Faculty

Corporate Finance

Yusuke Inoue

Title: Chairman of the Board of Directors, Kyushu Servicer

Course Outline/Objectives

This series of lectures focuses on corporate financial theory and corporate activities. In order to develop management strategies and run a company, it is essential for management executives to have a solid understanding of finance. This course is based not only on facts and figures but also on the experiences of real corporations. Further to explaining basic financial theories, we will look at how Japanese corporations past and present have adopted these theories and to what level of success. Lectures will be delivered based on reference books such as "Corporate Finance 8th Edition, Vols. 1 & 2". By the end of the course, students are expected to have mastered basic financial theory as well as analyzed a significant number of case studies.

The aim of corporate finance as a whole is "for corporations to maximize corporate value while reducing financial risks". However, the discipline is rapidly evolving and now comprises applications such as "Mixed Martial Arts". In Japan, the study of corporate finance is said to be 10 years behind that in European countries, and 20 years behind the US. Some people argue that if knowledge of corporate finance had reached Japan earlier, the bubble economy would not have occurred. Although there is no such thing as a perfect economic system or theory, mastering the fundamentals of corporate finance is essential in the world of business. Through these lectures, students will gain knowledge and understanding of this common business language. In so doing they will become capable of leading in a new generation of finance.

The first half of the course will teach students the essentials of corporate governance, while case studies are introduced to highlight the internal reforms and legal approaches of US and Japanese companies. Consequently, students will come to understand the necessity of establishing a practical internal control system to limit potential company scandals. In addition, students will learn about "the establishment of better corporate governance" through concepts such as structural risk management and IT governance. Significantly, students will be learning all of the above from real-life cases which have recently been faced by management executives.