31st - Vi Trimester

BHARATHIDASAN INSTITUTE OF MANAGEMENT
TIRUCHIRAPPALLI 620 014
31st BATCH (2014 2016)
SYLLABI FOR SIXTH TRIMESTER

(JANUARY 2016 APRIL 2016)
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IBE
FINANCE
MARKETING
SYSTEMS
HRM
OPERATIONS
TITLE OF THE COURSE

INTERNATIONAL BUSINESS ENVIRONMENT
STRATEGIC FINANCIAL MANAGEMENT
INSURANCE & RISK MANAGEMENT
FIXED INCOME SECURITIES AND DERIVATIVES
BEHAVIOURAL FINANCE
CONSUMER BEHAVIOR
RURAL MARKETING
RETAILING
STRATEGIC MARKETING
INFORMATION SECURITY MANAGEMENT
BUSINESS PROCESS REENGINEERING MANAGEMENT
ENTREPRISE RESOURCE PLANNING-II
IT ENABLED SERVICES MANAGEMENT
IT SERVICE MANAGEMENT
CROSS CULTURAL MANAGEMENT
STRATEGIC HUMAN RESOURCES MANAGEMENT
LEADERS AND LEADERSHIP
OPERATIONS STRATEGY
REVENUE MANAGEMENT

TIRUCHIRAPALLI 620 014
INTERNATIONAL BUSINESS ENVIRONMENT
3 Credits
Course objectives
1. To promote the awareness among students about globalization and the importance of having a global
perspective in todays business world.
2. To sensitize students about the importance of national differences and culture and their impact on global
businesses.
3. To emphasize the importance of ethics in International Business dealings.
4. To introduce successful strategies adopted by global companies.
Performance Objectives
Upon completion of the course, participants will be able to,
1. better appreciate different cultures and cooperate with employees from other cultures.
2. better perform in international negotiations.
3. formulate clear and winning strategies for their respective organizations.
Course Contents
1. Introduction
Nature and characteristics - Forms -International trade Patterns of Globalization - Organizations
facilitating International trade.
2. Cultural & Environmental Impact on Global Trade
Globalization of Business - Economic, Political, Technological, Cultural and Ethical issues of International
business Cross cultural issues
3. Trade Theories
Mercantilism, Absolute advantage theory - Comparative cost theory - Heckseher-Ohlin theory - Product Life
cycle theory - The New trade theory- Porters Diamond.
4. Globalization Models
Features Classification - Role of MNCs in developing countries - Conflicting interests of Developed Vs
Developing world Globalization Models Developing a new Value Curve - Franchising & Licensing
5. Trade Blocks
Types of Regional Groupings - Inter-regional trade among regional groups - FTAs.
6. Global Trade Order
WTO, GATT, GATS - Importance & relevance Antidumping & Safeguard Duties TRIMs & TRIPs
7. Strategies of International Business
The strategy of International Business The organization of International Business Entry Strategy and
Strategic Alliances
8. New wave in Global Environment
Climate Change & its impact Emergence of Africa, Latin America & BRICS Ease of doing business
FDI & FII Role of global funding institutions
Methodology
The course will be handled through a combination of techniques such as class lectures, videos, case studies, small group work, etc..
Evaluation
Participants of this program will be under continuous evaluation for their comprehensive understanding of the
concepts and application in International Business. The assessment will be as under.
1. Final Exam
2. Mid Term
3. Group Project
4. Class Participation
5. Case Study
6. Attendance
: 40%
: 10%
: 20%
: 10%
: 15%
: 5%
References
1. International Business - Competing in the Global Marketplace
Authors : Charles W L Hill & Arun K Jain
Publishers: Tata McGraw Hill
2.
International Business - Environment & Operations

Authors: John D Daniels, Lee H Radebaugh, Daniel P Sullivan & Prashant Salwan
Publishers: Prentice Hall
3. International Business
Authors: Michael R Czinkota, Ilkka A Ronkainen & Michael H Moffett
Publishers: Thomson South Western
Authors: Justin Paul
Publishers: PHI Learning
Authors: Rakesh Mohan Joshi
Publishers: Oxford University Press
6. International Business - Text & Cases
Authors: Francis Cherunillam
Publishers: Prentice Hall
Text Book:
International Business by W L Hill, Arun Kumar jain (TMH) latest edition
*****************

STRATEGIC FINANCIAL MANAGEMENT
3 Credit
Strategic Financial Management (SFM) is offered to the 2nd year students of MBA, majoring in
Finance. This will be an elective course. The discussions and discourse under this paper
would be at an elevated level and hence the students who opt for this course are expected to
have a good grasp over the fundamentals of Financial Management that they would have been
exposed to in the first year of their MBA. The topics under SFM have been carefully chosen
such that the linkages between financial theory, shareholder value and corporates strategic
objectives are well explored. The course will not test the students mathematical ability as much
as their exposure to current happenings in the business environment. The requirements of the
course will also test the students ability to work on spreadsheets. The course is structured
such that the students who have a good understanding of the economic developments in the
Global and Indian business scenario will find it extremely educative and challenging their
intellect. A reasonable number of case studies will form part of the content. A student who has
successfully completed this course will justifiably feel levitated to the next level in
understanding of finance.
Topic 1 Number of sessions 1
Strategic Financial Management: An Overview: Financial and non-financial objectives of a
Firm, Conflicts of interest in a firm, Agency Theory, Agency costs and goal congruence.
Topic 2 Number of sessions 4 (This set of 4 sessions is essential because of the
emphasis on shareholder value creation).
VBMS Value Based Management Systems; Shareholders value creation and destruction,
Value drivers. Consultants Approaches to VBMS Marakon-approach, Alcar approach,
Mckinsey Approach and Stern Stewart Approach. (the discussions will heavily lean on the
students capability to recall and work with DCF models DDM and FCFF/FCFE discounting).
Long Term Projects: Valuation of long term infrastructure, capital intensive projects.
Financial Closure of infrastructure projects. Application of options theory to evaluate capital
projects Real Options valuations: option to delay, abandon and grow. Raising capital
overseas in international capital markets, including the Euro-markets opportunities and
pitfalls.
Rewarding shareholders other than by Dividends repurchase or buyback of shares Bonus
Issues/Stock Splits.
Corporate Risk Management : Risk Management in practice, guidelines for risk

management, evolving role of the Chief Risk Officer (CRO). Non-financial risks and risk
mitigation techniques.
Financial distress and corporate restructuring: Revival of sick units and Turnaround strategies.
Refinancing and rescue financing, reorganizations of debtors and creditors, sale of assets,
targeted stock offerings, Meaning of mergers and acquisition, categories, purposes. Process of
mergers and acquisition Identification and valuation of the target, acquisition through
negotiation, due diligence, post merger integration. Legal and regulatory requirements.
Merger and Acquisition agreement. Reverse merger. Potential adverse competitive effects of
mergers. Corporate Takeovers: Motivations, Co- insurance effect, Cross-border takeovers,
Forms of takeovers, Takeover defenses. Going Private and Other Control Transactions:
Leveraged Buyouts (LBOs), Management Buyouts (MBOs), Spin Offs and Asset Divestitures.
Financing strategy: Hybrid securities such as namely convertible and non-convertible
debentures, deep discount bonds, secured premium notes, convertible preference shares;
Option financing, warrants, convertibles and exchangeable. Pricing methodologies for IPOs,
SPOs and rights offers. Pricing for ESOPs, Sweat Equity.
Ethics in Finance Corporate Governance. History and Role and Relevance of corporate
governance to shareholder value. Role of Window Dressing, Creative Accounting and QOQ
Reporting in Shareholder Value destruction; Insider trading. Forensic Accounting, poor
CG practices and shareholder value. Shareholder activism.
Current Developments Number of sessions 1
What we know in Financial theory; the landmark developments and the lighthouses. For what
questions, financial theory is still groping to find answers. The recent developments and what
are the pointers to the future. Winding down.
Financial Modeling & Simulation Techniques
A real time companys financial planning for the immediate year on monthly basis and
following two years on annual basis. The inputs for the financial planning will have to be drawn
from the annual reports and information available on the public domain. A team of three
students will be required to work on a companys plans. This will be an iterative process and
will run through out the course beginning from the first day. Hence no number of sessions are
earmarked.
Case study analysis and presentations 2 sessions. Total 30 sessions (sessions).
Suggested text books There are no overarching text book that covers all the above areas in
totality. The students are advised to refer to library and internet resources for each topic.
Text Book:
Strategic Financial Management - Managing for Value Creation by Prasanna Chandra (TMH)
*****************

