The Batuk

Editorial Vol.9(2)

Santosh Raj Poudyal — 2023-07-28

The holistic growth of people is the main goal of education. The progress of society as a whole is facilitated through education. The Batuk always encourages scholars to engage in research activities to become a balanced human being. This volume (Volume 9, Issue 2), like its predecessor, covers a wide range of activities. The first article in the management section explored the relationship between cyberloafing, workplace rudeness and employee productivity in rural municipalities of Kaski District, Nepal. In addition, another study investigated the quality of management campus services from the perspective of students. Third article examined the credit risk and profitability of commercial banks in Nepal and made comparison between private and joint venture banks. Impact of digital wallet adoption on financial inclusion has been highlighted in the fourth article.

Three additional articles with varying scopes are included in the humanities and social sciences part. The focus of the first study of the part is on identifying and analyzing the effects of solar radiation on Pokhara. Another article critically examined the loss and recovery of substance in classical rhetoric. The final article of the issue examined how home, health, emotional, social, and educational factors affect Nepalese bachelor's degree students' college adjustment.

We take this opportunity to thank all of the contributors for their outstanding work and unwavering support. The articles that have been published in it are perceptive and thought-provoking, and they offer readers from today's generation useful insights. We are incredibly grateful to the valuable readers of this journal for their invaluable input and helpful suggestions that have helped to make ‘The Batuk’ a lively and dynamic forum for the exchange of ideas.

Prediction of Direct and Diffuse Solar Radiation on Pokhara, Nepal

Prakash Man Shrestha — 2023-07-28

The measurement of direct and diffuse solar radiation is not easily possible because instruments are quite expensive. The main objective of this study was to predict direct solar radiation (I_B) and diffuse solar radiation (I_D) on Pokhara (28.186643^o N, 83.97518^o E, 800 m asl) for a period of one year (2017). Daily data of spectral Aerosol optical depth (AOD) and total ozone column are obtained from NASA website. The maximum value of direct solar radiation and diffuse solar radiation values were found 932.9 ± 65.9 W/m² in January and 363.0 ± 87.9 W/m² in February respectively. The minimum value of direct solar radiation and diffuse solar radiation values were found 692.8 ±142.0 W/m² in April and 107.7 ± 20.4 W/m² in July respectively. The diffuse solar radiation changes with season. The annual average of direct solar radiation and diffuse solar radiation are found 808.1± 133.7 W/m² and 220.8 ± 102.8 W/m² and respectively. The results of this research work will help further identification, impact and analysis of solar radiation in different locations in Nepal with the same geographic conditions.

Loss and Recovery of ‘Substance’ in Greco-Roman Rhetoric

Purna Chandra Bhusal — 2023-07-28

This article attempts to delineate the Greco-Roman history of rhetoric in light of the concept of ‘substance’. It examines how Greco-Roman Rhetoric, while traveling from Plato to Aristotle to Cicero to Quintilian, encounters debates and dialogues regarding the issues of essence, meaning, and purpose of rhetoric. Therefore, this article does a qualitative textual analysis of five texts: Phaedrusorgias by Plato (2002, 1864), On Rhetoric by Aristotle (n.d.), Oratory and Orators by Cicero (1875), and Institutio Oratoria by Quintilian (2013). In order to unravel the journey of Greco-Roman rhetorical substance, these texts have been analysed and interpreted from three different points of view: substance in rhetoric/oratory, substance in the language of rhetoric/oratory, and substance in rhetoricians/rhetor/orator. The article concludes that in the history of Greco-Roman rhetoric, Plato nullifies substance, Aristotle adds substance, Cicero amplifies substance, and Quintilian multiplies substance. The article not only tracks the history of Greco-Roman rhetoric from the perspective of substance but also opens new avenues for further research.

College Adjustment among Bachelor Students: Multidimensional Relationship with Home, Health, Emotion, Social, and Educational Factors

Rocky Maharjan — 2023-07-28

The successful adjustment of bachelor students to college life affects their academic achievement, personal development, and overall well-being. The purpose of this study was to look into the effects of home, health, emotional, social, and educational factors on college adjustment among Nepalese bachelor's degree students. A structured questionnaire survey was completed by 178 undergraduates from various Nepalese colleges. Results showed that, home-related factors, physical health, emotional factors, social support, and academic support all had a significant relationship on college adjustment. Furthermore, gender differences were not observed, the level of college adjustment found to be average and unsatisfactory irrespective of gender, emphasizing the importance of individualized interventions. The study adds to our understanding of the factors that relates college adaptation and provides insights for designing effective support systems to help Nepalese bachelor students successfully transition into college life.

