Applying The Learning Curve To Operating Cash Flows In A Capital-Budgeting Framework

This paper discusses the way financial managers can and should include the learning curve and its impact on cash flows when evaluating proposed capital projects. After examining finance text books and survey results to show that the learning curve is an ignored part of financial decision making, we briefly develop the mathematics of the learning curve then illustrate its application to labor costs and operating cash flow. We calculate the difference between operating cash flows without and with learning to illustrate the systematic impact of the benefit of learning. We note that applying the learning curve to the estimation of expected operating cash flows offers financial managers the opportunity not only to enhance the evaluation process, but also to provide a useful way to look at investing and financing projects. (JEL: C60, M41

Strategic Planning Practices: A Key Success of Organization Growth and Development (A Case Study of Dal Group Company Ltd)

This paper asks to what extend strategic planning can have effects on organizations growth and development. Taking in consideration the issues that been raised by some researchers; that the strategic planning process tended to be inflexible since it operates in hyperactive changing environment and poorly  adapted to changing environment usually affected organization adversely. The main object of the study was to evaluate the impact of strategic planning on growth and development of manufacturing organizations in Sudan; a country marked by political and economic instability, due to multiple wars and USA economic sanctions, which extended for almost twenty years. More precisely the study focused on Dal Group Company Limited (DGCL).The study has formulated three hypotheses that have more effects on organization growth and development; setting objectives, organization structure, and budget allocations. Data has conducted through questionnaire, interviews, records and observation. Statistical Package of Social Studies (SPSS) has used to test the hypotheses and get results. The findings confirmed that, strategic planning has significant impact on the company growth and development. Therefore, the study revealed that, well implemented strategic planning is effective in an organization growth and development. This underscores the importance roles of strategic management, especially in light of volatile and turbulent environment. Keywords: Strategic planning, objectives, structure, budget, organization growth

Tanzania Country Climate Risk Profile Series, Mufindi District

The agricultural sector in Tanzania is facing high climatic risks. Frequent and severe temperature and precipitation, recurrent droughts and increased incidences of pests and diseases are some of the climate effects that have been observed. Catalyzed with rising input prices and price volatility, there has been a decline in food productivity and farmer incomes. The natural resources that support agricultural production—including rivers and forests—are also degrading due to extreme climate events. Projections indicate that these trends are likely to worsen in the coming decades, with temperatures increasing by nearly 2.7°C by and 4.5°C by 2060 and 2090 respectively (Irish Aid , 2018). At the same time, both day and night temperatures will become more extreme, and precipitation will begin to vary more dramatically by geographic area. Smallholder farmers are particularly vulnerable to the effects of climate change because of their low access to the resources needed to adapt to changing conditions. Among smallholders, women are more vulnerable due to their outsized role in agriculture and the social limitations placed on their decision-making and inclusion. A lack of coordination and information symmetry between stakeholders have prevented the full implementation of policies aimed at mitigating climate change. The government, with the support of development partners, has put in place a number of policies, strategies and guidelines to address climate change. The National Agriculture Policy (2013), National Climate Change Strategy (2012), National Adaptation Programme of Action (2007), and the Climate Smart Agriculture guideline (2007) provide a framework for creating agricultural resiliency in the face of climate change. This Climate-Smart Agriculture (CSA) Profile documents the need for, and adoption of CSA practices at the local level in Mufindi District. This profile is an output of the CSA/SuPER project on Upscaling CSA with Small-Scale Food Producers Organized through Village Savings and Lending Associations (VSLA). The project is implemented by Cooperative Assistance and Relief Everywhere (CARE) International, the International Center for Tropical Agriculture (CIAT) (now part of the Alliance of Bioversity International and CIAT), Sokoine University of Agriculture (SUA), and Wageningen University and Research (WUR). Both qualitative and quantitative methods were used to gather the information herein, in accordance with the methodology employed by Mwongera et al. (2015). Secondary information was collected through an extensive literature review. Primary information was collected from interviews with agricultural experts, farmer focus group discussions, stakeholder workshops, and farmer interviews in the Mufindi District. This profile is organized into six major sections based on the analytical steps of the study. The first section describes the contextual importance of agriculture to Mufindi livelihoods and households. The second describes historic and future climatic trends. The third section highlights farmers’ priority value chains. The fourth section addresses the challenges and cross-cutting issues in the sector. The fifth section details climate hazards experienced by farmers, as well as the current and proposed adaptation strategies. Finally, the sixth section outlines the policies related to CSA and the institutions that facilitate implementation of climate change initiatives

