Publisher's Synopsis
Written for both current and aspiring managers at all levels, this book focuses on ways to improve corporate financial performance. Lewis draws from the fields of finance, accounting, economics, management, mathematics, and information systems to provide a clear exposition as well as detailed examples of practial decision-making for planning and controlling operations. He demonstrates ways to ensure acceptable levels of risk, obtain clear and relevant information, effectively balance long-term and short-term goals and needs, finance profit and growth plans, and incorporate intangibles into the decision process. Throughout, the aim is to help managers make decisions that will have a positive effect on overall corporate financial performance.
Organized around three central themes, the book begins by considering the ways in which future growth and profits are shaped by today's choices. Separate chapters address such issues as the evaluation of projected financial statements, current assets, capital expenditures, the discount rate, product costs, and formulating marketing plans. In the second section, the author focuses on controlling current performance. He examines management reports and their role in controlling operations, operating controls for marketing and manufacturing performance, and factory overhead and product costs. The final section looks at information and accounting systems. The author first provides the basics of accounting to enable management to communicate effectively with accountants and other financial experts and then describes approaches to designing workable, useful information systems.
