Boston International College, Affiliated to Pokhara University
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Boston International College, Affiliated to Pokhara University
This course is designed to familiarize students with basic concepts in statistics. The contents include the data analysis techniques, the study of probability and measures of uncertainty, discrete and continuous distribution, estimation, hypothesis testing, correlation and regression analysis, and the application of statistical methods for decision-making with emphasis on the business application. Throughout the course, students will utilize the technology to gather, organize, and summarize the data into meaningful information. Further, students will apply the software to draw inferences from the data so that appropriate decisions can be recommended.
This is an intensive course that stresses functioning of the market system. The purpose of the course is to investigate and analyze the theoretical and analytical tools of microeconomics, with emphasis upon their application to business decision-making. Topics include demand and supply analysis, decision theory, production and cost theory, market structure and competition, price determination, competitive strategy, economies of scale and scope, employment of factors of production, and profit strategies. What will be emphasized throughout this course are reasoning and problem-solving. Cases will examine how economic principles apply to the actual business world.
This course is designed to provide a comprehensive knowledge to students to understand the importance of information systems in managing business organizations. The course basically deals with the development, application, analysis and evaluation of the information system. The contents include basic concepts, information technologies, business applications, development processes, managerial challenges and ethical issues, strategic planning of information systems, and the use of information for competitive advantage. Appropriate application software will be used to get hands-on experience, to analyze cases, and to complete class projects.
This is an introductory course in financial reporting and analysis. Accordingly, the key objective of this course is to provide students with the basic concepts and practices of financial reporting and analysis. It also aims to prepare students for specialization courses in accounting and finance. First, it introduces the legal and practical aspects of financial accounting, handling of transactions and preparation of financial statements. It then discusses the accounting and disclosure of major components of financial statements. In the third module, the course covers the concepts and practice of the analysis and interpretation of financial statements including analysis for investment in securities.
The purpose of this course is to provide an overview of the emerging principles and concepts in management. The course will cover current management theories and practices, managerial roles and responsibilities, investigation and review of historical foundations and approaches, managerial functions of planning, organizing, staffing, directing, and controlling, and an understanding of human behavior and the impact of demographic diversity on organizations. The course also defines the basic tasks of the manager in establishing the work environment, making decisions, setting objectives, goals and strategies, allocating resources, and executing programs to assure quality standards.
The purpose of this course is to develop communication skills as a strategic competence for managers in organizations. The course amalgamates the business communication theories and practices. Sensitizing the students how effective communication is critical for their professional and personal life, the course covers some topics ranging from process and barriers of communication to cross-cultural and non-verbal aspects of communication. Specific topics include importance, process and barriers of communication; cross-cultural communication; holding meetings, negotiating with parties and conflict resolutions. The course also includes skills of working in teams and developing of interpersonal communication skills along with the strategies involved in communicating with media. The instructor can incorporate other materials stimulating the student’s desire to learn a wide range of issues because only with the habit of reading they can develop life-long ability to communicate effectively. Students will make presentations, have group discussions, involve in project works, and practice exercises for achieving the objectives set for this course.
This course has two components: data analysis and decision modeling. Data analysis focuses on exploratory data analysis and multiple regression models to support management decisions. Topics in this component of the course include regression analysis and models, time series analysis, and forecasting. Decision modeling of organizational systems uses mathematical and computer models to provide quantitative perspective on identifying, analyzing and solving complex decision problems. Topics in this component of the course include linear programming models and applications, sensitivity analysis, integer programming models, and network models with emphasis on the business application.
This course is intended to provide a foundation in macroeconomics. The course is intensive and introduces students to macroeconomic theory and application as they pertain to the business decisions. Topics include measurement of GDP, inflation, monetary and fiscal policy, the impact of economic policy on the behaviour of individuals and organizations, fluctuations and business cycles, economic growth, employment issues, emerging global economic issues, and nature of the expanding global economy. All topics are discussed with emphasis on real-world application. Case studies and current economic trends and developments are examined in a global perspective.
