MBA Finance

Duration: 8 weeks

The module will focus on leading and developing individuals and high-performance teams within an organisational culture. Consideration will also be given to approaches to workforce planning including talent management, learning organisations, workforce design, succession planning, diversity, and inclusion. Leadership theory and practice, communication, and decision-making will be explored, and the impact on strategic workforce planning. There will be an appraisal of own role and capacity in these areas.

Outline Syllabus:

• Managing self and personal development
• Communication and interpersonal processes
• Group dynamics
• Leadership theory and practice
• Organisational psychology (personality and motivation)
• Organisational culture (incl. storytelling)
• Developing people, knowledge and skills
• Decision making

Duration: 8 weeks

The module Marketing and Stakeholder Engagement aims to equip students with a critical appreciation of the marketing subject area and how organisations can create enhanced competitiveness through stakeholder engagement. The module introduces marketing management to students whose previous studies and current occupations may be very diverse and emphasises the need for a critical and analytical perspective. It therefore assumes no previous knowledge of the subject. The module investigates marketing within a global environment, and a consideration of how the impact of environmental trends and customer demands shapes companies marketing strategies. A focus on key stakeholders and their level of engagement will be considered. The module is to be practically based with application to industry. It will establish a sound foundation of knowledge of marketing core concepts that can be integrated with and further built upon in subsequent modules within the course.

Outline Syllabus:

• The marketing management process and the business environment
• Global marketing strategic challenges
• Brand management and reputation
• Marketing research and trend analysis
• New market strategies, changing customer demands and trend analysis
• Stakeholder engagement
• How the strategy of an organisation impacts on the marketing plan

Duration: 8 weeks

This module relies on concepts of strategic decision making to explore how strategy is conceived, by integrating theory, practice, and experience. Key questions the module will explore are related to how strategy affects the organisation and how the organisation can be designed to realise its strategy efficiently and effectively, given the understanding of the internal structures, processes and culture, and the external conditions. The module will bring students to know how mission, vision and values are shaped in an organisation. It will cover topics related to organisational structures, business models and how the external environment (political, economic, social, technological, environmental, and legal) impacts current and new strategies. This module is designed to build students’ skills and strategic decision making, in terms of assessment of situation, information and resources, conceptualisation of strategies, implementation, and monitoring of the results. Within this module, reasonable people, with different experiences, specialised skills and functional perspectives, will have different views. Strategy involves making sense together, through an innovative and creative process.

Students will be asked to perform research based on complex information and constructs, analyse real life business situations challenging the status quo, and reflect on their own practice.

Outline Syllabus:

• The concept of Strategy, strategy as a theory and strategy as a practice, and the manager as a strategist, the importance of anticipating the future and strategic thinking.
• Shaping organisational vision, culture and values
• Organisational structures; business modelling; diversity; global perspectives; the external environment, social, technological and policy implications
• Supporting the strategy making process with tools and models. The importance of understanding industry dynamics to anticipate and shape competition in the future. Identifying, analysing and appraising resources and capabilities.
• Strategy in practice in creating and sustaining competitive advantage. Business Strategy, Corporate Strategy,
• Use of horizon scanning and conceptualisation to deliver high performance strategies focusing on growth/sustainable outcomes
• Leadership Reflections

Duration: 8 weeks

The module aims to give background and advancement of the understanding that managers and leaders need in terms of financial applications. The module will cover the basis of financial and management accounting, introducing concepts which lead to the development of a more competent understanding of the budgeting and other associated resource allocation problems. Further to this, financial accounting is introduced as separate from management accounting, to enable understanding of the financial reporting statements which firms must produce to be compliant with the regulations of their company structures. Beyond this we review some financial analysis, including trend identification and concepts or issues that firms face from their funding choices. This leads to a greater understanding of the financial consequences of the decisions which management choose.

Outline Syllabus:

• Management Accounting – The identification of core concepts such as revenues and costs. How these constructs come together to create profit or surplus. What is the importance of profit and cash. Why are these constructs different. This section will include cost management in the form of procurement contracts and supply chain management.
• Management Accounting – How we can use ideas of costs and revenues to create/manage profit or surpluses, and how we can plan for these, using the various Management Accounting concepts and tools (Break-Even, Budgeting, Full Costing, etc.).
• Financial Accounting – What types of firms exist and what are the requirements placed upon them report information to stakeholders. This will include Statement of Financial Position, Statement of Comprehensive Income, Cash Flow Statement and how they are derived.
• Financial Accounting – Analysis of the financial health, including, profitability, liquidity, etc. of an entity and how this information can be interpreted for use in terms of financial decision making.
• Financial Management – from budgeting and cash flow management, the module develops the ideas of cash flow investment appraisal techniques. This includes how the discount rates are derived, which cash flows to include, as well as reviewing other investment appraisals techniques, evaluating their strengths and weaknesses.
• Leadership reflections

