The primary aim of this module is to enable participants to develop appropriate skills and the ability to apply the learned concepts and theories to their particular work place and within a global business environment.

Students are therefore expected to understand the core principles of business finance so that they will be able to apply them in a practical business setting, through the appreciation of how financing decisions can improve business efficiency, competitiveness and investment returns, thereby maximizing the business value.

(LO1) Gain an appreciation of and critically appraise the traditional corporate objective and its modern challenges, within the context of agency problems and corporate governance;

(LO2) Understand the various sources of long term finance available to the corporation and SME, and be able to apply the various techniques of cash flow valuations;

(LO3) Appreciate and critically evaluate the relationship between risks and return through applying the CAPM; calculating returns, plus weighted average cost of capital, and distinguishing between systematic and unsystematic risks;

(LO4) Deal with practical problems of capital budgeting decisions and the application of real options to improve on the limitations of NPV evaluation technique;

(LO5) Understand capital structure, theories of capital structure and be able to critically evaluate optimal capital structure of the firm and the limit to employing debt in the capital structure;

(LO6) Critically evaluate the theories of dividend policy and justify why corporations do or do not pay dividends;

(LO7) Explain the capital market efficiency hypothesis and the various forms of market efficiency. Critically appraise the arguments in favour of and against the validity of the capital market efficiency hypothesis and the limitations of the empirical testing of the same;

(LO8) Critically evaluate cash management and credit policies of a business entity and be able to identify various strategies of good working capital management and policies;

(LO9) Articulate and critique the reasons why corporations embark on mergers and acquisitions, plus critically evaluate to what extent the goals of these combinations are achieved post merger, as well as concepts such as corporate restructuring and reorganization.

(S1) Communication Skills: Students will have opportunities to develop written and oral communication skills through group discussions, in-class presentations and coursework. This will be assessed by written assignments, reports the dissertation and short individual and group presentations;

(S2) Problem Solving and Decision Making: Students will be challenged to think critically about organisational issues and dilemmas. They will do this by gathering and synthesising information, analysing alternative perspectives and options and presenting a considered opinion or course of action in their course assessment;

(S3) Information and Communication Technology Skills: Students will have opportunities to improve their ICT skills. Students will demonstrate skills in the use of software applications including word processing, visual presentations, data bases, econometric packages, spreadsheets and using the internet for information searches in the course of researching and presenting coursework;

(S4) Personal Effectiveness: This applies to all modules where students will be encouraged to think critically about theory and practice and to challenge and critique assumptions about management, economic and financial theory;

(S5) Group Working and Networking Skills: Some of the assignments will require students to work in groups and manage the interaction and relationships with other group members. In doing so, they will gain experience in negotiation, persuasion, influencing and managing conflict. Furthermore, students will be required to engage with fellow students and external business contacts in establishing a networked resource for the exchange of ideas and the development of future business relationships;

(S6) Time management. This applies to all modules of the programme and is relevant for planning scheduled work and meeting assessment deadlines. This will be evident in the students’ independent management of their assignments and coursework and by meeting coursework deadlines.

Teaching Method 1 - Virtual classroom hours (for online modules)
Notes: Number of hours per week, per student expected in the virtual classroom in discussion, dedicated to group work and individual assessment is 7.

Teaching Method 2 - Non-classroom hours (for online modules)
Notes: Number of hours per week, per student expected for reading, research and other individual work to support engagement in the classroom is 13.

Introduction to and overview of business finance;

Long-term finance and investment appraisal;

Cost of capital, risks and returns, plus options;

CAPM and cost of equity;

Capital structure, markets efficiency and dividend policy;

Working capital management and short-term financing;

Mergers and acquisitions, plus business valuation;

Corporate finance and strategy.