Case Study on Entrepreneurship: Larry Page

Business Analysis

The Boundaryless Career: Modern Contemperory Perspective on Career

Human Resource Management

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

What is a Bill of Exchange? Definition and Features

According to section 5 of the Negotiable Instruments Act, 1881, defines Bill Of Exchange as “A bill of exchange is an instrument in writing containing an unconditional order, signed by the maker, directing a certain person to pay a certain sum of money only to, or to the order of, a certain person or to the bearer of the instrument.” A promise or order to pay is not “conditional”, within the meaning of this section and section 4, by reason of the time for payment of the amount or any installment thereof being expressed to be on the lapse of certain period after the occurrence of a specified event which, according to the ordinary expectation of mankind, is certain to happen, although the time of its happening may be uncertain. The sum payable may be “certain”, within the meaning of this section and section and section 4, although it includes Continue reading

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Business Clusters

In a globalized economy, companies can access capital, goods, information and technology from all parts of the world. Thanks to faster methods of transportation and communication, physical location has become less important. Yet, there are geographic concentrations of industrial activities. For example, Silicon Valley in California is reputed for its cluster of computer hardware and software companies. Even though it is a very expensive location, many tech companies continue to perform their key value adding activities in this region. Michael Porter  uses the term “clusters” to describe geographical concentrations of interconnected companies and institutions in a particular business. Business clusters include suppliers of components, machinery, services and institutions which provide specialized infrastructure. Sophisticated, demanding customers who keep companies on their toes can also be considered a part of the cluster. So can the local government, universities, research centers and think-tanks who play a vital role in encouraging innovation and creating Continue reading

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Case Study on Corporate Entrepreneurship: Steve Jobs of Apple

Corporate Entrepreneurship is broadly described as the process whereby an individual or a group of individuals, in association with an existing organization, create a new organization or instigate renewal or innovation within that organization. This definition includes two aspects of CE, a new business creation within existing organizations and renewal of the current strategy of the corporation. The vital notion is that corporations must capitalize on the entrepreneurial thinking of the managers to chase future evolution under changing and uncertain environments. Overall, studies suggest that Corporate Entrepreneurship activities are composed of three areas: idea generation, selection, and implementation or retention. Autonomy is an integral and central part of CE. Under conditions of change and uncertainty, providing autonomy to enterprising managers and encouraging them to elaborate on their own experience and ideas is a more promising approach than formal strategy development that relies solely on top management. It has been argued Continue reading

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Commodity Derivatives

In the last 25 years, derivatives have become increasingly important in the world of trading. Futures and Options are now traded actively on many exchanges. A derivative can be defined as a financial instrument whose value depends upon (or derives from) the value of other basic underlying variables. Very often, the variables underlying derivatives are the prices of traded assets. For example, a commodity option is a derivative whose value is dependent on the price of a stock. The underlying variable can be anything. Active trading is happening in credit derivatives, electricity derivatives, weather derivatives, insurance derivatives etc. many new types of interest rate, foreign exchange and equity derivative products have been created. A commodity derivatives market (or exchange) is, in simple terms, nothing more or less than a public market place where commodities are contracted for purchase or sale at an agreed price for delivery at a specified date. Continue reading

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Corporate Governance and Clause 49 of the Listing Agreement

SEBI revise Clause 49 of the Listing Agreement pertaining to corporate governance vide circular date October 29th, 2004, which superseded all other earlier circulars issued by SEBI on this subject.   All existing listed companies were required to comply with the provisions of the new clause by 31st December 2005. The major provisions included in the new Clause 49 are: The board will lay down a code of conduct for all board members and senior management of the company to compulsorily follow. The CEO an CFO will certify the financial statements and cash flow statements of the company. If while preparing financial statements, the company follows a treatment that is different from that prescribed in the accounting standards, it must disclose this in the financial statements, and the management should also provide an explanation for doing so in the corporate governance report of the annual report. The company will have Continue reading

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Random Walk Theory

History of  Random Walk Theory The term ‘Random Walk’ was popularized by the 1973 book, “A Random Walk Down Wall Street”, by Burton Malkiel, Professor of Economics and Finance at Princeton University. Burton G. Malkiel, did a test where his students were given a hypothetical stock that was initially worth fifty dollars. The closing stock price for each day was determined by a coin flip. If the result was heads the price would close a half point higher, and subsequently if the result was tails, it would close a half point lower. Each time there was a fifty-fifty chance of the price closing higher or lower than the previous day. There were cycles or trends determined from the tests. Malkiel then took the results in a chart and graph form to a chartist (a person who “seeks to predict future movements by seeking to interpret past patterns on the assumption Continue reading

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