Showing papers in "The Indian Journal of Industrial Relations in 2013"

Factors Causing Work Life Imbalance among Working Women-A Study on School Teachers

Abstract: Introduction One of the major changes anticipated in the labor markets in India is the entry of women professionals into different sectors. "The Indian family has traditionally granted a favored status to men as a chief breadwinner" (Awasthy & Gupta, 2001). The socialization at work, great work environments, flexi time and facilities make many employees to spend more time at office and enjoy the time (Sandeep Krishnan, 2011). Grzywacz Butter (2005) tested some propositions, relating to work family facilitation finding that resource -rich jobs enable work to family facilitation. The relationship between domain satisfaction (e.g. job, family, marriage) and life satisfaction have given a very great scope (Beutell, 2006). There are contradictory role expectations from women while at work and at home. On professional front women are expected to be sweet, soft, sensitive, adaptable, gentle, and unassertive and domesticated (Misra, 1998). A healthy balance between work and non-work life keeps an individual motivated and engaged. Hence, maintaining a balance between work and non-work life is crucial and a matter of strategic concern to the employers as well as employees (Baral & Bhargava, 2009). Literature Review Over the last decade work life balance has become a significant issue for both employees and employers. Work and personal life are mutually dependent and play an integral part in an individual's life. There is a growing recognition by policymakers of the importance of supporting women in juggling work and family life (Maria, Glaser & Henz, 2002). But, the woman who enters occupations traditionally reserved for males have to struggle, face many difficulties to create place for her and prove her worth (Roe & Siegelman, 1964). However, it must be recognized that in Indian society the new and expanded role of women with a strong occupational identity is putting a lot of pressure on women's time and energy (Adya, 2008). Work-life imbalance was not only a source of concern, but also that it was the major source of dissatisfaction for participants. Furthermore, it is also observed that there is a clear connection between problems with work-life balance and withdrawal behaviours, including turnover and non-genuine sick absence (Hughes & Bozionelos, 2007). In a national study on work life conflicts in Canada in 2001, one in four Canadians reported that their work responsibilities interfered with the ability to fulfill their responsibilities at home (Duxbury & Higgins, 2003). Family care commitment and work intensification are the two major sources of work life conflicts (Cooke & Jing, 2009). Those who are young and single tend to have less work life conflict issues compared with those who have childcare and elderly care responsibilities (Chen, 2006). Study conducted by Allen (2000) states that the conflict results in dissatisfaction, depression and bad physical health. The work-family conflicts have been conceptualized as an individual's orientation across different life roles, an inter role phenomenon (Marks & MacDermid, 1996), 'satisfaction and good functioning at work and at home with a minimum of role conflict' (Campbell-Clark, 2000), and 'a satisfying, healthy and productive life that includes work, play and love, that integrates a range of life activities with attention to self and to personal and spiritual development, and that expresses a person's unique wishes, interests, and values'(Kofodimos, 1984; Shaffer, Francesco, Joplin & Lau, 2003). Work life imbalance is a major concern for all the people. Employees experience imbalance in their work and life due to the role conflicts, employment pressures, multiple roles, domestic responsibilities, child care, nature and attitude of superior and family members, competition etc. The literature also reveals that there are scanty studies for work life imbalance towards school teachers. …

Impact of Organizational Culture on Turnover Intentions in BPO Sector in India

Abstract: Introduction Over the past decade, India has become a serious resource for outsourced talent for organizations all over the world Thanks to low costs, language skills, technical education and a supportive government in India, the BPO/ITES sector has grown at a frenetic pace BPO exports from India grew from US$245 billion in FY 2002-03 to over US $16 billion in 2011-12 Presently outsourcing industry in India indirectly employs 35 million employees and accounts for 64 per cent of the GDP (NASSCOM, 2012) With this exponential rise, however, have come HR difficulties Employee retention has become a big concern in organizations all over the world, but the BPO/ITES sector in India is particularly affected by low retention rates and high staff turnover In spite of what could be regarded as highly favorable conditions for the establishment of BPO operators, skill shortages and employee turnover have quickly become major challenges facing the burgeoning industry (Budhwar et al, 2006a; 2006b)According to a global study, Indian call centers have the highest employee turnover of 40 per cent against a global average of 20 per cent and almost 60 per cent of employees have less than one year of tenure at work (Holman et al, 2007) Attrition rate in BPO sector in the first quarter of the year 2011 was as high as 55 per cent (ASSOCHAM, 2011) It is known that the rate of attrition exceeds 100 per cent in certain companies, in certain geographical locations and for particular processes For the purpose of this study, we have taken Organizational Culture and Organizational Commitment as key antecedents of turnover intentions Further, an attempt has been made to test the mediating role of Organizational Commitment in Organizational culture and Turnover Intentions Background Literature & Hypotheses While reviewing the literature on turnover of employees in general, one finds many antecedents of turnover such as individual perceptions about the desirability and ease of movement (March& Simon, 1958), dissatisfaction (Porter & Steers, 1973), Organizational Commitment (Mathieu & Zajac, 1990), Organizational 'shocks' (Lee & Mitchell, 1994),work and non-work demands (Hom & Kinicki, 2001), perceived organizational support (Rhoades et al, 2001), Organizational Culture (Park & Kim, 2009) etc But exclusive studies on BPO sector revealed that the long-recognized problem of high attrition is in large part a consequence of work that is repetitive and dominated by short cycle times where call throughput is prioritized Lack of control, extensive monitoring, the prevalence of targets and the brevity and infrequency of breaks further contribute to work being experienced by many as pressurized and frequently stressful, often leading to emotional exhaustion and withdrawal (Deery et al 2002) and to sickness, absence and ill-health, particularly where built in environment problems exacerbate the effects of poor job design (Taylor et al 2003) BPO favors the adoption of more routine work flows that have been standardized to a greater degree, allows less room for discretion and occasions higher levels of monitoring (Batt, 2002; Batt & Moynihan, 2002) It could be argued that this scenario results in lower levels of job commitment on the part of Indian workers and to the correspondingly higher levels of job attrition that we observe in this industry (Taylor & Bain, 2005) Certain specific issues relating to the work environment in Indian call centers have been attributed to employee stress, burnout and turnover and these include servicing overseas customers with different cultural and economic backgrounds, adoption of pseudo-names to mask identity (Mirchandani, 2009)Research suggests that firms mostly tend to outsource non-core business processes that involve low value, low skilled, routine and standardized transactional activities (Thite, 2008) Considering that Indian customer service representatives (CSRs) are, on average, more highly educated than their counterparts in Western centers, it is possible that their skills are being under-utilized, leading to de-motivation and higher quit rates …

Diversity Management Practices in Select Firms in India: A Critical Analysis

Abstract: Diversity Management: What & Why Diversity and inclusion are being increasingly recognised as strategic components of business, and the need to deal with these issues in an appropriate manner is being felt widely around the world. The thinking is driven by the assumption that a diverse workforce with an inclusive culture makes organizations "more innovative, agile, and attuned to the need of the customers" (Cox & Blake, 1991). It is usually believed that a heterogeneous workforce is a rich seedbed for ideas (Johansson, 2005).The need for diversity is also being driven by factors such as "talent non-availability, changing demographics, customer expectation, globalization of business, sustainability and an imperative for innovation' (NASSCOM, 2011) which stem from the dynamics of the changing business environment around the world. One of the largest under-represented groups that organizations have tapped in recent years has been women. However, the approach underwent a change in the light of increasing talent complexity. Rather than focusing on women alone, today, organizations are aiming at taking optimum advantage of the complete talent pool available to them which includes people from multiple generations, PwDs (people with disability) and smaller groups of LGBT (lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender) (Saikia, 2012). Business leaders are now emphasizing on diversity and aiming at boosting organizational effectiveness through a diverse workforce (Thomas & Ely, 1996). They are seeking to build a diversity-sensitive workforce which would be comfortable with diversity tensions. It is being increasingly felt that it is not just enough for leaders to possess these capabilities themselves; they must also develop them throughout the organization (Goldsmith, 2010) and thus they are encouraging their employees to understand each other and be sensitive towards each other's needs and capabilities. The ability of a diverse group of people to build strength and unity through their diversity is the power that propels organizations towards new dimensions of performance. However, the challenge of managing diversity is immense. Employees do not usually set aside their cultural values, lifestyle preferences and differences when they come to work. The real challenge, therefore, is to make employees develop an accommodative attitude to wards people from different backgrounds by addressing their diverse lifestyles, needs, aspirations, interests, capabilities and work styles (Robins et al, 2009). There is also an additional issue of impact of diversity on human resource management practices, which have to accommodate all demographic and social factors. The issue of cross cultural communication is important too while dealing with diversity. Diversity Management Practices of Indian Organizations Cultural diversity is the hallmark of Indian society and very few countries in the world are as diverse as India. At the governmental level, there have been affirmative efforts (in the shape of caste and region based reservations) right since independence to strike a balance in terms of different castes and communities in the governmental workforce. This had often led to accusations of trumping merit in the name of balanced social development. Therefore, in the private business houses there has been a conventional distaste for ensuring diversity through affirmative action. Diversity initiatives within the private organizations thus largely imitate global practices to ensure a diverse workforce. Business houses in India turned their attention towards diversity management initiatives only during the last decade. Various organizations have now started linking 'diversity' with their strategic objectives. Especially, the issue of gender diversity, which is narrowly defined as more women participating in the workforce, has been a new trend with organizations going overseas and looking for global reach. …

Psychological Capital & Citizenship Behavior: Evidence from Telecom Sector in India

