Appendix D: Cross-Course Connections¶

Concepts that appear in multiple courses, showing how each course builds on the others.

1. Time Value of Money¶

First taught in Decision Analysis, Lesson 3

Also covered in: - Corporate Finance (NPV, DCF valuation, WACC) -- Lessons 1-3, 8-9 - Operational Finance (cost of trade credit, discounting receivables) -- Session 6 - Operations Management (inventory holding costs -- the "i" in EOQ) -- Lesson 14 - Entrepreneurship 1 (venture valuation, VC method) -- Sessions 6-7 - Global Economics (Fisher Equation, real vs. nominal interest rates) -- Lesson 5

How it builds across courses:

Best place to start: Corporate Finance, Lessons 1-3 has the most complete treatment of discounting mechanics, NPV, IRR, and the Gordon Growth Model.

2. Contribution Margin¶

First taught in Managerial Accounting, Lesson 1

Also covered in: - Marketing Management (pricing decisions, breakeven for campaigns and new products) -- Lessons 12-17 - Operations Management (product mix decisions with bottleneck constraint) -- Lesson 3 - Entrepreneurship 1 (unit economics, CLV calculation) -- Session 9 - Entrepreneurship 2 (CLV > CAC test) -- Session 9 - Operations Strategy (critical fractile / newsvendor model uses margin structure) -- Sessions 3-4 - Marketing Planning and Implementation (channel margin math, sales quota design) -- Sessions 7, 13-14

How it builds across courses:

Best place to start: Managerial Accounting, Lesson 1 provides the foundational definition, formulas, and decision framework.

3. Break-Even Analysis¶

First taught in Managerial Accounting, Lesson 1

Also covered in: - Marketing Management (pricing BEQ, campaign ROI, price change BEQ) -- Lessons 12, 17 - Entrepreneurship 1 (business plan financial projections) -- Session 9 - Decision Analysis (break-even probability in decision trees) -- Lesson 4 - Operations Strategy (break-even utilization for capacity decisions) -- Quantitative Tools section

How it builds across courses:

Best place to start: Managerial Accounting, Lesson 1 for the formula and mechanics; Marketing Management, Lessons 12 and 17 for the richest set of applications.

4. Cost of Capital / WACC¶

First taught in Corporate Finance, Lessons 8-9

Also covered in: - Managerial Accounting (EVA uses WACC x Invested Capital) -- Lesson 15 - Operational Finance (financial structure decisions, debt capacity indicators) -- Session 7 - Decision Analysis (discount rate = risk-free + risk premium) -- Lesson 3 - Business Ethics (ESG integration affects cost of capital) -- Session 9

How it builds across courses:

Best place to start: Corporate Finance, Lessons 8-9 provides the complete CAPM + WACC derivation and all the component formulas.

5. Market Sizing / TAM-SAM-SOM¶

First taught in Marketing Management, Lesson 2

Also covered in: - Entrepreneurship 1 (opportunity assessment, business plan market analysis) -- Sessions 1, 9 - Entrepreneurship 2 (pitch deck "Market" slide, venture sizing) -- Session 9 - Corporate Finance (revenue projections in DCF valuation) -- Lesson 2

How it builds across courses:

Best place to start: Marketing Management, Lesson 2 introduces the methodology and the funnel logic. Entrepreneurship 1, Session 9 provides the most practical investor-facing application.

6. Customer Lifetime Value / CLV¶

First taught in Marketing Management, Lesson 17

Also covered in: - Entrepreneurship 1 (unit economics: LTV/CAC ratio) -- Session 9 - Entrepreneurship 2 (CLV > CAC test, pitch deck economics) -- Session 9 - Marketing Planning and Implementation (CLV vs. CAC in DTC economics, acquisition vs. retention) -- Sessions 8, 19 - Corporate Finance (building block for revenue projections) -- Lesson 2

How it builds across courses:

Best place to start: Marketing Management, Lesson 17 has the most complete treatment (formulas, benchmarks, churn analysis). Entrepreneurship 2, Session 9 provides the tightest integration with business model viability.

7. Financial Statement Analysis¶

First taught in Financial Accounting, Lessons 1-5

Also covered in: - Operational Finance (Short Balance Sheet, diagnostic framework, forecasting) -- Sessions 1-3, 8-9 - Corporate Finance (FCF/ECF derivation, DCF valuation inputs) -- Lessons 1-3 - Managerial Accounting (absorption vs. variable costing, cost systems) -- Lessons 7-9, 14 - Business Analytics (regression on financial data) -- Session 8

How it builds across courses:

Best place to start: Financial Accounting, Lessons 1-5 builds the foundation. Operational Finance, Sessions 1-3 and 8-9 provides the most powerful diagnostic application framework.

