a. Why is corporate finance important to all managers? Corporate finance provides the skills managers need to: (1) identify and select the corporate strategies and individual projects that add value to their firm; and (2) forecast the funding requirements of their company and devise strategies for acquiring those funds.

b. Describe the organizational forms a company might have as it evolves from a start-up to a major corporation. List the advantages and disadvantages of each form. The three main forms of business organization are sole proprietorships, partnerships, and corporations. Several hybrid forms are also gaining popularity. These include the limited partnership, the limited liability partnership, the professional corporation, and the S corporation. The proprietorship has three important advantages: (1) it is easily and inexpensively formed, (2) it is subject to few government regulations, and (3) the business pays no corporate income taxes. The proprietorship also has three important limitations: (1) it is difficult for a proprietorship to obtain large sums of capital; (2) the proprietor has unlimited personal liability for the business’s debts, and (3) the life of a business organized as a proprietorship is limited to the life of the individual who created it. The major advantage of a partnership is its low cost and ease of formation. The disadvantages are similar to those associated with proprietorships which are unlimited liability, limited life of the organization, difficulty of transferring ownership and the difficulty of raising large amounts of capital. The tax treatment of a partnership is similar to that for proprietorships, which is often an advantage. The corporate form of business has three major advantages: (1) unlimited life, (2) easy transferability of ownership interest and (3) limited liability. While the corporate form