This module focuses on the crucial role finance has for economic development with particular reference to emerging countries. It is divided into two parts: part 1 ‘finance and growth’ and part 2 ‘microfinance for economic development’.
Module Aims
This module aims to provide students with a good knowledge of the nexus of finance and development and the importance of microfinance in particular for emerging and developing countries. In order to fully appreciate the dynamics of these economies, the topics covered include financial liberalisation, a review of the process of financial institution building in developing and emerging market economies and an analysis of their interactions with the global financial system. In addition, students will be able to learn about microfinance theory and practice, including products and services, risk management issues, sustainability and regulation.
Learning Outcomes
On successful completion of the module, students will be able to:
• Evaluate critically the role of financial markets, institutions and international bodies in economic development in individual countries and worldwide.
• Appraise the nexus between finance and growth.
• Assess main financial risks in developing and emerging economies.
• Appraise the role of microfinance and microcredit as alternatives to banking and financial markets in emerging/developing countries.
• Demonstrate in-depth knowledge as to why financial systems need regulation and supervision and what is special about financial regulation and supervision in developing countries
Skills for Your Professional Life (Transferable Skills)
After completing this module, students have developed and improved the following employability-related skills:
• Improve your commercial awareness by investigating the current trends in development finance, especially (but not limited to) recent trends in capital flows and capital controls, evolution of financial deepening, and new challenges for emerging markets.
• Enhance your teamwork-collaboration and written communication skills through a coursework group essay
• Develop your research skills through the use of the Global Financial Development database of the World Bank.
• Improve knowledge about the formal and informal banking systems and the importance of microfinance.
• Study and analyse the growth and trends in microfinance and its impact on the developed and developing economies
At the heart of all modern economies lies a sophisticated network of financial intermediaries whose primary function is the collection of savings from households and their subsequent allocation to organizations that need this financing. We now have a better understanding of financial intermediation stemming from two new developments over the last 30 years. First, innovative financial contracts, well-forged financial institutions and the genesis of new financial markets have come to dominate most economies today. Second, increasingly sophisticated devices such as provided by option pricing models, information-theoretic tools and strategic interaction models have facilitated the introduction of a scientific approach to studying the issues raised by these new developments.
About these financial intermediaries we ask (1) who are they? (2) what do they do? (3) why do they exist? There are two main types of financial intermediaries: depository and non-depository intermediaries. Financial intermediaries provide two main services: brokerage services and qualitative asset transformation services and justify their existence from being able to supply such services more efficiently than financial markets. We then ask what instruments and markets are utilized in the qualitative asset transformation process. The five main financial markets and instrument classes are: equities, bonds, currencies, derivatives and commodities. Naturally, financial crisis, fraud and controversy are among the issues associated with the increasing regulation of global financial markets today and the banking sector and financial markets are among the most regulated parts of every economy. We examine some of the issues.
Module Aims
The aim of this course is two-fold. First, to familiarize you with the functions of the main financial markets. Second, to ensure you have an understanding of how the main financial intermediaries perform their roles and of the types of instruments employed by these financial intermediaries in the financial markets.
Learning Outcomes
On successful completion of the module, students will be able to:
1) Distinguish between retail and investment banking.
2) Distinguish between pension funds, private equity and hedge funds.
3) Understand the role of insurance firms, pension funds, leasing and factoring firms.
4) Recognise the importance and functions of money and capital markets.
5) Identify and explain the main financial instruments traded on financial markets.
6) Appraise the current issues affecting the global financial marketplace.
The course carefully examines the basic building blocks of modern finance theory and focuses on the theoretical and analytical cornerstones on which the building blocks are placed. We study how these building blocks can, in certain cases, help us identify potentially optimal decisions now, even though the future consequences of those decisions are yet uncertain.
A common feature of finance is the need to make good use of and where possible best use of limited resources; constrained optimization techniques can often guide us in this need. Basic concepts in probability are used in finance to describe the inevitable uncertainty regarding the future. Most of us dislike risk and prefer to avoid risk, though only if the price for avoiding that risk is acceptable. We study how expected utility theory helps us measure how averse we are to taking such risks.
We then proceed to use these building blocks to examine several concepts: choice under uncertainty, maximizing returns and minimizing risk subject to constraints, mean-variance analysis and net present value.