Financial Analysis of lipCat Private Ltd-A Switzerland based Cosmetics Start-up Company

The aim of this report is to perform a financial and non financial analysis with the help of published literature for lipCat Private Limited – a Switzerland based decorative cosmetics small size family business firm which plans to set itself up in the turbulent and competitive Swiss cosmetics industry. Strategic tools and techniques such as SWOT, PESTLE and FIVE FORCES analysis have been employed to perform the non financial analysis. The financial analysis of the company has been incorporated as per the information provided by the owner of the company. The three core financial statements, viz. balance sheet, the income statement and cash flow statements represent the financial analysis. Discounted cash flow techniques such as Net Present Value and Internal Rate of Return have been used in order to judge the financial viability of the project. It also highlights the obstacles faced while preparing the analysis by employing different financial techniques generally used to analyse multinational projects or projects with much larger capital base. The conclusion presented is based on the below analysis. The Financial Strategy for the company has been included in the group part of this project

Business intelligence in meeting planning software

This paper is a content analysis of business intelligence functionality in major meeting planning software. The research explores products for list management work (primarily handling online registration), various products providing multi-level database support (registration, housing, event logistics), and others in the categories of attendee management and exhibition management. It presents an assessment of applications’ abilities to fulfill transactional recording needs as well as their extended capabilities to respond to analysis questions for strategic decision-making support

Budgeting, planning and forecasting in uncertain times

https://egrove.olemiss.edu/aicpa_guides/2705/thumbnail.jp

Financial Analysis of lipCat Private Ltd-A Switzerland based Cosmetics Start-up Company

The aim of this report is to perform a financial and non financial analysis with the help of published literature for lipCat Private Limited – a Switzerland based decorative cosmetics small size family business firm which plans to set itself up in the turbulent and competitive Swiss cosmetics industry. Strategic tools and techniques such as SWOT, PESTLE and FIVE FORCES analysis have been employed to perform the non financial analysis. The financial analysis of the company has been incorporated as per the information provided by the owner of the company. The three core financial statements, viz. balance sheet, the income statement and cash flow statements represent the financial analysis. Discounted cash flow techniques such as Net Present Value and Internal Rate of Return have been used in order to judge the financial viability of the project. It also highlights the obstacles faced while preparing the analysis by employing different financial techniques generally used to analyse multinational projects or projects with much larger capital base. The conclusion presented is based on the below analysis. The Financial Strategy for the company has been included in the group part of this project

Sales & operations planning in complex business-to-business planning environments

