a “plan”?
Discussion #2: Describe your activities on an unsuccessful project (professional or personal), and what you believe caused the project to be unsuccessful.
PART 2: Importance of Risk Planning
Submit a 200-300 word paper addressing the following and submit to the instructor.
1. Describe the importance of risk planning. (See Chapter 1 of your text.)
2. How does risk planning “fit” into project management? (See Chapter 2 of your text.)