Internal Consulting and Control

2013-2014
Course Code FIN 5731
Module Module C 2013-14
Instructor Tiffany Rasmussen
Email tiffany.rasmussen@faculty.hult.edu
Phone / Skype 415 -999 -1856
Availability Office hour after class on Monday and
Wednesday. Appointments available on
request.
Class Times & Rooms See https://mycourses.hult.edu/

Page 1 of 14

Course aims and description of content

Internal consulting organizations have seen a rapid increase within
corporations and are typically tasked with the Chief Financial Officer key
priorities. Success in this part of the finance organization requires
strong communication, influencing, and negotiation skills to build
relationships and deliver outcomes across the corporation.
This course will teach critical skills from management consulting
principles and help students appreciate the context of the internal
consulting organization by articulating the structure and key
stakeholders for the finance function.

Intended Learning Outcomes

Key (Assessed) Learning Outcomes
On completion of this course, students should understand and be able to do the following:
1 Understand how the Internal Consulting role fits in a corporate
environment.
2 Learn tools and techniques to understand and assess a business, to aid
management in improving a business and for performing projects that an
internal consultant may employ:

Business Models

Balance Scorecards

Corporate Responsibility Reporting

Risk Management

Internal Control Framework

Presentation Skills

Project Management

Teamwork

Page 2 of 14

3 Put the above tools and techniques into action in the classroom.

Teaching and Learning

This course is a combination of lecture and interactive learning through
in-class exercises. Students will learn by doing. Through the advance
reading of the course materials and the completion of team exercises
and short quizzes in class, students will learn to use tools and
techniques available to todays internal consultants. Guest lecturers
will supplement the instructors real world experience.

Method and weighting of assessment

Assessment form % of final grade lower/upper
guardrails
Class contribution

15%

Assignments

55%

Quizzes

10%

Final

20%

In this course, students are evaluated by the following means of assessment:

Assignment In-class team exercises.

Weighting (% of final grade): There will be 3 team exercises for a total of
30 of the 55% course Assignment grade.

Page 3 of 14

Learning Outcome(s) Assessed: The learning outcomes these will address are
the use of Business Models, Balance
Scorecards and Risk Management tools and
techniques.
Description of Assignment:

Create these tools for a real company.

Quality Indicators (how will it This will be graded on quality of the analysis
be graded; what constitutes a created. Well thought out and clearly
good assignment): documented results are the measure of
success.

Assignment Case studies.

Weighting (% of final grade): There will be 2 case studies for a total of 20
of the 55% course assignment grade.
Learning Outcome(s) Assessed: The learning outcomes these will address are
the use of Risk Management and Project
Management tools and techniques.
Description of Assignment:

Use these tools in the case study

environment.

Quality Indicators (how will it This will be graded on quality of the analysis
be graded; what constitutes a created. Well thought out and clearly
good assignment): documented results are the measure of
success.

Assignment Short quizzes.

Weighting (% of final grade): There will be 2 quizzes for a total of 10% of
the overall course grade.
Learning Outcome(s) Assessed: Quizzes will test you on Business Models,
Balance Scorecards, Risk Management and
Internal Control techniques.

Page 4 of 14

Description of Assignment:

In-class on-line quiz.

Quality Indicators (how will it The quizzes will be scored by points.

be graded; what constitutes a
good assignment):

Assignment Individual presentations.

Weighting (% of final grade): The 2-minute presentation will be 5 of the
55% course assignment grade.
Learning Outcome(s) Assessed: These presentations will demonstrate your
use of the Presentation Skills learnings.
Description of Assignment:

Each student will present for 2 minutes in

class on an assigned topic.

Quality Indicators (how will it The presentations will be graded based on

be graded; what constitutes a demonstration of the skills in the advance
good assignment): readings and class discussions.

Assignment Team presentations.

Weighting (% of final grade): These 10-minute team presentations will be
20% of the overall course grade.
Learning Outcome(s) Assessed: These presentations will bring together the
course content in total.
Description of Assignment:

Each team will present an overview of the

business they have been asked to analyze
using the tools and techniques learned
throughout the class. Each team member
will contribute a separate element of the
analysis and the team will prepare a
summary and ensure it is cohesive.

Page 5 of 14

Quality Indicators (how will it This will be graded on quality of the analysis
be graded; what constitutes a created. Well thought out and clearly
good assignment): presented results are the measure of
success. The use of the learned tools and
techniques by each team member will also
be evaluated. All team members must
participate in the presentation.

