ICAI Notes- Introduction to Business Organization | Business and Commercial Knowledge (Old Scheme) - CA Foundation PDF Download

LEARNING OUTCOMES

After studying this unit, you will be able to:

• Have an overview of corporate history of some of the selected Indian and Global companies.
• Gain information about management teams of selected companies.
• Know the vision, mission and core values of different companies.
• Know the market and financial performance of different companies.
• Gain vital information on products and services of famous brands of different companies.
• Analyse a company’s information as a business analyst.

INTRODUCTION

A company overview is the most effective way to acquire business intelligence and gain vital information about a company, its businesses, their products, services and processes, prospects, customers, suppliers, competitors; etc. However, company overview requires the expertise of qualified professionals, as it involves a detailed analysis of the company history, its structure, philosophy, portfolio of products and services, clients, important information about finance, human capital, technological resources, marketing

capabilities etc.

In order to meet the needs of the competitive environment, with many quick and accurate tools of the ‘information age’ at their disposal, it becomes essential for business professionals such as:

• Budget analysts,
• Financial analysts,
• Management analysts, and
• Market research analysts

to analyse business practices, identify potential business problems, market requirements and provide financial, marketing or managerial solutions.

a) Budget Analysts: Budget analysts help companies and organizations keep their finances on track. They prepare budgets and develop forecasts based on past expenditures and economic trends. Budget analysts are vital to achieve financial goals, maintain profitability and attain long-term growth. While they do not make final decisions regarding budgets, their expertise is strongly valued by managers and government officials.

b) Financial Analysts: Financial analysts are also called security analyst, equity analyst, investment analyst or rating analyst. They offer advice on investment decisions for external or internal financial clients as a core part of the job. A financial analyst researches macro economic and micro economic conditions along with company fundamentals to make business sector and industry recommendations. They also often recommend a course of action, such as to buy or sell a company’s stock based upon its overall current and predicted strength

c) Management Analysts: Management analysts are also known as management consultants. They work with the heads of businesses to improve efficiency and, consequently, profitability. Unlike the other types of analysts listed in this section, management analysts are more likely to work as freelance consultants.

d) Market Research Analysts: Market research analysts study strength and weaknesses in order to advise a company about the decisions to be taken to increase its market share and profitability. They study market conditions to examine potential trends of sales of a product or service. They help companies understand what products, what kind of features and quality in the product customers need, who will buy them, and at what price.

COMPANY OVERVIEW

The basic idea behind this chapter is to sensitise students about the existence of business organisations and their importance in the overall economic system of India. The information given in the chapter is representative in the sense that each of the organisation covered is too big with large expanse of information to be fully covered here. Students are expected to have knowledge of developments in the corporate 

world by reading financial papers or visiting the websites of corporates on a regular basis.

A company overview will usually include:

• Company introduction: Who is corporate and what it does?
• Philosophy: Vision and Mission
• Company History
• Core Management Team
• Portfolio of Businesses, Products and Services
• Competitive Scenario
• Financial Performance
• Market Position
• Business in News: Growth plan, mergers and acquisitions, joint ventures, future endeavours and direct global presence, etc.

We can analyse through above segments and provide with an in-depth understanding of competing companies and the key players in the different areas of business. With a detailed company profile, we will be able to get an insight its competitors’ strengths, weaknesses, strategies and performance. Armed with this information, we will be able to identify and analyse business areas that need immediate attention by the

company's top management.

Print, electronic and social media is all important these days. It is the first thing that greets us in the morning. One gets awareness about what is happening in all parts of the business world and its environment. Business news focus primarily on market or policy news as it is relevant to business owners, economists,financiers, public policy makers, business analysts, professors, researchers and students.

Several events take place in the environment on daily basis that influence the business environment and economy at large and give rise to trends, issues and expectations. Such events happen in the form of:

• Positive and negative business events happening in domestic as well as global markets and how they impact companies and their businesses.
• Government’s economic and social policies and their performance and announcements of new policies.
• Performance of different sectors of economy on the contemporary measures of growth and development.
• Economic conditions, indicators or factors and their movement with positive or negative impact on the different companies and their businesses.
• Stock market movements, their performance and fluctuations in share prices of companies or group of companies.
• Mergers and acquisitions of businesses.
• Joint ventures, consortium, future endeavours of different companies.
• Companies going global through export or import, opening subsidiary companies or direct investment in foreign market.
• Domestic and global markets changing or shifting from one sector to another.
• New markets emerging across the globe.
• Advertisements, tenders, expression of interest and other important announcements.

So much happens every minute in the business world that unless we keep ourselves abreast of these changes we cannot adjust ourselves to them or move with the times smoothly and easily. Thus, it is important for a Chartered Accountancy student to grasp the business news on a regular basis.

In the sections that follow, vital information about some of the eminent national and multinational companies from different sectors and a wide range of industries has been given. This will give an insight about the core management team, products and services, achievements and financial performance, etc. of the discussed companies.