Submarine for Financial ManagementVessel Code: FIM AUT08

Area of Exploration: The Great Ocean of UK Financial Markets

Osama S M Khan

School of Management

Faculty of Management & Law

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Mission Statement

A crew of financial novice sailors inspired by challenge, unthreatened by the calamities will be gathered by the vast ocean of UK financial markets. Onboard FIM AUT08 the mission would be to explore and gather empirical evidences from the unfathomable depths to prove/disprove the “myths” in finance. The crew will prevail at the end to be wiser knowing the monsters and their natures that roars across the depth of this dark mysterious ocean.

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The ProjectThe project, in its metaphoric and slightly dramatic title with a mission statement, tries to highlight the experiential nature of its deliveries. It will be implemented in a level 3 undergraduate optional module titled “Financial Management” as an alternative assessment. This is a process oriented assessment that will provide the participants the scopes to understand some of the core theories in corporate finance. Participants (the crew) will gather information from UK financial markets (the ocean) and experiment with them in a technologically enhanced setting (the submarine: FIM AUT08) to make sense of some of the classical theories in finance. Some of these theories appears far from reality based on simplified assumptions that blur the vision of the learners to develop the insights and skills they need to become financial managers.

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Aim of the Project

The project aims toFacilitate an immersive learning experience for the participants to tangibly comprehend some abstract theories in corporate finance

Offer sets of enquiry-rich research skills and technological know-how for the participants to make sense of financial data/information

Equip the participants with professional expertise that enables them to act instinctively as financial markets players to take right decisions informed by theories yet backed by the hard data

In line with SCEPTrE’s educational goal (9.1.6.13)

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Background of the ProjectOver the past few years participants of financial management module always highlighted that they find it hard to relate the content with reality. Although the module content is predominantly theory based, they all have specific managerial implications. Therefore, it is important for us to be creative in our deliveries for the learners to experience the real economy and markets to understand these theories. This module is not intended to be practical in nature like financial trading or risk management. Still it has ample opportunities to provide the participants an immersive experience that inspired great mind in history like Harry Markowitz to theorise financial activities and markets. It makes perfect sense to facilitate the learners in this module with set of tools and technologies to investigate financial markets and its players to recognize patterns that well might have already been theorised. This removes the alienation felt by the participants to be skilful in real finance world.

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Nature of the ProjectDevelopment process: In this stage the project will be designed with specific outcomes and steps. This stage will heavily depend on discussion with learning and teaching experts and industry experts that include academic/professional centre of excellence in financial management training and decision makers in the financial industry. The process will also be informed by students’ expectation to make it a “fun” experience.

Module: Financial Management

Integration as an alternative delivery & assessment: Additional mandatory sessions for participating learners to produce tangible work backed by real life data to understand theories. This tangible works will be put together in a portfolio for both formative and summative assessments.

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Intended topics: Asset valuation, capital budgeting, risk and return, portfolio theory, Capital Asset Pricing Model, and efficient market hypothesis

Topic specific submarine sessions: Each topic will have its own lab session for the learners to collaborate in groups with technology, data, and set of enquiry-rich research skills to observe, simulate, and experiment financial processes to gather empirical evidences that can be generalised to classical theories in that topic. This is the process a proponent of a theory would have followed at the dawn of the proposed theory. If time and capacity permits there will be three 2-3 hour submarine sessions for the recruited crew to demystify the topical monsters!

Nature of the Project …

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Nature of the Project …

Portfolio for assessment: The whole process will have constant formative assessment through discussion board and verbal feedback. The portfolio could be a group initiative in hard copy. Alternatively the groups can be encouraged to work on a Wiki with an aim to develop a collaborative webpage that demonstrate empirical evidence from the financial markets to support existing theory and their managerial implication in the current market context.Dissemination: The outcome of the project will be presented in school/faculty wide staff development seminars. It will also be presented as action research in relevant conferences, E-learning practitioners network sessions, and SCEPTrE conferences. The experience can also be shared within wider higher educational setting as creative practice in teaching finance.

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Project Participants

Admirals: Dr Jean Chen and Prof Frank Skinner

Air Support: Led by Air Vice Marshals “The SCEPTrE Team”

Submarine Captain: Osama S M Khan

Crew: Interested financial management participants who will be recruited through formal application for the vessel FIM AUT08. Once recruited it will be binding for them to dedicate themselves for the mission of the submarine. This experience will replace part of the existing mode of assessments i.e. the assignment in this module. The crew will be consulted in the development process to ensure their comfort, utmost enthusiasm, and dedication to submerge.

Submarine Engineers: E-Learning Team

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Project OutcomesAt the end of the projectThe crew of the submarine will be equipped with core corporate finance theories that they can comfortably apply in active decision making in financial settings.

The crews will be exposed to an immersive learning process that is enquiry-rich that can be applied in other finance related learning.

The captain and the admirals with their other fleets will be well informed about a creative intervention that can be emulated for other challenging project in learning and teaching.

The wider community will have an example of a submarine crew who dared to submerge alongside the dark monsters in finance.

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Project EvaluationPlatforms of Evaluation:Anonymous ULearn discussion forum, blogs, and wikis Post it comments at the end of each submarine sessionsAnonymous tape recorded diary of their experienceStatistical analysis of recruited crew performance in the overall module against the general participants of the module

Process of Evaluation:

The first three platforms will constantly be utilised to gather feedback for the captain to reflect on them for better strategies in subsequent combats (immersive enquiries). At the end all the evaluation from different platforms will be gathered and analysed to improve the experience of the future crew of FIM AUT fleet.

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Time Scale 2008 2009

Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec Jan

Consultation with admirals (Module & Sub Gr Leaders)          

Approval of board of studies    

Observing excellent centres in Finance Education        

Consulting industry participants/chartered bodies        

Consulting potential crew members (participants)    

Preliminary design of the project    

Consultation with air support (SCEPTrE)                  

Consultation with submarine engineers (E-learning Unit)                

Final project design      

Recruitment of crew      

Submarine FIM AUT08 sail out in mission        

Submarine FIM AUT08 returning home    

Final project report by the captain    

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Project Support and CollaborationSchool of Management: Module leader, subject group leader, and the board of studies to support the development processSCEPTrE: Support and collaboration for providing high quality space for the submarine sessions and to brainstorm the project design and evaluation processE-Learning Unit: For technological know-how, support, and layoutExternal Organizations:Centre of excellence in Financial Management Education e.g. ICMA at Reading Business School, London Business School, Cass Business School, Warwick Business School, Tanaka Business School, Said Business School, Judge Business School etc.Chartered Bodies: Chartered Financial InstituteIndustry Players: Senior management of large corporations, London Stock Exchange, Security Exchange Commission, Debt Management Office, Financial Services Authority etc.

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Endorsement

Prof Andrew Lockwood

Associate Dean Teaching & Learning

Faculty of Management & Law

Music Title: One Man’s Dream (Captain of FIM AUT08)

Album Title: In my Time

Composer: Yanni (Yiannis Hrysomallis)

Genre: New Age