Effective people are preferred to rather than efficient people as the former does the right thing and the latter does things right. Redesigning your workplace not only refers to the infrastructure but also the internal factors that might affect the productivity of your firm. Big corporate firms generally face challenges in the form of Lack of co-operation between subunitsIncreasing complaints from the customersRising Operating costsDip in the moraleMajor changes in technology All these signs are indications of a not so enterprising organizational climate. And it calls for quick decision making regarding introducing some changes that bring some positive development in terms of improved efficiency and increase in productivity. Redesigning Workplace in Response to Exogenous Factors Growth of Organizations The challenges mentioned above may make an organization’s existing structure, management practice or its culture obsolete for the new situation. Growth of an organization should be a result of collaborative effort of all the units of an organization and it is objective and not subjective. An organization is comprised of different elements which interact in deciding the organizational effectiveness. The task or goal, technology, structure, people and the internal and external environment of the firm; all these coexist and hold the firm together. Be it a school, a hospital, a union, a club or a business enterprise the interactive nature of these elements make the process of managing very difficult. Medical tourism and business travel are becoming more popular in Asian countries as it increases the scope of collaboration of industries that can coexist to enjoy a win-win situation. Who is an Effective Manager ? An effective manager anticipates these challenges and proactively initializes a planned change. He strategically prepares the organization to be subject to planned change by manipulating the structure, technology and behavior. Understanding the dimensions of change helps him to manage change better as people are always resistant to change. Modern enterprises right from the start have to install and implement “systems” that are technologically most modern and hire suitable people who are techno-savvy; Because technology rules the world and the development of new software programmes and hardware components feed on themselves every day. Developing an Organization as a Whole Behavior of people is unpredictable but controllable. Individually oriented training and development programmes does not prove much to the benefit of the organization as it creates apprehensions in the minds of the individual that are related to the culture and attitude of his superior and subordinates. The idea of developing the organization as a whole through team building is a better perspective as it renews the enthusiasm of people working for you and as a team they feel more cohesive and adhered. Synergy plays its role in improving the interpersonal relationship amongst the team members. Firms are becoming more modern in their outlook. For instance, a showroom whose purpose is to showcase your products also provides entertainment by its aesthetic value. Only if the customer is impressed by the artistic way of your exhibit, will he enter your showroom. Change is inevitable and it improves the health of an organization. The focus should be on “total system change” and the orientation is towards achieving desired results as a consequence of planned activities. Flat Organizational Structure You would have come across the latest buzz word “flat organizational structure”. This is designed in order to bridge the gap between front line employees and the executive level. If there is only few levels of management, the process of communication is more effective, the art of delegation becomes mandatory and need for participation in the decision making process involves all the employees which in turn reduces bureaucracy. There is no set pattern...

Costing and Profitability Analysis Relationship between Cost of Production and Sales Volume: The cost of production and volume of sales are the inter-dependent determinants of profit. The analysis of cost behavior in relation to the changing volume of sales and its impact on profit is very important to determine the break even level of a firm. The level at which total revenue equals total costs, is said to be the break even level where there is no-profit or no-loss. Sales beyond break-even volume bring in profits. Generally production is preceded by the process of demand forecasting, to decide on the volume of production, the produce of which will be absorbed by the market. Pricing and promotions come at a later stage. Costing is done to predict the costs of production and resultant profits at various levels of activity. Download this comprehensive power-point presentation on Break-Even Analysis. Cost Volume Profit or CVP Analysis: CVP analysis or Cost-Volume-Profit analysis helps a firm to study the interrelationship between these three factors and their effect on clean profit. The process also includes an analysis about the external factors that affect the volume of production, such as market demand, competitor threat and internal factors such as availability of infrastructure, capital and labor force. This CVP analysis is a boon to the managers to locate the bottlenecks that hinder the productivity and find a way out, by adjusting either the levels of activity or controlling the cost.   Picture Courtesy : The Power of Break-Even Analysis Pricing: Pricing is the most important factor that makes your product competitive. The costs of production can be classified into fixed costs, variable costs and semi variable costs. Fixed costs remain constant and tend to be unaffected by the changes in volume of output; whereas variable costs vary directly with the volume of output and semi-variable as the name implies are partly fixed and partly variable. Cost accountants of the modern era fully support variable costing for the purpose of cost accounting, listing its merits as follows: Variable costing talks about contribution margin, which is the excess of sales over variable costs. If this is going to be high, sufficient enough to cover the fixed costs, then profit is assured for the firm. It is a key factor to determine the percentage of profit. Variable costing assigns only those costs to a product that varies directly with the changing levels of production, which is helpful in making a distinction of profit made from sales and those resulting from changes in production and inventory. Segregating the costs into fixed and variable is done for the purpose of providing information to reflect cost-volume-profit relationships and to facilitate management decision-making and control. Some applications of variable costing that facilitates management decision making: Profit planning: By increasing the volume of sales or decreasing the selling price of the product. Performance evaluation of profit centres:Like, sales division, marketing department, product line etc., Decide on product priorities: In view of market potential and profit potential Make or Buy Decisions: Depending on the production capacity and sales demand. Budgeting: Flexible budgeting and cost control are possible by variable costing technique and the striking feature is the treatment given to fixed costs, where it is treated as a period cost and not apportioned among all the departments and products that enable the firm to understand the movement of profits in the same direction as that of the sales. Although considered to be a controversial technique and weighed against the conventional methods of costing such as absorption costing, it is believed that it is to stay and exist as the next step in the evolutionary method of cost accounting....

