Search

An entrepreneur is often driven by a quest for innovation and creativity in a market, thus creating competition. The competition will create wealth, leading to improved living standards for individuals and the economy at large. Moreover, innovation and creation result in new and superior products that enable modern markets to be developed. However, the enthusiasm to become an entrepreneur is not the sole driving factor. One must know the importance of financial literacy. Besides, the negative stigma due to the COVID-19 pandemic ruined many lives and impacted businesses with less money due to the reduction of clientele;also, it had impacted budding entrepreneurs (at early start-up stages, and hardly have had experience between 1-3 years) with fewer opportunities to make money. That reduced the willingness of entrepreneurs to invest capital in the business due to raging losses. The current article presents the importance of financial literacy for budding entrepreneurs. To find and measure the financial literacy among budding entrepreneurs, the data were distributed to 223 entrepreneurs;however, 179 were finally used for analysis due to several reasons mentioned in the research methodology. The data was collected from five districts of the South region of India (Kerala, Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka, Telangana, and Tamil Nadu) and the snowball technique is used in the analysis. The study revealed that most budding entrepreneurs lack proper financial literacy. The study found that Financial Skills, Financial Knowledge, Financial Attitude, Social Interactions & Past Experiences, Financial Support & Guidance directly influenced Financial Literacy levels among entrepreneurs. The study also suggests that aspiring entrepreneurs should be given practical financial training sessions;it should be made mandatory. © Universal Journal of Accounting and Finance 2021.

One of the most popular IT-facilitated peer-to-peer economic model driving the world, the sharing economy attained its importance in India of late and witnessed a sudden acceptance among people. This model emphasizes the sharing of underutilized goods or service capacity, without transferring the ownership, with the aid of an intermediary, which was widely accepted by the Indian market mainly because of high mobile penetration, high millennial concentration and its aspirational population. Though there are numerous examples of shared economy prevailing in India, this case is on the initiation, hiccups, acceptance, growth, and the pandemic led to sudden blow in the business of Airbnb, the bed and breakfast startup founded by Brian Chesky, Joe Gabberia and Nathan Blecharczyk. Though the young workforce, dominated by millennials and Gen Z generations, acted as a catalyst in the growth of Airbnb, the unanticipated pandemic catapulted the business of Airbnb, invalidating its business model. The business model that provided a handful of earning opportunities to both the hosts and the business is no more in existence. However, Airbnb adopted a series of measures to protect the rights of both parties. This case discusses the possible strategies Airbnb can adopt to get its business back to track in the post-pandemic days.

This case discusses the sustainable business model adopted by the MUD Jeans Company in the context of the Circular Economy (CE). The clothing industry evolved from clothing to apparel and eventually to fashion. The clothing economy shifted from the traditional linear to a sustainable circular model. Established in 2012, MUD Jeans introduced an innovative concept called "Lease a Jeans," thereby attempting to save precious natural resource. The fashion industry is the second largest polluter. Keeping in mind the UN Sustainable Development Goals, the company embarked on a nine-step action plan called MUD Method - simple but essential recycling concept. Increased awareness and urgency to shift to sustainable practices will only make the future of jean manufacturing and fashion industry practices to be circular. However, the company has to face challenges – more so when following the sustainability approach. This case followed the qualitative research method and case study methodology. The case appraises management students on the concept of business interests and sustainability practices.

Starting from the 3rd millennium BC, Indian maritime trade has augmented the life of a common man and businesses alike. This study, finds that India can leverage on the 7,500 long coast line and derive holistic development in terms of interconnected ports with hinterland connectivity and realize lower expenditure coupled with reduced carbon emission. This research analyzed a decade of cargo data from origination to destination and found that around 82.95 per cent (953 MMTPA in 2017–18) of road based consignments in India comprised of Fertilizers, Hydrocarbons, Coal, Lubricants and Oil. Essentially, a quantum of this i.e. 78.39 per cent of MMTPA cargo consignments (State Owned Hydrocarbons) traverses on Indian roads. The study drew parameters of this transportation paradigm and modeled the same using Artificial Intelligence to depict a monumental opportunity to rationalize costs, improve efficiency and reduce carbon emission to strengthen the argument for the employment of Multimodal Logistics in the Maritime Sector. Subsequent to model derivation the same set of parameters are plotted as an efficient transit map of Interstate transit lines connecting 16 major hubs which now handle bulk cargo shipped by all modes of transport. For the pollution segment a collaborative game theoretic approach i.e., Shapley value is proposed for improved decision making. This study presents data driven and compelling research evidence to portray the benefits of collaboration between firms in terms of time and cost. The study also proposes the need and method to improve hinterland connectivity using a scalable greedy algorithm which is tested with real time data of Coal and Bulk Cargo. As a scientific value addition, this study presents a mathematical model that can be implemented across geographies seamlessly using Information Communication Technology.

