1. Lesson 2
Chapter 1
Introduction
Unit 1
Core concepts in financial management
After reading this lesson you will be able to understand the following: -
Objective of financial management.
Separation of ownership & management
Major decisions in financial management
In first semester you have read financial accounting and by now you have a little idea
about financial management also so tell me what is the objective of financial
management?
What is the objective of financial management?
“If you don’t know where you are going, it does not matter how you get there”
What do you think should be the objective?
What do a finance manager do? Suppose he makes available the required funds at an
acceptable cost and those funds are suitably invested and that every thing goes according
to plan because of the effective control measures he uses. If the firm is a commercial or
profit seeking then the results of good performance are reflected in the profits the firm
makes. How are profits utilized? They are partly distributed among the owners as
dividends and partly reinvested in to the business. As this process continues over a period

2. of time the value of the firm increases. If the share of the organization is traded on stock
exchange the good performance is reflected through the market price of the share, which
shows an upward movement. When the market price is more a shareholder gets more
value then what he has originally invested thus his wealth increases. Therefore we can
say that the objective of financial management is to increase the value of the firm or
wealth maximization.
Objective: Maximize the Value of the Firm
Brealey & Myers: "Success is usually judged by value: Shareholders are made better off
by any decision which increases the value of their stake in the firm... The secret of
success in financial management is to increase value."
Copeland & Weston: The most important theme is that the objective of the firm is to
maximize the wealth of its stockholders."
Brigham and Gapenski: Management's primary goal is stockholder wealth
maximization, which translates into maximizing the price of the common stock.
The Objective in Decision Making
In traditional corporate finance, the objective in decision-making is to maximize the
value of the firm.
A narrower objective is to maximize stockholder wealth. When the stock is traded and
markets are viewed to be efficient, the objective is to maximize the stock price.
All other goals of the firm are intermediate ones leading to firm value maximization, or
operate as constraints on firm value maximization.
The Criticism of Firm Value Maximization

3. Maximizing stock price is not incompatible with meeting employee needs/objectives. In
particular:
• - Employees are often stockholders in many firms
• - Firms that maximize stock price generally are firms that have treated employees well.
Maximizing stock price does not mean that customers are not critical to success. In most
businesses, keeping customers happy is the route to stock price maximization.
Maximizing stock price does not imply that a company has to be a social outlaw.
Why traditional corporate financial theory focuses on maximizing stockholder
wealth?
Stock prices are easily observable and constantly updated (unlike other measures of
performance, which may not be as easily observable, and certainly not updated as
frequently).
If investors are rational, stock prices reflect the wisdom of decisions, short term and long
term, instantaneously. As it is, it is believed that market discounts all the information in
the form of market price of the share.
Why not profit maximization?
Profitability objective may be stated in terms of profits, return on investment, or
profit to-sales ratios. According to this objective, all actions such as increase income and
cut down costs should be undertaken and those that are likely to have adverse impact on
profitability of the enterprise should be avoided. Advocates of the profit maximisation
objective are of the view that this objective is simple and has the in-built advantage of
judging economic performance of the enterprise. Further, it will direct the resources in
those channels that promise maximum return. This, in turn, would help in optimal
utilisation of society's economic resources. Since the finance manager is responsible for
the efficient utilisation of capital, it is plausible to pursue profitability maximisation as
the operational standard to test the effectiveness of financial decisions.

