School: Business and Law

This unit information may be updated and amended immediately prior to semester. To ensure you have the correct outline, please check it again at the beginning of semester.

  • Unit Title

    Corporate Finance
  • Unit Code

    ECF2222
  • Year

    2017
  • Enrolment Period

    1
  • Version

    2
  • Credit Points

    15
  • Full Year Unit

    N
  • Mode of Delivery

    On Campus
    Online
  • Unit Coordinator

    Dr Jaime Li YONG

Description

Corporate finance involves the financial management of business entities. This unit investigates how managers make investment, financing, and dividend decisions. Investment decisions are based on discounted cash flow techniques and their extensions. These extensions enable us to study a wide range of problems including: new investments, investments with unequal terms, optimal replacement, and project options. Capital structure and dividend decisions are based upon the seminal works of Modigliani and Miller. In the first instance, we see that simplifying assumptions about corporate taxes and market behaviour can lead to naive conclusions about both corporate financing (primarily debt and equity) and dividend policy. As these simplifying assumptions are removed to better align with real-world conditions, the conclusions change from simplistic to complex. This unit will be taught with a particular focus on integrating real-world business cases and the development of students' skills to build frameworks firms can use to analyse and make investment decisions.

Prerequisite Rule

Students must pass 1 units from ECF1120

Learning Outcomes

On completion of this unit students should be able to:

  1. Understand how firms improve long-term value through investment and financing decisions.
  2. Apply evaluation techniques in making corporate investment decisions.
  3. Evaluate project risks and discuss the implications for the firm.
  4. Understand, explain and critique capital structure decisions and dividend policies.

Unit Content

  1. Capital budgeting and incremental cash flow analysis.
  2. Assessing project risks and project options.
  3. Extensions to the NPV technique.
  4. The decision to purchase or lease an asset.
  5. Mergers and Acquisitions.
  6. Sources of funding for a firm: Debt and equity.
  7. The Weighted Average Cost of Capital (WACC).
  8. Capital structure decisions with and without taxes.
  9. Financial distress and theories of capital structure.
  10. Dividend policy.

Additional Learning Experience Information

On-campus students attend three hour classes weekly. This can comprise of lecture and tutorial components. Off-campus students are supplied with unit materials accessed via Blackboard. Regular online access and participation on the discussion board is required.

Assessment

GS1 GRADING SCHEMA 1 Used for standard coursework units

Students please note: The marks and grades received by students on assessments may be subject to further moderation. All marks and grades are to be considered provisional until endorsed by the relevant Board of Examiners.

ON CAMPUS
TypeDescriptionValue
ExercisePractice sets20%
AssignmentAssignment20%
Examination ^Final Examination *60%
ONLINE
TypeDescriptionValue
ExercisePractice sets20%
AssignmentAssignment20%
Examination ^Final Examination *60%

^ Mandatory to Pass
* Assessment item identified for English language proficiency


Disability Standards for Education (Commonwealth 2005)

For the purposes of considering a request for Reasonable Adjustments under the Disability Standards for Education (Commonwealth 2005), inherent requirements for this subject are articulated in the Unit Description, Learning Outcomes and Assessment Requirements of this entry. The University is dedicated to provide support to those with special requirements. Further details on the support for students with disabilities or medical conditions can be found at the Access and Inclusion website.

Academic Misconduct

Edith Cowan University has firm rules governing academic misconduct and there are substantial penalties that can be applied to students who are found in breach of these rules. Academic misconduct includes, but is not limited to:

  • plagiarism;
  • unauthorised collaboration;
  • cheating in examinations;
  • theft of other students' work;

Additionally, any material submitted for assessment purposes must be work that has not been submitted previously, by any person, for any other unit at ECU or elsewhere.

The ECU rules and policies governing all academic activities, including misconduct, can be accessed through the ECU website.

ECF2222|2|1

School: Business and Law

This unit information may be updated and amended immediately prior to semester. To ensure you have the correct outline, please check it again at the beginning of semester.

