BA301 - Introduction to Finance

Credit Points: 15 credit points

Workload: 36 hours

Prerequisite: BB108 Business Statistics

Co-requisite: N/A

Aims & Objectives

This is a third-year Core Unit in the Bachelor of Business, major in Accounting, and offered as an Elective Unit in the Bachelor of Business Marketing, and Bachelor of Business Management. For Course Learning Outcomes and further information relating to Bachelor of Business programs please visit our website:  http://www.mit.edu.au/study-with-us/programs/bachelor-business.
This foundation finance unit introduces students to the basic concepts of corporate finance. It examines the techniques that financial managers use in decision-making, particularly in the key areas of the capital budgeting decision (capital investment analysis) and the financing decision (how activities and projects will be funded). The unit links the mathematics of finance and discounted cash flows to finance theory, valuation and investment analysis.
 
This unit will cover the following topics:

  • Introduction to finance
  • Financial statement and cash flow analysis
  • Time value of money and valuation of cash flows
  • Trade-off between risk and return, capital asset pricing model 
  • Bond valuation
  • Share valuation
  • Capital budgeting
  • Financial leverage and capital structure 
  • Dividend policy

Learning Outcomes

The Course learning outcomes applicable to this unit are listed on the Melbourne Institute of Technology’s website: www.mit.edu.au
At the completion of this unit students should be able to:
a. Appreciate the role of corporate finance.
b. Understand the importance of the time value of money when evaluating economic decisions.
c. Communicate corporate finance information in a variety of business decision making contexts.
d. Acquire conceptual knowledge through theory and problem solving, and evaluate the effectiveness of various corporate finance practices.
e. Apply finance knowledge to real problems in business and in personal financial decision-making.

Assessment

Assessment Task Due Date A B Unit Learning Outcomes
1. Formative Assessment Week 3 - 5% a
2. Contribution and Participation Weeks 1-12 - 5% a-e
3. Assignment [Individual] Week 5 - 15% a,b,c
4. Assignment [Group] Week 8 25% - b-e
5. Case Study Analysis [Individual] (3 hours) TBA - 50% a-e
TOTALS   25% 75%  

Task Type: Type A: unsupervised, Type B: supervised.

Contribution and Participation (5%) 

This unit has class participation as an assessment. The assessment task and marking rubric will follow the Guidelines on Assessing Class Participation (https://www.mit.edu.au/about-us/governance/institute-rules-policies-and-plans/policies-procedures-and-guidelines/Guidelines_on_Assessing_Class_Participation). Further details will be provided in the assessment specification on the type of assessment tasks and the marking rubrics.

Teaching Methods

NOTE: All School of Business units 3-hour workshops Flipped Classroom Mode. 

Textbook and Reference Materials

Note: Students are required to purchase the prescribed text book and have it available each week in class.

Prescribed Text Book

  • Ross, S. A., Westerfield, R., & Jordan, B. D. (2020). Essentials of Corporate Finance (10th edition). McGraw-Hill Education.

Other recommended references

  • Vernimmen, P., Quiry, P., Dallocchio, M., Le Fur, Y., & Salvi, A. (2018). Corporate Finance: Theory and Practice, 5th edition. John Wiley & Sons: https://mitaus.on.worldcat.org/oclc/1031030142
  • Adam, C., Gunasingham, B., Graham, J., Smart, S., (2017). Introduction to Corporate Finance, 2nd edition. US: Cengage Learning.
  • Ross, S. A., Drew, M., Walk, A., Westerfield, R., & Jordan, B. D. (2016). Fundamentals of Corporate Finance (7th ed.). McGraw-Hill Education.

Additional Reading

Financial Media sources

Adopted Reference Style: APA can be found in MIT library referencing.
The Referencing style for this using is APA: See the MIT Library Referencing webpage: https://library.mit.edu.au/referencing/APA and the Unit Moodle page for additional referencing support material and weblinks.

Graduate Attributes

MIT is committed to ensure the course is current, practical and relevant so that graduates are “work ready” and equipped for life-long learning. In order to accomplish this, the MIT Graduate Attributes identify the required knowledge, skills and attributes that prepare students for the industry.
The level to which Graduate Attributes covered in this unit are as follows:

Ability to communicate Independent and Lifelong Learning Ethics Analytical and Problem Solving Cultural and Global Awareness Team work Specialist knowledge of a field of study

Legend

Levels of attainment Extent covered
The attribute is covered by theory and practice, and addressed by assessed activities in which the students always play an active role, e.g. workshops, lab submissions, assignments, demonstrations, tests, examinations.
The attribute is covered by theory or practice, and addressed by assessed activities in which the students mostly play an active role, e.g. discussions, reading, intepreting documents, tests, examinations.
The attribute is discussed in theory or practice; it is addressed by assessed activities in which the students may play an active role, e.g. lectures and discussions, reading, interpretation, workshops, presentations.
The attribute is presented as a side issue in theory or practice; it is not specifically assessed, but it is addressed by activities such as lectures or tutorials.
The attribute is not considered, there is no theory or practice or activities associated with this attribute.