The Importance Of Public Sector Undertakings Economics Essay

The Importance Of Public Sector Undertakings Economics Essay ABSTRACT Public sector undertakings (PSUs) are considered to be vital and crucial pillars for strengthening countrys economy. The prime purpose of starting public sector enterprises was to fabricate infrastructure for economic growth and economic development. Since their birth PSUs have played an essential role in achieving the goal of economic development. Various factors such as deterioration of financial performance of PSUs, rising fiscal deficit forced Government to adopt a radically new approach towards the working of PSUs. The policy measure implemented involved Disinvestment of public sector undertakings (PSUs) .During the regime of P.V Narasimha Rao, entire new economic policy of Liberalisation, Privatisation, and Globalisation (LPG) was introduced in India in the year 1991.Dr Manmohan Singh was the finance minister who successfully implemented the policy of Liberalisation, Privatisation, Globalisation (LPG) into India. The goal of Disinvestment policy was as follows: Improving the financial performance of PSUs. Generating resources to reduce the fiscal deficit. Promoting extensive public participation (including employees). INTRODUCTION Public sector undertakings (PSUs) are the companies established, maintained and controlled by the Central Government of India having 100% stake in it. In 1947 when India became independent, the country was confronting with a variety of socio-economic concerns which had to be resolved. India was mainly agriculture dependent economy with poor infrastructure facilities, no knowledge about investment, pathetic industrial base and low level of savings. There was wide difference in incomes of different people. The private sector neither had the necessary resources, trained managerial staff nor the ability to undertake risks involved in long term projects which forced the state government to intervene in all the sectors of economy. The type of problems faced by the country in all domains including economical, social obliged the Government of India to focus on public sector enterprises (PSEs) to empower self -dependent economic development. The holistic outline of public sector undertakings in India is heterogeneous mixture of service industries, manufacturing industries and infrastructural industries. The basic objectives of starting public sector enterprises in India were as follows: Generate employment opportunities. Reduce gap between incomes of different people by redistribution of wages. Promote rapid economic growth. Improve essential infrastructure for economic development. Support development of small and medium size enterprises (SMEs). Central public sector units are widely diversified in products and services from steel manufacturing, instruments and machine tools, road transport, power generation, mineral mining, coal mining, manufacture of heavy machines, telecommunication equipment, equipments for thermal power station. Over the last five decades, huge investments have been done in public sector enterprises to expand their production, employ new emerging technologies. As on 31st March, 2005 there were 237 central public sector undertakings out of which 10 fall under the category of enterprise under construction, 144 are from field of manufacturing/producing goods and 83 under the head of enterprises providing services. From the Table-1 it is evident that initially at the commencement of First Five Year Plan, only Rs.29 crore was the total investment for 5 enterprises. After gradually increasing the budget, at the commencement of Fifth Five Year Plan, the total investment reached whooping Rs.6237 crore and the n umber of units became 122.By the end of the fifth Five year plan, total investment touched Rs.15534 crore and the number of enterprises reached 169.From the data, it is quite clear that there has been increasing trend of investment from the commencement till the end of fifth five year plan, a rise of 149.06 % is observed. Similarly a hike of 57.70% in investment was examined from the start till the end of eighth five year plan. The investment made in public sector in 2005 was Rs.3, 57,849 ,an increase of 2.24 % from 2004.It can thus be concluded that there is increasing tendency towards investment made in the different five year plan. TABLE 1: DISINVESTMENT The dictionary meaning of word disinvestment is opposite of investment. Investment means putting money into something with the hope to generate profits from it. So disinvestment means to pull out money from the investment. Initially central government had 100% stake in all the public sector enterprises, but due increasing fiscal deficit government is forced to sell 5 or 10 % stake to the public, thereby generating income for government spending. This way the government is losing full control over the corporations, but has no other option. Many times the government finds it very difficult to fulfil all the financial obligations of public sector enterprises, hence undergoes rigorous resource crisis. To bring back countrys economy on right path, disinvestment formed an important part of structural reforms carried on by the government. The two most important reasons which favour disinvestment are as under: Offer financial support to public sector undertakings (PSUs). Develop effectiveness efficiency of the public sector enterprises. The resources raised from the sale of the stake of enterprises must be utilized for clearing past debts and thus reduce interest burden of government. Principal goals for privatising the PSUs The key objectives for privatising the PSUs are, as under: Discharge huge amount of public resources blocked in non-strategic public sector enterprises divert them towards more social issues like primary education, health and necessary infrastructure. Decrease the public debt. Encourage wider public participation by releasing shares in market. Help the government reduce interest burden. To facilitate the growth of the nations economy. Freeing of tangible and intangible resources like labour blocked in maintaining public sector enterprises reorganizing it towards high priority areas which have scare resources. Some additional benefits from privatisation The other advantages to be gained from privatisation are: Disinvestment would picture the private firms towards more market discipline, compelling them to be more effective in their operations, working style. They would act in more responsibly and professional manner by responding to market forces at a greater pace. This would lead towards insertion of corporate governance into privatised companies releasing them from the government control. Disinvestment would yield in fairer distribution of wealth among different individuals, as the shares of public