The complete guide to the principles and practice of risk quantification for business applications. The assessment and quantification of risk provide an indispensable part of robust decision-making; to be effective, many professionals need a firm grasp of both the fundamental concepts and of the tools of the trade. Business Risk and Simulation Modelling in Practice is a comprehensive, in depth, and practical guide that aims to help business risk managers, modelling analysts and general management to understand, conduct and use quantitative risk assessment and uncertainty modelling in their own situations. Key content areas include: * Detailed descriptions of risk assessment processes, their objectives and uses, possible approaches to risk quantification, and their associated decision-benefits and organisational challenges. * Principles and techniques in the design of risk models, including the similarities and differences with traditional financial models, and the enhancements that risk modelling can provide. * In depth coverage of the principles and concepts in simulation methods, the statistical measurement of risk, the use and selection of probability distributions, the creation of dependency relationships, the alignment of risk modelling activities with general risk assessment processes, and a range of Excel modelling techniques. * The implementation of simulation techniques using both Excel/VBA macros and the @RISK Excel add-in. Each platform may be appropriate depending on the context, whereas the core modelling concepts and risk assessment contexts are largely the same in each case. Some additional features and key benefits of using @RISK are also covered. Business Risk and Simulation Modelling in Practice reflects the author s many years in training and consultancy in these areas. It provides clear and complete guidance, enhanced with an expert perspective. It uses approximately one hundred practical and real-life models to demonstrate all key concepts and techniques; these are accessible on the companion website.

"The complexity of business in economically demanding times makes finding constructive angels that much more challenging. The advice and tips in Attracting Capital from Angels are, therefore, invaluable. The wisdom offered here is not just for start-ups or neophytes, but is a well-timed companion to already existing resources and approaches to helping a business in all phases of development. It’s also a great manual for people who want to share their knowledge (and invest capital) as an angel. I plan to recommend Attracting Capital from Angels to every entrepreneur I run into in the future who asks for mentoring sources. Great job!" (Bob Bozeman, General Partner, Angel Investors, LP)

PENNIES FROM HEAVEN

This book offers all the information entrepreneurs need for finding elusive angel investors. Comprehensive, eminently readable, and based on the authors’ years of experience dealing with venture capital firms, angels, and entrepreneurs, this book covers all the angles on angels:

• What are angels and what do they want?
• Different types of angels
• Pitching and preparing for angels
• Finding angels
• Working with angels
• The future of angel investing

Attracting Capital from Angels is the ultimate guide to finding the money your business needs to get on its feet–and make a run at success.

The key to any successful business is the effective management of revenue, costs and of course profitability. This book provides golf course superintendents with the necessary tools to manage their daily financial operations by explaining basic accounting principles such as pricing, budgeting, cost control, payroll and cash flow. With chapters on financial statements, golf course operation schedules, breakeven analysis and operating budgets this is an invaluable tool for all owners, operators and managers of golf courses.
* The first edition has become the standard industry tool for understanding and making sound financial decisions (1575040395, Ann Arbour Publishing, 1996)
* Schmidgall is the industry's leading authority of financial practices for golf-course superintendents

This eighth volume in the series covers a variety of topics in financial planning and forecasting, including: the change in earnings response coefficient around dividend omissions; estimating spin-off values; and, forbearance, deposit insurance, and the market value of savings and loan associations.

This book focuses on microeconomic foundations of capital structure theory. It combines theoretical results with a large number of examples, exercises and applications. The book examines fundamental ideas in capital structure management, some of which are still not very well understood in the business community, such as Modigliani and Miller's irrelevance result, trade-off theory, pecking-order theory, asset substitution, credit rationing and debt overhang. Chapters also cover capital structure issues that have become very important following the recent financial crisis. Miglo discusses the ways in which financial economists were forced to look critically at capital structure, as the problems faced by many companies stemmed from their financing policies following the crisis. The book also discusses links between capital structure and firm's performance, corporate governance, firm's strategy and flexibility, and covers such topics as life cycle approach to capital structure management, capital structure of small and start-up companies, corporate financing versus project financing and examples of optimal capital structure analyses for different companies. This comprehensive guide to capital structure theory will be of interest to all students, academics and practitioners seeking to understand this fast-developing and critical area of business management.

