Essentials of Corporate Finance + Self Study CD-ROM + PowerWeb [Hardcover]

Stephen A. Ross (Author), Randolph W Westerfield (Author), Bradford D Jordan (Author), Bradford Jordan (Author)

Book Description

ISBN-10: 0072848847 | ISBN-13: 978-0072848847 | Publication Date: February 10, 2003 | Edition: 4

Essentials of Corporate Finance, 4/e by Ross, Westerfield, and Jordan is written to convey the most important concepts and principles of corporate finance at a level that is approachable for a wide audience. The authors retain their modern approach to finance, but have distilled the subject down to the essential topics in 18 chapters. They believe that understanding the "why" is just as important, if not more so, than understanding the "how," especially in an introductory course. Three basic themes emerge as their central focus: 1. An emphasis on intuition¿separate and explain the principles at work on a common sense, intuitive level before launching into specifics. Underlying ideas are discussed first in general terms, then followed by specific examples that illustrate in more concrete terms how a financial manager might proceed in a given situation 2. A unified valuation approach¿Net Present Value is treated as the basic concept underlying corporate finance. Every subject the authors cover is firmly rooted in valuation, and care is taken to explain how decisions have valuation effects. 3. A managerial focus¿Students learn that financial management concerns management. The role of financial manager as decision maker is emphasized and they stress the need for managerial input and judgment.

Editorial Reviews

About the Author

Stephen Ross is presently the Franco Modigliani Professor of Finance and Economics at the Sloan School of Management, Massachusetts Institute of Technology. One of the most widely published authors in finance and economics, Professor Ross is recognized for his work in developing the Arbitrage Pricing Theory and his substantial contributions to the discipline through his research in signaling, agency theory, option pricing, and the theory of the term structure of interest rates, among other topics. A past president of the American Finance Association, he currently serves as an associate editor of several academic and practitioner journals. He is a trustee of CalTech, a director of the College Retirement Equity Fund (CREF), and Freddie Mac. He is also the co-chairman of Roll and Ross Asset Management Corporation.

Randoloph W. Westerfield is Dean of the Marshall School of Business at University of Southern California and holder of the Robert R. Dockson Dean’s Chair of Business Administration. From 1988 to 1993, Professor Westerfield served as the chairman of the School’s finance and business economics department and the Charles B. Thornton Professor of Finance. He came to USC from The Wharton School, University of Pennsylvania, where he was the chairman of the finance department and member of the finance faculty for 20 years. His areas of expertise include corporate financial policy, investment management and analysis, mergers and acquisitions, and stock market price behavior. Professor Westerfield has served as a member of the Continental Bank trust committee, supervising all activities of the trust department. He has been consultant to a number of corporations, including AT&T, Mobil Oil and Pacific Enterprises, as well as to the United Nations, the U.S. Department of Justice and Labor, and the State of California.

Bradford D. Jordan is Professor of Finance and Gatton Research Fellow in the Carol Martin Gatton College of Business and Economics at the University of Kentucky. He has a long-standing interest in both applied and theoretical issues in corporate finance, and has extensive experience teaching all levels of corporate finance and financial management policy. Professor Jordan has published numerous articles on issues such as cost of capital, capital structure, and the behavior of security prices.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 608 pages
• Publisher: McGraw-Hill/Irwin; 4 edition (February 10, 2003)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0072848847
• ISBN-13: 978-0072848847
• Product Dimensions: 10 x 8.1 x 1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 2.8 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 3.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (9 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #325,973 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Bradford D. "Brad" Jordan is Professor of Finance and holder of the Richard W. and Janis H. Furst Endowed Chair in Finance in the Gatton College of Business and Economics at the University of Kentucky. He received a BSBA and PhD in Finance from the University of Florida. He joined the Gatton College in 1997 after serving on the faculties of the University of Georgia and the University of Missouri. Dr. Jordan specializes in corporate finance and financial asset valuation. He has published numerous articles in leading finance journals and has received a variety of research awards.

Dr. Jordan's recent research examines the pricing of U.S. Treasury obligations, the effect of taxes on security values, the valuation of exotic options, and the pricing of IPOs. His recent publications include "The Good News in Short Interest," with E. Boehmer and Z.R. Huszar, Journal of Financial Economics, 96, 2010, 80 - 97 (winner of the 2010 Fama/DFA award); "Analyst Behavior Following IPOs: The 'Bubble Period' Evidence," with D.J. Bradley and J.R. Ritter, Review of Financial Studies, 21, 2008, 101 - 134; and "Penny Stock IPOs," with D.J. Bradley, J.W. Cooney, and S.D. Dolvin, Financial Management 35, Spring 2006, 5 - 30 (lead article).

Dr. Jordan is coauthor of Fundamentals of Corporate Finance 9/e and Essentials of Corporate Finance 7/e, two of the most widely used business finance textbooks in the world, along with Fundamentals of Investments: Valuation and Management 6/e, a widely used investments text. He is an associate editor of The Journal of Financial Research and The Financial Review and a past-President of the Southern Finance Association.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Expensive, but insightful., June 7, 2004

By 

Peter Jackson "Not the LOTR guy" (Baltimore, MD) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Essentials of Corporate Finance + Self Study CD-ROM + PowerWeb (Hardcover)

Ross, Westerfield, and Jordan are recognized experts in the field of corporate finance who have produced a solid textbook for any finance student. The format of this book is easy to follow, with many relevant case studies, insightful real-world applications, and how-to sections that give hints on applying techniques to your own real-world problems. The authors are particularly adept at providing a survey of a topic, then systematically drilling down into significant detail on the mechanics of a particular finance technique. Often, these drill-downs end with, "And here's an example of how to do it in Excel..."

Overall, a helpful book for the student of corporate finance. As is typical with any textbook, the CDROM is probably helpful, but vastly underused by most students reading this book. The price for the content of the book is in-line with that of most business textbooks. That is, slightly overpriced. If textbook money is tight, a student could get by with a 3rd edition of this book without affecting performance in the course.

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars Look elsewhere for Finance intro..., December 20, 2005

By 

James Rogers "Renaissance Subversive" (Oklahoma City, OK) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Essentials of Corporate Finance + Self Study CD-ROM + PowerWeb (Hardcover)

I'm an adjunct professor at a regional liberal arts university, and I admit I've not read as many textbooks as the average ivory tower dweller. That being said, I used this book (through no choice of my own) to teach an Undergraduate Intro to Finance class. Decent text, and some good explanation of the more complex ideas in the second half of the book, but what kills this as a textbook is the HORRIBLE support materials. Errors throughout the Power Point presentations, test bank questions, study problems...I was so disgusted by the end of the semester. It's probably okay as a brush-up text, but not what I'd recommend for newbies.

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars good book worth the price, June 28, 2004

By A Customer

This review is from: Essentials of Corporate Finance + Self Study CD-ROM + PowerWeb (Hardcover)

Very good intro book that is easy to read and easy to understand.
Book takes a very basic approach to explaining things so as students not familiar with finance can easily grasp the concepts. Use of color a nice touch compared to older black & white texts, also lots of recent events (Enron/MCI/M.Stewart) are discussed along with subtle references to Metallica, NIN, Bowie, etc...
Lots of hints that tie in excel and the web, even an appendix section on how to use your financial calculator. Good 'preview' book to their more exhaustive book aptly titled 'Corporate Finance'
Power web OK, but could be better. CD-Rom has good practice questions especially if instructor uses test bank.