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How Finance Works: The HBR Guide to Thinking Smart About the Numbers

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Description

Based on a popular class taught by a Harvard Business School professor.If you're not a numbers person, then finance can be intimidating and easy to ignore. But if you want to advance in your career, you'll need to make smart financial decisions and develop the confidence to clearly communicate those decisions to others.In How Finance Works, Mihir Desai--a professor at Harvard Business School and author of The Wisdom of Finance--guides you into the complex but endlessly fascinating world of finance, demystifying it in the process.Through entertaining case studies, interactive exercises, full-color visuals, and a conversational style that belies the topic, Professor Desai tackles a broad range of topics that will give you the knowledge and skills you need to finally understand how finance works. These include:How different financial levers can affect a company's performanceThe different ways in which companies fund their operations and investmentsWhy finance is more concerned with cash flow than profitsHow value is created, measured, and maximizedThe importance of capital markets in helping companies growWhether you're a student or a manager, an aspiring CFO or an entrepreneur, How Finance Works is the colorful and interactive guide you need to help you start thinking more deeply about the numbers. Read more

Publisher ‏ : ‎ Harvard Business Review Press (April 23, 2019)


Language ‏ : ‎ English


Paperback ‏ : ‎ 288 pages


ISBN-10 ‏ : ‎ 1633696707


ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 09


Item Weight ‏ : ‎ 7 ounces


Dimensions ‏ : ‎ 7.76 x 5.08 x 0.69 inches


Best Sellers Rank: #35,397 in Books (See Top 100 in Books) #17 in Financial Accounting (Books) #63 in Systems & Planning #421 in Business Management (Books)


#17 in Financial Accounting (Books):


#63 in Systems & Planning:


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If you place your order now, the estimated arrival date for this product is: Tuesday, Dec 24

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Top Amazon Reviews


  • Unbelievable. Hooked from the first page.
Found this book from a Youtube video where the author gave a talk under the same title. Really glad to see the book maintained the essence of the talk, while containing a lot more useful examples and rich details. I am a finance novice a below average owner/trader of stocks. This book is the closest I can imagine to systematically learning the fundamentals of finance and to developing a set of core intuitions when approaching financial questions. It pares down complex topics you read in the news to fun and easy to read examples, while preserving the quantitive spirits that is critical in financial analysis. I found the author to have incredible knowledge and top notch teaching skills to turn a finance book into a page turner. ... show more
Reviewed in the United States on July 3, 2023 by HN

  • Great intro to finance for the non-technician
I bought this based on a YouTube interview with Mihir Desai, and it exceeded all my expectations. Finance can be exceedingly technical, but this book provides a reasonable and useful intro that is not technical. This is not to say, however, that it's an easy read -- you cannot read it like a novel. If you want technical, I suggest Valuation by Koller, Goedhart, Wessels. ... show more
Reviewed in the United States on September 18, 2022 by Michael Chase

  • Making Finance Accessible
Dr. Desai explains key finance concepts in a simple and cohesive way. You will sharpen not just your finance understanding, but also intuition, as the narrative flows from one concept to another. Highly recommended for anyone looking to understand how to world functions through the lens of finance.
Reviewed in the United States on February 24, 2023 by Kamal Azmi

  • very helpful book. thank you.
I don’t tend to write reviews. But he’s made this book so accessible, interesting and tied in real-life examples. I’ve read a lot of learning materials in finance space, this is the one book that makes me want to go back to school and be taught by professors of this calibre. Thank you for writing this helpful book. I look forward to learning more from you. ... show more
Reviewed in the United States on May 13, 2022 by AC

  • Very good book
This is really very informative and interesting book. The concept of finance is easily illustrated with very interesting examples and stories of known firms. The author explained the concepts to be understood by anyone. Reading this book and understanding financial analysis, value creation, company valuation and capital allocation will make easy to open WSJ or FS newspapers and read it with joy. ... show more
Reviewed in the United States on March 14, 2020 by MUSLEH

  • Finanzas basicas para no financiers
Para mi este es el mejor libro para que una persona aprenda de finanzas y le coja cariño a esta ciencia, con ejemplos y juegos el profesor Desai nos enseña porque las finanzas son el lenguaje universal de los negocios y como ellas nos pueden ayudar a tomar mejores decisiones.
Reviewed in the United States on April 1, 2024 by Mateo Buriticá

  • Easy to understand!
Page turner! Great book, explains everything in a very enjoyable way! Three family members fighting over it.
Reviewed in the United States on September 8, 2023 by ROSE

  • Fantastic book
Desai explains finance as if he’s teaching it to a 4 year old. Perfect for anyone who wants to learn the language of business but does not know where to start. Only thing that could be better is the quality of the book (pages fall apart easily)
Reviewed in the United States on November 7, 2023 by Jayjay

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