Strategic Financial Management: Managing for Shareholder Value

Business entities are the engines of wealth creation in a society. A society prospers economically if its business entities create wealth. The most conspicuous example of this phenomenon is the US, which can be sharply contrasted with Russia. India, too, has witnessed substantial wealth creation over the past three decades, thanks to the dynamism of business entities.The primary objective of a business entity is to create long-term economic value in a legal, ethical, socially responsible, and environmentally sustainable manner.All managers participate in the value-creation process in some way or another. So, irrespective of their work area, every manager needs a basic understanding of valuation and value creation.The thrust of this course is on the fundamentals of valuation and the key levers of value creation reflected in what I call the Value Pentagon, as shown below.The levers shown in the above exhibit represent the top management agenda.The course explores these issues. It seeks to blend the conceptual world of the scholar with the “how to do it view” of the practitioner. It takes the pragmatic approach, blending valuable insights from diverse disciplines like finance, strategy, accounting, organization design and behavioural economics. As a result, it synthesizes a range of perspectives instead of focusing on a single silo of ideas.Welcome to the ‘Strategic Financial Management – Managing for Value Creation’ Course. This course will familiarize you with the different levers of value creation essential for every manager to move up the corporate ladder.In this course, you will learn about –• Financial Statements• Financial Statement Analysis• Basic Valuation Concepts• Investment Decisions• Financing Decisions• Corporate Risk Management• Corporate (Business) Valuation• Mergers, Acquisition and Restructuring• Value-Based Management and Organizational ArchitectureCourse Objectives –By the end of this course, you will be able to• Read and interpret the financials of a business• Understand the fundamental valuation concepts and methods• Examine ways and means of improving investment decisions• Learn to formulate capital structure and distribution policy• Describe how integrated risk management facilitates value creation• Assess how mergers, acquisitions, and restructuring help in value creation• Apply value-based management concepts in your organization for better performance

Week 1: Primer in Accounting and Finance
Week 2: Investment Decisions
Week 3: Financing Decisions
Week 4: Corporate Risk Management
Week 5: Corporate (Business) Valuation
Week 6: Mergers, Acquisitions, and Restructuring
Week 7: Value-Based Management and Organisational Architecture

Course syllabus

Exam schedule