Showing papers in "South Asian journal of management in 2011"

How the Mighty Fall: And Why Some Companies Never Give In?

Abstract: How the Mighty Fall: And Why Some Companies Never Give In? By Jim Collins Random House Business, London, 2009; Pages: 240; Price: ?750 ISBN: 9781847940421 The financial crisis of 2008 saw several giant corporations opting for Chapter 1 1 (Liquidation), especially in the financial and real estate sectors, in a surprisingly accelerated manner, slowly engulfing other sectors and spreading to become a worldwide phenomenon. The background for How the Mighty Fall cannot be more appropriate. Exploring the dark and grim sides of a firm's performance, it is downfall, the book tries to address two important contextual questions: "What are the factors which led to the fall of great companies?" and more significantly, "How the managers and leaders can identify the downslide early enough and what actions, if any, can be taken to prevent it?" The book had its origin when the author was having a discussion with the leaders from military, business and social domains. He was perplexed by the enquiry from one of the participants, a CEO of a latge company: "How will you recognize symptoms of downslide if you are at the pinnacle and success blinds the early signals of decline?" In this book, the author, using comparative case study method, tries to identify the patterns in the downfall of once great companies, and delineate stages of decline, comparing the phenomenon with a cancer creeping into a healthy body, initially asymptomatic but potentially lethal. He posits prescriptive guidelines to leaders and managers about suspecting and identifying the downward slide, and taking appropriate actions to prevent it. The book is addressed, specifically to managers and leaders, who strive to identify the signs of impending collapse befote it becomes apparent and to take precise preventive and corrective actions, important for sustaining their company's competitive advantage and strong performance. The book is entirely based on the theoretical paradigm of "strategic choice" (Child, 1972) rather than the "environmental determinism" of population ecology model (Hannan and Freeman, 1977). The author reiterates his contention, similar to his earlier works, namely "Good to great" and "Built to last", that performance of a firm absolutely depends upon strategic directions adopted by the leaders, discounting the population ecologists' deterministic view that it is the "environment" that "selects" and "retains" the "variations" produced by strategic actions. The preferred paradigm of strategic choice is evident as the author quotes, "Whether you prevail or fail, endure or die, depends more on what you do yourself than on what the world does to you." The conclusions drawn by the author could thus be colored with their overemphasis on strategic choice. This is especially important as "Environmental determinism" (population ecology) model and strategic choice act at different levels of analysis, the former at the population level and the latter at the firm level. The author mined out companies from the databases used for "Built to last" (Collins and Porras, 1994) and "Good to great" (Collins, 2001) and then selected 1 1 companies from the original list of 60, which fit the pre-decided criteria of downfall. Companies studied included A&P Addressograph, Ames, Bank of America, Circuit City, HP Merck, Motorola, Rubbermaid, Scott Paper and Zenith. The list includes stalwart firms from various domains including technology, commodity, finance, pharmaceutical industry, etc. Similarly, 11 successful companies were selected to serve as a contrast, in the same period, on the basis of similarities in parameters like industry, size, performance, age, etc. The corresponding contrasting firms were Kroger, Pitney Bowes, Wal-Mart, Wells Fargo, Best Buy, IBM, Johnson and Johnson, Texas Instruments, None Qualified, Kimberly-Clark and Motorola. Major firm collapses, like Fannie Mae and other financial institutions, which got excluded from the study due to selection criteria, are discussed separately in the appendix. …

Food and Grocery Retail: Patronage Behavior of Indian Urban Consumers

Abstract: India is referred to be a nation of shopkeepers with about 15 million retail outlets of all kinds. Of these, the majority are small neighborhood grocery stores called "kirana stores". Food and grocery constitute a major portion of the private consumption. This offers a large potential market for the organized retail companies to tap into. However, the high proliferation of local kirana stores with their unbeatable advantage of proximity and customer familiarity questions the success of organized retail in this category. This study tried to find the responses and patronage behavior of urban customers towards traditional and modern food and grocery retailers. This paper reviewed various literatures to understand the factors which affect the patronage of various retail formats, especially in food and grocery purchase. Differences perceived by customers between the kirana stores and modern retailers are covered in the study to understand the influence of specific decision variables in the selection of a particular retail format. The inference is that "location convenience", "customized services" and "easy goods return/exchange facilities" drive a customer towards kirana stores while "product choice", "efficient store-management" and "value-enhancing services" attract customers towards modern retailers. This understanding of the patronage behavior helps the modern retailers to strengthen the elements of their retail offerings, which the customers value more. INTRODUCTION Retailing is the largest private industry in India and second largest employment sector after agriculture. It contributes about 10% to the GDP of India and generates 6-7% of employment. According to Images FR real estate companies (like Raheja Builders, DLF) and venture capitalists (like ICICI ventures) are investing in retail infrastructure. Many foreign retailers like Metro and Wal-Mart have also entered into the market through different routes such as wholesale cash-and-carry, local manufacturing, franchising, etc. In spite of the recent developments in retailing and its immense contribution to the economy, retailing continues to be one of the least evolved industries in India. Over a period of 10 years, the share of organized retailing in total retailing has grown from 10% to 40% in Brazil and 20% in China, while in India it is only about six percent (Images F&R Research, 2009). Within the organized retailing industry in India, the growth of food and grocery category has been particularly slow. The problem that has been taken up for this study was that why, even after almost 15 years of the growth of organized retailing in the country, food and grocery sector has not grown at a pace seen in other emerging economies. A study was undertaken which explores the factors that lead customers to choose modern retailers in food and grocery sector over other formats - based on their perceptions. In India, retail trade is primarily divided into two segments - organized retailing and unorganized/traditional retailing. These two segments of retailing can be understood as follows (ICRIER, 2005). Organized Retailing Any retail outlet chain (and not a one shop outlet) that is professionally managed (even if it is family run), can be termed as organized retailing in India if it has the following features - accounting transparency (with proper usage of MIS and accounting standards), organized supply chain management with centralized quality control and sourcing. Unorganized Retailing Any retail outlet that is run locally by the owner or the caretaker of the shop. …

When work intersects family :a qualitative exploration of the experiences of dual earner couples in India

Abstract: Achieving good balance between work and family commitments is a growing concern for contemporary employees and organizations with mounting evidence linking work-family conflict to reduced health and well-being. As India continues to grow as a global economic power, issues concerning work-family conflict become particularly important. Extant research in this field has occurred primarily in western countries using quantitative methods and individual data. The objective of the present study is to investigate work-family conflict and coping experiences of a sample of employees and their partners, with the main participant belonging to one of the three occupational groups: IT, public service and social welfare service. Three main themes emerged: (a) widespread experience of work-family conflict; (b) religious coping as a mechanism for dealing with work-related stress; and (c) colleague and family support as mechanisms for coping. We discuss the implications of the findings for organizations, and specify some strategies for dealing with work-family conflict at individual, family and community levels. INTRODUCTION The last two decades have witnessed a prolific increase in research investigating work-family conflict. Substantial concerns have been expressed by social commentators and researchers over the extent to which work and family roles have become increasingly intertwined (Grzywacz and Marks, 2000; Frone, 2003; and O'Driscoll et al, 2004). Many possible reasons for this escalation in work-family conflict have been posited including more dual career couples, greater participation of women in the workforce, changing conditions of employment, family-tole expectations, and increasing pervasiveness of work in people's lives (Poelmans, 2001; Jones et al, 2006; and Kossek and Distelberg, 2009). These reasons have increased the likelihood that employees of both genders have substantial household responsibilities in addition to their work responsibilities (Allen et al, 2000). Brady (2002) noted that technological revolution which was supposed to free people from the office has in practice eroded the boundaries between work and leisure, placing greater expectation on individuals to work anytime, anywhere. The resulting imbalance between work and family has consequences for the individual, family, organizations and the society at large. Work-family research by far has been carried out in the western world with little emphasis on developing countries like India. In India, the issue of work-family conflict can be even more concerning. India has undergone substantial economic growth since its independence in 1947. The changing economic and social demographics over the years have witnessed growing numbers of dual earner families and more women entering the workforce. According to the Industrial Relations (2005) statistics, although the workforce participation of Indian women has always been lower than men, there has been a significant increase in the participation rate of women in the workforce from 19.7% in 1981 to 26.7% in 2001. In March 2004, women constituted 19% of the total workforce in India. While the majority of women work in rural areas, during the period 2004-2005, the employment of women increased by 1.1% in the public sector by 2.5% in the private sector totaling to 49.34 lakh employed women. Despite the increasing workforce participation of women, India remains largely a hierarchical male -dominated society. The cultural traditions and family role -structures have not changed significantly and women on average still bear responsibilities for daily household chores, such as cooking, shopping, providing care for children and aged family members (Aziz, 2004). Whilst it can be argued that, the increasing participation of women in the workforce is a promising development, juggling work and family lives can become burdensome if meaningful supports are not available to them for managing their domestic unpaid responsibilities alongside paid work (Noor, 2004; and Voydanoff, 2005). …

Moderating Effects of Tenure and Gender on the Relationship between Perception of Organizational Politics and Commitment and Trust

Abstract: Relationships between perceptions of political behavior and outcomes were empirically found to be ambiguous and equivocal. Few researchers have found consistent evidence of their effect on outcomes. This study proposes that employee tenure and gender moderate the relationships between Perceptions of Organizational Politics (POP) and commitment and trust. Series of regression and correlation analysis, Confirmatory Factor Analysis (CFA) and its second-order Higher Order Confirmatory Factor Analysis (HCFA) were adopted to test the model. The result shows that POP relates negatively to both commitment and trust. Tenure and gender were found to influence the relationships between POP and the identified outcomes. Male and female employees, whether treated fairly or not, have gender moderates POP and trust relationships. Tenured employees who are treated fairly also have different strengths in these relationships. Both gender and tenure were found to have different strengths in their effects on POP and commitment relationships. Implications of the findings for organizations and suggestions for future research are discussed. INTRODUCTION Organizational cohesiveness is one of the factors differentiating organizations in terms of the employee-employer relationship. Cohesion that involves the molding of a group is related to greater proportions of working relationships in the workplace (Odden and Sias, 1997). For instance, employee cohesiveness is enhanced by commitment and trust. Furthermore, in the literature, commitment has been reported to give firms economic advantage (Martin, 2008). From an economic perspective, employees need contractual safeguards, whereas firms create dependence and make a commitment to employees. However, based on the relational viewpoint, trust is more important than legal and contractual mechanisms to protect exchanges. Nonetheless, both approaches are in actual fact viewed as complementary. In order to realize their interests, employees and firms may engage in political behavior (Chen and Fang, 2008) . Most people agree that politics in the workplace is a reality of organizational life and seeks to protect diverse and often competing interests, particularly within dynamic and uncertain situations (Poon, 2003; and Chen and Fang, 2008). Political behavior, for example, is defined as "the study of power in action" (Pfeffer, 1981; and Chen et al, 2008). It is used to bargain to attain or perpetuate certain interests. Therefore, most managers view political behavior as ethical and necessary. They use political behavior as a means to realize organizational effectiveness, change, resource and reputation (Buchanan, 2007). Nevertheless, political action such as inappropriate distribution of organizational outcomes leads to jealousy and resentment among employees (Othman, 2008). As a consequence, employees use political action to manipulate their work. Accordingly, political behavior in the workplace affects individual perceptions of fairness (Judge and Robins, 2007; and Miller and Nicois, 2008), in turn decreasing employee commitment and trust, which in turn affects organizational productivity and profitability. The purpose of this study is to test the effect of different perceptions of equity in political behavior on commitment and trust relationships. The study speculates that employees who perceive inequitable treatment will have negative commitment and trust responses, whereas employees who perceive equitable treatment will have increased commitment and trust. Although recent empirical studies have investigated the relationship between political behavior and commitment, the relationship seems ambiguous and equivocal. For example, Ferris et al. (2002) argued that political behavior negatively affects commitment, yet other scholars have found a positive relationship (e.g., Khumar and Ghadially, 1989; study 1 of Cropanzano et al, 1997). Furthermore, two other studies have found no relationship at all (Cropanzano et al. …

