Finance

The territory of Republic of Armenia is considered as a high-risk zone of agricultural production. According to approximate calculations, damage to agriculture as a result of natural disasters in various years reaches 15-20 billion AMD (410 AMD=1$ USA), while in most disastrous year it also exceeds. Given these circumstances, we come to the conclusion that the agricultural sector is needed to establish on effective system of insurance, in addition to the process of insurance provided by the state’s direct participation in the process of implementation of agricultural insurance. In our opinion, the agricultural insurance will significantly contribute to the guaranteed production of the agricultural products, will reduce agricultural losses, will minimize the degree of risks, which will stimulate the development of this sector.

This research paper is examined to find out the relationship between customer loyalty, service quality, Bank reputation and customer satisfaction in the Pakistan banking industry. This research paper uses administrative questionnaire. The variable include in this paper are customer loyalty as dependent variable and customer satisfaction, bank reputation and service quality as independent variable. The questionnaire includes 9 items of service quality, 5 items of bank reputation, 5 items of customer satisfaction and 5 items of customer loyalty. A sample size of 50 respondents is conducted in Narowal cities, Pakistan. A regression analysis is performed to study the impact of banking service quality on customer satisfaction in Pakistan banking industry. The findings from regression analysis suggest that banking services quality significantly influenced by customer loyalty. . In addition, the results from linear regressions analysis show that the Tangible dimension has the largest influence on customer loyalty.

The study investigated the operational mechanism of key Microfinance Service Providers (MSPs) in Bangladesh and China. It seeks to understand diverse methodologies toward financial inclusion of the poor. A total six microfinance service providers were taken for critical evaluation consisting three from each country. A little variation on operational mechanism found among MSPs within the country but a greater variation has appeared between two countries. The most observable differences were- (i) outreach, (ii) service provision, (iii) collateral status, (iv) interest rate, (v) financial sustainability, and (vi) regulatory status which have direct influence on institutional sustainability. Findings of the study can help microfinance practitioners and policy makers to gain a better understanding on existing MSP and leads to further methodological improvement. Finally, the cross country comparison could bring win-win situation for both countries.

In India, Various fund houses (58 AMCs) are offering mutual fund services. All these fund houses have several mutual fund schemes in each segment like equity, debt, gilt and liquid funds. Out of which equity segment has got several schemes and most of the investors are attracted towards equity mutual fund schemes. Because of availability of wide range of equity MF schemes in each AMC, it is important to identify outperforming funds available in the market. For that, it is appropriate to consider risk and return of each fund to yield better returns before taking investment decision. Hence Present study is an attempt of identifying risk and returns of equity funds and comparing the same with benchmark returns and peers to help mutual fund investors in choosing better funds as investment avenues.

This paper presents the economic feasibility study for the implementation of Building Integrated Photovoltaic (BIPV) system in Malaysian. BIPV is a relatively new technology which is being introduced by the Malaysian government as a step to encourage the use of renewable energy in reducing the dependence on fossil fuel energy which is becoming scarce from time to time. The objective of this study is to evaluate the possibility of BIPV system to be implemented in Malaysia in terms of financial feasibility. As a result of this study, it is found that BIPV faces a stiff challenge which holds the technology to expand further. The current situations make the BIPV system is not feasible economically to be implemented in Malaysia. However, this does not limit the implementation of this technology in future. This problem can be overcome by the support of government by introducing a better policy which might be able to stimulate and create a conducive environment for BIPV to expand.

Drought in Kenya is not a new phenomenon. Drought is likely to become even more pronounced during the twenty first century due to climate variability whose impacts include unpredictable weather and seasons; increased frequency and intensity of droughts, floods and wind storms; warmer temperatures, resulting in heat stress, and sea level rise. Little is known and documented about Evaluation of drought mitigation and response strategies in Kenya. This study sought to contribute to closing this knowledge gap with a case study from Makueni County, Kenya. The County is located in the semi-arid environment, which is most often deficient in available moisture for meaningful agricultural engagements. Consequently, one of the unique features of the semi-arid Makueni County is vulnerability to drought events. The objective of this study was to evaluate the mitigation and response strategies adopted for drought Management in Makueni County, Kenya. To achieve the objectives of the study, both primary and secondary data were collected through a descriptive field survey design using focus group discussions, informal meetings, administration of household and institutional questionnaires, field observations, and a critical review of published and unpublished materials. Priority rank of use was used to identify the strategies. The findings of this study are anticipated to inform decision makers, development and Humanitarian actors in Kenya, whose interest is to mitigate, and respond to drought disasters on Kenyans lives, economy and development as a whole. Drought mitigation and timely responses not only saves lives but also saves funds, hence can be used to revamp the economy of the country to significant heights.

