They say that numbers don't lie, but what if you can't even read them? Discover how great managers use financial data to guide decisions. Financial analysis reports, budgeting reports, forecasting and measuring reports--sometimes they all run together, don't they? The Essentials of Finance and Accounting for Nonfinancial Managers is here to help. This new edition of a business classic demystifies finance and accounting and gives managers the tools they need to make better decisions. Complete with fresh insights, case studies, and street-level exercises to help non-numbers people master the numbers game, this guide reveals how to: Understand the fundamentals of financial analysis, budgeting, and forecasting Interpret balance sheets, income/cash flow statements, and annual reports Sift through conflicting data to find the most relevant figures Locate key information about competitors and suppliers Analyze variances and calculate break-even points and other vital measures The numbers are too important to allow others to translate for you. The Essentials of Finance and Accounting for Nonfinancial Managers shows you how to read them yourself. Imagine the impact on future decisions when you grasp not only what the numbers mean but can use that insight to drive your business forward.

In financial and actuarial modeling and other areas of application, stochastic differential equations with jumps have been employed to describe the dynamics of various state variables. The numerical solution of such equations is more complex than that of those only driven by Wiener processes, described in Kloeden & Platen: Numerical Solution of Stochastic Differential Equations (1992). The present monograph builds on the above-mentioned work and provides an introduction to stochastic differential equations with jumps, in both theory and application, emphasizing the numerical methods needed to solve such equations. It presents many new results on higher-order methods for scenario and Monte Carlo simulation, including implicit, predictor corrector, extrapolation, Markov chain and variance reduction methods, stressing the importance of their numerical stability. Furthermore, it includes chapters on exact simulation, estimation and filtering. Besides serving as a basic text on quantitative methods, it offers ready access to a large number of potential research problems in an area that is widely applicable and rapidly expanding. Finance is chosen as the area of application because much of the recent research on stochastic numerical methods has been driven by challenges in quantitative finance. Moreover, the volume introduces readers to the modern benchmark approach that provides a general framework for modeling in finance and insurance beyond the standard risk-neutral approach. It requires undergraduate background in mathematical or quantitative methods, is accessible to a broad readership, including those who are only seeking numerical recipes, and includes exercises that help the reader develop a deeper understanding of the underlying mathematics.

This book covers the latest approaches and results from reconfigurable computing architectures employed in the finance domain. So-called field-programmable gate arrays (FPGAs) have already shown to outperform standard CPU- and GPU-based computing architectures by far, saving up to 99% of energy depending on the compute tasks. Renowned authors from financial mathematics, computer architecture and finance business introduce the readers into today's challenges in finance IT, illustrate the most advanced approaches and use cases and present currently known methodologies for integrating FPGAs in finance systems together with latest results. The complete algorithm-to-hardware flow is covered holistically, so this book serves as a hands-on guide for IT managers, researchers and quants/programmers who think about integrating FPGAs into their current IT systems.

​The aim of this book is to examine how technical and institutional factors affect the responsiveness of public and private organisations to a change in accreditation standards, with specific reference to the vocational educational and training (VET) sector and ethical standards. In particular, the authors analyse the Italian experience regarding a new accreditation standard recently adopted in the Region of Lombardy. Although based on a national experience, this innovative approach to accreditation systems in the educational sector provides a more general framework of analysis of how ethics and compliance can be applied in business organisation worldwide.

