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FINANCE 4400

FINANCIAL PROBLEMS—CORPORATE FINANCE

FALL 2023

Professor: Dr. Jim Turner

Office: WB 258

Telephone: (801) 626-7357

E-mail: Canvas email is best.  Alternative email: [email protected]

Office Hours: Tuesdays and Thursdays 12:15 PM – 2:15 PM.  Canvas email is also a good way to reach me.

Required Materials: Brigham, Gapenski, and Klein, Cases in Financial Management (11^th ed.), Thomson South-Western.  The text itself is out of print, but you can purchase a photocopied version from the Weber State bookstore.  This book was put together specifically for this course—other editions will not have the material you will need.

Prerequisites:  Business Foundations, Fin 3200

Objectives:

In this course, we will examine aspects of corporate finance using specific case studies.  This will give you the opportunity to put what you have learned in your previous courses into practice. Since this is a case course, you may sometimes find yourself frustrated because there is often no obvious way to proceed and no single definitive answer.  But work through the frustration; the whole point of this course is help you develop the ability to deal with these types of real-world situations.  You are supposed to think through the issues, find reasonable solutions and present your solutions in a persuasive way.

You will probably find that it helps you to refine your thinking by discussing the cases with others.  Except in the two individual cases that you are required to work on alone, feel free to discuss the cases with others.  To facilitate your discussions with others, you will be assigned to groups.  The ability to work well in a group is a skill that you will need in your professional life.

This course will also give you the opportunity to practice and improve your listening, writing, and presentation skills. Please remember that when I evaluate you, I will be considering all of these skills, not just checking to see that you came up with the “right” answer.   A bad solution is still a bad solution no matter how well it is presented, but even the best solution may not be adopted if it is badly presented.

Notice:

Any student requiring accommodations or service due to a disability must contact Services for Students with Disabilities (SSD) in room 181 of the Student Service Center. SSD can also arrange to provide course materials (including this syllabus) in alternative formats if necessary.

Preparation and absences: You will need to be prepared before each class.  This is not a class where you can “catch up” easily if you fall behind.  Because participation is so important in this course, please make every possible effort to attend all classes.  If you are unable to attend one (or more) classes, it will be up to you to get copies of notes and make sure you understand the material that was covered.  Also make sure that you hand in any assignments on or before the day the assignment is due, even if you are not in class, as I will not accept late homework without prior arrangements.  Absences may also affect your grade for class participation.

Participation:  In this type of course, participation is vital and I will evaluate your participation as part of your grade.  It should be reasonably easy over the course of the semester to evaluate each individual's preparation.  After each case, I will ask for each group member to submit a completely confidential evaluation of the other group members.  This peer evaluation will also be used to adjust the participation grade.

Extra-Credit Work: I do not offer extra credit work, so you should take all assignments seriously.

Grades: I will compute grades according to the following scale:

TOTAL 900 points

Group Presentations and Write-Ups:

For each case, there will be two groups assigned to the case.  The first group will give a presentation of the case to the class.  The second group will write up the case.  Each student will be in three groups during the semester.  Each of these presentations or write-ups will be worth 100 points, for a total of 300 points.  Each member of the group will receive the same grade for the group presentation.

Case Quizzes:

Before class discussion of each case, you will take a brief online quiz about the case.  The point of the quizzes is to give you an incentive to read and know each case before we discuss it in class.  There will be 13 quizzes – I’ll drop your lowest quiz score.

Individual Mini Write-Ups:

Students not assigned to a group will write up each case.  Students assigned to a group will choose to write up one case NOT prepared and presented as a part of your group.  Since you will be assigned to a group three times and not assigned to a group one time, you will write up six cases that you do not present with your group.  For the case I present, you will answer the questions at the end of the case instead of doing a case write-up.

Individual Major Cases:

Twice during the semester I will give you a case to analyze and write up BY YOURSELF.  Each of these cases is worth 125 points. Since I am trying to assess your ability with this assignment, you may not discuss any part of the case or your write-up with anyone else. Please include a page at the back of your attachment with a statement certifying that you received no help from anyone in preparing the project. The only exception to this is that you may discuss the case with me.

Participation:  To encourage your participation in the presentations of others, part of your grade will come from participation.  To facilitate participation, for each case presentation when you are in the “audience” I will have you prepare a list of the four questions you feel are most important for the case at hand.  Turn in a copy of these to me before you leave class the day of the presentation.  Ask one or more of these questions during the presentation.

Note on Contingency Plans in Case of Campus Closure

In the event of an extended campus closure, we will use the Canvas online system (WSU Online) for all class sessions.  I will continue to post lecture notes and slides and hold online office hours at times to be designated.  I may reassign cases as individual cases instead of group cases if needed in such a way as to keep the overall work level roughly the same.  The severity of the event will determine the extent to which we can continue the class.

Covid-19 Protocols and Information

For the latest information on student safety protocols and student requirements during the Covid-19 pandemic, please visit https://www.weber.edu/coronavirus/students.html

Anticipated Schedule for Fall 2023 (Subject to Change)