Strategic Planning and Financial Management

COURSE DESCRIPTION

To manage a company effectively, it is important to know what kind of external and internal factors are decisive when choosing among the overall corporate strategies and organizational structure of the company, considering the on-going development within globalization, technology and macro-economic and political conditions.

This course is part of the specialization in Hotel Management and is essential for acquiring the knowledge about management and leadership that companies require.

Strategic and Financial Management is a subject that draws upon the knowledge which has been acquired by the student in other subjects, e.g. marketing, finance, revenue management, law, accounting, etc. and combines it into a coherent whole in order to understand real problems in the hospitality industry.

GENERAL SKILLS
Working in an international context:
This skill aims to promote better understanding of the international context and the impact of international financial news on our lives and on the hospitality industry. This ability also aims to develop multicultural understanding with other languages and other countries.
Business Vision:
Knowing how to develop what senior management wants to achieve in our organization in the future, to develop opportunities to become more competitive in our sector, and understanding how the company wants to be perceived by external parties. In general, to promote the efficiency and efficacy of our company.
Analytic point of view in decision making:
Ability to analyze results and figures in order to make specific decisions and provide solutions to the problems in a business setting

SPECIFIC SKILLS
Financial management:
In order to improve economic outcomes and the financial security of a company, we need to understand the process of managing financial resources, including accounting and financial reporting, budgeting, collecting and receivable accounts, risk management, and revenue management.

LEARNING OBJECTIVES
- Identify professional development opportunities with an international perspective:
- Know several examples of strategic management in international hotel companies.
- Develop the ability to observe and analyze the business environment:
- Improve the ability to relate data from observation which will facilitate a better understanding of the business world.
- Understand market-specific variables in the company, knowing the key factors to success and critical factors, and identifying the positioning of this sector:
- Increase the value of SWOT analysis as a tool to collect the relevant information required for diagnosing and evaluating the organization.
- Learn to perform a strategic analysis of the company, regarding both general and specific aspects.
- Perform in-depth analysis of the causes of a problem:
- Facing a problem, select the relevant information to advance.
- Understand the concept of strategic management and the activities that comprise it
- Understand the main types of strategies that companies can adopt
- Analyze the implementation process and control strategy
- Understand the main methods of financial planning to optimize financial resources:
- Delve deep into economic and financial analysis and forecasts in order to establish long term business projections.
- Learn how to prepare all types of financial statements and provisional financial statements.
- Learn how to calculate the figures needed to assess the viability of business projects.

LEARNING METHODOLOGY
The learning strategies employed are mainly aimed at the student developing the abilities associated with the skills identified. Below we specify the teaching-learning methodologies which will be applied to achieve the skills to be gained, as well as specifying how they will be developed:
- Theory: master classes, lectures, group projects.
- Theoretical-practical: application activities, problem-based learning, problem solving, practical exercises, research.
- Presentations: presentations of results. This will allow the student to receive feedback on how to improve his or her oral communication techniques and become accustomed to using information technology.

EVALUATION SYSTEM
The tools used to evaluate the course are those which allow us to assess the course's contents in both a theoretical and practical way; such as objective tests, development tests, individual projects, group projects, in-class activities, oral presentations using IT, virtual forums, portfolios, practical cases, problem solving, etc.