Course Description
This course explores the financial decision-making processes within corporations, focusing on capital budgeting, capital structure, working capital management, and financial planning. Students will examine how firms make strategic financing decisions to maximize value and manage risk in dynamic economic environments. (3 credits)
Prerequisites
- ACC 101: Financial Accounting
- ACC 102: Managerial Accounting
- BUS 201: Business Statistics (or equivalent)
- ECO 103: Macroeconomics
- ECO 104: Microeconomics
- ENG 101: English Composition 1
- ENG 102: English Composition 2
- FIN 210: Financial Management
Program Learning Outcomes (PLOs)
- Apply the concepts, theories, and relationships among the functional areas of an organization, including the ability to explain the nature and construct of an organization.
- Design strategic marketing practices. This will include such areas as marketing research, consumer behavior, customer acquisition and retention strategies, and public relations. Additional areas include digital marketing including SEO techniques, social media strategies, leveraging artificial intelligence for targeted marketing campaigns, and driving brand loyalty.
- Explain the global environment of business including the political, social, and intercultural sensitivities that exist in society that are important to the development of meaningful relationships and success in business and in life.
- Demonstrate professional business behavior, social responsibility, and ethical decision making and conduct.
- Demonstrate effective critical thinking, decision-making, problem solving, organizational leadership, teamwork; oral and written communication skills utilizing tools such as AI, research databases, and other tools as required.
Student Learning Outcomes (SLOs)
Students who successfully complete this course will be able to:
- Appraise competing long-term investment projects by analyzing various cash flow scenarios to propose a capital budget that maximizes firm value under conditions of risk and uncertainty.
- Compare and contrast the trade-offs between debt and equity financing to design an optimal capital structure that minimizes the firm’s Weighted Average Cost of Capital (WACC) and maximizes its overall market value.
- Assess a corporation’s required external financing requirements.
- Estimate a firm’s cash budget and short-term financing strategy to manage periodic deficits, while critiquing the trade-offs between aggressive and conservative working capital policies to ensure the firm maintains optimal liquidity.
- Analyze the efficiency of a firm’s operating and cash cycles to design a working capital strategy that optimizes the balance between liquidity and profitability through the strategic management of inventory, receivables, and payables.
- Evaluate the strategic and financial rationale for a potential business combination via a merger or acquisition strategy that maximizes long-term shareholder value.
- Judge the impact of foreign exchange rate fluctuations on multinational operations.
- Inspect the efficacy of various risk-mitigation instruments that protects firm cash flows and optimizes the risk-return profile for stakeholders.
Course Activities and Grading
| Assignments | Points | Weight |
|---|---|---|
Discussions (Weeks 1-8) | 480 | 48% |
Assignments (Weeks 1-7) | 420 | 42% |
Draft Research Paper (Week 7) | 40 | 4% |
Final Research Paper (Week 8) | 60 | 6% |
Total Points | 1000 | 100% |
Required Textbook
Available through Charter Oak State College's Book Bundle
- Brealey, R. A., Myers, S. C., & Marcus, A. J. (2023). Fundamentals of corporate finance with Connect. (11th ed.). Boston, MA: McGraw-Hill.
Course Schedule
Week | PLOs | SLOs | Readings and Exercises | Assignments |
1 | 1,2,5 | 1 | Topic: Capital Budgeting
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2 | 1,2,5 | 2 | Topic: Capital Structure
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3 | 1,2,5 | 3 | Topic: Long-Term Financial Planning
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4 | 1,2,5 | 4 | Topic: Short-Term Financial Planning
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5 | 1,2,5 | 5 | Topic: Working Capital Management
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6 | 1,2,5 | 6 | Topic: Mergers and Acquisitions
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7 | 3 | 7 | Topic: International Financial Management
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8 | 4 | 8 | Topic: Risk Management
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COSC Accessibility Statement
Charter Oak State College encourages students with disabilities, including non-visible disabilities such as chronic diseases, learning disabilities, head injury, attention deficit/hyperactive disorder, or psychiatric disabilities, to discuss appropriate accommodations with the Office of Accessibility Services at OAS@charteroak.edu.
COSC Policies, Course Policies, Academic Support Services and Resources
Students are responsible for knowing all Charter Oak State College (COSC) institutional policies, course-specific policies, procedures, and available academic support services and resources. Please see COSC Policies for COSC institutional policies, and see also specific policies related to this course. See COSC Resources for information regarding available academic support services and resources.