This course is designed to encourage the application of diverse conceptual and theoretical perspectives to the analysis and control of behavior in organizations. The contents of the course include the interaction between individual behavior in organization, group behavior in organization, and organizational behavior in social systems. The study of individual behavior patterns, perception, superior-subordinate relations, group dynamics, communication, interpersonal relationships and conflict, motivation, decision-making, leadership behavior and styles, team leadership, ethics and values in leadership, formulation and implementation of change and development strategies, managerial stress and the impact of demographic diversity on organizations will be covered.
This course focuses on writing and oral presentation skills of the students. Practices include writing memos, letters, reports and proposals. At the completion of the course, students should have skills incorrect, effective and professional writing, and make powerful oral presentations.
The course helps to understand the concepts, tools and techniques of management accounting and controllership functions; measuring income under different techniques for analyzing, decision-making, planning and controlling activities of an organization. Topics covered include measurement, presentation, interpretation, and communication of economic information for managerial functions. Students will be acquainted with activity based costing, CVP analysis, decision regarding alternative choices, pricing products and services, capital investment models, planning profit through budgets, controlling direct material, direct labour and factory overheads. The course uses case studies and practical exercises to emphasize the application of concepts.
The aim of this course is to familiarize students with an overview of the principles, methods and practices of financial decision making in firms. Major topics that will be covered include Nature of financial management: finance in organizational structure of the firm, value maximization goal as a financial decision criterion, financial functions and agency problems. Financial management concepts: financial statements and cash flows, time value of money; Financial planning and forecasting: the financial plan, financial statement forecasting, the AFN formula and simple regression technique. Securities valuation: bond and stock valuation. Strategic investment decision making: estimation of cash flows, estimation of cost of capital, evaluation of cash flows. Strategic financing decision making: operating and financing leverage, EBIT-EPS analysis, breakeven and indifference charts. Dividend policy decision making: nature and types of dividend policy, determinants, stock dividends and stock splits.
The course aims to develop a strategic perspective of students in marketing management. It builds students’ capabilities in analyzing marketing opportunities, developing marketing strategies, and designing implementation plans and programs. This course includes business strategy and sustainable competitive advantage; concept and relevance of strategic market management; analysis of external and internal factors for opportunity identification; formulation of a strategy for sustainable competitive advantage; differentiation and positioning strategies; growth and diversification strategies; strategies for the global market; preparation of strategic marketing plan and program formulation; and strategic control.
The purpose of this course is to provide students with the knowledge and skills needed to work effectively with human resources to enhance the contributions of all employees to organizational effectiveness. This course identifies and defines the role of key functional areas of human resource and examines how these areas support management. The course takes a strategic approach and examines how human resource functions such as recruitment, selection, performance appraisal, career development, promotion of personal skills, work-family conflict, and compensation can impact organizations’ productivity and success. The course underscores the need to understand the dynamic nature of human resources in organizations. It highlights professional handling of human resource through a process of setting objectives and standards, measurements of results, policies, periodic job analysis to identify variances in requirements of attitude, skills, and knowledge in existing and redesigned jobs.
This course is devoted to developing an understanding and skills of research in students. The course deals with the tools, techniques, and the changing paradigms of social science research, and their application to business research. The topics covered are the research process, management research methods, literature review, formulation of the problem and related hypothesis, theoretical framework, research designs, qualitative research, sampling techniques, measurement and scaling, use of primary and secondary data sources, construction of questionnaires, interviewing techniques, sources of qualitative data, observation and participative research, data preparation and analysis, writing research reports, citation and referencing styles, and writing research proposals.
This course will introduce students to electronic business. It will cover such diverse practical issues as: e-commerce payment mechanisms, encryption and authentication of data, web assurance, electronic data interchange, legal issues on the web, and web marketing. There will also be a lab component that will provide students with exposure to practice in web page design and creation.
