Short Answer-Multiple Perspective on Financial Management Essay

SF001: Multiple Perspectives on Financial Management
Short Answer Submission Form
Your Name: First and last
Your E-Mail Address: Your email here
Instructions
This Competency includes a Short-Answer Response Assessment. Write your response to each prompt below in the space provided. The Rubric, which will be used by the Competency Assessor to evaluate your responses, is beneath the prompts. Carefully review the Rubric rows associated with each prompt to provide a complete response.
When writing your response, begin typing where it reads “Enter Your Response Here.” Write as much as needed to satisfy the requirements of the prompt (as defined in the Rubric). Be sure to support your responses with connections to professional sources.
Your Assessment responses require references (in APA style) to support your thinking. You will list your references at the end of this template where “References” are noted. If you need additional information regarding how to correctly cite, and/or reference sources, please visit the Walden Writing Center at http://academicguides.waldenu.edu/writingcenter/apa/citations
To learn more about effective paraphrasing strategies, visit the Walden Writing Center at http://academicguides.waldenu.edu/writingcenter/evidence/paraphrase/effective
Review the following example item and response for a sample that meets expectations.
Sample Prompt:
Choose a definition of organizational culture, and explain whether you agree or disagree with the definition. Use examples from your own professional experience to support your response.
Response:
Whitehurst (2016) explained “organizational culture is defined by how people in an organization interact with each other” (para. 2). While I agree that this is one aspect of organizational culture, the definition does not capture the complex factors that contribute to organizational culture. When I started my first job after finishing my undergraduate degree in business, I worked for an organization whose main headquarters were in Dubai. When I traveled to Dubai for the first time, I realized that the culture of the Dubai office was largely influenced by the society’s culture in Dubai. I found that the organization lacked one cohesive culture and that, depending on regional locations, each office had its own culture. International organizations often face many challenges in maintaining a cohesive organizational culture (Watkins, 2013). I found this observation to be true in my experience. For example, the Dubai office seemed to endow their employees with more allowance for self-direction when compared with our domestic offices. Although people’s interactions with one another contributed to the organization’s culture, there were other factors like location, management style, and societal norms that impacted a business culture as well.
References
Watkins, M. D. (2013, May 15). What is organizational culture? And why should we care. Harvard Business Review. Retrieved from https://hbr.org/2013/05/what-is-organizational-culture
Whitehurst, J. (2016, October 13). Leaders can shape company culture through their behaviors. Harvard Business Review. Retrieved from https://hbr.org/2016/10/leaders-can-shape-company-culture-through-their-behaviors
Note: References are included at the end of a Short-Answer Assessment but are included here as an example of an accurate APA reference list.

Prompt 1
The Role of Financial Management
Scenario
ABC Underwriters is a publicly-traded reinsurance firm. The board of directors recently replaced the chief executive officer and some of her top managers after a lengthy dispute over the integrity of the company’s financial filings. You are being considered for the new chief financial officer role, and as part of the selection process, the board has asked you to explain your views on the role of financial management in promoting a company’s overall success.
* Write a concise but comprehensive response as to what you would say that clearly identifies the broader responsibilities of financial management within a company and connects them to the activities of company management in general and to the interests of shareholders. Be sure to describe the main goals and contributions of financial management, identify the goals and interests of shareholders, and describe the relationship between short- and long-term financial goals and shareholder value in your response. (3–4 paragraphs)
Your Response
DescriptionGoals and ContributionsAs the newly appointed financial management officer, it is my responsibility to share the company finance goals with my colleagues or my department. Finance is a framework that is essential for the success of a company. Hence, as a financial manager, it is important to direct the department in achieving the following goals: 1) To secure money for the firm; 2) To employ and budget the procured money to various assets; 3) To properly manage the assets and to monitor the value of these assets; 4) To generate an excessive amount of cash flow that will be redistributed to the former assets and allotted to the new assets. It is essential to achieve these objectives to make better financial decision-making (Banerjee, 2015). Less knowledge of financial management leads to a reduced number of new ventures and an increased failure rate of small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) (Perrini et al., 2012). These primary goals can be divided into short-term and long-term goals. The aim of the former is to boost the confidence of the business while the latter is concerned with the stability of the business (Williams, 2019). Some of the short-term goals that need attention are to gain revenue that can be used to invest in assets such as advertising and promotional events to encourage more customers or partners into the business while some of the long-term goals are to earn twice the current revenue by the end of the fiscal year.Specific Activities of Management TeamThe responsibilities of the management team include the monitoring of money inflow and outflow, preparing financial reports, regulating financial controls, and providing the payroll for the company’s employees. In detail, the finance manager shall always assess the following: 1) Opportunities to save money; 2) Evaluate the receivables; 3) Tax assessment; 4) Accurate and timely payment of the employees; 5) Creating financial statements; and 6) Performing reconciliations, allocating accountabilities, and obeying the company standards of financial management principles. This is done to guarantee that the procedures are managed without errors (Pacific Crest Group, n.d.).Goals and Interests of the ShareholdersThe primary interest of the shareholders is to achieve sustainable growth. They are concerned with the rise of earnings per share and the value of the enterprise. This includes dividends. Shareholders expect the above average return of investments to increase their capital. In turn, shareholders will be prompted to reinvest. Another interest of the shareholders is for the company to outperform the weighted global reinsurance index. Furthermore, shareholders demand the company to take on the risks that they took (Besson et al., 2016).Short-and-Long-Term Financial Goals and Shareholder ValueThe short-term financial goals include preventing or reducing negative cash flows and controlling service debt. The first goal shall be achieved by balancing the operating expenses with the revenue of the company. To control the service debt, the financial manager shall ensure to pay the service debt regularly to prevent the interest from piling up. This action will also gain the company flexibility by having a reserved margin for additional service debts when the need arises. The long-term goals are focused on making positive cash flow and increasing the margin. The role of the financial manager is to analyze the scales of the economy and to advise other departments on how to lower the costs of the business. By doing this, the margin will increase and the company will gain more revenues. This will create a positive cash flow (Mehra, 2018).The company’s shareholder value depends on the return of investment capital. Initially, the shareholder value is balanced at zero. A positive no par value (NPV) will lead to the formation of shareholder value. This value is dependent on the return of the NPV of share purchase to zero. Hence, to increase the shareholder value, the financial manager must devise a way to gain an exceptional value that will increase beyond the release of tied up equity. By the time that the company is already generating positive cash flow, the returns are more than the cost of capital. This will earn the shareholders an increase in shareholder value (Karim, 2012).National Impact of Financial ManagementFinancial management has directly and indirectly influenced macroeconomic stability. A private company is a contributor to the national income, products and services, and employment. Moreover, the private sector provides tax revenues. An increase in the tax revenues provides capital for the country to avoid unsustainable deficits. Hence, these factors help alleviate poverty by contributing to macroeconomic stability (International Finance Corporation, 2011).
Rubric