Significantly extended from the first edition and published in response to the new international standard ISO55000, this book on physical asset management (2nd Ed.) presents a systematic approach to the management of physical assets from concept to disposal. It introduces the general principles of physical asset management and covers all stages of the asset management process, including initial business appraisal, identification of fixed asset needs, capability gap analysis, financial evaluation, logistic support analysis, life cycle costing, management of in-service assets, maintenance strategy, outsourcing, cost-benefit analysis, disposal and renewal. Physical asset management is the management of fixed assets such as equipment, plant, buildings and infrastructure. Features include: *Suitable for university courses and builds on first edition to provide further analytical material *Aligned with the international asset management standard ISO55000 *Provides a basis for the establishment of physical asset management as a professional discipline *Presents case studies, analytical techniques and numerical examples with solutions Written for practitioners and students in asset management, this textbook provides an essential foundation to the topic. It is suitable for an advanced undergraduate or postgraduate course in asset management, and also offers an ideal reference text for engineers and managers specializing in asset management, reliability, maintenance, logistics or systems engineering.

This book analyzes the determinants and effectiveness of corporate governance in an integrated model drawing on contingency theory and employing structural equation modeling (SEM). Business competition as an environmental factor and strategy as an organizational factor are important determinants of corporate governance, while organizational performance and earnings quality are two dimensions of its effectiveness. This book focuses on the relationship between corporate governance and earnings management, and shows that corporate governance is effective in improving earnings quality and reducing accounting and governance risks. The authors also question the relation between corporate governance and company performance and present results of their analysis in this book.

This book provides an exhaustive view of China’s Management Control Systems (MCS), examining the development of theory and practice and presenting a framework that integrates China’s unique enterprise regulations, corporate culture and managerial mindset into management control systems. The work offers detail about the effects of China’s economic reforms on management control in Chinese enterprises and insightful comparisons with Western theory and Western examples. Readers will discover important themes and the evolution of theory in MCS, including discussions of frameworks and the links between management control and economics, management, accounting, cybernetics and system theory. Early chapters explore management control in Chinese enterprises during the period, especially the demands of (guidance, enforcement and external regulation) and the demand for (stakeholders, managers, investors) management control. The work moves on to explore Western management control theory and research, including an examination of the evolution of internal control theory. The author presents detailed perspectives on the elements of management control systems and introduces masterful new ideas and methods through four general control models and ten critical elements in the management control process. A view of management control in various different types of enterprise is presented, from special enterprises and small to medium enterprises to non-profit organizations. The standards for enterprise management control are explored. This work is a valuable practical guide for corporate management teams who wish to develop and execute their own internal control strategies. It will also provide foreign researchers, policy-makers and practitioners with a new perspective on Chinese management control experiences. 

Organizations consider trust as a pillar for successful operations in an increasingly global competitive environment. Some professionals go further and argue that in an economy trust is more important than natural resources. This book deals with ways to measure trust and its impact on organizational performance, as well as to understand the role of Management Accounting in creating trust. The author demonstrates that trust drives organizational performance, and reveals the key role of management accountants in facilitating the flow of trust between CEOs and line managers.

The field of natural computing has been the focus of a substantial research effort in recent decades. One particular strand of this research concerns the development of computational algorithms using metaphorical inspiration from systems and phenomena that occur in the natural world. These naturally inspired computing algorithms have proven to be successful problem-solvers across domains as diverse as management science, bioinformatics, finance, marketing, engineering, architecture and design. This book is a comprehensive introduction to natural computing algorithms, suitable for academic and industrial researchers and for undergraduate and graduate courses on natural computing in computer science, engineering and management science.

This volume presents five surveys with extensive bibliographies and six original contributions on set optimization and its applications in mathematical finance and game theory. The topics range from more conventional approaches that look for minimal/maximal elements with respect to vector orders or set relations, to the new complete-lattice approach that comprises a coherent solution concept for set optimization problems, along with existence results, duality theorems, optimality conditions, variational inequalities and theoretical foundations for algorithms. Modern approaches to scalarization methods can be found as well as a fundamental contribution to conditional analysis. The theory is tailor-made for financial applications, in particular risk evaluation and [super-]hedging for market models with transaction costs, but it also provides a refreshing new perspective on vector optimization. There is no comparable volume on the market, making the book an invaluable resource for researchers working in vector optimization and multi-criteria decision-making, mathematical finance and economics as well as [set-valued] variational analysis.

