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Companies producing customized products tend to increase the variety of their product portfolio, in order to fulfill the demand of their customers and align their strategies with those of competitors. However, the profitability of product families may vary greatly. The purpose of this paper is to develop an operational method to analyze profitability of Configure-To-Order (CTO) products. The operational method consists of a four-step: analysis of product assortment, profitability analysis on configured products, market and competitor analysis and, product assortment scenarios analysis. The proposed operational method is firstly developed based on both available literature and practitioners experience and subsequently tested on a company that produces CTO products. The results from this application are further discussed and opportunities for further research identified.

The article considers the role of investments in the growth of profitability of large-scale production due to the high wear of processing equipment because of the long absence of major repairs. It evaluates the effectiveness of the organization of maintenance service of the processing equipment operated in the shop of a metallurgical plant. The cost of the services provided by a specialized organization is determined. The paper describes the procedure for the settlement of accounts and the conditions of acceptance of equipment after service in the current production conditions in the Far North. In the final part of the article the financial, organizational and economic results of the activities are presented.

Abstract Introduction Home sleep apnea tests (HSATs) are convenient alternatives to in-lab polysomnograms (PSGs) but high non-diagnostic rates limit their utility. A clinical decision support tool (CDST) to triage patients to HSAT versus PSG was developed at the Greater Los Angeles VA Healthcare System (GLA-VAHS). It uses a random forest ensemble to reduce non-diagnostic HSAT rates by 46%. While prior studies have found PSGs to be more profitable than HSATs on a per unit basis, these analyses do not factor in relative profitability over time. Additionally, no prior studies have quantified the financial impact of a CDST in diagnostic sleep testing. Methods We performed an analysis of the overall profitability of HSATs and PSGs in 2018-2019 within GLA-VAHS which has 6 PSG beds. Revenue was calculated using 2019 Medicare reimbursement rates. Contribution margin (CM) analysis was used to factor out the high fixed costs of healthcare infrastructure, instead focusing on variable direct costs (VDCs). CM analysis is especially useful when calculated on a per diem basis instead of per study, adjusting for number of tests performed in a given day. CM was calculated by subtracting VDCs from revenue under two simulated conditions: with and without the CDST. Results PSGs were 2.5 times more profitable than HSATs on a per unit basis (CM $200/study vs. $81/study). However, on a per day basis, PSGs were only 1.4 times more profitable than HSATs at average nightly occupancy rates of 75% (CM $902/day vs. $646/day). Using the CDST to guide testing, 2.2 times more diagnostic HSATs could be performed per day. As a result, HSATs were 1.3 times more profitable than PSGs on a per day basis with CDST use (CM $1,211/day vs. $902/day). Conclusion This analysis demonstrates that implementing a CDST and maximizing utilization of HSATs allow hospitals to better allocate limited sleep lab resources, increase diagnostic throughput and generate higher profits. Analyzing costs using contribution margin avoids erroneous assumptions about profitability and leads to better-informed administrative decisions regarding sleep lab expansion. Support  

The Philippine government spends a lot of resources to aid the farming sector. Still, most of the farmers are considered economically poor. The study evaluated the effectiveness of the KAANIB Enterprise Development Project’s coconut processing component by the Philippine Coconut Authority in Kibawe and Damulog, Bukidnon, 10 years after implementation. Using descriptive research and thematic analysis on 140 beneficiaries, it measured profitability changes through a paired sample t-test. Significant improvements were found in Return on Investment, Return on Asset, Return on Equity, Gross Profit Margin, and Net Profit Margin for both locations. The study highlights the need for a proper community needs assessment and comprehensive impact evaluation to address project setbacks. Findings support policy recommendations to help the agency better achieve its goals.

The paper aims to explore the impact of the Capital Adequacy Ratio, Net Profit Funding, Funding to Deposit Ratio, and Operations Costs to Operational Revenue on profitability evaluated by return on assets. This research examines the banking industry, particularly the banks listed on the South Africa Stock Exchange from 2022 to 2024. This period was chosen to collect more recent data, which would enhance comprehension of the sector's present situation. The analysis indicates that the CAR value exceeds the expected significance value, suggesting that CAR does not significantly impact production. A consistently high CAR indicates that the bank is in a robust position, which often enhances performance in generating profits. The findings of this analysis demonstrate that the magnitude of the bank's capital adequacy ratio (CAR) does not significantly correlate with an increase in profit. Banking professionals are advised to prioritise the management of operational profitability and to mitigate the non-performing financing ratio (NPF) to ensure sustainable growth in bank profitability.