  • Unit Title

    Corporate Finance
  • Unit Code

    ECF2222
  • Year

    2017
  • Enrolment Period

    2
  • Version

    2
  • Credit Points

    15
  • Full Year Unit

    N
  • Mode of Delivery

    On Campus
    Online
  • Unit Coordinator

    Dr Jaime Li YONG

Description

Corporate finance involves the financial management of business entities. This unit investigates how managers make investment, financing, and dividend decisions. Investment decisions are based on discounted cash flow techniques and their extensions. These extensions enable us to study a wide range of problems including: new investments, investments with unequal terms, optimal replacement, and project options. Capital structure and dividend decisions are based upon the seminal works of Modigliani and Miller. In the first instance, we see that simplifying assumptions about corporate taxes and market behaviour can lead to naive conclusions about both corporate financing (primarily debt and equity) and dividend policy. As these simplifying assumptions are removed to better align with real-world conditions, the conclusions change from simplistic to complex. This unit will be taught with a particular focus on integrating real-world business cases and the development of students' skills to build frameworks firms can use to analyse and make investment decisions.

Prerequisite Rule

Students must pass 1 units from ECF1120

Learning Outcomes

On completion of this unit students should be able to:

  1. Understand how firms improve long-term value through investment and financing decisions.
  2. Apply evaluation techniques in making corporate investment decisions.
  3. Evaluate project risks and discuss the implications for the firm.
  4. Understand, explain and critique capital structure decisions and dividend policies.

Unit Content

  1. Capital budgeting and incremental cash flow analysis.
  2. Assessing project risks and project options.
  3. Extensions to the NPV technique.
  4. The decision to purchase or lease an asset.
  5. Mergers and Acquisitions.
  6. Sources of funding for a firm: Debt and equity.
  7. The Weighted Average Cost of Capital (WACC).
  8. Capital structure decisions with and without taxes.
  9. Financial distress and theories of capital structure.
  10. Dividend policy.

Additional Learning Experience Information

On-campus students attend three hour classes weekly. This can comprise of lecture and tutorial components. Off-campus students are supplied with unit materials accessed via Blackboard. Regular online access and participation on the discussion board is required.

Assessment

GS1 GRADING SCHEMA 1 Used for standard coursework units

Students please note: The marks and grades received by students on assessments may be subject to further moderation. All marks and grades are to be considered provisional until endorsed by the relevant Board of Examiners.

ON CAMPUS
TypeDescriptionValue
ExercisePractice sets20%
AssignmentAssignment20%
Examination ^Final Examination *60%
ONLINE
TypeDescriptionValue
ExercisePractice sets20%
AssignmentAssignment20%
Examination ^Final Examination *60%

^ Mandatory to Pass
* Assessment item identified for English language proficiency

Core Reading(s)

  • Peirson, G., Brown, R., Easton, S., Howard, P., & Pinder, S. (2015). Business finance. (12th ed.). Sydney: McGraw Hill.

Disability Standards for Education (Commonwealth 2005)

For the purposes of considering a request for Reasonable Adjustments under the Disability Standards for Education (Commonwealth 2005), inherent requirements for this subject are articulated in the Unit Description, Learning Outcomes and Assessment Requirements of this entry. The University is dedicated to provide support to those with special requirements. Further details on the support for students with disabilities or medical conditions can be found at the Access and Inclusion website.

Academic Misconduct

Edith Cowan University has firm rules governing academic misconduct and there are substantial penalties that can be applied to students who are found in breach of these rules. Academic misconduct includes, but is not limited to:

  • plagiarism;
  • unauthorised collaboration;
  • cheating in examinations;
  • theft of other students' work;

Additionally, any material submitted for assessment purposes must be work that has not been submitted previously, by any person, for any other unit at ECU or elsewhere.

The ECU rules and policies governing all academic activities, including misconduct, can be accessed through the ECU website.

ECF2222|2|2