Agriculture industry means more than livelihood source in India as it also contains economical and social meaning. As 72% of the population live in rural area and 60% workforce related to agriculture but only contribute to 30% of the GNP and it represents low income in this area. However, this area has a lot of problems such as inadequate infrastructure especially transportation and electronic power, less experience in modern resource, huge land and diverse egro-ecological zone which leads to heterogeneous products and needs to customized information on crop, prices and weather. Farmers are mostly fragmented and illiteracy rate is also high owing to the low education and limited access to information and most of them just depend on monsoon to cultivate. The weak infrastructure and the need of input and market access justify numerous intermediaries who are dependent sole source of information and counterpart for transaction and exploit both farmers and buyers. Low risk taking ability ofTC creates new supply chain through eChoupal.Old supply chain : Farmer → Mandi(Market & commission Agent) →ITC → Processing //Mandi : inbound logistics →inspection → Auction→ Bagging &Weighing – payment → outbound logistics.New supply chain : Farmer ↔eChoupal↔ ITC → Processing↓ ↨M a n d iInspection &Pricing→ inbound logistics → Inspection &Grading → Weighing → payment → outbound logisticsIn the process to build up this system, ITC used a lot of smart tactics. First, they provided both social gathering place culturally based and ecommerce hub to overcome geographically disadvantage. And they also used technology infrastructure such as computer, internet-can track future prices directly and overcome disperse of land, multimedia-can overcome illiteracy, broadband). Also, eChoupals was built within walking distance for the convenience of use and multipurpose warehouse hubs were set in tractorable distance with feasibility. The retaining many aspects of the existing production system includbroad distribution channel, so they could create competition both supply and demand side making market more competitive. As giving quality information, extensive service for free and empowerment which make farmers choose any company with their own need and even can find outside dealer, they got faith from farmers and their already built-up channel also attracted many companies who wanted save operation costs and efficient execution of transaction with huge customer base and these made the extension of service such as insurance and credit easier. The readily access the different agricultural crop specific website and relevant local language which is updated frequently and the use of reliable sources such as local agriculture universities, state meteorological department also contributed to increase the number of customers and trust. Besides, their openness and transparency could influence the government regulation.eChoupals created a lot of value propositions with overcome disadvantagesring the power of scale. Accurate real-time information improved planning and decision making and it leaded lots of reductions of overhead costs especially transportation which was avoidable in terms of huge land. Farmers not only enjoyed direct evolvement in market also enjoyed accurate weighing, faster processing time, prompt payment and quality control from experts and these eventually increased efficiencies, improved crop quality, brought wealth improvement and agriculture became more competitive. It turned out farmers could enjoy 2.5% higher price owing to lower transaction cost and farm input and high yield and another 2.5% for procurement cost owing to reduce commissions and transport costs. Sanchalak also earned a fee 0.5% commission for the sale of soybean and 2-3% for orders placed for input items and Samyojak got 2-5% commission for transaction. And ITC got profits from customers from all over the world and companies who used ITC networks.But eChoupals required huge investmeossible manipulation of system existed. And BSNL bandwidth and telephone line could cause the interruption of information, slow speed and it was not sufficient for huge data. Besides, as most rural areas suffered power shortage, the company had to install solar power for each place.I believe ITC could extend another agricultural products rice food grains, wheat, fruit, coffee and also agricultural related instrument, tools and cars etc. As agriculture is high-risked with a long yield time and unexpected natural disaster and low margin industry, insurance and credit services are also recommended in light of huge customer population. And this model could be adapted in China as India and China have many similarities such as poor rural area, high percentage of agriculture, land dispersion, weak infrastructure, heterogeneous products and high illiteracy rate and many dialects. But some adjustments are also required with a consideration of the government regulation and culture differences. Aers.