Module Aims
The aim of this course is to familiarize you with the basic mathematical tools and the analytical skills necessary to understand modern finance theory.
Learning Outcomes
On completion of the course you should be able to
1. Apply basic mathematical techniques and tools used in modern finance.
2. Describe and evaluate measures of risk aversion using expected utility theory.
3. Understand the concept of 'efficient frontier' when investing in risky assets.
4. Evaluate choices using the net present value approach.
This module is a Level-5 auditing module designed for students who are specialising in Accounting and who may wish to pursue a career in Auditing. The module is designed to cover basic auditing concepts and the tests and procedures an auditor will undertake when performing an audit. Students will cover topics such as the need for audit, the independence of auditors, evaluating systems of internal control, verification of selected assets and liabilities and the audit report. This module will complement the third-year module BE132 Auditing with a major distinction being that this module will focus on the practice of auditing whereas in the third-year module the focus will be more on a critical examination of some key issues and concepts in auditing.
Module Aims
1. To provide students with an appreciation of the work involved in conducting a financial audit so that they understand the strengths and limitations of the techniques employed by auditors.
2. To introduce students to key concepts in auditing.
Learning Outcomes
On successful completion of the module, students will be able to:
1. Discuss why there is a need for audit and the importance of the key concepts of independence and competence and the role of auditing standards.
2. Understand the importance of the need for planning an audit.
3. Discuss the way that audit methodology has evolved and the advantages and limitations of the audit risk approach compared to the business risk approach.
4. Analyse a simple internal control system such as those relating to sales, purchases or payroll and identify the strengths and weaknesses of the system.
5. Devise tests to verify the existence, ownership, valuation and disclosure of certain assets and liabilities (long and current).
6. Identify the content and prepare a basic audit report.
The aim of the module is to enable 2nd year EBS students to engage with an ever-changing business environment and link subject understanding with the broader context of employability.
Graduate recruitment and making choices about post-graduate study starts early. Sometimes opportunities can be advertised as early as the summer between your 2nd and 3rd year. The purpose of this module is to ensure you are prepared to take advantage of graduate opportunities at the point they are advertised.
The module consists of two compulsory 2-hour lectures to introduce the graduate labour market, timelines for recruitment and introduction to the graduate recruitment processes such as different interview techniques and assessment centres. Post-graduate study will also be covered.
The module will be supported by a Conference(s) at Essex Business School, giving you the opportunity to immerse yourself in a professional, business-led environment and hear from external speakers, industry experts and EBS alumni.
The module will be completed with a final 1 hour evaluation lecture to reflect on how you can use the knowledge and skills identified from the conference.
Aims
- develop a comprehensive understanding of employment and post-graduate opportunities available to EBS students after graduation
- provide knowledge about the job market and its requirements
- develop wider employability skills
- engage with an ever-changing business environment lining subject understanding into the broader context of employability
Learning Outcomes
After completing this module you will:
1. Be adequately prepared for the graduate selection process and expectations of employers and post graduate providers.
2. Have a clear understanding of your own interests, skills and competencies, needed for lifelong career management.
3. Have a clear understanding of the need for work relevant and transferable skills.
I
Module Description
This course focuses on the theoretical and empirical underpinning of trading strategies adopted by fund managers. The course shall outline the main theories of risk and return and explore the implications of these theories for investors' decisions. In doing so the course shall address questions such as: What is the appropriate measure of risk for a particular security? How might investors decide on the weightings of different assets in their portfolios? How can we identify mispriced stocks? Should you invest your savings in an actively managed fund or in a passive fund?
The course shall begin with an overview of how investors measure a security's risk and return and then, using Markowitz's mean-variance criteria, shall illustrate how efficient portfolios can be constructed. The main difficulty with Markowitz style optimisers is how fund managers predict future risk and returns of individual securities. In this course we shall introduce some of the approaches used to make those predictions.
Bonds are often regarded as a relatively low risk asset class. Alternative measures of bond risk are evaluated, and a portfolio strategy that claims to remove all risk is outlined and critically evaluated.
