Financial Management – Fin 301— Winter Quarter 2021 - 4 credits

Eliezer M. Fich Primary contact method E-mail: emf35@drexel.edu

Office Hours: Mondays, Tuesdays, and Thursdays 10am – 3pm (Please request appointment 24 hrs in advance)

Lecture time: Wednesdays and Fridays 10:00 am – 11:50 am

ZOOM LECTURE LINK:

https://drexel.zoom.us/j/87647867483?pwd=Zk81Z05EWEhyM2Z2SE1heFA5ajlFZz09

PASSCODE: 401997

I. Teaching Assistants

In addition to my office hours, Michael D’Antuono and Torin Mcfarland two of our finest
doctoral students in Finance, will hold office hours in order to offer additional help to students.
The TAs’ office hours schedule and contact information are as follows:

Office hours Link: https://drexel.zoom.us/j/81429100878

TA Office Hours E-mail

Michael D'Antuono Mondays 10am -11am / Thursdays 6pm -7pm md3589@drexel.edu
Torin Mcfarland Tuesdays 2pm – 3pm / Fridays 9am – 10am tmm462@drexel.edu

II. Statement of Expected Learning

A. Course Objectives

This course addresses the basic theory and practice of financial management. The course has the
following principal objectives:

• To provide a good foundation in basic concepts of finance, including the time value of
money, valuation, portfolio theory, asset pricing, and the risk-return tradeoff;
• To develop skills in financial analysis; and
• To develop perspective and judgment in business decisions and an appreciation for planning
and decision-making in a complex world.

B. Course Purpose within a Program of Study

To provide a working knowledge of the concepts, problems and applications of financial-

decision-making as related to the financial management of the corporation. We will examine the
basic concepts underlying modern finance theory and the practical application of those concepts.
Corporate Financial Management involves a way of looking at the firm that the student can take
with them throughout their education and work careers regardless of their choice of business
discipline. The class will focus heavily on financial applications such as capital budgeting, the
time value of money, risk and return, stocks and bonds valuation, and the cost of capital.
Finance, Economics, Entrepreneurship, and Accounting majors will benefit from this course by
learning the foundational core finance principles taught. These principles will serve as the basis
for many key topics in these disciplines. Students interested in other business disciplines (e.g.:
Marketing, Management, Information Systems) or those pursuing degrees in non-business fields
(e.g.: Engineering, Political Science, etc.) will find the basic financial concepts taught in this
class useful in understating their personal finances as well as the finances of their eventual
employers.

C. Learning Objectives

Over the duration of this course, students should strive to:

• Understand the time value of money. Be able to construct a timeline or table of cash flows
for investment decisions. Recognize the “equivalence” principle between different sets of
cash flows. Be familiar with the mathematics underlying the calculations – don’t “outsource
your thinking” to a spreadsheet or computer program.
• Know how to identify profitable corporate projects. Know how and when to apply methods
such as net present value and internal rate of return analysis. Develop a “mental checklist” of
the relevant cash flows. Be able to identify important opportunity costs. Understand and
construct useful sensitivity analyses to address the question “what would cause me to change
my mind about this investment?”
• Understand the principles of stock and bond valuation. Know how to apply present value
methods to estimate the price of a share of stock or the price of a bond. Recognize the inverse
relation between interest rates and bond values.
• Understand the relationship between risk and return. Know the different asset pricing models
that help us characterize such relationship. Understand the principle of diversification.

D. LeBow Program Learning Outcomes (PLOs) and Competencies

Competency: Economic analysis/Financial acumen
Problem solving: Applied quantitative analysis and decision-making

III. Course Policies: Attendance, Participation, and etiquette

Despite the size of the class, I know if you are absent. Please e-mail me if you are going to miss
class. Missing class is often correlated with poor performance in the quizzes and in the class. Try
not to miss class! I really want you to learn a lot and to do well in this course.