Bausch & Lomb, Inc.: Pressure to Perform.From 1993 Bausch & Lomb faced up seriously to three main issues: sales decrease, profit margin, and inventories. In order to match the targets and the actual performances, some divisions were forced to manipulate the financial reports and even to take illegal decisions. We’re going to analyze these manipulations according to the three mainly involved divisions and to the company’s financial reports.LAMEXLatin America was a very charming market for B&L: a lot of customers were willing or used to pay for cash, cash equivalents or third party checks for a pair of $50,000 Ray-Ban Sunglasses. B&L’s Latin American Export subsidiary LAMEX not only enjoyed $25 million sales, but it could also get a chance to do possible wrongdoings such as money laundering. In fact, cash payments were hard to be tracked and attributed to a specific market, so LAMEX could enter into the European gray market, and B&L headquarters couldn’t realize it because every movement93 the Sunglasses Division decided to face up the decrease in sales through end-of-period promotions. To the distributors willing to accept larger stocks of sunglasses, B&L would have offered some incentives, such as 90-day payment terms instead of 30-day, 30% rebates, and extended deadlines on invoices due.As for the Contact Lenses Division, to face up to the sales decline, it adopted two sales promotions. The first round (“September Program”) was aimed to sell large quantities of traditional lenses, at a discounted price of 50% and with some extended payment terms.With the following “December Program” distributors had to accept two years’ worth of lenses (1.8 million units), otherwise they would have lost every rights to distribute B&L products. However the company didn’t consider the actual demand forlenses, already overstocked, because it was only interested in matching the forecasts.At the beginning distributors were expected to sign a promissory note for the accounts receivable, the end distributors obtained the concession of cancel the promissory note and return the unsold lenses, so as to make a hole in revenues by $75 million.Hong Kong Division (APD)Hong Kong Division management used to practice illegal methods to push the sales with faking orders, shipping, invoices and keeping a secret warehouse. The whole sales process was invented and manipulated, because any kind of fake orders, invoices or shipping documents are illegal according to commercial laws and accounting standards.With special papers the products were transported to this secret warehouse. The branch fakes orders and invoices using letterhead of customers. Some customers’ sales were considered as revenue, but in a consolidated statement these sales have to be eliminated. They even manipulated and cleared customer account receivable periodically, an illegal practice according the booking regulatory of GAAP.The invented sales showed a good performance of APD with yearly 25% growth. The divisionnce according to the program.FINANCIAL STATEMENT ANALYSISAnnual Income Statement AnalysisIn 1994 we can observe a decrease in the total sales, mainly due to overstocked inventories and the recession in Europe and the United States. However, it was suspicious that B&L’s sales in 1993 were considerably above both the industry and Johnson & Johnson’s levels.Despite Sales and Earnings decreased in 1994, SG&A expenses continuously increased, probably because of the Executive’s compensation.Finally, the presence of “Special Items” helped to decrease the pretax income in 1991 and 1995. Under the so-called “restructuring charges” was B&L trying to pay less to the government?Annual Balance Sheet AnalysisUntil 1993 Cash and Equivalents, Net Receivables, Intangibles, Taxes Payable and Long Term Debt were increasing, but they decreased the following year. That’s because the increasing sales supported in unreal net receivables (September and December plans) permitted the company enjoy a solid reputactoring). But after the doubts appeared in 1994, the situation changed.Finally, the inventories presented a continuous growth till 1994, when most of the products sold under the plans were brought back from the customers (distributors).Operating Performance AnalysisThe consequences of the sales manipulation are shown in some indicators as EPS, P/E Ratio and ROE, which as well permitted a variation in the share price. As of 1993, all of these indicators presented an upward trend, except P/E. Increasing sales and originated earnings lead increasing EPS and decreasing P/E ratios, and thus induce investors to consider B&L as a profitable company with high returns and cheaper price per dollar of earnings earned. In 1994, however, after the accounting method started to be questioned, the performance of the company through these indicators changed.Furthermore, due to September and December plans is understandable why the collection period and days of inventory ratios increased and decreased 1