"One of the ways companies are looking for competitive advantage in this frenetic [business] environment . . . is through the use of a tactical technique called shared services. . . . In this book, we bridge [the] chasm between the theory of how a shared services operation 'ought to' work and the practical issues involved in how to make it work, how to carry out a successful implementation of a shared service operation in your business.—from the Preface.

Gaining competitive advantage in today's fierce business environment requires focus throughout the company on value, as measured by quality, cost, speed, and service. In the quest for superior performance, a growing number of companies are now turning to shared services, a tactical technique by which corporations can organize financial and other transaction-oriented activities to reduce costs and provide better service to business unit partners. Written by four authorities, three PricewaterhouseCoopers consultants and the executive who has directed the shared service efforts at Lucent Technologies, this comprehensive resource—the first of its kind—examines shared services from the macro issues that compel senior management to embrace this approach through the design and implementation of a shared services environment that leads to increased customer and shareholder value.

Of all the tools available for gaining competitive advantage, why shared services? One of the principal reasons is that it creates, through consolidation of often disparate activities, more of a "one company" feel among business units. The benefits of this are twofold: one, it enables companies to show a consistent face to clients and customers, vendors and suppliers, shareholders and potential shareholders; two, it provides increased flexibility to all of the business' operations, allowing corporate leaders to maintain a global perspective while at the same time allowing business unit leaders to take strong, customer-focused actions.

Providing both a domestic and global view, Shared Services addresses the full spectrum of issues, including:

• Assessing whether shared services is right for you—issues to consider, goals to be reached.
• Getting started—building support, establishing an effective organization, instituting continuous communication.
• Setting up the infrastructure—billing shared services to business units, dealing with tax and legal entity issues.
• International challenges—complexity, time zone, legal issues, currency stability, and security.
• Program and project management—structures, planning, execution, and control.

A groundbreaking book that examines a timely and important topic, Shared Services is an accessible and thorough guide to what could be a critical component in achieving long-term business success.

This comprehensive resource is the first to introduce, explain, and explore shared services, an innovative business strategy that involves centralizing various business units, including accounting and transactional operations, to reduce costs and increase customer satisfaction. Presenting a practical and easy-to-follow blueprint for the smooth and sound implementation of shared services in your organization, Shared Services: Adding Value to the Business Units covers all the fundamentals, from how to get started to proper management techniques.

Managing Risk in Organizations offers a proven framework for handling risks across all types of organizations. In this comprehensive resource, David Frame— a leading expert in risk management— examines the risks routinely encountered in business, offers prescriptions to assess the effects of various risks, and shows how to develop effective strategies to cope with risks. In addition, the book is filled with practical tools and techniques used by professional risk practitioners that can be readily applied by project managers, financial managers, and any manager or consultant who deals with risk within an organization. Managing Risk in Organizations is filled with illustrative case studies and

• Outlines the various types of riskpure, operational, project, technical, business, and political
• Reveals what risk management can and cannot accomplish
• Shows how to organize risk management efforts to conduct risk assessments, manage crises, and recover from disasters
• Includes a systematic risk management processrisk management planning, risk identification, qualitative impact analysis, quantitative impact analysis, risk response planning, and monitoring control
• Provides quantitative and qualitative tools to identify and handle risks

Series Information:
Garland Studies on Industrial Productivity

Japan has been, and will likely remain, the second largest economy in the world. In the four decades following the Second World War, it dazzled the world, its enviable social indicators, unprecedented fast and sustained with economic growth, process innovations, high productivity and high quality of manufactured product. In the nineties, the growth slowed down to a crawl, and a recession and deflation now threaten it. Could we foretell these historic ups and downs on the basis of financial reports of Japan's great corporations? The 14 chapters of the book take a sweeping view of accounting, covering methods, data, theories, and comparisons. Institutionalism has been a major force in accounting thinking in the United States as well as Japan. The influence of Marxian theory on Japanese accounting and social science thinking remains vastly underappreciated in the United States. A direct comparison of Japanese and U.S. factor markets, and Korean and German accounting practices also reveals important differences.

It is crucial for anyone interested in international investments, trade, and economics to understand Japanese financial reporting practices and how they differ from the United States practices . While a few comparative works on Japan and U.S. financial reporting are available, they rarely give the reader an in-depth understanding of the similarities and differences between the United States and Japan. In this volume, a Japanese and U.S. editor have collaborated to bring an understanding of Japanese accounting practices, perspectives, and their implications to the English speaking audience.

