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

Case Study: Restructuring Process of Volkswagen

As western automobile markets reached saturation, automobile giants like Chrysler and Volkswagen resorted to restructuring. Volkswagen had concentrated on its portfolio restructuring since early 90’s. Volkswagen acquired Skoda in 1991. Volkswagen helped Skoda to emerge out of bankruptcy and Skoda soon became “U.K.’s best loved car”. This in turn helped Volkswagen, whose profits were declining around the same time. It gained access to the little penetrated car market of Eastern Europe. In 2009, it acquired 49.9% stake in Porsche. During recession, Porsche plunged into debts. Volkswagen used this opportunity to gain from its rival, who had a respected brand name globally. Even though the car market has matured in western parts of the globe, Volkswagen has been using strategic acquisitions to grow further. The financial restructuring process of Volkswagen, called as ‘ForMotion’ is well-known. This restructuring process began in 2004. With the commencement of ‘ForMotion’, a number of workers lost Continue reading

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Role of a Systems Analyst in Organizations

Who is Systems Analyst? A systems analyst is a person who conducts a study, identifies activities and objectives and determines a procedure to achieve the objectives. Designing and implementing systems to suit organizational needs are the functions of the systems analyst He plays a major role in seeing business benefit from computer technology. The analyst is a person with unique skills. He uses these skills to coordinate the efforts of different type of persons in an organisation to achieve business goals. What a Systems Analyst does? A system analyst carries out the following job: The First and perhaps most difficult task of systems analyst is problem definition. Business problems are quite difficult to define. It is also true that problems cannot be solved until they are precisely and clearly defined. Initially a systems analyst does not know how to solve a specific problem. He must consult with managers, users and Continue reading

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National Competitive Advantage Theory of International Trade – Porters Diamond Model

It is a fact that Porter (1990) never focused primarily on the factors determining the pattern of trade, yet his theory of national competitive advantage does explain why a particular country is more competitive in a particular industry. If, for example, Italy maintains competitive advantage in the production of ceramic tiles and Switzerland possesses the competitive advantage in watches, it can be interpreted that the former will export ceramic tiles and the latter will export watches and both of them will import goods in which their own industry is not competitive. Why is this there a difference? Porter explains that there are four factors responsible for such diversity. He calls those factors the “diamond of national advantage”. The Porters diamond model includes: Factor conditions Demand conditions Related and supporting industries Firm strategy, structure and rivalry These factors have been more or less taken into account by earlier economists. What is Continue reading

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Virtual Banking in India

The practice of banking has undergone a significant transformation in the nineties. While banks are striving to strengthen customer relationship and move towards ‘relationship banking’, customers are increasingly moving away from the confines of traditional branch-banking and are seeking the convenience of remote electronic banking services. And even within the broad spectrum of electronic banking, the aspect of banking that has gained currency is virtual banking. Increase in the functional and geographical spread of banks has necessitated the switchover from hard cash to paper based instruments and now to electronic instruments. Broadly speaking, virtual banking denotes the provision of banking and related services through extensive use of information technology without direct recourse to the bank by the customer. The origin of virtual banking in the developed countries can be traced back to the seventies with the installation of Automated Teller Machines (ATMs). It is possible to delineate the principal types Continue reading

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Roles of a Marketing Manager

Marketing management is a business discipline which is focused on the practical application of marketing techniques and the management of a firm’s marketing resources and activities. The marketing manager of a company plays an important role as far as marketing of the firm’s products and services are concerned. Apart from this, marketing managers are often responsible for influencing the level, timing and composition of customer demand accepted definition of term. It is worth noting that the roles of a marketing manager can vary significantly based on a business’ size, corporate culture and industry concept. However, we will discuss about the general roles that all marketing managers independent of any business performs. These key roles of a marketing manager will be analysed in depth below: 1. Carrying out of Marketing Research The first and most important role of a marketing manager is to carry out marketing research and analysis. The marketing Continue reading

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The Importance of Marketing Communication

Those who practice advertising, branding, direct marketing, marketing, packaging, promotion, publicity, sponsorship, public relations, sales, sales promotion and online marketing are termed marketing communicators. The communication process is sender-encoding-transmission device-decoding-receiver, which is part of any advertising or marketing program. Encoding the message is the second step in communication process, which takes a creative idea and transforms it into attention-getting advertisements designed for various media such as television, radio, magazines, and others. Massages travel to audiences through various transmission devices. The third stage of the marketing communication process occurs when a channel or medium delivers the message. Decoding occurs when the message reaches one or more of the receiver’s senses. Consumers both hear and see television ads. Others consumers handle or touch and read a coupon offer. One obstacle that prevents marketing messages from being efficient and effective is called barrier. Barrier is anything that distorts or disrupts a message. It Continue reading

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