For many of you, this will be your first exposure to finance. Some of you, perhaps through the
Drexel co-op program, might have some experience in the financial industry. I view the
interaction among the class and experiences from any prior employment to be an important part
of the learning process. Class attendance and participation are important. However, due to the
short schedule of this course students should avoid lengthy discussions and matters that may
slow the pace of the class. High quality (vs. high quantity) class participation is suggested. In

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addition, everyone is encouraged to contact the instructor and/or teaching assistants (TAs)
outside class to further clarify issues or to ask questions about the material covered. Mike, our
TA, will moderate the zoom chat for questions. I will check with him in order to answer them.

A word on etiquette: Distractions impede the necessary communication that takes place during
class. Distractions interfere with the instructor’s ability to effectively convey the material being
presented, as well as interfere with students’ ability to receive and synthesize such material. Any
student exhibiting distracting actions will earn negative attendance and participation credits.
Distracting actions include, but are not limited to, cell phones (ringing and conversing), text
messaging, late arrival, conversing with fellow students during class time. Please understand that
this policy is in place to provide an atmosphere conducive to learning.

IV. Required Materials

• TEXTBOOK. Ross, Westerfield, & Jordan, Fundamentals of Corporate Finance 12th

Edition. McGraw Hill Education. [ISBN: 978-130734845-3]. A discounted “Introduction to
Finance” edition is available in the Drexel bookstore. Access to McGraw Hill Connect comes
with the text and is needed to complete the homework assignments.

See Connect Registration Instructions (in BBLearn Connect Folder) for all purchase options.

• FINANCIAL CALCULATOR. Students will use a financial calculator to solve problems in

class, for homework, and during quizzes. Bring your calculator to class daily! I recommend
Texas Instrument BA II Plus because there are great tutorials available online including the one
at: http://www.tvmcalcs.com/calculators/baiiplus/baiiplus_page1. Other models are acceptable,
but you have to go over the user manual on your own.
• DREXEL LEARN. The course site contains lecture slides and practice quizzes. The slides
provide a basic outline of the material that should be complemented with the full information
contained in the Textbook. Practice quizzes contain problems similar to those in the real quizzes.

V. Prerequisites

Minimum Grade: D in either STAT 201 or STAT 205 or STAT 261

AND
Minimum Grade: D in either ACCT 115 or ACCT 110 or HRM 310

VI. Grades

A. Grades will be assigned with the following weights:

o Homework sets 30% (see due dates)

o Quizzes 70%, w/the following grading scheme:

Quiz 1 and Quiz 2: Higher score 20% lowest score 15% = Total 35%
Quiz 3 and Quiz 4: Higher score 20% lower score 15% = Total 35%
If you miss a quiz, it will receive a grade of zero.

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B. The first three quizzes will become available through BBLearn/Connect from 9:45am
until 12:15 pm The quiz will be automatically submitted at 12:15pm, so try to start solving it
when it first opens to maximize your time. If you do this, you will have an extra 40 minutes to
work on your quiz. We cannot allow students who start the quiz late to make up for lost time. No
late submissions will be accepted. Again, we will not re-open quizzes.

Al quizzes are open textbook / open notes / open financial calculator manual. But must be
solved individually without help from others.

Because of the generous grading scheme described in Section A and the extra 40 minutes we are
providing to complete every quiz; NO MAKEUP QUIZZES OR EXTRA CREDIT
OPPORTUNITIES WILL BE SCHEDULED UNDER ANY CIRCUMSTANCES.

C. Online Quiz ALERT

IMPORTANT: As noted above, our quizzes are all open book/open notes. So, if you are using
an electronic version of the textbook, you might benefit if you have that ebook and/or the
course notes (PDF files) in a device other than the one you are using to take the quiz. So, plan
accordingly. This issue could affect your decision to purchase the electronic or physical version
of the textbook.

D. Instructor Feedback:

In an effort to provide timely feedback, we will try to post quiz grades within 7 days.

E. Grade Scale

A+ 97-100 B+ 87-89 C+ 77-79 D+ 65-69

A 93-96 B 83-86 C 73-76 D 60-64
A- 90-92 B- 80-82 C- 70-72 F Below 60

VII. Class Preparations

Along with the material lectured in class, advanced class preparation is probably the most
important part of your learning experience. Students should review the chapters and course
notes that pertain to the material to be covered in the following lecture. In the past, students who
have followed this strategy tend to earn higher grades in this class.

