Analysis of Economic Factors in a Business

Analysis of Economic Factors in a Business Profit Sharing, Revenue Sharing, Piece Rate, Time Clocks and Spot Checks Submitted by Group 6:- Neethi Nair-14020541031 Neha Paswan-14020541032 Nilesh Tayade-14020541033 Nishant Thool-14020541034 Nishith Mohanty-14020541035 Nitish Vats – 14020541036 Akanksha Chaudhary 14020541065 Profit Sharing:- Profit sharing are the commission plans to introduced by business firms that provides direct or indirect wages to the employees that is dependent on the company’s profit earned, in addition to the employee’s regular salary and bonuses. In public companies, these are the profitability assigned to the employee as the equity shares. Profit sharing plans are generally based upon the predetermined economic sharing regulations that define how much should be split between the company as a principal and the employee as an agent. The manager can use this to enhance workers’ efforts making the workers’ compensation dependent on the underlying profitability of the firm. Offering workers compensation that is tied to underlying profitability provides an incentive for workers to put forth more effort. The company can also earn profit from this, by sharing the profit with the employees’ retirement benefit account, which will be non-taxable for the company. Profit sharing is a type of variable pay, which is dependent on the profit gained by the company. Wells Fargo Company is an American multinational banking and financial services holding company which is headquartered in San Francisco, California, with hub-quarters throughout the country. It is the fourth largest bank in the U.S. by assets and the largest bank by market capitalization. Its profit sharing is as follows:- (https://www.wellsfargo.com/biz/retirement/profit-sharing-plans/) For companies, size really doesn’t matter to offer profit sharing. Employee eligibility is set while joining. Employer: Up to 25% of compensation or $52,000 in 2014. Profit sharing plans allow the company to vary every year according to the profit. The contributions are deducted from the taxable income. The withdrawn contribution and earnings are taxed as ordinary income. Stocks, bonds, mutual funds and Advisory Products available through a Wells Fargo Advisors brokerage account. There will be a 10% IRS early withdrawal penalty if the profit is withdrawn before age 59 ½ unless valid exception. Exceptions: Normal retirement age Separation of service after five years and reaching age 55 Death Disability Substantial equal periodic payments over life expectancy Qualified military reservist Required withdrawals must begin at age 70 ½ Deadline to set up and Fund Must be established by the last day of the business’ fiscal year Contributions may be made up through the business tax filing date (plus extensions) REVENUE SHARING : Revenue sharing is a business arrangement that makes it possible for two or more parties to share in the profits and losses realized by a business operation. The exact structure of the revenue sharing strategy varies based on governmental regulations that are applied in the jurisdiction in which the business is located, and the terms and provisions found in the contract that establishes the working relationship between the concerned parties. This approach may be used to compensate employees of the firm above and beyond the usual salary or wages, or be used to provide compensation to affiliate partners in an online business venture. Within a business setting, revenue sharing may take place as part of a limited partnership arrangement. Here, the partners agree to share in the profits and losses sustained by the operation, with specific provisions on how those profits and losses are shared each accounting period. Essentially, the general partner has the responsibility of reporting the l evel of profit or loss incurred to the limited partners, then compensating them according to the terms found in the partnership agreement. USER ROLES: Managers will setup available business models and parts of them are the revenue share model Service provider will setup revenue share model associated to Applications and services, and they have to be loaded in the Revenue Settlement Sharing System Developers have to know about the revenues of their applications and services Involved service/applications providers have to know about the revenues of their applications and services The following figure shows a conceptual architecture of a system for settling and sharing revenues. There are a number of different sources of revenues for a given service that will be integrated and processed according to the business model of each service and the revenue sharing policies specified for each partner. The final revenues balance will be transferred to a payment broker to deliver the payments to each provider/developer Infinite Risk/Reward Revenue-Sharing model Case Study: Raising the Bar in Smart Pricing Smart Pricing has received a lot of attention in the Information Communication Technology (ICT) industry over the last 12 months. IT service providers are touting it as a key differentiator in a very competitive post-crisis environment, and organizations are demanding for more risk/reward and usage-based pricing so that their ICT partners have more accountability in each engagement and these ICT engagements are more aligned to business priorities. International Data Corporation (IDC) is predicting that Smart Pricing will account for close to 50% of all ICT services transactions by 2015. Infinite, an Indian IT services and software provider, has been one of