Purpose: This paper endeavour is to address, the challenges faced by expatriate faculties while teaching International Business subject and case studies in classroom. Students lackingness with relevance to International Business subject; and paramountcy of a manager's role in achieving organizational goals in globalization era.Design/Methodology/Approach: This research adopts the empirical study method to analyse the essentialness of international Business subject at Undergraduate and Graduate level in Ethiopian universities. Personal interview method adopted to analyse the primary evidence through questioner. Handbook of theory and research for Higher education is considered for review of literature; discussion and analysis which fixates on affinity for learning practical business skills rather theoretical. Vigour, Impotency, Opportunity, and Threats analysis explores all challenges and hurdles in teaching International Business subject.Findings: The study finds the consequentiality of the international business subject at both UG & PG level and fluency in English language at university level. Less fluency in English influence the cognition system across the geography, it links the course curriculum design predicated the industry trend and authoritatively mandate; Adscititiously, the study concludes the integration of curriculum and research at university level concerning the context of International Business. Lack of vigilance about course theoretical paramountcy with respect to integration of countries trade.Research Limitations/Implications: Underutilization of resources, fail to update each program's importance, opportunities, and outcomes in university websites. Most of the MBA students are either commerce or social science rather diverse background like science, pharma, and engineering. University-Industry Linkage department is not prioritizing to organize focus group discussions among a diverse group of employers and students to determine the primary skills and consequential attributes look for in students.Originality/Value: Ministry of Higher Education and universities are not giving much importance to the International Business subject, albeit the country’s exports and imports. Only two or three (Addis-Ababa, Mekelle, and Adama) Ethiopian Universities are active in research in higher education because of the collaborative influence of foreign university faculties.

Indian banks have a dual challenge of dealing with bad loans on one hand and hurrying to be fully BASEL III compliant on the other. Both the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) and the Government of India are using various approaches over the past two decades to help banks. Several different experiences are obtained by domestic and global banks in handling the non-performing loans (NPL) problem. Yes Bank Limited is India’s 4 th largest private sector bank. It has the industry-best NPA ratios and is renowned for its best practises in the banking industry. Can risk management practices and focus on asset quality help banks maintain loan quality and even stop loans from not slipping into the vicious Non-Performing Asset (NPA) cycle? Data from quarterly & annual reports and other reports is collected to understand management philosophy and asset quality dimensions such as NPA ratio, provisioning coverage ratio, concentration of NPAs, priority sector lending and restructuring of accounts. As the bank evolved from a mid-size bank into a large-size bank in the last 14 years, it gives an opportunity to pose the question - Will NPA size increase as bank transformed from a mid-sized bank to a large bank? Will knowledge-driven sectoral approach to assist customers in their business by lending and offering industry specific financial solutions help the bank? Can technology be used to predict and give early warnings before loans turns sour?

India’s demonetisation of November 2016 has become a major trigger for the country to move towards digitization and become a cash-free country. Though in their nascent stages, newer and potentially disruptive innovations such as Cryptocurrencies and Blockchain have the potential to replace paper money with digital currency providing a de-centralized and secured environment. Blockchain features such as distributed computing, confidentiality, authenticity, non-repudiation, data integrity, and data availability can help a populous country like India to turn into a cash-free economy. Blockchain make tremendous impact on the financial sector, particularly in speeding up and simplifying cross-border payments, in share trading, by way of smart contracts, improving online identity management and in loyalty and rewards (Deloitte; 2018). This paper is an attempt to check out some of the blockchain implementations in India done so far in regard to embracing the technology, both within and outside the financials domain.

Tax planning strategies are important for tax payers whose aim is to reduce their tax outgo on various types of income and capital gains. While there are several tax saving instruments that qualify under Section 80C of the Income Tax Act, 1961, Equity Linked Savings Scheme (ELSS) has a special importance. It provides the least possible lock-in period among all tax saving instruments besides providing equity asset investment exposure making it a good long-term tool for wealth creation. This paper studies the investment behaviour of a typical ELSS mutual fund investor. Primary data is used to identify preferences of tax saving instrument by Indians and to understand if diversification across multiple ELSS schemes is done. Understanding the mode of investing helps us get insight on investor behaviour. Finally, we get to know if ELSS is being used by other family members. Secondary data study allows us to understand the trends and dynamics of ELSS. Our study checks scheme Average Assets Under Management (AAUM) data to understand if investors delay and thereby hurry their investing just before closing of the financial year. These findings are of significance for Asset Management Companies (AMCs) in their product positioning and building promotional strategies. Market regulator SEBI and the Association of Mutual Fund Industry (AMFI) can use it to improve the product offering and expanding its reach. Government and Ministry of Finance can use these findings for tweaking tax laws so as to promote investment culture.