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

Integrating Material and Financial Flows in a Supply Chain

Firms in the past have mainly focused on improving the material flow in a supply chain using various innovative methods like cross docking, Vendor Managed Inventory (VMI), Collaborative Planning, Forecasting and Replenishment (CPFR) etc. Firms have also used IT solutions to automate the material flow. Today, they have also begun to focus on improving the financial flow in the supply chain. Many firms have adopted best practices of cash flow management to improve the financial flow. One of the key elements which helps in efficient financial flow in a supply chain is the use of IT solutions in the purchase-to-pay and order-to-cash processes. By automating these processes firms can minimize inefficiencies and improve the effectiveness of the supply chain.Many firms have automated the same or all of the elements of the financial flow in a supply chain through implementing ERP systems and cash flow management solutions. However, most firms have Continue reading

Abey Francis

History of Derivatives Market in India

Interestingly, derivatives have been existed in India since long time in one form or the other. But, they were not liberalised nor efforts were put to enlighten the public. The area of existence of derivatives was in commodities, it was association by traders in Bombay which was named as Bombay Cotton Trade Association (BCTA) in 1875 and started dealing with the futures contracts. By the starting of 19th century derivatives in India crawled to top making India one of the worlds largest in futures industry. But, in the early 1952 Government banned trade in cash-settlements and option contracts. As a result derivatives’ trading was shifted to informal forward contracts which were a normal practice. Trading at that time was restricted to only few brokers, and their trading practice was typical located under the banyan tree in front of the town hall in Bombay. This practise was followed for long time Continue reading

Abey Francis

Understanding Inflation-Linked Bonds (ILBs)

The recent Monetary Policy released by Reserve Bank of India (RBI) laid its thrust on controlling the spiraling inflation, especially the food price inflation. One of the reasons behind the Cash Reserve Ratio (CRR) hike was to “curtail the rising inflationary expectations (higher expected price trends)” In the past RBI has been concerned about the fact that a common man does not have any protection against rising prices, vis No Inflation Hedge. The common man has to rely on traditional but inefficient methods to hedge the real inflation risks, such as Gold and real assets such as commodities or real estate or even excessive stocking of goods In developed markets like US, the government has issues “Treasury Inflation Protected Securities” known as TIPS. Globally more than USD 1 trillion worth inflation linked bonds must be outstanding. Inflation-linked bonds (ILB) securities give an opportunity to market participants and investors to hedge Continue reading

Abey Francis

Case Study: Advertising Strategies of The Times of India

The Times of India (TOI) is one of the leading newspapers in India. It is the largest circulated English newspaper in India. It represents the growing influence of Indian middleclass and the value of English education in the country. The Chief Manager of advertising at The Times of India was evaluating effectiveness of its campaign in building The Times of India as a national brand. Most of the advertising in the past has been functional in nature. It has concentrated on promoting Times of India as a brand with functional elements like ‘largest circulated‘ English newspaper; most upmarket newspaper; the newspaper with a grip on future and other relevant functional attributes which are common for a newspaper. Recently they have shifted to emotional platform where the newspaper is being projected as something that chronicles the aspirations of Indians. It reflects struggle, turbulence, success and failure in an Indian’s life. He Continue reading

Abey Francis

Case Study of Dell: Simple but Effective Marketing Strategy

In 1984, with only $1,000 in startup capital, Michael Dell established Dell as the first company in its industry to sell custom-built computers directly to end users, bypassing the dominant system of using resellers to sell mass produced computers.  Since a young age Michael Dell has been intrigued and fascinated in the idea of eliminating unnecessary steps. So it was not surprising when he established a company where there marketing strategy was based on eliminating the middleman. “We sell computers directly to our consumers, deals directly with our suppliers, and communicate directly with our people, all without the unnecessary and inefficient presence of intermediaries. We call this “the direct model,” and it has taken us, to use a common phrase at Dell Computer Corporation, “direct to the top””. The direct business model eliminates retailers that add unnecessary time and cost, that could diminish Dell’s understanding of customer expectations. The direct Continue reading

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Relationship Between Marketing Research and Marketing Strategy

If the company has obtained an adequate understanding of the customer base and its own competitive position in the industry, marketing managers are able to make their own key strategic decisions and develop a  marketing strategy  designed to maximize the  revenues  and  profits  of the firm. The selected strategy may aim for any of a variety of specific objectives, including optimizing short-term unit margins, revenue growth,  market share, long-term profitability, or other goals. To achieve the desired objectives, marketers typically identify one or more target customer segments which they intend to pursue. Customer segments are often selected as targets because they score highly on two dimensions: The segment is attractive to serve because it is large, growing, makes frequent purchases, is not price sensitive (i.e. is willing to pay high prices), or other factors The company has the resources and capabilities to compete for the segment’s business, can meet their Continue reading

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