Argument Mapping – A Tool For Improving Your Critical Thinking

Argument mapping is a way to visually show the logical structure of arguments,  where “arguments constitute a body of evidence in relation to some proposition (an idea that is true or false)”. It does so by having the user break up an argument into its constituent claims, and use lines, boxes, colors and location to indicate the relationships between the various parts. Thus, a map is produced which illustrates why a particular conclusion was reached by clearly outlining its reasons and objections. The resulting argument map allows us to see exactly how each part of an argument is related to every other part. Typically an argument map is a “box and arrow” diagram with boxes corresponding to propositions and arrows corresponding to relationships such as evidential support.  Argument mapping is similar to other mapping activities such as mind mapping and concept mapping, but focuses on the logical, evidential or inferential Continue reading

Need for Business Forecasting

Business Forecasting is an estimate or prediction of future developments in business such as sales, expenditures, and profits. Given the wide swings in economic activity and the drastic effects these fluctuations can have on profit margins, it is not surprising that business forecasting has emerged as one of the most important aspects of corporate planning. Forecasting has become an invaluable tool for business people to anticipate economic trends and prepare themselves either to benefit from or to counteract them. If, for instance, business people envision an economic downturn, they can cut back on their inventories, production quotas, and hiring. If, on the contrary, an economic boom seems probable, those same business people can take necessary measures to attain the maximum benefit from it. Good business forecasts can help business owners and managers adapt to a changing economy. Some of the important needs of business forecasting are listed below: 1. Helps Continue reading

Article on Indian Banking Sector- “Innovation in Banking”

Innovation derives organization to grow, prosper & transform in sync with the changes in the environment, both internal & external. Banking is no exception to this. In fact, this sector has witnessed radical transformation of late, based on many innovations in products, processes, services, systems, business models, technology, governance & regulation. A liberalized & globalized financial infrastructure has provided had provided an additional impetus to this gigantic effort. The pervasive influence of information technology has revolutionaries banking. Transaction costs have crumbled & handling of astronomical brick & mortar structure has been rapidly yielding ground to click & order electronic banking with a plethora of new products. Banking has become boundary less & virtual with a 24*7 model. Banks who strongly rely on the merits of ‘relationship was banking’ as a time tested way of targeting & servicing clients have readily embraced Customer Relationship Management (CRM), with sharp focus on customer Continue reading

Organizational Performance – Meaning, Definition and Measures

Managers are concerned with organizational performance–the accumulated end results of all the organization’s work processes and activities. It’s a complex but important concept, and managers need to understand the factors that contribute to high organizational performance. After all, they don’t want (or intend) to manage their way to mediocre performance. They want their organizations, work units, or work groups to achieve high levels of performance, no matter what mission, strategies, or goals are being pursued. Managers measure and control organizational performance because it leads to better asset management, to an increased ability to provide customer value, and to improved measures of organizational knowledge. In addition, measures of organizational performance do have an impact on an organization’s reputation. Managers at high-performing companies do–they manage the organizational assets in ways that exploit their value. Asset management is the process of acquiring, managing, renewing, and disposing of assets as needed, and of designing Continue reading

Understanding Different Types of Supply Chain Risk

There have been many different definitions of supply chain risk, but it can be broadly defined as the variation in the distribution of possible supply chain outcomes, their likelihood, and their subjective values. However, this definition has since been expanded upon to account for all the different departments and functions that operate within a supply chain. This leads to an overall definition of supply chain risk as any risks for the information, material and product flows from original supplier to the delivery of the final product for the end user. Simply put, supply chain risk refers to the probability of a risk event occurring the supply line and when the product goes on sale. Furthermore, risk sources are the predominant causes of risk events, which are the environmental, organizational or supply-chain variables which cannot be predicted with certainty and which impact on the supply chain outcome variables. Identifying Supply Chain Continue reading

The Behavioral Science Approach to Management

The behavioral science approach to management  focuses on the psychological and sociological processes (attitude, motivations, group dynamics) that influence employee performance. While the classical approach focuses on the job of workers, the behavioral approach focuses on the workers in these jobs. Workers desisted the formal and impersonal approach of classical writers. Behavioral approach started in 1930. This gave rise to the Behavioral  science approach to management. Two branches contributed to the Behavioral approach. Human Relations Movements:  The human relations movement refers to the approach to management and worker productivity that takes into account a person’s motivation, satisfaction, and relationship with others in the workplace.  The human relations movement grew from the Hawthorne studies. Development of Organisational Behavior: Pioneers of the human relation movement stressed inter-personal relations and neglected the group behavior patterns. This led to the development of field of organisational  behavior. It respects a more. Interdisciplinary and multi-dimensional approach Continue reading