Assignment Peer evaluations.

Weighting (% of final grade): 1/2 of your Class Contribution score.
Learning Outcome(s) Assessed: Teamwork skills.
Description of Assignment:

Each team member will be asked to assess

fellow team members on teamwork skills.

Quality Indicators (how will it Team members will be evaluated by peers

be graded; what constitutes a based on participation in exercises and
good assignment): presentations, leadership on team, team
cooperation, and contribution to the teams
work products.

Page 6 of 14

Assessment Expectations
Registrars scale of grade points:
A

4.00

C+

2.33

A-

3.67

2.00

B+

3.33

C-

1.67

3.00

1.00

B-

2.67

0.00

Attendance, Participation and Student Responsibilities

Attendance
Students are expected to attend all scheduled classes, examinations, class presentations,
simulations, exercises, field research visits, discussion groups, plant visits, lectures, and
special programs. Absences will be excused only in cases when a student misses a class
because of serious illness, serious illness of an immediate family member, or a death in the
immediate family. Decisions on whether an absence qualifies as an excused absence will be
made by the campus dean. To be excused for an absence, a student must submit a request
to the dean's office along with any required documentation. If a campus dean approves a
student's request to be excused for an absence, the dean will notify all affected faculty. In
cases of excused absences, faculty members will be expected to offer make-up or substitute
exercises or exams, where feasible.
An absence for any reason except those qualifying for an excused absence will be
considered an unexcused absence.
Students who miss more than 20% of scheduled classroom/activity hours because of
unexcused absences (e.g. more than two meetings of a 10-meeting course, or more than 4
meetings of a 20-meeting course) will fail the course. Students who miss substantial portions
of a course because of excused absences will receive an Incomplete grade for the course
and will be required to make up missed work or re-take the course.
With the approval of the campus dean, individual Instructors may impose additional and/or
stricter attendance requirements and penalties for tardiness or absence, as they see
appropriate for their courses. Students should carefully read course syllabi to be sure that
they understand the particular expectations for attendance in each course.
If a student misses a class or other required activity, it is his or her responsibility to review,
with classmates, the material covered, and to consult with the Instructor prior to the next
class meeting regarding any possible make-up requirements. In case of illness or absence

Page 7 of 14

due to religious obligations, students must notify the Instructor(s) by email as soon they are
aware of the time conflict. (Note: any make-up work approved by the course Instructor must
be completed either immediately before or immediately after the class session missed. It is
not acceptable to submit make-up work after the course has ended and/or grades have been
issued.)
Absences count as a zero for that day's class participation.
Classes begin promptly according to the published schedule. It is the responsibility of each
student to be in class on time. Classroom attendance will be recorded. To eliminate
disruption, students are requested not to enter or leave the classroom when class is in
session. Furthermore, students are expected to attend all class sessions with their
corresponding cohort and team. Switching cohorts to accommodate class attendance is not
allowed except in the presence of extenuating circumstances and with the prior approval by
the course Instructor and the Registrars Office.
Attending group meetings and participating in the assigned study teams are required
components of the program and are considered an important part of the experiential learning
process. Group member feedback evaluations may be administered by individual Instructors
to assess each team members participation and attendance for group projects.

Maintaining the Learning Environment

Certain behaviours disrupt class, such as a student arriving late, a phone ringing, a student
leaving in the middle of class, etc. Instructors have the authority to decide policies for their
classroom regarding these and similar behaviours that may disrupt the learning environment.
All members of the class are expected to respect the learning environment and the
instructors efforts to maintain it.

Participation
Students are expected to participate orally in class, and in online forums and discussions, in
a critical and evaluative manner; to approach instructor and fellow students with respect and
tolerance; and to actively engage in debate, while avoiding derogatory or inflammatory
comments on the cultures or attitudes of others in the class.

Weekly workload for each course

The syllabus is based on a total time commitment of approximately 150 hours of work per 3credit course, combining in-class and out-of-class work. In addition to the hours spent in
class, students should expect group work, reading, studying, writing and preparation to
amount to the stated total by the end of the class. At different times of any given term, the
workload will naturally vary to some extent, and students are expected to make allowance
for this variance in workload.

