Congratulation !

source: http://www.visionapexcollege.blogspot.com/

We congratulate BIRGUNJ PUBLIC COLLEGE in the ocassion of its 10th anniversary and wish for its further success.

-Ravi Shakya 'N' 

-VISION

College datails:

Birgunj Public College
Panitanki, Birgunj-10,
Parsa, Nepal
Tel: 051-532198,051-526138
Email: bpc_deepak@yahoo.com

updated notice about Class test of LOGIC !

source: http://www.visionapexcollege.blogspot.com

Class test of LOGIC will be held on coming tuesday (6 july). The marks gained in this test will be considered in internal evaluation. So get prepared guys n gals for the test (only chapter 1).

DAM -asgmt. 1 (june 24)

source: http://www.visionapexcollege.blogspot.com/

Book: Stat for mgmt.

pg. no. 652 Ex (12.1)

12.10 to 12.12

pg. no. 671 Ex (12.2)

12.2, 12.3, 12.13 to 12.20, 12.22, 12.23, 12. 29

pg. no. 685 Ex (12.3)

12.4, 12.31, 12.32

pg. no. 691 Ex (12.4)
12.6, 12.7, 12.33 to 12.40

Book: Business Statistics

pg. no. 423 Ex (12.1)
12.1 to 12.7

pg. no. 434 Ex (12.3)
12.11, 12.12, 12.14, 12.16

pg. no. 458 Ex (12.8)
12.47 to 12.52, 12.54, 12.55

pg. no. 464 Ex (12.9)
12.62 to 12.70

notice: holiday (27 june)

source: http://www.visionapexcollege.blogspot.com

Tomorrow (27 june) is holiday due
to "Bhote Jatra". So enjoy !

VISION supporting APEX team !

source: http://www.visionapexcollege.blogspot.com/

Date: 22 june
PHOTOS of VISION supporting APEX team in inter-college Cricket tournament in kirtipur !
(Player representing VISION: Pravesh Dhungana and Kiran Shrestha.)

Logic asmt (june 23)

source: http://www.visionapexcollege.blogspot.com/

pg. no. 38
EX: from 2 to 10.
(Previous asmt.: pg. no. 9, EX: 1-20)    

Research asgmt. 1 (20 june, 2010)

source: http://www.visionapexcollege.blogspot.com

Q: Search/Collect 12-15 articles regarding the topic 'EMPLOYEES COMMITMENT' and submit 1 printed article among them by wednesday (23 june).

Help/hints:
-go to google.com and type 'journal of management' .
-If you have 'ADOBE READER' (if not, download adobe reader ) , then click here and search.

SAMPLE:

Employee Commitment

In his book Authentic Leadership, former Medtronic CEO Bill George makes an obvious point that business leaders rarely say out loud: “Missions motivate, dollars don’t.”

What he means is that purpose is what drives employee commitment, not the financial rewards that come to others. Workers don’t get up in the morning and say, “Gee, I can hardly wait to get to work today to maximize shareholder profits.” Even when employees are shareholders who can benefit from improved financials, what draws people to their chosen careers is the work itself and its purpose in the world, more than the profit possibilities.

Mr. George goes on to say, “I find there is universal agreement (among middle managers) that you cannot inspire employees by urging them to help management get the company’s stock price up.”

There is, in fact, quite a bit of literature on this subject. In Awakening Corporate Soul, authors Eric Klein and John Izzo say that employee commitment requires knowing “the purpose of our work; it means recognizing the purpose our organization fulfills that goes beyond the bottom line; and it means articulating to others how their (workers’) efforts contribute to a larger purpose.”

In Built to Last, Jim Collins and James Porras spend an entire book explaining their five year research study of major companies that led to this conclusion about employee commitment: Purpose within a company is what sustains it; profit is important, but when it’s the prime directive, companies falter.

Despite the evidence, and how well this idea resonates with just plain common sense, the idea that employees want meaning in the work they do isn’t a topic that businesses seem to be keying on. Employee satisfaction is generally viewed as the employee’s feelings about their salary, working climate, and the training opportunities offered to employees for their own professional growth. But fulfillment? That’s not up for discussion.

Why We Don’t

There’s a reason for that: Corporate management likes measurable objectives. “If you can’t measure it, you can’t manage it!” We’ve all heard that.

So far, we don’t have the math to calculate “fulfillment” or “sense of purpose.” Unlike the many ways the General Accounting Office has given us to calculate financial success, there is no Federal Accounting Job Satisfaction Board to define how we would even approach the problem.
Since there are no generally accepted metrics for “employee commitment,” it’s unlikely employee commitment objectives will end up as goals on the company’s operating plan.

The “Soft” Side

This is one of many aspects of management now called “soft” because they’re not quantifiable in hard dollars in any traditional way, nor are they supportable by hard facts. Employee commitment to a job’s purpose is certainly one of those “soft” management characteristics. You can’t take “sense of purpose” to the bank and deposit it like you can revenue.

