Corporate Finance Foundations
Equip yourself to analyze corporate finance decisions
Corporate Finance Foundations, taught by professors Jim Stice and Kay Stice, is an introductory course that explains how corporate finance links business strategy to financial outcomes. It covers core topics such as risk and return, CAPM, capital structure, and capital budgeting to help learners interpret firm-level financial decisions.
Designed for managers, accountants, and business students, the course emphasizes measurable competencies — analyzing risk-return tradeoffs, calculating weighted-average cost of capital, and applying time-value-of-money techniques — so learners can make informed financing and investment recommendations. Its concise, applied approach prioritizes clear examples and practical calculations over abstract theory.
At a Glance
Corporate Finance Foundations is an introductory course taught by professors Jim Stice and Kay Stice that lays out core corporate finance concepts and connects business decisions to financial outcomes.
The course surveys risk and return (including CAPM), capital structure and financing choices, securities markets, and capital budgeting so learners can see how finance informs managerial decisions.
| Level | Beginner |
| Rating | 4.8 out of 5 |
| Duration | 1+ hours |
| Languages | English |
| Certificate | Certificate of Completion |
| Access | Access for as long as your subscription is active |
| Course includes |
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| Price | Subscription-based; monthly or annual plans (free trial available) |
What This Course Teaches
Outcomes are framed as measurable finance competencies that prepare learners to interpret corporate financial choices and support managerial decisions.
Students will learn to calculate, analyze, and explain core concepts such as risk and return, financing choices, securities markets, and capital budgeting.
How the Course Is Structured
The course is organized as 26 short video lessons grouped into topical units from an introduction through risk and return, financing, securities markets, and capital budgeting; the syllabus lists each lecture title and its runtime. Total runtime is about 1 hour 25 minutes across the 26 lectures.
Curriculum overview
01Finance for business decision making▾
Introduces the role of finance in business decision-making and how financial choices affect firm performance.
02The board of directors discusses finance▾
Illustrates how boards set financial priorities and provide governance over corporate finance matters.
03Finance inside of companies▾
Explains internal financial roles and how departments interact to manage corporate resources.
04Finance outside of companies▾
Covers the influence of external stakeholders and markets on corporate financial decisions.
05What is risk and why don’t we like it?▾
Defines financial risk and its implications for investors and managers.
06Reducing risk through diversification▾
Demonstrates how combining assets can lower portfolio volatility via diversification.
07Beta: The concept▾
Introduces beta as a measure of systematic risk relative to the market.
08Beta: Examples▾
Works through numeric examples to calculate and interpret beta values.
09Risk-free rate▾
Explains the role of the risk-free rate in discounting and expected-return calculations.
10Equity risk premium▾
Describes the additional return investors expect for holding equities instead of risk-free assets.
11Capital asset pricing model (CAPM)▾
Presents CAPM to link beta, the risk-free rate, and expected equity returns.
12Introducing long-term financing▾
Summarizes long-term financing alternatives and their strategic roles for firms.
13Does capital structure matter?▾
Examines theoretical and practical effects of capital structure on firm value and operations.
14Factors influencing optimal capital structure▾
Details firm-level and market factors that influence financing mix decisions.
15Cost of capital: All debt or all equity financing▾
Analyzes how pure debt or pure equity financing affects a firm’s cost of capital.
16Cost of capital: Split debt-equity financing▾
Explains trade-offs when combining debt and equity and the resulting cost implications.
17Weighted-average cost of capital▾
Shows how to compute WACC and apply it as a discount rate for investment appraisal.
18The difference between a stock and a bond▾
Clarifies structural and claim differences between equities and fixed-income securities.
19Stock markets▾
Outlines how stock markets operate and their role in price discovery and capital allocation.
20Bond markets▾
Describes bond market mechanics and how they support corporate borrowing and interest-rate signals.
21Publicly-traded shares: What impacts the share price?▾
Identifies company-specific and market-wide factors that move share prices.
22Initial public offering (IPO): Microsoft▾
Uses the Microsoft IPO as a case study to illustrate the mechanics and rationale for going public.
23Capital budgeting overview▾
Introduces capital budgeting concepts and the process for evaluating long-term projects.
24The importance of the time value of money▾
Explains present- and future-value principles used for project valuation.
25Example: Buying light switches▾
Applies time-value calculations to a simple, practical example to illustrate decision logic.
26Next steps▾
Provides recommendations for continuing study and applying the concepts in practice.
Audience & Requirements
This introductory course is aimed at executives, managers, and accounting professionals who need to understand how financial choices affect business outcomes.
It is also suitable for business students and non‑financial managers seeking a practical grounding in corporate finance.
- Executives and senior managers evaluating financing and investment trade-offs.
- Mid-level managers responsible for budgeting or capital-allocation decisions.
- Accountants and finance staff seeking a practical refresher on core corporate finance.
- Business students and non-financial professionals preparing for finance-related roles.
- No special prerequisites—designed for beginners.
- Comfort with basic arithmetic and elementary interest-rate concepts (present/future value).
Final Verdict
Overall, Corporate Finance Foundations is a concise, well-structured introduction that delivers practical corporate-finance competencies useful to managers, accountants, and business students seeking a quick, applied grounding.
Given its strong rating, the included certificate, and subscription-based access with a free trial, the course represents a cost‑effective way to gain a reliable overview of core concepts. It serves best as a primer; learners who need in-depth financial modeling or extensive practice should follow this with more advanced, hands-on coursework.
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