Tag: Industrial Relations Management

Good visuals in a business presentation can range from complex videos to a simple poster. For those presenters who are not skilled in the video arts, there are several ways to present information with visuals that will help your audience remember key points long after your presentation has ended. Three effective methods include PowerPoint presentations, flip charts and posters.

PowerPoint Presentations

PowerPoint offers hundreds of font, audio and image options for its users. The first thing presenters should understand is that just because there are 350 font options does not mean you should use them. Always use either light font over a dark background or dark font over a light background. Avoid red font and green backgrounds or fonts and backgrounds that are close on the color wheel as they will be difficult to read. Follow the rule of 8. The rule of 8 states that you should be able to read your presentation while standing 8 feet away from the standard computer screen. If the font is too small to read from this distance, it will be too small to read in your presentation. Include a maximum of five points per page.

Effective Flip Charts

Flip Charts are not only inexpensive but they can also be used for ideas and brainstorming within the context of the meeting. Use dark markers to write on a flip chart and make sure you have plenty of paper on the flip chart pad. Some flip charts now have adhesive on the back of each page so the presenter when finished, can stick the page to a corresponding wall that the audience can see. This feature prevents having to flip back and forth from page to page wasting valuable time and allows for writing a free flow of ideas with ease.

Effective Posters

Posters are prepared much in advance of a presentation. The simplest posters can be made from poster board with graphics and text added with glue or tape. More advanced posters can be made using PowerPoint and then printed and laminated for a more professional look. Change the size of your PowerPoint slide to a good poster size, such as 2-by-3 feet , and decrease the view percentage on your computer screen to around 25 percent, or the smallest view that still allows you to see each element clearly. PowerPoint hints also apply to poster design. Avoid designing posters that are too busy or have too much text. A poster should have an eye-catching visual that tells the story without viewers having to read paragraphs of accompanying text.

Simplicity is key in conveying information visually. The more complex the visual, the more likely you are to lose the message you are trying to convey. Visuals can help your audience retain information up to six times longer. Beware, however, of staying on one visual for too long. According to The Eggleston Group, studies show that audience members become bored with a visual after 7 to 10 seconds. Always rehearse with your visuals. Don’t forget to inspect the room where you will be presenting to make sure the elements required for your presentation, such as projectors, screens and outlets, are available.

Positive persuasive messages, however, point out the good things that can happen if people follow a course of action or if they follow the wrong path. Negative persuasive arguments illustrate the bad things that may happen if people do not follow a particular course of action or if they do the wrong thing.

Positive Emotional Messages

The same kinds of messages can use positive appeals. For example, a positive anti-smoking campaign would show kids doing well in school, looking healthy and happy and having lots of positive friends. A positive recycling message would talk about how many natural resources are saved by recycling, what a positive thing it is for business finances and how recycling saves habitats for endangered species. Positive appeals emphasize the good and appeal to the listener’s desire for good, happy emotions.

Positive Logical Appeals

Positive rational messages use facts, statistics and details, but instead of emphasizing the negative effects of not acting or acting negatively, they emphasize the positive effects of action. For example, a positive persuasive message on drinking during pregnancy would emphasize that those who choose not to drink have healthier babies who are three times more likely to have normal intelligence and twice as likely to be born healthy and alive.

Positive Business Messages

Positive persuasion in a business situation emphasizes positive action. For example, an employee evaluation could say, “I appreciate your insights, and look forward to hearing from you more often in meetings.” A business may use positive persuasion for collecting payments, such as offering discounts for early or prompt payment. An alarm company using positive appeals would emphasize peace of mind and the knowledge that an outside person is looking out for the well-being and safety of your workplace or family

Negative Emotional Appeals

People use negative emotions fear, anxiety and disgust, for instance to craft negative persuasive messages. These arguments predict that something scary, disgusting or bad will happen if people don’t follow a course of action or if they do the wrong thing. For example, anti-smoking messages are generally fear messages. The famous “this is your brain on drugs” advertisements played on the fear that a persons’ brain would fry if that person took drugs. Ads calling cigarettes “Killaz” and ads showing teens with rotted out teeth and lesions on the body due to methamphetamine use also use fear to persuade. A photo of a mile-wide garbage island in the ocean promotes disgust, and can motivate people to recycle more to try to avoid polluting the oceans.

Negative Logical Messages

Negative logical messages show that negative results will follow a certain action or inaction. For example, an argument may use statistics from the March of Dimes to show that mothers who drink alcohol during pregnancy are more likely to have miscarriages or premature delivery, and women who have five or more drinks per week are 70 percent more likely to have stillborn babies. This kind of logical argument pointing out dangers and problems is a negative persuasive message.

Negative Persuasion in Business

In a business setting, a negative persuasive message generally threatens negative consequences as a means of motivation. For example, an evaluation for an employee with unsatisfactory job performance threatens disciplinary action, puts the person on probation or outlines negative qualities. For example, it may say, “Your constant tardiness and inability to contribute productively in meetings lead us to put you in probationary standing. If your performance does not improve in three months, there will be further disciplinary action.” Another type of negative persuasion is threatening to turn an account over to a collection agency, or a sales appeal that says without a certain product such as an alarm system your family or business is in danger.

Routine Letters

“A business letter is a letter written in formal language, usually used when writing from one business organization to another, or for correspondence between such organizations and their customers, clients and other external parties. Types of Routine Business Letters”: Persuasive Letters

Persuasive Letter is a letter written to persuade an organisation/s or individual/s towards accepting the writer’s (sender’s) issue, interest or perspective. It can be written to any type of organisation i.e. school, bank, college, NGO, municipality etc. The individuals can be a director, CEO, government official etc. The motive of the persuasion letter is to ‘Get your work done’ in layman terms.

The persuasion can be related to any matter, it can be:

• A Complaint
• A Sale
• A Petition
• A request or any other matter which requires convincing.

Taking that into note, persuasion letter is a broad term inclusive of Cover Letter, Complaint Letter, Petition Letter, Request Letter, and Sales Letter. This is because in all of the above mentioned there is moderate to maximum amount of persuasion on part of the sender.