Cyberloafing, Workplace Incivility and Employee Productivity: An Empirical Study in Rural Municipalities of Kaski District

Badri Tiwari — 2023-07-28

In today’s digitalized workplace, workplace incivility and cyberloafing have become major concerns for many corporate and government organizations all over the world. The objective of this study was to determine the effects of cyberloafing and workplace rudeness on workers. The study took a quantitative approach, administered a set of survey questionnaire, and collected response from 135 employees from three rural municipalities in Kaski district. Different descriptive and inferential statistical analysis tools were applied to draw the conclusion. Results showed that the cyber loafing and employee productivity had a weak significant positive relationship (0.320) whereas work incivility and employee productivity had a negative co-relationship (-0.304). Similarly, the regression result reveled a significant low magnitude of impact of cyberloafing and workplace incivility (0.443 and -0.445 coefficient respectively) on employee productivity. This research underlines the necessity for local governments to put policies in place that discourages uncivil behavior at workplace and prevent employees from the tendency of cyberloafing, as doing so can help to increase worker productivity.

Service Quality and Students' Satisfaction of Management Campuses of Kathmandu Valley

Gyani Malla Shah — 2023-07-28

Service quality is a campus strategic tool for increasing student satisfaction. This study was conducted to examine the service quality of management campus from student's perspectives and to assess the relationship and impact of reliability, responsiveness, assurance, empathy and tangible dimensions on satisfaction. A total of 314 management students from bachelor (BBS) and master level (MBS) of management program of five constituent campuses of Tribhuvan University inside Kathmandu Valley were taken through using simple random sampling method. Based on SERVEQUAL gap model developed by the Parasuraman et al. (1985, 1988a), a set of 5-point Likert scale questionnaire was administered to collect data. Result of the result found a poor service quality or negative mean gap in reliability, responsiveness, assurance and tangible dimensions. A strong significant negative impact of mean expectation of responsive dimension was found on service quality gap. On the other hand, mean perception of tangible dimension had strong positive impact on service quality gap. Result of the study emphasizes on the improvement of quality dimensions of management campuses so as to satisfy students and get strategic advantage in this competitive marketplace.

Credit Risk and Profitability Position of Nepalese Private and Joint Venture Commercial Banks

Makshindra Thapa — 2023-07-28

Credit concentrations, credit processes and other externalities have made credit risk more important over the past decade, followed by liquidity issues. This study was conducted to compare the credit risk exposure of various banks in terms of their liquidity, capital ratio, size, operational inefficiency, loan growth rate, and non-performing loans. It also investigated the spontaneous relationship between credit risk and bank profitability. Secondary data of 5 years from ten banks (5 each from joint venture and private banks) have been collected. The descriptive and comparative study designs were employed and SPSS software was used for the analysis of data. The results showed that the private banks surpass joint venture banks in terms of capital ratio and operating efficiency, but joint venture banks lead private banks in terms of liquidity, capital ratio, total assets, loan growth rate, and non-performing loans. However, the independent sample t-test did not show any significant differences on liquidity, capital ratio, size, and loan growth rate. The Pearson’s correlation showed positive associations of capital ratio (moderate and significant), operating inefficiency (weak and insignificant), and loan growth rate (weak and insignificant) with ROA. In contrast, bank size and nonperforming loans have significant moderate negative correlations, but liquidity is not found to be correlated with ROA. The empirical findings of this study are considered helpful in evaluating the comparative credit risk exposure of the banking sector and have both managerial and academic implications.

Financial Inclusion through FinTech Innovation: Predicting User Acceptance of Digital Wallet

Rupa Shrestha — 2023-07-28

Conceptualizing the theme that a person is more likely to be left out of the financial system, the poorer and more disadvantaged they are, because the financial service sector functions in a way that benefits the socially powerful. This study is carried out to understand the factors influencing adoption of digital wallet and to examine the impact of digital wallet adoption on financial inclusion. Two established models of technology adoption; Technology Acceptance Model (TAM) and Unified Theory of Acceptance and Use of Technology (UTAUT), are used to conduct the study. The customers of Kathmandu valley were surveyed in terms of their attitudes, perceptions, and behaviors. The results showed that Perceived Usefulness, Price Value and Trust had a significant impact on the adoption of digital wallet. However, Perceived Ease of Use and Social Influence do not significantly impact the adoption. The study concludes that digital wallets have the potential to promote greater financial inclusion among disadvantaged and low-income individuals by addressing barriers to financial inclusion. The results provide insights for policymakers and FinTech companies in designing and implementing effective digital wallet so as to promote greater financial inclusion.