International Journal of Academic Research & Development Jar&D
International Journal of Academic Research & Development Jar&D
International Journal of Academic Research & Development Jar&D
Disclaimer: The views expressed in the articles are those of the contributors and not necessarily of the editorial
board and publisher. Editorial board invites original unpublished articles, case study and research papers from all
functional area of management, Technology.
ISSN : 2395-1737
Volume : 2, ISSUE : 1
January-June, 2016
Printed in India:
Published by : Bharti Publicatons
Articles
1. The Darker Side of Leadership 1-15
[Power Fraud and Corruption in the New Age]
Jayashree Sadri & Sorab Sadri
2. A Conceptual Framework For HR Intervention Measuring Business Performance of 16-22
Small Scale Industries
Dr. Raju Ganesh Sunder
3. HRM : A Changing Paradigm 23-34
Dr. Debamitra Mitra
4. Customer Satisfaction Towards Flipkart and Amazon : A Comparative Study 35-42
Kiran Chaudhary & Suneel Kumar
5. A Social Layer of Customer to Customer “Value Co-Creation” as an Engagement 43-50
Marketing Tool : A Transformation at Societal Level
Dr. Sunishtha Dhaka
6. Models of Internet Marketing 51-61
Dr. Nandini Sharma, Mallika Ahuja & Richa Sharma
7. Can CSR Ameliorate the Impact of HIV/AIDS Epidemic 62-73
Dr. Homyar Keki Gardin
8. Impact of Mentoring on Personal Learning in Indian Context 74-79
Dr. Jeevan Jyoti & Poonam Sharma
Case Study
9. The Unsatisfied Contractor 80-82
Dr. Raju Ganesh Sunder
10. Decade Textile Mills 83-86
Jayashree Sadri
11. Internal Branding of Human Resources Using the Expectation Gap Analysis 87-105
Satyajit Bid
IJAR&D
Vol. 2, No. 1, January-June, 2016, pp. 1-15
Jayashree Sadri
Associate Professor of Human Resources and Business Ethics
Manipal University, Jaipur, Rajasthan.
Sorab Sadri
Political Economist and Director, School of Business and
Commerce, Manipal University, Jaipur, Rajasthan.
Man is not born to solve the problems of the universe, but to find out what he
has to do; and to restrain himself within the limits of his comprehension.
Johann Wolfgang von Goethe
Perhaps the above quote best sums up what corporate houses expect the systems of business ethics and
corporate governance to deliver. The anti-corruption campaign spearheaded by Anna Hazare and his
(at the time) four able lieutenants Arvind Kejrival, Prashant Bhushan, Ashutoshand Kiran Bedi had
demonstrated that the Indian people expected the same from their elected leaders as well. It is a fact of
life that values, ethics and integrity lay squarely on the one side and corruption, fraud and deceit occupied
the other. The Janus-headed and shame faced politicians in power were exposed. Unfortunately once
the movement lost its tempo these very politicians were up to their dirty tricks again as if to avenge their
ignominy. However, the questions posed were: (a) Did these people behave in the same way as others
when they came to power? (b) Did power go to their head and could there be an implosion? (c) Would
they actually be able to give good governance with their present mind-sets of going on a dharna at the
drop of a handkerchief? History vouchsafes that all these questions (doubts) have already been adequately
answered.
The basic premise on which this long argument’s argument is based is three folds:
(a) Fraud is the result of low level of values and ethics combined with a low level of governance.
(b) Being the repository and embodiment of corruption, fraud is often emboldened by the absence of a fear
of penalty.
(c) Being an easy way to get power and wealth, fraud is often motivated by the desire to get rich and
powerful quickly and subvert rules in the process.
In these pursuits the perpetrators are not alone. There is a fringe mediocrity whose lumpen elements become
the comprador class that feeds on the machinations of fraud and helps to perpetuate it.
Fraud is then, at any level of society, the direct concern of ethics and points towards the need for good
governance. We have also argued that ethics must prevail amongst the citizenry across all levels of society
and must be more pronounced amongst its leadership: in academia, professions, government, corporate and
NGO sectors. On the other hand, what constitutes good governance is a subjective notion especially in a
pluralistic society. If ethics is person-specific, context-specific and culture-specific, and if governance is
predicated on ethics then it follows that governance too cannot be all-embracing and absolute. If it were to be
all-embracing, then the procedural mind set would flourish and the letter of the law would become more
important than its spirit. If it were to be absolute, then innovation and creativity would be blocked. If however
IJAR&D The Darker Side of Leadership
the notion of values, ethics and integrity were to be of interests. Responsiveness is based on the free flow
corrupted, as is alleged in certain quarters, then of information and denotes the ability as well as the
transparency will be clouded, responsibility will be willingness on the part of an individual to rise to the
shunned and the ability to respond to issues will occasion. The eighth is core competence, a term
become ineffective and blunted. Arrogance and popularised by Hamel and Prahalad that stands for
untruthfulness will become a shield against perceived resources, processes, skills and experience (domain
insecurity. All this fades into the background when knowledge) that provide a competitive advantage.
the corporate culture is value-centred i.e. when it is A little introspection will be enough to convince the
both value-based and value- driven. What then is reader that none of these eight terms that have been
needed to prevent frauds and minimise corruption? defined above can be achieved and sustained without
To begin with let us examine and define, in the interest having values, ethics and governance in their proper
of clarity, eight terms that invariably feature in such a place. Yet serious financial improprieties have been
discussion. The first is trust which is the ability to the bane of modern society. One only has to scan the
depend upon another’s word to deliver or perform as daily news argument to see the veracity of the claim.
promised or expected. The second is transparency, Fraud is an act of deliberate deception perpetuated
which implies an open access to information to those with the intention of gaining an unjust advantage and
who require it, to fulfil their functions on the one hand amounts to criminal deception. Whereas frauds that
and the willingness to subject one’s decision-making are reported usually affect the common man or the
to scrutiny on the other. The third isteamwork, or a small investor, there are others that have even taken
well-directed group of people, with divergent skills people and countries for a ride. The examples of the
but convergent aims, who work towards a common case of a man who sold the Eiffel Tower in France
goal. The fourth is accountability, accompanied by a and another man who sold the bungli, (small
clear assignment of responsibility for the management residence),where the families stay to pray and mourn
of resources, achievement of results and production the dead for four days in theParsiTower of Silence in
of desired outcome impacts. The fifth is delegation, Mumbai. That was cheating, a scam, and a swindle
or the onus of performing a task or a function on which is only marginally different from a fraud.
behalf of another in a hierarchy. The sixth is Scamsters and frauds have been a part of society
empowerment or a situation where the actor, because through history and only began to make news
of his knowledge, experience or position has the headlines when the corporate body became a socially
power to take decisions and execute them in the best significant institution. Some of the more notable
interests of the Organization or the team. The seventh
examples follow.
is responsiveness, or the articulation and aggregation
life. In the course of developing this treatise we have leaked CAT question argument case are all quite well-
cursorily treated some of the better-known frauds and known..
imbroglios. According to the Wall Street Journal Fraud and corruption are closely related, and the
research team, some of the major frauds that shook exposure of both depends upon an alert political class
the world during the first three years of the 21st century and a free and powerful media. Whereas corruption
were: though existing was not an open public issue in
• The SEC inquiry into the Enron bankruptcy colonial India, Feroze Gandhi was the first to raise
• The FBI inquiry into the shredding of important this issue in the HaridasMundhra case. Today,
documents by the Enron-Arthur Anderson unfortunately it is raised at the drop of a handkerchief
management. and often very rightly so. Full marks are awarded to
the young men and women who are ready to pick up
• The Global Crossing bankruptcy. the gauntlet and expose those in power. The media
• The indictment of Arthur Anderson management should be praised for this as should persons like
by the US Justice Department SuchetaDalal, Barkha Dutt, TarunTejpal and
DebashishBasu.
• The payment of a $10 million fine by Xerox for
overstating pre-tax income by $1.4 billion for 4 Corruption under peripheral capitalism is legion. In
years India, where late capitalism of a retarded variety has
made its presence felt since 1991, we have had several
• The investigation of Adelphia’s accounting and well publicised scams in the Maharashtra Public
disclosure practices by the SEC Service Commission (a laKarnik), fodder (a laLaloo
• The passage of the Accounting Reform Bill in the Yadav), stamp argument (a la Abdul Rahim Telgi),
US by the House of Representatives the Enron’s Dhabhol plant (a la successive
governments), Churhat lotteries (a la Arjun Singh)
• The payment of a $100 million fine by Merrill
and the mother of all controversies, the Bofors saga
Lynch to the State of New York after a probe of
(which at last has been given a legal burial in 2006
its stock analysts
but was resurrected by events in Argentina in 2007).
• The arrest of Samuel Waksal, former CEO of The last of these national level scams just refuses to
Inclone, for insider trading. die and like Dracula raises its ugly head from time to
• WorldCom’s admission that improper accounting time –the last time being in 2011.
had padded earnings by $3.8 billion The revelations relating to the Bofors scam began to
• The indictment of Denis Kozlovski, the former emerge in 1987, when V P Singh, who was the Finance
CEO of Tyco, for sales tax evasion Minister in the Government headed by Rajiv Gandhi,
quit and launched a crusade against the prime
Lest someone should come to the erroneous minister over the Bofors gun deal. The Indian army
conclusion that scams take place in the developed needed better fire power, which governmental
world, let it be understood that a powerful media and bureaucracy had somehow denied it. The 155-mm
autonomous and independent institutions enabled howitzers were purchased to supplement the army’s
these scams to come to light. Students of history know much needed artillery modernisation program and
of the impeachment of Warren Hastings during the subsequent use of the same weaponry has proved that
18 th century. Corruption charges toppled the the guns were indeed a boon. That did not lay the
Macmillan government in UK after the John Profumo controversy to rest. AB Bofors appointed Ottavio
affair and spelt doom for many governments in Japan. Quattrocchi in 1986 as a negotiator for the sale of 400
On the other hand, the greater frauds in countries, odd Bofors howitzer guns. The CBI claimed that a firm
such as the Lybia, Central African Republic, Nigeria, owned by Quattrocchi received $7 million in
Uganda, Pakistan, Chile, Haiti, Liberia, Indonesia and kickbacks. The CBI, thereafter, also charge sheeted the
Congo were simply swept under the carpet due to Hindujas for allegedly receiving 81 million Swedish
the lack of a powerful media and autonomous kroners in the same deal. Subsequent Court decisions
institutions. It is well-known that during the four days were to prove this statement to be questionable. Win
of the 1987 stock market crash in Hong Kong, trading Chadha, the former agent of Bofors, was also accused
took place in the grey market. The stock market scams of getting kickbacks. The then head of Bofors, actually
involving Harshad Mehta, HitenDalal and Ketan kept a diary that was seized by the police and leaked
Parikh, the Telgi fake stamp argument case and the to the press. References to Nero and GPH in that diary
remained intriguing. Arun Shourie, editor of the the requests of associates of DP providers. Strictures
Indian Express, aggressively covered the scandal in and penalties are expected to follow.
the print media making more trouble for Rajiv
More recently we have seen the Spectrum 2-G
Gandhi. Thereafter in 1989, the Congress Party lost
imbroglio, the Commonwealth Games fiasco and
the General Elections because Rajiv Gandhi and his
Adarsh Society fraud that involved powerful
government were accused of getting the alleged
Rs. 64 crores as kickbacks for the purchase of 155- personalities across the social milieu. What can be said
mm howitzers. On May 21, 1991 Rajiv Gandhi was of a Minister or Senior Civil Servant whose scions use
assassinated and the Delhi High Court exonerated the red beacon on their official cars even for going on
him of any involvement in the scandal. Thereafter, field trips and parties? Does this imply a greater
the Opposition made quite a hullabaloo about Sonia transparency in Indian civil society, an increasingly
Gandhi’s foreign origin and her alleged ties with the powerful media or a manifestation of a retarded
middleman Ottavio Quattrocchi and although peripheral capitalism?
nothing was proved, the electorate remained However, as positive social scientists, we proffer that
unconvinced. at least one of these possibilities could arise whenever
In the meantime, V P Singh retired from active politics, such delays take place in bringing facts to light:
Arun Shourie became a Member of the Rajya Sabha, • The governance mechanism has failed and the
nothing was proved against the Hindujas in the Delhi interested parties have either pressurised or
High Court, Quattrochi has evaded extradition to bought off the adjudicating / investigating
India to face trial, Win Chadha died of cardiac arrest authority.
in 2001 and Martin Ardbo died of cancer in 2004. The
names of many people were linked to the scam over a • The full facts have not come to surface as vested
period of time. In the midst of the controversy in 2006 interests have prevented them from becoming
over the unfreezing of Quattrocchi’s London bank public or influenced the investigating agencies so
accounts, which happened because the Delhi High that the terms of reference are either skewed or
Court exoneration of the Hinduja brothers was too narrow.
misinterpreted, Sonia Gandhi remained silent and • The matter has been tried by the media before the
claimed to know nothing. On the other hand, courts have passed judgement thereby colouring
Quattrochi maintains that the Gandhi family the facts substantially.
continues to be very close to him. In February 2007,
Quattrochi was arrested in Argentina in response to • There is no case to be made out whatsoever and
a red corner alert put out by Interpol. He secured bail political scores are being settled at somebody’s
on the very day the news of his arrest broke in India, expense.
to the embarrassment of the Congress Party. National In response to an inquiry conducted by Jayashree in
level ethics and governance seem to be conspicuous 2004-2005 and later by Jayashree and her team in Pune
by their absence at such times. during 2006-07 the following matrix of behaviour and
Similarly, a series of scams surfaced in January 2006 general feeling was brought forth to explain what role
when the SEBI Chief M Damodaran took a proactive ethics and governance play in the understanding of
decision to bring to book irregularities in initial public corporate frauds.
offerings (IPO), and when the Reserve Bank of India Jayashree plotted social response against Ethics on the
acted its part as a banking regulator to bring some vertical axis and against Governance on the horizontal
banks under its scanner. These banks are Bharat axis marked low to high as shown below.
Overseas Bank, Citi Bank, ICICI Bank, Standard
Chartered Bank, Indian Overseas Bank, HDFC Bank GOVERNANCE
and Vijaya Bank. These banks were booked for
violating RBI regulations on ’Know Your Customer’ Low High
Ethics
prevail, whereas in societies where the ethical sense Many CEOs are unable to ‘stand by the good’ because
is low, but the government is powerful, expect they fear revelations being made about their personal
bureaucracy to prevail. lives or the company’s business methods. This fear
The authors plotted social response against Ethics on leads them to depend upon yes-men or women, who
the vertical axis and Governance on the horizontal then ensure that any colleagues who try to do a
axis marked low to high as shown above. professional job are penalised. The price of betrayal
has risen far more than the original thirty pieces of
• In the quadrant named Conflict, ethics was high
silver, yet such people exist and thrive in
but governance was low, creating a sense of
Organizations. They enjoy the patronage of those at
frustration, stress and conflict of interest.
the top who feel insecure for one reason or another.
• In the quadrant named Liberty, ethics was high Economic historians looking at cases of fraud, for
and so was governance, giving rise to instance, will not fail to spot the unholy trinity of a
accountability and transparency. former Prime Minister and a noted god man in the
• In the quadrant named License, ethics and dubious company of the Chairman of Usha Ispat,
governance were both low, leading to the rule of named in a number of corporate frauds including the
the jungle, with high scores on corruption and IDBI Bank.
oppression.
There is a belief that fraud and financial crimes are
• In the quadrant named Bureaucracy, ethics was committed for economic reasons, namely economic
low but governance was high, giving rise to rule- inequality. Economic welfare then becomes the crux
bound and rule-driven activity where the role of of the problem as A C Pigou (1932) had alluded to.
executive creativity was minimal. Perhaps there may be some truth in this belief, but
Needless to add this typology is valid for the poor are not involved in scams and schemes to
democratically ruled socio-political societies. It is defraud banks and financial institutions, nor do they
perhaps a valid point to make that democracy cannot play the stock market and cheat investors. It is the
flourish on an empty mind and an empty stomach. lumpen elements in the middle class that are involved
India too has a fair amount of both ills. Dadabhai in schemes and the lumpen elements in the upper
Naoroji the political guru of Mohandas Gandhi had classes that are involved in scams. However, it is true
recognised this and come up with the Bombay Plan that social and economic inequality breeds discontent
to address this malaise. Furthermore, a certain level and lead to crime. Beteille (1965) Sen (1992) and Abel-
of equality, education and development, along with Smith and Townsend (1995) have looked at the issue
the accompanying level of consciousness, is a of inequality from different angles and yet converged
necessary precondition, as ShapurjiSaklatvala, upon the idea that it is a social ill that needs urgent
Subhash Chandra Bose and Yusuf Meher Ali declared attention.
in the first quarter of the 20th century. A proactive,
fearless and socially conscious media or a more Global Inequality
transparent system prevents facts from being Not with standing the prognosis of Sundaram and
conveniently swept under the carpet. For instance, the Tendulkar (2003), economic inequalities have grown.
Voice of America highlighted Gandhiji’s call and the However, keeping in view the growth in the
role played both by Franklin Roosevelt and Joseph comprador class, Sadri has disputed the thesis that
Stalin in placing pressure on Britain to decolonise the trickle down effect takes place in the developing
India cannot be forgotten. world. Inequality in wealth, incomes and
Economic Compulsions opportunities has been the bane of macroeconomists.
Experts on growth theory have dealt with the issues
Against the above backdrop it may be quite interesting in their own way. Names that stand out are those of
for the student of ethics to recall the famous lines from Pigou, Tinbergen, Myrdal, Bauer, Myint, Sen, and
Ayn Rand’s book Atlas Shrugged when she defines Baran. Even liberal sociologists like Dahrendorf, Abel-
morality thus: Smith, Rex and Townsend have questioned the
Judgement to distinguish right and wrong, benefits of capitalist growth.
vision to see the truth, courage to act upon it, Inequality, according to Marxists, is the sine qua non
dedication to that which is good, integrity to of capitalism but inequality cannot be correlated with
stand by the good at any price… fraud. Inequality of manufacturing pay computed by
the University of Texas Inequality project formed the markets, with the WTO Development Agenda agreed
UNIDO 2000 edition of Industrial Statistics and in Doha in 2001 marking an important step forward;
contained calculations of averages over 1963 – 1997; and that development partners need to harmonise
countries were ranked into six quadrants as in the their policies, operations and practices to support
figure below. Note the high coverage and geographic national strategies and plans, and to do so with
consistency of inequality patterns in the OECD and substantial increases in resources — from both private
across the developing regions. Data for Russia are and official sources — if the MDGs are to be met.
from the post-Soviet period only; those for China start There have been several recent and welcome
in 1979. Data for the Czech Republic, Slovakia, and announcements of such increases, but there is much
the post-Yugoslav states begin with the formation of still to do. It was also recognised at Monterrey that
those states in the 1990s. developing countries need to build capacity, to
Urban theft, extortion, murder for money, underworld strengthen key institutions needed for development;
activities and a sordid night life are the lot of the focus on results in development, and monitor progress
unemployed, who are used by bigger players as and actions; and be widely represented and heard in
pawns. These crimes may happen in all countries, international institutions. But, reality does not match
including those where the inequality index is low, but expectations as was witnessed both at Doha and at
the temptation to commit such crimes is higher where Cancun.
inequality levels are high. Crime must have existed It is a matter of time before socialism with a human
in the Soviet Union, but did not manifest itself as face and a welfare slant returns in Eastern Europe.
blatantly and in such varied forms as it has since the People are increasingly alienated from the means of
disintegration of the USSR. Socialism is still promising production, anomie is rife in civil society and
and crime levels are low in both Cuba and China. organised crime and urban violence is on the increase.
Crime in Eastern Europe has risen because the Religious fanatics have stepped in and foreign-state-
assurance of low-quality food, shelter, education and sponsored fundamentalism is on the rise. This
clothing has been replaced by high unemployment fundamentalism is based on and supported by funds
levels and the absence of state social security. from the drug trade and the flesh trade, extortion and
US promises to help end economic inequality rarely misuse of grants. Under absolute monarchies, military
keep up with US policy. For example, the Bush dictatorships and religious oligarchies, terrorism
Administration in the early 2000s signed a pledge flourishes due to state patronage, since the state is
called the Monterrey Consensus. According to this retarded both in terms of social consciousness and a
Consensus, concrete steps were to be taken to make sense of history.
0.7% of the US national income available to the world’s One way of distracting peoples’ minds from the real
poor. However, in 2004-05 only 0.15% of the National problems at home is to encourage religious or political
Income was so earmarked. fundamentalists to launch attacks on the civil society
It is important for students to understand the of a democracy. When there is a terrorist incident, civil
Monterrey Consensus to grasp our argument. It was society is polarised and biased reportage adds fuel to
reached at the March 2002 International Conference fire. People are ruled by the heart and not the head.
on Financing for Development in Monterrey, Mexico, That is just what happens when a strong national ethic
and reaffirmed at the World Summit on Sustainable is absent. Alternatively, when the rule by law has
Development in Johannesburg in August 2002. It replaced the rule of law, people are tempted to
created a new development partnership based on circumvent procedures and practices to make a quick
mutual accountability between developed and buck. If key members of the civil service, the
developing countries and a new global commitment government, the police and the underworld connive
to achieve real improvements in growth and global in a swindle, the law of the land cannot deliver justice,
poverty reduction, as expressed in the Millennium since it has already been emasculated.
Development Goals (MDGs), with mechanisms for There are various incidents, such as G R Khairnar’s
monitoring progress and the actions of all parties. It action in demolishing roadside shrines used as
recognised that country-owned development godowns for smuggled goods and as contact points
strategies based on good governance and sound for the underworld, where the vested interests that
policies and institutions must be the starting point; were threatened moved the courts to intervene. The
that trade is a key source of growth for all countries cases of TarunTejpal, who was hounded by the law to
and developing countries need better access to global protect allegedly corrupt bureaucrats and politicians,
Volume 2, No. 1, January-June, 2016, Third Issue 6 ISSN : 2395-1737
IJAR&D The Darker Side of Leadership
or Arun Bhatia, against whom the politicians was hitherto provided has been destroyed with the
conspired so that the people he tried to serve turned emergence of nuclear families and the withering away
against him, are well known. Other cases include the of joint families. Along with this is the rise in levels
resignation of Admiral Vishnu Bhagwat, and the Navy of exploitation, domestic violence and crimes against
War Room leak. The unfolding of the Telgi fake stamp women and children. Anomie within society on a large
argument scam is yet to take its toll, although several scale is visible and escapist routes are found through
well-placed heads have already rolled. drugs, prostitution, cheap thrills, cinema and a sordid
We also know that the level of corruption rises to keep nightlife. We are not trying to moralize—this is a
pace with the level of inequality, so it is not surprising sociological argument.
to see so much corruption in India. Unless the State
Against this background, a stark statistic stares us in
plays a more proactive and interventionist role, the
the face: 3% of government spending is on education
free markets will spell doom for the poor. The failure
of the recent Cancun talks is not a victory for the and 5% of employable labour is skilled. The poor are
interventionist economics at WTO and the developing doomed to despair for lack of jobs and the lack of
countries. It only shows that agricultural pricing and required skills to create jobs for themselves. Venture
output will not be regulated except by the power of capital is for the rich and not for the needy; the co-
the market, which squarely resides with the operative banks breathe down the necks of the poor
developed world. The exploitative nature of peasant but turn a blind eye when middlemen,
oligopolies has been well documented. politicians and industrialists bleed their treasuries dry.
