Scope of Banking & Insurance Sectors in Nepal

The financial sector in Nepal has become stronger in terms of capital and the number of customers. It has become globally competitive and diverse aiming, at higher productivity and efficiency.

Exposure to worldwide competition and deregulation in Nepal financial sector has led to the emergence of better quality products and services. Reforms have changed the face of Nepal banking and finance. The banking sector has improved manifolds in terms of capital adequacy, asset classification, profitability, income recognition, provisioning, exposure limits, investment fluctuation reserve, risk management, etc.

Diversifying into investment banking, insurance, credit cards, depository services, mortgage financing, securitizations has increased revenues. As large number of players in various fields enters the market, competition would be intensified by mutual funds, Non Banking Finance Corporations (NBFCs), post offices, etc. from both domestic and foreign players. All this would lead to increased sophistication and technology in the sector. Corporate governance would come into the picture and other financial institutions would have to reach global standards. Also the limit for FDI in private banks is increased to 74% and the limit for FII is 49%. There are many challenges ahead for the banking sector such as technology, consumer satisfaction, corporate governance, risk management, etc. and they are redefining their priorities, which are now focused on cost reduction, product differentiation and customer centric services. Some of the major players in this sector are kumari bank, NIBL, Himalayan Bank, Nabil Bank, Everest Bank, MBL, NIC, BOK etc.

The insurance sector has opened up for private insurance companies with the enactment of Nepal Insurance Act Act, 2063. A large number of companies are competing under both life and general Insurance. The FDI cap/equity in this sector is 26% and the proposals have to be cleared by Insurance Regulatory and Development Authority (NCA) established to protect the interest of holder of Insurance policy and act as a regulator and facilitator in the industry. Some of the major players in this sector are PrimeLife Insurance Co. Ltd. NLIC, ALICO, etcc. Various types of policies and instruments are coming up in the market to attract more customers. Most of the population of Nepal is not insured, hence there is a lot of scope in this sector and a number of companies are planning to enter the sector. Every futuristic individual would want himself to get insured.

Capital markets have a long history of over 100 years in Nepal. Nepal Stock Exchange came into existence more than a hundred years ago to remove direct government control. Nepalese companies are now allowed to raise capital from abroad and Foreign Institutional Investors are allowed to enter the market due to an important policy initiative in 2063. The depository and share dematerialization has enhanced the performance of the capital market reducing processing time and increasing returns.

For a stronger and resilient financial system, Nepal needs to move beyond peripheral issues and act maturely by increasing profitability and efficiency, providing better solutions to the customers.

What is a Graduate Business Degree?

Today’s graduate business degrees offer countless kinds of opportunities and directions—in any kind of setting, anywhere in the world.

First things first: a graduate business degree is earned by completing a graduate business school program, in which students engage in traditional academic coursework and instruction based on real business challenges. Through this intensive experience that lasts one to two years (or more), the degree program prepares you for a lifetime of management responsibilities in business.
Business is Everywhere

That may sound like an overstatement, but consider the big picture. Today, the world of business is woven into every aspect of our lives—from using technology like Google® or Facebook® to choosing which movie to watch. With every transaction we make with another person at the corner shop or a major corporation, we’re doing business.

So why should you think about getting a graduate business degree? No matter what your career goal is—from advancing or changing your current career to starting your own business or helping those in need—a graduate business degree can help you get there faster.
Four Reasons to Take a Closer Look

Why should you think about getting a graduate business degree? Here are four very good reasons:

1. Business education gives you control. Business is how we buy and sell, innovate and grow, learn and share. If you think of yourself as a company of one, you need to build your own business skills to reach your professional and personal goals. Business school can help you get there.
2. Business education unlocks a world of opportunity. A graduate business degree is the key to employment with an amazing range of companies and organizations around the world. Why? Because you’ll be instantly recognized as someone with leadership and management skills. Plus, your network of fellow students, faculty and alumni will help supercharge your career even more.
3. It’s an investment in you. Looking for a career with real growth and job stability? On average, students who pursue a graduate business degree end up earning as much as twice as much as those with undergraduate degrees.
4. Business education helps you give back. The abilities and insights gained during business education can enhance your career and help you contribute more to the world around you. Whether in your free time or through a non-traditional career, your degree can be used to improve life in your city, your country or beyond.

If you’re ready to make a bigger difference with a graduate business degree, take the next step.

Powerless in powerful Nepal

Winters in Nepal are tough. Daily power cuts stretching to 16 hours a day are common from December to March. Unusual for a country that boasts of a hydropower potential of 83,000 MW — almost 100-times the peak winter demand of around 810 MW.

But despite a century-old history of power generation, which started with the Pharping hydroelectric plant in 1911, the country has to resort to power cuts or look to India for help.

Last winter the situation was so bad that the government had to declare a national electricity crisis and incidents of public venting their ire on the Nepal Electricity Authority’s offices occurred. But nothing much has improved and the situation is almost similar this winter too.