the most aggressive services providers in this game changing market dynamic whereby approximately 30% of its total revenue is derived from risk/reward pricing models. Its intellectual property–based revenue sharing model is certainly setting the pace in the industry where many ICT service providers are still struggling to co me up with the right formula. Infinite is not only setting the pace in Smart Pricing models in the ICT industry, it has clearly raised the bar for the rest of the field. Organization Overview: Infinite Computer Solutions is an India-headquartered global services provider of infrastructure management services, intellectual property (IP)-leveraged solutions, and IT services. The company focuses on the telecom, media, technology, manufacturing, power, and healthcare industries. Presently, telecom is its principal vertical and this includes telecom service providers as well as networking equipment vendors. Its services portfolios span application management outsourcing, packaged application services, independent validation and verification, product  development and support, and higher value-added offerings including managed platform and product engineering services. It currently has 3,668 employees and has a global footprint of 16 offices across the globe including Singapore, the U.S., the U.K., India, Malaysia, and China. RD sites are concentrated in Indian cities like Bangalore, Chennai, Hyderabad and Gurgaon. The company is listed on the NSE and BSE and its FY10 revenue was approximately US$140 million. Infinite has a healthy mix of customers from the list of Fortune 100 companies including IBM, Alcatel Lucent, and Motorola across several verticals, but its strengths continue to be in the telecom and healthcare sectors. Challenges Solutions : Mature products are targets: Currently, Infinite works with organizations, examines their or their clients product portfolios, and identifies products or solutions that are mature and have a significant installed base. The products continue to be essential to many buyers, have a proven revenue generating record, and can be better streamlined via an off shoring model to India. The upside potential must be significant: Infinite will have to execute careful due diligence before actually making any large-scale investment. One of the guiding principles is that the product or solution must be able to deliver 20%–50% growth over the next few years with further investments. Risk/reward pricing models vary: Infinite has made significant progress in raising the share of its revenue that is derived from risk/reward pricing models. It currently stands at close to 30%, one of the highest if not the highest in the industry. Revenue derived or splits between Infinite and client varies from deal to deal but it is dependent on several factors. For every There are usually three sets of revenue streams to drive growth. Additional new sales of the product, services revenue, and annual maintenance are the three sets of revenue streams to drive growth. The combination of these three must be able to deliver an upside that ranges 25%–50% of growth. The proportion of revenue that is attributed to the customer will generally be lower if the revenue upside potential is less, accounting for new investments that could refresh the product. How much to invest in the new product? : Infinite would also need to do its due diligence as to what and how much investment it needs to put into these products to generate the type of growth that it is looking for. Aware that some of these products have great fluctuations in revenue, which may be difficult to forecast, the company has to factor this into its planning. Results: According to IDC this unique engagement model and smart pricing will eventually define the ICT industry over the next few years. Clearly one of the trendsetters, Infinite is setting an excited pace in Smart Pricing that many of its competitors will have to play catch-up. Infinites unique smart pricing model has achieved sustainable returns. In todays economic environment, organizations are looking for flexibility and agility; and as a result of this relationship, many of its existing clients are now able to realign their resources by channeling them into strategic areas of growth. Increase in the value of offerings as RD investment in core products as well as additional Infinite capital ploughed in will have the overall impact of enhancing the total solution or product portfolio. The company posts 20%–50% revenue growth, usually depending on a number of factors including how speculative the product or solution is. Infinite is clearly on a growth trajectory and thus, its IP-based risk/reward model has found a warm reception among some organizations. Piece-rate pay:- Piece-rate pay gives a payment for each item produced and is therefore the easiest way for a business to ensure that employees are paid for the amount of work they do. Piece-rate pay is also sometimes referred to as a â€Å"payment by results system†, â€Å"piece work† or â€Å"performance related pay†. The oldest type of performance pay, piece rate is when an employee is paid a fixed rate for each unit of production. In other words, he or she is paid by results. For example, a factory worker may be paid per item he or she makes on a production line. In the United Kingdom and in various other countries with minimum wage laws, pay rate must be used in unification with minimum wage laws for employees. For example, an employee who works at a $0.1 per-piece rate and completes 70 pieces in an hour would not receive $7.00 but would receive his