The big nationalised banks are far from nimble, and
A glance at the statistics below will demonstrate that
as in the case of IDBI, many are sucked into the
India prides itself on its low inflation, (below 6% per
annum); it remains silent about unemployment levels quagmire of their own contradictions despite having
that are rising past the danger point. We have a more than adequate brain, brawn and bastion. The
burgeoning information technology sector and a large-scale collapse of co-operative banks in Gujarat
relatively shrinking manufacturing sector, except for in 2002 was a reminder that all was not well with crony
a few big players. If technology is merely an enabler, capitalism in the periphery.
how and what will the information technology Now let us look at the sociological fallout of poor
enable? Can the services sector pull up an economy education. Falling educational levels among Parsi
in the absence of a strong manufacturing and males, for instance, spurs inter-caste marriages since
agricultural base? This is what the RBI has failed to educated girls do not want to marry relatively poorly
effectively address. India with its 1.2 billion plus
educated Parsi males while the clergy along with their
people features in list number five, a notch above those
epigones ups their ante and calls for more
countries with the highest levels of inequality. The
poor are in a way subsidising the middle class by conservatism.
providing domestic help and subsidising the business However, this is not the case in other communities,
classes by providing cheap labour especially in the which are exploited by the politically and
construction industry. The super rich deal in real estate economically powerful, and also by the religious
under the guise of promoting education. fundamentalists in their own ranks. For instance, a
Within democracies that flourish under retarded low educational level among the Muslims leads to lack
peripheral capitalism, it is a truism that the rich donate of employment opportunities and a need for money,
funds to political parties to buy the votes from the which is exploited by anti-national and foreign-
poor. In this manner, they are facilitating the funded jihadi outfits. Muslims play the minority card
politicians who survive on the ill-informed and when it suits them to cover low levels of education
illiterate slum dwellers. Perhaps it is in the class amongst the youth. Religious conversions are high
interest of these people to retain the slums since they amongst the economically backward, (as was seen
not only provide cheap labour but also cheap votes with Christian conversions in Orissa and Buddhist
for a democracy where money, muscle and conversions in Maharashtra) and those involved in
manipulation play a dominant role. There is indeed a terrorism at its lowest levels are young men and
rise in urban crime rates since unemployment rates women with little education, no employment and an
have also shot up, anomie plagues civil society, and exposure to fundamentalist religious or political
there is no social security system. What little security ideology (as in Kashmir and Chattisgarh).
On a more logical plain, we affirm that in a truly votes. Religious freedom means the right to practice
secular society the words majority community and and preach. But it does not cover forced conversions or
minority community are illogical, irreverent and the use of money or other allurements to gather
potentially subversive. If we wish to develop then adherents to a religion. Religion is a matter of personal
these terms must be dropped from our political and choice and belief. It can be seen only as a bond
social vocabulary. The ideological left is clear about between mankind and the Vast Immensity that engulfs
its position on secularism and its stand has been it. Conversion must arise out of conviction and that in
historically vindicated. But the centrist and small / itself requires a high degree of personal awareness and
regional parties play the caste, religion and region social consciousness. All of this will come to nought
card with impunity and no pangs of conscience to get unless there is a rise in the quality of human life.
4 5 6 Most
inequality
Haiti 0.052814 Benin 0.074386 Lesotho 0.105516
Zimbabwe 0.054305 India 0.075959 Belize 0.105935
Botswana 0.055032 Yugoslavia 0.076278 Gabon 0.106911
Sri Lanka 0.056491 Brazil 0.077607 Swaziland 0.106922
Singapore 0.058459 Rwanda 0.078161 Armenia 0.108136
Chile 0.058507 Dominican Rep. 0.079278 South Yemen 0.109596
Russia 0.058517 Tanzania 0.079455 Uganda 0.109652
South Africa 0.058699 Lithuania 0.080079 Oman 0.113724
Zambia 0.061265 Tunisia 0.080430 Ghana 0.118893
Tonga 0.061392 Burundi 0.082687 Puerto Rico 0.121705
Neth. Antilles 0.061593 Jordan 0.082940 Cameroon 0.129300
Philippines 0.061596 Peru 0.082944 Congo 0.136999
Suriname 0.062061 Indonesia 0.084083 Trinidad & Tobago 0.145823
Panama 0.062894 Kyrgyzstan 0.085131 Mozambique 0.149679
Barbados 0.063116 Liberia 0.085607 Saudi Arabia 0.184693
Ivory Coast 0.064147 Morocco 0.085982 Niger 0.188703
Syria 0.065215 Kenya 0.086183 St. Vincent & Grenada 0.194245
Cen. African Rep. 0.066105 Togo 0.086519 Angola 0.201428
Bolivia 0.066374 Papua N. Guinea 0.086716 Cambodia 0.206362
Nepal 0.068082 Honduras 0.086866 Kuwait 0.230317
Am. Somoa 0.069093 Equatorial. Guinea 0.089228 Sierra Leon 0.253880
U. Arab. Emir. 0.069918 Mauritania 0.092261 Jamaica 0.312738
Mauritius 0.071762 Thailand 0.094014 Bahrain 0.403546
Eritrea 0.072629 Bhutan 0.095370 Qatar 0.404105
Albania 0.073632 Malawi 0.095639 Mongolia 0.442336
Guatemala 0.097286 Paraguay 0.892605
Bahamas 0.098721
The Other Side of the Coin capitulation of journalists to free market imperatives.
The fact remains that the likes of TarunTejpal,
In 1991 our political leaders replaced state capitalism
SuchetaDalal, Samar Halankar, George Mathew, Ritu
with crony capitalism, albeit both of a retarded variety.
Sarin, and PrafulBidwai are rare. They are also very
Then, segments of the willing media assisted this
likel;y to be victimised. Others in the media whom
transition and found the public sector responsible for
we can look up to are the men and women in AajTak
all our ills and the private sector as the harbinger of
and NDTV news channels (both in Hindi and in
economic peace and prosperity. One only has to read
English) and the journalists of the Hindu. On the other
the Times of India, the Hindustan Times and the
hand, the legacy of Girilal Jain and Prem Shankar Jha
Statesman to understand the true nature of this
Volume 2, No. 1, January-June, 2016, Third Issue 9 ISSN : 2395-1737
IJAR&D The Darker Side of Leadership
is forgotten and Planet M has replaced these stalwarts economic thought does not matter. What matters is
in the portals of the media on D N Road, Mumbai. how you play the get rich quick game. Now let us
We found that when an individual, Organization or examine the
company is ostentatious about its display of corporate data given below and see how Indian business has
wealth, there is a possibility that black money has been fared vis-à-vis the lenders. Both Victor Hugo and
used. The Tatas, the Birlas, the Godrejs and the public Fyodor Dostoyevsky had correctly pointed out
sector companies, seldom, if ever, make an overtly that while the poor commit theft it is the rich
ostentatious display. An ostentatious display of who actually indulge in loot. Given below is an
wealth is accompanied by a passionate plea for initial list of defaulters that will prove the point.
the free market sans employee welfare. Thorstein The Indian Express of Sunday 1 st December
Veblen had called it conspicuous consumption. It has 2002 carried a list of major corporate defaulters
become similarly fashionable for corporate leaders to alleging that the amount India Inc. owes and will
cite the number of sick public sector companies, not pay back is Rs. 110,000 crores. These
when until twenty years ago it was the public sector powerful business magnates are quick to plead
that took over sick private sector units to penury and continue to smoke their Havana
safeguard employee welfare. It became commonplace cigars, eat their caviar, sip their cognac and pop their
for people to allude to Adam Smith in their support champagne. The non-performing assets (NPAs)
for direct foreign investment, little realising that in are mounting. Can corporate governance ratings
his magnum opus of 1757 Smith has championed the (CGR) be taken seriously after what happened
cause of the small trader-entrepreneur and attacked to UTI and L&T about a year after they were
big business. But knowledge of the history of given rich accolades for their performance?
Parliament had just passed a new law targeting financial institutions to confiscate property and other
defaulters who had the ability to repay loans but assets in case the defaulters do not pay up. The then
lacked the willingness to do so. It is called the Finance Minister, Yashwant Sinha, had then gone on
Securitisation and Reconstruction of Financial Assets record stating that non-performing assets were not
Enforcement of Security Act. It provides for banks and debt but loot. The defaulters, however, were not
interested in paying back the loan, but in exploiting is clue less about the level of backup facilities
the loopholes in this new law. There was no clear an educational institution requires and a cock
definition of a wilful defaulter; no clear provision for and bull story about developing pangs is
prison sentences, and nothing to restrain a defaulter successfully dished out to the gullible affiliation
from acquiring a privatised bank. For instance, when and governance bodies.
Advocate Kapil Sibal, the Chief Spokesman of the
iv. The students are everywhere but in the
Congress Party, appeared as legal counsel for Mardia
Chemicals of Ahmedabad, who had not repaid their classroom. This is possible when the top
huge debt, he argued that the new law should be management of the institution is mind less about
struck down as being unconstitutional. However, in what is wrong and could not care two hoots
parliament he had vociferously argued to the contrary about what it should do about the malaise.
and supported the passing of the new law. If good v. The people who matter are not empowered to
governance practices and a code of ethics were in place take decisions but only to execute the decisions
this obvious conflict of interest would have been of the trust. That the trust may have an inept
nipped in the bud. person representing it is beside the point. Such
Even the oldest political party in India has come institutions either serve the interests of a
downhill since the days of its inception. If this is the minority community or a political vested
quality of leadership in the polity, one wonders if the interest. Education suffers, the students do not
economy stands a chance of revival. The rich are gain anything but a piece of argument called a
usually safe but middle class professionals who take degree and the deans and directors are reduced
home loans expecting to pay it off, could easily lose to spineless wonders. Those who own these
their employment under this crony capitalism of a institutions remain care less about what is
retarded variety, and also lose their homes. actually happening.
The New Nexus To be fair, not all privately run institutions are the
same. Taking Mumbai and Pune as a representative
Fraud is not confined to unethical individuals or
sample, we can see why some privately postgraduate
financial institutions. In this section we shall take up
institutions run can publicly stand up to be counted.
the question of a nexus between some corporate
At an all India level barring the IITs, IIMs, XLRI, XIMB
leaders and the education empires they created.
and NITIE we also have some private institutes, which
Whatever the reason may be, there are some telltale
signs that the astute observer may hone in on. are known for academic excellence.
Prominent among these are: Integrity is a necessary attribute expected in
i. The Organizations are head less in that there is engineering, management studies, and medicine and
no dean or director appointed and the pharmacy professionals. Unfortunately, there is
proprietors and their kin run the institutions as evidence that academic dishonesty is widely prevalent
if they are operating a feudal fief. Every time an in many Indian medical colleges and that a proportion
affiliation or governance body is due to visit, an of students seem to think that there is nothing wrong
advertisement is placed in the press to show their in participating in such acts. This practice needs to be
bona fide intent when every one knows that the discouraged as those indulging in unethical acts as
recruitment will be delayed to save funds. students are likely to behave similarly with their
patients. It is, therefore, necessary that teachers in
ii. The Organizations are trunk less in that the educational institutions show ‘zero tolerance’ for such
number of deans/ heads/ directors outnumbers
acts. There is a need for faculty and administrators to
the full-time teaching faculty employed and
be above board in their actions and be role models
what matters is that you please the boss rather
for ethical behaviour. Hence, acts of academic
than what you deliver on the educational front.
misconduct committed by faculty and administrators
It is possible that the institution is merely a
should also be dealt with quickly, fairly and firmly. A
business front, rather than a seat of learning.
milieu of transparency, fairness and student
iii. The library and/or the computer laboratory are awareness will go a long way in minimizing this
in bad shape or the engineering college has no pervasive malady. On this score there can be no
workshop and the medical college has no compromise.
corpses. This is possible since the administration
National Level Governance and Ethics could never have taken place without the involvement
of middlemen, nor perhaps could Pakistani terrorists
The greatest tragedies in Indian history were that
have gained a foothold in Kashmir without some local
Subhash Chandra Bose and SardarVallabhai Patel
support. More recently we have had the Spectrum 2G
died too early, while some others of lesser stature died
scam, the Adarsh Housing Society fraud and
too late and those such as Jayaprakash Narayan and
Commonwealth Games imbroglio. The list is
VinobaBhave left the field in favour of the mediocre.
unending.
Presidents of the stature of Rajendra Prasad,
SarvepalliRadhakrishnan and Zakir Hussain were Four scams stand out in the period 2010 -2015 and
missing from RashtrapatiBhavan for quite some time. since the memory of these is so fresh in our minds
APJAbdulKalam, to his credit, tried and succeeded thanks to the Indian Press we shall merely mention
in redeeming the honour of the Presidential Chair. them and pass on. These are: (a) the cricket match
On the one hand, many politicians are embroiled in fixing scam; (b) Haryana Karl Marx has written history
crime and extortion and on the other, there were the repeats itself; on the first occasion it is a tragedy and on
honest, courageous and almost saintly figure of Lal the second it is a farce. But more often than not it is the
Bahadur Shastri, who being the Prime Minister of historians repeating each other.
India, and died leaving an unpaid car loan! People However, we also have had officers like Arun Bhatia,
such as Pherozeshah Mehta and Ashutosh Mukherjee G R Khairnar, Kiran Bedi, Julius Reibero, Ramanand
no longer grace the Bombay Municipal Council or the Jha, Arvind Inamdar and M N Singh who have more
Calcutta High Court. Aristotle once said that some than adequately graced their office. Those who made
men are born to rule as others are born into servitude the supreme sacrifice in defending the motherland
while Xenophon in the History of our Times, had during the Pakistan sponsored Jihadi Attack on
proclaimed that people get the government they Parliament in New Delhi and Terrorist Attack in
deserve. Putting the views of these two great Greek Mumbai cannot be forgotten. The elimination of
scholars together would give a clue on why the state Satyandra Dubey by the Highway Builders Mafia in
of our country is what it is today. We had once Bihar, the brutal murder of Safdar Hashmi Hasmi in
remarked that the problem is that in India we have Delhi and the killing of Chandrasekhar Singh by the
too much politics in our economics and too little political mafia testify that a very high price often has
economics in our politics. That is unfortunately our to be paid for being ethical. Lone reformists like
bane! TehmurasGabba and Madhur Sinha would have their
Even during the colonial period, Rabindranath Tagore names written in letters of gold for their supreme
had returned his knighthood after the Jallianwallah sacrifice.
Bagh massacre. Many Indians in South-East Asia In spite of our glorious and unique civilisation, we
chose to join the Indian National Army during the see that India features very low on the global
Second World War, instead of the St. John’s inequality index. We have also witnessed corruption
Ambulance Service. It was similarly no mean feat for and fraud in our daily lives from the point when we
Ram Manohar Lohia, Sorabji Godrej, ArunaAsaf Ali, admit a child into a good play school to the time that
AchyutraoPatwardhan and Ushaben Mehta to man we pay bribes to clerks to release our pension funds
the Azad Hind Radio in 1942 during the Quit India on superannuation from our jobs. ‘We are certainly
Movement. not born to solve the problems of the world but only
Harshad Mehta, Ketan Parekh and Hiten Dalal are to restrain ourselves within the limits of our
examples of deceit in the Indian financial sector, comprehension,’ as Goethe had said. And for that to
Suresh Kalmadi, A Raja and Amar Singh in the happen, we need a very strong national ethic and a
political sphere while Dawood Ibrahim, Chhota good system of socio-political governance in place.
Shakeel, Tiger Memon and Abu Salem are leaders in Fraud will then become counter-productive and not
India’s criminal underworld. There is a symbiotic worth the effort.
relationship between politicians and criminals. The teaching fraternity has to make this possible and
Bollywood has also had a bad experience with they cannot afford to sit on the sidelines. They have
extortionists from the underworld, as reported in the the future of the country under their tutelage and
press. For instance, civil servants, police officers, history will never forgive their passive role when the
politicians and all sorts of middlemen were involved moral future of our nation is at stake. They must,
in the Telgi stamp argument scam. The MPSC scam above all, shrug off the cloak of mediocrity that they
have worn for so long and learn to put their money leadership.
where their mouth is. To ask a simple question, how Whatever happens we must go on chipping against
many institutes that have “Management and the solid marble rock until the hidden beauty of the
Research” as a part of the name, actually practice good statue emerges and that is the challenge before
management and how many even pay lip service to succeeding generations if we as a country have to
research (let alone practice it). When we had the emerge as a world leader and a force to be reckoned
unique combination of a Gandhian economist-scholar- with. As a great man once said, to some generations
Prime Minister in Manmohan Singh and an much is given. Of other generations much is expected.
armaments scholar President in Abdul Kalam nothing This generation of Indians certainly has a rendezvous
intellectually significant happened. If the academic with destiny. And we are convinced that only a
fraternity had failed to cash in on this, if those at the national ethic founded on sound governance can bring
helm were lame ducks, and we collectively failed to it about. For that we need value centred leadership
improve the country’s value system how can we and it should indubitably become the task of
expect history to ever forgive us. There may be another educational institutions to provide this. This will
chance if the momentum created by Anna Hazare is enable excellence, and to quote BijoyGuha, it should
kept up but we have our doubts.. move on to ensure business sustainability.
For its part too, the civil bureaucracy has to walk its
Conclusion
talk and what could be a better example than the
government talking of privatisation and globalisation In this long argument we treated the question of
but the bureaucratic civil service dragging its feet and corporate fraud in an Organizational setting, thereby
placing impediments in its path? We continue to speak taking stock of ethics at the meso level. We opined that
of having a borderless universe and do nothing about fraud takes place in societies where ethics and
the Octroi check post! We speak of a democratically governance are weak. We thereby examined the link
elected Prime Minister who does the bidding of the between poor ethics and governance with the
Party High Command! India is a unique example of proliferation of fraud and wondered if a correlation
dynastic democracy be it in Abdulla’s Kashmir, Sonia’s was tenable. We gave our views on national level
Delhi, Laloo’s Bihar, Karunanidhi’s Chennai, or Badal’s ethics and governance in the process and to that extent
Punjab. Yet whenever some extra skin is exposed or took our argument from the realm of ethics into that
indiscretion is shown our film censors are rebuked of governance. Governance and ethics cannot be
by these very politicians in the name of protecting a separated. Without governance, ethics is abstract
national ethic. philosophy, while without ethics governance is
reduced to compliance with the help of regulators and
Such claims are politically motivated and culturally
regulations. We argue that if governance has to
hollow. To build a national ethic some conditions must
become effective it should be used as an instrument
be fulfilled. All social ills must be seen in terms of the
of development. This is also not possible unless we
class interests of the contending parties, rather than
make sure that governance is founded on ethics and
in terms of their caste, race or religious interests if an
leads to excellence. To help us formulate our argument
equitable and long-lasting solution has to be found.
further and add weight to our beliefs we shall be
This must be followed by an increase in the levels of
taking up corporate governance in the next three long
education and a concomitant rise is social
arguments.
consciousness. We cannot have a unified criminal law
but a stratified civil law unless the hidden agenda is
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Abstract
It is a well established fact that HR interventions are a strategic necessity in business and industry. Human capital has
to be trained so that per capita productivity is enhanced. As the battle of competition intensifies two additional facets
emerge: firstly capital gets increasingly centralized and concentrated and secondly the manpower employed is expected
to be multi-skilled and quality driven. Training programs are accordingly required to support the human resource
interventions needed to improve the overall effectiveness of an organization. Training programs are not only to enhance
the ability of the human resource and also to create professional relations among individuals and groups within the
organization. This paper proposes a framework model for diagnosing, measuring and analyzing the impact of training
programs for Small Scale Industries. The authors have also referred many studies before they construct a suitable
framework analytical model to examine the impact of the training program.
Introduction
There is a wide-ranging and largely unresolved debate regarding the precise contribution of formal and informal
training activities to the overall performance of the organization (Campbell, 1999; Johnson, et al, 2000). Keeping
this statement in mind, the present study has made an attempt to measure the impact of training on business
performance. As every one knows that there is no specific analysis for measuring business performance, this study
has been specifically designed to assess the impact of training on business performance among the participants.
The business performance was measured after the participants who acquired sufficient knowledge and skills from
the training program. Briefly speaking business performance indicates the level of performance achieved by units
run by the trainees. The performance variables for the study are chosen after many reviews made by the researcher.
Review of Literature
The present authors have reviewed some of the studies (both national and international levels) that have
greater relevance both directly and indirectly to the issue of this study. All these studies highlight importance
of measurement on level of performance on before and after basis. But the authors has considered only after
basis for the present research. Some of the referred studies are presented in this section.
A. International Studies: David A. Decenzo and Stephen P Robbins have stated that a learning experience
that seeks a relatively permanent change in individuals that will improve their ability to perform on the job.
This statement explains that learning experience has correlation with permanent change in individuals.
Normon Maier has conducted a study at Detroit Edison Co. to measure the on the job behaviour of trainees
before and after basis. For measurement he has chosen both experimental and control group.
Wagner R J and Roland C C have used the third level of Kirkpatrick model in 1992 to measure behavioral
changes among the employees. Three approaches were used for measurement of behavioral changes (i)
Questionnaire completion by the participants before the 5 D methodology of definition, diagnosis, design,
and after the training (ii) Supervisory reports development and delivery within which this subject
completed on the functioning of work groups before was subsumed but they did not per se posit a method
and after (iii) Interview with managers. The result of for measuring performance. Bannerji conducted a
the measurement was that there were no significant survey at Indian Engineering Company in 1981 to
changes in the behaviour among the employees. measure the training in terms of improving
Kirkpatrick L Donald conducted a research in 1969 to managerial qualities of the employees. The results
measure the skill levels of foreman and supervisors. indicated that the employees acquired all the qualities
A questionnaire method was administered to measure except human relations. The responses indicated that
various variables such as reaction, learning, behaviour the employees gained little bit knowledge in the
and results of the trainees. The interview method was human relations area. Sinha (1984) has conducted a
also employed for both participants and their research to evaluate the effectiveness of training
supervisors. A research study is conducted at Cost program. The responses were taken from the
Reduction Institute in order to measure the cost respondents both before and after the training
reduction actions done by the employees after they program. The qualities were analyzed on a 10-point
took training. Two techniques were adopted. The first scale. The qualities have been divided into three
technique was used to conduct depth interviews with forms. They were: Personal, Professional and Human
some supervisors who tool the training and their relations. The results of the study suggest that
immediate supervisors. The second technique was depending on the nature of the training program, the
used to administer a mail questionnaire to the participants could be helped to improve the new
remaining enrollers. The results were also confirmed qualities and sharpen the existing ones. Venkataraman
through their boss that the employees made the cost (1995) has stated in his study that every training
reduction activities after their training. Demissie program must concentrate more on timings of the
Tadele Mulatu, Adult training specialist, has program and training needs to improve its overall
suggested that four levels can be applied to measure effectiveness.
the performance of any training. The levels are: Jain RK (1970), based on his study, has suggested that
Reaction, Learning, Transfer and Impact. At reaction the training program must be conducted in subject
level, the usefulness and applicability of course matters in depth. The subject matters should be related
content can be analysed. At learning level, learning to the present situation and requirements of the
activities and methodologies may be analysed. At organization. Only then, the training program would
transfer level, the participants’ knowledge towards be very much effective. Subramanian and Sajjan Rao
retaining the information could be tested. At impact (1997) studied the effect of the tailor-made training
level, job performance of the trainees could be tested program on 34 workers in the organization. The
after the training. research was conducted on before and after basis. In
the study, the workers were asked to rate their
Grenough J and Dixon R suggest that measurement supervisors. The results were analyzed based on the
should identify what results the training should following parameters. The parameters are overall job
provide, what results have occurred, how present performance, adaptability, discipline record, morale,
results are worthwhile, and how results will be used. interpersonal effectiveness, and self esteem. All
Barrett A and P. O’ Connell have conducted a research ratings were done on a five-point scale. All differences
to estimate the returns from in-company training. between before and after averages were statistically
They have differentiated between general and specific significant.
training. In their final results, they have found that
the general training has increased productivity but Methodology of This Study
specific has no such effects. They concluded that there The primary aim of this study is to examine the impact
might be a problem of matching new skills with old of training and also its business performance among
processes. Moon-Hariton conducted a study at the the participants. The present authors have employed
engineering section of GE company. Two years after descriptive research design to examine the association
the adoption of the training was evaluated. between profile variables of the participants and their
B. National Studies: Besides the path breaking and business performance. The study is based on census
well known work of Udai Pareek, SD M Pestonjee, T data. The participants who attended the training have
V Rao and a handful others there is precious little that been considered for the present analysis. In total, 292
has been done in this field. Sadri and Jayashree posited participants were considered for the analysis.