Whether one’s commitment level to the job translates in some way into a hard dollar return is something that hasn’t been explicitly addressed yet. But it’s hard to imagine that it wouldn’t. Disenfranchised, suspicious, discontented employees who resent the time they spend at the “salt mines” can’t be as productive and conscientious as those who love what they do and respect why they do it.

Employees Align with Purpose
Studs Terkel’s 1972 masterpiece, Working, a collection of narratives as told to Terkel from workers all across America, recounts this same timeless point over and over: That work, when it’s satisfying, is about purpose, that success is based in what we do, not how much money comes from it.

In one section, Terkel quotes a young editor who says, “You throw yourself into things because you feel that the important questions – self-discipline, goals, a meaning of your life – are carried out in your work.”

Others he talked to echo the same sentiment. The pharmacist says, “I never cared about being rich … I like to feel needed.” The piano tuner says “Why are we tuners? Because we like to hear good sounds.” The factory owner says, “I like making things. I love my work. It isn’t the money.”

Work, then, is about work. Employees want to engage in the meaning and the contribution of the products and services that are the fruits of their company’s labor. If we make it mostly about the money, we’re missing the point.

Pshycology asgmt. 1 (june 17,'010)

source: http://www.visionapexcollege.blogspot.com

Q: What are the methods on pshycology ?
     Explain.

    (Submition date: Tuesday, 22 june, '010)

hints: - Focus on experimental, observational,
            correlation, case study methods.
          - write/type minimum 2 pages. (upto 4 pages)
          - concern books on library (on sunday's pshycology period),
            internet, handsout etc.

SAMPLE: (below's asgnmt. is done and submitted by Amish, do not copy it !)

Introduction


Scientific discipline that studies mental processes and behaviour in humans and other animals.

Psychology is the science of individual or group behaviour. The word psychology literally means “study of the mind”; the issue of the relationship of mind and body is pervasive in psychology, owing to its derivation from the fields of philosophy and physiology. Psychology is intimately related to the biological and social sciences.

The broad reach of psychology sometimes gives it the appearance of disunity and promotes the lack of a universally accepted theoretical structure. Some of the divisions within psychology are applied fields, while others are more experimental in nature. The various applied fields include clinical; counseling; industrial, engineering, or personnel; consumer; and environmental. The most important of these specialties, clinical psychology, is concerned with the diagnosis and treatment of mental disorders. Industrial psychology is used in employee selection and related contexts in business and industry. The broad field known as experimental psychology includes specializations in child, educational, social, developmental, physiological, and comparative psychology. Of these, child psychology applies psychological theory and research methods to children; educational psychology is concerned with learning processes and problems associated with the teaching of students; social psychology is concerned with group dynamics and other aspects of human behaviour in its social and cultural setting; and comparative psychology deals with behaviour as it differs from one species of animal to another. The issues studied by psychologists cover a wide spectrum, comprising learning, cognition, intelligence, motivation, emotion, perception, personality, mental disorders, and the study of the extent to which individual differences are inherited or are shaped environmentally, known as behaviour genetics.

Methods of studying psychological phenomena and processes

Experimental work using humans as subjects involves legal and ethical limitations. Therefore, a significant amount of research is done with animals, with the hope of transferring the knowledge gained concerning psychophysiological or behavioral functioning to humans.

The methods used in human research include observation (sometimes in nonlaboratory settings), interviews, psychological testing (also called psychometrics), laboratory experimentation, and statistical analysis. Psychometrics has in fact become a field in its own right, with psychometrists devising new tools for data collection, analysis, and new designs for experimental research.

Experimental psychology

The experimental method in psychology attempts to account for the activities of animals (including humans) and the functional organization of mental processes by manipulating variables that may give rise to behaviour; it is primarily concerned with discovering laws that describe manipulable relationships. The term generally connotes all areas of psychology that use the experimental method.

These areas include the study of sensation and perception, learning and memory, motivation, and biological psychology. There are experimental branches in many other areas, however, including child psychology, clinical psychology, educational psychology, and social psychology.

Experimental psychological research is conducted in a laboratory under controlled conditions. This method of research relies on the application of the scientific method to understand behavior. Experimenters use several types of measurements, including rate of response, reaction time, and various psychometric measurements. Experiments are designed to test specific hypotheses (deductive approach) or evaluate functional relationships (inductive approach). A true experiment with random allocation of subjects to conditions allows researchers to infer causal relationships between different aspects of behavior and the environment. In an experiment, one or more variables of interest are controlled by the experimenter (independent variable) and another variable is measured in response to different conditions (dependent variable). Experiments are one of the primary research methods in many areas of psychology, particularly cognitive/psychonomics, mathematical psychology, psychophysiology and biological psychology/cognitive neuroscience.