Corporate Insurance Strategy: The Case of British PetroleumIntroduction – Risk ManagementRisk Management Focus on when and how to hedge using financial instruments to manage costly exposures to risk Insurance Why Insurance?Introduction – Why Insurance?Some advantages: Experience in insuring similar risks Skilled at providing advice to reduce risk May offer lower premiums to firms that take advice They can pool risks with diversified portfolios Some disadvantages: Administrative costs Adverse selection Moral HazardIntroduction – Insurance RiskInsurance (Large Medium-Sized Firm) Small losses: Predictable Buying Insurance = Premium EXCHANG Loss Settlement (Trading Dollars) Large losses: Rare Less Predictable Buying Insurance = Hedging RiskIntroduction – InsuranceBritish Petroleum Case New Insurance StrategySelf-InsureLarge lossesBuy InsuranceSmall lossesDifference between Individual Corporate InsuranceInsurance Company's general advantage Reduction of risk accomplished by pooling a large Self-insurance : ONLY having specialized expertise and own comparative advantageDifference between Individual Corporate InsuranceLarge firm Investors : Effectively eliminate insurable risks by diversification Systematic risk is not reduced by insurance Only reduce the expected variance of a company's cash flows NOT its cost of capital, but… Reduce investors' exposures to such risks are negative-NPV projectsThe Real Benefits of Insurance OverviewAvoiding underinvestment or financial distress Transferring risk from non-owner corporate stakeholders - Managers, employees, suppliers Service efficiency Reducing taxes Satisfying regulatory requirementsThe Real Benefits of Insurance Avoiding underinvestment or financial distressExample of underinvestment, if a company: Company has a large amount of debt No fire insurance for his plants Low cash reserves, If a fire destroyed a profitable plant. Should the company rebuild the plant?The Real Benefits of Insurance Avoiding underinvestment or finanrate debt capacityThe Real Benefits of Insurance Risk-shifting Within the FirmManager, Employees and Suppliers Risk-averse Require extra compensation to bear any risk Transfer risks to an insurance company Self-insure company : Management compensation contractsThe Real Benefits of Insurance Risk-shifting Within the FirmCharger higher interestsCreditorConcern about the abilityCustomersWant long-term contractsSuppliersDemand higher salaryManagersDemand higher wagesEmployeesThe Real Benefits of Insurance Service EfficienciesExpertise and efficiency in providing low-cost claims administration Assessment of loss exposures Reduce risks through pooling Organizational capital Extensive Precise analysis Confidence in forecasting loss distributionThe Real Benefits of Insurance Service EfficienciesInsurance company provides loss assessment programs Offer bundle of insurances for less costs Achieve “economy of scale” Specialization Use of database to calculate the probability of lossesThe Real Benium - expected losses Premium = expected indemnity payment + administrative costs + normal profit + abnormal profitSupply Side of Corporate InsuranceInsurance for low losses: Effective competition Barriers to entry are low Intensive competition for low price insurance Homogenous policy Expected losses are easily estimated Little capital ensure solvency Expected losses are predictable Less specialists For example: fire, automobile, etc.Supply Side of Corporate InsuranceInsurance for large losses: Low competition: Required large amount of capital Need specialists evaluation Reinsurance of insurance companies Large claim can cause insolvent or financial difficulty Cost of enforcing contract increases cost of writing future contract For example: environmentSupply Side of Corporate InsuranceMoral hazard and Adverse Selection: Moral hazard Insured parties to exercise less care and to experience greater losses than the uninsured Adverse Selection Likelihood that insurers will get a risk-than-in response to environmental damage.A Closer Look at BPWhat BP did: Purchase considerable external insurance 1980's Average of $115 million annually on premiums Recovered $25 million annually on claims 1990's$157$.661846.73Whole Distribution233351,000.00.03$500+987040.001.70$10-$500$12$52$.031,845.00$0-$10Standard DeviationExpected annual lossAve. LossClaims per YearLoss RangeA Closer Look at BPInsurance in Major Public companies: Buy insurance against large potential losses and self-insure against routine ones. Large losses = Financial Distress Routine losses Predictable, why pay premiums to receive constant proportions as claims? BP Challenges this “Accepted Knowledge”An Unconventional Approach: What?Local managers insure routine risks Insurance companies can assess and price risk better Companies compete vigorously No insurance most losses over $10 million Insurance companies less able to asses risk Less well placed to advise of safety measures Insurance not competitively pricedAn U
Some Application of SMS-Exchanging small messages with cheaper cost-Sending e-mail messages from a mobile phone to any e-mail address via SMS. -Information services like news, weather, entertainment and stock prices etc. -Providing services like balance enquiry in case of prepaid cards using SMS. -Mobile chatting-Notifying users about received new voice-mail or fax messages. -An alternative to alphanumeric paging services -Downloading new ring tones...
