businessman-discussion-with-teamwork-about-work-go-2023-03-08-01-29-44-utc.jpg

You will learn key concepts that can help you drive performance and value for your business. Whatever your prior exposure to finance and accounting, the program's format offers ample time to absorb and practice applying principles and tools. In the process, you will dive into one of today's most important financial metrics, Return on Invested Capital (ROIC), and explore how profitability, growth, and cost of capital relate to value creation.

Apply

What You'll Learn

Through faculty presentations, case studies, small-group discussions, and special projects, you will learn key concepts that can help you drive performance and value for your business. Whatever your prior exposure to finance and accounting, the program's format offers ample time to absorb and practice applying principles and tools. In the process, you will dive into one of today's most important financial metrics, Return on Invested Capital (ROIC), and explore how profitability, growth, and cost of capital relate to value creation.

Program Format

This program is taught over four weeks, with three half-day sessions per week. Live online class sessions take place using the HBS Live Online Classroom, while small-group discussions will take place over Zoom.

Collaborative learning is an integral part of the experience. To maximize the benefit for everyone, you are expected to attend every session, complete all assignments, and contribute effectively in the classroom and in small groups. We advise setting aside a total of 3-5 hours per week for program work in addition to the synchronous class sessions. In addition, participants should expect to spend 5-10 hours on self-paced case preparation prior to attending the program.

Key Topics

Financial performance metrics

Recognizing the importance of financial analysis and accounting analysis
Understanding different categories of metrics and how they can be analyzed intelligently to provide insights about firm performance
Analyzing the relationship between strategy, business economics, and accounting measurement choices in performance metrics

Drivers of financial performance

Understanding Return on Invested Capital (ROIC) and how it is impacted by operating and financing decisions
Assessing the key tradeoffs between ROIC drivers
Examining how accounting policies relate to financial performance metrics or ratios, and how these ratios connect to valuation
Applying frameworks to internal/divisional analysis
Separating the effects of financing and operating decisions

Strategy execution and relative financial performance

Evaluating relative financial performance
Recognizing how accounting differences can distort financial metrics or result in biased analyses of performance, and how to gain more accurate results

The relationship between metrics and incentives

Ensuring effective budgeting and target-setting
Analyzing sales-based, profit-based, and ROI-based incentives and their connections to value creation
Employing economic value added (EVA) as a comprehensive metric for evaluating corporate performance

The relationship between performance measures and value

Recognizing the importance of ROIC in capital markets today
Analyzing the connections between profitability, cost of capital, growth, and value creation