Corporate Finance, Theory and Practice, Second Edition

Abstract: Corporate Finance, Theory and Practice, Second Edition, By Vishivanath S R Response Books, New Delhi, 2007; Pages: 763; Price ?450 ISBN 978-0-7619-3497-4 Finance is concerned with the manner in which individuals and firms allocate resources across assets and over time. The developed body of financial knowledge deals with portfolio decisions of individuals, with investment and financing decisions by firms, and with implication of such behavior for the pricing of capital assets in the marketplace. The aim of the book is to provide a rigorous understanding of how and why firms make their financial decisions the way they do and their impact on shareholder value. The central theme of the book is value-based management, which presupposes that maximizing shareholder value is the governing objective of a firm. Section one of the book, Building Blocks provides an introduction to financial management as well as simplified exposition on topics like fundamental concepts of valuation, risk and return, cost of capital and financial statement analysis. The first chapter provides an introduction to the goal of financial management together with factors affecting value creation and corporate governance practices around the world. The conceptual background material has been presented in chapters 2 through 4. Chapter 5 introduces to important financial tools which find extensive application in appraising credit risk, capital structure planning, and financial planning. The last two chapters of this section specifically demonstrate the application of financial statement analysis in a real life setting. Section two, Capital Investments offers an insight into how managers evaluate capital investments using different techniques of valuation both under certainty (chapters 8 to 1 0) and uncertainty (chapters 1 1 and 12). Chapter 1 2 especially focuses on corporate financial flexibility provided by the use of real options in investment decisions under uncertainty. Examples of simple call and put options have been cited in the chapter. The link between capital budgeting and corporate strategy as well as capital budgeting practices amongst select countries covered in chapter 13 brings forth practical utility of the concept. Section three, Managing Current Assets focuses on short term planning with management of cash as well as receivables. Chapter 14 clarifies as to why the focus of working capital management should be on underlying business drivers and not merely the financial ratios. Chapter 16 amplifies nuances of cash management including cash flow timeliries, strategies for accelerating cash receipts and decelerating cash disbursements, as well as cash forecasting and budgeting. Chapter 17 centers on motivations for making credit sales and the imperative of making speedy collections of the same. Case studies of Bharti Dredging and Construction Limited (chapter 15) as well as SM Electric (India) Limited (Chapter 18) demonstrate the application of theoretical current assets management in a real-life situation. A detailed overview of Corporate Financing has been laid out under section four. Chapter 19 discusses theories of optimal capital structure including how managers make financing decisions. Chapter 20 besides dealing with the design and pricing of a wide range of financial instruments provides an understanding of how financial engineering can be used to advance the strategic goals of firms. This section also brings forth matter on topics like initial public offerings (chapter 21), bank loans (chapter 22), debt markets (chapter 24) and leasing (chapter 29). …

The Role of Pay and Leadership in Developing Organizational Commitment[dagger]

Abstract: Organizations implement various strategies to secure their employees' commitment. Broadly, these can be classified into transactional strategies involving monetary inducements and transformational strategies involving exemplary leadership. In this paper, we study the relative impact of pay satisfaction and transformational leadership on organizational commitment. We collected data from 240 respondents in two Indian organizations. Analysis of our findings showed that transformational leadership and pay satisfaction had an almost equal impact on affective as well as normative commitment. Continuance commitment was affected by neither pay satisfaction nor transformational leadership, but by the years of experience of the employee. INTRODUCTION There is a war for talent in today's world of globalization and expansion. Firms today are facing labor shortages due to demographic changes in the workforce. Therefore, retaining employees is becoming a key focus area as employee turnover can badly affect an organization due to high cost associated with the turnover (Hay, 2002). In order to retain employees, organizations are pursuing two kinds of strategies. First, organizations are focusing on transactional strategies and attempting to induce employees by material rewards. Spiraling salaries are evidence of the fact that companies are trying to outdo each other in enticing employees through generous paychecks. Second, organizations are focusing on transformational strategies, such as developing a positive culture through exemplary leadership. Companies following this strategy often invest large sums of money in leadership development, training, and cultural transformation. While organizations may pursue one or the other, or a mix of both strategies, there are no clear measurable guidelines as to which strategy is more suitable to enhance organizational commitment and retention. In this paper, we attempt to study the relative impact of pay satisfaction and transformational leadership on the employees' organizational commitment. ENHANCING ORGANIZATIONAL COMMITMENT - A RETENTION STRATEGY Organizational commitment is a three-dimensional construct. The affective component of organizational commitment refers to the emotional attachment to, identification with, and involvement of the employee in the organization. The continuance component refers to commitment based on the costs that the employee associates with leaving the organization. The normative component refers to the employee's feelings of obligation to remain with the organization (Allen and Meyer, 1990). Once the employees gain organizational commitment, they are motivated to remain with the organization, as commitment is a strong force in enhancing motivation and job satisfaction (Pool and Pool, 2007). Organizational commitment leads to reduction in intention to quit and hence reduces turnover (Labatmethene et al, 2007). Organization climate, which comprises of aspects such as motivation practices and decision-making practices, and communication climate, which includes information flow like superior- subordinate communication, are positively linked to the organizational commitment (Guzley, 1992) . It is observed that employees with favorable perceptions about internal mobility, employment security, and opportunity for training and development are more psychologically committed to organizations (Gaertner and Nollen, 1989). Each of the three dimensions of organizational commitment is likely to enhance retention in an organization. Affective commitment makes the employee 'want' to stay on in the organization because of affective bonds. Continuance commitment compels the employee to stay on in the organization due to various material or economic constraints. Finally, normative commitment also binds the individual to the organization through a moral binding. Transformational leadership leads to identification of followers with organization. …

Employee Perception of HRM Practices: Impact on Commitment to the Organization

Abstract: The highly competitive environment of today's business organizations underlines the importance of developing an efficient and productive work force and then retaining it. Research has identified various factors affecting employee retention and employee commitment which has emerged as a significant contributor towards an employee's decision to stay or leave an organization. Human Resource Management Practices (HRMPs) of an organization is an important post-entry variable that can affect the commitment of the employees towards their organization. The evidence in the literature suggests that it was not the human resource practices per se but the perceptions of the employees regarding those practices that actually affected their commitment to their workplace. The present study has attempted to investigate three dimensions of employees' perceptions, perceptions of fairness, perceptions of effectiveness, and perceptions of support (FES) of HRMPs of their organization and its relation with their Organisational Commitment (OC). The sample comprised of bank officers of private banks in the Lahore region. The descriptive statistics depicted a significant positive correlation between all three perceptions of HRMPs and OC while regression analyses showed that the perception of effectiveness of HRMPs was the most significant predictor of organizational commitment followed by the perception of support. INTRODUCTION The basic and underlying notion of Human Resource Management (HRM) is to attain a sustained competitive advantage through effective utilization of human resources. Most traditional resources such as capital, equipment and location are less significant as they can be acquired by anyone at a price, whereas, the acquisition of a ready pool of highly qualified and highly motivated personnel is rather difficult if not impossible. A committed and dedicated work force is a valuable asset that can hardly be duplicated or imitated by the competitors. Commitment has been considered a part of HRM literature since 1980s. This is as a result of Harvard scholars including it in the area of HRM and indicating the advantage it has given Japanese organizations when compared to the Western organizations. Commitment of the work force is an essential attribute for achieving the organizational effectiveness. According to Mowday et al. (1979), Organizational Commitment (OC) can be characterized by three factors: a strong belief of the employees in and the acceptance of organizational goals and values, employees' willingness to exert considerable effort on behalf of the organization and their strong desire to maintain membership in the organization. Meyer and Alien (1997) gave three dimensions to the concept of OC: (1) 'Affective' component that reflects an emotional bond between an employee and the organization which is based on the individual's identification with the organization. Work experience has shown to be the strongest and the most consistent link with the affective commitment. (2) A 'Continuance' component refers to the perceived cost of leaving an organization due to accumulated investment or 'side bets' in the organization. The employee's association does not go beyond the continuance of membership with the organization; and finally (3) A 'Normative' component that incorporates the notion of moral obligation. The employee feels obligated to remain with the organization either because of loyalty or through an obligation to reciprocate. In contrast with those who remain in the organization from a sense of duty or to avoid the cost of leaving, affectively committed individuals stay because they desire to Workplace commitment has been widely recognized as a major determinant of employee behaviour. Those who have higher commitment are employees who identify highly with the organizational goals, and are ready to exert more efforts on behalf of the organization. Researches show that employees who are more committed to the organization than those who are least committed demonstrate: * Organizational citizenship; they go the extra mile (Mowday et al, 1979). …

Strategic Human Resource Management:A Three-Stage Process Model and Its Influencing Factors

