Customer Reviews

Financial Management: Theory and Practice (with Thomson One)

5 star:		(4)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(3)

 

 

This is no corporate finance for dummies book. So, don't expect to have "fun" with it. However, on a graduate level the book is near perfect. I especially appreciate its treatment of case studies - carrying the same case study from chapter to chapter where appropriate. There is a CDROM that contains, among other things, very useful and practical Excel templates for each chapter. The authors also provide foot notes that I encourage you to read. Many of them give the author's opinion of how the subject works in the real world verses the academic world. If you are the type that learns best by knowing the big picture first, make sure you get the Study Guide too.
My only beef with this text is in the index, which is woefully lacking -- rendering it less useful as a research source.

This book is terrible. I am an educated person, but it seems that your undergrad must be in finance in order to get any use out of it. If you are required to use this book for your graduate finance class (and you don't have a degree in finance), please invest in the study guide. It will help you a great deal.

The canonical reference in this field is the venerable Brealey Myers book, which is often considered a bit too deep as an introductory finance text. The Brigham Ehrhardt book, however, is much more approachable. The layout of the chapters is much better than Brealey Myers', and mathematical concepts like beta are explained in a user-friendly manner.

I had no financial background when I took the course in Finance as a part of my MBA program. This text provides a very good foundation for all beginners. It helps to know some financial accounting concepts like the income statement, balance sheet etc. when you start off with this book.
Every chapter has an excel spreadsheet example that is in the accompanying CD ROM. Also, there are computer based exercises that simulate the real-world practices when determining cashflow, doing capital budgeting, financial planning etc. The CD ROM has powerpoint slides that highlight the salient points in each chapter. Our instructor basically used those as a guide to teaching the course.
Very good text book, highly recommended.

This is a very well written textbook. One of the best. Clarity, examples, and a good supplemental workbook that accompanied the main text.
great book for mba's.

Even though you do not have any basic knowledge of finance, you can understand it easily by reading this book. I used it for my MBA program in Financial Management course. There is no case study included but exercises at the end of each chapter can make you understand its context better. I recommend anyone taking a finance class to use this book. You will like it.

This is the best textbook I've ever read. Not just the best financial textbook, but the best textbook. I used Van Horne in my MBA program in 1980. Van Horne made the same mistake that most textbook authors make: he assumes that either the student knows too much or that the teacher will clarify the author. Brigham, et. al., assumes that the student knows very little, which is always the safest assumption. In my opinion, it is impossible for an author to tell too much about a topic or to overexplain a topic. This appears to be Brigham's opinion, too. As a result, he has written a text that aids, rather than frustrates, the student in learning. In addition, it is an interestingly written text. I read well over half of the book in the evenings after work, plus Saturday and Sunday, in just one week. All textbook authors should learn from Eugene Brigham how a text book is to be written. Explain, clarify, use examples, and explain again.

I fully understand how very intelligent people who do not have advance financial training would find this book overly complicated. This is not the sort of book you read in bed -- it is a text book. But it is one the most useful on my shelf. I refer to it constantly.

I'm a former Goldman Sachs investment banker and current CEO of a technology company with a JD/MBA from NYU. This book was required reading for an advanced corporate finance class I took while in school. It is the best finance book I have ever purchased.

This is not a primer. But for those who understand DCF, optimal capital structure, capital leases and working capital management... this is your book.

The only good thing about this textbook is, it is such a heavy tome you can use it as a bookend or door stop. Otherwise it is a waste of time. Why create something so confusing ? Maybe the idea behind this book was centered around impressing potential textbook purchasing deans and not the students - impress and don't worry about teaching. Skip this and be wary of the authors in anything else.

This is one of the worst textbooks that I have ever encountered. No doubt, the authors are very skilled in Financial Management, however they had very little skill in communicating these concepts to the uninitiated.

I used this book for a Finance class in my M.B.A. program. I routinely found myself reading and re-reading sections of this book and still not understanding basic concepts. I would then give up and reference a different text and understand the concept in short-order. My classmates had similar problems with this book.