Notes, summaries, assignments, exams, and problems for Competitive examination

Analysis Process Framework

When analyzing a company, we should divide the analysis in two points: External and Internal. The focus of these analyses is to find their main Strengths, Weaknesses (internal analysis), Opportunities, and Threats (external analysis). After research we can finally build our SWOT analysis of the company.

External:

• Trends = PESTLE - allows the company to make specific choices when planning the company's future, from how the brand should be presented, to any changes within the structure of the company's organization, to the development of new products.
• Sector = Porter’s 5 forces - Analytical model used to help identify the structure of an industry, and to help companies determine their competitive strategies.

Internal Analysis:

Definition of Psychology

Psychology is the scientific study of behavior and the mind. The word 'psychology' comes from the Greek words 'psyche', meaning soul or breath, and 'logos', meaning study.

What Psychologists Do

• Clinical psychologists: Focus on diagnosing and treating psychological problems in clinics, hospitals, and private practice. Different from counseling psychologists who focus on prevention and specific adjustment issues.
• Applied psychologists: Apply psychology to practical problems in the real world. Examples include school psychologists, industrial/organizational psychologists, human factors psychologists, and sports psychologists.
• Research psychologists: Conduct experiments and work in universities, colleges, and research institutes.

Industrialization Strategies

Integral Industrialization

Followed in core countries, where all industries are industrialized. The pattern is to re-diversify the industry. The economy is articulated with a domestic market. Specialization is low, meaning it is very diversified.

Import Substitution Industrialization

Applied in the periphery, this involves industrialization to substitute imports. Countries industrialize to replace products they used to import. Income from basic products is used to develop industry.

Export Substitution Industrialization

Aims to replace the export basket. Focuses on exporting high-tech products to increase profits. These countries manage to acquire some technology transfers developed by multinationals.

Trade Policy Debates

Liberalism

Real-Time Bidding (RTB)

Definition

Buying and selling online ad impressions through real-time auctions, occurring as a webpage loads.

Return on Investment (ROI)

Definition

A performance measure evaluating investment efficiency.

Formula

ROI = (Current Value of Investment - Cost of Investment) / Cost of Investment

Quality Score

Definition

Google's rating of keyword and ad quality/relevance, impacting cost-per-click (CPC) and ad rank.

Negative Keywords

Definition

Keywords preventing ad display for specific searches.

Impressions

Definition

The number of times your content is displayed.

Call-to-Action (CTA)

Definition

A statement prompting an immediate response, guiding potential customers.

Conversion

Definition

A valuable website action beyond a simple visit, specific... Continue reading "Understanding Key PPC Metrics & Concepts" »

English Language Essentials: Numbers and Grammar

Numbers 1-100

• One
• Two
• Three
• Four
• Five
• Six
• Seven
• Eight
• Nine
• Ten
• Eleven
• Twelve
• Thirteen
• Fourteen
• Fifteen
• Sixteen
• Seventeen
• Eighteen
• Nineteen
• Twenty
• Thirty
• Forty
• Fifty
• Sixty
• Seventy
• Eighty
• Ninety
• One Hundred

Common Irregular Verbs: Present and Past Simple

Master these essential irregular verbs to improve your English fluency.

Present

Understanding the BCG Matrix: Product Portfolio Strategy

The Boston Consulting Group (BCG) Matrix is a strategic tool used to analyze a company's product portfolio based on market share and market growth. It categorizes products into four quadrants, each with distinct characteristics and strategic implications.

Stars: High Growth, High Share

Characteristics of Stars

• Stars are products with high market share in high-growth markets.
• They are highly profitable and generate significant cash.
• Their high growth also means they require substantial cash to finance working capital and build capacity.
• Therefore, although profitable, Stars can have positive or negative net cash flow.
• Over time, as market growth slows, Stars often evolve into Cash Cows.

Strategic

Efficiency Ratios

Inventory Turnover

Determines if sales are sufficient to turn over or utilize inventory effectively. It indicates whether too much or insufficient inventory is being purchased.

Assets Turnover

A higher Assets Turnover Ratio (ATR) suggests that the company's management is utilizing its assets efficiently to generate sales.

Receivables Turnover

A higher receivables turnover indicates that a company is more efficient than its competitors in collecting its accounts receivables.

Profitability Ratios

Return on Sales (RoS)

"For every dollar sold, the company earns x profit." Measures operational efficiency.

Return on Equity (RoE)

"For every dollar invested by shareholders, the company earns x profit." Measures profitability relative to shareholders'... Continue reading "Key Financial Ratios for Business Performance Analysis" »

Golden circle:

This relates to the innovation. If a company is able to attract those who share its beliefs, it is also able to connect easier with innovators.

This is a graph made up of three circles, each inside the other. Each circle has a meaning and a way to apply it to our business efficiently.

We can explain the operation of the Golden Circle in such a way that while most companies ask themselves the answers to the question 'what' as their starting point, they are fully aware of the 'how', but very few companies are clear about the 'why'.

The 'what' responds to what we do and what we want to do. The 'how' responds to the processes through which we carry out our actions, and the 'why' would respond to the reason why we develop our business.... Continue reading "The Golden Circle: Driving Innovation and Quality Management" »

1. Grimm's Law

Jacob Grimm formulated a law in 1822 by which he accounted for an explanation about Indo-European and Germanic consonants and their corresponding development. In other words, he explained how certain consonant sounds changed and developed. According to him, the original Indo-European voiceless stops p/t/k were changed to the fricatives f/þ/h in the Germanic languages. Also, the aspirates bh/dh/gh became voiced fricatives β/đ/y, and then, the voiced stops b/d/g. The original voiced stops b/d/g changed later to voiceless stops in the Germanic languages so b/d/g turned into p/t/k (h). The Germanic Sound Shift is the most distinctive feature marking off the Germanic languages from the languages to which they are related.

2. Verner'