4. However, profit maximisation objective suffers from several drawbacks rendering it
an ineffective decisional criterion. These drawbacks are:
(a) It is Vague
It is not clear in what sense the term profit has been used. It may be total profit before tax or after
tax or profitability rate. Rate of profitability may again be in relation to Share capital; owner's
funds, total capital employed or sales. Which of these variants of profit should the management
pursue to maximise so as to attain the profit maximisation objective remains vague? Furthermore,
the word profit does not speak anything about the short-term and long-term profits. Profits in the
short-run may not be the same as those in the long run. A firm can maximise its short-term profit
by avoiding current expenditures on maintenance of a machine. But owing to this neglect, the
machine being put to use may no longer be capable of operation after sometime with the result
that the firm will have to defray huge investment outlay to replace the machine. Thus, profit
maximisation suffers in the long run for the sake of maximizing short-term profit. Obviously,
long-term consideration of profit cannot be neglected in favor of short-term profit.
(b) It Ignores Time Value factor
Profit maximisation objective fails to provide any idea regarding timing of expected cash
earnings. For instance, if there are two investment projects and suppose one is likely to
produce streams of earnings of Rs. 90,000 in sixth year from now and the other is likely
to produce annual benefits of Rs. 15,000 in each of the ensuing six years, both the
projects cannot be treated as equally useful ones although total benefits of both the
projects are identical because of differences in value of benefits received today and those received
a year two years after. Choice of more worthy projects lies in the study of time value of future
flows of cash earnings. The interest of the firm and its owners is affected by the time value or.
Profit maximisation objective does not take cognizance of this vital factor and treats all benefits,
irrespective of the timing, as equally valuable.
(c) It Ignores Risk Factor
Another serious shortcoming of the profit maximisation objective is that it overlooks risk factor.
Future earnings of different projects are related with risks of varying degrees. Hence,

5. different projects may have different values even though their earning capacity is the
same. A project with fluctuating earnings is considered more risky than the one with
certainty of earnings. Naturally, an investor would provide less value to the former than
to the latter. Risk element of a project is also dependent on the financing mix of the
project. Project largely financed by way of debt is generally more risky than the one
predominantly financed by means of share capital.
In view of the above, the profit maximisation objective is inappropriate and unsuitable an
operational objective of the firm. Suitable and operationally feasible objective of the firm
should be precise and clear cut and should give weightage to time value and risk factors.
All these factors are well taken care of by wealth maximisation objective.
That is why we have Wealth Maximisation as an Objective
Wealth maximisation objective is a widely recognised criterion with which the
performance a business enterprise is evaluated. The word wealth refers to the net present
worth of the firm. Therefore, wealth maximisation is also stated as net present worth. Net
present worth is difference between gross present worth and the amount of capital
investment required to achieve the benefits. Gross present worth represents the present
value of expected cash benefits discounted at a rate, which reflects their certainty or
uncertainty. Thus, wealth maximisation objective as decisional criterion suggests that any
financial action, which creates wealth or which, has a net present value above zero is
desirable one and should be accepted and that which does not satisfy this test should be
rejected.
The wealth maximisation objective when used as decisional criterion serves as a very
useful guideline in taking investment decisions. This is because the concept of, wealth is
very clear. It represents present value of the benefits minus the cost of the investment.
The concept of cash flow is more precise in connotation than that of accounting profit.
Thus, measuring benefit in terms of cash flows generated avoids ambiguity.
The wealth maximisation objective considers time value of money. It recognises that

6. cash benefits emerging from a project in different years are not identical in value. This is
why annual cash benefits of a project are discounted at a discount rate to calculate total
value of these cash benefits. At the same time, it also gives due weightage to risk factor
by making necessary adjustments in the discount rate. Thus, cash benefits of a project
with higher risk exposure is discounted at a higher discount rate (cost of capital), while
lower discount rate applied to discount expected cash benefits of a less risky project. In
this way, discount rate used to determine present value of future streams of cash earning
reflects both the time and risk. .
In view of the above reasons, wealth maximisation objective is considered superior
profit maximisation objective. It may be noted here that value maximisation objective is
simply the extension of profit maximisation to real life situations. Where the time period
is short and magnitude of uncertainty is not great, value maximisation and profit
maximisation amount almost the same thing.
Objective redefined
Although shareholder wealth maximization is the primary goal, in recent years
many firms have broadened their focus to include the interests of stakeholders as
well as shareholders. Stakeholders are groups such as employees, customers,
suppliers, creditors, and owners who have a direct economic link to the firm.
Employees are paid for their labor, customers purchase the firm's products or
services, suppliers are paid for the materials and services they provide, creditors
provide debt financing, and owners provide equity financing. A firm with a
stakeholder focus consciously avoids actions that would prove detrimental to
stakeholders by damaging their wealth positions through the transfer of
stakeholder wealth to the firm. The goal is not to maximize stakeholder well
being, but to preserve it.
The stakeholder view tends to limit the firm's actions in order to preserve the wealth
of stakeholders. Such a view is often considered part of the firm's "social responsibility."

