Faculty Contact Information:
Instructor: Gordon Leitch
Mailing Address: UMUC, Unit 29216 APO AE 09102
Email: gleitch@faculty.ed.umuc.edu
Consultation via email or by appointment.
Syllabus available from
http://www.ed.umuc.edu,
click on "Graduate Schedules", then select the appropriate Ed Center and Course.
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Consultation:
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Required Texts and Readings:
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Ross, S., Westerfield, R., Jaffe, J., Jordan, B. (2008). Modern Financial Management, McGraw-Hill Irwin, International Edition.
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Supplementary Readings:
Sirkin, H.L., Andrew, J.P., and Butman, J. (2007). Payback: Reaping the Rewards of Innovation. HBS Press Book, http://harvardbusinessonline.hbsp.harvard.edu/b02/en/common/item_detail.jhtml?id=3137.
All graduate students should be prepared to utilize theUMUC online library. The library contains a large number of full text academic journals that are free of charge and immediately available. The library homepage also contains a number of links related to improving students' research and writing skills.
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Recommended Journals:
Publications of the various professional societies (such as ACM -- the Association for Computing Machinery, the IEEE Computing Society, and the various management professional societies) are strongly recommended. In addition, there are many trade journals (such as eWEEK) that IT professionals should become familiar with, many of these being published both weekly and on-line.
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Course Description:
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A study of the financial tools managers use to find answers to four important questions: What is the financial condition of the firm? What long-term investment should the firm make? How can the money be raised for the investments? And how will the firm meet its daily financial requirements? Topics include accounting statements, tax implications, types of costs, profit recognition, financial markets, investment decision tools, net present value, free cash flows, project financing, valuation of firms, risk-return, cost of capital, long-term financing, short-term financing, and equity financing for entrepreneurs. Discussion also covers mergers and acquisition activities, governance and ethics, and international aspects. Business cases from contemporary firms and readings relevant to technology management are used to illustrate the application of financial concepts.
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Course Goals:
Upon successful completion of this course, the student should understand and be able to apply, with emphasis on technology firms, knowledge concerning:
- Corporate finance and accounting.
- Long and short term financing and budgeting.
- Financial markets and external sources of capital.
- Legal and ethical constraints impacting financial decisions.
- Current and emerging issues and trends in corporate finance.
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Course Objectives:
Upon successful completion, the student should be able to:
- To use the accounting statements to evaluate the financial condition of a technology firm.
- To make short term and long term financial decisions as technology firm managers and investors in technology firms.
- To interpret the economic conditions of various national and international markets where the technology firms operate.
- To quantify and manage the risks associated with capital investments.
- To identify the sources to raise cash for daily operations and for long-term projects related to technology firms.
- To use spreadsheet software and various models for making financial decisions.
- To be resourceful in researching and critically analyzing the information available on technology firms.
- To prepare coherent written statements on ethical financial decisions for real life business cases.
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Grading Information:
According to the Graduate School grading policy, the following symbols and scale are used:
A = excellent (90-100)
B = good (80-89)
C = passing (70-79)
F = failure (less than 70)
The grade of "B" represents the benchmark for the Graduate School. It indicates the student has demonstrated competency in the subject matter of the course, i.e., has fulfilled all course requirements on time, has a clear grasp of the full range of course materials and concepts, and is able to present and apply these materials and concepts in clear, reasoned, well-organized and grammatically correct responses, whether written or oral.
Only students who fully meet this standard and, in addition, who demonstrate exceptional comprehension and application of the course subject matter, merit an "A."
Students who do not meet the benchmark standard of competency fall within the "C" range or lower. They, in effect, have not met graduate level standards. Where this failure is substantial, they earn an "F."
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Course Requirements:
Participation = 15% (including homework)
Minicases = 15%
Term Paper = 20%
Midterm = 20%
Final Exam = 30%
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Description of Course Requirements:
Successful graduate students in American universities dedicate approximately three hours of preparation/study time for every hour spent in the face-to-face classroom. Thus, the following course requirements were developed on the assumption that students would be prepared to spend approximately 150 hours of their own time working on them. In an 8-week term, that is the equivalent of a half-time job. Most 14-week graduate distance education courses require at least 10 hours per week of dedicated time, plus time spent in the virtual classroom.
STATEMENT ON WRITING REQUIREMENTS:
Effective managers and leaders are also effective communicators. Written communication is an important element of the total communication process. The Graduate School recognizes and expects exemplary writing to be the norm for course work. To this end, all analyses and papers must demonstrate graduate level writing ability and comply with the format requirements of the Publication Manual of the American Psychological Association. All writing assignments will be graded on the basis of content, logic, analysis, mechanics, organization, and research. Careful attention should be given to source citations, proper listing of references, the use of footnotes, and the presentation of tables and graphs. Work submitted online should follow standard procedures for formatting and citation.