Understanding Net Present Value One method of deciding or not a firm should accept an investment project is to determine the net present value of the project. The net present value (NPV) of a project is equal to the present value of the expected stream of net cash flows from the project, discounted at the firm’s cost of capital, minus the initial cost of the project. The value of the firm will increase if the NPV of the project is positive and decline if the NPV is negative. Thus, the firm should undertake the project if the net present value is positive and reject proposals whose values are negative. This method is considered the best, as it takes into account, the initial investment, and cost of capital and cash inflow over a period. Estimation of Future Cash Flow: One of the most important and difficult aspects of capital budgeting is the estimation of the net cash flow from the project. It is the difference between cash receipts and cash payments over the life of a project. Projected cash flow statement is an important criterion for banks to decide on sanctioning medium and long-term loans to prospective clients. Since cash receipts and expenditures occur in the future, a great deal of uncertainty is involved in their estimation. Some general guidelines are to be followed while estimating cash flows. First; cash flows should be measured on an incremental basis. That is, measurement of the firm’s cash flows with and without the project must be ascertained. Any increase in expenditure or reduction in the receipts of other divisions of the firm resulting from the adoption of a given project must be considered. Effect of Depreciation: Second thing is that, net cash inflow must be estimated on an after-tax basis, using the firm’s marginal tax rate.Third, as a non-cash expense, depreciation affects the firm’s cash flow only through its effect on taxes. The initial investment to add a new product line may include the cost of purchasing and installing new equipment, reorganizing the firm’s production process, providing additional working capital for inventory and accounts receivable and so on. The monetary flows generated by this kind of investment include, the incremental sales revenue form the project, salvage value of the equipment at the end of its economic life, if any and recovery of working capital at the end of the project. The outflow will be in the form of taxes, fixed costs and incremental variable costs. Internal Rate of Return or IRR: Another method of determining the acceptance rate of a project proposal is internal rate of return method (IRR).This is nothing but the discount rate that equates the present value of the net cash flow from the project to the initial cost of the project. The firm should undertake a project if the IRR on the project exceeds or is equal to the marginal cost of capital. Capital Rationing and Pay Back Period: More techniques are available for evaluating the feasibility of investment proposals, like, capital rationing, profitability index, pay back period and others. It is always a good thing to analyze the rate of return on investment before the start of the project. If it happens to be satisfactory, then the firm can take a step forward to finalize the proposal. The cost of capital climbs up when the investment return declines, and the firm is subjected to undue pressures of mounting interest rates and capital depletions....