7. It is expected to provide long-run benefit to shareholders by maintaining positive
stakeholder relationships. Such relationships should minimize stakeholder turnover,
conflicts, and litigation. Clearly, the firm can better achieve its goal of shareholder wealth
maximization with the cooperation of- rather than conflict with-its other stakeholders.

8. To achieve the objective of financial management there are four major decisions that
a manager takes.
The Four Major Decisions in Corporate Finance/Financial management
The Allocation (Investment) decision
Where do you invest the scarce resources of your business?
What makes for a good investment?
The Financing decision
Where do you raise the funds for these investments?
Generically, what mix of owner’s money (equity) or borrowed money
(debt) do you use?
The Dividend Decision
How much of a firm’s funds should be reinvested in the business and how
much should be returned to the owners?
The Liquidity decision
How much should a firm invest in current assets and what should be the
components with their respective proportions? How to manage the
working capital?
A firm performs finance functions simultaneously and continuously in the normal course
of the business. They do not necessarily occur in a sequence. Finance functions call for
skilful planning, control and execution of a firm’s activities.
Let us note at the outset hat shareholders are made better off by a financial decision that
increases the value of their shares, Thus while performing the finance function, the
financial manager should strive to maximize the market value of shares. Whatever
decision does a manger takes need to result in wealth maximisation of a shareholder.

9. Investment Decision
Investment decision or capital budgeting involves the decision of allocation of capital or
commitment of funds to long-term assets that would yield benefits in the future. Two
important aspects of the investment decision are:
(a) the evaluation of the prospective profitability of new investments, and
(b) the measurement of a cut-off rate against that the prospective return of new
investments could be compared. Future benefits of investments are difficult to measure
and cannot be predicted with certainty. Because of the uncertain future, investment
decisions involve risk. Investment proposals should, therefore, be evaluated in terms of
both expected return and risk. Besides the decision for investment managers do see where
to commit funds when an asset becomes less productive or non-profitable.
There is a broad agreement that the correct cut-off rate is the required rate of
return or the opportunity cost of capital. However, there are problems in computing the
opportunity cost of capital in practice from the available data and information. A decision
maker should be aware of capital in practice from the available data and information. A
decision maker should be aware of these problems.
Financing Decision
Financing decision is the second important function to be performed by the financial
manager. Broadly, her or she must decide when, where and how to acquire funds to meet
the firm’s investment needs. The central issue before him or her is to determine the
proportion of equity and debt. The mix of debt and equity is known as the firm’s capital
structure. The financial manager must strive to obtain the best financing mix or the
optimum capital structure for his or her firm. The firm’s capital structure is considered to
be optimum when the market value of shares is maximised. The use of debt affects the
return and risk of shareholders; it may increase the return on equity funds but it always
increases risk. A proper balance will have to be struck between return and risk. When the
shareholders’ return is maximised with minimum risk, the market value per share will be
maximised and the firm’s capital structure would be considered optimum. Once the

