Creating Value through Strategic Financial Analysis—Virtual
What You Will Learn
Through faculty presentations, case studies, small-group discussions, and special projects, you will learn key concepts that can help you drive performance and value for your business. Whatever your prior exposure to finance and accounting, the program's format offers ample time to absorb and practice applying principles and tools. In the process, you will dive into one of today's most important financial metrics, Return on Invested Capital (ROIC), and explore how profitability, growth, and cost of capital relate to value creation.
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What You Will Learn
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Through faculty presentations, case studies, small-group discussions, and special projects, you will learn key concepts that can help you drive performance and value for your business. Whatever your prior exposure to finance and accounting, the program's format offers ample time to absorb and practice applying principles and tools. In the process, you will dive into one of today's most important financial metrics, Return on Invested Capital (ROIC), and explore how profitability, growth, and cost of capital relate to value creation.
Program Format
This program is taught over four weeks, with three half-day sessions per week. Live online class sessions take place using the HBS Live Online Classroom, while small-group discussions will take place over Zoom.
Collaborative learning is an integral part of the experience. To maximize the benefit for everyone, you are expected to attend every session, complete all assignments, and contribute effectively in the classroom and in small groups. We advise setting aside a total of 3-5 hours per week for program work in addition to the synchronous class sessions. In addition, participants should expect to spend 5-10 hours on self-paced case preparation prior to attending the program.
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Program Format
-
This program is taught over four weeks, with three half-day sessions per week. Live online class sessions take place using the HBS Live Online Classroom, while small-group discussions will take place over Zoom.
Collaborative learning is an integral part of the experience. To maximize the benefit for everyone, you are expected to attend every session, complete all assignments, and contribute effectively in the classroom and in small groups. We advise setting aside a total of 3-5 hours per week for program work in addition to the synchronous class sessions. In addition, participants should expect to spend 5-10 hours on self-paced case preparation prior to attending the program.
Key TopicsCollapse All
Financial performance metricsFinancial performance metrics
- Recognizing the importance of financial analysis and accounting analysis
- Understanding different categories of metrics and how they can be analyzed intelligently to provide insights about firm performance
- Analyzing the relationship between strategy, business economics, and accounting measurement choices in performance metrics
Drivers of financial performanceDrivers of financial performance
- Understanding Return on Invested Capital (ROIC) and how it is impacted by operating and financing decisions
- Assessing the key tradeoffs between ROIC drivers
- Examining how accounting policies relate to financial performance metrics or ratios, and how these ratios connect to valuation
- Applying frameworks to internal/divisional analysis
- Separating the effects of financing and operating decisions
Strategy execution and relative financial performanceStrategy execution and relative financial performance
- Evaluating relative financial performance
- Recognizing how accounting differences can distort financial metrics or result in biased analyses of performance, and how to gain more accurate results
The relationship between metrics and incentivesThe relationship between metrics and incentives
- Ensuring effective budgeting and target-setting
- Analyzing sales-based, profit-based, and ROI-based incentives and their connections to value creation
- Employing economic value added (EVA) as a comprehensive metric for evaluating corporate performance
The relationship between performance measures and valueThe relationship between performance measures and value
- Recognizing the importance of ROIC in capital markets today
- Analyzing the connections between profitability, cost of capital, growth, and value creation
Applying the Learning: Assessing Your Own Company's Performance and Valuation
During weeks 3 and 4, you will work in teams to practice applying the frameworks and principles you have learned as you evaluate your own company’s performance and determine its valuation.
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Applying the Learning: Assessing Your Own Company's Performance and Valuation
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During weeks 3 and 4, you will work in teams to practice applying the frameworks and principles you have learned as you evaluate your own company’s performance and determine its valuation.
