CHAPTE R 1

NATURE OF FINANCIAL MANAGEMENT

LEARNING OBJECTIVES
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Explain

the nature of finance and its interaction with other management functions Review the changing role of the finance manager and his/her position in the management hierarchy Focus on the Shareholders Wealth Maximization (SWM) principle as an operationally desirable finance decision criterion Discuss agency problems arising from the relationship between shareholders and managers Illustrate the organization of finance function

Important Business Activities

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Production

Marketing
Finance

Real And Financial Assets

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Real Assets:

Can be Tangible or Intangible

Tangible real assets are physical assets that include plant, machinery, office, factory, furniture and building. Intangible real assets include technical know-how, technological collaborations, patents and copyrights.

Financial

Assets are also called securities, are financial papers or instruments such as shares and bonds or debentures.

Equity and Borrowed Funds

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Shares

represent ownership rights of their holders. Shareholders are owners of the company. Shares can of two types:

Equity Shares Preference Shares

Loans,

Bonds or Debts: represent liability of the firm towards outsiders. Lenders are not owners of the company. These provide interest tax shield.

Equity and Preference Shares

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Equity

Shares are also known as ordinary shares.

Do not have fixed rate of dividend. There is no legal obligation to pay dividends to equity shareholders.

Preference

Shares have preference for dividend payment over ordinary shareholders.

They get fixed rate of dividends. They also have preference of repayment at the time of liquidation.

Finance and Management Functions

All

business activities involve acquisition and use of funds. Finance function makes money available to meet the costs of production and marketing operations. Financial policies are devised to fit production and marketing decisions of a firm in practice.

Finance Functions
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Finance functions or decisions can be divided as follows

Long-term financial decisions

Long-term asset-mix or investment decision or capital budgeting decisions. Capital-mix or financing decision or capital structure and leverage decisions. Profit allocation or dividend decision Short-term asset-mix or liquidity decision or working capital management.

Short-term financial decisions

Financial Procedures and Systems

For

effective finance function some routine functions have to be performed. Some of these are: Supervision receipts and payments and safeguarding of cash balances Custody and safeguarding of securities, insurance policies and other valuable papers Taking care of the mechanical details of new outside financing Record keeping and reporting

Finance Managers Role

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Raising

of Funds Allocation of Funds Profit Planning Understanding Capital Markets

Financial Goals
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Profit maximization

(profit after tax) Maximizing earnings per share Wealth maximization

Profit Maximization
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Maximizing

the rupee income of firm

Resources are efficiently utilized Appropriate measure of firm performance Serves interest of society also

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Objections to Profit Maximization

It is Vague It Ignores the Timing of Returns It Ignores Risk Assumes Perfect Competition In new business environment profit maximization
is regarded as

Unrealistic Difficult Inappropriate Immoral

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Maximizing Profit after Taxes or EPS

Maximising

PAT or EPS does not maximise the economic welfare of the owners. Ignores timing and risk of the expected benefit Market value is not a function of EPS. Maximizing EPS implies that the firm should make no dividend payment so long as funds can be invested at positive rate of returnsuch a policy may not always work.

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Shareholders Wealth Maximization

Maximizes

the net present value of a course of action to shareholders. Accounts for the timing and risk of the expected benefits. Benefits are measured in terms of cash flows. Fundamental objectivemaximize the market value of the firms shares.

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Need for a Valuation Approach

SWM

requires a valuation model. The financial manager must know,

How much should a particular share be worth? Upon what factor or factors should its value depend?

Risk-return Trade-off
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Financial decisions of the firm are guided by the risk-return trade-off. The return and risk relationship: Return = Risk-free rate + Risk premium Risk-free rate is a compensation for time and risk premium for risk.

Risk Return Trade-off

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Risk and expected return move in tandem; the greater the risk, the greater the expected return.

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Overview of Financial Management

Agency Problems: Managers Versus

Shareholders Goals
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There

is a Principal Agent relationship between managers and shareholders. theory, Managers should act in the best interests of shareholders. practice, managers may maximise their own wealth (in the form of high salaries and perks) at the cost of shareholders.

In

In

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Agency Problems: Managers Versus Shareholders Goals

Managers

may perceive their role as reconciling conflicting objectives of stakeholders. This stakeholders view of managers role may compromise with the objective of SWM. may avoid taking high investment and financing risks that may otherwise be needed to maximize shareholders wealth. Such satisfying behaviour of managers will frustrate the objective of SWM as a normative guide. conflict is known as Agency problem and it results into Agency costs.

Managers

This

Agency Costs
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Agency

costs include the less than optimum share value for shareholders and costs incurred by them to monitor the actions of managers and control their behaviour.

Financial Goals and Firms Mission and Objectives

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Firms primary

objective is maximizing the welfare of owners, but, in operational terms, they focus on the satisfaction of its customers through the production of goods and services needed by them. Firms state their vision, mission and values in broad terms. Wealth maximization is more appropriately a decision criterion, rather than an objective or a goal. Goals or objectives are missions or basic purposes of a firms existence.

Financial Goals and Firms Mission and Objectives

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shareholders wealth maximization is the secondlevel criterion ensuring that the decision meets the minimum standard of the economic performance. In the final decision-making, the judgement of management plays the crucial role. The wealth maximization criterion would simply indicate whether an action is economically viable or not.
The

Organisation of the Finance Functions

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Reason

for placing the finance functions in the hands of top management

Financial decisions are crucial for the survival of the firm. The financial actions determine solvency of the firm Centralisation of the finance functions can result in a number of economies to the firm.

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Organisation of Finance Function

Organization for finance function

Organization for finance function in a multidivisional company

Status and Duties of Finance Executives

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The

exact organisation structure for financial management will differ across firms. The financial officer may be known as the financial manager in some organisations, while in others as the vice-president of finance or the director of finance or the financial controller.

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Role of Treasurer and Controller

officersthe treasurer and the controller may be appointed under the direct supervision of CFO to assist him or her. The treasurers function is to raise and manage company funds while the controller oversees whether funds are correctly applied.
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