A COMPARATIVE ASSESSMENT OF GRADUATE EDUCATION IN FINANCIAL MANAGEMENT

IN SELECTED LEADING BUSINESS SCHOOLS IN THE PHILIPPINES AND THE USA 1

By Francisco C. de la Cruz Jr.

April 27, 2011

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TABLE OF CONTENTS

Page

1. Executive Summary 2

2. Research Procedure 3

3. Outcomes and Findings 7

4. Old Syllabi

4.1. Managerial Accounting 8

4.2. Financial Management 9

5. New Syllabi

5.1. Managerial Accounting 10

5.2. Financial Management 13

1
An abridged version of a paper written for a PhD in Education course in Curriculum Engineering
(Curriculum Design and Development).

Page 1 of 15
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY

I undertook this research for the benefit of my Master in Management, Master in Business

Administration, and Master in Educational Leadership and Management students, i.e., former, current,

and future students. The Finance Curriculum discussed herein entail two courses that are normally

taken consecutively in a typical graduate management program: Managerial Accounting and Financial

Management. The time-frame is the trimestral system.

Simply put, I studied the Finance curricula of some of the best business schools in the Philippines and in

the United States, and then I revised the syllabi I have normally used for the MBA-Finance Curriculum I

have often taught, in an attempt to make it at par with the best. I employed the techniques of vertical

integration, horizontal integration, and benchmarking.

Apart from the revised syllabi as aforementioned, another outcome of this paper is the finding that

there are certain Finance topics that consistently qualify as core Finance topics among the best business

schools. On the other hand, there are also certain finance topics that MBA students often hope to learn

from a typical MBA program, but which are actually normally considered by MBA professors as non-core

special topics and are therefore usually only taught in elective courses. This knowledge can be of

significant help and comfort to any Finance professor, because it enables him to reconcile his

understanding of what he should teach vis-à-vis what his students expect to learn in a typical MBA

Finance course. Finance is a vast universe, and MBA students being the adult students that they are can

be very demanding and capricious, thus standard parameters are a Finance professor’s best friend.

Page 2 of 15
PROCEDURE

I worked on the revision by undertaking the following:

Vertical Integration

I reviewed the syllabi which I originally designed and currently use in teaching Managerial

Accounting and Financial Management (presented here below) and redesigned them to ensure the

clear relationship and upward continuity between the two courses.

Horizontal Integration

I emphasized the relationship of Financial Management with the other functions of management,

namely: General Management, Operations Management, Marketing Research and Management,

Human Resources Management, and Information Technology Management. I did this by making a

Corporate Strategy for a Business Organization with Competitive Financial Analysis as the Primary

Basis as the chief requirement for both courses. A corporate strategy for an existing business is

required for Managerial Accounting, while a corporate strategy for a new business is required for

Financial Management. They are discussed in the syllabi for both courses at Week 1.

Page 3 of 15
The basic framework for the said Corporate Strategy is as follows:

FRAMEWORK OF BUSINESS AND EDUCATIONAL

LEADERSHIP AND MANAGEMENT

General Management
· Leadership and Management
· Vision and Mission
· Setting of Objectives and Goals
· Formulation of Strategy and Specific Tactics

Operations Finance Marketing

· Manufacturing or Trading · Investment Management · Marketing Research
Activities
· Budget Management · Promotion and Advertising
· Equipment and Plant
· Cashflow Management · Client Development and
Maintenance
(Collections and Customer Service
Disbursements)
In the Case of Educational · Payroll and Benefits
In the Case of Educational
Institutions Administration
Institutions
· Curriculum Design · Record Keeping
· Alumni Relations
· Teaching · Financial Reports Preparation
· External Relations – Local
and Analysis
· Research
· External Relations –
· Ad Hoc Financial and
· Cultural and Historical International
Business Analysis
Preservation
· Events Management and
· Academic Services Promotions
· Outreach Programs

Information and Communications Technology

· Computer Software and Hardware
· System Analysis and Design

Human Resources Management

· Organizational Development
· Culture Development
· Hiring Policies and Systems
· Performance Evaluation and Reward System

Page 4 of 15
Benchmarking

This is the most important step in the process, albeit actually very simple and basic. I simply studied

the Finance curriculum of the MBA, DBA, and similar programs of some of the best business schools

in the Philippines and the United States, as listed here below. The curricula were available for

viewing in the websites of the pertinent business schools. I then selected the best features or best

practices in these curricula and used them as basis for revising the Old Syllabi in order to produce

the New Syllabi.

