Exercise on Action Research:

Establishment of KUSOM Investment Club that differentiates

KUSOM from others


Submitted to:
Jyoti Regmi Adhikary

Submitted by:
Bidha Sharma
Prajol Joshi
Niyati Sharma Aryal
Sajan Maharjan

Submission Date:
10
th
December, 2013

Step One: Problem identification
An interaction with the project group members and few of the ex-KUSOMites revealed that
currently, KUSOM was lagging in one unique element that would distinguish itself from the
other MBA colleges in town.
Background of the problem
The above mentioned problem is a very broad one. Though the problem is not an urgent one, still
its significance cannot be overlooked. KUSOM envisions establishing itself among the top 20
Universities in the South Asian region by 2020. Undoubtedly, it has been working for it since
long and the recent MBA restructuring project is one of the initiatives for it. KUSOM is still
recognized as the best business school in Nepal, known for practical education. It is via the case
discussions and minor simulation project that the practical education is being delivered. But now,
it is high time to have a shift in the pedagogy. The case discussions are no more novel as it is
practiced in almost all business schools in Kathmandu. Therefore, currently, there is something
missing to out-stand KUSOM among others in the huge competition.
KUSOM has always created a different stand for itself since from its establishment. It has been
considered different from other business schools as it follows strict KU calendar (it organizes its
examinations always on time and completes the course within the time committed), has updated
its course in regular intervals so as to incorporate the new changes essential. But, this cant
ensure the regular priority to KUSOM by the students.
When we analyze the number of applicants who apply for MBA program at KUSOM during last
few admission periods, we can see a depressing trend. The number of applicants has been falling
at every admission period which has forced us to find the reason for this falling number.
KUSOM has been able to establish itself as premier management college and been a priority to
all due to its case based teaching pedagogy which focuses on real life scenario more than theories
but, now every business schools has started following the pattern so, its high time that KUSOM
find something that differentiates itself from other business schools. Thus, through this study we
want to offer a unique differentiating factor to KUSOM that would help it to stand high in a
crowd.
Step Two: Consultation with a behavioral scientist
The Organization Development practitioner we looked for was Mr. Sabin Pant, Asst Professor in
KUSOM. While in consultation with him, the problem was looked into seriously and new
dimensions were added. The discussion suggested bringing the newness from the perspective of
Finance management.
The area of Finance management was chosen basically for two reasons. Firstly, the scope of is in
rising phase. As were the banking and institutions few years ago, now the students can kick start
a promising career in the field of investment management mostly in the mutual funds, financial
analytics, etc. Secondly, there is a significant availability of resource persons to pursue in this
particular field in KUSOM.
The discussion revealed that the new project introduced should support three of the following
elements:
1. Learning of the student: The new initiative intended for a competitive edge should be
student oriented. The students should learn from it and it should benefit them for their
professional development.
2. Social Responsibility- KUSOM, being a premier educational institute, it has to shoulder
some social responsibility. So, the new initiative should somehow help the academicians,
practitioners and public at large. Be it by disseminating information or increasing
awareness, it should benefit the larger society.
3. Resource mobilization- Since the project would be finance perspective, the new initiative
should aid in the resource mobilization (fund) of KUSOM as well.
Step Three: Team Formation
The team to work for the project comprises of the group members: Bidha Sharma, Niyati Sharma
Aryal, Prajol Joshi, Sajan Majarjan, faculty member Mr. Sabin Pant and Mr. Niranjan Phuyal
with one year time frame


