Welcome to the on-line version of MGMT31000.  I am very excited to teach this course.  When I teach this course in a lecture setting, I do not do much lecturing.  I believe that the best way to learn Finance is to work lots of problems, explain problems and through this process, students get a real intuition about finance.  The outcome that I am trying to achieve is that intuition.  Please challenge yourself to use your Excel skills in your minicases.  This is important to your future success as an intern and in your career.

You will notice in the syllabus that materials and assignments are arranged in weekly “packets”.  There are 3-4 chapters covered each week.  Please read the chapters.    Following that, students are expected to complete the assignment for each chapter that requires you to go onto Connect and work specified problems and submit those problems.  They will be graded and that effort counts for 20 percent of your grade in the course.  Also every week, there is at least one written homework assignment that is to be completed and submitted on the appropriate Homework tab on Blackboard.  Sometimes the homework will be a mini-case from the book that you will individually prepare.  In other cases, the homework will be a library-based project that you will individually prepare.  Periodically, we have built in an on-line discussion opportunity in which you will be required to participate and your participation will be graded.  In total, the homework projects will count for 50 percent of your grade.  The final exam counts for 30 percent of your grade.  It will be an open-book, open-note, individual effort.  Do not be fooled by the open-book, open-note design.  Life is an open-book, open-note exam and we certainly don’t all score 100%, do we?

CAUTION!

Successfully taking an on-line course requires a great deal of self-discipline.  As this class is all on-line, you may work at your own pace rather than follow the time schedule laid out in the syllabus.  But you do need to make sure that you have the appropriate assignments submitted on or before the dates specified in the syllabus.  You are well advised to treat this experience like a regular class and stay up with the assignments.  All homework assignments are expected to be individual efforts.  All students are expected to sign up for the Connect utility associated with the textbook.  The due dates for Connect homework is indicated on the syllabus.

You may always send an email to me (sullivaa@purdue.edu) or my secretary Leesa Ogden (logden@purdue.edu) if you have questions. Stay in touch with us so that we can help if you get stuck.  Use the Piazza utility to ask and answer questions.  It is a great way for us to communicate.  It is up to you to make sure that you take every opportunity to let us help you.  We will not otherwise know if you are having problems.

In MGMT 31000 we develop skills in financial analysis and decision-making for students who are not necessarily going to be financial managers. We believe that any management student who aspires to be a decision-maker and leader, regardless of functional area of expertise, must understand the basic principles of finance. Library projects, problem solving, and various other active learning techniques will be used to give students opportunities to learn the theory and practice of financial management. The best ways to learn finance is to work problems, practice financial modeling, and pay casual attention to what is going on in the business world. For this course, students will work at least 60 problems, work out four mini cases, and complete two library reports.

The required text for this course is: Fundamentals of Corporate Finance, 12th edition by Stephen Ross, Randolph Westerfield and Bradford Jordan, McGraw/Hill-Irwin (RWJ) (ISBN:9781259918957) . This textbook is available in hardback cover, a loose-leaf version, and online. It also provides you access to Connect, LearnSmart, and SmartBook. You are REQUIRED to sign up for the On-Line Connect package.  As a very important heads-up, this textbook is also used in MGMT 413 so if you plan to major or get a concentration in finance, hang on to this book after MGMT 310.