This book mainly focuses on defining profit models, on how many main kinds of profit models there are, how profit models can change a company, and how to tailor a profit model to the needs of a certain company. In this context, profit models are classified as fixed-income, remaining-profit and profit-sharing, admission, toll, parking, fuel and sharing fees, profit sources, customer pricing, auction, combined pricing, etc. The logic behind all these profit models will be analyzed in detail and numerous micro-cases will be introduced. All of the micro-cases discussed are the best profit model practices used by outstanding enterprises, mainly from China and the USA (including HomeAway, Priceline, Tencent, Sina, Google, the Voice of China, CSPN and so on). These models will be complemented by a wealth of figures and additional tools to help readers better understand the principle of profit models. As such, the book not only explains "why" entrepreneurs preferred to apply a specific kind of profit model and not others, but also answers "how" they derived that model.

This volume is a milestone on our journey toward developing a more comprehensive understanding of the underpinnings of corporate financial performance. Weare concerned with both the factors that cause the financial performance of some firms to be better than others at a point in time and those factors that influence the trajectory of firm financial performance over time. In addressing these issues, we consider theoretical and empirical work on financial performance, drawn from several literatures, as well as present the results from our own empirical study. The review of the theoretical and empirical work is contemporary; the major portion of data comprising the empirical study was collected in the early 1980s as part of the Columbia Business School project on corporate strategic planning, but some data sequences extend into the mid-1980s and early 1990s. Our goals are to improve understanding of firm financial performance by developing a more integrated framework and to develop a research agenda based on what we have learned. This volume consists of four chapters, 12 appendices that provide detailed technical support and development for various portions of the discussion and an extensive set of references. It interweaves results from published literature in various fields with our original empirical work and develops an integrative approach to the study of firm fmancial performance.

Rather than treating financial management as an independent administrative practice, Financial Management in Human Services provides students and social service administrators with a conceptual framework in which financial management is the major responsibility of an administration, not just a separate practice. This text describes how the integration of administrative practice with fiscal responsibility and accountability will help you plan better programs, account for all fiscal transactions, and coordinate and evaluate services more effectively. Containing many different approaches on how to determine costs, obtain information, and collect data, this text will help you clearly evaluate your organization's progress and determine if your program goals are being reached.Financial Management in Human Services also discusses other topics related to efficient management, including: applying financial management techniques to the areas of program planning, service monitoring, estimating service and unit costs, and setting future service priorities in order to make better business decisions utilizing the information generated from the Financial Management System (FMS) to improve administrative functions, such as forecasting and goal determination, activity flow and service provision monitoring, and service planning according to program policy examining the importance of the four administrative subsystems-- budgeting and accounting, service coordination, program planning, and program evaluation choosing a FMS with consideration to certain factors, such as availability of information and identifying informational needs of the administration listing of reactive and proactive types of financial reports that help administrators evaluate the costs of services provided and identify problems in balancing the fiscal budget using methods such as a line item analysis to accurately compute the costs of staff involvement in a program This organized, straightforward text will help you evaluate all costs-- from salaries, travel time, and office supplies to direct costs to make your office more organized and productive.Complete with questions and answers about starting and maintaining a FMS, Financial Management in Human Services will enable you to manage finances more efficiently, making it easier for you to reach and set goals that better serve your clients.

In this issue, there are thirteen high-quality and interesting papers to deal with the issue of Financial Analysis, Planning and Forecasting. Out of these thirteen papers, we can classify them into two major groups i.e. (a) Risk Analysis and (b) Financial Evaluation Models. The Risk Analysis group includes five papers as follows:
Time-varying accounting betas and risk estimation for thinly traded stocks: Finnish evidence.
Additional evidence on managerial ownership and risk taking behavior in banking industry.
A DSS approach to managing the risks of online trading.
Estimating exchange rate exposure of U.S. MNC's operating in South America.
Analyzing the risks inherent in the Proctor and Gamble-Bankers trust levered swap contract.

The financial evaluation models group consists of seven papers as follows:
Contextual accrual and cash flow based valuation models: impact of multinationality and corporate reputation.
Predicting changes in cash flow.
Valuing repurchasing corporations with the discounted dividend model: theory and application.
The role of taxes in the composition of the firm's retirement plans.
The valuation of the multinationality of U.S. multinational firms.
Cross-classification models: comparative empirical findings.
An extension of break-even analysis for financial planning.