Abstract: Introduction The concept of psychological capital (PsyCap) emerged with the growing importance of human-centric approaches in the organizational context. Emphasis has gradually shifted from physical capital (physical assets) to human capital (represented by knowledge, skills and abilities or KSAs) and then, to social capital (networking and its benefits) over the past few decades. Psychological capital is a relatively new addition to this development and refers to a positive outlook of an individual about (not necessarily restricted to) his job and organization. The concept draws from the core of positive psychology that emphasizes on strengths and virtues, rather than dysfunctions and weaknesses (Peterson & Seligman, 2004; Seligman & Csikszentmihalyi, 2000) of people. Initially it was primarily linked to productivity (Goldsmith et al, 1998) but later, its positive relationship with desirable (Luthans et al., 2007 a) and negative relationship with undesirable (Bakker & Demerouti, 2006) workplace attitudes and behaviour were empirically established. Later, researchers suggested that the benefits of this capital are not restricted to individuals only and, at aggregate level, can be a source of competitive advantage for the entire organization (Luthans & Youssef, 2004). Rationale for Study Fluidity is one of the distinctive characteristics of new age organizations after globalization (Friedman, 2005). Due to fast changing external business scenario, the rules are turning more flexible, internal boundaries increasingly blurred and, as a result, job demand more uncertain. So in this era of uncertainty and malleability, we need to look beyond personality traits, relatively stable individual dispositions. PsyCap captures this dynamism and determines the ability to quickly respond to emerging situation with a sanguine mental frame comprising, hope, optimism, confidence and resilience. We are interested in exploring association of PsyCap with some desirable attributes (job satisfaction and OCB) and also in ascertaining its predictive power for these variables. Literature review revealed that there is lack of empirical research investigating relationships between PsyCap and the other two aforementioned variables. PsyCap, in general, was found to be scantly studied a variable in the Indian context. This way present work aims to address these issues. The study is conducted in a large telecom organization and requisite empirical evidence is provided. Findings are presented and its possible implications for researchers and practitioners are discussed. Positive Organization Behavior & PsyCap Psychological capital is a relatively new concept in the field of positive organization behavior (POB). POB itself evolved and flourished as a result of development in the field of positive psychology (Peterson & Seligman, 2004; Seligman & Csikszentmihalyi, 2000). Positive psychology stresses on the strengths of people rather than weaknesses. It deals with the possibility of individual growth and development by shifting focus away from negative to positive aspects. Psychological Capital (PsyCap) As delineated by Luthans (2002), psychological capital is a micro-level state like construct that can be measured, developed, and effectively managed for performance improvement in today's workplace. Those high in PsyCap indicated to have higher job satisfaction (Luthans et al., 2007 a). On the contrary, the negative linkage between PsyCap and stress related outcomes like burnout, psychological exhaustion or impaired heath has also been established (Bakker & Demerouti, 2006). Luthans et al. (2002, 2007 a) have suggested inclusion of four constructs, namely, hope, optimism, resilience and self-efficacy into the domain of POB. These constructs are fairly distinct and represent an individual's positive frame of mind. The umbrella concept of PsyCap encompasses these dimensions and a brief description about them is presented below. …

HRD Climate in Public and Private Sector Banks

Abstract: Introduction In today's competitive environment it is important for organizations to innovate, improve and adapt itself with the changing environment. This can be realized if the potential of the human resource is fully optimized and they are in a trajectory of growth and dynamism. Human resource development plays an imperative role in developing a learning environment where the knowledge and intellect can grow. The HR subsystems like performance appraisal, training, feedback and other planned developmental activities coupled with enabling climate helps an employee to gain competencies and realize their potential. The term HRD was first coined by Leonard Nadler who defined it as a series of organized activities which are conducted within a specified time and designed to produce behavioral change. The HRD Climate of an organization plays an important role in ensuring competency, motivation and development of its employees (Patel, 2005). HRD Climate was found to be positively correlated with organizational effectiveness and productivity (Jain, Singhal & Singh, 1997). The study by Rohmetra in 1998, found that job satisfaction was positively associated with HRD Climate. Kumar & Patnaik (2002) found that a positive relationship exists between HRD Climate and job satisfaction, attitude and role efficacy. Krishnaveni & Ramkumar in their study (2006) titled "Impact of developmental climate on individual's behavior in organizations" found that HRD Climate is positively associated with the level of role satisfaction of individuals in the organization. Purang in her paper (2006) titled "HRD Climate: Comparative Analysis of Public, Private and Multinational Organizations" reported HRD Climate perception of employees in private and multinational organizations to be significantly better than in public sector organizations. Venkateswaran (1997) made a study in a public sector undertaking in India and found that, to a large extent, a favorable HRD climate was prevalent in the organization understudy. M. Srimannarayana (2001) identified below average level of HRD climate in a software organization in India. However, Agarwala (2002) found that the HRD climate was significantly more developmental in the IT industry when compared to the automobile industry. Mishra & Bhardwaj (2002) carried out a HRD climate survey in a private sector undertaking in India and concluded that the HRD climate in that organization was good. Lewlyn (2004) conducted a study in the engineering institutes in India and found the HRD climate to be highly satisfactory. In this study we will do a comparative analysis of HRD Climate in the public and private sector banks in India Human Resource Development HRD has been defined by various authors and lay stress how it develops the human resource. It is an organized learning experience provided by employees within a specified period to bring about the possibility of performance improvement and/or personal growth (Nadler & Nadler, 1989). It is the integrated use of training and development, organization development, and career development to improve individual, group, and organizational effectiveness (McLagan, 1989). Rao (1985) says that it is a process by which the employees of an organization are helped in a continuous, planned way to acquire or sharpen capabilities required to perform various functions associated with their present or expected future roles, develop their general capabilities as individuals and discover and exploit their own potentials for their own and/or organizational development purposes and develop an organizational culture in which supervisor --subordinate relationships, teamwork, and collaboration among subunits are strong and contribute to the professional well-being, motivation, and pride of employees. HRD provides a platform for an employee to grow and play a vital role in the growth of an organization. Guest & Davey (1996) suggest, for example, that for organizations to attract and retain high quality employees in an employability or transactional contract environment, they must provide "challenge, autonomy, impressive extrinsic rewards and, above all, opportunities to learn and thereby become more marketable and more able to move on to the next job. …

Informal Employment Revisited: Theories, Data & Policies

Abstract: Introduction Informal employment is back on the policy agenda. (1) It represents a major share of the workforce in most developing countries and is on the rise in developed countries. Across the developing world, the majority of informal workers are poor; and the majority of working poor are informally employed. Adding to these policy concerns are the lingering impacts of the Great Recession on employment and the global crisis of youth unemployment. This paper seeks to provide a summary overview of recent rethinking and recent data on informal employment, particularly in developing countries. Section I details two international statistical definitions--of "informal sector" and "informal employment"--and presents recent data on non-agricultural informal employment. Section II discusses to "formalize the informal economy" debate and presents a comprehensive framework for responding to informal enterprises and informal employment. Section III analyzes why existing labor market models and regulations need to be re-examined in light of the reality and complexity of informal employment today. The paper concludes that employment should be the cornerstone of the development agenda and that economic diversity should be the cornerstone of the future economy. I. Statistical Definitions & Data International Statistical Definitions: In 1993, the International Conference of Labour Statisticians adopted an international statistical definition of the "informal sector" to refer to employment and production that takes place in unincorporated small and/or unregistered enterprises. But soon thereafter, beginning in 1997, the International Labor Office (ILO), the international Expert Group on Informal Sector Statistics (called the Delhi Group), and the global network Women in Informal Employment: Globalizing and Organizing (WIEGO) began working together to broaden the concept and definition to incorporate certain types of informal employment that had not been included in the enterprise-based concept and definition of the informal sector. They sought to include the whole of work-related informality, as it is manifested in industrialized, transition and developing economies and the real world dynamics in labor markets today, particularly the employment arrangements of the working poor. The expanded definition focuses on the nature of employment in addition to the characteristics of enterprises and includes all types of informal employment both inside and outside informal enterprises. This expanded definition was endorsed by the International Labor Conference (ILC) in 2002 and the International Conference of Labor Statisticians (ICLS) in 2003: statisticians refer to this expanded notion as "informal employment." Informal employment is, by design, a large and heterogeneous category. For purposes of analysis and policymaking it is useful to, first, sub-divide informal employment into self-employment and wage employment, and then within these broad categories, into more homogeneous sub-categories according to status in employment, as follows: (2) Informal self-employment including: * employers in informal enterprises * own account workers in informal enterprises * contributing family workers (in informal and formal enterprises) * members of informal producers' cooperatives (where these exist) Informal wage employment: employees hired without social protection contributions by formal or informal enterprises or as paid domestic workers by households. Certain types of wage work are more likely than others to be informal. These include: * employees of informal enterprises * casual or day labourers * temporary or part-time workers * paid domestic workers * contract workers * unregistered or undeclared workers * industrial outworkers (also called home workers) This expanded definition extends the focus from enterprises that are not legally regulated to include employment relationships that are not legally regulated or socially protected. …

Human Resource Competencies as Perceived by Executives

Abstract: Introduction Human resource (HR) is moving away from the transactional, paper-pushing, hiring/firing support function it has been and is becoming a bottom-line business decision maker (Caudron, 1994). Subsequent to this transformation, HRM is facing a wide variety of issues and challenges from both internal and external environment. HR professionals have to address these issues and challenges. This makes HR professionals play different roles such as strategic partner, administrative expert, employee champion and change agent (Ulrich, 1997). To sustain the transformation of HR function, HR professionals must develop and demonstrate a new set of competencies to fulfill their changing roles and responsibilities (Yeung, Woolcock & Sullivan, 1996). These competencies are: knowledge, skills, abilities or personality characteristics that directly influence one's performance (Becker, Huselid & Ulrich, 2001). With growing emphasis being placed on HR competencies, significant research is carried out on this area. The present study makes an attempt to assess HR competencies demonstrated by HR professionals in India based on the perceptions of executives working in HR and non-HR areas in various organizations. HRM in India In India, HRM has been of comparatively late growth and has only developed on a wide scale since Independence. Government legislation has played a vital role in the evolution of personnel management/HRM in India. The other reasons would be business acumen, economic conditions, social set up that have also contributed in shaping personnel practices (Balasubramanian, 1995). Evolution of HRM in India may be traced in to five phases. The beginning is from 1920s to 1930s. During this period the status of the department was predominantly clerical and the activities were confined to statutory welfare, and paternalistic welfare programs. During the second stage (1940s-1960s), the personnel profession struggled for recognition by emphasizing on introducing techniques. In the third stage, from 1970s to 1980s, the profession has made attempts to impress with sophistication by emphasizing on regularity conformance, and imposing standards on other functions. The period of 1990s was the promising phase of personnel profession in India with a philosophical outlook by emphasizing on human values, and productivity through people. The year 2000 and onwards is a period of rationalisation in which the outlook has become strategic with emphasis on organizational performance. Over a period of time the role of HR has elevated from clerical to administrative, administrative to managerial, managerial to executive, and executive to strategic partner (Venkata Ratnam & Srivastava, 1991; Budhwar, 2009a). The challenges of HRM in India include the need to change the traditional role played by Indian HRM to a more strategic and proactive role, and HR challenges relating to strategic alliances. Despite such challenges, the present business context in India provides ample opportunities for HR function to make a mark (Budhwar, 2009b). If the HR function has to make a mark, the HR professionals need to possess the competencies required to perform their responsibilities. The HR Competency Studies Competencies for HR professionals may be defined either by the insights of senior managers and other internal customers or by an empirically tested conceptual framework (Ulrich, Brockbank, Yeung & Lake, 1995). They generally focus on the knowledge and abilities of HR professionals and the extent to which he or she could use HR practices to build business success (Ulrich et al, 2008). Over the last twenty five years, several HR competencies studies are conducted aiming at identifying appropriate HR competencies that influence firm performance. Ulrich, the pioneer of HR competency studies, has conducted several studies, over a period of time, with the help of his associates. The original HR competency study (HRCS) conducted in 1987 indicates that HR professionals needed business knowledge, HR delivery, and change management competencies regardless of position, industry, or geography. …

