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3899 items in total found

Working Papers | 1978

Inflation Accounting in India - A Case Study of the Bharat Heavy Electricals Ltd.

Gupta Ramesh

In the last decade, a considerable amount of research has been done justifying the need to introduce inflation accounting in reporting the financial results of a business unit. In this paper, I have reviewed the recent developments in inflation accounting and the role played by the accounting professional bodies in the U.K. and U.S.A. The role of our two accounting bodies in India has been one of dismay. In reporting Current Cost Accounts, Indian corporations have not been very forthcoming either. The BHEL is the only company which has been keeping up with the international developments. In this paper, a detailed study of the BHEL Current Cost Accounts (CCA) for the year 1976-77 has been made. Each major item of the CCA is analysed in depth, evaluated in the context of ED-18 provisions. The various related issues are deliberated upon providing an appropriate conceptual framework. The BHEL CCA has been presented according to the provisions of "An Interim Recommendation" which came into force much after the publication of its 1976-77 annual report. In the last, the BHEL profitability on historical cost and CCA basis has been evaluated.

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Working Papers | 1978

Some Methodological and Practical Aspects of Accounting the Returns from Clearfelling Natural Forests in the Evaluation of Intensive Forest Development Projects

Gupta Tirath

The Forest Development Corporations (FDCs) in India have the responsibility of formulating and implementing intensive forest development projects for their respective areas. Since the FDCs operate on the lands currently under natural forests, it is important to decide on the procedure for handling the net returns from clearfelling the natural stands in the project area. The forest development projects prepared under the State Planning Programme included the net returns from clearfelling the natural forests with the benefit streams of man-made forestry. The National Commission on Agriculture, a n umber of foresters and economists have agreed with this procedure. The paper has summarised the arguments behind this procedure. These arguments have been examined and found inconsistent with the generally accepted practices of economic analysis. More importantly, the NCA appears to have contradicted itself while accepting the procedure used in the projects formulated under the State Planning Programme. Some real life problems that have arisen due to this procedure have also been discussed. As an alternative, it is suggested that the returns from natural forests on the project areas be treated as capital assets with the FDCs. The concerned State Government(s) may be deemed to have subscribed to the equity capital of the corporation(s) and when the natural stands are clearfelled and the returns received. This procedure is considered to be conceptually consistent and is expected to save some embarrasment to the FDCs.

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Working Papers | 1978

Some Natural Resource Management Aspects of Commercial Cultivation of Hybrid Eucalyptus in Gujarat: India

Gupta Tirath

The paper has presented the results of financial analysis of a 160 acres eucalyptus farm in Ahmedabad District. The soil on the farm is sandy loam type and the water is brackish. The fixed capital investments in the business were estimated at Rs. 400 thousand. The analysis supported the conclusions that, in certain situations, (i) individual farm entrepreneur may expect significantly higher returns by practising tree-culture than crop-culture, and (ii) forestry activity with fixed investments averaging Rs. 2,500 or more per acre may prove to be much more economical than with lesser or no investments. Based on these conclusions, the need for involving farm firms in the task of bringing culturable waste lands under trees has been stressed.

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Working Papers | 1978

An Approach to the Design of Corporate Identity

Dholakia Nikhilesh and Bhandari L C

The corporate form of organization is being used in many spheres of economic and social activity. Public enterprises and development corporations have swelled the ranks of the mass of existing private sector companies. All corporations face the problem of evolving, establishing and utilizing a corporate identity. This paper discusses the objectives of corporate identity programmes and an approach to develop such programmes. The effectiveness of selected corporate identification symbols is assessed by a pilot empirical study. Inferences are drawn from this study regarding improvement of corporate identity programmes.

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Working Papers | 1978

A Preliminary Report on Marketing Theory and its Relationships to Social Enterprises

Dholakia Nikhilesh

This paper is a review and critique simultaneously of marketing theory and social enterprise marketing. The scope, structure and aims of marketing theory are examined. It is shown that many structural weaknesses of the marketing theory stem from the limitation of its scope and aim to private enterprises. While marketing theory thus remains weak and stultified, the marketing or marketing-like activities of social (non-private) enterprises are performed without adequate theoretical backup. Particular and general forms of social enterprise marketing are examined to assess theoretical requirements of such marketing forms. An approach to the development of a theory of social enterprise marketing - and thereby also the development of a more universal marketing theory-is presented.

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Working Papers | 1978

Accounting for Changing Prices: Recent Developments

Gupta Ramesh

With the rejection of ED-18 on July 6, 1977, the longest running epic of the financial world "Inflation Accounting" has come to a standstill where U.K. accounting profession is living with "An Interim Recommendation" and the U.S. (through its SEC requirements) is content with disclosure of fragmented and piecemeal information about replacement cost. Accounting profession in India seems to be watching the debate will all curiosity and excitement. I wonder whether the professional accounting bodies here are just playing the role of spectators or sitting on the fence watching the developments in other countries before adopting any particular method for correcting inflationary effect on our financial statements. Nevertheless, we cannot remain inactive too long. It is high time for our accounting bodies to begin providing a platform to thrash out the problem and for our corporations to experiment with suggested methods. This paper seeks to examine and review critically the various stages in development of the concepts and practices of accounting for changing prices. SSAP 7, Sandilands, Morpeth (ED-18) and finally the Accounting Standard Committee's current "Inflation Accounting-An Interim Recommendation" are critically examined and evaluated. Managerial use of the suggested inflation- adjustment method is highlighted by a case study-"Management Reporting System in Hindustan Lever Limited."