Abstract: Strategic Human Resource Management (SHRM) has captured considerable attention in research and the practitioner world. Research in SHRM has primarily focussed on the link between Human Resource Management (HRM) systems and organizational performance. The development of theoretical perspectives and proper frameworks for the mediating processes linking HRM systems and organizational performance have not got adequate attention in this literature. In this paper, a three-stage model for the process of SHRM is developed. The three stages are: (1) The formulation of business and Human Resource (HR) strategy through one/two-way vertical fit; (2) The implementation of HRM systems and employee-related interventions; and (3) The evaluation/review of HRM systems for increased efficiency and best vertical and horizontal fit. The interlinkages in this dynamic model have been explored, and the organizational factors that have an enabling/deterring influence on the success of each of these three stages have been looked at. Enablers/deterrents for the three stages have been chssified into structural, cultural, individual, and contextual factors for the first stage; structural, cultural, operational, and environmental factors for the second stage; and structural, operational, and behavioral factors for the third stage. The key players for each stage have been identified and the role of HR department in each of the three stages has been looked into. Research has shown that horizontal and vertical fit of HR practices can have an influence on the organizational performance and this paper provides a model of enactment of SHRM, and a practical approach to evaluating SHRM process in an organization. INTRODUCTION Organizations are increasingly looking at Human Resources (HR) as a unique asset that can provide sustained competitive advantage. The changes in the business environment with increasing globalization, changing demographics of the workforce, increased focus on profitability through growth, technological changes, intellectual capital and the never-ending changes that otganizations are undergoing have led to an increased importance of managing HR (Devanna et al, 1981; and Wright, 1998). In this scenario, a HR department that is highly administrative and lacks strategic integration fails to provide the competitive advantage needed for survival, thus losing its relevance. According to Ulrich (1998), one of the four roles of HR personnel is to become strategic business partners. Huselid and Becker (1997) found that there were noticeable financial returns for the organizations whose Human Resource Management (HRM) systems have achieved operational excellence and are aligned with business strategic goals. Youndt et al ( 1 996) found that firms employing HRM practices accot ding to the stated strategy are regarded to have better perceptual performance. In the Indian context, Singh and Vohta (2005) found evidence of how strategic HR can play a role in a small enterprise in the engineering sector. In today's context, Strategic Human Resource Management (SHRM) has become a necessity for organizations. Wright and McMahan (1992, p. 298) define SHRM as "the pattern of planned HR deployments and activities intended to enable an organization to achieve its goals." Applying this concept of fit to SHRM based on contingency theory, we find that the fit between HRM systems and business strategy can be viewed through a few modes such as, one-way vertical fit, two-way vertical fit and horizontal fit, which are explained below. The fit essentially looks at whether the HR strategy, systems, and processes are aligned to business strategy and also a perspective whether both are aligned to each other. ONE-WAY VERTICAL FIT Aligning HRM systems to the business strategy can be considered as a one-way vertical fit (Devanna et al, 1984; Dyer, 1984; Golden and Ramanujan!, 1985; Mirvis, 1985; Schuler and Walker, 1990; and Martell and Caroli, 1995). …

Motivating Employees: An Exploratory Study on Knowledge Workers

Abstract: Motivated human resource is strategically important for corporate competitiveness. As new age employees are involved in complex knowledge processing which requires a particular set of organizational forces traditional means of motivating employees are no more effective. This paper aims to explore factors that determine the level of motivation among knowledge workers. The study is based upon survey conducted on engineers, chartered accountants and management teachers. The model of motivation proposed in the study was tested through correlation and regression analysis. We find that the level of motivation among different groups of knowledge workers is dependent upon one or combination of variables namely perception of job characteristics and importance of job characteristics. This study could not find linear relation between job motivation and satisfaction with job characteristics. Total motivation of an employee is cumulative effect of intrinsic and extrinsic motivation. Further it is evident that variables taken in the study are correlated to each other. INTRODUCTION Motivated employees are strategically important for corporate competitiveness (HarrelCook and Ferris, 1997) . Motivating human resources is a crucial part of being a manager since corporate managers are finding it difficult to compete only on the basis of the usual sources of competitiveness such as access to capital, technology and natural resources. The work environment is rapidly changing within and outside the organization, and the convergence of technology at a global level has redefined the nature of work (Horwitz et al. , 2003) . As new age employees are getting more involved in complex knowledge processing, the traditional means of motivating employees are no more effective and hence we observe a drastic change in the HR practices. Longenecker (2011) has described, 'Motivation is not simply a means to get people to pursue organizational goals; rather, it is a means to get people to buy in and take ownership of the organization's needs as well as their own.' Strategies such as appreciation of achievements, individual attention, empowerment and providing chance of leadership roles can be effective means of motivating knowledge workers who are quite satisfied with their pay package (Dewhurst et al., 2010). This paper intends to explore the dependency of level of motivation on the perception of job characteristics, importance of job characteristics and satisfaction with job characteristics among knowledge workers. UNDERSTANDING KNOWLEDGE WORKERS Knowledge workers are involved in non-repetitive, non-routine work, which requires substantial level of cognitive activity (Helton, 1988; and Kelly, 1990). Drucker (1998) has written "the very definition of a knowledge worker is one who knows more about his or her job". For a research and development unit knowledge workers are 'problem solvers' whereas for an advertizing company they are 'problem identifiers' and 'problem brokers' (Reich, 1991). Knowledge workers are involved in the knowledge work such as research and development, advertizing, education and professional services e.g., law, accountancy and consultancy (Beaumont and Hunter, 2002). Knowledge workers are highly qualified and educated professionals (Sveiby, 1997). Horibe (1999) defines "... knowledge workers are people who use their heads more than their hands to produce value". Knowledge workers have autonomy and they are empowered to take decisions that have far-reaching impact on the company in which they are employed (Rowley, 2000; Hunter et al, 2002; Newell et al, 2002). TEACHERS AS KNOWLEDGE WORKERS Knowledge workers are termed as 'gold-collar' and they are "identified by their professional specialty e.g., doctors, programers, lawyers, teachers, scientists and information system designers" (as cited in Brown, 1999). Knowledge workers are engaged in creating, communicating or disseminating ideas or knowledge; teachers, trainers and consultants disseminate knowledge (Asian Productivity Organization (APO), 2004). …

Work-Life Balance Interventions Prevalent in the Indian Industry

Abstract: The increasing prevalence of work-life conflicts and increasing concern about work-life issues in the corporate arena present both a challenge and opportunity for Human Resource (HR) professionals. Work-life conflicts affect employee well-being in a myriad ways. Work-life balance initiatives designed to help employees balance their work and personal lives are not only an option, but also a necessity for many employers today. There is a need for organizations to adopt human resource strategies and policies that accommodate the work-life needs of a diverse workforce in the current business environment. This paper presents the results of the study on organizational policies and provisions regarding work-life balance of the employees, which was carried out among a cross-section of leading corporate entities (N = 30) in Chennai representing equally the three industrial sectors, namely, manufacturing, information technology and services. The results reveal the commonalities and differences in work-life balance provisions across the three sectors and also the impact of the global economic slowdown on the same. INTRODUCTION Work-life balance is an important area of Human Resource Management (HRM) that is receiving increasing attention from government, researchers, management and employee representatives and the popular media (Pocock et al., 2001). Factors contributing to the interest in work-life balance issues are global competition, renewed interest in personal lives/family values and an aging workforce (Lockwood, 2003). Sverko et al. (2002) attribute the growing relevance of work-life balance in industrialized societies to changing technology, changing values and changing demographic trends. Other factors include increasing complexity of work and family roles, the increased prevalence of dual income households and the expanded number of women entering the workforce. Though work-life balance was initially construed as the concern for working mothers, it has been recognized as a vital issue for all classes of employees (Bird, 2006). Despite increased interest in work-life issues, the organizational philosophy towards work-life concerns is varied. Many organizations still see them as individual not organizational concerns. Some organizations resonate the sentiment 'work is work and family is family - and basically, the two do not mix' (Bailyn et al., 1997). Other organizations view work and personal life as competing priorities in a zero-sum game, in which a gain in one area means a loss in the other (Friedman et al., 2000). Hence, it would be interesting to study organizational perspectives on work-life balance. REVIEW OF LITERATURE Felstead et al. (2002) have outlined the four theoretical positions that explain the factors associated with the adoption of work-life balance practices in the organizational context - institutional theory, organizational adaptation theory, high commitment theory and situational theory. According to institutional theory, organizations reflect and conform to normative pressures in society, albeit to varying degrees. These variations are explained by the extent to which organizations need to maintain social legitimacy. Organizational adaptation theory perspective not only retains the predictors proposed by institutional theorists but also attributes other factors to the organizational predisposition to work-life balance concerns. These additional factors are typically said to include characteristics of the workforce (like gender composition, nature of work profile, skill profile of the employees and so on) , the way in which work is organized and management attitudes towards issues of work-life balance. High commitment theory suggests that there is a link between an organization's human resource strategy and its adoption of family-friendly employment practices. This stems from an interest in work systems and worker-management relationships that aim to raise employee commitment to the organization. …

Distribution of Risk and Return: A Test of Normality in Indian Stock Market

Abstract: Efficient capital market theory postulates the random walk behavior of stock market, i.e., risk and return are normally distributed. Capital asset pricing models, which assume the normality in risk and return, deal with how risky securities are valued in an efficient capital market. The present study applies a set of parametric and non-parametric tests to examine the normality of return and risk of daily, weekly, monthly and annual returns in Indian stock market. The study examines the prices of Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE)-listed indices: Sensex, BSE 100 and BSE 500 for the period 1996 to 2006, and three sub-periods (January 1996 to December 1999, January 2000 to December 2002, January 2003 to December 2006) and reports the significant findings. The returns are negatively skewed for all the indices over the period. Asymmetry is found in risk and return in case of daily and weekly returns. Monthly and annual returns, however, are found normally distributed for all three indices over the period of time. These findings bring out the importance of time horizon in investment strategy for the Indian stock market. INTRODUCTION Stock market efficiency is a matter of interest for investors for formulating short- and long-term investment strategy. An efficient stock market is said to fully reflect all the publicly available information. It provides unbiased estimates of risky securities, which result in eliminating the possibilities of earning abnormal return under the condition of certainty. Under such situation, investors value risky securities on the basis of risk and return expectations (Kumar and Dhankar, 2009). Fama (1991) describes stock market efficiency in terms of investors' preferences to stock return subject to risk. An efficient capital market makes investors earn extra return with respect to bearing extra risk. The modern portfolio theory provides how risky securities are valued in the competitive and efficient capital market. In a competitive capital market, investors have homogenous expectations pertinent to stock performance and earnings. Being risk averse, they tend to choose stocks with high expected return, when two or more stocks will have the same risk level. They tend to choose risky portfolios with the expectation of extra return. However, a number of studies have demonstrated market inefficiencies by identifying systematic variations in stock returns with respect to timevarying forces. These variations are subject to calendar anomalies and company size effect. The most common are the day-of-the-week effect (Aggarwal and Rivoli, 1989; and Berument and Kiymaz, 2001), monthly effect (Ariel, 1987; and Boudreaux, 1995), and company size effect (Keim, 1993; Muneesh and Seghal, 2004; and Seghal and Tripathi, 2006) . These studies report that stock returns on the respective day or month are significantly different from rest of the days or months. The existence of such a phenomenon in stock market suggests market inefficiencies. Such situation evolves the possibility of earning abnormal returns by the investors. It can also result in the possibilities of market manipulation and thereby investors earn abnormal return incommensurate with the degree of risk. If efficient capital market holds true, it documents the random walk behavior of stock prices, i.e., stock returns are normally distributed. The present study examines the hypotheses of normality of risk and return of the Indian stock market over the time period. REVIEW OF LITERATURE Lee (1990) brings out the importance of time horizon in formulating the investment strategy. The study considers 60 stocks during the period 1926 to 1985. It maintains that when the risk is defined as a variability in annualized returns, diversification over time reduces risk; yet when the risk is defined as a variability in holding period returns, lengthening the investment horizon increases the risk. The proposition of the optimal mean-variance efficient portfolio invested in stocks increases as investment horizons increase. …