The Finance Curricula I studied were as follows:

 Finance Curriculum of the Master of Business Administration Program of Harvard University

 Finance Curriculum of the Master of Business Administration Program of Yale University

 Finance Curriculum of the Master of Business Management Program and the Master in

Management Program of the Asian Institute of Management

 Finance Curriculum of the Master of Business Administration Program of De La Salle University

 Finance Curriculum of the Master of Business Administration Program of the University of the

Philippines

 Finance Curriculum of the Doctor of Business Administration Program of Harvard University

 Finance Curriculum of the Doctor of Business Administration Program of De La Salle University

 Pertinent Courses in the Master of Science in Computational Finance Program of De La Salle

University

Page 5 of 15
 Pertinent Courses in the Master of Science in Accountancy Program of De La Salle University

 Chartered Financial Analyst Program of the Association for Investment Management Research

 Asiaweek Interactive Edition – Research Survey on The Best MBA Programs in Asia

Note: The website containing information on the MBA Program of Ateneo de Manila

University could not be accessed as of this writing.

Other Important References:

 Earlier feedback from my current or former MBA-Finance students.

 “W. SyCip Graduate School of Business of the Asian Institute of Management – Reinvented and

Reinvigorated to Face Global Competition.” Main feature article in The Asian Manager (an AIM

publication). Second semester 2001-2002.

Page 6 of 15
Outcomes and Findings

The basic outcomes of this research are of course the new syllabi found on the last few pages

herein. Meanwhile, the basic findings are as follows:

 The Finance Curriculum of selected leading business schools in the Philippines and the United

States normally included certain core topics. Pertinently, I incorporated these core topics in the

MBA Finance curriculum which I will be teaching in the future – precisely by way of the new

syllabi on the last few pages of here below – to ensure that the said curriculum is at par with the

best. Specifically, the core topics are incorporated as follows:

1. All throughout the new syllabus for Managerial Accounting

2. From Weeks 1 to 7 of the new syllabus for Financial Management

 Meanwhile, there are certain topics that are normally not in the core curriculum for Finance of

the selected leading business schools, but are normally expected to be included in the core

Finance curriculum by MBA students. One such topic is “how to play the stock market.” I form

this opinion based on my experience with my AIM classmates, as well as my former MBA

Students from DLSU, UST, UA&P and SBC.

However, instead of including these topics in their core Finance curriculum, the selected leading

business schools deliver these topics by way of advanced elective courses. To therefore satisfy

the interest of MBA students in these topics to at least some extent, I have included some of

these topics in Weeks 8, 9, 10, and 11 of the new syllabus for Financial Management even if only

at the introductory level.

Page 7 of 15
============================
ORIGINAL SYLLABUS
(Course Contents Only)
Managerial Accounting
14 Weeks (One Trimester)

1. Course Orientation// Lesson: The Single-Entry Bookkeeping System, The Double-Entry

Bookkeeping System, The Balance Sheet, The Income Statement.// Discussion of Major Course
Requirement: A Corporate Strategy for an Existing Business with Emphasis on Financial Analyses
2. The Balance Sheet, The Income Statement, Cashflow Management, Basic Taxation
3. Financial Ratios, Budget Planning & Performance Analysis, Strategic Cost Cutting
4. First Filter Exam
5. Job Order Cost System, Process Cost System
6. Cost Behavior and Cost-Volume-Profit Analysis
7. Budgeting
8. Performance Evaluation for Decentralized Operations, Differential Analysis and Product Pricing
9. Second Filter Exam
10. Capital Budgeting – Time Value of Money: Simple and Compounded Interest, Future and Present
Values.// Capital Budgeting – Basic Formulas, Net Present Value, Payback Period, Internal Rate
of Return, Return on Investment
11. General Review for Final Exams
12. Written Final Exams
13. Final Group Presentation and Defense – Group 1 & 2: A Corporate Strategy for an Existing
Business with Emphasis on Financial Analyses.
14. Final Group Presentation and Defense – Group 3 & 4: A Corporate Strategy for an Existing
Business with Emphasis on Financial Analyses.

Page 8 of 15
ORIGINAL SYLLABUS
(Course Contents Only)
Financial Management
14 Weeks (One Trimester)

1. Course Orientation.// Discussion of Major Course Requirement: A Corporate Strategy for an

Existing Business with Emphasis on Competitive or Industry Financial Analyses
2. Capital Budgeting – Time Value of Money: Simple and Compounded Interest, Future and Present
Values
3. Capital Budgeting – Time Value of Money: Simple and Compounded Interest, Future and Present
Values
4. Capital Budgeting – Basic Formulas: Net Present Value, Payback Period
5. Capital Budgeting – Basic Formulas: Net Present Value, Payback Period
6. Capital Budgeting – Basic Formulas: Internal Rate of Return, Return on Investment
7. Capital Budgeting – Basic Formulas: (More on) Internal Rate of Return
8. Mid-Term Exams
9. Preliminary Group Presentation and Defense: A Corporate Strategy for an Existing Business with
Emphasis on Competitive or Industry Financial Analyses
10. Review of Managerial Accounting and Financial Management and/or Additional Topics in
Corporate Finance
11. Review of Managerial Accounting and Financial Management and/or Additional Topics in
Corporate Finance
12. Written Final Exams
13. Final Group Presentation and Defense Group 1 & 2: A Corporate Strategy for an Existing
Business with Emphasis on Competitive or Industry Financial Analyses
14. Final Group Presentation and Defense Group 3 & 4: A Corporate Strategy for an Existing
Business with Emphasis on Competitive or Industry Financial Analyses