Depending upon the region where you live a Complaint Letter or a Sales Letter may be an interchangeable name for a Persuasive letter. Persuasion letter comes under formal letter type and follows certain formats like Full Block Style, Semi-Block Style, Modified Block Style and Modified Semi-Block Style. As mentioned earlier about the formal nature of letters of persuasion, you can include certain informal elements depending upon the need. While a persuasive letter may or may not be successful in its objective, it does raise awareness about the matter addressed. And it can act as a source of inspiration for others when you are addressing certain important social issues.

Persuasive Letters

The persuasive letters are a letter written to convince an organization or person, to accept the issue of the author (sender), interest or perspective. It can be written for any kind of organization i.e. school, bank, college, NGO, municipality, etc. A person can be a director, CEO, government official, etc. Purpose of the Persuasive letter of persuasion is to ‘complete’ your work for the common man.

Strategies:

Planning

Planning is the first aspect that needs to be addressed before the writing begins. The planning will be very different depending on what the goal of the persuasion actually is. Some persuasive letters will require research of both sides of an argument, while other planning might just need to consider the person’s potential objections. Planning involves a few key considerations that should be thoroughly thought through.

• Tone: The tone of the letter is critical to whether the argument will be effective. The tone is the attitude of the piece and should be logical and mature. The specific tone that is set will depend on the argument and the recipient. Setting the wrong tone could be very ineffective. For example, if a child is trying to persuade their parents to get a family pet, setting a tone of annoyance or defiance could be a deal breaker.
• Support: Supporting an argument is essential to the success of the persuasion. Every point that is argued has to have support to back it up. Sometimes the support is data and other times it’s anecdotal evidence. The child asking for a dog might support the argument that they will be responsible by citing evidence of how they took care of a class pet over the weekend. Another part of support is counter-arguments. Identifying what arguments the recipient might have and having counter-support to those arguments will help bolster the persuasion.
• Purpose: If a persuasive letter doesn’t have a purpose, which is the intended outcome, then the letter will fall flat.
• The Hook: Making a compelling statement that attracts the recipient’s attention is crucial and hooking the recipient will help them to keep an open mind. The hook should take into consideration that the person receiving the letter is going to initially be opposed to the argument. The hook can work to soften the potentially barriers the recipient might have to the letter in general.
• The Close: Closing the letter is like closing the deal. It should be a repetition of the central argument and a reiteration of what the purpose of the letter is.

Formatting

Formatting is the second aspect that needs to be considered. Just like the planning, formatting will take different forms with different arguments. Sometimes formatting might include a section that explains how a certain action will be beneficial for the recipient and not just the sender.

The first step to formatting is to make sure that the letter follows the physical formatting of a formal letter. Whether the letter is asking for a raise or trying to convince a parent, it’s always good to write a persuasive letter in formal format.

Having effective listening skills means being able to display interest in the topic discussed and understand the information provided. In today’s society, the ability to communicate effectively is becoming increasingly important. Although the ability to speak effectively is a highly sought-after skill, developing effective listening skills is often not regarded in the same respect.

Paraphrasing

Paraphrasing: when we paraphrase what a person has told us we give a re-worded statement of the message content.

Paraphrasing helps the speaker feel they are being listened to and understood, and it helps the listener confirm their understanding is accurate.

When paraphrasing try to:

• Listen for key thoughts, feelings, and statements of facts.
• Use your own words to let the other person know what you think they meant.
• Be brief – you are trying to give a summary of key things said not a word for word account.
• Avoid interpreting or jumping too far ahead of what the person has said.

Summarizing Guidelines to increase listening

Active listening is a process where the listener responds in a conversational manner back to the speaker. They place their attention on the speaker and they feed back their perceptions of the speaker’s feelings and the content of what they said. When you are actively listening, you’re thinking about what the person is telling you and what their point of view is that they are trying to get across. Please watch this video about how to improve your listening skills.

The three the main techniques for active listening are paraphrasing, clarifying and summarizing.

• Paraphrasing is restating the speaker’s thought, in your own words. For instance, “I think you’re saying that…” or “It sounds like you’re saying …”. This is so they know you understand, or don’t understand, in which case they can clarify for you.
• Clarifying involves asking questions to make sure that you understand. For example, “Can you give me an example of that?” or “You just said that such and such is important, can you help me understand what that means to you?”
• Summarizing is accurately and briefly summarizing the intent of their message. For instance, “I think the main ideas here are …”.

Activities to enhance listening

1. Face the speaker and give them your attention

It is difficult to talk to someone who is constantly looking around. Make sure to face the speaker, maintain eye contact, and give them your undivided attention. In Western cultures, eye contact is necessary for effective communication. Although shyness, uncertainty, or cultural taboos may inhibit eye contact, try your best to make sure the speaker knows that they have your full attention.

2. Keep an open mind

Do not judge or mentally criticize what the speaker is telling you. Doing so can compromise your ability to take in what is being said. Never exhibit judgmental behavior, as it compromises your effectiveness as a listener. You can evaluate what was said after the speaker is finished talking, but don’t do so while you are still listening to them.

Let the speaker finish what they are saying and don’t be a sentence-grabber. Interrupting the speaker or prohibiting them from finishing what they are saying can indicate disrespect to the speaker. Often, interrupting the speaker mid-sentence interrupts their train of thought and can easily destroy a productive conversation.

3. Active listening

Active listening shows the speaker that you’re interested and is an important business communication skill. Using active listening techniques helps to ensure that you correctly understand what is said.

Active listening techniques:

• Paraphrasing back to the speaker what was said, to show understanding.
• Nonverbal cues (nodding, eye contact, etc.).
• Verbal affirmations (“I understand,” “I know,” “Thank you,” etc.).
• Demonstrating concern and establishing rapport.

4. Just listen

Create a mental model of the information, whether it be a picture or an arrangement of abstract concepts. Listen to keywords and phrases and do not rehearse what you are going to say after the speaker is done talking. Think about what the other person is saying rather than what you are going to respond with. It is difficult to think of what you are going to say while also listening to the speaker. Be attentive and relaxed – don’t get distracted by your own thoughts and feelings.

Listening is perhaps the most important of all interpersonal skills and Skills You Need has many pages devoted to the subject, see Listening Skills for an introduction.

Discriminative Listening

Discriminative listening is first developed at a very early age perhaps even before birth, in the womb.  This is the most basic form of listening and does not involve the understanding of the meaning of words or phrases but merely the different sounds that are produced. In early childhood, for example, a distinction is made between the sounds of the voices of the parents the voice of the father sounds different to that of the mother.