Practice of Corporate Social Responsibility in NALCO and the Perceptions of Employees and the Public: A Case Study

Abstract: Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) is a growing phenomenon in the corporate world today and has become a buzzword. Involvement of employees in extension of CSR of a company is also on rise. This provides employees an HR opportunity to contribute to business success, employee satisfaction and performance. The authors believe that the employees and the public are the two key stakeholders of a company. Their role and involvement in the CSR activities of the company is crucial to make CSR inclusive and participatory. This paper makes an attempt to peep into the CSR culture and practice of an Indian company-National Aluminium Company Limited (NALCO), a leading Public Sector Undertaking (PSU) based in Odisha; and seeks to unfold the level of awareness of CSR among the employees and the neighborhood communities affected by the spillover effect of company's plants and operation. The study also covers their perception of the employees and public towards CSR activities undertaken by the company. INTRODUCTION The concept of Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) and its significance has drawn the attention of the corporate leaders of the world (J amali and Mishrak, 2007). It is a much discussed topic among the industry and academic circle today; and has gained momentum in the last two decades. Many corporations encourage employees to write about their community service in the annual evaluation report and also expect potential employees to be active in the community and to show leadership. In India, CSR is not just viewed as an opportunity to build a corporate image and character (Shanmugam, 2006), but also to demonstrate the 'human face of business' (Holme and Watts, 2000) and it is increasingly realized that CSR should engage with local communities and work together to build an inclusive society. Way back in 1980s, when nomenclature like CSR was hardly talked about and was in focus, National Aluminium Company Limited (NALCO) took up its moral responsibility towards society and has given top priority to social sector development (Parichaya, 2008). It has played a catalytic role in general improvement of quality of life through peripheral development of the surrounding villages. The company so far has spent around ?136.87 cr in peripheral development like creation of infrastructure in the surrounding villages, provision of drinking water, plantation, education, health, promoting sports and culture, etc. (Parichaya, 2010). In fact, NALCO was adjudged as the best Public Sector Enterprise (PSE) of 2008 for its CSR activities by Think Odisha Leadership Award. The company has proved itself to be a responsible corporate citizen and its CSR activities are cited as an example for upcoming companies in Odisha (Parichaya, 2008). In fact, employees and public are two key stakeholders of a company. The basic objective of this paper is to throw some light on their awareness, role and perception of CSR to gauze the level of infiltration of CSR in India, though no generalization can be made out of a single study. Under these contexts this present study makes an attempt to peep into the policy and practices of CSR of NALCO, a Central Sector PSU basically based in the state of Odisha; and to bring forth the level of awareness of CSR among the employees of NALCO and the public; and their perception towards CSR activities of the company. THE CONCEPT OF CORPORATE SOCIAL RESPONSIBILITY CSR is a concept whereby organizations consider the interest of society by taking responsibility for the impact of their activities on customers, employees, shareholders, communities and environment in all aspect of their operations. This obligation is seen to extend beyond the statutory obligation to comply with legislation and sees organizations voluntarily taking further steps to improve the quality of life for employees and families as well as for local community and society at large (Ratnam, 2006). CSR as a concept means being ethical towards stakeholders, i. …

Testing Finance Growth Nexus: An Auto Regressive Distributed Lag (ARDL) Methodology Approach for Selected SAARC Countries

Abstract: Financial sector development has attained the attention of development economists since last two decades. It has been believed that this sector contributes positively to economic growth. Countries in the SAARC region have adopted financial sector reforms during the mid-1980s and early 1990s to bring their economies in line with the rest of world. This study has been conducted to analyze the relationship between financial sector development and economic growth in the four major South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC) countries including Bangladesh, India, Pakistan and Sri Lanka. Using annual time series data set over the period 1975-2009, this study applied Auto Regressive Distributed Lag Modelling (ARDL) approach to test the existence of long run relationships between financial development and economic growth and finding the short run and long run estimates simultaneously. Our findings suggested that financial reforms taken by these economies have been fruitful to raise saving and capital formation. Moreover, a positive and robust link between financial sector development and economic growth has also been observed for the case of India, Pakistan and Sri Lanka, while for the case of Bangladesh this relationship is negative and significant. We may also conclude that there has been better utilization of resources for productive investment in these economies. (ProQuest: ... denotes formulae omitted.) INTRODUCTION It is a fact that a sound financial sector1 is a key determinant to achieve high and sustained economic development. The tole played by this sector for the promotion of economic growth has been studied by many researchers in the past including King and Levine (1993), Levine et al. (2000), Blum et al (2002), Rajan and Zingalas (2003) and Rousseau and Watchel (2005). An efficient financial sector enables an economy to mobilize resources to productive investment activities along with enhancing the overall growth through accumulation of savings. Financial sector also ensures funds transfer from savers to investors and selection of projects which yield maximum profit, monitoring of working projects, and also ensures the contracts enforcements (Bahar, 2009). Role of financial market2 and financial intermediaries3 are very significant for the transfer of funds from the surplus units of economy to deficit units (Ellahi, 2010). Before the adoption of financial sector reforms, the financial sectors of SAARC countries were not productive and were characterized by inefficiency in maintaining the profitability. High cost of intermediation along with mismanagement, overstaffing was prevalent (Klien, 1992). At an international level, skills were absent to achieve the goals of economic growth through this sector. On empirical grounds, McKinnon (1973) are the pioneers to introduce the studies in favor of financial liberalization. Moreover, conditionalities were imposed by international funding agencies, and the comprehensive process of financial reforms was started only in late 1980s. Barro and Sala-i-Martin (1990) found that low investment in the SAARC region was due to high government intervention, lack of productivity and political instability. However, since the emergence of integration at an international level, countries in this region have introduced various reforms in their financial sector to bring it in line with developed nations. This process started during the late 1980s and early 1990s. Various programs have been launched since then to strengthen the financial sector and to promote the liberalization process, which include privatization, interest rate deregulation and the removal of restrictions for the entry of new firms (Ellahi, 2010). PROBLEM STATEMENT AND OBJECTIVES Given the paramount importance of financial sector in the economic growth process, the author attempts to use financial sector development indicators with emphasis on the banking sector to examine the success of reforms in the selected SAARC region. …

Pro-Environmental Behavior of Consumers: A Taxonomy and Its Implications for the Green Marketer

Abstract: This empirical study primarily aims to find the underlying dimensions of pro-environmental behavior of consumers in Indian landscape. For this, a total of 152 consumers in India were contacted through convenience sampling. Factor analysis was used to extract various factors that lead to pro-environmental behavior among consumers. According to the loadings, the factors extracted are energy conservist who cares for saving energy; energy economist who save energy because of their economic considerations and pro-environmental activist who takes proactive actions to save environment. Considering this, it is advised to green marketers to consider the economic motivation criteria first to target Indian consumers. Marketers take caution in designing messages, targeting Indian consumers constitute an emerging segment consuming green products and should use rational appeals, and stress economic benefits. This paper is expected to offer guidelines to green companies operating internationally who wish to target these Indian consumers segment. INTRODUCTION These days environmental degradation is main concern for all and emerged issue in every part of the market place. Over many decades, most people are realizing the issues of environmental protection have been on rise and paid attention to preservation of natural resources. As a result, public begun to feel considering environmental aspects in their consumption habits, and in turn, businesses felt strong need of environmentally responsible actions or green marketing activities. As a result, more and more marketers are coming out with products that are 'green' or 'environmentally friendly'. Considering remarkably growing rate of green product markets, companies not only have tremendous market opportunities in development of green products (Schlossberg, 1992; and Polonsky and Ottman, 1998), but also capitalize maximally. To put this into perspective, Prendergast and Thompson (1997) pointed out that segmentation analysis help companies to identify environmentally conscious consumers and enable them to target effectively. Cross-sectioning the body of green research, many researchers used various bases to segment green consumer segments, viz. (a) Tremblay and Dunlap (1978), Samdahl and Robertson (1989), Pickett et al (1993) and Gooch (1995) used geographic measures; (b) Anderson et al (1974), and Webster (1975) used cultural measures; (c) Kinnear et al (1974) and Crosby et al (1981) used personality measures; and (d) socio-demographic characteristics. No matter what reason enterprises have in pursuing segmentation, they are going face to face with the consciousness of the consumer. Hence, enterprises must consider consumer pro-environmentalism as segmentation variables that displayed through various pro-environmental behaviors (PEBs). In this context, understanding the consumer's PEB is important for enterprises. Thus, the objective of this research is to explore the underlying factors of PEB of Indian consumers. This paper begins by covering the literature on PEB and examines the underlying dimensions of pro-environmental behavior. From the exploration, dimensions of PEB are discussed which is viewed as a critical factor for developing bases for segmentation and profiling to target. The research methodology with sample profile and survey measures is then described, followed by a discussion of the main findings. LITERATURE REVIEW GREEN MARKETING With the rising concern of environment and sense for environmental protection and collaborative efforts from government and various international agencies, research pertaining to green marketing in general and green consumers in particulars are in the budding stage across the globe. The decade of the late 1980s was marked by the first stage of green marketing, when the 'green marketing' concept was just emerged and became mainstream issue in industry (Peattie and Crane, 2005). In later stage, gteen marketing management incorporated society's concern about natural environment, and eventually this notion was extended to societal marketing (Prothero, 1990). …

Quality of Private University Graduates of Bangladesh: The Employers' Perspective

Abstract: This research analyses the performance of the private university business graduates. Four broad categories of expected skills, with a number of variables in each category, are evaluated. The research showed that the private university business graduates' performance with respect to the categories (4) and variables (25) are above average but have not reached satisfactory level. From the rankings obtained of each of the variables, the most important variables (category-wise) are found to be planning from management skills; problem-solving and analytical skills from technical skills; inter-personal abilities from communication skills; and honesty and positive attitude from personality traits. The factor analysis has also identified four important factors from 25 variables. The factors are management and relevant technical skills, inner personality traits, honesty and communication and related technical skills. The analysis revealed that the rate of promotion is not influenced by the quality perception, which is most likely due to other external and internal factors and policies that are associated with promotion decisions. Finally, the private universities of Bangladesh have accommodated a huge number of high school graduates to pursue higher education and they should also ensure good quality education, so that employers and the general mass do not remain skeptical about the competency of these private university graduates. INTRODUCTION In order to create a prospering, evenhanded society a community of university graduates is needed who can play a vital role in the economic growth of the nation. Economic growth cannot be accounted for by increases in inputs of labor and capital. Technological change and human capital development or the development of an effective labor force is considered critical towards economic growth. The creation of an effective labor force will lead to greater labor productivity and, hence, faster economic growth (Romer, 1990). Recently there has been a dramatic growth in the private sector of Bangladesh along with an intensified trend towards globalization. This has considerably changed employers' needs with regards to graduate employment. The employers seek capable graduate employees in order to maintain international competitiveness. To keep up with the rapidly growing demand the Bangladeshi graduate labor market is undergoing quite rapid and remarkable changes. Business schools prepare graduates for the business community. Consequently, the business community needs graduates in order to operate. So for the growth of the business community these two entities must work as partners. These two partners must interact and work out a common agenda for mutual benefit and the benefit of the country at large. In order to meet the growing needs for university graduates by employers, there has been a mushroom growth of private universities in Bangladesh in last decade. The Private University Act (PUA) of 1992 and its subsequent amendments of 1998 and 2009 were passed by the government to supplement the work and ease the pressure of public universities. The aim was to provide and offer courses in all the need-related disciplines which are guided by the market related phenomena that could not be provided by the existing public universities due to fund constraints and the deterioration of the academic environment in the public universities. To maintain the quality of education, most of the reputed public universities kept themselves extremely selective and each year a large number of students failed to get admitted into the higher educational institutions. Hence there is also an emergent need for higher studies to facilitate proper education to the high school graduates (Mamun and Jesmin, 1999). Since the higher education in the private sector would be capable of reducing the financial burden of the government, the private educational institutions would help overcome the existing problems by accommodating the high school graduates while providing updated curricula in its contents, methods, pedagogy, context and orientation (Ahmed et al, 2000), properly maintained academic schedules and avoiding session jams. …

