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

Need for Financial Restructuring

Financial restructuring is the reorganization of the financial assets and liabilities of a corporation in order to create the most beneficial financial environment for the company. The process of financial restructuring is often associated with corporate restructuring, in that restructuring the general function and composition of the company is likely to impact the financial health of the corporation. When completed, this reordering of corporate assets and liabilities can help the company to remain competitive, even in a depressed economy. Just about every business goes through a phase of financial restructuring at one time or another. In some cases, the process of restructuring takes place as a means of allocating resources for a new marketing campaign or the launch of a new product line. When this happens, the restructure is often viewed as a sign that the company is financially stable and has set goals for future growth and expansion. Need Continue reading

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Economic Interpretation of Linear Programming Duality

We see that the primal and the dual of linear programming are related mathematically, we can now show that they are also related in economic sense. Consider the economic interpretation of the duality of linear programming – first for a maximization problem and then for a minimization problem. The maximization problem: Consider the following linear programming problem. The optimal solution to this problem dives production of 18 units of Xi and 8 units of x2 per week. It yields the maximum prof of a Rs. 1000, Maximize Z = 40×1 + 35×2, Subject to 2×1 + 3X2 < or = 60, Raw materials constraint per week. 4×1 + 3X2 < or = 96, Capacity constraint per week. x1,x2 > or = 0 The optimal solution to this problem gives production of 18 units of x1 and 8 units of x2 per week. It yields the maximum profit of a Rs. Continue reading

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Deal and Kennedy’s Organizational Culture Model

As a lead up to the discussion on corporate culture in people’s management, it is important to consider Deal and Kennedy’s contribution. Deal and Kennedy suggests that ‘People are a company’s greatest resource, and the way to manage them is not directly by computer reports, but by the subtle cues of a culture’ Deal and Kennedy (2000) examined organisational culture from a different perspective, concluding that there are six interrelated elements which define organisational culture. These are: The history of the organisation, because shared past experiences shape current beliefs and values and the traditions which organisation is built on.  For example, firms often draw on their heritage and use this as part of their branding strategy, as well as asserting a belief in traditional values. The values and beliefs of the organisation are critical as these focus on the shared beliefs of employees and the organisation as a whole, including the written and underwritten Continue reading

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Duration and Portfolio Immunization

Portfolio Duration Duration is a significant measurement of how sensitivity the change in price of a bond in the change of interest rate. It is broadly linked to the length of time before the bond is mature. Duration assists investors during the investment  decision making  process by expressing the relation between interest rate and price variables of the bond. Therefore, duration is useful measurement for investors because it protects investment from interest rate risk. When the duration of bond is lower that means investors can obtain the cash earlier and reinvest it at prevailing interest rate. As a result, the lower the duration of a bond, the lesser sensitive changes in the interest rate. Majority of investors are familiar with maturity which is the point of time when investors get back the principal of bond. However, duration is defined as the length of time before the maturity of the bond. Continue reading

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Case Study: FERA Violations by ITC

ITC was started by UK-based tobacco major BAT (British American Tobacco). It was called the Peninsular Tobacco Company, for cigarette manufacturing, tobacco procurement and processing activities. In 1910, it set up a full-fledged sales organization named the Imperial Tobacco Company of India Limited. To cope with the growing demand, BAT set up another cigarette manufacturing unit in Bangalore in 1912. To handle the raw material (tobacco leaf) requirements, a new company called Indian Leaf Tobacco Company (ILTC) was incorporated in July 1912. By 1919, BAT had transferred its holdings in Peninsular and ILTC to Imperial. Following this, Imperial replaced Peninsular as BAT’s main subsidiary in India. By the late 1960s, the Indian government began putting pressure on multinational companies to reduce their holdings. Imperial divested its equity in 1969 through a public offer, which raised the shareholdings of Indian individual and institutional investors from 6.6% to 26%. After this, the Continue reading

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What Is Arbitrage?

The cost of equity will rise by an amount just sufficient to offset any possible saving or loss. The supply of debt is determined by the lenders. The optimal level is simply the maximum amount of debt which lenders are prepared to subscribe in any given circumstances. For example, level of inflation, rate of economic growth, level of profits etc. The investors will exercise their own leverage by mixing their own portfolio with debt and equity. They call this the Arbitrage process. Under these conditions of investments the average cost of capital is constant. If two different firms which same level of business risks but with levels of gearing sold for different values, then shareholders would move from overvalued firm to the undervalued firm and adjust their level of borrowings through the market to maintain financial risk at the same level. The shareholders would increase their income through this method. Continue reading

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