10. financial manager is able to determine the best combination of debt and equity, he or she
must raise the appropriate amount through the best available sources. In practice, a firm
considers many other factors such as control, flexibility loan convenience, legal aspects
etc. in deciding its capital structure.
Dividend Decision
Dividend decision is the third major financial decision. The financial manager must
decide whether the firm should distribute all profits, or retain them, or distribute a portion
and retain the balance. Like the debt policy, the dividend policy should be determined in
terms of its impact on the shareholders’ value. The optimum dividend policy is one that
maximises the market value of the firm’s shares. Thus if shareholders are not indifferent
to the firm’s dividend policy, the financial manager must determine the optimum dividend
– payout ratio. The payout ratio is equal to the percentage of dividends to earnings
available to shareholders. The financial manager should also consider the questions of
dividend stability, bonus shares and cash dividends in practice. Most profitable
companies pay cash dividends regularly. Periodically, additional shares, called bonus
share (or stock dividend), are also issued to the existing shareholders in addition to the
cash dividend.
Liquidity Decision
Current assets management that affects a firm’s liquidity is yet another important finances
function, in addition to the management of long-term assets. Current assets should be managed
efficiently for safeguarding the firm against the dangers of illiquidity and insolvency. Investment
in current assets affects the firm’s profitability. Liquidity and risk. A conflict exists between
profitability and liquidity while managing current assets. If the firm does not invest sufficient
funds in current assets, it may become illiquid. But it would lose profitability, as idle current
assets would not earn anything. Thus, a proper trade-off must be achieved between profitability
and liquidity. In order to ensure that neither insufficient nor unnecessary funds are invested in
current assets, the financial manager should develop sound techniques of managing current assets.

11. He or she should estimate firm’s needs for current assets and make sure that funds would be made
available when needed.
It would thus be clear that financial decisions directly concern the firm’s decision to
acquire or dispose off assets and require commitment or recommitment of funds on a continuous
basis. It is in this context that finance functions are said to influence production, marketing and
other functions of the firm. This, in consequence, finance functions may affect the size, growth,
profitability and risk of the firm, and ultimately, the value of the firm. To quote Ezra Solomon
The function of financial management is to review and control decisions to commit or
recommit funds to new or ongoing uses. Thus, in addition to raising funds, financial management
is directly concerned with production, marketing and other functions, within an enterprise
whenever decisions are about the acquisition or distribution of assets.
Various financial functions are intimately connected with each other. For
instance, decision pertaining to the proportion in which fixed assets and current assets are
mixed determines the risk complexion of the firm. Costs of various methods of financing
are affected by this risk. Likewise, dividend decisions influence financing decisions and
are themselves influenced by investment decisions.
In view of this, finance manager is expected to call upon the expertise of other
functional managers of the firm particularly in regard to investment of funds. Decisions
pertaining to kinds of fixed assets to be acquired for the firm, level of inventories to be
kept in hand, type of customers to be granted credit facilities, terms of credit should be
made after consulting production and marketing executives.
However, in the management of income finance manager has to act on his own. The
determination of dividend policies is almost exclusively a finance function. A finance
manager has a final say in decisions on dividends than in asset management decisions.
Financial management is looked on as cutting across functional even disciplinary
boundaries. It is in such an environment that finance manager works as a part of total

12. management. In principle, a finance manager is held responsible to handle all such
problem: that involve money matters. But in actual practice, as noted above, he has to call
on the expertise of those in other functional areas to discharge his responsibilities
effectively.
You have studied separate legal entity concept in financial accounting the
following paragraph is extension of the same.
Separation of Ownership and Management
In large businesses separation of ownership and management is a practical necessity.
Major corporations may have hundreds of thousands of shareholders. There is no way for
all of them to be actively involved in management: Authority has to be delegated to
managers.
The separation of ownership and management has clear advantages. It allows
share ownership to change without interfering with the operation of the business. It
allows the firm to hire professional managers. But it also brings problems if the man-
agers' and owners' objectives differ. You can see the danger: Rather than attending to the
wishes of shareholders, managers may seek a more leisurely or luxurious working
lifestyle; they may shun unpopular decisions, or they may attempt to build an empire with
their shareholders' money.
Such conflicts between shareholders and managers' objectives create principal
agent problems. The shareholders are the principals; the managers are their agents.
Shareholders want management to increase the value of the firm, but managers may have
their own axes to grind or nests to feather. Agency costs are incurred when (1) managers
do not attempt to maximize firm value and (2) shareholders incur costs to monitor the
managers and influence their actions. Of course, there are no costs when the shareholders
are also the managers. That is one of the advantages of a sole proprietorship. Owner-
managers have no conflicts of interest.
Conflicts between shareholders and managers are not the only principal-agent
problems that the financial manager is likely to encounter. For example, just as

