Defining Success in Micro Finance Market

This dissertation examines the concept of success in the microfinance market by analyzing the operations of ASA International in Myanmar, Bangladesh, and India. It evaluates key success factors, including profitability, client base, and employee satisfaction, and explores the impact of social and economic conditions on ASA's performance. The dissertation includes a comprehensive data analysis based on ASA's annual reports, providing insights into the organization's growth and development.

Dissertation topic is "Defining
Success in Micro Finance Market: An
Analysis of ASA NGO/ ASA International
Operations in Myanmar, Bangladesh &
India".

Table of Contents
ABSTRACT.....................................................................................................................................1
CHAPTER 1: INTRODUCTION....................................................................................................2
Overview of the Research............................................................................................................2
Background of the Research........................................................................................................3
Rationale of the Research............................................................................................................4
Research aim, objectives and question........................................................................................4
Introduction of next chapters ......................................................................................................5
CHAPTER 2: LITERATURE REVIEW.........................................................................................6
Success of ASA in India and Bangladesh....................................................................................6
Success of ASA in Myanmar.......................................................................................................8
Success which has been attained by ASA in Asia by their micro finance venture....................10
Measures by which micro finance market is getting success by coordination in ASA.............12
CHAPTER 3: RESEARCH METHODOLOGY...........................................................................14
Research Philosophy..................................................................................................................14
Research Design.........................................................................................................................15
Research approach.....................................................................................................................16
Primary and secondary data.......................................................................................................16
Qualitative and quantitative data...............................................................................................17
Questionnaire.............................................................................................................................17
Techniques of analysing data.....................................................................................................20
CHAPTER 4: ANALYSIS and FINDINGS..................................................................................21
Data analysis..............................................................................................................................21
Link between literature review and findings.............................................................................41
CHAPTER 5: CONCLUSIONS & RECOMMENDATIONS......................................................42
Findings......................................................................................................................................42
Limitations and restrictions........................................................................................................43
Recommendations......................................................................................................................44
Implications................................................................................................................................45
REFERENCES..............................................................................................................................46