Experiments on humans have been put under some controls, namely informed and voluntary consent. After World War II, the Nuremberg Code was established, because of Nazi abuses of experimental subjects. Later, most countries (and scientific journals) adopted the Declaration of Helsinki. In the US, the National Institutes of Health established the Institutional Review Board in 1966, and in 1974 adopted the National Research Act (HR 7724). All of these measures encouraged researchers to obtain informed consent from human participants in experimental studies. A number of influential studies led to the establishment of this rule; such studies included the MIT and Fernald School radioisotope studies, the Thalidomide tragedy, the Willowbrook hepatitis study, and Stanley Milgram's studies of obedience to authority.

Research methods

Laboratory experiments, often using volunteer students as subjects, omit many features of daily social life. Such experiments also have been criticized as being subject to bias, since the experimenters themselves may influence the results. Research workers who are concerned more with realistic settings than with rigour tend to leave the laboratory to perform field studies, as do those who come from sociological traditions. Field research, however, also can be experimental, and the effectiveness of each approach may be enhanced by the use of the methods of the other.

Many colleges and universities have a social-psychology laboratory equipped with observation rooms permitting one-way vision of subjects. Sound and video recorders and other devices record ongoing social interaction; computing equipment and other paraphernalia may be employed for specific studies.

Social behaviour is understood to be the product of innate biological factors resulting from evolution and of cultural factors that have emerged in the course of history. Early writers (e.g., William McDougall, a psychologist) emphasized instinctive roots of social behaviour. Later research and writing that tended to stress learning theory emphasized the influence of environmental factors in social behaviour. In the 1960s and '70s field studies of nonhuman primates (such as baboons) drew attention to a number of similarities to human social behaviour, while research in cultural anthropology has shown that many features of human social behaviour are the same regardless of the culture studied. It is coming to be a widely accepted view that human social behaviour seems to have a biological basis and to reflect the operation of evolution as in the case of patterns of emotional expression and other nonverbal communication, the structure of language, and aspects of group behaviour.

Much research has been done on socialization (the process of learning from a culture), and learning has been found to interact with innate factors. An innate capacity for language, for example, makes it possible to learn a local language. Culture consists of patterns of behaviour and ways of organizing experience; it develops over the course of history as leaders and innovators introduce new elements, only some of which are retained. Many aspects of social behaviour can be partly accounted for in terms of their history.

Qualitative and descriptive research
Research designed to answer questions about the current state of affairs such as the thoughts, feelings and behaviors of individuals is known as descriptive research. Qualitative research is descriptive research that is focused on observing and describing events as they occur, with the goal of capturing all of the richness of everyday behavior and with the hope of discovering and understanding phenomena that might have been missed if only more cursory examinations have been made.

Qualitative psychological research methods include interviews, first-hand observation, and participant observation. Qualitative researchers sometimes aim to enrich interpretations or critiques of symbols, subjective experiences, or social structures. Similar hermeneutic and critical aims have also been served by "quantitative methods", as in Erich Fromm's study of Nazi voting or Stanley Milgram's studies of obedience to authority.

Quantitative psychological research
This lends itself to the statistical testing of hypotheses. Quantitatively oriented research designs include the experiment, quasi-experiment, cross-sectional study, case-control study, and longitudinal study. The measurement and operationalization of important constructs is an essential part of these research designs. Statistical methods include the Pearson product-moment correlation coefficient, the analysis of variance, multiple linear regression, logistic regression, structural equation modeling, and hierarchical linear modeling.

Statistical surveys are used in psychology for measuring attitudes and traits, monitoring changes in mood, checking the validity of experimental manipulations, and for a wide variety of other psychological topics. Most commonly, psychologists use paper-and-pencil surveys. However, surveys are also conducted over the phone or through e-mail. Increasingly, web-based surveys are being used in research. Similar methodology is also used in applied setting, such as clinical assessment and personnel assessment.

Computational modeling
Computational modeling is a tool often used in mathematical psychology and cognitive psychology to simulate a particular behavior using a computer. This method has several advantages. Since modern computers process extremely quickly, many simulations can be run in a short time, allowing for a great deal of statistical power. Modeling also allows psychologists to visualize hypotheses about the functional organization of mental events that couldn't be directly observed in a human.

Several different types of modeling are used to study behavior. Connectionism uses neural networks to simulate the brain. Another method is symbolic modeling, which represents many different mental objects using variables and rules. Other types of modeling include dynamic systems and stochastic modeling.

