Banking & Finance MBA 2015 is a course delivered for 24 months by Middlesex University and IFF Training.
Key Topics
Executive leadership
Evaluate the HR cycle and HR planning through recruitment and selection process and training and development
Strategic HR management, analyse HR and organisational strategy; look into the changing role of HR; organisational and international industry context
Leadership and change - Evaluate the change process, obstacles to change, politics and influence, leading change
Analyse management and leadership through perspectives on management and leadership and the different styles of management/leadership
Assess leadership development by looking at the `war for talent`, the learning process, emotional intelligence and reflection and the development process
Business strategy
Purposes and objectives of organisations
The strategy process
The internal environment focusing on resources and capabilities as well as linking this to knowledge management and organisational learning
The external environment, including the competitive and structural dynamics of industries
Competitive strategy and linking this to cost and differentiation advantage
Innovation and the management of technology
International strategy covering the drivers of internationalisation, competitive advantage in an international context, entry mode strategies, and the management of international operations
Corporate strategy covering the scope and boundaries of the firm and linking this to strategic choice in the analysis process
Implementation and managing strategic change
Finance & economics
Cost, supply, and pricing strategies
Basic economic theory and the firm
International economic environment and globalisation
Domestic macro-economic environment and policies
Financial statements including balance sheet, profit & loss account and cash flow statement
Accounting principles and concepts
Sources of finance and investment decision making (including IRR, NPV)
Analysis of financial statements (including concepts of depreciation, debt and inventory)
Budgets & performance indicators (including Master Budget and Cash Budget)
Cost of Capital & Capital Structure
Marketing management
Marketing management, strategies and plans
The local and international marketing environment
Target markets, segments and customers
Research, analysis and interpretation
Innovation: new products, services and market development
Brands, branding and marketing communication and campaigns
Managing and measuring marketing performance
Delivering customer value
Corporate finance
Market efficiency, including the importance of financial markets, how markets receive information, how prices react to information and affect the corporate decision makers
Objectives in corporate financial decision making and the real world conflicts of interest
Investment analysis, including the mechanics of investment analysis, investment interactions and options
Risk and returns, including nature of risk, models for risks and returns, and risk measurement in practice
Financial restructuring: mergers and acquisitions
Cost of capital and capital structure: the choice of financing, how firms take risk into account when making financing decisions, how firms find the right financing mix, and get to the optimal capital structure
Valuation: present value and fundamentals of valuation, valuation of bonds, shares and companies
Dividend policy: theory and practices
Research methods
Kinds of knowledge issues relating to the qualitative-quantitative distinction
Types of organisational research
Participatory and action research
Implications for research of positivism, realism, critical management and other perspectives on management
Research designs
The logic and organisational pragmatics of selecting an organisational research topic
Analysing information, including statistical methods, discourse analysis, cognitive mapping
Sources and methods of collecting information: surveys, databases, observational data
Summarising research and drawing conclusions
Risk management and regulation
Fundamentals of Value at Risk (VaR)
Review of statistical tools for measuring risk
Managing interest rate and forex risk with derivatives
Asset/Liability Management and interest rate and currency risk
Strengths and limitations of the Basel Accords with respect to risk management
Credit Metrics, credit scoring and credit rating systems risk management
Examination of specific risk based derivatives – credit default swaps, catastrophe bonds
Stress testing, Monte Carlo simulations of abnormal returns distributions
Understand the concepts of credit rating and role of the major Credit Ratings Agencies (CRA’s)
Settlement risk – contrast between OTC products and central clearing houses
Role of political action groups and commercial lobbying
Examine the role of major global regulators, supervisory and (quasi) regulatory bodies
Review of Financial Stability Board guidelines on SIFI’s
Key elements of Basel III – does it counter weaknesses of Basel II?
Securities and derivative products
Securitization – how it works, risks, benefits
Sovereign & government Bonds - issuance, ratings, risk profiles
Issuance of equity securities, equity market platforms and trade execution
Time value of money and sensitivity to changes in interest rates
Clearing, Settlement and Safe Custody - contrast OTC with central clearing parties