ABSTRACT
Micro finance is a small loan which is credited in the account of unemployed and low
income group who have no source of income. This report is comprising five parts which are
Introduction, in which a brief of micro finance is given. The organization used in this report
which gives credit to its customer is ASA (Association for Social Advancement). Since Micro
finance is for the low-income groups therefore this report is accurate in the study of Asian
countries like India, Bangladesh, and Myanmar etc. These countries have large number of
population Therefore there is a great scope of micro finance in these countries. Apart from
introduction, Literature review are also discussed in which defines non-government
organizations and to show that different examples are also discussed. Main aim of this research
report is to evaluate success of ASA. Success of this association is ascertained by reviewing
various aspects present in annual reports of this organisation such as number of clients attained,
profitability, growth of countries, level of unemployment in nation and etc. After the Literature
review, Methodology is discussed in which the process of planning, designing of report is
explained. It also shows the type of data used in this research. Next section after methodology, is
analysis and findings, in which the data used before will be analysed and an information is
produced to answer the research questions. Conclusions and recommendations are also discussed
in this report to conclude what has in this report.
This research report is based on the concept of micro finance and success of its market. In
order to better understand this topic, ASA is selected as an organisation which is involved in
providing micro finance to various Asian and African countries. In this dissertation report,
introduction and background about topic and organisation is developed along with literature
review in which research questions are addressed in detail with the help of author’s point of
view. In order to provide evidence to conclusion and recommendations, secondary data is used
which is acquired from annual reports of ASA. All the data is analysed and evaluated using data
analysis.
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Dissertation Topic:
“Defining Success in Micro Finance Market: An Analysis of ASA NGO/ ASA
International Operations in Myanmar, Bangladesh & India.”
CHAPTER 1: INTRODUCTION
Overview of the Research
Microfinance is a service of providing micro credit or micro insurance services of small
values to individuals to help smaller section of society such as people of low income group
(Mersland and Strom, 2014). Microfinance market is a marketplace where banks and other
financial institutions provide microfinance facilities to various individuals. Success of this
market is largely depends upon development of an economy. Microfinance market is a not a
requirement which are already developed as they are capable for acquiring finance for various
sources (Moss, Neubaum and Meyskens, 2015). Scope of this market considered to be large in
countries which are developing their industries and which has high population such as India,
Bangladesh, Myanmar, Pakistan and many more. Success of Microfinance market largely
depends upon various aspects such as awareness about benefits of this market, preference
towards business and many more. In this research report, success of Microfinance market is
analysed by referring to an organisation which is involved in providing micro finance to
individuals that is ASA or Association for social advancement.
In this report, success of this marked is evaluated by conducting a research about ASA
international operations in Myanmar, Bangladesh and India. These countries are appropriate for
conducting this type of research, as they have underdeveloped or developing economies and also
has a large population. In order to provide evidence to the research results, secondary method is
used to conduct investigation. Secondary data is identified by referring to data which is pre
published by reliable sources. Annual reports of ASA is taken as secondary data which is used to
analyse success of Microfinance market. In this report intense research about micro finance
market and about ASA is conducted. Main aim behind conducting this research is to ascertain the
benefits of ASA to the countries like India, Bangladesh and Myanmar. By conducting this
research, investigator can build an understanding about the concept of Micro finance.
Research gap is the area which limits investigator to conclude their results. This research gap can
occur due to insufficient information. In this investigation, research gap which has been
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ascertained is success report which is important to be acquired to ascertain level of growth of
ASA. This research gap can be bridged by interpreting annual reports of ASA as these reports
has all the information such as client turnover, profitability, investment return ratio and many
more from which level of success can be ascertained (Quinones and Remenyi, 2014).
Background of the Research
Micro finance is a narrow concept which includes services like micro credit, micro savings
and micro insurance. The background of these services is its aim which is to provide benefit to
that group of society which are below poverty line or has low income group. Micro finance
services are provided by banks and other financial institutes. These institutes provide help to
smaller section of the society who are not able to fulfil their basic requirements of livelihood due
to low earnings. The most important factor of this finance is that loan or credit of small amount
is provided without any guarantee. It is hard to acquire funds by the people who has low income
group has they do not have any guarantee but with the help of micro finance even they can
acquire credit. This service helps individuals to start their own business by acquiring finance on
low rate of interest (Shahriar, Schwarz and Newman, 2016).
In order to better understand success of Microfinance market, an organisation is selected
which operates to provide microfinance services to individuals. This organisation is ASA or
Association for social advancements which operates in 12 countries of Asia and Africa. In order
to research about the background of this organisation, it has been ascertained that ASA is
incorporated in April 2007 and has secured a loans of billions from various foundations such as
Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation. In the year of 2018, this association established and acquired
existing microfinance institutes in several countries of Asia such as India, Pakistan, Sri Lanka
and Ghana. In the period of 11 years that is from 2007 to 2018, this association has their micro
finance institutes in 12 countries which are Myanmar, Pakistan, Bangladesh, India, Ghana,
Kenya, Uganda, Nigeria, Philippines, Tanzania, Rwanda and Sierra Leone. The most important
accomplishment of this association is that in the year 2018, ASA completes its premium listing at
the main market of the London Stock Exchange. In this research report, success of micro finance
market has to be ascertained which can be determined by success of ASA. Functioning of ASA
in only three countries has to be analysed in this research. All the information for determining
solutions for research is acquired from annual reports of ASA (Weber and Ahmad, 2014).
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Rationale of the Research
Rationale refers to the reason due to which a particular research is conducted by the
researcher. Main rationale behind conducting this research is to ascertain the level of success
which has been attained by ASA. This research work can help investigator to determine various
aspects which has been mentioned in annual report of ASA by which success of this association
can be identified. Investigator can enhance their knowledge about microfinance and also about
its services such as micro credit and insurance. A research work usually benefits for two kinds of
groups. The first one is the researcher as they can build understanding about the topic and second
group is people who further reads this research work. Readers who will further review this
investigation can improve their knowledge and can conclude situation of ASA immediately
without performing any individual investigation. The main aim or rationale behind conducting
this investigation is to ascertain whether or not ASA is successfully conducting their business.
Readers can ascertain benefits to countries by providing them facilities of micro finance. Issues
can also be identified by investigator which can assist readers about techniques by which this
system of micro finance can be improved.
Research aim, objectives and question
Research aim is the overall goal of a research which has to be fulfilled at the end of the
investigation. Research aim of this research project is “To evaluate Success in Micro Finance
Market”, An Analysis of ASA NGO/ ASA International Operations in Myanmar,
Bangladesh & India.
Research objectives describes the aspects which are required to be achieved by the
investigator from a particular investigation. Research objectives are clear and concise declarative
statement which direction to investigate variables. Objectives for this research are mentioned
below:
 To understand the role of micro financing in the growth of certain South Asian countries
such as Myanmar, Bangladesh and India.
 To understand how ASA NGO can achieve success in Micro finance market of India,
Bangladesh and Myanmar.
Research questions are the aspects which are required to be identified or answered through
the research work. These questions are generally based on the aims and objectives of an
investigation. Research questions for this particular investigation is mentioned below:
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 Is ASA is successful in India and Bangladesh?
 Is ASA is successfully working in Myanmar?
 By considering usual social and economic conditions, how much success has been
attained by ASA in Asia by their micro finance venture?
 What are the measures by which micro finance market is getting success by coordination
in ASA?
Introduction of next chapters
This dissertation report is based on the topic of ascertaining micro finance success by
evaluating performance of ASA. This research report is classified into five categories which are
mentioned below:
CHPATER 1: INTRODUCTION
In introduction various things are discussed by the researcher in which the information of
the project topic, what the researcher is going to explain in whole project, vital background
material which is required to formulate the research document, all the objectives of research and
the research questions and aims have also been addressed by the research in the introduction part.
It is also very important to write about the method or way which is going to be be followed in
next chapters. All such type of information had been written by the researcher in the
introduction.
CHAPTER 2: LITERATURE REVIEW
In literature review the research is going to provide reviews on key academic literature on
various topics that are required to form the research questions. These questions are used to define
success, micro finance, non government organisations and such type of case studies that are
required to studied while conducting a research. It is also going to be clarified by the researcher
the links between research question and literature review.
CHAPTER 3: RESEARCH METHODOLOGY
In methodology researcher will provide the explanation of that way in which research has
been planned, designed and conducted. Two type of data will also be used by researcher that are
qualitative and quantitative. All the research questions and objectives are also going to be
clarified in the methodology section. Various sources of data collection are also going to be
explained and the techniques that are used to analyse data will also be discussed.
CHAPTER 4: ANALYSIS & FINDINGS
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In this chapter the researcher will present the analysis of findings, show clear links to the
literature review chapter and also going to answer the research questions. All the findings are
going to be presented in the form of charts, graphs and tables.
CHAPTER 4: CONCLUSION & RECOMMENDATIONS
In conclusion the research will discuss about the findings, include the limitations of the
section and the recommendations will include the sources of justified research.
CHAPTER 2: LITERATURE REVIEW
Success of ASA in India and Bangladesh
According to Arianna Huffington (2017), success is not limited with only money and power but
there are various other factors too which defines success of an organisation such as its goal
accomplishment, society welfare and attaining wisdom. Association of social advancement is an
organisation which operates to provide micro finance facilities to that part of the society which
has low income group or are below the poverty line. Main aim of this association is to provide
employment to maximum individuals of a nation by providing them low interest credit services
so that they can start their own business and can provide employment to other individuals too.
This association even provides credit loans without any guarantee so that every individual can
attain this type of loan. This associations words in various countries of Asia and Africa including
India and Bangladesh (Anku-Tsede, 2014).
According to Sammi Caramela (2018), Micro finance which is also known as micro credit
is a financial service of providing offers, loans, savings and insurance to individuals who can not
afford to acquire credit using conventional methods of finance. This facility promotes business
owners and entrepreneurs to start their business or to develop their business. Association of
social advancement is engaged in providing this type of services. ASA is a non governmental
organisation which works for the welfare of society. This association is non profit and non
political in nature. This is an international association which operates in multiple countries which
the mission of evading unemployment and poverty. It is considered that providing credit for
starting up a new business is more successful than providing credit for job employment as a
business not only creates employment for owners but also for other individuals too.
According to Association of social advancement of India (2018), main aim of this organisation is
to reduce poverty and improve quality of life in India. Mission statement of this association
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states that ASA work to provide benefits to individuals who face economic challenges in an
innovative and sustainable way. This organisation is based on the values of establishing trust
through transparency. This association values innovation, integrity and professionalism. In order
to ascertain that is this organisation is successfully in India or not it is important to determine
various aspects such as satisfaction of their clients, profit making, development of industrial
sector of that nation and many more. In order to identify whether ASA is successfully working in
India it is important to ascertain is they are able to fulfil their objective or not. Primary objective
of ASA India is to improve and strengthen the economic status of poorer section of the society
through facilitating and expanding micro finance products. Secondary investigation is further
conducting in this report to ascertain development of India and its industrial area (BaoQuoc and
Tsai, 2014).
According to ASA India (2018), ASA was awarded as best Indian non profit organisation.
Awards and achievements can provide evidence that this association is successfully operating in
India. In order to provide an accurate and conclusive evidence it is important to research about
this association using secondary data which will be conducted by investigator in data analysis. In
order to provide a reflection about is ASA is successfully working in India or not, awards and
achievements are enough to provide evidence. This organisation is said to be elected for
Executive board of the Round Table for the consecutive three years (Kleynjans and Hudon,
2016).
Association of social advancements operates in various countries and one of them is
Bangladesh. This country is a South Asian nation which is considered to be an under developed
country. Growth of Bangladesh is relatively low than other Asian countries and there is consent
issues of intense poverty, unemployment and other economic problems.
According to Association of social advancements Bangladesh (2018), this association is a top
micro finance institution of this country and provides credit services to thousands of individuals
every year. ASA was established in Bangladesh in the year of 1978 as this country was in
immediate requirement of various schemes which can provide benefit of low interest credit to
their business owners and entrepreneurs. Due to various issues, this organisation has observed to
attain 8 million clients across Bangladesh. By reviewing the mission statement of this
organisation, it has been determined that main objective of this association established in
Bangladesh is to support and strengthen the economy at the bottom of the socio economic
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pyramid by facilitating access to financial services to poor individuals. Association of social
advancements of Bangladesh is based on the values that, use innovation and non conventional
management for achieving cost effectiveness and sustainability. In order to identify whether this
organisation is held successful in Bangladesh or not, it is important to research about annual
reports of the association as well as about the current status of nation. This investigation will be
conducted by the investigator in data analysis to determine accurate and reliable results with
evidence of quantitative data. Achievements of this organisation can also provide an overview
about success of ASA (Kumar and Qazi, 2016). By the accomplishments of this association, it
can be said that this association is successfully working in Bangladesh. In order to provide
evidence to above statements, accomplishments of ASA in their particular nation are, this
association has completed nearly 40 years in Bangladesh which can enough to portray that this
organisation is successfully working there. ASA has acquired 8 million clients across
Bangladesh and most of them are satisfied with the financial services of this association. Besides
providing credit services there are various programs initiated by this organisation such as
Education, agriculture, sanitation, health care and many more. ASA is a self managed association
which is not related with government interferences. By the above accomplishments it can be said
that Association for social advancements is successfully working in Bangladesh.
Success of ASA in Myanmar
According to the Gary M. Woller (2018), Micro finance market is a market place where
services related to micro finance instruments is conducted. Micro finance instruments are
considered as micro credit, micro insurance and other micro schemes which has primary aim of
providing benefit to the society despite of earning profit. Micro finance services are also
provided by various banks and other financial institutions also but association of social
advancements is considered as the best organisation of providing micro finance as this
association is a non profit and non government entity due to which there is negligible
interference of government.
Myanmar is a south Asian country which is considered as World’s one of the least
developed countries. Reasons behind situation of this nation is high population and poverty. In
order to provide micro finance services to individuals of Myanmar, ASA has established 14
branches in this country. This association is working in this country with the objective of
promoting entrepreneurship so that individuals can be self reliant and dose bot need any
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employment opportunities. In order to ascertain that whether ASA is successfully working in
Myanmar or not it is important to ascertain various success aspects such as satisfaction of clients,
development of the country and others. This investigation will be conducted under data analysis
using secondary data of association of social advancements. Success of this organisation can also
be ascertained by the evidence of success stories which are mentioned as follows.
According to Association of social advancement of Myanmar (2018), there are various
success stories which provides relevance to the statement that besides various issues, still this
organisation is working in this country successfully. According to this organisation they have
provided to micro finance services to millions of individual. One of these individuals is Win
Win, a citizen of Myanmar who works a tailor. Win Win is a mother of two kids and is a 45
years old lady who never borrowed money from any bank or any other financial institution as
because of high interest rates. In order to enhance her financial position, she decided to take a
small credit of 100000 and purchased a sewing machine. This decision resultant to be her
decision as her business starts to generate profit of 2500 every week by which she was able to
repay her loan in small period of time and also generated high income from this business.
According to association of social advancement (2018), there is another success story which can
provide evidence to the statement that ASA is working successfully in Myanmar. This
association has provided micro credit to various individuals and one of them which has
successfully attained benefit from these facilities is Khin Thidar Lin. She is a resident of
Myanmar who is engaged in the manufacturing and selling of traditional guitars known as
Muhinga. Manufacturing this type of instrument is considered as an innovative approach of
business due to which even after of micro business holding, she received a credit of 200000 by
which she hired another worker who can manufactures this type of guitars. This decision of Khin
Thidar Lin leads her towards high profitability as her business reached to heights (Kusum
Mukherjee, 2014).
From the above success stories of individuals, it can be said that association of social
advancement is working successfully in Myanmar. By reviewing working of this organisation, it
has been observed that this organisation is more inclined towards providing credit services t that
part of the nation which is not able to acquire credit from conventional ways that is from banks
and other financial institutions. This part of the nation is considered as the women entrepreneurs,
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low income group individuals, people below poverty line, individuals who can not afford to pay
high interest, entrepreneurs with different ideas and many more.
Success which has been attained by ASA in Asia by their micro finance venture
According to Arpita Amarnani (2018), Micro finance venture is the plan in which funds for
micro finance is acquired. Association for social advancement is an organisation which has
started micro finance venture in Asia in order to provide benefit to Asian countries which are
considered as under developed or developing. Micro finance services includes a wide range of
facilities which are developed to facilitate small business owners and entrepreneurs. In order to
establish a micro finance venture, association of social advancement has acquired various
organisation which were previously engaged in providing these kind of facilities. Various micro
finance institutions are acquired by ASA in Asian countries in order to develop a base for
effective working. In order to ascertain the success which is acquired from ASA in Asia it is
important to review annual report of this organisation so that investigator can ascertain their
turnover and number of clients which are facilitated form this facility. Main aim of ASA is to
provide credit services to specific individuals and not to earn maximum profit from their
operations. Success of association of social advancements can be ascertained by considering
annual reports of this organisation as a base by which success factors such as client base and
sustainability level can be ascertained. This investigation will be conducted by researcher at the
section of data analysis and findings. Success of ASA by establishing micro finance venture can
be ascertained by the success stories and accomplishments of this association. It is considered
that developing and under developed countries are in serious requirement resolvement of these
issues.
Social conditions are the situations in which an organisation has to operate. Success of
any organisation can not be ascertained without referring to its conditions which they has to face.
Theoretically, all real world attributes remain constant and success is determined by only
profitability and goal ascertainment. But this theoretical approach cannot be used in real life as in
actual world business entities has to go through numerous issues which can be studied
theoretically as they are diverse in nature. The study of understanding social conditions which
influence a working organisation is referred as environmental analysis. ASA is a working entity
which operates for the benefit of society. In order to analyse their success, it is important to first
analyse their business environment. This type of environment is classified into two categories
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that is internal and external. Internal factors are the influencers which are directly related with
the association such as employees, board and shareholders of the organisation. External business
environment is further analysed into two subsections which is micro and macro. Micro factors
are the influencers which affect the association at micro level (Marakkath and Attuel-mendes,
2015). These micro factors are suppliers, debtors, creditors and many more. These influencers
are directly related with the organisation but is not a part of their internal functioning area. Apart
from this, there are few macro factors too which influence success of micro finance venture.
These macro factors involve political, economic, social, technological, legal and environmental
influences. The most two important factors which effects success of ASA in Asia are social and
economical. In the prevailing conditions of social and economic factors, success of ASA in Asia
can be defined as stable and progressive. Prevailing conditions are the usual conditions which are
typically faced by ASA. There are no emergency and unusual conditions which has to faced by
the association.
In order to ascertain volume of success attained by ASA, it is important to evaluate their model.
According to the report of PWC (2017), ASA is managing to maintain their successful model in
Asia. Under this model, Association of social advancements focus upon following the approach
of decision making MFIs. ASA of Bangladesh has the ability to garner deposits which has been
instrumental in providing better service and cheaper access to funds for the poor. This is the
same technique which js adopted by Micro finance institutions of banks but the reason behind
success of ASA is support and grants of governmental parties. ASA of India has a matured
structure and now face stiff competition from the small finance banks and payment banks. ASA
of India accepts deposits and provide cheaper funds, this help MFI structure to sell other
products and balance risk. This balancing of risks allows to attain great success. In the case of
Myanmar, governmental ministry has charge of the micro finance sector, Central banks as a
regulator controls and mitigate risks of controlling growth and reviewing expansion of micro
finance institutions in an objective manner (Mia, 2017).
From the above cases of three countries that is India, Bangladesh and Myanmar it has been
ascertained that in usual social and economic conditions, ASA attains high success. Another
factor which can help in determine how much success has been attained by ASA in Asia is
digital awareness. Any public service which works for society can only attain success when the
society is well aware about benefits which can be gained by them. Financial literacy is dependent
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upon digital literacy, numerous financial literacy programs have been conducted across Asia to
educate customers on credit and saving discipline. In current scenario, the best technique of
spreading awareness is digitalisation.
After studying all the aspects it can be said that ASA is gaining success in Asia and
especially in countries like India, Bangladesh and Myanmar.
Measures by which micro finance market is getting success by coordination in ASA
According to Daniel Rozas (2018), micro finance market is a venture which obtains their
most of the funds from grants which are provided by governmental authorities and this factor is
their greatest advantage against achieving huge success in Asia. The main behind setting up
micro finance association in Asia is to benefit those nations which are facing intense poverty due
to lack of funds. By providing, funds to individuals on low interest rate, the purpose of
association of social advancements can be fulfilled as they provide loans to clients who wish to
start their own business as business not only benefits the owner but also benefits other
individuals as it creates employment. Association of social advancements is an organisation
which deals in providing low interest loans to those individuals who are unable to produce funds
by a conventional method. ASA has established themselves years ago in Asia and growing with
an increasing rate. Reason behind this success can be ascertained by the measures due to which
micro finance market is getting success (Quinones and Remenyi, 2014).
Micro finance market is defined as a market place which provides low interest loans to
specific individuals of low income group. For an organisation like association of social
advancements requires various strategies and action plan to be successful. Measures of micro
finance market due to which it has attained huge success are discussed as follows.
Strategies – Strategy is the critical success factor, which if is used with proper direction
and competencies then it can result in growth and development. Providing funds and loan is
included in service industry and it is considered that key of success in service industry is its right
marketing strategies. Strategies are the game plan in which organisation set goals, address all
their issues and manage operations in such a way that it results in obtaining sustainable
competitive advantage. Strategies is the medium which helps in setting long term and short term
objectives. Long term objectives of ASA such as development of nation, client maximisation,
customer awareness, employee development, technological leadership and public responsibility
can be fulfilled by proper plans and strategies. Countries like India has a matured structure,
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which means there is an intense competition in micro finance market and various small banking
institutions are also engaged in providing low interest loans to individuals. Strategies involves all
the plans for expansion and growth due to which micro finance market is gaining success
through ASA as this organisation prepares strategies before executing any project (Shahriar,
Schwarz and Newman, 2016).
Service Attributes – Attributes are the positive characteristics of service by marketing is
done so that clients can build an understanding about why that service is beneficial for them. For
example: Association of social advancements provides services of low interest loans which are
beneficial for those individuals who are not able to procure loans from banks due to high interest
rates. Market of micro finance is engaged in providing numerous services such as micro credit,
micro insurance and many more. These services are high profitable and must be gained by
individuals who want to start their own venture or business. These attractive attributes should be
mentioned to clients so that they can understand the benefits of these services and acquire them.
Service attributes such as low interest rates, long term pay back and less formalities should be
provided to all so that society can be aware of the benefits of these services.
Customer and Brand loyalty – This is the most important measure from which micro
finance market is attaining huge success. Customer and brand loyalty is the relationship between
client and organisation in which organisation provides reliable services to their clients and gain
their loyalty so that their brand equity can be enhanced. High customer loyalty id developed by
delivering high customers value services. Customer loyalty is an important strategy and every
critical element involved in managing microfinance operations should be formulated to promote
loyalty. Loyalty of customers can be earned if the organisation is committed towards providing
them valuable services. Customer loyalty can also lead ASA towards sustainable competitive
advantage as the firm will be able to have long term customers who they can use as success
stories in marketing strategies. Customer loyalty allows clients to spread a word about the
organisation by which goodwill of the association gets enhanced (Srinivasan, 2014).
Action Plan – Action plan is the series of planned activities which are required to be
executed by the organisation. This action plan involves all the steps such as marketing,
management, controlling, direction and many more. Action plan helps an association to pre plan
every aspect of the activity by which it has been ascertained that what activity should be done in
future and in what manner.
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All the above measures help the micro finance market to grow and attain success.
Association of social advancements is an organisation which has used all the above measures and
has attained huge growth in Asia. Micro finance market is gaining growth in India, Bangladesh
and Myanmar due to effective working of ASA. By considering profit and productivity of ASA,
various small finance bank are also trying to give intense competition to this association.
Measures like strategies, action plan, customer and brand loyalty are the techniques by which
client satisfaction is attained. ASA is an association which does not only attained growth for their
selves but also for whole micro finance market (Assefa, Hermes and Meesters, 2013).
CHAPTER 3: RESEARCH METHODOLOGY
Research methodology is a systematic plan for conducting research. This plan is divided in
various parts such as research philosophy, design, method, action plan and many more. Main aim
behind this methodology is to provide a definite structure to an investigation. In the case of this
research, methodology which is used is observation as requirement of this investigation is to
ascertain success of ASA by observing the annual report of this association and interpreting that
report to get desired results. Research planning along with research design and conduction is
discussed below:
Research Philosophy
Research philosophy deals with planning of the investigation. All the attributes which are
planned are source, nature and development of knowledge. Research philosophy is the belief
about a phenomenon which should be use and analysed to collect all the data. Research
philosophy involves being aware and formulating all the beliefs and assumptions. This
philosophy is of classified into various types such as Pragmatism, Positivism, Realism and
Interpretivism (Bateman and Chang, 2012). It is important to select a reliable research
philosophy so that aim of the investigation can be fulfilled. In this investigation, qualitative
research method is considered to be selected as with all the data qualitative results are required to
be analysed. Interpretivism is the technique by which small samples are analysed in depth to
conduct qualitative investigations. The main aim behind selecting this research philosophy is to
adopt naturalistic approach such as questionnaire. Interpretivists avoid rigid structures and adopts
a more personal and flexible research structures which can help in analyse human interaction and
it even make sense about what is perceived as reality. By following this particular philosophy,
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investigator remains open to new knowledge throughout the study and help them to be
informative. This philosophy helps in planning all the aspects which are necessary for a research
such as data collection, sampling technique, data analysis and many more. This interpretivism
philosophy can be used to analyse quantitative data in much more meaningful conclusions and
research findings.
Research Design
Research design is defined as a framework of methods and techniques chosen by a
researcher to combine various components of research in a reasonably logical manner. This
design is important to be efficiently handled (Bogan, 2012). Research design provides a direction
about how a work should be done. Descriptive design is used for this investigation because the
data which is procured from annual reports of ASA is required to be in detail. This research
design is the best option for the research as it helps in experiments. It helps to collect the details
that are required to conduct a research. It is a neutral method which is free from biasness. The
report which is generated with the help of descriptive design is reliable as all the relevant data is
used for the research. It is very important for a research design to be more reliable as it may
assure the observer get right and appropriate information. Outcome which is gathered from such
type of research design should be applicable to a population and a restricted area. Descriptive
design is used in this research report to analyse success and growth of ASA in detail so that
investigator can analyse outcomes in detail.
Research design allows investigator to smoothly conduct their investigation so that
conclusions and findings must be accurate and reliable. A good research design includes
theoretical and conceptual framework which must be linked with objectives and questions of the
research. It is important to select an appropriate research design. The reason behind choosing
descriptive design is to analyse every aspect of research objectives and questions in detail. This
design enables to broadens thought process of investigator along with it provides a fascinating
and exciting experience of investigation. It also cuts down inaccuracy as they are low chances of
missing any information as all the aspects are already explained in detail (Boons and Lüdeke-
Freund, 2013).
Research approach
Research approach is a plan and procedure which consists various steps of detailed
method of data collection, analysis and interpretation. There are various types of research
15

