Edition 40, Human Resources

Micro Foundation Bases of Human Capital Management

By: Luis González
School of Economics and Enterprise
University of Salamanca

Our vision, ideas and beliefs, our images of a Company are frequently formed by elements such as installations, productive processes, machines, tools, management methods, etc. However, in companies – in all companies – there has always existed another component and it is present in all the departments, in all the activity areas. This component, that has received different names throughout history, such as workers, personnel, human resources or employees, is the human capital.

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Edition 40, Finance

Where is Basel?

By: Victor Hugo Luque

The European City

By size, Basel is the third-largest city in Switzerland (the two largest are Zürich and Geneva, while the capital, Bern, ranks fourth). It has an enviable geographic position in Europe, situated on the banks of the Rhine River, at the border formed by Switzerland, Germany and France. And it´s the birthplace of the best tennis player ever, Roger Federer, who holds the record for most grand slams won, with a total of 16.

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Accounting, Edition 40

Is ABC Really the Solution?

By: M.C. Norma Leal

In the article “A 20 años del ABC” (“20 Years After ABC”), published in Dirección Estratégica [1] we presented the advantages and disadvantages of an activity-based costing system (ABC). The ABC system can calculate unit costs more accurately than a traditional costing system, and it also improves the processes because the activities to carry them out can be better understood. We also stated that more than 20 years after ABC was developed in its current form, studies from different countries show low adoption rates and that a large number of companies that adopted the system had already abandoned it.

Subsequently, in a second article, “Is my costing system obsolete? [2], we saw the reasons why the companies change to an ABC costing system and the symptoms of a costing system when it becomes obsolete. The obsolescent systems warn companies of potential distortions of their production unit costs calculated with a costing system based on volumes.

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