The Comprehensive Course on
Strategic Financial Management
and Leadership

What are the Goals?

By the end of this AZTech training course, participants will be able to:

• Understanding the financial statements
• Understanding strategic, financial and project risk
• Developing sound governance structures
• Developing plans to deliver efficient and effective outcomes
• Understanding finance for new infrastructure projects

Who is this Training Course for?

This AZTech training course is suitable for a wide range of professionals, but will greatly benefit:

• Managers wanting to gain confidence in finance
• Senior managers responsible for corporate governance
• Managers responsible for managing and mitigating risks
• All those wanting to develop leadership capabilities
• Managers responsible for project finance

The Course Content

Module 1: Finance, Risk Management & Corporate Governance

Day One: Finance and Financial Information

• The meaning and importance of finance in business
• The importance of financial information – internal and external
• The corporate annual report and the financial statements                              
• Capital employed: long – term assets and working capital
• Analysing financial statements for profitability, liquidity, efficiency & financial structure
• Investment ratios and market data sources              

Day Two: Financing the Business and Capital Structure

• Sources and types of long term finance
• Sources and types of short term finance
• Calculating the Cost of Equity – what your shareholders expect
• Calculating the Cost of Debt – it depends on your credit rating
• The weighted average cost of capital (WACC)
• Choosing the best mix of equity and debt

Day Three: CAPEX - Analysis of Investment Decisions

• Growing your business with new investment projects
• Preparing spreadsheet forecasts for investment appraisal
• Basic appraisal techniques: Accounting Rate of Return (ARR) and Payback
• Discounted cash flow appraisal techniques:  NPV and IRR
• Capital Rationing and the Profitability Index (PI)
• Dealing with risk in investment appraisal

Day Four: Financial Risk Management

• Risk and uncertainty in business
• How to manage risk – the four Ts
• Financing risk and operating risk
• Foreign currency risk management
• Interest rate risk management
• Role of Internal Audit, Audit Committee, and Chief Risk Officer

Day Five: Corporate Governance

• Recognising the needs of stakeholders
• The origins and development of corporate governance
• Corporate governance codes and regulation
• The role of the Board of Directors
• International corporate governance and the OECD
• Emerging trends in corporate governance

Module 2: Strategic Leadership

Day Six: Advanced Strategic Planning

• Understand the building blocks of a planning process
• Understand the difference between Strategic Thinking and Planning
• Gain confidence in analysing the external environment
• Identify which key capabilities can be developed to achieve current and future objectives
• Learn about the difference between incremental and innovation strategies
• Recognise the leadership qualities needed for delivering change 

Day Seven: The Elements of Good Governance

• Understand what is meant by good governance
• Recognise the influence of group attitudes and power on decision making
• Understand what risk and risk appetite represent: what’s acceptable and who decides
• Understand the effect of how information is presented on decisions, options and choices
• Understand the importance of compliance: rules, processes and checklists
• Explore business ethics, moral DNA and resulting performance

Day Eight: Managing for Efficiency & Effectiveness

• Understand what managers and leaders do and how they handle stress
• Understand the key elements of managing people & performance
• Review operational planning, allocating tasks, roles & responsibilities on productivity
• Review the role of support functions: HR, IT, Procurement in delivering positive customer outcomes
• Understand how service quality standards are determined and communicated
• Gain confidence in budget setting and monitoring 

Day Nine: Leaders as Change Agents

• Understand organizational culture and how to use the cultural web
• Understand how different leadership styles impact culture and climate
• Learn how managers inspire and motivate people
• Develop skills in questioning and listening
• Recognise the value of organizational story telling
• Review the best approaches for leading change

Day Ten: Integrating Culture, Climate and Alignment

• Reflect on the challenges of strategy implementation in a fast changing world
• Understand the importance of employee engagement in delivering good performance
• Recognise how different forms of power have influence on networks and relationships
• Discover how servant leadership delivers added value to employees and customers
• Understand how leaders, culture and practice deliver learning organisations
• Review and reflect on your leadership profile and prepare a development plan 

Module 3: Project Finance & Financial Analysis Techniques for Infrastructure Projects

Day Eleven: Infrastructure Projects & Project Finance

• Major Infrastructure Projects
• Selecting Projects to meet National and Organisational Objectives
• What is Project Finance?
• Special Purpose Vehicle (SPV) & Parties to Project Finance Schemes
• The Investment Criteria & The Investment Planning Process

Day Twelve: Infrastructure Project Appraisal

• Technical, Feasibility & Environmental Analysis
• Economic Analysis & Sustainability
• Financial Analysis
• Risk Analysis
• Cost–Benefit Analysis – Finance V Economic Value Added

Day Thirteen: Estimating Cash Flows - Income; Costs and Activity Duration

• Forecasting Project Cashflows
• PERT – dealing with Uncertainties
• Probabilistic/Statistical Analysis
• Correlation & Regression to estimate costs
• Evaluation & Analysis of Cashflows using Spreadsheet Skills

Day Fourteen: Financing the Project

• The Structure of Project Finance Schemes for Infrastructure Projects
• Equity & Debt Financing
• Recourse & Non-recourse Finance
• Bonds; Guarantees and Letters of Credit
• Calculating the Cost of Finance

Day Fifteen Financial Analysis & Evaluation

• Return on Equity ROE; Debt Service Coverage Ratios (DSCRs); Governments and Value for Money (VfM)
• Capital Investment Appraisal Techniques - Payback; ARR, NPV, IRR etc.
• Economic NPV & Economic Value Added
• Sensitivity Analysis & Simulation Analysis
• Financial Risk Management

The Certificate

• AZTech Certificate of Completion for delegates who attend and complete the training course