In addition to these two groups there is a paper using survey approach to banking operations entitled Organizational Features, Operating Procedures, and Overdue Loans: empirical findings from a Commercial Bank's opinion survey in Taiwan.In summary, this issue is useful for readers who are interested in risk analysis and alternative financialevaluation models. In addition to these two groups there is a paper using survey approach to banking operations entitled Organizational Features, Operating Procedures, and Overdue Loans: empirical findings from a Commercial Bank's opinion survey in Taiwan.

Managerial Finance provides a clear and readable explanation of the most important topics managers should understand about business finance. These include resource management, investment and decision making, as well as the practical use of financial rations and performance indicators. Real examples and case studies are used throughout to illustrate points in a practical context.
The book is based upon the Management Charter Initiative's Occupational Standards for Management NVQs and SVQs at Levels 4 & 5 and is also particularly suitable for managers on Certificate and Diploma in Management programmes, including those accredited by the IM and Edexcel (formerly BTEC).
Managerial Finance is part of the highly successful series of textbooks for managers which cover the knowledge and understanding required as part of any competency based management programme. The books cover the three main levels of management: supervisory/first-line management (NVQ level 3), middle management (Certificate/NVQ level 4) and senior management (Diploma/NVQ level 5).
Alan Parkinson is the Hill Samuel Senior Lecturer in Accounting & Finance at the Open Business School. He was previously responsible as Director of the Open University MBA Programme for launching the highly successful MBA Course.
Published in association with the Institute of Management
Covers all the essential topics that any aspiring manager should know including resource management, Investment and Finance decision making.
Extensive use of real examples and case studies

Outsourcing of business processes has been a major and growing trend. Many major corporations have oursourced overseas and the next wave will include many SMEs moving outsourcing operations. The changes and implications for business are substantial. Based on the latest research and data, with extensive case studies, diagrams, and interviews with major corporations, this book provides a comprehensive analysis and highlights the best practice and pitfalls to avoid.

The US Department of Commerce estimates that nearly 10% of the US's $9 trillion GDP is exposed to weather risk. All over the world providers and end users are recognizing this fact and are turning their attention to ways of protecting against or taking advantage of changes in the weather. This book explores a market that is expected to expand rapidly and is one of the fastest areas of growth in the financial arena.

Examining various methods of debt management used in the US., Handbook of Debt Management, provides a comprehensive analysis of securities offered for sale by municipalities, states, and the federal government. The book covers laws regarding municipal bonds, the economic choice between debt and taxes and the tax-exempt status of municipal bond owners, capital budgeting, including state and local government practices, developing governmental and intergovernmental debt policies, pay-as-you-go with debt financing for capital projects, US Internal Revenue Service regulations on arbitrage in state and local government debt proceeds investment, US treasury auctions, and more.

This volume presents a comprehensive treatment of the legal arrangement of the corporation, the instruments and institutions through which capital can be raised, the management of the flow of funds through the individual firm, and the methods of dividing the risks and returns among the various contributors of funds. Guerard and Schwartz cover a wide variety of tools and techniques used to evaluate and manage financial performance, with particular emphasis on the application of regression analysis, time series modeling, the Capital Asset Pricing Model (CAPM), and multi-factor risk models. Moreover, they address such timely topics as optimal capital structure (in the United States and internationally), dividend policy, sales forecasting and pro forma statement analysis, the regulatory environment, mergers and acquisitions, bankruptcy, management-shareholder relations, and the corporation as a social and economic institution.

This work examines the most important techniques for analyzing the profitability of capital investments. It discusses time value mechanics and financial concepts, including discounted cash flow, return on investment, incremental analysis, cash flow tables, income taxes, depreciation, cost of capital and risk analysis. It provides a broad introduction to project evaluation and data needs.;This book is intended for: cost, project, design, mechanical, chemical, industrial, electronic, electrical and construction engineers; project and budget managers; cost estimators and controllers; planners and schedulers; and upper-level undergraduate and graduate students in these discipline

In most countries the economic structure and financial landscape are dominated by corporations. A critical examination of the various facets of the corporate economy is thus vitally important. In "Mangerial Finance in the Corporate Economy" the authors employ a dynamic theoretical apparatus and empirical evaluations to present such a study.
The book, divided into five sections, brings together new research on major issues such as mutual and pension funds and portfolio diversification; market volatility, credit availability; tax structure and dividend reinvestment plans; financial institutions; and corporate behavior in the context of the international economy. "Managerial Finance in the Corporate Economy" presents a comprehensive analysis of corporate culture within the international economy.

