Purpose: The understanding of changing industry dynamics is essential for any business firm that wishes to enter, earn returns and sustain in any given industry. The study/analysis of an industry is essential for various stakeholders. For instance, creditors/investors take decisions concerning investment only after a thorough analysis of the current scenario and prospects of an industry. The ABCD framework is an effective tool of industry analysis for understanding both the positive and negative impact of the industry’s operations and the factors that support or hinder the effective functioning of the industry. The Indian Pharmaceutical Industry, known as the pharmacy of the world, is the leading supplier of generic drugs. It’s contribution in achieving various public health outcomes such as polio eradication, lower treatment costs, to name a few, are immense. The industry has proved its resilience even in the COVID-19 pandemic era. Design/Methodology/Approach: This paper studies the Indian Pharmaceutical Sector in terms of its Advantages, Benefits, Constraints and Disadvantages. The data for the same is collected through published reports on the Indian Pharmaceutical Sector. Apart from ABCD Framework, other tools of industry analysis such as the Herfindahl-Hirschman index are used in the study. Findings/Result: The benefits of the pharma industry to the economy as well as to public health outcomes have been many and varied. The industry enjoys many advantages, the main among them being the low cost of manufacturing, which has contributed to its growth. The main disadvantage of the industry is its adverse impact on the ecology. Rigorous regulations are its chief constraints. Originality/Value: This paper studies the Indian Pharmaceutical industry using the ABCD model, which gives an all-round perspective of the industry. Paper Type: Research Case Study based on industry analysis.

Purpose: Analysing financial performance is one of the popular methods for measuring operational efficiency of a firm. Ratio analysis is an important tool of financial analysis. The analysis of key performance parameters enables diverse group of stakeholders to obtain information about profitability and growth prospects. Mergers and acquisitions are popular means of inorganic growth. The Indian Banking Industry has used this effective tool to consolidate and grow in size. Through M&A, acquired banks get a new name, structure, products and services. However, the risk of NPAs continues to be a major problem for banks. In order to study the effectiveness of a merger, analysing financial performance prior to and after merger becomes important. The State Bank of India merger has been taken up for the study, since following the merger there is a substantial increase in both the market share as well as asset base of the bank. Design/Methodology/Approach: This paper studies the result of mergers on financial indicators, market performance, asset quality, liquidity position and employee productivity of SBI after it merged with its 5 associate banks and BMB through ratio analysis. The ratios indicating the performance parameters have been taken from secondary sources such as moneycontrol.com, stock-financials.valuestocks.in. etc. A comparison of various financial ratios is made to determine the change in the performance parameters of the bank. Findings/Result: The study highlights reduction in profitability, increase in cost to income ratio, slight improvement in liquidity, decline in asset quality and market performance and a slight decrease in employee productivity after the merger. Originality/Value: This paper studies the effectiveness of mergers in terms of change in key financial performance parameters. Paper Type: Research Case Study based on company financial analysis.

Purpose: The paper aims, through a literature survey, to study the skill enhancement initiatives of the Government, measures taken by Higher Education Institutions and the role of corporate sector in skill enhancement. The paper also examines the earlier mismatch between industry requirements and academic practices which necessitated skill enhancement efforts and the impact such training programmes have on Quality of Work Life of graduates. Design/Methodology/Approach: The data for the literature survey is collected from several secondary sources such as research papers, news articles, and websites. Results/ Findings: The review paper shows the existence of skill gap between the levels required by industry and the levels acquired by graduates. HEIs have re-modelled course content and teaching methodologies to make degrees corporate integrated. The Government has initiated a large number of initiatives to reach its goal of skill enhancement among the workforce/students. The paper also notes the importance of skilled human resources, positive effects of skill enhancement on employee performance, job satisfaction, and also organizational performance. Value: Through a detailed analysis of literature on the topic, the paper emphasizes the need for skill enhancement efforts. Type of Paper: Literature Review