Executive Dashboard. HP (Hewlett-Packard) Inc. Management Assignment.

Overview-2 TYPE OF DOCUMENTS NEED TO BR SUBMITTED-EXCEL AND WORD, USE RUBRICS TO PASS ESSAY, PICTURES CONTAIN CASE 4-23 PAGE 129,
In this Work Product Assessment, you will examine various financial reports of a publicly traded company and conduct financial ratio analysis to demonstrate your ability to understand a company’s financial health and analyze ways to improve in areas revealed as being below industry average.
Professional Skills: Written Communication, Technology, and Critical Thinking and Problem Solving are assessed in this Competency.
You are strongly encouraged to use the Academic Writing Expectations Checklist when completing this Assessment.
Your response to this Assessment should:
• Reflect the criteria provided in the Rubric.
• Adhere to the required assignment length.
• Conform to APA style guidelines. You may use Walden Writing Center’s APA Course Paper Template.
This Assessment requires submission of two (2) files. Save your files as follows:
• Save the Excel file as SF002_Excel_firstinitial_lastname (for example, SF002_Excel_ J_Smith).
• Save the Word file as SF002_Word_firstinitial_lastname (for example, SF002_Word_ J_Smith).
When you are ready to upload your completed Assessment, use the Assessment tab on the top navigation menu.
Instructions
Before submitting your Assessment, carefully review the rubric. This is the same rubric the assessor will use to evaluate your submission and it provides detailed criteria describing how to achieve or master the Competency. Many students find that understanding the requirements of the Assessment and the rubric criteria help them direct their focus and use their time most productively.
Access the following to complete this Assessment:
• Financial Ratio Excel Spreadsheet
• Text: Fundamentals of Financial Management, Chapter 4, "Analysis of Financial Statements"
Prompts
Taking the role of a financial analyst within the company, prepare an executive dashboard (performance report) on a large, publicly traded company of your choice (e.g., Cisco, Walmart, IBM, Apple, etc.) by computing and comparing its ratios against the 11 industry average ratios listed in Problem 4-23 on page 129 of the text.
4-23 DuPONT ANALYSIS A firm has been experiencing low profitability in recent years. Perform an analysis of the firm’s financial position using the DuPont equation. The firm has no lease payments but has a $2 million sinking fund payment on its debt. The most recent industry average ratios and the firm’s financial statements are as follows: Industry Average Ratios Current ratio 2× Fixed assets turnover 6× Total debt/Total assets 30% Total assets turnover 3× Times interest earned 7× Profit margin 3% EBITDA coverage 9× Return on total assets 9% Inventory turnover 10× Return on common equity 12.86% Days sales outstandinga 24 days a Calculation is based on a 365-day year. Balance Sheet as of December 31, 2012 (Millions of Dollars) Cash and equivalents $ 78 Accounts payable $ 45 Net receivables 66 Notes payable 45 Inventories 159 Other current liabilities 21 Total current assets $303 Total current liabilities $111 Long-term debt 24 Total liabilities $135 Gross fixed assets 225 Common stock 114 Less depreciation 78 Retained earnings 201 Net fixed assets $147 Total stockholders’ equity $315 Total assets $450 Total liabilities and equity $450 Income Statement for Year Ended December 31, 2012 (Millions of Dollars) Net sales $795.0 Cost of goods sold 660.0 Gross profit $135.0 Selling expenses 73.5 EBITDA $ 61.5 Depreciation expense 12.0 Earnings before interest and taxes (EBIT) $ 49.5 Interest expense 4.5 Earnings before taxes (EBT) $ 45.0 Taxes (40%) 18.0 Net income $ 27.0 a. Calculate those ratios that you think would be useful in this analysis. b. Construct a DuPont equation and compare the company’s ratios to the industry average ratios. c. Do the balance sheet accounts or the income statement figures seem to be primarily responsible for the low profits? d. Which specific accounts seem to be most out of line relative to other firms in the industry? e. If the firm had a pronounced seasonal sales pattern or if it grew rapidly during the year, how might that affect the validity of your ratio analysis? How might you correct for such potential problems?
It is imperative for you to understand the use of good academic writing (visit the Walden Writing Center), use of online library for academic resources (not internet sources), SEC.gov for financial filings (not annual reports from a company website), and most importantly, your job is to do vetting of anything companies claim on their websites. The use of Wikipedia, Investopedia, financial related websites, blogs, etc. is not appropriate for this competency.
• Use the provided Financial Ratio Excel Spreadsheet to show the computed financial ratios for your chosen company and industry averages. Prepare your performance report to show calculations for the 11 ratios listed on page 129, as well as a comparison of your computed ratios with industry averages. It is a good idea to be familiar with each industry's classification! A good place to start is to look for the North American Industry Classification System (NAICS) and look for the industry of your chosen company through https://www(dot)census(dot)gov/eos/www/naics/. Please notice how it is a US Government website, not a ".com". Then, visit the Walden University Library and access the IBIS World database in order to look for the appropriate industry standards: https://ezp(dot)waldenulibrary(dot)org/login?url=https://clients1(dot)ibisworld(dot)com. The comparisons, including a list of your computations in a table, should be added as an appendix to the memo described below and submitted as a separate Excel spreadsheet.
• Write a memo (approximately 2–3 pages) to your supervisor explaining your findings and your recommendations for where improvements are needed to increase financial health. Be sure to Include the following:
o Areas within the company that are both above and below industry standards
o An explanation of the limitations of using ratio analysis
o The qualitative factors that play a role in improving the company’s financial health
In the memo, suggest some specific ways in which the company can plan to improve below industry average ratio performance over time. Suggest annual targets over the next three years to catch up with or surpass industry averages. Explain why your recommendations should be effective.