Discriminative listening develops through childhood and into adulthood.  As we grow older and develop and gain more life experience, our ability to distinguish between different sounds is improved. Not only can we recognise different voices, but we also develop the ability to recognise subtle differences in the way that sounds are made this is fundamental to ultimately understanding what these sounds mean.  Differences include many subtleties, recognising foreign languages, distinguishing between regional accents and clues to the emotions and feelings of the speaker.

Informational Listening

Whenever you listen to learn something, you are engaged in informational listening.  This is true in many day-to-day situations, in education and at work, when you listen to the news, watch a documentary, when a friend tells you a recipe or when you are talked-through a technical problem with a computer there are many other examples of informational listening too.

Although all types of listening are ‘active’ they require concentration and a conscious effort to understand. Informational listening is less active than many of the other types of listening.

Empathic Listening

When you listen empathically you are doing so to show mutual concern. During this type of listening, you are trying to identify with the speaker by understanding the situation in which he/she is discussing. You are stepping into the other’s shoes to get a better understanding of what it is he/she is talking about. Usually during this type of listening you want to be fully present in the moment or mindfully listening to what the speaker is saying. Your goal during this time is to focus on the speaker, not on yourself. You are trying to understand from the speaker’s perspective.

Appreciative Listening

When you listen for appreciation, you are listening for enjoyment. Think about the music you listen to. You usually listen to music because you enjoy it. The same can be said for appreciative listening when someone is speaking. Some common types of appreciative listening can be found in sermons from places of worship, from a motivational speech by people we respect or hold in high regard, or even from a stand-up comedian who makes us laugh.

Comprehensive Listening

If you are watching the news, listening to a lecture, or getting directions from someone, you are listening to understand or listening to comprehend the message that is being sent. This process is active. In class, you should be focused, possibly taking notes of the speaker’s main ideas. Identifying the structure of the speech and evaluating the supports he/she offers as evidence. This is one of the more difficult types of listening because it requires you to not only concentrate but to actively participate in the process. The more you practice listening to comprehend, the stronger listener you become.

Critical Listening

Have you ever had to buy an expensive item, such as a new appliance, a car, a cell phone, or an iPad? You probably did some research beforehand and listened closely to the salesperson when you went to compare brands. Or perhaps your best friend is telling you about some medical tests he/she recently had done. You listen closely so you can help your friend understand her results and the possible ramifications of the findings. Both of these scenarios are examples of critical listening. Critical listening is listening to evaluate the content of the message. As a critical listener you are listening to all parts of the message, analyzing it, and evaluating what you heard. When engaging in critical listening, you are also critically thinking. You are making mental judgments based on what you see, hear, and read. Your goal as a critical listener is to evaluate the message that is being sent and decide for yourself if the information is valid.

Communication network refer to a combination of sender and receiver in their role of transmission of message. Communication networks make the communication interesting, quicken the flow of information, and increases the effectiveness of communication. Depending upon the nature of message, urgency, organizational culture and size of the organization, different communication networks can be used. Basically, there are five types of communication network as follows:

Wheel Network

It is a pattern of communication network in which a single person as pivotal, supplies message to other members. It is centralized communication network. Here, the group idea is probably the main source of communication.

In the above diagram, 1 (manager) is the main source of information and he passes the information to the other group members, 2, 3, 4 and 5. In this type of network, only the manager communicates to subordinates but subordinates are not allowed to communicate with others i.e., member 2 cannot communicate with 3 and others.

Y Network

It is the pattern of communication network in which top leaders or managers communicate to the person closed to them. Then the message is communicated in downward direction in hierarchy.

Chain Network

It is a pattern of communication network in which a person can communicate with immediate superior and subordinate in hierarchy. In the diagram, 1 can communicate with 2, 2 with 3, and 3 with 5 in downward communication where information can flow from from bottom to top and top to bottom. It is more suitable when authority and responsibility are clearly defined among the group or team members.

Circle Network

It is a pattern of communication network in which message is communicated in circle, i.e., each person can pass the information to his/her adjoining two person right or left. For example, in above diagram, 2 can communicate information to 3 and 1 and similarly 3 can pass to 2 and 4 but cannot pass the information to 3 or 4.

All channel Network

It is one of the most decentralized type of communication network. In which, all the members of group or team share their ideas, views and suggestion to all the members without any restriction. Here, each of the member has right to communicate with any other person in the group without any restriction and boundaries.

Profits or expected profit stream from a productive activity or an investment play a crucial role in decision making by managers.

Therefore, it is necessary to first explain the difference between business profits and economic profits. Business profits are an accounting concept and represent the residual sales revenue to the owners of the firm after making payments to all other factors or resources the firm uses.

These payments to hired factors include the wages to hired labour, interest on borrowed capital, rent on land and factory buildings and expenditure on raw materials used by the firm. The expenditures on these factors or resources hired or purchased by the firms are call explicit costs. Business profit refers to the sales revenue of the firm minus its explicit costs. Thus

Business profits = Total sales revenue – Explicit costs

It is the concept of business profits that is generally used by the business community and accountants.

In their calculation of economic profit, the economists deduct not only explicit costs but also implicit costs from the sales revenue of the firm. The implicit costs refer to the opportunity costs of the resources provided by the firm’s owners themselves including capital and entrepreneurial ability.

These self-owned factors must be paid if they are too employed by the firm in its own production process otherwise, they will be employed elsewhere on hired basis. Thus, economists take into account the normal rate of return on capital used by the owner of the firm in its own business and the transfer earnings of the owner-entrepreneur as costs of doing business.

The risk adjusted rate of return on capital is the minimum return that is necessary to attract or retain it in business and is equal to what the owner could earn from investing in other firms.

Similarly, the opportunity cost of the entrepreneurial effort made by the owner entrepreneur is the salary that he could earn in his next best activity (say, as the manager of another firm). Likewise, the opportunity costs of other self-owned factors or inputs such as land, buildings used by the owner-entrepreneur in his own business will be counted as implicit costs.

The economic profit represents the sales revenue of the firm in excess of both explicit and implicit costs.

Economic profits = Sales revenue – Explicit costs – implicit costs.