approach such as inductive and deductive. The main difference between inductive and deductive
approach is selection of theory. In the case of inductive approach, a theory is emerged from the
data which can be generated from the data which available to investigator. In the case of
deductive approach, testing theory is used according to which a hypothesis is taken. In this
research, deductive approach is used which is usually used in investigations where quantitative
data is used. However there is no set rules and regulations which limits the scope of deductive
approach (Buera, Kaboski and Shin, 2012).
Deductive approach refers to the reasoning from a general content to specific. It includes
process of deducting conclusions from premises or propositions. There are various reasons due to
which this approach is selected. There is a high possibility of identifying relationships between
the variables and concepts. It helps in measuring concepts quantitatively. The benefits which are
determined above are the main reason of selecting this approach. In this investigation, annual
reports of ASA is required to analysed and interpreted and in this process deductive approach
can be used. As it helps in preparing questions which are related with quantitative data and leads
towards results which are numeric and specific in nature (Driver, 2012).
Primary and secondary data
Data collection is a technique of collecting information about variables and values. This
process is used gather all the data which has to used for concluding the research and analyse
appropriate research findings. Data can be collected using two methods that is primary and
secondary. In the case of primary data collection, information about questions are gathered using
first hand information. There are various techniques by which data can be collected. These
techniques are interviews, questionnaires, observations and focus group. On the other hand,
secondary data collection method is a technique in which information which is published by
other sources is used to conduct a research. In this project report, secondary data collection
method is used. Association of social advancements is an organisation which operates in
providing micro finance services to that part of the society which is unable to procure funds from
conventional methods. In order to analyse success of this organisation it is important to analyse
their financial data. This financial information will be the secondary data from which reliable
findings and conclusions will be made. Secondary data which is used in this investigation
includes annual report of ASA of several years. From these annual reports, information about
ASA of India, Bangladesh and Myanmar is used (Helmig, Ingerfurth and Pinz, 2014).
16

