Description

Managers play a key role in resource generation and allocation and must be conversant with external economic influences and their relationship to the types of financial decisions made by organizations. The course will provide students with an understanding of the components of an organization’s internal financial conditions and how decision-makers manage these resources in the context of external markets and institutions. It will explore the finances of economic development and consider sources of early- and late-stage financing. The real-world challenges of corporate finance will be covered, including evaluating financial tools, e.g., mergers and acquisitions, leveraged buyouts, hostile takeovers, and initial public offerings; employing basic financial analysis tools, e.g., credit market analysis, option pricing, valuation of interest tax shields, and weighted average cost of capital; acquiring an understanding of core financial decisions, e.g., finance with debt or equity and distributing cash to shareholders; and considering aspects that can hinder/sideline financial stability, e.g., costs of financial distress, transaction costs, information asymmetries, taxes, and agency conflicts. Specific skills acquired will be financial trend analysis for financial statement interpretation; calculating the present value of cash streams leading to the ability construct capital budgets; calculating bond interest tax shields and its impact on a firm’s average cost of capital; constructing corporate valuation models; and assessing the impact of various sources of capital infusions on the cost of capital structure of a firm.