Organizing the Unorganized Workers: The Indian Scene

Abstract: Introduction It has become obvious during the last two decades that globalization in India has created more jobs in the informal sector than in the organized sector, which has also been plagued by redundancies and job losses. The National Commission on Enterprises in the Unorganized Sector (NCEUS, 2009:5) stated that "the net growth of employment in the quinquennium (1999-00 to 2004-05) has been largely of an informal kind, implying that these workers are vulnerable in significant ways. This is true of both formal and informal sectors, which means that even the increase in employment in the formal sector is entirely that of informal employment ... and informalization of the formal sector as far as employment is concerned". Every state in India has seen marked decline in organized share of employment (Shyam Sundar, 2010:8). The trend in informalization has helped to transfer jobs from bargainable to non-bargainable categories and the need for union protection has therefore become more important today as things become more uncertain for most workers (Sen, 2002:210). However, unionization among the unorganized or informal workforce is relatively low and plagued by a number of problems such as lack of employment security, refusal of employers to recognize or bargain with informal sector unions, and so on. For instance, INTUC's unorganized sector membership was barely 1 % of its total membership in 1980 (Davala, 1994: 8). Even the small number of unions emerging among the unorganized workers, have high mortality rates. The 'turnover' of unions is very high in the small scale sector--in one case only two units have been with the union throughout the last 10 years. Generally membership continues for 3-5 years of the life span of the unit (Vrijendra, 1997: 64). But this needs to be scrutinized to obtain the real picture. Things may not be as disheartening as apparent at first glance. Organized & the Unorganized: Differences Organized sector regular workers have relatively more job security, leave and medical benefits, retirement benefits and of course reasonable wages. Workers in the unorganized sector are obviously deprived not only of these, but work much longer hours for much lower wages, lose their jobs easily or get work intermittently, and have no cover for absences, illness or old age. CMIE found in 1980-81 that while organized sector employees earned about Rs 11,000 per year, self-employed and casual workers earned respectively about Rs. 2500 and Rs. 3500 (Davala, 1994: 8). In the public sector, the wage differential between casual workers and permanent workers in the captive power plant of National Aluminium's Orissa plant at Angul in the early 1990s were in the ratio of 1:11 as observed by this author. The NCEUS found that the 'the growth rate of wages of almost all categories of workers (15 out of 16), including casual workers, which concerns the bottom layer, has declined during 1993/94-2004/05 characterized by economic reform compared to the previous decade of 1983-1993/94. This is clearly a case of generalized slow down in the growth of wages when the overall economy registered a higher growth in income during the second period compared to the first (NCEUS, 2009: Table 2.2). NCEUS found in 2004-05 that even among male casual workers, daily earnings in the informal sector were a meager Rs 51.3 as compared to Rs 73 in the formal sector. For casual females the rates were Rs 32.4 and Rs 47.4 respectively (NCEUS, 2009:Box 2.1).In either case, these average daily earnings of casual workers, work out to Rs 62 and Rs 40 for males and females, far less than that of regular workers in the formal sector at the time. Defining the Informal Sector As already discussed (Sen, 2012), the NCEUS indicates that the informal sector "consists of all unincorporated private enterprises owned by individuals or households engaged in the sale and production of goods and services operated on a proprietary or partnership basis and with less than ten total workers". …

The Determinants of Sickness Presenteeism

Abstract: Introduction Sickness presenteeism (SP) can be defined as a state in which employees turn up for work in spite of being sick. Although presenteeism is a subject of vivid interest to scholars in occupational medicine, few organizational scholars have extensively worked on the subject. One of the reasons that could have ignited interest in researchers is the growing concern among organizations about how presenteeism leads to lower levels of employee productivity (e.g., Collins et al, 2005) and there are reports of many other hidden costs as well (Goetzel et al, 2004; Hemp, 2004). Ailments commonly associated with SP include headaches, migraines, allergies, depression, gastrointestinal problems and asthma/ breathing difficulties. These are often deemed as benign illnesses that do not force a person to stay away from work, but reduce his/her productivity (Ceniceros, 2001; Goetzel et al, 2004). The present study is aimed at identifying the determinants of SP at work. It retro-flexed some of the existing results relating to SP as well tested new hypotheses that have only been hinted in the literature. Hypotheses Development Johns (2009) has traced the first use of the word "presentee". According to the Oxford English Dictionary Online, the word "presentee" was first used by the famous American humorist and author Mark Twain in his famous Book, The American Claimant in 1892. Thereafter though there have been occasional use of the term, however it was not until the early 1990's that the term was used in a defined connotation. Presenteeism in earlier times was only defined as opposite of absenteeism, but gradually more refined forms of definition of presenteeism with defined constructs were available. SP has been defined by Aronsson & Gustafsson (2005) as "the phenomenon that people, despite complaints and ill health that should prompt them to take rest and take sick leave, go to work in any case". They have distinguished between 'work-related demands for presence' and 'personally related demands for presence'. Johansson & Lundberg (2004) have defined presenteeism in the same way as above. According to them, when a person attends to work in spite of being ill or under circumstances which would ideally require leave for e.g. child care. However, we have limited our discussion to cases when employees turn up for work in spite of suffering on health grounds only and does not extent to other reasons like child care. In this study, we categorized determinants of SP broadly into three categories such as work related factors, personal circumstances and personality of the employees. The study also examined the relational influence of the above three categories of factors on SP. Work Related Factors There are certain factors which compel the job incumbent to attend work even when sick. Organizational policies for example might not have flexi working hours which might affect an employee's decision to work. Work related factors can be further classified into factors which can be controlled by the employee and some others which are beyond his control. It can be derived that when factors are under the control of an employee, he would have the freedom to choose when to go to work and when not to and hence is expected to report lesser SP than employees who are devoid of sufficient control over tasks. Irreplaceability can be defined in simple terms as the availability of any other worker to replace the incumbent when the latter is sick. According to Bockerman & Laukkanen (2009), worker's replaceability can be seen from an economic angle. In case a worker can arrange for a replacement when he is absent from work, he would choose to avail of a sick leave when he is ill. On the contrary, if there are no available replacements for a worker and in case of his absence, he has to come back and finish up his pending work, then he would be less likely to take a sick leave. Hence in the second case, the indirect costs of being absent are more for a worker and under such circumstances, he would choose to attend to work when sick. …

Corporate Social Responsibility in India- The Emerging Discourse & Concerns

Abstract: The discourse and agenda of Corporate Social Responsibility in India are being set by the state and the corporate. Various mechanisms are being employed to provide legitimacy and acceptance to CSR in India. This article takes a critical look at the CSR discourse in India by locating CSR within the political economy of the country, the legitimization process, main actors in CSR and the problems within this CSR discourse.

Impact of Work Related Attitudes on Turnover Intention

Abstract: Introduction Extant studies have examined the extent in which the organizational commitments of professionals are linked to attitudes and affective reactions to the work environment and behavioral intentions such as intention to leave or actual turnover (Wilensky, 1965; Sorensen & Sorensen, 1974). Researchers have further argued that there is high cost associated with managerial failure to retain a body of well educated, effective employees (Cascio, 1991; Mirvis & Lawlwer, 1997). Sjoberg & Sverke (2000) find relationship between involvement, commitment and its interaction leading to turnover intentions which lead to turnover. Focusing on the work related attitudes such as job involvement (Kanungo, 1979), organizational commitment (Mowday, Steers & Porter, 1979), work involvement, job satisfaction as predictors of turnover, recent studies have called for a closer examination of the generality of withdrawal processes and their differentiation according to relevant work attitudes (e.g. Mowday, Koberg & McArthur, 1984). Therefore, the basic premise of this paper is that identification of work related behavior either with the job or the organization will make employee less inclined to leave the job. Among professionals, this work related behavior is such a contingency factor, which despite its relevance, has not been closely examined. Attitude of professionals has frequently been suggested as an important determinant of the incongruence between turnover intention, and many studies have stressed the importance of understanding the antecedents of the same (Miller, 1967; Hall, 1968; Brief & Aldag, 1976; Tuma & Grimes, 1981). However, only a few studies have studied the above gap empirically, and much lesser in the context of developing nations (Sorensen & Sorensen, 1974; Tuma & Grimes 1981; Aranya et al., 1986). India is characterized by high power-distance values and a collectivistic culture (Hofstede, 1988;1991; Routamaa & Hautala, 2008) and Indian manager's mind set includes submissive, prone to emotional and personal dependence, fatalism, in-group/clan orientation, status/hierarchy/power consciousness, materialism and holistic orientation (Amba-Rao et al, 2000; Garg & Parikh, 1986; Pradhan, Mishra & Mathur, 2001; Sinha & Kanungo, 1997; Sinha & Pandey, 2007). Furthermore, societal context, cultural diversity and political factors affect interpersonal relations (Cooke & Saini, 2010; Ramaswami & Dreher, 2010; Baruch & Budhwar, 2006; Bhawuk, 2008; Budhwar & Khatri, 2001), which may influence individual's attitudes. Thus, the purpose of the present study is to construct from the available literature a path model which will reflect the work related attitudes and behaviors affecting intention to quit for the employee in the Indian context and test the same (Fig. 1). [FIGURE 1 OMITTED] Extant research suggests that attitudes towards the organization are more strongly related than attitudes toward the job to turnover intentions. Several authors (Peters, Bhagat & O'Connor, 1981; Shore & Martin, 1989; Williams & Hazer, 1986) reported organizational commitment had a stronger relationship with turnover intentions than did job satisfaction. Research also shows that organizational attitudes alone are related to turnover intentions (e.g. Angle & Perry, 1981; Mowday et al., 1979; Steers, 1977). In addition, a number of studies have shown a relationship between turnover intentions and overall job satisfaction (e.g. Angle & Perry, 1981; Mossholder, Bedeian & Armenakis, 1981). Perhaps job satisfaction is related to turnover intentions because of the high correlation between job and organizational attitudes (Angle & Perry, 1981; Mowday et al., 1979). Steel & Ovalle (1984) have discussed behavioral intentions and its expanding role in the field of turnover research. Their findings from the meta-analysis include four correlates of employee turnover: behavioral intentions, overall job satisfaction, work satisfaction and organizational commitment. …

Employee Engagement & Industrial Relations Climate in a Large Public Sector Organization