sector enterprises would be offered to small investors and employees. Disinvestment would have a great impact on capital markets, as the more stock inserted into market would bring in more liquidity allowing small investors with easier options to exit from market. It would result in forming more precise benchmarks for estimation of value, pricing. Opening of vast portion of public sector for private participation would raise economic growth benefitting nations economy, employment prospects and tax collections in near future. In many sectors like civil aviation, insurance, telecom, the introduction of private sector has brought in more customer satisfaction by delivering variety of products and services at cheaper rate and better quality. This even increased competition in the market. In case of civil aviation people were fed of Air-Indias services and were demanding entry of private players into field of aviation. The economic reforms along with the public sector reforms were mainly focussing on improving the effectiveness, efficiency production output. Nowadays disinvestment, privatisation is grabbing everyones attention as government is disinvesting stake in 5 to 6 companies every year. The government is planning to divest about 6 companies in year 2011. The New Industrial Policy states that a part of the Government stake in the public sector enterprises would be offered to various financial institutions, mutual funds (MF) and small investors in order to promote large public participation. In the current era of globalization, disinvestment would provide the motivation needed for the public sector corporations to make their mark in the list of top global companies. The Government of India formed a committee under the leadership of Shri V.Krishnamurthy to guide through the various characteristics of the process of disinvestment. It was Dr C Rangarajans committee reports suggestions which reso lved complex and complicated issues related to disinvestment. Similarly to a sports or a revenue department, an entire new department for disinvestment was formed which could solely focus on disinvestment issues, corporations which can be divested. During the NDA government rule, Shri Arun Shourie was the disinvestment minister. When UPA-1 regime started, disinvestment ministry had to be merged with finance ministry due to the mounting pressure from left parties (who are socialist attempting to reduce gap between rich poor) who strongly opposed the formation of disinvestment ministry. Large number of corporation which were divested fell under the category of petroleum oil exploration sector followed by metal, mining and minerals sector. There are basically two approaches to the process of disinvestment: First approach in which the PSUs under the guidance of government issues fresh equity shares which can be brought by small retail investors, QIBs, financial institution, Mutual funds. Second approach in which the government sells it stake directly to the concerned public sector enterprises, interested retail investor, large financial institution.

Forecasting Lost Sales Case Study Essay

Carlson Department store suffered heavy damage from a hurricane on August 31. As a result the store was closed for four months, September through December. Carlson is in dispute with its insurance company regarding the lost sales for the length of time the store was closed. Section II: Problem Identification Two issues to address are the amount of sales Carlson department store would have made if there had been no hurricane and if they are entitled to any compensation for excess sales due to increased business activity after the storm. One further important factor is that eight billion dollars in federal disaster relief and insurance money came in to the county which in turn increased sales at department stores and numerous other businesses in the area. Section III: Approach: The method to be used is forecasting with seasonality in order to obtain approximate sales data for the months that Carlson was closed. Section IV: Options After reviewing different methods of forecasting and their measures of forecasting accuracy the linear forecasting method is shown to be the most effective given that the mean square error, and the mean absolute error and the mean absolute percentage error are very close to zero. *See attached Excel spreadsheet for further clarification/breakdown of forecasting methods. However, although the linear trend line can be useful it can also prove to be inappropriate for business retail sales. Real trends change their slope and intercept over time and rarely tend to follow a fixed straight line. Therefore, linear regression with seasonality will be used to determine lost sales. In the past five years Carlson’s overall monthly average for sales was 2.43375. The monthly averages for the months under consideration are as follows; September: 1.8975 October: 2.215 November: 2.775 and December: 4.1875. Approximately thirty nine percent of Carlson’s sales occur within the Sept through December months. The seasonal index as show in figure 6.7 further breaks this down. While reviewing Carlson  department store’s forecasted sales for September through December and taking into account that the time frame is during the holiday season; it is apparent that sales typically increase during this period in relation to seasonality. Section V: Conclusions/Recommendations Figure 6.6 displays the forecast of lost sales for Carlson had there been no hurricane. This table displays that Carlson is entitled to 12.43 million in lost sales for the four months that it was closed. The surrounding department stores showed a consistent increase in sales during the four listed months (September through December) as shown in figure 6.9. The amount of sales were well above what was typically forecasted (On average the surrounding department stores did 18.67 million above forecast). The amount of sales during this time frame increased by 27.03 percent. Based off of this data, Carlson should be provided additional compensation for the increase of sales they would have encountered from disaster relief funds and insurance money. Carlson would have gained an approximate increase of 3.36 million in sales, therefore making the total compensation owed to Carlson from their insurance company 15.788 million for lost sales. Section VI: Other Considerations Some other factors that may require further consideration are moving holidays, or the effect of holidays on the forecasting method. Some holidays may have changing dates which can impact more than one month in a way that depends upon the date. Section VII: Resources References Anderson, D. R., Sweeny, D., Williams, T., Cann, J., Cochran, J., Fry, M., & Ohlmann, J. (2013). Quantitative Methods For Business. Mason, OH: South-Western Cengage Learning.