The delayed questionnaire method was administered (2001). The performance variables are: 1.product
to collect the data from all the participants. The development, 2.staff retention, 3 access to the market,
comprehensive questionnaire has got both direct and 4.competitiveness, 5.confidence in future, 6.number
indirect types of questions. The questionnaire was of business worked with, 7.number of business talked
prepared on the basis of objective of the study. The about, 8.sales and 9.profit over period of time. The
questionnaire was constructed by referring to A participants are asked to rate the above said nine
Handbook of Training and Development, American variables on a five-point rating scale namely highly
Society for Training and Development (ASTD). In positive impact, positive impact, impact, no impact,
order to test the appropriateness of the questionnaire, and negative impact. The scores assigned on these
the present authors have conducted a pilot study with scales are: 5,4,3,2, and 1 respectively. The mean score
10% sample of the total population. Based on the on various performance variables achieved by the
results, the full-fledged questionnaire was participants belonging to four different industries
administered. All the questions were translated in the (Engineering, Textiles, Chemicals, and Food & Agro)
local language for the easy understanding of the are calculated to exhibit the participants view on the
participants. The present authors have employed business performance caused by the training program.
survey method in which mail interview was applied. The F statistics was computed to measure the
significant difference among the groups of
Framework for Analysis participants regarding the impact on each
According to the present study requirements, the performance variable.
researcher has adopted the fourth level of Kirkpatrick __________________________________________
model. The Result part is measured after the 5 4 3 2 1
participants acquired training and started their
industries. The business performance variables for this Method of measurement (Five-point rating scale)
research are as per the reviews of Dess et al (1984), Scores: Excellent – 5, Very Good-4, Good-3, Fair-2 and
Qwin (1992), Harsh V Verma (2000) and Denis et al Poor –1.
A Model Framework
Sl.No Business Performance Variables Explanation
1. Product Development To what extent the participants prepare the product without
help of outside experts?
2. Access to market To what extent the participants have good rapport with
traders and customers?
3. Competitiveness Can the participants able to face the competition?
4. Confidence in future To what extent the participants have their confidence in
building goodwill of the company?
5. Staff retention To what extent the participants retain their employees?
6. Number of business worked with How many businesses the participants done for clients?
7. Number of business talked about How many businesses are in discussion at present?
8. Sales To what extent the training has impact on sales?
9. Profit To what extent the participants benefited in terms of
profitability?
The resulted mean score of the performance variables way analysis of variance. The one-way analysis is
and the respective F statistics are illustrated in Table- possible because when experimental variables are in
I. The perception on the business performance among interval scale and the numbers of samples are in more
the participants may be influenced by the profile of than 2 groups. F ratio= Variance between groups /
the participants also. Such type of association is also Variance within groups within groups is calculated
measured in the study. The association between the compared with the respective table value of F. The
profile variables of participants and their business resulted F statistics and the results are presented in
performance were analyzed by administering one- Table II.
Table 2. Age Wise Distribution of the Participants Sl.No Family Income Number of
Participants
Sl.No Age Number of The
important 1. Less than 3000 30
Participants
age groups 2. 3001 – 4000 34
1. Less than 21 yrs 46 among the
participants 3. 4001 – 5000 70
2. 21 to 25 yrs 50 are 26 to 30 5. 5001 – 6000 85
3. 26 to 30 yrs 91 years and
above 35 6. Above 6001 73
4. 31 to 35 yrs 51 years since Total 292
5. Above 35 yrs 54 they
constitute The above table illustrates the distribution of
Total 292 31.16 and participants on basis of their family income. In total,
18.49 % of 29.11% of the total participants have a family income
the total of Rs.5001 – Rs.6000, followed by 25 % have a family
respectively. income of above Rs.6001.
Table 3. Level of Education among the Table 6. Material Possessions among the
Participants Participants
Data Analysis
The following discussion we hope shall throw some light on the findings
Table 10: Participants view on their Business Performance
Sl.No Variables Mean Score F Statistics
Group 1 Group 2 Group 3 Group 4
1 Product Development 3.2931 2.8014 3.1271 2.6013 1.4134
2 Staff Retention 2.8646 2.0291 1.9134 3.0941 2.8317*
3 Access to market 3.0892 2.3366 2.0146 3.1198 2.7364*
4 Competitiveness 3.1174 2.6037 2.2608 2.0342 2.8108*
5 Confidence in future 2.8644 2.0341 1.9078 1.8209 2.6026*
6 Number of business worked with 2.4011 3.8041 3.3142 2.7133 3.3021*
7 Number of business talked about 2.6818 3.2117 2.8062 2.3414 2.0219
8 Sales 3.2092 2.9192 3.8617 2.3647 2.9714*
9 Profit 2.9697 2.0886 1.9373 2.0314 3.0133*
highly perceived performance variables among the identified in all seven performance variables except
group 4 participants. In overall, the significant product development and number of business talked
difference among the four groups of participants is about.
Table 11: Association between the Profile Variables of Participants and their View on Business
Performance
Sl.No Profile variables F-value Table value Result
1 Sex 2.1782 3.84 No Significant Difference
2 Age 2.4069 2.37 Significant Difference
3 Education 2.9198 2.37 Significant Difference
4 Social class 1.0946 2.37 No Significant Difference
5 Occupational Background 2.1141 2.37 No Significant Difference
6 Family Size 1.8081 2.37 No Significant Difference
7 Family Income 2.6913 2.37 Significant Difference
8 Material Possession 2.8082 2.37 Significant Difference
9 Nativity 2.8614 2.60 Significant Difference
The significant association between the perception on them to find out suitable market opportunities and
the business performance and the profile of technological developments. At the end of every
participants are identified especially in the case of age, training program, each participant is asked to present
level of education, family income, material possession, their business proposals to the invited experts.
and nativity. The F statistics related to the abovesaid Opinions have to be gathered and sorted out with help
profile variables are significant at five percent level. of experts.
So that, this analysis concludes that the abovesaid
Conclusion
profile variables are the criteria on the perception of
the business performance. Every training intervention has to be measured before,
during and after basis. These kinds of measurement
Policy Implications
would definitely help the participants to acquire
Any training program should in our opinion not be a actual benefits from the training. The present analysis
ready-made package. The training should be offered has also pointed out certain areas on which the
and constructed according to the requirements of the organizers have to concentrate more to offer full
skill sets of the participants for their proposed projects. benefits to the future participants. In the present study,
In order to improve the capabilities of the participants, the measurement was done to understand how far
the trainer could employ certain types of management the audiences of the training are practicing their
exercises such as risk taking exercises, leadership learned skills in their respective businesses.
games, psychological games, marketing oriented
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Abstract
In the era of global integration, conventional HR practices of maintaining personnel data, catering to re-sourcing,
training and motivation demand a more enhanced participation and managerial leadership. HR function now maintains
and improves the human capital base, stimulates innovation and knowledge thereof and also provides leadership making
organizational dynamics shift towards a new arena. New trends in training and development with a tinge of soft skills
have occupied pivotal position in the HR culture. New possibilities for electronic data processing (e-HRM) have given
new fillip to HR functions. Strategic HR now recognizes new areas like transaction services, employment services and
relationships, professional and advisory services, corporate governance services and outsourcing. It has a shift in the
changing role of HR which is functionally linked with strategic goals, objectives and sustainability of the organization.
Consequently it has augmented the organisation’s ethos and fosters a participative culture. The paper based on primary
research through the methodology of interview of the senior company executives having experience in the field of human
resource management, tries to find out the changing paradigm of human resource management.
Introduction
While conversing with the late ninety years old icon of human resource development and the most trusted lieutenant
of JRD Tata, late Russi Mody surprisingly enquired as to what was so special about human resource management.
“Has it become a subject now?” He quipped, “I do not know anything about it because for me human resource
management is nothing more than normal ‘humane’ relationship with the employees. The essence of any good
management is, I would say, ‘morale.’ Over the years dealing with different kind of people, I have developed one
theory in my life: ‘Do Unto others As You Would Have Them Do Unto You.’” Showing humane approach towards
resolving the employees’ problems and committing to look into their grievances ‘personally’ is what Russi Mody
thinks the best way to manage human resource. In dealing with the employees, the manager ought to be natural
and deal in the same way he deals with himself. A manager cannot go wrong in treating an employee with compassion,
courage, and credibility the three ‘C’ principles of the legendary man. Giving reasons of the status of public sector
vis-`a-vis private sector according to Mody, public sector must be made ready to work and conserve wealth of a
nation. What is required “is privatization of management and not privatization of equity”, Mody commented.
Russi Mody’s suggestive ideas of normal human relationship as the pillar of human resource management can be
traced back to the days of craftsmanship, when there existed a close bond between the mentors and the apprentices.
Conceptually the changing paradigm of HR (Human Resource), discusses the evolution of human resource
management from those days of industrial revolution till its present enhanced status—from the traditional role of
support function to the current role of active participation in the organization’s strategic functions and goals. The
era of craftsmanship at the master’s shop or courtyard with a number of apprentices has evolved today as HRM
(Human Resource Management) in corporate with number of rules, regulations, politics and strategies. The evolving
human relations gave room to new ethos that improved productivity to management philosophies emphasizing
employee communications, cooperation and involvement. Organizations have recognized the importance of human
resource in the long term strategic planning. Today the human resource professional is charged with optimizing
employee skills, matching people to jobs and maximizing the potentials of employees as valuable resources.
Organizations have recognized the importance of human resource in long-range strategic planning. With the
influence of information technology, HR software solutions used by domestic and global market organizations are
seeking to optimize their HR service delivery.
Now-a-days the pivotal responsibilities of the HR department are intimately associated to the strategic purposes
and intents of the boardroom, which is again tactfully designed to frame the norms and policies that meet the
employees’ aspirations and goals. The conventional organization model has got a new shape in this era. The
traditional tall layers of management got changed to flat layers of management, vertical flow of information got
transformed to both vertical and horizontal flow of information, emphasis on rules and standard procedures got
changed to emphasis on results and outcomes; emphasis on structure got changed to emphasis on process;
standardized evaluation and reward systems got changed to customized evaluation and incentives. Strategic HR
has fused the aspiration of the employees at various levels with the organisation’s goals through suitable HR
policies. The current trends have a focus on policies, motivation, relations, changed agent and quality consciousness.
As the corporate world is escalating with high expertise and knowledge based jobs and waning off with low skilled
jobs, the need for skill mapping through HRM initiatives came into being and at the same time multi-skill
development has become another significant facet of HRM. Talent management, competency modeling, and
assessment centres are the recent trends of HRM. De-jobbing is another aspect of the day. Employees are expected
to have the ability to excel their efforts with a satisfactory result in multi-dimension. Today professionals are hired
with a particular designation, but they need to manage varied fields of function. Certain HR functions like
recruitment, consultancies are even operated and controlled from home. Succession planning is one of the core
areas in the recent HRM system which has considered training, development and performance appraisal to be its
integral part. Identifying the type of skills the organization requires in the next five, ten and fifteen years is a vital
aspect of succession planning.
The new era has brought several technically realized systems to support different functions of HRM. As Leslie A
Weatherly said, “from the HR perspective strategically using the information assets of the organization means
that HR business process, organizational support system and HR information technology are aligned to continuously
capture, maintain and utilize key strategic information assets ( that is knowledgement and judgement) to improve
business performance.” In the past, branding in HR was only limited to the employment functions. But today
branding in HR distinguishes the jobs for the employees. The four Ps in branding HR are people, pay, position and
prospects. As the HR functions have begun to broaden its wings across the organization, there has emerged a need
for treating HR to the employees, similar to that of selling services to the clients. Building a brand for HR department
is significant because of attracting, encouraging and holding the most excellent and the brightest talents for the
organization in order to survive the corporate competition. When the business strategy holds partnership with
people’s strategy, it creates a great place for work. The HR as a brand should build an alignment with the deliveries
of the organization to the benefit of employees, shareholders and customers.
of jobs that can be-casual contracts, verbal contracts freedom of association, collective bargaining and the
and more formal contracts. There are provisions of right to strike. Today industrial relations cover the
self employment and full-time jobs through the guild impact of globalization on both IR and the
especially in films. But these jobs through the guilds management system in the organizations with
are different with other unionized jobs. Kinship increasing emphasis on workplace relations. Santanu
patterns in employment and recruitment in both high Ghosh of Hindalco Industries Limited says, “Unlike
and low profile jobs are evident”, elaborates the past, today, IR is having developmental role, trust
Chakravarty. building functions, and also involved in decision-
Questionnaire pertaining to respective sectors of making of the organization, thereby having a balance
industry were framed to take opinion of the experts between IR and HRM”.
experienced in HR practices for a long time. The senior
The influence of globalization has mitigated the
HR experts who were interviewed were: the late Russi
employers’ thrust for regulations of IR,
Mody, Ex-chairman and MD TISCO and Mobar India
standardization of the employment relationship and
Ltd, Kolkata, Santanu Ghosh, Regional Head (East),
Foils Division, Hindalco Industries Ltd., Subrato Bose, a greater focus is driven on the workplace as the centre
Head Trainer, Lee and Nee Software (Exports) Ltd, of gravity of IR. A more strategic perception of IR’s
Janet Gasper Chowdhury, Head-HR Consulting contribution to promote workplace cooperation,
Practice, Pricewaterhouse Coopers Pvt. Ltd., Udayan flexibility, productivity and competitiveness is the
Sen, Group Strategy Development Manager, BP Plc, recent lookout of the employers. A more ‘enterprise-
UK; Sayantan Datta, Associate Consultant, Infosys, based’ view during the last two decades has drawn
Pune; Saumik Deb, HR Consultant, Private the picture of labour problems not only over terms
Educational Groups, West Bengal and Northeast and conditions of employment usually negotiated
India; S.R Saha, Chief-Industrial, (Eastern region), between unions and employers, but over other factors
Exide Industries Limited; Rangan Chakravarty, Ex- as well. Low productivity, absenteeism, high labour
Creative Director, HTA (JWT), currently producer of turnover, lack of job security, physical job
television programmes, Editorial Consultant, environment, repetitive jobs, lack of motivation,
Anandabazar Patrika; Jay P Majumder, Owner of Sam failure to recognize the performance of individuals
Group of Companies, a multi-country company; or groups inherent in standardized wage systems and
Goutam Roy, General Manager, Systems and lack of training are few factors that encompass the
Modernisation, The Times of India Group; DK Sen, labour issues. “Many of these labour problems are
Vice President, Business Development, West Asia, required to be addressed at the enterprise level
Larsen and Toubro Limited, Mumbai; Ranti Deb through appropriate HRM policies and practices with
Maitra, Executive Director, Engineering Export the objective of ensuring a union of organizational
Promotion Council (EEPC), New Delhi; and Surajit and individual goals and needs, or a reasonable
Mukherjee, Head Human Resource, ECS, Alstom. balance between them”, says Sriyan de Silva . The
IR and HR present trend in labour relations and HRM is to place
greater emphasis on employee involvement,
Industrial Relations (IR) in different economies are
harmonious employer-employee relations and on
influenced by a variety of circumstances like political
philosophies, economic imperatives, the role of the practices which promote them. In the changing
state in determining the direction of economic and orchestra of IR and HR, employers are now compelled
social development, the influence of unions and the to view IR and HRM from a strategic perspective
business community and in some cases the legacy of instead of only from traditional point of view of
foreign domination. Over several decades IR in many negotiating terms and conditions of employment and
industrialized market economies paid less attention performing personnel and welfare functions. IR and
to competitiveness than did the younger discipline of HRM are directly relevant to competitiveness and
human resource management. IR fulfilled the function how they are managed will impact the enterprise
of providing employees with a collective voice and performance like, its productivity and quality of goods
unions with the means to establish standardized terms and services, labour costs, quality of workforce,
and conditions of employment not only within an motivation, prevention of disputes, settlement and
enterprise but also across an industry and sometimes aligning employee aspirations with enterprise
across an economy. This was achieved through objectives.
Training, Innovations and Leadership After all the non-human resources are procured, it is
the human resource that breeds life into them and gets
According to Subrato Bose of Lee and Nee Software
them going. They must continue to operate in unison
(Exports) Limited, “New innovations are formulated
and at their optimum capacity in order to make the
to understand the need and want of the employees
enterprise enjoy good health, competitive edge and
and then design the training modules for the
profitability on an ongoing basis. This definitely
workforce which also covers the objective of retaining
requires a continuing motivated contribution from its
employees. Currently training not only focuses on the
human resource department. To a large extent
employees’ sense of belongingness to the
motivation depends upon the proper management of
organization, it also enhances the qualitative
human resource, through proper utilization of
personality development of the manpower. Softskill
vehicles of participative decision-making, delegation,
sharpening is the agendum of the day because
communication, feedback and management by
communication, the most important means of
objective (MBO) systems. Each of these vehicles
exchanging ideas and potentials is itself a very hard
require very delicate handling and careful balancing
skill to be adopted”. Training is an integral part of
and when a manager succeeds in achieving these, he
operation and innovativeness in training modules
automatically attains the status of a leader.
help the employees find their own potential. HR has
to play a very significant role in identifying the Leadership rests on competence and character and
training need of the trainees and their employees. The unless these are incorporated by the boss in his
need of the hour is to understand the need and wants management style and his personality, he cannot
of the employees and design the training modules become a leader. Bose suggests that for overcoming
accordingly. “If the emotional factor is addressed most the ongoing challenges and achieving optimal
of the issues get resolved. This is innovativeness in excellence, it is imperative to adhere to Theory Z
today’s context”, commented Bose. HR department management style. Such management style is
and the trainer have a specific role to play for one-to- characterized by mutual trust between employee and
one feedback and understand individual needs and the employer, informal relationship, employee
wants. The basic objective of the trainer is to inculcate involvement in decision-making, non specialized
in the trainees a sense of involvement and career, slow evaluation process for employees, long-
belongingness towards the organization. The freshers, term employment, flexibility and adaptability.
for example join a company with lots of aspirations. Although theory-Z management holds much promise,
They have unending demands and retain the the transition to Z cannot be accomplished quickly.
memories of their first job. Here comes the role of the Bose has outlined five actions to test Theory-Z
trainer who must offer some of the most significant principles without changing their philosophy and
elements such as, belongingness, challenges, structure. Such strategies are: to audit the firm’s
opportunities for development and contribution; management philosophy and procedure; to make
growth, fun, rewards and excellent work culture. Each suggestion box a two-way tool of communication, to
and every organization today is customer oriented do more of ‘Management by Walking Around,’ to
and to achieve the objective, companies need to be develop a modified quality circle and involve
people driven. employees in establishing objectives.
The art of communication cannot be underestimated Competency Modelling
in the process of achieving success. According to Bose, Janet Gasper Chowdhury of Pricewaterhouse
“tone of our voice makes lots of difference because Coopers Pvt. Ltd. is of the opinion that in the changing
67% of what we say is communicated through our workforce context employees seek a different sense
tone. Tone reflects attitude and mood of the person. of relationship — often called as ‘employee value
The researched answer to the proportion of proposition’ with their employer. There is an emphasis
communication exercise shows – words used- 7%, on a shared sense of responsibility for career
Tone-38% and body language-55%. Going beyond the development and personal development. Career
traditional role, HR and the trainer need to groom development is more than just movement from one
the new hires with induction process to inculcate in level to the other. It is a chance to learn and experiment
them the work culture and ethics of the organization. and reflects the bend towards having long time
They are trained in soft skills as well.” association with the organization. Talent management
provides a range of benefits for doing so: for the talent, well, which will be the key to competitive advantage.
for the organization and for the professionals involved Hence talent management has become the buzzword
in doing the work. Companies that are implementing of organizations in the globalized world as it is
talent management are strategic and deliberate in how essential for them to attain long term strategy”. There
they source, attract, select, train, develop, promote and is an emphasis on a shared sense of responsibility for
move employees through the organization. It also the employee’s career development and growth.
incorporates how organizations drive the Various new concepts of talent management are
performance management system. helping organizations and employees move towards
Talent management can mean different things to a more valued relationship wherein both see the
different people. For some it is about managing ‘the advantage of being associated with the other. To Janet,
top 25%’ while for others it is how talent is managed “An efficient talent management programme helps in:
for the whole work force. As for instance, Pfizer is an planning talent needs of the organization, attract the
organization which has successfully aligned talent best talents, speed time to productivity, motivate the
management to its core strategy and has defined right behavior, develop the targeted capabilities and
explicit values and expectations for leadership knowledge, retain high performers and enable talent
behaviours. mobility across the organization”.
Any competency modeling exercise needs to begin
Case study of Wipro
with an understanding of the vision/mission and
Wipro, the Information Technology Company, follows values of the organization. Competency models can
a robust system of talent review and planning for all consist of behavioural or managerial competencies as
the middle and senior management levels and also well as technical or functional competencies. To
has undertaken coaching exercise wherein senior level identify the competencies that are critical for the
leaders have been identified as master coaches and organization there are few techniques the HR has to
trained in the same to mentor resources into leaders. take resort to: such as repertory grids, behavioral
IT bigwig Wipro starts its talent management strategy event interviews, and job analysis. These techniques
right from the stage of recruitment and goes on to are used through interviews and workshops with top
having a successful and detailed on boarding which management, function or business heads and job
ensures that the employee gets inducted into Wipro holders to understand what leads to superior
way of thinking. It covers all aspects right from performance. The constructs that emerge are coded
tackling the issue of job rotation. They have a very and analysed to derive the list of competencies that
effective internal job portal which allows employees will enable the organization to measure how
who has completed 18 months in an assignment to employees are supporting the achievement of
look for the change and apply for the same. There are business goals. Some companies use secondary inputs
multitude of trainings, both technical and soft skills as well as competency dictionaries which list out the
to choose from, also detailed planning of deputation various behavioural competencies that are relevant
to onsite assignments as that is a big lure for the to organizations. These however should be verified
employees. There is a planned approach to leadership and customized to the organisation’s context,
development wherein the identified set of top 20 otherwise they get left as generic, often not fruitful in
percent are made to undergo certain leadership and measuring the actual requirements. Once the
project management related trainings and the same competencies are identified and validated, they are
goes up till the senior management level as well. There further elaborated on by developing a maturity
is a detailed succession planning exercise which is a progression in terms of levels like basic, proficient,
yearly event. It aims at identifying the top five per advanced etc. These consist of different behavioural
cent of the employee percentage at each level and indicators that need to be demonstrated by the
identifying their areas of strength, development. All employees and help organizations measure whether
this combined has given Wipro the competitive these are being met or not. They are typically
advantage which has resulted in a consistent growth observable behaviours. Once the competency model
rate for the company and has also helped to maintain is defined, the unique roles and management levels
a low attrition level. in the organization are mapped to each of the
Says Janet, “Organisations today have acknowledged competency levels indicating the expectations from
that its not product superiority alone that they need the role holders which in turn can be aligned to many
to compete for , but a high performing workforce as of the other HR systems such as performance
management, training and development, recruitment. thereby ensuring that the quality of managers in the
Having an effective talent management system helps company is at par with global standards.”
in engaging the employee’s emotional energy which
However, the reason the tool of assessment centres
in turn helps gain commitment towards the
are not so widely practiced is because it is time
organization and managing employee aspirations
consuming in nature and requires a lot of resources
efficiently thereby reducing attrition.
for the same.
