Investment Evaluation

Regardless of the phase of its economic life, a business’s modern financial management is called upon daily to solve complex problems and constantly seeks the rational distribution of productive factors, in order to ensure their most effective utilization and the optimization of the business’s capabilities. At the same time, management primarily aims at the maximum possible return on the capital employed by the business. 

Therefore, we are called upon across the entire spectrum of a business’s functional departments to pursue the best feasible decisions, based on the cost-benefit principle, whether these are long-term or short-term. 

The course aims to provide students with the knowledge that will enable them to fully utilize the information contained in the financial and accounting statements of businesses, in combination with the economic environment. The correct use of this information is utilized in practice within their professional field where they can be part of a team that will participate in the management of a business (management) and in making business decisions. Thus, the combination of technical and economic knowledge will help the graduates of the program to successfully evolve in their professional field. 

Specifically: 

• The variables of the economic environment that govern investment decisions are presented, what are the alternative goals of businesses, how the investment strategy is formed, and what are the components of an investment decision.
• The various methods of economic evaluation of investment decisions are developed, both in a state of certainty and in conditions of uncertainty for the future, based on estimates regarding the evolution of various economic variables, many of which are characterized as uncontrollable.
• The use of modern methods of economic evaluation of investment projects is analyzed, (Payback Period, Average Return, Net Present Value, Internal Rate of Return, etc.) with the necessary sensitivity analysis, for making correct investment decisions from the start of an economic unit, as an investment plan and in all subsequent stages of its development, such as, the decision of business expansion, the decision of equipment replacement, merger, detachment of a department, etc.
• A major part of the course is the methodologies for comparing alternative investment plans and ranking them, in a limited or not, amount of investment, which are presented in detail.
• The course material is completed with a detailed presentation of the necessary processes-stages that must be followed for the preparation of a feasibility study.
• Finally, cases are developed and feasibility studies are analyzed for different categories of investment projects and investment decisions are taken. 

Professors: 

Ioannis Apostolopoulos