Abstract. Sales & operations planning (S&OP) is a tactical planning process to balance company’s demand and supply. Increasing demand volatility has made S&OP very topical. Business-to-business (B2B) manufacturing with high product variation sets high requirements for S&OP processes and tools. Digitalization has created lots of hype around integrated business planning, which might have raised unjustified benefit expectations for S&OP deployment. In order to deploy S&OP process, it is important to recognize its core purpose and its plausible benefits, to avoid deployment failures caused by the lack of knowledge. This thesis aims to provide S&OP knowledge for complex business to business manufacturing. The qualitative research conducts literature review, and investigates tactical planning processes of three case companies, and current S&OP tool offering of five vendors through semi-structured interviews. From the aim of this thesis, three research questions were conducted: RQ1: What are the desired outcomes of S&OP? RQ2: What aspects of business are expected to be improved by S&OP process and tool deployment according to case companies? RQ3: How do the identified S&OP process models and tools compare with the case companies’ expectations? Following answers to research questions were found: RQ1:S&OP can be defined as a systematic tactical planning process to enhance collaborative target setting, vertical and horizontal integration, visibility creation, and performance management. By combining the different outcomes in different situations, the ultimate desired outcome seems to be the ability to consider all necessary factors in tactical planning. Answer to this research question is derived from the literature review, and it reflects to other research questions. RQ2: Visibility creation, demand forecasting, supply planning, financial planning, scenario planning, internal collaboration, external collaboration, product portfolio management and after sales services were high level requirements derived from the case companies’ specific expectations in the empirical study. RQ3: Identified S&OP process and tools support the major parts of case company expectations, although when having a closer look of some of the case companies’ specific external collaboration, and supply planning aspects, case companies have some unplausible expectations for S&OP tools. Managerial implications: In the early phases of S&OP deployment, companies should mainly focus on designing the process, rather than tool consideration. Only after the suitable process is established, companies should utilize advanced planning tools. The tactical planning tool vendors might emphasize high customizability or high optimization capabilities. These aspects might be trade-offs which companies should be aware. Platform flexibility allows non-standard process designs, and industry specific S&OP practices enables optimization to maximize results by S&OP specific tools. Scientific implications: This study investigates companies operating in B2B business that are utilizing make-to-order production strategy’s variants. Study provides insights of companies planning environments requirements and their desired outcomes of S&OP deployments. Study pointed out the conflicts between S&OP methods and quick response make-to-order strategies in high product variety environments, which indicates that besides evaluating S&OP’s design for planning environments at deployment, evaluation of S&OP methods’ suitability to company specific strategies should be highly considered.Sales & operations planning vaativissa yritykseltä-yritykselle-markkinan valmistusympäristöissä. Tiivistelmä. Sales & operations planning (S&OP) on taktisen suunnittelun prosessi yrityksen kysynnän ja tarjonnan tasapainottamiseksi. Kasvanut kysynnän vaihtelu on tehnyt S&OP:sta erittäin ajankohtaisen. Vaatimukset S&OP prosesseille ja työkaluille ovat korkeat, kun yritys valmistaa useita erilaisia tuotteita yritysmyyntiin. Digitalisaatio on kasvattanut kiinnostusta integroitua liiketoimintasuunnittelua kohtaan, minkä vuoksi S&OP:ta kohtaan on voinut syntyä katteettomia hyötyodotuksia. S&OP-prosessin käyttöönotossa on tärkeää tunnistaa sen päätarkoitus ja mahdolliset hyödyt, jottei implementointi epäonnistuisi tiedonpuutteen vuoksi. Tämän työn tarkoitus on tuoda tietoa S&OP:sta