Elements of Benchmarking / Benchmarking Process

1. Identifying the need for benchmarking and planning
2. Clearly understanding existing business processes
3. Identify best processes
4. Compare own processes and performance with that of others
5. Prepare a report and implement the steps necessary to close the performance gap
6. Evaluation

Benchmarking – Meaning and Uses

Benchmarking is an approach of setting goals and measuring productivity based on best industry practices.
Firms can use Benchmarking process to achieve improvement in diverse range of management functions like :

• Maintenance operations
• Assessment of total manufacturing costs
• Product development
• Product distribution
• Customer services
• Plant utilization levels
• Human resource management

OSI Model

OSI Model consists of 7 layers in total, respective names of which are depicted in diagram given below along with their respective positions as Outward and Inward Layers

OSI Model is a Linkage Framework of these seven layers each of which has a distinct role and authority area e.g. Network, Data Linking, User Interface etc. 

Significance of each of these seven Layers has been explained below--

CICASA e-Newsletter September, 2011

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Conclusiveness of “Certificate of Incorporation”- Sec.35; Companies Act,1956

Once an association attains Certificate of Incorporation; no inquiry shall be held justifiable for checking the particulars behind the certificate since same shall be deemed to be genuine and correct.

The Company that has once gained Certificate of Incorporation can not be challenged in any court for the same

Certificate of Incorporation once issued signifies:

• Concerned organization is eligible to be registered
• Concerned organization is registered under Companies Act,1956
• All requirements have been fulfilled

Procedure for conversion of a Public Company into a Private Company

Following steps are to be followed for the purpose :

• Pass Special Resolution for the purpose of inserting the Four Restrictions as given in Section 3(1)(iii) in the articles
• Pass Special Resolution for adding the word “Private” at the end of the name of the Company
• Within 3 months of alteration of articles, apply to Central Government for obtaining its approval
• Within 1 month of receipt of approval of Central Government, file with registrar an amended copy of the articles

Section3(1)(iii)- Private Company;The Companies Act,1956

Private Companies are subject to following restrictions under the above mentioned Section :

1. Right to transfer shares is restricted
2. Number of members limited to 50 :
   • Joint holders to be counted as one member for the purpose of  deciding the number of members
   • Employees; whether retired or not who have shares due to being in employment, won’t be counted as members for the purpose of this definition
3. Prohibition on invitation to public to subscribe for any shares or debentures
4. Prohibition on acceptance and invitation of deposits from persons other than its members, directors or their relatives

Liability under Section 45 - Companies Act,1956

Where a company continues to carry its business with number of members below the statutory minimum( 7 in case of Public Company; 2 in case of Private Company); for more than 6 months; then all the members remaining which are cognizant of such fact will be liable personally for the debts of company incurred after a period of 6 months.

For the Purpose of Statutory minimums; refer the table given below:

Termination Of Agency

BY THE ACTS OF PARTIES

1. By Agreement – The Principal and agent may mutually agree to terminate the agency, at anytime
2. By Revocation (Done by the Principal)
3. By Agent; renouncing the business of Agency

BY OPERATION OF LAW

1. Completion of Business of Agency
2. Death or Insanity of the Principal or Agent
3. Where the Principal or Agent, being a Company, is dissolved
4. Destruction of subject matter of Agency
5. Principal becoming Insolvent
6. Expiration of period where agency was for a fixed period

Kinds Of Agent

There can be many type of agents depending upon responsibilities and resources delegated to them, nature of transaction in which agency exists, expanse of agency, area of authority of agent etc.
Some major classes of Agents are mentioned below-

1. Special Agent-
   * Agent for Special Task
   * Powers and Responsibilities limited to special task only
   * Limited Authority
   * Agency terminated with accomplishment of purpose
   

Modes Of Creation Of Agency

1. EXPRESS AGREEMENT – An Agreement is entered into which results in the creation of Agency
2. IMPLIED AGREEMENT –
                        * Agency by Estoppel
                        * Agency by holding out
3. AGENCY BY NECESSITY
4. AGENCY BY OPERATION OF LAW
5. AGENCY BY RATIFICATION

Conditions or Essentials for a valid Tender

Below are some of the pre-requisites of a valid tender -

1. The Tender must be unconditional
2. The Tender must be for the whole obligation
3. The Tender must be given at a proper time
4. The Tender must be given at a proper place
5. The Tender must give a reasonable opportunity of inspection
6. The party giving the tender must be willing to perform its part of obligations
7. The Tender must be made to the proper person
8. The Tender must be made for the exact amount of money

Types of Tenders and their Effects

Tender is a means (arising out of certain conditions) by which a Contract is deemed to be performed. Since, recent Examination pattern of IPCC & CPT is more logic oriented rather then based on just cramming; tender qualifies the criteria to be considered as a promising topic.

Query Language, SQL and its parts

A Query Language is a set of commands to create, update, access data from database allowing users to raise adhoc queries/questions interactively without the help of programmers

There Exists Different set of Commands under each Language component of SQL

These Components/Commands are made clear and can be understood by the hierarchical chart given below :

Presentation of Information to Management under Marginal Costing

Sales
(-) Direct Material                                                          xxxxx             
(-) Direct Labour                                                           xxxxx              
(-) Variable Factory Overhead                                      xxxxx              
(-) Variable Selling and Distribution Expenses             xxxxx  

Presentation of Information to Management under Absorption Costing

STATEMENT OF NET PROFIT [AS PER ABSORPTION COSTING]
Sales                                                                                   xxxxx
(-) Direct Material                                                                xxxxx
(-) Direct Labour                                                                 xxxxx
(-) Direct Expenses{Factory Overhead}                            xxxxx

Users of DBMS

DBMS users include -

1. Application Programmers and System Analysts
2. End Users
3. Data Base Administrators [DBA]
4. Database Designers

Following Smart Art depicts the Spread of a typical DBMS-

Database is accessed first by several distinct Application Programs or technically PROCEDURES; these procedures or application programs then distribute the accessed data/information to the users who had requested such information.