POLICY ON ACADEMIC INTEGRITY:
Academic integrity is central to the learning and teaching process. Students are expected to conduct themselves in a manner that will contribute to the maintenance of academic integrity by making all reasonable efforts to prevent the occurrence of academic dishonesty. Academic dishonesty includes (but is not limited to) obtaining or giving aid on an examination, having unauthorized prior knowledge of an examination, doing work for another student, and plagiarism of all types.
PLAGIARISM:
Plagiarism is the intentional or unintentional presentation of another person's idea or product as one's own. Plagiarism includes, but is not limited to the following: copying verbatim all or part of another's written work; using phrases, charts, figures, illustrations, or mathematical or scientific solutions without citing the source; paraphrasing ideas, conclusions, or research without citing the source; and using all or part of a literary plot, poem, film, musical score, or other artistic product without attributing the work to its creator. Students can avoid unintentional plagiarism by following carefully accepted scholarly practices. Notes taken for papers and research projects should accurately record sources of material to be cited, quoted, paraphrased, or summarized, and papers should acknowledge these sources in footnotes. The penalties for plagiarism include a zero or a grade of F on the work in question, a grade of F in the course, suspension with a file letter, suspension with a transcript notation, or expulsion.
Resubmission of course work from previous classes (whether or not taken at UMUC, UMUC-Europe or BSU), partially or in its entirety, is not acceptable in this course and will result in an automatic failure on the assignment.
DISABLED STUDENTS:
Students with disabilities should contact the Director of Student Services, phone: +49-6221-378299, email: edstudent_svc@ed.umuc.edu, mailing address: Unit 29216. APO AE 09102 or Im Bosseldorn 30, D-69126 Heidelberg, Germany.
COURSE EVALUATIONS:
Feedback on each graduate course and instructor is important to the university, your professor, and to all UMUC students. UMUC has the responsibility to assess the effectiveness of classroom instruction, and each student has the responsibility to provide accurate and timely feedback through completion of the course evaluation form. This is a shared obligation for us all. It is therefore important that you complete the evaluation form for each course you attend. This should be viewed as an additional course and program requirement.
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Course Schedule:
Weekend 1
Saturday (June 14): Chapters 1 - 4
Sunday (June 15): Chapters 5 - 8
Includes selected end-of-hapter problems, minicase assignments (to be completed online).
Online sessions:
Chapters 9, 10. 12, 13 [Risk] More minicases.
Chapters 14 - 17 [Capital Structure]
Midterm exam.
Weekend 2
Saturday (July 19): Chapters 19, 20, 22, 25
Sunday (July 20): Final exam.
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Academic Policies:
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The University has a license agreement with Turnitin.com, a service that helps prevent plagiarism from internet resources. I may be using this service in this class by either requiring students to submit their papers electronically to Turnitin.com or by submitting questionable text on behalf of a student. If you or I submit part or all of your paper, it will be stored by Turnitin.com in their database throughout the term of the University's contract with Turnitin.com. If you object to this temporary storage of your paper, you must let me know no later than two weeks after the start of this class. Please Note: If you object to the storage of your paper on Turnitin.com, I may utilize other services to check your work for plagiarism
The official university policy on Plagiarism and Academic Dishonesty can be found at http://www.umuc.edu/policy/aa15025.shtml. Section I.C. states: "Faculty may determine if the resubmission of course work from previous classes (whether or not taken at UMUC), partially or in its entirety, is acceptable when assigning a grade on that piece of course work. Faculty must provide this information in their written syllabi. If the resubmission of course work is deemed to be unacceptable, a charge may not be brought under this Policy and will be handled as indicated in the written syllabi."
Please refer to Description of Course Requirements for specific information on how resubmissions will be treated in this course.
Students with disabilities should contact the appropriate support office at UMUC-Europe.
Jan Keller, Director of Student Services
UMUC-Europe, Heidelberg
Phone: +49-6221-378299
Email: edstudent_svc@ed.umuc.edu
Mailing Address: Unit 29216, APO AE 09102 OR Im Bosseldorn 30, D-69126 Heidelberg, Germany
Please refer to the UMUC-Europe Graduate Catalog for information on the following:
Academic Integrity
Course Load
Exception to Policy
Grade Appeal Process
Make-up Examinations
Nondiscrimination
Code of Civility
Hard copies of the catalog are available at your local Education Center.
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Faculty Bio:
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Gordon Leitch. I received my M.A. and Ph.D. in economics from Tulane University. I've had articles about Forecasting and Finance published in various professional journals. Prior to joining the European Division in 1996 I taught at UMUC's program at Far Eastern State University in Vladivostok, Russia. I have also taught economics, finance, management and statistics courses at Tulane University, Southeastern Louisiana University, Loyola University (New Orleans), and the University of Portland.
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