vaativissa yritykseltä-yritykselle-markkinan valmistusympäristöissä. Tässä kvalitatiivisessa tutkimuksessa koostetaan kirjallisuuskatsaus, tutkitaan kolmen case-yrityksen taktista suunnittelutoimintaa, sekä tutkitaan nykyistä S&OP-työkalutarjoamaa viiden järjestelmätoimittajan avulla. Case-yritykset ja järjestelmätoimittajat haastatellaan puolistrukturoiduilla haastatteluilla. Tutkimuksen tueksi on koostettu kolme tutkimuskysymystä: TK1: Mitä ovat S&OP-prosessin odotetut hyödyt? TK2: Mitä osa-alueita case-yritykset odottavat S&OP-prosessin ja työkalujen parantavan? TK3: Kuinka tunnistetut S&OP-mallit ja työkalut tukevat case-yritysten parannusodotuksia? Tutkimuskysymyksiin löydettiin seuraavat vastaukset: TK1: S&OP voidaan määritellä systemaattiseksi taktisen suunnittelun prosessiksi, joka vahvistaa yhteistä tavoitteiden asettamista, vertikaalista ja horisontaalista integraatiota, näkyvyyden luomista ja suorituskyvynjohtamista. Yhdistämällä erilaisia mahdollisia hyötyjä erilaisissa tilanteissa, suurin tavoiteltava hyöty olisi kyky ottaa huomioon kaikki tärkeimmät lopputulokseen vaikuttavat osatekijät taktisessa suunnittelussa. TK2: Näkyvyyden luominen, kysynnän ennustaminen, tuotannon- ja hankinnansuunnittelu, finanssisuunnittelu, skenaariosuunnittelu, sisäinen yhteistyö, ulkoinen yhteistyö, tuoteportfolion hallinta ja jälkimarkkinointi — palvelut ovat tunnistettuja ylätason osa-alueita, joita yritykset odottavat S&OP-prosessin ja työkalujen parantavan. TK3: S&OP prosessit ja työkalut tukevat pääosin yritysten odotuksia, mutta yrityksillä on eräitä spesifisiä ulkoisen yhteistyön ja toimitusketjun suunnittelutoiminnan odotuksia, joita ne eivät tue. Käytännön implikaatiot: S&OP-prosessien käyttöönottovaiheessa yritysten kannattaa ennemmin keskittyä prosessin suunnittelun, kuin työkalujen hankkimiseen. Vasta kun yrityksellä on vakiintunut S&OP-prosessi, yrityksen kannattaa pohtia kehittyneempien suunnittelujärjestelmien hankkimista. Suunnittelutyökalujen järjestelmäntoimittajat saattavat korostaa tuotteidensa räätälöityvyyttä tai optimointikyvykkyyttä. Välttämättä näiden molempien ominaisuuksien tuomia hyötyjä ei voida saavuttaa samassa järjestelmässä. Järjestelmän joustavuus sallii joustavamman rakenteen taktiseen suunnitteluprosessiin, kun taas optimointikyvykkäät järjestelmät nojautuvat toimialan suositeltuihin S&OP-prosessimalleihin. Tieteelliset implikaatiot: Tutkimus esittelee kompleksisissa ympäristöissä toimivien yritysten tarpeita S&OP-prosessille. Tutkimuksessa todettiin ristiriita nopean asiakasvasteen strategian, ja S&OP-metodien välillä, kun yrityksen tuotetarjoama on erittäin suuri, ja kaikki valmistettavat tuotteet ovat asiakasspesifisiä. Tämä viittaisi siihen, että toimivaan S&OP-prosessin rakenteeseen ei vaikuta voimakkaasti vain suunnitteluympäristö, vaan myös yrityksen strategia

Performance Measurement Information Systems: Do they Convey (Sustainable) Competitive Advantage?

Performance management information systems (PMIS) have been a ‘hot topic’ for Chief Information Officers (CIOs) and Chief Financial Officers (CFOs) for close to a decade. PMIS range from low-functionality spreadsheet-based solutions through to high-functionality business intelligence solutions. As yet, this area has not yet received sufficient academic enquiry. Our research questions concern: what are PMIS functionalities, and whether and how do they contribute to competitive advantage? We conceptualize functionality as reflected by system usability and data multi-dimensionality. We examine functionalities of the two types of PMIS: performance planning systems (for budgeting and forecasting) and performance reporting systems (for reporting results information to management). We apply resource-based theory. We hypothesize mediation chains, in which the two PMIS functionality constructs link to competitive advantage, mediated by performance management capabilities and mediated by a resource-base of organizational culture. We use partial least squares path modelling using survey data collected from senior managers of 264 Australian firms. We find support for the hypotheses. We also unexpectedly find that the two types of PMIS functionality operate in sequential, rather than parallel, mediation. The findings have implications for CIOs, CFOs and other managers responsible for development of PMIS