CORPORATE FINANCE - 2020/1

Module code: MANM199

Module Overview

This module further develops finance for students interested in corporate finance. The module is to demonstrate the link between those various decisions and areas. In particular, we will explore how the firm’s financing, investment, capital structure and payout policies interact with each other and how those decisions have implications for corporate bankruptcy and takeovers.

Module provider

Surrey Business School

Module Leader

MAVIS Christos (SBS)

Number of Credits: 15

ECTS Credits: 7.5

Framework: FHEQ Level 7

Module cap (Maximum number of students): N/A

Overall student workload

Independent Learning Hours: 117

Lecture Hours: 22

Tutorial Hours: 11

Module Availability

Semester 2

Prerequisites / Co-requisites

None

Module content

Indicative content includes, but not exhausted to:


  • Information Asymmetry, Corporate Governance and Agency Theory

  • Corporate capital structure

  • Corporate dividend policy

  • Mergers and acquisitions

  • Company Valuation


Assessment pattern

Assessment type Unit of assessment Weighting
Coursework GROUP PRESENTATION AND REPORT (2000 WORDS) 40
Examination EXAM - 2 HOURS- CLOSED BOOK 60

Alternative Assessment

Individual Assignment of 3000 words.

Assessment Strategy

The assessment strategy is designed to provide students with the opportunity to obtain advanced knowledge and critical understanding of essential components of modern corporate finance by reading through their textbooks and other academic journals, improving their team-working skills and communications skills.

Thus, the summative assessment for this module consists of:


  • Coursework of 2000 words and Group Presentation (40% of the total mark), which gives the opportunity to students 1) to learn how to search the electronic library in order to find academic articles which are necessary to write the assignment, 2) to improve their communication skills, as they have to present their work in front of all other students, 3) to improve their team-working skills, as this is the product of a team-work and 4) learn how to do a good time-management, as they need to manage their time as a team in order to have the work ready.



Deadline for the submission of the assignment and presentation of the work is the Week 6.


  • Exam, which accounts for the 60% of the total mark and consists of 4 questions from different topics of the taught material where students have to answer 2 questions.



The exam takes place after the 11 teaching weeks.

Formative assessment and feedback

Students receive verbal feedback on their performance in tutorials.

Module aims

  • Provide a rigorous grounding in the theory and practice.
  • Provide a thorough synthesis of the most important current research in corporate finance.
  • Place emphasis on the applications of the principles to long-term strategic decision making.

Learning outcomes

Attributes Developed
001 Underline the implications of corporate governance, asymmetric information, and phycological phenomena in the context of corporate finance. KCP
002 Assess the implications of payout policies. KC
003 Evaluate capital structure decisions and the implications on firm value. KC
005 Develop practical skills in presenting findings. PT
004 Critically appraise ‘hot' topics in corporate finance through the understanding of the theoretical background and the empirical evidence. KC

Attributes Developed

C - Cognitive/analytical

K - Subject knowledge

T - Transferable skills

P - Professional/Practical skills

Methods of Teaching / Learning

The teaching and learning strategy is designed to allow students to come to grips with the essential quantitative nature of the subject, and more importantly, to facilitate the application to practical problems.

The teaching and learning methods include formal lecture and tutorials, use of case studies and exercises to reinforce and test learning and the use of SurreyLearn to facilitate teaching, enhance the learning outcomes and direct students to the relevant reading in the set textbooks and in journal articles.

Indicated Lecture Hours (which may also include seminars, tutorials, workshops and other contact time) are approximate and may include in-class tests where one or more of these are an assessment on the module. In-class tests are scheduled/organised separately to taught content and will be published on to student personal timetables, where they apply to taken modules, as soon as they are finalised by central administration. This will usually be after the initial publication of the teaching timetable for the relevant semester.

Reading list

https://readinglists.surrey.ac.uk
Upon accessing the reading list, please search for the module using the module code: MANM199

Programmes this module appears in

Programme Semester Classification Qualifying conditions
Economics MA 2 Optional A weighted aggregate mark of 50% is required to pass the module
Economics and Finance MSc 2 Optional A weighted aggregate mark of 50% is required to pass the module
Accounting and Finance MSc 2 Optional A weighted aggregate mark of 50% is required to pass the module
International Corporate Finance MSc 2 Compulsory A weighted aggregate mark of 50% is required to pass the module
Investment Management MSc 2 Optional A weighted aggregate mark of 50% is required to pass the module

Please note that the information detailed within this record is accurate at the time of publishing and may be subject to change. This record contains information for the most up to date version of the programme / module for the 2020/1 academic year.