BADM 485-01, Asset Valuation and Business Strategy, Spring 2009

Abstract

This course should be intellectually challenging and, if you like a good challenge, fun! If you are working as hard as you should in BUS 485, at times you will feel challenged, lost, and probably a little peeved. However, as you progress through the course, you will increasingly experience a sense of accomplishment when you meet the challenge of completing a homework assignment or preparing and presenting a complex case. You should experience in this course flashes of enlightenment—moments when theories, principles and practices come together in a well-structured competitive strategy. We hope these flashes will be even more intense because you will see the interrelationships between finance and marketing strategies: Good decisions in one area can be totally subverted by poor decisions in the other, and determining good strategies for both areas (what’s best for the firm) will be the challenge of this course. You will, we hope, experience the joy and frustration of working with colleagues on cases. If you are an active participant, BUS 485 will be an exciting journey for you and for your classmates. However, if you choose not to be actively involved in the course, the experience will be a forced march for you and an experience to be endured by your classmates who must be in class with you.In this course, we'll apply many of the theories examined in Marketing Management 371 and Financial Management 351 in order to understand and to explain marketplace phenomena. The primary methods for attaining understanding and ability to explain and predict business phenomena will be homework assignments, case analyses, student presentations, and discussions. There are several course objectives we hope to attain. 1. To gain insight into how financial and marketing decisions are interrelated and how careful analyses should lead to more integrated decision making with better results for the firm. 2. To gain insight into how financial theory is relevant to actual business situations through practice. There is an orientation beyond mere description and analysis, toward normative thinking and decision-making, as well as growth in judgment. The underlying focus throughout the course will be on valuation modeling and economic analysis as a foundation for corporate financial decision-making. 3. Through case analyses, attain a more thorough understanding of selected concepts, theories and principles we examined in BUS 371 and to add others as they relate to a firm’s strategy. The underlying focus will be upon making strategic decisions to create and/or sustain competitive advantage. 4. To acquire proficiency in analytical techniques needed to make financial decisions. Cases explore the application of finance tools and concepts in an imperfect world where information is noisy, behavior is not always rational, and outcomes are unpredictable. 5. Develop skills necessary to analyze critically strategic situations and to frame well informed strategies based upon our analyses. 6. Develop skills necessary to present the results of our analyses as well as our recommendations in writing and orally. 7. Develop skills necessary to examine, question, and discuss others’ analyses. 8. Develop skills of working with others to attain a common goal. Much decision-making in business is accomplished in a group environment, and team members must learn to advance their ideas in a cooperative manner. 9. To gain an awareness and understanding of more recent financial and marketing trends and innovations.