In this first course of the specialization, we will discuss the limitations of the Internet for business and economic activity, and explain how blockchain technology represents the way forward. After completing this course, you will be able to explain what blockchain is, how it works, and why it is revolutionary. You will learn key concepts such as mining, hashing, proof-of-work, public key cryptography, and the double-spend problem. You’ll be able to describe seven design principles for blockchain technology, and the challenges facing the people developing it. You’ll also meet the players in the blockchain ecosystem, and consider your own role in stewarding the blockchain revolution.

Investors tend to be their own worst enemies. In this third course, you will learn how to capitalize on understanding behavioral biases and irrational behavior in financial markets. You will start by learning about the various behavioral biases – mistakes that investors make and understand their reasons. You will learn how to recognize your own mistakes as well as others’ and understand how these mistakes can affect investment decisions and financial markets. You will also explore how different preferences and investment horizons impact the optimal asset allocation choice. After this course, you will be more effective in overcoming biases to do the wrong things at the wrong times and tailoring an investment strategy that is best suited on your or your client’s profile and investment needs.

Today, large intermediaries establish trust in our economy and control the movement, storage, and allocation of money and assets. The status quo, however, is rife with inefficiencies. In this course, we’ll address the many challenges of the status quo and discuss how cryptoassets, smart contracts, new identity systems, and new financial business models can help overcome them. You’ll learn how blockchain technology empowers individuals, entrepreneurs, and businesses with the tools they need to help level the playing field and to participate in the value they create. By the end of this course, you’ll learn how and why transacting on the blockchain can help us bring about a future that is faster, fairer, and more distributed than the world we inhabit today.

This course introduces core areas of statistics that will be useful in business and for several MBA modules. It covers a variety of ways to present data, probability, and statistical estimation. You can test your understanding as you progress, while more advanced content is available if you want to push yourself. This course forms part of a specialisation from the University of London designed to help you develop and build the essential business, academic, and cultural skills necessary to succeed in international business, or in further study. If completed successfully, your certificate from this specialisation can also be used as part of the application process for the University of London Global MBA programme, particularly for early career applicants. If you would like more information about the Global MBA, please visit https://mba.london.ac.uk/. This course is endorsed by CMI

The sudden rise in the value of Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies, and its subsequent decline, focused the world’s attention on cryptocurrencies as a means of payment. Blockchain technology powers Bitcoin and has been hyped as the next new, transformative technology. In this course, we first discuss the technical underpinnings of blockchain and review key concepts such as decentralization and consensus algorithms. We then examine blockchain as an asset and review the dynamics of the cryptocurrency markets. Finally, we examine blockchain as a business solution, with a focus on understanding business cases in which blockchain does and does not make sense.

This course focuses on adopting and implementing a financially analytic mindset when engaged in organizational decision-making and scenario analysis. The course begins with an overview of the "internal" perspective of the organization, in which you will learn fundamental concepts, including the importance of how cost information is organized for different decision scenarios. You will then learn about scenario analysis, including cost-volume-profit analysis and other fundamental concepts that help facilitate financial organizational decision-making. Next, you will learn about planning and budgeting, a key function that allows organizations to identify and allocate resources necessary to achieve organizational goals. You will then learn how to assess actual performance against these budgets using variance analysis. Finally, you will learn about the organization’s performance measurement, evaluation, and compensation system. Specifically, you will learn about the advantages and disadvantages of common financial performance measures and understand how an organization uses non-financial performance measures within its strategic performance measurement system to complement the financial perspective.

In this course, we’ll introduce students with basic knowledge of traditional financial products to data-driven resources they can use to complement their fundamental analysis. We’ll also highlight certain deceptive marketing practices that can paint a rosier picture of addressing ESG-related concerns than may actually be the case. Moreover, many corporations appear to be growing increasingly aware of the values of the millennial generation, who, according to some industry surveys, appear to account for the vast majority of those who cite ESG as a central goal in their investment plans. We’ll dive more deeply into these topics, and through a series of video, webinar, and reading modules, among other objectives, you’ll learn to explain how Big Data and artificial intelligence may be used for actionable accountability, and describe inherent challenges in data analysis, as well as differentiate between different forms of deceptive business practices, including green washing, social washing, and pink washing, You’ll also be able to provide insights about how millennial, and younger, investors’ interests may be driving increased attention on ESG investing.

By the end of this project, you will be able to create a simple Gantt Chart using Google Sheets. You will have a better understanding of how to use this tool to help track and present project schedules. Note: This course works best for learners who are based in the North America region. We’re currently working on providing the same experience in other regions.

Hi and welcome to this course! Would you like to learn about the latest valuation methods that may help you to make better business decisions? Then 'Advanced Valuation and Strategy – M&A, Private Equity, and Venture Capital' by Erasmus University Rotterdam is the right course for you! This course is helpful for executives that need to value complete strategies and for all students interested in corporate finance and strategy. We present the latest tools and show you how to apply them! We will revolutionize your way of decision making, by extending static techniques from corporate finance with dynamic methods to quantify strategic thinking. Traditionally, we assess the attractiveness of an investment as a mature business, where future cash flows mainly result from past decisions. But, in an ever-changing world, strategic decisions determine the firm’s long-term success and market value. Yet managers often have to consider these long-term implications using intuition and experience alone, with little guidance from structured, quantitative analysis. Our treatment goes far beyond the use of standard valuation analysis. We introduce the expanded NPV, which brings together DCF, real options, and game theory. Thinking in terms of options, games, and adaptive strategies may help managers address strategic questions such as: How do you value a leveraged buyout? How can you value a high-tech venture with negative cash flows? When should you invest in new ventures in stages? How can you incorporate rival bidders in the analysis? The tools we provide can improve your decisions in business and in daily life. * Who is this class for? We hope that our course appeals to (graduate) students in finance, economics, and business, as well as to high-ranking professionals and a general audience. This course is particularly interesting for venture capitalists, private equity investors, investment bankers, CEOs, CFOs, and those who aspire these affiliations. We offer this MOOC at 3 levels: 1.Executive Summary: This 1-week module provides critical insights into the principles of corporate valuation and strategy. This is accessible for time-constrained executives and the general audience without any prior knowledge. 2. Student Level: This level involves an understanding of the technical details. This level requires basic knowledge of concepts in corporate finance, e.g., the time value of money, financial statement analysis, capital structure, and the relation between risk and returns. Learners of this level can skip week 1. 3. Honors Level (honors certificate): This level is challenging, engaging, and compelling to an intellectually rigorous student.

Continue learning about blockchain technology by diving into the nature of ownership and how the blockchain is one way to approach decentralized transaction handling. This course also demystifies cryptography and hashing, which are critical for authenticating users and guaranteeing transaction privacy. This course requires the purchase of two books for the completion of assignments: Drescher, D. (2017). Blockchain Basics: A Non-Technical Introduction in 25 Steps. (ISBN-13: 978-1484226032) Antonoupoulos, A. M. (2017). The Internet of Money, Volume Two. (ISBN-13: 978-1947910065)