8. Supply and Demand¶

First taught in Global Economics, Lesson 1

Also covered in: - Marketing Management (price elasticity, pricing strategy, demand curves) -- Lessons 13-16 - Operations Management (demand forecasting feeds capacity planning) -- Lessons 5-8 - Operations Strategy (Fisher's framework: functional vs. innovative product demand) -- Session 3 - Competitive Strategy (Five Forces: buyer/supplier power) -- Session 3

How it builds across courses:

Best place to start: Global Economics, Lesson 1 provides the formal model. Marketing Management, Lessons 13-14 provides the richest business application through pricing strategy.

9. Competitive Advantage¶

First taught in Competitive Strategy, Sessions 1-8

Also covered in: - Operations Strategy (operations-based competitive advantage, Hayes & Upton) -- Session 1 - Marketing Management (positioning, differentiation, brand as moat) -- Lessons 5-7 - Marketing Planning and Implementation (channel design as competitive moat, platform defensibility) -- Sessions 6-9 - Entrepreneurship 1 (competitive advantage in opportunity assessment) -- Session 1

How it builds across courses:

Best place to start: Competitive Strategy, Sessions 3-8 has the most complete analytical treatment (Five Forces, WTP-Cost, VRIS, activity systems).

10. Decision Trees / Uncertainty¶

First taught in Decision Analysis, Lessons 1-2

Also covered in: - Operations Management (aggregate planning under demand uncertainty) -- Lesson 8 - Operations Strategy (critical fractile / newsvendor model) -- Sessions 3-4 - Corporate Finance (scenario analysis, sensitivity analysis in project evaluation) -- Lessons 2-3 - Business Analytics (classification models, confusion matrix, cost-benefit of threshold) -- Sessions 6-7 - Entrepreneurship 1 (staged investment as real options) -- Sessions 6-7

How it builds across courses:

Best place to start: Decision Analysis, Lessons 1-8 provides the full formal toolkit. Operations Strategy adds the critical fractile as a specialized application.

11. Organizational Culture¶

First taught in Leadership, Lessons 14-16

Also covered in: - Business Ethics (organizational ethics, culture as moral artifact, norm-making) -- Sessions 5-7 - Competitive Strategy (culture as inimitable resource, VRIS framework) -- Sessions 7-8 - Operations Strategy (change management, BPR, business model innovation) -- Sessions 18-20

How it builds across courses:

Best place to start: Leadership, Lessons 14-16 provides the deepest treatment of culture formation, diagnosis, and the trust/culture interplay. Business Ethics, Sessions 5-7 adds the moral dimension.

12. Brand / Differentiation¶

First taught in Marketing Management, Lessons 5-8

Also covered in: - Competitive Strategy (differentiation advantage, WTP premium, brand as resource) -- Sessions 6-8 - Marketing Planning and Implementation (brand portfolio strategy, communications planning) -- Sessions 1-5, 17 - Corporate Finance (brand valuation via NPV, intangible assets, goodwill) -- Lessons 3-5 - Financial Accounting (goodwill, intangible asset accounting, impairment) -- Lesson 12

How it builds across courses:

Best place to start: Marketing Management, Lessons 5-8 for brand equity theory and measurement. Competitive Strategy, Sessions 6-8 for brand as a strategic resource.

13. Risk Management¶

First taught in Decision Analysis, Lessons 9, 12

Also covered in: - Corporate Finance (diversification, beta, systematic vs. unsystematic risk) -- Lesson 8 - Global Economics (exchange rate risk, country risk, impossible trinity) -- Lessons 9-12 - Operations Strategy (supply chain resilience, Triple-A supply chain, COVID lessons) -- Sessions 12-13 - Operational Finance (credit risk management, aging analysis, factoring) -- Session 6

How it builds across courses:

Best place to start: Decision Analysis, Lessons 9 and 12 for individual/firm risk management frameworks. Corporate Finance, Lesson 8 for market-level risk pricing.

14. Incentive Design¶

First taught in Managerial Accounting, Lessons 10-15

Also covered in: - Leadership (three types of motives, negative evaluative learning, compensation shaping behavior) -- Lessons 2-5 - Business Ethics (incentive structures and ethical behavior, organizational norms) -- Session 5 - Marketing Planning and Implementation (sales force compensation, quota design, goal congruence) -- Sessions 13-14

How it builds across courses:

Best place to start: Managerial Accounting, Lessons 10-15 provides the quantitative framework (TP, ROI, RI, EVA, variance analysis). Leadership, Lessons 2-5 provides the behavioral and motivational dimension.

