Market in Nepal

Emerging markets in 2012: Time for a fall?

Emerging markets have performed over par in the last seven years. They have outperformed advanced industrialized countries in terms of economic growth among others. In recent times, many countries have received better assessment by rating agencies than some of their more affluent counterparts. But the bright outlook for these nations has suddenly turned into a grim outlook, as many economists have opined at a correction in 2012, triggered by a new wave of ‘risk off’ behavior among investors. Many questions involving emerging nations will be answered in time. Will China experience a hard landing? Will the sover-deign-debt woes of the European periphery spread to its neighbors such as Turkey in a new crisis? The World Bank has now down-graded economic forecasts for developing countries in2012, which is well below the rapid 2012 growth rate of 7.5 percent. Reflecting a sharp slowdown in the latter half of the year in India, South Asia is coming off of a torrid six years, including 9.1 percent growth in 2010. Regional growth is projected to ease further to 5.8 percent in 2012.But will the economic slowdown turn to a financial crisis? The empirical argument is just historically based numerology: an emerging market crisis seems to come in 15-years cycles. The international debt crisis surfaced in Mexico in mid-1982 and then spread to the rest of Latin America and beyond. The East Asian crisis erupted 15 years later, in Thailand in mid-1997, and then spread to the rest of the region and beyond. If we expect history to repeat itself, we are now another 15 years down the road. So is 2012 time for the third round?The second cycle of seven years was the period of record capital inflow to emerging markets from 1990 to 1996. Following the 1997 ‘sudden stop’ in East Asia came seven years of capital drought. The third cycle of inflows, often identified as a carry trade, came in 2004 to 20011 and persisted through the global financial chaos. If history repeats itself, it is now time for a third sudden stop of capital flow to emerging markets.If emerging markets do crash in 2012, remember where you heard it first!

Ill intention over RTI

Havoc was created by the government when it irrationally classified information and now severe debate about the motive of the government has surfaced. Does the government want to suppress the freedom of speech and the press by preventing free flow of information? The Baburam Bhattarai led government may not have directed the Classification Committee headed by Chief Secretary Madhav Prasad Ghimire to take such unconstitutional steps but since it is the government’s committee it is natural to blame the current government for trying to kill the right to information.The right to information (RTI) is the most important right of the people, based on which other freedoms are possible in democracy. Good governance is only possible where there is transparency and if this right is plugged, people will face bad governance and autocracy as well. The right to information was not recognized as a very important right in constitutions of various countries promulgated in the late 19^th century. With development and the wave of democracy, the freedom of speech and expression and freedom of the press have got its due importance in the 20^th century.

The government committee recommended 140 types of information that cannot be made public and this not only undermines the rights of the public but the decision of the government also violates Article 27 of the Interim Constitution and Section 3(3) of the Right to Information Act, 2007. As per recommendation, information on patent rights, innovative formula, and secrets of cultural innovation will be kept secret for 30 years, Information for maps and specifications of vital installation like airports, radio and TV stations and the storage of petroleum products has also been kept in the same category to remain confidential for 30 years. Information pertaining to the Ministry of Defense (MOD) has been categorized as confidential and the release of the information has been fixed for 30 years. The correspondence of MOD marked as top secret, secret, confidential and restricted will be judged by the ministry itself regarding sensitivity and security.Matter on sovereignty and intrepidity of the state, harmonious relations of various castes and tribes, contempt of court and defamation and incitement of crimes are the only limitations set forth by the constitution and the RTI Act: henceforth, it would be unconstitutional to impose other restrictions on this right.“Such classification of information is nothing but the autocratic nature of the government and it is intended to create such a situation where there is no transparency and no exchange of public opinion on vital issues related to state affairs, “ Dr Ram Krishna Timalsena, an RTY expert told THT Perspectives. “Since it is intended to impose autocracy, it is facing a storm of criticism, “Timalsena added.

