Term dates: 2010/2011

Registration day / orientation week:
27 September – 1 October 2010

Term 1: 4 October – 17 December 2010
Term 2: 10 January – 25 March 2011
Term 3: 11 April – 24 June 2011
Term 4: 27 June – 9 September 2011

Orientation week and all four terms are compulsory.

Financial Management

This core module gives you a basic grounding in the essentials of corporate financial management including the acquisition, management and valuation of assets and the main sources of finance.

International Corporate Finance

In an increasingly globalised market, firms invest in other countries either to serve those markets or to source valuable inputs. Such investments entail foreign currency risk, which is evaluated and managed by company directors, corporate planners and the potential treasurer. We will help you gain a full understanding of the complexities of international finance, the instruments used to manage risk, and how that risk impacts investment and financing decisions.

Financial Markets Regulation and Ethics

The main financial markets such as London, New York and Tokyo are the nerve centres around which international finance operates. This module gives you a practical insight into the topical issues that influence the operation of these markets, such as trading institutions, market making, position-taking, market types, controversies in trading and debt, equity and derivative markets. They have become increasingly integrated over the last few years through an explosive growth in new financial instruments such as options, futures, swaps and credit derivatives.

Accounting

External reporting rules (reporting of financial performance of entities) and internal management accounting principles (for costing, pricing and investment purposes) are the important means by which you can understand the financial operation of any organisation. It is vital for you to learn to recognise the main uses, limitations and applications of this financial information.

Economics

To understand the relationship between the organisation and its place in today's global economy, it is important to develop a good grasp of modern economic theory. Your main focus will be microeconomics but we will also introduce you to the ISLM macroeconomic model. The use of mathematical models will also make up a significant part of this module.

Marketing

The aim of this module is to develop your understanding of marketing and customer relationship management. This will contribute to your appreciation of key management functions and the value they can add to an organisation. You will focus mainly on marketing in the service sector and particularly financial services marketing.

Organisational Behaviour and Personal Development

Successful management demands that you understand the main elements affecting individuals' behaviour, group dynamics and the effects of organisational structure on attitudes and mindsets. Particular attention will be given to helping you to explore leadership issues and the links between organisational factors such as change management, organisation culture and succession planning.

Strategic Management

To fully understand strategic issues and be empowered to take strategic decisions, finance specialists must have a broad perspective of the organisation. A good balance will be struck between introducing you to tools and techniques for strategic analysis and providing you with opportunities to apply them to real situations and examples.

Research Methods in Finance

Published financial research is vital to developing an understanding of modern financial theory and thinking. You need to be able to assess, analyse and interpret it thoroughly as well as be fully aware of its limitations. By exploring some major unresolved issues in financial thinking we will stimulate you to re-evaluate theories in the light of empirical evidence. This module will also prepare you to undertake the necessary research for use in your thesis later in the programme.

Valuation

Accurate valuation of equity shares is vital to establish the worth of an organisation and make successful investment decisions based on estimated risks and returns. You will gain an appreciation of the history of equity valuation practices and an overview of different valuation models and their limitations. You will also learn to value both tangible and intangible assets.

Financial Modelling and Programming

The ability to develop sophisticated financial simulation models is a valuable asset to the successful financial manager. Learning about the latest financial modelling techniques, and how to apply them in different situations, will give you the confidence and ability to develop highly sophisticated financial simulation models. This will aid your decision making in financial planning, investment analysis and strategy.

Electives

To help you to tailor your learning to your own specific interests, you will select four elective modules.

Corporate Restructuring

Restructuring has far-reaching financial consequences for stakeholders such as lenders, shareholders and managers. You need to be fully aware of the context of corporate restructuring, the range of options available and their constraints, and how to establish the right criteria for making restructuring a success. This includes analysis of the reasons for corporate financial decline, the strategic, operational, organisational, financial and managerial restructuring methods and cases that illustrate different frameworks for turnaround strategies.

Fixed Interest Securities

This module explores fixed income markets, highlighting the significant benefits and risks that they carry. You will gain a broad understanding of their mechanics, the valuation techniques for derivatives and their use for hedging and trading. It is also important for you to appreciate the limitations of present knowledge in this area and how current investment models are not always suited to all modern situations.

Fund Management

Security valuation and analysis are important subjects for the financial manager to master, along with a broad understanding of investment management. You will develop a detailed knowledge of the institutional investment management industry, including: hedge funds, sources of added value, market timing versus stock selection and key management implementation issues.

Investment Analysis

It is vital that you can make an informed assessment of the activities of professional securities analysts, and the contribution they make to the efficient operation of the capital markets. After covering the main theory and practice in investment analysis, we will give you an overview of how easy or difficult it is to make money on the stock market.

Investment Banking

Investment banks play a key role in international finance and you need to be aware of the factors that shape the modern industry. The history of investment banking in the UK, US and Europe will provide you with sound background knowledge behind the evolution of the industry. You will then gain an insight into various types of investment banking activities, the impact of globalisation, competitive strategies of investment banks and organisational and managerial issues.

Mergers and Acquisitions

Cranfield conducts major research into the reasons for, and consequences of, mergers and acquisitions activity. A thorough grounding in the historic pattern of M&A activity will be your first area of focus together with an overview of the five stage M&A process. The financial, strategic, economic and managerial perspectives on mergers will give you the organisation’s viewpoint. You will also cover the fundamentals of the deal transaction, antitrust regulation, the bid process and post-acquisition analysis of organisational performance. A simulated takeover game helps students gain more insights into the acquisition process.

Private Equity

Private equity investment has become a major source of capital for innovation, growth and corporate restructuring, and now accounts for billions of pounds of investments worldwide. It is important to build your knowledge of the importance of private equity, as well as the rationale behind it and how to measure its performance. Exploring policy issues such as transparency, high leverage and the impact of restructuring will help you to understand the broader context of private equity.

Advanced Financial Econometrics

Econometric techniques are used extensively in developing financial models and solving financial problems. Building on some of the techniques covered in the Quantitative Analysis module, you will focus on the advantages and limitations of regression analysis and the use of tools to improve your financial modelling. We will help you develop simultaneous equation models for problem solving and investigate the properties of financial data to understand how they affect financial modelling in general.

Risk Analysis for Finance and Strategic Decisions

In a world of increasing uncertainty, the successful manager should be able to incorporate risk in decision-making mitigating downsides and benefiting from upsides. The aim of this module is to provide students with a deep understanding of a range of risk management principles and modelling methods involving randomness in finance and decision-making. This module includes stochastic processes, decision analysis, derivatives, options, and strategic games. For each of these risk management areas, students will not only be introduced to the mechanics of the technique, but also shown the types of situations in which each method can or cannot be used.

Thesis

The culmination of the learning process is your opportunity to undertake a major research project and acquire hands-on experience with one of our leading industry partners. Our significant industry links and high profile network of alumni give us the opportunity to introduce you to top organisations in which to carry out your project. You will research, report and present on a subject of your choice, have a chance to develop prestigious contacts and make a real difference in a genuine financial environment.

Your chosen subject area will be agreed in consultation with the programme director and you will then be allocated a supervisor whose expertise lies in that field.

During your thesis you will work closely with your supervisor who will support you and provide expert guidance, advice and insights into leading-edge thinking in your subject area.

This valuable learning experience will provide you with a thorough grounding in a number of disciplines, including:

• principles of research
• the research process
• problem formulation
• data collection
• data analysis
• report writing

These transferable skills are invaluable and you will learn how to confidently apply them to complex research challenges in the workplace.