Study Guide

Objectives

The course aims to build on the two most remarkable megatrends of today’s business world – digital transformation and sustainability. The students of this course both learn about the key ingredients of these phenomena, and how to further improve today’s future-oriented financial management and management accounting practices utilizing the new opportunities arising from them. The approach is strongly analytical, curious-minded, experimental, and practical, with a clear focus on planning and enabling successful decision-making for the future.

After completing the course, the student will be able to:
• produce contribution to digital transformation projects, especially in tasks and duties with a focus on financial management.
• plan and implement digital finance practices case-specifically, with a focus on e.g., business intelligence (BI), automation, and artificial intelligence (AI).
• improve the efficiency of analysis, forecasting, and strategy work and add benefits of visualization to reporting.
• perform experimental scenario work, risk, and sensitivity analyses (e.g., ROI DuPont), to create insights for decision making.
• identify, consider, and include effects of sustainable finance and ESG regulation to the practices and business development efforts of a company.
• be continuously ready to renew their skills and competences, as a response to the new requirements arising from digitalization and sustainability to accounting and finance professions.

Content

The contents include the followings:
• What roles do the new business models have as part of strategic financial management?
• How does digital transformation change financial management?
• What tools and approaches are there, to implement digital finance in practice? What are BI, automation, and AI?
• How can visualization, analysis, forecasting, and strategy work be improved in the digital era?
• When is it time to perform scenario work, or sensitivity analysis (e.g., ROI DuPont), as part of predictive financial management?
• Why is sustainable finance a current discussion topic? What does ESG regulation (CSRD, ESRS, EU Taxonomy, 17SDGs, GRI, etc.) mean to various companies?
• What are the effects of sustainability to external accounting and communication?
• How does sustainability effect future management accounting and control practices, as well as accounting and finance professions?

Prerequisites

None.

Assessment criteria, satisfactory (1-2)

The student can determine and use the assigned concepts, methods, and practices of financial management as well as digital and sustainable finance acceptably. He/she can take responsibility and mainly manage his individual tasks and duties in routine contexts, especially under supervision. He/she works rather actively and manages the basics of industry or case-specific development, scenario and/or forecasting work. He/she can make some contribution in a group.

Assessment criteria, good (3-4)

The student has the competence of applying and explaining the assigned concepts, methods, and practices of financial management as well as digital and sustainable finance well. He/she can perform industry or case-specific analyses and scenarios in controllable situations. He/she works actively and cooperates responsibly and constructively both individually and in a group. He/she can produce reliable contribution in development of financial management and reporting, and in creation of forecasts and insights. His/her courses of action are well justified.

Assessment criteria, excellent (5)

The student can analyze even complex industry and case-specific situations and produce alternative solution proposals to various development tasks and problems in the field of financial management and digital and sustainable finance. He/she can creatively apply his extensive knowledge and skills of the subject matter and produce high-quality analyses, forecasts, scenarios, and insights. In the development work of financial management and reporting, his/her approach may very well be experimental, leading to new findings and conclusions. His/her courses of action are very well justified, and he can work individually, making remarkable contribution to group work, cooperating responsibly, constructively, and flexibly with excellent commitment.

Further information

Implementation Plan.