HR metrics and analytics

Human resources (HR) metrics and HR analytics have become a hot topic in organizations, especially after the series of economic shocks. Interest is rising, and organizations are learning more about metrics and analytics and their use to improve organizational effectiveness. The interest is widely observed in industries and organizations where HR function has been recognized to have strategic and goal oriented value. HR analytics improve the value of your source data, allowing you to create a more complete picture of your HR, giving your executive team the critical information necessary to make decisions that drive business success. HR analytics allow you to combine and compare raw HR data, present it graphically to see historical trends and run ‘what-if’ scenarios. Modeling capabilities will help everyone in the organization – across all departments and offices – visualize how the movement of talent impacts hiring decisions, cost models, career-path initiatives, succession plans, and risk management. Managers, in turn, can use this information to create targeted business initiatives placing the right levels of talents in position to support them. And all of this is based on solid empirical evidence, not simply a ‘gut feeling’. By going beyond simple HR statistics to include robust corporate information such as financial indicators and survey data, managers can gain deeper insight into how the organization is doing as a whole and can establish clear and their direct business result. HR analytics provide the basis for specific actions plans and HR investments that address gaps or inefficiencies in an organization’s talent mix that need to be overcome in order to drive better business outcomes. For example, from a succession planning point-of-view, HR analytics can view how many of your employees are nearing retirement status and how filling those upcoming vacancies and the resulting changes in staffing levels and positions will affect pay and performance throughout the organization. Simply put, success of failure of goal execution hinges on your HR’s effectiveness in supporting the organization’s mission, vision and goals. Business gain a competitive edge by using HR analytics to focus on optimizing the use of their human capital and ensuring that the human capital strategy is aligned with business strategy is aligned with business strategy. At the end of the day, HR analytics lets you analyses data to gain insight so you can make better decisions and take appropriate staffing levels to drive greater business success. HR metrics and analytics activities provide no return on the organization’s investment unless managers make different and effective decisions as a result of the information provided by metrics and analytics reports. Therefore, focusing on development of HR metrics analytics around organizationally important problems and opportunities is likely to increase the possibility of significant returns. Components of continued evolution of metrics and analytics capabilities are driven by increased use of both push and pull reporting systems, more extensive use of predictive analytics and operational experiments, and the development of organizational expertise in metrics and analytics capabilities. As these skills mature, organizations will be able to move beyond simple analyses of HR efficiency metrics to a greater emphasis on operational effectiveness and organizational realignment analyses. Businesses Gain a Competitive Edge By Using These Tools to Focus on Optimizing The Use of Their Human Capital

Developing business with web connection

According to Manoj Chandi Shrestha, founder of housingnepal.com, choosing a career that one is passionate about ensures never getting tired of the job. Operating the web portal which addresses the real estate market concept and something that challenged him as a professional. As per shrestha, his three year tenure in London made him realize the importance if internet as an effective marketing medium. “Everything was facilitated by internet there, so I decided to duplicate the concept here,” he says, adding that the freedom to work for one’s own venture is exciting. Before initiating his own business, he worked at Nepal Investment Bank and NIC bank for two years. “The skills I acquired working at the banks included managing a business, maintaining public relations and handling diverse customers. This added to my confidence and aided me while commencing my own business,” adds Shrestha, who is a computer engineer by profession. Shrestha informs that it took him more than two years to make the web portal fully functional in 2010. Since there were already two online sites dedicated to the real estate sector prior to the launch of his venture, he took every possible step to stand out from the rest. “our competitive advantage is that we have added individual sellers who want to sell their intangible assets, apart from apartments and houses by real estate developers.” Explains Shrestha, adding that the site also lists all developers, upcoming projects, latest real estate article, news and events, real estate videos and interior designer firms, among others. Recently, housingnepal.com in collaboration with a number of banks launched home loan application for customers. It also offers counseling for interested buyers. Besides people living in Nepal, Nepali diaspora and Non-Resident Nepalese (NRNS) are also regular visitors of this site. According to shrestha, 40 percent of the hits are from Nepal whereas the rest are from abroad. The most inquiries are from the UK, Australia and Quatar, “Compared to the last few years, the real estate market looks positive due to flexible policies, rules and regulations. Similarly, the provision of allowing NRNS to buy apartments has increased out visitors,” says Shrestha. “Seeking opportunities in every sector, tapping the market accordingly and doing something out of the box has upped our business,” says Shrestha, stressing that today apart from updating news, they are also flooded with proposals by individual developers to create their websites. However, his business venture does not end with housingnepal.com. Shrestha is also the founder of educatenepal.com and tourismthamel.com, which he claims to be one-stop solutions for students and tourists, “I have a long way to go and there is room for improvement,” says Shrestha, who was awarded the best MBA student in London Metropolitan University in 2005. With an investment of Rs 500,000, housingnepal.com currently employs five staffs. Shrestha states that online marketing is completely different form traditional marketing and to ace this sector, innovation and updating the business according to the latest technology advancement is the key. He plans to operate two more sites – financialnepal.com and tourismkathmandu.com. According to him, people can generate income in Nepal only if they have patience and dedication.” My friends are working abroad but the satisfaction I get is incomparable, since they are treated as second class citizens there,” adds Shrestha.