INSURANCE AND RISK MANAGEMENT
2 Credit
The Indian Insurance Industry has come a full circle. The life insurance
industry which was completely with the private sector was nationalized
in 1956. Commercial insurance industry was also nationalized in 1971. After
around 4 decades of this, private sector participation in the Insurance industry
was allowed around 10 years back. The regulatory system has also matured in
these years. Private insurance companies are working on listing in stock
exchanges. The sector hence is likely to offer challenging careers for MBAs. This
course seeks to prepare students for the same.
There are three kinds of career opportunities
a. In the insurance companies per se
b. In risk management in corporate sector using insurance as one of the tools
c. In private banking and wealth management , where insurance is one of the
options available for clients.
The course focuses on concepts, techniques and issues in the context of a person
aspiring for a career in this domain.
1.1
Area
Unit 1
Introduction to risk, Identification of loss exposures
Classification of loss exposures, and evaluation of loss
exposures
Property and liability loss exposures, Life, Health and
Loss of income exposures.
Risk Management Techniques : Non insurance methods
Insurance as a risk management technique.
Sessions
6
3
1.2
Methods of managing risk non insurance methods , 2

physical and financial
Methods of managing risk insurance methods, and its first
principles demystifying insurance
lingo, principles of
insurance - indemnity, insurable interest, subrogation,
utmost
good
faith,
causa
proxima, Insurable risk ,
catastrophe risk and management
1.3
Features of an insurance contract regular features, 1

special features aleatory, conditional, adhesion, unilateral.
Documents, type of premium, exclusions, etc
2.1
2.2
Unit 2
Insurance from a market perspective
1
The
basic economics of insurance and issues, The
concept of Human life value , mathematical basis of insurance
and pricing objectives
General Insurance
Classification
of
insurance,
life,
non
life.
Understanding features of some key
general insurance
policies fire, marine, motor, fidelity guarantee, Liability
insurance product / public / director and others
2.3 Life Insurance and Annuities
2.4 Health insurance categories
Key features of common life insurance products term life,

whole life, variable life endowment life, money back,
Universal life & ULIPs, Variable universal life. Annuities
methods of classification , types
3.1
Unit 3
Basics of pricing insurance
2
A brief understanding
of probability, mortality stats,
basics of
constructing a mortality table
and
classifications, principle of equivalence and premium
determination
3.2 Underwriting life and general insurance

3.3 Valuing insurance policies , Reinsurance
4.1
Insurance company financial statement analysis

Unit 4
Marketing of insurance products different models
Individual and group insurance , Bancassurance
Emerging trends in insurance industry
4.2 Pension plans and New Pension Scheme

4.3 Insurance regulation in India
1
2
3
1
1
1
Total sessions
20
Readings:
Reading material provided.
Suggested additional
reading:
a. Risk Management and Insurance : Trieschmann, Hoyt and Sommer, 12th Edition,
Cengage
Learning
b. Introduction to Risk Management and Insurance : Mark S Dorfman, 9 th Edition,
PHI Learning Pvt Ltd
Evaluation:
Category
Internal
Mid term
Attendance
Class participation
Tracking the insurance sector
Assignment
Continuous assignment
Study of a life and a general insurance company
a. Submission 1 : Life Insurance Products
b. Submission 2 : General Insurance Products
c. Submission 3 : Marketing and underwriting policies - both life and
general insurance
d. Submission 4 : Analysis of financial statements of insurance
companies
External
Weight age
60%
15%
5%
5%
5%
10%
20% (10 +10)
40%

FIXED INCOME SECURITIES AND DERIVATIVES
2 Credit
Learning outcomes
This course provides in-depth coverage of fixed-income securities and bond portfolio
management. The course covers the pricing of bonds and fixed-income derivatives, the
measurement and hedging of interest rate risk, dynamic models of interest rates, and the
management of fixed income portfolio risk.
After this coursework, participants will be able to do the following:
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.
Summarize the risks associated with bonds

Discuss the features of the primary and secondary bond markets
Explain bond valuation and yield measures
Discuss asset backed securities including their valuation process
Summarize the features of the credit derivatives market
Understand interest rate models
Discuss fixed income derivatives including bond futures and interest rate swaps
Explain the process of bond portfolio management
Course content
Features of fixed income securities
Types of bonds
Sinking fund provision
Risks associated with bonds
Types of risks
Measures of risk
Primary and secondary bond markets
US and Indian markets
Auction process
Yield curve and interest rate structure
Forward rates, Convexity bias
Interest rate theories
Bond valuation
No-arbitrage model
Duration and convexity measures
Mortgage market
Agency MBS
CMOs
Miscellaneous structures
Synthetic CDOs
Other ABS
Derivatives
Interest rate futures, swaps and options
Credit derivatives
Bond portfolio management
LDI
Yield curve trading
Text: Fixed Income Markets and their Derivatives by Sundaresan (Elsevier Pub)
Prescribed readings
The Handbook of Fixed-income securities- Edited by Frank J Fabozzi, Seventh Edition
CFA Institute publications
RBI web site
Federal Reserve web site
Bloomberg
Economist
*****************

BEHAVIOURAL FINANCE
2 Credit
Course objective :
A discussion of issues, tools and policies for effective financial decision making.
The objective of the course is to help students appreciate and discuss the various issues in
finance based on research papers, articles and books. The aim of this course is to introduce
the students to the various strands of literature and broader the horizon vis--vis finance
theories. The main issues (that will be discussed) are share holder wealth maximization,
Efficient market hypothesis, and behavioral issues in finance in general and corporate
finance in particular.
Course prerequisite :
All students who opt for this course should have a sound knowledge of basic finance
concepts introduced to them up to the IV trimester. Both the faculty and the students should
come prepared for every class. The students are expected to read the articles or research
papers before coming to the class. The students are expected to analyse the cases before
coming to the class. They should agree to have fun and ensure that learning takes place
through discussion.
Teaching Methodology:
Class lecture 5 to 6 hours
Discussions and presentations based on Finance research articles (8 hours)
Case analysis (4 - 6 hours)
Course credit 2.
Course duration: 20 sessions of interactive lecture sessions.
Reference books:
1. Principles of Corporate Finance by Richard Brealey and Stewart Myers
2. Financial Management Theory and Practice by Prasanna Chandra
Continuous Internal assessment:
Mid term
10 marks
Class Participation
15 marks
Discussion and presentation 15 marks
Case Analysis
15 marks
Attendance
5 marks
End-term
- 40 marks
*****************

CONSUMER BEHAVIOUR
3 Credit
Course Objectives:
The course equips students with the basic knowledge about the issues and dimensions of consumer
behavior and develops their ability to apply behavioral theories to tackle marketing problems. The
most basic objectives of the course are to provide students with a broad introduction to consumer
concepts. Specific focus is to assess the variables that influence consumer consumption in the
marketplace and influence product design and purchase power. The course will deliver a clearer
understanding of how consumers operate in the market place and will orient students towards the
marketing applications of consumer behavior.
Course Content:
UNIT-1: Consumer behavior concepts Dimensions of consumer behaviors Applications of
consumer behavior knowledge in marketing decisions Marketings impact on consumer behavior
Approaches to studying consumer behavior.
UNIT-2: Consumer as an individual - Consumer needs and motives consumer perception
learning consumer attitudes attitude formation and change Personality and consumer
behavior - Communication and persuasion self image life style analysis.
UNIT-3: Consumers in their social and cultural setting Group influences - Family Age Religion
- Social class - Cultural and sub-cultural aspects Cross cultural consumer behavior.
UNIT-4 : Consumer decision process sand post purchase behavior - Consumer decision making
process Models of consumer decision process Diffusion of innovations -Situational effects on
consumer behavior - Post purchase behavior.
UNIT-5 : Consumer behavior and public policy - Consumer protection Dark side of consumer
behavior - Online consumer behavior Emerging issues in consumer behavior.
Prescribed Text: Consumer Behaviour by Hawkins (TMH)
*****************

RURAL MARKETING
2 Credit
Objective:
In view of the growing share of rural markets in consumer products and services, this
proposed Marketing elective would enable students to gain in-depth knowledge on
important aspects of Rural Marketing. Student evaluation composition would be 40:20:40,
for continuous evaluation, mid-term and end-term respectively.
Unit -1:
Understanding Rural Economy: Introduction to rural India: Occupation patterns: Income
distribution; literacy levels; agri-economy land distribution, marketing of agri inputs and
agri produce; rural development.
Unit -2:
Nature of Rural Markets: Definitions; Demographic profiles of consumers; lifestyle and
expenditure patterns; rural consumer behavior; 4As of rural marketing mix.
Unit -3:
Challenges in rural markets: Counterfeit products; Limitations of mass media; Buying
power; Distribution infrastructure.
Unit -4:
Marketing of Consumer Products / Services: Effective marketing strategies for rural
markets; Product Strategies; Pricing Strategies; Promotion Strategies; Distribution
Strategies; Corporate initiatives.
Unit -5:
Opportunities: Organized retail: Leveraging IT.
Text: Rural Marketing by Pradeep Kashyap (Pearson)
References:
1. Pradeep Kashyap and Siddhartha Raut, The Rural Marketing Book, Biztantra, 2009
2. Gopalasawmy, T.P, Rural Marketing: Environment, Problems and Strategies, Wheeler Publishing
3. Sanal Kumar Velayudhan, Rural Marketing: Targeting the Non-Urban Consumer,
Response Books
4. Krishanamacharyulu C. S. G, Lalitha Ramakrishnan, Rural Marketing: Text and Cases, Pearson
5. Balram Dogra, Karminder Ghuman, Rural Marketing: Concepts and Practices,
Tata McGraw-Hill
6. Tej K Bhatia, Advertising and Marketing in Rural India, Macmillan India
*****************