At present Nepal can produce around 600 MW on its own and hydropower accounts for almost 90 per cent of this figure. For a country which has nearly 6,000 small and big rivers capable of generating electricity, it seems to be a case of what could have been.

The present crisis is not a sudden development. A long civil war, lack of government far-sightedness, political instability and long dry winters have contributed to the present situation. Surprisingly, there’s negligible media outcry or public anger noticeable.

People in Nepal have learnt to adjust. Those who can afford have bought inverters and generators while others suffer stoically. Industrial output continues to suffer and shops downing shutters as soon as the sun goes down.

Lack of adequate financial muscle to build power projects is one big reason why Nepal has not been able to generate enough power. Though foreign firms have started work on developing some big projects, political threats to shut them down have not helped Nepal’s cause.

So while the country’s power minister appeals to foreign companies to invest in power projects, opposition party UCPN (Maoist) and its sister organisations are threatening those constructing projects to stop work on the charge of them being against Nepal’s interests.

In recent months Maoists threatened to or stopped work on the four projects (all having stakes by Indian firms) with a capacity to generate 1,700 MW.

No wonder ordinary Nepalis continue to suffer.

PepsiCO market strategy

PepsiCo’s products are recognized and are most respected all around the globe. Currently, PepsiCo has division which operates in three major US and International business: Beverages, Snakes, Food and restaurants. But in Nepal the leading position is only on soft drink bottling. The cooperation’s increasing success has been on high standards of performance, Marketing strategy, Competitiveness, commitment and the personal and professional integrity of their people, products and business practices.
The overall mission of this company is to increase the value of their shareholders’ investments through sales growth, investment and financial activities. PepsiCo believes their success depends upon the quality and the value of their products by providing safe, whole some, economically efficient and a healthy environment for their costumers.
Market segmentation:-
As we know that PepsiCo provides verities of soft drinks .These products are marketed under brand as Pepsi, Mountain Dew, and Lipton and so on. With these products PepsiCo aims to attract different groups of Costumers.
There are two levels in which Pepsi segments its market
• Demographic
• Niche Marketing

Demographic:-
In focusing on the Pepsi-Cola beverage product, PepsiCo has retained a long history of concentration on youth as its main target market-“Generation Next!” which is youth marketing. The reason behind fiercely targeted this market is because it is the largest amongst its users in Nepal. Market segment profiles shows that the majority of carbonated beverage drinks are youth and middle age people. Pepsi continually targets the college market in which they spend lots amounts of money to compete with the Coca Cola. Pepsi’s use this behaviorist segmentation has been a key to the company’s success.
Niche Marketing:-
Pepsi focuses on varietal differentiation sine 1990 by introducing a string of niche products. To increase volume in order to counter flat Coca Cola sales. Pepsi introduced different products like 7-up, Sprite etc. Pepsi has also tried to boost volume by introducing products that appeal to specific target markets that is currently is not reaching. The success of Pepsi’s Mountain Dew Code Red launched in 2001 was the most successful soft drink in 20 years and has spurred even nicer product introductions for PepsiCo as well as other competitors.
Market Targeting:-
Pepsi customers are mostly Teenagers and Yong Adults between the ages of 14 to 30. It also targets at School, College, Universities, Home, Restaurants, Hotels and stores.

Marketing Positioning:-
PespiCo plans to future create positions that will give the greatest advantage in their target markets. Pepsi has been positioned based on the process of positioning by direct comparison and have positioned their products to benefit their target market.
4-P’s with PepsiCo:-
Products: - They introduce many products with their won ideal function and lunched as Product Mix.

Pepsi: - This is a cola for the Drink.
AMP energy: - More Power to You.
Gatorade: - Is it in you?
Mountain Dew: - Do the Dew
Diet Mountain Dew: - How Dew Dees diet.


Promotion:-PepsiCo has advertised its products through many different ways and media. They advertise their products by targeting those favorable TV shows like TV sports, Series etc. Through the social programs like sprit band competition with the collaboration with Kantipur TV and Pepsi GO with UNDP food program for the karnali Zoon etc.
Place:-Decision with respect to distribution channel focuses on market the product available in adequate quantities at place where customers are normally expected to shop for them to satisfy their need. Pepsi is sold off-site consumption include grocery and convenience stores in Nepal. However effective one is grocery stores.
Price:-Pepsi being a company that emphasized on product quality tends to sell its products with price range from moderately to high price depending upon the target customers. Like:-

Regular Pepsi (250 ml):- NRs 20
Fuche (200 ml):- NRs 13
Load Your Pocket (100ml):-NRs 9
Disposable Pepsi (500 ml):- NRs 35
Pepsi (1lit):- NRs 65
Pepsi (2 lit):- NRs 105

Pepsi decides its price on the basic of competition. Fortunately, Pepsi is very flexible and is able to reduce its price very quickly.
Customer Cost:-
Despite the fact the PepsiCo frequently lower its price and eventually raises its price again, buyers have not been affected by the pricing strategy. On top of that, Pepsi has always been very flexible and reasonable with its pricing strategy. Depending on the product, prices are ranged for low to high.
Conclusion:-
Pepsi has been successful in generating profits in this extremely rivalrous industry. What is the company should do now is employ a strategy in this winter and then that one only addresses its own deficiencies in an effort to grow market share, but one that will increase the overall size of the pie .This strategy ,in the end , will allow Pepsi to grow and sustain above average return.

