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

How to Meet Costa Rica’s 2026 VASP Requirements Without Expanding Headcount

General Business Articles

Concepts of Throughput Accounting and Theory of Constraints

Financial Management

How Options are Used to Cover Foreign Exchange Risks?

Currency options provide corporate treasurer another tool for hedging foreign exchange risks arising out of firms operations. Unlike forward contract, options allow the hedger to gain from favorable exchange rate movements, while been unprotected from unfavorable movements. However forward contracts are costless while options involve up front premium cost. Examples are: a) Hedging a Foreign Currency with calls. In late February an American importer anticipates a yen payment of JYP 100 million to a Japanese supplier sometime late in May. The current USD/JYP spot is 0.007739 (which implies a JYP/USD rate of 129.22.). A June yen call option on the PHLX, with strike price of $0.0078 per yen is available for a premium of 0.0108 cents per yen or $0.000108 per yen. Each yen contract is for JPY 6.25 million. Premium per contract is therefore: $(0.000108 * 6250000) = $675. The firm decides to purchase 16 calls for a premium Continue reading

Abey Francis

Personnel Administration Data Systems (PADS)

Personnel Administration Data Systems (PADS)  provide data needed to carry out the personnel administration responsibilities of an employer. As the government legislates additional protections and social programs, these responsibilities have increased and are growing. Affirmative action requirements in USA, health and safety regulations and pension plans regulation are many new sources of the employer’s responsibilities. Payroll and personnel planning data system (PPDS) are closely related to PADS, all using the employee master file. Not only accessing the file, but updating of file is often organized on a coordinated basis. Data items in the employee file are updated by the payroll system not for self but also for PADS and PPDS. Payroll provides the most effective way to capture the new data for this updating activity. Three types of Personnel Administration Data Systems (PADS) Personnel status reporting systems (Files used are Employee file, Job file). Personnel action systems (Files used are Continue reading

Abey Francis

Offshore Financial Centers (OFCs)

Any international business unit, whether manufacturing or trading is always looking for funds for their operations. Every company cannot take funds from its home country due to strict regulations or interest cost or taxes. All over the world the business community is in search of locations where their investments are safe and the funds can be taken out without any barriers and invested comfortably for any ventures in any part of the world. Currently, Mauritius, Malta, Panama, Man’s Island, Cyprus, Seychelles and Hawaii are a few centres attracting offshore banks. Since 2003, the Government of India has permitted banks to set up offshore banking operations in Special Economic Zones. Hence, the system of offshore banking has become part of international business. Offshore banks are banking units set up by foreign banks in territories where the restrictions and regulations are limited and the intervention of the country of location is minimal. Continue reading

Abey Francis

Role of Luck in Strategic Management

While some firms hope to yield above expected normal returns from implementing business strategies, they must however be consistently conversant with the future value of those strategies than other firms playing in the same market. Other firms gain advantage in strategy implementation which is either a manifestation of these special insights into the future value of strategies, or a manifestation of a firm’s good fortune and luck, as sometimes, the price of the strategic resource acquired may be based on expectations on the return potential of that strategy However, unexpected greater organisational profits can simply be unexpected, a surprise, and a manifestation of a firm’s good luck and possibly not its ability to accurately anticipate the future value of a strategy. Even well-informed firms can be lucky in this manner. Some organizations’ actual returns on strategies could be greater than the expected returns; this resulting difference is often regarded to Continue reading

Abey Francis

Case Study: iTunes Strategic Innovation

iTunes is a media player computer program used for playing, downloading, saving, and organizing digital music and video files on desktop or laptop personal computers. It can also manage contents on iPod, iPhone, iPod Touch and iPad devices. iTunes can connect to the iTunes Store to purchase and download music, music videos, television shows, iPod games, audiobooks, podcasts, movies and movie rentals , and ringtones. It is also used to download application software from the App Store for the iPhone, iPad and iPod Touch. iTunes has been criticized for not being able to transfer music from one portable device to another. iTunes was introduced by Apple Inc. on January 9, 2001. The Strategic Innovation Behind iTunes Over the past decade, Apple Inc. has been extremely successful in formulating and implementing a coherent and focused strategic vision. Its success is evident not just in the company’s bottom line results but also Continue reading

Abey Francis

Use of Personality Tests in Employee Selection

Personality or temperament tests are designed to measure basic aspects of an applicant’s personality, such as degree of introversion/extroversion, emotional stability and motivation. Personality tests are the most difficult tests to evaluate and use in employee selection. This is because the concept of personality itself is hazy and the relationship between performance on the job and personality is often vague or nonexistent.   In addition, the applicant can easily fabricate answers. Consequently, personality tests tend to have very limited value in employee selection and their use may be extremely difficult to justify if challenged by EEO authorities.   Finally, some tests may include questions that could be regarded by applicants as an invasion of privacy.   Questions about religious beliefs and sexual orientation, for example in the USA have been construed as both invasive and discriminatory and have resulted in heavy financial penalties. However, this has not stopped their use Continue reading

Abey Francis