The written analysis should be in the form of an executive summary (no more than 5
pages). You should first state a definition of the problem. This can be one or two sentences stating what are you trying to do. This should be followed by a short description of the methodology that you used (you are not expected to explain the methodology). After the description of the methodology you should proceed to the main analysis. After you finished your analysis, summarize your findings and make recommendations. As part of the solution, you must make a decision and support it by the facts of the case and your analysis. Your analysis has to be supported by spreadsheets, tables and anything else that shows your work. Include all these documents in the appendix. Make sure that you always state clearly all the assumptions that you made in your analysis. The objective of the exercise is not always to come up with one number or one uniform recommendation. There are several ways “to skin a cat” and there is no one right answer for these cases. The emphasis of these cases is on you learning how to approach a problem, think about it and find a solution applying the tools and methods that you acquired in this and previous courses. You are expected to use all resources that are available to you (e.g. the internet, finance textbooks, etc.) to work out a solution for the cases. Please note that hindsight is not permitted; only use information that was or could have been available to the decision maker at the time the decision had to be made. Your case will be graded based on the thoroughness of your analysis and the quality of your arguments, as well as grammar, spelling, composition and overall style. Remember there are always at least two sides to every solution and you have to discuss not only the solution that you suggest, but also the ones that you dismissed.
