Course Syllabus

BBA Program
Spring 2021

Course Name: Business Finance

Course Number: FINA 210 Credit Hours: 3
Instructor: Ms Sana El Hajj Office No: OSB 338
Email: Se21@aub.edu.lb Virtual Office Friday 12:30 pm - 13:30 pm via
Hours: Webex (Link will be shared via
Moodle)
Sections: 6 and 7 Time: Section 1: Location: Webex
Monday 9:30 (Link
am - 10:45 am will be
Section 2: shared
Monday via
11:00 am - Moodle)
12:15 pm
Required Text: Fundamentals of Corporate Finance by Ross, Westerfield, and Jordan,
McGraw-Hill Education, 12th edition
Connect Class Link: will be shared via Moodle
Required Tool: Computer with webcam, audio, and good internet connection
Required Tool: Financial Calculator: Texas Instruments™ BA II Plus or equivalent

Prerequisite(s): ACCT 210

Course Description: This course teaches the tools that determine and analyze the major decisions
a financial manager has to make, including identification of the firm’s goals,
time value of money, use of discount cash flow models, capital budgeting
under certainty, capital structure as it relates to cost of capital, dividend
policy, and ethics in finance.

Relationship to Other Business Finance is a foundation course at the introductory level in finance for
Coursework: all business and non-business administration major students. In this course,
students learn where to get the funds for investments and what is the basis for
valuation of the different financial instruments. They are taught how to use
these funds and how to choose among several investment opportunities. They
also study how to consider the risk element and the time value of money in
making investment decisions. The knowledge acquired in this course serves as
the platform for more advanced analysis in finance.
BBA Program This course is a foundation course in Finance for students in the
Learning Goals (LG) undergraduate program. To this end most of the BBA program learning goals
are addressed throughout the course as follows:
§ B-LG1: Business Professional Knowledge & Competence -
throughout this course students will be able to apply strategies that
will allow a firm to make sound investment decisions. In formulating
these strategies students will use concepts, principles and theories
from core business professional knowledge and competence both
from generic and specific business areas. They will gain a deep
understanding of the key areas of financial management: investment
decision-making, (NPV, IRR, etc.), financial optimal structure
(capital structure, debt and equity financing), and dividend policy.
These topics are central to decisions made by financial managers
regarding the goals and financial strategy of a corporation, financial
statements and their analysis, and financial forecasting and planning.
Performance will be assessed by the instructor mainly through
multiple choice exams, and a case study analysis.

§ B-LG2: Decision Making - through an integrated case study, students

will recognize and describe analytical-quantitative approaches to
business and managerial decision-making situations. They will also
demonstrate competency in the application of these analytical-
quantitative approaches. They will be able to understand and apply
financial analysis principles and methodologies to a listed/publicly
traded firm. They will use the results of the analysis to make an
informed, well-justified judgment concerning the financial health of
the company being analyzed and, if appropriate, recommend
corrective courses of action for the firm.

§ B-LG3: Ethics - OSB graduates will understand and explain ethical

principles/rules/codes of conduct and situational variables bearing
upon business/managerial ethical dilemmas. They will learn and
understand the responsibility of the firm towards its stakeholders
among which the social environment in which it operates.

§ B-LG4: Teamwork – In this course, the student will demonstrate

appropriate teamwork behavior in a group case analysis exercise.
Specific Learning The Specific Learning Objectives (SLOs) for this course that map to the
Objectives (SLO) for BBA program learning goals mentioned above are as follows:
the Course:
B-LG1: Business Professional Knowledge & Competence
1. Use time value of money concepts to assess impact of time on the
value of cash flows.
2. Recognize the characteristics and compute the value of bonds and
stocks.
3. Generate a company’s cost of capital and use it to carry out capital
budgeting analysis for new investment proposals.
4. Describe and compute risk and return of assets and well-diversified
portfolios.
5. Explain the basics of capital structure theory.

B-LG2: Decision Making & B-LG4: Teamwork

6. Apply financial statement analysis and methodologies in a group
setting to a listed/publicly traded firm and use the results of the
analysis to make an informed, well-justified judgment concerning the
financial health of the company. (Assessed using AoL rubric on case
analysis).

B-LG3: Ethics
7. Acknowledge the agency problem between the firm and its
stakeholders.

Instructional Live class lecture and discussion will be administered via Microsoft Teams.
Methodology: All class sessions will be recorded and archived. In addition, I’ll provide
some pre-recorded video lectures on certain topics as I find useful.

