55503 CORPORATE FINANCE

Year	No.	Offer	Mode	Description			Cred. Pts
99	55503 	S1  	X 	CORPORATE FINANCE         	1.00

Contents


STAFFING:

Examiner: M. GOYEN
Moderator: R. ZEEMAN
Instructional design: C. COTTMAN

PRE-REQUISITE(S)

55502/52002


SYNOPSIS:

Financial management is one of the major functional areas within a corporation. Sound financial management is crucial to a corporation's solvency and long-term profitability. This unit aims to introduce students to the basic responsibilities of a corporate financial manager. Coverage includes evaluation of investment and financing alternatives, working capital management, and determination of capital structure and dividend policy. Emphasis is placed on the analytical aspects of the decision making process to enable students to form their own judgment in the dynamic business world.


OBJECTIVES:

Successful completion of this unit should enable students to:

  1. identify appropriate organisational goals and grasp their
    implications for the financial management function;
  2. understand the concept of time value and use the relevant
    techniques;
  3. comprehend the interrelationship between return and risk as it
    relates to portfolio theory;
  4. comprehend the CAPM and its implications for the evaluation of
    investment proposals;
  5. analyse complex investment alternatives;
  6. determine the optimum investment in current assets and how
    these should be financed;
  7. comprehend the workings of capital markets;
  8. advise management as to the appropriate sources and uses of
    short-term and long-term financing;
  9. analyse capital structure decisions;
  10. evaluate and advise on alternative dividend policies;
  11. develop a cash budget.

TOPICS:

 Description                                                    Weighting(%)
  1. Objectives and Roles of Financial Manager 5.00

  2. Time Value 10.00

  3. Return and Risk 10.00

  4. Investment Evaluation Techniques 15.00

  5. Current Asset Management 10.00

  6. The Capital Markets and Sources of Financing 10.00

  7. Capital Structure 10.00

  8. Dividend Policy 10.00

  9. Leasing 10.00

  10. Financial Forecasting, Planning and Budgeting 10.00


TEXT and MATERIALS to be PURCHASED:

Petty J, Peacock R, Martin P, Burrow M, Keown A, Scott D, and Martin
J, 1996, 'Basic Financial Management', Prentice Hall, Sydney.


RECOMMENDED REFERENCE MATERIALS:

It is not necessary to obtain the titles listed below however, if
available they will provide useful supplementary material to the set
text.

Van Horne J, Wachowicz J, Davis K, and Lawriwsky M, 1995, 'Financial
Management and Policy in Australia'
, 4th edn, Prentice Hall.

Brealey R and Myers S, 1996, 'Principles of Corporate Finance', 5th
ed, McGraw-Hill Book Company.

Bruce R, McKern B, Pollard I, and Skully M, 1997, 'Handbook of
Australian Corporate Finance'
, Butterworths, 5th edn, Sydney.

Bishop R, Brown P, Finn F J and Officer R R, 1989, 'Share Markets and
Portfolio Theory'
, University of Queensland Press.

Peirsen G, Brown R, Easton S, and Howard P, 1998, 'Peirson and Bird's
Business Finance'
, 7th edn, The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc.

Gitman L, 1997, 'Principles of Managerial Finance', Addison-Wesley,
Reading MA.


STUDENT WORKLOAD REQUIREMENTS:

	ACTIVITY				HOURS
Directed Study                                	75
Private Study                                 	50
Assessments                                   	40

ASSESSMENT DETAILS:

No  *F/S Marks     Due        Description                              Wtg(%)    LBL WWW
1   S    100.00    06/04/99  ASSIGNMENT 1                              10.00     Y   N
2   S    50.00     04/05/99  ASSIGNMENT 2                              10.00     Y   N
3   S    45.00     END S1    PART A (MULTIPLE CHOICE) EXAM             36.00     N   N
4   S    55.00     END S1    B(THEORY)&C(PROBLEMS)EXAM(A+B+C=3HRS)     44.00     N   N

*F=Formative, S=Summative

OTHER REQUIREMENTS:

