Profitability Perspectives Research Articles

A comparative analysis of efficiency in the Brazilian banking sector: A data envelopment analysis approach

This work aims to analyze the efficiency of Brazilian financial institutions until the COVID-19 pandemic period, from production and profitability perspectives. To accomplish this, the data envelopment analysis (DEA) techniques, specifically the CCR and BCC models, are applied to 213 Brazilian financial institutions in four methodological stages. The first step involved conducting a literature review of similar studies. The second step consisted of gathering financial information for each bank through the website of the Central Bank of Brazil. The third step involved selecting the variables to be used in the models. The fourth step was outlier detection using the jackstrap method. Subsequently, the mentioned efficiency models were applied, and the most efficient banks were identified based on each perspective. The results identified heterogeneous groups of efficient banks based on different market segments, with a focus on the efficiency of large banks and public banks when considering the production-oriented perspective. It is also observed that new digital banks are among the banks considered efficient. These findings are valuable for the scientific literature investigating the sustainability of financial institutions, as well as for decision-makers seeking to make more efficient investment allocations and for banking supervisory authorities in formulating risk regulatory policies.

Weather index-based agricultural insurance for flower farmers: Willingness to pay, sales, and profitability perspectives

Weather index-based agricultural insurance for flower farmers: Willingness to pay, sales, and profitability perspectives

A comprehensive analysis of bioethanol and ethyl lactate joint production in second-generation biorefinery: Simulation, techno-economic, and profitability assessments

Second-generation biorefineries (2GBR) represent an innovative application of bioresources technologies to produce bioenergy and valuable products. This paper aims to introduce and analyze the joint production of bioethanol and ethyl lactate in a 2GBR. Techno-economic and profitability perspectives are considered in the analysis which is conducted via simulation considering corn stover as raw material. A key aspect in the analysis is a joint production parameter named α, whose values can dictate either the sole production of bioethanol (α = 0), joint production (0 < α < 1), or the unique production of ethyl lactate (α = 1). In other words, the proposed joint production scheme provides versatility in production. Simulations show that the lowest Total Capital Investment, Unit Production Cost, and Operating Cost values were associated with low values of α. Furthermore, when α ≥ 0.4, the 2GBR under study can achieve internal rates of return above 30%, which implies that the project offers a potentially high profitability.

Choosing Banks’ Profitability Predictors: A Comparison of Logistic Regression and Discriminant Analyses

For researchers, banks' profitability has been a key factor. Various internal and external factors may have an impact on the banks’ profitability. Internal factors are unique to each bank and have an impact on management decisions that affect bank profitability. External factors are those outside of the banks' control that can affect how well they perform. This study examines significant financial variables identifying profitability perspectives and two predictive models of banks’ profitability using the banks' data from the period of 2007-2016. Logistic regression and discriminant analyses were used and evaluated their predictive accuracy. Although, logistic regression and discriminant analysis are unusual for such studies as the dependent variable is continuous and these techniques are applicable when the dependent variables are categorical. So, in order to convert the dependent variable i.e. return on assets to binary variable, ’1’ is assigned for a positive return on assets and ‘0’ for a negative return on assets. The empirical results described that there is a statistical difference between the prediction results of logistic and discriminant analyses. The discriminant models identified that non-interest income, interest rate, operating efficiency, and bank size have a significant effect on banks’ profitability. On the other hand logistic regression showed there are two significant factors i.e. interest ratio and bank size. In the comparison of the models and the accuracy rate of discriminant analysis is higher than that of logistic regression

Ethnicity, Language, and Work Segregation: A Cohesive and Profitability Perspective

This research aims to obtain the benefit of the organization in the work place, the employee cohesiveness and positive perspectives could be focus on some various factors such as; cultural differences, (ethnicity), language differences and injustice over the separation of one group from other in the workplace (exclusion). The purpose of the research that carried out qualitatively. The approach in this research is descriptive method by using this descriptive method is to describe whether cultural differences (Ethnicity), differences in language (Language) and different treatment of employees in the work environment (Workplace Segregation) have an effect on good or bad employee cohesiveness. (A Cohesive) in carrying out its main duties and inherent functions and how it affects the employee's perspective on his ability to bring benefits to himself and his organization (Profitability Perspective). Based on the research model framework the researcher concludes 16 research hypotheses that Ethnicity, language, work segregation has positive effects toward employee’s cohesiveness and profitability perspectives. But Gender can have positive and negative effects toward Interpersonal Attractive.

Implications on managing inventory systems for products with stock-dependent demand and nonlinear holding cost via the adaptive EOQ policy

Motivated by the incomplete information of inventory managers and the ease-of-implementation feature of the adaptive EOQ (AEOQ) policy, this paper investigates whether this policy is effective in managing inventory systems for products with stock-dependent demand and nonlinear holding cost when some underlying parameters are unknown. The effectiveness of the AEOQ policy is studied from both stability and profitability perspectives. Stability analysis shows that the iterative procedure may not be convergent. However, incorporating the exponential smoothing or weighted moving average methods into the AEOQ policy could benefit the stability of this policy. Moreover, the delay feedback control method could be used to stabilize this iterative procedure when fluctuations occur. Profitability analysis firstly introduces three objective functions and shows how the relative difference in each objective function between equilibrium and optimal order quantities is affected by key parameters. Then, by defining the AEOQ policy as an effective solution if the equilibrium order quantity could balance these objectives, this paper provides the conditions under which the AEOQ policy is effective. Finally, methods are developed for inventory managers to judge this effectiveness in terms of profitability. Results highlight the feasibility of this policy and provide some practical insights for retailers to use this policy properly.