Vision at blood donation !

source: http://www.visionapexcollege.blogspot.com/

 

  

  

FIFA World Cup 2010 Nepali time schedule

source: http://visionapexcollege.blogspot.com

Group Stage

1 Fri, 11-Jun-10, 19:45, South Africa Vs Mexico, Johannesburg - JSC

2 Fri, 11-Jun-10, 0:15, Uruguay Vs France, Cape Town

3 Sat, 12-Jun-10, 19:45, Argentina Vs Nigeria, Johannesburg - JEP

4 Sat, 12-Jun-10, 17:15, KoreaRepublic Vs Greece, Nelson Mandela Bay

5 Sat, 12-Jun-10, 0:15, England Vs USA Rustenburg,

6 Sun, 13-Jun-10, 17:15, Algeria Vs Slovenia, Polokwane

7 Sun, 13-Jun-10, 0:15, Germany Vs Australia, Durban

8 Sun, 13-Jun-10, 19:45, Serbia Vs Ghana, Tshwane/Pretoria

9 Mon, 14-Jun-10, 17:15, Netherlands Vs Denmark, Johannesburg - JSC

10 Mon, 14-Jun-10, 19:45, Japan Vs Cameroon , Mangaung

11 Mon, 14-Jun-10, 0:15, Italy Vs Paraguay , Cape Town

12 Tue ,15-Jun-10, 17:15, New Zealand Vs Slovakia, Rustenburg

13 Tue, 15-Jun-10, 19:15, Côte d'Ivoire Vs Portugal, Nelson Mandela Bay

14 Tue, 15-Jun-10, 0:15, Brazil Vs Korea DPR, Johannesburg - JEP

15 Wed ,16-Jun-10, 17:15, Honduras, Vs Chile, Nelspruit

16 Wed, 16-Jun-10, 19:45, Spain Vs Switzerland, Durban

17 Wed ,16-Jun-10 ,0:15, South Africa Vs Uruguay , Tshwane/Pretoria

18 Thu, 17-Jun-10, 0:15, France Vs Mexico, Polokwane

19 Thu, 17-Jun-10, 19:45, Greece Vs Nigeria, Mangaung 0 Thu,
20 Thu, 17-Jun-10, 17:15, Argentina Vs KoreaRep., Johannesburg - JSC