RETAILING
(2 CREDIT)
Course Objectives:
This course aims at developing an understanding of the Retail industry at its various levels and
stages of growth. It will provide students an opportunity to study concepts and concurrent cases in
the Indian and western scenario and discuss ways and means to improve the retail environment.
The student will understand the why and how of retailer decision making and learn to apply theory
and innovation into practice using real-time project work and gaming.
Course Content:
Unit I :
Introduction to retailing; Indian retail scenario; Retail formats; Multichannel retailing;

Franchising; In-store consumer behavior.
Unit II:
Retailing strategies; Location & Site Selection; Customer Service; CRM.
Unit III:
Merchandise Management Planning assortments; Buying systems; Pricing strategies;

Private Labels; Supply Chain Management.
Unit IV: Managing the store; Types of layout; Store atmospherics; Category Management; HR in
retailing.
Prescribed Text : Retailing Management Levy Weitz. Tata Mcgraw Hill.
Additional Readings:
1. Retail Management A Strategic Approach by Berman & Evans, 10th edition Pearson Education
2. The Art of Retailing AJ Lamba
*****************

STRATEGIC MARKETING
2 Credit
Course Theme:
Todays business environment demands that business managers mount strategic directions to
proactively adapt to the market conditions influenced by the changing activities of both the clients
and the competition. This course considers a strategic framework of knitting together profit goals
and its impact on the marketing strategy, market and product business portfolio, market
segmentation and positioning strategies. Strategic marketing provides a perspective and emphasis
hat extends beyond the traditional focus on managing the marketing mix and focuses on evolving
marketing strategies aligned with business objectives, competitive environment and corporate
resources.
Course Objectives:
The course broadly aims at sharpening analytical thinking and decision-making skills required for
planning and executing marketing strategy.
Expected Learning Outcomes:
1. Understand the purpose and function of marketing strategy, as well as its relationship to
competitive advantage.
2. Learn number of techniques for analyzing the potential of a specific firm looking at
technology and consumer tests and evaluating the gap between consumer willingness to pay
and supplier opportunity cost.
3. Should be able to analyze complex marketing situations based on both qualitative and
quantitative market research and financial information to design product solutions and
marketing strategies with performance outcomes.
4. Make precise decisions concerning product attributes, marketing budgets, selling resources,
pricing, etc.
5. Practically forecasting competitive dynamics and challenging rivals advantage through
competitive strategy.
Course Outline
UNIT-1: Marketing and the concept of planning and strategy Strategic analysis Approaches to
competition and customer analysis Environmental scanning Studying strength and weaknesses
Corporate and Business Strategies Implications on Marketing - Developing marketing objectives
and goals.
UNIT-2: Strategic marketing choices and decisions SBU and portfolio strategies strategy
formulation - Market segmentation, targeting and positioning strategies Strategic tools
PIMS Measuring the value of marketing strategies
UNIT-3: Product innovation and development strategies Product successes and failures Innovation modes Customization Strategic brand management - Customer service strategies
UNIT-4: Strategic options in pricing Implementing pricing strategy - distribution channels options
channel management and control E marketing and sustainable competitive advantage
Marketing communication strategic process
UNIT-5: Strategy for Global marketing programs - Nature of marketing control Managing
competitive advantage as a process Strategies for growth markets, mature and declining markets,
digital markets; Social marketing strategies CSR as a strategic imperative.
Prescribed text:
Musings of Strategist by
Prof. R.Venkataraman, Notion Press Ltd
Additional Reference:
1. Marketing Strategy: A Decision-Focused Approach, by Orville C Walker and John Mullins,
McGraw-Hill Higher Education; 8 edition.
*****************

3 Credit
Course Objectives:
The course aims at exposing the students to various Information Security Issues
and making them aware of various methods and technologies available to deal
with suchsecurity issues in business organizations:
UNIT-1
Critical characteristics of Information, NSTISSC Security Model, Components of
anInformation System (IS), Security Systems development life cycle.
UNIT-2
Need for security, Threats, Attacks, Legal Ethical and Professional Issues.
UNIT-3
Risk Management: Identifying and Assessing Risk, Assessing and Controlling
Risk.
UNIT-4
Logical design: Information Security Policy, Standards & Practices, Planning
forBusiness Continuity.
UNIT-5
Security design: Security technologies IDS, Firewall, Scanning Tools,
Cryptography,Database
Security,
Security
&
Personnel
Security
Implementation & Maintenance.
UNIT-6
Protection of Information Assets: Importance of ISM, ITGC, Physical controls, IS
Audits.
Suggested Reading:
1. Principles of Information Security by Micheal E Whitman and Herbert J Mattord,

Thomson Publications, Vikas Publishing House, New Delhi
2. Information Systems Control & Audit by Ron Weber, Pearson Education
3. Handbook of Information Security by Mick1 Krause, Harold F Tipton, CRC Press
4. Computer Security Art and Science by Matt Bishop, Pearson publications
5. Security in Computing by Charles P Pfleeger, Shari Lawrence Pfleeger,
PearsonEducation
6. Cryptography & Network Security : Principles and Practice by William
Stallings,Pearson Education
Text book:
Principles of Information Security by Micheal E Whitman and Herbert J Mattord, Thomson

Publications, Vikas.
*****************

BUSINESS PROCESS REENGINEERING AND MANAGEMENT
(2 CREDIT)
UNIT-1
Concepts of Business Process Management - Approach to manage business process Concepts of Business Process Modeling - Scenarios where various pieces of BPM can
be applied.
UNIT-2
Concepts of Business Process Management Technology, Foundation of BPR, Role of
Information Technology in BPR, Process Automation using Information Technology as
an enabler.
UNIT-3
Concepts of BPR Implementation Methodology, Business process Improvement,
Business Process Redesign; People Management for BPR Implementation, Reorganizing People.
UNIT-4
Common Pitfalls in BPR, Change Management in BPR, Approaches to Radical change,
Concepts and Application of Negotiation in BPR.
Reference
1. S. Balasubramanian and R. Radhakrishnan, Business Process Reengineering- Text
and Cases, PHI, 2008
*****************

ENTREPRISE RESOURCE PLANNING-II
(2 CREDIT)
Course Objectives:
Introduction to ERP course explores business processes, essential terminologies, investigates
guidelines for implementation, and essential functions such as project management, risk
management and quality management. This course also addresses process mappings using use
cases and basics of business process re-engineering. The sessions will include a couple of hands
on exercises.
Contents
1. Introduction to ERP
Basics of ERP
ERP Business Model
Need for ERP
Compelling Reasons to go for ERP
ERP Package Evaluation

2. Introduction to CRM
Basics of CRM and need
CRM Business model
Compelling reasons to go for CRM
CRM Package evaluation

3. Understanding Business Processes and their relevance to ERP/CRM
Understanding organizations in terms of processes and people
Analyzing basic elements of companys value chain
Exploring products, services, processes in a company
Process Mapping and co-relating with ER /CRM

4. Developing Use Cases
Identify inter relationship between departments
Identify essential elements persons, tasks, information, interaction
Develop Functional requirements and scenarios
Create use cases specific to identified business processes

Hands-On Sessions / Workshop
Requirement Gathering workshops for select use cases and real time projects
Demo of ERP and CRM functions
Solution Design documentation and hands-on experience to configure the system
Presentation of system
Delivery Mechanism
Interactive class room sessions based on real time business cases handles by ERP
professionals from Hitachi Solutions India
Business process mapping process as a Group Exercise
Assignments as a solution finder to business and implementation problems discussed

during sessions
Exercises addressing some industry scenarios
Project based assignments to enable the students to under the system integration
Training Materials
Power point presentations explaining business processes and basic concepts of ERP
and CRM Visio based flow diagrams for detailed business process flow and system
interactions
Use Case diagrams as a supplement to enable business process transformation and
requirements gathering sessions
*****************

IT ENABLED SERVICES MANAGEMENT
2 Credit
1. Introduction to Outsourcing
The outsourcing Landscape