This book offers a comprehensive guide to the modelling of operational risk using possibility theory. It provides a set of methods for measuring operational risks under a certain degree of vagueness and impreciseness, as encountered in real-life data. It shows how possibility theory and indeterminate uncertainty-encompassing degrees of belief can be applied in analysing the risk function, and describes the parametric g-and-h distribution associated with extreme value theory as an interesting candidate in this regard. The book offers a complete assessment of fuzzy methods for determining both value at risk (VaR) and subjective value at risk (SVaR), together with a stability estimation of VaR and SVaR. Based on the simulation studies and case studies reported on here, the possibilistic quantification of risk performs consistently better than the probabilistic model. Risk is evaluated by integrating two fuzzy techniques: the fuzzy analytic hierarchy process and the fuzzy extension of techniques for order preference by similarity to the ideal solution. Because of its specialized content, it is primarily intended for postgraduates and researchers with a basic knowledge of algebra and calculus, and can be used as reference guide for research-level courses on fuzzy sets, possibility theory and mathematical finance. The book also offers a useful source of information for banking and finance professionals investigating different risk-related aspects.

This introductory text is devoted to exposing the underlying nature of price formation in financial markets as a predominantly sociological phenomenon that relates individual decision-making to emergent and co-evolving social and financial structures. Two different levels of this sociological influence are considered: First, we examine how price formation results from the social dynamics of interacting individuals, where interaction occurs either through the price or by direct communication. Then the same processes are revisited and examined at the level of larger groups of individuals. In this book, models of both levels of socio-finance are presented, and it is shown, in particular, how complexity theory provides the conceptual and methodological tools needed to understand and describe such phenomena. Accordingly, readers are first given a broad introduction to the standard economic theory of rational financial markets and will come to understand its shortcomings with the help of concrete examples. Complexity theory is then introduced in order to properly account for behavioral decision-making and match the observed market dynamics. This book is conceived as a primer for newcomers to the field, as well as for practitioners seeking new insights into the field of complexity science applied to socio-economic systems in general, and financial markets and price formation in particular.

Foundations in Accountancy (FIA) awards are entry-level, core-skill focused qualifications from ACCA. They provide flexible options for students and employers, and as an ACCA Approved Content Provider, BPP Learning Media s suite of study tools will provide you with all the accurate and up-to-date material you need for exam success.

George Soros, is one of the most acclaimed and feared figures in the investment world. Famous for his role in breaking the Bank of England, he is also known for his outspoken criticism of distinguished politicians. Soros has earned his respect not only from his investment coups but also for his charitable activities and for encouraging pro-democracy movements around the world. This book explores the life of a man who has an undue influence on world-wide currency markets. His dramatic life story will attract a wide range of readers, even those who are not familiar with the world of investment and finance.

This book introduces the theory of stochastic processes with applications taken from physics and finance. Fundamental concepts like the random walk or Brownian motion but also Levy-stable distributions are discussed. Applications are selected to show the interdisciplinary character of the concepts and methods. In the second edition of the book a discussion of extreme events ranging from their mathematical definition to their importance for financial crashes was included. The exposition of basic notions of probability theory and the Brownian motion problem as well as the relation between conservative diffusion processes and quantum mechanics is expanded. The second edition also enlarges the treatment of financial markets. Beyond a presentation of geometric Brownian motion and the Black-Scholes approach to option pricing as well as the econophysics analysis of the stylized facts of financial markets, an introduction to agent based modeling approaches is given.