The WTO TRIMSLearning Team Case Presentation International Economics1. Introduction2. Aspects of TRIMS3. Implementation4. The WTO Impacts on Taiwan5. SuggestionsContentsContents1. Introduction - GATTA temporary multilateral agreement to provide framework of rules and forum to negotiate trade barrier reductions among nations. Remained the only multinational instrument governing international trade from 1948 until the WTO was established in 19951. Introduction - WTOEstablished during the Uruguay Round 2 (1986-1993) of GATT negotiations, which subsumed GATT Some major differences from GATT: Member system Policies covering more areas (subsidies, etc) Obligations enforced by dispute settlement procedures common to all agreements WTO dispute settlement system is faster, more automatic than the old GATT systemContentsContents1. Introduction2. Aspects of TRIMS3. Implementation4. The WTO Impacts on Taiwan5. Suggestions2. Aspects of TRIMSNegotiated in the Uruguay Round Aim to promote the expansiterprise's purchases or use of imported products be limited to an amount related to the volume or value of local products that it exports. (3)Foreign exchange: measures restricting the importation by an enterprise of products (parts and other goods) used in or related to its local Production by restricting its access to foreign exchange to an amount related to the foreign exchange inflows attributable to the enterprise. (4)Export restrictions: measures restricting the exportation or sale for export by an enterprise of products2. Aspects of TRIMSUnder WTO TRIMs Agreement, countries required to rectify any measures inconsistent with the Agreement. Exceptions Transitional period Exceptions for developing countries Equitable provisions There have been some disputes and difficulties for implementation for TRIMs: Could have a strong negative or positive influence on nation's economics (especially in developing countries)ContentsContents1. Introduction2. Aspects of TRIMS3. Implementation4. Thputer/informatics. Ex: Countries that have used content requirement in automotive industry: Korea, Indonesia, Thailand, and Malaysia. Philippines, Canada and India Failed to notify the WTO and were taken up to disputes3. Implementation3 October 1996Indonesia — Certain Measures Affecting the Automobile Industry (Complainant: European Communities)4 October 1996Indonesia — Certain Measures Affecting the Automobile Industry (Complainant: Japan)8 October 1996Indonesia — Certain Measures Affecting the Automobile Industry (Complainant: United States)29 November 1996Indonesia — Certain Measures Affecting the Automobile Industry (Complainant: Japan)3 July 1998Canada — Certain Measures Affecting the Automotive Industry (Complainant: Japan)17 August 1998Canada — Certain Measures Affecting the Automotive Industry (Complainant: European Communities)6 October 1998India — Measures Affecting the Automotive Sector (Complainant: European Communities)2 June 1999India — Measures Affecting Trade and Investtents1. Introduction2. Aspects of TRIMS3. Implementation4. The WTO Impacts on Taiwan5. Suggestions4. The WTO Impacts on TaiwanIf current distorted trade structure between Taiwan and China were to be completely reversed for WTO membership, some Taiwanese industries would be severely hit Due to principles of national treatment and non-discrimination, Taiwanese products in the Chinese market would find themselves facing severe competition, being replaced by products from competitors in other countries. Food products, Consumer Electronics those suffering from major trade deficits as a result of trade liberalization between China and Taiwan.4. The WTO Impacts on TaiwanTaiwan's overall foreign trade might benefit from reductions in the cost of raw materials imported from China. IT and textiles industries are likely to enjoy significant expansion in terms of trade surpluses. Industries subject to the highest levels of government control on cross-strait trade would not suffer the most. These isting in mainland China or planning to do so should not focus on the political advantage given by the Chinese government, but on how to make use the local labor force, and on how to develop the greater China market.4. SuggestionsTaiwanese enterprises should take advantage of the cultural and language homogeneity Make use of the cheap R D manpower and the flow of experts retuning to China after studying overseas. Conduct domestic marketing activities to develop the market with a population of over 1.4 billion. Thus they will be less affected by the TRIMs agreement and still enjoy reasonable profit by investing overseas.4. SuggestionsThe government should also respect market mechanisms after entering WTO since government intervention regarding trade and trade–related investment is discouraged. Government officials should think in terms of global operation from a standpoint of the division of labor and integration. China plays an increasingly important role in the supply chains of many inhow}