Case Study on Entrepreneurship: Larry Page

Business Analysis

The Boundaryless Career: Modern Contemperory Perspective on Career

Human Resource Management

Concepts of Throughput Accounting and Theory of Constraints

Financial Management

Kaizen – Understanding the Japanese Business Philosophy of Continuous Improvement

Operations Management

Role of Leaders in Shaping Organizational Culture

Management Principles

Strategic Alliances – Definition, Reasons, Types, Advantages, and Disadvantages

Strategic alliances can be seen as one of the fastest growing trends for business today; Alliances are sweeping through nearly every industry and are becoming an essential driver for their super growth. A strategic alliance, by definition, is a form of affiliation that involves a mutual sharing of resources for the benefit of all of the strategic partners. “Mutuality” is key. The business consideration is whether both alliance partners need each other. Strategic alliances range in size and scope from informal business relationships based on simple contracts to joint venture agreements, some times where corporations are set up to manage the alliance. Strategic alliances are cropping up across the global arena mainly due to the maturation of several trends of the 1980s, such as: intensified foreign competition, shortened product life cycles, soaring cost of capital, including the cost of research and development, and ever-growing demand for new technologies. However, strategic Continue reading

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Economic Theories of Pay and Reward

The issue of pay and reward can be said to be the most important part of work for individuals in the work place as they expect a reward or compensation for the efforts they put in. hence, employers and organizations have established regular reward packages to insure that workers are paid and remain loyal to their jobs. Pay however, has been influenced by many factors, and scholars have propounded theories to explain the reasons why wages vary, rise and fall in occupations. There exist the economic theory that stipulates the demand and supply factor to the variation of wages. Here, the demand for labor is a resultant effect of the services labor can produce, and the supply indicates the willingness of any individual to provide labor that will be priced at a certain range. Here, the supply of labor be it low or high, creates a level of demand, that Continue reading

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Grapevine Communication

Meaning of Grapevine Communication Grapevine is an informal communication network, which ignores formal channels of communication and spreads rumors and gossips at all levels of the business organization. Although every business-organization has its formal channels of communication, the informal channel of communication called grapevine also operates in it. It can be easily found that a large portion of the communication in almost every business house is not formal or pre-planned. The employees communicate through informal channels as they do their jobs. It is neither pre-planned nor deliberately motivated by the management. It is neither written nor documented or recorded. Therefore, it refers to any communication that takes place outside the prescribed and pre-planned channels of formal business communication. It is not set with the lines of organizational hierarchy. As it has no set rules and regulations, it is not confined to a particular direction. It just spreads like a grapevine. Continue reading

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Theories of Retailing – Cyclic and Non-Cyclic Theories

Retailing may be defined as the selling of goods to the general public, rather than sales to businesses. The process usually involves sales of relatively small amounts of finished goods, with purchasers mainly motivated by their own consumption needs and not for resale. Numerous theories have bene developed to explain the patterns and trends that manifest in the retailing and selling. These can be divided into two main categories; cyclic and non-cyclic theories. Cyclic Theories Cyclic theories hypothesize the retail environment and competitive practices of retailers will follow a slightly, repeating pattern, with clear identifiable stages. 1. Wheel of Retailing Theory The wheel of retailing theory is one of the most common cyclic retailing theory. This was first proposed by McNair (1958) is one of the oldest retailing theories, and is frequently cited. The idea is that retailers will enter the market and progress through a cycle of strategies. Initially, Continue reading

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Intercultural Communication in Diverse Workplace

Communication between two people from different cultures is said to be intercultural communication. It comes in to existence when a person from one culture tries to communicate with the person from another culture, a communication is understood. The potential for misunderstanding and disagreement is great whenever there is a cultural difference in these kinds of contacts. It is to be said that there is a relationship between culture and language. In other words, language is a guide to culture. Other scholars argue that language merely reflects, rather than shapes, our thinking, beliefs, and attitudes. Despite these differences in approaches, all scholars still agree that a close relationship exists between language and culture. Diversity in the workplace is strategic force influencing communication. Communication in its most basic form is defined as the use of symbols to convey meanings. Culture is the integrated system of beliefs, values, behaviors and communication patterns that Continue reading

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Definition and Meaning of Economic System

Economic system refers to the organizations and institutions created for the purpose of satisfying the wants of human beings. In a country, available resources have to be utilized to manufacture and distribute goods and services, which would meet the needs of the people so that they are satisfied.   These institutions and organizations function with their own rules and regulations. The economic system has certain broad characteristics. The economic system always functions with scarcity of resources. How the system effectively and efficiently uses the resources will determine the extent to which the needs of the people are met. An economic system comprises people. That is, a society of human beings alone can constitute economic system. A set of institutions are created and used for the purpose of smooth functioning of an economic system. For example, banks, money, technology, government, price mechanism, planning etc., are all institutions through which the systems Continue reading

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