Implementing BPR in Hierarchical Authority Organizations

Today the business world is characterized by unpredictable changes, under the global competition and the customers’ demands. To be successful in such an environment, a firm must operate with speed, flexibility, low overheads and a clearly defined customer focus. The term business process reengineering (BPR) refers to an approach that is used by organizations seeking improvements in their business performance.  Organizations consider BPR as an important tool of organizational improvement, as it helps them achieve the radical change necessary for today’s volatile business environment. Additionally, BPR stresses the importance of linkages within an organisation. Though its structure integrated processes are generated concerning the nature of people’s jobs and how people are grouped and organized in the working environment. What is more, through BPR people’s jobs become multidimensional instead of narrow and traditional task orientation. When the concept of process is promoted in the BPR, cross boundary teamwork is incorporated and Continue reading

Case Study of Johnson & Johnson: Creating the Right Fit between Corporate Communication and Organizational Culture

Early in Bill Nielsen’s tenure as the director of corporate communication  for Johnson & Johnson, Ralph S. Larsen, the CEO to whom he reported,  told him, “I believe in sunlight about everything.” Larsen wanted to  know the truth about company activities, whether good or bad, in an  open way and without embellishment, and offered his assistance to  Nielsen. From the start, then, Nielsen knew that the CEO would support  him as long as he, Nielsen, was honest and direct. New to the company in the late 1980s, Nielsen soon discovered that none of the benchmarking studies about corporate communication could provide a model for Johnson & Johnson’s corporate communication function, because its culture is unique. As he explained to us: “Johnson & Johnson is a consensus management organization, a culture of shared understanding about how to run the business, not a culture of elaborate rules.” Building consensus–rather than imposing one’s Continue reading

What Is Augmented Reality?

Augmented reality refers to the utilisation of computers to modify reality, usually in order to provide additional assistance when a human user is interacting with the real environment. The real world around humans provides a wealth of information which the human user must absorb and process through their senses. The most useful and informative of all human senses is the sense of vision and a huge amount of information about the ambiance is required to be sensed as well as processed by the human visual system. Computers are useful because they can provide an overlay of information to assist with the human processing of the information which they perceive through their senses, mostly the visual sense. As an example, a human who is walking around an urban area can be provided additional information through a head mounted display which superimposes textual information about identification of buildings and other important landmarks Continue reading

Strategy Formulation and Stakeholder Influence

Strategy is defined as the direction and scope of an organization over the long term, which achieves advantage for the organization through its configuration of resources within a changing environment and to fulfil stakeholder expectations. A strategic plan is therefore large scale future oriented activities that allow interaction with the competitive environment in order to achieve company objectives. It follows that strategic management is the process whereby a strategy is formulated, evaluated, and continuously improved. Strategic planning flows from the definition of an organization’s vision, mission and objectives and subsequent environmental scanning, to understand the organization’s strategic position with respect to the macro external environment, its industry, competitors, internal resources, competencies and expectations and influence of stakeholders. This initial process establishes a basis for strategic choice by means of a match of identified strengths to opportunities. The translation of strategic choice into action is then implemented across all levels of Continue reading

Income Tax Act, 1961

‘Domestic company’ means an Indian company, or any other company which, in respect of its income liable to tax under this Act, has made the prescribed arrangements for the declaration and payment, within India, of the dividends (including dividends on preference shares) payable out of such income, as per Section 2(22A). Dividend, according to Section 2(22) includes- (a) any distribution by a company of accumulated profits, whether capitalised or not, if such distribution entails the release by the company to its shareholders of all or any part of the assets of the company; (b) any distribution to its shareholders by a company of debentures, debenture-stock, or deposit certificates in any form, whether with or without interest, and any distribution to its preference shareholders of shares by way of bonus, to the extent to which the company possesses accumulated profits, whether capitalised or not; (c) any distribution made to the shareholders Continue reading

Financial Manager – Roles and Responsibilities

Ever since the 1900s and even after the Great Depression in the 1930s, the primary role of a finance people was only a descriptive discipline on bookkeeping which means accurately recording all transactions related to the payment of suppliers, billing of customers, and handling of cash passing through the accounts department and issuing periodic financial statements. Until the late 1960s increased competition in industries forced financial managers to shift their focus towards evaluating investment opportunities and making decisions on the choice of assets and liabilities necessary to maximize the company’s value. The 1970s and 80s were a period of increased international competition, CEOs became concerned with operational efficiency to cope with the fast-growing market, this included the accounting functions which were streamlined and required to reach out to become a profit center for the whole organization. This transitional shift was gradual and finance manager’s roles are no longer stuck solely Continue reading