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Some of these experts are full-time practitioners in the real world, and others are business school
professors with substantial real-world experience who also serve as part-time management
consultants. Most of these professors are on the faculty of Babson College, which is famous for its
major contributions to the field of entrepreneurship, and which year after year is at the top of the
annual list of leading independent business schools compiled by U.S. News & World Report and the
University of Maryland‟s University College, a leading Internet university with 100,000 students,
including 3,000 MBA students.
The first edition of this book was published in 1992, the second edition in 1997, and the third in
2001. All of the editions, hardback and paperback, have been highly successful, and have sold many,
many copies. In addition, the book has been translated into Chinese (Cantonese and Mandarin),
Indonesian, Portuguese, Russian, and Spanish. We are delighted that so many readers in various
countries have found this book useful. Now, the entire book has been updated for the fourth edition.
New chapters have been added on the following subjects:
• Discounted Cash Flow.
• Analyzing Financial Statements.
• Capital Structure.
• The Integrity of Financial Reporting.
• Outsourcing.
• Careers in Finance.
Also, there are six new authors, substantial revisions of several chapters, and complete updates of
the remaining chapters.
Some of the chapters include additional online materials that will reinforce the materials contained
in the chapters. Please go to www.wiley.com/go/portablembainfinance.com to access the online
materials that are designated for this book.
This book can be read, and reread, with a great deal of profit. Also, it can be kept handy on a nearby
shelf so you can pull it down and look up answers to questions as they occur. Further, this book will
help you to work with finance and accounting professionals on their own turf and in their own jargon.
You will know what questions to ask, and you will better understand the answers you receive, without
being confused or intimidated.
Who can benefit from this book? Many different people, such as:
• Managers wishing to improve their business skills.
• Engineers, attorneys, chemists, scientists, and other technical specialists preparing to take
on increased management responsibilities.
• People already operating their own businesses, or thinking of doing so.
• Businesspeople in nonfinancial positions who want to be better versed in financial matters.
• BBA or MBA alumni who want a refresher in finance and accounting.
• People in many walks of life who need to understand more about financial matters.
Whether you are in one, some, or even none of these categories, you will find much of value in this
book, and the book is reader-friendly. Frankly, most finance and accounting books are technically
complex, boringly detailed, or just plain dull. This book emphasizes clarity to nonfinancial readers,
using many helpful examples and a bright, interesting style of writing. Learn, and enjoy!
THEODORE GROSSMAN JOHN LESLIE LIVINGSTONE