Corporate Finance: Core Principles and Applications wasdeveloped for the graduate (MBA) level as a concise, up-to-date, andto-the-point product, the majority of which can be realistically covered in asingle term or course. To achieve theobjective of reaching out to the many different types of students and thevarying course settings, corporate finance is distilled down to its core, whilemaintaining a decidedly modern approach. Purely theoretical issues aredownplayed, and the use of extensive and elaborate calculations is minimized toillustrate points that are either intuitively obvious or of limited practicaluse. The goal was to focus on what students really need to carry away from aprinciples course. A balance is struck by introducing and covering theessentials, while leaving more specialized topics to follow-up courses. Netpresent value is treated as the underlying and unifying concept in corporatefinance. Every subject covered is firmly rooted in valuation, and care is takenthroughout to explain how particular decisions have valuation effects. Also,the role of the financial manager as decision maker is emphasized, and the needfor managerial input and judgment is stressed.