Over the last few years, financial statement scandals, cases of fraud and corruption, data protection violations, and other legal violations have led to numerous liability cases, damages claims, and losses of reputation. As a reaction to these developments, several regulations have been issued: Corporate Governance, the Sarbanes-Oxley Act, IFRS, Basel II and III, Solvency II and BilMoG, to name just a few. In this book, compliance is understood as the process, mapped not only in an internal control system, that is intended to guarantee conformity with legal requirements but also with internal policies and enterprise objectives (in particular, efficiency and profitability). The current literature primarily confines itself to mapping controls in SAP ERP and auditing SAP systems. Maxim Chuprunov not only addresses this subject but extends the aim of internal controls from legal compliance to include efficiency and profitability and then well beyond, because a basic understanding of the processes involved in IT-supported compliance management processes are not delivered along with the software. Starting with the requirements for compliance (Part I), he not only answers compliance-relevant questions in the form of an audit guide for an SAP ERP system and in the form of risks and control descriptions (Part II), but also shows how to automate the compliance management process based on SAP GRC (Part III). He thus addresses the current need for solutions for implementing an integrated GRC system in an organization, especially focusing on the continuous control monitoring topics. Maxim Chuprunov mainly targets compliance experts, auditors, SAP project managers and consultants responsible for GRC products as readers for his book. They will find indispensable information for their daily work from the first to the last page. In addition, MBA, management information system students as well as senior managers like CIOs and CFOs will find a wealth of valuable information on compliance in the SAP ERP environment, on GRC in general and its implementation in particular.

Many mathematical assumptions on which classical derivative pricing methods are based have come under scrutiny in recent years. The present volume offers an introduction to deterministic algorithms for the fast and accurate pricing of derivative contracts in modern finance. This unified, non-Monte-Carlo computational pricing methodology is capable of handling rather general classes of stochastic market models with jumps, including, in particular, all currently used Levy and stochastic volatility models. It allows us e.g. to quantify model risk in computed prices on plain vanilla, as well as on various types of exotic contracts. The algorithms are developed in classical Black-Scholes markets, and then extended to market models based on multiscale stochastic volatility, to Levy, additive and certain classes of Feller processes. This book is intended for graduate students and researchers, as well as for practitioners in the fields of quantitative finance and applied and computational mathematics with a solid background in mathematics, statistics or economics.

Management is a fragmented and interdisciplinary area of study, with a lot of academic branches. Willman argues this tree is narrower at its roots, and these roots lie primarily in social science. Key to the purpose of the book is to present management theory as applied social science. Developed out of a core management course at Master's level, this book introduces the field to students who may have little prior knowledge of management. Willman interprets 'management' broadly to embrace the sub-disciplines of strategy, finance, accounting, marketing, organisational behaviour and operations management. The text aims to show how they arose and how they relate, thus engaging the reader in a little history. The book is integrative, in that it seeks to find common concerns in disparate literatures. It is also critical in that it seeks to comparatively evaluate contributions to the management field both in terms of theoretical contribution and practical impact. It is intended to be accessible to a range of readers, presenting technical materials in an informal way. Finally, it is introductory in that it assumes no previous knowledge of the academic management field.

The eagerly awaited second edition of this highly successful book has been greatly expanded from 400 to over 700 pages and contains new material on value at risk, speculative bubbles, volatility effects in financial markets, chaos and neural networks.
Financial Market Analysis deals with the composition of financial markets and the analysis and valuation of traded securities. It describes the use of securities both in constructing and managing portfolios and in contributing to portfolio performance. Particular attention is paid to new types of investment product, different portfolio management strategies, speculation, arbitrage and risk management strategies and to financial market failure.
Financial Market Analysis is an essential text for all finance-related degree courses at undergraduate, postgraduate, and MBA level. It also provides a useful source of reference for financial institutions and professionals in the financial markets.

