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

Porter’s Generic Strategies – Focus Strategy

Focus Strategy is the  strategy which believes in concentrating on a small segment defined in terms of customer segment or geographical territory. A focus strategy means carefully choosing the arena to compete in and narrowing the competitive scope. By selecting carefully  a segment and meeting the needs of that segment better than competitors who target more broadly defined segments, companies can gain competitive advantage. A focus strategy takes advantage of the differences between the target segments and other segments in the industry. It is these differences that result in a segment being poorly served by the broad-scope competitor. The firm that focuses on cost may be able to outperform the broad-based firm through its ability to strip out frills not valued by the segment. Alternatively, the product or service can be differentiated, taking into account the unique needs of the segment. A focus strategy can be pursued using either a Continue reading

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Sectoral Demand-Shift Theory of Inflation

Under demand-pull inflation, we have shown how expansion in  aggregate  demand without a proportionate increase in the supply of goods and services leads to an inflationary situation. However, it is not necessary to have a general increase in demand to bring about inflationary pressure. Sometimes, the increase in demand may be confined to some sector of the economy and this increase in demand and the consequent rise in the price in a particular sector may spread to other sectors. Suppose the demand for agricultural goods rises because of inadequate supplies of these goods, there would be a consequent rise in the price of agricultural goods. Thus, the rise in prices spreads to all other sectors in the economy, through rise in the prices of raw materials and wages. The rise in prices in the agricultural sector may push up prices in the industrial sector. Therefore, the inflationary rise in the Continue reading

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Impact of Digitalization on Business Models

Digitalization has revolutionized the way businesses operate across various industries. With the advent of new technologies, businesses have been able to innovate, improve efficiency, and create new revenue streams. The impact of digitalization on business models has been significant, and in this article, we will explore the different ways in which it has impacted businesses. New Revenue Streams Digitalization has enabled businesses to create new revenue streams by opening up new markets and business models. E-commerce, for example, has allowed businesses to sell their products and services online, reaching a broader customer base than ever before. This has enabled businesses to expand their reach, increase their customer base, and generate more revenue. In addition, businesses can now offer subscription-based services, where customers pay a monthly or annual fee to access a service. This business model has been successful for companies such as Netflix and Spotify, which offer subscription-based streaming services. Continue reading

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Objectives of Sound Compensation Planning

The most important objective of any pay system is fairness or equity. The team equity has three dimensions: Internal equity: This ensures that more difficult jobs are paid more. External equity: This ensures that jobs are fairly compensated in comparison to similar jobs in the labour market. Individual equity: It ensures equal pay for equal work, i.e. each individual’s pay is fair in comparison to others doing the same jobs. In addition, there are other objectives as well. The ultimate goal of compensation administration (the process of managing a company’s compensation program) is to reward desired behaviours and encourage people to do well in there jobs. Some of the important objectives that are sought to be achieved through effective compensation management are listed below: Attract Talent: compensation needs to be high enough to attract talented people. Since many firms compete to hire the services of competent people, the salaries offered Continue reading

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Management by Objectives (MBO) Derivatives

One of the pre-requisites for effective implementation of  Management by Objectives (MBO) is a clear thinking at the corporate level translated into long-term plans. Many organizations have over the years, implemented MBO and improved their operations and performance. Effective implementation of MBO requires a good reporting system. This is necessary for taking timely remedial action in case of deficiency is noticed in any area. As organization grows in size, this reporting system becomes complex and time consuming. It may not be possible for top management to directly supervise each and every activity at lower interested in critical activities rather than every activity. Thus, as a bye product of MBO, large organizations introduced what is called Management By Exception (MBE). In this management technique, higher levels of management will concentrate only on exceptional situations, i.e., critical areas. Both MBO and MBE are scientific forms of management. However, they can be successful Continue reading

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What is Agile Methodology?

Engineering methodologies required a lot of documentation thereby causing the pace of development to slow down considerably. Agile Methodologies evolved in the 1990s to significantly eliminate this bureaucratic nature of engineering methodology. It was part of developer’s reaction against “heavyweight” methods, who desired to drift away from traditional structured, bureaucratic approaches to software development and move towards more flexible development styles. They were called the ‘Agile’ or ‘Light Weight’ methods and were defined in 1974 by Edmonds in a research paper. Agile methodology is an approach to project management, typically used in software development. It refers to a group of software development methodologies based on iterative development. Requirements and solutions evolve through cooperation between self-organizing cross-functional teams, without concern for any hierarchy or team member roles. It promotes teamwork, collaboration, and process adaptability throughout the project life-cycle with increased face-to-face communication and reduced amount of written documentation. Agile methods break Continue reading

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