Benefits of using DBMS

Data Base Management System acts as a route map to a distributed bunch of Database(s)

• Reduced Data redundancy and inconsistency
  
• Enhanced data integrity and security
  
• Provide logical and physical data independence
  
• Provide application Data Independence

Data Base and Data Base Management System[DBMS]

Data Base is a COMPUTER FILE SYSTEM that uses particular file organization to facilitate rapid updating of individual records, simultaneous updating of related records, easy access to all records, by all applications, programs, and rapid access to all stored data which must be bought together for a particular routine report or inquiry or a special purpose report or inquiry. As far as pats of DBMS are concerned, it consists of Data, Hardware, Software & User.

Performance Of A Contract - In the Light of The Indian Contract Act, 1872

The Indian Contract Act; Being the guiding protocol for execution and performance of contacts under it has laid the guidelines regarding the performance of a contract; A Contract broadly may be performed by either of the following-            

1. Actual Performance
2. Attempted Performance/Offer to Perform/Tender

Six Sigma Methodology

It can be studied under two heads -
(i) For Improvement of “Existing” Product, Process or Service ;

    DMAIC

• Define
• Measure
• Analyze
• Improve
• Control

Six Sigma

“MOTOROLA” is inventor of Six Sigma. Primarily, Six Sigma means maintenance of desired quality in processes and end products.

It means taking systematic and integrated efforts towards improving quality and reducing cost.

Six Sigma efforts target three main areas :

• Improving Customer Satisfaction
• Reducing Cycle Time
• Reducing Defects

Appropriations of Payments–Under Contract Act

There are some situations where a certain amount is paid by the debtor to his creditor with or without intimating its intended application, these situations are frequently asked in the form of case studies in various examinations including CPT, IPCC etc. ; these situations may be elaborated in following sub-situations and can be dealt as understated :

Case Study based on Quasi Contracts (Section 72)

CASE- Mr. Confused went to the market to buy a Car, being prejudiced regarding the price of the car he mistakenly paid to the seller a sum of Rupees 3 Lakh while the actual price payable was of rupees 2.50 Lakh only; on discovering this foolishness of himself, Mr. Confused asked the seller to return the undue sum of rupees 50 thousand but he refused by saying that- “ Once gone, forever gone”. Mr. Confused is really confused! Advice him. 

Case Study based on Quasi Contracts(Section 71)

Case-  Raman while roaming in a park found a Watch there which seemed to be pretty expensive, Since no one was around and Raman was in need of a watch, he kept the same inside his pocket. Tejas; the original owner of the watch was finding the watch in the park desperately, but he was unsuccessful in his attempts. One day, while a morning Jog Tejas saw his lost watch on the wrist of Raman and asked him to return the same after providing sufficient proof of original ownership. But Raman arrogantly refused to return the watch by saying that he had found the watch so now it belongs to him, Write your noting on this case in the Light of The Indian Contract Act, 1872.

Case Study based on Quasi Contracts (Section 68)

CASE – A Minor “Naughty” who had enough assets to fulfill his obligations bought eatables to consume as lunch from a mess and refused to pay on the basis of the contention that being a minor he was not bound towards any contractual liability, Mess owner is finding himself cheated and is asking you for an advice in this case, Explain his rights to him.

Salient Features of Quasi Contractual Rights

1. It does not arise from any agreement of the parties concerned, but it is imposed by the law over one or both of the parties.
2. It is a right which is available not against the entire world, but against particular person(s) only.

Case Study based on Quasi Contracts (Section 70)

CASE – X was going to theatre driving his Car. When he reached near the theatre, he saw a parking lot and  thinking that it would be a free parking provided by he theatre authority, the parked his car there and collected the ticket. The parking operator had nothing to do with the theatre and without knowing that X was under a mistake, he let him park his car in the lot in lieu of some consideration. When X returned from the theatre, and went to get his car, he was asked by the parking lot operator for the parking charges, but X refused to pay anything and contended that he was under an illusion that the parking was free. Comment whether the parking operator would be legally entitled for any consideration from X ?

QUASI CONTRACTS | Section 68 - 72

A Quasi Contract refers to a contractual obligation imposed by law on the promisor.

It bears the same effect as of a valid contract.

Quasi contracts are based on notion of natural justice and equity, these are obligations which arise due to conscience and are subsequently verified by law so as to be legally enforceable.Various types of Quasi contracts as given in The Indian Contract Act, 1872 are as follows -

What is Delegation ?

Delegation is less of a technical term and it is much about how the interpreter perceives it.....

But when the definition is to be written for any exam, widely accepted definition is -

It is the assignment of a part of a manager's work to others(usually subordinates) along with both; the responsibility and the authority to perform the job. In other words, delegation is the formal assignment to another person of formal authority and responsibility for carrying out specific activities

Case Study based on Quasi contracts (Section 69)

CASE - A landlord lends his premises to a tenant for a term of 2 years. The tenant unaware of the fact that the electricity bill is due for payment for last 2 months for the said premises, takes the same on rent.After sometime the tenant receives a letter from the electricity department regarding the due bills asking to pay the same within 2 days or else the electricity connection will be discontinued. The tenant without asking the lender pays the bill. When the tenant asks the landlord for reimbursement for the amount paid, he refuses to do so. Landlord contends that he had no intentions to pay the bills, and the tenant had no duty towards the payment of bill. Discuss whether the contention of landlord is right and whether the tenant get any legal rights against the landlord?

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