VIII. Studying
So, how do you study for this class and prepare for lectures and quizzes? Below, is the sequence
I recommend.
1. Learn to use your financial calculator ASAP! See: https://www.atomiclearning.com/ti_ba2

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2. Read the chapter before the lecture. Underline concepts, definitions and formulas (or write
these on index cards).
3. After the lecture, review the problems we solved in class.
4. Review the homework problems to prepare for our quizzes.
5. Complete the practice quiz before each real quiz

IX. Academic Policies

Academic Integrity, Plagiarism, and Cheating Policy:

The link to the Student Handbook
(http://www.drexel.edu/studentaffairs/community_standards/studentHandbook/) please review
the Student Conduct & Community Standards. The Handbook provides information regarding
Academic Integrity, Plagiarism, and Cheating. These policies are important and will be enforced
in this class.

Students with Disabilities Statement:

Student with disabilities requesting accommodations and services at Drexel University need to
present a current Accommodation Verification Letter (AVL) to faculty before accommodations
can be made. AVL's are issued by the Office of Disability Resources (ODR). For additional
information, contact ODR at www.drexel.edu/odr, 3201 Arch St., Street, Suite 210, Philadelphia,
PA 19104, 215.895.1401 (V), or 215.895.2299 (TTY).

Please see http://drexel.edu/oed/disabilityResources/faculty/SyllabusStatement/ )

Course Add/Drop/Withdrawal Policies:

Please refer to the following University policies regarding adding, dropping, and withdrawing
from courses:

http://drexel.edu/drexelcentral/courses/adjustments/Adding%20and%20Dropping%20Courses/
http://drexel.edu/drexelcentral/courses/adjustments/course-withdraw/

X. Academic policies

Time Zones and Assignment Due Dates

Drexel’s Blackboard servers are located in the Eastern Time Zone (currently observing EDT
which is UTC-4). All due dates and times should be understood as being displayed in Eastern
Time. For example, an assignment that is due at 11:59 PM (EDT) on a Wednesday would be due
on Wednesday at 8:59 PM Pacific (PDT) and due on Thursday at 3:59 AM UTC. Students
should adjust any deadlines to their own time zone. No changes to due dates/times (or how they
display in Blackboard) can be made for students in other time zones.

Email Correspondence
Since your instructor will not be meeting students in person, it is even more important for
students to check their Drexel email at least three (3) times per week for important course-related
information. Students should only send questions to instructors from their Drexel email

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account and not from an external account (e.g. gmail). For security purposes, instructors are
directed to not reply to student emails that come from non-drexel email addresses and instructors
will only use their own official Drexel email accounts to communicate with students.

Faculty Feedback and Grades

If your instructor listed a preferred method of communication for student questions (email,
phone, etc.), using that method may shorten response times. In general, faculty teaching
remotely or online check their email at least once per weekday, but given the current emergency,
these frequencies may vary.

Grades and feedback for assignments and tests will be posted to Blackboard Learn typically
within two weeks of the due date. If you do not see grades after this timeframe, reach out to your
instructor.

General Technical Support

Students who need technical support can use the following contacts. When emailing, consider
including a phone number for tech representatives to call back if needed.
• Drexel Accounts (can’t log in, multi-factor authentication, Office365)
Email: consult@drexel.edu
• Zoom support (logging in, using Zoom, etc.)
1) Help option within the Zoom app
2) LeBow Tech: lcbtech@drexel.edu (low urgency questions during business hours)
3) Drexel 24/7 support: 215-895-1224 (high urgency or issues after business hours)
• Blackboard Support (Course materials, videos, assignments, tests, etc.)
1) Drexel 24/7 support: 215-895-1224
2) LeBow Instructional Tech: lebowintech@drexel.edu
• Business software/vApps (SAS, JMP, MATLAB, Minitab, Stata, etc.)
LeBow Tech: lcbtech@drexel.edu

