COURSE SYLLABUS©
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COURSE DETAILS
TERM:
COURSE TITLE:
PREREQUISITES:
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LAB FEE:
TEXTBOOK /
REQUIRED READING
MATERIALS:
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FINC 6290/ add section
Financial Strategies
Completion of all other required courses for the MS in finance
20
None
Enter the textbook(s) and other required or supplemental course materials.
List particularly every title requiring a bookstore order. For help choosing a
textbook, including receiving gratis academic inspection copies, contact the
librarian Nicole Platzer at nicole.platzer@webster.ac.at. If there is a standard
textbook for your course (info in your contract), please enter that title. If you
would like to change this textbook, you must get the approval from your
department head.
COURSE DESCRIPTION
This course will be a final, comprehensive finance offering with a focus on mergers and acquisitions. The
course will make use of cases and/or simulations to enhance the real-world applicability of the finance
degree and to integrate all previous coursework.
COURSE OBJECTIVES / LEARNING OUTCOMES
Outcome
Students can calculate the value of fixed
income securities.
Students can calculate the value of equity
securities.
Expectation
Students can compute Bond prices for use in
unstructured case analysis. Applications
include cost of capital computations for a
corporation with a variety of divisions, optimal
capital structure, leveraged buyouts, etc.
Students can propose an appropriate value for
equity in unstructured case analysis. Student
can prepare a report detailing the impact of
earnings growth, dividend payments and other
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Students can discuss market functioning and
the role efficient markets play in security
valuation.
Students can analyze capital budgeting
decisions using standard methodologies.
Students can explain the impact of capital
structure decisions on financial performance
and cost of capital.
Students can identify agency problems within
a corporation and formulate strategies to
address them.
factors on common stock values observed in a
simulation.
Students can discuss market efficiency issues
in case studies. They can identify situations
that lead to market inefficiency (capital
restrictions, market frictions, etc.) and develop
plans to address or create value from the
inefficiency.
Students can prepare a capital budgeting
analysis justifying decisions made during the
finance simulation. Students can also prepare
case analyses addressing complex capital
budgeting issues such as: large project
financing, project selection with capital
restrictions or the relationship between
valuation with real options and discounted
cash flows.
Students can determine the optimal debtequity ratio needed to minimize cost of capital
and maximize profitability in the finance
simulation. They can also recommend capital
structure decisions as part of case analysis.
Possible topics include: leveraged buyouts and
the cost of financial distress and the use of
payout policy to alter capital structure.
Students can make recommendations on
actions the board of directors could/should
take in order to mitigate the agency conflicts
that exist in case studies.
GRADE BREAKDOWN
GRADUATE
GRADING SCALE:
MIDTERM EXAM:
FINAL EXAM:
QUIZZES/ASSIGNMENTS:
CLASS PROJECT:
PARTCIPATION:
A: 93-100, A-: 90-92 (Superior graduate work)
B+ 87-89, B: 83-86, B-: 80-82 (Satisfactory graduate Work)
C: 70-79 (Work that is barely adequate as graduate-level performance)
F: (Work is unsatisfactory)
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COURSE POLICIES / ADDITIONAL INFORMATION
List policies that are specific to your course, such as your policy on acceptance of and/or penalties for late
work, an explanation of how you enforce the attendance policy (for example, whether lateness counts as a
partial absence, or points taken off for each absence or partial absence, etc.), elucidation of what
constitutes cheating, etc. or, use this section for any additional information that pertains to your course.
WEEKLY SCHEDULE
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Week 2 (enter date/s)
Week 3 (enter date/s)
Week 4 (enter date/s)
Week 5 (enter date/s)
Week 6 (enter date/s)
Week 7 (enter date/s)
Week 8 (enter date/s)
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UNIVERSITY POLICIES
Students are required to inform themselves of WUV academic policies. A full list of these policies is available on the WUV website:
http://webster.ac.at/academic-policies
Academic Honesty & Cheating:
The University is committed to high standards of academic honesty. Students will be held responsible for violations of these standards.
A special Honor Code that the Vienna Student Council has developed applies to students and faculty. Any student found cheating on
any part of the course work (homework assignment, term paper, quiz, exam, etc.) will automatically be given an “F” for the course.
Any student found to be helping another student to cheat will likewise be given an “F” for the course. In each case, the student will
also be put on disciplinary probation for the remainder of her or his stay at Webster. If the student is found to have engaged in
cheating a second time, s/he will be automatically expelled from the University. Faculty members are held responsible for upholding
and enforcing the Honor Code.
Academic Work:
Students are required to save digital or hard-copy files of any and all materials they use for any assignment in any WUV course. Upon
the instructor's request they have to provide complete text documentation for any sources they have used. In every case, should the
assignment or project be shared outside the academic department, the student's name and all identifying information about that
student will be redacted from the assignment or project.
Contact Hours:
Graduate courses are only offered in an 8- week term format and meet 1-time per week for 4 hours. Graduate Mid-term and final
exams sessions are scheduled in 2-hour block sessions in addition to weekly class meeting times (36 total contact hours). Please see
the Graduate Course Schedule/Timetable on the website for specific exam dates/times: http://webster.ac.at/graduate-courseofferings-and-schedules
Undergraduate courses are offered either in term format, which meets for two 2-hour sessions per week for 8 consecutive weeks (32
contact hours), or a 15-week semester format, which meets for two 1.5 – hour sessions for 8 consecutive weeks followed by a break
week (no classes are held) and then for another 7 consecutive weeks. The total number of contact hours for undergraduate semester
courses is thus 45.
Attendance:
Students are expected to attend all class sessions of this course. In the case of unavoidable absence, the student must contact the instructor
and provide written documentation. The student is subject to appropriate academic penalty for incomplete or unacceptable makeup work,
or for excessive or unexcused absences.
Excused absences—based on submitted documentation—must not exceed:
 Four class sessions when the course meets twice a week;
 Two class sessions when the course meets only once a week.
Should the number of excused absences be higher, it is the student's responsibility to withdraw from the course.
In the case of unexcused absences, amounting to:
 Four class sessions when the course meets twice a week;
 Two class sessions when the course meets only once a week;
the instructor must lower the student's grade by one letter grade and inform the student of the action.
Should the number of unexcused absences be higher, the instructor must assign the grade of F and inform the student of the action.
Note: In the case of a mixture of excused and unexcused absences, the instructor’s response must be based on the dominant category.
Student Conduct:
Since every student is entitled to full participation in class or exams without interruption, disruption of class by inconsiderate behavior
is not acceptable. Students are expected to treat the instructor and other students with dignity and respect, especially in cases where
a diversity of opinion arises. Students who engage in disruptive behavior are subject to disciplinary action, including removal from the
course. All and any use of a cell phone is strictly prohibited during class. Students using a cell phone may be sent out of the classroom,
which may result in an unexcused absence. If a calculator is needed in any class, the student must bring a calculator—and not a cell
phone. It is up to the individual instructor to rule on the use of laptops or I-pads. Instructors have the right to prohibit students’ use of
such electronic devices.
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