Performance Midterm Exam (Proctored online) 35%

Evaluation and Final Exam (Proctored online) 40%
Grading: Quizzes 15%
Group Case Analysis / Project 10%
Total 100%
Summary of Topical SLO Hours % of
Coverage: referenced Time
Introduction to Corporate Finance (Ch. 1) 7 2.00 hrs 5.33%
Working with Financial Statements (Ch. 3) 6 3.50 hrs. 9.33%
Time Value of Money (Ch. 5) 1,2,3 2.25 hrs. 6.00%
Discounted Cash Flow Valuation (Ch. 6) 1,2,3 4.50 hrs 9.33%
Interest rates and Bond Valuation (Ch. 7) 2 3.25 hrs. 8.67%
Stock Valuation (Ch. 8) 2 4.25 hrs. 8.67%
Net Present Value and Other Investment 3 3.25 hrs. 8.67%
Criteria (Ch. 9)
Making Capital Investment Decisions (Ch. 10) 3 4.00 hrs. 9.33%
Return, Risk and the Security Market Line 4 4.25 hrs. 11.33%
(Ch. 13)
Cost of Capital (Ch. 14) 3 2.50 hrs. 6.67%
Financial Leverage and Capital Structure 5 3.75 hrs. 7.33%
Policy (Ch. 16)
Total Hours 37.50 100%
(based on 15 weeks per semester @ 2.5 hours per hrs.
week)

Please note the following omissions:

• Chapter 1: section 1.5
• Chapter 3: sections 3.1, 3.5
• Chapter 7: section 7.2 onward
• Chapter 8: section 8.2 onward
• Chapter 10: section 10.5 onward
• Chapter 13: section 13.3
• Chapter 14: sections 14.5 onward
• Chapter 16: section 16.5 onward

Use of Technology: Students will be expected to use MS word, and MS excel in completing their
projects.

Academic Honesty: Academic honor, trust and integrity are fundamental to The Olayan School of
Business community. They contribute directly to the quality of your
education and reach far beyond the campus to your overall standing within
the business community. Students are expected to complete all work with the
highest standard of integrity in line with AUB’s Student Code of Conduct
and OSB’s Honor Code. Plagiarism, forgery, cheating or any form of
 academic misconduct will not be tolerated. In other words, examinations are
to be the work of the individual student using only the material permitted
during the examination.

Other Course Policies: § Attendance: You are expected to attend all live class meetings. For
most of you these are new concepts and therefore you need to actively
participate all class meetings along with completing the activities to
master the material. Please note that I’ll lock the meeting room, and
you need to wait until you are admitted. To minimize disruption, I ask
that you join the meetings right on time.

§ Turn-it-In: Students must submit all written projects to turnitin.com

on the same day that they submit their work to their instructors.
Turnitin.com is simply an aid to ensure that a student’s work is their
own. Further details concerning turnitin.com will be provided in class

§ Deadlines and Due Dates: These will be strictly enforced. Project

group formation and the project itself are due on the fixed date. Late
submissions will be penalized. Please refer to project description for
more information.

§ Group work: Individuals must contribute their fair share to any group
effort resulting in a deliverable to the instructor. In addition, everyone
in the group will be held accountable for the quality, originality and
proper sourcing of the entire group product.

§ Exams: Midterm and final exams will be administered via Moodle

with an online proctoring service (Respondus). ONLINE
PROCTORED TESTING is a requirement in this course. A webcam
and audio are required, and students must download the Respondus
Lockdown Browser to a laptop or computer with an operating system
(not a phone or cloud based system) used to take these tests. All
exams are closed book and closed note and you can only use the
formula sheet and a calculator during the exams. Please refer to the
following OSB exam policy: “The instructor reserves the right to use
digital tools such as Respondus or Webex or Moodle-based or similar
tool to remote proctor (with or without video recording) any timed
online quiz or exam or assessment of any form. The instructor
reserves the right to use alternative assessment options to ensure the
 achievement of student learning outcomes such as oral tests,
interviews, projects, and term papers. By signing up for this course,
you confirm that you have read and accepted this form of remote
proctoring and all terms and provisions of AUB’s Privacy
Statement.”

Additional § Quizzes: Three pre-scheduled quizzes will be administered during the

Information: semester; any student missing a quiz may receive a 0/100 grade on
that quiz.

§ Connect Home Works: Ungraded home works from each chapter will
be assigned, and students are STRONGLY encouraged to complete
all these home works for each chapter immediately after it is covered
in class. 3 attempts for each home work is allowed and one must
complete all 3 attempts to view the solution.