13. shareholders need to encourage managers to work for the shareholders' interests, so
senior management needs to think about how to motivate everyone else in the company.
In this case senior management are the principals and junior management and other
employees are their agents.
Think of the company's overall value as a pie that is divided among a number of
claimants. These include the management and the shareholders, as well as the company's
workforce and the banks and investors who have bought the company's debt. The
government is a claimant too, since it gets to tax corporate profits.
All these claimants are bound together in a complex web of contracts and un-
derstandings. For example, when banks lend money to the firm, they insist on a formal
contract stating the rate of interest and repayment dates, perhaps placing restrictions on
dividends or additional borrowing. But you can't devise written rules to cover every
possible future event. So written contracts are incomplete and need to be supplemented
by understandings and by arrangements that help to align the interests of the various
parties.
Principal-agent problems would be easier to resolve if everyone had the same
information. That is rarely the case in finance. Managers, shareholders, and lenders may
all have different information about the value of a real or financial asset, and it may be
many years before all the information is revealed. Financial managers need to recognize
these information asymmetries and find ways to reassure investors that there are no nasty
surprises on the way.
The Agency Issue
The control of the modern corporation is frequently placed in the hands of
professional non-owner managers. We have seen that the goal of the financial
manager should be to maximize the wealth of the owners of the firm and given
them decision-making authority to manage the firm. Technically, any manager
who owns less than 100 percent of the firm is to some degree an agent of the other
owners.

14. In theory, most financial managers would agree with the goal of owner wealth
maximization. In practice, however, managers are also concerned with their
personal wealth, job security, and fringe benefits, such as country club
memberships, limousines, and posh offices, all provided at company expense.
Such concerns may make managers reluctant or unwilling to take more that,
moderate risk if they perceive that too much risk might result in a loss of job and
damage to personal wealth. The result is a less-than-maximum return and a
potential loss of wealth for the owners.
How do we resolve the agency problem?
From this conflict of owners and managers arises what has been called the agency
problem-the likelihood that managers may place personal goals ahead of
corporate goals. Two factors-market forces and agency costs-act to prevent or
minimize agency problems.
Market Forces One market force is major shareholders, particularly large
institutional investors, such as mutual funds, life insurance companies, and
pension funds. These holders of large block of a firm's stock have begun in recent
years to exert pressure on management to perform. When necessary they exercise
their voting rights as stockholders to replace under performing management.
Another market force is the threat of takeover by another firm that believes that it
can enhance the firm's value by restructuring its management, operations, and
financing. The constant threat of takeover tends to motivate management to act in
the best interest of the firm's owners by attempting to maximize share price.
Agency Costs To minimize agency problems and contribute to the maximization
of owners' wealth, stockholders incur agency costs. These are the costs of
monitoring management behavior, ensuring against dishonest acts of
management, and giving managers the financial incentive to maximize share

15. price. The most popular, powerful, and expensive approach is to structure
management compensation to correspond with share price maximization. The
objective is to compensate managers for acting in the best interests of the owners.
This is frequently accomplished by granting stock options to management. These
options allow managers to purchase stock at a set market price; if the market price
rises, the higher future stock price would result in greater management
compensation. In addition, well-structured compensation packages allow firms to
hire the best managers available. Today more firms are tying management
compensation to the firm's performance. This incentive appears to motivate
managers to operate in a manner reasonably consistent with stock price
maximization.
Another point demanding attention is social responsibility. Let us discuss.
Social Responsibility
Maximizing shareholder wealth does not mean that management should ignore
social responsibility, such as protecting the consumer, paying fair wages to
employees, maintaining fair hiring practices and safe working conditions,
supporting education, and becoming involved in such environmental issues as
clean air and water .It is appropriate for management to consider the interests of
stakeholders other than shareholders. These stakeholders include creditors,
employees, customers, suppliers, communities in which a company operates, and
others. Only through attention to the legitimate concerns of the firm’s various
stakeholders can the firm attain its ultimate goal of maximizing shareholder
wealth.