Managerial Functions

The management functions according to Henry Fayol are planning, decision-making, communication, organizing, leadership, motivation, control and coordination. These functions are important for all types of organization whether it is small, medium or largeOr whether they are private or public organizations. The success or failure of any organization is primarily depends on how effective these functions are carried out in an organization. This particularly true in the current dynamic economic, technological. Social and political climate of the 21st century. In addition it is becoming very vital the success or failure depends on how the above managerial functions are carried out in a global economic environment and challenges of environmental issues and climate change.The Distribution center of Walmat serves 120 stores and it is a hub, which ensures the stores have the correct products with appropriate quality and as well it ensures the stocks, arrives at stores in time and there is an a dequate stock to serve the customers in the respective stores where the distribution center is responsible. Say I am working as a Supervisor for a section, which is responsible to the distribution to Super Centers in a given area. I am directly responsible to the Distribution center chief manager.The planning function gives an organization direction and sets the objectives as an organization as a whole and also objectives for the sub-units. It also is a tool to use limited resources to use effectively and efficiently and reduce waste so that the  organization is competitive and meets the goals consistently in the short and in the long term. In this regard as a Supervisor I have to schedule the day to day work load and have a contingency plan if some staff do not come in a day and how I can reschedule the activities so that I can meet the deadlines and ensure the stocks arrives at the Super centerIn time.   In this manner I have to plan activities and implement the plan on a day- to-day basis to meet the objectives of the Distribution center my responsibilities in accordance with procedures and policies of the center and the directions of my manager.  Decision-making refers to the question of what to produce, how to produce, when to produce, how to distribute to plan, organize and control activities. As a Supervisor forSuper centers I have to allocate staff for different activities and I have to make decisions regarding the allocation of staff, As well to schedule tasks I have decide the how I can control the workflow with limited interruptions and improve the time taken for each activity as well to make decisions the timing of processing the orders from the Super Center. As well I have to arrange and use transport to deliver the stocks to the Super center and decide the timing and the type of transport needed. That is I have to make decisions in regards to planning, organizing, control and motivate staff to meet deadlines and ensure a smooth workflow with little interruptions.In any organization the organization uses capital, natural resources and above all human resources or manpower to convert raw materials in to value added products. To  accomplish this the organization must recruit the appropriate people in terms of skill, personality and values compatible with the organization, train them if necessary to upgrade skills, motivate them to use their maximum potential by identifying intrinsic and extrinsic motivational factors.As a supervisor I have to ensure adequate staff to perform the activities monitoring the demand for each activity and inform the chief manager on a regular basis to recruit staff for a particular area of work and inform the manager the training needs of staff if identified any inadequacies of their skills observed and in performance evaluations and recommend staff for promotion to the chief manager of the Distribution center.Managers have to communicate with internal staff above them and below them as well as to external bodies. In my day-to-day work I have to communicate with my staff to motivate and to direct them and allocate the resources they need to perform their tasks as well have to communicate and report the progress of my section to the chief manager in written form in accordance with procedures and policies.I have to deal orally and writing with the suppliers and with the Super Center to plan and control activities to ensure the schedules are revised and activities are reorganized and the work processes and the logistics in the Distribution Center is reengineered to improve efficiency in consultation with my chief Manager within my work responsibilities.Organization means the organizational structure such as Authority and responsibility, line of communication, internal control systems, decision-making mechanisms, and logisticsTechnological and information system infrastructure, management culture and style, types and number of divisions and departments, levels of management , procedures and policies regarding particular activities which are routine by nature as well as General code of conduct and policies relating to human resource management and other important functions.As a Supervisor I must know my Distribution center organizational structure and how it fits with Wal Mart so that I can work and know how my work is related with other divisions within the center and know the computer and other internal control systems to work in accordance with such procedures and to enable to use decision-making mechanism tolls computer and other tolls to plan and