Common Business Research Articles

Importance and Application of COBOL in Banking Sectors

COBOL stands for COmmon Business Oriented Language. One of the first of the high-level languages, it was put together by a group sponsored by the Department of Defense to develop a common business language. That group came to be called CODASYL—the Committee on Data Systems Languages—and defined a “common business oriented language,” Banks invested several millions in designing Mainframe systems architectures to respond to the business requirements. Whether that was a bank statement or an on-line money wiring transaction. COBOL became a reality. And became a liability. Moving from it meant to invest too much money in infrastructure and training and adding up the risk of fail on mission critical business functions. (I keep to my self that the most sensitive part of the human body is the pocket. And a Bank is nothing a huge pocket). This research paper will tell us about the importance and several applications of COBOL in banking sectors through several studies and their respective results.

Role of Business Intelligence and Knowledge Management in Solving Business Problems

The term “Business intelligence” is described as a plan or a strategy where the operations like reporting, data analysis, data mining, event processing are performed to improve the production and growth of a business enterprise or a business entity. And on the other hand, the “Knowledge management” is explained as well-organized management of resources and information within a commercial organization it can be a business too. Almost all business will have limitations and challenges which can be also known as the business problems. One of the main business problem is demand, the business plans must work according to the demand of the consumers. Analyzing the demand would provide the solutions for queries like what is the business trend? What is the need of the users? What should be the improvement make in the production? Where is the current position of the enterprise? And who all will be the competitors? For the predictive analysis a dataset of bitcoin is taken. The major aim of the study is to implement the strategies to overcome the business problems mainly the demand prediction. And the objective is to find out the relevant issues and the remedies by using knowledge management and business intelligence to the common business problems. The dataset has columns called lowest price, highest price, open price, close price, trading volume and market capital. The research methodology used is predictive analysis using PCA and K-means clustering algorithm. By this dataset predictive plots are developed as achieved results for easy analysis by using research methodology. PCA and K-means are the algorithm used for accurate prediction. The importance of study is to predict the future sale, as it is very essential for a business enterprise to find future demand so that the organization can improve production.

Impact of Brexit on G7 properties

ABSTRACT In this article, we adopted the Full Information Maximum Likelihood (FIML) Markov-switching model of Yoon to examine the contribution of the UK housing business cycle to the common G7 housing business cycle between housing price and GDP seeking to access the impact of Brexit on G7 properties. Taking a sample of G7 countries we investigated a period of over 50 years, using quarterly data from 1970:II to 2020:IV. Our findings demonstrate that UK GDP is a significant variable contributing to the G7 GDP growth, and furthermore that the UK housing price is a significant variable to the G7 housing prices. Considering common international housing business cycle, we found that the UK is not a significant variable for determining the common international housing business cycle between housing price and the real growth of output in the G7 countries. Finally, applying a FIML Markov-switching model to the G7 countries, we found a common international housing business cycle during the oil shock periods of the 1970s, the financial crisis in 2008, and COVID-19 pandemic. These findings are the first empirical evidence of the comparison of COVID-19 pandemic and other crises in terms of common international housing business cycle, thus providing significant input for policymakers.

Digital Payment Adoption during the COVID-19 Pandemic in the Philippines

In the Philippines, economic recovery in the aftermath of the COVID-19 pandemic necessitates a digital shift for businesses. Through this innovation, their operations can continue under the new normal. The adoption of digital payments is one of the common business recovery options supported by the government. In this study, the factors affecting the adoption of digital payments were examined. From July 2020–January 2021, an online survey was conducted on a sample of 433 respondents with at least supervisory level positions. On average, the firms operated their enterprises for 16.22 years and employed 1.8 workers with 57% being sole proprietors, 54% micro enterprises, and 30% having information technology (IT) infrastructure. A decline in their business performance during the pandemic was observed. Two-thirds of the firms across the country employed digital payment technology, and 55% of these firms started using the technology during the pandemic period. Logit analysis was conducted to analyze the determinants of digital payment adoption. Being relatively younger, operating under a partnership business structure relative to sole proprietors, employing more human resources, having IT facilities, and experiencing business growth before the pandemic were found to be predictive of the adoption of digital payments in the business operations of these firms. While younger firms are more receptive to this new payment technology, digital capacity development programs may further revitalize businesses and industries. Such mechanisms need to be put in place targeting vulnerable enterprises: firms under sole proprietorship, without infrastructure for IT, with relatively fewer employees being relatively smaller organizations, and in decline in terms of business growth even prior to the pandemic.