0
Not Present

1
Needs Improvement

2
Meets Expectations

3
Exceeds Expectations

Sub-Competency 1: Demonstrate an understanding of the role of financial management in promoting a company’s success in general.

Learning Objective 1.1:
Describe the role of financial management in promoting a company’s success.

Description of the role of financial management is missing.

Description does not identify the main goals and/or contributions of financial management.
Description does not relate financial management to the specific activities of the management team.

Description identifies the main goals and contributions of financial management.
Description relates financial management to the specific activities of the management team.

Response demonstrates the same level of achievement as “2,” plus the following:
Description provides recent historical context in describing the need for financial management, including specific examples on how the role of financial management is brought out in companies.

Learning Objective 1.2:
Explain the role of financial management in serving the interests of shareholders.

Explanation of the role of financial management in serving the interests of shareholders is missing.

Explanation does not identify the goals and/or interests of shareholders.
Explanation does not describe the relationship between short- and long-term financial goals and shareholder value.

Explanation identifies the goals and interests of shareholders.
Explanation describes the relationship between short- and long-term financial goals and shareholder value.

Response demonstrates the same level of achievement as “2,” plus the following:
Explanation links financial management to positive impacts at a national and/or global level.

Prompt 2
Analysis of a Publicly Traded Company
Scenario
You are an analyst for an investment firm that operates the Global Pioneer Fund, a collection of publicly traded stocks featuring companies with outstanding track records in the areas of ethics, social responsibility, and global stewardship. The fund’s chief analyst has asked you to research the Coca-Cola Company’s financial filings and other annual reports to help decide if the fund should invest in Coca-Cola shares next year.
* Based on your research, write an analyst report that analyzes the company’s information and provides specific examples that describe the company’s ethics, social responsibility programs, and commitment to global stewardship and development. Include a brief recommendation that is supported by the evidence collected as to the inclusion of Coca Cola in the Global Pioneer Fund. What concerns, if any, would you have about including Coca-Cola shares in the fund? (450–750 words)
Your Response
Analyst ReportATLANTA— (Business Wire)—On June 25, 2020, 10:30 AM, Eastern Daylight Time, The Coca-Cola Company publicized the release of their financial results during the second quarter of 2020 on July 21, 2020 (Business Wire, 2020). Since there are no results yet, this analyst report shall focus on the company’s performance from 2019 to the first quarter of 2020. By the end of 2019, the company gained promising results which allowed them to venture with confidence at the beginning of 2020. This allowed the company to gain solid momentum by establishing a 3% increase in sales, excluding sales from China. Due to this, the leaders envisioned a full capacity through 2020. In April 2020, the company publicized its financial report amid the pandemic COVID-19. They reported that there is a 1% decrease in their net revenues which is around $8.5 billion while the earnings per share, both comparable and non-comparable, market share both marginally increased. However, the cash flow from the company operations drastically declined to 29% and the free cash flow declined to 43%. These percentages are relatively but not critically low for the company (Coca-Cola Company, 2020).Business EthicsThe Coca-Cola Company has many rules that govern the ethics inside...