tailieunhanh - Finance and Accounting for Nonfinancial Managers - Eliot H. Sherman

By the end of this chapter, you should be able to: Explain and use basic financial terms and concepts. Define the key financial statements and accounting equations and explain their purposes and contents. Describe the different forms of business structure and recognize similarities and differences among them. Change is a given in business today, and managers are expected to do more and understand more than they ever had to in the past. How often have you heard statements just like these—often from your own managers?. | Finance and Accounting for Nonfinancial Managers Eliot H. Sherman AMERICAN MANAGEMENT ASSOCIATION Chapter 1 Introduction to Finance LEARNING OBJECTIVES By the end of this chapter you should be able to Explain and use basic financial terms and concepts. Define the key financial statements and accounting equations and explain their purposes and contents. Describe the different forms of business structure and recognize similarities and differences among them. Change is a given in business today and managers are expected to do more and understand more than they ever had to in the past. How often have you heard statements just like these often from your own managers Act like you own the business. Everyone is self-employed. If what you re doing isn t adding value to the business then stop what you re doing. In today s businesses managers are expected to be active participants in and leaders of self-directed teams they are supposed to be empowered they are responsible for their own training and their own careers. You may be asked to come up with ways to help the company increase the bottom line or to lead a team investigating new technologies. Functional expertise isn t enough any more. You ve got to understand the relationship of the work you do to the overall financial success of your organization. Finance and accounting give you tools that you can use to understand how the decisions you make and the jobs you perform affect the long-term success of the entire organization. Understanding the language of finance and accounting will allow you to present your ideas persuasively and precisely to be more comfortable when discussing results or forecasts with your financial staff or outside investors. It will help you to understand the financial news and how financial markets can affect your own firm. And it will help you make better decisions about your personal finances and investments. Accounting has been called the language of business. This chapter introduces the basic .