A Review on Entrepreneurship and its Oppurnities

Entrepreneurship refers to a person who has an idea and wants to implement that idea, usually with a new product or service Disrupting the market. With the right practices of research and development, entrepreneurs are new They bring innovation, which opens the door to new ventures, markets, products and technology Opens. Entrepreneurs need to play a role in solving problems are not yet solved by existing products and technology. Traditionally, entrepreneurship has been classified into four main categories: small businesses, scalable start-ups, large companies and social entrepreneurs. These models cover the basics of starting a business and focus more the company is more than the qualities of an entrepreneur. An entrepreneur will usually start a new business and run it. At the same time, they are responsible for the risks involved. Entrepreneurship is the process of starting a new business that prepares one for both risks and opportunities. An entrepreneur integrates the essential needs of a company. Make sure you do the work and no one will look over your shoulder. As an entrepreneur, you must learn to take responsibility for yourself, otherwise you will not succeed. There will be more responsibility in the making industry The branch is also responsible for his personal life. Entrepreneurs vs. Managers. The main difference between entrepreneurs and managers is their role in the company. The owner of an entrepreneurial company, the manager is an employee of the company. Entrepreneur risk taker; they take financial risk for their company. Entrepreneurial businesses are found in every business - every business needs professionals who can create success and defraud many responsibilities. The following table illustrates the salary opportunities for four common business and entrepreneurial majors each one. Most entrepreneurs have a bachelor‟s degree in business or a specific bachelor‟s degree in entrepreneurship and then develop their skills in an MBA program. In entrepreneurial MBA programs, students are encouraged to use their creative potential as they learn to create endeavors. Top businesses have multiple revenue streams and competitive prices with a 50 percent or better wholesale range and a 10 to 20 percent profit range. If your numbers are not attractive, survival is difficult. So make sure all the numbers work before you start your endeavor

Overview of modern digital practices for small business management

The object of the study is digital programs used by small enterprises for business management. At the beginning of the article, the authors dwell in detail on the very concept of small and medium-sized entrepreneurship, present existing approaches to the analysis of entrepreneurship and list the generally accepted criteria of a small enterprise in the Russian Federation. Further, the authors give arguments about the need to use digital technologies in doing business and give a brief overview of common small business management software. For small businesses, there are many such approaches and tools based on effective management of the company. Special attention is paid to the advantages of the programs under consideration, as well as possible ways of their application. The novelty of the research lies in highlighting the key advantages of the digital popular small business management programs presented in the article. Small business programs ensure that the entire organization of the company is synchronized, and the company's activities as a whole are effectively optimized. A special contribution of the authors to the study of the topic is an attempt to divide small business management tools into thematic groups in the following areas: customer relations, cloud collaboration, electronic billing, social networks, marketing, accounting, project management. The main conclusion of the study is the fact that small businesses are not lagging behind large ones in the application of innovative technologies for business process management.

EDITORIAL COMMENT

Barriers to entry is a common economics and business term that refers to factors that might prevent or preclude newcomers from entering a particular market or industry. We can apply this concept to evaluate the potential entry barriers into urology that underrepresented in medicine (URiM) students might face. For applicants applying to urology, barriers to entry may come in the form of high application and travel costs, perceived increased travel time needed for interviews, lack of a home program, lack of a social and/or academic mentor, low USMLE scores, etc.