Step Four: Research Design
Research question: Within the periphery of financial management genre, what is the current gap
and how can that be enhanced to out-stand KUSOM among other institutions in todays
competitive market?
Research Objective
1. To identify the significance of the gap, that is the absence of the unique element
2. To analyze the prospect of introducing the change in the field of Finance management
3. To identify the intervention area within the periphery of Finance management
4. To design and implement action programs that can distinguish KUSOM from other
institutions
Step Five: Data gathering and preliminary diagnosis
To have more information on the subject matter, a mini research was undertaken. The research
was basically qualitative and informal in nature. The respondents comprised of the current MBA
students and the KUSOM alumni. This mix would give a comprehensive idea on the perspective
of the pass out graduates who are already in the job market and is aware of the brand value of
KUSOM in the market. Similarly, the current students perspective would reflect their
expectations from KUSOM.
There were several rounds of informal discussion carried out to uncover the different aspects of
the subject matter. After the informal discussions been held with the sample participants, it was
revealed that there was an utmost need for a unique identity for KUSOM that would
differentiates it from other business schools. The first most important change was suggested in
formation of such club that would be the simulation of real life scenario which would be run by
the students along with the guidance of resource persons from the management and would do the
real job.
Step Six: Feedback to Client/ Sharing information
After the collection of survey results from the participants, the Change team has collected
following information:
KUSOM has been considered a premier management institute of the country and has been
consistently awarded with best business school awards. The vision of the college is also to be
ranked as a top business school in South Asia. To achieve this vision and remain as a premier
management institute of the country, it should differentiate itself from other business schools.
The students want more real life experience and learning through those experiences rather than
just theoretical knowledge. Though, college has been adopting the simulation based projects for
the student i.e. Human Resource Simulation project, Investment simulation etc. but, that
wouldnt be enough in todays competitive market. Students want to have more practical
knowledge and for which they feel the need for establishment of separate clubs with dedicated
funds from the University that would provide an opportunity to the students to have real life
working experience and knowledge. The alumni participants had mentioned that they are not so
satisfied with just simulation projects and those assignments are rated just average in helping
them in their post-education work life. The real life scenario is far complicated that simulation
assignments and projects so they claimed that KUSOM could differentiate itself from other
business schools if they get an opportunity to work in real life working environment.
Step Seven: Joint Diagnosis
In the sharing workshop with KUSOM resource person and the participants, the issues identified
were:
1. How KUSOM could differentiate itself from other business schools of the country?
2. How KUSOM could constantly upgrade its teaching pedagogy?
3. How students of KUSOM could get real life experience that would actually help in their
post-education work life?
4. How KUSOM could fulfill its responsibility toward the society?
Step Eight: Joint Action Planning
After the joint diagnosis, the change team has conducted a series of meetings with the
participants along with the KUSOM resource person and even done a brief background study on
the problems identified by the participant and finally comes up with different change programs.
The first and foremast change program that should be adopted would be that college
management and administration keep a regular track on new changes in international universities
and initiate a change at KUSOM accordingly to make it more competitive. In addition, a regular
market survey on requirements of every job needs to be conducted. Change is inevitable in
todays competitive world and the students must be prepared to accept and cope with the changes
required. The job requirement has been escalating every year and, the students also need to
improve their skills and develop themselves accordingly.
The second change program that should be adopted is the establishment of different clubs which
would provide a platform for the student to implement what they have learned in theories and
implement the theoretical knowledge into real-world scenario.
Among those clubs, most important would be Investment Club that would act as an active
investor forum. The club would be regularly studying the stock market, commodities trading in
Nepal and other investment alternatives. It would act as an investment advisor and, would
provide various investment advices to the clients on certain charge. In addition, it would
establish and regularly update the website that would be a discussion platform for all the
investors. In addition, the University could allocate certain amount as a seed fund to the club and
the club would act as a wealth manager of Kathmandu University.
Step Nine: Action
The Change team submitted the change programs to KUSOM management for implementation.
The detail program of change program and the formation of KUSOM Investment club is
detailed below:
KUSOM Investment Club:
The KUSOM Investment Club would be a student-run organization within the Kathmandu
University School of Management. Membership is open to all University students, not just for
finance specialization students, who are willing to make a commitment to managing a real
portion of the Universitys Seed Fund.
The mission of the KUSOM Investment Club is to provide a valuable educational experience
to its members by allowing them to manage a real money investment portfolio. By managing the
portfolio and listening to guest speakers, the members will learn about various aspects of Finance
and investing. Of equal importance is the development of strong analytical, decision making,
public speaking, and teamwork skills through the Clubs weekly meetings and other Club-related
activities.
The KUSOM Investment Club seeks to outperform the Nepal stock market index on a risk-
adjusted basis. To achieve this goal the Club takes a value approach to investing by identifying
undervalued stocks and taking positions in them. This process is consistent with a long-term
approach to investing. Furthermore, the Club is committed to diversifying its portfolio between
different sectors to capture the full breadth of opportunity in the markets but to also minimize the
risk from over-concentration of capital.
The Club would be led by a five-person Executive Board, chaired by the resource person from
KUSOM management. The Executive Board would include Alumni student, current students
with finance specialization. The investment club would be divided into eight different sectors: (a)
Commercial Banks (b) Development banks (c) saving deposits and treasury bills (d) finance
companies (e) Insurance Companies (f) Hydropower companies (g) Hotels and Manufacturing
business (h) Other Investment sectors.
The board would appoint Sector Heads to lead the eight sectors that the fund is divided into, in
addition to a Market Analysis Team Manager. The KUSOM investment club would be
consistently advised and supervised by a faculty member from the Kathmandu University School
of Management.
The seed fund required for investment would be collected from the students fund itself. The
security deposits that the student must pay to the KUSOM during their admission would be
utilized by as seed fund. The KUSOM have to commit around 50% of the funds collected from
the students as the Security Deposits. The maturity period for funds refund to the college
management would be two or four years depending on the students stay at KUSOM. In addition,
the students who want to work as Investment fund manager or in the club should invest small
amount of money themselves so as to make them responsible towards their work.
The KUSOM Investment Forum would be created and linked through the official website of
KUSOM: www.kusom.edu.np. A separate link would be joined with the main website which
would be a platform where the interested people can visit and get a live streaming of the market
transactions being held and different market news. Once the KUSOM Investment club receives
the certain positive feedback from their market analysis and they earn a good brand name then,
they would even work as an Investment advisor who would offer various investment advising
decisions to the clients for a charge.