The Link Between Innovation and Strategy

Innovation is usually defined as the successful commercial exploitation of new ideas or simply as the successful implementation of new ideas. This encompasses ideas that are ‘new to the world’, ‘new to an industry’ or merely ‘new to a particular firm’. The prominence given to the role of innovation in strategy is to a large extent the result of the prevailing social and economic conditions. In what Peter Drucker – the most influential management thinker of the second-half of the twentieth century – termed the ‘knowledge economy’ that has emerged due to the rise of the service industry and decline of manufacturing since the end of the Second World War, business organizations have increasingly had to react to change more rapidly if they wish to succeed in the marketplace. Indeed, so important is the successful implementation of new ideas that Drucker famously reflected that: ‘Business has only two basic functions Continue reading

Full Capital Account Convertibility (FCAC)

Capital Account convertibility in its entirety would mean that any individual, be it Indian or Foreigner will be allowed to bring in any amount of foreign currency into the country. Full capital account convertibility also known as Floating rupee means the removal of all controls on the cross-border movement of capital, out of India to anywhere else or vice versa. Capital account convertibility or CAC refers to the freedom to convert local financial assets into foreign financial assets or vice versa at market-determined rates of interest. If CAC is introduced along with current account convertibility it would mean full convertibility. Complete convertibility would mean no restrictions and no questions. In general, restrictions on foreign currency movements are placed by developing countries which have faced foreign exchange problems in the past is to avoid sudden erosion of their foreign exchange reserves which are essential to maintain stability of trade balance and Continue reading

Brand Case Study: De Beers,Volkswagen and Nokia

DEBEERS The market for diamonds has never been characterized by free, dynamic and open competition. Everything about diamond industry is manipulated: supply, pricing, processing and retailing. The leader of the diamond industry is De Beers, a company that produces half of the world’s high-quality diamonds. This case explores the impact of marketing on the diamond market and how it helped to shape the public perception of diamonds as a desirable gift over the course of the 20th century. De Beers ‘Diamonds are Forever’ advertising campaign, which started in the 1940s, was to become one of the most effective of the 20th century. It enabled De Beers to manipulate demand as well as supply. With the help of their agency, they created a mindset, which later swept the world, in which diamonds came to be perceived, not simply as precious gems (of which there are many) that could be traded according Continue reading

Customer Services in Commercial Banks

Customer service is the service provided in support of a bank’s core products. Customer service often includes answering questions; handling complaints. Customer service can occur on site (as when an onstage employee helps a customer or answers a question) or it can occur over the phone or the Internet. Quality customer service is essential to building cordial customer relationship. Banking being a service industry, a lot depends on efficient and prompt customer service. Customer service is the most important duty of the banking operations. Prompt and efficient service with smile will develop good public relations reduce complaints and increase business. Why is Customer Service Important? Changing customer expectations: Today the customer is more demanding and more sophisticated than he or she was thirty years ago. The increased importance of customer service: With changing customer expectations, competitors are seeing customer service as a competitive weapon with which they differentiate their products Continue reading

Incremental Principle in Economics

The incremental concept is closely related to the marginal costs and marginal revenues of economic theory. Incremental concept in managerial economics involves two important activities which are as follows: Estimating the impact of decision alternatives on costs and revenues. Emphasizing the changes in total cost and total cost and total revenue resulting from changes in prices, products, procedures, investments or whatever may be at stake in the decision. The two basic components of incremental reasoning are as follows: Incremental cost: Incremental cost may be defined as the change in total cost resulting from a particular decision. Incremental revenue: Incremental revenue means the change in total revenue resulting from a particular decision. The incremental principle in economics may be stated as under: A decision is obviously a profitable one if; It increases revenue more than costs It reduces costs more that revenues. It decreases some costs to a greater extent than Continue reading

Job Evaluation – Meaning, Definition, Objectives and Process

For fixing compensation to different jobs, it is essential that there is internal equity and consistency among different job holders. Job evaluation aims to provide this equity and consistency by defining the relative worth of different jobs in an organization. Job evaluation is the process of determining the relative worth of different categories of jobs by analyzing their responsibilities and consequently, fixation of their remuneration. So, Job evaluation is the process of determining and quantifying the value of jobs. It is the systematic scoring and comparison of jobs along organizationally determined dimensions of job worth, such as, in the effort, responsibility, complexity, importance, skills and the working conditions of a job. Job evaluation is a tool to compare jobs consistently and classify them into appropriate pay ranges. The worth of each job within the organization is determined through the Job Evaluation process (job analysis, job descriptions, & job evaluations). This Continue reading