Designed to break: planned obsolescence as corporate environmental crime

Planned obsolescence is the practice of deliberately designing products to limit their life span to encourage replacement. It is a common business strategy for consumer goods, with far-reaching ecological and social consequences. Here, we examine the definition, causes and consequences of planned obsolescence by using insights from corporate crime literature, integrated with environmental philosophy, management sciences, technology studies and law. Focusing on cases of planned obsolescence in consumer electronics, we show that the concept and procedure carries conceptual ambiguity and moral ambivalence, bearing diffuse harms, benefitting short-term corporate profit but undermining consumer confidence, and posing a major barrier to environmental sustainability. We discuss the system lock-ins driving companies to engage in planned obsolescence, and reframe the practice as a form of corporate environmental crime.

How Farmers Conceive and Cope with Megatrends: The Case of Finnish Dairy Farmers

Megatrends (urbanization, digitalization, globalization, climate change, etc.) are mainstream developments that affect most economic activities. These megatrends have varying incidences and impacts on individual entrepreneurs and enterprises, also in farming sector. A farmer can either ignore or try to adapt to or benefit from megatrends. This reaction depends on many things: individuals’ futures orientation, management practices, business strategy, sunk costs, the life cycle and type of business, for example. The study explores the association between eight common megatrends and business strategies among a sample of Finnish dairy producers. The analysis is based on survey data from the year 2019 (n = 135) collected among a major Finnish dairy industry co-operative’s contract producers. The respondents evaluated the expected impact of the megatrends on their own business within the next 10 years with 5-point Likert-type scale (−2 … +2). K-means cluster analysis was utilized to uncover a few basic settings in the association between megatrends and farmers behaviours. After trying out several numbers of clusters, a distinctive three cluster solution was found. Additionally, cluster member profiles were framed with farmers’ Likert -scale responses. The analysis indicates that dairy farmers differ in their observation of megatrends. The results confirm that some of the farmers more or less ignore the common megatrends, whereas some other farmers adapt to or benefit from the common megatrends. Supporting farmers’ futures consciousness will strengthen their capacities of coping in the changing business environment.

Analysis of determinants of youth self-employment career choices

PurposeGiven the different manifestations of the unemployment crisis, the main purpose of this study was to identify what characteristics influence the participation of youth in key self-employment business options.Design/methodology/approachThe study has used both probability and nonprobability sampling techniques. Purposive sampling methods were used to identify target study areas (districts and Kebeles) while the systematic random sampling method was used to locate sample respondents. A total of 424 sample respondents were interviewed through interview scheduled questionnaires. Statistical data analysis was carried out using STATA 14 software.FindingsAgriculture, local value-added business activities, food-related services, petty trade and local transportation were common business choices where unemployed youths were engaged in. The findings of the study also showed that sex, loan size, loan repayment period and training gap were predictors of youth engagement in various self-employment career choices.Practical implicationsIncreasing loan size has a positive and significant influence on youth engagement in all self-employment business choices and has reminded us the need to revise or lift up loan size celling to assist youths in engaging in productive sectors. Similarly, the favourable correlation between female youths and value-added activities necessitates a well-designed female-specific intervention.Originality/valueAn understanding of the key determinants of youth preference to engage in specific self-employment career choices enables practitioners to intervene where necessary in supporting youth self-employment engagement. A combination of skill training, relaxed loan size and relaxed repayment is likely to gain sustainable business, which would benefit the local economy by transforming small businesses to a higher level and creating more job opportunities.

The traits of success according to those who made it: a survey of successful entrepreneurs in northeastern Thailand

One of the most common questions business students have is what characteristics successful business people possess. This study interviewed 200 successful entrepreneurs in Northeast Thailand between 2010 and 2011 to find their common, vital characteristics. Atlas.ti software, frequency-weighted average scores (FWA), the Pareto method, and Venn diagrams were used to determine five important categories of characteristics. Results reveal three characteristics with high FWA scores at the intersection namely, joy of developing, integrity, and striving. These three characteristics are a common personality trait among all successful business people (regardless of gender, age, education, length of time in business and type of business). Smaller replications of the study were carried out in 2012-2013 and 2014-2015, respectively to validate the findings. The findings demonstrated the same three characteristics as outstanding personality traits of successful entrepreneurs in the North-eastern region of Thailand.

