Bus 650 Managerial Finance /Complete Class Assignments and Dqs

1. What is the key goal that guides the decisions of financial managers? What challenges do financial managers face when they try to find the best sources and uses of funds to meet this goal?

When analysts question a firm’s earnings quality, it raises concerns regarding under or over aggressive accounting practices that may be allowing the firm to manipulate the earnings. Earnings quality is defined as the strength of the current earnings in being used to predict future earnings and cash flows. Since earning quality is indicative of future performance, analysts are more likely to address issues that have substantial impact on the earnings quality. An issue arises when the nature of the earnings is questioned. While permanent earnings are part of normal operations, any irregular, one time earnings can skew the earnings, making the firm look more profitable than it is. This is due to the inability to recreate similar one-time transactions that will give rise to such numbers. Investors prefer predictable

1. Discuss the nature of stock as an investment. Do most stockholders play large roles in the management of the firms in which they invest? Why or Why not?

Understandably, there are a variety of ways in which a company can manage their earnings, and if accomplished successfully, the results can be highly profitable. Not all techniques are fraudulent, as effective earnings management is considered good for business and shareholders. Income smoothing is a specific example of permissible earnings management that involves controlling fluctuations in net income to make earnings less variable over a given period of time (Goel & Thakor, 2003). Smoothing is acceptable as long as it adheres to the restrictions of U.S. GAAP, which maintains that all revenues and expenses are accounted for in a defined fashion. There are a lot of incentives in figuring how to effectively smooth income, as substantial value can be created through the successful arrangement of financial transactions. Management is able to make more intelligent decisions with regards to the future of the firm if the earnings are able to match the forecasts. One instance this is seen is when management is faced with the decision to smooth total income or

Compare and contrast an existing organization’s three major functions (i.e., finance, marketing, and operations), and then justify the interdependence that operations have to finance and marketing. Provide examples to support your rationale.

This course applies corporate finance concepts to make management decisions. Students learn methods to evaluate financial alternatives and create financial plans. Other topics include cash flows, business valuation, working capital, capital budgets, and long-term financing.

Such an intense focus has been placed on quarterly earnings as an indication of a company’s success by everyone from analysts to executives that ethics have for the most part been thrown out the window, sacrificed to the all important number, i.e. earnings per share. This is the theory in Alex Berenson’s book “The Number: How the Drive for Quarterly Earnings Corrupted Wall Street and Corporate America.” This number has become part of a game to be played, a figure to be manipulated – beat the number and Wall Street all but throws a parade, miss it and a company’s stock may be abandoned. Take into account the incentives that executives have to beat the number and one can find plenty of reasons to manage earnings.

Readdress the concept and the experience with critical thought. That is, what is your response to the content, either positive or negative, and then defend your position. If multiple options/alternatives/positions are present and are being rejected you must also defend the reasons for rejecting an option.

1. Read `Spotlight on Management` on pages 133-149 and the practice lesson `The Real World` on page 152. Please discuss the following questions in detail.  Your response to each question should consist of:  a minimum word count of 250 words and at least three (3) scholarly sources (1 resource can be the textbook):

1. Read `Spotlight on Management` on pages 133-149 and the practice lesson `The Real World` on page 152. Please discuss the following questions in detail.  Your response to each question should consist of:  a minimum word count of 250 words and at least three (3) scholarly sources (1 resource can be the textbook):

According to Gitman, the goal of the firm, and therefore of all managers and employees, is to maximize the wealth of the owners for whom it is being operated (2009). The financial manager is responsible for acquiring sources of financing and allocate amongst competitive investment alternatives. The ultimate goal is to invest in projects yielding higher returns than amount of financing used to invest, so profits can be used satisfy claims and increase shareholder wealth. The issues facing financial managers are therefore to 1) increase sources of financing from investors and 2) increase shareholder wealth while maintaining a

Compute the payback period, return on average investment, and net present value of two investment alternatives. Student must decide which investment to select. 25 Medium 26.6 A,B Pathways Appliance Company/Cafield Appliance Company Prepare a schedule showing the estimated incremental net income from proposed introduction of a new product. Compute annual cash flow, payback period, return on average investment, and net present value of the investment proposal. 30 Strong 26.7 A,B Doctors Students must determine whether it is profitable for several doctors to invest their money in an expensive piece of testing equipment.

In this assignment you will demonstrate your understanding of capital investment techniques by evaluating the following three case studies.

Does it matter what your competitors are doing? Step back and consider management’s incentives and choices. What is the motivation to manage earnings?

Nowadays, as our economy is facing possible everyday crises, managers undergo an increasing pressure in order to keep their company 's earnings stable. Shareholders and analysts expect companies to meet forecasted goals and not to deviate from these. Especially, reliable companies are to report positive results and shall not present any 'surprises '. Managers therefore often turn to their accounting departments for help, whose job it then is to improve the bottom line by changing the information shown in financial