Investment Banking in India

For more than three decades, the investment banking activity was mainly confined to merchant banking services. The foreign banks were the forerunners of merchant banking in India. The erstwhile Grindlays Bank began its merchant banking operations in 1967 after obtaining the required license from RBI. Soon after Citibank followed through. Both the banks focused on syndication of loans and raising of equity apart from other advisory services. In 1972, the Banking Commission report asserted the need for merchant banking activities in India and recommended a separate structure for merchant banks totally different from commercial banks structure. The merchant banks were meant to manage investments and provide advisory services. The SBI set up its merchant banking division in 1972 and the other banks followed suit. ICICI was the first financial institution to set up its merchant banking division in 1973. The advent of SEBI in 1992 was a major boost to Continue reading

Capital Sources for Business: Equity Shares

Equity shares are financial instruments to raise equity capital. The equity share capital is the backbone of any company’s financial structure. Equity capital represents ownership capital. Equity shareholders collectively own the company. They enjoy the reward of ownership and bear the risk of ownership. The equity share capital is also termed as the venture capital on account of the risk involved in it. The equity shareholders’ liability, unlike the liability of the owner in a proprietary concern and the partners in a partnership concern, is limited to their capital subscription and contribution. In India, under the Companies Act 1956, shares which are not preference shares are called equity shares. The equity shareholders get dividend after the payment of dividend to the preference shareholders. Similarly, at the event of the winding up of the company, capital is returned to them after the return of capital to the preference shareholders. The equity Continue reading

Strategic Planning – Meaning, Process and Approaches

Strategic planning is the process of deciding on the goals of the organization, on changes in these goals, on the resources used to attain these seals, and on the policies that are to govern the acquisition, use and disposition of these resources. The word strategy is used here in its usual sense of deciding on how to combine and employ resources. Thus strategic planning is a process having to with the formulation of long-range, strategic, policy-type plans that change the character or direction of the organization. In an industrial company, this includes planning that affects the goals of the company, policies of all types (including policies as to management control and other processes); the acquisition and disposition of major facilities, divisions, or subsidiaries, the markets to be served and distribution channels for serving them; the organization-structure (as distinguished from individual personnel actions); research and development of new product lines (as Continue reading

Customer-Oriented Environmental Sustainability – Meaning and Importance

The general public and international societies have always argued that to achieve sustainable development, the economic activities that human beings engage in should be able to protect natural resources. In as much it is believed that controlling the global population size would certainly help in achieving environmental sustainability; however statistical analysis and projection show that the global population would have to increase and therefore this might not be sustainable. Thus changing the customer-oriented lifestyle in developed nations would be more sustainable. Environmental sustainability should aim at capturing environmental systems dynamics by building adaptive and resilient systems. It should aim at achieving pollution control by reducing environmental pollutants such as greenhouse gases and other gases which directly and indirectly affect human lives and the environment such as sulfides. Thus ensuring sustainable transportation and energy-related activities as well as ecological activities would better help achieve environmental sustainability. Customer-oriented environmental sustainability aims at achieving Continue reading

PEST Analysis of DELL Computers

A PEST analysis is an analysis of the external macro-environment that affects all firms. P.E.S.T. is an acronym for the political, Economic, Social, and technological factors of the external macro-environment. Such factors usually are beyond the firm’s control and sometimes presents themselves as threats. For this reason, some say that “PEST” is an appropriate term for these factors. However, changes in the external environment also create new opportunities and the letters sometimes are rearranged to construct the more optimistic term of STEP analysis. Many macro-environmental factors are country-specific and a PEST analysis will need to be performed for all countries of interest. In the following, the analysis of the political, economic, social and technological factors leads to a description of the macro environment of Dell computers. Political Environment The political environment of a country is influenced by the political organisations such as philosophy of political parties, ideology of government or Continue reading

The Alignment of Compensation and Business Strategies

Compensation is a key element in the success of any business. Although compensation plans were not always seen as a strategic business initiative, their huge impact on a company’s bottom line, recruiting, retaining and motivating people has led to compensation design being considered an important element to achieving success. Compensation and Business Strategies Alignment It is essential that a fair, competitive and attractive compensation plan is created in order to ensure the future success of the company. If the compensation plan is carried out properly it can improve organisational effectiveness, support human capital requirements of a business, and motivate and reward achievement of key corporate strategic and financial goals. It is thus essential that compensation plans are well thought out and effectively designed. Compensation is the answer to attracting, retaining and motivating employees who have the necessary competencies to carry out the business strategy and handle greater responsibilities. Managers must Continue reading