Page 9 of 15
NEW SYLLABUS
(Complete Syllabus)
XYZ Graduate School of Business
Master in Business Administration Program
Syllabus

Course : Managerial Accounting

Schedule : Saturday/ n:00 – n:00 am/ January ? to April ? 2011
Course Credit : 3

Course Description – The course is designed to:

 Provide a generalist and basic understanding of Financial and Management Accounting.
 Relate Financial and Management Accounting to all the other functions of Management,
namely: General Management, Operations, Marketing, Human Resources, and Information
Technology.

Course Objectives – The course will train students to:

 Analyze and interpret Accounting information for decision making purposes.
 Apply various financial analytical tool and techniques in identifying and solving practical
business problems.

Methodology and Approach

 Students will be encouraged to explore and speak up, and should not be afraid to ask “silly”
questions. The course is intimidating enough as it is.
 The already-trained Accounting & Finance professionals in class will be trained further in
terms of communicating Accounting & Financial information to non-Accounting/Finance
colleagues.
 A great deal of reading and exercises will be required. Teamwork will also be strongly
encouraged.

Week 1
Course Orientation
Diagnostics Test and Class Profiling
Discussion of Major Course Requirement: Group Thesis – “A Corporate Strategy for an Existing
Business Organization with Competitive Financial Analysis as Primary Basis”.
 This is an Integrative Exercise in Finance vis-à-vis General Management, Operations,
Marketing, Human Resource Management, and Information Technology
Discussion of Corporate Strategy Framework

Week 2
Class to be divided into three or four groups for the Corporate Strategy.
Financial vis-a-vis Managerial Accounting
The Accounting and Audit Professions

Page 10 of 15
Ethical and Professional Standards
The Single-Entry Bookkeeping System
The Double-Entry Bookkeeping System
The Books of Accounts
The “T” Accounts
Debit and Credit
Basic Accounts

Week 3
The Balance Sheet
Assets, Liabilities, Owners’ Equity
Submission of Profile of Company for Corporate Strategy, and of Outline of Corporate Strategy

Week 4
The Income Statement
Definition and Classification of Expenditures
Operating Revenue & Expenses vis-a-vis Other Revenue & Expenses
Classification of Operating Expenses
Fixed and Variable Costs
Income Statement for Manufacturing Concern
Basic Taxation

Week 5
Financial Ratios

Week 6
Workshop - Decision Aid Softwares
Microsoft Excel (with emphasis on advanced formulas, e.g., Regression Analysis)
Cash Flow Management – To be demonstrated in the computer laboratory.
Corporate Cash Flow Management
Scenario Forecasting and Sensitivity Analysis
Bonus Topic: Individual/Personal Cash Flow Management

Week 7
Budget Planning and Performance Analysis
Comparative Analyses: Vertical, Horizontal, Trend
Variance Analysis
Strategic Cost Cutting: Specific Action Plan Matrix

Week 8
Mid-Term Exams

Week 9
Responsibility Accounting

Page 11 of 15
Profit and Cost Centers
Contribution Margin Analysis
Break-Even Analysis

Week 10
Supplemental Topics
* Primer – Internal Audit, External Audit, and Internal Control
* Primer – Job Order Cost System vis-a-vis Process Cost System
* Primer – Activity Based Costing
* Primer – Economic Value Added Analysis

Week 11
Preliminary Presentation and Defense of Corporate Strategies
Submission of names and credentials of external panelists for CorpStrat Defense

Week 12
Written Final Exams

Week 13
Presentation and Defense of Corporate Strategies by Groups 1 & 2

Week 14
Presentation and Defense of Corporate Strategies by Groups 3 & 4

Course Requirements and Grading System:

· Written Exercises, Quizzes, Oral Recitation, Academic Participation in Group Website
· Coursework Portfolio
· Midterm Exam
· Final Exam
· Group Thesis

Textbook:
· Financial and Managerial Accounting (The Basis for Business Decisions), Twelfth Edition
(International Edition), by Williams, Haka, Bettner, and Meigs. McGraw Hill Publication.

