MBA 717 International Finance Master Syllabus
Course Instructor:
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Course Website: Canvas
Course Description from the University Catalog
Advanced analysis of managing firm’s international financial operations. Topics include currency risk, political risk, returns and funding of international projects, international markets and accounting, and cost of capital. Lecture, discussion, readings, and cases.
Course Goals
The primary goal of this course is to build on the students' knowledge from core requirements to introduce the students to the complexities of international financial management and markets. Rapid globalization requires executives to have a deep understanding of the methods and procedures of global finance and trade. Utilizing case studies, this course aims to familiarize many of these concepts in real world situations.
Teaching Methods or Teaching Philosophy
Consider me the piano teacher that would spend what seems to be countless hours on musical style, and techniques that will do you no good in playing “Happy Birthday” after your first lesson, but that by the end of the Summer lets you attend a recital and be able to objectively score another piano player.
I also firmly believe that:
“There is no such thing as a stupid question. Only stupid ambiguities”
Expectations
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Attendance: Attend is required for every class, unless there is absolutely no way you can via an acceptable excuse. Excessive absences may result in the equivalent of an F grade for the course.
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Promptness: Consider this class a meeting with the big boss. You don’t want to be late or the last person to the meeting.
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Class workload: Students must be prepared to take a significant amount of notes and take them well.
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Please read in advance all the relevant material assigned for each class
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Participation: Please, please, please participate, participate, participate
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Absolutely under no circumstances should you open smartphone or any electronic or mechanical device during class that would take even the slightest attention away from the subject at hand
Required Text & Material
A Harvard Business School coursepack has been prepared at the following link. Students should purchase the coursepack in advance of the first class.
Grading
| Case Study Synopsis | 40% |
| Class Participation | 40% |
| Take Home Final Exam | 20% |
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Case Study Synopsys: Each week students will be asked to complete a synopsis of the case studies that will be discussed in class in advance, or complete homework as assigned in the case studies. Grades will be as follows:
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Complete & Thorough(C&T): The equivalent to an A
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Complete(C): The equivalent to a B
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Adequate(AQ): The equivalent to a C
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Incomplete(INC): The equivalent to an F
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Missing: F
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A comprehensive take home final exam will be given based on the topics discussed during the 8 sessions.
| A | A- 90-93 A 94 and above |
| B | B- 80-83 B 84-86 B+ 87-89 |
| C | C- 70-73 B 74-76 C+ 77-79 |
| F | Less than 70 |
Class Participation
I cannot emphasize enough how important it is to participate as much as possible in every discussion of every class.
Student Support Resources on Campus
George Mason University is dedicated to your academic success and recognizes that such success may/will need assistance both academically and otherwise from time to time. The University has significant resources made available to students such as; tutoring, technology assistance, counseling and psychological services, career guidance and services, health, university life, writing, etc. Students are highly encouraged to familiarize themselves with these services.
DRC Statement
If you are a student with a disability and you need academic accommodations, please see the instructor and contact the Office for Disability Services (ODS) at (703) 993-2474. All academic accommodations must be arranged through the ODS.
School of Business Recommendations for Honor Code Violations
Approved May 2016
| UG-Non Freshman Students (including transfer students) | ||
| Type of Violation | First Offense | Second Offense |
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Plagiarism
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An F in the class; referral to Writing Center; and Academic Integrity Seminar completion | An F in the class; referral to the Writing Center; Academic Integrity Seminar completion; termination from the School of Business; and at least one semester suspension or expulsion |
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Cheating
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An F in the class; and Academic Integrity Seminar completion An F in the class; and Academic Integrity Seminar completion, and at least one semester suspension |
An F in the class, Academic Integrity Seminar completion; termination from the School of Business; and at least one semester suspension or expulsion |
| Lying (e.g., providing fraudulent excuse documents, falsifying data) | An F in the class; and Academic Integrity Seminar completion, and at least one semester suspension | An F in the class; Academic Integrity Seminar completion; termination from the School of Business; and at least one semester suspension or expulsion |
| Egregious Violation (e.g., stealing an exam; submitting coursework from another class as original work across multiple courses; lying to an employer about academic performance, false identification or posing as another, in person or online) | An F in the class, Academic Integrity Seminar completion; termination from the School of Business; and at least one year suspension | An F in the class; Academic Integrity Seminar completion; termination from the School of Business; and expulsion |
Tentative Schedule (Sample)
Best efforts will be made to complete the schedule below recognizing that student needs, time, and course management may impact material covered, chapter completions, and timing of quizzes.
Week # 1 & # 2
Foreign Exchange Markets and Transactions
Mihir A. Desai, Yanjun Wang, Christina B. Pham, Kathleen Luchs
Exchange Rate Policy at the Monetary Authority of Singapore
Mihir A. Desai, Mark F. Veblen
Innocents Abroad: Currencies and International Stock Returns
Mihir A. Desai, Kathleen Luchs, Elizabeth A. Meyer, Mark F. Veblen
Hedging Currency Risks at AIFS
Mihir A. Desai, Anders Sjoman, Vincent Dessain
Foreign Exchange Hedging Strategies at General Motors: Transactional and Translational Exposures
Mihir A. Desai, Mark F. Veblen
Foreign Exchange Hedging Strategies at General Motors: Competitive Exposures
Mihir A. Desai, Mark F. Veblen
Week # 3
Refinancing of Shanghai General Motors (A)
Mihir A. Desai, Mark F. Veblen
Corporate Inversions: Stanley Works and the Lure of Tax Havens
Mihir A. Desai, Mark F. Veblen, James R. Hines Jr.
Continuing Transformation of Asahi Glass: Implementing EVA
Mihir A. Desai, Masako Egawa, Yanjun Wang
Week # 4
Valuing a Cross-Border LBO: Bidding on the Yell Group
Mihir A. Desai, Mark F. Veblen, Paolo Notarnicola
Globalizing the Cost of Capital and Capital Budgeting at AES
Mihir A. Desai, Doug Schillinger
Dow Chemical's Bid for the Privatization of PBB in Argentina
Mihir A. Desai, Alexandra De Royere
Week # 5
Drilling South: Petrobras Evaluates Pecom
Mihir A. Desai, Ricardo Reisen de Pinho
Nestle and Alcon--the Value of a Listing
Mihir A. Desai, Vincent Dessain, Anders Sjoman
Tax-Motivated Film Financing at Rexford Studios
Mihir A. Desai, Mark F. Veblen, Gabriel J. Loeb
Week # 6
Growing Up in China: The Financing of BabyCare Ltd.
Mihir A. Desai, Mark F. Veblen
Czech Mate: CME and Vladimir Zelezny (A-E)
Mihir A. Desai, Kathleen Luchs, Alberto Moel
Week # 7
Antitrust Regulations in a Global Setting: The EU Investigation of the GE/Honeywell Merger
Mihir A. Desai, Mark F. Veblen, Belen Villalonga
Redesigning Sovereign Debt Restructuring Mechanisms
Mihir A. Desai, Kathleen Luchs, Julia Stevens, Christina B. Pham
Week # 8
Alfa Laval Agri (A-C): Keeping Leadership in the Dairy Industry
Yves L. Doz, Marie-Aude Dalsace
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