This course is designed to identify and analyze the factors that contribute to the creation of
successful new ventures and to highlight the process of creating and managing a new business. This course covers the entrepreneurial process from idea generation to implementation. It looks at how ideas are created, assessed, and implemented. The contents of the course will include fundamental theories of entrepreneurship and characteristics of entrepreneurship, environmental conditions, scanning and evaluations, opportunity recognition, strategic process, business plans for entrepreneurial ventures, family business succession strategy, and entrepreneurial leadership and innovation. Entrepreneurship foundation will examine how corporate managers may capture the initiative in trying new ideas and developing internal markets for their business organizations. For this course, readings, cases, and project work will be used as teaching pedagogy.
The objective of this course is to familiarize students with the environment and challenges of
doing business abroad. The course will present students with the opportunities to explore a number of issues and concerns relating to international business, from economics and finance to human resources and strategic planning. Topics include country-market differences, sociocultural, economic, political and competitive environment of international business, trade and investment patterns, the international financial environment, issues in business-government relations, and strategies for international business. Theoretical issues such as globalization, regional economic integration, modes of entry into a foreign market, etc. will be explained. Based upon theories of firms and organizations, the operations of MNCs and problems inherent will also be discussed. Case analysis and short simulations will be the primary modes of instruction.
The course focuses on the problem facing managers in the area of producing goods and
services.Topics include total quality, productivity and competitiveness, product and technology (process) design and selection, planning and controlling of production and service systems, capacity planning, facility location and layout, inventory and supply chain management, and project and service scheduling. Especial emphasis will be given on exponential forecasting, inventory management, work methods, project management, and productivity improvement. Issues specific to global sourcing and risk management in international supply chain will also be explored. This course explores key issues of the operations and service management primarily through case studies, readings, class discussions, and fieldwork.
Starting a new venture is risky and often ends in failure. An effective tool for entrepreneurs who
want to reduce risk and better ensure success is a convincing business plan. A business plan serves two purposes. It acts as a roadmap for managers and helps to secure financing. The major course assignment is to prepare a comprehensive, well-researched business plan for a business opportunity chosen by the student. The student begins to identify and explore a business opportunity and ends up with the development, delivery and presentation of a comprehensive business plan for a start-up company. The business plan will contain assessments of market, competitor, cash flow, and financial analysis. A detailed business model and other essential components of the business justification and operations principles will be presented. The student will be required to present his or her BDP where business executives and faculty members will be invited to attend. The evaluation of the BDP shall be based on the written part (60 percent) and presentation (40 percent).
This module will cover models, mechanisms, and emerging issues in corporate governance,
stakeholder rights and responsibilities, issues pertaining to the board of directors and management, audit committees, corporate practices and legislations on corporate governance and responsibility. The graduate seminar in corporate governance will address the various contemporary issues through discussion, selected readings and case analysis. Students will examine the current literature on major governance issues and prepare a paper to be presented to the general class as approved by the instructor. The focus of the module will be at the discretion of the instructor.
This is a capstone course that stimulates a real business situation. The co urse aims to
familiarize the students with macro-environmental forces affecting business operations in the context of Nepal. This course emphasizes on the review and analysis of major environmental forces. It intends to provide students with concepts and dynamics of how these forces operate and affect the operations of Nepalese business. After completion of this course, the students should be able to identify the opportunities and threats existing in the prevailing situations. The thrust of the course is to develop analytical skills among students rather than just enable them to record and document the facts. The perspective of analysis will be comprehensive, similar to that taken by a CEO. The course is a mix of cases, lectures, projects, and readings.
