Gitman L.J., Zutter Ch. J. Principles of Managerial Finance, Brief

7th Edition. — Pearson, 2014. — 720 p. — ISBN: 978-0133546408.For Introduction to Managerial Finance courses.Guide students through complex material with a proven learning goal system. This system – a hallmark feature of Principles of Managerial Finance, Brief — weaves pedagogy into concepts and practice, giving students a roadmap to follow through the text and supplementary tools.The desire to write Principles of Managerial Finance, Brief came from the experience of teaching the introductory managerial finance course. Those who have taught the introductory course many times can appreciate the difficulties that some students have absorbing and applying financial concepts. Students want a book that speaks to them in plain English and a book that ties concepts to reality. These students want more than just description; they also want demonstration of concepts, tools, and techniques. This book is written with the needs of students in mind, and it effectively delivers the resources that students need to succeed in the introductory finance course.Changes to the 7th EditionPart 1 contains two chapters. The first provides an overview of the role of managerial finance in a business enterprise. The second describes the financial market context in which firms operate and provides expanded and updated coverage of the recent financial crisis and its lingering consequences. This chapter not only explores the root causes and effects of the financial crisis, but it also discusses the changing regulatory landscape within which financial institutions and markets function.Part 2 contains three chapters focused on basic financial skills such as financial statement analysis, cash flow analysis, and time-value-of-money calculations.Part 3 focuses on bond and stock valuation. We placed these two chapters just ahead of the risk and return chapter to provide students with exposure to basic material on bonds and stocks that is easier to grasp than some of the more theoretical concepts in the next part.Part 4 contains the risk and return chapter as well as the chapter on the cost of capital. We believe that following the risk and return chapter with the cost of capital material helps students understand the important principle that the expectations of a firm’s investors shape how the firm should approach major investment decisions (which are covered in Part 5). In other words, Part 4 is designed to help students understand where a project “hurdle rate” comes from before they start using hurdle rates in capital budgeting problems.Part 5 contains two chapters on various capital budgeting topics. The first of these chapters focuses on capital budgeting methods such as payback and net present value analysis. The second chapter in this part explains how financial analysts construct cash flow projections, which are a required component of net present value analysis, and describes how firms analyze the risks associated with capital investments.Parts 6 deals with the topics of capital structure and payout policy. These two chapters contain updated material on trends in firms’ use of leverage and their payout practices.Finally, Part 7 contains two chapters centered on working capital issues. A major development in business has been the extent to which firms have found new ways to economize on working capital investments. The first chapter in Part 7 explains why and how firms work hard to squeeze resources from their investments in current assets such as cash and inventory. The second chapter in this part focuses more on management of current liabilities.