SLM 6010 Financial Management
SLM 6010 Financial Management
The objective of this course is to introduce participants to the analysis and use of the financial statements (Balance Sheet, Income statement, Cash Flow statement) for the purpose of managing:
- the value creation during the financial period, and the financial situation at the end of the financial period, and
- the future cash-flow generating (earnings) capabilities.
However, the information needed for financial management does not automatically result from merely reading the financial statements: analysis and interpretation is necessary. The main proposition of this course is that meaningful interpretation and subsequent financial decisionmaking results from understanding and analysing the provided financial information.
The course is entirely taught online within Insendi and uses primarily digital means for course delivery.
- To understand the need for financial statement analysis for the purpose of financial management, with an emphasis on the statement of cash flows.
- To evaluate the profitability, liquidity, and growth of the organizational entity and identify its drivers.
- To extract relevant decision-making information by means of reformulating the income statement and balance sheet for the purpose of analyzing a company’s financial situation.
The course consists of (guest) lectures, group-based casework, and an individual course paper. Lectures introduce the indicated topics conceptually and explore the application of these concepts in real-life cases. Course sessions are categorized into three topical areas:
• Introduction: purpose and need of financial statement analysis for financial management, reformulation of the income statement and the balance sheet for subsequent analysis and decision-making.
• Profitability, growth, and sustainability of financial results: return on invested capital (ROIC) and drivers of ROIC, return on equity (ROE) and drivers of ROE, and the measurement of value-creating and sustainable growth.
• Statement of cash flows and liquidity analysis: understanding the statement of cash flows, identifying the free cash flow of the entity, and liquidity ratio analysis.
This course is the first course of a triplet called “Money Matters”. Nevertheless, each course can also be taken separately as a standalone course. The relationship with the second course in the triplet - Treasury Management - is the statement of cash flow and liquidity analysis (Topic 1 – Cash is Queen) while the relationship with the third course in the triplet - Management Control - is in the financial performance measures of profitability, growth, and sustainability (Conventional Management Control). Deliberate effort is made to close the Financial Management course with the initiating topic of the Treasury Management course, thus connecting the first and the second courses in the triplet.
Casework - Case work is group work, with groups having a size of 5-7 participants. Each group does two cases: one case for the topical category of profitability and growth analysis, and one case for the topical category of the statement of cash flows and liquidity. Note that to prepare those cases, the reformulation of the income statement and the balance sheet (topical category introduction to financial statement analysis) are necessary. The preparation phase of each case takes place on Insendi and includes the teacher for a-synchronous consultation and continuous feedback. To achieve maximum cross-learning effect among participants, all casework will be fed back to the class before the actual casework session. It is this consolidated file that forms the basis for casework grading. Case presentations and discussions feed into the participation grading category.
Individual Course Paper - The purpose of the individual course paper is to produce immediate learning returns at individual level. The method is to match course contents against each participant’s specific work environment. Course content is defined broadly and includes intragroup case and class discussions, not just reading and lecture materials. The individual course paper consists of writing up a short idea how and why a specific Financial Management course topic might be used in one’s own work. A template for the individual course paper is provided in the course syllabus.
The online nature of the course implies both asynchronous (“in your own time”) collaboration within the groups, and synchronous collaboration during the plenary sessions with all groups. The teacher is member of all groups on Insendi and acts as coach & consultant in the asynchronous group activity. The course groups are autonomous in setting their online collaboration timeframe, calendar, and meetings, which will be followed by the teacher.
The list of literature for the course BIK 3124 Money Matters can be found here. See also the curriculum in the learning portal and additional information
In all BI Executive courses and programs, there is a mutual requirement for the student and the course responsible regarding the involvement of the student's experience in the planning and implementation of courses, modules and programmes. This means that the student has the right and duty to get involved with their own knowledge and practice relevance, through the active sharing of their relevant experience and knowledge.
In accordance with the collaborative, peer-to-peer learning nature of the course, it uses Insendi as its technology platform with an emphasis on its functionality of Materials (for passive purposes, such as obtaining and delivering/submitting materials) and of Team (for active purposes, such as collaboration and development of casework). In case of technological issues with Insendi (e.g., use restrictions due to company-specific cybersecurity), the course falls back on ItsLearning.
The course is part of the SLM course series, BIK 3124 Money Matters, which consists of the SLM courses SLM 6010 Financial Management, SLM 6011 Treasury Management and SLM 6012 Management Control. The courses are based on the course BIK 3124 Money Matters, 7.5 ECTS. If you have completed three courses from the same SLM course series, and meet the admission requirements to take the BI exam, you can take an exam within that course series, which gives a total of 7.5 credits.
| Activity | Duration | Comment |
|---|---|---|
Teaching | 9 Hour(s) | |
Case teaching | 6 Hour(s) | Groupwork |
Submission(s) | 2 Hour(s) | Individual work |
Student's own work with learning resources | 9 | |
Prepare for teaching | 1 Hour(s) | Online coordination |
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