• Specialization: Product Development
  • Instructor: Michael Readey
  • Prior knowledge needed: No prior background knowledge or experience is required; however, it is recommended courses be completed in order.

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Learning Outcomes 

  • Understand the basics of financial management in an organization
  • Distinguish between job and activity-based costing and develop a product cost model
  • Learn the concept of time value of money (TVM) and apply it using spreadsheet analysis
  • Apply TVM principles to your personal finances and retirement planning

Course Content

Overview of the course and introduction to key financial principles.

Introduces types of costs and the break-even analysis; describes approaches to cost modeling and important cost estimation techniques.

Introduces types of inventory and how product cost is determined using the Job Cost and Activity-Based Cost methods.

Introduces the concept of time value of money (TVM) as it applies to investment decisions; develops and demonstrates the expressions for the future value of an investment based on initial investments, compounding interest rates, and periods of time; uses analytical and spreadsheet models to solve for a variety of investment situations.

Applies the principles of finance and time value of money (TVM) to one’s personal finances. Investments such as stocks, bonds, and funds are introduced, along with the concept of price volatility and its relationship to risk. Asset allocation theory is described in the context of creating an investment portfolio. These principles are then put into practice through constructing a personal retirement plan spreadsheet and retirement plan portfolio.

This module contains materials for the proctored final exam for ME-EM degree students. If you have upgraded to the for-credit version of this course, please make sure you review the additional for-credit materials in the Introductory module and anywhere else they may be found.

Note: This page is periodically updated. Course information on the Coursera platform supersedes the information on this page. Click View on Coursera button above for the most up-to-date information.