Promoting Economic Cooperation in South Asia: Beyond SAFTA

Abstract: Promoting Economic Cooperation in South Asia: Beyond SAFTA By Sadiq Ahmed, Saman Kelegama, Ejaz Ghani (Eds.), Sage Publications, New Delhi, 2010; Pages: 435; Price: Rs. 850 ISBN: 978-81-321-0311-0 (HB) During the last three decades, economic growth and development across all the regions in the world, especially in South Asia, have had two increasingly distinct emerging trends and dimensions. One relates to the progressive and dynamic economic growth led by the organized sectors and competitive markets, which have benefitted from Liberalization, Privatization and Globalization (LPG) within and across countries. The other is slow if not stagnant or even regressive growth and development in the unorganized non-market sectors, which have lagged behind at least partly due to LPG. But for the neoliberals at home and abroad, TINA! Or, as Albert Maslow has put it: When the only tool available is a hammer (LPG), everything begins to look like a nail (liberalizable, privatizable, globalizable) . But, as the Independent South Asian Commission on Poverty Alleviation1 had pointed out, South Asian countries need to "walk on two legs." To paraphrase, one is that of competitive markets for private goods; the other is of providing access to merit, mixed public and free public goods through non-market, public and civil society interventions and cooperation. As the experience of the East Asian Miracle countries brought out, the invisible hand of the market needs to be guided by the visible arm of the government (and aided by the nimble fingers of the NGOs) . The trends in India in recent decades towards uneven and dichotomous development of organized (formal) and unorganized (informal) sectors, employment of capital and of labor, gains for upper- middle groups and bottom-of- the -pyramid classes, and industrial-urban and agricultural-rural sectors have been eminently elicited by a great deal of recent empirical data and analysis by the National Commission for Enterprises in the Unorganized Sectors (NCEUS). This analysis, conceptually extendable to other South Asian countries and the region as a whole, also highlights, perhaps most importantly, the distance between policy promises and achievements at the ground level.2 The learned papers in this volume grapple with these and similar dichotomous dimensions of growth, development, and regional cooperation in South Asia. The volume contains 17 papers in four parts: The Imperative for Cooperation; SAFTA and Beyond; Private Sector Perspectives; and The Political Economy of Cooperation. Most of the contributors are economists/social scientists from autonomous policy and tesearch institutions in Bangladesh, India, Pakistan, Sri Lanka and USA. Others are representatives of regional offices of the World Bank and ADB, and of national chambers of commerce and industry and trade organizations, and the Commonwealth Secretariat. As a backdrop to the need for effectively enhancing regional cooperation in South Asia, a few papers have convincingly brought out (a) the increasing divergence in economic growth within and between South Asian countries, including a map showing 60% of the region indicated as lagging behind (Ahmed and Ghani); (b) the plight of the economically weaker and smaller economies, population segments and sub-regions which stand to gain much more from regional cooperation (Razzaque) ; (c) the inflationary impact of rising prices of food on the poor due to various sub-regional differences (Vokes and Jayakody); and (d) the ineffectiveness of SAARCs Food Reserves and related policies and, more generally, of the ineffectiveness and unaccountability of SAARCs Integrated Programmes of Action and SAARC Summits' Declarations ["rhetoric" on Poverty Alleviation, Control of Terrorism, etc. (Lama)]. These broad disparities and official neglects at national and regional-cooperative levels have contributed to othet developmental problems and issues, as discussed by some of the contributors. …

Commitment, Involvement, and Satisfaction as Predictors of Employee Performance

Abstract: Human Resource Management (HRM) in India has undergone a sea change since the liberalization of the economy in 1991. However, there have been few studies on how these organizational reforms have influenced the Indian managerial mindset. In this study, data were collected from 357 managerial level employees of Indian organizations in order to analyze the impact of human resource management policies and practices in a globalized Indian economy and subsequently, their outcomes with respect to individual behavior and performances. The results showed that although discrepancies were abounding regarding individual reactions to a hitherto closed and controlled economy; being suddenly an open workplace, the overall conclusions were quite positive. The findings indicate that human resource practices in India need to adapt to contemporary practices and procedures worldwide, while at the same time maintain its unique cultural ethos. INTRODUCTION Since the years following 1991, the year in which the New Economic Policy (NEP) was introduced in India, interest in India as a business destination has increased (As-Saber et al, 1998). In this context, it is important to note that the Indian organizations over the past decade have been reorganizing their structural and cultural orientation to meet the requirements of the contemporary business environment. Recent literature has emphasized Human Resource Management Practice (HRM Practice) along with other management related issues. HRM practices, due to its contextspecificity, need a greater and an in-depth survey and analysis (Schuler and Sluijs, 1992; Locke and Thelen, 1995; Monks, 1996; and As-Saber et al, 1998). India, by its size and population has eighteen different languages and seven different religions, their castes, and sub castes recognized officially. Furthermore, Budhwar and Khatri (2001) noted that ethnicity in India depends upon an individual's social status, the community to which a person is born and the language the person speaks, and the individual's religious beliefs. According to Kanungo and Mendonca (1988), the values and beliefs of Indians are guided by their social roles and responsibilities. Budhwar and Khatri (2001, p. 805) observed that, "there is a strong influence of social, cultural, economic and political factors on HRM policies and practices in Indian organizations". This viewpoint is further supported by other researchers (e.g., Krishna and Monappa, 1994; Venkataratnam, 1995; and Sparrow and Budhwar, 1997). It is for this reason that various scholars have indicated that the diversity of cultures and sub cultures in India make HR practices unique here (Sekaran, 1981; Sinha, 1997; and Bajpai and Srivastava, 2004). Clearly, the observation made by Fatehi (1996) that the Indian society is considerably varied in nature is quite factual. Moreover, from the point of view of international politics, western nations are eager to pay exclusive attention to India with a view to offset the growing importance of other Asian countries (Varma et al, 2005). ORGANIZATIONAL COMMITMENT An individual's commitment at work is a sign of his/her dedication to the organization, to teams and team members and to peers (Meyer and Allen, 1997). Organizational commitment is of particular interest, as it relates an individual to the organization to which he/she is employed. The conceptualization made by Blau and Boal (1987) is that commitment is both behavior and attitude. This conceptualization appears best suited for the present study for two reasons. Firstly, the behavioral approach considers commitment as a cost-benefit transaction of a person (Blau and Boal, 1987). Second, the attitudinal perspective of organizational commitment focuses on his/her conformity to organizational policies and practices out of an intrinsic cause (Porter et al, 1974). With regard to dimensions, three types of commitment, namely, affective, normative, and continuance comprise the higher-order construct of organizational commitment (Lahiry, 1994; and Meyer and Allen, 1997). …

Lean Manufacturing: A Case Study of a Sri Lankan Manufacturing Organization

Abstract: This paper presents an application of the Lean Production System in a manufacturing environment It discusses the most important elements of lean practices through a case study, carried out in a Food processing facility in Sri Lanka, where lean system was implemented Further it illustrates the impact of lean consumption on bottom-line results of business processes It was found that leanness of the business process is below the expectation as its process cycle efficiency is around 124% It means that most of the activities (nearly 88%) of the Jar-process consist of Business Non-Value Added (BNV) and Non-Value Added (NVA) activities Therefore improving this process would bring in a lot of financial gain as well as the had time reduction INTRODUCTION Toyota Production System (TPS) is a buzzword today in manufacturing circles It is known as a flexi and cost-effective production model all over the world TPS was conceptualized by Taiichi Ohno at Toyota Motor Company in 1950s (Motwani, 2003) In fact, TPS is the result of a series of best practices, which have been tested at Toyota Motor Corporation over the several decades The goal of implementing TPS in an organization " is to increase productivity, reduce lead-times and costs, improve quality, etc" (Sriparavastu and Gupta, 1997; Sanchez and Perez, 2001) Kasul and Motwani (1997) in their study find that companies that employ TPS have benefits such as "reduced lead times, just-in-time management, decreased costs, levelled production, continuous flow production, increased job satisfaction for employees, highet productivity, lower inventories, and higher quality levels" Japanese companies have been able to successfully implement this system and hence been able to reduce the time for turnaround from when the customer orders to delivery and cash received This reduction in time has helped companies through tough times and helped in maintaining their profitability CONCEPT OF LEANNESS Lean means producing more with less The concept highlights the importance of less consumption of resources in all aspects of the business ie, throughout the value creating process Interest in the concept of leanness has expanded and evolved to include concepts of agility and responsiveness (Soriano-Meier and Forrester, 2002) Soriano-Meier and Forrester (2002) state that increasingly in competitive markets the concept of leanness is gaining importance for the practitioner since it is an amalgamation of the processes of TQM, Just-In-Time (JIT) management, and computerized aspects of the design process, and factory and supply chain management Implementing the aspects of leanness takes time and hence getting the gains of the lean concept can be viewed as a strategic process which does not give short-term benefits such as short-term competitive pressures The concept of leanness is also of interest to the academic since there are few studies which have defined the concept in operational terms or addressed the measurement of its adoption in firms Lean consumption paves the way for creating business processes which consume less resource and produce more tangible outputs A lean process consumes time and materials only and when the buyer demands (pull system in a lean process) Further lean processes are made up of actions that are paid by the buyer All other possible nonpaid actions are supposed to be eliminated Any action that is not paid by the buyer is called non value added actions Hence variables of consumption are; time, materials and un-paid activities Practical application of lean tools provides us with some elegant solutions, which eliminate or mitigate root causes of wasters from the business process The delivery on demand, one piece flow, pull system and load leveling and six sigma quality are the fundamentals to reduce consumption CASE STUDY The methodology used for presenting the case study is explored in this section …

