Supply Chain Management: Inter/Intrapersonal Skills

All jobs require some sort of skill. Although that statement may be true, it does not imply all jobs require the same skills, nor the same level of skill. You can not walk into a business career with only the knowledge of flipping burgers. Those who choose to pursue a career of legitimate skill, will need the abilities to perform well and effectively in their career of choice, unless that career of choice is flipping burgers. Now, there is a difference between interpersonal, and intrapersonal skills. Both are equally as important in the business world. Here are some examples of intrapersonal communication skills:

• Knowing what drives, angers, motivates, frustrates, inspires you
• Ability to control unexpected emotions like anger and frustration
• Knowing your own strengths and limitations
• Self confidence
• Initiative
• Taking measured risks
• Taking responsibility
• The ability to stay calm and balanced in stressful situations
• Persistence and perseverance in challenging situations
• Resilience and ability to bounce back from setbacks
• The ability to forgive and forget

As for interpersonal communication skills, we have the following:

• Verbal communication
• Non-verbal communication
• Listening skills
• Negotiation
• Problem-solving
• Decision-making
• Assertiveness

Having these skills are fundamental for your success in the business world. Without them, it would be very difficult trying to maintain a job under the supply chain umbrella.

By: Chandler A. Maples

Citations:

https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/interpersonal-intrapersonal-skills-critical-managers-acquire-ezenwa/

Stock Market and the Economy

There is a common misconception about economics. The misconception is that the stock market is a reflection of how the economy is doing. That is in fact not true. 

Credit to Odyssey

When the stock market rises, it is because the quantity of money and spending increases. The same is true for when the stock market falls, only that it is due to decreasing quantity of money and spending. The only connection between economics and the stock market is that money affects both gross domestic product (GDP) and the stock market. Stocks rise when there is inflation in the supply of money. This means there's more money in the economy and the various markets. 

There is no real connection between the economy and the rise and fall of the stock market. The relationship between stocks and the economy is evident by prices falling, but the correlation is not as in depth as the common misconception. 


Written by Colin Bergman

MisesInstitute

The Cost Principle

            

Source: https://www.slideshare.net/Surbakty/accounting-principles-434729    

            The cost principle (historical cost) is another basic guideline of accounting, it requires one to initially record an asset as its original acquisition cost. Acquisition cost is the cost that a company records after adjusting for discounts, incentives, closing costs and other expenses. Another way to put it is that the cost principle demands that assets be recorded at its cash amount when that asset is required.

            For example, if an asset is obtained at $50,000 that is the amount it would be recorded as. The asset would be useful for 10 years, meaning the depreciation expense would be $50,000/10 years which comes out to $5,000/year. The company’s balance sheet will document the assets historical cost minus the depreciation.

            Short-term assets and liabilities under the cost principle are more warranted than long-term assets and liabilities. Due to depreciation, with the cost principle, there is little to no room to increase the value of items over a long period of time.

By Katie Howard 

Citations:

Acquisition Cost

What is the cost principle?

The cost principle

The Future of Supply Chain Management

Supply and demand. A very simplistic, yet effective economic theory. The customer has a need or want (the demand), and the manufacturers and businesses provide the customer with the needed merchandise (supply). Companies such as Amazon, who are growing exponentially, will need to pour a lot of their attention into the supply chain sector in order to maximize business efficiency. Why is the supply chain field going to be so important in the upcoming years? This is due to the new and ever changing methods of transportation. One could say its human nature to be impatient. When we want something, we typically would rather have it in our hands the moment the idea comes to mind. Drones will be a massive leap forward in the transportation department, specifically speaking for Amazon. Amazon plans on having carrier drones drop off packages to customers within the same day. This will result in fantastic, although controversial, revolutionary change in the world of transportation and e-commerce.

Supply Chain Management is huge in companies such as Amazon. Amazon relies heavily on transportation (for example, the amazingly wonderful 2-day Prime shipping). Alongside transportation, Amazon needs to know what merchandise to sell, when they can sell it, and how much of a profit they can make off selling this company's product. Amazon is the future of shipping and product transportation to the people, therefore making the future of Supply Chain that much more important.

By: Chandler A. Maples

Skills of An Economist

After graduating from college with a bachelors in economics, there are a certain set of skills that need to be established. In order to be successful in the field of economics, WorldWideLearn believes that there are six skills to master:

Credit to The Park Place Economist

1. Critical Thinking Skills
2. Data Acquisition Skills
3. Recognize Economic Trends
4. Use of Technical Analysis Software
5. Various Data Analysis Techniques
6. Writing and Reporting Skills

A few minutes after reading into the article, the message was clear that economists have to be well rounded in the way they present data. No one can get away with poorly written reports and presentations because the main point of their findings will be hidden. In a world built around technology, it is refreshing to see that businesses still have face-to-face conversations and meetings, and not everything is done online.

The article, "Economics Majors Guide," was effective and gave an easy to follow viewpoint on being a successful economist. Finding the proper skill sets to master is important, and when all the skills are put together, there is nothing that an economist can't do. 

Written by Colin Bergman

Economics Majors Guide

U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics Occupational Outlook Handbook

The Expense Principle

Source:  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1UQXfnp8YlM     

The expense principle states that whatever expenses that occur in a single period should be recorded alongside whichever revenue to which they match up with. For example, let’s say a company pays $100,000 for their merchandise, which the company sells the following month for $150,000, with the expense recognition principle, the $100,000 would not be acknowledged until the following month, alongside its related revenue of $150,000.

Things like income taxes, can be effected by this expense principle. An income tax is a tax set in place by the government, so they receive a set, specific amount from a person, or company’s yearly income. To relate this back to the earlier example, the company’s income tax in the first month would be underpaid since the expenses were higher than revenue (because they paid $100,000 but did not have any recorded revenue with it), and the following month would be overpaid when the expenses were low and revenue was higher.

Source:  https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Income_tax    

By Katie Howard

Citations: 

Expense Recognition Principle

Income Tax