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 on Apple’s iPod: The Marketing of an Idea Project

Apple’s iPod has taken the world by storm. Nearly ubiquitous, it has changed not only the way people listen to music, but it has transformed its parent company Apple into an entertainment giant. In order to understand how this change came about, we’ll take a look at Apple’s ongoing efforts to make iPod synonymous with hip. We’ll also discuss exactly what customers are buying when they buy an iPod, and we will take a deep look at several aspects of Apple’s marketing of this exciting new product, from the iPod itself, Apple’s strategic planning, possible research findings that supported their approach, segmentation strategies that may have been employed and why, as well as pricing strategy across these segments. Last we’ll discuss communications, promotion and advertising, as well as an interesting shift in retailing that the iPod has enabled. Throughout, we’ll tie back to the Apple brand to dig deep into Continue reading

Abey Francis

Important International Finance Terms

1) Gold Bullion Standard: The basis of money remains a fixed weight of gold but the currency in circulation consist of paper notes with the authorities standing ready to convert unlimited amounts of paper currency in to gold and vice-versa, on demand at a fixed conversion ratio. Thus a pound sterling note can be exchanged for say ‘x’ ounces of gold while a dollar note can be converted into say ‘y’ ounces of gold on demand. 2) Gold Exchange Standard: Gold Exchange Standard was established in order to create additional liquidity in the international markets. Hence the some of the countries committed themselves to convert their currencies into the currency of some other country on the gold standard rather than into gold. The authorities were ready to convert at a fixed rate, the paper currency issued by them into the paper currency of another country, which is operating a gold Continue reading

Abey Francis

The Importance of Core Competencies in Strategy Formulation

Strategy allows an organisation to deliver its vision. To develop a deliberate strategy which could potentially increase the sustainability of an organisation clearly requires the identification of core competencies but often a single strategy is not the answer. Organisations require a headline strategy to fit a brief which resonates the vision but several strategies are required over many departments such as research and development, production and marketing to deliver the main strategy. The process of strategy development is complex and methodology depends on several factors including the availability of resources and the external environment. The first step in strategy development is the identification of core competencies then followed by the the process of leveraging resources so they can be exploited for maximum benefit. Strategy development is a crucial step in attaining competitive advantage but a strategy is only as successful as its implementation. The process of leveraging core competencies therefore Continue reading

Abey Francis

Shareholder Wealth Maximization Vs. Stakeholder Interest

Until now, the discussion between shareholder value perspective and stakeholder perspective has still been argued critically. Some people think that stakeholder interest should be superior over shareholder wealth maximization, but others argue that shareholder wealth maximization should be the prime concern. However, it is obvious to realize that shareholder wealth maximization is the objective of a firm and shareholder wealth maximization should be superior over stakeholder interest in the concern of the both shareholder interest and stakeholder interest. Firstly, it is necessary to understand some definitions of shareholder, stakeholder and the theory of shareholder and theory of stakeholder. Why there has been many debates between two theories ? Shareholder is an individual or corporation owning stock in a public or private company. Shareholder decides the membership of the board of directors by making a vote. Maximizing shareholder wealth means maximizing the flow of dividends to shareholders through time – there Continue reading

Abey Francis

Intrapersonal Communication – The Johari Window Model

Intrapersonal Communication is the most basic of the communication contexts or levels. It occurs when an individual sends and receives messages internally. We spend most of our time thinking. And our thought process is nothing but intrapersonal communication where one person is sending messages and the same person receives them. Here we use the central nervous system (CNS) and peripheral nervous system (PNS) for generation, transmission and receiving of messages. We react to both external and internal stimuli this way. In addition to our thought process, many times we also talk aloud with ourselves. Intrapersonal communication involves our intellect as well as our physical and emotional sensations. The way we communicate with ourselves reflects the various aspects the self-physical, emotional, intellectual and social. It also reflects our habits, roles, attitudes, beliefs and values. Intrapersonal communication is not just a level of communication; it is in fact the very basis of Continue reading

Abey Francis

Project Based Organizations (PBO)

In today’s turbulent market, a lot of organizations is still seeking for a strategic advantage over others and a lot of them has actually seek Project Based Organizations (PBO) as a way to propel them for greater height and thus, gain a strategic advantage over other companies. However, there are still questions how they can best make use of this new organization structure approach to create a synergy between company mission, strategy, and project as well as portfolio management. Project Based Organizations (PBO) refer to organizational forms that involve the creation of temporary systems for the performance of project tasks or activities. PBOs are gaining increased attention as an emerging organizational form, but there is very little knowledge on how PBO function in practice and what value or benefits in adopting the practice of PBOs. Needless to say, there are not many findings on how the extensive use of unique Continue reading

Abey Francis