21 Fri, 18-Jun-10, 17:15, Germany Vs Serbia, Nelson Mandela Bay

22 Fri, 18-Jun-10, 19:45, Slovenia Vs USA, Johannesburg - JEP

23 Fri, 18-Jun-10, 0:15, England Vs Algeria , Cape Town

24 Sat, 19-Jun-10, 19:45, Ghana Vs Australia, Rustenburg

25 Sat, 19-Jun-10, 17:15, Netherlands Vs Japan, Durban

26 Sat, 19-Jun-10, 0:15, Cameroon Vs Denmark, Tshwane/Pretoria

27 Sun, 20-Jun-10, 17:15, Slovakia Vs Paraguay, Mangaung

28 Sun ,20-Jun-10, 19:45 ,Italy Vs New Zealand , Nelspruit

29 Sun ,20-Jun-10, 0:15, Brazil Vs Côte d'Ivoire , Johannesburg - JSC

30 Mon ,21-Jun-10, 17:15, Portugal Vs Korea DPR, Cape Town

31 Mon, 21-Jun-10, 19:45, Chile Vs Switzerland, Nelson Mandela Bay

32 Mon ,21-Jun-10, 0:15, Spain Vs Honduras, Johannesburg - JEP

33 Tue ,22-Jun-10, 19:45, Mexico Vs Uruguay, Rustenburg

34 Tue ,22-Jun-10, 19:45, France Vs South Africa , Mangaung

35 Tue ,22-Jun-10, 0:15, Nigeria Vs Korea Rep. , Durban

36 Tue ,22-Jun-10, 0:15 ,Greece Vs Argentina , Polokwane

37 Wed ,23-Jun-10, 19:45 ,Slovenia Vs England , Nelson Mandela Bay

38 Wed, 23-Jun-10, 19:45 USA Vs Algeria, Tshwane/Pretoria

39 Wed ,23-Jun-10, 0:15, Ghana Vs Germany , Johannesburg - JSC

40 Wed 23-Jun-10 0:15 Australia Vs Serbia Nelspruit

41 Thu 24-Jun-10 19:45 Slovakia Vs Italy Johannesburg - JEP

42 Thu 24-Jun-10 19:45 Paraguay Vs New Zealand Polokwane

43 Thu 24-Jun-10 0:15 Denmark Vs Japan Rustenburg

44 Thu 24-Jun-10 0:15 Cameroon Vs Netherlands Cape Town

45 Fri 25-Jun-10 19:45 Portugal Vs Brazil Durban

46 Fri 25-Jun-10 19:45 Korea DPR Vs Côte d'Ivoire Nelspruit

47 Fri 25-Jun-10 0:15 Chile Vs Spain Tshwane/Pretoria

48 Fri 25-Jun-10 0:15 Switzerland Vs Honduras Mangaung

Round of 16

49 Sat 26-Jun-10 19:45 1A Vs 2B Nelson Mandela Bay

50 Sat 26-Jun-10 0:15 1C Vs 2D Rustenburg

51 Sun 27-Jun-10 19:45 1D Vs 2C Mangaung / Bloemfontein

52 Sun 27-Jun-10 0:15 1B Vs 2A Johannesburg

53 Mon 28-Jun-10 19:45 1E Vs 2F Durban

54 Mon 28-Jun-10 0:15 1G Vs 2H Johannesburg

55 Tue 29-Jun-10 19:45 1F Vs 2E Tshwane/Pretoria

56 Tue 29-Jun-10 0:15 1H Vs 2G Cape Town

Quarterfinals

57. Fri 2-Jul-10 19:45 W53 Vs W54 Nelson Mandela Bay

58. Fri 2-Jul-10 0:15 W49 Vs W50 Johannesburg

59. Sat 3-Jul-10 19:45 W52 Vs W51 Cape Town

60. Sat 3-Jul-10 0:15 W55 Vs W56 Johannesburg

Semi-Finals

61. Tue 6-Jul-10 0:15 W58 Vs W57 Cape Town

62. Wed 7-Jul-10 0:15 W59 Vs W60 Durban

Third-Place Play-Off

63. Sat 10-Jul-10 0:15 L61 Vs L62 Nelson Mandela Bay

Final

64. Sun 11-Jul-10 0:15 W61 Vs W62 Johannesburg

finance assignment (10 june, 2010)

source: http://www.visionapexcollege.blogspot.com

Q. Collect and write about 'risk and return in finance' and submit by 11 june.
help: google, book: brigham et. all etc

EXAMPLE:
(The assignment done by Amish is given below as a sample, do not copy it.)

Risk and Return:

What does that mean, exactly? It starts with the idea that all securities have an inherent level of risk. Next, all securities have an expected return, based on several scenarios. Finally, using statistical measures, one must weigh the risk against the return and find the asset that has the best return per unit of risk assumed.

Risk
There are many different forms of risk in the market place. These factors come in all shapes and sizes, and sometimes surprise many people. They don't pop out of nowhere, but are sometimes difficult to see.

For example, business risk is the risk inherent in a firm's business operations. A firm may operate in a niche market that relies on the economy to be running along smoothly. This could be a luxury niche or something of that nature. One example could be a high priced restaurant.

During good times, they have great revenues because people feel they are wealthy enough to celebrate. However, during economic hardship, trips to fancy restaurants are usually the first to go. It would be said that this firm's business risk is positively correlated with the overall cycle of the economy. Sometimes a firm can be negatively correlated, such as cheap substitute products. When times are hard, people usually avoid buying expensive name brand items. That is when store brand or no name brands become more attractive.

Business risk can be eliminated by investing in many different firms in different fields. It is diversifiable. This is why the phrase "diversify your portfolio" is such a hot button. It is rooted in real, financial logic.

Return
Return is the percent amount of money that you get back for every unit you invest. If you invest $100 and get back $105, you would have a 5% return. This is a pretty simple concept, but predicting return can get pretty tricky.

Let's say you expect an asset to appreciate 15% in the next year. You have 60% confidence that this will happen. However, if there is a recession it will only appreciate 1%, and if there is an economic boom it will appreciate 20%. There is a 20% chance of either an economic boom or a recession over the next year.

These numbers and probabilities may not seem entirely believable, but try for the sake of argument. To compute an expected return for this security, all you have to do is multiply each expected return by the probability of that state of nature.

The equation would look like this: (15%)(.6) + (1%)(.2) + (20%)(.2) = 13.2%

This is the expected return for this security. Although it will never be exactly 13.2%, given this model, this is what is used when calculating a risk adjusted return. It is most probable that the return will be 15% or greater, but there is a 20% chance that it could be 1%. Therefore, 13.2% is the best number to use when calculating an expectation.

Deciding which asset to buy
The next step is deciding which asset to buy. This usually involves some statistical measures, which I won't get into here. Terms like standard deviation, correlation and covariance are usually used when describing portfolio management. All of these terms have to do with the basic idea that you need more expected return per additional unit of risk. If you can grasp that basic concept, then you are well on your way to getting a better understanding of finance.

When he's not playing racquetball or studying for a class, Clayton Reeves enjoys writing articles about entrepreneurship. He is currently an MBA student at the University of Missouri with a concentration in Economics and Finance.

Systematic and unsystematic risks
Investments have two components that create risk. Risks specific to aparticular type of investment, company, or business are known asunsystematic risks. Unsystematic risks can be managed throughportfolio diversification, which consists of making investments in a variety of companies and industries. Diversification reduces unsystematic risks because the prices of individual securities do not move exactly together. Increases in value and decreases in value of different securities tend to cancel one another out, reducing volatility. Because unsystematic risk can be eliminated by use of a diversified portfolio, investors are not compensated for this risk.

Systematic risks, also known as market risk, exist because there are systemic risks within the economy that affect all businesses. These risks cause stocks to tend to move together, which is why investors are exposed to them no matter how many different companies they own.