Managerial Ecomomics

Managerial economics (sometimes referred to as business economics), is a branch of economics that applies microeconomic analysis to decision methods of businesses or other management units. As such, it bridges economic theory and economics in practice. It draws heavily from quantitative techniques such as regression analysis and correlation, Lagrangian calculus (linear). If there is a unifying theme that runs through most of managerial economics it is the attempt to optimize business decisions given the firm's objectives and given constraints imposed by scarcity, for example through the use of operations research and programming.

Almost any business decision can be analyzed with managerial economics techniques, but it is most commonly applied to:

Risk analysis - various models are used to quantify risk and asymmetric information and to employ them in decision rules to manage risk.
Production analysis - microeconomic techniques are used to analyze production efficiency, optimum factor allocation, costs, economies of scale and to estimate the firm's cost function.
Pricing analysis - microeconomic techniques are used to analyze various pricing decisions including transfer pricing, joint product pricing, price discrimination, price elasticity estimations, and choosing the optimum pricing method.
Capital budgeting - Investment theory is used to examine a firm's capital purchasing decisions.
At universities, the subject is taught primarily to advanced undergraduates and graduate business schools. It is approached as an integration subject. That is, it integrates many concepts from a wide variety of prerequisite courses. In many countries it is possible to read for a degree in Business Economics which often covers managerial economics, financial economics, game theory, business forecasting and industrial economics.

Maghe Sankranti observed

Devotees across the country observed Maghe Sankranti, one of the most popular Nepali festivals, by thronging to various Hindu temples and taking holy dip into rivers and ponds on Friday.


People buying special sweets at Ason chowk for Maghe Sangranti festival.
Hindus worship Lord Shiva on the day and celebrate the festival by offering delicacies such as sweet potato, sesame seed candy, Chaku, yam and ghee. It is believed that one becomes healthier by consuming such items on this day after taking a holy bath in the river.

Also, the largely Hindu Newar, Tharu and Magar ethnic communities celebrated Maghe Sankranti, also called Makar Sankranti, with great enthusiasm by organizing various programmes across the country, as the festival bears a great significance to them.

The government had declared public holiday on Maghe Sankranti last year by recognizing it as a national festival of the Magar community.

Meanwhile, President Dr Ram Baran Yadav visited the Panauti Mela, which occurs once every 12 years on the occasion of Maghe Sankranti, today morning.

Reports said the President took a holy bath in Panauti River on the occasion.

He is scheduled to return to Kathmandu later today

5 Ways Facebook Can Build Your Local Business

Facebook is a social networking platform that is more than the latest fad. It is boosting marketing and sales for local businesses. Here are the five main ways that Facebook can help your local business:

1. Build Awareness
Facebook offers very affordable, targeted cost-per-click advertising options that can be laser-targeted to the city you do business in. You only pay per click, so costs are minimal. Also, a Facebook page or group can be created to help get the word out about your organization.

2. Distribute Information
Local businesses need to affordably communicate events, news, products and services. Facebook allows you to leverage your personal and professional contacts to share information -- for free.

One of my favorite restaurants in Santa Barbara closed last year. I learned that it re-opened because one of my Facebook friends messaged all his personal contacts to share the news that he took over as the General Manager. He earned lots of business and boosted awareness by one easy (and free) message.

3. Create Community
Social networking serves to bring people together. Your local business can brand, build, and boost business by creating a Facebook page or group so your local contacts can converse with each other. Let your community become your best sales people and free focus group. Listen to the conversations and allow raving fans to share and get in on the conversation.

4. Offer Additional Customer Service
Through Facebook, you can answer questions, receive free feedback, promote events, and provide news to be of additional service to your locally-based audience. Facebook gives your prospective and current customers an additional web option to find and connect with you.

5. Boost Sales
Local businesses have to fight harder than ever to survive in this tough economy, but your business can have a competitive edge with Facebook. Tapping free social networking tools like Facebook to build awareness, share information, educate, build community, increase connection, and enhance customer service will all work in unison to make sales.

When used with the right intention and managed regularly, Facebook can be a no-cost marketing tool to help your local businesses gain a competitive edge. Converse directly with locals, create a community of conversation -- learn, share, and connect -- all in a fun way.

Facebook has over 350 million users; I am willing to bet that your local audience is waiting.



Lorrie Thomas, MA is a The Marketing TherapistTM. She helps small businesses get BIG with web marketing. Her team of "wild web women" at Web Marketing Therapy support clients as a web marketing agency and web marketing training company. Lorrie speaks nationally and teaches Web Marketing, Social Media Marketing and Search Engine Marketing courses at UCSB and Berkeley Extension.
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