Mahendra Gupta

Venture-Capital Financing and the Growth of Startup Firms

Venture capital firms have unique capabilities in terms of dealing with high uncertainty, high degrees of information asymmetry, and providing access to a strategic network. This study examines the association between the presence of venture capital and the growth of startups. It explores whether venture capital leads to growth or, alternatively growth signals the need for venture capital. It also investigates the impact if any of venture capital financing events and the growth of these firms. Finally, it documents the relationship between growth in startup financial valuation and changes in the number of employees over successive rounds of financing.

Estimation of benchmark performance standards: An application to public school expenditures

Abstract The accounting and management literature reflects an increasing interest in relative performance evaluation (RPE) measures, often called ‘benchmarking’. In this paper we illustrate how stochastic frontier estimation (SFE) can be used to estimate benchmark performance standards which control for differences in the environments of the benchmarked operating units. Our application of SFE uses cross-sectional data reported by school districts in the state of Missouri for the year 1990–1991. The results suggest that the districts may have had as much as

Understanding customer level profitability implications of satisfaction programs

394 million of excess expenditures in their operations.

Physician resource utilization in radiation oncology : A model based on management of carcinoma of the prostate

Purpose – Achieving high level of customer satisfaction (CS) involves spending marketing resources in terms of money, managerial time, and focus. Consistent with the return on quality framework this paper aims to look at both the costs and benefits of a satisfaction program.Design/methodology/approach – This paper reports the results of a longitudinal study of a beverage distributor. Two satisfaction surveys were conducted before and after the launch of the program. Profitability was calculated using activity based costing (ABC) principles. The link between changes in satisfaction and changes in profitability was analyzed.Findings – It was found that as a result of the launch of satisfaction program CS increased significantly, but the weighted least square analysis of the relationship between CS and customer profitability (CP) shows that it does not necessarily result in higher customer profits. CS is found to be positively related to sales volume and gross profits at the customer level. However, a net pr...

A brief history and review of purchasing card use by the U.S. government: 1990-2005

PURPOSE To develop a methodology to estimate the comparative cost of physician time in treating patients with localized prostate cancer, using as an example two-dimensional (2D) vs. three-dimensional (3D) conformal irradiation techniques, and to illustrate how current cost-accounting techniques can be used to quantify the cost of physician time and effort of any treatment. METHODS AND MATERIALS Activity-based costing, a recent innovation in accounting, widely recommended for estimating and managing the costs of specific activities, was used to derive physician resource utilization costs (actual cost of the physician services and related support services consumed). RESULTS Patients treated with 3D conformal irradiation consume about 50% more physician time than patients receiving 2D conventional radiation therapy. The average professional reimbursement for the 3D conformal irradiation is only about 26% more than for the 2D treatment. Substantial variations in cost are found depending on the total available physician working hours. In an academic institution, a physician working 40 hours a week would have to spend an average of about 60% of available time on clinical services to break even on a 2D treatment process and over 74% of available time on clinical work to break even on a 3D treatment process. The same physician working 50 hours a week would have to spend an average of about 48% of available time on 2D clinical services and about 60% of available time on 3D clinical work to break even. Current Medicare reimbursement for 3D treatment falls short of actual costs, even if physicians work 100% of a 50-hour week. Medicare reimbursement for 2D barely allows the department to break even for 2D treatments. CONCLUSIONS Costs based on estimates of resource use can be substantially under- or overestimated. A consistent language (method) is needed to obtain and describe the costs of radiation therapy. The methodology described here can help practitioners and researchers more accurately interpret actual cost information. Future use of such cost-estimation methodologies could provide consistent and comparable costs for negotiations with health care providers and help assess different treatment strategies.

The Impact of Changing Patterns of Commercial Card Use by the US Government on Governmental Efficiency and Cost Savings

After fifteen years of use by U.S. Federal government agencies, purchase cards are still caught in a debate between the drive to improve governmental efficiency and the need to prudently manage and control spending of taxpayer resources. This paper gives decision makers facts by which to evaluate the purchase card experience to date by providing a brief history of legislative actions related to purchase cards, analyzing patterns of purchase card spending by Federal government agencies, estimating the potential size of the purchase card program, and identifying the costs and benefits of shifting low-value transactions to the purchase card. The paper concludes with recommendations for government action.

Customer Profitability in a Supply Chain

The US Government has used bank commercial card technology since the 1980s to simplify and reduce the cost of the process to acquire goods and services. The term “commercial cards” includes purchase, travel, and fleet cards. Generally, purchase cards are used to acquire non-travel-related goods and services of lower dollar value; travel cards are used to facilitate employee travel on government business and primarily used to purchase airline tickets, hotels, and auto rentals; and fleet cards support employee purchases of fuel and other automotive services for government vehicles.