Models in outsourcing
Benefits of outsourcing
Challenges in outsourcing
Components of outsourcing
2. Information Technology Enabled Services
ITES Gamut of services

Beyond Call centre
Business Process Outsourcing
Application Outsourcing
Infrastructure Outsourcing
Generations in BPO
3. BPO Framework
Operations Management
Productivity & Capacity Management
Cost Management
Relationship Management
Sales and Mobilization
Service Quality
Support services in BPO
4. Introduction to F&A BPO
PtP, OtC&RtR
Defining SLAs
Controls & Compliance
5. Next Generation BPOs
Cloud computing
GEN NEXT Tools
Text book:
1. Business Process Outsourcing - A Supply Chain of Expertises by Vinod V. Sople - Publisher PHI
Learning Pvt Ltd
2. Lean Principles and Application in BPO by Asoke Das Sarma and Rupesh Lochan - Publisher
Narosa Publishing House
*****************

IT SERVICES MANAGEMENT
2 Credit
Course Description: Businesses today are enabled through technologies to a
large extent. Hence information technology is the core around which
organizations operate and manage. This course focuses on the definition,
delivery and management of IT services; the operational aspects and IT
resources required to support the Services.
Benefits of the Course: This course will prepare the participants to take roles
as service executives/leaders and service managers in IT. The concepts covered
will help them understand the need and implication of IT operations and
services critical for business and how they can be managed for cost and
effectiveness.
Course Content:
Unit 1 Service and IT Service Introduction, Types of Services; IT Organization
Structures - Traditional, Service Oriented, Types; IT Resources- Infrastructure,
Application, Information, People; IT Governance COBIT Processes; Business and
IT in the context of Process and Services,
Unit 2 IT Service Management Concepts, ITIL Process, Functions, ISO 20000
Overview; Service Strategy Financial Management, Service Portfolio, Demand
Management.
Unit 3 - Service Design Supplier Management and Arrangements; Information
Security Concepts, Standards;
Service Catalogue and Service Level
Management Service Package detailed descriptions, Service Level Agreements
(SLAs), Operating Level Agreements, Underpinning Contracts; Service Continuity
Management; Service Availability; Service Capacity Management.
Unit 4 Service Transition Change Management Change Request, Impact,
Change Approvals;
Release and Deployment Management ; Asset and
Configuration Configurable Items, Baselines, Configuration Management
Databases; Knowledge Management.
Unit 5 Service Operation Incident Management, Problem Management,
Event Management, Request Fulfillment, Access Management;
Service
Functions Service Desk, IT Operations, Application Management, Technical
Management, Facilities Management; Continual Service Improvement Service
Level Monitoring and Reporting, 7 Step Improvement Process.
Text book:
Effective IT Service Management: To ITIL and Beyond! by Rob Addy
Reference : IT Systems Management, Rich Schiesser, La Hasra (PHI)
*****************

CROSS CULTURAL MANAGEMENT
2 Credit
Objectives:
The objective of this course is to develop a diagnostic and conceptual understanding of the cultural
and related behavioral variables in the management of global organizations.
Course Contents:
UNIT-1
Definition of culture? Process of formation of culture. How does it influence behaviour, thoughts and
feelings. What is national culture? What are the symbols of culture? Culture and organizational
behavior. Culture and its dimensions - historical roots - evolution. The Kluekhohn Strodtbeck
Framework
UNIT-2
A detailed analyses of Hofstede's 5 cultural dimensions-Power Distance, Uncertainty Avoidance,
Masculinity & femininity, Long term vs Short term, Individual & Collectivism
UNIT-3
Impact of Religion on Culture, Role of Anthropology, Sociology, Political Science and Science in the
development of culture, Role of poetry and literature in the development of symbols and metaphors
of culture.
UNIT-4
Individual's Relationship to nature, space and time, Defining a national culture The process of
national culture formation, Study of national cultures through its history, geography, festivals,
heroes, economics, politics, important events and personalities, Poetry & literature and philosophical
tradition , Study of the national cultures of the major cultural blocks in the world viz United States &
Canada, United Kingdom, France, Germany, South East AsiaChina, Japan, Middle East, India.
UNIT-5
Challenges of working in an international environment, Interaction of cultures at work place, Cultural
sensitivity as a management tool, Art of International Negotiation, Cross-Cultural Marketing.
Analyses of Case Studies
Presentations by Professionals with Cross-Cultural Experiences in Corporate and Non-Corporate
Fields.
Suggested Readings:
1. International Dimensions of Organization Behaviour Adler, N.J
2. International Management: Cross Cultural Dimensions Mead, R.
3. Innovations international and cross-cultural management. edited by P.Christopher Earley /
Harbir Singh
4. Cultures Consequences by Dr Geert Hofstede

*****************

TIRUCHIRAPPALLI 620 014
STRATEGIC HUMAN RESOURCES MANAGEMENT
2 Credit
Course Objective :
The course aims to:
*Help students understand the factors of change in the political, social environmental and the
economic scenario that has transformed the role of the Human Resources function from
being a support function to a strategic function.
*Provide an appreciation for the importance of the alignment of the corporate strategy and the HR
strategy of an organization.
*Understand the new strategies organizations are adopting globally to compete and grow - the
subsequent emergence of new forms of organizations and the specific HR challenges faced.
*Give an exposure to the tools and techniques used by organizations to meet these
challenges.
*Give an insight into the emerging trends and the changing competency profile of the HR
manager.
Course Contents:
*HR as a strategic partner: Forces of change-Technology, Globalisation, Cost containment,
Knowledge capital-Changing organizational strategies-emergence of HR as a strategic partner.
*New forms of organizations-Horizontal integration, Vertical
organizational forms.
integration
and networked
*Aligning the HR strategy with organisational strategy-studying best practices through cases.
*Strategic tools and techniques used for
Competency Mapping, concept of Learning
outsourcing strategies.
implementing strategy Balanced Score Card,

Organizations, Employee Engagement
and
*Challenges of operating across borders-Factors to be taken into account in managing HR

processes across cultures, developing cross cultural leadership capabilities within the organisation,
expatriate management, building virtual teams and managing diversity in the workplace.
*New set of competencies required
strategic perspective.
*Emerging trends in the field of HR.
b y the HR professional to manage the function with a
.2.
-2Recommended text:
Strategic Human Resource management by Tanuja Agarwala (Oxford)
References:
Strategic Human Resource Management-Theory and Practice-A Reader-Edited by Graeme
Salaman, John Storey, and Jon Billsberry-Sage Pub.
Strategic Human Resource Technologies-Keys To Managing People-Ashok Chanda with B.
Sivaramakrishnan and Jie Shen-Response Books.
Strategic Human Resource Leader-Rothwell, Prescott, Taylor-Jaico Pub.
Strategic HRM-Charles Greer-Pearson Education Asia.
Strategic HRM-Michel Amstrong-Kogan Page-New Delhi.
Strategic HRM-Agarwal-Oxford University Press.
Human Resource Management-Dessler-Prentice Hall India.
Recommended Reading :
Human Resource Champions-Dave Ulrich-Harvard Business School Press.
The Boundaryless Organisation-Breaking the chains of Organisational Structure-Todd, Jich, Ulrich,
Kerr, Askenas-Jossey Bas Inc. Pub.
The future of HRM-Edited by Ulrich,Meisinger,Losey-John Wiley Pub.
Roadmap To Strategic HR Turning A Great Idea Into A Business RealityiThe Fifth Discipline-The Art and Practice of Learning Organisations-Peter Senge
*****************

Subject Title
Faculty
Number of
Credits
Pre-requisite/
Co-requisite/
Forward
linkage
Leaders & Leadership

Abhishek Kumar, Mr N Bala Baskar, Secretary
auroville, Ms Deepti, The Last School, Auroville, Ms
Jayashree District Collector Trichy and Mr Dev
Amritesh CEO Dunkin Donuts
2 - Each credit will imply about ten hours of class
room interaction
A Course on Leadership is ideally a finishing course
of the MBA program. It has a strong forward
linkage to the entire MBA as to be effective as a
manager in any function; one has to work with
people and lead people and tasks. Leadership
behavior across levels can only lead to excellence
in output.
Subject
Objective
To EXPERIENCE Leaders and Leadership in all

facets and develop ones own idea of leadership
and oneself as a Leader.
Subject
Learning
Outcomes
Upon completion of the subject

Leadership, students will be able to:
Subject
Synopsis/
Indicative
Syllabus
Leaders
a) Intimately relate to the idea of leadership;

b) Understand the factors that contribute
leadership behavior;
c) Apply leadership behavior in business contexts;
d) BE a Leader
&
to
Unit 1 : Introduction to Leaders & Leadership

