Curricula

Objectives

You will understand how multinational companies manage their finance, investment and accounting operations globally. You will have several opportunities to develop an understanding of international financial markets and available major financial tools. You will also learn how to use financial tools in managing multifarious financial and non-financial fallout emanating from the fluctuations in the foreign exchange markets, specifically.

You will be able to understand, explore, and analyze multiple financial aspects in the context of multinational corporations. You will learn various conceptual aspects, and their practical applications from the point of view of investors, corporate finance managers, wealth managers, financial analysts, and various other stakeholders.

The course aims to develop the following COMPETENCES:
Learning to learn-
You develop critical and analytical mindset that helps you to study and review existing knowledge in the light of relevant learning resources and learning methods; incentivizes you to acquire new knowledge; and develops your intellectual capabilities to seek conclusions and draw inferences in various contexts.
To achieve this competence, you will:
– learn to formulate relevant questions and seek information,
-review relevant theoretical, and empirical literature to comprehend diverse perspectives and evaluate, and interpret arguments and counter-arguments,
-understand new developments in your field of study and make informed decisions based thereon.
- acquire the researcher’s mindset to problematize, explore and understand real-life phenomena especially in the academic track system.

Proactive development-
You develop solutions in the light of current as well as anticipated situations and challenges in business by applying knowledge, critical reasoning and analytical skills. You ensure that these solutions are feasible, relevant, creative, user-friendly, and sustainable as well as underline active cooperation amongst different actors.
To achieve this competence, you will:
- apply existing knowledge and utilize relevant research methods including digital technology in development projects,
-interpret new evidence in the light of existing body of knowledge, make comparisons and draw inferences,
- express your intellectual contribution through scientific or professional writings,
-understand utility, creativity, viability, scalability, and sustainability of new solutions.

Internationality and multiculturalism-
You work in multicultural and international environments and networks in order to develop knowledge and communication skills as well as develop empathy and appreciation for other cultures. You communicate responsibly and effectively in English through written, verbal, non-verbal and digital formats individually as well as a team member in diverse settings.
To achieve this competence, you will:
-be familiar with the impact of your cultural background on your actions and be able to effectively and productively function in your work community that explicitly recognizes the relevance of multiculturalism,
-demonstrate meaningful intercultural teamwork, including the roles of leadership and conflict resolution, in order to develop creative solutions carrying multicultural underpinnings,
-be able to experience group learning and share best practices in international settings,
- learn to communicate ideas and solutions effectively in the context of various subjects, multiple purposes, and a wide range of audience both individually as well as in a group,
- initiate and engage constructive dialogues among relevant stakeholders to accomplish desired goals for multiple purposes and communicate ideas and solutions to a wide range of audience including both individuals and groups,
-learn to be ‘active listener’ to understand diverse perspectives, and points of view in accurate, unbiased, and critical manner,
-learn various aspects of digital media.

Ethics-
You benchmark and demonstrate ethical and responsible conduct according to the well-established principles, norms and best practices laid down by relevant national and international bodies and organisations.
To achieve this competence, you will:
-understand and apply the well-established principles of responsible conduct in research, and problem solving,

-adhere to the principles of equity, equality, and non-discrimination,

-take responsibility for your own actions and their consequences and reflect on them in accordance with the relevant ethical principles, norms, and practices,

- develop realization of diversity and accessibility in your actions.

Sustainable development-
You develop an understanding, vision, and appreciation for sustainability that affect personal, and professions lives, local communities, and global society at large. You study and explore linkages between multiple aspects of sustainability and business.

To achieve this competence, you will:

-understand the concept and principles of sustainable development in the context of business,

-recognize sustainability challenges and their consequences for businesses, local communities, and global society,

-use your accumulated knowledge and skills to create and implement sustainable solutions to solve business problems.

IB competence:
Responsible international business management-
You develop your intellectual capabilities to seek conclusions and draw inferences in an international environment to become responsible manager. You develop creative and insightful solutions to solve complex business problems both in the present and the future with explicit emphasis on local and international standards of ethics, responsibility, and sustainability and implications on various stakeholders.
To achieve this competence, you will:
-study developments in your discipline in the international learning milieu and understand various aspects of responsible business management including global business trends and competitive landscape.
-derive and interpret new evidence and compare them with the existing body of knowledge in the global context to draw useful inferences,
- critically assess the implications of actions and decision of the international organisations.
-understand the impact of the of the actions and decisions on the community, in general, and specific stakeholders, in particular.
-understand core aspects of people management in the international business environment.

Content

International Financial Markets and Institutions
Financial Risk Management-Forwards, Futures, Options and Swaps
MNC’s foreign currency risk exposure- Transaction Exposure, Translation Exposure and Economic Exposure.
Global Business Ethics and Governance

Time and location

Spring-Autumn semester each academic year.

Learning materials and recommended literature

Lecture slides, case studies, spreadsheets, text books, research articles, videos, assignments, online resources etc. Please check Optima folders on regular basis.

Main text book options
-Richard A. Brealey, Stewart C. Myers and Franklin Allen, Principles of Corporate Finance, 13th Edition (2019). The McGraw-Hill.
- Stephen Ross and Randolph Westerfield and Jeffrey Jaffe and Bradford Jordan, Corporate Finance, 12th Edition (2018). The McGraw-Hill.
- Jonathan Berk and Peter DeMarzo, Corporate Finance, 5th Edition (2020). Pearson.