Investors who are unwilling to accept systematic risks have two options. First, they can opt for a risk-free investment, but they will receive a lower level of return. Higher returns are available to investors who are willing to assume systematic risk. However, they must ensure that they are being adequately compensated for this risk. The Capital Asset Pricing Model theory formalizes this by stating that companies desire their projects to have rates of return that exceed the risk-free rate to compensate them for systematic risks and that companies desire larger returns when systematic risks are greater.

The other alternative is to hedge against systematic risk by paying another entity to assume that risk. A perfect hedge can reduce risk to nothing except for the costs of the hedge.

Modern portfolio theory (MPT)

Modern portfolio theory (MPT) is a theory of investment which tries to maximize return and minimize risk by carefully choosing different assets. Although MPT is widely used in practice in the financial industry and several of its creators won a Nobel prize for the theory, in recent years the basic assumptions of MPT have been widely challenged by fields such as behavioral economics.

MPT is a mathematical formulation of the concept of diversification in investing, with the aim of selecting a collection of investment assets that has collectively lower risk than any individual asset. This is possible, in theory, because different types of assets often change in value in opposite ways. For example, when the prices in the stock market fall, the prices in the bond market often increase, and vice versa. A collection of both types of assets can therefore have lower overall risk than either individually.

More technically, MPT models an asset's return as a normally distributed random variable, defines risk as the standard deviation of return, and models a portfolio as a weighted combination of assets so that the return of a portfolio is the weighted combination of the assets' returns. By combining different assets whose returns are not correlated, MPT seeks to reduce the total variance of the portfolio. MPT also assumes that investors are rational and markets are efficient.

MPT was developed in the 1950s through the early 1970s and was considered an important advance in the mathematical modeling of finance. Since then, much theoretical and practical criticism has been leveled against it. These include the fact that financial returns do not follow a Gaussian distribution and that correlations between asset classes are not fixed but can vary depending on external events (especially in crises). Further, there is growing evidence that investors are not rational and markets are not efficient.

Balancing Risk and Return
1.Appreciate the crucial relationship between risk and return and the way this affects all business finance decisions.

2.Understand the issues involved in short-term capital management and methods that managers can use to increase the rate of return on capital.

3.Understand the issues involved in long-term capital management and financial tool like net present value and breakeven analysis that help managers decide where to invest.

4.Describe four different methods companies can use to finance capital investments.

5.Differentiate the roles of debt and equity securities in financial decision making.

Four Ways to Use Capital
•Borrowing
•Lending
•Spending
•Investing

Temporal Class Routine !

source: http://www.visionapexcollege.blogspot.com

Click on the pic to enlarge it !

Notice !

source: http://www.visionapexcollege.blogspot.com


Our 4th sem's class is going to begin from 8 june, 2010 at our regular time 6:30am.

4th Semester Syllabus !

source: http://www.visionapexcollege.blogspot.com

1. Research Methodology

2. Psychology

3. Fundamentals of Logic

4. Finance I

5. Data Analysis and Modeling

Research Methodology

source: http://www.visionapexcollege.blogspot.com

RCH 101.3 (Credit hours 3)
BBA, Second Year, Fourth Semester

Course Objectives
This course aims to familiarized students with the basic concepts of research methodology as used in business administration with a view to develop their capability to conduct small research projects and write effective research reports.

1.Research in Business 5 hours
Research in business administration, Applying scientific thinking to business administration problems, The research process, Role of research in business administration, Nature of business research, Ethics in business research.

2.Review of Literature 6 hours
Concept and need for review of literature, Steps in review of literature, Organizing library findings, Evaluating the literature, Recording references, Developing a theoretical framework.

3.Sampling 4 hours
Concept of sample and sampling, Sampling process and problems, Types of samples: probability and non probability sampling, Determination of the sample size, Sampling and non-sampling errors.

4.Measurement and Scaling 5 hours
Variable and its types, Nature of measurement, Reliability and validity, Nature of scaling, Response methods, Scale construction

5.Research Designs 6 hours
Descriptive (historical, exploratory, case study and developmental), Comparative (correlational and causal-comparative), Experimental, and Qualitative research designs

6.Problem and Hypothesis Formulation 6 hours
Concept of a problem, Steps in problem formulation, Research questions, Characteristics of a well formulated problem, Concept and formulation of hypothesis.

7.The Research Proposal 2 hours
Topic selection, criteria of topic selection, purpose of research proposal, contents of research proposal.

8.Data Collection Instruments 6 hours
Methods of collecting primary data, Questionnaire designing, Research interview, Exploration and use of secondary data, Coding, editing, and tabulating.

9.Data Analysis 4 hours
Presenting data in tables, graphs and diagrams, Use of descriptive and inferential statistical techniques in data analysis and interpretation of results, Concept and importance of qualitative data analysis

10.Research Report Writing 4 hours
Concept and purposes of report writing and presentation, Types of reports, Components and layout of various types of reports, Essentials of a good report.

Text Books:
1.Donald Cooper and Pamela Schindler, Business Research Methods (Sixth edition), TataMcGraw-Hill.
2.Howard K. Wolff and Prem R. Pant, Social Science Research and Thesis Writing, Buddha Academic Publishers and Distributors.