Implication of Business Strategy in Indian Automobile Industry: A Case of Tata Motors

Purpose: Strategic Analysis is a process of business organization which involves studying the business environment and its operations. For the effective decision making and smooth functioning of business organization, the strategic planning is an essential tool. An Indian multinational automobile manufacturing firm founded in 1945 by the Tata group under the name TELCO (Tata Engineering and Locomotive Company). Indian automaker Tata Motors is the biggest in the world. Since Tata Motors was founded, the company has been engaged in many charitable endeavours, including philanthropy. Strategic planning took a major role in the growth and profitability perspectives of this company. Tata Motors' acquisition of Jaguar and Land Rover is a unique example of a corporation making a strategic decision based on its internal strengths and external opportunities in order to succeed in a competitive market. Tata Motors sought to broaden the scope of its offering and the geographic scope of its market. A steady rise in the number of mergers in the Indian business has been observed over the past decade. Recently completed mergers and acquisitions are a good indicator of an industry's level of competitiveness, potentials, and capabilities. This research is undertaken to examine the firm's potential and capabilities by comparing its performance before and after mergers and acquisition. Design/Methodology/Approach: When a company expanding its operations in the global level, some factors such as Economic, technological, customer-segment and international competitions will take a major role. The author of this paper has studied the growth of TATA Motors, both domestically and globally, in this study. For the purpose of the study secondary data is collected through various sources such as journals, research articles, newspaper articles and websites of Tata Motors and other ventures. Findings/Result: The study highlights the critics of Tata Motors' acquisition desire factor out that the timing of the deal is affecting the worldwide economy. The call for business and passenger motors declined because of a slowdown with inside the home and international economy. The newly introduced Tata Nexon could be a game changer for the electric car market in the country due to India's large population and rising standard of living. Due to lack of innovation and major competitors in the market Tata Motors needs to be more innovative in its approach. Originality/Value: This paper studies the effectiveness of mergers and acquisitions in terms of change in company’s potentiality and capabilities. Paper Type: Research Case study based on Company Strategic Analysis.

Techno-economic assessment of dry fermentation in household biogas units through co-digestion of manure and agricultural crop residues in Egypt

In rural Egypt, communities face multiple challenges such as insufficient infrastructures for waste treatment, limited access to cheap energy and poor soils fertility. A decentralized, low-tech biogas technology for combined waste treatment and energy production, anaerobic digestion can achieve many sustainable development goals and resolve many issues faced by rural communities, treating and stabilizing organic waste into high-quality biofertilizer. Household biogas units for rural communities, however, should be subjected to techno-economic assessment to confirm their feasibility and technical efficiency. Therefore, this paper conducted: (1) survey of household biogas units and agricultural crop residues in rural communities in Egypt, (2) technical study of household biogas units, and (3) financial economic study. The results can be summarized as follows: (1) complete set of technical data on biogas units were documented, (2) crop residues were mapped using GIS software, (3) financial feasibility results were discussed. The total revenues were 1716.01, 2574.02, 3432.02, and 5148.04 EUR for the household biogas unit with the capacity of 2, 3, 4, and 6 m3, respectively. It was concluded that the units available in rural Egypt are considered as profitable projects from the profitability perspectives, and the values of the profitability indicators increased as the unit size increased.

Green supply chain contracts with eco-labels issued by the sales platform: profitability and environmental implications

Considering environmentally conscious consumers, a manufacturer, and a sales platform which provides eco-labels for qualified manufacturers, this paper develops a supply chain model to study how eco-labels affect green supply chain operations, from the profitability and environmental perspectives. The results show that the sales platform prefers the agency contract, but the manufacturer prefers the wholesale price contract. Considering the performance of the supply chain, the agency contract brings a higher profit while the wholesale price contract results in a bigger environmental improvement. An unexpected but interesting result is that when the agency contract is used and consumer green awareness increases, the sale price declines rather than increasing as it does under the wholesale price contract. This decline happens because the required marketing effort of the sales platform will be lower, which incentivises the platform to reduce the commission rate. Consequently, the manufacturer faces a lower commission rate and a higher margin when consumers display greater green awareness. Moreover, as the core and more powerful player of the supply chain, the sales platform can propose a platform-led revenue sharing contract to fully coordinate the supply chain, which improves the performance of the supply chain both in profitability and environmental perspectives.

Drivers of Fundraising Success in Equity Crowdfunding

Using an unique hand-collected database of 1,256 campaigns from the two major platforms of equity crowdfunding in the United Kingdom, between 2015 and 2018, we find that the factors that most influence the campaign success are: (i) the quality of the project, signalized by equity retention and the presence of a large investor; (ii) the information disclosure and (iii) the early investments. There is no evidence economic potential of the firm are relevant for investor decisions. Investors probably use other signals (than growth and profitability perspectives) to evaluate the economic potential of firms and project quality.