Introduction , Reflection on Leadership, Leadership
in family, Thematic Apperception, Exploration of
ones life at various crossroads
Unit 2 : Encounters with Leaders
Shadowing a Leader, Understanding Leadership
from a CEOs Perspective, Understanding the
context
Psycho-Socio-Cultural-National
perspective for effective leadership, Heroism &
Harmony, Historical events that proposed unique
models of leadership
Unit 3: Leadership as Inspiration, as being an

example, as being a team player, as being a
visionary, as a choice between Strategy &
Action
Through a set of movies & case studies & relevant
activities, Day-Long Activity,
Unit 4 : Experiencing Leadership through
Classical Literature & Historical Events &
Figures
Book Reading & Reviews of Leadership Models as
enunciated in
1. Merchant of Venice by Shakespeare
2. Outsider by Albert Camus
3. Major Barbara by Bernard Shaw
4. Animal Farm by George Orwell
5. Jonathan Livingston Seagull by Richard Bach
6. The Little Prince by St Antoine Exupery
7. Man of Destiny by Bernard Shaw
8. My Experiments with truth by M K Gandhi
9. Vivekananda by Romain Rolland
10.Fountainhead by Ayn Rand
Unit 5 : Developing a personal agenda for

leadership behavior
Identification of 3 critical leadership trait
applicable to oneself and framing of a personal
plan of action
*****************

OPERATION STRATEGY
3 Credit
Course
Description
Operations strategy is the strategic use of functions such as manufacturing, supply chain, and
service provision for business model, competitive advantage, etc. Traditionally, these areas have
been viewed as narrow functional areas, and management of them was based on some simple
criterion such as cost minimization. More recently, managers and business observers have
understood that manufacturing and operations have to be managed in the broader context of
business strategy. In this sense, decisions on manufacturing and operations capabilities must fit
and be consistent with the business strategy. Such decisions need to take into account the
competitive environment, including the maturity of the industry on the S-curve and the structure
of the value chain. Furthermore, decisions about different areas of manufacturing and operations
must be consistent with each other. Strategic choices about facilities, capacity, vertical
integration, process technology, control and information systems, sourcing, human resources,
organization, and other areas all significantly affect what the business brings to the marketplace.
The course will examine how decisions in these areas can be made in a coherent manner.
Beyond integration of manufacturing decisions with business strategy, manufacturing and
operations strategy emphasizes the concept of operations as a source of competitive advantage.
Using the broad notion of manufacturing, a company's strength in manufacturing and operations
can be the basis of competitive position. This course provides a framework to describe and
formulate an operations strategy and understand and evaluate the key decisions in operations
that have a substantial impact on a firm's competitive position. Operations Strategy provides a
unifying framework for analyzing strategic issues in manufacturing and service operations.
Students analyze the relationships between manufacturing and service companies and their
suppliers, customers, and competitors. The course covers strategic decisions in technology,
facilities, vertical integration, human resources, and other areas, and also explores means of
competition such as cost, quality, and innovativeness.
Intended Audience
This class is for anyone interested in operations and strategy, with a focus on second-year
Leaders for Global Operations and management students, particularly those aspiring to careers
in (1) operations, (2) General management, (3) Entrepreneurship, or (4) Management consulting.
A working knowledge of operations, which, for many firms, employs the greatest number of
employees and requires the largest investment in assets, is often indispensable for general
managers and entrepreneurs.
Course Aims & Objectives:
From the perspective of a director of operations, a vice president of manufacturing, or a seniorlevel general manager with responsibility for the production of products and services, this course
makes an in- depth examination of the operations function in firms. The course examines
primary importance of manufacturing & operations in the formulation and implementation of
business and corporate strategy within companies. Using case studies, the course looks at
strategic decisions and how they influence the achievement of the firm's goals and specifically
the role of general managers of operations play in integrating those decisions with overall
business and corporate strategies. Students will develop a managerial point of view and gain
understanding in "state of "state of the art" strategic management thinking.
The course has three learning objectives:
First, students will learn why operational decisions can be critical to a companys strategy in particular, they cannot be
made in isolation.
Second, students will develop an appreciation for the nature and breadth of operational
decisions that can be part of a companys strategy.
Third, students will gain some specific insights into how to think about operations strategy,
particularly in situations with competitor uncertainty and demand uncertainty.
Teaching Objectives
The teaching objectives of this course are the following:
1.Develop students' understanding of the strategic impact of operating decisions and the tradeoffs inherent in these choices.
2. Introduce students to the basic components of an operating strategy, including architecture,
systems, and process technology.
3. Provide analytical tools and conceptual frameworks for both assessing and designing
operating strategies that fit with broader competitive goals of the company.
4. Deepen students' understanding of senior managements' role in leading, shaping and
implementing operating strategies over time.
5. Stimulate critical thinking about emerging concepts and ideas in the field of operations
strategy.
6. Plan for operational risks & business continuity
Course Overview & Structure:
The course focuses on operational decisions that are integral to a firms ability to achieve and
sustain economic profitability and competitive edge. The course will consider decisions in which
the question of alignment is central. In other words, is the anticipated choice consistent with
how the firm competes, both now and in the future? For example, the course will consider
operational decisions within three broad categories:
Resource decisions, e.g. capacity investment and entry decisions
Internal activity decisions, e.g. product-process alignment decisions
External activity decisions, e.g. vertical integration and supplier management decisions
The course considers both commitment decisions (e.g., capacity and capability bets) and
hedging decisions (e.g., managing risk with flexible capacity, global sourcing, etc.). The tension
between these two approaches prudent hedging vs. high-risk commitment is explored,
particularly in the context of competition. The role of aligning operational decisions with a firms
strategy is also covered, again with particular emphasis on surviving in a competitive landscape.
Themes in Operations Strategy:
1. System Integrality and consistency as core to operations excellence.
e.g., Toyota, McDonalds, Southwest, Zara
2. Fit Business, Operations and functional strategies
e.g., Auto industry, Southwest, BYD
3. Operations Innovation as source of Advantage
SWA, Toyota, Dell, McDonalds, BYD
4. Strategy is the pattern of operations decisions
Boeing, ITT, CVS, Genentech, Applichem, Amazon, Toyota, Dell
5. Processes embody distinctive and core capabilities
Any process is better than no process. --M. Hammer
6. Operations Strategies are the selection of competitive dimensions and require design
tradeoffs
BMW, Delamere, New Balance Athletic Shoe, Housing
7. You are never done --continuous improvement/innovation is mandatory
McD, Toyota, BYD
The course is case intensive, but there are specific assignments with quantitative analyses.
Analytical concepts, including the basic economics behind modern strategy theory, are
introduced as needed. 19
Unit I: Basic Concepts of Operations Strategy: In the first part, we will examine general
concepts such as competitive leverage using manufacturing and operations, the fit of the
various elements of manufacturing and operations, the impact of the competitive environment,
and the structure of the value chain. We will explore how industry dynamics affect strategy and
discuss concepts of industry clock-speed. The strategic Roles of Operations; Performance
Objectives; Operations Risk Management (BCP, DR, Enterprise Risk Management, Information
Security etc.). Management of Overlaps (and cost) for example Systems Migration, Phase wise
roll outs.
Unit II: Key Elements and Decision Categories in an Operations Strategy: In the second
part, we will examine the key elements and decision categories in an operations strategy. These
include facilities and capacities, technology, logistics, and the other decision categories noted
above. In each of these areas, we will examine how different choices affect the business
competitively and how to make decisions in each of these. Top-Down Vs. Bottom-Up; Institutional
Theory Vs. Resource Based Views; Market-driven Vs. Market-Driving Approaches.
Unit III: Capabilities and Different Approaches to Operations Strategy: In the third part
of the course, we will examine different integrated strategic approaches, each of which places
requirements on operations but allow different means for companies to compete. These
approaches include competing on cost and productivity; quality; availability; features,
innovativeness and new products; and environmental performance. We will compare these
different approaches and the tradeoffs among them.
Unit IV: Globalization, Outsourcing and Other Critical Issues in Operations Strategy
and Policy in the 21st Century: Finally, in the fourth part we will examine some issues in
operations policy and strategy that are particularly relevant today. These issues revolve around
outsourcing and globalization. For example, how much should a company outsource? Can a
company give up all of its manufacturing? We will also explore globalization. Should an economy
such as the U.S. be concerned about the flight of jobs overseas to China and India? Such
themes, while a focus in part 4, will also appear in other parts of the course. Part 4 will also
explore the future of operations and manufacturing.
Models for Operation Strategy: Prof. Terry Hills Framework of Operations Strategy
Formulation; Operations Capability and Maturity Model - Hayes and Wheelwright's Four Stages
Framework; Line of Fit, Operations Strategy Matrix; Platt's-Gregory Procedure; Process
Technology Strategy Framework Scale, Automation & Coupling; Relevance of different models
for different industries, by vintage / maturity of the organization.
Live Project (Operations Strategy Analysis & Improvement for an organisation)
Each student group (2-3 members) should identify an organization whose operations strategy is
analyzed and improved. Based on the field-work & analysis, report should be submitted and
presented to the class along with relevant exhibits. It should describe the organizations current
business strategy and the role of operations in the business strategy, describe why the strategy
makes economic sense, analyze new/changing business environment, recommend a change or
improvement, defend/justify the recommendation, and identify any issues that might occur in
the implementation of recommendation.
Suggested Readings:
The course will be based largely on case studies, with lectures supplementing these. Cases and
exercises will be distributed in advance of the relevant classes. To pursue the topics of this
course more deeply, the following books might be of interest:
1. Beckman, Sara, and Donald Rosenfield. Operations Strategy: Competing in the 21st Century.
McGraw- Hill/Irwin, 2007. ISBN: 9780072500783.
2. Fine, Charles H. Clockspeed: Winning Industry Control in the Age of Temporary Advantage.
Basic Books,
1999. ISBN: 9780738201535.
3. Operations, Strategy, and Technology: Pursuing the Competitive Edge. R. Hayes, G. Pisano, D.
Upton and S. Wheelwright. Wiley, 2005 25
4. Operations Strategy: Principles and Practice. J.A. Van Mieghem. Dynamic Ideas, Charlestown,
MA. 2008
Cases to be discussed (Indicative List):
1. Upton, David M. "McDonald's Corporation (Abridged)." Harvard Business School Case. Harvard
Business School Publishing. Case: 9-603-041, Rev. June 16, 2005. (Innovation and operations
discipline)
2. Fraiman, Nelson M., Medini R. Singh, Carolyn Paris, and Linda Arrington. "Zara." Columbia
Business School Case. Case: 267-279, 2002 (Frameworks for strategy and the decision category
approach)
3. Huckman, Robert S., and Alan D. MacCormack. "BYD Company, Ltd." Harvard Business School
Case. Harvard 20
Business School Publishing. Case: 9-606-139, Rev. July 23, 2007. (Developing an operations
strategy- Application of decision category approach and the capabilities approaches)
4. Heskett, James L., and Early Sasser, Jr. "Southwest Airlines: In a Different World." Harvard
Business School Case. Harvard Business School Publishing. Case: 9-910-419, Rev. June 15, 2010
(Enterprise architecture and operations strategy)
5. Pisano, Gary P., and Sharon Rossi. "ITT Automotive: Global Manufacturing Strategy." Harvard
Business School Case. Harvard Business School Publishing. Case: 9-695-002, Rev. May 21, 2001
(Process technology decisions and multiple plants)
6. Snow, Daniel C., Steven C. Wheelwright, and Alison Berkley Wagonfeld. "Genentech
Capacity Building." Harvard Business School Case. Harvard Business School Publishing. Case: 9606-052, Rev. March 7, 2006. (Capacity strategy: How to make decisions on capacity and
capacity expansion)
7. West, Jonathan. "Delamere Vineyard." Harvard Business School Case. Harvard Business School
Publishing. Case: 9-698-051, Rev. June 8, 2000. (Competing on quality: Sources of quality and
different measures of quality)
8. Bowen, H. Kent, Robert S. Huckman, and Carin-Isabel Knoop. "New Balance Athletic Shoe,
Inc." Harvard Business School Case. Harvard Business School Publishing. Case: 9-606-094, Rev.
June 30, 2008. (Competing on cost versus competing on availability)
9. Pisano, Gary. "BMW: The 7-Series Project (A)." Harvard Business School Case. Harvard
Business School Publishing. Case: 9-692-083, Rev. January 3, 2002. (Competing on cost versus
competing on features and innovativeness)
10. Fine, Charles H. "House-Building Disrupted: Supply Chain Re-Engineering During an Epic
Disaster." MIT Sloan School of Management Case, September 2009. (Competition on cost, quality
and availability)
11. Huckman, Robert S., and Gary P. Pisano. "Flextronics International, Ltd." Harvard Business
School Case. Harvard
Business School Publishing Case: 9-604-063, Rev. May 17, 2004.
12. GMs risk management failures provide lessons for other firms
Course Schedule:
Session 1: The Strategic Role and Objectives of Operations
Session 2 - Innovation and operations discipline
Case: McDonalds Corp, (Abridged)
Session 3: Operations Strategy
Content and process
Top-down Vs. Bottom-up Approach
3 Elements Enterprise Architecture, Coordination, Process Technology
Session 4: Frameworks for Strategy,
Theme: Decision category Approach
Case: Zara
Session 5 -Developing an operations strategy;
Theme: Application of Decision category approach and the Capabilities Approach
Case: BYD Company, Ltd
Session 6 -Value Chain Dynamics & Operations Decisions
Clockspeed, Chapters 1-4
Session 7 - Enterprise Architecture and Operations Strategy
Case: Southwest Airlines: In a Different World
Session 8 -Vertical integration and Outsourcing
Case: Boeing Commercial Airplanes 787 Dreamliner
Session 9: Business Process
Case: Pharmacy Service Improvement at CVS (A)