Appropriate Use of Course Materials

It is important to recognize that some or all of the course materials provided to you may be the
intellectual property of Drexel University, the course instructor, or others. Use of this
intellectual property is governed by Drexel University policies, including the IT-1 policy found
at: https://drexel.edu/it/about/policies/policies/01-Acceptable-Use/

Briefly, this policy states that all course materials including recordings provided by the course
instructor may not be copied, reproduced, distributed or re-posted. Doing so may be considered a
breach of this policy and will be investigated and addressed as possible academic dishonesty,
among other potential violations. Improper use of such materials may also constitute a violation
of the University’s Code of Conduct found at: https://drexel.edu/cpo/policies/cpo-1/ and will be
investigated as such.

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Remote Class Facilitation Expectations
During the activation of Drexel’s emergency preparedness plan, courses which were to take
place in a classroom will now be facilitated remotely using webinar technologies (e.g. Zoom)
and through supplemental uses of Drexel’s Blackboard Learn LMS. Any synchronous class
sessions will take place during the originally scheduled class time but will also be recorded and
can be made available to students who, due to substantial time zone shift or illness, are not able
to attend the live event (students should contact their instructor as soon as possible if they
anticipate this need). Faculty office hours will also take place via Zoom, Microsoft Teams, etc.
and can be scheduled at various times to best meet student needs. Meeting links will be placed
in Blackboard for easy student access.

Zoom Participation and Support (this info will also be posted in Bb with the Zoom link)
When Zoom is used for class meetings and office hours, a link will normally be placed in
Blackboard. Zoom apps exist for Windows and Mac computers, as well as many mobile
platforms (visit zoom.us/download). Students can test compatibility prior to any class session by
visiting zoom.us/test from their device. Students should minimize distractions and multi-
tasking during class time to fully engage with the class. Instructors will ask students to join
via audio and/or video to gauge attendance and class participation. Also pay attention to
any special instructions or a required password that your instructor may have posted along with
the webinar link.

For security purposes, students are asked to log into Zoom using their Drexel account.
Students who do not log in may not get connected to the class meeting. Follow these steps to log
in the first time:
1. Visit drexel.zoom.us and click the option for Sign In Standard to ensure that your Zoom
account is activated. Enter your username and password into Drexel Connect to complete the
login, but then you can close that browser window.
2. Download, install, and launch the Zoom client for your device (zoom.us/download)
3. Click the Sign In button in the Zoom app but then click the “Sign in with SSO” option,
enter Drexel as the Company Domain and click Continue. Enter your Drexel username and
password into Drexel Connect and complete any multi-factor authentication steps.
4. After you authenticate, you will be asked to open a link in the Zoom application to
complete your login to the Zoom client

Note: You should not have to repeat this process on that computer if you stay signed into
the app. So, for subsequent meetings, you would just need the meeting ID or link and any
meeting password.

Other Best Practices: When joining a zoom room, mute your microphone so that you don’t
cause noise or feedback in the session. If you have a question/comment, you can either type it
into the chat or you can use the “Raise hand” feature to signal to your instructor that you wish to
speak, wait to be acknowledged, and then unmute your microphone. Be sure to mute again when
finished. It is also recommended that you use earphone/earbuds on a webinar call to help
reduce feedback and echo. Tip: the person causing echo in a call will usually not hear the echo
themselves.

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Bandwidth Issues: Students who experience connectivity issues related to internet bandwidth
can try the following:
• Check for bandwidth usage – chances are you’re not the only one using the internet at
your location. Check to see if anyone else is streaming videos and, if they are, ask if they could
stop until your class is over.
• Dial in from a phone – usually the most important piece of a remote class is what is
being spoken. Lecture slides don’t change that often. So if you aren’t getting consistent audio,
try dialing in by telephone using the “Switch to Phone Audio” option that is found under audio
settings (the arrow to the right of the microphone icon on the desktop client). Then be sure to
mute your phone either from the handset or in the Zoom client.
• Turn off your video – this saves a little bandwidth, but make sure you check with your
instructor to see if video is required for attendance. If you need to disable video, at least upload
a profile picture so that your face is still visible when your video is off.
• Ask about the recording – some instructors will post links to class recordings in
Blackboard while others may only distribute those links to students with a valid reason for
missing class (e.g. substantial shift in time zone). If you were present but experienced internet
issues, consider asking your instructor for the recording link so you can review the portion
affected.

