Accounting in Multi-National Enterprises

COURSE OBJECTIVE
ACADEMIC AND RESEARCH SKILLS – STUDENTS CAN CONDUCT A BASIC INTERNATIONAL RESEARCH PROJECT FROM START TO FINISH
After successfully completing this course, the student
• can analyze and demonstrate an understanding of financial and management accounting information, focusing on the most relevant inputs for business analysis decisions (Analysis)
• is able to put forward well-founded, substantiated points of view to support decisions, such as recommending investment in a multi-national company (Argumentation)

KNOWLEDGE: Demonstrates theoretical and empirical knowledge concerning the relevant areas in international business administration
After successfully completing this course, the student:
• can explain commonly used frameworks in accounting for business analysis and valuation.
• can apply commonly used methods for planning, decision-making and control purposes to have a set of tools available for business decisions

APPLICATION: Can propose a solution to an international real-life business problem by applying relevant theories and methodologies.
After successfully completing this course, the student:
• Is able to provide practical solutions to a case by applying accounting theory
• is able to apply theoretical knowledge in a specific business situation

QUANTITATIVE SKILLS
• is able to apply relevant financial analysis tools, valuation concepts, and common management accounting methods to determine the information most relevant for your decision

BROADENING YOUR HORIZON - STUDENTS ARE ABLE TO REFLECT ON THE ETHICAL AND SOCIAL IMPLICATIONS OF PROFESSIONAL AND GOVERNMENTAL DECISIONS
After successfully completing this course, the student:
• has a good understanding of the political, international, and (cross-)cultural context related to the field of accounting, and specifically emerging economies

COURSE CONTENT
Suppose two firms report the same earnings in their financial statements. How come investors react differently to them? Why is one firm punished by the market, while the other’s share price increases? A key aspect in answering these questions is the role of financial analysts, who largely determine what capital markets can reasonably expect from companies and whether investors should give their money to multi-national enterprises. This course helps you understand this role of analysts better by enabling you to trace and reproduce the way these mediators come up with their recommendations, seeing through some of the accounting choices companies make, placing the company firmly in its international context, and applying valuation concepts to multi-national enterprises in developed economies.

To do so, this class explicitly takes a user perspective to accounting information to help you understand the relevance of accounting information in multi-national enterprises. That means that you will take the role of a financial analyst when examining companies’ financial statements on the basis of a commonly used framework for analysis and valuation. At the end of your assessment, you will be able to come up with an investment recommendation. From a company’s perspective, you will take the role of a decision-maker who needs to place his/her judgment on the most relevant information for this decision. Hence, you will improve your understanding of important management accounting tools that you will encounter in your subsequent business career for planning, decision-making and control purposes.

TEACHING METHODS
Lectures and Tutorials

TYPE OF ASSESSMENT
Assignment – Group assessment
In-class quizzes – Individual assessment
Written exam – Individual assessment