Approach for Data-driven Controlling of Construction Projects using the example of Claim Management

Current methods for controlling of construction projects are characterized by manual processes, which are failure-prone, tedious and for that time-consuming and cost-intensive. Furthermore, an additional challenge is caused by the absent dynamic in conventional controlling processes, which is of high importance to avoid damages and ensure a proactive management of a construction project. As construction projects are highly complex due to various influences which imply an enormous amount of information and are designated by dynamic processes, conventional controlling methods are insufficient and not able to meet these requirements. Therefore, current data-driven developments which can deal with an enormous amount of information are indispensable for a sufficient controlling of complex and dynamic projects. Accordingly, within this paper an approach for a data-driven controlling solution is presented, in which common data environments, databases and business intelligence applications are combined to ensure an efficient and proactive controlling. To investigate the advantages of business intelligence solutions for data-driven controlling the exemplary scenario of claim management controlling is used. It is shown that the user is able to speed up the processes and secure a proactive controlling by using a consistent database throughout the project. To achieve these targets an automatic data orchestration and visualization of the claim offers is exploited. Consequently, the claim manager is able to predict developments, identify risk potential, investigate KPIs or take actions to minimize negative effects e.g., time effort and costs. The requirements for these purposes are considered in a recommendation for action differentiated regarding the individual elements of a socio-technical system (human, organization, technology). The outlook includes an overview of potential technologies to ensure real-time analytics to shorten reaction and damage times related to the claims by immediately initiating countermeasures.

A Context-Aware Architecture for Realizing Business Process Adaptation Strategies Using Fuzzy Planning

Business competency emerges in flexibility and reliability of services that an enterprise provides. To reach that, executing business processes on a context-aware business process management suite which is equipped with monitoring, modeling and adaptation mechanisms and smart enough to react properly using adaptation strategies at runtime, are a major requisite. In this paper, a context-aware architecture is described to bring adaptation to common business process execution software. The architecture comes with the how-to-apply methodology and is established based on process standards like business process modeling notation (BPMN), business process execution language (BPEL), etc. It follows MAPE-K adaptation cycle in which the knowledge, specifically contextual information and their related semantic rules — as the input of adaptation unit — is modeled in our innovative context ontology, which is also extensible for domain-specific purposes. Furthermore, to support separation of concerns, we took apart event-driven adaptation requirements from process instances; these requirements are triggered based on ontology reasoning. Also, the architecture supports fuzzy-based planning and extensible adaptation realization mechanisms to face new or changing situations adequately. We characterized our work in comparison with related studies based on five key adaptation metrics and also evaluated it using an online learning management system case study.

AI Startup Business Models

We currently observe the rapid emergence of startups that use Artificial Intelligence (AI) as part of their business model. While recent research suggests that AI startups employ novel or different business models, one could argue that AI technology has been used in business models for a long time already—questioning the novelty of those business models. Therefore, this study investigates how AI startup business models potentially differ from common IT-related business models. First, a business model taxonomy of AI startups is developed from a sample of 100 AI startups and four archetypal business model patterns are derived: AI-charged Product/Service Provider, AI Development Facilitator, Data Analytics Provider, and Deep Tech Researcher. Second, drawing on this descriptive analysis, three distinctive aspects of AI startup business models are discussed: (1) new value propositions through AI capabilities, (2) different roles of data for value creation, and (3) the impact of AI technology on the overall business logic. This study contributes to our fundamental understanding of AI startup business models by identifying their key characteristics, common instantiations, and distinctive aspects. Furthermore, this study proposes promising directions for future entrepreneurship research. For practice, the taxonomy and patterns serve as structured tools to support entrepreneurial action.