An Analysis to Understand the Art of Accounting Objectives of an Accountant: The pure objective of an accountant would be to record all business transactions that are monetary in nature, in order to ascertain if the company has earned profit or suffered loss during a financial year. The financial position of the company as on a particular date can thus be understood from the accounting journals and ledgers. We are talking about the conventional purpose of accounting. But with the lapse of time, more and more is being expected from accounting, in that, it has to meet the demands and requirements of tax authorities for the purpose of income tax and sales tax returns, government regulations, investors, owners and the management. Thus it can be aptly defined as the art of recording, classifying and summarizing events in a significant manner, that involve money transactions and/ or events that are of financial character, for interpretation. Systematic records for future reference: Book keeping is an accounting practice that tells us how to keep a record of financial transactions. A firm deals with its customers and suppliers, where numerous business transactions take place every day. It is not possible for us to remember every transaction, which we might need it for our reference at a future date. Especially, if it happens to be a credit sale, definitely the necessity of systematic book keeping arises. The owner would like to know, what amount is due from whom, from time to time. To know the financial position of the firm: Every merchant is in business to earn profits. So systematic recording of factual and financial information will facilitate the owner to understand where he stands financially at the end of a financial year, what is his net profit and to pull the ropes tight if credit margin is wide. Further more, he can also understand the nature of his business growth by comparing the accounting records of two consecutive years. Taxation purposes: Some people evade tax, but no one can avoid tax. The main source of revenue generation for government is tax payments from business merchants and corporate companies. You need to pay a percentage as tax, in accordance with profit arising from sales. The accounting records that you maintain contain facts that are taken into account by the taxation authorities as a basis for assessment. https://amzn.to/2sl5aL7 Good evidence in the court of law: To prove your genuinity, in case of some disputes between yourself and the customer or supplier, your records and vouchers, if authentic and valid, are going to speak for you in the court of law as solid evidence. Accounting also answers some of these questions: How well the different departments of business have performed all along? What is the most profitable product line? What are the products whose production has to be increase and what is to be stopped in order to avoid losses? Is the cost of production reasonable or excessive? Is there a need to revise policy decisions to improve the profitability? What will be the future plans of business in the wake of existing results presented to the management? Overall, is the firm proceeding towards the right direction in terms of productivity, profitability and growth? Accounting is not only about recording and classifying, the interesting features being analysis and interpretation, which are the key factors for the development of the organization as a whole. Note: The Comptroller and Auditor General of India (CAG),is the head of the Supreme Audit Institution of India (SAI) CAG is the sole auditor of the accounts of the Central (Union) Government and the State Governments. CAG is also responsible for the audit...

Some business firms with a modest and humble beginning make it to the top in a very short span of time. How do you think this is possible? They have a clear strategic vision that guarantees success. Success does not come that easy. You have to have real focus backed up by solid strategies for such resounding success. A strategy is a comprehensive plan of action that sets critical direction and guides the allocation of resources to achieve long-term organizational objectives. Some people formulate strategies and follow suit, some flow along with the stream of situations and react accordingly, rather than merely plotting strategies. Mere strategizing is not enough, you have to look into the actual situation and how it would affect your operations. Learn Sales Hacking Essential sales skills, sales strategies and sales techniques to sell just about anything! Let us have a clear understanding on the reasons for formulating a strategy Business has gone global for many reasons, including reactive ones like, international competition, customer demands and trade barriers, and proactive ones like seeking economies of scale, new international markets, resource access and cost savings. After the liberalization, globalization and privatization processes activated in full swing, many firms have come to the limelight in the international market scenario, which has provided them with a solid head start. Companies have to respond to both changes in the external environment and emerging opportunities. An opportunity not well utilized is an opportunity lost. Rational planning is called for to meet international expansion through workable strategies. International corporate strategy is purely based on the intentions of your firm, the objectives that stem out from your vision and can be materialized by scanning the environment for threats and opportunities, assessing the internal strengths and weaknesses of the firm, considering alternative international entry strategies and firming up on the workable ones. List down the answers to the following questions and you may arrive at a reasonable conclusion on your company’s market standing.  Strengths  What are your advantages?What is the activity that you specialize in?What is your uniqueness that differentiates you from your competitors? Your own viewpoint and that of the people you deal with is necessary. It is important to be honest and realistic. This exercise helps you and your team to understand the mission and purpose.  Weaknesses  What is done badly?What could be done better?What should be avoided?What causes problems or complaints? To identify the unpleasant truths as quick as possible is the notion of this exercise. Ascertain Your Priorities After ascertaining the priorities, the strategic management process is carried out with well laid plans, executed by professional strategists followed by implementation of control and evaluation procedures. Any corporate firms go for strategic alliances, that may include, acquisitions, mergers, joint ventures, strategic partnerships, cartel agreements and so on to survive in the international market as well as to exploit the opportunities available in the global market with the available potential resources put to optimal...