Secondary data which is used in this investigation is processed in the form of
Questionnaire. In this documents various questions about ASA success will be asked and
answers will be gathered by investigator itself with the help of secondary information which is
used.
Qualitative and quantitative data
Data which is collected from above methods that is primary and secondary is classified
into two categories that is qualitative and quantitative. In the case of qualitative method, data
which is acquired is related with descriptions and observations which can not be computed.
Qualitative data is used for exploratory research methodology and is subjective. Quantitative
data is the information related with numericals and statistical information. This data is concerned
with numbers and mathematical calculations which can be calculated and computed. This type of
data is expressed and measured in numbers. This data adopts conclusive approach and helps in
reaching the conclusions. Collection of data is more structured in this case and is objective
(Holzmann, Palmer and Robalino, 2012).
In this investigation, data which is collected is quantitative. In order to ascertain the
success of association of social advancements, it is important to analyse their annual reports and
these reports has several numerical data. Income statements, balance sheets and even cash
expenditure reports are analysed in order to interpret conditions and situation of ASA.
Questionnaire
Questionnaire is the list of various research questions which are required to be answered
in order to draw appropriate conclusions. Usually the questions which are included in this
document are asked by respondents but in this particular research, secondary data of annual
reports of ASA is used and the questions will be answered by the investigator using data from
annual reports.
Questionnaire:
Q1. In which Asian country, ASA has maximum branches?
a) India
b) Bangladesh
c) Myanmar
Q2. Which year has maximum branches of ASA?
17