organize and control activities within my responsibility and to report in accordance with the chain of command and to go beyond my official authority without prior permission.As well I have to organize activities by allocating tasks to my staff and ensure they work in accordance with procedures and policies applicable to their work and apply my managerial style compatible with my staff profile and compatib le with the managerial style of my Chief Manager and with the Wal marts managerial style acceptable to the management culture.Motivation is an important and complex function of management in all levels including the low level management. Motivation means providing appropriate incentives monetary and non-monetary reward systems to maximize the use of the potential of all staff.Have a performance evaluation system to enhance performance and provide carrier opportunity to staff, which has the initiative, ambition, skill and appropriate values personality, which is compatible with the organizational culture. As a Supervisor as discussed above I have to understand the complexity of motivation and must identify the motivational factors and provide incentives and give meaningful tasks to staff to motivate  them to perform and use their full potential and to retain skilled staff which is a scarce resource and vital for the competitive edge of the organization as a whole.Managers also must show leadership qualities such as knowledge providers, mentors and facilitators for the staff working for them and to harness their skill and upgrade their skill  and shape behavior so that the staff meets the goals of the organization not goals that are not compatible organizational goals as a whole. As mentioned above as a Supervisor I will act as a role model, a mentor a facilitator and a knowledge provider and always tries  to upgrade there energy level in a high level and maintain them so that their effort level  is high and their morale is high.Coordination is necessary to work with other divisions and with external clients to meet the goals set for the Distribution Center with the Overall Objectives of Wal mart. As a Supervisor I have to coordinate with suppliers, with other divisions with the Distribution center to plan and control activities to maximize the efficiency of the distribution center not by unit alone in the expense of the distribution center but also add value to the Wal mart as a whole as I acknowledge different divisions may have different objectives and  Ã‚  they are not always compatible and one has to strike a balance between technical objectives, human objectives, sales objectives and cost objectives to plan and control activities.Control processes are important as it gives feedback on the results of operations to the managers in the form of reports quantitative and qualitative or regular feedback to managers immediately above on a regular basis so that they can adjust the plan or improve the processes and control cost and rectify weaknesses in operational efficiency  and innovate new products on a continuous basis to survive and grow in the short and n the long term.As a Supervisor for Super enter delivery I will give feedback on how to improve efficiency by improving work processes and system and application of technology and better decision making and information system within the organization  as well prepare reports in accordance with procedures to measure the performance of the Divisions to control cost and to improve productivity and innovation within the distribution center.The Chief manager of the Distribution center has to plan for the operation as whole and revise plans based on the feedback from the divisional managers and have to plan for capital expenditure and investment decisions which will improve efficiency within the budget and also plan for man power and budget for expenditures and logistic plans within  the distribution center. In staffing the chief manager has to make decisions of the best method to recruit staff, best reward system, promotional policies and assessment systems  training of staff.In relation to decision making he has to make decisions how to plan effectively using technology and other methods, determine best logistic planning and scheduling the activities, cost control methods, make decisions as how to control quality and quality control processes and syste ms, how to motivate staff, effective methods of coordination of different systems, best feedback mechanism and frequency, appropriate management style.He has to communicate with finance department, Information technology department, suppliers and stores he is responsible and with other distribution center managers on a regular basis as well as with divisional managers and staff. In controlling activities he must establish feedback mechanism and regular reports to identify problem areas and to identify causes and improve efficiency of the processes and systems and to improve the performance to meet the objectives of the Distribution center.In motivating staff he must identify the intrinsic and extrinsic motivational factors and provide incentives and by enhancing the work of staff and supervisors and providing meaningful work. As the external environment is dynamic and in a global economic environment the Walmart must become more adaptable and there fore the work and duties of all ma nagement will become more complex and they must revise their systems and processes on a faster face than ever before and must become a team oriented organization than functional and become more flexible in their work practices in the future.BibliographyCarrol.Archie.B. (1993), Three Types of management Planning: Making Organization Work, Management Quarterly, 34, 1, Retrieved February, 15, 2007, from http://www.questia.com/PM.qst?a=o&d=5002194623Divisions (n.d) Retrieved February, 15, 2007, fromhttp://corporate.walmart.com/?id=10Korman.Abraham. K & Kroat.Allen.I. (1999) Evolving practices in Human Resource Management: Responses To a Changing World, London Manel (ed), Retrieved February, 15, 2007 from https://www.questia.com/read/107266673/evolving-practices-in-human-resource-managementSchirmer.F. (2002), Lower-Level and Middle-Level Management as the Recipients and Actors of Human Resource Mnagement & Organization, International Studies of Management, Retrieved 15, 2007 from https:/ /www.questia.com/read/5000141068