Perception of Leadership Styles and Trust across Cultures and Gender: A Comparative Study on Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton

Abstract: The race to be the 56th President of the United States has conjured an unprecedented contest in the American Democratic Party between Senators Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton. The purpose of this study is to quantify and examine the perception of the contrasting leadership styles between these two candidates using a survey method. There appears to be a shift away from the skill-based leadership traits of decision making and experience to a preference for a more intangible evaluation of a leader's character: the level of their moral compass. No significant gender or cultural differences were found between the trustworthiness and likelihood of voting for either Obama or Clinton's leadership styles. Finally, there was also a noticeably high association between the perception of trust and the likelihood of voting for a leader. INTRODUCTION The relationship of Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton's leadership styles has to be investigated from the view point of four distinct variables: gender, culture, trust and likelihood of voting. It is necessary to examine which leadership traits were considered to be of significant while addressing perception of trust and likelihood of voting. According to our study, the perception of fairness is the single most essential leadership trait which leaders should acquire in order to garner trust and commitment among voters. This in turn translates to employees in a business world. Other seemingly more obvious traits linked to current leadership studies, such as visionary and inspiring are both considered to be less influential in this study. The absence of both gender and cultural differences in the perception of trust and likelihood of voting towards both of the candidates' leadership styles is also very interesting. Thus, attention should be placed back upon transactional leadership, which has been pushed into the background and criticized for the being supposedly less effective than transformational leadership in the modern world. This finding has also placed extra weight on the study of how global leaders should be concentrating on how to project a perception that can be universally appealing based on values and its accompanying actions. The modern leader must hence be able to exhibit virtuous moral values in their leadership to be a true global leader. It is no longer much about which leadership style is moral suitable but rather the multiple realities and perspective that leaders have to reflect in order to inhibit trust within their workplace. PURPOSE AND SIGNIFICANCE OF THE STUDY The purpose of this research is to provide scientific evidence for the effects of different leadership styles specifically on the issue of trust among people of different cultural backgrounds and gender. This is a great opportunity to study two very distinct types of leadership; with Barack Obama's seemingly more inspirational style and Hillary Clinton's more pragmatic approach. Trust is an important issue in terms of a leader-follower relationship within a business environment. It will be a significant study to investigate whether or not people of different cultures and gender react to different types of leadership styles. The implications of the findings will be significant especially for multinational companies as well as changes in organizational leadership as a result of Mergers and Acquisitions (M&lA). Human Resource departments in companies shall also be equipped with the added knowledge for making recruitment decisions for future employees and executives. The result of this research finding will be useful to organizations which will hence be able to implement new strategic initiatives in leadership style and structure across these demographics. OBJECTIVES OF THE STUDY This research paper has three specific objectives. Firstly, to quantify the perception of leadership styles of Barrack Obama and Hillary Clinton. Secondly, based on these leadership styles mentioned, is there a difference in the perception of trust for different cultures and gender. …

Sri Lanka's Garment Industry: Prospects for Agglomeration, Challenges and Implications for Regional Development

Abstract: The purpose of this paper is to critically assess the relocation of garment industry 'industrial localization' from Colombo metropolitan area to suburban areas as a strategy for regional development. The government of Sri Lanka offered various tax incentives, tax holidays and abatements supplemented by market expansion strategies globally for achieving this goal. The advantages of this move is expected through agglomeration benefits forming industrial expansion in major cities in outlying regions, while stimulating rural sector through product differentiation and forming backward and forward linkages in the garment industry. The paper assesses the prospects of the Sri Lanka's garment industry to achieve the economies of agglomeration and its implications for regional development. The analysis of the factors that attract investment, location of industrial plants and their links to suburban and rural areas are discussed based on various regional modeling theories and tools. Finally, the paper explores the potentials as well as challenges faced by the garments sector in view of its competency as a regional development strategy. It concludes that although some of the necessary conditions are in place the sufficient conditions are yet to be satisfied in order to achieve the regional development goals through localization of the garment industry. INTRODUCTION Sri Lanka has been a developing country for over more than five decades despite many comparative geographic advantages and development opportunities. During 1960s and 1970s, Sri Lanka implemented Import Substitution Industrial policy as its main strategy for the national economic development. Thereafter, moving along the global trend, the economic policy was shifted towards Export-oriented Outward-looking Industrial policy. With this policy change, some of the foreign exchange controls and trading restrictions were relaxed and the economic activities were made more responsive to the international market. Under the open economie policies, incentives such as tax and tariff concessions, Free Trade Zones (FTZs) 1 were offered to attract and stimulate industrial investments of both local and foreign investors (Sivanantbiran, 2007) . As a result, producing small to medium-sized international textiles and apparel became a profitable industry for Sri Lanka due to the concessions offered by the government and the availability of low-cost, energetic, and young workforce. Widi this background Sri Lanka finds its ability to penetrate and exploit a number of niche markets as a supplier to international clothing brands. Thus, garments industry started growing as a reliable supplier of quality garments at competitive prices and became the largest contributor to the export revenue of the country. Also the sector upholds ethical practices backed by legislation, thus being identified as a producer of "garments with no guilt?. The quota system which was fashioned by industrialized countries under the MultiFiber Agreement (MFA) in 1974 as a temporary arrangement to protect their domestic garment industries from the onslaught of cheap imports from low- wage countries, many of the South Asian countries including Sri Lanka came under quota-based exports. The favorable factors within the country and export market that commensurate with appropriate financial and trading policies made the textile and garment industry a driving force to an economic boom in the following two decades (Kelegam and Epaarachchi, 2001) (Figure 1) . The tremendous achievements over this period were mainly highlighted in terms of employment generation, volumes of export and foreign exchange earnings. It is estimated that the garment sector in 2005 itself provided direct employment to approximately 340,000 people, 87% of which were women. Another 600,000 workers were indirecdy dependent on the industry through employment in a range of support and related service occupations (Sivananthiran, 2007) . With the fast growing trend, garment industry has become Sri Lanka's largest export industry since 1980s and 1990s. …

Policy and Practice in Asian Distance Education

Abstract: Policy and Practice in Asian Distance Education Edited by Tian Belatati and Jon Baggaley Sage Publications, New Delhi, 2010; Pages: 260; Price: ?650 ISBN: 978-81-321-0562-6 (HB) Politically and economically, the introduction of Open and Distance Learning (ODL) in the Asian countries stems from very different needs The desire to meet democratic ideals of education for all without compromising on quality is probably the strongest reason for its popularity in the Asian countries Informative and interestingly presented, the book is the outcome of a project which is trail-blazing as a collaborative PANdora research and development initiative between 24 ODL institutions of 13 Asian countries that covered three years Nine themes, which range from accessibility, acceptance and effects of Distance Learning Technologies (DLT) to e-assessment methods and models for student evaluation and a repository of Re-usable Learning Objects, were selected for the research studies The book is in five sections or modules comprised of 23 chapters Its modular design allows for individual chapters to be modified or updated or used as stand-alone content according to the need of the reader It is perhaps one of the first comprehensive books on distance education in Asia It would be a valuable addition to any institutional library or research center for its policy makers and researchers It is also available/ accessible through the PANdora network's open resources website for use in its English version or for translation into other languages Describing the remarkable venture in simple and readable style, the articles are practical and down-to-earth in locating their debate in Asian contexts All the writers are conscious of the socio-cultural and economic environment in Asian countries and adopt a realistic approach to technology use with a clear understanding of the danger of the 'digital divide' Given the concerns of Asian countries for large-scale educational provision and relatively lesser access to the latest technologies (both physically and psychologically) realistic practical experiences, such as the ones shared in this book, bear great significance What a reader in India would expect, however, in the light of the fact that the country has 14 open universities and more than 200 distance teaching institutions, is that some more case studies from India had been included The first chapter is an excellent and succinct account of the conceptual development of distance education as an institution distinct from face-to-face offerings (Correspondence education does not seem to have been taken into account in the description though it is referred to in later chapters) Later articles also show evidence as to how different Asian institutions have modified the concepts to suit local needs and contexts Having started with the use of mass produced standardized materials, ODL today has moved towards individualized and interactive learning strategies by the deployment of technology The concise introductory chapter covers discussion of two-way communication, guided didactic conversation, organized learner support services that provide the human touch, and the need to reduce transactional distance by use of technology The important difference of shift in priorities of educational institutions of post-industrial society from creating a skilled labor force to improving the quality of human lives is brought out well Education focuses more on 'selfrealization' and fulfillment of personal needs now says the author (p 6) Table 1 1 on p 8, shows the world's 20 largest mega universities (Source Wikipedia-July 2010) but does not distinguish between single mode and dual mode institutions (eg, open universities and conventional universities) such as Delhi University or Osmania University - a difference that has great relevance in most Indian contexts where the reasons and purposes for the launch of distance programs in each is entirely different …

The Internationalization Process of Italian Fashion Firms: Looking for an Analytical Generalization

Abstract: This study aims to explore the process of internationalization in Italian fashion firms, focusing on the strategy-structure fit and the role of the founding team in providing such a fit. On the basis of a single case study of a leading fashion firm, it emerges that classic deterministic theories of strategy-structure fit in growing firms offer a poor guide. The strategy is entirely 'emergent' and inspired by the specific talents of the founding team. Evidence confirms the causal link between strategy and structure: company structure is network-based and evolves according to the emerging strategy. However, the development route does not follow any deterministic model: The Uppsala model of incremental and cognitive internationalization, especially in its revised and network-based form, appears to be a more appropriate reference, being characterized by creative dynamics that are constantly evolving, in line with the founders' vision and strategy. INTRODUCTION This study aims at exploring the process of internationalization in the Italian fashion industry, focusing on the strategy-structure fit and the governance of the 'founding team' (Beckman, 2006) in providing such a fit. A coherent fit between strategy and structure is considered, in fact, a necessary condition for growth and it is one of corporate governance's main responsibilities (Chandler, 1962). In fast growing Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) such governance of the strategy-structure fit is provided by the founder or by the founding team (Loane et al, 2007). The issue is especially critical for growing, internationalizing SMEs in the Italian fashion industry because of the special relevance of change that characterizes both the process and the industry (Figure 1). The role of the founding team in the growth of the firm has been frequently investigated in technology-based ventures and empirical support has been provided for some findings. Eisenhardt's seminal work on USA semiconductor ventures has verified significant main and interaction effects for the founding team on firm growth (Eisenhardt and Schoonhoven, 1990), with specific reference to: 'previous joint work experience'; 'founding team size'; and 'variation in the industry experience of the founding team'. Others have focused on commitments and resources in technologybased start-ups in Taiwan. Combining a resource -based view and social capital theory; they have shown that resources and trust gained by the entrepreneur will enhance the commitment of founding team members which will further contribute to the competitive advantage of new technology-based firms (Lei-Yu et ah, 2009, p. 345). Colombo and Grilli (2005), in accordance with competence -based theories, show a positive relation between the growth of new technology-based Italian firms and founders' years of university education in economic and managerial fields and to a lesser extent in scientific and technical fields; similarly, based on their econometric estimates, prior work experience in the same industry of the new firm is positively associated with growth, while prior work experience in other industries is not; furthermore, it is the technical work experience of the founders as opposed to their commercial work experience that determines growth in technology-based Italian firms (Colombo and Grilli, 2005). The relevance of founding team experience for enhancing the chances of survival and growth of a new venture has also been highlighted in a representative sample of Swedish new ventures (Delmar and Shane, 2006). Stam and Elfring (2008), using a data set of 90 new ventures in the emerging open source software industry in the Netherlands, show that social capital that is embedded in the intra- and extraindustry ties of a new venture's founding team influences the relationship between the firm's entrepreneurial orientation and its performance. Beckman (2006) has shown, for a sample of 170 young high-technology firms in California's Silicon Valley, that shared understandings that emerge from common prior company affiliations and the creativity associated with diverse prior company affiliations have an impact on firm behavior and growth: shared understanding suggests easier implementation and speed, whereas unique knowledge is associated with innovation and change (Beckman, 2006, p. …