Other text books
-Mark Grinblatt and Sheridan Titman, Financial Markets & Corporate Strategy,
- Glen Arnold, Corporate Financial Management
- Stephen Lofthouse, Investment Management
- Jeff Madura, International Financial Management

On-line sources
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCeZf5FUwF9LrvdnjXhiCGKQ/videos
The above channel is run by the lecturer himself.
https://www.investing.com
https://uk.finance.yahoo.com
https://finance.yahoo.com
http://www.nasdaqomxnordic.com
http://www.worldbank.org
http://www.oecd.org
https://www.bloomberg.com
https://www.reuters.com
https://www.bbc.com
http://ssrn.com
http://www.imf.org
http://www.ifc.org
http://www.nytimes.com

Teaching methods

Fully online. Course is based on individual assignments.

Exam dates and retake possibilities

There is no exam required in this course. Completion of the course is based on individual assignments.

International connections

Both degree and exchange students do this course.

Student workload

You will be required to required to invest 135 hours approximately and the break up of the total time is as below:
Study material and contents: 75
Assignment Preparations: 50 Hours
Miscellaneous: 10 Hours

Further information for students

Avoin amk 5

Evaluation scale

0-5

Evaluation criteria, satisfactory (1-2)

You will get a grade of ‘one' or 'two' if you are able to demonstrate a basic level of evidence in the following competences:
Proactive development
Responsible international business management
Sustainable development
Responsible international business management
Ethics and
Internationality and multiculturalism

Evaluation criteria, good (3-4)

You will get a grade of ‘three' or 'four' if you are able to demonstrate a good level of evidence in the following competences:
Proactive development
Responsible international business management
Sustainable development
Responsible international business management
Ethics and
Internationality and multiculturalism

Evaluation criteria, excellent (5)

You will get a grade of ‘five’ if you are able to demonstrate an excellent level of evidence in the following competences:
Proactive development
Responsible international business management
Sustainable development
Responsible international business management

and good level of Ethics and Internationality and multiculturalism

Further information

You will get several opportunities to reviewing academic literature critically, analyzing and evaluating financial and other business data of MNCs, deliberating diverse approaches, comparing the resultant outcomes, and making value additive informed financial decisions and action plans in the context of global financial transactions. You will be understanding, exploring, and analyzing multiple theoretical and applied aspects in the context of global financial management measures of the MNCs. Understanding conceptual aspects, and their practical applications from the point of view of investors, and finance managers, in the field of corporate risk management, corporate finance, international finance, accounting information analysis, strategic management accounting, financial institutions and markets, personal finance, etc. are highly valuable. You will learn how corporate managers aim to find reliable and valid information for decision making by conducting independent research. This requires conducting the literature review of current global financial management issues in the light of underpinning theories, identifying a suitable research topic and forming the relevant research questions. The process continues by choosing an appropriate research method or methods, the collection of data and subsequent analyses, and drawing conclusions and recommendations from the results.
You can identify, outline, master, analyze, and synthesize the core concepts with respect to financial risk exposure caused by the fluctuations in the foreign exchange markets, changes in the global business environment and regulatory changes at the multinational corporation level as well as the subsidiary level. You will be encouraged to explore and utilize a large variety of literature related to academics, corporate sector and regulatory bodies.

You will be analyzing financial global financial challenges and trends of Multinational Corporations (MNCs) by applying disciplinary and interdisciplinary knowledge and practical skills gained from various disciplines including Economics, Management Accounting, Financial Management, and Corporate Governance. For an MNC, which is constantly facing the tasks of identifying risks to investment and finance, minimizing exposure to various possible risks, designing risk management strategy, both, to the parent firm and its subsidiaries, and based thereon ability of making informed decisions, this course helps you to understand several concepts, and analyze practical application of these concepts in different situations of global businesses and investments contexts. Data analysis techniques, using quantitative financial analysis, investment analysis, financial forecasting, etc. are applied to solve complex business problems
You will assess various types of risks and learn to apply various techniques to do risk management efficiently. You are encouraged to analyze the core financial concepts and to synthesize the various dimensions of theoretical concepts and their applications into coherent financial information and their interpretations, inferences and implications. For this purpose, you will be required to gather, analyze and apply financial data, for example in the context of exchange rate movements and make interpretations and draw inferences by applying diverse and interdisciplinary knowledge. The role of interdisciplinary knowledge is of paramount importance since in the global business world it is highly important to understand economic systems, political climate, behavioral aspects, technological advancements, social systems, global business environment, institutional settings, and legal practices, for example. You will also develop your intellectual skills concerning micro, and macro-financial policies from the multiple stakeholders’ perspectives and understand the major variables that make up the financial structure of the firms and their interactions with the corporate strategic decision-making and business operations. You will understand and underpin the factors emanating from the financial activities of the firms and global financial developments, risks and challenges, that affect business operations, strategies, and planning. The above aspects will help you to develop your decision-making skills in the context of complex business scenario.

Since in this course communicating the inferences made and interpretations drawn based on the business and economic data analysis responsibly, effectively and professionally in English, including in written reports, formal correspondence, and on social media, are highly important, therefore, you will need to develop your Communication Skills. Analyzing and synthesizing of the fundamental economic concepts carrying multiple as well as conflicting interpretations will help you to express views and opinions in a clear, coherent and orderly manner.

You will learn how vital it is safeguarding interests of different stakeholders in an unbiased manner to promote the corporate value system, which is humane, fair and equitable. As a student, you will acquire a moral and ethical mindset to ascertain and disclose true and unbiased business and economic scenarios and their outcomes.