Duration: 8 weeks

The module examines corporate governance concepts and principles, developing the key skills necessary to support the development of good governance, risk management, control, and stakeholder dialogue throughout the organisation. The module provides an overview of the role of boards and directors in corporate governance and also develops an understanding of an essential role that corporate social responsibility (CSR) plays in corporate governance worldwide. The module aims to develop students who understand and appreciate the importance of going beyond financial information and supporting good ethical business practices to help companies sustain long-term success. Cybersecurity is essential to good corporate governance and risk management. The module evaluates techniques to manage cybersecurity risks within the student’s own organisation and the wider environment.

Outline Syllabus:

• An overview of governance evolution and practice
• Framework and principles of corporate governance
• The role of boards and directors in corporate governance
• Relations with stakeholders
• Risk management and internal control
• Corporate Social Responsibility
• CSR and Sustainability within the student’s own organisation
• Introduction to Business Ethics
• Ethics in organisations and values-based leadership
• Cybersecurity in governance and risk management

Duration: 8 weeks

The module has a strong focus on entrepreneurial thinking, innovation, creativity and intrapreneurship, leading to the development of a business case. There will be consideration of the innovative and creative process, both at individual and corporate level. Corporate entrepreneurship and intrapreneurship take place not only as a desired result of a company’s strategy but also as a precondition of strategic success in a responsible environment which can result in creating and sustaining competitive advantage. In a similar role to that of entrepreneurs, intrapreneurs seek to provide solutions to problems, for example low productivity, excess waste, poor quality, low morale. As well as identifying the potential business benefits of intrapreneurship, there will be consideration of strategies to encourage, nurture and lead intrapreneurship within the organisation There will be the production a strategic plan for a project which will enable the implementation of an innovative solution to a business issue.

Outline Syllabus:

• Individual and corporate entrepreneurship
• Models of intrapreneurship
• Benefits of intrapreneurship, fostering and encouraging entrepreneurial thinking at different levels within own organisation, and strategies and frameworks to support this
• Leading and driving a culture which supports the development of innovative and intrapreneurial thinking
• Strategies for resourcing innovation within an organisation
• Producing a plan for an innovation-based project.

Duration: 8 weeks

This course aims to equip hospitality managers with the skills and knowledge to understand and apply the principles of managing yield from resources and space in the hospitality sector including accommodation, food and beverages, meeting and events.

Students will gain a detailed understanding of the Yield and Revenue Management function within a hospitality organisation using tools and techniques to improve and evaluate the overall profitability of the operation. The course will focus on understanding the drivers for improving both the top line and the bottom line with tools and techniques specific to the hospitality sector.

Outline Syllabus:

• Principles of Yield Management and the evolution from rooms yield management to total revenue management. The concept of differential pricing will be explored and the growing importance of the role of the Revenue Manager.
• The concept of price in the hospitality industry. This will include understanding the importance of pricing strategies for creating value for the customer as well as ensuring that the costs of the business are understood. Techniques will combine an understanding of both marketing and financial concepts to develop an overall strategy to pricing.
• Budgets, forecasts, and demand forecasting along with different types of market segmentation commonly used by the sector.
• The growth of yield management practices across all aspects of the hospitality business to improve the profitable usage of business resources such as space and time.
• Reporting and interpreting hospitality performance measurements to improve profitably and the long-term sustainability in a post-COVID operating environment to fulfil key stakeholder requirements

Duration: 8 weeks

Corporate Communications and Financial Analysis teaches students how to read, analyse, and interpret financial information provided by companies in the form of statements prepared using generally accepted accounting principles. Students will also consider the interrelationships between the financial statements. The remaining published narrative in the annual reports will play an important role in the interpretation of the performance of the company and its approach to issues such as ethics, sustainability and the environment, employees, future direction of the company and the needs of users of accounting information. Using both quantitative and qualitative techniques all the
information will be applied to analyse whether or not the available information meets the needs of all stakeholders. Students will be introduced to the stock exchange information available for listed companies and how this might complement the information in the annual financial statements.

Corporate Communications and Financial Analysis is designed to be particularly useful for finance-oriented students engaged in many facets of industry including consulting, elements of corporate finance, entrepreneurship, general management, investment, lending or credit control. It may also provide a steppingstone for those outside the finance discipline who wishes to transition to a more finance-oriented career. The course blends theory and practice with particular focus shed on day-to-day practical problems related to interpreting financial statements and the limitations of that information.