Voluntary Annual Report Disclosures of Manufacturing Companies in India and Their Linkages with Organisational Demographics

Abstract: This paper reports on voluntary disclosure practices of Indian manufacturing companies and relates the extent of disclosure to company size, profitability, extent of international operations and nature of industry. Voluntary disclosure varies with regard to different items and across companies. And extent of disclosure is significantly and positively related to company size and profitability. (ProQuest: ... denotes formulae omitted.) INTRODUCTION Corporate disclosure is of great significance in the accomplishment of financial accounting objectives and in contributing to the efficient allocation of resources through sound economic decisions. The quality of corporate disclosure influences to a great extent the quality of investment decisions made by the investors. With improved corporate disclosure practices, the investors' interest is protected against securities fraud and his confidence in the securities market is developed and maintained (Singhvi, 1967; and Meek et al, 1975). This in turn, eases the problem of raising long- term capital funds through the securities market (LaI, 2005). Management must engage and interact with investors and capital market intermediaries to project a clear and compelling picture of the company's prospects, which in turn should help both analysts and institutional investors become more effective monitors of firm's performance (Hutton, 2004). In the long run, adequate disclosure is expected to enhance the market price of a company's share in the investment market, which in turn will have a favorable impact on the company's cost of capital (LaI, 1985; and Foster, 2002). Further, increased disclosure would prevent fraud and manipulations and would minimize chances of their occurrences and all investors would be treated equally as far as the availability of significant financial information is concerned. Meaningful disclosure of information has been inevitable in the context of changing profile of corporate ownership, with the increasing flow of foreign investment, preferential allotment of shares to the promoters of companies and the emerging role of mutual funds in the securities market. The fact that companies are raising capital outside India through American Depositary Receipts (ADRs) /Global Depository Receipts (GDRs) further strengthens the need for improving the quality of corporate disclosure on a continuous basis. Besides investors, present and prospective employees may use the financial reports to assess the risk and growth potential of a company, their job security and promotional possibilities, which in turn will affect the allocation of human capital in the economy. Also disclosure is significant from the point of view of large number of other potential users including creditors, customers, legislators and above all the public at large. High quality financial reporting contributes to the reputation of a firm in its product market as a dependable organization to do business transactions. Further, better corporate disclosure practices are instrumental in enhancing brand name and reputation, creating a cohesive corporate culture, mitigating frauds, and in avoiding litigations and fines (Narayanaswamy, 2006). Hence, it is inevitable that significant material information is disclosed in corporate annual reports. The corporate disclosure environment has also undergone a rapid change due to the advancement of new communication technology, emergence of international competitive forces and strong financial markets. With the introduction of liberalization concepts all over the world, the objectives of financial statements lie on greater movement towards a market driven governance of measurement and disclosure standards. Information about a corporation can be disclosed to investors in several ways, but the annual report to stockholders is considered as one of the most important sources of information to investors for several reasons. Corporate annual report is considered as the most effective means of communicating to the various user groups and carries the relevant financial and non-financial information about the corporate performance. …

Study on the Scope and Opportunities of Category Management for Aligning the Supplier-Retailer Business Strategy

Abstract: Today's fragmented and intensely competitive market place is an obstacle for retailers and suppliers to do business in a traditional way. Even customers have never been more sophisticated. In this perspective, thousands of ideas has already been brought though articles, journals and books and thousands of seminars has been held to define a new way of managing business. Just as tremendous heat and pressure create diamond, these uncertainties and competitive challenges has produced a new marketing idea known as category management that offers a wealth of opportunity for those who can adopt with this systematic approach. In this paper, some definition and structure-oriented phases as well as the challenging areas of category management are mentioned. In the next step, a perfect scenario through different stages starting from zero is brought out to show how retailers and suppliers can overcome the power game and collaborate with each other. Finally, it has been shown that a trustworthy relationship, coupled with in-store implementation of category management, can create a win-win situation for both retailers and suppliers. Therefore, this paper defines the way of increasing profitability by taking into account all the factors that influence it on the shop floor and focusing on products with a high circulation, creating regular customers by focusing the product supply to target consumers and developing in-store marketing through space management and well-instructed product display. INTRODUCTION We would like to begin by clarifying some words that we believe need to be clarified as these are the frequent using words and hold the identity of role players of this paper. We use the term 'consumer' when we aim at retail, which is known as 'shopper' from retailer side. Though shopper and consumer not always bear the same meaning, for example, parents are the shopper for baby food while baby is the consumer; we use the term shopper, consumer and customer to define the same role. In the same way, we use the term supplier to define manufacturer's perspective. Though there are some significant difference between supplier and manufacturer, for example, supplier can outsource his brand from a foreign country as a branded marketer; we use the terms supplier, manufacturer and producer to define the same role. Therefore, the respective usage of this multiple words bear the same significance in this paper. BACKGROUND Today's market is competitive and volatile than ever. All retail segments including fashion industry are facing new challenges to survive in this market. The number of products in market place increased by 16% per year between 1985 and 1992 while the shelf space increase by only 1.5% per year during the same period (Gerard and Gurhan, 2007). In that situation, it was not possible for retailer and supplier to manage the complexity of business process by performing their existing role and job description. So they were thinking about the change of their roles. Category management became the key player for changing the role of supplier and retailer in 1980s and in 1990s, Wal-Mart successfully applied this new theory for bringing its supercenter format which converts retailer's general merchandise store into a full-line grocery store under a single roof (ACNielsen et a?., 2005). But now in 2010, both retailer and supplier are managing their business process with a perplexing complexity. Now consumers are no longer sophisticated and the competition is stiffer than ever. The marketplace becomes fragmented rapidly. Therefore, this paper addresses the recent challenges that the retailers and supplier faces to adopt them with category management and digs deeper to figure out these challenges and find out opportunities for perfect collaboration between suppliers and retailers which will ultimately keep their sales growth in a satisfactory position. PROBLEM DISCUSSION Nowadays, consumer deserves to have things as per his/her wish. …

India's New Capitalists: Caste, Business, and Industry in a Modern Nation

Abstract: India's New Capitalists: Caste, Business, and Industry in a Modern Nation By Hartsh Damodaran Palgrave Macmillan, 2008; Pages: 368; Price: ?395 ISBN: 978-0-230-20507-9 With the world's economic order getting restructured, the buzz word today is 'emerging economies'. The transformation and growth of these economies has been attributed to emergence and influence of entrepreneurial private and collective firms (Peng and Heath, 1996). A growing body of research attempts to understand the sociocultural, political and economic factors in these countries that facilitate or impede entrepreneurship. While studies have examined several transition economies, such as some East-European countries as well as China, there is a glaring paucity of rigorous research on the evolution of the business environment in India. The pattern of entrepreneurship development in India is vastly different from countries like China and constituents of the erstwhile Soviet Union. Despite the presence of 'impediments' such as ideological practices and societal norms that stifle entrepreneurial zeal, protectionist policies, red-tape and bureaucracy, business and innovation have thrived for centuries in India. It is said that the choices we have made in the past, limit the outcomes of the present; therefore in order to understand our present, it is vital to understand our history. As the world beats a path to India on account of its growing economic vigor, it becomes increasingly pertinent to understand the evolution of our business arena. In this light, Harish Damodaran's book is well-timed. Damodaran is a journalist with 16 years of experience and currently works as the Senior Assistant Editor at The Hindu Business Line. 'India's new capitalists' is a product of a book-writing fellowship granted to him by the New India Foundation1 - an organization that encourages works that further help in our understanding of Independent India. Damodaran, through this research effort attempts to address three lacunae in business history: the lack of adequate works on the current period, an absence of research on non-traditional mercantile classes and the contemporary literature's negligence of businesses in the South. The author adopts the Varna or the caste system as a sociological lens to view business history and traces the evolution of India's present day entrepreneurial groups. In the process, he captures the social history of several communities that have engaged with business from colonial times. The book informs the reader of the remarkable diversity in the current economic and business sphere and that this diversity is not just in terms of the production profile but also in its social base. Entrepreneurship, it appears, is increasingly breaking free of the boundaries of the traditional merchant communities to reflect individual entrepreneurial behavior. On the basis of his expansive research, Damodaran identifies three general trajectories of industrial transitions by various communities. The chapters of the book are organized around these historical shifts. The second chapter captures the 'bazaars to factory' route of the traditional merchant classes into industry. The third chapter documents the Office to factory' route taken by Brahmins, Khatris, the Bengali Bhadralok and similar scribal castes with a distinct urban middle class orientation. Five chapters then record the 'field to factory' path of the castes referred to as the Shudras, i.e., the rural service provider communities such as the Kammas, Kongunad Naidus, Patidars, Gounders, Nadars, so on and so forth. The author begins his exposition with the traditional business communities who dominated the business sphere and tracks their growth from the 17th and the 18th century to the present day. These communities (referred to as the Vaishya-plus communities) comprised particular ethnic communities or castes and were distinguished from the rest on account of particular defining features. …

Corporate Governance in a Family-Owned Corporate Organization in India: A Case Study of TVS Motor Company Ltd