§ Group Case Analysis: A group case analysis / project is required for

the purpose of assessing competency of students in the application of
analytical-quantitative approaches as related to Financial Statements
Analysis, and in the ability to adapt to team work. This project is
due (via Moodle) by the 16th of April.
§ Calculators: the use of a financial calculator (preferably a Ti BA II
plus) is required for live in-class problem solving sessions and during
exams. The exams will be corrected taking into consideration that the
student has access to this calculation tool.

§ Class Etiquette: I’ll mute your mic while joining the live class
sessions. Please use ‘raise your hand’ option to ask/answer a question
or to participate in discussion. Once you are allowed to talk, please
unmute yourself and enable your video. Please join from a quiet place
with minimal background and noise disruption.

§ Communication: I will often send notification / information via

Moodle to your AUB email address. It is your responsibility to check
your AUB email account on a regular basis.

§ Moodle Discussion Board: I will create a discussion board in Moodle

entitled “FINA 210 Discussion Q&A Forum”. All questions related to
the course material should be asked in the discussion board. The
 reason for this is to make sure that your classmates have the benefit of
your questions and answers to those questions. This means that you
should not e-mail me questions related to our course material unless
no satisfactory answer has been made available. Please read the
discussion board daily to see if your question has already been
answered. You are encouraged to attempt to answer a question that
has been posted if you believe that you can add to the general
understanding of the class by attempting to do so.

§ Accommodation: The Accessible Education Office (AEO)

coordinates academic accommodations and services for all eligible
AUB students with disabilities (such as ADHD, learning difficulties,
mental health conditions, chronic or temporary medical conditions,
and others). If you have a disability for which you wish to request
accommodations at the department, faculty or university level, please
contact AEO as soon as possible. Once you register with our office,
we will assist you in receiving appropriate accommodations and will
liaise with your instructors and any related entity to best support your
needs. AEO is located in West Hall room 314, and can be reached by
phone at 1-350000 ext. 3246 or by email: accessibility@aub.edu.lb.
Information about our services can be found at:
https://www.aub.edu.lb/SAO/Pages/Accessible-Education.aspx

§ Non-Discrimination – Title IX - AUB: In line with its commitment to

the principle of equal opportunity in education and employment,
AUB policies protect you from discrimination on the basis of
protected characteristics, including discriminatory harassment and
sexual harassment. Protected characteristics include: race, color,
religion, age, national or ethnic identity, sex, gender or gender
identity, sexual orientation, pregnancy, marital status, disability,
genetic predisposition or carrier status, alienage or citizenship status,
and political affiliation.
§ The policies are applicable to all the AUB Community including:
officers, faculty, staff, academic appointees, students (including
medical interns and residents), visiting students, alumni, trainees,
visitors, contractors, subcontractors, suppliers, located on campus and
at AUB Medical Center, Advancing Research Enabling Communities
Center (AREC), or any other facility or program affiliated with the
University. The “AUB community” also includes the dependents and
 domestic employees of faculty and staff dwelling on campus and at
AREC.
§ If you think you have experienced discrimination, discriminatory
harassment, or sexual harassment, we encourage you to inform the
Equity/Title IX Coordinator, Mitra Tauk at 01-350000 ext. 2514,
titleix@aub.edu.lb, report to a Title IX deputy at your faculty or at
any other faculty (www.aub.edu.lb/titleix), or report online
(www.aub.ethicspoint.com). Reports may be submitted anonymously
or not. Please know that the University will maintain the
confidentiality of the complaint and privacy of the persons involved
to the greatest extent possible, consistent with its goal of conducting a
thorough and complete investigation and to the extent permitted by
law.
§ You need to also know that the University has designated academic
and administrative department/unit heads, managerial level staff,
academic advisors, protection officers, and residence hall
staff/monitors, as responsible employees or “mandatory reporters”,
and may designate others at its discretion. These individuals are
obligated to report actual or suspected discrimination or
discriminatory harassing conduct to the Equity/Title IX Coordinator,
unless they are a “confidential” resource. The following have been
designated as confidential resources: on campus counselors in the
Counseling Center of the Office of Student Affairs and AUB Medical
Center counselors, and healthcare providers at the University Health
Services (UHS) and at the AUB Medical Center. Confidential
resources are not required to report actual or suspected discrimination
or harassment to appropriate university officials, except in cases of
suspected abuse of a minor, in the event of an external investigation
or prosecution, or in the event of imminent danger to the reporting
party or others.