a) 2014
b) 2015
c) 2016
Q3. Which year has the highest Return on Assets in ASA?
a) 2014
b) 2015
c) 2016
Q4. Is coverage of ASA is adequate in Asia? Explaining with number of branches for the years
2014, 2015 and 2016.
a) 2014
b) 2015
c) 2016
Q5. Documents of ASA are audited using external or internal audit?
a) External
b) Internal
Q6. In which year ASA has maximum number of employees?
a) 2014
b) 2015
c) 2016
Q7. Which year has highest profitability of ASA in Asian countries?
a) 2014
b) 2015
c) 2016
Q8. Which year has maximum number of active borrowers?
a) 2014
b) 2015
c) 2016
Q9. Which year has maximum average loan size?
a) 2014
18

b) 2015
c) 2016
Q10. Which year has maximum savings?
a) 2014
b) 2015
c) 2016
Q11. Is the corporate social responsibility is fulfilled by ASA?
a) Absolutely
b) Partially
Q12. In which of the following year ASA has incurred maximum expenses?
a) 2014
b) 2015
c) 2016
Q13. In which of the following year, ASA has maximum capital adequacy ratio?
a) 2014
b) 2015
c) 2016
Q14. In which of the following year, ASA has maximum Return on equity?
a) 2014
b) 2015
c) 2016
Q15. In which year, ASA has maximum capital fund?
a) 2015
b) 2016
Q16. Is Reserve ratio of ASA is showing decreasing trend, analyse it with three years?
a) 2014
b) 2015
c) 2016
Q17. Is Loan loss ratio is showing increasing trend, analyse it with three years?
19

a) 2014
b) 2015
c) 2016
Q18. From which of the following sources, ASA is acquiring their maximum funds?
a) ASA's own funds
b) Member's savings
c) Loan Insurance
d) Debt management reserve (DMR)
e) Loan from Development partners
f) Other sources
Q19. Is ASA of India, Bangladesh and Myanmar are successfully operating?
Techniques of analysing data
There are various techniques of collecting and analysing data. In this investigation, data
is collected using secondary information which is procured from annual reports of ASA.
Association of social advancements is an organisation which provides micro finance services like
micro credit., micro insurance and many more to those individuals of the society which are not
able to procure loans from conventional methods (Huybrechts and Nicholls, 2012). Quantitative
as well qualitative data is collected from the annual reports of ASA such as income statements,
client distribution, return on equity, return on investments, corporate social responsibility and
many more. Data can be usually collected with the various methods such as sampling. Sampling
is a method of selecting respondents using random sampling method and use them to acquire
information which can be analysed further for acquiring reliable results and findings. In this case,
numeric and non-numeric data is collected from the annual reports of ASA. There are various
techniques of analysing the data which is collected such as graphs, charts and pie charts. All the
data which is gathered from annual reports of this organisation is processed through these
techniques (Islam, 2016).
There are no fixed techniques for data analysis, as methods for analysis can be changed
according to the nature of data. For example if the information is in the form of values and
numbers then it will be evaluated using graphs and charts. On the other hand if the information is
20

related to qualitative data then it can be evaluated using literature review and general article. In
this investigation, data which is gathered from annual reports of ASA is analysed through charts
and graphs. In order to analyse success of ASA, various factors which can determine the success
of an NGO are used. These factors are used in the questionnaire which is developed above, these
factors are corporate social responsibility, return on equity, return on assets number of branch
offices, number of client turnover and capital adequacy ratio. All of these factors are analysed
using graphical tools such as graphs and charts in the section of data analysis (Jaouen and Lasch,
2015).
CHAPTER 4: ANALYSIS and FINDINGS
Data analysis
Data analysis is the process of evaluating data and using analytical tools in order to
examine each component of the data which is provided. This section is the last section of
analysis as in this segment all the data which is gathered and sourced is finally analysed to
interpret and identify reliable results. The main aim behind analysing data is to inspect and
discover data information which can support the decision making. In the case of research of
ASA, all the information which is gathered from annual reports of this company is further
analysed in this section by answering all the questions of questionnaire (Jensen, 2017). By
analysing the data, objective of this investigation can be fulfilled which is to determine is micro
finance market is attaining success through NGO ASA in countries like India, Myanmar and
Bangladesh. All the evidences for graphs are presented in Appendix.
Various questions along with their interpretation is discussed below along with graphical
representation:
Q1. In which Asian country, ASA has maximum branches? Frequency
a) India 162
b) Bangladesh
c) Myanmar
2933
64
21

Interpretation and Findings:
Association of social advancements is an organisation which provides micro finance
services to that part of the society which are unable to procure funds from conventional ways
(Kent and Dacin, 2013). Asian countries such as India, Bangladesh and Myanmar are considered
as under developed and developing countries and the main reason behind it is lack of
industrialisation and commerce. In order to develop these countries, it is important to enhance
their industrialisation. Micro finance company such as ASA operates to provide micro finance
services to these individuals of these countries so that overall development and growth of these
organisations can be attained. From the above arguments and graphs it has been ascertained that
countries like India, Bangladesh and Myanmar are in serious need of ASA and even other
entities like this. The above graph shows that Bangladesh is having maximum number of
branches of ASA, which means this country has high requirement of this firm. The above graph
results are gained from this official website of ASA (ASA. 2018).
Q2. Which year has maximum branches of ASA? Frequency
a) 2014 2931
b) 2015 2932
c) 2016 2933
22

a) 2014 b) 2015 c) 2016
2930
2930.5
2931
2931.5
2932
2932.5
2933
2933.5
2931
2932
2933
Frequency
Interpretation and Findings:
The main aim of this investigation is to define success of Micro finance market in Asian
countries like India, Bangladesh and Myanmar (Khavul, Chavez and Bruton, 2013). This
research is based on a micro finance entity that is ASA. Success of this company can be
ascertained by the number of its branches which is opening every year. From the above graph, it
has been ascertained that every year one branch has opened by which it can be said that this
association and micro finance market is gaining continuous success. In order to fulfil the aim of
defining success, various success factors are ascertained and number of branches is one of them.
From the above graph, it has been ascertained that in the year of 2014, total branches of ASA in
Asian countries was recorded as 2931, 2932 in 2015 and 2933 in 2016. This increasing trend
shows that in the year of 2016, ASA has maximum number of branches. From the above graph
and interpretation it has been found that ASA is gaining continuous success in these three
countries that is India, Bangladesh and Myanmar.
Q3. Which year has the highest Return on Assets in ASA? Frequency
a) 2014 9.60%
b) 2015 9.63%
c) 2016 9.43%
23

a) 2014
b) 2015
c) 2016
0.09 0.09 0.09 0.09 0.1 0.1 0.1 0.1
9.60%
9.63%
9.43%
Q3.
Frequency
Interpretation and Findings:
Return on assets (ROA) is a measure of calculating profitability of an organisation. This
measure is a kind of ratio which helps in ascertaining what is the profitability of an organisation
against the assets which are used by the company (Komppula, 2013). From the above graph it
can be seen that in the year of 2014, return on assets was calculated as 9.60%, 9.63% in 2015 and
9.43% in 2016. ROA can be calculated by dividing total value of the assets by total income
which is generated by the entity. This measure is selected as it can be a success factor. From the
graph it has been ascertained that ROA of ASA is not in the increasing trend and assets of this
organisations are not fully utilised to attain growth. This issue can be a result of improper
management and controlling activities.
Q4. Is coverage of ASA is adequate in Asia? Explaining with number of branches
for the years 2014, 2015 and 2016.
Frequency
a) 2014 2931
b) 2015
c) 2016
2932
2933
24