Assessment centres are the most effective tools used
for identifying future managers or recruiting the right Managing Today’s Talent to Deliver Tomorrow
candidate into the organization. It helps the company Substantiating the concept of talent management,
to identify the best talent, both internal and external Udayan Sen of British Petroleum is of the opinion that
(by means of recruitment) by evaluating their managing talent to deliver in the long-term requires
knowledge, behavioural traits, skills and concerted actions today to secure conditions for
competencies. The selected candidates are made to success tomorrow. He says, “The issue is how much
undergo simulations and situational exercises that are traction the leadership of the firm has on people
effective indicators of their abilities. The exercises agenda and what awareness exists about scope and
range from leaderless group discussions, role plays, scale of the challenge for the future, as the demand-
behavioral interviews and many others. Assessment supply footprint changes with demographic and
centres can be used for a variety of organizational economic transition in the next couple of decades.
processes like recruitment and promotion, early Talent retention happens as a result of how a leader
identification of potentials, diagnosis and inspires and motivates the team and seldom by sheer
development of talent, organizational planning and change.”
also as development centres. They make it possible
Strategy delivery is as much of a leadership act as
for the organizations to make use of the best
strategy formulation, and the difference lies in
methodology for assessing their employees. If the
accountability. Strategy delivery happens across the
assessment centres are competency based, then the
organization and it is important for leaders to
information available about individuals can be
communicate the vision and provide the necessary
collated to provide data on the overall capacity levels
context to enable individuals to perform knowing
of the organization.
where they stand in the organization’s value creation
Case study of Cognizant Technology Solutions process. To develop and retain the most talented
people requires more than short term tactical actions.
Cognizant has been using assessment centres since
It require leaders of today to plan for the succession
1998 for identifying top talents and future leaders. As of tomorrow, and in a radical sense make themselves
Janet Gasper Chowdhury continues, “It has till now dispensable for a generation that is in their late 20s
assessed competencies of approximately 400 senior and early 30s today. The boss, and the leader in him
and middle management professionals across or her, is an important aspect of how talent retention
Cognizant. As a result of having the early mover’s happens, often as a result of how a leader inspires
advantage, Cognizant today is reaping rich rewards and motivates the team, seldom as a result by sheer
by enjoying high levels of customer and employee chance.
satisfaction, which has resulted in consistent growth
Managing talent for delivering longer term strategy
of their revenue and profit. The programmes include
has traditionally been not ranked high in
written as well as oral individual or group exercises organisation’s priority and there is a case for change,
that are designed to measure the proficiency in distinct more in some business sectors than others. To take an
leadership competencies and dimensions using example, the oil and gas industry today is facing
myriad tools and instruments. The organisation has severe resource crunch and the ability to grow is
invested considerable effort in identifying managerial limited by capability, not capital. This phenomenon
competencies and has nine major clusters of has its roots more than decade back as low oil prices
behaviours which are assessed over a two day induced downsizing, industry consolidations, start-
workshop through a series of simulations. The stop recruitment and cost cutting initiatives that
leadership team at Cognizant has been sold out on impacted the talent pipelines for many technical
the concept, wherein their managers and leaders are disciplines. Since the turn of the century, oil prices
benchmarked against global standards of leadership have witnessed an unprecedented sustained upturn ,
underpinned by economic fundamentals of demand from middle to small sized companies where the
and supply , but also to a large extent by externalities hierarchical and often an informal model are most
like geopolitics and concerns of energy security. prevalent and probably more relevant as the talent
However, the ability to grow production in the pool is relatively small. Large global companies that
medium term is limited by capability — not as many have internal talent market include BP, IBM, American
skilled people resources resulting in sustained high Express. Besides on-the-job developments, most
energy price environment as demand and supply stay companies have structured developmental
finely balanced. programmes that hone skills of individuals to harness
Some traditional thinking would suggest that talent the full potential of the talent in diverse situations.
management initiatives for the long term are HR These are as important as learning on the job and
driven. HR does play a very important role —— one complement the skills and competencies in a
of standardization of process, partnership with controlled way. According to Udayan Sen retaining
businesses and continuity over a time horizon that talent is a leadership master act which depends on
spans the career of the individual, as against just the individual style and personality. Sen suggests few
current role. “But the accountability to pull through illustrative behaviors that are associated with a leader
talent in the organization is a line responsibility, who inspires and motivates the team:
driven from top. Senior leaders often find themselves First, communicating and encouraging a two-way
unable to focus on the proper agenda in their efforts communication. The two-way communication is a
to fight the mundane rhetoric of daily routine. This critical aspect of delegation, where the subordinates
has to change and if a talent culture is not intrinsic to can seek guidance, challenge convention and where
an organisation’s culture, induced changes through necessary prioritize to deliver on the agenda.
performance management and reward tools need to Second, providing timely feedback is communicating
be put in place to begin the process of culture change. but with an objective to develop people and can be
Again this is a top down process and leaders must part of formal, like year-end performance review and
set examples for the organization to gain momentum,” informal process. It is often the informal feedback that
says Udayan Sen. helps to take corrective actions as one has time to
Identifying the right people for the right jobs is reflect and work on. Again seeking feedback can be
probably the first step to develop talent. Creating empowering to the subordinate and allows for a
work experiences that are most likely to develop healthy relationship with the boss.
individual competencies, more and more companies Third, the ability of a leader to adapt and change in
now offer job rotation as a way of moving talented an evolving world instills confidence in the team that
people horizontally and vertically across a breadth fleet-footedness is not an option, but a necessity often
of roles achieving talent synergies in the process. An to maintain status quo. To be a step ahead one needs
accountant leading a business is not uncommon, as to break away from the path, out-think rather than
increasing number of CFOs step into CEO roles at the out-manoeuvre others. Enabling others to perform
highest level, setting the precedent to follow similar while taking accountability for outcomes that allows
cross-functional or business moves in the wider for failures is a leadership trait that differentiates the
organization. Some companies have created an average from the great.
internal talent market which is a way to promote
individual self-interest to identify and seek a potential Fourth, an ethical leader is not just an honest person,
role. It is designed to encourage company-wide but the leadership style reflects the personality, beliefs
participation the success of which is dependent on and values. This may mean adopting a best fit of
fair, transparent and merit-based selection process by personal style with an organisational need –successful
a sufficiently broad-based panel. It allows for the leaders often find a sweet spot that allows sufficient
hiring manager to select the best resource from a pool flexibility to stay true to oneself while finding one’s
of talented candidates. The role itself is a result of place in the organization. Talented individuals often
personal choice and appeals more to the employee as role model themselves on one or more leaders.
it is the best fit of individual aspiration and the Hence it does not mean that leaders need to be aware
opportunity set available. The internal talent market that they are under watchful eyes of not only their
scores over traditional model as it is based on resource bosses, but also of their subordinates. There is a
‘pull’ as against ‘push’——attracting the best talent ‘parental advantage’ that needs to be played out
where it is needed most. However, it is less applicable responsibly.
Fifth, the real test of leadership is the ability to share is open and transparent in picking winners and
the learning to the next generation and develop celebrating success while motivating others to join the
successors who are eventually even better leaders. party. It is important to lose the consistent under-
Developing leadership potential from existing talent performers before the cost of carrying them becomes
requires investment—on the job and off it. Most enormous and peer morale gets adversely affected.
importantly it requires time and effort of existing Strategic HR: Managing Workforce Diversity
leaders who as mentors, coach, boss or simply a
colleague can influence behaviours and outlook more Presently recruitment has risen from being a
than what most formal classroom training functional resource-skill-role-fitment task to an
programmes can offer. extremely core policy driven function within an
organization. Today HR manager is not only restricted
Finally, challenge excites most employees and often to recruit, appraise, reward and retain at an
lack of adequate stretch can create as much stress as operational level but must also have a view of the
abundance of it. Some organizations have responded business end-to-end and his responsibilities and tasks
to the issue of challenge by grafting managers into must be designed and deployed in this perspective
leadership roles early on in careers. Difference as also to contribute to develop strategy based on his
between ‘managing to lead’ and ‘leading to manage’ understanding of the human resource. As Sayantan
is subtly different and probably defines the fine line Datta of Infosys holds, “Although the key
when managers become leaders. People seldom responsibilities of the HR management in any
recognize that making things happen can be different organization remain the same, now they are more
from making things possible and managers who can closely aligned to the strategic intents of the
do the both have transcended to become leaders. This boardroom.”
is also the best retention tactics that has long-term pay-
off – the best people have age on their side and have In traditional economy, the role of the HR dept. would
wealth of experience by the time they are in their be managing the aforesaid responsibilities from an
forties. This has led to the age of the executive operational perspective, supplying bodies to attain
leadership in organization to fall over time, as is operational objectives. People were distinct from
evident in top companies today. organizational process and the strategy driving them.
With organizational dynamics shifting towards an
In the real world most progressive companies that increasing ‘market-and-customer-oriented’ approach,
have taken the challenge to pursue people agenda in the role of HR needs to be revisited and interpreted
right earnest are on a journey. So talent management in a more inclusive context. For example, in
is elevated to a higher pedestal in the organizational manufacturing dominated economy, HR is mostly
priority action need to be taken to create a talent limited to recruitment, training and managing the HR,
culture and this may mean doing things differently, so that the capital assets would function smoothly.
or doing new things altogether. A talent culture is in However, in an increasingly knowledge driven and
existence where the leadership visibly demonstrates service dominated economy, success and failure
the value of their people as a strategic differentiator depends largely on how the HR aligns with the
and exercises sufficient care to secure the trust and strategic goals and objectives of the company since
confidence of the employees who develop a deep the outcome of employee performance is directly
sense of belonging to the company they work. It is linked with the performance and growth of the
important that the talent culture exists company-wide company. To make this growth sustainable, HR must
and not limited to a small pool of so called ‘high address core issues of employee satisfaction and
performers’. Like most top players in sports, there are motivation thereby creating a business model driven
career highs and lows and the ability to out-perform by the employees. Some of the direct outcomes are:
consistently over time separates the average from the Higher employee initiative, lower employee attrition,
extraordinary. An organization that has an embedded motivation to create and contribute to knowledge and
talent culture will continuously high-grade the ownership to roles and responsibilities.
‘portfolio of high performers’, through healthy
internal competition, as well as an element of bottom There are several factors that influence an
slicing—removing under performers in a merit based organization’s recruitment strategy. Employee
organisational construct. There need to be a process branding is an indirect branding effect in which the
of merit recognition, well communicated and communication of company employees serve to
understood across the company and the leadership characterize the employer’s brand. Employees are
today the face of the company to the larger social every employee can explore career possibilities and
stakeholders in a larger measure than ever before. work towards fulfilling higher goals. Similarly
Thus to be able to propagate a positive brand image rewards are not only in terms of growth of salary but
every organization must recruit in alignment with the also in creating recognition for the out-performer. This
image and standards it projects. For ex. In recruitment satisfies the out-performer and also the others to be
into National Defence Academy of India, the high motivated to achieve higher goals resulting in
standards of physical and intellectual capabilities, the enhanced performance. It is also important to be able
challenging campaigns, tough selection process, are to set correct expectations around rewards and
all aimed at recruiting the toughest and the smartest. remuneration mechanism maintaining a fine balance
This is directly in line with the strategic intent of the that would allow all employees to participate and
Indian army, to breed a fearless, patriotic and strong perform. A key step to improve employee
defence lineage that defends the country from security performance is counseling and coaching.
threats. “People management today is not the sole
Intellectual capital is the possession of the knowledge, responsibility of the HR as a department, but must be
applied experience, organizational technology, a necessary skill of every member or manager of teams
customer relationships and professional skills that from the lowest ranks to the top management,” says
provide a company with competitive edge in the Dutta. Instead of limiting himself with operational
market. In the intensely competitive market today, it details of attaining business objectives, the current HR
is important to breed and retain the right intellectual manager takes the additional role of managing people.
capital. Hence it is extremely important to recruit He must understand how corporate strategy rolls
employees with the capability to create and apply down to the entry level employee and design and
intellectual capital for the company and the deploy control systems to ensure that managers at
customers. Continues Sayantan Datta , “We have seen every level work in line with the frameworks laid
the growth of small companies into big corporations thereof. The emphasis on people is the fulcrum for
in the last two decades. Ex, Reliance, HCL, Dabur, change in a successful company. One of the most
sunpharma, Piramal Group, , new economy countries important competitive advantages of any business in
like Infosys, Polaris, Mastek. What separates these perspective is its ability to create knowledge and
companies from others is their capability to attract retain this within the organization and deploy it
and recruit talent that has boosted them into towards sustainable growth. The Human Resource
powerhouse of knowledge. The recruitment function Manager is not only restricted in his responsibilities
today must align itself to upholding corporate culture to recruit, reward and retain at an operational level,
through careful selection who would fit and align to but must also have a view of the business end-to-end,
the corporate culture. Recruitment cannot operate as and his responsibilities and tasks must be designed
an operational function fitting skills to roles but must and deployed in this perspective as also to contribute
have a view of the business from its strategic to developing strategy based on his understanding
objectives, convert these to role definitions and recruit of the human resource. Recruitments have risen from
to right fit the organization as a whole rather than a being a functional resource-skill-role-fitment task to
function of procurement manager or programmer”. an extremely core policy driven function within any
India is no more a country where there is abundance organization.
of low cost talent, as the demand for talent grows
exponentially with time. This gives rise to two Sustainability and Growth with New Face of HR
immensely important areas where HR must act and Outsourcing and Consultancy
take strategic initiatives. For example performance
appraisal was used to decide whether or not the salary Globalization and the spectacular economic growth
or wage of an employee was justified. In the modern of India have widened opportunities for the
organization there is a strategic emphasis to grow knowledge worker. In the perspective of “economic
talent in-house as this reduces a great deal of revolution through globalization”, human resource
recruitment cost. Now it has become a key to has been designed as the prime fuel to run the engine
employee engagement and development thereby of growth. Today, like never before, human resource
addressing the issue of developing resources to take factor is expected to act as the capital of the enterprises
higher responsibilities fulfilling vacated or newly and also to deliver the winning edge. Globally, the
created positions. It must provide a framework where focus has been shifted from the orthodox intra-
systems – including scanning and imaging have an adverse impact on the industry and society
technologies, memory and storage technologies, as a whole.” This in HR function has created a huge
display systems and copying technologies – are now shift in the way it delivers services and in its
helping users realize the potential of the IT revolution. relationship with the rest of the organizations in order
HR process has gone a drastic change after to increase business focus. “With the changing
implementation of Enterprise Resource Planning dynamics of HR, organizations need to restructure
(ERP). Right from evaluation of performance to on themselves to sustain growth and sustainability in
line recruitments, ERP packages offer all in one. such fiercely competitive market from domestic as
Though companies are investing in core HR well as foreign competitors, especially with some of
functionality, they are also making investments in new the challenges that need to be tackled at the right
HR application tools, which is beyond managing time,” cautions Sen.
employee data. The goal of this holistic approach is Sen suggests that the process of restructuring should
to create a link between enterprise performance start from redefining the role of HR and the Line.
management, core HR, and Human Resource While HR discovers the natural talent and places them
Management. IT and HR need better alignment to in appropriate roles, the Line has the responsibility
deliver corporate objectives. HR software solutions of utilizing them with care to ensure that the talents
used by domestic and global market organizations are are cultured, developed and retained for becoming
seeking to optimize their HR service delivery. eventual leaders. Earlier if a person resigned and if it
Customization options allow organizations to was accepted by the Line Manager, there was no way
implement an (HRIS) Human Resource Information to find if there was any major grievance of the
System that best meets their business needs. “Thus employee. Disgruntled employees leaving the
HRIS and e-HRM usage allow the human resource organization can cause potential negative marketing
professional to become a strategic player and has to make a major dent on the company’s image. But
given a new shape to HR”, says Goutam Roy, General with changed face of HR today such grievances can
Manager of The Times of India Group. be known and amended. Hence HR managers should
Re-defining the HR and the Line be given the necessary power and hierarchy to
“From the organisation’s point of view”, as D K Sen question the Line manager in matters relating to talent
of Larsen Toubro Limited shared, “with a major shift management. Now organizations are entrusting HR
in HR, human resource is becoming a more strategic for conducting leadership programmes to select top
contributor to business success, that is, more business- talents. These 5-10% top talents are being groomed
oriented, more accountable and to demonstrate value as future leaders through fast track promotion, high
for money”. However, in assessing the practicality of rewards and early leadership which is leaving
the application of such changes in the long run Sen the remaining employees demoralized. Hence
suggests that “pragmatic challenges need to be organizations must review its reward policies and
apprehended by the organization especially in case find innovative means to ring-fence its useful
of establishing a balance between ‘what are’ and ‘what employees. This requires HR to have high touch
should be’ HR and line manager responsibilities for engagement with employees to provide the required
people management and development.” Moreover, support.
the present trend of aggressive head hunting by HR The changing HR has given a great challenge to the
functions might put even the most stable organization corporate. Ranti Deb Maitra of EEPC has commented
into a state of constant fear of losing their valuable that, “Strong competition has forced the organizations
performing employees. Consequently a major portion to make strategic plans and tactical ways of
of time is being spent by management to devise implementation to let them hold a firm footing on the
innovative ways and means to retain its talents by path of long-term survival with an incessant growth”.
ring-fencing them with continuous rewards and While the HR professionals now increasingly spend
growth prospects. Also the organizations are trying more and more time in strategic inputs aimed at
to maximize outsourcing of its routine and less meeting base targets, improving efficiency,
important functions to ensure a trim structure of performance, reducing costs, etc., their most time
highly remunerated employees. In such a process Sen consuming task remains, providing support to line
says, “a large gap is created in the remuneration managers for people management. Organizations
structure of the outsourcing organization and the must replace the old system of performance reviews
outsourced organization which in the near future will with a system based on value creation and employee
development. Most critical component is measuring to take charge and deliver. That he will do whatever
how much value was created for the customer, since it takes to perform”, says Mukherjee.
objective of the organization is not just to make money
Conclusion
but most importantly to provide value to the customer.
Culturally paternalism has been replaced by
Employee-Employer Relationship performance orientation and seniority replaced by
Against the backdrop of changing HR management, meritocracy. Structurally organizations have become
the employee-employer relationship has also more agile in the way they are organized and in the
undergone a significant change. The knowledge way they respond to the marketplace. Complex matrix
worker has emerged as the clear winner, as a structures to improve team work have been taken over
significant category of the workforce. They are now from functional silos that existed earlier. Outsourcing
treated as resources of the company unlike the earlier of non-core areas, especially all routine transaction
concept of treating employees as ‘costs.’ According based HR work has become the norm. Behaviourally,
to Surajit Mukherjee of Alstom, “the traditional employees have become more commitment conscious
relationship that was paternalistic had superior- than entitlement conscious. Traditional rewards and
subordinate authoritarian relationship where the recognition systems in organizations have changed
employee was satisfied to accept unconditionally the from life-time employment, perks and cost of living
subordinate status. But now there is a discernable shift index based rewards to contribution based
recognitions like performance pays and merit
for the preference of an equal partnership both by the
increases. As for instance the customary employer-
employee and the employer. The employer no longer
employee relationship in the USA is designed with a
takes a lifelong responsibility for the employee and
new tool called as ‘employment at will’. This policy
the employee on the other hand is extremely conscious
has kept the way open for the employees to quit the
of his mobility. Dignity and respect for the individual,
job at any time and the employer is also free to
and treatment as equal partners in progress does make terminate the employee from work at any point of
a difference in the psyche and morale of the workforce, time. A survey in UK, commissioned by Chartered
which translates into higher productivity”. From the Institute of Personnel and Development (CIPD) has
employers’ side, the concept of life-long employment found that relationship between employer and
and long-term career development is fast receding, employee in many work places have worsened by
particularly in the sun-rise industries of the emerging poor communication and low levels of trust resulting
high-growth sectors. With time industries find more in underperformance, low productivity and high staff
and more people with contractual or part-time work, turnover. Mike Emmott, CIPD advisor says, “Many
an improved male-female ratio in the work place and employees feel like neglected spouses. With only three
more people working in the services sector. Project in ten employees engaged, the findings suggest that
based services help in creating a robust performance many managers just aren’t doing enough to keep the
management system in terms of having clearly staff interested. Lack of communication means many
defined objectives and timelines. Employers today employees feel unsupported and don’t feel their hard
understand that motivating people to work is a work is recognized. As a result the sparkle has gone
complex process where the employee considers out of the relationship, damaging productivity levels
himself as an equal partner and hence expects to be in many UK businesses. This study clearly shows how
trusted rather than controlled. So there is rise in people much management practices affect people’s attitudes
working from home, availing flexi timing and working towards their work.”
in an office environment which allows hot desking. Hence as business is going global, HR has to go
“The other aspect of change is in the employees’ beyond engaging employees and take care of how
employability. The employer expects that the people can be encouraged to deliver value and remain
employee is employable and is up to the job offered. effective under different conditions and diverse
He should be motivated, self-confident, committed, environments. Employee effectiveness thus is more
adaptable and flexible. He must have the wherewithal important than only employee engagement for HR.
Suneel Kumar
Assistant Professor, Department of Commerce, Shaheed Bhagat Singh College,
University of Delhi, Delhi
Abstract
The present study is descriptive in nature where an effort is made to find out that with which elements of Flipkart and
Amazon the respondents are satisfied. The study uses the primary data which was collected with the help of a structured
questionnaire. A five-point Likert scale was used to collect the data. The sample size was 100 respondents of the age
group betwee18-35. Only those respondents were questioned about their purchases from Amazon and Flipkart who
make at-least two transactions in the last six months. The respondents were approached on the basis of convenience
sampling.
Keywords: Online Retailing, Customer Satisfaction, Customer Expectations
Guo et. al. (2011) proposed the following model in relation to the customer satisfaction in online shopping. The
study was carried out in China with a sample size of 380. All the eight independent variables were found positively
related to consumer satisfaction. All the proposed hypotheses were supported.
Faryabi et al. (2012) studied the effect of price The major aspects focused in the case were relating
discounts and store image on consumer’s purchase to consumers’ buying behavior towards online
intention in online shopping context as a case study shopping in the context of Flipkart.com. It is observed
of Nokia and HTC and the obtained results proved that Flipkart is most preferred because of its attractive
that price discount has a positive effect on perceived prices and popularity. Electronic is the third most
store image and store image in turn, positively preferred category on Flipkart after accessories and
influences consumers’ purchase intention. Victoria & apparels.
Ganesan (2014) found that schemes always attract Background of Flipkart
more and more consumers towards particular brand.
