The current economic recession has led to new areas of research in the finance field.
Graduate students in MBA (master of business administration) programs are often required to conduct substantial research on, or take a course focused on, the topic of finance. This wide-ranging topic encompasses microfinancing and global investments, corporate takeovers, executive compensation, and more.
Microfinancing and Global Investing
Microfinancing is a business practice through which low-income entrepreneurs can obtain financing and provisions to start a business. Through microfinancing, poor communities around the world have been able to become more self-sufficient and successful. Investors help to grow small businesses and build infrastructure in developing countries, where the cost of doing business is minimal compared with industrialized Western nations. The returns can be great. Microfinancing can have a positive effect on poor communities because it teaches people manage and cultivate a business. It also helps women support their families and become financially independent.
Corporate Takeovers
In the world of business and finance, companies can change hands in an instant. The subject of corporate takeovers is one that has long been a part of the field and will continue to be for as long as the industry exists. Many financiers make their living by identifying companies that might have great potential but are currently undervalued. They try to buy them to help make the company successful and then they can reap the rewards.
Takeovers can occur at both privately held and publicly held companies, and can be friendly (the management or board agrees to the takeover) or hostile (the management does not agree to the takeover and the acquiring firm tries to obtain enough stock or shareholder support to take it over anyway). The business world has seen a variety of takeover methods, and the business ethics behind these various methods is a hotly debated issue.
Executive Compensation
The topic of executive compensation in the corporate world is a controversial one and relevant in the aftermath of the economic meltdown that began in 2007 with the crash of the stock market and the implosion of many investment firms. Some banking and investment officials behaved irresponsibly, yet continued to earn enormous salaries and annual bonuses. The public was enraged. This topic examines business ethics, the importance of executives in financial institutions, and bonus incentives for financial professionals.
Tags: business ethics, corporate takeovers, executive compensation, poor communities