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

The Bretton Woods System – Background, Design and Reasons for Collapse

Since the beginning of the 19th century, globalization, international trade and free trade between countries became the new economic order and several attempts have been made since then to develop policies and schemes to ensure the stability of the international monetary system. It is safe to say that in truth, the world economy has never been in a state of utopia, but nevertheless, we have never stopped trying to attain such. The Bretton Woods era of 1944 to 1977, one of the few fairly successful schemes the world powers created in trying to achieve economic utopia, though existed for a short period, has been accredited as being one of the most successful international monetary systems, so impressive was the economic stability and growth of the era that there have been ongoing talks for a comeback of the system. Background of the Bretton Woods System At the end of the World Continue reading

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Kaizen – Definition, Meaning, Process, Implementation, Advantages and Disadvantages

What is Kaizen? Japan’s management philosophy has introduced a new creative strategy for competitive success in business, or the so-called “Kaizen” model. The term Kaizen began to receive attention from management experts and scholars around the world when Masaaki Imai published his first book in 1986, “The Key to Japan’s Competitive Success”. Kaizen is a Japanese word with literally mean improvement, taken from words ‘Kai’, which means continuous and ‘zen’ which means improvement. Some translate ‘Kai’ to mean change and ‘zen’ to mean good, or for the better.  In the context of Lean manufacturing, kaizen is understood to signify small, incremental, and frequent improvements to a process. Lean philosophy states that the large improvement which just require small amounts of investment and risk. The kaizen main mindset is making process improvements without adding people and space to the process. The more important one is implement the change without spending the Continue reading

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Credit Rating – Meaning, Definition, Objectives, Approaches and Methodology

Credit rating is a codified rating assigned to an issue by authorized credit rating agencies. These agencies have been promoted by well-established financial Institutions and reputed banks/finance companies. Credit rating is a relative ranking arrived at by a systematic analysis of the strengths and weaknesses of a company and debt instrument issued by the company, based on financial statements, project analysis, creditworthiness factors and future prospectus of the project and the company appraised at a point of time. Objectives of Credit Rating Credit rating aims to: Provide superior information to the investors at a low cost; Provide a sound basis for proper risk-return structure; Subject borrowers to a healthy discipline, and Assist in the framing of public policy guidelines on institutional investment. Thus, credit rating in financial services represent an exercise in faith building for the development of a healthy financial system. Approaches to Credit Rating As a technique for Continue reading

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Foreign Exchange Risk Management Tools for Exchange Rate and Interest Rate Fluctuations

A firm may be able to reduce or eliminate currency exposure by means of internal and external hedging strategies. Internal Hedging Strategies 1. Invoicing A firm may be able to shift the entire risk to another party by invoicing its exports in its home currency and insisting that its imports too be invoiced in its home currency, but in the presence of well functioning forwards markets this will not yield any added benefit compared to a forward hedge. At times, it may diminish the firm’s competitive advantage if it refuses to invoice its cross-border sales in the buyer’s currency. In the following cases invoicing is used as a means of hedging: Trade between developed countries in manufactured products is generally invoiced in the exporter’s currency. Trade in primary products and capital assets are generally invoiced in a major vehicle currency such as the US dollar. Trade between a developed and Continue reading

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Monitoring of Economic and Social Environments in Marketing

In this day and age, economic and social environments are developing at a rapid pace, also it plays a crucial role in deciding consumption. The economic and social environments belong to the marketing environment. According to Kotler, marketing environment can be defined as consisting of the actors and forces outside marketing that affect markers’ ability to develop and maintain successful relationships with its target customers. The marketing environment offers both opportunities and threats. Some assert that the monitoring of the economic and social environments greatly contributes to anticipating customer requirements. However, others consider that it is not the significant element for anticipating although it sometimes proves successful. This article will attempt to demonstrate that the monitoring of the economic and social environments greatly contributes to anticipating customer requirements, although it also brings some problems, and companies should constantly watch and adapt to the marketing environment in order to seek opportunities Continue reading

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Role of Financial Statements Analysis in Making Investment Decisions

One of the most important long-term decisions for any business is investment with the aim of making gains in the future. Investment decisions are concerned with the use of funds including buying, holding or selling and each decision could be vital to a firm. A careless decision may result in a long-term loss or even worse, bankruptcy. Therefore, an in-depth understanding and analysis is necessary for a high quality investment decision process. This is also even more critical to investors who invest in stock of company or shareholders. Financial statement analysis is critical in making effective stock investment decisions. By study the balance sheet, income statement, cash flow statement and statement of owners’ equity separately and combined, an analyst might have a good sense of a company’s overall financial picture; therefore, the investment decisions are likely to be reasonable and profitable. Financial Statements Analysis In order to understand the analysis Continue reading

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