Learning objectives
The business finance course has the following objectives:
- Create the skills for the correct diagnosis of company financial problems;
- Make available models and logical assessment of financial solutions for businesses in different competitive environments;
- Strengthen the skills associated with the construction of valuation models.
Prerequisites
Basic knowledge of spreadsheet analysis
General program of corporate finance
General program of mathematics
Course unit content
The course focuses on main issues of financial management of companies. In particular, it will be illustrated the fundamental theoretical models and the operational applications in corporate finance decisions: capital budgeting, the determination of a right measure of cost of capital and the right capital structure. These are the main fields of activity of the Financial Management Department. The aim of the course is to introduce students to the world of business finance by providing them with a view of both the theoretical models and their main applications in business, focusing on operational decisions.
Our first focus involves several issues pertaining creditworthiness valuation. It is important to understand what the evaluation logic adopted by lender is.
The second main focus of the course concerns the identification of specific circumstances involving chief financial officers. Each circumstance should be analyzed with regard to availability and to the critical tools to bring under control.
Full programme
Chapter 1 - The Foundations
Chapter 2 - The Objective of financial management Chapter 3 - The notion of risk
Chapter 5 - Measure the investment performance
Chapter 6 - Interdependencies between projects
Chapter 7 - Capital structure: analysis of the financing decision
Chapter 8 - Capital structure: the optimal combination of funding sources Chapter 9 - Capital structure: implementation
Chapter 10 - The dividend policy
Chapter 12 - Theory and Practice of Firm Evaluation
Bibliography
Aswath Damodaran - Oliviero Roggi, Finanza aziendale applicazioni per il management, 4 edizione, Apogeo.
Teaching methods
Acquisition of knowledge: lectures
Acquisition of the ability to apply knowledge: model construction Acquisition of judgement skills: During the course students will be encouraged to identify strengths and weaknesses of the evaluation models and optimization of various aspects of corporate finance Acquisition of learning skills: for each topic students will start from the illustration of the problem to be solved and the solutions will be analyzed critically, even with regard to real transactions in progress on the capital market.
Acquisition of technical language: terms commonly used by the financial community are used during lectures.
Assessment methods and criteria
Midterm, final test or colloquium. The written tests will last for 1 hour.
The knowledge will be assessed with 2 closed-ended questions that will count up to 2 points each.
The ability to apply knowledge will be assessed with 1 exercise that will count up to 8 points.
The ability to communicate with the appropriate technical language will be assessed through two closed-ended questions about the meaning of the terms used by professionals in financial markets that will count up to 2 points each.
The autonomy of judgment and the ability to learn will be assessed with 2 open-ended questions that will count up to 7 points each.
The final mark will be 30 cum laude when all the parts of the exam (written text or oral exposition; teamwork or other forms of cooperative work) are excellent for completeness, clarity, brightness, vividness, and organization of the answers, the capacity of multidisciplinary connections. The vote will be published as soon as possible. Devices such as smartphones, smartwatches, tablets, etc. are forbidden.
Other information
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