state’s minimum wage, which might be, for example, $7.25 an hour. However if he is able to work fast enough to complete 90 pieces in an hour he can earn $9.00 per hour. So, per-piece rate pay can act as an incentive for employees. Incentive contracts such as piece rates and profit sharing are designed to solve principal–agent problems when effort is not observable. The benefits of the piece rate system is that it motivates employees financially to complete as much work as they can, and consequently they can increase their monetary reward by maximizing their output. A potential problem with paying workers based on a piece rate is that effort must be expended in quality control; otherwise, workers may attempt to produce quantity at the expense of quality. Therefore, piece-rate pay encourages effort, but, it is reasoned, often at the expense of quality. From the employee’s perspective, there can be certain problems which might affect the production and eventually affect their pay. The problems which can possibly hamper the production may include breakdown of the production machinery or delay in the delivery of the raw materials which slows down the production. These factors are outside of the employee’s control – but could potentially affect their pay. The solution to these problems is that piece-rate pay systems tend, to have two elements: A basic pay element which is a fixed time- based element An output-related element- Generally the piece-rate element is only elicited by the business exceeding a target output in a specific defined period of time Piece-rate systems are broadly classified into three categories: i. Straight Piece-rate ii. Piece-rate with Guaranteed time rates iii. Differential Piece-rates Straight Piece-rate method payment is made on the basis of affixed amount per units produced without regard to the time taken. Thus the earnings could be calculated as follows: Earnings= Number of units x rate per unit. The fixations of piece rate generally depend upon: The comparable time rate for the same class of workers The expected output in given time In Guaranteed time rates system payment is at time rates but adjusted to the cost of living. The employer balances the high labor cost by increasing the price of the products. The merit awards for skills, personal qualities, ability, punctuality etc. are also considered in this system. Differential Piece-rate system is a wage plan based on a standard task time wherein the worker receives increased or decreased piece rates as his production varies from that expected for the standard time. This is also known as an accelerating incentive. Comparison of three price rate systems Wages during Differential Piece rate Period Straight Piece rate Guaranteed Base wage Straight piece rate with minimum guaranteed wage Standard output Output in pieces produced Time clocks and spot checks :- Few methods of encouraging workers to put forth their best efforts are piecework, time clocks, and spot checks. Time clock is relatively simple and inexpensive technique to introduce into a place of business; however the flaws in it is that the information received from time clock is relatively useless in determining employee’s working habits. A time clock can only inform a manager of how long an employee spends in the workplace, but not how much time the employee is actually spending working i.e. how efficiently is he working. There could be a possibility that the employee is simply socializing most of the day or just doing the irrelevant tasks and the time clock would make no determination between employee with such behavior and the employee who works diligently throughout the workday. So, we can say that Time clocks don’t monitor efforts made by the employee; rather, simply measures his presence at the workplace from beginning to the end of workday. Thus it acts as an inferior method to monitor manager-worker problems. A more efficient method than Time clock that not just measures the time spent by employee at workplace ,but also measures his/her performance, is spot check. In this case the manager gives time to time visit at workplace to monitor its employees. The objective of these spot checks and inspections is to counter irregularities committed against the Community budget. The spot checks may concern, in particular Business books and documents such as invoices, pay slips, bank statements, lists of terms and conditions, statements of materials used and work done, and Computer data Packaging, Production and dispatching systems and methods Physical checks as to the nature and quantity of goods or completed operations The collection and checking of samples The progress of works and investments for which financing has been provided, and the how it has been used Accounting and budgetary documents The technical and financial implementation of subsidized projects The advantages of spot checks are as follows: It reduces the cost of monitoring workers The managers need not to be available at different places at same time It also increases employee efficiency. With workers not knowing if the manager will show up or not, they put more effort at work, as suddenly getting caught â€Å"goofing off† may lead to dismissal or a reduction in pay As everything has its pros and cons, same is the case with Spot checking. Some of disadvantages of spot checks are as follows: Frequent spot checks, however, are costly and reduce the firm’s profitability Spot checks work, in effect, through threat These can have negative impact on employees moral; he/she can’t work freely at workplace due to threat of being watched every moment.

