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Mutual Fund Portfolio Creation Using Industry Concentration
- - Mohit Gupta and Navdeep Aggarwal
Mutual funds are innovative and provide value-addition in personal finance. Problems occur when
a choice has to be made from the large number of mutual funds. Much of the research effort has
been concentrated on studying the mutual fund selection on the basis of performance and
persistence. There is very little research on the construction of mutual fund portfolio. The present study
seeks to fill this gap. The study uses the cluster method, taking industry concentration as a variable
to construct the portfolio. The performance of two types of portfolios has been compared with
selected benchmarks, selected according to the prevalent modes of mutual fund purchase. Results are
found to be encouraging, as far as risk mitigation is concerned. This study is also expected to help in
the construction of funds.
© 2009 IUP. All Rights Reserved.
Malmquist Indices of Productivity Change in Indian General Insurance Sector
- - Mahesh Chand Garg and Deepti
The current study examines the Total Factor Productivity (TFP) of 12 general insurers in India
through the Malmquist Total Factor Productivity Index, using the output maximization model. The
Malmquist Index measures the productive change and decomposes the TFP into two components,
namely efficiency change and technical change. The efficiency change is further decomposed into pure
technical efficiency and scale efficiency index. Analysis of TFP reveal that United Insurance is the only
company that exhibited a decline in productivity growth. Average Factor Productivity (AFP) scores reveal
that both public and private insurers reported a growth in productivity, though private insurers seem
to be more productive.
© 2009 IUP. All Rights Reserved.
Small-Scale Industries of Punjab: An Overview
- - Raj Kumar Gautam and Raghbir Singh
The aim of the paper is to study the performance of the small-scale sector of Punjab.
Small-Scale Industries (SSIs) are significantly contributing to the economy of Punjab. In the liberalized era,
the SSI sector is facing stiff competition from domestic as well as foreign companies. The paper
outlines the year-wise growth trends in SSIs in terms of the number of units, employment generation,
fixed investment, production and exports. The paper also shows a comparison of the SSI sector with
the total industrial sector of Punjab. The new SSI units registration trends and district-wise
distribution of units have also been highlighted here. The paper concludes that the position of the SSI
sector is not very encouraging in the state. The main government institutions in the state are in a
bad shape and are facing closure. Therefore, it is necessary for the government to provide
infrastructure and incentives for the survival and growth of the SSIs.
© 2009 IUP. All Rights Reserved.
India's Leapfrogging Steps from Bricks-and-Mortar to Virtual Banking:
Prospects and Perils
- - Dhiraj Sharma
In recent years, the banking industry has undergone rapid technological changes and
developments. Information Technology (IT) has introduced new business standards and is increasingly playing
a significant role in changing the face of the banking industry. Internet, wireless technology and
global straight-through processing have created a paradigm shift in the banking industryfrom
brick-and-mortar banks to virtual banking. The adoption of technology by Indian banks is occurring partly
because of customer demand and partly because of the increasing competitive environment in the
global context. Legal and technological standards are being formulated to make banking a secure and
pleasant experience. The future holds wide vistas in terms of what technology can do for banks.
However, the banks must take caution as every technological tool such as the Internet has its
own shortcomings, which can have major consequences. There are many areas of banking business,
such as customer relations, which cannot be delegated entirely to technology. The present paper
discusses and highlights the prospects and perils associated with the banking technology in India. It
attempts to investigate, using document analysis (Neuman, 1997), the problems and prospects of
banking-technology interface in India. The paper also seeks to answer the question: Is technology a
threat or an opportunity in itself for Indian banks? An endeavor has been made to judge how the
banking business and practices have changed with the introduction of electronic channels. Also, from
the viewpoint of technology adoption, the history and trends of e-banking, in both public and private
sector banks, have been examined.
© 2009 IUP. All Rights Reserved.
The Mushrooming Growth of Management Educational Institutions and Its Impact
on Quality: A Study of Haryana
- - Sunayna Khurana
The world of management is changing dramatically due to various forces of global competition,
the country's economy, innovations and advancement in technology. This has greatly impacted, not
only the market, but also the education sector. Management education in India is hardly 50 years old.
It began as a part-time education for practicing executives. The present research paper is an
attempt to find out the reasons for the mushrooming growth of management education in Haryana and
to analyze its impact on quality. Haryana has a network of educational institutions; there are
presently four universities in the state. The Maharshi Dayanand University (MDU) at Rohtak,
Kurukshetra University at Kurukshetra, Guru Jambheshwer University of Science and Technology at Hissar
and Chowdhary Devi Lal University at Sirsa are exclusively for the promotion of technical education
and management studies in Haryana. A good number of affiliated colleges/institutions under the MDU
at Rohtak and Kurukshetra University at Kurukshetra are also offering MBA programs. The
objectives of this paper are to analyze the key reasons for the increase in the number of management
educational institutions; to examine the interrelationship between the increase in the number of
management educational institutions and the quality initiative adhered to by these institutes, as per the
guidance of statutory bodies like AICTE, UGC, NBA, etc.; and to study the experiential knowledge
of mushrooming growth and its practical implications.
© 2009 IUP. All Rights Reserved.
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