As the summer semester slowly heads towards its end, it will soon be time for the second semester MBA students to start thinking about the electives they would like to opt for in the upcoming winter semester. To make their decision a bit easier, Prof. Dr. Korbinian Eichner (https://www.hs-pforzheim.de/en/profile/korbinianeichner) walked them through the two Corporate Finance electives available.  

The students can study Applied Corporate Valuation and Mergers, Acquisitions and Corporate Restructurings for 3 ECTS each.

Prof. Eichner places special emphasis on hands-on learning. In these MBA courses, students will learn both theory and practical application through financial modelling and problem-solving using MS Excel. Prof. Eichner started off by putting forth multiple reasons why a career in finance can be beneficial and attractive. You get to work with a lot of senior people being one of the biggest reasons according to him. Besides giving career advice on how the German work areas function and what sort of opportunities are available he also shared names of companies with placement possibilities. After going over the syllabi, the students and the professor indulged in some general discussions about the corporate finance world. Tesla was a popular choice of discussion as Prof. Eichner briefed the students about some basic concepts of mergers and acquisitions as well as corporate valuation to give them a glimpse of both subjects. To encourage interaction and gauge the students understanding and recollection of formerly learned concepts, he quizzed them over questions such as if financial drivers could have an impact on the value of a firm.

After the session was over, the students were welcomed to approach Prof. Eichner with further questions on the topic.

Text / screenshots: Surel Surve, Class of 2021