Session 10 -Process technology decisions and multiple plants
Case: ITT Automotive: Global Manufacturing Strategy
Session 11 - Capacity Strategy -How to make decisions on Capacity and Capacity expansion
Case: Capacity Planning at Genentech
Session 12 - Facilities Strategies and Globalization, Comparisons of Plant Productivity
Case: Applichem
Session 13 - Sourcing and Supplier Management
Case: Toyota Supplier Relations: Fixing the Suprima Chassis (A)
Session 14: Information systems and the impacts of the electronic economy on operations
strategy
Case: Amazon Web Services
Session 15: Logistics Systems and the Fulfillment Supply Chain Decisions
Case: Dell Inc.: Improving the Performance of the Desktop PC Supply Chain
Session 16 - Overview of Operations Strategy and Competitiveness
Session 17 - Competing on Quality: Sources of Quality and Different Measures of Quality
Case: Delamere Vineyard
Session 18 - Competing on Cost Versus Competing on Availability
Case: New Balance Athletic Shoe
Session 19 - Competing on Cost Versus Competing on Features and Innovativeness: Types of
Quality and the Product Development Process
Case: BMW: The 7-Series Project
Session 20 - Competition in the Housing Industry: Improving Cost, Quality and Availability
Case: House Building Disrupted: Supply Chain Re-Engineering during an Epic Disaster
Session 21 - Models for Gaining Advantage in a Global Environment, How to Position Within a
Value Chains
Case: Fast, Global, & Entrepreneurial: Supply Chain Management, Hong Kong Style, (Li and
Fung)
Class 22 -Globalization, Joint-Ventures Sourcing Overseas, and Macroeconomic Effects of Off
Shoring
Case: Chiang-Sho, Ltd
Session 23 Supplier Power and Overseas Sourcing, Moving Up the Value Chain in Outsourcing
Case: Flextronics International
Sessions: 24, 25, 26& 27 Group Live Project(Operations Strategy Analysis & Improvement for an
organisation)
Fieldwork, Analysis & Strategy Development
Sessions: 28 & 29 -Group Presentations
Session: 30 Finish
Chapter 11 of Beckman and Rosen field
Evaluation Plan:
Continuous Assessment (60%):
Mid-term Exam 15-20 %

Attendance 5 %
Class Participation 20 %
Group Project - 20%
End-term Exam 40%
*****************

REVENUE MANAGEMENT
3 Credit
This course provides a comprehensive introduction to both the theory and the practice of revenue
management and pricing. Revenue Management, as broadly defined, is the science of maximizing
revenue given a set of conditions like market demand, schedules, competition and fares. Revenue
management is an applied discipline its value derives from the business results it achieves. Few
businesses really understand what drives their markets, their industries, or their brands. Without this
understanding, its almost impossible to predict the future, explain the past, or develop the best plan
for the future. Typically, Decision Analyst (read Revenue Analyst) approaches demand forecasting
based on historical data and forward bookings. There is no specific approach to revenue
management, though very broadly it could be grouped under some of the dominant factors like
Forecast, optimization, dynamic pricing, bid prices etc. The ability to process huge data quickly has
honed the forecasting and optimization process. This has resulted in a huge surge in RM application
in the last decade.
A firm can raise its revenue by increasing the volume of sale and prices of products, improving their
Quality and technical level, introducing new goods, improving customer services, introducing more
effective advertisement etc. Companies selling perishable goods or services often face the problem
of selling a fixed capacity of a product over a finite horizon. If the market is characterized by
customers willing to pay different prices for the product, it is often possible to target different
customer segments by the use of product differentiation. This creates the opportunity to sell the
product to different customer segments for different prices, e.g. charging different prices at different
points in time or offering a higher service level for a higher price. In order to do so, decisions will
have to be made about the prices to charge and the number of products to reserve for each
customer segment. Making this kind of decisions is the topic of revenue management.
There are three key inputs to a revenue management system:

1. Passenger pricing the fare price paid by passengers
2. Capacity Control used to optimize the mix of fare types
3. Space Planning achieving the optimal fare mix, associated with overbooking to minimize
revenue loss through no-shows and other revenue leeks.
Revenue management can be defined as the art of maximizing profit generated from a limited
capacity of a product over a finite horizon by selling each product to the right customer at the right
time for the right price. It encompasses practices such as price-discrimination and turning down
customers in anticipation of other, more profitable customers.
Objectives: Revenue Management supports senior management in identifying opportunities and
threats to revenue and profits. Implementation of RM philosophy involves a companywide program
which nurtures and develops strong relationship between departments in the organization. Aligning
the sales strategies to the revenue management policy is vital to the success of the revenue plan
and the targets. This course highlights the various RM solutions and tools that significantly sharpens
competitive skills and improve internal synergies. The practice of revenue management is not
confined to any specific departments. It is a tool to enhance the corporate IQ of a company for
better decision-making. This course supports RM as an enterprise-wide competency instead of
being a specialized proficiency.
Revenue management involves generating incremental revenues by selectively accepting and
rejecting demand based on the value of the request. There are two basic elements in Revenue
management.
Forecasting
Optimization
Forecast and revenue optimization focuses on how a firm should set and update pricing and product
availability decisions across its various selling channels in order to maximize its profitability. The
most familiar example probably comes from the airline industry, where tickets for the same flight
may be sold at many different fares throughout the booking horizon depending on product
restrictions as well as the remaining time until departure and the number of unsold seats. The use of
such strategies has transformed the transportation and hospitality industries, and has become
increasingly important in retail, telecommunications, entertainment, financial services, health care
and manufacturing. In parallel, pricing and revenue optimization has become a rapidly expanding
practice in consulting services, and a growing area of software and IT development, where the
revenue management system are tightly integrated in the existing Supply Chain Management
solutions. No matter what the industry or the practice is the fundamental to any form of revenue
management involves forecasting and utilizing the capacity in a very optimal form.
Forecasting accurately means knowing your consumer, their habits, likes and dislikes and more
importantly travel patterns. Fundamentally, it means producing a model of your consumers and
trying to develop solutions around it. Though every customer has his or her own plans, a general
behavior could be seen at some levels and across several traffic flows. Forecasting is an essential
element of Revenue Management. The better the forecast the better the business decisions,
therefore better profits. Accurate and reliable forecasts provide a rational view of the market. The
more accurate the forecast, the less the chance of being wrong on the solutions and hence lower
chance of losing market share. Forecasting means combining and predicting the future using input
factors such as weather, risks, booking patterns, no-shows, cancellations, supply factors, market
assessment and historical data to name but a few. Combining these factors, to make accurate
forecasts relies on information technology. As humans cannot digest such huge and growing
amounts of information about all these variables, Information technology presents the information in
order for the yield manager to make a prediction that is better, more accurate and probable. The
science element of Revenue Management is drawn from Operational Research. Operational
Research approaches to RM allow the yield manager to concentrate on making the decisions, rather
than processing the data.
The Revenue Management forecasting system is an on going process, as information is constantly
entering and leaving the system for evaluation. Therefore the optimized solutions has to be dynamic
and changing.
Every firm eventually has to sell its products. Questions that arise in this context are, for example:
What sales channels should the firm use? How should a product be priced in the different
channels? How can the firm prevent cannibalization across channels? How should prices be
adjusted to seasonality?
In this course, we focus on how to set the best prices for the offered products, a decision very often
linked to the profit performance of a process. You will learn to identify and exploit opportunities for
revenue optimization in different business contexts. You will review the main methodologies that are
used in each of these areas, discuss issues associated with different pricing strategies, and survey
current practices in different industries. As the ensuing course outline reveals, most of the topics
covered in the course are either directly or indirectly related to pricing issues faced by firms that
operate in environments where they enjoy some degree of market power.
The Benefits of Revenue Management
Close to company objectives: Get closer to the objectives of the company and ensure you pull the
triggers that bring revenue. The Wall Street Journal identifies revenue management as "the number
one emerging business strategy, a practice poised to explode."
Beat competition: Every business should offer differentiated products or services against its rivals.
Products may be differentiated in terms of packaging, technology, design, and functionality etc.
Gaining advantage on the market share is vital to existence unless a new product is developed. RM
ensures organizations strength and weaknesses are identified and acted accordingly. It supports in
understanding how internal programs affect your competitors and their market share.
Maximize Profits: Firms employing revenue management techniques have seen revenues increase
between 3% and 7% without significant capital expenditures, resulting in a 50% to 100% increase in
profits. Airline companies easily attribute 15% of the incremental revenue to Yield Management.
Maximize ROI: The return on investment is high when RM is effectively applied. RM works on both
cost and revenue hence the impact on the profits is very significant.
Scientific Methods that you can reuse: The scientific methods of RM leave only some room for
gut-feel and subjective decision-making. Companies implementing revenue management basically
employ proven principles of management science and information technology, including historical
data analysis, accurate data modeling, and statistical and mathematical optimization.
Applications:
The course is designed for a wider application and is not limited to the following. These methods are
employed by Technical Staff, Senior and Middle Managers and company executives who take
significant decisions in the organizations.
Airlines & Airports and other Transport sectors
Hotels and Other Service setups
Financial Institutions
Consultancy companies
Manufacturing
Healthcare, Entertainment, Travel & Tourism
Recent Advances in Airline Revenue Management:
A recent trend in Airline business is to move towards a more comprehensive network solution, with
origin and destination control. Rather than looking only at a particular flight, the whole network is
considered. This approach is particularly valuable for airlines with a high percentage of connecting
passengers.
The impact of e-commerce and the surge in internet bookings and different channels of distribution
should ultimately mean more control for the airlines. As the booking process becomes more
automated, all bookings start to flow through the airline's own website or booking engine, removing
the ability of agents to book in one fare class and issue a ticket in another.
Another trend is to look upon revenue management as an integrated solution making sure the
audit trails are in place, that the agents and everybody else is selling the right categories at the right
prices.
Airlines are increasingly building up huge volumes of data on their customers, in line with the
general business trend of tailoring services to the individual, and revenue management is one area
that greatly benefits from this information. There is no doubt that RMS technology is becoming ever
more complex as airlines seek to create competitive advantage. To date, the more interesting
developments have been in the area of modeling passenger preferences. This is expected to assist
in a number of key areas.
The reliance on major hubs, both domestically in the United States and internationally, is focusing
attention on network solutions, whereby a passenger on a short journey, whether paying a high yield
or not, may be blocking off a seat for a connecting passenger who may be worth considerably more
revenue (even though the yield may be lower). This type of approach will also be helpful in
identifying constraints in the system, whereby passengers with connecting travel plans are denied
boarding due to infrastructural constraints on part of the system. The rapid growth of the alliance
networks, with their heavy reliance on code-sharing, has added to the problems in this area, as
passengers increasingly travel on multiple airline itineraries, booked as a single alliance pattern.
Detailed course outline
Session 01: Introduction to Revenue Management and application in Airline/Car rental/Hotel and
Train.
Revenue Management (RM) is a relatively new field currently receiving much attention of
researchers and practitioners alike. It avails itself of sophisticated demand forecasting and
optimization software that is based on research in many areas such as management science,
economics, mathematics and others. In conjunction with the availability of a vast amount of data
through customer relationship management systems that can be used to calibrate the models, these
techniques had a tremendous impact on the airline, Manufacturing, hotel and transport industry. A
broad introduction which covers all perspectives of RM will be discussed. This module also explains
why Industrial manufacturers are at a competitive disadvantage if sales, marketing, finance,
operations, and management have limited visibility into pocket price and pocket margin, lack a
uniform pricing strategy, practice unscientific ad-hoc pricing, and lack relevant and timely data. The
difficulties faced by the various stakeholders in aligning their objectives towards the revenue
management philosophy and the potential conflicts and hurdles they face in their day-to-day
implementation are also discussed in detail.
Session 02: Review of Price Theory
The most successful Industry-leading distributors improve profitability and generate a high ROI by
addressing complex pricing problems including, lack of visibility, one size fit all, competition and
margins, costs etc. This module reviews and discusses a recap of monopoly price theory that
everyone involved in pricing simply must know. The problem at stake is how to turn customer
surplus into revenue for the firm by means of differentiated pricing and constitutes one of the most
fundamental methodologies in Pricing and Revenue Management.
Many possible ways may be taken to differentiate prices, for example regional pricing (same product
has different price depending in which country one books), time-based (phone calls are cheaper in
the night than during the day), sales channel (hotel usually cheaper if one books over their own web
site), product versioning (some companies create inferior product in order to sell it under a different
brand at a cut price) and others. Selling products in Revenue Management applications requires
consumption of one or more resources. Typically, the amount of resources is constrained so that we
speak in this situation of a capacity constrained pricing problem.
The streamlined fare system:
There cannot be a maddening maze of fares in the market with rates and restrictions and we just
replaced them with just four new fares that provided savings of up to 50% for first-class and nearly
40% for business flyers A CEO who just now implemented a streamlined fare system.
Session 03: Forecasting
Forecasting
The first step to optimizing and managing inventory is to forecast the demand correctly. There are
several reasons why forecast varies and shifts and spikes happen. For example if you expected 50
rooms to be filled on the 15th of a month, then there are several reasons as to why it would fill that
way, these could be technically termed as characteristics of a event or a product or more simply the
qualities associated with the product. An effective revenue maximization strategy involves optimizing
the different product availability based on forecast. Thus quality of forecast is very vital to gaining
the incremental revenue that many times takes or breaks a business. This module discusses in
detail the building block of forecast, with special emphasis to Airline Business, Hospitality,
Healthcare, Entertainment, Financial Institutions, etc. The following elements of forecasting will be
discussed in detail
Data collection
Un-constraining
Outliers
Seasonality and data pooling
Types of forecast
Bayesian Forecasting methods
Regression models
Managing Forecasts
Session 05: Optimizers
The reason why an order is picked in the first place is because it was available. A company requires
300 valves of type A by 1st June. A supplier picks this order because they have the capacity and
technology to manufacture that. Thus availability of technologically sound supplier is the key. The
option before any availability decision is driven by the volume or the value approach. When the
forecast is close to the capacity then a value approach is taken, while excess or abundant capacity
indicates a volume approach. This module explains in detail when the inflection points are reached
and focuses on the significance of optimal points. Optimal points or Optimization is the process of
scientifically aligning a combination of market, customer, product, promotion, and supply-anddemand data to improve business margins by either increasing unit prices or increasing gross
revenues.
Optimization thus forms as basis for decision making on the availability and price. This process
seeks intelligent tradeoffs among various competing objectives consistent with an organization's
business strategy. EMSR (Expected marginal seat revenues), a mathematical technique that
facilitates optimization with customer choice models is described in detail.
Some of the following Airlines, Entertainment, Hotel industry applications would be discussed
Upgrade Optimizers
Gating and Inventory controls
Fare mix optimizers
Over Booking and managing risks