Outline Syllabus:

• An introduction to the financial reporting environment and an overview of the audited financial statements included in the corporate communications – outline the importance of the balance sheet (statement of financial position), the income statement (comprised the basic income statement and a supplementary statement of comprehensive income), the cash flow statement and their different components. Introduce the conceptual framework and the importance of the notes and other disclosures which accompany financial statements.
• Introduction to the users of accounting information and their individual needs as stakeholders. Consideration will be given to why companies spend a considerable amount of time and money producing their financial statements, the underlying reasons behind this behaviour and the extent to which these communications fulfil their intended objectives. Content will include qualitative as well as quantitative information published in the annual reports of companies and will also consider the social relevance of these published documents.
• Liquidity and activity ratios – provide an analytic overview of the two categories of financial ratios with an emphasis on the cash cycle of money.
• Operating and efficiency ratios – evaluate the aspects of different operating efficiency measures and relate them to gearing. Analyse further how profitability affects decision making and its relationship with profit distribution policies.
• Investment ratios – describe different evaluation metrics and delve deeper into valuation based on this and other measures. Make inferences towards the agency relationship between managers and shareholders.
• Cash flow analysis, profitability and the Dupont Identity analysis showing how the ROE can be represented as the product of 3 other ratios, profit margin, total asset turnover and the equity multiplier. Content may include common sized statements and horizontal analysis.
• Introduction to the Primary and Secondary markets and the London or other international Stock Exchange – highlight the constituents of the information reported daily in the Financial Times and recognise how this compares to the balance sheet valuation of a company’s shares. Students ultimately should be able to understand publicly available information which may be influential in interpreting the financial statements by the users of those statements.

Duration: 8 weeks

The module aims to provide a background to corporate finance. Corporate finance is concerned with how firms get money (raise finance) and how they use that money (investment and management) in ways that allow the company to fulfil its aims and objectives; often around increasing shareholders’ returns on their investments. This module will explain what businesses should consider when they are making financing decisions. A financing decision can have major implications for the success or even survival of an organisation. Consider, for example, an organisation that needs to raise funds so as to finance its expansion. Decision makers should consider what the most effective financing options could be and what implications they may have in the overall financial performance of the organisation. In the context of this module, several tools and techniques that support corporate finance decision making, will be presented.

Outline Syllabus:

• An introduction to corporate finance, outlining the key factors that may affect corporate financial strategy (e.g., stakeholders, links to risk, ethics and sustainability, legal and governance areas).
• Capital structure- The identification of core concepts and methods such as the Modigliani- Miller propositions; the concept of target capital structure and the trade-offs between debt and equity.
• Equity and long-term financing- explain the different mechanisms by which equity and debt financing can be raised; assess the determinants of the cost of debt financing; understand the factors that need to be considered in the management of debt.
• Short-term financing – The focus here is to understand and evaluate alternative approaches to short-term financing.; understand working capital and the financing requirements.
• Cost of capital and weighted average cost of capital – estimate an organisation’s cost of equity and its cost of debt; calculate an organisation’s cost of capital.
• Dividend policy – to explain the alternative perspectives on dividend policy and explain the choices available to decision makers and investors.
• Mergers & Acquisitions (M&As) – to provide an introduction to mergers and acquisitions; explain the alternative avenues (e.g., horizontal/vertical mergers) and the motivations for M&As).

Duration: 32 weeks

The Negotiated learning Project forms the final part of the MBA Leadership, MBA Finance, University of Lincoln Module Specification MBA Hospitality Management and associated pathways and allows students to demonstrate mastery of their chosen pathway in a ‘capstone’ project for an organisation, which also considers the Lincoln International Business School’s principles of responsible management. It is an individual and independent project in which students can focus on a chosen business problem or challenge, bringing together elements of the students learning from different parts of their MBA to demonstrate accumulated knowledge and understanding of management and its application to an organisation through synoptic assessment. The Negotiated Learning Project provides students the opportunity – as leaders and managers in an organisation – to initiate, lead and drive change within a company. The Business Project is undertaken in an area chosen by the student, related to their pathway and is supervised by a member of Faculty. The module provides a framework for business research methods and requires the in-depth development of a proposal for the Business Project. By undertaking the project students will be demonstrating their ability to research and critically analyse and integrate complex information as well as demonstrating the core skills and behaviours necessary in the world of contemporary leadership and management and cognisant of ethics, sustainability, and responsible management.

Outline Syllabus:

• Leading and identifying the stages of a work-based project which is appropriate for the professional context Project planning focusing on aims, methodology, resources and criteria for evaluation
• Principles of responsible management; reflection and critique
• Research ethics process (LEAS)
• Values and ethics of an organisation and their impact on organisational projects
• Undertaking research, data analysis, problem solving and decision-making techniques
• Use of evidence-based tools and ethical approaches to undertake problem solving and support decision making
• Presenting project process and outcomes in appropriate manner and format