Interpretation and Findings:
Coverage of ASA can be measured by identifying number of branches of this company and
that should have evaluated by considering demography of a specific country (Komppula, 2013).
From the above graph, it has been seen that ASA is establishing one branch every year due to
which it can be said that ASA has adequate coverage in Asian countries. This data is acquired
from coverage sheet of ASA. From the coverage sheet of ASA branches in countries like
Bangladesh, India and Myanmar it has been seen that there is adequate coverage of ASA offices
in these three offices. These results are gained from the number of branches which are
established in Asia and evidence of this is mentioned below which is gained from annual reports
of ASA. In order to provide evidence to this situation. Statistics are provided below which are
gained from the annual reports of ASA.
Q5. Documents of ASA are audited using external or internal audit? Frequency
a) External 100
25

b) Internal 0
Interpretation and Findings:
Auditing is a process of checking the adherence of the financial reports of an organisation
and providing fair judgements. Association of social advancements is an organisation which
operates with the guidance of governmental authorities due to which it is important to audit their
reports. From the above graph, it can be ascertained that documents pf ASA are fully audited by
external parties and to evidently prove it, audit report of ASA for the year of 2017 is provided
below which is procured from annual reports of this organisation. From the below audited report
of ASA which is procured from their official website it can be said this organisation has their
reports adequately audited. In the section of literature review, various compilations of ASA is
mentioned and one of them is to make sure that all the documents of this organisation is well
audited.
26

27

Q6. In which year ASA has maximum number of employees? Frequency
a) 2014 224219
b) 2015 247247
c) 2016 285097
a) 2014 b) 2015 c) 2016
0
50000
100000
150000
200000
250000
300000
224219
247247
285097
Q6.
Frequency
Exponential (Frequency)
Interpretation and Findings:
Employees are the man power of an organisation, these employees are only appointed
when there is a requirement of the man power. ASA is a social association which operates with
28

the aim of providing benefit to society. Employees satisfaction is the most important factor of
determining success. From the above graph, it has been observed that trend is showing increasing
trend in the number of employees which means ASA has attaining high employee satisfaction
due to which more and more people wants to work with them. In the year of 2014, total number
of employees are 224219, 247247 in 2015 and 285097 in 2016.
Q7. Which year has highest profitability of ASA in Asian countries? Frequency
a) 2014 17636926663
b) 2015 20995566648
c) 2016 27656620126
a) 2014 b) 2015 c) 2016
0
5000000000
10000000000
15000000000
20000000000
25000000000
30000000000
17636926663
20995566648
27656620126
Q8.
Frequency
Linear (Frequency)
Interpretation and Findings:
Profitability is the profit making ability of an organisation. It is considered that for a non
profit organisation, profitability should not be a concern while calculating success. But in the
case of ASA, profitability is also considered as an important for success as this association is
engaged in providing credit and it is significant for them to earn reliable profits. From the above
graph it has been ascertained that profitability of ASA is in increasing trend. Earnings of this
association is continuously increasing year by year. In the year of 2014, profit has been recorded
29

as 1763692666, 2099556664 in 2015 and 27656620126 in 2016. This increase in the profitability
states that ASA is attaining high success in these three countries that is India, Bangladesh and
Myanmar.
Q8. Which year has maximum number of active borrowers? Frequency (million)
a) 2014 4.44
b) 2015 5.36
c) 2016 6.21
a) 2014 b) 2015 c) 2016
0
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
Frequency (million)
Interpretation and Findings:
Association of social advancements is an organisation which deals in providing micro
finance services to their clients. These services includes micro insurance, micro credit and other
micro services. For the organisation which operates in providing loans and credit services to
clients, the most important success factor for them is to enhance their client base and their
satisfaction. From the above graph it has been ascertained that the client or borrowers of this
company is increasing day by day. The data from which this graph is prepared is gathered from
the annual reports of ASA which is limited to the countries of India, Bangladesh and Myanmar.
In the year of 2014, active borrowers are reported as 4.44 million, 5.36 million in 2015 and 6.21
30

million in 2016. This data reflects that number of borrowers are increasing every year which
states that this association is attaining high growth and development.
Q9. Which year has maximum average loan size? Frequency
a) 2014 21706
b) 2015 25259
c) 2016 30395
a) 2014 b) 2015 c) 2016
0
5000
10000
15000
20000
25000
30000
35000
21706
25259
30395
Q10.
Frequency
Exponential (Frequency)
Interpretation and Findings:
Association of social advancement is an organisation which operates in providing micro
loan services to their clients. For a company like ASA it is important to ascertain their average
loan size before defining their success. The above graph is prepared using annual reports of ASA
operating in three countries that is India, Bangladesh and Myanmar. From the above graph, it has
been ascertained that the trend line of average loan providing to clients is increasing year by
year. In the year of 2014, the average loan value provided to the clients of ASA is 21706, 25259
in 2015 and 30395 in 2016.
Q10. Which year has maximum savings? Frequency
(million)
31

a) 2014 28378
b) 2015 37238
c) 2016 50684
a) 2014 b) 2015 c) 2016
0
10000
20000
30000
40000
50000
60000
28378
37238
50684
Q11.
Frequency (million)
Linear (Frequency (million))
Interpretation and Findings:
Association of social advancement is an organisation which provides micro services such
as micro credit, micro insurance and micro savings. This organisation is engaged in providing
micro savings services which allows their customers to save their funds. Value of savings is
considered as a factor of success as it states other aspect of this organisation. ASA is engaged in
providing savings and debt services to their client and in order to define accurate service of this
company it is important to consider savings as well along with debt. From the above graph, it has
been observed that in the year of 2014, total savings are 28378, 2015 in 37238 and 50684 in
2016. This graph is showing increasing trend which reflects that this company is attaining high
growth and development.
Q11. Is the corporate social responsibility is fulfilled by ASA? Frequency
a) Absolutely 100
32

b) Partially 0
Interpretation and Findings:
Corporate social responsibility is a self-regulating business model which helps an
organisation to fulfil their responsibilities against society. This concept integrates social and
environmental concerns for which company is socially accountable. Association for social
advancements is a NGO which operates to provide benefit to the society. Main aim of this
association is limited with the benefit of society. It is important for a company like ASA to fulfil
their social responsibility to attain growth and success. CSR is the most important factor to
ascertain success of ASA. The above results are gained from corporate social responsibility
report of ASA which is gained from their official website (CSR, 2018). From the above graph, it
can be stated that, ASA is fulfilling their CSR adequately and this evidence is procured from
CSR report of ASA which is mentioned below.
33

Q12. In which of the following year ASA has incurred maximum
expenses?
Frequency
a) 2014 9087688733
b) 2015 10714135989
c) 2016 15241538692
a) 2014
b) 2015
c) 2016
0 5000000000 10000000000 15000000000 20000000000
9087688733
10714135989
15241538692
Q13.
Frequency
Interpretation and Findings:
Expenses is the total cost which incurred by the company in an accounting year.
Ascertainment of these expenses is important as they help in defining success of an organisation.
34

