What are some approaches to Management Decision Making? Below are some of the most common approaches used by decision-makers (particularly managers): Expected Value Method Maxi-Max Method Maxi-Min Method Mini-Max Method Each of these is discussed below. What is Expected Value in Decision Making? Expected Value - If there are two possible results, ea...

What is Time Management? Time Management (TM) involves the conscious control of the amount of time spent on tasks, activities, projects or initiatives, in order to maximize efficiency. As Eisenhower once put it, "Plans are nothing, but planning is everything". TM involves analyzing how time is spent, and then prioritizing different work tasks. To be...

What is the Ratable Accrual Method? The ratable accrual method refers to a technique used to determine the amount of income earned, at a given period and the period the amount was earned. In other words, the ratable accrual method is the one used to calculate interest income. Note that this method only calculates the sum of income or accrued expense...

What is the Risk-Free Rate of Return? The risk-free rate of return is the optimum rate of return on an investment with zero risk of default or loss. Restated, it is a hypothetical rate of interest that an investor would expect from an investment without incurring any risk. That means the investor is assured to get the principal amount and a minimal ...

What is an Intermarket Spread Swap? An Intermarket spread swap refers to the exchange of two bonds within two different sections of a similar market in an attempt to get a more positive yield spread. Generally, the swap is motivated If there happens to be a change in the market and/or change in the investment goals, then the investor sees it necessa...

What is Gestalt Theory? Gestalt theory holds "there are wholes which, instead of being the sum of parts existing independently, give their parts specific functions or properties that can only be defined in relation to the whole in question" (Wolfgang Köhler). That is the part-processes are themselves determined by the intrinsic nature of the whole. ...

What is the Treynor Black Model? A Treynor Black model seeks to optimize a portfolios Sharpe Ratio by combining an active investment with underpriced securities and a passively managed index fund. How Does the Treynor Black Model Work? Published in 1973 by Jack Treynor and Fisher Black, this model implies that a market is highly efficient, but not p...

What is a Discretionary Trust? It is a type of trust that is set up for providing benefits to one or more beneficiaries. The trustee who decides when and what funds are distributed to the beneficiaries. The beneficiaries do not have any right to decide when to withdraw the funds from the trust. This fund is not a part of the beneficiary's assets or ...

What is an Event-Driven Strategy? A type of investment strategy that seeks to exploit pricing inefficiencies that may occur before or after a corporate event, such as a bankruptcy, restructuring, merger/acquisition, takeover or spinoff is known as an event driven strategy.  There are various methods in which specialists hired by an investor can exec...

What is Structuration?  Structuration, as propoed by Giddens, is a social theory that focuses on describing the foundational elements of a social system: these include teams, organizations, and society as a whole.  Integral to this this theory is the idea of duality - structures of social systems enable social practices, while social practices also ...