While explaining maximisation of short-run profits or present value of the stream of expected profits in the future, economists assume that it is economic profits that owner- entrepreneur or managers of corporations seek to maximise. The concept of economic profits brings into sharp focus the question why such profits which is over and above the normal rate of return on equity capital and reward for entrepreneurial ability in case of owner-entrepreneur, exists and what is its role in a free enterprise system.

In long-run equilibrium economic profits will be zero if all firms work in perfectly competitive market. Then, how does an economic profit, positive or negative, come into existence.

Function of Profits

Profits play an important role in a free market economy. Profits perform two important primary roles in such an economy.

First, profits serve as a signal to change the rate of output or for the firms to enter or leave the industry.

Second, profits play a critical role in providing incentive to introduce innovations and increase productive efficiency and take risks.

Thus, high economic profits being earned in an industry serve as a signal that consumers want more of the commodity being produced by that industry. These profits indicate to the firm to expend output of the commodity and for the new firms to enter the industry to gain a share of economic profits that exist in the industry. As a result, more resources will be allocated to the output of that industry.

On the other hand, below normal profits in an industry serve as a signal that either less output of the industry is demanded by the consumers or inefficient production methods are being used by the firms. In response to the lower demand for the product the firms will reduce their output and also some firms will leave the industry.

As a result, some productive resources will be released from that industry and made available for the production of other goods. If the lower profits are due to the inefficient production and organisation, this will induce firm to improve efficiency by changing the production methods or make organisational changes to reduce costs.

Profit motive drives a free-market economy. Although it has been observed that sometimes managers and entrepreneurs in a free market system are swayed by greed and avarice, and break laws to make money or profits by exploiting the consumers or workers but in general profits perform useful function of sending signals for changing levels of output of various products and for reallocation of resources among them.

Secondly, above normal rate of profits in a free enterprise system is an essential reward for introducing innovations and taking risks. No entrepreneur will introduce new products or more efficient of production methods or undertake investment in risky projects unless there is prospect of making profits. Some firms continue to earn above-normal rate of profit year after year as they are continually introducing new products, new production methods and providing good customer services.

In the economy changes in demand for the product often occur due to cyclical and structural changes. Besides, new strategies of rival firms also affect the demand for the product of a firm. All these uncertain and unanticipated changes involve a good deal of risk. An important function of economic profits is to reward entrepreneurs for taking these risks involved in making investment and organising factors for the production of products.

However, in some cases firms are also able to make supernormal profits by virtue of their having monopoly power. Their monopoly power may be due to some legal patent and license obtained from the government, the economies of large scale production, exclusive control over essential raw materials which prevent the other firms from producing the same product or service.

These enable the monopoly firms to charges higher prices and thereby make large economic profits. Therefore, even in free-market economies steps are taken to prevent the emergence of monopolies through anti-trust laws or Competition Acts as recently enacted in India. Of course, monopolies are legally permitted if they are needed in public interest. For example, in several cities Government grants license to some firms to provide public utility services such electricity, gas, telephone etc.

In these cases of legal monopolies government regulates them and fix reasonable prices to be charged by them from the public but at the same time ensures fair return or normal profits to them on their investment.

It is generally held that the main motive of a firm is to make profits. The volume of profit made by it is regarded as a primary measure of its success. Economic theory advocates profit maximisation as the chief policy of a firm. Modem business enterprises do not accept this view and relegate the profit maximisation theory to the back ground. This does not mean that modem firms do not aim at profits. They do aim at maximum profits but aim at other goals as well. All these constitute the profit policy.

(i) Industry Leadership:

Industry leadership may involve either the achievement of the maxi­mum sales volume or the manufacture of the maximum product lines. For the attainment of leadership in the industry, there has to be a satisfactory level of profit consistent with capital invested, labour force employed and volume of output produced.

(ii) Restricting the Entry:

If a firm follows a policy of restricting its profit, no competitors are likely to enter the market. Reasonable profits which guarantee its survival and growth are essential. According to Joel Dean, “Competitors can invade the market as soon as they discover its profitability and find ways to shift the patents and make necessary changes in design, technique, and production plant and market penetration.”

(iii) Political Impact:

High profits are considered to be suicidal for a firm. If the government comes to know that the firms are earning huge returns, it may resort to high taxation or to nationalisa­tion. High profits are often considered as an index of monopoly power and to prevent the govern­ment may introduce price control and profit regulation policies.

(iv) Consumer Goodwill:

Consumer is the foundation of any business. For maintaining con­sumer goodwill, firms have to restrict the profit. By maintaining low profit, the firms may seek the goodwill of the consumers. Consumer goodwill is valued so much these days that firms often make organised efforts through advertisements.

(v) Wage Consideration:

Higher profits may be taken as evidence of the ability to pay higher wages. If the labour associations come to know that the firms are declaring higher dividends to the shareholders, naturally they demand higher wages, bonus, etc. Under these circumstances in the inter­est of harmonious relations with employees, firms keep the profit margin at a reasonable level.

(vi) Liquidity Preference:

Many concerns give greater importance to capital soundness of a firm and hence prefer liquidity to profit maximisation. Liquidity preference means the preference to hold cash to meet the day to day transactions. The first item that attracts one’s attention in the balance sheet is the ratio of current assets to current liabilities. In order to give capital soundness, the business concerns keep less profit and maintain high cash.

(vii) Avoid Risk:

Avoiding risk is another objective of the modem business for which the firms have to restrict the profit. Risk element is high under profit maximisation. Managerial decision involving the setting up of a new venture has to face a number of uncertainties. Very often experienced manage­ments avoid the possibility of such risks. When there is oligopolistic uncertainty, firms may focus attention at minimising losses. The guiding principle of business economics is not maximisation of profit but the avoidance of loss.

1. Alternative Profit Policies:

Economists have suggested different profit policies which business firms may adopt as an alter­native to profit maximisation.

These alternative profit policies are listed below:

Prof. K. Rothschild observes, “Profit maximisation has until now served as the wonderful mar­ket key that opened all doors leading to an understanding of the behaviour of the entrepreneur. It was always realised that family pride, moral and ethical considerations, poor intelligences and similar factors may modify the results built on the maximum profit assumption, but it was right by assuming that these disturbing phenomena are sufficiently exceptional to justify their exclusion from the main body of price theory. But there is another motive which cannot be so lightly dismissed and which is probably a similar order of magnitude as the desire for maximum profits, namely the desire for secure profits”. He has suggested that the primary motive of an enterprise is long run survival.

