Share on
FINANCE IN A CHANGING ENVIRONMENT
Written on 27 Feb 2015.
Today?s MBA graduates aspire to become tomorrow?s managers. As managers, they will need to do more than just address routine problems - they will have to respond to change. To wrestle with change requires more than just heuristics; managers must have a working theory for why companies and financial markets act as they do. This is the objective of the EDHEC Global MBA?s Corporate Finance class: to provide a fundamental understanding of the principles and practices of corporate finance.
Led by EDHEC’s Professor Pierre Mella-Barral, PhD, the class delved into such topics as Appraising Project Value, Calculating Risk and Return, Portfolio Selection, and the Capital Asset Pricing Model. These topics were explored through lecture format and - more challengingly - through case studies. Student teams assessed the appropriate tactics for evaluating the case studies, often in the midst of ambiguous and misleading information. In the end, after the computations were completed, teams still needed to execute a level of judgment regarding the information: did they actually believe the conclusions? And more importantly, which decision to make?
Even as many MBA participants grappled with the mathematical proofs, all agreed that the topics covered were relevant and beneficial to their careers as managers. Those participants pursuing the Global Finance track eagerly await their next class with Prof Mella-Barral.
Prof Mella-Barral has taught at EDHEC for eight years. He earned his Doctorate in Economics from the University of Cambridge, and his main research projects involve corporate finance and asset valuation.
Even as many MBA participants grappled with the mathematical proofs, all agreed that the topics covered were relevant and beneficial to their careers as managers. Those participants pursuing the Global Finance track eagerly await their next class with Prof Mella-Barral.
Prof Mella-Barral has taught at EDHEC for eight years. He earned his Doctorate in Economics from the University of Cambridge, and his main research projects involve corporate finance and asset valuation.
About EDHEC
Operating from campuses in Lille, Nice, Paris, London and Singapore, EDHEC is one of the top 15 European business schools, ranked 1st worldwide for its Master in Finance. Fully international and directly connected to the business world, EDHEC commands a strong reputation for research excellence and the ability to train entrepreneurs and managers capable of breaking new ground. EDHEC functions as a genuine laboratory of ideas and produces innovative solutions valued by businesses.
The School’s teaching is inspired by its research work and a focus on “learning by doing”, all with the aim of equipping people with the skills to succeed in business.