16. Lloyds TSB speaks out on value creation and Society
Lloyds TSB
Companies everywhere that want to attract capital have to ensure that they are response to
shareholders interests. Lloyds TSB, a leading Untied Kingdom based financial services
group, is one such firm that views maximizing shareholder value as its governing objective.
Putting value creation in the forefront does not mean, however, that its customers,
employees, or society in general will take a back seat. Here is what Lloyds TSB chairman,
sir Brain Pitman, has to say about” putting value creation first”.
Putting value creation first can bring huge benefits, not only to the company, but to society
as a whole. No company can service for long unless it creates wealth. A sick company is a
drag on society. It cannot sustain jobs; much less widen the opportunities available to its
employees. It cannot adequately serve customers. It cannot give to philanthropic causes.
As businessmen and businesswomen, we believe that there is no better way for us to
serve all our stakeholders not just our shareholders and customers, but our fellow
employees, our business partners and our communities—than by creating value over time
for those who employ us. It is our success in value creation that has also enabled the Lloyds
TSB group to become leader in charitable giving, a leader in the community and a leader
in sponsorship of education, enterprise, the arts and sport. The Lloyds TSB foundations
will receive some ₤27 million in 1999 for distribution to charities, with a particular focus
on disabled and disadvantaged people.
Source: Lloyds TSB Group Annual Report & Accounts 1998, p.3. Reproduced with permission of Lloyds
TSB Group plc.

17. CASE STUDY
Assessing the Goal of Sports Products Ltd.
Loren and Dale work in the Shipping Department of Sports Products Ltd.. During
their lunch break one day, they began talking about the company. Dale
complained that he had always worked hard, trying not to waste packing materials
and to perform his job efficiently and cost-effectively. In spite of his efforts and
those of his departmental co-workers, the firm's stock price had declined nearly
Rs.25 per share over the past 9 months. Loren indicated that she shared Dale's
frustration, particularly because the firm's profits had been rising. Neither could
understand why the firm's stock price was falling as profits rose.
Loren said that she had seen documents describing the firm's profit-sharing plan
under which all managers were partially compensated on the basis of the firm's
profits. She suggested that maybe it was profit that was important to management,
because it directly affected their pay. Dale said, "That doesn't make sense,
because the stockholders own the firm. Shouldn't management do what's best for
stockholders? Something's wrong!" Loren responded, "Well, maybe that explains
why the company hasn't concerned itself with the stock price. Look, the only
profits stockholders receive are in the form or cash dividends, and this firm has
never paid dividends during its 20-year history. We as stockholders therefore
don't directly benefit from profits. The only way we benefit is for the stock price
to rise." Dale chimed in, "That probably explains why the firm is being sued by
state and central environmental officials for dumping pollutants in the adjacent
stream. Why spend money for pollution controls? It increases costs, lowers
profits, and therefore lowers management's earnings!"
Loren and Dale realized that the lunch break had ended and they must quickly
return to work. Before leaving, they decided to meet the next day to continue their
discussion.

18. Required
a. What should the management of Sports Products, Inc., pursue as its overriding
goal? Why?
b. Does the firm appear to have an agency problem? Explain.
c. Evaluate the firm's approach to pollution control. Does it seem to be ethical?
Why might incurring the expense to control pollution be in the best interests of
the firm's owners in spite of its negative impact on profits?
d. On the basis of the information provided, what specific recommendations would you
offer the firm?

