Creating Financial Acumen
1. Companies are in business because they want to achieve profits. In this regard, it is necessary that there is a solid financial acumen no matter what business the company is engage in. Being a paralegal, for instance, means that I work for a law firm. The firm should be aware of its finances in order to retain the best lawyers, paralegals, and other staff. If the firm does not have financial acumen, its workers are likely to ignore the importance of billing and the number of hours logged for every case. This is how law firms make money. Thus, it is important that everybody knows how to help the company make money. Companies that do not teach their employees the importance of finances will find themselves with people who do not appreciate the importance of cost-cutting measures and how their productivity could help the companies’ profitability and long-term success.
2. There are many factors to consider when understanding shareholder value and if a company has maximized it. One of these factors is that of how the shares are being used to improve dividends. In the case of Microsoft, the company has stopped stock options for executives since 2003 (Moyer, McGuigan & Kretlow, 2009). In its stead, the company uses the restricted stock, which ensures that an executive has to stay for a number of years before he or she can vest the stock. This protects shareholders value because the executives are not likely to do anything that would jeopardize their own interests while the stock has not vested. However, to increase shareholder value, Microsoft should also look into the performance shares scheme wherein executives are rewarded based on their performance. The better the company performs, the higher will they get as compensation. This increases shareholder value since executives become motivated to increase profitability.

Reference
Moyer,