Psychology

source: http://www.visionapexcollege.blogspot.com

PSY 101.3 (Credit hours 3)
BBA, Second Year, Fourth Semester

Course Objectives:
The course aims to provide students with the knowledge of psychology, the basis of human behavior and the different psychological process.

Course Contents:
Module I
1.Definition of psychology as a behavioral Science 5 hours
Definition and Meaning: Meaning of Behavior, S-R and S-O-R Paradigms; Overt vs. Covert Behavior; Psychology as Empirical Science; Methods of studying Psychology; Scope of Psychology; Contribution of Psychology in different fields

2.Biological Bases of Behavior 5 hours
Human Body: Neuron as the Basic Unit of the Nervous System and functions Neuron, Division of Nervous System –Central and Peripheral, Sympathetic Systems and their functions

3.Learning and memory 6 hours
Learning: meaning types of learning, classical conditioning, trial and error, operant conditioning, insightful learning: reinforcement and learning, schedules of reinforcement, incentives and feedback, transfer of learning. Memory :meaning, memorization process, types of memory, meaning of forgetting, types and its causes

4.Emotions and Motivation 6 hours
Emotions: meaning, nature, types; development and differentiation of emotions: meaning, concept of motives, types of motives and hierarchy of motives, conflict of motives, frustration, stress and coping of emotions as motives

5.Sensation, Attention, and Perception 10 hours
Sensation as a raw material for experience, Various types of senses: visual, auditory, olfactory, kinesthetic, vestibular and other senses. Attention: meaning factors of attention, types of attention, span, fluctuation and division of attention, distraction. Perception: meaning laws of perception and perceptual grouping. Errors in perception: illusions, hallucinations and delusions

6.Thinking and Problem Solving 6 hours
Thinking: meaning, types of thinking, convergent and divergent thinking. Process of concept formation: abstraction, generalization and discrimination. Meaning of problem solving, step of problem solving and set in problem solving

7.Intelligence 5 hours
Concept, Types of intelligence: general and specific, intelligent quotient (IQ). Measurement of intelligence: major tests of intelligence (Benet –Simon Test)

8.Personality 5 hours
Concept and nature. Personality and culture relationships. Factors influencing personality development. Assessing personality: self-report test, situational and projective tests (Rorschach Ink- Blot Test and TAT)

Text Book
1.Mangal, S.K: General Psychology, Sterling Publishers Pvt. Ltd

Reference Books
1.Morgan, C. and J.W.King: Introduction to Psychology, Tata McGraw-Hill.
2.Hilgard, Atkinson and Atkinson: Introduction to Psychology, Oxford and IBH, India.

Fundamentals of Logic

source: http://www.visionapexcollege.blogspot.com

LOG 101.3 (Credit hours 3)
BBA, Second Year, Fourth Semester

Course Objectives:
This course aims to develop the ability of critical reasoning of students so that they gain the skill to argue well and detect good and bad arguments.

Course Contents:
1.Basic Logical Concepts and language Functions 5 hours
Meaning of logic, Propositions, Premises and arguments, Complex arguments, Arguments identification: conclusion and premise indicators, contextual arguments, unstated propositions, Deduction and induction, Validity and Truth, Arguments and explanations

2.Analysis of Arguments 4 hours
Arguments diagrams, Passage analysis of complex argumentative passages, Problem solving .Problem in reasoning, Retrograde reasoning

3.Languages Functions 3 hours
Basic functions of language, Discourse: forms of discourse, Emotive and cognitive meaning, Agreement and disagreement

4.Definitions and Fallacies 4 hours
Kinds of definitions and disputes and their resolutions, Denotations and connotations, Concept and types of fallacies, Relevance, presumption and ambiguity

5.Deduction 16 hours
Theory of deduction, Categorical propositions and classes, Square of opposition, Categorical syllogism, Nature of syllogistic arguments, Syllogisms testing with Venn- diagram, Syllogistic rules and fallacies, Syllogistic arguments in ordinary language, Symbols logic, Symbols for conjunction, negation, disjunction and punctuation, Statement forms, Material equivalence, Methods of deduction: Proving validity and invalidity using quantification theory

6.Induction 8 hours
Argument by analogy, Appraising analogical argument, Refutation, Casual connections, Cause and effect, The Mill’s method, Method of difference, Method of residues, Method of concomitant variation

7.Science and Hypothesis 8 hours
The values of science, Scientific and unscientific explanation, Evaluation of scientific explanations, Scientific investigation stages, Pattern of scientific investigation, Experiments and ad hoc hypothesis


Text Books:
1.Irving M. Copi and Carl Cohen (11th ed.): Introduction to Logic, Pearson Education.

