Since shareholder wealth is the present value of the expected future returns to the owners of the business. The primary normative goal of the firm is to make the most efficient use of the firm's scarce financial and physical resources and thereby to maximize shareholder value.
Thus, realization of the shareholder wealth maximization goal is constrained by social responsibility concerns and problems arising out of agency relationships.
Since the class comprises of students spanning different majors we should know that managers can take a variety of actions to influence the magnitude, timing, and risk of the firm's free cash flows.
These actions are often classified in the context of operating, investment, financing, and dividend decisions. Would you agree?