Transportation Cost Elements

Transportation is one of the most visible elements of logistics operations. Transportation provides two major functions namely product movement & product storage.  The major objective is to move product from an origin location to a prescribed destination while minimizing temporal, financial and environmental resource costs. Loss and damage expenses must also be minimized. At the same time the movement must take place in such a manner that meets customer demands regarding delivery performance and shipment information availability. Following are the essential elements of transportation to be taken into account: 1. Transport Mode — The most critical decision is the selection of appropriate mode of transport. This fixes two basic elements of distribution function: Transit time or time lapse between production and sale; Level of transportation costs. There is an inverse relationship between transit time and transport cost — the lower the transit time, the higher the transport cost. However, a Continue reading

What Is Data Strategy?

Data Strategy defines a set of choices and actions that, together, define a high-level course of action to achieve high-level goals. It involves business plans to use knowledge to a competitive advantage to support business objectives. A Data Strategy requires an understanding of the data needs inherent in the Business Strategy. Like many other terms, “data strategy” has several synonyms in data management. They include but are not limited to business data strategy, business data management strategy, information management strategy, business information management strategy, information strategic plan.  All these terms refer to the same concept of a single, enterprise plan for the use of organizational data as an essential asset for strategic and operational decision-making. A data strategy defines the approach that the enterprise will take to manage and use its data and information to achieve its business and technology goals and to realize a competitive advantage using this asset. The Continue reading

Modern Portfolio Theory – Markowitz Portfolio Selection Model

Markowitz Portfolio Theory Harry Markowitz developed a theory, also known as Modern Portfolio Theory (MPT) according to which we can balance our investment by combining different securities, illustrating how well selected shares portfolio can result in maximum profit with minimum risk. He proved that investors who take a higher risk can also achieve higher profit. The central measure of success or failure is the relative portfolio gain, i.e. gain compared to the selected benchmark. Modern portfolio theory is based on three assumptions about the behavior of investors who: wish to maximize their utility function and who are risk averse, choose their portfolio based on the mean value and return variance, have a single-period time horizon. Markowitz portfolio theory is based on several very important assumptions. Under these assumptions a portfolio is considered to be efficient if no other portfolio offers a higher expected return with the same or lower risk. Continue reading

Social and Commercial Profitability Analysis

Social or National Profitability Public projects like road, railway, bridge and other transport projects, irrigation, projects, power projects, etc for which socioeconomic considerations play a significant part, rather than mere commercial profitability. Such projects are analysis for their net socioeconomic benefits and the profitability analysis of such projects is known as social or national profitability analysis which is nothing but the socioeconomic cost benefit analysis done at the national level. Steps involved in determination of social or national profitability:- National/Social profitability analysis takes into account the real cost of direct costs and real benefit of direct benefits,. For instance, some of the inputs may be subsidized. Only the subsidized prices of input is what is relevant for assessing commercial profitability. However the national profitability analysis takes into account the real cost of inputs i.e. cost of input had they not been subsidized. Accordingly the required adjustment to direct cost of Continue reading

Significance of Research

“All progress is born of inquiry. Doubt is often better than overconfidence, for it leads to inquiry, and inquiry leads to invention” is a famous Hudson Maxim in context of which the significance of research can well be understood. Increased amounts of research make progress possible. Research inculcates scientific and inductive thinking and it promotes the development of logical habits of thinking and organization. Research provides the basis for nearly all government policies in our economic system. For instance, government’s budgets rest in part on an analysis of the needs and desires of the people and on the availability of revenues to meet these needs. The cost of needs has to be equated to probable revenues and this is a field where research is most needed. Through research we can devise alternative policies and can as well examine the consequences of each of these alternatives. Decision-making may not be a Continue reading

The Difference Between Agency Theory and Stewardship Theory

Agency Theory   An agency correlation as a contractual set-up under which the business owner or the principal engaged a manager or the agent to execute some service on his behalf and may usually entail some decision making exclusively by the agent. The agency theory revolves on the basic proposition about humans, which deals with principals and agents as self-oriented focusing on exploiting their personal advantage. Agency theory described managers as opportunistic by seizing its optimum advantage for his appointment and role as the mover in the firm for its own benefit, at the expense of the principal. Both parties’ goal is to gain that personal advantage in every way possible with the least outlay and expenditure. These expenditures are defined as agency costs. This is the total of cash outflows made by the principal for its organization be it in budget proportions, auditing, or employee honorariums; the expenses incurred Continue reading