In the past decade, many companies have begun to make greater use of non-financial performance measures, which are believed to affect profitability ultimately. The attention to these non-financial metrics is in sync with the global trend of companies embracing sustainable corporate practices. This ascendancy of non-financial metrics entails that companies obtain a glimpse of their progress in real-time before a financial verdict is pronounced and the soundness of their investment allocations has become moot. However, prior studies show that most companies have made little attempt to identify types of non-financial performance that might advance their chosen strategy. This article aims to analyze the balanced scorecard’s non-financial perspectives to unveil the most prevalent non-financial performance measures companies employ in South Africa. The study used a quantitative research paradigm and multiple case study design to empirically analyze the Top 40 companies listed on the Johannesburg Securities Exchange (JSE). Data were collected using the content analysis technique in congruence with the adopted research approach. A census approach was employed to select a sample to enhance the accuracy of the results. Accordingly, we drew snapshot data from Integrated Annual Reports (IARs) and Sustainability Reports (SRs) for analysis using a Control list and a Judgement scale. The results revealed that the sampled companies employed all three types of non-financial performance measures related to the non-financial perspectives of the balanced scorecard. Thus, out of the 34 performance measures listed, only two were not utilized by any of the sampled companies. The study’s findings are expected to improve the quality of decisions made by the JSE-listed companies and their stakeholders by encouraging the use of the balanced scorecard approach to integrated reporting. Moreover, this study fills in the gap in research on the non-financial performance measurement practices of companies listed on the JSE.

The measurement of workforce utilization is a critical concern for organizations, especially within the dynamic landscape of the IT industry. This research explores the multifaceted nature of utilization metrics by devising Utilization Insight Elicitation Framework (UIEF), focusing on three major themes: defining utilization and understanding the significance, assessing its impact on employee well-being, and contemplating its future relevance. Examining utilization from cost and revenue perspectives reveals how organizations optimize costs while ensuring project profitability. The study scrutinizes the balance between cost-focused and headcount-centered approaches, considering employees' roles and project demands. Additionally, it discusses factors for inclusion/exclusion in utilization calculations and emphasizes efficiency within non-billable hours. Utilization metrics' strategic implications on resource allocation, hiring, and project planning are analyzed alongside its impact on employee well-being. Furthermore, it contemplates AI's role and outcome-based charging strategies, offering insights from industry experts.

This study shows that the recent trajectory of a firm's profits predicts future profitability and stock returns. The predictive information contained in the trend of profitability is not subsumed by the level of profitability, earnings momentum, or other well-known determinants of stock returns. The profit trend also predicts the earnings surprise one quarter later, and analyst forecast errors over the following 12 months, suggesting that sophisticated investors underreact to the information in the profit trend. On the other hand, we find no evidence of investor overreaction, and our results cannot be explained by well-known risk factors.

This article studies factors determining real loan growth in the Bulgarian banking sector, using quarterly data from 21 commercial banks over the period Q1.2007 to Q4.2024. In working with I(0) and I(1) data we apply various panel methods for identifying short-term and long-term factors for bank loans’ growth, including Panel differenced OLS, Cointegration, Random Effects (RE), System GMM, and a Pooled Mean Group (PMG) estimator (Panel ARDL) framework. This multi-model approach allows us to address unobserved heterogeneity, potential endogeneity, and the role of lagged effects in bank lending behaviour of banks. Our findings suggest that higher capital adequacy ratios negatively affect loan dynamics, highlighting a potential trade-off between regulatory requirements and banks’ lending activity. Banks with growing market share and higher loan-to-deposit ratios tend to expand their credit faster. While differenced OLS and RE models suggest a positive link between profitability and lending, the GMM results indicate that banks with higher profitability may reduce lending in the short run. The ARDL model confirms a long-run equilibrium relationship between lending and its key bank-specific and macroeconomic determinants. The error correction term is negative and suggests that around 11% of any short-run deviation from equilibrium is corrected each quarter.

In the Indo-Gangetic Plains of South Asia, the quadruple challenges of deteriorating soil quality, declining groundwater, energy shortages, and diminishing farm profitability threaten sustainability of conventional till (CT)-based cereal production systems. A 5-year study was conducted to evaluate the effect of conservation agriculture (CA)-based management (tillage, crop establishment, residue management, and system intensification through mungbean integration) on energy budget, water productivity, and economic profitability in cereal (rice–wheat, RW/maize–wheat, MW)-based systems compared with CT-based management. In CA systems, crop residues contributed the maximum (~76%) in total energy input (167,995 MJ ha−1); however, fertilizer application (nonrenewable energy source) contributed the maximum (43%) in total energy input (47,760 MJ ha−1) in CT-based systems. CA-based cereal (rice/maize) systems recorded higher net energy and energy-intensiveness (EI) levels of 251% and 300%, respectively, compared with those of the CT-based rice–wheat system (RW/CT) (295,217 MJ ha−1 and 46.05 MJ USD−1), irrespective of mungbean integration. MWMb/ZT+R utilized 204% more input energy, which resulted in 14% higher net energy and 229% higher EI compared with RW/CT. CA-based RW and MW systems enhanced the crop productivity by 10 and 16%, water productivity by 56 and 33%, and profitability by 34 and 36%, while saving in irrigation water by 38 and 32%, compared with their respective CT-based systems, respectively. CA-based system improved net energy, crop productivity, and profitability; therefore, it should be outscaled to improve the soil and environmental quality in north-west India.