Seria UNESCO I

Introduction
Scope and aim of the course
The Economic Financial Analysis (EFA) course for master's level students of the GSITL master provides a comprehensive exploration of essential financial principles and their application within organizations. The course offers an introduction to the goals of the firm and the role of the financial function within an organization. It delves into how value is created in organizations, examining the financial impact of various decisions, and contrasting accounting with finance. Students will gain insight into legal aspects, business models, and financial processes, with a focus on cost management, classifications, overhead absorption, cost projections, and the limitations of Cost-Volume-Profit analysis. Key topics include pricing decisions and methods, dynamic price discrimination in transportation, and the importance of budgeting, including roles, nature, and control through budgets.
Further, the course covers the financial position of firms, emphasizing the necessity and usefulness of measuring financial health. Students will explore financial risks, their sources, and mitigation strategies like insurance and hedging. The curriculum also encompasses investment decision-making, highlighting concepts like net present value, investment criteria, business planning, sensitivity and scenarios analysis, Monte Carlo simulation, and decision trees. Additionally, the course examines financing options, both internal (profit reinvestment, dividend policy, short-term sources) and external (share issues, borrowing, leasing, bank overdrafts, factoring, and invoice discount). Comprehensive coverage of financial statements, including balance sheets, income statements, and cash flows, as well as financial ratio analysis, provides students with the skills to conduct thorough financial assessments, understand their significance, and recognize their limitations.
Main concepts discussed:
• Value creation within organizations
• Financial function in the organization. Financial processes
• Financial impact of the decisions.
• Legal aspects of organizations
• The business model
• Costs: Cost classifications, overheads absorption, costs projection for decision making
• Break-even point
• Cost benefit analysis
• Methods to establish prices. Dynamic price discrimination in transportation
• Budgeting. Roles and nature of budgets. Budgeting process.
• Controlling. Variation analysis.
• Measuring and reporting the financial position. Financial ratios. Financial ratios classification, calculations, significance.
• Financial risks: sources and mitigation
• Investments: methods and indicators that investment decision (NPV, IRR, Sensitivity analysis, Scenarios analysis, Decision trees)
• Financing of companies and projects: sources and costs of financing
• The financial statements: Balance Sheet, Income Statement, Cash Flows.
Learning objectives
This discipline is studied within the field of Transport Engineering, the GSITL study program aims to familiarize students with basic knowledge in the field of economic & financial analysis, more specifically, students will:
• Apply theoretical concepts presented in the course to real-world situations, develop critical thinking skills in economic and financial decision-making, and communicate financial analysis results effectively to stakeholders.
• Develop skills in budgeting techniques, cost classification, cost-volume-profit analysis, and break-even analysis to support decision-making related to pricing, production, and resource allocation.
• Understand the sources of financial risk faced by organizations, learn risk management strategies and analyze the implications of financial decisions on a company's risk profile and overall performance.
• Use multiple decision criteria to evaluate investment alternatives, conduct sensitivity and scenario analyses, and assess the costs of different sources of financing for projects and companies.
• Gain a general understanding of financial statements (Balance Sheet, Income Statement, and Statement of Cash Flows) and be able to assess the financial health and general performance of an organization.