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BA 323 Online – Fundamentals of Finance
San Diego State University
Winter 2021
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INSTRUCTOR: Kamal M. Haddad, Ph.D.
MODE OF DELIVERY: Online
UNITS: 3
PHONE: (619) 594-5311
OFFICE HOURS: by appointment, via Zoom
EMAIL: khaddad@sdsu.edu
Email is the best form of communication
Please allow for a 24-hour response time not including weekends or holidays
BLACKBOARD: https:///blackboard.sdsu.edu/
ENROLLMENT INFORMATION
• Prerequisites. Approved upper division business major, business minor, or another major
approved by the Fowler College of Business Administration. For approved business majors,
credit or concurrent registration in Business Administration 310. Proof of completion of
prerequisites required: Copy of transcript.
TEXTBOOK AND MINDTAP™ ACCESS
Required:
• Text: E.F. Brigham and J. Houston, Fundamentals of Financial Management, Concise, 9th
Edition. (With MindTap)
o Immediate Access Course: The required course materials for this class are provided in a
digital format by the first day of classes and are free through December 20th, 2020. Your
SDSU student account will then be charged a special reduced price for use of the materials
for the remainder of the semester unless you opt-out of the content by 7:59 PM on
December 20th. Visit www.shopaztecs.com/immediateaccess for additional information
about Immediate Access pricing, digital subscription duration, print add-ons, opting out, and
other frequently asked questions.
• Respondus Lockdown Browser and Lockdown Monitor. Both of these are available to you at
no charge through SDSU. Instructions on downloading this software are accessible on
Blackboard. Respondus Monitor requires you have a functioning reliable webcam connected to
your laptop.
• A functioning computer, reliable internet with a wired connection, and a quiet place to take
exams without being interrupted.
CALCULATOR
You must have a financial calculator to get through the course. Many of the exam problems involve
complex arithmetic and financial calculations and a financial calculator is necessary to solve them.
You are required to have one of these HP calculators for this course: HP-10BII or HP-17BII or HP-
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17BII +. The 10BII does everything you need for the course. The HP-17BII does more and costs more.
Some argue that the 17BII is easier to use once you get used to it. Also, some students argue that the
17BII is better to have in some of the upper level Finance classes. However, everything in this class
can be done with using an HP-10BII.
During exams, you are allowed to use an HP-10BII or an HP-17BII. No other calculator models will
be permitted during the exam. If you want to use a calculator on exams, it must be an HP-10BII or an
HP-17BII or HP-17BII + – no exceptions.
As you will soon see, the ability to use a financial calculator is critical to success in the class. You are
responsible for learning how to operate your financial calculator and it is crucial that you are familiar
with your calculator by the time we begin Chapter 5.
Financial Calculator Tutorials
• Online – http://www.tvmcalcs.com/
• In MindTap – Preparing for Finance
• See also tutorials on Blackboard
Online Financial Calculators (cannot be used while taking exams).
• http://www.zenwealth.com/BusinessFinanceOnline/index.htm
COURSE DESCRIPTION AND OBJECTIVES
• Description from the Official Course Catalog. Objectives of financial management.
Financing the business enterprise. Internal financial management. Introduction to the cost of
capital, valuation, dividend policy, leverage, international finance, and the techniques of
present value and its applications. Sources of capital
• Relation to Other Courses and Real Life Relevance. BA 323 is the core finance course
required of all business majors and it serves as the basis for all other courses in the area of
finance as well as providing the basic tools that every business student will need to be
successful in their chosen career. Emphasis is placed on the underlying principles and
practices and how they relate to the decision-making process faced by a financial manager
charged with the objective of shareholder wealth maximization and value creation. Although
the focus is on corporate decision-making, the knowledge and skills obtained in this course
will also aid the student with personal financial and small business decision-making.
My hope is that by the end of the class you have a basic grasp of finance principles and that you
go beyond just memorizing a number of facts and formulas. Doing so will enable you to better
understand current events in Finance and will provide a solid framework for any subsequent
courses you may take in Finance. Hopefully, by the end of the semester you will want to take
additional classes in Finance!
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Bachelor of Science Business Administration (BSBA) Goals
BSBA students will graduate being Effective Communicators, Critical Thinkers, Able to Analyze
Ethical Problems, Global in their perspective, and Knowledgeable about the essentials of business.
This class contributes to those goals through its student learning outcomes.
Student Learning Outcomes
• Explain how domestic financial markets work and how firms obtain funds in the financial markets
and at what cost.
• Apply basic valuation concepts to valuing various types of cash flow streams.
• State and explain what determines the value of a firm’s securities and how management can influence
these values.
• Measure a firm’s risk, explain what determines this risk, and how this affects the value of a firm.
• Analyze a firm’s performance to determine its strengths and weaknesses, and use financial analysis
to make suggestions for improving performance.
• Forecast a firm’s financial needs.
• Point out the various methods for analyzing projects, apply them, and specify what to do if there are
conflicting recommendations.
• Identify and explain the tradeoffs involved and the techniques used to manage working capital.
• Explain what leverage is, how a firm influences its leverage, and how leverage affects a firm.
• Describe how firms raise money in foreign markets and the traditional types of risks that multinational
firms are exposed to.
Instructional Methods
The basic instructional tools for this course are lecture, and problem solving. The students are
presented with a thorough conceptual overview of the theory. The usefulness of the theory is then
illustrated with examples and problems assigned as homework.
Reading Assignments
The structure of this class makes your individual study and preparation outside class extremely
important. The Recorded lecture material will focus on the major points introduced in the text. You
should read and be familiar with the material in the assigned chapters and attempt to solve problems
before the lecture. Doing so will greatly assist your understanding of the recorded lecture. After
the lecture, you should read the chapter/study your notes, and work additional relevant problems
and questions from the end of the chapter. There are additional resources available in MindTap™
that many students will find helpful.
Suggested Study Procedures
• Access the Textbook folder in MindTap™ for the reading content. Prior to reading the
chapter, complete the “Why Is This Important to Me” survey (graded). Read the chapter.
• Utilize the (non-graded) assessments and resources in the MindTap™ Reader (Quizzes,
ConceptClips, Problem Walkthroughs, Videos, Notes, etc.) to enhance your understanding
of the material.
• Review the Self-Test Questions and Problems found at the end of each Chapter. Solutions
are found in Appendix A of the text for the selected chapter.
• Access the Recorded Lectures through Blackboard to review the material covered. Read
the chapter(s) again if needed.
• Access the Graded Assessments folder in MindTap™ and complete the assignment sets (see
below for more details) by the due dates listed in the Course Calendar.
• Track your progress and grades for all assignments (graded and ungraded) using the
Progress tab in MindTap™.
• Assemble exam-type questions using the Adaptive Test Prep app for each section of the
textbook. Review your results, including the question rationale, and focus on problem areas.
• Prepare for and take the on-line quizzes and exams as scheduled in the Course Schedule.
GRADES
A number of different activities will be graded in this class, including MindTap™ graded assignments,
MindTap™ quizzes, and Blackboard exams. The class has been divided into three large modules, each
containing three to four chapters from the textbook. Each chapter will have MindTap™ graded
assignments and a quiz. Each module will also have one exam. These are detailed below:
MINDTAP™ Graded Assignments
There are two types of graded assignments that you will take in MindTap™. You will have a limited
number (3) of attempts and all of the graded assignments have firm deadlines (see below). Before
taking a graded assessment, it is recommended that you read the chapter, ask questions, and use
additional MindTap™ resources to prepare. Your assignment grade will be based upon the total
points that you accumulate out of the total points available.