According to him, the assump­tion of profit maximisation is no doubt valid to the situation of perfect competition or monopolistic competition. Under monopolistic condition, the aim of the firm is to secure monopoly profits. In the case of oligopoly, he says that the assumption of profit maximisation is not sufficient.

W.J. Baumol puts forth the maximisation of sales as the ultimate aim of the firm. He says while maximising sales the producer will not regard costs incurred as output and profits to be made. If the sales of the company increase, it means that the producer is not only covering costs but also making a usual rate of return on investment. Baumol’s theory of sales maximisation as a rational behaviour of the producer is considered as an alternative to the theory of profit maximisation.

Benjamin Higgins, Mekin Reder and Tibor Scitovsky have developed another alternative to the theory of profit maximisation, that of utility maximisation, if the producer is supposed to maximise his satisfaction. In this approach, they have introduced leisure as a variable. Leisure is an essential ingredi­ent of an individual welfare. If more work is put in by the producer, the less leisure he will be able to enjoy. It is said that the producer would get maximum satisfaction where his net profit is optimum.

Donaldson and Lorsch are of the opinion that career managers prefer policies that favour long term stability and growth of their firms which are possible only when they get maximum current profits. For the survival, self sufficiency and success, the top managers strive hard and augment corporate wealth. The more the wealth, the greater the assurance of the means of survival.

1. Aims of Profit Policy:

The firm seeks to achieve many objectives and profit making is the main objective but it is not the only objective. Profit making is no doubt necessary. In addition to adequate profit, the firm often pursues multiple and even contradictory objectives. If a firm makes sufficient profits, it can give good dividends and attractive salaries, etc. The firm can fix a target rate for profits as its investment. There is a problem in determining the target rate of profits.

They are:

(i) Competitive rate of profit

(ii) Historical profit rate

(iii) Rate of profit sufficient enough to protect the equity, and

(iv) Plough back of profit rate.

Competitive rate of profit is the rate earned by other companies in the same industry or of selected companies in other industries working under similar conditions. It may be slightly different from the rate of profit of other companies.

Historical rate of profit is the rate of profit determined as the basis of past earnings in the normal times. The rates should be sufficient enough to attract equity capital, have provided adequate dividend to shareholders and have not encouraged much competition.

Rate of profit sufficient enough to protect the equity is the rate sufficient enough to attract equity capital and the rate of return on investment should protect the interest of present shareholders. Plough back of profit late is that late of profit Which should be such that there is a surplus after paying the dividends to finance further growth of the industry. Cyert and March have focused on five aims which represent main operative organisational goals.

They are:

(i) Production goal

(ii) Inventory goal

(iii) Sales goal

(iv) Marketing share goal and

(v) Profit goal

Production Goal:

The firms want to maintain the production of the product at a stable level to ensure stable employment and growth. The basic requirement is that the production does not fluctuate.

Inventory Goal:

To ensure a complete and convenient stock of inventory throughout the pro­duction, a minimum level of inventory has to be maintained so that the firm can prevent fluctuations in prices.

Sales Goal:

It is considered as very important from the point of view of stability and survival of the firm. Increasing sales mean progress of the firm. Sales strengthen the organisation. The more are the sales, the more is the profit.

Market Share Goal:

Company sales do not reveal how well the company is performing. If the company’s market share goes up, the company is gaining as a competitor, if it goes down the company is losing relative to competitors.

Profit Goal:

Profits are a function of the chosen price, advertising and sales promotion budgets. Normal profit is essential not only to pay dividends but also to ensure additional resources for reinvest­ment.

The term profit has distinct meaning for different people, such as businessmen, accountants, policymakers, workers and economists. Profit simply means a positive gain generated from business operations or investment after subtracting all expenses or costs.

In economic terms profit is defined as a reward received by an entrepreneur by combining all the factors of production to serve the need of individuals in the economy faced with uncertainties. In a layman language, profit refers to an income that flow to investor. In accountancy, profit implies excess of revenue over all paid-out costs. Profit in economics is termed as a pure profit or economic profit or just profit.

Profit differs from the return in three respects namely:

1. Profit is a residual income, while return is total revenue.
2. Profits may be negative, whereas returns, such as wages and interest are always positive.
3. Profits have greater fluctuations than returns.

 

1. Risk-Bearing Theory of Profit:

The main proponent of this theory is Prof. Hawley. According to Hawley, one of the major functions of an entrepreneur is to bear risk that is associated first with the setting up of the business and then with the management of the business.

The risks in a business are of two types:

(i) Risk involved in the selection of the field of business; and

(ii) Risk associated with the management of the business.

After investing capital in a particular busi­ness, the entrepreneur has to wait for a long time before he can know if his selection of the field of business has been appropriate this long wait is a form of risk-bearing.

Again, while managing the business, the entrepreneur has to bear all the risks arising out of unexpected changes in the demand and supply for the product.

There may be sudden changes in the demand for a good owing to changes in the tastes, habits and incomes of the buyers, changes in the availability and prices of the substitute products, etc.

Also, there may be unexpected changes in the supply of the good owing to changes in the availability of the factors of produc­tion and changes in production techniques, etc.

Therefore, that the entrepreneur has to bear the risks associated with the unexpected changes in demand and supply of the product and also the risks associated with the consequent changes in the price of the product, total revenue and profit of the firm. The greater the ability of the entrepreneur to bear all these risks, the higher would be his level of profit. This is the main contention of the risk-bearing theory.

Critical Evaluation of the Theory:

The arguments that may be advanced in favour of the theory are:

(i) The theory attracts our attention to the fact that one of the main functions of the entrepre­neurs is to bear the risks.

(ii) The theory focuses also on the fact that a very few persons come forward to play the role of entrepreneurs because here they would have to bear the risks. That is why the supply of entrepreneurial services is very limited.

Arguments Against the Theory:

Let us now come to the arguments against the theory. These are:

(i) Risk-bearing is not the only function of an entrepreneur who has to perform many vital functions. For example, the entrepreneur has to innovate at regular intervals new products, new markets and improved methods of production and business.

He may augment his revenue and reduce his expenditures through such innovations and, consequently, his profit level would go up. Therefore, profit may also be considered as a reward for effecting innovations. Again, the entrepreneurs, all of them, have not the same ability to face risks and to perform other activi­ties.