15. NPV¶

First taught in Decision Analysis, Lesson 3

Also covered in: - Corporate Finance (project evaluation, DCF valuation, LBO returns) -- Lessons 1-3, 13 - Operations Strategy (capacity investment decisions as NPV problems) -- Cross-references - Managerial Accounting (NPV of alternatives in make-vs-buy, technology changes) -- Lessons 4-5 - Marketing Management (brand valuation via NPV of brand-attributable cash flows) -- Lesson 7

How it builds across courses:

Best place to start: Corporate Finance, Lessons 1-3 has the most rigorous treatment (FCF/ECF, terminal value, sensitivity analysis, 9-step methodology). Decision Analysis, Lesson 3 provides the conceptual introduction.

16. Cash Conversion Cycle / Working Capital¶

First taught in Financial Accounting, Lesson 3

Also covered in: - Operational Finance (CCC management, NFO optimization, negative working capital models) -- Sessions 1-5 - Operations Management (inventory management, JIT, lean operations) -- Lessons 14-15 - Operations Strategy (Aldi/Amazon negative WC model, fast fashion inventory turns) -- Sessions 10, 12 - Corporate Finance (working capital as component of FCF, NFO in net assets) -- Lesson 2

How it builds across courses:

Best place to start: Operational Finance, Sessions 1-5 provides the most complete treatment (NFO framework, CCC formulas, diagnostic tools, seasonal analysis, negative WC models).

17. Cognitive Biases¶

First taught in Decision Analysis, Lesson 5

Also covered in: - Marketing Management (anchoring in pricing, framing effects, loss aversion, endowment effect) -- Lessons 13-15 - Business Ethics (rationalization, escalation of commitment, fraud triangle) -- Sessions 2, 4 - Entrepreneurship 1 (overconfidence in founders, sunk cost fallacy) -- Session 8 - Analysis of Business Problems (diagnosis pitfalls, confirmation bias in analysis) -- Lessons 2, 5 - Leadership (confirmation bias, trust formation) -- Lessons 6-7

How it builds across courses:

Best place to start: Decision Analysis, Lesson 5 provides the systematic catalog with defenses. Marketing Management, Lessons 13-15 provides the richest set of deliberate business applications.

18. Probability and Bayesian Updating¶

First taught in Decision Analysis, Lessons 6-8

Also covered in: - Business Analytics (logistic regression, classification, confusion matrix, ROC/AUC) -- Sessions 6-7 - Operations Management (queueing theory: Poisson arrivals, service time distributions) -- Lessons 11-12 - Corporate Finance (beta estimation is a regression of stock returns on market returns) -- Lesson 8

How it builds across courses:

Best place to start: Decision Analysis, Lessons 6-8 provides the formal framework. Business Analytics, Sessions 6-7 provides the most hands-on data application.

19. Make vs. Buy / Vertical Integration¶

First taught in Managerial Accounting, Lesson 5

Also covered in: - Operations Strategy (vertical integration framework, make vs. buy criteria) -- Session 11 - Competitive Strategy (value chain analysis, activity systems) -- Sessions 1-2, 5 - Operational Finance (outsourcing effects on NFO and cost structure) -- Sessions 3, 8-9

How it builds across courses:

Best place to start: Managerial Accounting, Lesson 5 for the quantitative cost analysis. Operations Strategy, Session 11 for the strategic framework.

20. Stakeholder Theory / Corporate Purpose¶

First taught in Business Ethics, Sessions 8-9

Also covered in: - Corporate Finance (shareholder value theory, agency problems, ESG) -- Lessons 6, 14 - Competitive Strategy (Creating Shared Value, CSR as competitive positioning) -- Sessions 7-8 - Leadership (anthropological model: firm as community of persons) -- Lessons 1-5

How it builds across courses:

Best place to start: Business Ethics, Sessions 8-9 provides the most complete theoretical comparison of the three models. Corporate Finance, Lesson 14 adds the financial mechanics of ESG.

How to Use This Appendix¶

When studying a concept in one course, check this appendix to see where else it appears. The primary reference is where you should go for the deepest treatment. The other courses show you how the same idea looks through a different lens -- and understanding those different perspectives is what the MBA is really about.