Their top concerns are how to get revenues and how to control costs so that the firm would make profits and continue to exist. This course takes you on a journey to discover how firms create value by focusing on revenues and costs. The instructor would lecture on the revenue and costs of sample firms using a case study approach. Based on the case studies of listed firms, we focus on sources of rev
enues of a firm and the cost items of running a business. The instructor is expected to describe the basics of the various revenue and cost items listed and not the detailed operations of the firms such as engineering aspects, which is beyond the scope of the course. Students would focus on key aspects of financial statements, such as income statement and whether a firm borrows a lot of money to finance its assets. This course covers the major industries of the world including financial services, airline, hotels, internet and mobile, metals, petroleum, and property development. Students get a wide exposure to the varied industries of our global economy. Students would complete two group reports on company analyses, make a group presentation, complete individual short-essay questions, write a group essay to critique the presentation made by another student group and participate in class discussions on the many interesting issues that would be brought up in this course. After completing this course, students would know the value drivers that increase a firm’s profitability and how firms control costs. Students would also acquire the tools to analyze firms in other industries.