This book presents innovations in the mathematical foundations of financial analysis and numerical methods for finance and applications to the modeling of risk. The topics selected include measures of risk, credit contagion, insider trading, information in finance, stochastic control and its applications to portfolio choices and liquidation, models of liquidity, pricing, and hedging. The models presented are based on the use of Brownian motion, Levy processes and jump diffusions. Moreover, fractional Brownian motion and ambit processes are also introduced at various levels. The chosen blend of topics gives an overview of the frontiers of mathematics for finance. New results, new methods and new models are all introduced in different forms according to the subject. Additionally, the existing literature on the topic is reviewed. The diversity of the topics makes the book suitable for graduate students, researchers and practitioners in the areas of financial modeling and quantitative finance. The chapters will also be of interest to experts in the financial market interested in new methods and products. This volume presents the results of the European ESF research networking program Advanced Mathematical Methods for Finance.

Fraud has become a challenging phenomena affecting economies worldwide. Anti-fraud measures are an integral part of today's management practices and have found their way into business education. Yet in developing countries these topics have long been neglected and only limited research has been conducted in this area. This book fills an essential gap by analyzing the impact of fraud on developing economies, describing successful anti-fraud methods and featuring cases that exemplify the measures described. The book features contributions by outstanding experts in the field and is intended for academic readers with a special interest in fraud research.

Originally published in 2003, "Mathematical Techniques in Finance" has become a standard textbook for master's-level finance courses containing a significant quantitative element while also being suitable for finance PhD students. This fully revised second edition continues to offer a carefully crafted blend of numerical applications and theoretical grounding in economics, finance, and mathematics, and provides plenty of opportunities for students to practice applied mathematics and cutting-edge finance. Ales Cerny mixes tools from calculus, linear algebra, probability theory, numerical mathematics, and programming to analyze in an accessible way some of the most intriguing problems in financial economics. The textbook is the perfect hands-on introduction to asset pricing, optimal portfolio selection, risk measurement, and investment evaluation.

The new edition includes the most recent research in the area of incomplete markets and unhedgeable risks, adds a chapter on finite difference methods, and thoroughly updates all bibliographic references. Eighty figures, over seventy examples, twenty-five simple ready-to-run computer programs, and several spreadsheets enhance the learning experience. All computer codes have been rewritten using MATLAB and online supplementary materials have been completely updated. A standard textbook for graduate finance courses Introduction to asset pricing, portfolio selection, risk measurement, and investment evaluation Detailed examples and MATLAB codes integrated throughout the text Exercises and summaries of main points conclude each chapter"

The availability of financial data recorded on high-frequency level has inspired a research area which over the last decade emerged to a major area in econometrics and statistics. The growing popularity of high-frequency econometrics is driven by technological progress in trading systems and an increasing importance of intraday trading, liquidity risk, optimal order placement as well as high-frequency volatility. This book provides a state-of-the art overview on the major approaches in high-frequency econometrics, including univariate and multivariate autoregressive conditional mean approaches for different types of high-frequency variables, intensity-based approaches for financial point processes and dynamic factor models. It discusses implementation details, provides insights into properties of high-frequency data as well as institutional settings and presents applications to volatility and liquidity estimation, order book modelling and market microstructure analysis.

Levy processes are the natural continuous-time analogue of random walks and form a rich class of stochastic processes around which a robust mathematical theory exists. Their application appears in the theory of many areas of classical and modern stochastic processes including storage models, renewal processes, insurance risk models, optimal stopping problems, mathematical finance, continuous-state branching processes and positive self-similar Markov processes.

This textbook is based on a series of graduate courses concerning the theory and application of Levy processes from the perspective of their path fluctuations. Central to the presentation is the decomposition of paths in terms of excursions from the running maximum as well as an understanding of short- and long-term behaviour.

The book aims to be mathematically rigorous while still providing an intuitive feel for underlying principles. The results and applications often focus on the case of Levy processes with jumps in only one direction, for which recent theoretical advances have yielded a higher degree of mathematical tractability.

The second edition additionally addresses recent developments in the potential analysis of subordinators, Wiener-Hopf theory, the theory of scale functions and their application to ruin theory, as well as including an extensive overview of the classical and modern theory of positive self-similar Markov processes. Each chapter has a comprehensive set of exercises.