Therefore, owing to differences in such ability, some entrepreneurs may earn rent of abil­ity. Similarly, if the entrepreneur is able to establish a monopolistic dominance in the market, then also his income, i.e., profit, would include the added income acquired through monopoly power. Therefore, profit cannot be explained only as a reward for risk-bearing.

(ii) The entrepreneur has surely to bear risks and his profit, at least some part of it, may be considered to be a reward for risk-bearing. However, risk is a subjective concept. We cannot measure risk in an objective, cardinal manner. That is why it is not possible to establish a functional relationship between risk and profit.

(iii) The exponents of the risk-bearing theory of profit did not distinguish between insurable risk and non-insurable risk. But if we are to obtain a good estimate of the amount of risk- bearing, it is essential to remember this distinction. For, the entrepreneurs actually do not bear the burden of insurable risks, it is borne by the insurance companies.

Therefore, they cannot be considered as risks. According to Prof. Knight, the entrepreneurs bear the burden of non-insurable risks and he has called these non-insurable risks by the name of uncertainty. The entrepreneur should obtain profit as a reward for bearing this uncertainty.

2. Uncertainty-Bearing Theory of Profit:

Prof. F. H. Knight (1885-1973) has developed the uncertainty-bearing theory of profit. He says that we may distinguish between insurable risks and non-insurable risks. This distinction is important. For, the entrepreneurs actually do not bear the burden of insurable risks it is borne by the insurance companies. Therefore, they cannot be considered as risks for the entrepreneurs.

For example, we know from experience that factory premises are exposed to the risk of fire. We also know why there may be fire in a factory premise, and so, we may adopt necessary measures for prevention of fire.

In spite of all this, there remains the risk of fire, and, once the insurance companies agree to bear this risk, it no longer remains a risk. In other words, according to Knight, insurable risks should not be considered as risks and there is no question of the entrepreneurs bearing this risk.

However, the entrepreneurs bear the burden of non-insurable risks for there is no insurance company to bear these risks on their behalf. Prof. Knight has called these risks the uncertainties.

He tells us that the entrepreneur should get profit as a reward for bearing the uncertainties of the business world. The more prudently an entrepreneur bears the uncertainties, the more should be the amount of profit to reward him with.

Critical Evaluation of the Theory:

The following arguments are advanced in favour of the uncertainty-bearing theory of profit:

(i) The theory attracts our attention to the fact that not all types of risk are to be borne by the entrepreneur. He actually bears the non-insurable risks. The insurable risks are taken care of by the insurance agencies.

(ii) The theory tells us that, like all other productive services, uncertainty-bearing is also a productive service. The entrepreneur supplies this productive service and profit is the price of this service.

(iii) Since, in general, people are averse to uncertainty-bearing, the supply of entrepreneurs in the real world is very small. This impression is also obtained from the theory.

Arguments Against the Theory:

The following arguments are advanced against the theory:

(i) Uncertainty-bearing is not the only function of an entrepreneur. The innovation of new products, new markets or new production and business techniques are also among the main tasks of an entrepreneur.

Therefore, along with the function of uncertainty-bearing, that of innovation may also be the source of profit. Again, the rent of ability and monopolistic dominance may also be the sources of profit. Similarly, a firm may earn profit owing to its goodwill in the market. Therefore, we cannot say that profit arises only as a reward for uncertainty-bearing.

(ii) Uncertainty is something subjective: It has no objective, cardinal measure. In the case of organisation and management of a particular business, different entrepreneurs may have different perceptions of the degree of uncertainty involved. Therefore, it is almost impossible to build up a functional relation between uncertainty and profit.

3. Rent Theory of Profit:

An American economist, Francis A. Walker (1840-97), is the exponent of the rent theory of profit. Walker says that an entrepreneur acquires profit because of his ability to perform. Walker argues like this. In a certain production process, if an entrepreneur uses land, labour and capital owned by his own self, then the residual part of his revenue, after payment is made to all these factors of production, is profit.

Now, at any particular price of the product, some entrepreneurs may have this profit equal to zero. They are called the marginal entrepreneurs. Any such mar­ginal entrepreneur can have nothing in excess of the wage, interest and rent earned by his own labour, capital and land.

Therefore, if an entrepreneur’s ability to perform is more than that of a marginal entrepreneur, then his cost of production would be smaller, and he would be able to earn a positive profit. In fact, the greater the efficiency of a particular entrepreneur than that of a marginal entrepreneur, the more would be the amount of profit earned by him.

There is some similarity between profit and rent. For, in the Ricardian theory of rent also, we have seen that rent is zero on marginal land and the less the cost of production and more the productivity on a plot of land, the more would be the rent enjoyed by its owners. Because of this similarity between profit and rent, Walker’s theory is called the rent theory of profit.

Critical Evaluation of the Theory:

Like the other theories of profit, Walker’s theory cannot satisfactorily explain as to why the firm and its entrepreneur should get profit. However, the theory attracts our attention to the similarity between profit and rent. But we should remember that rent is not the only element of profit.

Walker has argued that profit of the marginal entrepreneur is zero and the profits earned by an intra-marginal entrepreneur are all rent.

This contention of Walker may be correct if:

(i) An entrepreneur may supply his services only in his present business and he has no alternative employment to go to; and

(ii) The supply of entrepreneurial services or the number of entrepre­neurs is completely fixed.

However, in the real world, we always see that the entrepreneurs can supply their services to many alternative areas and from the point of view of a particular business, supply of entrepre­neurial services is not completely fixed—the supply can increase if the reward increases. There­fore, in any particular business, the minimum supply price of entrepreneurial services is not zero.

Loosely speaking, the minimum supply price of an entrepreneur in his present business would be equal to the maximum amount of reward that he may avail of in an alternative field of engagement, other things (i.e., risk or harassment factors) remaining the same. The minimum supply price of the entrepreneur’s services in his present engagement is called his normal profit.

If an entrepreneur is able to earn profits in excess of his normal profit, then this excess is a surplus and this surplus is called pure or economic profit. The amount of pure profit an entre­preneur may earn would depend upon the efficiency of his performance.