Simultaneously it gives an idea about the factors Flipkart is an e-commerce company founded in 2007
which consumers look most in the product before they by Sachin Bansal and Binny Bansal. It is registered in
make final decision. Price off and extra quantities are Singapore and it operates in India whereas it’s
the two main offers schemes which consumers have headquarter is in Bangalore, Karnataka. In May 2014
came across at the time of purchase. The study was Flipkart received $210 million from DST global, in July
carried out in online sales promotions of grocery and 2014 it raised $1 billion led by existing investors’ Tiger
other FMCG products in Chennai entity. Global and South Africa’s media group Naspers and
May 2015 it raised $550 million from some of its
Mohanapriya and Anusuya (2014) studied customer existing investors. Flipkart’s last fund raising round
preferences and satisfaction for selected online in May 2015 had pegged its valuation at $15 billion.
websites. They included Flipkart, Amazon.com, E-bay, Flipkart acquired the rights to Chakpak’s digital
Snapdeal.com, Jabong.com and Myntra.com in the catalogue which includes 40,000 filmographies, 10000
Coimbatore city for their study purpose. It is found movies and close to 50k ratings. Flipkart has
that Flipkart has the maximum number of categorically said that it will not be involved with the
respondents followed by Amazon.com (almost half original site and will not use the brand name. Over
of the flipkart). The customers have assigned third 15 million products: still counting. It includes 11.5
rank to E-bay which is followed by Snapdeal, Myntra million book titles. The other products include Books,
and Jabong respectively. Singh (2014) the data was Movies, Music, Games, Mobiles, Cameras,
collected from Lucknow city in India on Flipkart.com. Computers, Healthcare and personal products, Home
appliances and electronics, Stationary, Perfumes, Toys Flipkart for various elements of online shopping
and many more. In July 2014 Flipkart launched its which affects the satisfaction.
own set of tablet, mobile phones & tablet. The first Ha1: There is a significant difference in the
among these series of tablet phones was Digflip pro opinion of customers regarding Amazon and
xt 712 tablets. In September 2014 Flipkart launched Flipkart for various elements of online shopping
its in-house home appliances and personal healthcare which affects the satisfaction.
brand citron. The label includes a wide range of
cooking utilities and grooming products. Data Base and Research Methodology
Background of Amazon The present study is descriptive in nature where an
attempt is made to know the opinion of customers
The company was founded in 1994, spurred by what regarding Amazon and Flipkart for various elements
Bezos called his “regret minimization framework,” of online shopping which affects the satisfaction level.
which described his efforts to fend off any regrets for The study uses the primary data which was collected
not participating sooner in the internet business boom with the help of a structured questionnaire. A five-
during that time. In 1994, Bezos left his employment point Likert scale was used to collect the data and the
as vice-president of D. E. Shaw & Co., a Wall Street sample size was 100 respondents of the age group
firm, and moved to Seattle. He began to work on a between18-35. All the respondents were firstly
business plan for what would eventually become questioned about their purchases from Amazon and
Amazon.com. Jeff Bezos incorporated the company Flipkart. Only those respondents were chosen for the
as “Cadabra” on July 5, 1994. Bezos changed the name study that at least had made two purchases from both
to Amazon a year later after a lawyer misheard its Flipkart and Amazon in the last six months. The
original name as “Cadaver”. The company went respondents were approached on the basis of
online as Amazon.com in 1995. Bezos selected the convenience sampling method.
name Amazon by looking through the dictionary and
Barnes & Noble sued Amazon on May 12, 1997, Interpretation of Data
alleging that Amazon’s claim to be “the world’s largest The data analysis and interpretation has been divided
bookstore” was false. Barnes and Noble asserted, “It in to three parts. The first part presents demographic
is not a bookstore at all but it’s a book broker.” the profile of the respondents, second part discusses the
suit was later settled out by court, and Amazon general information about the online shopping and
continued to make the same claim.” Company offers third section deals with the level of satisfaction from
Books, Music, movies, games, Digital download, Flipkart and Amazon with respect to the various
Kindle, Computer and office, Electronics, Home and parameters of satisfaction as an online retailer.
garden, Grocery, health, beauty, Toys, Kids, Clothing,
and Sports. Amazon has separate retail websites for {Part 1} Demographic Profile of the Respondents
united states, united kingdom & Ireland, France, As per table 1 the study have mixed demographic
Canada, Germany, Italy, Spain, the Netherlands, characteristics and shows that there are 79% male and
Australia, Brazil, Japan, china, India and Mexico. 21% female respondents. It is evident that most of the
Amazon also offers international shipping to certain respondents (48%) are from the age group of 25-40
other countries for some of its products. followed by the age group of above 40 and below 25
almost equally with 28% and 24% respectively. In the
Objectives of the study
category of income, the maximum is the 20,000-40,000,
To assess the customer satisfaction level from i.e. 52% which is followed by Above 40,000 with 33%
Flipkart and Amazon. and Below 20,000 with 15% only. Most of the
To compare the customer satisfaction from respondents (58%) are educationally rich which is
Flipkart and Amazon on the basis of elements followed by graduates with 30% and below
of online shopping which affects the satisfaction. graduation with 12%. In the category of occupation,
majority respondents are belongs to service and
Research Hypothesis salaried class (42%), which is followed by business
H01: There is no significant difference in the class with 32% and very less proportion of students
opinion of customers regarding Amazon and with 26%.
The product category of electronic appliances (Table 3) is bought at the highest being 3.43 followed by the
gift items with a mean value of 3.26 and Mobile, Laptops and Accessories with a mean value of 2.95. Beauty,
cosmetics and Personal Care has got a mean value of 2.9 which is also quite promising.
Table 3 Frequency of Major Retail Category Wherein Purchase is made by the Consumers
Various Categories of Items Very Frequently No Less fre Very Less Mean
Frequently Comments quently Frequently Value
As per the table 4 the mean values can be observed and some differences can be found in the Flipkart and
Amazon. The mean value is better for Flipkart with respect to the shopping time, number of offerings, and
variety of offering, fast presentation, return policy and competitive price. However, the mean value for rest of
the variables is better for Amazon. In the opinion of respondents Amazon is better in case of Ease of Browsing
the website, Quality of information, less searching cost, customized content, updated information, complaint
handling, Post purchase services and confirmation email. To check the significance of the same independent
sample t-test was applied.
Table 5 T-Test for Checking the Significance of Difference Between Flipkart and Amazon for
Satisfaction Level of Respondents with Elements in Online Shopping
Table 5 presents that t-test for checking the significance carried out on online retailing. Further the study
of difference between Flipkart and Amazon for covers the area of Delhi and NCR only rather than
satisfaction level of respondents with elements in the other areas of the country.
online shopping. It has been found that out of 20
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Abstract
Managerial interest in user-generated content (UGC) websites is growing, as firm face highly uncertain markets,
ambiguous economic environments, and a mounting user base accustomed to active engagement rather than passive
acceptance of products and services. Firms are now exploring ways to provide a platform (website) through which users
generate and contribute content, resulting in a co-created experience between users and firms. This conceptual paper
develops a framework of value co-creation in form of model by utilizing user experience as to examine how social
interactions, operationalized as perceived as UGC website influence an individual’s user experience and subsequent
engagement behaviors. Various social sites are availed by the consumers to share their experiences and suggest their
viewpoints, which a firm could use as a platform to create innovation in their firms and could achieve better competitive
advantage by satisfying consumers. Positive user experience positively influenced a user’s engagement behavior. Based
on the results of this study, implications for research and practice are discussed and future directions for researchers are
outlined. This papers also outlines the transformation coming in firms working by utilizing social layer.
Key words: Value co-creation, User Generated content, Engagement marketing, User experience.
Introduction
Continuous advances in technology have altered the way users communicate, make decisions, relate, learn, interact
with other users, and even buy, because they have modified the structure of market power and prompted a shift in
power, from the producing agents or distributors to customers (Constantinides and Fountain, 2008). That is, in a
traditional value creation model, providers sell inputs to producers, which then develop products and services for
consumers. Value gets created by the company or manufacturer, in the form of the product being distributed in the
market, through exchanges of monetary compensation (Vargo et al., 2008). Thus, companies focus on the interaction
and seek to extract economic value (Prahalad and Ramaswamy, 2004a). Furthermore, the traditional paradigm
regards customers as passive buyers and users (O’Hern and Rindfleisch, 2010), leaving companies with a limited
understanding of their experiences or knowledge. Little or no interactive dialog takes place between the company
and consumers (Sawhney et al., 2005), and communication instead is unidirectional, from the company to the
consumer.
“Value co-creation demands a change in the dominant logic for marketing from ‘selling, making and servicing’ to
‘listening, customizing and co-creating.”
(Payne, Storbacka, & Frow, 2008, p.89)
The introduction of Web 2.0 and different social media platforms has contributed to the development of a new era
of customer empowerment enabling customers to interconnect worldwide and easily share and exchange personal,
social and scientific knowledge with likeminded individuals. (Lee, Olson, & Trimi, 2012) Consequently, customers
are well-informed, more conscious about their needs and have a clear conception of which products or services
they are searching for.
(Lee et al., 2012; O’Hern & Rindfleisch, 2001) By having more information and alternatives where to buy a
product or service today’s customers take a more active, influential role in the process of value creation forcing
firms to step away from their traditional firm-centric view to a more customer-centric view in order to be competitive.
(Prahalad & Ramaswamy, 2004; Sashi, 2012) The firm-centric view regards value creation happening inside the
firm, ascribing both firm and customer distinct roles as producer and consumer and focusing on “targeting and
managing the ‘right’ customer” (Prahalad & Ramaswamy, 2004, p.6); the customer-centric view suggests firms to
collaborate and exchange knowledge with their customers by actively involving them in new product development
(NPD) processes in order to create value. (Sawhney, Verona, & Prandelli, 2005).
Accordingly, customers can actively contribute to successful NPD by being the source of innovative ideas, providing
input for new product designs and enhancements, or participating in product testing and support allowing companies
to satisfy existing needs that are not met by the market yet. (Hoyer, Chandy, Dorotic, Krafft, & Singh, 2010;
Nambisan, 2002; Ogawa & Piller, 2006) Nowadays, more and more companies are trying to follow the trend to
adopt a customercentric view in order to create and attain value by actively integrating customers in their new
product and service development processes.
Therefore, it is necessary for companies to understand how to ensure that their customers are willing to contribute
to co-creation activities in order to effectively support companies in their value creation processes and contributing
at societal level by interacting customer to customer process. This research gap is leading to the following research
question:
Does Customer to customer interaction leads effectively towards co-creation by emphasizing on user generated
content?
about the nature of this phenomenon (O’ Hern and the use of ICT in communications influences the degree of
Rindfleisch, 2010). Accordingly, the Marketing Science cooperation among agents. In closed relations, members
Institute declared co-creation activities as a priority topic share the same principles and values; thus, they are willing
for investigation for 2014–2016. Interest in co-creation to devote more effort to achieve a common, strategic goal.
results from its potential strategic use for both theoretical When the company establishes connections with external
study and practice. agents, ICT can stimulate collaboration and the transfer
Prior studies analyze co-creation activities on the basis of and use of knowledge among members (Smith and Blanck,
different theoretical frameworks, including the theory of 2002), which makes the construction of virtual working
user participation (Fang et al., 2008), the user-centered groups throughout the world possible (Roberts, 2000).
approach Therefore, ICT improves the development of new products,
(Karahasanoviæ et al., 2009), user-generated content (Banks while saving time and monetary costs; facilitates the
and Humphreys, 2008), and the service-dominant logic transmission of information; and encourages collaborative
(SDL; Vargo and Lusch, 2004). The SDL in particular shifts behaviors that improve decision-making quality.
the perspective to company–consumer communication User-Generated Content
(Lusch et al., 2008; Vargo and Lusch, 2004) and regards
consumers as proactive co-creators rather than passive The open innovation model has been supported by the
recipients of value, while companies are agents that emergence of social media, which facilitate new Internet
facilitate this process, instead of merely producers of a services that rely on the exchange of content and the
standardized value. In a goods-dominant logic, resulting interactions (Westerlund and Leminen, 2011).
communication moves in a single direction, but in the SDL, Developments in ICT, particularly the Web 2.0 and social
a continuous dialogue between the company and consumer media, create highly interactive platforms through which
seeks to create the service on a joint basis (Payne et al., consumers share, co-create, interact, and modify user-
2008). generated content (Kaplan and Haenlein, 2010). Since their
Company Related Variables in Co-Creation inception, social media have prompted the creation of
several tools, platforms, and online applications that have
Technology transformed the way businesses operate in markets. For
Continuous changes in technology have altered the way example, by using the Internet, companies can interact with
businesses operate. Information and communication vast numbers of customers, and virtual platforms allow
technologies (ICT) now represent one of the most important them to access information about how customers use their
elements for product innovation and marketing processes, products and services, as well as how customers perceive
providing routes to strengthen cooperation and their offers (Eloranta and Matveinen, 2014). Currently,
communication, reduce barriers to innovation, and enhance many social media applications (e.g., blogs, open
the development of differentiated products (Requena et al., collaborative projects, social networking sites, content
2007). The ICT advances also enable customers to be more communities, virtual worlds, games) enable individual
active, better informed, more aware at a global level, and consumers, communities, and businesses to connect and
more willing to use virtual environments to interact with exchange information (Kaplan and Haenlein, 2010).
companies to obtain new products and services (Seppä and These social media also enable companies to interact in
Tanev, 2011). real time and more frequently with users, which accordingly
The use of ICT in turn might offer an important source of increases customers’ participation (Sawhney et al., 2005).
competitive advantage (Roberts, 2000), because it brings With these tools, companies monitor the content that gets
the company closer to its surroundings, such that it can shared, deal with potential problems, obtain new ideas, and
acquire knowledge and up-to-date information about the use this information as a basis for value creation. To
different agents in a quick, easy, relatively inexpensive way establish such continuous interactions, companies also need
(Requena et al., 2007). In addition, ICT allows companies to provide tools that help consumers exchange their views
to communicate with different agents quickly and smoothly, and solutions with other users. This provision should lead
by eliminating the barriers of space and time, such that it to a dynamic environment, marked by creative and social
supports an effective transfer of knowledge (Grönroos, partnerships between the company and its customers in a
2000). (Leenders and Wierenga, 2002) further suggest that new product development context.
Theory of Co-Created Value For example, (Barley, 1996) and (Jensen and Aanestad,
2007) examined the adoption of health information system
A theory for understanding co-created value must meet
technologies in hospitals based on the technology and the
several requirements. First, the theory must account for
social interactions between key users within the hospital
the role of technology as an intermediary (i.e., platform)
environment. In both studies, user experiences were derived
or bridge between users that are globally and temporally
from the social interactions and technology features, and
distributed and the organization for value creation purposes.
the quality of these experiences subsequently influenced
Second, the theory must reflect the social orientation of
how each user engaged within the hospital environment.
technology that drives how users and organizations
Following this engagement, the hospital and users each
negotiate the user experience. User experience is defined
derived benefits from the mutual engagement facilitated
as an individual’s involvement intensity and level of
by the technology. For the hospital, a more efficient
personal meaning derived from the UGC website. Third,
methodology for providing healthcare to its patients was
the theory should focus on how the UGC website influences
identified. For users, the system allowed them to improve
a user’s experience and influences his/her subsequent
their job performance.
engagement behavior. Therefore, this research builds upon
UGC Websotes as a Social and Technical Platform to
Socio-technical theory to first address why social and
Facilitate User Experiences
technical factors influence a user’s experience, and
subsequent behavior. Socio-technical theory suggests a When adopting a co-created business model, the UGC
system (e.g., a UGC website) is composed of two website bridges the organizational boundary linking the
subsystems – the social and technical subsystems organization and users. The UGC website acts as the
(Haldeman, & Shani, 1982). Each sub-system influences platform for facilitating user experiences. For example,
how a user interprets his/her experiences and subsequently Proctor & Gamble (P&G) instituted a UGC website,
behaves within the UGC website. While users may interpret Connect & Develop, to capture user ideas and/or
their experiences differently, socio-technical theory innovations to bolster its products and services portfolio.
suggests that both the social interactions supported by the Users are able to contribute their innovations to P&G for
system and the technical features of the system influence evaluation and possible adoption, but the organizational
how a user perceives his/her experiences. Recent research boundary remained a key barrier that influenced user
has used socio-technical theory to explain user experiences experiences. The UGC website structure limited the
within organizations (Barley, 1996; Jensen & Aanestad, technical features (e.g., tags for innovation category, text
2007; Prahalad et al., 2004a). fields for UGC description, and document attachment
functionality) and provided no mechanisms for social features influence the range of potential user actions that
interaction with fellow users. Through Connect & Develop, create experiences within the UGC website. When both
users directly contribute and interact with P&G. the technical features and social interactions are effectively
Furthermore, P&G internalizes all content, restricting leveraged, a user’s experience is maximized (i.e., users are
access to the content to only internal resources. As a result, highly involved and find the experience to be personally
P&G limits the users’ involvement with the organization, meaningful). A positive experience leads to user
which influences the user experience and subsequently how engagement.
the user engages with P&G through the UGC website. P&G Social Interactions
firmly established their organizational boundaries in order
to better control how value was created. Consequently, Social interactions are needed to construct positive user
P&G operated under an open business model rather than a experiences in a UGC website. Social interactions are
cocreated business model. Users only supply potentially defined as the communication among the organization and
valuable ideas and/or innovations. If P&G wishes to discuss users through the UGC website (Prahalad et al., 2000,
the ideas and/or innovation with the user further, the 2004b). Social interactions between the organization and
organization directly interacts with the user rather than fellow users influence how a user experiences his/her
engaging all users of the UGC website to refine the idea environment by allowing users to experience the UGC
for adoption. website and engage through UGC (Barley, 1996; Jensen et
al., 2007). Social interactions can be classified into three
In contrast, Facebook adopted a co-created business model distinct categories: interactions between the organization
using both social interactions and technical features to and the user, interactions among users facilitated by the
influence how users experience Facebook. Facebook users organization’s UGC website, and consequences of
socially interact through comments on photos and user interactions that users may experience because of the UGC
profiles, as well as vote on advertisements and, more website. The first category of social interactions focus on
recently, the terms of service protecting their UGC. The informing the user of the organizations’ intention to create
technical features of Facebook facilitate these experiences a personal and meaningful experience with the user
by allowing users to search for friends, integrate UGC on (Kettinger & Lee, 1994) and assess the degree of openness
their profile with friends’ profiles, and to create new social of the organization and how willing it is to engage (Prahalad
groups based on personal interests. The social interactions et al., 2004a). The second category focuses on whether the
and technical features allow users to create a Facebook organization can provide the necessary social resources that
experience where users are intensely involved and facilitate the creation of the user’s experience (Dickinger,
interactions are personally meaningful. As a result, users Arami, & Meyer, 2008). The third category creates the
engage with Facebook (i.e., contribute content), which in opportunity for users to judge the potential benefits and
turn, mutually benefits Facebook and its users. Facebook risks associated with UGC contribution (Prahalad et al.,
not only captures value from the content provided by users 2004a). Social interactions also provide the user with the
to support the Facebook experience, but also learns from ability to adjust his/her experiences for engaging with the
its users what they consider to be the value Facebook organization through UGC that is mutually beneficial to
provides to them and how Facebook should support their both the organization and users.
experiences. In addition, Facebook creates value for itself
by maintaining the largest online social network with access Therefore, social interactions facilitate user experiences
to millions of users for potential advertising revenue. within the UGC website by fostering a dialogue with the
organization and fellow users, portraying a transparent
In the Facebook example, value is co-created between the business model, providing access to social resources, and
organization and users based on highlevels of user defining the potential benefits and costs to engaging with
engagement, predicated on Facebook’s ability to craft a the organization in the UGC website (Jensen et al., 2007;
positive user experience. These two examples suggest that Kettinger et al., 1994; Prahalad et al., 2004b, 2004a; Wixom
organizations must rely on both mechanisms – the social
et al., 2005).
interactions within the UGC website and the technical
features of the UGC website to successfully create positive User Experience
user experiences and derive mutual benefits for both the When organizations facilitate social interactions and
organization and users. The first mechanism is based on provide the technical features mentioned above, a positive
how users socially interact with the organization and fellow user experience occurs, which then influences users to
users to create positive user experiences. Users interpret engage within the UGC website. The user experience is
their experiences based on the social interactions with the divided into two psychological components that influence
organization and fellow users. Additionally, the technical
the cocreation of value; 1) individual involvement and 2) The purpose of this study was to identify the factors that
personal meaning. Users engage when they contribute, influence a user’s experience within a
retrieve, and/or explore UGC. UGC website and subsequently how a positive user
Individual involvement is defined as the intensity with experience impacts a user’s engagement behavior within
which a user perceives his/her role within the UGC website the UGC website.
(Barki & Hartwick, 1994). Individual involvement denotes Based on the literature review, the theoretical framework
a user’s perception that his/her role within a UGC website guiding this research was based on sociotechnical systems
is personally important and/or relevant to meet their needs theory, where the UGC website acts as a bridge between
(Zaichkowsky, 1985). Individual involvement has been users and the organization to create positive user
found to increase arousal, interest, and motivation to engage experiences and ultimately get users to engage within the
(Zaichkowsky, 1985). For example, (Santosa et al., 2005) UGC website. Social interactions between the organization
examined satisfaction in information seeking activity and and fellow users allowed users to determine whether the
found that a user’s perception of involvement was a UGC website was conducive to meeting a user’s personal
significant predictor of a user ’s satisfaction with needs and/or interests. Social interactions were
information seeking activities (i.e., engagement). operationalized as dialogue, transparency, social
User Engagement accessibility, and perceived risk. Additionally, the technical
features of the UGC website impact a user’s ability to
User engagement is defined as a user’s contribution,
successfully engage within a UGC website in order to
retrieval, and/or exploration of content within a UGC
satisfy the user’s personal interests. It was predicted that
website (Kankanhalli et al., 2005; Li & Bernoff, 2008).
the social interactions and technical features of the UGC
User engagement focuses on how users behave within the
website influenced how intensely a user perceived his/her
UGC website. The concepts of networked individualism
involvement to be and the extent to which users’ derived
and social affordances suggest that users pursue their
personal meaning that meets the user’s needs and/or
specialized interests in online environments (e.g., UGC
interests. Lastly, the positive user experience would lead
website) by contributing, retrieving and exploring content.
to increased user engagement (i.e., contribute, retrieve and/
User engagement is comprised of contribution, retrieval,
or explore UGC) within the UGC website.
and exploration behaviors because users utilize UGC
differently depending upon their specific needs. For The results of this study highlight the strong influence of
instance, Facebook users may post photos, view friends’ critical mass on both a user’s experience and the user’s
status updates, and/or explore friends of friends to satisfy engagement behaviors. Given the social nature of the UGC
their differing needs. The more users engage, the more websites users selected in this study, it is not surprising
valuable the UGC website becomes to the organization and that social relationships among users drove the personal
fellow users (Bock, Sabherwal, & Qian, 2008; Kankanhalli meaning and intensity of involvement a user experiences
et al., 2005b; Li et al., 2008). within the UGC website and actual engagement. The
literature outlined in sections 2.3.2 and 3.2.3 suggest that
Discussion andConclusions users seek emotional support and tangible benefits from
This study outlined the evolution of the co-created business family and friends (boyd, 2007a; Dickinger et al., 2008).
model, which relies on a new relationship between the This research has found that users increase their
organization and users in order to derive value that is co- engagement when a critical mass of users within the social
created. Cocreated value was earlier defined as the mutual structure of the UGC website are known to the user (Hsu
benefits that both the organization and users receive from et al., 2008). Motivations behind this engagement focus
engaging with each other through a UGC website. Distinct around the personal meaning and/or interests that are
from other forms of business models, the co-created obtained when involving themselves within these social
business model relies on developing positive user structures.
experiences that influence a user’s engagement behavior Based on the notion of reciprocity (Kankanhalli, Tan, &
to derive value, rather than selling products and/or services Wei, 2005a) it is possible to hypothesize that users engage
to users. This study identified the key drivers of the co- regardless of whether their experience is positive in the
created business model based on networked individualism, UGC website in order to maintain the social relationship
potential for context collapse, and growth in user-driven with fellow users that are important to them personally, or
online environments (i.e., social media). Central to this to maintain access to a social community that can provide
model is the need for users to engage with organizations benefits important to the user (e.g., information benefits
through the contribution, retrieval, and exploration of UGC or access to resources). Given the findings of this study
within a UGC website.
