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Costing for Management
by SK Bhattacharya and John Dearden. Vikas Publishing House Pvt.
Ltd., New Delhi. Pages XII + 291. Price: Rs 180/-.
 As economic
activities get increasingly sophisticated, management techniques
and tools need to be honed accordingly. Cost management has
therefore become an indispensable part of a business unit’s
overall administrative structure. It helps in keeping track of
both economically viable and non-viable activities; and aims at
product costing and inventory valuation, providing necessary
support in the form of data to the decision making process, and
facilitate cost reduction wherever feasible.
The product —
be it of a manufacturing unit or a tertiary sector enterprise
— is the smallest unit for which profitability is calculated.
It aids in arriving at profitability of the various business
segments of an organisation — eventually providing a
comprehensive picture. Revenue, manufacturing costs and
non-manufacturing costs are the three factors involved in
product-profitability analysis, which enables the managers to
take corrective action if, when and where required.
There are some
revisions in this edition that have made it more useful to the
students. A new, comprehensive, chart in the first chapter
underlines the need for switching over to latest systems that
are beneficial to a business unit in the competitive
environment.
The Activity
Based Costing in the second chapter is an entirely new addition.
Chapter 3 explains two types of product costing systems through
job and process costing. Chapters 4 to 6 deal with the systems
required for decision making, viz, contribution analysis,
differential costing, capital investment analysis and
disinvestment decisions. Chapters 7 to 10 give details of
systems for cost control and reduction. Students of economics
and management can benefit from this book.
The Role of
Memorandum of Understanding in Public Enterprise Reform
by RK Mishra, R. Nandagopal,
P. Geeta & B. Navin. Vikas Publishing
House, N. Delhi. Pages: XIV
+ 220. Price: Rs 750/-.
 Our public
sector enterprises are feeling the need for gearing up to get in
step with the fast changing economic scenario — both in
national and world arenas. Not only are they trying to shed the
sloth and flab of our socialism-era vintage, but are getting set
to be more professional. Accordingly the necessity for a more
productive equation with the government is being felt. The MoU
system has been adopted to compete with the private sector. The
focus is on giving substantial autonomy to the PSEs.
The Memorandum
of Understanding is a freely negotiated agreement between the
public enterprise and the administrative ministry, whereby the
former undertakes to achieve pre-determined targets. Its
performance — both financial and non-financial — is graded
to help evaluate its strengths and weaknesses. Well explained
chapters like "Public Enterprises Reform MoUs in Theory and
Practice", "MoU — More Memorandum than
Understanding", "MoU — The Wrong End of the
Stick" etc help understand the changes going on in our
public sector. Principles and modalities of the performance
contract have been given in this book, which advocates greater
autonomy and accountability for the public enterprises through
MoUs while retaining the relevance of State participation in the
business.
Privatisation
by RK Mishra &KS Bhat. Vikas Publishing House, N. Delhi.
Pages: XIX + 368. Price: Rs 950/-.
 The
privatisation mantra has entranced our policy makers. Those
halcyon days when efficiency and performance were considered
secondary to the socialistic ideal have been duly consigned to
history. Today terms like profitability, free market economy and
competitive edge etc are being freely bandied about right from
boardrooms to shop-floors. Perform or quit is the current motto
at the workplace. The authors claim to provide a coherent
picture of privatisation in India and the UK. They discuss the
need for privatisation for sustainable economic, social and
political development in India and UK.
The book also
takes a look at the UK experience of privatisation that could be
relevant to the Indian scene. The non-privatisation reforms are
being looked upon as precursor to privatisation. Chapters on the
process of privatisation, restructuring and turnaround
strategies, non-privatisation options, reforms in utilities,
total quality management, consumer protection and social
responsibilities are thought provoking.
There is a sense of uneasiness
in several quarters.Won’t the new regime be harsh on the
labour and unjust to the vulnerable? The new work culture
involves values that are alien to our traditional mindset.
Though wealth has an important place in our civilisation, it is
subordinated to a highe wherein compassion, duty towards the
society and a less selfish way of living hold prominence. A
dispassionate way of looking upon labour as a mere input for the
productive process is considered dehumanising. Excellence at the
workplace should be nobler than being merely an economic act.
Privatisation with a sense of responsibility can prove to be
ideal. The authors have tried to convey this message.
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ONE
of the spin-offs of the information explosion has been the
general increase in health consciousness. People realise that
not only the sick but also the healthy should take due care of
the body and mind. This apart, there is an increasing demand for
affordable and effective remedies for all sorts of illnesses.
Thapar’s book caters to this requirement. Hypertension and
other ailments related to modern lifestyle have been dealt with
in a lucid language. The author avers that with the increase in
life-span in India there is a greater need for guarding against
degenerative and old-age related afflictions like the Parkinson’s
disease etc.
