Defining the 3 Types of Financial Decisions for MBA Program Students (2024)

June 21, 2022

Defining the 3 Types of Financial Decisions for MBA Program Students (1)

Financial decision-making is a reality for any business in any industry, and the consequences of a wrong choice can be detrimental. Ultimately, in order to operate successfully, businesses and organizations must rely on professionals with the ability to manage unplanned financial events strategically and sustainably.

When it comes to managing finances, there are three distinct aspects of decision-making or types of decisions that a company will take. These include an Investment Decision, Financing Decision, and Dividend Decision. Understanding how decisions can be made in each of these areas in order to further the goals and objectives of an organization will improve its financial performance and provide insulation against failure or collapse.

If you’re pursuing a career in the financial industry, earning a Professional MBA in Finance from WU Executive Academy will equip you with the expertise and conceptual and analytical framework necessary to make sound financial decisions. Below, learn more about the main types of financial decisions you can expect to make during your career.

Make Investment Decisions After Earning Your MBA in Finance

Any financial decision that is made with regard to how a company’s capital is invested is known as an investment decision. An investment decision involves thinking critically about the where, when, why, how and amount of spending to do or debt to take on in order to yield a profit. While an investment decision always involves capital, capital might refer to assets, effort, or time rather than just money. As an MBA programgraduate, your ability to make an investment decision which yields a greater payoff than what was invested at the time will be an important determinant of a business's profitability.

There are two main types of investment decisions: short-term and long-term. A short-term decision, also known as a working capital decision, will ultimately affect a business’ everyday operations, impacting the amount of inventory and cash flow. A long-term investment decision (capital budgeting decision) involves a larger amount of capital over a long span of time, the damage from which can be irreparable.

Defining the 3 Types of Financial Decisions for MBA Program Students (2)

Financing Decisions

After completing your MBA in finance, you’ll also be making financing decisions or decisions that deal with raising finance from different sources. These sources might include bank loans, equity shares, preference shares or other types of funds. These decisions come down to determining a company’s capital structure, with the ability to repay the capital on borrowed funds presenting as the main financial risk.

A number of different factors will influence a financing decision. These include the cost, or how much it costs for a company to raise finance from the various sources, flotation cost, the cost of issuing securities, the risk, the state of the market, the amount of cash flow a business has, and more. Responsive financing decisions can be instrumental to a company’s growth, but sources must be chosen strategically.

Defining the 3 Types of Financial Decisions for MBA Program Students (3)

Divided Decisions

As a professional working in financial management, you’ll be responsible for helping large companies, or even your own, to make dividend decisions. Dividend decisions are those which determine how a company’s profits will be divided among its shareholders, and how much should be reserved for the future, otherwise known as retained earnings. In most companies, this decision will be made with the goal of accumulating shareholder wealth.

Dividend decisions will be impacted by the availability of cash, the priority of shareholders, how much the company is expecting to grow, and how high the earnings will be. Additionally, taxation regulations will affect decisions made around dividends. After completing your program at WU Executive Academy, your expertise and intuition will help you to make dividend decisions that allocate the appropriate portion of funds to shareholders.

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Contact WU Executive Academy to enhance your career opportunities in finance.

Defining the 3 Types of Financial Decisions for MBA Program Students (4)

Defining the 3 Types of Financial Decisions for MBA Program Students (2024)

FAQs

Defining the 3 Types of Financial Decisions for MBA Program Students? ›

These include an Investment Decision, Financing Decision, and Dividend Decision. Understanding how decisions can be made in each of these areas in order to further the goals and objectives of an organization will improve its financial performance and provide insulation against failure or collapse.

What are the 3 types of financial decision-making? ›

There are three primary types of financial decisions that financial managers must make: investment decisions, financing decisions, and dividend decisions.

What are the three 3 categories of financial management goals? ›

The objectives or goals of financial management are:
  • Profit Maximization.
  • Wealth Maximization.
  • Return Maximization.

What are the 3 definitions of financial management? ›

The definition of financial management is the strategic practice of establishing, controlling, and monitoring all financial resources to achieve your business goals.

What are the three major decisions of the financial function include? ›

Answer and Explanation: The three functions are Investment, Financing, and Dividend distribution.

What are 3 fundamental decisions that are of concern the finance team? ›

The three key fundamental decisions are financial planning and control, risk management, strategic planning.

What are the major financing decisions? ›

The financing decision comes from two sources from where the funds can be raised – first is from the company's own money, such as the share capital, retained earnings. Second is from borrowing funds from the outside the corporate in the form debenture, loan, bond, etc.

What are your top 3 financial priorities? ›

Key short-term goals include setting a budget, reducing debt, and starting an emergency fund. Medium-term goals should include key insurance policies, while long-term goals need to be focused on retirement.

What is a simple 3 way financial model? ›

What is a 3-Statement Model? The 3-Statement Model is an integrated model used to forecast the income statement, balance sheet, and cash flow statement of a company for purposes of projecting its forward-looking financial performance.

What are the 3 types of financial goals and how long do they last? ›

Short, medium, and long term financial goals
Goal TypeTime FrameStrategy
Short termLess than a yearBudget and save in a bank account or a money jar
Medium termOne to five yearsPlan and invest in a mutual fund or a certificate of deposit
Long termMore than five yearsProject and invest in a stock or a bond

What are the three components of the financial management framework? ›

There are three main aspects of the financial management framework:
  • The concept of the balanced budget. This is one of the most important considerations within the Act3 and the LTCCP. ...
  • The revenue and financing policy. ...
  • The Cost of Service Statements within the individual Group of Activities Statements.

What are the three types of financial management decisions for each type give an example of a business transaction that would relevant? ›

Answer and Explanation:

The three type of financial management decisions are investment decision, financing decision and dividend decision.

What is the normative goal of financial management MBA? ›

The goal of financial management is to maximize shareholder wealth. For public companies this is the stock price, and for private companies this is the market value of the owners' equity. We'll discuss the drawbacks of other potential measures.

What are the three major decision areas that confront the financial manager? ›

It deals in three main dimensions of financial decisions namely, Investment decisions, Financial decisions and Dividend decisions.
  • Investment Decisions. Investment decisions refer to the decisions regarding where to invest so as to earn the highest possible returns on investment. ...
  • Financial Decisions. ...
  • Dividend Decisions.

What are the three basic financial statements and what major information does each contain? ›

The three main types of financial statements are the balance sheet, the income statement, and the cash flow statement. These three statements together show the assets and liabilities of a business, its revenues, and costs, as well as its cash flows from operating, investing, and financing activities.

What are 5 steps for making financial decision? ›

Plan your financial future in 5 steps
  • Step 1: Assess your financial foothold. ...
  • Step 2: Define your financial goals. ...
  • Step 3: Research financial strategies. ...
  • Step 4: Put your financial plan into action. ...
  • Step 5: Monitor and evolve your financial plan.

What is financial decision-making? ›

Financial decision making is a critical component of business success. It involves allocating financial resources efficiently and effectively to optimize the company's performance and achieve its objectives.

What are the four financial decisions? ›

There are four main financial decisions- Capital Budgeting or Long term Investment decision (Application of funds), Capital Structure or Financing decision (Procurement of funds), Dividend decision (Distribution of funds) and Working Capital Management Decision in order to accomplish goal of the firm viz., to maximize ...

What are four steps to take when making a financial decision? ›

What are the four tips to making smart financial decisions?
  1. Tip 1: Understanding needs vs. wants.
  2. Tip 2: Creating a spending plan.
  3. Tip 3: Maximizing savings opportunities.
  4. Tip 4: Putting the plan into action and sticking with it.

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