Volume 2, No. 1, January-June, 2016, Third Issue 48 ISSN : 2395-1737
A Social Layar of Customer to Customer “Value Co Creation” as an
IJAR&D Engagement Marketing Tool : A Transformation at Societal Level
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Mallika Ahuja
Doctoral Scholar in Management Sciences, Manipal University
Jaipur, Rajasthan
Richa Sharma
Doctoral Scholar in Management Sciences, JECRC University
Jaipur, Rajasthan
Abstract
This paper examines some of the existing models in Internet Marketing and thereby provides a backdrop for further
investigators to proceed upon. As the battle for competition in the market intensifies, capital is increasingly becoming
concentrated and centralized. The emergent business world is one of cartels, customs unions and strategic alliances of
all possible hues. As technologies expand and simultaneously as the concept of a border less universe is actualized,
communication becomes a key denominator of progress. Speed and time take on a greater relevance. Along with this
change is witnessed an increasing disequilibrium in the market place caused by change that is at once non-linear and
non-Newtonian to quote Sadri. Markets are expanding in terms of mass, magnitude and direction at a hitherto unheard
of pace. This resultant market disequilibrium is dynamic in nature and business decisions increasingly have to be taken
under conditions of relative uncertainty. It is in this overall climate that both marketing as a specialization and Internet
as a technological instrument of communicating across space and time dimensions has gained prominence meriting a
scientific investigation such as the present one
Academicians agree that the mission of marketing, at its core, is to attract and retain customers. To accomplish this goal,
a traditional bricks and mortar marketer uses a variety of marketing variables- including pricing, advertising and channel
choice- to satisfy current and new customers. In this context, the standard marketing-mix tool-kit includes such mass-
marketing levers as television advertising, direct mail, and public relations, as well as customer-specific marketing
techniques such as the use of sales representatives.
A new era of marketing has emerged, with the advent of the internet and its associated technology-enabled, screen-to-
face interfaces (like mobile phones, interactive television). Well respected academics and practitioners have called for
new rules and urged debate about fundamental tenets of marketing, including segmentation, mass marketing, and
regionalized programs. At the other extreme, academics have argued that both the basic building blocks of marketing
strategy and the pathways to competitive advantage have remained the same.
The approach to be taken should ideally lie between these two extremes. We need to understand that new levers to the
marketing mix would have to be added, segments would be narrowed, consumer expectations about convenience would
forever be altered and competitive responses would happen in real time. In short, these are new, exciting changes that
would have a profound impact on the practice of marketing. At the same time, some of the fundamentals of business
strategy-seeking competitive advantage based on superior value, building unique resources, and positioning in the
minds of the customers-would remain the same.
Definition and Scope of Internet Marketing
At the outset let us familiarize ourselves with the core concepts associated with marketing. Keeping the same in mind,
let us first look at the basic American Marketing Association the customer. Firms can have highly satisfied
(AMA) definition of marketing. This will help us define customers if they provide services for free. However,
internet marketing and understand its scope. these firms are not likely to have a long life. The key
Marketing is the process of planning and executing to modern marketing is simultaneously satisfying the
the conception, pricing, promotion, and distribution customer, the firm and its shareholders. In the long
of ideas, goods, and services to create exchanges run, the firm must have a positive cash flow or show
that satisfy individual and organizational goals. a clear path to profitability for investors to maintain
confidence.
The definition above has four critical features. These are:
Internet Markeitng : Now that we have had a look at the
(i) Marketing is a Process: A process is a particular definition of marketing, lets build upon the same and define
method of doing an activity, generally involving a internet marketing and discuss its scope.
series of steps or operations. The classical marketing
approach involves four broad steps: market analysis, Internet marketing is the process of building and
market planning, implementation and control. Market maintaining customer relationships through online
analysis involves searching for opportunities in the activities to facilitate the exchange of ideas,
marketplace, upon which a particular firm-with products, and services that satisfy the goals of both
unique skills-can capitalize. Market planning requires parties.
segmentation, target market choice, positioning, and The above definition can be divided into five critical
the design of the marketing mix (also called the 4Ps, components:
or marketing program). Market implementation
includes the systems and processes to go to market (a) It is a Process: Like a traditional-marketing program,
with the marketing program. Finally, marketing an internet-marketing program involves a process.
control refers to the informal and formal mechanisms In comparison with the 4 steps of the marketing
that marketing managers can use to keep the process, internet marketing has a more comprehensive
marketing program on course. Analysis, planning, process of seven stages or steps. The seven stages
implementation and control collectively provide a are setting corporate and business-unit strategy,
process for marketing managers to follow in the framing the market opportunity, formulating the
design and execution of marketing programs. marketing strategy, designing the customer
experience, designing the marketing program,
(ii) Marketing Involves a Mix of Product, Pricing, crafting the customer interface, and evaluating the
Promotion, and Distribution: Successful marketing results of the marketing program.
programs do not involve only one action, such as
design of a great product. Rather, the most successful (b) Building and Maintaining Customer
marketing programs involve mixing the ingredients Relationships: The goal of marketing is to build and
of marketing to deliver value to customers. The create lasting customer relationships. Hence, the focal
mixing entails blending the right amounts of the 4Ps, point shifts from finding customers to nurturing a
at the right time, and in the right sequence. Too often, sufficient number of committed, loyal customers.
marketing programs fail because they allocate too Successful marketing programs move target
many (or too few) resources in an uncoordinated way. customers through three stages of relationship
Many a times we have seen that a highly advertised building: awareness, exploration and commitment.
product is not available in the store near your house. It is important to stress that the goal of internet
marketing is not simply building relationships with
(iii) Marketing is about Exchange: Marketing is not online customers. Rather, the goal is to build offline
successful unless two parties exchange something of (as relevant) as well as online relationships. The
value. The buyer may exchange time, money, or internet marketing program can well be part of a
services, while the seller must exchange something broader campaign to satisfy customers who use both
of value to the buyer. The traditional retail context online and offline services.
provides the simplest illustration of this principle. A
given consumer exchanges money for a particular (c) Online: Internet marketing deals primarily with
good or service. Here we must also note that exchange levers that are available in the world of the internet.
can also occur in a variety of non-monetary contexts. But, as we have mentioned above the success of an
These include bartering, volunteering services, and internet marketing program may rest with traditional,
political donations, too name a few. offline marketing vehicles. Consider for example, the
recruiting and job-seeking portal naukri.com.
(iv) Marketing is intended to Satisfy Individual and Naukri’s success can be tied directly to the
Organisational Needs: The aim of marketing is to effectiveness of its catchy television advertising and
provide a satisfactory outcome for both the firm and other promotions like print-media and hoardings.
Volume 2, No. 1, January-June, 2016, Third Issue 52 ISSN : 2395-1737
IJAR&D Models of Internet Marketing
(d) Exchange: At the core of both online and offline A Viewpoint on Its Scope and Impact: Based on the above
marketing programs is the concept of exchange. In discussion, we can explore the scope and impact of internet
the new economy, firms must be very sensitive to marketing programs. We will consider two important
cross-channel exchanges. That is, an online marketing parameters which organizations use in their marketing
program must be evaluated according to its overall formats, firstly the allocation of marketing resources and
exchange impact-not just the online exchange impact. secondly the location of revenue streams. Consider exhibit
Hence, online marketing may produce exchanges in 1 where we have divided the marketing resources allocation
retail stores. Firms must be increasingly sensitive to as online and offline and also the division of revenue
these cross-channel effects if they are to measure the streams as either online or bricks-and-mortar. This gives
independent effects of online and offline marketing rise to four cells. Cell 1 represents a situation in which the
programs.
marketing effort is online (for example banner ads, pop-
(e) Satisfaction of Goals of Both Parties: Let us ups) and the sales revenue is realized online. Online
understand this component with the help of the marketing clearly produces online-based revenue. The
world’s most popular search portal Google.com. advertisements of online subscription services of the
There are millions of users satisfied with the ability Harvard Business Review and the Far Eastern Economic
of this portal to help them search for any information Review are an example of this. However, consider cell 2.
which may be of use to them for any application. This Here, the online marketing effort has led to revenue
drives the satisfied customers repeatedly to their site. increases offline. The advertising effort of Suzuki
To the extent that Google.com can monetize this motorcycles or Samsung electronics online pushes
loyalty-most likely, in the form of advertising customers to their retail outlets. Cell 3 represents the reverse
revenue. In this case both parties will be satisfied.
effect. That is, traditional offline marketing activities ( for
However, if the firm is unable to meet its financial
example the print and TV media advertisements and
obligations to employees, suppliers or shareholders,
then the exchange is unbalanced. Customers are still billboards of Naukri.com) drive traffic and purchases at
happy, but the firm is unable to sustain its revenue the website. Cell 4 is a situation in which traditional
model. Both parties must be satisfied for exchange advertising drives the traffic and purchases at the retail
to continue. store.
The above discussion implies that a narrow view of internet should not be counted. On the other hand, it could be argued
marketing would be that it focuses primarily on cell 1. that cells 1, 2 and 3 should be counted as part of the overall
Advocates of this view would argue that it is only in this internet marketing effort. After all, the firm would realize
cell, that one can truly measure and attribute the effects of lower total revenue if the cross-channel marketing effects
internet marketing. Other cells (or the spill-over effects) did not occur. Hence, these cross-channel impacts should
be considered part of internet marketing. Practically sufficient online and offline data to establish the burden of
speaking, organizations must adopt the broad view of proof of opportunity assessment. Lets say, for example,
internet marketing. The benefits would be maximized when that you are running a major dot-com business such as
all four cells are coordinated and managed effectively in Amazon. The senior management team is continually
an integrated manner. confronted with go/no-go decisions about whether to add
The definition and scope of internet marketing has given a new business unit or develop a new product line within
us some insight into the purpose of developing this area as an existing business unit. What mechanism do they put in
an integral part of the business strategy of majority of place to evaluate these opportunities? In this second stage
organizations. It would be appropriate now for us to look of the internet marketing process, a simple six-step
at the various processes involved in making internet methodology helps evaluate the attractiveness of the
marketing a successful tool. These processes will be termed opportunity. Exhibit 3 depicts the same.
as the seven stages of internet marketing. Exhibit 2 depicts The six steps include: seeding the opportunity, specifying
these stages in the form of a process cycle. The seven stages unmet or underserved customer needs, identifying the target
are: setting corporate and business-unit strategy, framing segment, declaring the company’s resource based
the market opportunity, formulating the marketing strategy, opportunity for advantage, assessing opportunity
designing the customer experience, designing the marketing attractiveness, and making the final go/no-go decision. This
program, crafting the customer interface, and evaluating final choice is often a corporate or business-unit decision.
the results of the marketing program. However it is very important to stress that marketing plays
Stage One : Setting Corporate and Business-Unit a critical role in this market-opportunity assessment phase.
Strategy: Corporate strategy addresses the interrelationship In order for the firm to make an informed choice about the
between the various business units in a firm, including opportunity, the management team needs to obtain a
decisions about which units should be kept, sold, or sufficient picture of the marketplace and a clear articulation
augmented. Business-unit strategy focuses on how a of the customer experience that is at the core of the
particular unit in the company manages the market to gain opportunity. Thus, during the market-opportunity
competitive advantage. Consider, for example the popular assessment phase, the firm also needs to collect sufficient
website Amazon.com. Corporate-strategy issues relate to market research data.
the choice, mix, and number of business units such as Stage Three: Formulating the Marketing Strategy:
books, music, electronics, kitchen ware, and tools/ Internet marketing strategy is based upon the corporate,
hardware. Once these business units are established and business-unit and overall marketing strategies of the firm.
incubated in Amazon’s corporate headquarters, the senior This set of linkages is shown in exhibit 4. The marketing
leadership team of each unit sets the strategic direction strategy goals, resources, and sequencing of actions must be
and steers the business unit towards its goal. tightly aligned with the business-unit strategy. Finally, the
Stage Two: Framing the Market Opportunity: Stage two overall marketing strategy comprises both offline and
entails the analysis of the market opportunities and an initial online marketing activities. This is illustrated in exhibit four
first pass of the business concept- that is, collecting with example of Amazon’s tools and hardware business unit.
Exhibit
3
Exhibit
4
STAGE FOUR: Designing the Customer Experience: high-level marketing strategy (step three) and the marketing
Organizations must understand the type of customer program tactics (step five).
experience that needs to be delivered to meet the market STAGE FIVE: Designing the Marketing Program: The
opportunity. The experience should correlate with the firm’s completion of stages one to four of the internet marketing
positioning and marketing strategy. Thus, the design of process, results in clear strategic direction for the firm. The
the customer experience constitutes a bridge between the firm by now has made a go/no-go decision on a particular
option. Moreover, it has decided upon the target customer. serve at a lower level of cost). Managing this building and
Stage five entails designing a particular combination of pruning process is one of marketing’s key tasks. The four
marketing actions (termed levers) to move target customers stages of customer relationships are outlined in exhibit 5
from awareness to commitment. The framework used to and discussed below.
accomplish this task is the Marketspace Matrix. Basically, (a) Awareness: When customers have some basic
the internet marketer has six classes of levers (pricing, information, knowledge, or attitudes about a firm or
product, communication, community, distribution and its offerings but have not initiated any
branding) that can be used to create target customer communications with the firm, they are in the
awareness, exploration, and, it is hoped, eventually, awareness stage. Consumers become aware of firms
commitment to the firm’s offering. However prior to the through a variety of sources, including word-of-
discussion on the marketspace matrix, the stages of the mouth, traditional marketing such as TV advertising,
customer relationship and the associated classes of levers and online marketing programs such as banner
must me studied. advertising. Awareness is the first step in a potentially
Building and Nurturing Customer Relationships A deeper relationship with the firm.
relationship can be defined as a bond or connection between (b) Exploration: In the exploration stage, both the
the firm and its customers. The bond can originate from customers (and firm) begin to initiate communications
cognitive or emotional sources. The connection may and actions that enable an evaluation of whether or
manifest itself in a deep, intense commitment to the brand. not to pursue a deeper connection. This stage is also
( for example the Shoppers Stop First Citizens Club likely to include some trial on the part of the customer.
member). Whether defined as a function or an organization- Exploration is analogous to sampling songs at Planet
wide culture, marketing is responsible for acquiring and M or a Music world store or test-driving a car. In the
retaining target customers. In this process, successful online world, exploration may take the form of
marketers manage to move desirable customers from frequent site visits, some e-commerce retail
awareness through exploration and, finally, commitment. exchanges and may include phone call follow-ups
Once customers reach commitment, the firm is in a position on delivery times or e-mails about product inventory.
to observe their behaviour patterns and determine which The exploration stage may take only a few visits or
customers to nurture and which customers to terminate (or perhaps years to unfold.
THE FOUR KEY STAGES OF CUSTOMER RELATIONSHIP
Exhibit
5
(c) Commitment: In this context, commitment involves has invested in customizing the site ( example creating
feeling a sense of obligation or responsibility for a a My-weather page on weather.com).
product or firm. When customers commit to a website, (d) Dissolution: Not all customers are equally valuable
their repeated, enduring attitudes and behaviour to the firm. In an industrial marketing context,
reflect loyalty. Commitment is a state of mind ( for managers often refer to the 80/20 rule of profitability.
example I strongly prefer Amazon.com over That is, 20% of the customers would provide 80 %
Barnes&Noble.com) as well as a pattern of behaviour of the profit. By implication, therefore, a large number
( example all my online books are bought at of customers are unprofitable or have high cost to
Aamzon.com). One direct measure of commitment serve. Firms must segment their most valuable and
to a particular site is the extent to which the individual less valuable customers. The most valuable customers
may be identified based on profit, revenue, and/or Business Review online) and services (online
strategic significance (example, a large well-regarded ticketing/hotel booking services). Frequently the
customer may not be profitable but opens the door to offerings are a combination of all three forms. In the
new accounts). The firm does not want this set of course of building customer relationships, the firm
customers to terminate the relationship. can use a variety of product levers to build enduring
relationships. Product packaging is often used to build
On the other hand, unprofitable, non-strategic customers customer awareness, upgrades and complementary
are a different matter. Often it is in the best interests of the services enable customers to explore a deeper
firm to terminate the relationship or encourage this set of connection, and customized offerings strengthen
customers to disengage with the firm. commitment ( example Jet Airways privilege club
The four stages of customer relationships discussed above, offering its Platinum members discounts to an
vary by the intensity of the connection between the firm International Summit or Conference). The key point
and the customer as shown in exhibit 6. Intensity of is that specific product levers can be used to
connection may be defined as the degree or amount of encourage a stronger connection.
connection that unfolds between the firm and its target (ii) Pricing: Price is the amount the firm charges
customers. Three dimensions mentioned below, capture the customers for a particular market transaction. This
intensity of the frequency of the connection (how often would include the price of the product, shipping,
does the customer visit the site), the scope of the connection handling, warranty and other financial costs incurred
(how many different points of contact does the customer by the customer. Price is critical as it influences the
have with the firm), and the depth of contact (how perceived customer value (the complete product
thoroughly is the customer using the site) offering minus the cost is often termed as customer
A customer might visit a website such as Amazon on a value). There is a wide variety of traditional and
regular basis, but only to purchase books. This visitor would modern levers that emerge on the internet. Traditional
have a high level of contact but a low level of scope. levers include such potential choices as tiered loyalty
Another customer might visit Amazon frequently but not programs, volume discounts, subscription models,
stay on the site for a long duration or engage in deeper and targeted price promotions. The internet has
connections such as writing reviews, commenting on created an entirely new category of pricing tools for
products, or communicating with other Amazon users. This new economy firms to use, including dynamic pricing
customer would have high frequency but low depth. In all strategies. There are two main ways in which the
cases, relationship intensity is correlated with the stage of internet has enhanced the attractiveness of dynamic
the relationship. pricing. In the first case, for goods marketed on the
web, it is easy and virtually costless to change product
The Internet Marketing Mix : The traditional 4Ps of
prices, compared to physically changing price tags
marketing are product, price, promotion, and place/
on products in a retail store. Given this environment,
distribution. All four of these choices are part of the internet
it is very attractive for firms to change their prices
marketing mix, plus two new levers: community and
based on demand and supply conditions. In the second
branding. Community is the level of interaction that unfolds
case, the internet makes it easier for sellers and buyers
between the users. Certainly, the firm can encourage
around the world to interact and negotiate prices
community formation and nurture community
sitting in their offices or home anywhere in the world.
development. However, community is about user-to-user
This makes it easier to conduct dynamic pricing
connections. Branding is a critical component of building
structures.
long-term relationships on the web. Thus, rather than view
branding as a sub-component of the product, it is looked at (iii) Communication: Marketing communication can
as a moderating variable upon the levers-product, price, briefly be defined as activities that inform one or more
communication, community and distribution. Let us look groups of target customers about the firm and its
at each lever individually and its relevance to the internet products. A broad view of marketing communication
marketing mix would include all types of firm level communications,
including public relations, and online advertising.
(i) Product: The product is the service or physical good
Marketing communication can also encourage
that a firm offers for exchange. A wide range of
exploration, commitment and dissolution. For
product forms are being offered on the internet,
example, viral marketing (where one user informs
including tangible goods (clothing, computers),
another user about a site through emails) often leads
information intensive products (example Harvard
to exploration of a firm’s offerings by new customers. (v) Distribution: With respect to the role as a distribution
Also permission marketing (where customers opt to channel, the internet has the power to shift customers
receive communications from the firm) is intended to a new channel-or to use this channel in combination
to encourage commitment to the firm. Both offline with other channels( example search the internet and
and online communication levers can encourage then purchase at the retail store).Distribution levers
customers to build a stronger bond with the firm and include the number of intermediaries ( both online
should be integrated in a marketing program. and offline), the breadth of channel coverage, and
(iv) Community: Community is defined as a set of the messaging from the channel. Broad levels of
interwoven relationships built upon shared interests, distribution impact both customer awareness and the
which satisfy member’s needs otherwise unattainable potential for more customer exploration of the firm
individually. One of the unique aspects of the internet and its offerings.
is the speed with which communities can be formed. (vi) Branding: Branding plays two key roles in marketing
Equally important is the impact that these strategy. First, branding is an outcome or result of
communities can have on the firm. The challenge for the firm’s marketing activities. Marketing programs
internet marketers is to leverage the power of affect how consumers perceive the brand, and hence
communities to build deep customer relationships. its value. Second, branding is a part of every
Communities can be leveraged to build awareness marketing strategy. That is, each marketing activity
(example user-to-user communication to make others is enhanced if the brand is strong, or suppressed if
aware of product promotion), encourage the brand is weak. Thus, a strong advertising program
exploration(example, user groups discussing which for Naukri.com is likely to produce better results than
automotive options to purchase –or not to purchase), a strong advertising program for a site with a weaker
and commitment( example, bonds between users lead brand, such as Jobsahead.com. Branding levers work
to deepening involvement with the site). Thus in concert with other marketing levers to produce
community levers can be employed to nurture positive financial and/or customer results for the firm.
customer relationships.
As we have seen in the above discussion, the marketing mix comprises six classes of levers. Exhibit 7 uses a cloud
metaphor to show how branding mixes with each of these elements to produce an interactive effect. This interactive, or
multiplier, effect of the brand can be positive or negative. Branding is unique as it is both a lever and an outcome of
marketing actions.
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Management Himalaya Publishing House, Mumbai
MBBS (Hons), Fellow HIV Medicine, PGDBM (XLRI), PGDHRM Academic Head and
DNB Course Director in Tata Main Hospital Jamshedpur
Abstract
Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) is the contribution a company makes to society through its core business activities,
its social investment and philanthropy programmes. Corporations concerned with CSR are generally large-sized companies
and multinationals Small and medium-sized companies do not give much importance to CSR citing reasons such as
inadequate resources to implement a CSR policy. The popular CSR activities undertaken are related to environment and
health. Whilst HIV/AIDS, the fourth largest killer disease in the world, is decimating societies and negatively impacting
business world, very few organisations take it up seriously as a health CSR. HIV/AIDS is easily prevented and further
transmission reduced. Building on views of Professor Sorab Sadri, Jayashree S and others we take the concept further to
what may be termed Corporate Social Investment (CSI) and examine how corporates can take it up and help ameliorate
the impact of HIV/AIDS epidemic.
Key Words: CSR; Business excellence; HIV/AIDS; Continuum of HIV Care,
Introduction
Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) is a concept where companies contributes to society through its core business
activities and its social investment programmes. The CSR activities in our country has undergone changes over
the past century from a philanthropic mode to getting integrated into business strategy.
However, not many organisations include health in their CSR programmes and even fewer focus on HIV/AIDS
interventions as an important component of it. This is in spite of AIDS being the 4th largest killer disease in the
world and is a component of the Millennium Development Goals.
This paper aims to suggest how corporates through their CSR on health issues can undertake interventions in
different areas of continuum of HIV care to maintain not only a healthy work force but also the community in its
areas of influence so as to effectively curb the march of HIV/AIDS epidemic.
The paper is divided into four parts. The first part deals with the elusive and cunning virus, Human
Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV), that has played havoc across the globe. The second part touches upon the CSR
and corporate excellence. The third part deals with HIV Prevention, Care Cascade and Continuum of Care and the
focus areas of intervention by CSR. The fourth part concludes by directing strategies to deal with the points on
addressing the Continuum of Care.
HIV/AIDS
Since more than 3 decades, the AIDS pandemic fuelled by poverty, gender inequality and social norms, has
swept across continents directly affecting 75 million and indirectly affected many more, raising issues which
question the very basic of values of life. It has negative impact on economies, eroded relationships, human
worth and dignity, snapped societal fabric, destroyed families forcing an increasingly large population of
vulnerable people i.e. women and orphans, elderly, widows and children into labour or sex trade.
There are success stories as well as failures of society commercial sex workers (CSWs) in Mumbai.
and Governments trying to rein in the epidemic and Routes of Transmission
its negative fallout on human endeavours.