1    TO  GAIN A PASSING GRADE IN THE UNIT A STUDENT MUST: a) obtain  a
     passing mark in aggregate for the unit's assessment items, AND b)
     obtain  a passing mark in the formal exam, AND c) submit  genuine
     attempts  for  the following MANDATORY items of assessment:  BOTH
     ASSIGNMENTS.
2    Students  must  retain a copy of all pieces of  assessment  which
     must be produced if/when required by the lecturer.
3    LATE ASSIGNMENTS
3.1  All  assessments submitted after the due date (and  not  approved
     for  extension)  in  accordance with university  policy  will  be
     penalised 20% per working day.
3.2  If  students  submit assignments after the due date and  wish  to
     claim extenuating circumstances then they shall provide validated
     documentary   evidence  with  the  assignment,   explaining   the
     circumstances.
3.3  The  unit  examiner shall consider the statement  accompanying  a
     late assignment and decide on the outcome.  No assignment will be
     accepted if submitted 2 weeks after the due date.
4    Assignments  not submitted in the appropriate assignment  folders
     will be deemed as not being received.
5    DISHONEST ACTIONS
5.1  Any student who is alleged to having performed a dishonest action
     relating  to  any assessment in the unit will have  a  course  of
     action   taken  against  him/her  as  outlined  in  the  Academic
     Regulations.
5.2  Pieces  of  assessment should be the work of individual students.
     Joint  pieces  of  assessment are not  permitted  unless  written
     approval has been obtained from the unit leader.
5.3  Dishonest action in relation to assessment includes: - copying or
     attempting to copy the work of others; - use of or attempting  to
     use information prohibited from use in that form of assessment; -
     submitting  the  work  of  another as  your  own;  -  consciously
     committing  acts  of  plagiarism, ie taking and  using  another's
     thoughts  or writings as one's own with intent to deceive,  which
     occurs   when   paragraphs,  sentences,  a  single  sentence   or
     significant  parts of a sentence which are copied  directly,  are
     not  enclosed  in quotation marks and appropriately footnoted  or
     referenced in the text direct quotations are not used,  but  text
     is  paraphrased or summarised, and the source of the material  is
     not acknowledged by footnoting or other reference in the text.
6    DEFERRED EXAMINATIONS
6.1  Deferred examinations will be granted at the Dean's discretion in
     the  case of medical or compassionate circumstances having regard
     to  item  1. If a deferred examination has been granted  students
     shall  normally sit the deferred examination in the  semester  in
     which  the  unit  is  next offered, but no later  than  the  next
     semester  3  examination period. If, for  whatever  reason,  this
     deferred examination is not taken then the student will be graded
     `F'.
6.2  Medical  evidence  on  the  appropriate  University  of  Southern
     Queensland  medical certificate or doctor's certificate  must  be
     received  by  the Faculty Administrator no later than  twenty-one
     (21)  days after examination date. A medical certificate must  be
     dated  with the same date as the period of illness for which  the
     absence from examination is being sought and clearly indicate the
     student's  name  and, if possible, student number. (Retrospective
     medical  certificates will not be accepted for either  assignment
     work or examinations.)
6.3  A   student's  medical  condition  must  be  stated  clearly  (IN
     ENGLISH).   (Certificates  stating  a  student  has  a   'Medical
     Condition'  may  not  be  sufficient  grounds  for  deferment  of
     examination).  Medical evidence must cover the  student  for  the
     day(s) of the missed examination(s).
6.4  Requests must be in writing to the Faculty Administrator  clearly
     stating  the  student  name  and  number,  unit  number  of   the
     examination  missed due to illness and current address.  Deferral
     of  an  examination CANNOT be granted on an existing deferral  in
     that unit.
6.5  Requests  on  grounds  other than medical MUST  BE  supported  by
     documentation.
6.6  Students   who   have  a  medical  condition  or   have   genuine
     compassionate  or  work  related  problems  on  the  day  of  the
     examination  are advised to obtain documentary evidence  and  NOT
     attempt  the  examination. If a student makes an attempt  at  the
     examination,  the  assessment item will be  marked  and  a  grade
     awarded.  In  these  cases, a student cannot, after  receiving  a
     'Fail'   grade,  request  a  deferred  examination   or   special
     consideration.
6.7  Students who have been granted deferred examinations will not  be
     granted a waiver of prerequisites, without the permission of  the
     Heads of Department, in subsequent semesters (if they do not have
     a passing grade).
7    Unit  weightings of topics should not be interpreted as  applying
     to  the  number  of  marks allocated to questions  testing  those
     topics in an examination paper. The examination may test material
     already tested in assignments.
8    Mechanised erasers are not permitted in exam venues.
9    The  examination will be restricted. Students will be allowed  to
     bring a quiet, battery-operated non-programmable calculator  into
     the   examination.  Dictionaries  are  NOT  to  be  used  in  the
     examination.
10   Students  should also refer to the Faculty of Commerce 'Guide  to
     Policies  and Procedures' section of the University Handbook  for
     further information on the above matters.
11   Students need pre-requisites unit or equivalent

This information is accurate as at 17/11/99