Capital Structure – Debt vs Equity Financial Markets – Instruments and Securities

How well employees know about your Organization? Now, this is a million dollar question and a prominent issue that has to be taken care of when it comes to motivating your employees. Transparency is a booster pack that works out wonders in the area of motivation. 25 Great Motivational Quotes to Kickstart Your Life How can a management be transparent in key areas like finance and business deals, my question is WHY NOT? The success of operations of a firm relies solely upon the performance of individuals who work towards the accomplishment of goals. They are the key persons who should be kept abreast about the activities of the firm.   What makes some organizations stand out? When the Boss wants each and every employee to be truthful and loyal to him, the same expectancy would be there on the part of the workforce –Why don’t the bosses understand this? Integrated Organizational Development I would cite TVS Group as a classic example that commands respect from the employees and many a times I’ve heard people say that they are proud to work for TVS. What makes the employees so motivated to work for certain firms overlooking the pay scale and perks? One should deeply delve into the psychological theories that support motivation, perception and attitude. Etiquette of the company: This is one thing that a firm has to clearly communicate to its work force. The ideology and principle behind the running of the business should be genuine and authentic. The pathway to achieve those missions should be realistic and achievable-to put it clearly a firm should have its business roots stemming out from clear cut intent and purpose. When JRD Tata wanted to start a steel plant in India, not many believed it to be a possible venture. The business legend had clear cut intent of installing a steel plant to utilize the resources available in India and to pass on the proceeds for the economic benefit of the country. Nobody suspected his intent; such was his determination and resolve.   This infographic beautifully portraits the scenario of how the future employees would be:    Communication of Goals: The management will have clear plans of production target which has to be communicated properly to the lowest level with the same amount of clarity. This has to be done via channels or different levels of management and executives have to play their roles properly. Nobody needs to show their prowess or power; only thing needed is proper delegation of authority and responsibility. This gives clear direction to the work force and when their immediate boss sits with them for periodic discussions to decide on the short term as well as long term objectives, they feel part of the show which immensely motivates them. Ethical Standards of the company: This again adds image to the company and “As is the Leader so is the Employee.”  The management should not involve itself in any kind of lobbying – When there is political corruption, malpractices become the order of the day.   What Kind of a Leader Are You?   A country like India needs more educated leaders who can bring awareness on the importance of economic independence and even distribution of wealth to the masses. If people clearly know what is right and what is wrong, the unwanted elements cannot take them for a ride. Given the population, India though marching towards becoming a developed nation, the growth is hindered by poor policy decisions and sky rocketing inflation. Clarity in Structure: Ego clashes start when the organizations have more number of levels and generate chaos in communication. Misunderstanding creeps in because there...

Meticulous Project Management Fundamental Aspect of a Project: Planning is the fundamental aspect of any management system as it sets the direction or pathway, which the firm has to follow in order to accomplish the goals and objectives of an organization. In a project management or a process management, planning is the key function followed by preparation of a proposal or a report that analyses and defines the resources necessary to carry on the project. This project report can then be sent for evaluation by an expert consultant to determine the feasibility and viability of the project.   Organising to Get the Desired Result: A project undertaken has to be meticulously planned and organized to achieve the desired result in the given time frame. One has to understand that a project differs from a process in that, it involves fixed time fame and cost frame.Say,for instance, your firm is rewarded with a project to design ERP solutions for a big corporate company. What will be step one? You will try to gather all the details regarding organization structure and hierarchy, people involved and their designations, availability of physical resources, whether the corporate firm is technically equipped, product portfolio, strategic business units and their viability, distribution channels and so on., As one is aware, enterprise resource solution software integrates production, marketing and human resource departments to facilitate even flow of information and quick execution of orders without any time delay.   Picture Courtesy: Project Management and Leadership Champions Data Collection: Data collection is inevitable and has to be precise to attain your set goals. The next logical step will be deciding the time frame and allocating resources (human and other physical resources) to carry on the project. If you feel that the delivery deadline cannot be met with, you have to immediately inform your sponsors about the time delay and extend your time frame for the project to materialize. On -Time Delivery: Projects that involve production and delivery of goods depend on the manufacturing cycle time and delivery lead time. Implementation becomes a cake walk if your business plan has incorporated, 1) well laid down step by step procedures, 2) leverage for uncertainty in the external environment and 3) focus on proper communication. Communicating the entire project plan as per the intentions to the people concerned is very vital for the success of a project, because people should understand, what needs to be done, what is one’s role, and the strategies evolved by the management. PERT and CPM: Program evaluation and review techniques (PERT) and critical pathway method are some of the tools that help in ascertaining the progress rate of projects. These tools help in identifying specific milestones and activities that are to be carried out in a sequential manner and also to estimate the time required for each activity, with a help of a network diagram. A very interesting and simple video explaining how to determine project duration using critical path…. Success of a project management is determined by Decision making ability Communication skills Negotiation techniques and Time management skills, of the project manager and also depends on how well it protects the interests of the stakeholders involved. A project is a comprehensive team effort with the budget and time well within the scope of the...