Recording and reviewing expenses helps a business to determine an accurate idea about their
profitability. Increase in expenses states that the organisation is continuously developing and
operating and even earning reliable profits. From the above graph, which is prepared by the data
of annual reports of ASA, it has been observed that expenses of ASA are increasing every year.
In the year of 2014, total expenses were reported as 9087688733, 1071413598 in 2015 and
15241538692 in 2016. These values justifies that expenses are increasing every year which is a
reliable evidence of high success of ASA.
Q13. In which of the following year, ASA has maximum capital adequacy
ratio?
Frequency
a) 2014 86.69%
b) 2015 70.31%
c) 2016 61.45%
a) 2014 b) 2015 c) 2016
0
0.1
0.2
0.3
0.4
0.5
0.6
0.7
0.8
0.9
1
86.69%
70.31%
61.45%
Q14.
Frequency
Linear (Frequency)
Interpretation and Findings:
Capital adequacy ratio is a measure of a bank's available capital which is expressed as a
percentage of a bank's risk weighted credit exposures. Capital adequacy ratio used as an
international standard that measures a bank's risk of insolvency. A bank which has high capital
35

adequacy ratio or increasing trend in this ratio is considered as safe and likely to meet all its
financial obligations. From the above graph which is prepared from the financial reports of
ASA , it has been observed that this company has a decreasing capital adequacy ratio. This
decreasing trend reflects that this company is not adequately capable for meeting their financial
obligations. This negative factor, does effect success of ASA but not with highest order as ASA
is a governmental authority which can attain help for government. In the year of 2014, capital
adequacy ratio was recorded as 86.69%, 70.31% in 2015 and 61.45% in 2016. This decreasing
trend in capital adequacy ratio shows that ASA should increase their sources of capital.
Q14. In which of the following year, ASA has maximum Return on
equity?
Frequency
a) 2014 17.03%
b) 2015 17.25%
c) 2016 17.50%
a) 2014
b) 2015
c) 2016
0.17 0.17 0.17 0.17 0.17 0.17 0.17 0.17 0.18 0.18
17.03%
17.25%
17.50%
Q15.
Frequency
Interpretation and Findings:
Return on equity is a measure which helps in ascertain financial performance of an
organisation. This helps to determine profitability of an organisation in relation to the equity.
36

ASA is a large scale organisation which operates under control of governmental authorities. It is
important to analyse return on equity of this company as it is a success factor. The above graph is
developed with the help of financial information of the ASA which is acquired from the annual
reports of three years of three countries that is India, Bangladesh and Myanmar. From the above
graph, it has been analysed that return on equity is in increasing order that means profitability
against equity of ASA is continuously increasing every year. In the year of 2014, return on
equity is calculated as 17.03%, 17.25% in 2015 and 17.50% in 2016. This increasing trend shows
that this organisation is having high returns on their investments.
Q15. In which year, ASA has maximum capital fund? Frequency
b) 2015 58261338243
c) 2016 69436631035
46%
54%
Q16.
b) 2015
c) 2016
Interpretation and Findings:
Capital fund is the excess of NPO's assets over liabilities (Young and Lecy, 2014). High
capital fund states that company is effectively able to manage their liabilities and controls their
assets effectively in order to attain reliable profits. Any surplus or deficit in capital fund is
termed as accumulated fund. ASA is an non profit organisation which operates to provide benefit
to the society. From the above graph which is prepared from the secondary information collected
37

from the annual reports of the organisation, it has been ascertained that in 2016 high capital fund
was recorded by this organisation. It has been seen that capital fund of ASA has increased by 8%
in total which is considered as a reliable increase. From the above graph and findings it can be
said that high capital funds are also a factor of high success and development of the this
company. In the year of 2015, ASA is having 58261338243 dollars as their capital fund and
69436631035 dollars in 2016. In year 2016, this fund has increases by 8% which shows this
organisation is enhancing their growth every year.
Q16. Is Reserve ratio of ASA is showing decreasing trend, analyse it with
three years?
Frequency
a) 2014 3.54%
b) 2015 3.00%
c) 2016 2.69%
a) 2014 b) 2015 c) 2016
0
0.005
0.01
0.015
0.02
0.025
0.03
0.035
0.04
3.54%
3.00%
2.69%
Frequency
Logarithmic (Frequency)
Interpretation and Findings:
Reserve ratio is a measure which helps in ascertaining the value which is held as reserve
by a business organisation in order to further utilise it in sources such as investment and lending
(Toledo-López and et. al., 2012). It is important for an organisation to balance in the value of
38

reserve as a high reserve ratio states that company is not utilising their funds effectively. From
the above graph which is developed with annual reports of this organisation it has ascertained
that company is having decreasing trend in their reserve ratio which means they are successfully
utilising all their funds in operating activities. In the year of 2014, reserve ratio of ASA is
calculated as 3.54%, 3% in 2015 and 2.69% in 2016. This decreasing trend in reserve ratio shows
that this organisation is utilising their reserves in an effective manner.
Q17. Is Loan loss ratio is showing increasing trend, analyse it with three
years?
Frequency
a) 2014 0.22%
b) 2015 0.16%
c) 2016 0.27%
a) 2014 b) 2015 c) 2016
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0.22%
0.16%
0.27%
Frequency
Linear (Frequency)
Interpretation and Findings:
Loan loss ratio is a measure for banks and other financial institutions which are engaged
in providing loan services to their clients (Smith, Gonin and Besharov, 2013). It is considered
that in the business of providing debts, loan loss is a common thing but it is necessary to balance
this ratio in order to ensure that there is no excess loss incurred by the organisation. ASA is a non
39

profit association which provides credit services to their clients and it is expected to incur a little
loss in this business as few of their client are help defaulters. From the above graph and findings
it has been observed that there is a fluctuating trend in the loan loss ratio. Ratios which are
recorded are as follows: 0.22% in 2014, 0.16% in 2015 and 0.27% in 2016. When compared to
other financial institutions it has been ascertained that ASA has relatively less loan loss ratio
which can help them in attaining success.
Q18. From which of the following sources, ASA is acquiring their
maximum funds?
Frequency
a) ASA's own funds 77151.81
b) Member's savings 50684.03
c) Loan Insurance 4430.44
d) Debt management reserve (DMR) 3237.44
e) Loan from Development partners 911.40
f) Other sources 9035.18
53%
35%
3%
2%1%
6%
a) ASA's own funds
b) Member's savings
c) Loan Insurance
d) Debt management reserve
(DMR)
e) Loan from Development
partners
f) Other sources
Interpretation and Findings:
In order to ascertain success of association of social advancements it is important to
determine the sources from which this company is attaining funds (Simpson, Padmore and
40

Newman, 2012). The above graph presents the different sources from which they are attaining
funds, this graph is prepared using annual reports of ASA of three years that is 2014, 2015 and
2016. By observing above graph it has been ascertained that ASA is sources most of their funds
from their own reserves and profits which means this company is attaining high success as it is
able to operate without acquiring any external sources of funds. Even this company is a non
profit organisation and can easily attain funds from governmental authorities and charities, this
company is attaining such profits that there is no requirement of acquiring funds from external
sources. Reviewing the success of this company, many other financial companies are encouraged
to provide micro finance services.
Q19. Is ASA of India, Bangladesh and Myanmar are successfully operating?
Interpretation and Findings:
From the above 19 questions, their findings and interpretations it has been ascertained
that association of social advancements is successfully operating in the Asian countries such as
India, Bangladesh and Myanmar. These finding is based on the information which is procured
from annual reports of this company of three years that is 2014, 2015 and 2016. Besides of few
drawbacks which are observed in ASA of Bangladesh that is low capital adequacy and return on
assets, the overall finding can be based on the fact that this association is acquiring high success
and development.
Link between literature review and findings
From the above analysis and findings it has been observed that ASA is attaining high
growth and is successfully operating in Asian countries like India, Bangladesh and Myanmar.
Success of ASA in India and Bangladesh is evidently proved in above analysis as this company
is having high profitability and return on investments. Success is defined in the section of
literature review and according to it, success of a company like ASA can not be only ascertained
through profitability and returns it requires the determination of other various aspects such as
client satisfaction and employee satisfaction. In the case of Bangladesh, ASA is facing few issues
due to intense poverty but still it is earning high success and this statement can be justified with
increasing number of branches of ASA in Bangladesh, high client coverage and continuous
increasing number of active borrowers (Peck and et. al., 2013).
Micro finance venture is a sector in which various firms and non profit organisations are
included which provides micro finance services to their clients which are not able to get credit
41