Water buffalo production in Turkey part 2: products, economic profitability and future perspectives

Livestock is an important source of meat and milk with its significant share in the world's total calories and protein consumption. There has been a substantial increase in the consumption of livestock products in the last decades at a global level. Buffalo have a large and growing share of the global livestock sector. However, buffalo are no longer an important part of the livestock sector of Turkey for various socioeconomic and political reasons. Turkish Government has taken some serious measures to revive the buffalo population in the country. The economic profitability of buffalo is manifold as it not only serves as draught animal but also provides milk, meat and hides. Lack of scientific research activities and improper marketing strategies, along with inadequate perception and knowledge of farmers, are the main constraints to buffalo production in Turkey. Organised and well-developed strategies are required to revive and utilise the potential of buffalo products in Turkey.

Forest recreation as a governance problem: four case studies from Switzerland

Recreational activities have undergone a change from mainly passive forms (e.g. rest, relaxation, reinvigoration, solitude and escape) to more active forms (e.g. mountain biking, climbing and running). Correspondingly, the demand for forest recreation infrastructure to support the more active forms has increased. However, very little is known about what features characterise the planning and management of forest recreation infrastructure. This study takes four in-depth mountain-bike trail cases in Switzerland to characterise the planning and management of forest recreation infrastructure. The analysis is performed using the institutional analysis and development framework (Ostrom in Governing the commons: the evolution of institutions for collective action, Cambridge University Press, New York, 1990) and qualitative data based on cases and interviews. We argue that by considering the identified external features (formal and informal rules, location) and process features (partnerships, public participation, conflicts, profitability perspectives, time frame of process, funding of process and approval), we can better plan and manage active forms of forest recreation. Conflict situations and response strategies associated with mountain-bike-trail planning and management are also identified. The findings are relevant for other regions facing the growing use of forests for recreational and leisure activities.

Comments on “Case studies of shipping along Arctic routes. Analysis and profitability perspectives for the container sector” [Transp. Res. Part A: Policy Pract. 66 (2014) 144–161

This paper points out an important factor that was neglected by “Case studies of shipping along Arctic routes. Analysis and profitability perspectives for the container sector,” when analysing the operating economy of Arctic routes. Further, this paper explains the idea that cargo has a time value. Arctic routes are likely to bring greater commercial value than the Suez, if cargo time value were to be considered.

Performance and profitability perspectives of a CO2 based district energy network in Geneva's City Centre

A new type of district energy network providing simultaneously heating and cooling services is being investigated. It is based on the use of CO2 as a heat transfer fluid by taking advantage of the latent heat of vaporization, to store and transfer heat across the network. The goal of the present study is to determine the performance of a CO2 network when applied to a real urban area. It focuses first on determining the requirements for the various thermal energy services for a part of Geneva's City Centre. The final energy consumption is first computed for the energy conversion technologies now in place in this area – namely heating oil boilers and air cooled compression chillers. Then the new final energy consumption is computed considering that a CO2 network is used instead of boilers and air cooled compression chillers. For the area considered the CO2 network's variant leads to a final energy consumption of 10,968 MWh of electricity. It represents a reduction of 84.4% when compared to the boilers and chillers case. A comparative profitability analysis of the two cases is also presented. The analysis takes into account investment, heating oil and/or electricity, equipment replacement, operation, and maintenance costs, as well as the sales of energy services.For an interest rate of 6%, a price of the delivered heating/cooling services at 0.108 € kW h−1 and a lifetime of 40 years, the conventional technology does not reach profitability while the CO2 network achieves a profit in present value of 69.59 million € and the break-even point is reached after 5.5 years of operation.

Case studies of shipping along Arctic routes. Analysis and profitability perspectives for the container sector

Arctic sea routes have for long attracted interest from observers and shipping companies because of their shorter distances between the Atlantic and the Pacific. The prevalence of sea ice prevented the real development of a significant traffic, but did not prevent research from trying to assess the economic viability of these routes. With the actual present melting of sea ice in the Arctic, this effort at modeling the profitability of Arctic shipping routes received a new impetus. However, the conclusions of these studies vary widely, depending on the chosen parameters and their value. What can be said of these models, from 1991 until 2013, and to what extent can a model be drawn, capitalizing on twenty years of simulations?

Auditing Hybrid IT Environments

This paper presents a personal approach of auditing the hybrid IT environments consisting in both on premise and on demand services and systems. The analysis is performed from both safety and profitability perspectives and it aims to offer to strategy, technical and business teams a representation of the value added by the cloud programme within the company’s portfolio. Starting from the importance of the IT Governance in the actual business environments, we presented in the first section the main principles that drive the technology strategy in order to maximize the value added by IT assets in the business products. Section two summarizes the frameworks leveraged by our approach in order to implement the safety and profitability computation algorithms described in the third section. The paper concludes with benefits of our personal frameworks and presents the future developments.