The more his effi­ciency, the more he would be able to earn as pure profit. Therefore, pure profit which is the excess over normal profit, is of the nature of the rent of ability. However, we have to remember here that the profit of a firm also includes what is known as windfall or chance income.

There­fore, the pure profit is a surplus which includes the rental surplus as also the surplus due to the windfall or chance factors. Therefore, pure profit is a mixed surplus.

4. Innovation Theory of Profit:

The innovation theory of profit was developed by Prof. Joseph A. Schumpeter (1883-1950). According to Schumpeter, the main function of an entrepreneur is to innovate. Here we have to remember first the distinction which Schumpeter had made between invention and innovation.

Invention is the discovery of a law of nature by a scientist. On the other hand, if an entrepre­neur manufactures a new product or introduces a new production technique by using the newly discovered law of nature, and thereby makes the commercial use of the invention possible, then this is called innovation.

For example, the scientists have discovered or invented the laws of science that are behind the manufacture of the goods like electric lights or fans, radio sets, television sets, refrigerators and such other goods. But the entrepreneurs have innovated these goods. Innovation is the commercial use of the laws of science that have been discovered by the scientists.

Schumpeter has said that if the entrepreneur can innovate new techniques of production and sale, if he can innovate a new product or a new model of an old product and if he can find new markets for selling the product, then Only, he will be able to play the role of a pioneer in the business world and increase the amount of profit. We may call this increase in profit the innovation-induced profit.

Criticisms of the Theory:

Schumpeter’s innovation theory of profit has explained nicely how an entrepreneur may increase the amount of profit by means of innovations. But this theory cannot fully explain why profit arises or why the entrepreneurs should earn profit.

For example, we know that an entre­preneur should obtain profit as a reward for bearing risk or uncertainty, for his ability to estab­lish monopolistic dominance, and for many other reasons. But Schumpeter did not consider these factors that might work behind the emergence of profit.

5. Dynamic Theory of Profit:

According to J. M. Clark (1884-1963), an American economist, profit can emerge only in a dynamic society. That is why his theory is called the dynamic theory of profit. We have to remember here the distinction between a dynamic society and a static society.

The society which is constantly changing and where the socio-economic factors like population and labour force, saving and investment, volume of capital, tastes and choices of the people, the standard of education, health and culture, etc. are always changing, is called a dynamic society.

On the other hand, the society where these changes do not occur, is called a static society. According to Clark, changes do not occur in a static society. That is why here there is no risk or uncertainty. In such a society, everything goes on according to routine and everyone has a prior information of what will happen and when.

So here the entrepreneur bears no uncertainty while organising a production process, and he should not get profit as a reward. Therefore, Clark concludes that profit does not arise in a static society. The entrepreneur obtains a price for his product in this society, which would just cover only his cost (including normal profit).

The dynamic society, on the other hand, goes through changes. There the tastes, habits and fashion, the availability of factors of production and the methods and techniques of production are all changing. That is why, in such a society, the entrepreneur has to bear uncertainty. The more successful he is in managing the uncertainties, the higher would be the profit level acquired by him.

It is clear in the above analysis that in a dynamic society, the entrepreneur has to be innovative, for innovations lead to changes and changes inspire innovations. On the other hand, in a static society, innovations do not occur, for such a society does not experience changes. That is why the dynamic theory of profit is considered to be a more general form of Schumpeter’s innovation theory.

Critical Estimates:

The dynamic theory attracts our attention to the fact that dynamism is urgently necessary for the social and economic progress of a society. If the society is dynamic, the entrepreneurs would earn profit and, if they can earn profit, the supply of entrepreneurship increases and, consequently, production in the society increases.

But the dynamic theory of profit also is not a complete theory. Because, this theory also does not explain all the causes of the emergence of profit. For example, this theory does not mention that profit may also arise because of the monopoly power of the firm.

6. Monopoly Power Theory of Profit:

Many economists think that if there is perfect competition in the markets, there cannot be any profit, because absence of competition creates opportunities in the markets to acquire profit. As we know, under perfect competition, the buyers and sellers are assumed to possess full knowledge about the conditions prevailing in the markets.

That is why if the firms in an industry happen to earn more than normal profit in the short run, then in the long run, number of firms and the supply of the product would be increasing and the price of the product would be decreasing till all the existing firms would earn just the amount of normal profit. A firm under perfect competition is one of a large number of firms.

That is why it can sell more or less any amount of its product at the market-determined price. The entrepreneur, here, is not required to take an individual initiative to increase the demand for his product and his sales. Therefore, here the entrepreneur performs his routine activities and for this he gets no more than the normal profit.

On the other hand, if the entrepreneur possesses monopoly power in the market, then he would have to exert individual initiative in giving leadership in the market. Now, in order to maintain his monopoly power and to increase this power, he would have to exercise necessary efforts.

The entrepreneur here has to bear risk and uncertainty, and he would have to expand the dominance of his firm in the market through innovations. If the entrepreneur can perform his job successfully, then he can increase the demand for his product and get a higher price. Consequently, the amount of pure profit earned by him may increase.

Criticisms:

We may argue in favour of this theory that it has rightly emphasised the role of monopoly power in the emergence of profit. But this also cannot be a complete theory of profit.

For we know that even a monopolistic firm can earn less than normal profit or negative pure profit, i.e., we may have p < AC at his MR = MC point. Therefore, the existence of monopoly elements in the market may be a necessary condition for the emergence of profit but it is not a sufficient condition.

7. Labour Exploitation Theory of Profit:

According to the great philosopher and classical economist, Karl Marx (1818-1883), labour is the only factor of production which can produce surplus value. The capitalists acquire profit by expropriating this surplus value. Marx has said that labour is the only productive factor.

Labour is given a rate of wage which is much smaller than the net value produced by it with the help of machines, raw materials, etc. The surplus value is defined as the difference between the net value produced by labour and what it actually gets as wage.

This surplus value is the profit of the entrepreneur who represents the capitalists. There would be an increase in the productivity of labour when this profit is converted into capital and invested again, for now the labour would be able to use more of capital goods or machines.

As the productivity of labour increases, the surplus value created by labour also increases for the rate of wage of the workers generally does not increase, or, increases at a much smaller rate. Thus exploitation of labour goes on increasing at an increasing rate and, along with it, the stock of capital also increases.