References:
· Group Thesis on Corporate Strategies by prior MBA-Finance batches.
· Financial and Managerial Accounting by Carl S. Warren
· Intermediate Accounting, by Smith, Skousen, and Kimwell, latest Philippine printed edition
· Financial Accounting by Meigs & Meigs
· Managerial Accounting by Ronald W. Hilton
· Cost Accounting, A Managerial Emphasis by Charles Horngren, Latest Edition
· Accounting Text and Cases by Robert N. Anthony and James S. Reece, Latest Edition

Page 12 of 15
NEW SYLLABUS
(Complete Syllabus)
XYZ Graduate School of Business
Master in Business Administration Program
Syllabus

Course : Financial Management

Schedule : Saturday/ n:00 – n:00 am/ January ? to April ? 2011
Course Credit : 3
Prerequisite : Managerial Accounting

Course Description – The course is designed to:

 Provide a generalist and basic understanding of Financial Management.
 Relate Financial Management to all the other functions of Management, namely: General
Management, Operations, Marketing, Human Resources, and Information Technology.

Course Objectives – The course will train students to:

 Analyze and interpret Financial information for decision making purposes.
 Apply various financial analytical tool and techniques in identifying and solving practical
business problems.

Methodology and Approach

 Students will be encouraged to explore and speak up, and should not be afraid to ask “silly”
questions. The course is intimidating enough as it is.
 The already-trained Accounting & Finance professionals in class will be trained further in
terms of communicating Accounting & Financial information to non-Accounting/Finance
colleagues.
 A great deal of reading and exercises will be required. Teamwork will also be strongly
encouraged.

Week 1
Course Orientation
Diagnostics Test and Class Profiling
Discussion of Major Course Requirement: Group Thesis – “A Corporate Strategy for a New
Business with Emphasis on Financial Analyses.”
 This is an Integrative Exercise in Finance vis-à-vis General Management, Operations,
Marketing, Human Resource Management, and Information Technology
 Note: Financial Analysis includes - Projected Financial Statements, Cash Flow
Management, Budget Planning using Comparative Analyses, Financial Ratios, Break-
Even Analysis, and Capital Budgeting. Additional tools: Specific Action Plan Matrix,
and Gantt Chart.

Page 13 of 15
Week 2
Review of Managerial Accounting
The Role of the Finance Manager
The Role of the Chief Finance Officer
Ethical and Professional Standards
MBA Career Opportunities: Corporate Practice, Entrepreneurship, Management Consultancy,
Business Academia, etc.
Class to be divided into three or four groups for the Corporate Strategy.

Week 3
Time-Value of Money
Simple and Compounded Interest
Future and Present Values
Submission of Profile of Company for Corporate Strategy, and of Outline of Corporate Strategy

Week 4
Capital Budgeting
Definition of Cash Flow After Taxes or Savings After Taxes
Net Present Value
Payback Period: Simple and Discounted

Week 5
Capital Budgeting
Net Present Value
Payback Period: Simple and Discounted
Internal Rate of Return
Interpolation

Week 6
Capital Budgeting
Internal Rate of Return
Interpolation

Week 7
Mid-terms

Week 8
Lease vis-a-vis Purchase Analysis
Advanced Finance Topics:
* Primer – International Finance: Foreign Exchange Management, Multinational Accounting
* Primer – Management of Financial Institutions: Commercial Banking, Investment Banking

Page 14 of 15
Week 9
Advanced Finance Topics:
* Primer – Analysis of Equity Investments: Fundamental and Technical Analysis
* Primer – Analysis of Fixed-Income Investments

Week 10
Advanced Finance Topics:
* Primer – Derivatives: Forward, Futures, Options, Swaps
* Primer – Analysis of Alternative Investments: Real Estate, Investment Companies, Venture
Capital, Hedge Funds, Commodity Markets and Commodity Derivatives
* Primer – Portfolio Management: Capital Market Theory, Portfolio Construction, Equity
Portfolio Management Strategies, Fixed-Income Portfolio Management Strategies, Risk
Management, Performance Measurement

Week 11
Preliminary Presentation and Defense of Corporate Strategies
Submission of names and credentials of external panelists for CorpStrat Defense

Week 12
Written Final Exams

Week 13
Presentation and Defense of Corporate Strategies by Groups 1 & 2

Week 14
Presentation and Defense of Corporate Strategies by Groups 3 & 4

Course Requirements and Grading System:

· Written Exercises, Quizzes, Oral Recitation, Academic Participation in Group Website
· Coursework Portfolio
· Midterm Exam
· Final Exam
· Group Thesis

Textbook:
· Principles of Corporate Finance, by Richard Brealey and Stewart Myers, latest Philippine
printed edition

References:
· Group Thesis on Corporate Strategies by prior MBA-Finance batches.
· Financial Management in the Philippine Setting, Texts and Cases, by Cesar G. Saldana
· Investment Analysis and Portfolio Management by Frank Reilly
· Textbook and reference books for Managerial Accounting

Page 15 of 15