HIV is transmitted from person to person through
At the bottom of the pyramid is the human being, who sexual contact, contact with body fluids especially
is infected with the HIV. As years go by this virus blood and blood products, sharing contaminated
damages his immune system to a point about a decade syringes and needles, during child birth and breast
later where he becomes susceptible to any and every feeding.
infection. His life is disrupted as on most days he is
unable to carry on with his routine tasks and finally The other less common routes of transmission are
becomes bed ridden. cosmetic equipment (used for tattooing, ear and nose
piercing, manicure and pedicure); traumatic contact
Early years of the epidemic went in search for the (as in games or accidents) and contaminated medical
cause and by 1983 the causative virus, Human equipment.
Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV), became known. There
was optimism of a cure too. If one recalls in 70s and The infection can occur only where there is a virus, a
80s science, technology and research tools had route of transmission for the virus (during which the
progressed a lot and surely a cure was around the virus should not be exposed to elements outside
corner. Drugs were researched and made available; human body for long) and a hospitable environment
initially only a single one named Zidovudine which for transmission to occur in.
was followed by many more that by the advent of a HIV is not transmitted through casual social contact.
new millennium there were almost a score of them. Being near a person with HIV infection or working
Yet, this virus was never brought to kneel in spite of with him/her does not constitute a risk.
increasing knowledge about the virus, availability of
medicines, treating specialists and funds. What more Global Scenario
could be done to stop and reverse the course of HIV/ New HIV infections among adults and adolescents
AIDS epidemic? The answer lies in going back to decreased by 50% or more in 26 countries between
basics of Virus life cycle and its host – the human being 2001 and 2012. Approximately 2.3 million people
and addressing them through CSR. became newly infected with HIV in 2012, down from
Understanding the Virus 3.4 million in 2001. Women and children less than 15
years constitute more than 50% of cases. Every day
In order to see how CSR can ameliorate the effect of globally approximately 5,500 new cases are being
HIV/AIDS, it is important to understand the dynamics detected and 3,300 people are dying of AIDS,
of HIV infection.
The Indian Scenario
AIDS (Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome) is
caused by a virus, HIV (Human Immuno-Deficiency Vital Statistics
Virus) whose origin is still a mystery but probably As per National AIDS Control Organization (NACO),
from apes. Probable cases of AIDS began in the late there is approximately 2.1 million People Living With
’50s and spanned America, Africa and Europe. HIV/AIDS (PLWHA) in India in 2014. Efforts by
Research has shown a similarity in genetic structure Governmental as well as Non-Governmental agencies
of HIV- 2 and SIV (Simian Immuno-Deficiency Virus). have helped curtailed the number of new cases getting
In 2014, an international team of scientists, led by infected. Yet a lot needs to be done especially amongst
University of Leuven in Belgium and Oxford the Injecting Drug Users who have the highest
University, has reconstructed the genetic history of prevalence in India.
the HIV-1 group M pandemic, the event that saw HIV
spread across the African continent and around the Human resource is a valuable input in production
world, and concluded that it originated in Kinshasa especially in Indian industries which are still labour
between 1909 and 1930. intensive. Almost 90% of HIV+ persons is in the age
group 15 to 49 years, two thirds of which are between
The first cases of AIDS in significant numbers were the ages of 20-40 years. As the virus strikes the
seen in USA in 1981 amongst previously healthy, productive and reproductive population it threatens
young adult homosexuals. Soon it was also found in ideas which lead to innovations, economic
haemophilics. In India, the first case of HIV was contribution declines and with it the future enterprise
reported in 1986 and soon thereafter amongst a few and in turn the country’s GDP ($2,314 Billion in 2014).
India is the second most populous country in the third are businessmen. The United Nations General
world with 1.261 billion citizens in 2014 with a Assembly’s second World Happiness Report ranks
population density of about 383.7 people per square countries based on several measures of well-being and
kilometer, in a country little more than one-third the analyzes the factors that contribute to that well-being.
size of U.S.A.. The majority of people, approximately The scores are an average of results between 2010 and
72.18% of the population, reside in rural areas. 2012 and ranks India at 111. Fortunately many
Unfortunately, 25.76% of this rural population is organizations are encouraging their employees to do
below poverty line, the overall national figure being yoga/meditation/aerobics before starting their
21.92% in 2011 – 12. There is a movement of people working day to reduce stress apart from having
from the rural to the urban areas to see employment. trained peers to handle one-to-one interactions
In The McKinsey Quarterly 2007 Number 3 article amongst employees.
“Tracking the growth of India’s middle class” the There is an inseparable link between health care and
authors Eric D. Beinhocker, Diana Farrell and Adil S. socio-economic development. Poor health reduces not
Zainulbhai have projected that the Indian Middle class only the quality of life, but also the life expectancy
consumers base will increase dramatically and a term and economic productivity. In India, the exact figures
“Bird of Gold” is coined for the Indian consumer on man-hours lost per annum and their impact on
market. The middle-class consumers is increasing and cost and the loss of profit is difficult to obtain
it is projected that by 2015, there will be new especially as most of the labour is associated with the
opportunities for business with an estimated 240+ unorganized sector and its ills.
million of this class of consumers. Per capita income In India, as in other developing countries, health
today is $1,249. India’s comparative advantage is its services are stretched thin. Health expenditure stands
vast wealth of competent human resources. at 2.4% of GDP in 2009. Many of the sick people are
Employment in organized sector, both Public and just about getting the bare minimum of health care
Private sectors, was about 9.04 million in FY06. In services. In 2009, there is one hospital bed per 1,111
FY08, there were approx. 13.4 million registered units people and 1 Physician per 1,670 population. The life
of small-scale industries employing 32.2 million expectancy is 67.14 years (2012), but this will change
people. The majority of 402 million labour force, in the face of an AIDS epidemic with some dying early
almost 90% were employed by unorganized and due to AIDS and some living till old age as Highly
informal sector in FY01. Often this huge labour force Active Anti-Retroviral Therapy (HAART) brings ‘near
are migrants who usually seek work in towns and normal’ life expectancy and its associated old age
cities during non-farming months between March and related Non-Communicable Diseases often
August every year. They do not have any familial, accelerated by HIV. Both these scenarios mean that
social or health support in their place of work resulting visits to health care institutions will go up.
in health problems arising out of alcoholism, drug
addiction or diseases such as Tuberculosis and HIV/ India has 21% of world’s burden of diseases. Every
AIDS. Corporates can fund Youth Resource Centres year, hundreds of thousands of people are affected
(YRC) as a CSR activity. The YRC is a drop-in centre by infections like Gastro-enteritis, respiratory tract
for local youth who can play indoor games, have infections, etc., leading to an average loss of 4-5 man-
sessions on career counselling and read books and days per illness but, with tuberculosis and AIDS
magazines. related infections, this loss can be up by months.
HIV spreads via commerce i.e. between migrant In AIDS, approximately 20% of those infected with
labourers, truckers, people in uniformed services and HIV are ill due to various infections mentioned above
salesmen and the commercial sex workers (CSWs) at any given time and it is estimated that 50% of them
with whom they have sex. Those infected in turn infect will develop full blown AIDS in 10 – 11 years’ time.
their spouses when they return to their villages during The number of man-days lost due to various illnesses
their holidays. is bound to go up. The direct effects will be loss of
production, additional cost of manpower replacement
Another issue of modern living considered an and their training, all of which will push profits down.
epidemic plaguing modernity is stress. Stress can arise
at the workplace. People indulge in alcohol, drugs and Let us consider NACO’s estimate of 2.4 million HIV+
casual sex to diffuse this stress. Surveys amongst people in India a decade ago. If we assume that each
clients of CSWs indicate that a third are college HIV+ person is well enough to work for 75% of their
students, a third are migrant labourers and another period of 10 years of their illness, after they are
diagnosed, the workdays lost per HIV+ person would few studies documented the business case for
be 912.5. If we consider half of the two million HIV+ engaging in CSR activities. Professor S. Sadri
people to be develop AIDS in 10 years, then the total prophesied in early 1990s that an organisation needs
workdays lost would be 912.5 million. It is also a social infrastructure to maintain its social
possible that 20% of these HIV+ people who are in acceptability through CSR. Today many management
Stage IV of full blown AIDS would require an scholars such as Jayashree Sadri, Amit Kumar
attendant when ill which translates to 182.5 million Bhowmik, Shernaz Sarkari, Sharukh N. Tara, Anil K
workdays of the attendant. Thus, if we consider those Sharma to name a few have emphasized on corporate
who get infected in 2014, a total of 1095 million excellence. CSR is accepted as a pillar that supports
workdays will be lost due to AIDS affected people this excellence where stakeholders appreciate an
and their attendants by 2024. This effect may not be organization taking the extra step to bring an impact
very visible in India due to a large work population, in life of people and environment not associated with
but this scenario was very present in many Sub- its products or services.
Saharan countries till a few years ago. Till recently CSR was on voluntary basis and in some
Currently the cost of treating a HIV+ person with Anti- cases as an isolated activity in an organisation’s
Retroviral Therapy (ART) on three drug first-line calendar, but since April 2014 it is mandatory that
regime for a year is approximately Rs. 12,000 ($179 @ companies give at least 2% of their three-year average
Rs. 67 per 1$) which when considered against per net profit to CSR activities as part of the New
capita income of Rs. 74,920/- ($1,118 @ Rs. 67 per 1$) Companies Act and that CSR activities should be
in 2013-14 is 16% of the income. If more than one undertaken only in “project/programme” mode and
member of the family is affected then the proportion not as “one off events” such as marathons, charitable
of cost of ART to income goes up. The burden of contributions etc.
treating 1 million HIV+ cases would be $179 million We observe the Macro-economic impact of HIV/AIDS
per annum which is a huge amount whether borne in increased healthcare and social security costs
by the Government, Corporates or individuals. This together with falling profitability of organisations due
amount can be used for other health initiatives of to reduced productivity from absenteeism. The
National priority such as safe drinking water and organization would also incur expenses for training
sanitation. of replacement and recruitment of new employees.
Measuring the impact of CSR activities in HIV/AIDS This leads to reduced international competitiveness
is still quite difficult to compute. The calculations and foreign investment is discouraged.
above show the magnitude of financial burden. The At the Micro-economic level, this will be reflected in
HIV/AIDS workplace business case reveals the reduced earning power of the HIV+ employee who is
following advantages for the company namely unable to work leading to a lower purchasing power
increased productivity and decreased health costs for of households, changing the age and sex distribution
employees due to a healthy workforce. We will of labour force with widows, elderly and children
examine it further in the next two parts. forced into work often in exploited and deplorable
The CSR and Corporate Excellence conditions. A difficult task is to factor in the cost of
loss of quality of life, fear of discrimination, broken
The CSR activities in our country has undergone homes, loss of culture with the death of elders and
changes in marked phases over the past century taking subsequent increase of AIDS orphans? Can India
into the need of the hour. These phases have started afford an AIDS Epidemic? Will our industries run if
as Philanthropy and is currently integrated as an the community around them from which their
important part of sustainable business strategy. A few working force is drawn becomes ill from HIV
Corporates such as Tata Group, Indian Oil Infection? In order to prevent such a situation, the
Corporation, to name a few have incorporated CSR Corporate world has to act now by taking steps to
as part of the organisation’s DNA from the very include HIV/AIDS interventions as part of their CSR
inception. However, large scale and multi-national Health Initiatives for their employees and the
companies carry out CSR activities the medium size community. Globally, specially studies from Kenya
and small scale industries shy away from doing it and S. Africa have shown that direct business action
citing lack of resources to implement it. For many in preventing and treating HIV/AIDS has favourably
years, companies have been told by all stakeholders impacted the balance sheets and preserved the
that CSR is good for business, but till 90s relatively
greatest resource i.e. the employees. Simple initiative Organisations should start AIDS Awareness
such as AIDS Awareness Programmes is not only cost- Programmes in their areas of operation as part of their
effective as it costs only a fraction of the expenses CSR Health initiatives and sustain it for long term
incurred on treating a few HIV+ employees, but also benefits. Target population should be between 15 –
that the results are tangible as awareness leads to a 49 years as this is the most vulnerable group and
gradual change of behaviour and greater acceptance already mentioned above. Programmes can be tailor-
of HIV+ people. made to suit the different demographic strata such as
High School/College students, house-wives; migrant
Ethical behaviour also prevents organisations from
labourers; uniformed personnel; business person; long
terminating jobs of HIV+ employees or doing
distance truckers; Transgenders; Injecting Drug Users
surreptitious pre-employment testing for HIV.
and Commercial Sex Workers to name a few.
Emphasis on business ethics is highlighted by
Awareness sensitizes people leading to safer sex
Professor Jayashree Sadri in her research on Business
practices which in turn would lead to primary
Ethics and corporate governance which mentions that
prevention and address the first component of
they are the path to business excellence and hence
UNAIDS World AIDS Day theme 2010-15 mentioned
employee happiness and customer satisfaction, a win-
above i.e. “Zero New Infections”. It will also address
win for all. Amit Kumar Bhowmik and Shernaz
the third component namely stigma and
Sarkari have also emphasised that in the present
discrimination which deters people from getting
volatile fast changing global environment with its cut tested, incites them to infect others due to reactionary
throat competition the prime key to success is vindictive behavior and prevents people who are
corporate excellence. infected from receiving adequate care and treatment.
Several studies show that companies practicing CSR Greater awareness and subsequent sensitisation to the
do better financially with 18% higher profits and have issues reduces stigma and discrimination as common
a better image than companies that do not. Nowadays myths and perceptions are dispelled.
investors are more attracted to companies that practice It is said that there are three waves of HIV/AIDS
CSR. A Global Investors Opinion Survey 2002 by epidemic namely ‘Epidemic of HIV’ of 1980s during
McKinsey & Company, focusing mostly on developed which the virus spread like wildfire mostly due to
countries, confirms that institutional investors are lack of knowledge of its cause and disease dynamics.
prepared to pay a premium of more than 20% for Then came the ‘Epidemic of AIDS’ of 1990s and early
shares of companies that demonstrate good corporate 2000s wherein people who were earlier infected due
governance. This trend continues. to HIV/AIDS were dying due to AIDS related
There is certainly hope that when CSR meets HIV/ infections. Finally from mid 2000s onward is the third
AIDS the latter will be brought under control as we wave of the epidemic i.e. ‘Epidemic of Stigma and
will see in the next part. Discrimination’. Here it may be mentioned that WHO
statistics showed that the epidemic had peaked in 2001
HIV Prevention, Care Cascade and Continuum of
and that of deaths in HIV+ people peaked in 2005. An
Intervention by CSR
important reason for its decline thereafter was due to
To tackle the HIV/AIDS infection, curtail its progress greater awareness and advent of Highly Active Anti-
and reverse the epidemic, we need to focus on two Retroviral Therapy. Even then in 2009, only 50% of
broad areas namely Primary Prevention and HIV+ persons who needed HAART were getting it.
Secondary Interventions. This is also in sync with the To address the secondary interventions we need to
UNAIDS World AIDS Day Theme 2010 – 15 “Zero examine the HIV Care Cascade, a path breaking
New Infections. Zero Deaths. Zero tolerance to Stigma concept highlighted by Centers for Disease Control
and Discrimination.” The most important being and Prevention, USA, and Health Resources and
Primary Prevention. Prevention is critical. The old Services Administration. It shows a continuum from
saying “Prevention is Better than Cure” applies here the point of detection of HIV to retention in treatment
very well. The lessons about AIDS are that new of HIV+ people and also the areas where interventions
epidemics can be prevented and the worst ones can should be focused for halting further transmission of
be turned around. A key factor to any successful HIV. Expert health agencies have shown that only 25
intervention is looking beyond the conventional ones – 35% of PLWHA who were detected HIV+ are virally
of institutional interventions, be it at the national level suppressed mainly due to the two main gaps in the
or at the organizational one. HIV Care Cascade i.e. linkage to a treatment centre
and retention in care. A flow diagram is given in Volunteerism by doing CSR activities in a structured
Annexure I. way in Organisation’s work time. The suggested
The session titled “Treatment Cascade: Operational points of interventions is elaborated upon below.
Challenges in Scaling Up Test and Treat” at the 2013 A) For the general population the following can be
International AIDS Society (IAS) Conference in Kuala undertaken:
Lumpur, Malaysia, showed the barriers at each 1) AIDS Awareness Programmes and Behavioural
cascade point for different for countries. Change Communications conducted at regular
In the above-mentioned IAS Conference, Ms. intervals for all demographic strata. Apart from
Katharina Kranzer, Specialist Registrar Medical raising awareness these also lead to sensitisation
Microbiology and Infectious Diseases at University of the target audience with reduction in stigma
College London Hospitals, stressed that interventions and discrimination against PLWHA. If done in
such as decentralization of services, task-shifting, a sustained manner, this is the most cost-effective
point-of-care testing and service integration, peer intervention as it leads to “safer behaviour” and
support offers a critical step to reduce stigma hence prevents new HIV infections.
especially amongst vulnerable groups such as 2) Counselling services and/or “Drop in” centre
Transgenders & MSMs and that food incentives & provide an opportunity to have “one-to-one”
home-based care (HBC) which can enhance retention session with a person “at risk”. This builds
and continuity of care as critical strategies to achieve confidence of the person and allays fears and
the results of the cascade. myths of taking a test for knowing the HIV
In the recent Conference on Retroviruses and status. It is also a confidence building
Opportunistic Infections held in Boston February 22- opportunity for someone who is already a
25, 2016, highlighted studies done in Uganda which diagnosed HIV+ case. Once a person is aware of
showed that simplified clinical procedures enabled his/her status, they will take steps to prevent
70% of patients to start HAART as soon as they further transmission of the HIV to others.
became eligible for it. Counselling is a cornerstone to long term
Let us consider a person who finds himself “at risk” retention of HIV+ person and their family
of being infected or is undergoing treatment of an members in their continuum of care. As with
infection which is not responding to standard regimen grief, PLWHA also undergo the steps mentioned
of medicines. After counselling he is tested and is in Kubler-Ross model of Grief reaction and it is
detected HIV+. This is the first part of the cascade. imperative that a person is brought to the Stage
Thereafter he is engaged in care and undergoes tests of Acceptance as soon as possible as it has a
such as CD4 Cell Count to know his immune status as positive effect on outcome of HIV Care Cascade.
well as the Vial Load in his blood, both tests are the 3) HIV Testing Centres in India are quite common
gold standard markers for disease monitoring. If his these days as compared to a few decades ago.
blood CD4 Cell Count values are lower than the cut The ideal one is an Integrated Counselling and
off value set by WHO, NACO and other similar health Testing Centre (ICTC) where facilities of
agencies, he is started on HAART, a multi-drug counselling as well as testing are available under
combination of anti-HIV medicines. Thereafter, for one roof itself such as those in Government
achieving return of immune status to normal values Hospitals, Link Centres and Primary Health
and Viral Load to undetectable levels he has to be Centres. This helps in a higher percentage
retained in care to ensure full adherence to his persons undertaking the test and an important
medication. The above steps and the barriers seen are entry point into the HIV Care Cascade.
given in Annexure II. The above mentioned three interventions also plays
Corporates through their CSR can take up one or more an important role in Stage II i.e. ‘Asymptomatic Stage’
areas of continuum of HIV care to help HIV+ person of the HIV disease cycle. Corporates can sponsor
achieve good health and thereby reduce morbidity testing and counselling facilities.
and mortality. Corporates can partner with local or 4) Workplace and community interventions can
National NGOs to roll out their programme or can range from just AIDS Awareness Programmes
encourage their employees to take up Employee to having a counselling centre too.
5) Life skills seminars help in guiding people to reduces the Viral Load in the infected person
proactively tackle issues such as Peer pressure, making the risk of transmission of the virus to
addictions, stress and poor self-esteem which are his/her partner less. It also addresses “Zero New
predisposing factors for unsafe sexual and truant Infections” and “Zero Deaths” of the UNAIDS
behaviour. Sexually Transmitted Infections, a World AIDS Day Theme 2010-15. Organisations
strong predisposing factor to HIV infection, and can supply or sponsor HAART for PLWHA
HIV/AIDS are thus prevented. especially children. It may be mentioned here
6) Availability of Safe Blood and its components that HAART for Paediatric age group is difficult
– Blood accounts for approximately 2% of to obtain and often there is a shortage of the
transmission of HIV. Corporates can encourage syrup version of these medicines. According to
blood donation by employees and their family NACO, without care and treatment one third of
members, link up with local Government children living with HIV will die in their first
recognised Blood Bank and/or partner with year of life and 50% by second year of life.
Voluntary Blood Donors’ Association to ensure 5) Two areas of great impact are:
availability of HIV-free blood for use by the a) ‘Post Exposure Prophylaxis’ (PEP) – in
needy. discordant couple i.e. where only one partner is
B) From point of infection onwards – the continuum HIV+ infected, exposure of the non-infected
of HIV care: partner can occur through ‘unsafe sex’ practices.
1) Spouses and partners of HIV+ person should be Standard regimen as suggested by WHO and
counselled to visit the ICTC to know their HIV NACO are advocated for the exposed HIV
status. Role of counselling mentioned above is negative person in such a situation. This helps
thus an important one. Counselling and prevent new infections, which is also part of the
Behavioral Change Communications is UNAIDS World AIDS Day 2010-15 Theme.
important for adherence to treatment as well as b) ‘Preventing Parents To Child Transmission’
for retention in care and hence should be an (PPTCT) – is through globally accepted
ongoing activity for PLWHA. standardised interventions which reduce the risk
2) Nutritional care is a vital component of of transmission of HIV from an HIV+ pregnant
treatment. Research has shown that micro- mother to her baby. The risk is approximately
nutrients such as Selenium, Manganese and Zinc 30% during Ante-Natal to Post-Natal phase i.e.
help in maintaining the integrity of immune from pregnancy to delivery to breast-feeding.
system. Dietary counselling guides HIV affected PPTCT using standardised WHO or NACO
people to eat healthily making use of food that guidelines reduces this risk to as low as 2%.
is available locally. 4 pillars of PPTCT Programme are
3) The spectrum of HIV from Stage I i.e. ‘Stage of I. Primary Prevention of HIV Infection in women
Infection’ to Stage IV i.e. ‘Stage of Full-blown and their partners – keeping the partner safe
AIDS’ takes about 8 – 10 years in an average through “safer sex” practices and Post-Exposure
person who has not taken any treatment. Usually Prophylaxis.
in Stage III i.e. ‘Stage of AIDS related Complex’, II. Prevention of unintended pregnancies – by
various Opportunistic Infections occur in HIV+ practicing “safer sex practices.
persons which are rarely seen in a normal
healthy person. Approximately 20% of HIV+ are III. Prevention of HIV transmission from mother to
in this Stage. Medicines that are given as child – as mentioned above there are various
prophylaxis to prevent Opportunistic Infections approaches suggested by WHO and NACO
or as specific treatment for those seen in patients strategies that reduce the risk of transmission to
can be provided by Corporate sponsored Drop- the unborn child to a minimum.
in Centres or Clinics. IV. Treatment of PLWHA (women and children) as
4) When Stage III is present, providing Highly per NACO guidelines helps maintain integrity
Active Anti-Retroviral Therapy (HAART) is of the immune system and prevents its further
important which preserves the immune system damage. It also reduces the infectivity in the
and reverses the damage caused to it. It also person.
The interventions that Organisations can undertake pay which in turn affects the purchasing power
for the above 4 Pillars are: of the affected family. The first major fallout is
• Promoting barrier methods of Family Planning that children are removed from schools as the
to prevent infection as well as pregnancy family is unable to pay school fees. The long term
effect is a generation of uneducated people.
• Enrollment in PPTCT programme - Sometimes it makes grandparents come out of
Organisations can link HIV+ pregnant women retirement to start work again. Women and
to their corporate hospitals or to partner health children seeking work are financially and
institutions where safe delivery techniques as sexually exploited too. Organisations can
well as PPTCT guidelines can be implemented. prevent these through Economic Rehabilitation
It is well known that even today majority of programme for HIV+ person or their family
Indian pregnant women are still delivered at members wherein vocational skills are taught to
home by ‘dais’ who are either trained at family members making them financially
Government Health Centres or by their elders independent. Children, especially AIDS
as an ongoing family tradition. Hence, during Orphans, can be sponsored for their education
home delivery the dais are exposed to infected along with vocational training making them
body fluids when they deliver HIV+ pregnant skilled for jobs at graduation. Women can be
women. Government health services provide taught house-keeping skills that can increase
“kits” which dais can use as Personal Protection their employability in establishments.