Criticisms:

In the labour exploitation theory of profit, the role of labour in the creation of surplus value and the subject of labour exploitation have been rightly emphasised. However, many economists think that, like labour, the other factors of production, like land and capital, are also productive.

Besides, Marx has said that it is the capitalists that acquire profit, i.e., he thinks that capitalists are identical with entrepreneurs, although, in modern economic system, entrepreneurs and capitalists may be separate persons.

Lastly, Marx does not consider the fact that sometimes the entrepreneurs may have to bear risks and uncertainties. Therefore, Marx’s theory, too, cannot be considered to be a complete theory of profit.

8. Marginal Productivity Theory of Profit:

We already know how the marginal productivity (MP) theory of factor pricing may be applied to the determination of the rates of wage and interest. We shall now see how far the theory is relevant in determining the rate of profit. The MP theory says that the price of a factor would be equal to the value of its marginal product (VMP).

Therefore, according to the MP theory, the rate of profit would be equal to the VMP of entrepreneurship or entrepreneurial services. According to definition, the MP of entrepreneurship is the increment in total output obtained as a result of use of the marginal unit of entrepreneurial services.

It may be noted here that if we talk of one marginal unit of entrepreneur in place of one marginal unit of entrepreneurial services, then there would be confusion since a business firm may have one, or, at best, a few entrepreneurs, and entrepreneur is not a continuous variable.

Therefore, while examining the relevance of the MP theory in the area of profit, we should talk not of entrepreneurs, but of entrepreneurial services, the quantity used of which may be measured, say, in units of time as quantity used of labour is expressed in hours.

Then we would be able to say: if the VMP of entrepreneurial services is greater than the rate of profit determined in the market, then the entrepreneur would go on increasing the amount of entrepreneurial services used till the VMP of these services diminishes owing to the law of diminishing returns, to become equal to the rate of profit.

Economies of scope are “efficiencies formed by variety, not volume” (the latter concept is “economies of scale”). In economics, “economies” is synonymous with cost savings and “Scope” is synonymous with broadening production/services through diversified products. Economies of scope is an economic theory stating that average total cost of production decrease as a result of increasing the number of different goods produced. For example, a gas station that sells gasoline can sell soda, milk, baked goods, etc. through their customer service representatives and thus gasoline companies achieve economies of scope.

Whereas economies of scale for a firm involve reductions in the average cost (cost per unit) arising from increasing the scale of production for a single product type, economies of scope involve lowering average cost by producing more types of products.

Economies of scope make product diversification, as part of the Ansoff Matrix, efficient if they are based on the common and recurrent use of proprietary know-how or on an indivisible physical asset. For example, as the number of products promoted is increased, more people can be reached per unit of money spent. At some point, however, additional advertising expenditure on new products may become less effective (an example of diseconomies of scope). Related examples include distribution of different types of products, product bundling, product lining, and family branding.

Economies of scope exist whenever the total cost of producing two different products or services (X and Y) is lower when a single firm instead of two separate firms produces by themselves.

DSC = TC(q1) + TC(q2) – TC(q1, q2) / TC(q1, q2)

Where:

• TC(q1) is the cost of producing quantity q1 of good a separately
• TC(q2) is the cost of producing quantity q2 of good b separately
• TC(q1+q2) is the cost of producing quantities q1 and q2 together
• Economies of Scope (S) is the percentage cost saving when the goods are produced together. Therefore, S would be greater than 0 when economies of scope exist.

If DSC > 0, there is economies of scope. It is recommended that two firms can corporate and produce together.

If DSC = 0, there is no economies of scale and economies of scope.

If DSC < 0, there is diseconomies of scope. It is not recommended to work together for the two firms. Diseconomies of scope means that it is more efficient for two firms to work separately since the merged cost per unit is higher than the sum of stand-alone costs.

Joint costs

The essential reason for economies of scope is some substantial joint cost across the production of multiple products. The cost of a cable network underlies economies of scope across the provision of broadband service and cable TV. The cost of operating a plane is a joint cost between carrying passengers and carrying freight, and underlies economies of scope across passenger and freight services.

Natural monopolies

While in the single-output case, economies of scale are a sufficient condition for the verification of a natural monopoly, in the multi-output case, they are not sufficient. Economies of scope are, however, a necessary condition. As a matter of simplification, it is generally accepted that markets may have monopoly features if both economies of scale and economies of scope apply, as well as sunk costs or other barriers to entry.

Advantages

Economies of scope have the following advantages for businesses:

• Extreme flexibility in product design and product mix
• Rapid responses to changes in market demand, product design and mix, output rates, and equipment scheduling
• Greater control, accuracy, and repeatability of processes
• Reduced costs from less waste and lower training and changeover costs
• More predictability (e.g., maintenance costs)
• Faster throughput thanks to better machine use, less in-process inventory, or fewer stoppages for missing or broken parts. (Higher speeds are now made possible and economically feasible by the sensory and control capabilities of the “Smart” machines and the information management abilities of computer-aided manufacturing (CAM) software.)
• Distributed processing capability made possible and economical by the encoding of process information in easily replicable software
• Less risk: A company that sells many product lines, sells in many countries, or both will benefit from reduced risk (e.g., if a product line falls out of fashion or if one country has an economic slowdown, the company will likely be able to continue trading).

Strategies Economies of Scope

1. Related Diversification

If a company is able to use its operational expertise, resources, and capabilities across its organization, then it can take advantage of related diversification. For example, hiring designers and marketers who can use their skills across different product lines allows for the production of a wide range of products.

2. Flexible Manufacturing

Flexible manufacturing exists if multiple products can be produced using the same manufacturing systems and inputs for example, using the same preparation and storage facilities when making hamburgers and fries, as opposed to using two separate facilities.

3. Mergers

Mergers often enable a company to share research and development expenses to reduce costs and diversify its product portfolio or knowledge. For example, two pharmaceutical companies might merge to combine their research and development expenses to create new products.

4. Linking the Supply Chain

Integrating vertical supply chain assists in reducing costs and wastage. For example, operating multiple businesses under the same entity or having combined management rather than running as separate entities.

5. Acquisition of Companies with Similar Products

Mergers with horizontal acquisition or strategic acquisitions will help achieve the economies of scope as the company will benefit from synergies due to utilization of similar raw materials, production and assembly lines.

6. Diversification

Companies producing different products using similar inputs and production processes will improve productivity.