The study focused on the effect of liberalization of banking industry. In the past three years Kenyan banking sector has progressed towards increasing retail banking and decreasing the corporate banking. This is evident in the efforts banks are putting to attract retail customers through advertisements and sales promotions. Retail banking in Kenya in the past years had been severely underdeveloped and marginalized, since the majority of Kenyans live below the poverty line and cannot afford the luxury life. The study therefore established the effect of retail banking on the performance of financial institutions in Kenya. The general objective of the study was to determine the effect of retail banking in the performance of financial institutions. The study was guided with the following specific objectives; lending portfolio, number of customers, branch network and deposit mobilization. The study relied on both primary sources and secondary sources. The primary sources were the operation Managers, retail managers and relationship managers of the financial institutions while the secondary sources included reviewing the literature on the banking sector in Kenya and the East Africa region, previous research carried out from the same field, annual reports regarding the industry and official company manuals. The data collection methods included questionnaires and interviews. The collected data was edited and then coded. Data was analyzed using descriptive and inferential statistics with the aid of Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS) Version 22.0. Descriptive statistics included, frequencies, percentages, means and standard deviations. On the other hand, inferential statistics was in form of both Pearson’s correlation coefficient and multiple regression. Correlation facilitated drawing of infrences on relationship between each of the independent variables. Multiple regression enabled assessment of the effect of the independent variables on savings mobilization performance as a whole significance. The study findings concluded that Deposit Mobilisation, Lending Portfolio and Branch Network were found to have a significant and positive impact on financial performance; it would be wise to conclude that Deposit Mobilisation, Lending Portfolio and Branch Network were found to have a strong positive relationship. On the number of customers on financial performance, the study established that Number of Customers has an insignificant relationship with financial performance. It was recommended that commercial banks should design other innovative marketing strategies which can increase the level of low cost deposits such as use of mobile phone in collecting deposits. The Management of commercial banks should put in place strategies that focus on unbanked population since they represent a significant number of customers left out which can build trust on and sustain its performance once they are included in the financial sector. The study further recommends that in- order to enhance the performance in the whole financial sector, the same study can be carried out in micro finances.

Poor strategy execution has been blamed for strategy failure in many organizations. Strategy maps, a tool developed by Kaplan and Norton of the Balanced Scorecard Collaboration, have been hailed in both theory and practice as a robust tool in aligning strategy execution. This paper investigates strategy deployment at a firm that has not yet embraced strategy maps with the intention to demonstrate from a theoretical point of view the potential benefits of deploying the company’s strategy using strategy maps. This is achieved through a thorough study of the company’s current performance measurement system. The study identifies the operational weaknesses inherent in the current performance measurement system. In the context of the identified weaknesses, the paper projects how strategy maps can lever and align strategy execution in the attainment of the company’s mission. Keywords: Align; Balanced scorecard; Money transfer agency; Strategy execution; Strategy maps

This paper focuses attention on specific aspects of entrepreneurial decisions relating to investment, both in the total fixed investments and plant & machinery (separately). Demand and financial factors, internal and external, are considered in the investment analysis. Finally the influence of determinants of fixed investment and investment plans are examined in General Engineering industry in India.

Most NGO’s in Kenya have shifted focus to budgetary control as a way of enhancing effectiveness in their services. Recognizing the role of budget and budgetary control has gained attention which has led some organizations to establish departments for implementation. The aim of this study was to investigate the role of budgetary control on the performance of NGO’s in Mombasa County. Specifically the study looked into the following objectives: effect of budget planning on the performance of Non-Governmental Organizations; effect of budget supervision on performance of Non-Governmental Organizations; effect of participative budgeting on performance of Non-Governmental Organizations; and effect of funds availability on performance of Non-Governmental Organizations. Chapter two gives theoretical review of the study by discussing capital budgeting theory, budgetary control theory and budget forecasting theoryand a conceptual study is introduced to inform and guide the study. Literature review and empirical review are also conducted. Chapter three discusses the study research methodology where descriptive survey study research design will be used. This study examined the role of budgetary control on the performance of Non-Governmental Organizations in Mombasa County. The research target population consisted of 115 Non-Governmental Organizations. Fifty two Non-Governmental Organizations were selected using stratified random sampling technique, both local and international organizations with operations in Mombasa County. A descriptive survey (questionnaires) was used in the data collection. The statistical package for social sciences version 21.0 was used to analyze the data using descriptive statistics, including means and standard deviation. The relationship between budgetary controls and performance of the NGOs was analyzed using correlation and regression analysis. The research findings established that there is a positive effect of budgetary control on performance of Non-Governmental Organizations in Kenya measured by R square at 0.776. Thus this study recommends other studies be undertaken that take into account other factors like the employee characteristics, NGO turnover and age of the organization on performance. It also recommends that a study should be carried out that underscores the contribution of these factors on financial performance since the current study limited to non-financial performance indicators only.