Professional skills and expertise
This module equips students with the knowledge and skills that are needed to analyze and prepare key financial decisions and organize effective budgeting and controlling processes in internationally active companies.
On successful completion of this module, students will be able to:

• interpret financial statements of multinational companies (balance sheet, income statement, cash flow statement) and describe the interdependencies between these financial statements
  
• analyze the value and risks of different asset classes
  
• compare different forms of funding of multinational companies (equity versus debt financing / short-term versus long-term financing)
  
• analyze the capital structure of multinational companies
  
• prepare and evaluate investment proposals
  
• describe the specifics of controlling processes in internationally active companies
  
• design effective budgeting, forecasting, and controlling processes for multinational companies
  

• apply critical thinking when interpreting financial information
  
• communicate about the financial status of a company in a clear and comprehensible way (e.g. in the form of well-designed monthly controlling reports)
  

• apply standard spreadsheet software for financial analyses
  
• explain the role of "big data" and data analytics tools in the controlling function of multinational companies
  

None

This module covers the following topics:
I. Assessing the financial situation of a multinational company
• The main financial statements and the interrelations between these financial statements (balance sheet, income statement [profit & loss account], cash flow statement)
• Evaluating the financial performance of a multinational corporation (including the use of financial ratios / key performance indicators [KPIs])
II. Financing decisions in multinational companies
• Options for financing multinational companies
• Capital structure (equity vs. debt)
• Long-term and short-term financing
• Interest rates and the cost of capital
• The treasury function in multinational companies
III. Evaluating investment opportunities & valuation of assets
• Asset classes, asset valuation & risk assessment
• The role of capital markets
• Methods for evaluating and deciding between investment proposals (e.g. net present value/discounted cash flow, internal rate of return, payback)
IV. Budgeting and controlling in an international context
• Specifics of international controlling
• Designing effective budgeting, forecasting, and controlling processes in multinational companies
• Contribution margin calculations
• The monthly closing process and analysis of monthly financial results

Atrill, P. & McLaney, E. (2018). Management Accounting for Decision Makers. 9th ed. Harlow: Pearson.
Berk J. & DeMarzo P. (2019). Corporate Finance. 5rd global ed. Harlow: Pearson.
Berman, K., Knight, J. & Case, J. (2013). Financial Intelligence: A Manager's Guide to Knowing What the Numbers Really Mean. 2nd ed. Boston, MA: Harvard Business Review Press.
Eiteman, K. D., Stonehill, I. A , Moeffett, M. H. (2015). Multinational Business Finance. 14th ed. Harlow: Pearson. Chapters 1, 4, 13, 14.
Madura, J. (2018). International Financial Management. 13th ed. Boston, MA: Cengage Learning. Chapters 17, 18, 20, 21.

• Lecture and discussion
  
• Self-study
  
• Group work
  
• Financial case studies

Integrated module exam (immanent examination character):

• Final written exam (80%)
  
• Controlling group work (20%)