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

Organizational Culture – Development and Importance

Management Principles

Five Important Organizational Cultural Models

Management Principles

Term Loans as a Project Financing Method

Project financing may be defined as the raising of funds required to finance a capital  investment proposal which is economically separable. The assets, contracts cash flows  are separated from the parent company and the assets acquired for the projects serve as  collateral for loans. The repayments are made from the revenue generated from the  projects. Also, the lending institution has to ensure that the  investment on the proposed project will generate sufficient returns on the investments  made and that loan amount disbursed for the implementation of the project will be  recovered along with interest within a reasonable period of time. Term loans are meant for tying up the capital cost of the project. The primary source of such loans is  financial institutions. Commercial banks also provide term finance in a limited way. The  financial institutions provide project finance for new projects as also for  expansion/diversification and modernization, whereas the bulk Continue reading

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Concept of Data Processing

Data is defined as any collection of facts. Thus, sales reports, inventory figures, test scores, customers’ names and addresses, and weather reports are all examples of data. Note that data may be numerical (e.g, inventory figures and test scores) or they may be numerical (e.g. , names of students and addresses, drawings). Data processing is the manipulation of data into a more useful form. It is the modern name for paperwork and involves the collecting, processing, and distributing of facts and figures to achieve a desired result. Data processing includes not only numerical calculations but also operations such as the classification of data and the transmission of data from one place to another. In general, we assume that these operations are performed by some type of machine or computer, although some of them could also be carried out manually. Data processing system refers to the equipment or devices and procedures Continue reading

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Employee Assistance Program (EAP)

Employee Assistance Programmes (EAPs)  are used to make professional help available to the employees. Typical Employee Assistance Programmes  offer assistance to employees in such areas as alcoholism, drug abuse, emotional stress, family problems and financial indebtedness. Although research findings tend to vary, it is believed that EAPs are valuable contributors to both employees and employers. First of all, giving employee assistance is simply the right thing to do from the standpoint of humanity, and there are some cost-benefit arguments in favor of EAPS. Certainly, the resolution of personal problems tends to make the employee a more effective contributor to employer objectives. That is, money spent on abating alcoholism among the workforce is perceived to be cheaper than money spent on ineffective performance, lost time, illness and death on the part of employees suffering from the disease of alcoholism. Characteristics of an effective EAP The EAP should be staffed with competent Continue reading

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Factors Affecting Retail Location Decisions – Macro and Micro Factors

Even though non store retailing is growing, most of the retailers are still selling  from retail store space. Some of these retailers are very small single-store  operators, and some are huge superstore discounters. Each location selected  resulted from an effort to satisfy the needs of the particular market each was  designed to serve. Whether it was the customer’s need for convenience, their  desire to do comparison shopping, the extent of the purchasing power in a market  area, of the transportation facilities available, many factors together led to the  development of different kinds of retail locations. There is an old saying that the  value of real estate is determined by three things: location, location, and location.  A wall street journal study looked at the largest store as measured by gross  sales of the twenty largest brands. Not surprisingly, in nearly every case, a unique  location was a major factor. Retail stores Continue reading

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Maturity Gap Analysis and Duration Gap Analysis in IRR Calculation

Maturity Gap Analysis The simplest analytical techniques for calculation of IRR exposure begins with maturity Gap analysis that distributes interest rate sensitive assets, liabilities and off-balance sheet positions into a certain number of pre-defined time-bands according to their maturity (fixed rate) or time remaining for their next repricing (floating rate). Those assets and liabilities lacking definite repricing intervals (savings bank, cash credit, overdraft, loans, export finance, refinance from RBI etc.) or actual maturities vary from contractual maturities (embedded option in bonds with put/call options, loans, cash credit/overdraft, time deposits, etc.) are assigned time-bands according to the judgement, empirical studies and past experience of banks. A number of time bands can be used while constructing a gap report. Generally, most of the banks focus their attention on near-term periods, viz. monthly, quarterly, half-yearly or one year. It is very difficult to take a view on interest rate movements beyond a year. Continue reading

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Behavioral Aspects of Budgeting

Budgetary control relies greatly on the individuals of a corporation. The human aspect in the budgetary system can be very complicated since the budgetary process involves relationships between different people within the corporation which includes the chief executive officer, managers and staff. Some times budgets affect people’s behaviors and vice versa. Thus the behavioral aspects of budgeting are of vital significance and consist of many different areas that high attention must be paid. First and foremost, we need to know the factors affecting the  behavioral aspects of budgeting, including: Budgets perceived by employees as being too difficult In situations that lack full participation of all levels in preparing for the budgets, the employees will perceive the budgets as being too difficult to follow. In addition, the punishment that comes along from failing to meet what this budgeted has a tendency to encourage staff’s attempts to beat the system. This greatly Continue reading

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