An Economic Analysis of Rebates Conditional on Positive Reviews

In the prevailing e-commerce environment, conditional rebates have emerged as a common business practice on leading online platforms such as Taobao. Because rebates are only offered to purchasing consumers who post positive online reviews, a key concern is that it can easily induce fake reviews that might harm consumers. We theoretically analyze the seller’s optimal conditional-rebate strategies based on heterogeneous consumers’ online-review-posting behavior and derive three practically important findings. First, it is not always profitable for strategic sellers to pursue the conditional-rebate strategy. Blindly offering incentives may not help achieve the goal of review manipulation. Second, the conditional-rebate strategy does not necessarily result in fake reviews. Fake reviews occur only if consumers’ moral cost is low and the review-posting cost is not too high. Third, under certain conditions, offering conditional rebates can even increase consumer surplus and social welfare. Platform owners or policy designers can help reduce social losses by offering transparent sales information and by appropriately controlling the platform review-posting cost to induce quality reviews. Our study offers new insights into the fake-review phenomenon induced by conditional rebates and sheds new light on the policy debate about whether platforms should completely ban incentivized reviews.

Correlation of Communication and Compensation and Benefits on Employees Performance Mediated by Motivation Research on Companies Merger and Acquisition in Indonesia in Oil and Natural Gas Industry

Merger and Acquisition (M&A) is a common business practice in the twenty-first century. In M&A, human resource is the key to its success especially to create value-added for the company. Thereby, employees' performance shall be understood by the company towards its objectives. The purpose of this research is to examine what factors have potential effects on employees' performance in the context of companies after acquisition. Factors analyzed are communication and compensation & benefits, using motivation as a mediation factor on the relation between the factors to the employee's performance. Quantitative method is used in this research, whereas the data is collected by online questionnaire to 215 respondents of employees in four oil and gas companies in Indonesia after their acquisition by the state-owned enterprise within the period 2015-2018. Data analysis is processed with the help of SPSS of path analysis and Sobel test to test the hypotheses. Findings show that communication and compensation & benefits have a significant correlation on employees' performance. In addition, Motivation as a mediation variable also intervenes the correlation of communication and compensation & benefits to employees' performance.

The value propositions of Smart City Mobility projects

ABSTRACT Public city administrators who have been seeking to reduce traffic congestion and pollution, while improving livability and economic competitiveness, via increased investment in promising Smart City (SC) Mobility solutions. However, despite scholarly interest and booming market of solutions and technologies, there is still the need to unlock the value that SC Mobility projects can bring and to understand how these projects define and deliver value. To this end, this study presents an empirical analysis of 300 mobility projects internationally. Projects are scrutinized according to a business model framework and the variety of project characteristics are analyzed. Classification of business modeling characteristics of SC Mobility projects is given, illustrating the main benefits and objectives of smart mobility projects and how such value is generated and distributed among stakeholders. The resulting implications are two-fold. First, it helps scholars with a common business model reference to evaluate SC Mobility projects. Second, it supports the decision-making processes of both public and private organizations and acts as a best practice guide for design and implementation of innovative SC Mobility projects.

A BPM-based framework for the impact assessment of blockchain to the midstream LNG supply chain

