MapKAI Original Learning Path
Corporate Finance Essentials
Learn how value, cash, risk, governance, and performance come together in real company decisions.
This five-day course explains corporate finance through business situations, stories, decision questions, and practical frameworks. It is designed for learners who need financial understanding, not financial jargon.
Your learning progress is stored only on this device. No account is required.
0 of 5 days completed
Who this course is for
No accounting or finance background is required.
By the end of the course, you will be able to
- Explain why profit and cash are not the same.
- Identify the relevant cash flows behind an investment.
- Assess how risk affects value and financing decisions.
- Recognize the role of accounting, governance, and control.
- Connect financial decisions with strategy and operations.
- Ask more useful questions before approving a proposal.
Five-day course outline
Value and Capital Allocation
How can a company know whether an investment will create value?
Cash flow · NPV · Cost of capital · Real options
25 minutes Start Day 1Trust and the Licence to Operate
How should a company finance and protect its future?
Financing · Liquidity · Risk · Hedging
25 minutes Start Day 2Facts, Risk, and Governance
What do the numbers reveal, and what might they hide?
Accounting · Working capital · Risk management · Governance
25 minutes Start Day 3How Strategy Becomes Behaviour
How do measures and controls shape business behaviour?
Performance measurement · Management control · Incentives
25 minutes Start Day 4Compare Evidence, Form Advice
How should leaders combine value, risk, strategy, and judgment?
Integration · Leadership judgment · Decision presentation
25 minutes Start Day 5How you will learn
- 01Begin with a business situation
- 02Reveal the financial logic
- 03Connect the idea to a practical framework
- 04Apply it through reflection and decision questions
The course focuses on interpretation and decision-making rather than formula memorisation.
Why this course was created
Corporate finance is often taught as a collection of formulas. In practice, managers need to understand how financial ideas connect with strategy, operations, risk, governance, and human judgment. This learning path was created to make those connections easier to see.
Created by the MapKAI editorial team for professionals who need practical financial judgment across functions.
Last reviewed: August 2026
View course referencesCourse references
- Berk, Jonathan, Peter DeMarzo & Jarrad Harford (2025). Fundamentals of Corporate Finance, 6th Global Edition.
Pearson; ISBN 9781292470047. Assigned range: Ch. 1 §§1.3–1.5; Ch. 3 §§3.3–3.4; Ch. 4; Ch. 6 §§6.1–6.2; Ch. 7 §7.1; Chs. 10, 20, and 21.
- Stulz, René M. (1996). “Rethinking Risk Management.” Journal of Applied Corporate Finance, 9(3), 8–24.
Corporate risk-management article.
- Nocco, Brian W. & René M. Stulz (2006). “Enterprise Risk Management: Theory and Practice.”
Enterprise-risk-management theory and practice article.
- COSO (2017). Enterprise Risk Management: Integrating with Strategy and Performance.
COSO enterprise-risk-management framework.
- Ewing, Jack (2017). “Engineering a Deception.” The New York Times.
Volkswagen diesel-scandal case material.
- ING (2018). Wwft settlement material.
Dutch anti-money-laundering compliance settlement case.
- De Micco et al. (2021). Estra case.
Sustainability-reporting case study.
- KPMG (2025). ESRS: learnings to progress.
Observation of first-wave Dutch CSRD reporting practice.
Start with one business question
You do not need to master finance in one day. Begin by learning how value is created and how investment choices should be examined.
Start Day 1 — Value and Capital Allocation