Decrement Optimizers
Session 06: Revenue Planning
An effective revenue management process integrates the activities of commercial and sales.
Revenue Planning System is integral to the success of an organizations commercial strategy by
assuring efficient and effective measurable sales targets. This acts as a foundation to formulate the
commercial objectives and helps the sales community to have focused approach in day-to-day
business. Revenue planning process forms as a blue print to meet the growing challenges in the
area of revenue generation. Today most businesses are highly competitive; it is critical to have a
system to project the right product mix to be profitable. This module explains how revenue plans are
developed and how the inputs from forecast and optimization affect the companys growth.
Objectives of Revenue Planning Process are discussed in detail, some of them are.
To Formulate Commercial Objectives.
To formulate the product mix for the budget year
Identify the potential markets / area of sale for commercial benefits
To establish the Market-Share target for the budget year.
Session 07: Pricing Constrained Optimization
Capacity constrain is integral to any optimization process. This module discusses how to evolve the
capacity constraint equation during the optimization process. The assignment given here would
investigate methods on how to find the constraints and how varying levels of constraints affects the
optimal prices for one or several products that are being sold over one or several time periods. The
discussion and presentation is done in a way that the candidates are deeply involved with the
concepts of opportunity cost, marginal fare, cost of quality and how to form constraint equations.
Displacement cost: In Airline Terms the displacement cost of an itinerary is the anticipated revenue
of future individual passengers who may be displaced as a result of accepting a group. Higher
displacement costs mean greater potential for displacing higher valued demand opportunities and
lower displacement costs mean less potential for displacing significant revenue opportunities
"If you know why you made your profits, you would know what to do when you fail".
Session 08: Dynamic Pricing
Dynamic pricing means that prices are potentially changed over time to adjust for a changed current
and expected future market environment. Dynamic prices help organizations to adjust quickly to
changing market conditions. This module explains the need for Dynamic pricing and when not to
worry too much about it. It describes how to select the basic set of variables that are needed to
determine optimum prices. The impact of exchange rates, new developments and current
information and event impact is discussed in detail.
The revenue performance from each market in a network shall be classified based on impact due to
change in Price, Market share, Market Size and capacity. The effect of each of these factors shall
vary depending on the level of change and the type of market they are in. The responsiveness of
revenue to these factors could be considered as perfectly responsive, when a small or almost nil
change in price results in high volume resulting in high revenue. The inverse being perfectly inelastic
when any change in price has no impact on the volume. The intermediates are relatively Inelastic
when change in fare has little impact on volumes and relatively elastic when change in fare has
moderate impact on volumes. Based on these factors each Point of sale OD could be categorized
as Very good, Good, No effect, Poor. Thus the higher the responsiveness of a market to these
factors, the market is considered as "very good". The reason is this market has characteristics that
can be influenced and the effect of non controllable factors is minimal or does not exist. Such
markets could be used to tweak or generate revenues as and when needed, by changing the levels
of these factors. The category "poor" would be associated to markets that have no response to
change in levels of these factors. This kind of pricing categorization is extremely important for
effective pricing decision and to create a relation between the factors and revenue. This goes
tandem to the saying "If you know why you made your profits, you would know what to do when they
fall".
Session 9: Analyzing Yield
The need to analyze yield can be associated with the frequent business need to identify the causes
of passenger yield variances. The positive and negative trends in yield movements are traced by
using simple price-volume variance combinations. There are multiple factors affecting the price
variance component of the overall revenue variance.
Analyzing yield is normally a joint initiative from several Management departments especially
accounts, Yield management and Pricing to achieve their business objective and establish a
common approach within the company in explaining the reasons for yield variance compared to its
target or with another period. Determining the causes of Passenger Yield Variance is of paramount
importance for an organization in order to make appropriate decisions for optimizing its yield and
consequently maximizing the revenue.
In this module you will be able to look at the analysis results from a component perspective.
Component Analysis will do the analysis on each of the following component level.
Market Mix
ProductRange Mix
Product Mix
Quality Mix
Currency Mix
Impact of Fares
Price variance = change in price * current periods volume
Volume variance = change in volume * Comparison periods price
However, there are other factors that contribute to the Yield Variance. This module focuses on
calculating the Yield Variance by considering all the contributing factors and also derives the root
causes of variance. Some of the Transport industry Yield measures are as follows; these will be
discussed in detail.
RPKM
This is a measure known as RPKM (Revenue Passenger Kilometres) and is calculated at the by
multiplying the number of revenue passengers with the distance in kilometres. This measure is
expressed in kilometres for all transport sectors.
RPKM = Number of revenue passengers * distance.
Yield/RPKM
This measure is known as Yield per RPKM and is computed at any level (Network, Region, Route,
Compartment, Point of sale, O&D), by dividing the revenue value with the RPKM value.
Yield/RPKM = Revenue / RPKM.
Session 10:Financial and Performance Results:
Estimating Strategic and Tactical pricing decision impact, Seat Factors, Variable and Fixed costs,
Surplus/Deficit, Operating Ratios, ASKM, Yield per RPKM, REVPAR, Bid price Ratio.
References and Further reading:
1. Improved Forecast Accuracy in Airline Revenue Management by Unconstraining Demand
Estimates from Censored Data
2. by Richard H. Zeni
3. Introduction to Revenue Management for the Hospitality Industry: Principles and Practices for
the Real World
4. By Kimberly
5. Revenue management with flexible products
6. Michael Muller-Bungart
7. Revenue Management
8. Robert Klein, Claudius Steinhardt

9. The Theory and Practice of Revenue Management
10. Kalyan T Talluri, Garrett J Van Ryzin, Garrett J Ryzin
11. Revenue Management: Hard-Core Tactics for Market Domination, Robert G. Cross
12. Yield Management: Strategies for the Service Industries
13. Second Edition, Edited by Anthony Ingold, Una McMahon-Beattie and Ian Yeoman
14. Revenue Management and Pricing: Case Studies and Applications
15. Ian Yeoman and Una McMahon-Beattie
16. Journal of Revenue and Pricing Management
17. Henry Stewart Publications. Quarterly publication
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BHARATHIDASAN INSTITUTE OF MANAGEMENT

TIRUCHIRAPPALLI 620 014

31st BATCH (2014 2016)

SYLLABI FOR SIXTH TRIMESTER

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