Course Syllabus

FIN 502 Managerial Finance

W. P. Carey MBA Evening Program
INSTRUCTOR:
Dr. John R. Cesta
Email: john.cesta@asu.edu
Office location and hours:
BAC 537 generally on Tuesday and Thursday from 1:45-3:00
This syllabus and the related schedule are subject to revision and modification through
Blackboard announcements associated with this course. Students should review all
Blackboard announcements to understand how the course content, policies, grading and
administration may change as the semester progresses.
COURSE DESCRIPTION:
Finance 502 develops analytical techniques and financial theories used to make optimal
decisions in a corporate setting. Pre-requisites: ACC 502 with C or better; ECN 501 with C
or better
COURSE TOPICS:
The major topics covered in the course:

The role of the financial manager and the objective of a corporation

The time value of money and valuation principles
Valuation of corporate securities
Cash flow forecasting and free cash flow
Corporate investment decisions and project analysis
Portfolio theory and market efficiency
Capital structure and the cost of capital
Real and financial options

COURSE MATERIALS:

Textbook: Corporate Finance by Berk & DeMarzo

Notes: Lecture notes will be made available on the Blackboard site
Cases: Possible case work includes the following:
o Boston Beer Co.
o The Cost of Capital at Ameritrade
o United Parcel Service IPO Valuation
o Jet Blue Airways IPO Valuation
Other: Microsoft Excel, Financial CalculatorsTI 83/84 Plus, or BA II Plus or Hp 10bII

FIN 502 Managerial Finance Syllabus

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BLACKBOARD:
On Blackboard you will find a Discussion Board, Announcements, suggested further reading,
and more. You must submit all of your coursework electronically in Blackboard. The cases
are available electronically under the XanEdu link on the Blackboard course site. Please do
NOT do additional reading or research on any of the cases until weve discussed them in
class.
COURSE POLICIES:
Chapters, problem sets, and cases for each week are shown in the Course Schedule.
Students are expected to come to class on the day indicated having read the assigned
chapters and prepared the identified problem sets. Solutions to the assigned problems will
be available on Blackboard after the class discussion date for the related chapter. The
classroom lectures will be geared toward reviewing the concepts presented in the text and
facilitating the discussion of anything that is unclear or debatable. Because this course
covers a large amount of material in a short time, it will be difficult for students to recover if
they fall behind. The course will use concepts from financial accounting and statistics.
GRADES AND GRADING:
The final grade for the course will be based on each students performance on two midterm
exams, a final exam, one group case submission, and five other assignments weighted as
follows:

Participation

Percent

Points

Weighted
Points

Group

15%

100

15

Five Assignments (20 points each)

Individual

10%

100

10

Mid-Term Exam 1

Individual

25%

100

25

Mid-Term Exam 2

Individual

25%

100

25

Final Exam 3

Individual

25%

100

25

100%

500

100

Grading Criteria
Group Case Discussion and Analysis

Total

Grades for the course will be awarded on a scale as follows: A=100-90%, B=89-80%,
C=79-70%, D=69-60%, E= less than 60%. You should not expect a curve as these scores
are consistent with prior results for the Finance 502 course offering.
While class participation is not assigned a weighting in the grade calculation, it is
encouraged and will be considered as an additional factor for students close to a grade
breakpoint.
GROUP CASES:
The group cases will be analyzed in teams consisting of three or four students and are due
on the dates indicated in the Course Schedule. There will be two elements in completing
the group case assignment: (1) Discussion analysis and (2) research analysis. The case
solution prepared by the team should include the write-up in a Word document, a
PowerPoint slide presentation of the solution and any Excel worksheets developed as part of
the case analysis and solution to the case problem. All team members will receive the same

FIN 502 Managerial Finance Syllabus

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grade for the case. It is up to the team to police the quality and level of participation within
the team.
EXAMS:
The exams will consist of problems and short-answer essay questions similar to those in the
assigned problem sets and case work assignments. The exams will be held during class on
the dates indicated in the Course Schedule. Both the second and the final exam are
progressively comprehensive in that they assume an understanding of all concepts and
practical techniques covered earlier during the semester. A list of equations will be included
with each exam. Makeup exams are only allowed for excused absences with prior
notification. The makeup exams may have a greater level of complexity and difficulty than
did the original examination.
W. P. CAREY SCHOOL OF BUSINESS HONOR CODE:
Unethical behavior by corporations has been linked with negative performance outcomes;
the same is
true of unethical student behavior. It is expected that students will neither participate in
nor condone activities such as cheating or plagiarism. You are expected to do your own
work on all individual exercises, quizzes, and exams. Students are encouraged to speak to
other students about the issues, but do not share work or answers. Failure to follow this
policy may result in zero points for both the receiver and provider (if involved). Also, the
instructor may take any other action described in the current academic integrity policy. By
placing their names on assignments, students are affirming that the contents are their
original work. Consulting work done by students in this course in other platforms or in
previous years is a violation of academic integrity. This policy will be vigorously enforced.
Sharing work you do in this course with others, whether in the course with you or not, can
tempt others to violate this academic integrity policy and can result in that students failure
in the course and dismissal from his/her program.
PROGRAM SUPPORT:

Please keep us up-to-date if you are having problems in the course, we will always
try to help but it is difficult to aid students retrospectively.