Live Zoom support is available from within the Zoom app. Support is also available via
Drexel’s 24/7 Student Support at 215-895-1224 (or for business courses only by contacting
LeBow Tech at lcbtech@drexel.edu or 215-895-2113).

Academic Honesty for Remote Courses

Taking classes remotely does not provide the same level of supervision by faculty for
assessments and individual work that is present in the classroom. Students must understand that
this does not affect Drexel’s policies for academic honesty. Course work should be completed
using only the materials, resources, and collaboration options permitted by the instructor.
Collaborating on individual assignments and tests is strictly prohibited. Academic integrity
incidents will still follow the normal processes and will be taken just as seriously in the remote
course facilitation model as they would in person. Students who know of academic dishonesty
incidents should inform faculty or college administration in a timely manner or else they may be
subject to similar disciplinary actions.

IX. Course Schedule and Communicating Revisions to the Course:

Below is the class schedule for the quarter. I intend to follow this schedule as closely as possible.
However, due to unforeseen circumstances adjustments to this schedule might occur. If this
happens, I will contact all students through the e-mail accounts provided to me by the University
in order to inform them of any changes to the class schedule.

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 NOTE: There are four homework sets that will be assigned online through Connect. The
homework must be submitted by 8 am on the due date. After this time, you will no longer be able
to access the homework and submit it. You will have two attempts to answer each Connect
homework question.

RWJ
Meeting Date Topic
Chapter
MODULE 1 (Chapter 5 and Chapter 6)
th
1 Wednesday, January 13 Time Value of Money 5
2 Friday, January 15th Time Value of Money/ Discounted Cash Flow Valuation 5,6
3 Wednesday, January 20th Discounted Cash Flow Valuation 6
Monday, January 25th Module 1 Homework due @ 8am
MODULE 2 (Chapter 9 and Chapter 10)
4 Friday, January 22nd Investment rules 9
th
5 Wednesday, January 27 Investment rules/Capital Investment Decisions 9,10
Thursday, January 28 th
Review for tomorrow’s quiz at 6pm
th
6 Friday, January 29 Quiz Module 1 5, 6
rd
7 Wednesday, February 3 Capital Investment Decisions 9,10
MODULE 3 (Chapter 7 and Chapter 8)
th
8 Friday, February 5 Bond Valuation 7
Monday, February 8th Module 2 Homework due @ 8am
9 Wednesday, February 10th Bond Valuation/ Stock Valuation 7,8
Thursday, February 11th Review for tomorrow’s quiz at 6pm
10 Friday, February 12th Quiz Module 2 9,10
th
11 Wednesday, February 17 Stock Valuation 8
MODULE 4 (Chapter 12 and Chapter 13)
th
12 Friday, February 19 Risk & Return (Capital Market Theory) 12
nd
Monday, February 22 Module 3 Homework due @ 8am
th
13 Wednesday, February 24 Risk & Return (Capital Market Theory) 12
Thursday, February 25 th
Review for tomorrow’s quiz at 6pm
th
14 Friday, February 26 Quiz Module 3 7,8
rd
15 Wednesday, March 3 Risk & Return (Capital Market Theory)/ CAPM/Portfolios 12,13
th
16 Friday, March 5 CAPM/Portfolios 13
Monday, March 8th Module 4 Homework due @ 8am
17 Wednesday, March 10th CAPM/Portfolios 13
th
Thursday, March 11 Review for quiz #4 at 6pm
th
18 Friday, March 12 Risk & Return (time permitting) + Review
TBD* Quiz Module 4 12,13
*Quiz Module 4 will be held during final exam week as scheduled by Drexel University