Concept Mapping – A Tool For Organizing And Representing Knowledge

About Concept Mapping “If I had to reduce all of educational psychology to just one principle I would say this: The most important single factor influencing learning is what the learner already knows. Ascertain this and teach him accordingly.” – David Ausubel (1968) Concept mapping emerges directly from David P. Ausubel’s Assimilation Theory of meaningful  verbal learning. The underlying basis of the theory is that  meaningful (as opposed to rote) human learning occurs when new knowledge is consciously and  purposively linked to an existing framework of prior knowledge in a non-arbitrary, substantive  fashion. In rote (or memorized) learning, new concepts are added to the learner’s framework in an  arbitrary and verbatim way, producing a weak and unstable structure that quickly degenerates.  Joseph Novak is widely credited as the creator of concept maps, and has been writing  and researching them since the 1970s. “Concept maps are intended to represent meaningful  relationship Continue reading

Economic Functions of the Derivatives Market

In spite of the fear and criticism with which the derivative markets are commonly looked at, these markets perform a number of economic functions. 1. Prices in an organized derivatives market reflect the perception of market participants about the future and lead the prices of underlying to the perceived future level. The prices of derivatives converge with the prices of the underlying at the expiration of the derivative contract. Thus derivatives help in discovery of future as well as current prices. 2. The derivatives market helps to transfer risks from those who have them but may not like them to those who have an appetite for them. 3. Derivatives, due to their inherent nature, are linked to the underlying cash markets. With the introduction of derivatives, the underlying market witnesses’ higher trade volumes because of participation by more players who would not otherwise participate for lack of an arrangement to Continue reading

Macro Environment in Marketing

The Company’s Macro Environment The company and all of the other actors operate in a larger macro environment of forces that shape opportunities and pose threats to the company. There are six major forces (outlined below) in the company’s macro environment. There are six major forces (outlined below) in the company’s macro environment. Demographic. Economic. Natural. Technological. Political. Cultural. a. Demographic Environment Demography is the study of human populations in terms of size, density, location, age, sex, race, occupation, and other statistics. It is of major interest to marketers because it involves people and people make up markets. Demographic trends are constantly changing. Some more interesting ones are. 1). The world’s population (though not all countries) rate is growing at an explosive rate that will soon exceed food supply and ability to adequately service the population. The greatest danger is in the poorest countries where poverty contributes to the difficulties. Continue reading

Wage Boards in Compensation Management

Wage boards are set up by the Government, but in selection of members of wages boards, the government cannot appoint members arbitrarily. Members to wage boards can be appointed only with the consent of employers and employees. The representatives of employers on the wage boards are the nominees of employers’ organization and the workers’ representatives are the nominees of the national center of trade unions of the industry concerned. The composition of wage boards is as a rule tripartite, representing the interests of labor, Management and Public. Labor and management representatives are nominated in equal numbers by the government, with consultation and consent of major Central Organizations. These boards are chaired by government nominated members representing the public. Wage board function industry-wise with broad terms of reference, which include recommending the minimum wage differential, cost of living, compensation, regional wage differentials, gratuity, hours of work etc. The main objectives of Continue reading

Introduction to Project Finance

Project finance is typically defined as limited or non-recourse financing of a new project through separate incorporation of vehicle or Project Company. Project financing involves non-recourse financing of the development and construction of a particular project in which the lender looks principally to the revenues expected to be generated by the project for the repayment of its loan and to the assets of the project as collateral for its loan rather than to the general credit of the project sponsor. Project Financing includes understanding the rationale for project financing, how to prepare the financial plan, assess the project risks, design the financing mix, and raise the funds. In addition, one must understand the cogent (intellectual, powerful) analyses of why some project financing plans have succeeded while others have failed. A knowledge-base is required regarding the design of contractual arrangements to support project financing; issues for the host government legislative provisions, Continue reading

What Is Customer Lifetime Value (CLV)?

While some companies aim to grow their customer base, the successful ones recognize the importance of increasing customer lifetime value. Loyal customers offer more value to your business‐generating over 10x more revenue. Customer lifetime value is an important concept to understand from a marketing standpoint.  The cost of obtaining a customer and gaining that first sale is often much higher than the costs of maintaining the relationship with the customer. Customer lifetime value (CLV) is a critical metric used to estimate the value of each customer you acquire. It validates whether you’re actually producing a profit. Several companies strive to increase customer lifetime value because they believe it’s a good indicator of business performance. Companies use the metrics such as customer life time value (CLV) to understand the importance of a certain type of customer towards the business and give a greater insight of the expected future revenue as well Continue reading