What Is Meant by Appropriate Technology, and Why Is It Important for the Less Developed Countries to Adopt It?

Science and technology is a critical and greatly improving area in most countries if not all. However, as it requires large amounts of man power and materials, a great deal of money is required. Governments provide a substantial amount of this money, and therefore they often make decisions regarding the direction and quantity of the money that should be placed into certain technologies. It is also the government’s role to decide which technologies will be used, and how (Bridgstock 1998:12).During recent times the science and technology field has dramatically changed. For example, stunning developments are being made by the Third World and science and technology has become more focussed on the government’s short-term economic goals. These developments by the Third World are due to the technology transfer from more advanced, industrialized countries. The Third world is only able to use appropriate technologies, which makes their choices limited, but offers many benefits a nd opportunities (Bridgstock 1998:12).Appropriate technology was created as a way of enhancing national independence by encouraging people to use local substitutes rather than imported resources, and is aimed at improving technologies that already exist in the Third World. By making small adjustments to existing technologies the Third World only has to create variations of technologies they are familiar with. This ensures that Third World countries work within their capabilities (Bridgstock 1998:223). Appropriate technology is the idea that lower level technologies, using local resources are more appropriate than higher level technologies that require imported resources.This idea has been used unsuccessfully by England, where inventors tried to sell their new product, based on the Third World’s local resources they were selling to. An example of this was an Englishman who tried selling his new cooking stove in Kenya. The cooking stove was more wood economical than others at t he time and could be built from clay found in Kenya. A total of 250 stoves were sold. Whilst these stoves were being sold in Kenya, a kerosene stove from Japan was also introduced into the market. However, the kerosene stove did not use local resources and as a result the kerosene was imported.A massive 10,000 kerosene stoves were sold via normal commercial channels, which is 9,750 more sold than the wood stove. Before it can be said that appropriate technology does not work, there are some potential reasons that the kerosene stove sold better than the wood stove. Firstly, the kerosene stove was cheaper, which makes a product dramatically more appealing in a country with very little money. Secondly, the kerosene stove was advertised through commercial channels and the wood stove was not advertised at all. Thirdly, the way in which the idea of appropriate technology was presented, did not appeal to the Kenyans.Finally, appropriate technology focuses largely on the organization of dis tribution and construction, which is usually the weakest area of Third World countries (John McCarthy 1996). Less developed countries should learn from and use appropriate technologies and ideas that have been successful in other countries. However, due to less developed countries having fewer people with a talent for organizing or industrial experience, introducing new technologies tends to be harder and a more complex process than in other, more developed countries.A solution to this problem is for less developed countries to adopt appropriate technologies and become more talented and experienced in them. After a period of time the country will become richer as it is able to export these technologies/goods to countries needing them. The money gained from exporting these technologies/goods can then be placed into training people to become more experienced in industries, allow individuals to gain an ability for organizing and raise the average wage. These factors will increase the a mount of technologies appropriate for their country, and the process can then be repeated.When people hear the words ‘technology transfer’ often the first thing that will come to mind is the trade of technology from an advanced country to a Third World country. This interpretation is incorrect as there is much more to technology transfer than exportation and importation. The process also includes an understanding and ability to perform methods and procedures that are required to create the desired result (P. F. Basch 1993:353-358). When the Third World first began transferring technologies from industrialized,Western countries back to their own countries, problems arose due to different resources and machinery available. The Third World did not realise that Western technologies were specific to the conditions of an industrialized country (Bridgstock 1998:216). According to Bhalla, A (1994) this is preventable if industrial countries keep in mind the different requiremen ts of the Third World whilst designing technologies that will be sold to these less developed countries. However, evidence indicates that the industrial world’s research and development (R&D) system is doubtful of responding to any concerns.Less developed countries need to adopt appropriate technologies as these technologies will ensure less developed countries can manage and have the specific resources required. If underdeveloped countries do adopt appropriate technologies, they will be able to increase profits, increase the amount of technologies appropriate for their country, increase the level of their R&D and possibly change their countries status as underdeveloped. However, if underdeveloped countries do not undertake appropriate technologies, they will unfortunately be unable to move forward as a country.