If you are having technical problems, please contact the Technical Assistance Center
Phone: (480) 965-2400
Email: wpcarey.support@asu.edu
Normal Business Hours:
Monday - Friday 7:00 AM MST - 9:00 PM MST
After Hours:
Monday - Friday 9:00 PM MST - 12:00 AM MST
Saturday & Sunday 8:00 AM MST - 12:00 AM MST

FIN 502 Managerial Finance Syllabus

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COURSE SCHEDULE:
Week

Due Date

Content

Instructions

Pre-Quarter
(Assignment 1)

Tuesday
03/05/13

Read Chapter 1

Complete Problems and Questions:

1,2,3,4,5,6,7,11,13

Read Chapter 2

Complete Problems and Questions:

1,4,5,8,9,10,12,14,22,25

Read Chapter 4

Complete Problems and Questions:

3,4,11,12,14,21,23,24

Read Chapter 5

Complete Problems and Questions:

2,3,4,10,18,21,25,

Classroom Case: Liberty

(Assignment 2)

Complete analysis of Liberty case (case available on

Blackboard)

Week 1

Wednesday
03/06/13

Wednesday
03/20/13

SPRING BREAK (03/10/13 03/17/13)

Week 2

Wednesday
03/20/13

Due in
Week 4
Week 3

Wednesday
03/27/13

Wednesday
04/03/13

FIN 502 Managerial Finance Syllabus

Read Chapter 8

Complete Problems and Questions:

6,7,9,10,11,12,14,16,17,18,19

Read Chapter 9

Complete Problems and Questions:

1,2,3,6,7,8,9,11,15,17,18,19,20

IPO Company Case

(Group Assignment)

Review and analysis of UPS and Jet Blue case. Group to

submit Word, PowerPoint and related Excel documents to
Blackboard. NOTE: Peer Evaluation is required.

Read Chapter 6

Complete Problems and Questions:

1,2,3,6,9,11,18,22,26,31

Read Chapter 7

Complete Problems and Questions:

3,5,6,7,9,10,13,15,18,23,24

Mid-Term Exam 1

Chapters 4,5,8, and 9

Classroom Case: Southern

(Assignment 3)

Complete analysis of Southern case (case available on

Blackboard)

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Week
Week 4

Week 5

Week 6

Week 7

Due Date

Content

Instructions

Read Chapter 12

Complete Problems and Questions:

2,3,4,5,7,10,15,17,20,22,25,26

Read Chapter 13

Complete Problems and Questions:

2,4,8,11,13,15,16,19,22,25,25

Wednesday
04/03/13

IPO Company Case

(Group Assignment)

Review and analysis of UPS and Jet Blue case. Group to

submit Word, PowerPoint and related Excel documents to
Blackboard. NOTE: Peer Evaluation is required.

Wednesday
04/10/13

Read Chapter 14

Complete Problems and Questions:

3,4,10,11,12,13,14,18,19

Read Chapter 15

Complete Problems and Questions:

2,6,7,8,9,10,14,15

Mid-Term Exam 2

Chapters 6,7,12,13

Wednesday
04/17/13

Classroom Case: Wilcox

Lease/Loan
(Assignment 4)

Complete analysis of Wilcox Lease/Loan case (case

available on Blackboard)

Wednesday
04/17/13

Read Chapter 16

Complete Problems and Questions:

1,2,6,7,8,10,11,13,15,19

Read Chapter 17

Complete Problems and Questions:

1,2,3,4,5,7,9,14,16,21,22,24

Wednesday
04/24/13

Classroom Case: MLBO

(Assignment 5)

Complete analysis of MLBO case (case available on

Blackboard)

Wednesday
04/24/13

Read Chapter 18

Complete Problems and Questions:

3,4,5,8,9,10,12,14,17

Read Chapter 19

Complete Problems and Questions:

Do all them in the order given

Final Exam (NOTE: Date

and location of final exam
will be communicated in
class.)

Chapters 14,15,16,17

Wednesday
04/03/13

TBD

FIN 502 Managerial Finance Syllabus

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