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

Three Key Elements of Six Sigma Process

Six Sigma is a widely used Operational Approach towards Operations Management and is frequently applied within Manufacturing Businesses, however the fundamental processes also apply within businesses operating within the Service Industry. The Purpose of Six Sigma is to reduce process variation so that virtually all the products or services provided meet or exceed customer expectations. Six Sigma adopts a very data driven, disciplined method for eliminating defects within processes and promoting business improvement within organisations. Six Sigma is able to show quantitatively how a process is performing and to achieve ‘Six Sigma Status’, a process must not produce more than 3.4 defects per million opportunities. Six Sigma is dissected into three core elements including: Process Improvement, Process Design/Re-Design & Process Management and will be explored below. 1. Process Improvement The Process Improvement aspect of the Six Sigma Model addresses the concept of improving existing processes with the ultimate objective of Continue reading

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Stakeholder Capitalism Model

Stakeholder capitalism model says that company should make decisions by taking into account the interests of all the stakeholders in the firm. Stakeholders include all individuals or groups who can significantly affect the welfare of the firm in the aspects of not only the financial claimants, but also employees, management, customers, local community, supply chain members, local or national government and creditors. One of the important variables in this model is considering all stakeholders’ interest as they are people who support and sustain the company. In the stakeholder capitalism model, it is argued that firms should pay attention to all their supporters that can affect the firm. Managers and boards of directors of company have vital roles on making decisions that suit multiple competing and inconsistent constituent interests. However, there are different demands and interests from stakeholders. Customers want low prices, high quality, expensive service and so on. Employees want Continue reading

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Dynamic Provisioning in Indian Banking

Dynamic Provisioning:  The Basel II Framework is approaching dynamic provisioning by clearly requiring banks to separately measure EL(Expected Loss) and UL(Unexpected Loss). EL-based provisioning has forward-looking element as it is capable of incorporating through the cycle view of probability of default. The recent financial crisis has provided a still further fillip to the search for a forward-looking provisioning approach due to pro-cyclical considerations. Inadequacy of the Current Provisioning Policy in India:  In normal provisioning policies, specific provisions are made ex-post based on some estimation of the level of impairment. The general provisions are normally made ex-ante as determined by regulatory authorities or bank management based on their subjective judgment. While such a policy for making specific provisions is pro-cyclical, that for general provisions does not lay down objective rules for utilization thereof. Indian banks make the following types of loan loss provisions at present: General provisions for standard assets, Specific Continue reading

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Case Study: Effect of Poor Leadership Decisions on Organization Outcomes

Case Study The subject matter is reminiscent of the personal experience of a man named Jason D (the name has been changed for anonymity). In 2018, Mister D. was a regional manager in a company that provided telecommunications equipment. His particular unit operated in a middle-sized City X covered by three offices that reported directly to Jason. Following the examination of the 2017 statements, the headquarters decided that the combined performance of the City X unit had been sub-optimal. Therefore, the regional manager was assigned the priority task of improving the net revenues of his area by 20% in 2018 with an additional 10% increase in 2019. Jason D. and his deputies spent a month in intense consultations, attempting to determine the most fitting strategy for this objective. Several options were proposed, including hiring additional sales managers and reworking the monetary motivation system. Ultimately, Mr. D. relied on his vision Continue reading

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Importance of Planning in Management

One of the first and most important functions of management is planning. Planning consists of the process of evaluating the goals of an organization and creating a plan to meet these goals. Both Koontz and O’Donnell state that “planning is deciding in advance on what to do, when and how it will be done, and who will be doing it”. Therefore, planning is the foundation of the management role, and plays a critical part to the success of an organization by determining the means and the methods in order to achieve the objective. A key element and starting point of this process should include the development of a Mission and Vision Statement to which aids in the way an organization functions. The mission statement is the explanation of the organization’s existence, while the vision statement is the motivator in which defines the purpose and direction of the organization for not Continue reading

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Hostile Takeovers – Definition, Strategies, Examples and Defenses

The replacement of poor management is a potential source of gain from acquisition/takeover. Changing technological and competitive factors may lead to a need for corporate restructuring. If incumbent management is unable to adapt, then a hostile takeover is one method for accomplishing change. The primary reasons for a hostile takeovers can be the analysis that the target company is undervalued or has few strategic assets that directly complement the business of the acquiring company. The synergy of the resources can boost the growth trajectory of the acquiring company and can also increase its overall market share. Hostile takeovers generally involve poorly performing firms in mature industries, and occur when the board of directors of the target is opposed to the sale of the company. In this case, the acquiring firm has two options to proceed with the acquisition tender offer or a proxy fight. A tender offer represents an offer Continue reading

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