This course aims to familiarize the students to concepts of strategic management. The course
explores the issues of defining corporate mission, objectives, and goals. Students focus on the analysis of firm’s external internal environment to identify and create competitive advantage and to provide a systematic and effective approach for developing a clear strategic plan. It focuses on the methods of strategic management and business analyses that utilize the entire cross-section of skills that have been developed in the previous trimesters of study. After completion of this course, the students should be able to pull together what they have learned in separate business fields and utilize this knowledge in analysis of complex business problems and formulate strategies accordingly. The use of case studies and their analysis will be the special feature of this course.
Concentration Areas
Pokhara University offers several career-focused concentrations. These courses allow students to gain
additional knowledge and skills on specific concentration areas. The students are required to select any
four courses from any one of the following concentration areas.
Finance
This course intends to familiarize the students with the nature of financial system, its functions, the major parts and components of the financial system, and the principles and practices relating thereto. Major topics that will be covered include: The nature of financial system: introduction and importance, Nepalese financial system. Interest rates: role and importance, determination of interest rates, the term structure of interest rates, efficiency of financial markets. Central bank and monetary policy: role of central bank as regulatory authority of financial markets and institutions, monetary policy as a regulatory instrument. Financial markets and their modus operendi: the money market, the bond market, the stock market, and the foreign exchange market. The banking and financial institution industries: management of banks and financial institutions, their structure, saving association and credit unions, banking regulation, the mutual funds, insurance companies and pension funds, investment banks, security brokers and dealers. Risk management of banks and financial institutions: managing different types of risks incurred by banks and financial institutions.
The purpose of this course is to enable students to understand and apply the theories and
techniques of analyzing securities in isolation and in the context of portfolio. Major topics that will be covered include: Introduction: the investment environment, markets and instruments, trading of securities. Portfolio theory: risk and risk aversion, capital allocation between the risky and risk-free asset, optimal risky portfolio. Applied portfolio management: portfolio performance evaluation, the process of portfolio management. Analysis of fixed income securities: bond prices and yields, the term structure of interest rates. Analysis of equity security: equity valuation models. Macroeconomic and industry analysis. Equilibrium in capital market: the capital assets pricing model, arbitrage pricing theory, market efficiency.
The purpose of this course is to provide an understanding of the conceptual framework
essential for corporate financial decision-making in a multinational context. Major topics that will be covered include: Global financial environment: foreign exchange risks, political risks, financial goals. International Monetary Environment: currency regimes, birth of a global currency, the Asian Crisis. Foreign exchange rate determination: balance of payment approach, parity conditions, prices, interest rates and exchange rates. The foreign exchange market: geographical extent, functions, market participants, foreign exchange rates and quotations. Foreign exchange exposures: types, & measurement of transaction exposure, operating exposure, and accounting exposure. Multinational capital budgeting: foreign complexities, making multinational capital budgeting decisions.
The aim of this course is to familiarize students with different types of financial derivatives and
principles and mechanics of financial derivative markets, and the techniques of financial risk management and their application. Major topics that will be covered include: Introduction. Mechanics of future markets. Determination of forward and future prices. Interest rate futures. Swaps. Mechanics of option markets. Properties of stock options. Option pricing models: binomial model and Black-Scholes-Merton Model. Financial risk management.
This course is intended to provide a framework for analyzing capital investment decisions.
Major topics that will be covered include: Principles of capital investment. Cost of capital and capital budgeting. Methods of evaluating capital investment projects. Normal and non-normal cash flows. NPV profiles and crossover rate, multiple internal rate of return, modified internal rate of return. Estimation of cash flows, adjusting for inflation. Risks in capital budgeting: project risk analysis, incorporating project risk into capital budgeting, decision tree. Real options. Social cost benefit analysis.
The purpose of this course is to provide an overview of strategic and tactical financing decisions of a firm. Major topics that will be covered include: Optimal capital structure: features and determinants. Types of financing, short-term financing, intermediate-term financing. Protective covenants. Lease financing. Common stock financing. Debt and preferred stock. Warrants and convertibles. Theory of capital structure.