Academic Integrity
Any work submitted by a student in this course for academic credit must be the student's
own work. If you present, as your own idea, any material copied, paraphrased, or extensively
drawn upon, you are plagiarizingunless you give full citations for your sources. Of course,
Page 8 of 14

you may make full use of ideas, arguments and information obtained from books etc. but you
must make clear in a footnote whose work you are drawing on. Failure to cite your sources
will result in a failing grade for that assignment. In cases of blatant and intentional
misrepresentation, a student will receive a failing grade for the course and may face
disciplinary action before the Academic Standards Committee, which, in extreme cases, may
result in dismissal from the School.
The Hult policy on plagiarism applies to all work done at the School. Please consult the
Student Handbook for further details.
During examinations, you must do your own work. Talking or discussion is not permitted, nor
may you compare papers, copy from others, or collaborate in any way. Any failure to abide
by examination rules will result in failure of the exam, and may lead to failure of the course
and School disciplinary action.

Helpful Resources
1.

An interactive tutorial guide on how to avoid plagiarism and how to cite sources:
http://library.acadiau.ca/tutorials/plagiarism/

2. How to cite and write a bibliography: Your professor will tell you which citation format she
or he prefers you to use (the most common are APA, MLA and Chicago). The most
important thing is to use one citation and referencing format consistently and accurately
throughout your paper. For guidance, try this useful web resource:
http://www.plagiarism.org/learning_center/citation.html

Accommodating Special Needs

In order to receive disability-related academic accommodations, students must

provide the Registry before the start of the academic year with a medical letter authorizing
special accommodations and specifying the types of accommodation required. The
accommodations that are authorized in the letter should then be discussed and agreed
upon with the Dean and the instructor of each course. Accommodations, such as exam
administration, are not provided retroactively; therefore, planning for accommodations at
the beginning of the academic year is necessary.

Page 9 of 14

Essential reading
Text: Business Model Generation, written by Alexander Osterwalder and Yves
Pigneur, published by Wiley
Specific cases and articles to be provided by topic.

Page 10 of 14

Course Schedule
Essential course topics:
1 Course Overview.
Business Models.
2 Business Models.
3 Balance Scorecards.
Corporate Social Responsibility Reporting.
4 An Internal Consulting Career. Guest lecturer.
Internal Consulting Projects.
5 Risk Management. Guest lecturer.
6 Risk Management.
7 Internal Control Framework.
Implementing and Assessing Internal Controls. Guest lecturer.
8 Presentation Skills.
9 Presentation Skills.
10 Project Management.
11 Final Presentations.

Page 11 of 14

Class 1

Date see mycourses

Topic Course Overview. Business Models.

Reading Sections 1 and 2 of Business Model Generation
Assignment Each team will be asked to select a public company (from
a short list) to use throughout the course as a case
subject.

Class 2

Date see mycourses

Topic Business Models

Reading Sections 3 and 4 of Business Model Generation
Assignment Team exercise to build a business model for your selected
business.

Class 3

Date see mycourses

Topic Balance Scorecards.

Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) Reporting.
Reading Balance scorecard paper. Short videos on CSR. Your
selected companys current CSR report.
Assignment Team exercise to create a balanced scorecard with
performance metrics for your selected business.

Page 12 of 14

Class 4

Date see mycourses

Topic An Internal Consulting Career.

Internal Consulting Projects.
Reading None.
Assignment Short Quiz on content to date.

Class 5

Date see mycourses

Topic Risk Management.

Reading Risk management paper. Your selected companys Annual
Financial Report on 10-K and recent press releases.
Assignment Team exercise to prepare risk assessment for your
selected business.

Class 6

Date see mycourses

Topic Risk Management.

Reading Case Study.
Assignment Case Study questions.

Class 7

Date see mycourses

Topic Internal Control Framework.

Reading Internal Control paper.
Assignment Short Quiz on risk management and internal control.

Page 13 of 14

Class 8

Date see mycourses

Topic Presentation Skills.

Reading Presentation skills paper.
Assignment Begin your team Final Presentations.

Class 9

Date see mycourses

Topic Presentation Skills.

Reading Presentation skills checklist.
Assignment 2-minute presentations per student.

Class 10

Date see mycourses

Topic Project Management.

Reading Project management paper. Case study.
Assignment Case study questions.

Exam Time

Final
Presentations.

Page 14 of 14

Exam Date see mycourses