Inspirational New Years Quotes

Many choose New Years as the time to turn over a new leaf. Smokers vow to kick the foul habit. Some decide to change to a new and improved lifestyle. Habitual spendthrifts decide to mend their ways. And most people who enjoy eating unhealthy food  latch on to the latest dieting fad. New Years symbolizes the birth of hope and the renewal of life. Below are New Years quotes from famous people—and others not quite so famous—that are inspirational enough to help you find your calling. Youll find many of the quotes to be uplifting, with a few tongue-in-cheek thoughts included in the mix. Making a New Start If you are supercharged about making a glorious new beginning this New Years Eve or New Years Day, its a good time to consider creating your New Years resolutions. Pick your favorite peeve and resolve to get rid of the bad stuff. Give up whining and take charge of your life. Thats what the folks in this section recommend through their pithy sayings. Jay Leno: New Years Eve, where auld acquaintance be forgot. Unless, of course, those tests come back positive. Hal Borland: Years end is neither an end nor a beginning but a going on, with all the wisdom that experience can instill in us. Edward Payson Powell: The Old Year has gone. Let the dead past bury its own dead. The New Year has taken possession of the clock of time. All hail the duties and possibilities of the coming 12months! Ringing in the New Year Each new year is like a rebirth, a chance to begin again, or as Oprah Winfrey said, a chance to get it right. Read these quotes and let yourself be inspired to be let go of the old and, essentially, start fresh, and begin a new life. George William Curtis: The new year begins in a snow-storm of white vows. Hartley Coleridge: The merry year is born like the bright berry from the naked thorn. Oprah Winfrey: Cheers to a New Year and another chance for us to get it right. John Burroughs: One resolution I have made, and try always to keep, is this: To rise above the little things. Looking Ahead As the new year begins, dont just look backward: Look ahead. Imagine what your life will be like 20 years from now, as the famous writer Mark Twain said. The choices you make in the new year may affect and direct the course of your life for years, or decades, to come. Mark Twain: Twenty years from now you will be more disappointed by the things that you didn’t do than by the ones you did do. So throw off the bowlines. Sail away from the safe harbor. Catch the trade winds in your sails. Explore. Dream. Discover. G. K. Chesterton: The object of a New Year is not that we should have a new year. It is that we should have a new soul. Benjamin Franklin: Be always at war with your vices, at peace with your neighbors, and let each new year find you a better man. Edith Lovejoy Pierce: We will open the book. Its pages are blank. We are going to put words on them ourselves. The book is called opportunity and its first chapter is New Years Day. Ellen Goodman: We spend January 1 walking through our lives, room by room, drawing up a list of work to be done, cracks to be patched. Maybe this year, to balance the list, we ought to walk through the rooms of our lives...not looking for flaws, but for potential.

