This book explores the contemporary concepts and trends in strategic financial management (SFM), particularly focusing on three cutting-edge areas.

• Mergers and Acquisitions : Increased global competition, regulatory changes, fast-changing technology, need for faster growth and excess industry capacity have fuelled mergers and acquisitions (M&A) in recent times. Here is an incisive review of emerging trends, risks involved, and what it takes to successfully implement mergers.

• Financial Risk Management: Following the deregulation of financial markets in many countries starting in the 1970s, the importance of financial risk management has increased significantly. Firms have to protect themselves from adverse impact on the values of their assets, liabilities, operating incomes and cash flows due to changes in financial parameters such as interest rates, exchange rates, stock indices, etc. Using case studies, an array of experts lay bare the conceptual issues involved and describe how to formulate risk management strategies.

• Linking Financial Performance with Corporate Strategy: The goal of corporate strategy is to ensure the long-term survival, growth and profitability of a company. To this end, financial performance must be consistent with business strategy, underlining the need for selecting the right measures of performance that can tell the stakeholders how the company is performing. The book also takes a searching look at integrating finance with corporate strategy, and contemporary topics such as activity-based costing.

These key issues in strategic financial management highlight how finance and business strategy need to be inherently integrated and how the finance professional must evolve from the age-old role of a bookkeeper to one of a business solution provider with a sound grasp of business strategy.

A. V. Vedpuriswar (b. 1963) is currently Dean, ICFAI Knowledge Centre, an affiliate of the Institute of Chartered Financial Analysts of India, Hyderabad. A BTech (Hons) in Chemical Engineering from IIT Kharagpur (Class of 1985), a PGDM from IIM Calcutta (Class of 1991), and CFA (Class of 1996) from ICFAI, Vedpuriswar combines nine years of industry with eight years now spent in the academia.

Vedpuriswar’s areas of interest include globalization, risk management, knowledge management, and innovation. His articles have appeared in The Hindu, The Hindu Business Line, The Economic Times, Indian Management and Smart Manager. Vedpuriswar has written and edited more than 200 cases in various areas of management, many of which are being used in leading business schools in Asia, USA and Europe. Vedpuriswar’s earlier books, The Global CEO, Enterprise Risk Management and an edited book, Strategic Financial Management have also been published by Vision Books.

Vedpuriswar’s is a remarkable writing talent. He writes superbly and is at ease with tackling subjects that are wide and vast, effortlessly moving from the big picture to the key detail.

His trilogy of books on business strategy, The Global CEO, Enterprise Risk Management and now Business Innovation Lessons from Great Companies, together form a strategy tour de force, underlying his undoubted talent as a business writer of global stature.