19. Questions for lesson 1 & 2
1. Contrast the objective of maximizing earnings with that of
maximizing wealth.
2. What is financial management all about?
3. In large corporations, ownership and management are separated.
What are the main implications of this separation?
4. What are agency costs & what causes them?
Multiple Choice Questions
1. __________ is concerned with the acquisition, financing, and management of assets
with some overall goal in mind.
a) Financial management
b) Profit maximization
c) Agency theory
d) Social responsibility
2. __________ is concerned with the maximization of a firm's earnings after taxes.
a) Shareholder wealth maximization
b) Profit maximization
c) Stakeholder maximization
d) EPS maximization
3. What is the most appropriate goal of the firm?
a) Shareholder wealth maximization
b) Profit maximization
c) Stakeholder maximization
d) EPS maximization.
4. Which of the following statements is correct regarding profit maximization as the
primary goal of the firm?
a) Profit maximization considers the firm's risk level.
b) Profit maximization will not lead to increasing short-term profits at the expense of
lowering expected future profits.
c) Profit maximization does consider the impact on individual shareholder's EPS.

20. d) Profit maximization is concerned more with maximizing net income than the
stock price.
5. __________ is concerned with the branch of economics relating the behavior of
principals and their agents.
a) Financial management
b) Profit maximization
c) Agency theory
d) Social responsibility
6. A concept that implies that the firm should consider issues such as protecting the
consumer, paying fair wages, maintaining fair hiring practices, supporting education, and
considering environmental issues.
a) Financial management
b) Profit maximization
c) Agency theory
d) Social responsibility
7. The __________ decision involves determining the appropriate make-up of the right-
hand side of the balance sheet.
a) Asset management
b) Financing
c) Investment
d) Capital budgeting
8. You need to understand financial management even if you have no intention of
becoming a financial manager. One reason is that the successful manager of the not-too-
distant future will need to be much more of a __________ who has the knowledge and
ability to move not just vertically within an organization but horizontally as well.
Developing __________ will be the rule, not the exception.
a) Specialist; specialties
b) Generalist; general business skills
c) Technician; quantitative skills
d) Team player; cross-functional capabilities
9. The __________ decision involves a determination of the total amount of assets
needed, the composition of the assets, and whether any assets need to be reduced,
eliminated, or replaced.
a) Asset management.
b) Financing

21. c) Investment
d) Accounting
10.How are earnings per share calculated?
a) Use the income statement to determine earnings after taxes (net income) and
divide by the previous period's earnings after taxes. Then subtract 1 from the
previously calculated value.
b) Use the income statement to determine earnings after taxes (net income) and
divide by the number of common shares outstanding.
c) Use the income statement to determine earnings after taxes (net income) and
divide by the number of common and preferred shares outstanding.
d) Use the income statement to determine earnings after taxes (net income) and
divide by the forecasted period's earnings after taxes. Then subtract 1 from the
previously calculated value.
11. What is the most important of the three financial management decisions?
a) Asset management decision
b) Financing decision
c) Investment decision
d) Accounting decision
12. The __________ decision involves efficiently managing the assets on the balance
sheet on a day-to-day basis, especially current assets.
a) Asset management
b) Financing
c) Investment
d) Accounting
13. Which of the following is not a perquisite (perk)?
a) Company-provided automobile
b) Expensive office
c) Salary
d) Country club membership
14. All constituencies with a stake in the fortunes of the company are known as
__________.
a) Shareholders
b) Stakeholders
c) Creditors
d) Customers

22. 15. Which of the following statements is not correct regarding earnings per share (EPS)
maximization as the primary goal of the firm?
a) EPS maximization ignores the firm's risk level.
b) EPS maximization does not specify the timing or duration of expected EPS.
c) EPS maximization naturally requires all earnings to be retained.
d) EPS maximization is concerned with maximizing net income.
16. __________ is concerned with the maximization of a firm's stock price.
a) Shareholder wealth maximization
b) Profit maximization
c) Stakeholder welfare maximization
d) EPS maximization
Answers to above
1. Financial management
2. Profit maximization
3. Shareholder wealth maximization
4. Profit maximization is concerned more with maximizing net income than the
stock price.
5. Agency theory
6. Social responsibility
7. Financing
8. Team player; cross-functional capabilities
9. Investment
10. Use the income statement to determine earnings after taxes (net income) and
divide by the number of common shares outstanding.
11. Investment decision
12. Asset management
13. Asset management
14. Stakeholders
15. EPS maximization is concerned with maximizing net income.
16. Shareholder wealth maximization