MBO BY PETER DRUCKER Peter Ferdinand Drucker was an influential writer, management consultant, and self-described “social ecologist. Harvard Business Review honored Drucker in the June 2004 with his seventh McKinsey Award for his article, “What Makes an Effective Executive”, the most awarded to one person. The Concept of MBO: Management by objectives was a concept introduced by the doyen of management, Peter Drucker. This concept involves formulation of objectives for the entire organization and which are then broken down into divisional, departmental and finally individual objectives. Objectives are decided on the basis of mutual consultation between managers and employees at the departmental and divisional levels and thus it can be appropriately called an integration of top down and bottom up approaches in management. The specific aim is to make the employees participate in decision making and thus motivate them to perform better. Management by objectives follows a step-by-step procedure that ensures the feasibility of the action plans decided upon. Realistic and achievable plans are set. Activities to be preformed are identified. Logical relationship between the sequences of activities is laid down. Time frame and cost frame are fixed. Resources to be allocated are decided upon. Salient features of the process: Self control and Self direction: The workers exhibit keen self control in that, they self appraise their performance that results in intrinsic motivation. Setting short goals and periodical review to match the current performance with the expected standards greatly boosts the performance of each and every individual and gives him the necessary drive to accomplish the assigned tasks. Periodic progress review: This helps to correct errors and deviations if any. This review is done by managers of higher levels in a constructive way and adequate counseling and guidance can be given to the subordinates to bridge the shortfall if any, in performance. This is possible only when there exists a mutual understanding between the superior and subordinates to find reasons and solve problems together. Reviews need not necessarily pinpoint errors but also revise future plans and actions. The major emphasis of management by objectives lies in its result oriented approach. What is the relationship between management by objectives and motivation? Motivation of an employee can be brought about by financial incentives such as bonus, increments, pay and perks or non-financial incentives such as recognition, appreciation and additional responsibilities. But nothing can equal self-motivation which makes an employee perform with aplomb. As management by objectives is directly linked with goal-setting, performance becomes better and better as the goals are set at a higher level. It involves complete participation from the employees’ end and when specific goals are set by mutual consent of workers and management, the results are magnificent. Many firms practice management by objectives to promote harmony and sense of belonging in the minds of employees as a result of which there is remarkable improvement in performance and productivity. The focus is on improving the job design and work module to make the jobs more meaningful, interesting and...

Critical Factors Influencing Corporate Management A corporate management is said to be capable only if it is able to integrate, coordinate and direct the functional capabilities towards overall objectives and common goals of a firm, that have a bearing on an organization’s capacity and ability to implement its strategies. Multitudinous factors affect the functioning of corporate general management system. It differs with each organization with differing objectives and mode of operations. Key Factors or Contributors: The firms must evolve an effective system for corporate planning. The objectives must be realistic and achievable and clear and complete communication of plans to various levels of organization helps in execution of action plans by the respective departments.   A pucca management information system is necessary that integrates all the levels through a network of computers, facilitating information processing and task implementation.   If the firm is oriented towards a god deal of risk-propensity, chances of rewards are also quite high. You cannot beat your competitors unless you possess a better shade of entrepreneurship in you than others.   Competency development backed up by strategy formulations, in the wake of challenges and opportunities in the external environment is well appreciated. Why everybody always talk about strategy? It is one thing that warrants for a sure success, it implies that you are smart enough to think ahead of time, what others have failed to. Don’t you want to set a path forward for the future generations to come?   Values that are unique to your organization add to the image of your company. Say, if you project “quality”, as your prime value system, definitely it is going to attract consumers who are very particular about quality unmindful of the price. Slowly the idea gathers momentum and your company’s image gets a boost. But don’t forget that you have to fulfill your commitments in terms of quality without any compromise.   Reward systems must be worked out to gear up the morale of top managers who are the achievers of your management objectives. Their track records and degree of commitment should be analyzed to decide on pay and promotions.   A favorable organizational climate is inevitable for the organization to progress in the desired direction without any internal politics and power struggles. The role of top management is very crucial in that, it has to identify people with vested interests and bring them back into the groove by making necessary changes in the organization structure or go for weeding out actions if things go out of control. Ultimately, the overall objectives of the organization is what that matters, and people must be trained to accept the organizational changes which form a part of the developmental procedures of management.   Social responsibility is much talked about these days, and the corporate firms are in a position to discharge their duties pertaining to social welfare, as part of their corporate management programme.It has become a regular feature of the management process to part with a share of their profit towards a social cause. Corporate management is a comprehensive process that covers all aspects of the management with growth as its motto and social conscience as its...