PurposeThe current study addresses how blockchain can deal with the challenges that the midstream liquefied natural gas (LNG) supply chain poses combined from a management standpoint. Such challenges are: the volume of transactions, communication hurdles and the lack of contemporary management tools. The paper proposes a comprehensive framework to assess the impact of blockchain implementation in the midstream LNG supply chain in order to tackle those barriers.Design/methodology/approachThe basis of the research is the business process modelling (BPM), through which entities, roles, tasks, resources and transactions can be modelled and simulated. The modelling of the midstream LNG supply chain, via BPM, is based on guidelines of the Society of International Gas Tanker and Terminal Operators (SIGGTO) and common industry business models. A quantitative analysis is employed to support the motivation and the potential impact of blockchain implementation. The methodology is used to identify (1) inefficiencies related to large volume of transactions between stakeholders and (2) critical areas of an LNG shipping company, where blockchain can be implemented.FindingsProcess repeatability, numerous shared documentation forms, excessive paperwork and communication imbroglios are mapped from the modelling section. Up to 327 processes are repeated during a typical vessel voyage, and up to 122 shared documentation forms are exchanged. Excessive paperwork and communication imbroglios are tracked through, which correspond to 25 severe errors as detected. By implementing the methodology, stakeholders can quantify the possible impact of blockchain on the operational performance of each stakeholder's operations separately and the supply chain as a whole in terms of real-time monitoring, transparency and paperwork reduction, time and cost savings.Research limitations/implicationsThe research has certain limitations deriving from its conceptual nature. The business processes' modelling is based on standard procedures described in the guidelines by SIGGTO and may need further adjustment for specific use cases. A structured case study has not been realisable as corporate data for an LNG shipping company regarding processes and other commercial sensitive information are required.Practical implicationsPotential practitioners may exploit the proposed framework as a low cost and seamless tool to evaluate how blockchain could disrupt their operations. Thus, the blockchain implementation's improvements or weaknesses can be pinpointed, and enabling the interested stakeholder of the LNG supply chain with specific feedback, it can guide them towards informed decisions on their operations.Originality/valueThe research has a novel approach as it combines the creation of practical management framework, with a comprehensive visualization of the midstream LNG supply chain. Thus, the reader can identify in which parts of the midstream LNG supply chain can blockchain be implemented, and what impact it could have in terms of supply chain operations.

Ancient DNA Identification of Giant Snakehead (Channa micropeltes) Remains from the Market Street Chinatown and Some Implications for the Nineteenth-Century Pacific World Fish Trade

This study presents the results of ancient DNA analyses of eight snakehead (Channa sp.) bones from the Market Street Chinatown, a nineteenth-century Chinese diaspora archaeological site in San Jose, California. The sequences of a short stretch of the mitochondrial DNA identify the Market Street Chinatown snakeheads as Giant Snakehead (Channa micropeltes), a species native to Southeast Asia. These results provide the first archaeological evidence of the nineteenth-century trade of Asian freshwater fishes to North America, and they reveal that preserved fish products from throughout the Pacific World were readily distributed across the Chinese diaspora. We place our findings within the broader context of nineteenth-century Chinese migration to show how the common Chinese small shareholding business model and access to trade connections facilitated by Chinese-operated import/export firms known as jinshanzhuang allowed Chinese fishers to be successful across the Pacific World. Finally, we suggest avenues for future study by comparing Chinese migration-based, flexible fishing strategies using generalist methods with the highly specialized collection and trade of species like Atlantic Cod (Gadus morhua) in the North Atlantic.

Manipulating Time: Temporal Agency and Entrepreneurial Action

In recent work, scholars have taken important steps to explicate the role of time in theories of entrepreneurial action. Our research builds on these approaches in a number of important ways by further theorizing the inextricable bond and ongoing interplay between entrepreneurs and their respective temporal contexts. First, we identify and develop distinctions between the enabling and constraining influences of two different temporal forms: time-as-interval and time-as-emergence. Second, we build new theory to account for the temporal agency of entrepreneurship in order to address the constraining and enabling influences of time. Central to our approach is a re-conceptualization of time not simply as the medium of entrepreneurial agency, but as the target or object of entrepreneurial agency, which entrepreneurs attempt to manipulate through six types of action: conversion, inversion, subversion, diversion, perversion, and reversion. We ground our framework in common business venturing practices, discussing the wide-ranging implications of how the manipulation of time provides novel means for entrepreneurs to mitigate uncertainty in their attempt to achieve desired outcomes.