from normal ways such as through banks. The main reason behind the success of this micro
finance venture is association of social advancements. After reviewing the success of ASA,
various small financial institutions has also started their micro credit department. ASA of India is
a matured structure and has gained intense growth in the micro finance market of India. In the
case of Myanmar, this country is considered as one of the least developed countries of the world.
In order to develop this country it is important to reduce their poverty and provide employment
opportunities. After the low income of Myanmar and less resources available ASA has attained
high growth in this country also as people of this country are vulnerable for employment
opportunities. Micro finance venture is referred as the marketplace where services of micro
finance such as micro credit, micro insurance and micro savings are provided to their clients. In
order to gain success by this market it is important to first gain trust of the client and ASA has
created a base for all the companies which are operating in this market. If the social and
economic conditions influencing ASA are stable then it is considered that this company can
attain highest level of growth but if social and economic conditions are not in favour then also
ASA has developed various provisions and contingency plan by which they can still manage to
gain success (Roodman, 2012).
There are various measures by which ASA and other companies operating in micro
finance sector can attain success. Companies operating in micro finance sector has sole aim to
provide benefit to their clients due to which they has support of governmental authorities and
attain grants and funds from these organisations (Simon, Bumpus and Mann, 2012).
CHAPTER 5: CONCLUSIONS & RECOMMENDATIONS
Findings
From the data analysis of the secondary data which is procured from sources like annual
reports of ASA, it has been ascertained that association of social advancements which is a non
profit organisations is attaining high success in micro finance venture. In order to ascertain
whether findings of this research are similar or contradict with other investigations it is important
to review other researchers as well (Moss, Neubaum and Meyskens, 2015).
According to Md Aslam Mia (2018), Micro finance organisations like association of
social advancements are gaining high success in countries like India, Bangladesh and Myanmar
as these countries are either under developed or developing due to which there is a high scope of
42

micro credit in these nations. According to this investigator, Asian countries such as Bangladesh,
India and Myanmar are not developing enough due to lack of industrialisation. To provide
reliable finance to these countries, associations like ASA has been developed.
Another finding which has been ascertained in this investigation is that instead of
developing countries, micro finance market is attaining success in under developed and
developing countries such as India, Bangladesh and Myanmar. This finding is similar with
previous investigations and rationale behind this finding is that developed countries has huge
finance market due to which there is no requirement of micro finance market in these countries.
From the above data analysis it has been observed that success of ASA has various reasons and
some of them are employee satisfaction and client satisfaction. The scholarly article which has
been selected states that ASA is attaining high success which is similar with the findings of this
investigation. Along with this above similarities, there are few contradictions are also present.
According to this investigation the main reason behind the success of association of
social advancements is its high client base and satisfied employee but according to the findings
of scholarly research, the main reason behind the high success of ASA is social and economic
conductions of the countries in which they operate. Another finding which has been ascertained
by this investigation is that even organisations operating for the welfare of the society still has to
fulfil their corporate social responsibility. This investigation is also assessed by an example of
ASA. This association is operating in micro finance market and is a non profit organisation. This
company deals in providing financial advantage to their clients so that poverty and other issues
of a society can be reduced and evaded. While operating for providing benefit to the society, this
company also has to fulfil their corporate social responsibility. Another contradiction which has
been identified is that investigation of scholarly article states that main success factor of a non
profit organisation is client satisfaction, but according to this research main factors which affect
success of a non profit organisation is client base and satisfaction of employees (Quayes, 2012).
Limitations and restrictions
Limitations and restrictions are the factors which limits an investigation to be conducted
effectively (Ledgerwood, Earne and Nelson, 2013). In order to conduct a research about micro
finance market with an overview of association of social advancements it is important to acquire
all the secondary information which can help in identify success factors of this company. ASA is
a non profit organisation which is operating in various countries of Asia and Africa but this
43

investigation is limited to only three countries that is India, Bangladesh and Myanmar.
Limitations of this research is that this investigation is only limited to only few countries due to
which overall performance of ASA can not be ascertained. Another limitation of this
investigation is that all the information which is gathered in this research belongs to the
secondary data which is collected from the annual reports of association of social advancements.
Limitations is the factor which sates the area in which a particular research can not be use to
interpret conclusions and results. In this particular investigation, data analysis and findings are
not appropriate for the overall performance of ASA and not even for the conclusions of
performance of different countries in this association operates.
Along with few limitations of this research, there are even few restrictions which are
faced by the investigator while researching about this topic. The topic of this investigation is
defining success in micro finance market which considering base as association of social
advancements. In order to define the success of this non profit organisation it is important to
ascertain acquire ample of information such as annual reports of this company along with various
additional managerial reports of this company from which data such as customer satisfaction and
employee satisfaction can be attained easily. This investigation is based on secondary data
collection method in which second hand data is analysed to interpret conclusions and results. As
association of social advancements is an international entity due to which structure of this
organisation is complex. Main success factors that is employee satisfaction and client satisfaction
can only be ascertained when there is data available for employees and clients. This data
restriction is the most important limitation of this research as no company provides information
about their clients and employees to anyone. Another restriction of this investigation is improper
annual reports of this organisation. In order to ascertain success of an organisation it is important
to review their annual reports for at least ten years so that an accurate conclusions and findings
can be made. Data restrictions such as no annual report for seven years and no information about
client satisfaction and employee satisfaction, this investigation has various drawbacks which are
tried to be resolved in this research by analysing the available data effectively and efficiently. In
order to evade all the limitations of this investigation, researcher has analysed all the available
information is such a manner that all restrictions have been overcomed. There are 20 questions
has been prepared which are answered by the investigator by considering the annual reports as
44

the base. Along with along annual reports, auditor's report and CSR reports are also been
considered while providing results and findings.
Recommendations
Recommendations are the statements which provides conclusion about what a specific
organisation can do to resolve their issues. In this investigation, association of social
advancements is analysed in order to ascertain whether this organisation is attaining success or
not. From the above investigation it has been ascertained that ASA is gaining high success in the
countries like India, Bangladesh and Myanmar but there are still few issues which are faced by
this organisation and they are decreasing return on assets and low capital adequacy ratio. These
issues are observed to be occur due to inefficient management and lack of controlling activities
in Bangladesh. These issues can be resolved with appointing few employees which should be
provided sole responsibility of management and controlling. Another recommendation for
association of social advancements is that this company should acquire more funds through
governmental grants and public charities so that they can operate even with more efficiency.
Decreasing return on assets can be improved by increasing the values of assets so that company
can have higher returns against their assets. Capital adequacy ratio of this organisation is also
low and in order to rectify this situation company can increase their funds so that they can have
reliable capital ratio. Association of social advancements is an organisation which operates to
provide benefit to the society. In order to attain more benefit, it is recommended that this
company should start their operations in more developing and underdeveloped countries of Asia
and Africa. As it has found that this company is earning more profits and growing more in
developing countries rather than developed countries.
Implications
Implications are the consequences which has to be faced by the company if they follow
all the recommendation which are recommended by the investigator. It has been recommended
that this association of social advancement is an organisation which has recommended that they
should enhance the performance of Bangladesh branch, but if ASA follows this recommendation
they has to employ more employees which should be provided the responsibility of controlling
and management. ASA has to incur an extra value of wages and salaries because of this
recommendation. Another recommendation which has been provided by the investigator is that
this company has to enhance their capital adequacy ratio but in order to do this, ASA has to
45

acquire more capital from sources like governmental authorities. But if ASA will follow this
recommendation then they has to develop an even more professional body so that government
can be satisfied with their proposal and can provide them grant. Another recommendation which
has provided by the investigator is that association of social advancement should enhance their
financial performance by increasing their return on assets. In order to fulfil this recommendation,
ASA has to ensure that they acquire more and more assets by which they have to incur extra cost
for acquiring more assets. This extra cost can even result in lowering of their capital.
Conclusion
From the above dissertation which includes various aspects about the research that is
literature review, methodology, analysis, findings and recommendations, it has been concluded
that ASA (association for social advancements) is the most important factor for increasing
development of Asian countries. In the above research, importance of micro finance industry is
analysed especially in countries like India, Bangladesh and Myanmar. From the significance, it
can be concluded that firms like ASA are an initiative which are established with the aim of
providing benefit to the small entrepreneurs of these countries. From the data analysis part of this
research it has been concluded that ASA is successfully running in these countries and it has a
big contribution behind growth of industrialisation in these nations. Although, ASA is not a
profit making organisation and has control in the hands of governmental authorities. Despite of
this fact, ASA is earning high profitability and has resultant beneficial at micro (individual
entrepreneurs) as well as at macro level (development and growth of the nations).
46

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APPENDIX
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51

52