Unit Handbook

Unit Code

AAF002-6

Unit Title

Corporate Finance

Unit Team Dr. Sudesh Sangray Mubashir Quarashi sudesh.sangray@beds.ac.uk mubashirhqurashi@yahoo.co.uk

Contact Details

H213, First Floor, Bedfordshire Business School, Vicarage Street, Luton. Ext 3165

Table Of Content

Table Of Content ................................................................................................................... 2 Welcome To The Corporate Finance Unit .............................................................................. 3 The Unit Team....................................................................................................................... 5 Tutor Times ........................................................................................................................... 5 Staff-Student Communication ................................................................................................ 5 Academic Content Of This Unit .............................................................................................. 6 Aims Of The Unit................................................................................................................ 6 Learning Outcomes ............................................................................................................ 6 Indicative Content .............................................................................................................. 6 Delivery Method ................................................................................................................. 6 Nature and Organisation Of Group Work ............................................................................ 6 Learning Resources ........................................................................................................... 7 Essential Reading .............................................................................................................. 7 Assessment ........................................................................................................................... 7 Skills And Personal Development .......................................................................................... 7 Academic Skills ..................................................................................................................... 7 Absence ................................................................................................................................ 7 Disability................................................................................................................................ 7

Welcome To The Corporate Finance Unit

Welcome to the Unit AAF002-6, Corporate Finance. The aims of this Unit are to give an introduction to the role of Corporate Finance in your daily lives and to see how the actions at a corporate level can impact on your personal wealth. Furthermore, you should, by the end of this Unit, be able to appreciate that the subject of Corporate Finance does not exist within a vacuum. Rather, it exists as an integral part of the overall realm of our daily activities. The manner in which we are able to understand and appreciate the corporate finance functions is through being able to understand the Financial Times pages and how these pages communicate the decisions of financial managers to us. Therefore, an important component part of the course is to be able to understand some of the terminology that the Financial Times employ aswell as the figures that it presents. An underlying assumption that pervades through the corporate finance area is that financial managers operate and act to serve the interests of the shareholders. The assumption is that managers ensure that shareholder

wealth is maximised by ensuring that the correct decisions are made that maximise the wealth that each portion of investment capital can bring. However, as we all know, people do not always act in the interests of those that pay their salaries. Managers are no exceptions to this rule and so we find that there are managers that tend to do what suits them best.

Consider, for example, the below companies.

Whilst these companies may have gone bankrupt, I wonder what the latest pay salaries were for the managers of these companies? Shareholders may have lost most (if not all) of their money but I wonder how much money the directors lost?

This Unit handbook contains the main administrative guidance that you will need in order to complete this module successfully. It contains details of the teaching team, their contact details, skills that students are expected to attain through the study of this Unit aswell as details of the way in which this Unit is assessed.

We trust that you will enjoy your time on this Unit.

The Corporate Finance Teaching Team.

The Unit Team

The Unit Team consists of three lecturers who you will meet depending on the time of your Corporate Finance Class. My name is Dr Sudesh Sangray and I am the Unit Co-ordinator. I have a PhD in Finance and my research interests include Event Studies (the impact of company announcements on stock prices), Risk Management and Social Enterprise. My Doctoral Research has taken me

across the UK and internationally to Holland, South Africa, Russia, India, the USA and the Middle East. My consultancy portfolio includes a range of small and medium locally based enterprises, The National Lottery, Bedfordshire Police and The Home Office. I have also worked as a Financial Planner for National Savings Bank setting up and implementing shortterm projects. My hobbies include developing small businesses, the Hindi language and researching the relevance of Hindu Scripture in Modern Business Management.

Other members of the Team include Mubashir Qurashi and other members of the team. You can read about them and their vast academic and practitioners experience by clicking on the Staff Information link of the BREO website.

The Unit administrator is Lewis Morgan and he can be contacted on email at the following address: Lewis.morgan@beds.ac.uk. He can be found in the Business School on the first floor.

Tutor Times
For a list of times when your tutor is available to see you, please click on the Tutor Times link of the BREO website.

Staff-Student Communication
In this Unit, there are 2 ways in which communication can be established between students and staff members. The main way of communicating and imparting the relevant information to students with regards the learning materials is through the BREO website. You will find that the learning materials will be accessed through this medium. Further, you can also come and visit your teaching team should you wish to discuss any specific matter. You can email us for an appointment and come along to one of the surgery times that are there for face-to-face meetings.

Academic Content Of This Unit

Aims Of The Unit The aims of this unit are such that students should be able to: Develop an appreciation for the wide and varied ramifications of corporate decisionmaking through the use of case study analysis. Derive the links at both an intellectual and practical level that show how the behaviour of financial managers has an impact on the stock market. Appreciate the extent to which shareholders are rational in understanding and responding to the signals that the corporate world sends. Through the analysis of case studies, carry out and implement effective, shareholder maximising strategies that reduce investor risk exposure.

Learning Outcomes On completion of this unit you should be able to: y Generate realistic solutions that can be applied to contemporary problems in the area of corporate finance. y y Provide a critique of the different models that are applicable in this discipline. Examine the signals and anticipate the impact of corporate behaviour on the financial markets. y y Evaluate the different approaches to the management of risk in the corporate world. Critically debate the axiom of shareholder wealth maximisation.

Indicative Content The indicative content areas are as follows: The Finance Function, Market Efficiency, Options Graphs, Dividend Policy, Capital Structure, Mergers and Acquisitions.

Delivery Method The Unit will be delivered through a series of 2 hour lectures.

Nature and Organisation Of Group Work Whilst students are encouraged to work together and to debate the different aspects of Corporate Finance, there is no group work in this Unit.

Learning Resources Learning resources will be provided through the BREO site.

Essential Reading The following textbook is essential for all students: Theory and Practice of Corporate Finance by DR. Sudesh Sangray. Publishing. Vol 1, Cambridge

Assessment
There are 2 assessments for this Unit. There is an assessment in Week 6 that is a class test and there is an examination at the end of the Unit. More details of assessments can be found in the BREO link to Assessments in due course.

Skills And Personal Development

This Unit offers significant opportunities for the development of personal skills and development. The reading has been designed in such a way so as to encourage self-directed learning through reading the textbook and also to encourage synergistic development through the use of case studies. Students are encouraged to interact with the materials and each other.

Academic Skills
The Unit requires students to develop both a numerical and theoretical approach to their understanding of the area of Corporate Finance.

Absence
Students must ensure that they attend lectures as this is the main forum for the dissemination of information and critical debate of the theoretical issues.

Disability
Please do bring any issues regards disability to the attention of the Unit co-ordinator or to the CAAS office that is located on the second floor of the Business School.