Catastrophe Bonds or CAT Bonds

Catastrophe Bonds (or CAT Bonds) are high-yield, risk-linked securities used to transfer explicitly to the capital markets major catastrophe exposures such as low  probability disastrous losses due to hurricanes and earthquakes.  It has a special condition that states that if the issuer (Insurance or Reinsurance Company) suffers a particular predefined catastrophe loss, then payment of interest and/or repayment of principal is either deferred or completely waived.  These bonds were first introduced as a solution to problems resulting from traditional  insurance market capacity constraints, excessive insurance premia, and insolvency risk  due to catastrophic losses. Catastrophe Bonds or CAT Bonds are complex financial tools which transfer peril specific risks  to the capital markets instead of an insurance company. The peril risk is transferred through a complex system of events which include creation of a special purpose vehicle by a sponsor, modeling event  scenarios by qualified risk management firms, drafting of a bond Continue reading

What is 4G?

Fourth generation (4G) wireless was originally conceived by the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA), the same organization that developed the wired Internet. It is not surprising, then, that DARPA chose the same distributed architecture for the wireless Internet that had proven so successful in the wired Internet. Although experts and policymakers have yet to agree on all the aspects of 4G wireless, two characteristics have emerged as all but certain components of 4G: end-to-end Internet Protocol (IP), and peer-to-peer networking. An all IP network makes sense because consumers will want to use the same data applications they are used to in wired networks. A peer-to-peer network, where every device is both a transceiver and a router/repeater for other devices in the network, eliminates this spoke-and-hub weakness of cellular architectures, because the elimination of a single node does not disable the network. The final definition of “4G” will have to Continue reading

Organizational Development through Team Building

There are a variety of situations where new teams are formed. The project based, cross-functional work team has become the basis of industry in the 1990’s. Virtual team organization is rapidly becoming the model for flexibility and agility in organizing quickly and effectively to get jobs done. New teams usually have a clear task focus in the early going and there is usually a clear understanding of the short term goals. The new team members are also generally technically competent and there usually is a challenge in the project that will draw on their technical capabilities. While the early activities of a team are clearly focused on task and work issues, relationship problems tend do develop as they do in any human system. By the time these interpersonal issues surface the team may be well along in its activities. The issues may become very difficult and very costly to work Continue reading

Difference Between Human Relations and Industrial Relations

The term human relations lays stress upon the processes of inter-personal relationships among individuals as well as the behavior of individuals as members of groups. The term industrial relations is used widely in industrial organizations and refers to the relations between the employers and workers in an organization, at any specified time. Thus, while problem of human relations are personal in character and are related to the behavior of individuals where moral and social element predominate, the term industrial relation is comprehensive covering human relations and the relations between the employers and workers in an organization as well as matters regulated by law or by specific collective agreement arrived at between trade unions and the management. However, the concept of industrial relations has undergone a considerable change since the objective of evolving sound and healthy industrial relations today is not only to find out ways and means to solve conflicts Continue reading

Steps in Project Risk Management Process

Project risk management as simple as it may seem and less regarded by many is a key component for a better project plan, time management, cost estimation and project scheduling.  Project risk management is a term that encompasses and involves all processes concerned with identification, analyzing and response to project risk. It also consists of maximizing the results of likely positive events and minimization of the impacts of negative events.  An effective project execution is also achieved through inclusion of risk management at all stages of the project starting from the planning, to implementation and finally execution. Experts have stated that a proper and strong project risk management process can reduce project problems by as much as 75 – 90%, combining it with concrete project management plans, defining a proper scope, managing change and communication, a good project risk management helps in reducing and eliminating surprises and unexpected project risks. Continue reading

Measuring Advertising Effectiveness

All advertising efforts are directed mainly towards the achievement of business, marketing and advertising objectives i.e., to increase the sales turnover and thus to market the maximum profit. The advertiser spends millions in to this advertising activity. In the background of all these efforts, is an attempt to attract the customer towards the product through advertising. As soon as the advertising campaign is over, a need is generally arisen to measure the effectiveness of the campaign. Whether, it has achieved the desired results i.e. desired sales profitability or results in terms the change in customer behavior in favor of the company’s product which will naturally, affect the future sale of the product. In order to measure the effectiveness of advertising copy, two types of tests pre-tests and post-tests can be undertaken. Pre-tests are generally conducted in the beginning of the creation process or at the end of creation process or Continue reading