Module Aims
The main aims of the course are:
* to give students an appreciation of different approaches to portfolio management
* to examine how investors may fully exploit the benefits of diversification
* to provide students with an understanding of the models that are relevant to the management of bond portfolios
* to introduce students to the main asset pricing models
Learning Outcomes
On successful completion of the module, students will be able to:
* understand what is meant by an efficient portfolio and how to identify efficient portfolio;
* explain how investors may fully exploit the benefits of diversification
* understand the importance of the CAPM and APT;
* evaluate competing measures of bond risk.
Skills for Your Professional Life (Transferable Skills)
Upon successful completion of the module, students should be able to:
* develop quantitative skills from assessing risk and returns across different asset classes such as stocks and bonds.
* Identify and implement investment strategies in determining the optimal mix of risk-return investment portfolios.
* critically evaluate portfolio performance and adjust portfolios to meet the investment objectives.
* evaluate financial information and make investment management decisions.
This module introduces students to quantitative methods that can be used to empirically analyse some of the theories introduced during other finance modules on their programmes, including asset pricing, portfolio analysis and corporate finance. With extensive use of appropriate quantitative software (EViews) students will be able to use real data to analyse financial models. An important component of the module involves using classical statistical concepts to test hypotheses relating to financial models.
Module Aims
• To familiarise students with techniques for handling financial data
• To build a bridge between financial theories and practice
• To introduce students to regression analysis with financial applications
Learning Outcomes
On successful completion of the module, students will be able to:
• Understand the principles of regression analysis and hypothesis testing
• Appropriately apply and interpret regression models
• Conduct appropriate hypothesis tests of financial models
• Examine and manipulate data using EViews
• Estimate financial models using EViews
Skills for Your Professional Life (Transferable Skills)
The module is geared towards building up or enhancing the following transferable skills:
• Fluency in data download, manipulation and statistical analysis
• Ability to run basic statistical models and interpret and present findings
• Obtain knowledge of additional issues in regression analysis that will allow you to appropriately apply these methods in a wider range of situations
The purpose of this module is to provide an introduction to corporate financial decision making. The focus is on the two major types of corporate decisions: investment decisions (spending capital) and financing decisions (raising capital). We will also present the fundamental theory of payout policy and capital structure, and introduce option pricing theory as a tool for valuing corporate flexibility. Finally, we review some smaller topics: debt financing, risk management, working capital management, and corporate restructuring.
Module Aims
The module aims to give the students an introduction to the main concepts associated with corporate financial decision making.
Learning Outcomes
On successful completion of the module, students will be able to:
1. Understand the concepts of value, net present value, and risk, and how to apply these in financial decision making
2. Understand the process of capital budgeting and the concept of efficient markets
3. Understand the fundamental principles of capital structure and payout policy
4. Understand the fundamental principles of option pricing theory and how to apply these in financial decision making
Skills for Your Professional Life (Transferable Skills)
The students will learn communication skills. Additionally, the students will learn structured problem solving – how to structure a problem and break it down into manageable smaller bits.
This module introduces students to the study of consumer behaviour. The module examines the various determinants of consumer behaviour, introduces and examines the theories of consumer behaviour and their application to managerial decision-making. In addition, the module builds an appreciation of understanding consumer behaviour in areas of new product testing, and advertising, distribution and pricing research. The module will draw upon theories of consumer behaviour and the key concepts to structure the sessions and their content.
The main aim of the module is to enable students to develop a critical understanding of the importance of studying and understanding consumer behaviour and its role and contribution to the marketing function.
This module introduces fundamental concepts and ideas on the structure, operation and management of organisations, and interactions among people who work in them. It focuses on providing awareness of the organisational factors and management processes influencing the behaviour and performance of people at work. As an area of academic study and practical application, organisational behaviour has a vital importance to those who aspire to manage and lead people in organisations. This module therefore addresses different perspectives on organisational processes and settings, explaining the nature of individual-based dimensions of organising and management, group development and teamwork, leadership, the management of change, organisational cultures, and organisational development interventions that impinge on organisational behaviour.
The module introduces key strategic issues related to business start-up and growth. Business creation and development process depends on value creation proposition and competitive advantage in the market. This module addresses the issue how to create value in a complex entrepreneurial environmental process. Build on the resource-based view of business development the module discusses the alternative directions for business development and growth.