Abstract: Introduction One of the large public sector organizations in power generation and distribution in India from West Bengal recently carried out an organization climate survey (OCS). The organization has been running in loss for the last few years. The management of the company decided to undertake the survey and initiate strategic action following the findings of a diagnostic study for improving organization performance. The survey was conducted during November-December 2011. One of the objectives was to identify the key reasons for low level of apparent employee engagement and have a special strategic focus on the same to improve organizational performance. This paper highlights the approach used to identify the key areas for organizational intervention for improving employee-engagement. Research Objectives The conventional approach to OCS is to identify the satisfaction level of each area of organization diagnostic indices by calculating the mean value and standard deviation and compare the same with those from a study of previous years, if available (Dickson, Resick & Hanges, 2006). This conventional approach normally is taken to draw the action plan to improve the organizational performance and employee motivation based on the identified areas of low satisfaction and or drop in satisfaction level in particular dimensions compared to those in previous studies. In the present study, the basic research question is: "What are the critical constructs explained by the manifested variables of the OCS in this organization which have major bearing on the employee engagement?" The conventional approach of comparing the satisfaction level of each diagnostic dimension with the corresponding level from a previous period is simply incapable of addressing this question and any such approach if resorted to will be misguiding the organization to meet the core objective of improving the organization performance and employee motivation. For the present study, based on literature (Hartler, Schimdt & Hays, 2002; Macey & Schneider, 2008)'intrinsic motivation', 'job satisfaction', 'organization values' and 'leadership style' have been conceptualized as drivers of employee engagement. Addressing the basic research question calls for using appropriate advanced statistical methods to establish the causal relations of various constructs, derived from measured variables, with the employee intrinsic motivation, job satisfaction, and leadership behavior, and also in area of industrial relations. Organization Climate Survey According to Hay Group (2010) climate affects organizational performance by influencing employee motivation. In most jobs, especially in the complex ones, there is a gulf between what employees need do to 'get by' and what they can do if they perform at their full potential. A positive climate will encourage this discretionary effort and commitment. Organization climate, as represented by the aggregation of perceptions of individual employees within the organization can be traced back to the work of Lewin, Lipitt& White (1939). Although organization climate has been defined in many different ways (Litwin & Stringer, 1968), there seems to be consensus that it includes three behavioral levels, namely the individual, the interpersonal and the organizational. Organization climate dimensions on the formal level are structure, policy, objectives, management practice, task specialization, decision making, standard and reward (Cilliers & Kossuth, 2002). At the informal level, it refers to identity, employee needs, responsibility, interactive communication, information sharing, support, warmth and conflict handling (Kline & Boyd, 1991). Sampane, Ringer & Roodt (2002) and Hutcheson (1996) viewed organization climate as the description of the organization's "objective" variables like structure, size, policies and leadership style, by the employees. Extensive research proved that job satisfaction does not happen in isolation, as it is dependent on organizational variables such as structure, size, pay, working conditions and leadership, which constitute organization climate (Sampane, Ringer & Roodt, 2002). …

Mentoring & Performance: Implications for Business Organizations

Abstract: Introduction The linkage between mentoring roles and behaviors with performance outcomes are presently only theoretically based (Bozionelos, 2004; Kram, 1985; Dreher, 2007)There have not been enough studies to test either the process linkage or the extent of impact of mentoring process on the performance outcomes Research so far has indicated that career mentoring adds significantly to the explained variance in rated salary progress and promotion rate over that accounted for by leader-member exchange (Scandura & Schriesheim, 1994) This paper, first, explores the relationship between mentoring and performance by examining outcomes beyond job performance to role-based performance Second, it provides process explanations as to why mentoring would drive such outcomes with the help of a mediator Third, it explores how two different forms of mentoring support, traditional and relational mentoring differentially impact performance to enable the organization focus on the right forms of mentoring support that would drive specific organizational outcomes, aligned to its business objectives and strategy Research Questions RQ1: Do traditional and relational mentoring support functions have a differential impact on protege role based performance? RQ 2: Do personal learning ie, relational job learning and personal skill development mediate the relationship between traditional and relational mentoring support and performance? Traditional & Relational Mentoring Traditional mentoring is defined as a relationship between an older, more experienced mentor and a younger, less experienced protege for the purpose of developing and helping his/her career (Hunt & Michael, 1983; Kram, 1985; Ragins, 1989) According to this mentoring theory (Kram, 1985), mentors help their proteges through providing career functions (ie, sponsorship, exposure and visibility, coaching, protection, and challenging assignments) and psychosocial support (ie, role modeling, acceptance and confirmation, counseling and friendship) The traditional mentoring is an instrumental approach that uses a transactional frame and values the relationship for what it can do rather than what it can be Recognizing that organizations have downsized, the traditional, hierarchical view of mentoring is changing (Kram & Hall, 1995; McManus & Russell, 1997) The traditional role of an older, wiser person guiding a younger one has been undermined in an age where experiences of the past and accumulated knowledge no longer guarantee relevance in the future According to the relational mentoring theory (Ragins, 2010), mentoring refers to the mutually interdependent, empathic, and empowering processes that create personal growth, development, and enrichment for mentors and proteges (Ragins, 2005)Thus, as per relational perspective mentoring is defined as a developmental relationship that involves mutual growth, learning, and development in personal, professional, and career domains Relational perspective extends our lens on mentoring from a one-sided, exchange-based relationship focused on protege career outcomes to a dyadic communal relationship with cognitive and affective processes that lead to mutual learning, growth, and development A key tenet of relational mentoring theory is that the outcomes associated with relational mentoring have the capacity to transform other relationships in the individual's developmental network We contribute to the literature on mentoring and performance outcomes in two significant ways We are testing the two mentoring theories, traditional and relational for the first time to confirm whether they are in effect, existing along a continuum of perceived quality (Ragins, 2010) or are mutually exclusive sub-constructs of mentoring Conceptually distinct traditional and relational mentoring are likely to be displayed by the same individuals in different amounts and intensities just as it is in transactional and transformational leadership (Bass, 1985:26; Yukl, 1989) …

Factors Influencing Disintegration of Informal Networks in Organizations

Abstract: Informal Networks Network is defined as sets of ties linking several individuals. It may be formal or informal. Informal network could have as much impact on performance as formal network (Dalton, 1959; Mayo, 1945; Roethlisberger & Dickson, 1939). Informal networks play a critical role in transporting information and facilitating work duties. Numerous studies have suggested that social integration is an important component of work satisfaction. Formal network corresponds to organizational units and include everyone working within the unit boundaries. Informal networks which can develop within or across formal networks emerge through voluntary association. They display different patterns of communication and member motivation. Krackhardt & Hanson (1993) liken informal network in organizations with the nervous system of a living organism, where as the bones represent the formal organization. Staying with the analogy, a superficial comparison between the skeleton and the nervous system reveals that where as a skeleton is strong but rigid, a nervous system is fragile, yet flexible. The skeleton is visible (to some degree), where as the nervous system is only felt, as structureless entity without definite subdivisions (Han, 1983). Studies have shown that a manager's apparent lack of awareness of the strength of informal networks in work settings significantly decreases performance and has a strong adverse effect on the achievement of formal goals (Hollingsworth, 1974). What is not fully recognized in the study of formal and informal networks is that they are not mutually exclusive, since there will inevitably be some degree of informal relation between any two or more nodes in a formal network. Defining Disintegration Disintegration refers to the partial or full erosion or discontinuity of an informal network within an organization. Central and basic to social network is the concept of tie strength. Granovetter (1973) defined tie strength as frequency of contact, reciprocity (of favors and obligation) and friendship. This concept is easily understood by thinking of a continuum that has weak relationship at one end and strong relationship at the other. Movement along this continuum is a function of the amount of interaction, emotional intensity and reciprocity that takes place between two individuals. Weak ties are defined as direct relationship between two actors at the low end of the tie strength continuum that involve relatively infrequent interactions, comparatively low emotional closeness, and one way exchanges. Strong ties are defined as direct relationships with relatively frequent interactions, high emotional closeness and reciprocity (Perry-Smith & Shalley, 2003). Why Do They Exist? They are not created consciously. They form automatically and evolve over a period of time. Individuals don't stop being social even when placed in a formal setting. Baker (1981) has identified the following psychological functions: affiliation needs, identity and self esteem, social reality, defense mechanism, risk reduction, need to know, greasing the rusty wheels and political maneuvering. Turnover Turnover occurs in cluster. Turnover itself causes more turnovers (Krackardt & Porter, 1985). It is being explained by the snowball metaphor. A snowball does not randomly accumulate snowflakes in the area. Rather, snow adheres to the snowball in a discernible path. Similarly, people are not independent actors. They affect each other in their behavior or there is a negative effect of turnover on those who remain. For example, if actors a, b, c, d, and e form a network informally and there is a possibility for any of these actors to leave the organization. When they (one or more) leave the organization (turnover), the informal network formed by them starts to break. When the turnover occurs in clusters, as these authors claim, there is partial or total destruction of the informal network. …

Trade Unionism in India-Perceptions & Future

Abstract: The findings in this paper are based on a survey conducted on trade union activists in the western part of India. The survey tries to understand the perception of trade union activists about the situation of trade unions and their future. The findings support the fact that the trade unions are passing through a difficult period. The membership of trade unions is decreasing while the existing members are loosing confidence in their utility. The slow implementation of labor laws and delay in disposal of cases is also discouraging the trade union activists. Introduction Industrial relations in India has been a product of many factors. Several entities namely the Central Government, the respective state governments, the executive machinery, various levels of judiciary and the trade unions have affected the present state of industrial relations India. All these entities work under various labor laws (industrial legislations) enacted by the Central Government and executed by the respective state governments. Out of the several legislations [mainly three acts, namely, the Trade Unions Act, 1926, the Industrial Employment (Standing Orders) Act, 1946 and the Industrial Disputes Act, 1947] have major influence on the industrial relations (Gupta & Seth, 2000). In any nation, trade unions form a major component of industrial relations (Ghosh et. al 2009). Several scholars (Ghosh & Geetika, 2007) believe that factors like establishment of minimum wages, norms for mandatory work hours, provisions for health and safety, and overall improvements in working conditions, unionization have helped to improve the conditions of workers. Although it is believed that the importance of trade unions has decreased in current times but some recent activities in both manufacturing and service organizations has endorsed their momentum (Bist, 2010). In India Trade Unions Act, 1926 empowers workmen to form trade unions and represent the workmen related issues to the management and other related authorities. This paper is the result of a survey conducted on trade union activities in the western part of India. It tries to understand the perception of trade union activities about the situation of trade unions and their future. Further it focuses on issues like the change in membership of trade unions, difficulties of leadership at all levels and the effect of government policies on the situation of trade unions. The findings reveal that trade unions are passing through a difficult situation. The overall membership of trade unions is decreasing and the existing members are loosing confidence in the utility of trade unions. The slow implementation of labor laws and delay in disposal of cases is also discouraging the trade union activists. All the parties like trade unions, government and other executive bodies will have to unite and work considerably to overcome the situation. Methodology The majority of the data was collected from the participants (trade union activists) who attended the skill development programs in a reputed institute in Ahmedabad city located in the western part of India. Some of the questionnaires were sent to the known trade union office bearers. It was ensured that all the respondents were directly related or engaged in the trade union activities of their own organizations. This gave us the confidence that the responses were genuine. Data Collection The questionnaire was first prepared in English and then was translated in to 'Gujarati' (1) language as it was anticipated that many of the respondents were not comfortable with English. Care was taken to translate the questionnaire exactly and there was no misinterpretation or confusion of terms. The help of a professional translator was taken for the purpose. For majority of the respondents who were participants in the skill development programs, a briefing session was organized before the questionnaire was distributed and the purpose of the survey was explained. …