All Quiet on the Western Front Free Essay Example, 750 words

All Quiet on the Western Front Introduction Written by Erich Maria, All Quiet on the Western Front is an extraordinary novel. Unlike other war novels that romanticize wars by portraying the themes of heroism, honor, glory, adventure and patriotic duty among others, the story concentrates on the actual battles as experienced by the soldiers. Soldiers are humans like any other and have the innate fear of danger, injury, and death. The book portrays the experiences of German soldiers by showing the sad and demoralizing tales of the threat of mortality that hang in the air. The novel is part of a sequel entitled The Road back and provides a unique yet realistic view and analysis of wars. The author employs strategic rhetorical devices to cover numerous themes that depict the sorry state of the German soldiers and their plight in the war fronts as the discussion below portrays. The author strives to win achieve emotional, logical and ethical appeal. He presents the story through soldier. He employs the first person narration technique to recount the experiences of a soldier. The technique is strategic and equally successful since the soldier provides a representation of the war through his experiences. We will write a custom essay sample on All Quiet on the Western Front or any topic specifically for you Only $17.96 $11.86/pageorder now Paul Bà ¤umer, the central character and the narrator of the story, enlists in the German army at the age of eighteen. He leaves home at such a young age home for the western front where he experiences both physical and psychological torture. He explains that such was the trend with thousands of young soldiers who left schools and their teenage lives for the war. In the western front, Bà ¤umer joins a group of dejected old soldiers, who express their frustrations openly to the young soldiers. He stays with his schoolmates Leer, Kropp, and Mà ¼ller. Staying alive is their primary duty as they gain small pieces of land, which they lose to the opposing forces. The situation is deplorable as the young soldiers endure the filthy and treacherous conditions of trench warfare. The plot of the story shows the monotony of battles and the constant threat of bombardments and artillery fire. The soldiers struggle to find food with the lack of training for the young soldiers enhancing the risk they face. Bà ¤umer and his colleagues have random chances at either life or death on a daily basis. He expresses dissolution and loses touch with reality as the war takes a toll on his emotional stability. The older and more experienced soldiers are not any different as they express their frustrations with the war, "We are not youth any longer. We dont want to take the world by storm. We are fleeing from ourselves, from our life. We were eighteen and had begun to love life and the world, and we had to shoot it to pieces" (Maria, 1929; pg. 124). The author of the novel addresses specific themes all of which portray the adverse effects of war. Key among the themes in the book is the horror of war. Maria presents war as a harrowing experience that causes both physical and psychological injury to the soldiers. Paul Bà ¤umer experiences such horrors of war. They live in the constant fear of death. The deplorable living conditions in the trenches expose most of them to various diseases. Lack of training for the young soldiers picked from school intensifies the risk of death while the lack of food further worsens their experiences. The author builds an inherent conflict between patriotic idealism and the carnage and gore in the battlefield. Paul Bà ¤umer’s teacher Kantorek encourages them to keep fighting for their country giving all the benefits of the war for the Germans. However, the carnage and gore of the battlefield paint a different picture of the war thus proving that the worthlessness of the risk. The plot is captivating and reveals a side of wars and conflicts often ignored by most authors. The author employs various literary devices including the first person narration technique, soliloquy, and dialogues among many others to portray the adverse effects of the war. Young Bà ¤umer leaves home and returns while he is on leave. He explains that while the place has not changed he does not seem to belong. The experiences of the war have changed his comprehension of the society. He engages both his father and teacher in dialogues but reports that the two cannot understand him. In retrospect, All Quiet on the Western Front shows that besides the pomp and color that characterize such themes as heroism, bravery, patriotic duty, honor and adventure that characterize war stories, the soldiers in the wars face horror and the fear of death. The novel provides a realistic view of war as it portrays soldiers as humans. The story presents the plight of young Germans picked from classrooms and placed in the war fronts to risk their lives. The Nazi regime banned and burned the novel since it threatened its propaganda war. Reading the novel, one understands the regime’s reaction. References Maria, E. R., 1929, All Quiet on the Western Front, Munich: Propylà ¤en Verlag.