Overview
Corporate finance has undergone tremendous changes in recent years. As new global markets open, there will be even more changes and expanding opportunities, which will affect the role of financial decision makers. In this course, you will apply the fundamental concepts in corporate finance (from FNCE 370) to a variety of areas in corporate finance, such as short-term financial management, lease management, and international concerns. Through case studies, you will apply corporate finance concepts to real-life situations. Through videos, you will see how managers in real businesses apply corporate finance models in their firms’ financial management systems.
Learning outcomes
After completing this course, you should be able to
- work out short-term financial plans for a firm, including plans for managing short-term financing, credit policy, inventory, cash, and liquidity.
- analyze issues that corporations face, involving topics such as international corporate financial management, leasing, mergers and acquisitions, and risk management.
- evaluate the use of derivative securities in a corporate setting;
- discuss behavioural finance concepts and their impacts as they relate to the validity of the Efficient Market Hypothesis.
- use Excel data tables, functions, formulas, PivotTables, and PivotCharts to organize and analyze data.
Evaluation
Your final grade in FNCE 371 is based on three assignments, one Midterm Examination, and one Final Examination. You must achieve a minimum grade of 50 percent on the Final Examination and an overall course grade of at least "D" (50 percent) to pass the course.
The following chart describes the credit weight associated with each course requirement:
| Activity | Weight |
| Assignment 1 | 10% |
| Assignment 2 | 10% |
| Assignment 3 | 10% |
| Midterm Online Exam | 30% |
| Final Online Exam | 40% |
| Total | 100% |
The midterm and final examinations for this course must be requested in advance and written under the supervision of an AU-approved exam invigilator. Invigilators include either ProctorU or an approved in-person invigilation centre that can accommodate online exams. Students are responsible for payment of any invigilation fees. Information on exam request deadlines, invigilators, and other exam-related questions, can be found at the Exams and grades section of the Calendar.
To learn more about assignments and examinations, please refer to Athabasca University’s online Calendar.
Materials
Digital course materials
Links to the following course materials will be made available in the course:
Ross, S. A., Westerfield, R. W., Jordan, B. D., Roberts, G. S., Pandes, J.A., & Holloway, T. A. (2022). Fundamentals of corporate finance (11th Can. ed.). McGraw-Hill. ISBN-13: 978-1-26-088138-7; ISBN-10: 1-26-088138-5
Other Resources
All other learning resources will be available online.
Special Course Features
You will require a type of spreadsheet software (MS Office Excel or compatible).
A financial calculator is essential to your success in the course. You may use an approved non-programmable calculator for your course work and exams. The following calculators are pre-approved for FNCE 371:
- Texas Instruments BAII Plus or BAII Plus Professional (recommended)
- Sharp EL-738 family of financial calculators
- HP 10bii+ financial calculator
- Casio FC-200V financial calculator
If you wish to use a calculator during your exams that is not on this pre-approved list, you must obtain course coordinator approval in advance via the Student Support Centre.