Leadership Style & Organizational Effectiveness in Indian IT & Banking Industry

Abstract: Information Technology (including ITeS) Industry Services are the largest sector in the world, accounting for more than 70 per cent of global output. Indian service sector contribute more than 54% to Indian economy. The Indian IT Industry has been making a marked shift by offering services in IT consulting, system integration, remote infrastructure management, network consulting, KPO and integration processing services. The number of Indian software firms has grown from around 38 in 1988, who together contributed to nearly 65% of the industry revenue to over 1100 in 2007, who together contribute to over 95% of the revenue. The sector has increased its contribution to India's GDP from 1.2% in FY1998 to 7.5% in FY2012 (India Information Technology Report. 1012)). Given the abundant availability of manpower it becomes important for the industry to ensure that they develop and nurture effective leaders to motivate and retain the talent available. Banking Industry The banking industry has moved gradually from a regulated environment to a deregulated market economy. It has been seen that Indian banking industry had played a tremendous role in reinforcing the economy of India, by servicing the needs of three sectors of the economy: agriculture, manufacture, and service. The banking system of India was not hassle - free but was able to meet new challenges posed by the external and internal factors. India's gross domestic saving in 2006-07 as a percentage of GDP stood at a high 32.7%. The public sector banks hold over 75% of total assets of the banking industry, with the private and foreign banks holding 18.2% and 6.5% respectively. Since liberalization, the government has approved significant banking reforms. While some of these relate to nationalized banks, like encouraging mergers, reducing government interference and increasing profitability and competitiveness, other reforms have opened up the banking and insurance sectors to private and foreign players. Leadership "Leadership is one of the most observed and least understood phenomena on earth" (Burns, 1990). Although leadership has been widely discussed, written about, and practiced for thousands of years, it still remains an illusive area of inquiry and understanding (Bass, 1990a; Bennis, 1989; Bennis & Nanus, 1985; Yukl, 1981). Leadership has been regarded as a critical factor in the success or failure of institutions (Bass, 1990b). Leadership has been studied informally by observing the existence of great thinkers and leaders and formally by attempting to identify the personality traits of acknowledged leaders through assessment techniques in the past. Trait theories assume that successful leaders are born and that they have certain innate qualities which distinguish them from non-leaders (Stodgill, 1948). Style and behavioral theorists shifted the emphasis away from the characteristics of the leader to the behavior and style the leader adopted (Hemphill & Coons, 1957; Likert, 1961). The principal conclusion of these studies appears to be that leaders who adopt democratic or participative styles are more successful. In this sense, these early studies were focused on identifying the 'one best way of leading'. The major weakness of style and behavioral theories is that they ignore the important role which situational factors play in determining the effectiveness of individual leaders (Mullins, 1999). It is this limitation that gives rise to the "situational' and 'contingency" theories of leadership (for example, Fiedler, 1967; House, 1971; Vroom & Yetton, 1974) which shift the emphasis away from "the one best way to lead' to context-sensitive leadership. Fiedler (1996) has provided a recent evaluation on the importance of leadership by arguing that the effectiveness of a leader is a major determinant of the success or failure of a group, organization, or even an entire country. However, in an apparent return to the "one best way of leadership', recent studies on leadership have contrasted 'transactional' leadership with "transformational' leadership. …

Does Training Affect Productivity of Employees? Two Methods of Meta-Analysis

Abstract: Introduction In today's world of technological changes, organizational work is characterized by complexity, rapid change and increasingly competitive business environment. Thus, a critical issue in work-setting that pervades the minds of behavioral scientists and management practitioners is to get the maximum output with available human resources at a given workplace. Moreover, it is necessary to equip the employees with requisite skills needed to outperform and upgrade them. Behavioral scientists are confident that whatever may be the level of equipment sophistication in the organization, its size, or products produced or services provided, the increase in competence and efficiency of employees through provision of training is a useful investment. Olivero and Kopelman (1997) analyzed the effects of off-the-job training given to 31 top level managers in a public sector, service providing enterprise on their productivity. Training imparted covered areas like goal-setting, collaborative problem solving, supervisory involvement, evaluation of end results, etc. They found a positive correlation of 0.22 between training given and resultant increase in productivity. The limitation of the study however was that the selected research design included only 31 participants and as a result field experiment could not be conducted. Hamid (2011) emphasized that training is an important human resource development tool used in the tourism industry in India. Also training should be provided to employees of different levels, specially the middle level managers in the organizations to cope with social and technological changes and improve their productivity. She did an analytical study using chi square and regression tools. The results showed a correlation of 0.30 between the on-the-job training given to public sector middle level employees and their productivity. However, it is difficult to establish that there exists a significant relationship between training and employee productivity. Results of a set of studies indicate that there is a positive relationship between training and employee productivity (Monge 1986; Delame & Kramarz, 1997). But, a number of research studies report a low level of relationship (correlation) between training and employee productivity (Taymaz, 1998). Also, previous studies based on meta-analysis do not indicate a clear picture about the relationship between training and productivity. A major limitation of the past studies is that they do not cross-validate the results. Therefore, the results given by these studies could not be trusted. Further, all the probable moderators that can affect the relationship between training and productivity have not been explored. Meta-analytic studies have been conducted to ascertain the general relationship between training and productivity. Arthur & Bennett (2003) used meta-analysis to examine the relationship between specified training design and employee productivity and the effectiveness of training in organizations. The results suggested a correlation of 0.2873 between training given to workers and their productivity. In addition, the training method used, the skill or task characteristic trained, and the choice of evaluation criteria were related to the effectiveness of training programs. They concluded that training is one of the most pervasive methods for enhancing the productivity of individuals and communicating organizational goals to new personnel. Zhang (1999) applied meta-analysis procedures to experimental studies to find out the magnitude of the effect of management training from 1983 to 1997 on trainee's learning, job productivity and organization results. A major finding of the study was that on-the-job training made a significant difference in trainees' productivity and increased it by 0.49%. Greenberg, Michalopoulos, and Robinsan (2003)used meta-analysis to synthesize findings from 31 evaluations of 15 voluntary government-funded training programs for the disadvantaged that operated between 1964 and 1998. …

Impact of Gender Sensitive Practices on Job Satisfaction & Stress Levels

Abstract: Introduction Demographic transformations and changes in the structure of society have resulted in a shift in social trends. The inclusion of large number of women in employment is one of the many changes which are taking place in these new working life patterns (Noon and Blyton, 1997) and has created variations in the way employment terms are offered. In 1984, John Atkinson at the University of Sussex (UK) talked about a new model of the firm called the "flexible firm" (Atkinson, 1984) which was a result of these changes. The main premise of the flexible firm is that it divides its workforce into different segments each employed on different terms and conditions, which reflect the nature of their contribution to the production process. Organizations, in order to gain competitive advantage and increase employee's commitment, seek to attain flexibilities--numerically, financially, functionally and temporally (Johnson, 2004). Also, interest in flexible working arrangements has been growing, as such practices have been regarded as the measures to reconcile or balance increased pressures of work and family life (Dex & Scheibl, 2001). Recently, India has also experienced a considerable increase in female employment in BPO industry. The industry has the highest percentage of women workforce and there is a continuous increase in the number of women professionals over the years with one fifth of the female employees at the managerial level or above. A sudden and steep increase in female employees may require a new HRM policy which is different from a traditional male oriented personnel policy. Traditionally, work structures were designed to fit males only. Conventional management policies did not consider the dual responsibilities of female employees between work and families. As a result, there is a sudden development of gender sensitive practices in many organizations in India, including BPOs. From an organizational perspective, the primary focus for being more family-friendly is to attract and retain qualified employees (Rogier & Padgett, 2004). However, with the increase in the number of female employees, there has been additional pressure to become more family friendly on moral or ethical grounds (Cohen & Single, 2001). This argument can be supported by the fact that organizations have an obligation to provide mechanisms to help employees balance their work and home life so that employees, particularly women, are not forced to choose one over the other. Many organizations are adopting gender sensitive or family-responsive human resource policies to help employees achieve a better balance between work and family (Rogier & Padgett, 2004) The purpose of this study is to explore the satisfaction and stress levels of women employees of call centers who avail the benefits of various gender sensitive practices. Over the long term, this may encourage women to reduce their intentions to leave the organization and increase the level of organizational commitment. Many researches have been conducted in various other sectors which focus on the impact of family friendly policies on job satisfaction, career advancement and organizational commitment of women employees (Park & Kim, 2001). However, there is dearth of similar studies in an unconventional work environment like call centers. With a sample of women employees working in BPOs / call centers, this study tries to fill this gap by examining how gender sensitive policies influence job satisfaction, organizational commitment, stress and intention to leave the organization. Literature Review Family--friendly Policies: Today, unlike in the past, employees demand a high quality life both at family front as well as the workplace (Moon & Roh, 2010). This high quality life seems to provide satisfaction and happiness to the employees' family life which according to Romzek (1991) can have a positive impact on the workplace. …

Determinants of Job Satisfaction of Faculty in Higher Education

Abstract: Introduction Much of the research on Job satisfaction during the past several decades is prized by vocational psychologists for both its humanistic and financial value to organizations. Job satisfaction has been considered to be crucial for organizational success. Satisfied employees work with more commitment and exhibit higher retention rates and higher productivity. Higher levels of job satisfaction tend to lead to lower levels of absenteeism, better mental and physical health and represent public relations face of the organization. The data on job satisfaction could be helpful in "evaluating the emotional wellness and mental fitness of employees" (Spector, 1997). The research could also help institutions of higher education to design training programs to address faculty dissatisfaction. Job satisfaction is also understood in terms of its relationship with other key factors of employees like general well being, stress at work, control at work, home-work balance and working conditions (Harrison et. al, 2006). The Problem Job satisfaction of faculty in higher education institutions appears to be important as satisfied faculty are more committed and contribute quality inputs in teaching and research thereby enhancing the quality of student output. On the other hand dissatisfied faculty contributes negative inputs impacting in the same direction the quality of education. Hence, job satisfaction of faculty is crucial both to the students and the institution. Earlier studies attempted to study job satisfaction of teachers at different levels considering specific factor(s). Hollon & Gemmill (1976), Lewis and Bierly (1986), white (2001), Fisher (2007) and others studied job satisfaction of faculty by gender and identified factors that help/hinder job satisfaction of women. The review of a host of studies on the subject points to broad classification of factors as working conditions, experience, motivation, gender, age, rewards, etc. Objectives The present study is aimed at analyzing job satisfaction of faculty in higher education institutions in Andhra Pradesh with specific objectives as: a. To identify factors impacting job satisfaction b. To analyze the relative influence of the factors impacting job satisfaction c. To suggest policy initiatives for the institutions to increase job satisfaction The Sample The present study is confined to faculty relating to management education in Andhra Pradesh State, which has the highest number of institutions offering MBA degree in India. Job satisfaction of such a large number of faculty members is expected to have significant impact on the quality of output and thereby human capital, again affecting the sectors wherever they are employed. The sampling method used is as follows: a) Among the universities, one Central university, and three state universities in the public sector (one in each of the regions of Andhra Pradesh) and two deemed to be universities in private sector offering MBA program were selected. b) Among the colleges affiliated to state universities-two autonomous colleges (one in Andhra and one in Telangana regions), four affiliated colleges (representing three regions) and two stand alone AICTE institutions (one in Andhra and second in Telangana region) were selected as representative sample for the state of Andhra Pradesh. c) All the population in each selected institution were taken and a predesigned questionnaire was canvassed to collect data on job satisfaction. The type of institutions and the total population in each selected institution are presented in Table 1. A pre-designed questionnaire was canvassed among the faculty and data were collected during July-December, 2011. Several factors may influence job satisfaction and those factors that are quantifiable are considered for the analysis A multiple regression model of the following form is employed to identify the factors that determine job satisfaction. …

