Organizational Health – Concept, Dimensions, and Characteristics

Management Concepts

Organizational Health Approach – Building a Strong Workplace

Modern Management Concepts

Participative Management – Workers Participation in Management

Human Resource Management

Case Study on Entrepreneurship: Larry Page

Business Analysis

The Boundaryless Career: Modern Contemperory Perspective on Career

Human Resource Management

Achieving a Sustainable Competitive Advantage

“If you don’t have a competitive advantage, don’t compete.” –  Jack Welch A company has a competitive advantage when its profit rate is higher than the average for its industry, and it has a sustained competitive advantage when it is able to maintain this high profit rate over a number of years.  Maintaining a competitive advantage requires a company to continue focusing on the four generic building blocks of competitive advantage – efficiency, quality, innovation, and customer responsiveness – and to do whatever is necessary to develop distinctive competencies that contribute toward superior performance in these areas. “Competitive advantage is at the heart of a firm’s performance in competitive  markets. After several decades of vigorous expansion and prosperity, however, many firms lost sight of competitive advantage in their scramble for growth and pursuit of diversification. Today the importance of competitive advantage could hardly be greater. Firms throughout the world face Continue reading

Abey Francis

Understanding the Insurance Underwriting Process

In order for the insurance companies to make profit and charge the appropriate rate for an insured, they undergo the underwriting process. In simpler words, insurance underwriting is a process of risk classification. The purpose of insurance underwriting is to spread risk among a pool of insured in a way that is both profitable for the insurer and fair to the customer. Insurance companies need to make a profit like many other businesses. Therefore, it doesn’t make sense if they sell insurance for everyone who applies for it. They may not want to charge an excessive high rate to the customer and also it is not good for them to charge the same premium to every policyholder. Insurance underwriting enables the company to weed out certain applicants and to charge the remaining applicants premiums that are commensurate with their level of risk. The insurance underwriting process consist of evaluating several Continue reading

Abey Francis

Classification of Cost of Capital

The cost of capital define as the minimum rate of return a firm must earn on its investment in order to satisfy investors and to maintain its market value. It is the investors required rate of return. Cost of capital also refers to the discount rate which is used while determining the present value of estimated future cash flows. The major classification of cost of capital are: Historical Cost and future Cost: Historical Cost represents the cost which has already been incurred for financing a project. It is calculated on the basis of the past data. Future cost refers to the expected cost of funds to be raised for financing a project. Historical costs help in predicting the future costs and provide an evaluation of the past performance when compared with standard costs. In financial decisions future costs are more relevant than historical costs. Specific Costs and Composite Cost: Specific Continue reading

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Foreign Credit Extension

One of the ever-present problems in international business is the extension of credit. Whenever international business people assemble and the subject turns to trade conditions in particular countries, the question inevitably raised is: “What terms do you grant?” The differences in the terms are often due to the products for which the terms are cited. There is also difference in the way marketers appraise a particular market. Therefore, it would appear that the appraisal of the credit situation of a buyer in a particular market is determined by a number of factors. Before looking at these factors, however, it would be well to examine closely the meaning of foreign credit. The Meaning of Foreign Credit Credit usually refers to the procedure of surrendering title to merchandise without immediate payment. In other words, credit means trusting the buyer to pay for goods after title to them has been obtained by the Continue reading

Abey Francis

PEST Analysis of Nokia

Nokia Corporation engages in the manufacture of mobile devices and mobile network equipment, as well as in the provision of related solutions and services worldwide. The company has four main business functions or segments: Mobile Phones, Multimedia, Enterprise Solutions, and Networks. The Mobile Phones segment provides various mobile voice and data devices. This segment offers mobile phones and devices based on GSM/EDGE, 3G/WCDMA, and CDMA cellular technologies. PEST Analysis of Nokia PEST analysis identifies the political, economic, social and technological factors that of which directly affect a company. Political Factors Political/Legal environment are usually considered as one because they are enforced by the nation’s government. It is vital for Nokia’s operation because different nations with their respective government have different Political/Legal platforms respectively; Nokia operating on  global level must abide to ground rules and regulation in different markets of host countries around the world. To its success, Nokia surveys its Continue reading

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Business Strategy: The Three Generic Strategies

Three of the most widely read books on competitive analysis in the 1980s were Michael Porter’s Competitive Strategy, Competitive Advantage, and Competitive Advantage of Nations. In his various books, Porter developed three generic strategies that, he argues, can be used singly or in combination to create a defendable position and to outperform competitors, whether they are within an industry or across nations. The strategies are (1) overall cost leadership, (2) differentiation, and (3) focus on a particular market niche. Cost Leadership, Differentiation, and Scope These strategies are termed generic because they can be applied to any size or form of business. We refer to them as trade-off strategies because Porter argues that a firm must choose to embrace one strategy or risk not having a strategy at all. Overall lower cost or cost leadership overall cost-leadership strategy, a strategy in which an organization attempts to gain a competitive advantage by Continue reading

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