The purpose of this course is to enable students to understand and apply concepts and
principles of different aspects of working capital management in a firm. Major topics that will be covered include: Working capital investment policies. Managing the components of working capital. Cash management and forecasting. Receivable management. Inventory management. Working capital financing policies, sources of short-term financing, use of security in short-term financing.
The objective of this course is to provide students with the concepts and processes of
takeovers, restructuring and corporate governance. The major areas covered include: Theory and practice of mergers and acquisitions: Strategic process, theory of mergers and tender offers timing of merger activity; Restructuring: Restructuring and divestitures, restructuring organization and ownership relationships, financial restructuring; Merger and acquisition strategies: joint ventures and alliances, ESOPs and MLPs, going private and leveraged buyouts; Strategies for creating value: Share repurchase, takeover defenses, corporate governance and performance, and implementation and management guides for merger and acquisitions.
Marketing
This course aims to provide students with the knowledge and skills in marketing of services. It
also deals with the specific issues of marketing of services in Nepal. The course includes concept, nature and development of service marketing, service marketing mix, service marketing triangle, managing service encounters, marketing planning for services, service segmentation and targeting strategies, relationship marketing, approaches and dimensions of service quality, service gap model, service life cycle, positioning, and new service development, pricing issues or services, promotional efforts in services, location of service outlets, direct marketing, managing people in service organizations, physical evidences and process in service marketing, and service marketing environment in Nepal.
This course aims to develop students’ skills in designing and conducting marketing research
projects. The course focuses on marketing research process and applications. The course includes concept, nature, and importance of marketing research, application of scientific methods in marketing research, nature of marketing research problems and problem formulation, marketing research designs, data collection methods, fieldwork planning, data processing and analysis, research for new product development, advertising research, brand image research, sales research, attitude and psychographic research. Students are required to undertake marketing research projects as part of the internal evaluations.
The course aims to develop students’ understanding in consumers’ purchase behaviors and
use the knowledge in designing marketing strategies. Students are expected to learn the marketing implications and interventions of the various facets of the consumer behavior analysis. This course provides a theoretical knowledge of the decision making process and factors involved in consumer buying situations. It includes a study of the basic nature of consumer buying situations, buying decision process of consumers, individual and socio-environmental factors influencing consumer, and partial and comprehensive models of consumer behavior.
This course aims to develop a basic understanding of the field of promotions management
and develop students’ skills in promotion planning, designing advertisement strategy, creating advertisement, and using media properly. The course includes role of communication in marketing; marketing communication mix; integrated marketing communication strategy and its values, developing effective marketing communication, social and legal aspects of advertising, structure of the advertising business, theory of advertising – advertising in consumer buying process; information processing theories; theories of advertising objectives and effectiveness; creative process and creativity methods in advertising; visualization, copywriting for print, radio and television; layout and typography; message design strategies; advertisement appeals; execution framework; use of colour in advertising; advertising budgeting process and methods; developing media strategies; media planning and scheduling; advertising research areas, consumer promotions and trade promotions; sponsorship and event marketing; and direct response marketing, integrated communication plan, and structure of a campaign plan.
This course aims to develop students’ skills in analyzing global marketing environment and
designing strategies in the context of the global market. This course includes concept, importance, and driving forces of global marketing; economic, socio-cultural, and politico-legal environment of global marketing; WTO and its role; segmentation, targeting, and positioning in global markets; entry and expansion strategies; global strategic partnerships; key issues relating to global product, pricing, distribution, and promotion decisions; e-marketing and electronic value chain.
This course aims to develop a basic understanding of the field of brand management and
develop students’ skills for building, implementing, and revitalizing brands in competitive and marketdriven business environment. The course includes concept of brand and branding, branding challenges and opportunities, strategic brand management process, concept and sources of brand equity, brand positioning process, brand values, marketing programs for brand building, leveraging secondary associations, brand value chain, measurement of brand performance, new product branding strategy, brand extension, brand reinforcement, revitalization, and retirement.
