Direct Costs, Indirect Costs and Overhead Costs

Direct Costs In finance, direct costs are those costs that are associated with a specific project, department, or activity. Sometimes referred to as hard costs, expenses of this type are found with just about every type of business activity, beginning with research and development, moving through sales and marketing campaigns, and into the production of different types of goods and services. A direct cost is often some type of fixed expense, but there are some situations where a variable expense may also fall into this category. The key to understanding what does and does not constitute direct costs is to identify costs that apply only to a specific project, and have nothing to do with any other activity that is taking place concurrently. In order to be a true hard cost, the expense must be for resources that benefit that one project. For example, if the project is to construct Continue reading

Role of Organizational Climate in Facilitating Innovation

One of the most important roles that the leaders play within organization settings is to create the climate for innovation. Organizational climate is a key factor in innovation implementation. Building up an innovative culture in an organisation is one of the important tasks of an innovative leadership. At the same time, creative organizational climate is one of fundamental elements that leads to success of innovation. Doing so successfully will certainly further secure and strengthen the leadership, which initiates innovative climate in the first place. This success will also bind more followers to the leadership because of its respective contributions for innovation, or in another word future success. A leadership should have a quality and skills to manoeuvre the internal environment of an organisation to create a favorable climate for innovation. Although there is no direct influence between organizational climate and innovation, a favorable climate can naturally drive people to seek Continue reading

The Importance of Corporate Social Responsibility in Business

Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) is a hot issue among companies and CEOs like talking about what their company gives back to society. CSR encompasses an organization’s commitment to behave in an environmentally sustainable manner while honoring the interests of its stakeholders. Firms have realized that socially-responsible business practices are beneficial not only for their employees but also the society at large. Social responsibility reshapes the way business is done, both for profit and when not-for-profit. Corporate Social Responsibility is a concept that frequently overlaps with similar approaches such as corporate sustainability, corporate responsibility, corporate sustainable development and corporate citizenship. Many see CSR as the private sector’s way of integrating the social, economic and environmental activities. In addition to integration into corporate structures and processes, CSR also frequently involves creating innovative and proactive solutions to societal and environmental challenges, as well as collaborating with both external and internal stakeholders to improve Continue reading

Concept of Management Information Systems (MIS)

The concept of Management Information Systems (MIS)  has evolved over a period of time comprising many different facets of the organizational function. MIS is a necessity in all the organizations. The initial concept of MIS was to process the data available in the organization and present it in the form of reports at regular intervals. The system was largely capable of handling the data from collection to processing. It was more impersonal, requiring each individual to pick and choose the processed data and use it for his requirements. This concept was further modified when a distinction was made between data and information. Information is a product of an analysis of data. This concept is similar to a raw material and the finished product. However, data can be analyzed in a number of ways, producing different shades and specifications of the information as a product. It was, therefore, demanded that the Continue reading

Business Continuity Management (BCM) According to ISO 22301

Doing business is a great thing if everything runs perfectly. As we all know there is no such thing as a perfect way of doing anything. This is true in the business arena. Things are going to happen which is not in the best interest of the day to day operation of any business. Natural disasters such as hurricanes, tornadoes, floods, fire, and volcanoes can happen at any given time. Your business could be a victim of a serious data breach. All of the previously mentioned scenarios can seriously affect how business is run. To counteract those on foreseen events every company should have a continuity disaster recovery plan. Planning for the worst case and how the company is going to limit their downtime.  The ultimate goal of the disaster recovery plan is to limit every potential risk and get the organization running as close to normal in the shortest Continue reading

Concept of Flattening Organization Structures

Organizational structures refer to the way in which an organization is designed, including how tasks are divided, how authority is distributed, and how information flows. Traditional hierarchical structures have long been the norm in many organizations, but in recent years there has been a growing trend towards “flattening” organizational structures. Flattening refers to the process of reducing the number of hierarchical levels in an organization and distributing decision-making power more widely. In this article, we will explore the benefits and challenges of flattening organizational structures and provide some guidance on how to implement this approach effectively. Benefits of Flattening Organizational Structures Increased agility and responsiveness – Flattening an organization can make it more agile and better able to respond to changes in the marketplace. In a traditional hierarchical structure, decision-making is often slow and cumbersome, as decisions need to be passed up the chain of command for approval. Flattening the Continue reading