Modelling a Relationship between Role Stress & Locus of Control

Abstract: Introduction Research work over the past 20 years or more has shown that the experience of stress in the workplace has undesirable consequences both for the health and safety of individuals and for the well-being of their organizations. There might be varied situations which may lead to stress at workplace; for example, when the expectations are very high, work load is too much, role leads to isolation of individual from others, individual feels that his knowledge is insufficient for performing the role, the resources allocated are not sufficient as per the requirements of the work, lack of communication among the members of the organization, lack of growth in the job, etc. Also the changing nature of work, in the context of globalization and increased technology, has led to a sharp increase in occupational stress. High rates of mergers, acquisitions, increasing economic interdependence among countries due to globalization, technological development, and restructuring have changed the organizational work culture; which in turn have resulted in time pressure, excessive work demand, role conflicts and problematic customer relationships, all are the causes of role stress (Giga & Hoel, 2003). Role stress has been defined in terms of a misfit between person's skills & abilities and the demands of his/her role. In other words, role stress occurs when divergence exists between what a person perceives to be the role expectations and what actually is occurring within the role. Individuals experience organizational stress when they have little or no control over their jobs or when demands exceed their abilities (Donovan & Kleiner, 1994). Pareek (1980) pioneered work on role by identifying as many as 10 different types of organisational role stresses, namely, Inter Role Distance (IRD), Role Stagnation (RS), Role Expectation Conflict (REC), Role Erosion (RE), Role Overload (RO), Role Isolation (RI), Personal Inadequacy (PI), Self-Role Distance (SRD),Role Ambiguity (RA0, Resource Inadequacy (RIn). These ten stressors proposed by Pareek (1986) serve as a framework for the present study. Based on these 10 role stressors, Pareek has devised a scale for role stress, called Organizational Role Stress Scale (ORS). ORS is used as an instrument for the present study. Another variable in the present study is a personality construct "Locus of Control." It roughly divides people into two groups according to the tendency to ascribe their chances either to external or internal causes. Persons with an External LOC perceive the results of their actions not as a result of their own performance but as a result of good or bad luck, coincidence, destiny, not predictable or dependent by other people. Persons with an Internal LOC perceive reinforcements and events that follow one's own actions, as dependent on their own performance or personality. Internality and externality represent two ends of a continuum, not an either/or typology (Rotter, 1975). The Rationale A large number of studies have shown that the intensity and perception of role stress is not just a product of working conditions, but largely depends on the personality attributes of an individual. Numerous individual level variables have been examined as potential moderators. Beheer and Newman (1978) listed around 30 variables, which they felt were related to stress in organizations and noted that Role Conflict and Role Ambiguity were the most explored variables. A personality variable appearing on their list was Locus of Control. Furthermore, many researchers like Rotter (1996) and Bueno (2000) see Control as an important aspect of the stress construct. Taking a clue from the mentioned studies Locus of Control was included in the present investigation. Literature Review The present study explores the problem of role stress in the context of healthcare professionals. A large number of studies of role stress among healthcare professionals have been conducted in Western world (Cooper et al. …

Trade Unions in India: Changing Role and Perspective

Abstract: Introduction Unions in India have been preoccupied with protecting the interests of the workers. The government worked in tandem with the unions in setting up labor standards. In the process unions became strong and began asserting themselves not by contributing to the economic performance but by organizing a large number of strikes at the national and the enterprise levels. The globalization process, since 1991, has adversely affected labor. There has been jobless growth for many years. Most of the additional employment has been of an informal nature, even in the formal sector. At the enterprise level, management's quest for a lean and mean organization has led to a reduction in workforce, replacement of permanent workers with causal or contract workers. The employer is also merrily into union bashing or resisting the formation of unions and taking a tough posture in collective bargaining. Unions are, therefore, up in arms against the inaction of the government and unfair practices of the management. However, they are operating from a weaker platform and the management in tandem (de-facto) with the government is asserting itself. For a long time after 1947, neither the government nor the management thought of the unions as a group who may contribute to the economic performance of the economy or the enterprise. Unions too did not think of themselves in this role. This is now changing gradually. The unions and the management are entering into agreements with bearing on productivity and growth of the enterprise. Trade Unions in India Trade union membership data available are somewhat outdated and ambiguous. Membership has remained very low although it increased marginally from 2.0 per cent in 1980 to 6.3 per cent in 2002. Most of the membership is in the formal sector although it is the informal sector employees who need to be unionized. While the membership is low, the number of Trade Unions is very high since the Trade Union Act, 1926, allows any seven persons to form a union. The claims by unions of their membership are also flawed. This is evident from the fact that the verified membership of the unions was 24.48 million in 2002 although the central trade union organizations claimed a membership of 41.18 million (Pong Sul Ahn, 2008). The ambiguity in membership is further compounded by the fact that registration of unions is not compulsory. As a result, there have been three types of unions in India; those that do not register and are statistically invisible; those that register but do not submit returns to the Registrar of Trade Unions; and, those that register and submit returns on membership figures (Venkataratnam, 1996). Recognition of trade unions is voluntary except in states like Gujarat, Maharashtra, Rajasthan and Madhya Pradesh. In other states, it is governed by voluntary Code of Discipline and Inter Union Code of Conduct. In practice, however, this voluntary recognition process leaves about half of the workmen without representation. Less than 2% of the workforce is covered under collective bargaining although refusal to bargain by the employer as well as the trade unions in good faith is considered to be an unfair labor practice in the Industrial Disputes Act, 1947 as amended in 1982. In the first thirty years after independence, there was greater emphasis on centralized bargaining in view of the large role of the State in labor market institutions. Centralized collective bargaining had positive outcomes on wages (D'Souza, 1998). It is also argued that centralized bargaining took political overtones as wages and working conditions were being determined solely on such considerations (Myers, 1958; Fonseca, 1964; Jackson, 1972). Collective bargaining in the private sector now usually takes place with the enterprise level unions. In the public sector, it is with centralized trade union federations and politically affiliated trade unions at the national/or regional level (Jose, 2000). …

Engineers Voluntary Turnover: Application of Survival Analysis

Abstract: Introduction Since the economic liberalization of the 1990s, there has been a flood of foreign direct investment by multinational corporations setting up and expanding their Indian operations (Holtbrugge, Friedmann & Puck, 2010). Indian companies too have responded to the liberal regime by expanding their businesses and their product range. Hence, in the last twenty years, there has been the creation of numerous opportunities for Indian engineers and managers. This has led to very high attrition rates in most Indian organizations (Gulati & Krishna, 2011; Nancheria, 2009). High attrition (employee-initiated separation) rate has implications for costs (or hiring and training), loss of organizational learning, and customer satisfaction (Koys, 2001). While most companies strive to limit their attrition it is also recognized that some amount of attrition may be necessary for the organization to enable churn in the talent and to bring in newer ideas (Kulshreshtha & Krishna Kumar, 2005). Employee Turnover Turnover research is often limited to studying job attitudes and their impact on turnover intention (Chen et al, 2011; Krishnan & Singh, 2010; Lai & Kapstad, 2009; Tett & Mayer, 1993); however, there are some studies, which have also looked at the impact of job attitudes on turnover (Cohen, 1993). In this paper, we investigate the causes of voluntary turnover for engineers in a large public sector corporation. The category of Indian engineers is a class worthy of study because of their pervasiveness in Indian organizations both public and private. This is evidenced by the fact that there have been many studies dedicated to Indian engineers (e.g., Das, 1998; Parikh & Sukhatame, 2004; Sarveswara Rao, 1972; Shanthamani, 1977). Since this study was based on archival data from company records, we were limited by those variables, which were available from the company's database. In addition to demographic variables such as age, gender, and social category, we studied the effect of location match, employee performance, and college ranking. Demographic Variables A meta-analysis of turnover has shown that gender and race have no impact on turnover (Griffeth, Hom & Gaertner, 2000). However, we have reason to believe that women engineers' experience of the workplace is quite different from that of males. For example, Parikh & Sukhatme (2004) have identified several issues faced by women engineers in India right across their career. Similarly, Das (1998) in a study of engineers working for two Indian public sector undertakings found that women were paid ten percent less than men of equivalent qualifications and work experience were. A study of on-the-job search in urban India found that younger workers and married workers are more likely to engage in on-the-job search (Banerjee & Bucci, 1995). Hence, keeping in mind the Indian social structure and the high prevalence of patriarchy and caste related issues; we have included age, gender, and marital status as predictors of employee turnover. In a collectivistic culture like India, interpersonal obligations to family members and social ties with one's community are an important consideration in evaluating one's employment. Because of this, mobility of executives is limited in India and employees prefer employment opportunities at or near their hometown. Hence, we included a variable to measure the extent to which an individual's posting is close to his or her hometown as a predictor of tenure. Employee Performance It has been widely recognized that not all employee turnover is the same. Since different employees have different performance, turnover functionality is dependent on the kind of employees who are leaving the organization (Beadles et al, 2000; Sturman et al, 2003). If high performers are leaving the organization, it is a cause for concern; however, if low performers are leaving the organization, it may be a healthy trend. …