The module is designed for tertiary level focusing on both theoretical and practical aspects of entrepreneurial strategies. Students need to work individually as well as in a group to analyse entrepreneurial environment and value creation process at different stages of business life cycle. The module will enhance students' knowledge on entrepreneurial and intrapreneurial capabilities, resources, value creation process, developing business model, and building entrepreneurial culture by providing strategic direction to the organisation.
Aims
This module aims to equip students with necessary analytical and strategic skills to start and grow a successful business. The module will contribute to enhance the understanding how to design, develop and implement strategic issues to set the direction of a business from start-up stage to high growth performing business. In the start-up and growth process there are different challenges. The module will make students aware of how to overcome the challenges using strategic tools in the real world. Case analysis will play an important role in the module.
Learning Outcomes
On Successful completion of the module students should be able to:
a. Comprehensive understanding of the challenges at different stages of business lifecycle
b. Propose solutions to cope with internal and external strategic challenges and complexities to develop the direction of the business
c. Develop appropriate strategies to meet the key challenges and dilemmas related issues such as to financing, innovation, product development, market development and business model
d. Reflect critically the strategic choice, related consequences, and resource implications.
This module is designed to introduce students to the concepts of business research methods. The module focuses on the research process in business and management in general and entrepreneurship and small business in particular. The module addresses philosophical issues underlying management research. It focuses on the important issues of selection of an appropriate research methods and judge the quality and value of research outcomes. It is concerned with the development of an in-depth understanding and application of the variety of research methods, both in the quantitative and qualitative research designs. The course is structured to cover five broad and interrelated issues: a) nature of research, research design and planning; b) quantitative research design and data collection; c) qualitative research design and data collection; d) data interpretation and analysis; and e) writing up research proposal and presentation of results. The module helps the student to critically examine issues of the selection of an appropriate research method and statistical packages to apply for a study of a range of entrepreneurship and business courses.
The course seeks to enable students to acquire a critical understanding of the research methods that are used to study different aspects of business environment. The module aims to equip students with the knowledge, skills, and competencies to carry out a sound academic research project supported by critical understanding of the use value of research methods and techniques.
The purpose of this module is to provide students with an in-depth understanding of the key concepts and issues surrounding the processes involved in international expansion. It encourages students to think critically about internationalisation processes and equips them with the knowledge and tools within which to make decisions to enter new markets and manage international operations effectively.
This module introduces the student to a contemporary view of managing innovation - the development of new products, processes, and services. It is concerned with the study of the innovation process. The process is understood to evolve as an S-shaped curve consisting of three distinct phases: emergence (the development of the product or service, its manufacturing capabilities, and its place in the market), growth (where the product family pervades the market), and maturity (where the market is saturated and growth slows). The relationship between the innovation process and the use and management of technology, together with its links to the development of innovation strategy, dynamic interactions with innovation networks, learning processes and government support for innovation, provides for the content of this module.
The main aim of the module is to equip students with the knowledge, expertise and skills with which to manage the innovation process both at the strategic and the operational levels in different types of organisations.
On successful completion of the module, students should be able to:
1) Obtain a clear understanding of the micro perspective of innovation concerning technology S-curve, punctuated equilibrium, dominant design, and absorptive capacity (A6, A7, A14, B1, B2, B4, C2, C3, D1)
2) Acquire a clear understanding of the sources of innovation and the process of innovation and how they affect the way innovation evolves (A6, A7, A14, B1, B2, B4; C2, C3, D1, D2, D4, D5)
3) Acquire a clear understanding of an organisation's internal culture, structure and strategy and their influence on the innovation process (A6, A7, A14, B1, B2, B4; C2, C3, D1, D2, D4, D5)
4) Clearly understand the importance of the external environment for innovation, and how alliances, inter-firm linkages, networks and national innovation systems impact on the innovation management process (A7, A8, A14, B1, B2, B4, C2, C3, D1, D2)
5) Obtain a clear understanding of how government policy principles and practices affect the process of innovation and technology management (A7, A8, A14, B1, B2, B4, C2, C3; D1, D2)
6) Prepare and communicate both orally and in writing his/her understanding of the innovation process as it informs enterprise development (B1, B2, B4; C2, C3; D1, D2, D4, D5).