WHAT IS CORPORATE FINANCE EXACTLY?

This was the last question and during these days I searched in the internet about it, and I want to be thankful for these huge amount of information that is in websites about finance and everything about it,
One of the most interesting and completely reliable website about finance, in which you can download many good papers and e-books is the one owned by Dr Adamodar.
In this week I tried to find good websites and papers about finance.

Corporate Finance

Corporate finance is an area of finance dealing with the financial decisions corporations make and the tools and analysis used to make these decisions. The primary goal of corporate finance is to maximize corporate value while reducing the firm's financial risks.
The role of a corporation`s management is to increase the value of the firm to its shareholders while observing applicable laws and responsibilities. Corporate finance deals with the strategic financial issues associated with achieving this goal such as how the corporate should raise and manage its capital, what investments the firm should make, what portion of profits should be returned to shareholders in the form of dividends, and whether it makes sense to merge with or acquire another firm.
The discipline can be divided into long-term and short-term decisions and techniques. Capital investment decisions are long-term choices about which projects receive investment, whether to finance that investment with equity or debt, and when or whether to pay dividends to shareholders. On the other hand, the short term decisions can be grouped under the heading "Working capital management". This subject deals with the short-term balance of current assets and current liabilities; the focus here is on managing cash, inventories, and short-term borrowing and lending (such as the terms on credit extended to customers).
The terms Corporate finance and Corporate financier are also associated with investment banking. The typical role of an investment banker is to evaluate investment projects for a bank to make investment decisions.

Capital investment decisions are long-term corporate finance decisions relating to fixed assets and capital structure. Decisions are based on several inter-related criteria. Corporate management seeks to maximize the value of the firm by investing in projects which yield a positive net present value when valued using an appropriate discount rate. These projects must also be financed appropriately. If no such opportunities exist, maximizing shareholder value dictates that management return excess cash to shareholders. Capital investment decisions thus comprise an investment decision, a financing decision, and a dividend decision.
Management must allocate limited resources between competing opportunities ("projects") in a process known as capital budgeting. Making this capital allocation decision requires estimating the value of each opportunity or project: a function of the size, timing and predictability of future cash flows.

Finally I think it is really helpful to know a little about careers in corporate finance.

Careers in corporate finance:

career in corporate finance means you would work for a company to help it find money to run the business, grow the business, make acquistions, plan for it's financial future and manage any cash on hand. You might work for a large multinational company or a smaller player with high growth prospects. Responsibility can come fast and your problem-solving skills will get put to work quickly in corporate finance.

Jobs in corporate finance are also relatively stable while performance in these jobs count. But it's not like your job is going to depend on whether you're selling enough this week or getting good deals finished this quarter. Rather the key to performing well in corporate finance is to work with a long view of what going to make your company successful. Many would argue that corporate finance jobs are the most desirable in the entire field of finance.
Some of the benefits of working in corporate finance are:
1. You generally work in teams which help you work with people
2. It's alot of fun to tackle business problems that really matter
3. You'll have many opportunities to travel and meet people and
4. The pay in corporate finance is generally quite good.

References:

http://www.careers-in-finance.com/cf.htm
http://www.mckinseyquarterly.com/
http://pages.stern.nyu.edu/
free encyclopedia