A finished BUS-390 Topic 8 international board memo example, asking directors to approve an acquisition over a greenfield plant, with the money at risk on page one. Searches like "bus 390 topic 8 assignment example", "bus390 topic 8 sample" and "bus-390 topic 8 example" land here.
What a finished BUS-390 Topic 8 international board memo looks like
The memo is written for directors who will read the first page closely and the rest selectively. Page one asks for a specific approval: acquiring a Polish maker of industrial filters for an illustrative 14 million dollars, with 3 million of that deferred as an earn-out tied to revenue targets. It states the upfront capital at risk, 11 million, the alternative considered, a greenfield plant costing 9 million and taking thirty months to produce anything, and the downside case as a single figure. The body supports each claim: why owning production inside the EU matters for delivery times and duties, how euro revenue against zloty costs leaves a currency mismatch the memo sizes, and what integration will require from both workforces. Conditions on the approval, including due diligence findings, close the memo.
How a BUS-390 Topic 8 example is structured
The memo follows the order a board reads in, not the order the analysis was done. Its opening page carries the request, the price, the capital at risk, the rejected alternative and the downside figure, and nothing else. Behind it sits a one-page comparison of acquisition and greenfield on cost, time to output, customer access and integration difficulty. The strategic case comes next, kept to the reasons production inside the EU changes delivery and tariff exposure for this particular firm. A risk section follows, taking currency mismatch, integration and key-employee retention in turn, each with an owner and a mitigation. Figures appear in a single table so the directors see consistent numbers throughout, all labeled illustrative. The memo finishes with the exact resolution the board is asked to pass and the conditions attached to it.
The request on the opening page
Price, earn-out, upfront capital at risk, the rejected alternative and the downside figure all appear before any background, as directors expect.
Buy versus build in one comparison
Acquisition and greenfield are set against cost, months to first output, access to existing customers and the difficulty of integration.
Why owning EU production matters
Shorter delivery times and freedom from EU import duties form the strategic case, each tied to what the firm currently sells through its German distributor.
Risks with owners attached
Currency mismatch, integration and the retention of the Polish plant's engineers each have a named executive owner and a stated mitigation.
A resolution ready to pass
The memo closes with the wording of the approval and the diligence conditions that would release the directors from it.
Where marks go in BUS-390 Topic 8
Board memos that open with company history and reach the request on page four lose marks before the analysis is read, because the form is part of what this topic grades. Stating the price but not the capital at risk, net of any deferred payment, leaves directors unsure what they are really committing. Papers that present only the preferred option look like advocacy, since a board expects to see the alternative it is being asked to reject. A downside described in words rather than as a figure gives no sense of scale. Risks listed without an owner or a mitigation read as a disclaimer page. Figures that change between the summary and the appendix undermine every other number in the memo. Memos that never state the resolution leave the board unsure what vote is being requested.
Get a BUS-390 Topic 8 example written to your instructions
Send the BUS-390 Topic 8 instructions, the rubric your classroom posts and the decision or case your section assigned. A custom example is written to those criteria as a board memo, with the request, capital at risk and downside on the first page and the rejected option shown fairly, in 24 to 48 hours. The first one is free.
BUS-390 Topic 8 questions, answered
How is a board memo different from a research paper?
It starts with the answer. Directors read the first page to learn what they are asked to approve, what it costs and what could go wrong, and they read the rest to check it. Background, theory and literature move to the back or disappear. APA elements still apply where the rubric requires them, usually as headings and a reference list.
Should the memo include the alternative the firm rejected?
Yes, and fairly. A board asked to approve one option will want to know what the others were and why they lost, and a memo that hides them looks like advocacy. Giving the rejected option its best case, then showing the figure that decides against it, is what makes the recommendation credible to a skeptical director.
What does capital at risk mean in this memo?
The amount the firm could lose if the decision goes wrong, which is not always the headline price. Here part of the acquisition price is deferred and paid only if targets are met, so the money at risk upfront is smaller. Stating that figure clearly, alongside a downside case, is what gives the board something concrete to weigh.