MBA 463: Managerial Finance Master Syllabus
Course Instructor:
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Course Materials:
Course Website: Canvas
Course Description
The objective of this course is to teach students how to apply modern financial theory to the investment and financing decisions of a corporation by providing them with the fundamental analytical tools of corporate finance. We will start from the ground up by talking about the simple concept of time value of money and attain to a full-fledged company valuation by the end of the course. Meanwhile, we will also be focusing on topics like capital budgeting, portfolio theory, asset pricing, risk-return tradeoff, and capital structure throughout the course. Although numbers and formulas will be an important part of the course, the main goal is establishing a solid grounding in some of the basic concepts in finance and developing skills to apply those concepts into financial management and decision-making. Class meetings will be mostly based on lecture notes which will be posted prior to each meeting. Each class member is expected to be well prepared for each session and to actively participate in class discussions through which I hope we can learn as much as possible in the weeks we will spend together.
Course Material
The required textbook for the course is:
Ross, Westerfield, Jaffe, and Jordan Corporate Finance, 13th Edition, McGraw-Hill, 2022 (RWJJ) (ISBN10: 1260772381; ISBN13: 9781260772388)
Although RWJJ is the required textbook, “Brealey and Myers, Principle of Corporate Finance” is also recommended as a reference textbook. Additionally, I believe that you would greatly benefit from regular reading of the Wall Street Journal, the Economist, Business Week, Fortune, Forbes, Barron’s etc.
Grading
Your final course grade will be determined as follows:
| Class Participation | 10% |
| Problem Set Assignments | 20% |
| Case Report | 10% |
| Case Presentation | 10% |
| Final Exam | 50% |
Exams: There will be an in-class final exam scheduled for Saturday, May 14th. The final exam will be a combination of multiple-choice questions and problems. The exam will be closed book, but you will be allowed to bring in one double-sided formula sheet and to use a nonprogrammable calculator. I will ask you to turn-in your formula sheet with your exam. There will be no make-up exams. In the event a student is unable to attend the final exam, it is his/her responsibility to notify me prior to the exam and with reasonable notice. Only in extraordinary circumstances, the student may be authorized to take exams on a different date.
Problem Set and Case Assignments: There will be two problem set assignments and one case analysis assignment (report and presentation) to be completed with a team. Teams are formed by the MBA program office. For all assignments, one hardcopy per group must be submitted at the beginning of class on the day the assignment is due in addition to a soft copy submitted via Canvas on Monday of that week by 7:20pm. Late submissions will not be accepted. All team members must actively participate in these assignments to learn the material and get credit. There will be peer evaluation forms for rating team members, which will guide me when assigning final team assignment grades, and free riders will not receive credit. Team submissions must be original work – see below for academic integrity statement. No credit will be given for unoriginal or copied work and necessary action will be taken following the honor code.
Class Participation: I will not take attendance; however, your attendance and participation is extremely important. This is NOT a ‘read-notes and learn-by-yourself’ type of course and you should actively listen to the lectures and participate in class discussions if you want to learn the material and succeed in this class.
Program-Level Learning Goal
Analytical Decision Making: Demonstrate the ability to analyze uncertain complex management situations using appropriate tools, techniques, and information systems for decision-making.
Academic Integrity
Students are expected to abide by the Honor Code adopted by George Mason University. The Honor Code and other details regarding academic integrity can be found at the Academic Standards website. All violations of the Honor Code will be penalized in accordance with University guidelines. Please also review the Mason Business Ethics Model and keep it in mind throughout this course.
Office of Disability Services Statement
If you are a student with a disability and you need academic accommodations, please see me and contact the Office of Disability Services (ODS) at (703) 993-2474. All academic accommodations must be arranged through the ODS and I have to be notified in advance.
Tentative Course Outline (Sample)
| Date | Topic | Readings/Assignments |
|---|---|---|
| Week 1 | -Introduction to Course -Time Value of Money |
RWJ 1 & 4 |
| Week 2 | -Capital Budgeting | RWJ 5 & 6 |
| Week 3 | -Bond and Stock Valuation Models | RWJ 8 & 9 |
| Week 4 | -Problem Set Review | Problem Set 1 is due |
| Week 5 | -Risk & Return -CAPM |
RWJ 10 & 11 |
| Week 6 | -Cost of Capital | RWJ 13 |
| Week 7 | -Capital Structure | RWJ 16 & 17 |
| Week 8 | -Final Review -Case Presentations |
Problem Set 2 is due Case report and presentation is due |
|
TBD Section: TBD |
Final Exam |
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