One 2500 word report based on numerical analysis during the module (L.Os. 1, 2 and 3), 50%
1.5-hour examination at end of module L.Os. 3 and 4), 50%

This module begins by introducing you to financial objectives and financial management. You will study the range of different sources of finance available to businesses, including securities markets and government based financing. This leads to a consideration of the costs of raising different types of finance and then to the cost of capital and the efficient market hypothesis.

You will then proceed to calculate and interpret key financial ratios, including financial and operational gearing. Working capital control and cash management will be examined. The module progresses by enhancing your study of investment appraisal (for instance, by considering capital rationing, taxation and inflation). This will include advanced aspects of the use of DCF techniques.

You will then go on to issues of risk and uncertainty, profitability and sensitivity, and their effects on decision-making.

The first part of the module concludes with business valuations and corporate restructuring, including takeovers and mergers.

The second part of the module builds on your previous study of managerial accounting. Your knowledge and understanding of cost-volume-profit analysis and breakeven analysis will be further developed. This will lead to a consideration of optimal product mix decisions; pricing decisions, both external and internal; and special decision situations. The use of relevant costs for decision-making is examined.

The module will progress to introduce you to control theory; particularly aspects of information, systems and control, including internal and external sources of information. This leads on to the cybernetic model of control and then to issues of centralisation, de-centralisation and devolution of budgets.

You will go on to study the social and behavioural aspects of management accounting. This will involve examining organisational structure and organisational culture, and group behaviour. Particular consideration will be given to budgeting and standards in dynamic conditions. The application and limitations of contingency theory will be featured.

The final element of the module concerns performance evaluation. You will study the uses and limitations of ratio analysis and other performance indicators, including ROCE and residual income. The importance of non-financial aspects will also be stressed. This will lead to the study of multiple indicators, the balanced scorecard, the tableau du bord and benchmarking. Issues concerning divisional performance measurement will also be covered.

1. UNDERSTAND THE ROLE OF FINANCIAL MANAGEMENT IN THE PERFORMANCE OF ORGANISATIONS AND CRITICALLY APPRAISE ALTERNATIVE SOURCES OF FINANCE FOR BUSINESS FIRMS
Enquiry
Knowledge & Understanding
Learning

2. CRITICALLY ANALYSE THE FINANCIAL POSITION AND PERFORMANCE OF ORGANISATIONS USING KEY RATIOS
Analysis
Problem Solving

3. APPLY ADVANCED DECISION-MAKING TECHNIQUES IN A RANGE OF SHORT TERM AND LONG TERM SITUATIONS
Application
Communication
Problem Solving

4. CRITICALLY EVALUATE THE SIGNIFICANCE OF THE BEHAVIOURAL ASPECTS OF MANAGEMENT ACCOUNTING IN THE CONTEXT OF MANAGEMENT CONTROL AND PERFORMANCE MANAGEMENT
Application
Reflection

Library learning resources including On-line databases
The Module website

FOR INTERNATIONAL COLLABORATIVE PARTNERS ONLY

McLaney, E. (2014) Business Finance: Theory and Practice, 12 Ed. FT: Prentice Hall. (ISBN: 1292016124)

The learning strategy for this module is based around students committing a total of 300 hours of activities towards achieving the learning outcomes. These will be split between 78 hours of direct contact with a tutor and 222 hours of directed, guided and self-study, together with preparation for and completion of the assessment tasks. Learning support material will be provided for the module.
The module will draw upon a mixture of activities including lectures, web-based activities, case study analysis, relevant videos and in-class discussions, individual and group problem solving and self-directed learning.