Human Resource Management
Effective HRD is a critical element in overall organizational strategy, and in turn is important to
the ongoing sustainability of organizations. This course is especially designed to help students understand and apply effective HRD strategies. The course provides an advanced and comprehensive perspective on HRD in enhancing the competitive advantage of organizations by building up their intellectual and learning system capacities in ways that enable them to cope with an environment that involves rapid change. The concept of the learning organization will be developed through the perspective of the HRD strategies, policies and practices. The contents include the concepts of integrated HRD and its needs, HRD mechanisms, strategic importance of HRD, dimensions and models of HRD, principles of designing effective HRD system, implementation of HRD system, and critical trends in HRD. For this course, readings, cases, and guest speaker will be used as teaching pedagogy.
The focus of this course is on strategic compensation system needed in a dynamic business
environment. Both basic and advanced concepts are reviewed and examined, including job evaluation, wage and salary structures, gain-sharing, and other pay-related issues. The course also studies the design and administration of employee benefit system with a focus on health programs, pensions, and deferred compensation. The course will analyze the reward systems in terms of both monetary and non-monetary considerations with both union and non-union settings. The contents of the course include: designing pay levels and structures, job evaluation, person-based structures, pay for performance plans, benefit options, union’s role in wage and salary administration. This course will be taught through lectures, case discussion, and guest speakers.
This course is designed to provide students with skills to successfully manage career
development. The employment landscape is undergoing a major shift in how career development is viewed throughout organizations. Domestic and international competition as well as the public and private sector, now require employers and employees to rethink their short-term and longterm career goals. Balancing these with strategies that will ensure corporate success involves a collaborative process of talent management and deployment. The course thus addresses the major strategic issue that managers face as they attempt to manage human resources across national boundaries.
The course analyzes the theoretical and practical dimensions of the relations within
organizations with a particular focus on the relations between management and employees. The course aims to develop students’ capabilities as managers responsible for managing employees and assisting organizations to develop appropriate employee relations management strategies. The contents of the course include nature of employee relations, contemporary trends in employee-management relations, examination of legal, social, and economic aspects of employee-management relations, collective bargaining, grievance handling, employee participation, workforce diversity, labour disputes and their settlement, arbitration procedures, union-management relations, and contemporary issues. Application of the theories and concepts would be explored through lectures, discussions, case analysis and individual reading
This course examines the area of performance management, a strategic and integrated
process that delivers sustained success to organizations by improving the performance of people who work in them and by developing the capabilities of individual contributors and team. Performance management involves both the manager and employee in identifying and describing essential job functions and relating them to the mission and goals of the organization, developing realistic and appropriate performance standards, giving and receiving feedback about performance, writing and communicating constructive performance evaluations and planning education and development opportunities to sustain, improve or build on employee work performance.
This course has been designed to develop students’ understanding of HRM issues at the
international level. The course will review the theories, models and concepts in the area of international HRM. The course will cover the management issues which have implications on international HRM decisions including: cross-cultural negotiations, international dimension of leadership, motivation, team work and communicating with people of different cultural environment. A major focus of the course will be on international aspects of recruitment and selection, compensation and rewards system, training and development, performance appraisal, expatriation and repatriation, industrial relations, and career development. Finally future directions, challenges and development in the field of international HRM would be explored. Application of the theories and concepts would be explored through lectures, discussions, case analysis and individual reading.
This course is focused on a selected combination of published empirical research and current
topics in HRM. Articles for evaluation, comparison and analysis will be drawn from journals in several fields, including behavioural science, business administration, management science and elsewhere as they relate to the field of HRM. Faculty will guide students through written review of research and current practices, and seminar discussion in order to assist the HRM professional as a consultant to company management.
Electives
(any two courses from the following elective subjects)
The following courses have been identified for electives. These courses offer students the flexibility to customize their needs and meet their career interests and goals. These are basically sectoral and application courses which address the systematic integration across all of business disciplines.