Reference Books:
1.Patrick J. Hurley: A Consise Introduction to Logic, Wadsworth Thomson Learning

Finance I

source: http://www.visionapexcollege.blogspot.com
FIN 101 (Credit hours 3)
BBA, Second Year, Fourth Semester

Course Objectives:
The two core courses on Finance, Finance I and Finance II, aim to provide students with basic understanding f important concepts in finance and investments, For students choosing to specialize in finance, the two core courses give them solid foundation. For students choosing to concentrate on other areas of management, the two core courses equip them adequately to understand financial decisions and communicate effectively with finance managers or finance professionals.

Course Contents:
1.Earnings and Cash Flow Analysis 3 hours
Inadequacy of accounting numbers; Emphasis on Free Cash Flow; Interpretation of Financial Ratios.

2.Liquidity and Working Capital Management 3 hours
Working capital and its components; Cash conversion cycle; Managing cash, inventories, and receivables.

3.Concepts of Return and Time value of Money 9 hours
Compound interest, compounding frequency and their implication on future values of an investment; Periodic interest rate and effective annual interest rate; Discounting and present values of cash flows; Valuation of level and growth perpetuities, annuities; Nominal return, inflation, and real return; Nominal and real interest rate! discount rate.

4.Introduction to Concept of Risk 9 hours
Concept of Expected Value, Variance, Standard Deviation, and Covariance of Returns; Limitation of Variance as a measure of risk; Normal distribution and adequacy of expected return and variance.
Concept of diversification; Use and limitations of diversification in risk reduction; Market versus unique risk; Assets versus risk.
Capital Asset Pricing Model (CAPM) and beta as a measure of asset risk.

5.Valuation of Default Risk Free Bond 6 hours
Price and yield relationship of a bond; Price risk of a default risk free bond; Coupon rate and price risk; maturity and price risk.

6.Valuation of Common Stock 6 hours
Book value, Liquidation value, Replacement Cost Value, Dividend Discount Model of stock valuation. Growth stocks and income stocks; Earning per share and P/E multiple; growth, reinvestment, ROE and stock Price; Market Efficiency and Stock Price Behavior

7.Capital Investment Decisions 6 hours
Superiority of Net Present Value (NPV) over pay back period, accounting rate of return, internal rate of return (IRR). Discounted payback period, and profitability index.
Estimating cash flows: sunk cost, opportunity cost, cannibalization, sales creation and the concept of incremental cash flows
Capital Replacement Decision; Optimal Timing of Investment; Comparing investment with different lives; Capital Rationing Problem. Sensitivity and Scenario analysis;

8.Capital Structure and Theories of Capital Structure 6 hours
Modigliani and Miller’s (MM) irrelevance proposition of Capital Structure: Static Tradeoff Theory of Capital
Structure; Pecking Order Theory; Impact of debt on incentive and agency problems. Cost of Capital and Weighted Average Cost of Capital.

Text Book:
1.Brealey,R.A., Myers S.C.. Marcus A.J.: Fundamentals of Corporate Finance, McGraw Hill International edition.

Reference Books
1.Brigham, E.F., Gapenski, L. C., and Ehourhardt: Financial Management: Theory and Practice, Harcourt College Publication, 9th edition.
2.Van Horne, J.C., and Wachowicz, JR.: Fundamentals of Financial Management, Prentice- Hall India Ltd.

Data Analysis and Modeling

source: http://www.visionapexcollege.blogspot.com

STT 102.3 (Credit hours 3)
BBA, Second Year, Fourth Semester

Course Objectives:
This course aims to acquaint with major statistical and quantitative tools used in modeling and analysis
of business decision involving alternative choices.

Course Contents:

1.Relationships 7 hours
Scatterplot, least square regression - assumptions, statistical model, correlation - statistical model and inference, the question of causation, prediction and confidence intervals for estimating regression parameters

2.Multiple Regressions 8 hours
multiple regression analysis, selection of predictor variables, multi-colinearity, standard error of estimate, prediction and confidence intervals, model building, curvilinear models, qualitative variables, stepwise regression, residual analysis.

3.Time Series Analysis 5 hours
Index number, decomposition of a time series

4.Forecasting 6 hours
Choosing the appropriate forecasting technique, moving average, exponential smoothing, forecasting using time series model

5.Linear Programming 15 hours
Problem formulation, graphical solution, special cases, some standard LP models with application in business, sensitivity analysis and duality

6.Network Models 7 hours
Transporation and assignment problems, PERT and CPM.


Text Books
1.Mark L. Berenson, David M. Levine and Timothy K.Krehbiel: Basic Business Statistics (Ninth edition), Pearson
2.G D Eppen, F J Gould and CP Schmidt: Introductory Management Science, Prentice- Hall

Reference Books
1. Levin, Richard I., David S. Rubin, Joel P. Stinson and Everest S. Gardner (Jr): Quantitative Approaches to Management, McGraw-Hill.
2. Siegel, Andrew F.: Practical Business Statistics, Irwin.
3. Taha, Hamady, A.: Operations Research. An Introduction, McMillan.