Abstract: Good governance has been an eternal source of inspired thinking and dedicated action. It is a misnomer to think that the philosophy of corporate governance has come into existence post the scams that plagued the corporate world in recent times. In fact many family-owned corporate organizations have in place such practices for many decades. In recent times, corporate governance mainly deals with two important stakeholders-shareholders and government. The shareholders provide funds for the actual functioning, expansion and diversification of the organization through the purchase of its shares, debentures or securities and in exchange for this investment, they expect some tangible and monetary return either in the form of dividends or interest or sometimes if the company is really successful, through the issue of bonus shares. The government regulates the working of corporate organizations through formulation of regulations which organizations need to follow both in letter and spirit. In this paper, the author has attempted to study the shareholder and governmentrelated practices of TVS Motor Company Ltd.-a leading company in the two wheeler automobile industry and a part of the century old TVS Group. The case study is based on triangulation of data based on personal interviews with top executives of the company, responses to an executive perception survey and supplementary information available in the public domain. COMPANY INTRODUCTION Beginning with launching a simple, easy-to-use moped for the middle class in India in the 1980s to launching seven new bikes in a single day (first time in the history of the automotive industry in the world), TVS Motor Company has often taken the unbeaten path to innovation for ushering in the personal transportation revolution. TVS Motor Company is the third largest two-wheeler manufacturer in India and one among the top ten in the world. It has an annual turnover of more than $ 1 bn and is the flagship company of the $ 4 bn TVS Group. The company has many firsts to its credit in the automotive industry in India. It has been at the forefront in bringing a revolution in the way personal commutation was happening, way back in the 1980s. TVS epitomizes Trust, Value and Service.1 THE TVS GROUP 2 The TVS Group was established in 1911 by Mr. T V Sundaram Iyengar. It is said that during the 1940s in Madurai, South Tamil Nadu, it was common to find people setting their watches on the arrival of a TVS bus. As there were zero breakdowns, zero late arrivals for a fleet with 400 buses covering 40 stops, TVS was known for on-time service. However, to the founder of the company, the ordinary ambitions of a bus fleet operator or a vehicle servicing business would not suffice. He wanted to create an enduring business led by a family of like-minded workers and managers united by a set of shared high principles. Driven by this inspiration, the TVS Group has today emerged as India's leading supplier of automotive components and is the largest automotive component manufacturer in India. In nearly a century now, there are over 30 companies in the TVS Group (See Exhibit 1), employing more than 40,000 people worldwide. It commands a strong presence in manufacturing of two-wheelers, auto components and computer peripherals and also in the distribution of heavy commercial vehicles passenger cars, finance and insurance. TV Sundram Iyengar and Sons Ltd. has a number of companies which are a part of the TVS Group. Prominent among these are - Lakshmi Auto Components Ltd., Lucas Indian Service Ltd., Axles India Ltd., Brakes India Ltd., Harita Grammer Ltd., India Motor Parts and Accessories Ltd., India Nippon Electricals Ltd., Lucas TVS Ltd., Madras Auto Service, Southern Roadways Ltd., Sundaram Brake Linings Ltd., Sundaram Fasteners Ltd., Sundaram Finance Ltd., Sundaram Industries Ltd., Sundaram Motors and Sundaram Clayton Ltd. (Refer Exhibit 1 in the Annexure for details about the TVS Group companies). …

Recruitment Challenges of a Government in Exile: A Case Study

Abstract: Public sector organizations are complex and complicated set of interconnected units. In this paper, the Public Service Commission (PSC), a unit of the Tibetan Government in-exile based in Dharamsala, Himachal Pradesh, India is chosen as the case to study the complexity and complication of leadership challenges at this organizational unit, primarily focusing on the staff recruitment processes. Before the leadership challenges associated with recruitment process are identified and analyzed, a brief history, accessibility to the PSC, and the dominant organizational culture are shared to better understand the context and purpose of the case study. Next, my personal recommendations are provided to help address some of these recruitment challenges. INTRODUCTION Public sector organizations are complex and complicated set of interconnected units such as finance, education, and human resource. This complexity and complication are generally uniform across the public sector organizations in South Asia. In this paper, one unit of a public sector organization and its complexity is analyzed and discussed. This organizational unit is unique as well as identical to many other public sector organizations. It is unique because of its current status as the government in exile, and identical because of its similarity with many other public sector organizations in South Asia. The Public Service Commission (PSC), a unit of the Tibetan Government in exile based in Dharamsala, Himachal Pradesh, India is carefully chosen as the case for this paper to study the complexity and complication of leadership challenges at this organizational unit primarily focusing on the staff recruitment processes. These leadership challenges are discussed below and relate to literature as well as personal experiences as a former employee of this unit. The introduction of PSC is briefly discussed below. PUBLIC SERVICE COMMISSION In the last few decades, the PSC steadily grew into one of the fully functioning autonomous bodies of the Central Tibetan Administration (CTA). Immediately after his arrival in exile in India, his holiness the Dalai Lama re-established die Tibetan government in exile in the north Indian hill station of Mussoorie on April 29, 1959. Though Tibetan refugee people consider their central office as the Tibetan Government in Exile, it is officially known as the Central Tibetan Administration due to some political reasons. Initially, up to 1972, the responsibility for recruitment and appointment of CTA civil servants was under the Home and Security Department and later, under the Department of Personnel directly supervised by Kashag (Tibetan cabinet members). However, Tibetan exile charter was promulgated in the early 1990s with articles mandating the establishment of three autonomous institutional bodies within die CTA to facilitate complete democratization of the exile polity. Thus, die PSC was born with its rules and regulations set by the Tibetan Parliament in Exile (Tibet.net, 2009). As per the provision of the charter for Tibetans in exile, a chairman and two to four members of the PSC are appointed by the Head of State on recommendation of a special committee for a term of five years (Tibet.net, 2009) . The members shall meet at least once in a month and should have two-third quorum of the total members to hold a meeting. The PSC also has a secretary and few CTA staff members, appointed and working as per the rules and regulations of CTA services. The PSC has following broadly defined statutory powers and duties: * Recruitment and appointment/re-appointment of CTA officials and staffs * All capacity building and promotion related matters * Retirement related matters * Handling of disputes related to staff grievance * Demotions, dismissals, resignation, and premature retirement matters * Framing of code conducts and otiier related rules in connection with these functions * On top of these, it has the sole responsibility to recruit talented officers and office staff to efficiently man the CTA offices. …

Role Innovation Behavior of Managerial Personnel in Indian Banking and Insurance Enterprises of Public Sector: An Empirical Study

Abstract: The present study is aimed at assessing the efficacy of role innovation behavior and other aspects of role efficacy of managerial personnel as well as at studying the various factors that determine the efficacy of such aspects using the well tested three measures. Efficacy as regards to various aspects, by and large, was found at moderate level in the study organizations and across the management levels. A fairly high degree of positive correlation was found between overall role efficacy and each of the ten aspects; however, moderate or low degree positive correlation was found between the various aspects. Various determinants, viz., fole, clarity, managers' need for achievement, facilitating work environment, organizational image, organisation's bureaucratic system and managers' capability for resource utilization were perceived as favorable/facilitating for role innovation by the managerial personnel of the study organizations. Incremental innovations are an important source of change in organizations and innovations in this sense are easier to implement provided culture of innovation prevails in organizations. Innovation is itself the cause of further innovations and the accumulated impact of incremental innovations would eventually develop the culture of innovation, generate access to key resources and create a competitive orientation, which would in turn lead to the creation of radical innovation. CONCEPTUAL FRAMEWORK The concept of role innovation has its origin in the works of Brim (1958 and 1960), Bandura (1977), Turner (1978) and Nicholson (1984). Brim sees role innovation as the use of behavior, which has been thought as appropriate for one's identity. Brim distinguishes two kind of role innovation; role assimilation involves modeling behavior seen as appropriate in a given situation and role extension which involves utilizing acquired behavior from one role in a different role situation. Bandura (1977) argues contrary to common belief that innovation patterns can emerge through the modeling process. He uses the term creative modelling to explain such innovation when exposed to diverse models, observes combine aspects of various models into new amalgams that differ from the individual sources. Different observers adopt different combinations of characteristics. Turner (1978) describes a more extreme type of role innovation in which a single role become so central that the actor is inclined to use it in a wide variety of situations, thereby role innovating in those situations, he termed this process as role-person merger. In the organizational setting, Schein (1971 and 1978) has proposed that the process of organizational change can be partly understood by reference to the role innovative behaviors of new job incumbents. Nicholson (1984), extended this idea in his theory of work role transitions and argues that the outcomes of work role transitions will be changed (to a greater or lesser extent) in both the individual and the new role. According to Nicholson (1984), individual's adjustment pattern is a product of two independent dimensions, viz., role development and personal development. Role development varies according to the scope to use novelty and discretion given to a role and also the expectations communicated to the role occupant; personal development on the other hand, is a functions of one's frame of reference, values and other related activities. Nicholson (1984) demonstrates, at a conceptual level, that an individual's adjustment process in the new roles may be regressive, reactionary, destructive or even developmental as a joint function of role and personal development. The developmental mode of adjustment to role demands can be equated, with role innovation in Nicholson's conceptualization, which he defines as the initiating of changes in task objectives, methods, materials, scheduling and in the interpersonal relationships as integral task performance. Individual innovation begins with problem recognition and the generation of ideas or solutions, either novel or adopted. …

"Fostering Creativity: Expert Solutions to Every Day Challenges"-Pocket Mentor Series

Abstract: "Fostering Creativity: Expert Solutions to Every Day Challenges"-Pocket Mentor Series By Dorothy Leonard Harvard Business Press, 2010, Pages: 80, 2195 ISBN: 978-1-4221-2893-0 Creativity is the consistent forefront in our culture today. It is the driving factor in today's global economy and essential to free enterprise. With such significance of creativity, people like Daniel Pink went on to coin the term 'conceptual age' and place it among other phases of e -recorded economic development of the world. Daniel Pink, in his book, A Whole New Mind: Why Right-Brainers WiU Rule the Future, shares the following ages,[l] the agriculture age (farmers), the industrial age (factory workers), the information age (knowledge workers) and the conceptual age (creators and empathizers). What does the word 'creativity' exactly mean? Is it the same as innovation? Can anyone be creative? What are the tools and self- tests for knowing one's level of creativity as a manager? Fostering Creativity is a concise, but a great book diat attempts to answer all the above-mentioned questions in a simple yet powerful way. It is a part of a series of Pocket Mentor books that come from Harvard Business Press, offering solutions to the challenges that managers face on the job. This equips the managers to unleash their company's innovative powers by leveraging employees' unique experiences, thinking styles and expertise. The mentor author for the book is Dorothy Leonord, the William J Abernathy Professor Emeritus of Business Administration at Harvard Business School. The book begins with a discussion on the basics of fostering creativity and such basics are followed by four crucial steps in the process of fostering creativity. In the first chapter, "Fostering Creativity: The Basics", Leonard demystifies die prevailing misconceptions associated with the creativity, saying neither it is the prerogative of a few, smart and young nor a solitary act that is only for granted. Such a demystification eases the reader who otherwise believes it as something divine and granted. The mentor defines creativity "as a process of developing and expressing novel ideas diat are likely to be useful". While providing a definition to creativity the author emphasizes two important points that are highly important in the organizational context: 1) Creativity is a matter of designing a collaborative approach that maximizes everyone's distinctive gifts, experience, and expertise and the purpose of such process is to solve a particular problem or satisfy a specific need; and 2) It involves both the convergent and divergent thinking, however not in the same order as it begins with a necessary divergent thinking - a breaking away from established ways of seeing and doing things to produce novel ideas and then it is followed by convergent thinking in the later stages. …