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

Activities Performed by Retailers

Retailers undertake various business activities and perform functions that add value to the offerings they make to their target segments. Retailers provide convenient location, stock and appropriate mix of merchandise in suitable packages in accordance with the needs of customers. The four major activities carried out by retailers are: Arrange for assortment of offerings Breaking quantity Holding stock Extending services Arranging Assortment An assortment is a retailer’s selection of merchandise. It includes both the depth and breadth of products carried. Retailers have to select the combination of assortments from various categories. The assortments must include substitutable items of multiple brands and price points. They should be distinguished on account of physical dimensions and attributes e.g., color or flavor. The small retailer takes assortment decision on the basis of his experience; on the other hand retailers from organized retailing depend on a detailed study of past trends and future projections. Retailers Continue reading

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Organization of Foreign Exchange Department

The Foreign Exchange department, which is also being called as the International Banking Division, is one of the important departments of the banks operating in international market. In India also all scheduled commercial banks, both in the nationalized or non-nationalized sectors, do have Foreign Exchange departments, both at their principal offices as well as offices, in metropolitan centers. This department functions independently under the overall change of some senior executive or a senior officer well-versed in foreign exchange operations as well as in the rules and regulations in force from time to time pertaining to foreign exchange transactions advised by various government agencies. The principal function of a Foreign exchange department is to handle foreign inward remittances as well as outward remittances; buying and selling of foreign currencies, handling and forwarding of import and export documents and giving the consultancy services to the exporters and importers. Besides this, the department Continue reading

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Strategic Control Process – Meaning and Process

Strategic Control “ It is the process by which managers monitor the ongoing activities of an organization and its members to evaluate whether activities are being performed efficiently and effectively and to take corrective action to improve performance if they are not” -Sam Walton Managers exercise strategic control when they work with the part of the organisation they  have influence over to ensure that it achieves the strategic aims that have been set for it. To do this effectively, the managers need some decision making freedom: either to decide what needs to be achieved or how best to go about achieving the strategic aims. Such decision making freedom is one of the characteristics that differentiate strategic control from other forms of control exercised by managers (e.g. Operational control – the management of operational processes). Strategic controls take into account the changing assumptions that determine a strategy, continually evaluate the strategy Continue reading

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Preventive Maintenance

Preventive maintenance anticipates failures and adopts necessary actions to check failures before they occur. It includes activities like inspection, lubrication, cleaning unkeeps, minor adjustments and replacements found necessary at the time of inspection etc.  Its purpose is to minimize breakdowns and excessive depreciation. Neither equipment nor facilities should be allowed to go to the breaking point. In its simplest form, preventive maintenance can be compared to the service schedule for an automobile. Preventive maintenance can be either: running maintenance or “shut down maintenance”. Running maintenance includes maintenance activities e.g. minor adjustments in machines revealed through inspections, lubrication, cleaning and upkeep etc., which are carried out when the machine is still running. Shutdown maintenance includes preventive maintenance activities such as minor component replacement whose needs are identified through inspections, which require stoppage of machines. Preventive inspection is one of the key activities of preventive maintenance which   is usually performed by Continue reading

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Tool Control in Production Management

Meaning of Tool Control Tool control in production management implies (1) determining tool requirements (2) procuring necessary tools and (3) controlling/maintaining tools once they have been procured. A tool or process planner must calculate tool requirements prior to the time of production to ensure that proper tools will be available when needed. Lost time resulting from incomplete tools planning can be expensive as well as causing work to delay. In order to facilitate tool control and to limit the investment in tool inventory, it is important to standardize wherever possible all the tools within an organisation. Need for Tool Control It is very important to ensure: Against loss through theft or negligence and production delays through misplacement or non-availability of tools. That the investment in tool inventories is minimized consistent with proper tool availability. Tool Control Procedure Two methods are commonly used to control the issue and receipt of tools Continue reading

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International Competitive Strategies

Firms which succeed in implementing competitive strategy can gain competitive advantage: this latter improves the firm’s competitive position, creates a barrier to entry, and enables a firm to change its competitive stance in response to market changes. Two constructs appear significant at this strategic level. First, distinctive competence; this refers to activities which a firm does better than its competitors, but which require superior skills and resources. The latter are basically tangible assets such as the technology, the distribution network or superior resources; access to supply can also enhance the position. Distinctive competence can create barriers to imitation and help sustain competitive advantage; and superior skills and resources improve the firm’s position when they can lower costs (through scale economies, the learning curve or capacity utilization) or create value to customers. Organization is another element of distinctive competence: a better organizational design and appropriate structure enables a firm to adapt Continue reading

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