Explores challenges for developing and emerging economies for enhancing green financing for sustainable, low-carbon investment, looking at Indonesia. Based on surveys in the Indonesian banking and corporate sectors and expert interviews, it devises innovative policy recommendations to develop a framework conducive to fostering green investments.

State of the art risk management techniques and practices supplemented with interactive analytics All too often risk management books focus on risk measurement details without taking a broader view. Quantitative Risk Management delivers a synthesis of common sense management together with the cutting-edge tools of modern theory. This book presents a road map for tactical and strategic decision making designed to control risk and capitalize on opportunities. Most provocatively it challenges the conventional wisdom that "risk management" is or ever should be delegated to a separate department. Good managers have always known that managing risk is central to a financial firm and must be the responsibility of anyone who contributes to the profit of the firm. A guide to risk management for financial firms and managers in the post-crisis world, Quantitative Risk Management updates the techniques and tools used to measure and monitor risk. These are often mathematical and specialized, but the ideas are simple. The book starts with how we think about risk and uncertainty, then turns to a practical explanation of how risk is measured in today's complex financial markets. * Covers everything from risk measures, probability, and regulatory issues to portfolio risk analytics and reporting * Includes interactive graphs and computer code for portfolio risk and analytics * Explains why tactical and strategic decisions must be made at every level of the firm and portfolio Providing the models, tools, and techniques firms need to build the best risk management practices, Quantitative Risk Management is an essential volume from an experienced manager and quantitative analyst.

Praise for
"Optimizing Corporate Portfolio Management: Aligning Investment Proposals with Organizational Strategy"

"Companies today spend more and more time micro-optimizing individual investments while broad portfolio trade-offs go neglected. Optimizing Corporate Portfolio Management attacks this intractable problem, providing solutions for companies interested in breaking down organizational barriers to unleash growth."
--Jeffrey Merrihue, CEO, Accenture Marketing Sciences

"Anand Sanwal has brilliantly articulated the essence of corporate portfolio optimization and skillfully spelled out the pitfalls and difficulties in achieving it. But his greatest achievement is in leading the charge to a rare state of conscious portfolio management competence on an enterprise-wide basis in a large, complex, and highly successful multinational organization, American Express. A must-read for CEOs and CFOs who truly want to create shareholder value on a sustained basis."
--Michael Menke, Chief Portfolio Advocate and Business Strategist, Hewlett-Packard

"Portfolio management is the 'holy grail' of resource allocation but very few companies have been able to reach it. Anand Sanwal has done a superb job of creating a practical, step-by-step guide for implementing portfolio management techniques in all resource allocation decisions, including operating expenses. Most compelling is the book's focus on changing managers' behavior, not just changing processes."
--Eisha Tierney Armstrong, Managing Director, CFO Executive Board

"What is more important to an organization than effective resource allocation? The trick is to remove the emotion and focus on what can be measured . .. not easy to do, but this book shows you how."
--Alan Gallo, Senior Vice President, Corporate Planning & Analysis, American Express Company

"Of the Seven Deadly Sins described by Anand Sanwal, my favorite for derailing corporate portfolio management is 'Decibel vs. Data-Driven Decision Making.' Those who avoid the sins and who adopt the many virtues Anand explains will realize far greater benefits from their IT and other corporate investments."
--Matt Light, Research Director, Gartner Inc.

"Insightful and to the point, Sanwal clearly highlights one of the greatest challenges facing large businesses in today's dynamic market environment. Any company that struggles with allocating investment resources now has a viable prescription for bringing order to the potential chaos of portfolio management."
--Satya Patel, Senior Product Manager, Google, Inc.

Modern businesses generate huge volumes of accounting data on a daily basis. The recent advancements in information technology have given organizations the ability to capture and store data in an efficient and effective manner. However, there is a widening gap between this data storage and usage of the data. Business intelligence techniques can help an organization obtain and process relevant accounting data quickly and cost efficiently. Such techniques include: query and reporting tools, online analytical processing (OLAP), statistical analysis, text mining, data mining, and visualization. Business Intelligence Techniques is a compilation of chapters written by experts in the various areas. While these chapters stand on their own, taken together they provide a comprehensive overview of how to exploit accounting data in the business environment.