Outcome Linkage in Formal and Supervisory Mentoring in a Business Organization

Abstract: Introduction The impact of mentoring on protege career was found to be stronger when comparing "mentored versus non-mentored" individuals, as opposed to the mentoring functions provided to proteges alone (Allen et.al, 2004).Therefore, mentoring functions may be stated to be a necessary but not a sufficient condition for establishing the existence of a mentoring relationship. As mentoring functions/roles focus on what a mentor does rather than what a mentee feels there are little distinction across studies with regard to the implications of being in a mentoring relationship (relational mentoring) versus receiving mentoring function (traditional mentoring functions). The mentoring literature is yet to examine the relational processes that drive the formation of high-quality mentoring relationships that are potentially more impactful and are fundamentally different from average relationships (Ragins & Fletcher, 2007). This makes the study relevant in business organizations. The study examines mentoring - outcome linkage in respect of a large manufacturing organization, particularly with respect to the factors in the mentoring process, linked to the goals, content and nature of the relationship, that may impact mentoring outcomes. In this study, the mentoring process has been examined both in formal and supervisory mentoring programs. We felt it important to examine the process of supervisory mentoring in order to investigate, if they are likely to impact outcomes other than the psychosocial support e.g., friendship found in earlier studies, and also clarify the fundamental debate that supervisors cannot be mentors. This study tries to derive process explanations as to why mentoring would lead to its outcomes. Despite the amount of mentoring research, few studies have examined processes through which supervisors direct their subordinate mentoring relationships. Based on prior mentoring research, one could extrapolate that a mentor-protege relationship between a supervisor and subordinate may result in positive outcomes, but the same needs to be tested. Whether the mentoring process has contributed to the protege 'significant transition', could be best ascertained by examining the factors in the mentor-protege relationship process that may have caused such outcomes. Further a 'relationship-rich' environment necessitates examining interdependent work and non-work relationships that contribute to one's growth (Ramaswami & Dreher, 2010). The study is therefore designed to answer two research questions 1. What are the factors in the process of mentoring in both formal and supervisory mentoring that may influence the quality of relationship? 2. Why are the underlying processes in mentor-mentee interactions different for different types of developmental relationships such as formal and supervisory mentoring? We expect our study to theoretically integrate mentoring theory with theory on superior subordinate relationships. This investigation is important to academicians and practitioners for three reasons. First, this investigation extends prior mentoring research through examination of the underlying factors that influence the mentoring process--outcome linkages. Second, little research to date has examined the dynamics of supervisor to subordinate mentoring relationship. Thirdly, there are no comparisons of the dynamics of the supervisory with formal mentoring relationship. Literature Review Mentorship traditionally refers to collaboration between two individuals (not necessarily in a hierarchical relationship), where one facilitates the professional development of the other, with the intent of optimizing work performance and enhancing career progress (Scandura, 1992; Allen & Poteet, 1999). Mentoring is a process of transferring specific knowledge from the mentor to the protege (Hendrikse, 2003). While several definitions of mentoring have been provided, in the past research, mentoring definitions mostly emphasized career functions, "helped you by supporting your career" (Aryee, Lo & Kang, 1999: 568) or "looks out for you, or gives you advice"(Wallace, 2001: 374) the phrase "is committed to providing upward mobility and support" to the protege's career (e. …

Organizing the Unorganized Workers: Lessons from SEWA Experiences

Abstract: Introduction While in Asia and the developing world the unorganized workers have formed the bulk of the workforce in a country, an increasing number of workers seem to be falling into 'precarious work' and out of organized labor even in the developed world today. Advances in technology have changed the organization of work in the organized sector in the developed world and with the liberalization of economies in the developing world vast changes in production and labor organization have also taken place here. All these changes have not only changed the nature of work, but labor relations as well. Whereas there has grown a greater flexibilization of labor, there is also the invisibilization of labor relations--when labor relate to employers only through the internet. Such changes have also seen what has been referred to as the 'feminization of labor' whereby an increasing number of women have been drawn into the labor force although the data does not seem to reveal this in our country. One of the major ways in which capital has expanded is therefore the further disorganization of labor and labor relations. But even before the expansion of capital in the post World War II period and till the present time, one of the features that characterizes the developing world is that production and large sections of workers remain in the unorganized sector. They have either been self employed, eking out a living in sectors like small scale fisheries, forest product collection and traditional production, or just been laborers in very small household enterprises like food production, agriculture, coir making, coconut oil production, and other smithy and indigenous handicrafts etc. In the last few decades some of these workers got inducted into production chain processes while they continued to work at home receiving production inputs from agents who act like the middlemen between the worker and the employer. While these workers contribute to the creation of the GDP of our countries and the vast production of handicrafts that India is famous for, there are still several of their trades that are not recognized or scheduled and hence they remain unrecognized, come under no social security net and they remain invisible. Large sections of these workers never had or have any workers rights. In the narrative that follows, the focus will be on these sections of workers and the issues around organizing them in India. Some Characteristics The unorganized sector is diverse and has varied features. Labor in one sub sector may receive a wage for work done, there are those who are self employed. Among the former, many may not come into contact with the actual employer, they may receive a piece rate wage and could be working in their own homes. In another sub sector of the self employed, many may be dependent on a natural resource or maybe dependent on just the public space, like a street vendor, and may or may not be dealing directly with a consumer. Hence work and production relations in this sector can also be very complex and succumb to various kinds of exploitative features. Over the last 25-30 years, India has seen the development of a variety of movements and growth of organizations in these sectors. Most of these movements have sprung from the spontaneous mobilization of people against oppressive forces or regimes and projects that challenged their rights to livelihood. Some of these struggles have been sustained and remain dynamic, others have waned. Some of them have evolved as formal organizations with informal structures. Developing new structures is problematic as the livelihood issues are simultaneously community issues. Life in the community and livelihood are so intricately intertwined. Communities have their own norms that govern livelihood, even the access to resources and distribution of gains. What they assert through their struggles is the defence of a way of life and livelihood. The hierarchies of age and division of labor are very different from the way 'organizations' are structured today. …

Employee Engagement Predictors in the Indian Segment of a Global Media Organization

Abstract: Introduction In the world of business management, the term "employee engagement" is extremely popular. The reason behind its popularity is the widely held belief that an engaged employee is a more satisfied, committed and loyal worker. Such a worker, it is further believed, advocates the cause of the organization by (a) speaking well about it, (b) staying with the organization, and (c) striving to work hard beyond the call of duty. Employee engagement, therefore, is seen by the practitioners as bringing clear business advantage and real competitive advantage. As Robinson, Perryman & Hayday (2004) have suggested, engagement is big in the HR consultancy market, yet there is a dearth of academic research in this area. In the absence of systematic and sustained research on the subject, there is no consensus over either the meaning or the measurement of the construct. This paper attempts to highlight the diversity of meanings and, consequently, the measurements of the engagement construct. Based on the insights derived from various approaches, a new questionnaire to measure employee engagement was developed and used to carry out the study on which this paper is based. What is Employee Engagement? In Table 1 are listed in chronological order a number of definitions and meanings of the employee engagement construct. The authors of these definitions are academic scholars, researchers from the HR consultancy firms, and practitioners of management. Taken together, these definitions/descriptions indicate a wide variety of meanings of the employee engagement construct. For some, it means a positive emotional and/or cognitive attitude towards one's work role, while for others it refers to employee behavior in terms of better performance at work. For still others, an engaged employee is the one who has not only a positive attitude towards his work but also performs better than a non-engaged employee. Yet another source of diversity of meanings is because of the apparent lack of agreement over the point on which the construct is focused. For some, the focal point is the work role, for others it is the organization, while for still others it is both the work role and the organization. Given the multiplicity of its meanings, it is clear that employee engagement has yet to emerge as a meaningful scientific construct such as job involvement, organizational commitment and organizational citizenship behavior with which it has considerable overlap. It is apparently because of these reasons that academic scholars have by and large shied away from undertaking research using employee engagement as a measure of employee attitude and/or behavior. Despite the limitations mentioned above, well known scholars such as Kahn (1990), Schaufeli et al. (2002), Robinson, Perryman & Hayday (2004), May, Gilson & Harter (2004) and Saks (2006), to mention just a few of them, have developed questionnaires and carried out important studies on this subject. Inspired by the contributions of these scholars, the first author of this article has launched a program of research on employee engagement in India. The exploratory study on which this paper is based is part of a series of such studies, which are aimed at ascertaining the level of employee engagement in different types of organizations and also to identify the predictors thereof. Following Colbert et al. (2004), we consider employee engagement as a high internal motivational state which is reflected in positive feelings and attitudes of an employee towards his job and the organization (Saks, 2006; Wellins & Councelman, 2007). [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] Theoretical Underpinnings May, Gilson & Harter (2004) are possibly the only scholars who have tried to empirically test the model proposed by Kahn (1990). This is how they have explained the observed relationships which are supportive of Kahn's model: Maslach et al. …

Regional Disparities in India's Industrial Development: Discriminant Function Approach

Abstract: Introduction Disparities among different regions or world nations have become a concern to policy makers in most of the countries. As far as India is concerned, regional disparities are inheritance from the colonial past. During the pre-independence period, economic policies of the government were designed to protect the interests of the British economy rather than for advancing the welfare of Indians. It is widely acknowledged that lop-sided government policies led to the decline and decay of India's traditional industries. In the pre-Independence period, due to vested interests of the policy measures big provinces developed around the port towns of Bombay, Madras and Calcutta which eventually turned out to be the most industrially advanced states of contemporary India. On the other hand, many states that possess rich stocks of mineral resources like Bihar, Madhya Pardesh and Orissa experienced stumpy or inconsistent economic growth. The trickling down effects of development of some regions of the union to hinterlands had also not been effective as had been the case in developed countries. Also, the centralized planning that started in 1951 could not yield any significant dispersal of economic activities from the developed to the less or underdeveloped regions of the country. The first two five year plans that laid much stress on increased production or equitable distribution of resources virtually ended up in an effort to break the stagnation in the country. Accordingly, in the process of completing the projects for which the groundwork was already done in the pre planning period or the projects that could be completed in the short span of time, allocation of outlays were made towards those states which had a capacity to spend and achieve the targets. Thus, it practically led to higher inequalities in the development of different regions (Lipton, 1977). In the Third Five Year Plan (196166) the concept of balanced development of different parts of the country was taken up and a push was given to spread industries more widely. Several industrialization inducing measures like the establishment of public sector projects in industrially less developed states, prohibiting heavy industries from locating in already industrially developed areas, introduction of special packages for development of industrial infrastructure in poorer states and special financial benefits for industrial development in backward areas along with setting up industrial parks in areas with potential were introduced. It resulted in the spread of industries to many other cities beyond original leaders in the pre-reforms period. However, during the post reforms period inequalities in terms of industrialization tend to widen (Bhattachaharya & Sakthivel, 2004). Awasthi (1991), Chakravorty and Lall (2007) etc. pointed out that interstate disparities amplified during the post-reforms period. Arora and Singh (2012) exploring the fact further found that during the post-reforms period industrial variables followed by infrastructural variables turned out to be the important ones explaining the interstate variations in India. Increasing inequalities in terms of industries also got a mileage from the viewpoint of the advocates of convergence theorem (Barro & Salai-i-Martin, 1992; 1995). They postulated that industrial development followed by general economic development facilitates some regions with better resources to grow faster than the others initially. Subsequently, when the law of diminishing marginal returns sets in, in the industrialized regions due to differential marginal productivity of capital, it trims down the gap in the levels of income across regions. Same seems to be replicated in the context of post economic reforms India. Removal of controls from investment resulted in the attraction of investment by the regions having better infrastructure (Bhattachaharya & Sakthivel, 2004), thus, resulting into greater regional inequalities in the recent past as backward regions that used to get resources from the Central Government through gifts and grants are almost denied the same owing to financial constriction. …

