Operant conditioning refers to a learning type, wherein outcomes of an action regulate one's behaviour. The consequence can be a reward or penalty. It was coined by famous behaviourist B. F. Skinner, who hold that behaviour is something which can only be described by observing it and not by thoughts and motivation. Reinforcement and punishment are the two fundamental notions of operant conditioning wherein the former, stimulates a particular behaviour, the latter, discourages a specific … [Read more...]

While the trademark is a mark, which can be a word, phrase, an image or anything else used to recognise the source of goods or service. The patent is a right granted to the inventor of something to manufacture, use or sell the invention. An idea remains an idea until and unless it is not transformed into something that has value. Once the idea is converted into a human creation, i.e. product, design, or any artistic work, it becomes intellectual property. Intellectual property is classified … [Read more...]

Insurance is defined as an arrangement, in which the insurer commits to indemnify the loss or damage caused to the insured due to natural calamity or any other event whose happening is not certain, for special consideration. The term insurance is often juxtaposed with assurance, as these two are financial products sold by the company to people so as to protect their interest, however, they are different. Assurance refers to the agreement in which the insurer provides cover of an event, which … [Read more...]

It is easy to get confused about information and knowledge. People often use the terms interchangeably, without knowing the fact that there are slight and subtle differences between information and knowledge. These two are important concepts of knowledge management system, wherein the former means processed data about someone or something, while the latter refers to useful information gained through learning and experience. When the data collected is filtered, it turns out as information. Of … [Read more...]

We dwell in a world, which is completely uncertain. There is end number of factors that have the capability of endangering our physical, moral or financial health which always surrounds us and they are beyond our control. You might have encountered, tragic deaths or causalities, loss of property and life due to natural calamities or human-made disaster. These forces ultimately pose a risk to human life or wealth or nature. The term 'risk' refers to the chance of loss due to a particular activity … [Read more...]

Economics is all about making choices, in order to make best possible use of the scarce resource. Whenever we make a choice among various alternatives, we have to forgo other options. In this context, two economic terms are often misconstrued, which are the trade-off and opportunity cost. While a trade-off denotes the option we give up, to obtain what we want. On the other hand, the opportunity cost is the cost of the second best alternative given up to make a choice. In other words, it is … [Read more...]

When an employee leaves the organisation, the situation is known as separation. The cause of separation can be voluntary or involuntary. In the former, the employee decides to terminate his/her relationship with the employer, but when the employer initiates the separation, it is an involuntary separation. Being laid-off and fired are two types of involuntary separation, wherein laid off is due to the inability of the employer to give employment to the employee. On the other hand, the firing … [Read more...]

One of the major myth, regarding the non-profit organisation, which most of the people believe as true is that it does not make the profit from business activity. However, in reality, the non-profit organisation too makes the profit from various activities just like a for-profit organisation does, but only the way of handling profit is different in the two organisations. The basic aspect, which bifurcates business organisation is the purpose of their operation, i.e. not all organisations work … [Read more...]

Marketing of products and services involves different strategies due to the dissimilarities in their characteristics. While in product marketing, the aim is to fulfil the needs and wants of the target population.  As against, in service marketing, the firm seeks to create a good relationship with the customer, to win their trust. The two most important activities undertaken by the business is production or procurement of products and its distribution to the end user. The procurement of raw … [Read more...]

Wholesaler is a trader, who buys goods in bulk quantities and sell it in smaller ones. On the other hand, distributors are the reseller of products, which cover a specific area or market. To make goods available to the final consumer, a manufacturer or producer should choose the best channel for distribution, as he cannot sell the goods directly to consumers. In this way, the supply chain of a company has a great role to play because it highly influences its marketing and promotional … [Read more...]