The Oxford Advanced Finance Programme
Modern Techniques in Decision Making Process and their Applications
Overview
This leading edge 10-day training seminar entitled, The Oxford Advanced Finance Programme is a must for all those who would like to attend a course that comprehensively deals with all the key topics of strategic management, financial planning, and financial management. It is also for those who wish to sharpen up their financial management skills, or who wish to refresh or update the skills they already have. The 10-day training seminar highlights: • Strategic decision-making, financial planning, forecasting and budgeting • The financial statements and their links with financial planning, budgeting and decision-making • Ratio analysis of the income statement, balance sheet, and statement of cash flows • Traditional costing, and Activity Based Costing (ABC), Budgeting (ABB) and Management (ABM) • Financing decisions, capital structure optimisation, and Weighted Average Cost of Capital (WACC) • Performance measurement systems including budgeting and budgetary control, and the linking of KPIs to strategies using a balanced scorecard • Interest rate and foreign currency exchange rate risk exposures, and financial risk management • Capital project investment appraisal using Discounted Cash Flow (DCF), business valuations, acquisitions and restructuring
Objectives
At the end of this Oxford leadership course, the participants will be able to: Understand their role as managers and leaders. Establish clear objectives and standards of performance for the team. Manage their workload using effective prioritization, delegation, and information management techniques. Maximize their influencing skills. Develop and leverage the capabilities of team members. Expose to various leadership and management practice approaches, allowing them to select those most suitable for their situation and personal style. Experimenting with critical techniques before applying them in the workplace will help build confidence in moving beyond traditional assumptions about the 'right' way to manage. Broaden their financial knowledge to enable them to develop and manage the financial aspects of their role more effectively and improve performance. Acquire the ability, when involved in decisions about investment, operations, or financing, to choose the most appropriate tools from the wide variety of financial techniques available to provide a quantitative analysis. Understand the financial tools and techniques that support an organization's planning and control concerning their departments, business units, and businesses.
Audience
Managers, supervisors, and team leaders. Project management professionals. Human resources and other non-financial areas. Accountants. Financial analysts. Auditors. Financial personnel and senior finance professionals. Professionals who want to understand the financial aspects of their roles better.
Methodology
The management and leadership elements of this Oxford Management Centre training course use a range of approaches to learning, including experiential group activities, individual exercises, mini case studies, role plays and syndicate discussions. The financial elements The Oxford Advanced Finance Leaders Programme include numerous practical examples and real-life illustrations. The training course methodology combines presentations, discussions, team exercises and case studies. The emphasis is on gaining the theoretical knowledge and practical application of all the topics covered.
Outline
Module 1: Understanding Finance to Influence Strategic Decisions Day 1 – Strategic Management, Financial Planning & Budgeting Linking strategic management and decision-making with financial planning Vision, mission, and corporate objectives Key characteristics of strategic decision-making Strategy implementation and execution Value creation and shareholder wealth maximisation Corporate objectives, accountability, and governance Role of management accounting in strategic planning and budgeting Day 2 – Financial Statements and Strategic Financial Decisions Understanding the balance sheet, income statement, and cash flow statement Sources of internal and external financing Cost of equity, cost of debt, and Weighted Average Cost of Capital (WACC) Capital structure optimisation to minimise WACC Preparing long-term financial plans and determining financing needs Day 3 – Costing and Measurement Systems for Decision-Making Cost behaviour: fixed vs. variable costs Cost-volume-profit (CVP) relationships and break-even analysis Direct and indirect costs Activity-Based Costing (ABC), Activity-Based Management (ABM) Enhancing costing systems to support effective decision-making Day 4 – Capital Investment Decisions Time value of money: present and future values, DCF techniques Principles of capital budgeting Evaluation methods: ARR, payback, NPV, IRR, MIRR, EAC Capital rationing and the profitability index (PI) Additional considerations in investment appraisal Day 5 – Performance Measurement & Financial Risk Management Linking strategic objectives to KPIs through the balanced scorecard Performance measurement challenges and accounting limitations Uncertainty and risk analysis in decision-making Identifying and managing business and financial risks Tools for risk management: insurance, hedging, interest rate and FX risk management Module 2: Financial Analysis, Planning & Control Day 6 – Financial and Economic Decision-Making Principles of financial and economic analysis Corporate value creation and shareholder value perspective Agency problems and corporate governance Nature and reliability of financial statements Context of financial analysis for decision-making Day 7 – Business Performance Evaluation Ratio analysis from multiple perspectives: management, investors, lenders Using ratio systems and pyramids of ratios Integrating financial performance analysis Economic Value Added (EVA) as a performance metric Predicting financial distress: Z-score model Day 8 – Investment Decision Analysis Advanced NPV, IRR, and MIRR applications Strategic perspective: EVA and value-based refinements Equivalent Annual Cost (EAC) and project comparisons Sensitivity, scenario, and simulation analyses Break-even analysis under uncertainty and risk Day 9 – Financial Planning and Forecasting Linking financial projections with operating budgets Standard costing and variance analysis Cash flow forecasting and cash budgeting Sensitivity analysis and business growth dynamics Financial modelling for strategic planning Day 10 – Business Valuation and Strategic Restructuring Managing for shareholder value creation Evolution of value-based management methodologies Value creation in mergers, acquisitions, and restructuring Financial strategies for corporate combinations Business valuation methods and applications Management Buyouts (MBOs) and Buy-ins (MBIs)