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

The Customer Satisfaction Model – Based on American Customer Satisfaction Index (ACSI)

Marketing Management

Risk-Return Relationship in Investments

The entire scenario of security analysis is built on two concepts of security: Return and risk. The risk and return constitute the framework for taking investment decision. Return from equity comprises dividend and capital appreciation. To earn return on investment, that is, to earn dividend and to get capital appreciation, investment has to be made for some period which in turn implies passage of time. Dealing with the return to be achieved requires estimated of the return on investment over the time period. Risk denotes deviation of actual return from the estimated return. This deviation of actual return from expected return may be on either side — both above and below the expected return. However, investors are more concerned with the downside risk. The risk in holding security deviation of return deviation of dividend and capital appreciation from the expected return may arise due to internal and external forces. That Continue reading

Abey Francis

Significance of Human Resources in International Business Arena

As the success of domestic business depends on its human resources, the success of a multinational company depends on international human resource management. Human resources managers are kind of people managers of any business organization, and are responsible for managing a wide range of employees. The human resource manager in a multi-national company with divisions or subsidiaries in foreign countries has all the normal HR responsibilities plus a brace of additional tasks that are specific to offshore operations of his department. He is literally responsible for international human resource management. International human resource management functions cover many different activities related to a business organization’s employees and contractors. The first and most important is the staffing needs of the company whether staff members are company employees or outside contractors. Other functions include recruiting and training employees, ensuring that they are performing at expected levels or better, handling performance issues and making Continue reading

Abey Francis

Revenue Structure of a Firm under Perfect Competition

One of the distinguishing characteristics of perfect competition is the presence of an infinite number of firms producing homogeneous product.   The number of firms is so large that a single firm’s contribution to the total output of the product in the market is insignificant or microscopic.   The firm under perfect competition can neither influence the price nor the output in the market.   In fact, it has to take the going-market price, i.e. the price prevailing in the market as is determined by the forces of demand and supply.   It is in this context that the firm under perfect competition is referred to as price-taker and not a price maker.   The revenue structure of the firm under perfect competition is influenced by this characteristic of perfect competition. Let us assume that the price of the product X as determined in the market by the forces of Continue reading

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Case Study: Corporate Restructuring at Arvind Mills

The case provides an overview of the Arvind Mills’ expansion strategy, which resulted in the company’s poor financial health in the late 1990s. In the mid 1990s, Arvind Mills’ undertook a massive expansion of its denim capacity in spite of the fact that other cotton fabrics were slowly replacing the demand for denim. The expansion plan was funded by loans from both Indian and overseas financial institutions. With the demand for denim slowing down, Arvind Mills found it difficult to repay the loans, and thus the interest burden on the loans shot up. In the late 1990s, Arvind Mills ran into deep financial problems because of its debt burden. As a result, it incurred huge losses in the late 1990s. The case also discusses in detail the Arvind Mills debt-restructuring plan for the long-term debts being taken up in February 2001. Issues: » Debt driven expansion plan, financial restructuring of Continue reading

Abey Francis

Impact of Workplace Wellness Programs in Modern Business Organizations

The modern workplace is constantly evolving, and employers are increasingly looking for ways to improve the health and wellbeing of their employees. Corporate wellness programs are one of the most popular strategies for achieving this goal. This essay will explore the impact of corporate wellness programs on employee engagement, productivity, and overall health. It will also discuss the challenges associated with implementing such programs in the workplace. By examining the evidence, this article will provide insight into how corporate wellness programs can be used to create a healthier and more productive work environment. Definition of Corporate Wellness Programs Corporate wellness programs are initiatives designed to promote healthy lifestyles among employees in the workplace. These programs typically include activities such as health assessments, nutrition education, physical activity classes, stress management workshops, and mental health support. The goal of corporate wellness programs is to create a healthier and more productive work environment Continue reading

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Tips for Effective Employee Recognition and Reward Programs

Recognition is defined as a form of sincere praise or appreciation given to an individual by another and reward as the earned item of value presented to an individual for successful accomplishment of a particular service, task or mission. Recognition and reward programs has always been an effective strategy for retaining employees and it normally do not cost much and not very time-consuming. Informal recognition and reward program can recognize outstanding performance rather quickly while formal program develops the performance growth in a long term basis. Well planned recognition and reward programs builds comradeship within the team and makes employees feel valued and appreciated. Employees want to feel appreciated and seldom will they find compliments a surplus. Effective recognition and reward programs recognizes and appreciates the efforts of individuals while taking into account their individual needs, differences and personalities. As a leader, do not assume that the approach of one-size-fits-all Continue reading

Abey Francis