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Working Papers | 1978

A Framework of Information System for Development Planning

S. C. Bhatnagar

In the context of the recent emphasis on unit level planning, the need for designing a Management Information System that would support the planning process is discussed. A framework for the MIS design is evolved which consists of the identification of key development indicators, analysis of information using these indicators, and the structuring of information for regular and meaningful use in the planning process. Some of the key indicators at the village level that have been suggested are : the per capita wage income, the value of agricultural produce per unit area, and the indicators relating to the availability and capacity of infrastructural facilities. The entire framework is illustrated by using sample data that was collected from 24 villages in Gujarat.

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Working Papers | 1978

Trade Unionism in India: A Statistical Analysis

Verma Pramod

This paper hypothesises that the growth in trade union membership has been considerably influenced by the economic conditions of workers and the activities undertaken by the unions to protect or improve these conditions. While the former may be represented by such variables as the growth in employment, prices and wages, the latter could be indicated by industrial action such as strikes called by the unions. A statistical model was developed and tested for the period 1930-69. This time-series analysis indicated that employment, wages, consumer price index and mandays lost contributed to growth of unionization. A cross-section analysis based on data for inter-state and inter-industry dispersion in union membership indicated that such dispersion was explainable by employment and mandays lost. There was also some influence of variation in wage-productivity ratio on the dispersion of trade union membership. It was concluded that the unions may make more intensive efforts to organise the workers in low unionised states and industries which may help in re-establishing the wage-productivity parity in these industries and states.

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Working Papers | 1978

Blueprint for the Design of a Human Settlement in Ahmedabad

Isaac A M

Presents a blueprint for developing an integrated human settlement in Ahmedabad City in the stretch of land on the east side of the Sabarmati River admeasuring approximately 3000 acres where the Pirana Sewage Farm is currently located. The design specifications include provisions for constructive nearly one lack dwellings of which at least half shall be for the benefit of the economically weaker sections. Consequently, this project will be an important step towards the resettlement of slum dwellers in a major segment of the City area and will serve as a preventive measure with regard to the problems of proliferation of slums, substandard living and urban poverty facing Ahmedabad City. Steps are recommended which would provide an opportunity for the continued improvement of the quality of life of the slum population through the creation of income generating possibilities. Recommends that a mix of facilities which together would promote the socio-cultural and aesthetic aspects of the City life, besides making the project economically viable (within a time span of 5-10 years) should be planned in this new settlement. Organizational pre-requisites for the successful implementation of the project are also discussed.

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Working Papers | 1978

Communications for Social Marketing: An Approach for Developing Communication Appeals for Family Planning Programs

Bhandari L C

This study has developed and tested an approach and a methodology for identifying persuasive communication appeals that have the best chances of influencing people's attitudes and behaviour in the area of social marketing, specifically, family planning. It can be used by social marketers for designing communication campaigns. Social psychologists and sociologists have emphasized that people's value systems and their perceptions of how these values are related to an object (behaviour or person), have an important influence on their attitudes and behavior towards that object. In designing a family planning communication, the choice of its two most important elements-'message appeal' and 'source'-requires an understanding of the value system and perceived value-instrumentalities of the target population. Research in family planning has neglected the problem of 'appeal' determination. A methodology for generating relevant information about the target population, for the purpose of designing communications, should elicit their value systems, and perceived value-instrumentalities, in addition to measures of communication effects, media demographic and socio-economic variables. The instruments used for ascertaining values should allow for unconstrained, 'value-free' responses. The methodology should have cross-cultural applicability, and should allow for the use of standard sampling procedures. The methods used in commercial advertising field involve preselection of dimensions and/or objects on which responses are sought, thus, restricting observation to target population's views about our concerns rather than their concerns and values. The methodology tested in this study uses a relatively new method, called ECHO technique, for generating value hierarchies of target populations as well as perceived patterns of influences operating on their lives. The method combines the advantages of a survey method with those of a phenomenological approach. It preselects valence-good or bad-but allows for the dimensions or objects to be empirically generated. The value responses as well as sources of influence are classified into categories by indigenous classifiers. A measure of value-instrumentality that uses the values generated in the same interview has been developed and tested in this study. The fieldwork for the test was conducted in North India. The results confirm the postulated relationships among subsets of values and the criteria variables-practice, attitude, intention and awareness concerning family planning. Similarly, strong and consistent relationships emerge between criteria variables and value-instrumentalities of family size and family planning. Among the more important values of the sample concern: health, children's welfare and children turning out to be 'worthy', family harmony, community disputes and occupation. The users of family planning have a more positive outlook and perceive a greater control over events in their lives than do non-users. The values provide content for messages. A framework for developing communication strategies that segments target population on the basis of: usage, intention, and attitude, is used in the study. Among current users and those who intend to use family planning in future, favorable value-instrumentalities should be emphasized in communications, particularly those between family planning and good health, family harmony, children's welfare and chances of their turning out to be used with nonusers who do not intend to practice in the future, however, favorable instrumentalities will have to be promoted as such perceptions are not widespread, and are sometimes unfavorable. Communications designed to counter widespread beliefs about anti-God nature and adverse effects of birth control methods, particularly sterilization, are needed. Communications promoting appreciation of reduced infant-and child-mortality and negative economic value of having many children are also recommended. The results indicate that influential people of a community with whom the audience can identify, and religious leaders and holy men are more likely to be effective 'sources' of communication than urbanized change agents. Use of local dais-midwives-is recommended for promoting family planning acceptance. A product-mix that allows for more alternative methods --including the pill-is also recommended in view of the widespread anti-God and negative-health connotations of sterilization.

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IIMA