23. IMPORTANT
Slide 1
Chapter 1
The Role of Financial
The Role of Financial
Management
Management
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24. Slide 2
The Role of
Financial Management
What is Financial
Management?
The Goal of the Firm
Organization of the Financial
Management Function
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25. Slide 3
What is Financial
Management?
Concerns the acquisition,
financing, and
management of assets
with some overall goal in
mind.
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26. Slide 4
Investment Decisions
Most important of the three
decisions.
What is the optimal firm size?
What specific assets should be
acquired?
What assets (if any) should be
reduced or eliminated?
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27. Slide 5
Financing Decisions
Determine how the assets (LHS of
balance sheet) will be financed (RHS
of balance sheet).
What is the best type of financing?
What is the best financing mix?
What is the best dividend policy?
How will the funds be physically
1-5
acquired?
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28. Slide 6
Asset Management
Decisions
How do we manage existing assets
efficiently?
Financial Manager has varying degrees
of operating responsibility over assets.
Greater emphasis on current asset
management than fixed asset
management.
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29. Slide 7
What is the Goal
of the Firm?
Maximization of
Shareholder Wealth!
Value creation occurs when
we maximize the share price
for current shareholders.
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30. Slide 8
Shortcomings of
Alternative Perspectives
Profit Maximization
Maximizing a firm’s earnings after taxes.
Problems
Could increase current profits while
harming firm (e.g., defer maintenance,
issue common stock to buy T-bills, etc.).
Ignores changes in the risk level of the
firm.
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31. Slide 9
Shortcomings of
Alternative Perspectives
Earnings per Share Maximization
Maximizing earnings after taxes divided
by shares outstanding.
Problems
Does not specify timing or duration of
expected returns.
Ignores changes in the risk level of the firm.
Calls for a zero payout dividend policy.
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32. Slide 10
Strengths of Shareholder
Wealth Maximization
Takes account of: current and future
profits and EPS; the timing,
EPS
duration, and risk of profits and EPS;
EPS
dividend policy; and all other
policy
relevant factors.
Thus, share price serves as a
barometer for business performance.
1-10
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33. Slide 11
The Modern Corporation
Modern Corporation
Shareholders Management
There exists a SEPARATION
between owners and managers.
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34. Slide 12
Role of Management
Management acts as an agent
for the owners (shareholders)
of the firm.
An agent is an individual
authorized by another person,
called the principal, to act in
the latter’s behalf.
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35. Slide 13
Agency Theory
Jensen and Meckling developed
a theory of the firm based on
agency theory.
theory
Agency Theory is a branch of
economics relating to the
behavior of principals and their
agents.
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36. Slide 14
Agency Theory
Principals must provide incentives
so that management acts in the
principals’ best interests and then
monitor results.
Incentives include stock options,
perquisites, and bonuses.
bonuses
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37. Slide 15
Social Responsibility
Wealth maximization does not
preclude the firm from being socially
responsible.
responsible
Assume we view the firm as producing
both private and social goods.
Then shareholder wealth maximization
remains the appropriate goal in
governing the firm.
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38. Slide 16
Organization of the Financial
Management Function
Board of Directors
President
(Chief Executive Officer)
Vice President VP of Vice President
Operations Finance Marketing
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39. Slide 17
Organization of the Financial
Management Function
VP of Finance
Treasurer Controller
Capital Budgeting Cost Accounting
Cash Management Cost Management
Credit Management Data Processing
Dividend Disbursement General Ledger
Fin Analysis/Planning Government Reporting
Pension Management Internal Control
Insurance/Risk Mngmt Preparing Fin Stmts
Tax Analysis/Planning Preparing Budgets
Preparing Forecasts
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