Comparison of The Lamb and The Tyger by William Blake Essay

When do we change? When do we change from being the innocent children God sent into the world, to the corrupted ones that leave the earth? William Blake’s ‘Songs of Innocence and Experience examine these different states. Blake wanted to show the two contrary states in the human mind. The Lamb and the Tyger are just vehicles for Blake to express what he feels happens to people as they grow, develop and eventually become perverted by the world around them. Blake’s background and occupation greatly influenced the style and content of his poems. He lived during the 18th Century when the church was beginning to lose its grip on British society; science was rising up against the church. Blake was part of a group known as the Romantics. He†¦show more content†¦Blake felt that the social, economic and political factors were getting too complicated and the true nature of living was being lost. Certain people had control of these factors and Blake thought this was wrong. Blake felt that the whole population should emancipated and able to decide on their own economic, social and political decisions. When writing the Lamb he was hoping that the French Revolution would revert people back to the innocence and freedom they once had. But as the French Revolution progressed it turned into a blood bath, which disheartened Blake. It was at this point that he wrote The Tyger. ‘Dare frame thy fearful symmetry’ (The Tyger) Blake was disgusted with the way the people were using the revolution as an excuse to kill. In The Tyger he talks about only God having the power to create things of this nature. I think that in this line he is trying to convey the fact that no human has the right to take on God’s role. Only he has the right to create life and end it! When I first read The Lamb and The Tyger it appeared to be Blake describing what the lamb and tigers appearance and characteristics. ‘Gave thee such a tender voice’ (The Lamb) ------------------------------------------ ‘Burnt the fire of thine eyes?’ (The Tyger) Initially glancing through the poem the reader could interpret it as a detailed description about how these two animals were created. ItShow MoreRelatedThe Lamb and the Tyger Essay1437 Words   |  6 PagesThe Tyger and The Lamb by William Blake, written in 1794 included both of these poems in his collection Songs of Innocence and Song of Experience, takes readers on a journey of faith. Through a cycle of unanswered questions, William Blake motivates the readers to question God. These two poems are meant to be interpreted in a comparison and contrast. They share two different perspectives, those being innocence and experience. To Blake, innocence is not better than experience. Both states haveRead MoreWilliam Blake s The Lamb And The Tyger1493 Words   |  6 Pageswriters who recorded their artistic and emotional responses to the natural world, William Blake explores the concept of life’s dualities and how this concept applied to life in 18th Century Britain, as well as to the relationship between the body and spirit, in his most popular works, Songs of Innocence and of Experience: Showing the Two Contrary States of the Human Soul (1794). Two standout poems, â€Å"The Lamb† and â€Å"The Tyger,† respectively taken from Songs of Innocence and Songs of Experience, demonstrateRead More, Allusion, And Symbolism In The Tyger By William Blake771 Words   |  4 PagesIn the poem â€Å"The Tyger† by William Blake, the use of rhyme, repetition, allusion, and symbolism all help the reader understand the theme and what was going through the authors thoughts while writing. William Blake was a mystic poet who channeled his thoughts and questions to write poems. 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Blake believed all prominent entities, those being church, state, and government had become sick withRead MoreEssay on The Symmetry: A World with Both Lamb and Tiger1063 Words   |  5 Pagespain and terror? The Tyger by William Blake, written in 1794 and included in his collection Songs of Innocence and Experience, takes readers on a journey of faith. Through a cycle of unanswered questions, William Blake motivates the readers to question God. Blake sees a necessity for balance in the world, and suggests to the readers that God created a world with a balance of good and evil so that humanity can see goodness more clearly through contrast and comparison. This theme is achievedRead MoreEssay abou t The Tyger1558 Words   |  7 Pagesâ€Å"The Tyger†- Magnificence of a Tiger Many of the creatures of the world have exquisite and beautiful characteristics in their appearance which puts us in a state of awe and wonder. 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