Faculty Finder
photo montage

Finance

Curriculum

MBA Required Curriculum (1st Year)

Finance I

This course examines the role of finance in supporting the functional areas of a firm, and fosters an understanding of how financial decisions themselves can create value.

Topics covered include:

  • Basic analytical skills and principles of corporate finance.
  • Functions of modern capital markets and financial institutions.
  • Standard techniques of analysis, including capital budgeting, discounted cash flow valuation, and risk analysis.
Finance II

This course builds on the foundation developed in Finance I, focusing on three sets of managerial decisions:

  • How to evaluate complex investments.
  • How to set and execute financial policies within a firm.
  • How to integrate the many financial decisions faced by firms.

The Finance II course is divided into four blocks of material:

  • Advanced valuation—valuation of levered firms and projects.
  • Advanced valuations—options as a metaphor for flexibility.
  • Financial choices of firms—financing, distributing funds to shareholders, managing risk.
  • Integrated financial decisions, especially in the face of conflicts of interest and different legal/regulatory rules.

All first-year HBS MBA students have a series of required courses, as listed below:

Term I Courses
These five courses focus on the internal functional operations of business enterprise.

Term II Courses
These six courses cover the relationship of the organization to larger economic, governmental, and social environments.


MBA Elective Curriculum (2nd Year)

Finance
Course Title Faculty Name Term
Behavioral and Value Investing Robin Greenwood Winter 2010
Consumer Finance (Joint with Harvard Law School) Peter Tufano, Howell Jackson Winter 2010
Corporate Financial Management Timothy Luehrman, Yuhai Xuan Fall 2009
Creating Value Through Corporate Restructuring Stuart Gilson Winter 2010
Dynamic Markets Erik Stafford Fall 2009
Entrepreneurial Finance (also listed under Entrepreneurial Management) William Sahlman, Joseph Lassiter Fall 2009
Field Study Seminar: Affordable Housing in the United States Nicolas Retsinas Winter 2010
Financial Markets, Institutions, and Instruments (also listed under Entrepreneurial Management) Daniel Bergstresser Winter 2010
Financial Management of Family and Closely Held Firms (also listed under Entrepreneurial Management) Belen Villalonga Winter 2010
Functional and Strategic Finance Robert C. Merton Winter 2010
Half-Course: Private Equity Finance David Scharfstein Late Winter 2010
International Financial Management Li Jin , Fritz Foley Fall 2009
Investment Management Kenneth Froot Fall 2009
Private Equity Finance; see Half-Course: Private Equity Finance
Real Estate Development, Design, and Construction (also listed under Entrepreneurial Management) John D. Macomber, Gene Kohn, Christopher Gordon Winter 2010
Real Estate Options in Emerging Markets Nicolas Retsinas Winter 2010
Real Property (also listed under Entrepreneurial Management) Arthur Segel Fall 2009
Tax Factors in Business Decisions Henry Reiling Fall 2009
Venture Capital and Private Equity (also listed under Entrepreneurial Management) Paul Gompers, and Matthew Rhodes-Kropf Winter 2010

Doctoral Programs

Detailed curriculum information and requirements for each doctoral program associated with the Finance unit can be found on the Doctoral Programs Web site, linked below.

Executive Education