Case Study on Entrepreneurship: Larry Page

Business Analysis

The Boundaryless Career: Modern Contemperory Perspective on Career

Human Resource Management

Concepts of Throughput Accounting and Theory of Constraints

Financial Management

Gantt Charts – Tool for Project Planning and Scheduling

Project Management

Kaizen – Understanding the Japanese Business Philosophy of Continuous Improvement

Operations Management

E-Service Orientation

The traditional e-commerce paradigm based on e-tailing, commodity goods, and transaction sales, has largely failed and taking the international stock markets down with it (Dotcom bubble). Those organizations that have survived this meltdown have one thing in common – they learned quickly to embrace the e-service paradigm. The new e-service paradigm takes advantage of the inherent nature of the online environment to feature information flows and computation, as a means of learning more about customers and building long-term customer relationships. Its profitability model is based more on revenue expansion than on cost reduction, and those revenues come from enhancing the service experience rather than just replacing people with automated systems. E-service is a customer-centric concept, and thus, the strategic and tactical components of an e-service orientation focus on increasing value defined at the customer level. An e-service orientation is all about taking advantage of the electronic environment and the technology Continue reading

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Challenges of International Financial Management

Financial management of a company is a complex process, involving its own methods and procedures. It is made even more complex because of the globalization taking place, which is making the world’s financial and commodity markets more and more integrated. The integration is both across countries as well as markets. Not only the markets, but even the companies are becoming international in their operations and approach. Managers of international firms have to understand the environment in which they function if they are to achieve their objective in maximizing the value of their firms, or the rate of return from foreign operations. The environment consists of: The international financial system, which consists of two segments: the official part represented by the accepted code of behavior by governments comprising the international monetary system, and the private part, which consists of international banks and other multinational financial institutions that participate in the international Continue reading

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Dishonour of Cheques – Section 138 of Negotiable Instruments Act

A paying banker is under a legal obligation to honour his customer’s mandate. He  is bound to do so under his contractual relationship with his customer. A wrongful  dishonour will have the worse effect on the banker. However, under the following  circumstances, the payment of a cheque may be refused: Countermanding: Countermanding is the instruction given by the customer of a bank  requesting the bank not to honour a particular cheque issued by him. When such an  order is received, the banker must refuse to pay the cheque. Upon receipt of notice of death of a customer: When a banker receives written  information from an authoritative source, regarding the death of a particular  customer, he should not honour any cheque drawn by that deceased customer. Upon the receipt of notice of insolvency: Once a banker has knowledge of the  insolvency of a customer he must refuse to pay cheques drawn Continue reading

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Indian Perspective on Capital Account Convertibility

Just like in any other country, India’s foreign exchange transactions (transactions in dollars, pounds, or any other currency) are also broadly classified into two accounts, namely, the current account transactions and capital account transactions. A “current account transaction” could be exemplified where an Indian citizen needing foreign exchange of smaller amounts, say $3,000, for travelling abroad or for educational purposes, can obtain the same from a bank or a money-changer. On the other hand, a “capital account transaction” involves someone who wants to import plant and machinery or invest abroad, and needs a large amount of foreign exchange, say $1 million. But, the importer will have to first obtain the permission of the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) only then that the transaction becomes a “capital account transaction”. This means that any domestic or foreign investor has to seek the permission from a regulatory authority, like the RBI, before carrying Continue reading

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Seven Management and Planning Tools

Competition level within every industry is constantly growing and businesses try to find any possible ways to improve quality of products and services. However, quality is quite a complex concept that can be viewed as a measure of perfection. Quality improvement leads to a perfect product that is meant to satisfy the customer. In the early 1980s, the seven management and planning tools were designed as major tools for effective planning and management of processes, which are above the quality operation. They are as follows: 1. Affinity Diagrams The first of the tools in the list is Affinity diagrams. The affinity diagram is a visual brainstorming instrument that can be used to categorize various facts and data, ideas and opinions by a proximity factor. It is especially useful for the purpose of systematization of big data into groups and categories, according to some forms of affinity. In its own turn, Continue reading

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Mutual Fund Evaluation

The data for evaluating mutual fund can be found in its prospectus, quarterly and annual reports. The following financial parameters should be used in analyzing a mutual fund and its management: 1. Total Return Total Return indicates the impact of appreciation of its value and dividends (if any). It is becoming increasingly common to find total-return numbers published in newspapers, magazines or other sources. One can calculate total return using the following formula: Total Return (TR) =   [(Distributions + Change in NAV)/NAV at the beginning of the period] x 100 Distribution is the income received by the investors for having their money in the mutual fund. The components of dividends are stock dividends, bond interest etc. 2. Expense Ratio Expense Ratio is the ratio of total recurring expenses (fees, commission etc.) to average net assets. Lower numbers are desirable. Since the expense ratio fluctuates, it is better to compute Continue reading

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