Social Protection of the Workers in the Unorganized Sector

Abstract: Introduction For purposes of this paper the term social protection is taken to be an extension of the term social security in its broadest sense. The Director General of the ILO in his report to the 80th Session of the International Labor Conference stated that the system of social insurance in the early 1900s, their subsequent development into generalized systems of social security and their more recent evolution into nearly universal systems of Social Protection have been the central features of social development in the 20th Century. Tracing this development the DG stated that the term social protection "encompasses a framework of social protection which provides generalized basic social support for all citizens regardless of contribution or employment history although these factors remain important in determining the level of some benefits above the basic minimum. This has enabled the State to extend income support to individuals on the basis of need rather than acquired rights, and has facilitated the provision of health care to the entire populations. In these new structures benefit levels tend to be set by governments in relation to needs rather than entitlements and contribution rates have become the dependent variable frequently indistinguishable from general taxes in their incidence." (ILO, 1993) More recently the ILO has adopted a recommendation concerning Social Protection Floors which require the member states to establish social protection floors constituting "nationally defined sets of basic social security guarantees which secure protection aimed at preventing or alleviating poverty, vulnerability and social exclusion." The recommendation further requires that "the guarantees should ensure at a minimum that, over the life cycle, all in need have access to essential health care and to basic income security which together secure effective access to goods and services defined as necessary at the national level." So defined, the term social protection includes all measures designed by the state or society to assure every person access to essential medical care and a minimum income necessary for maintenance of an appropriate or reasonable standard of life and to protect the same against loss or diminution due to the occurrence of any contingency. Assurance of a minimum income can be secured, in the case of persons who are able to work, by enabling them to work by education and training and providing them with opportunities for gainful employment. In the case of persons who are not able to work for any reason, chronic or otherwise, they may be provided with a minimum income or a means of livelihood in the form of pension under an insurance or assistance scheme. Lack of income may be chronic or temporary. If a person has no employment either because he is unemployable being too old, too weak or being incapacitated for any work or because he has not been able to find employment he would have no means of earning his living. In such a situation the lack of income may be said to be chronic. In any other case where a person is employed but there is an interruption in his income due to sickness accident maternity or loss of employment due to retrenchment or closure of an establishment the lack of income may be temporary. In either case unless the person can fall back on his past savings, if any, he has to depend on somebody else for his /her living. That somebody else may be a member of the family, community, the civil society, the employer or the State. Where the person depends on the State or the society the public measures by which his needs are met would be in the nature of social security In India, there is a broad framework of social protection which includes employment security, health security, food security and other conventional forms of income security, such as maternity benefit, invalidity benefit old age benefit. Some of the major schemes under which such protection is provided are mentioned below: National Social Assistance Program The National Social Assistance Program (NSAP) which came into effect from 15th August, 1995 represents a significant step towards the fulfillment of the Directive Principles in Article 41 of the Constitution. …

Performance Related Pay in Central Public Sector Enterprises in India

Abstract: Introduction The public sector enterprises in India have always been considered as 'model employers'. The brightest of candidates dreamt of working for a public sector enterprise. However, with the opening of economy, the situation has taken a u-turn, the public sector enterprises are in a war for talent with its private counterparts. It is not only losing its talent pool to the private sector but fresh talents are more attracted to join private sector or MNCs were there is tremendous career progression along with attractive pay packages. With increase in opportunities, CPSEs are also finding it difficult to retain talented employees. As a result, public sector is under severe pressure in terms of attracting and retaining talent. Pay has been considered an important reward to motivate the behavior of employees from the very inception of management science (Taylor, 1911) .The linkage between perceptions, pay and performance has been studied and established (Adams, 1963; Vroom, 1964; Lawler, 1971). Compensation serves to attract, retain and motivate high-potential employees. Meanwhile, the fulfillment of above goals is subject to constraints such as the maintenance of equity, cost control and legal requirements (e.g. wage and salary legislation). "Compensation refers to all forms of financial returns and tangible services and benefits employees receive as part of an employment relationship" (Milkovich & Newman, 2005). The phrase "financial returns" refers to an individual's base salary, as well as shortand long-term incentives. "Tangible services and benefits" are such things as insurance, paid vacation and sick days, pension plans, and employee discounts. (Milkovich & Newman, 2005) have used the term compensation and pay interchangeably in their book on compensation management and hence the term pay and compensation is used interchangeable in literature. Linking pay with performance which is commonly referred as performance related pay has been followed worldwide in all sectors for attracting, motivating and retaining talent. Performance related pay links the compensation of the employees to their performance and their contribution to the organizational goals. Therefore, periodic performance reviews play a vital role and provide the basis for performance related pay. It is because of this reason that the CPSEs have to first develop a transparent and robust Performance Management System before the implementation of PRP in their respective organizations. CPSEs in India, so far have been following a system wherein the entire compensation was guaranteed, irrespective of the performance of the company or the individual. The second pay revision for CPSEs was accepted by the cabinet on 26th Nov, 2008 to be implemented with retrospect from 1st Jan, 2007.The pay revision had recommended for the implementation of PRP for the first time in the history of public sector enterprises. Since PRP of an individual is based on performance against Key Result Areas (KRAs), all CPSEs should develop a robust and transparent Performance Management System. Challenges before CPSEs Intense Competition for Business & Talent: It is widely acknowledged that the public sector enterprises today are required to function in an intensely competitive environment dictated by market forces unleashed especially in the post liberalization phase of the country. The competition faced by the CPSEs from Indian private sector companies and the Multi-National Corporations (MNCs) operating in and outside the country, extends to both business and talent. In sharp contrast to the formative years of the public sector, barring very few exceptions, no Indian CPSE enjoys a product / service monopoly status or a captive consumption facility from its parent ministry / department. In such a situation, the CPSEs have to be as innovative, as ef ficient and as nimble footed the private sector companies and MNCs to successfully compete and win in the market place. …

Women Workers: Addressing Constraints to Work

Abstract: Introduction Participation in paid work outside the home is critical to the survival for most households. However, women's work participation in India as measured in official data is much lower than that of men, and there has been no significant reduction in the gender gaps in work participation over the last few decades. Activists and researchers have pointed out that this data does not fully capture women's work and economic contribution because much of it is 'invisible' being unpaid, hidden within the home, and mixed into care work. The level and nature of women's work force participation is partly influenced by individual attributes (in particular education and skills); and partly by the need to manage care demands of the household, and cultural and social expectations on women's time. Consequently opportunities for work in the market place are mediated by various institutions including the family and household. Against this background, there is a long history of engagement by the state and non state actors in India to find ways of strengthening women's bargaining power in order to improve the quality of their work participation. Women's workforce participation rate as measured by the National Sample Survey Organisation is considerably below that of men, and is higher in rural than urban areas. In 2009-10, 81 % of women (and 24 % of men) were reported as economically inactive; female work participation was 36.8 % in rural and 18.3 % in urban areas (against 81.2 % and 73.9 % for men) (Chen & Raveendran 2012). A time use survey carried out in six states by the Central Statistical Organisation in 1998-99 had estimated the weekly average time spent by men on SNA activities as 42 hours compared to 19 hours for women; while for extended SNA activities (including household and care related activities) men spent around 3.6 hours compared to 34.6 hours for women. The accuracy in measurement of women's work can be contested, but the numbers serve to illustrate differences in gender roles as well as perceptions as women often do not view their economic contribution as 'work' (on the measurement debate see for example Jain, 1985; SARH & SCOPE, 1996; Jhabvala & Datta, 2012) Government schemes designed to support women's work and enable empowerment through work, are one example of initiatives taken by a democratic state committed to equality and citizenship. Bringing about 'equality' between men and women is a part of the larger project of making the transition from a hierarchical to a democratic society, and is enshrined in the Constitution. In the words of Andre Beteille, "The Indian Constitution ... is not merely a set of rules relating to governance, but a design for a new kind of society. The older society that had prevailed for centuries and millenia was based on the principle of hierarchy; the new society envisaged in the constitution was to be based on the principle of equality...." (Beteille, 2000: 267) A review of Plan documents shows that it is in the late seventies/ early eighties that an accelerated effort to mobilize women as workers became much more evident in government programs. This is also the period that significant non government efforts at mobilizing and organizing women workers began to increase in scale. It is also around this time that policies directed at opening up the economy and favoring globalization began to be formulated. It is likely that these reinforced one another. This paper looks at the actual experience with one particular program to argue that prevalent social norms continue to mediate outcomes around women's work and could be more clearly factored into policy making. Empowerment through Work The appointment by the Government of India of the Commission on Self Employed Women and Women in the Informal Sector, and the publication of its report, Shramshakti, in 1988, can be seen as the start of a new direction in the plan ning for women's economic empowerment. …

West Bengal Garment Industry & the Informatization Process

Abstract: Introduction Garment manufacturing is one of the many labor-intensive sectors that have enabled developing countries to break into the global garment market. Today, developing countries produce half of the world's textile exports, especially since the final phase-out of the Multi-fiber Arrangement (MFA) on January 1, 2005(Roy, 2010). But India has only recently emerged as a major exporter of apparel on a global scale although it accounts for very little FDI, the overwhelming bulk being domestically owned and financed. The textile industry in India as a whole accounts for about 14 per cent of industrial production and more than 10 per cent of the country's total exports, reaching in 2011-12 about $31 billion (AEPC India, 2011-12). It is the largest jobs generator after agriculture, employing around 35 million people across various segments. Garment manufacturing by itself (especially hosiery based) is located in Tirupur (Coimbatore district of Tamil Nadu), Karnataka, especially Bangalore, and the National Capital Region, especially Noida, Manesar, Gurgaon, etc. But there are sizeable pockets in West Bengal, Orissa and Andhra Pradesh. In West Bengal, certain characteristics set it apart from garment manufacturing in other locations. For instance, studies on garment units in South India have found that the majority of garment workers are women (85% in Bangalore) (CIVIDEP); that the industry is focused around exports; that there is a degree of precision in the enumeration of factories. In West Bengal, very few women are involved, except in a handful of companies, the bulk of garments is produced for the domestic market, catering mainly to eastern India, and it is practically impossible to state any numbers for the garment industry, either in terms of production units or in terms of employment. Despite being labor intensive, the cost of labor is minimal in West Bengal, probably because of its informalization. There are some similarities with other regions, for instance in the age of the hosiery industry, in outsourcing, etc. But the differences are more visible. West Bengal Garment Industry The garment and hosiery industry in West Bengal is large, estimated to be employing lakhs of men and women and which is at least a century old. It has expanded in recent years in response to the changing consumption patterns, higher purchasing power, move away from traditional clothes (sarees & dhotis), brand consciousness, and especially the demands of the new high earning white collar employees according to Vijay Kariwala, Vice President, West Bengal Garment Manufacturers & Dealers Association (WBGMDA). The association itself is 50 years old, but has only about 500 companies as members, compared to its own conservative estimate of at least 50,000 units producing clothes, accessories etc. The association says that the industry is slowly being brought under the purview of taxation, though the findings of this study would suggest otherwise. Previously sales tax applied only to garment pieces costing less than Rs 200. Now all pieces costing Rs 51 or more are covered under VAT. From 2010 all branded garments were also brought under the purview of excise duty. But then the problem of enforcement will become apparent in this study. The industry is located mainly in South Bengal, in and around Kolkata and Howrah and the semi-urban and rural clusters around them. The industry is not located along thoroughfares, but is woven into the interstices of the two cities and reaching out into niches in districts bordering the cities. It does not enjoy the advantages of sharing infrastructure, which units in the southern states enjoy. It is both urban and rural, organized and unorganized, new and old. The Industry is like an iceberg--with a small visible, formal or organized portion comprising some of the big names in garments and a few registered units, and a vast submerged unregistered informal portion, which thrives on the outsourcing that marks every unit. …