Financial Management Honours

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4.1 Participants The course is designed to assist participants in achieving the course objectives previously stated, while allowing sufficient scope for individuals to achieve personal objectives. Those invited to join the programme will be selected because it is believed that they have something to offer to, as well as gain from the course. A candidate who does not provide the expected input is a drain on the whole programme. 4.2 Working Groups The class will be divided into groups of between 3 and 5 students. The objective of the working group is to simulate organisational behaviour. Various people in an organisation will observe clues to problems and will propose action: in the working group the participant should develop reasoning and persuasive abilities and also the ability to draw on the knowledge, experience and perceptions of others in the group. Groups prepare material for each session of the full class and will also be allocated group assignments. Working groups normally meet once a week at a time convenient to the group members. Many corporate finance assignments in practice revolve around teams. The course reflects the new corporate reality. 4.3 Case Studies The Programme follows the Harvard Business School approach of making extensive use of case studies. The objective of a case study is to simulate real financial management situations. Good case studies will therefore have a certain level of "noise", which is irrelevant, distracting or misleading information, and also clues to various problems. These relevant problems then compete for priority. The task of the group is: • to eliminate the "noise", • identify the relevant problems, • rank them in order of priority, • research the finance theory and literature relevant to these problems, • identify alternative courses of action, • propose and motivate the preferred alternative. Case study work forms the core of the programme. The typical procedure for case study preparation will be as follows: the individuals in the group will analyse the case and research material where appropriate. They will then formulate a written solution. They will then meet in the working groups to exchange, propose and debate their views. A group member will document its conclusions and supporting arguments. This document is typed, including a bibliography and is submitted by about noon on the day prior to the class meeting where the case is to be discussed. Included in the document will be an executive summary (maximum one page), which may be distributed to the full class at the appropriate time. Each Group can email me their submission but please set out the worksheets in such a way that it is easy to print. Always identify your Group in file names. In addition, a spokesperson will be appointed by the working group to present their views on the case at the full class meeting. It is mandatory that the functions of spokesperson be rotated through the working group. However, I will retain the right to call on anyone to open a case. No other mandatory rules apply to working groups. It is essential that all students prepare for and participate in each case study. Abdication in favour of the spokesperson will devalue the quality of solutions and defeat the function of the case. It is critical that all members are fully prepared as I will call on any student within a group to answer a question. At the full class meeting a group will be selected and the spokesperson for that group will present their views. Other groups will also be given an opportunity to present their case. 4
General discussion and questions will proceed. Circumstances may however require this procedure to be altered on occasions. 4.4 Class Meetings Besides the presentation of assignments and discussion papers, weekly class meetings serve to create learning experiences for the class as a whole. They are conducted in various modes of which the following are the most frequent. • Case Study. The session is used for presentation of case study findings and discussion of the issues which arise. • Unstructured Seminar. This results from students being given a topic to research. On arrival at the class meeting, a chairperson is appointed, a framework for discussion is agreed and the topic is discussed, drawing on the reading and research of the whole group. • Structured Seminar. This combines the features of a lecture conducted by a staff member with specific preparation based on prescribed readings. • Guest Speakers. On occasions, visiting speakers with specialist expertise are invited to address the class. 4.5 Assignments: The objective of assignments is to develop the participant's ability to: • perform limited research on a specific issue; • to present varied opinions thus obtained into a succinct summary; and, • to select and justify conclusions. The group assignments have the added objective (as with case studies) of developing the participant's reasoning and human relations skills. An individual discussion paper and/or research proposal is required and a group valuation research project is also required to be undertaken during the programme. We make extensive use of Adobe and your submissions should be in PDF format. All references should be properly acknowledged and a full bibliography should be provided. Assignments are spread throughout Semester 1 and 2. In general, marks will be awarded for content (adequacy of coverage, analysis and research) and structure (clarity, logic, strength of conclusions). Marks may be lost for poor presentation (typographical errors, defective bibliography, poor layout). 4.6 Tests and examinations A series of examinations will be held during the year and usually after each section. Participants will only be permitted to bring limited reference material into examinations. In some modules, students will not be able to bring in any materials. The examinations will primarily take the form of short case studies or problems and may include questions on cases covered in the programme. The scheduled dates for the tests and examinations are set out in the programme. 4.8 Reference Material The reference material is drawn mainly from three sources. Firstly, prescribed texts, which provide a basic reference document on selected issues. Secondly, the libraries with vast resources of books and journals (access is available to the Jagger Linear Library and UCT’s electronic database resources). Thirdly, it is expected of students to remain current with 5
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Financial Management Honours

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