fin 499

Le Moyne College (Spring 1999)

FIN 499-01: Case in Finance
Prerequisites: ACT203-204, FIN 301, 401 and a senior standing
Instructor: Chong Y. Kim,
RH-309; Phone: 445-4391; Fax: 445-4787;
Email: kim@maple.lemoyne.edu,
Office Hours: T Th. 2:30-3:30 and by appointment

Text
Required-Brigham, Garpenski and Klein, Cases in Financial Management, 1999 ed., Dryden Press.
Recommended-Any Managerial Financial Textbooks, The Wall Street Journal.

Course Description:

This course serves as a link between finance theories and current financial issues facing managers today. It is designed for students to experience financial decision-making processes of corporate managers and to be exposed to the “real world” business situations as realistically as possible.

Objectives:

  1. To develop skills and methods of identifying problems and making efficient and effective decisions to choose from alternative solutions to the problem UNDER PRESSURE.
  2. To learn how to work together effectively in a team situation of corporate settings.
  3. To develop smooth transition measures for students to apply theoretical models to the current business issues.

Couurse Activities:

  1. We will choose 12 cases from our cases book for in-depth analysis.

  2. The students will be divided into 8 teams, each comprising of 3 members. Each team should submit names of team members to the instructor by 1/21. After the team list is submitted, no complaints can be registered with the instructor regarding the extent of out-of-the-class participation by a teammate. It is important that a sense of joint responsibility for the team be developed.

  3. One class will be reserved for each case presentation, and 2 teams will be responsible for an in-depth analysis of the case. Both teams should distribute a written report of the case at the time of the presentation. The report should include (a) no more than 4 double-spaced typewritten pages of analysis, and (b) maximum 5 pages of appendices.

  4. Each of 6 remaining teams in the audience should also submit a 2 double-spaced typewritten pages of case report to the instructor on the day of presentation. Delayed submission will entail penalties.

  5. Procedures in case classes:
    (a) Each case class is divided into two sessions, 30 minutes each, in which the two teams will present their reports. While one team is presenting, the other team will be away from the classroom. Each session will be apportioned into 25 minutes of team presentation and 5 minutes of discussion involving the audience. The environment will be one of a corporate boardroom meeting. The presenting team will act and behave like the top managers (e.g. President, VP-Finance, Treasurer, etc.). The audience will act as if the ARE the members of the Board. Members of the presenting team should be dressed corporate and wear name-tags. In the classroom, members of a team should always sit together with a team number placed in front.
    (b) Following the 60 minutes of team presentation, there will be a 5 minute session of evaluation by the audience during which presenting teams will leave the classroom.
    (c) Each of remaining teams would discuss the performance of the two presenting teams. A sheet of paper enlisting the grades should be submitted to the instructor.
    Presentations should be evaluated based on the following categories:
    I. Confidence,
    ii. Communicative ability and clarity,
    iii. Knowledge about the subject matter,
    iv. Coverage of the case,
    v. Professionalism,
    vi. Amount of research done.
    The instructor would then add up the grades. The presenting team with the greater total would be declared the winning team in the sense that the Board of Directors have Voted in favor of this team. The winning team receives a bonus of 2 points and the losing team gets nothing.
    (d) Following the in-class evaluations, the presenting teams join the class. There will be a 5 minute-informal session of comments and replies. This session will be a colleague to colleague conversation. The subject matter would be the ways the presentation was done by an individual member of a presenting team.
    (e) A typical case class would come to an end with the instructor’s comments on the case.

  6. In addition to the 12 case classes, there will be lecture-discussion type classes dealing with current events in the business and classes for review on various topics.

Grading:

Presentations & case analyses(3) 45%
Case reports(9) 45%
Individual contributions 10%

TENTATIVE SCHEDULE

Date Case # Topic Reporting Teams Presenting Teams
Jan. 19, 21, 26, 28 Lecture/discussions
Feb. 2
4		4
46		 Cost of Capital
Cost of Capital		 3,4,5,6,7,8
1,2,5,6,7,8		1,2
3,4
9, 11 Lecture/discussions
18
23		 54
8a		Capital Structure
Capital Structure		1,2,3,4,7,8
1,2,3,4,5,6		5,6
7,8
25, Mar. 2Lecture/discussions
3/4Class is Canceled
9
11		13
53		Capital budgeting
Capital budgeting		1,4,5,6,7,8
1,2,3,4,5,8		2,3
4,5
16, 18Lecture/discussions
23
25		19
24		Dividend policy
Bond refunding		2,3,4,5,6,7
1,2,3,4,5,8		8,1
6,7
Apr. 6,8Lecture/discussions
13
15		25
32		Lease analysis
Cash budgeting		1,2,3,4,6,7
1,3,4,5,6,8		5,8
7,2
20, 22Lecture/discussions
27
29		33
38		Credit policy
Financial forecasting		2,3,5,6,7,8
1,2,4,5,7,8		1,4
3,6
May 5General discussions

*Cases 40, 41, and 55 are reserved for those who are absent from regular presentations.

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