Software Development Processes

Software development processes are the structures or processes imposed on the development of a software product. To produce a successful and qualitative software product certain processes management criteria need to be considered. A process is a particular method of doing something, generally involving a number of steps or operations. A software development project will have at least development activities and project management activities. The development process focuses on the activities directly related to the production of software that is design, coding, and testing. Project management processes focus on planning, estimation, scheduling and taking corrective action when things do not go as per plan. Configuration management processes focus on change and configuration control, so that the correct, tested and approved version of software component are put together for delivery. The process management processes focus on the management and improvement of these processes. The four named processes will be discussed in detail; Continue reading

Importance of Profit and Loss Account

The Profit and Loss Account is a Financial Statement which summarizes a company’s revenue and expenditure for a specific period of time, usually prepared annually or quarterly. These statements provide information that shows the ability of a company to generate profits by increasing its revenues and reducing costs. The Profit and Loss Account is also known as a “Statement of Profit and Loss”, an “Income Statement” or an “Income and Expense Statement”. Importance of Profit and Loss Account Profit and Loss Account represents a company’s ability to generate income through their business operations. Many times businesses will need financing to help create the facilities for their operations. Smaller companies usually obtain bank loans that are based on the amount of income a company has earned from past operations. Solid Profit and Loss history is essential for getting the best loan terms. Profit and loss statements are important also because many Continue reading

Analytical Approaches to Cultural Factors

The reason cultural factors are a challenge to global marketers is that they are hidden from view. Because culture is learned behavior passed on from generation to generation, it is difficult for the inexperienced or untrained outsider to fathom. Becoming a global manager means learning how to let go of cultural assumptions. Failure to do so will hinder accurate understanding of the meaning and significance of the statements and behaviors of business associates from a different culture. For example, a person from a culture that encourages responsibility and initiative could experience misunderstandings with a client or boss from a culture that encourages bosses to remain in personal control of all activities. Such a boss would expect to be kept advised of a subordinate’s actions; the subordinate might be taking initiative on the mistaken assumption that the boss would appreciate a willingness to assume responsibility. 1. Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs The Continue reading

Location Strategies for Retail Business

Location is the most important ingredient for any business that relies on customers. It is also one of the most difficult to plan for completely. Location decisions can be complex, costs can be quite high, there is often little flexibility once a location has been chosen and the attributes of location have a strong impact on a retailer’s overall strategy. In India, most retailers prefer to own the property rather than avail of the desired property through lease or rental. This makes the location decision even more critical. Choosing the wrong site can lead to poor results and in some cases insolvency and closure. Importance of Location Decision in retail Business The importance of the location decision is due to the following factors. Location is a major cost factor because it Involves large capital investment Affects transportation costs Affects human resources cost, e.g., salaries Location is a major revenue factor Continue reading

The Emergence of Frugal Innovation

The old innovation paradigm was called closed innovation which was based on the strict control of successful innovation. Under this view, organizations generate their own ideas, develop them, finance them and support them on their own. In short, companies maintain complete control of all aspects of the innovation process and inventions are kept highly secretive. Traditionally many organizations followed this model and it worked well for most of the twentieth century. However, over the years a number of factors have led to the erosion of the closed innovation approach. First, due to an increase in the mobility and availability of highly educated people, large amounts of knowledge leave the research laboratories of many companies. Second, the availability of venture capital has increased significantly in the recent past making it possible for promising ideas and technologies to be further developed outside the organization. Third, other firms in the supply chain began Continue reading

The Impact of Rising NPA Levels in Banks

Profitability: NPA means booking of money in terms of bad asset, which occurred due to wrong choice of client. Because of the money getting blocked the prodigality of bank decreases not only by the amount of NPA but NPA lead to opportunity cost also as that much of profit invested in     some return earning project/asset. So NPA doesn’t affect current profit but also future stream of profit, which may lead to loss of some long-term beneficial opportunity. Another impact of reduction in profitability is low ROI (return on investment), which adversely affect current earning of bank. Liquidity: Money is getting blocked, decreased profit lead to lack of enough cash at hand which lead to borrowing money for shot\rtes period of time which lead to additional cost to the company. Difficulty in operating the functions of bank is another cause of NPA due to lack of money.   Routine Continue reading