Equipment (PPE) and safer delivery at home.
Corporates can make institutional delivery free C) Programme interventions for an ‘evolving
or subsidised to motivate these HIV+ pregnant epidemic’ vs ‘mature epidemic’:
women to shift to institutional delivery from the a) In the beginning of an epidemic as it is evolving,
preferred one at home. interventions focussing on Knowledge-
• Linkage of newborn to ICTC – for follow up to Awareness-Behaviour i.e. AIDS Awareness
know the status of the newborn and to start early Programmes and Behavioral Change
interventions, if required. Communication are required. These initiatives
raise the level of awareness, sensitise public to
• Advocating Safe Infant feeding practices the HIV/AIDS issue thus helping in reducing
• Making HAART available to discordant couples stigma and discrimination and most importantly
prevents new infections. A Drop-in centre or
6) Many times an HIV+ falls ill due to seasonal Counselling centre is an added advantage.
infections. They get worried as they are not sure Linkage with ICTC helps detection of HIV+
if the simple illness is the beginning of a more people and subsequent enrolment in care
serious Opportunistic Infection. As a result they cascade.
visit hospitals and local clinics only to find that
the infection is not a serious one. These visits b) As the epidemic matures, the interventions
increase the medical expenses, leads to which Organisations can undertake are
absenteeism and subsequent loss of salary, all of providing HAART, medicines for Opportunistic
which add to their financial burden. For the infections, Counselling, PPTCT, PEP, HBC, and
Organisation it is loss of man-hours, delay in building skills for economic rehabilitation.
achieving targets and loss in productivity. D) The HIV+ pregnant woman – the interventions
Corporates can conduct training sessions for for this is dealt with in detail above under
People Living with HIV/AIDS on ‘Home-based continuum of care.
Care’ (HBC) with the help of their employees or
with partner NGOs. This initiative helps the Strategies to Deal with the CSR Points Addressing
PLWHA to take care of simple infections at home the Continuum of Care
itself and also be able to recognise when a visit The Corporate Social Responsibility can be directed
to a Clinic is imperative. towards one or more interventions discussed above.
7) When HIV+ person is in Stage III and IV, he/she The Corporates should address the continuum of care
is unable to attend work for 50% or more of by:
working days. This leads to absenteeism and loss • Management through using tools like strategic
of man-days and production as well as loss in planning and technical strategies for cost
effective implementation of the components of diversity and rights, and increased productivity and
Continuum of HIV Care. reduced costs as the impact diminishes.’
• Service Providers who can either be the internal Conclusion
resources including Employee Volunteerism or Understanding the undercurrents of socio-medical
partner agencies if the Organisation does not aspects of HIV/AIDS and the HIV Care cascade helps
have the human resources or capacity to do it us in identifying areas where CSR health interventions
on their own. can have maximum impact. Whilst CSR usually
• Capacity Building which should be done at all focuses on environment and some areas of health,
levels and for all stakeholders. This causes ‘ripple HIV/AIDS the 4th largest killer in the world, is not on
effect’ in rollout of the programme as well as the roadmap of many organisations. If HIV/AIDS,
increase the reach and depth of interventions in specifically its Care Cascade areas, is also included
a short span of time where each trained person as an area under CSR, it will be cost effective as greater
is capable of having an impact on people in their impact will be seen with minimum resources ensuring
circle of influence. healthy population by reducing new infections and
• Measuring for impact through robust preventing early deaths. In the long run, it is a Win-
Monitoring and Evaluation as this provides a Win situation for all – Corporates benefit from this
feedback to the initiatives and help in further not only because a healthy person may be a future
refinement of interventions in the continuum of worker, but also due to the goodwill earned from their
care. Often good programmes run into the stakeholders especially the investors. Thus, we see that
ground due to poor Monitoring and Evaluation. CSR does play an important role in ameliorating not
This activity should be done by internal only the effect of HIV/AIDS, but also reversing the
programme auditors as well as by a neutral epidemic.
external agency. The importance of the latter is Annexure – I
in ensuring that the internal guardians do their
task well and is highlighted in “Who will guard The Continuum of Care begins from the point where
the guardians” by Amit Kumar Bhowmik and a person visits an ICTC and is till the point of viral
Shernaz Sarkari as well as dealt at length by suppression.
Sorab Sadri, Dhun S. Dastoor and S. Jayashree Expert health agencies have shown that only 25 – 35%
in the book “The Theory and Practice of of PLWHA who were detected HIV+ are virally
Management Ethics” suppressed. This gives an opportunity for corporates
UNAIDS mentions that as the HIV/AIDS epidemic is to undertake CSR initiatives to bridge every gap in
contained or controlled, it will also result in ‘increased the continuum of care so as to increase the number of
life expectancy, unconditional acceptance of people’s HIV+ persons who are virally suppressed.
Annexure— II
Cascade Step Problems identified Barriers or gaps
Testing for HIV • Does not visit test centre Lack of privacy or
confidentiality
• Reluctance to get tested Fear of the “unknown”
• Does not collect test result/report Poor Pre-test counselling
Insensitive or unfriendly staff
Engaging in care • Reluctance to continue in Care Centre is inaccessible
counselling or treatment Rude behaviour of staff;
programme stigma and discrimination
towards
• Irregular visits People Living with HIV/AIDS
Lack of out-patients or indoor
services or service providers
such as counsellor; doctor.
Irregular supply of medicines.
CD4 / Viral Load testing • Irregular visits or drop-out Test centre is inaccessible.
from follow-up testing Expensive – if paid ‘out of
• Requires testing at regular periods pocket’
To take leave for visits
Non-availability of staff; kits;
Rude behaviour of staff; stigma
and discrimination
ART • Requires regular visit to ART ART is expensive unless
centre provided free by NACO or is
sponsored
Shortage of medicines,
especially Paediatric syrups, at
ART Centres
Full adherence • HAART defaulters Poor pre-medication
counselling
“Treatment Fatigue” due to
regular intake of HAART
Stoppage of medicines due to
side effects
Clinic is inaccessible
Not able to explain to family,
friends and colleagues
regarding regular visits to (ART)
Clinic
Sharing of HAART by other
HIV+ family members too.
Annexure – III
Acronyms
AIDS Acquired Immunodeficiency Syndrome
ART Anti-Retroviral Therapy
CDC Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
CSI Corporate Social Investment
CSR Corporate Social Responsibility
CSWs Commercial Sex Workers
GDP Gross Domestic Product
HAART Highly Active Anti-Retroviral Therapy
HBC Home Based Care
HIV Human Immunodeficiency Virus
HRSA Health Resources and Services Administration
IAS International AIDS Society
ICTC Integrated Counselling and Testing Centre
NACO National AIDS Control Organisation
NP+ Network of Positive People
PE Peer Educators
PEP Post Exposure Prophylaxis
PPE Personal Protective Equipment
PPTCT Preventing Parent To Child Transmission
SIV Simian Immunodeficiency Virus
WHO World Health Organisation
YRC Youth Resource Centre
Poonam Sharma
Research Scholar, Commerce Department, University of Jammu
Jammu, J&K
Abstract
The study evaluates the impact of mentoring on personal learning in banking sector. Data has been collected from 395
employees working in banking sector in J&K (India). The confirmatory factor analysis has been done for confirming the
factor structure and structural equation modeling for testing the hypothesized relations. Results revealed mentoring
significantly affects personal learning. The data has been collected using a questionnaire at a single point of time. For
future research longitudinal study should be conducted.
Introduction
Many organizations establish mentoring programs to serve their business purpose as well as to meet the develop-
mental needs of employees (Catalyst, 1993). Mentoring is valuable for implementing various learning strategies
(Tanweer, Suresh & Sundararajan 2016) and coping with major organizational changes (Kram & Hall, 1996).
Mentoring not only provides benefit to employer or employees but also helps organization in number of way like
creating an environment for professional development improvement in communication within the organization
(Rowland, 2011), motivation (Lo, Thurasamy, Liew, 2014; Allen, 2003), work satisfaction and loyalty (Zhang, Wu,
Wen & Zhang, 2016; Ismail, Ibrahim, Jusoff, Jui, Jaya & Mahdi, 2009; Ismail & Ridzwan, 2012).
Conceptual Framework
Mentoring
Kram, (1985); Hu, Wang, Wang, Chen & Jiang, (2016); Anderson & Shannon, (1988) and Zhang, Qian, Wu,
Wen & Zhang, (2016) have described mentoring as a reciprocal process of interpersonal exchanges between
an experienced employee/mentor and a less experienced mentee in which the mentor helps the protege´ with
career advancement and personal development. Kram (1985) identified two categories of mentoring
functions, career and psychosocial functions. Career functions are those that assist mentees in gaining
corporate exposure, learning the organizational life and obtaining promotions. It includes sponsorship,
exposure-and-visibility, coaching, protection and challenging work assignments. Psychosocial functions are
those facets of the mentoring relationship that are more personal in nature (Akarak & Ussahawanitchakit,
2008). These functions may impact the mentees feelings of competence, uniqueness, and success in their
professional position within an organisation. Psychosocial functions result in increased sense of competence,
effectiveness and self-worth. It includes role modelling, acceptance-and-confirmation, counselling and
friendship.
Personal learning:- EFA resulted into seven items un- reliability has been checked through cronbach’s alpha,
der two factor namely, relational job learning and per- composite reliability, discriminant validity and con-
sonal skill development (figure 3). After applying CFA vergent validity. Cronbach’s alpha value for personal
one of the items got deleted due to low SRW value skill development is 0.679 and for relational job learn-
(pl2) and perfect model fit indices (÷2/ df= 2.95, ing is 0.748. Composite reliability of this model is 0.966.
CFI=0.968, GFI= 0.980, AGFI= 0.947, NFI=0.957, TLI= Convergent validity is also established as AVE and
0.941, RMR= 0.018 and RMSEA = 0.070 Table 3.4 ). One SRW value are above 0.5. Average variance extracted
of the items (pl5) namely “frequently asking for feed- is higher than the squared correlation, which proves
back about ideas, perception and performance” is re- discriminant validity (Table 2)
flecting personal learning the most (0.74). Validity and
Case Study
The Unsatisfied Contractor
Dr. Raju Ganesh Sunder
Professor (OB & HR) and Head CCE (AU) University of Petroleum and
Energy Studies, Dehradun, Uttarkhand.
Abstract
The Transmission tower line (TTL) manufacturing industry is noted for being a difficult industry to thrive in.
Research reveals that in the Period 2008-2012 when there was a global recession and TTL Manufacturing was
facing many challenges, many of the units were working at less than 50% capacity which was not allowing the
companies to break even, but the Case of Satya Rollers Pvt Ltd., Nagpur was different because it had back integration
and hence was in a position to tide over the challenges of Non Availability of material( Since could Roll the product
as per Requirement) Even the world leader KEC International Ltd (A RP Goenka Entity) having manufacturing
facilities throughout the world with three facilities in India ( Nagpur, Jaipur and Jabalpur) does not have the
backward integration and hence has to invest a lot in Raw materials. At the core of the business Staff and Employees
represent the establishment. Their proficiency, attention to detail thoughtfulness and understanding go along way
to win repeat clientele and convert them into loyal customers, who become their best advertisements through word
of mouth publicity.
These were some of the factors that allowed a better cost control for (SRPL) Satya Rollers Pvt Ltd., Nagpur and
was able to survive the onslaught and do well. But the area which remained neglected was the HR/IR field which
only meant dealing with compliances ( Provident Fund, ESIC, Factories Act, Minimum Wage Act etc) there was
no effort made by the Management and the Top level authorities to develop a worker/ Supervisor friendly
environment. Most of the work was done through contractors to lessen the burden of the Compliances.
The Case
The High pitch shouting and commotion in the reception area which was very near to the Chambers of the
General Managers Human Resource/ Industrial Relations as well as Production drew both the persons Mr.
Thakur and Mr. Suchak to the commotion area where they came to understand that one of the contractors
Mr. Singh had a heated discussion with Mr. Pandey the Senior Manager (Production) and during the process
had even slapped Mr. Pandey.
Mr. Suchak the General Manager HR /IR was a Middle Aged dynamic person who had about 5 Months ago
Joined the Company , he was one of those HR’s who was able to instill confidence and Trust in people.
Satya Rollers Pvt Ltd., Nagpur was a company which was established in the Year 1990, the Company was
earlier in Rolling of Steel products for the Main Steel supplier’s like SAIL. TATA and RINL in the due course
of time they started rolling and Marketing the products to different end users. In marketing they came in
contact with local TTL manufacturers and after a detailed study of the TTL manufacturing they entered the
TTL manufacturing area in year 2005.
With the latest technology of CNC machines and other software assisted production planning and control
they were able to manufacture faster and due to the backward integration give deliveries ahead of schedule.
In the process of Manufacturing in TTL the following functions play a very important role: (i) Fabrication (ii)
Galvanizing (iii) Dispatch
Fabrication involves cutting, punching, drilling holes Contractor rushed to Mr. Suchak to tell that keeping
and Bending. Now the first three processes are done in view the work allotted and done it was impossible
with CNC machines and the production rate is very for him to make the payments after repaying the
good but the bottle neck is the bending process which advance the contractor was very demoralized since
till date has not been automated and is dependent on he was incurring losses and that on a very big level,
heating and then manual operations ( Especially for this was eating up his profits from the other
Larger Section Angles).After fabrication the process companies and was driving him to desperation. The
of Galvanizing and finally the material is ready for contractor Mr. Singh also wanted a new Contract to
dispatch. Generally it is the fabrication (Bending) be drawn in his favor as per the terms of discussion
which delays the process. For the process to deliver, during award of the work since he did not want to
experts from the field are needed who have ample lose out on the 5% being paid to Mr. Gupta.
Demonstrated skills to improve on the process. The Immediately without wasting any time Mr. Suchak
process in SRPL was outsourced and was given to a consoled Mr. Singh and personally took him to Mr.
contractor Mr. Singh who was working with other Thakur to discuss the matter so that some emergent
Companies(KEC,UNITECH) on Contract was brought actions could be taken and relief given to Mr. Singh.
in as a Sub – Contractor under a Contractor Mr. Gupta After agood amount of time spent on discussion and
who had started his Career with SRPL group in 1990. pacifying Mr. Singh with the pros and Cons of the
Contract, the amount of jobs to be done and how Mr.
The award of the work happened when nobody from Singh could recoup his losses the matter was closed.
the HR/IR department was present the people during
the negotiation were the GM (Production) , the S At this juncture it would be very important to bring
Manager(Production) , the Vice President and the out the facts of the HR Department which consisted
of 2 HR Executives, 2 Assistant Managers(Out of
Executive Director. The quantity, rates and the
which one was looking after Safety ), 1 Manager and
duration as sub-contractor was decided. The
1 General Manager to take care of a total of 750
Contractor Mr. Singh started work immediately from
persons(Company Employed and Contractor
the next day, the HR department was only asked to
Employed)including the staff. Prior to Mr. Suchak’s
prepare additional records for persons under
joining the HR department used to function with 1
contractor Mr. Gupta. It was only when the month
Executive, 1 Asst Manager and 1 Manager but to
was over and the Contractor payments had to
improve on the HR processes a new team was in place.
finalized was the GM (HR/IR) informed about the
Mr. Suchak brought about many new worker friendly
arrangement and was asked to prepare a separate changes like the New HR Policy Manual( Which spoke
bill for the works done by Mr. Singh and to be added about Leaves, recruitment process, advances, grade
to Mr. Gupta’s bill(Mr. Gupta would retain 5% of the wise list of TA and DA etc) Subsidized Canteen facility,
bill amount). pickup and drop facility for Shift workers, and
Now when Mr. Singh submitted the complete bill, separate bus for Managers and Immediate Medical
which was verified with the quantities given by the attention at a nearby Hospital (With Vehicle facility
production department the issues started since many to take the injured to the Hospital). Salary and Wages
jobs were not complete the final payment was very to be paid latest by 5 th of every month, fewer
low and was not sufficient for Mr. Singh to pay up his discrepancies in salary and Wages. A buzz was going
workers. The Contractor Mr Singh approached the HR around that the HR department has become very
Department and met the GM (HR/IR) with his active and has a worker friendly approach.
challenge immediately Mr. Suchak requested Mr. The next morning as soon as the general shift started
Pandey to come up for a discussion, in the process of Mr. Singh went up to Mr. Pandey for discussion
the discussion it was brought to the notice of Mr. regarding his Contract which during the course of
Suchak that in the last month the job quantity offered time got into an argument with heated exchange of
were on the lower side and due to breakdown in the expletives which finally lead to Mr. Singh slapping
heating arrangement the production quantity had Mr. Pandey and thereafter Mr. Pandey rushing into
suffered and jobs remained unfinished. To tide over the reception area followed by Mr. Singh.
the situation an advance was sanctioned which was
At this juncture Mr.Suchak rushed in and caught hold
paid to Mr. Singh for making payments to his workers.
of Mr. Singh to put an end to the unsavory incident.
In the next month to the situation did not improve As an apology Mr. Singh was made to ask for pardon
and when the time for wage distribution came up the in the plant in front of all the staff and workers. The
Case Study
Decade Textile Mills
Jayashree Sadri
Decade Textile Mills is located in Western India. It has grown from a small enterprise and today is a major exporter of
cotton yarn and cotton textiles. The Management of Decade Mills is very orthodox, clan controlled and traditional. The
Board of Directors is a mixture of old timers and fresh blood. The Quality Control Manager, Gopi Haricharan, looks
after the HRD function and those employees who have secured an MBA from local colleges while in employment often
question his knowledge of the subject. “yes men” as well as his “clansmen” who are different from the “clansmen” of
the owners surround him. Anyone with new ideas is welcomed so long as the new ideas fall in line with Haricharan’s
thinking. He is a trusted officer of the top management, but to the workers, he is a person to be kept at an arm’s length
and given due respect mainly in the light of his position in the company. Decade Textiles does not employ MBAs as a
matter of policy because the Management feels that these “Johnny come lately” might rock the boat. Management
students are permitted to go there for summer training but kept under very strict supervision and if a student begins to
ask too many questions, they write an adverse report to the Institute about that student. However, Haricharan is a very
persuasive speaker, can convince many a recalcitrant employee and is held in high esteem by the older managers as well
as certain academics, whom he obliges from time to time by arranging consultancies for them.
The informal reporting system in the company is very efficient and top management has a finger on every pulse that
beats in the organisation. Leaders whose election is supervised by the Management man the Union. Anyone not following
the Management dictate is summarily dismissed. The Consultant on Personnel matters to the company is a self-styled
OB specialist, Dr ShankerIyer, who works at a local institute and lends some credibility to many of Haricharan’s training
plans by virtue of his support. The “style” of management could be described as “benevolent despotism”. The wage
structure as well as the organisation chart is considered confidential documents and job descriptions are a classified
document. The span of control is not well laid out, nor is the hierarchy clearly demarcated. Personal equations between
certain managers and the top brass are in charge.
The level of technology used in the Mills ranges from the ultra-modern to the ultra-archaic. The plant has grown with
time and the expansion has not been planned in any orderly fashion, as any visitor to the premises will notice. However,
this does not present a major “movement of goods” problem. Some parts of the plant are labour intensive, whereas some
other plants are capital intensive. The erstwhile policy of advertising all vacancies throughout the plant has run into
rough waters since the union contends that only those from within the section are being promoted and the company wide
advertisement is a wash out. Now with the possible change in leadership of the union looming on the horizon, this is one
of the issues on the union agenda.
Every day, at 1:30pm sharp, the Works Manager has a spot meeting in the portico outside his office, where senior
officers come and keep him up to date with the progress of the day. He maintains that he wants to have the meeting
outside, as he does not wish to waste time and let the managers get on with their tasks. Some managers “jokingly”
remark that he does so in order to prevent their shoes from soiling his office carpet. But there is no denying the fact that
outwardly, everyone appears to be one big happy family. The premises are kept very clean and the shop floors are very
tidy. Environmental pollution is at a minimum. The gardens surrounding the offices and the canteens are excellently
maintained. The canteen food is subsidised, nutritious, vegetarian and generally good value for money. On every festive
occasion, workers get discount coupons to buy cloth from the retail outlets determined by Decade Textiles for their
products: good quality cotton dhotis and cotton saris. The demand for cotton yarn and textiles universally is high and the
Decade Mills enjoy a privileged position as a supplier, because of the contacts that the top brass has with the Central
Government. Export orders are bountiful and the company is cash rich. For the fifth year in succession, Decade Textiles
has made super profits, when their sister company, Decade Rayon, has registered a loss and faces closure.
Decade Textile Mills, through subsidiary holdings, owns Consultancy on. Professor PremHegde is on the Western
cotton plantations. Due to interference from anti-social India Committee on Discrimination in Employment set up
elements (thugs) and the bad weather conditions, Decade by the Government of India and is very active on morchas
Mills is inclined to sub-contract the growing of cotton, since and dharnas organised by the body. His report to the I L O
this is the fourth year in a row that production has been on the exploitation of women and children in Indian
more than actual realisation of the crop. industry was hailed as a landmark study. Some committee
The shares of the sister company, Decade Rayons, located members feel that the discrimination against women is
in another district of the same state, have been doing archaic and must be done away with, but they do not know
particularly poorly due to financial mismanagement and what to do about it. They have confided their feeling to
labour unrest. Haricharan has publicly vowed that history Professor Hegde.
will not repeat itself in his company. Dinesh Joshi is the General Secretary of the union, which
While all this is going on, a scheme has been floated by is affiliated to the INTUC. Dinesh has occupied the position
which retainable staff from Decade Rayon will be since 1984, when he won the election and every third year
transferred to Decade Textiles and instead of filling up he has been re-elected to the post. Joshi’s reputation is
vacancies caused by death or superannuating, these will without blemish and the elections were fair. But, because
be filled up by transfers from Decade Rayon. This has he is not hard headed, workers assume that he is a
compounded the problem of labour transfers and “management stooge”. To be fair, Joshi himself has done
resentment is running high on this score. little to dispel that image.
The union membership is faced with a dilemma. Should it The manpower strength is 3,000 workers, of whom about
ask for in-company transfers and remain in the condition 60% are contract labour and 300 are officers/supervisors.
wherein only in-section transfers take place or should it Of those, 40% of the total workforce are permanent, about
close up completely and allow transfers from Decade
60% are card carrying members of the official house union
Rayons to go ahead. One group in the Union Committee
and the rest 40% join the union cause on a case by case
wants to stop the transfers from Decade Rayons, while the
other group wants it to remain untouched, as more important basis. Labour turnover would have been high if the labour
issues are at stake at the moment. This could form the market could accomodate the frictional unemployment.
agenda of further action at a later date, they argue. At the last Annual General Meeting of Decade Mills, two
The Management does not believe in hiring female old timers retired from the Boards of Directors. They were
employees and the highest position a woman can aspire replaced by a Finance Expert and a Marketing Expert, both
for is an Assistant Telephone Operator. Recently a top level of whom had MBA Degrees from IIM (Calcutta) and IIM
“lady professor” who is an expert in communication, was (Ahmedabad), respectively. In addition, the post of Vice
slated to take a Management Development Programme on President (HRD) was created, and although he was not on
behalf of the Institute that had the contract for in-house the Board, he was given wide ranging powers. He reported
Management Training. Haricharan and Dr directly to the Managing Director, who occupied the highest
ShankerIyersidelined the proposal to invite the lady as this position in the Company’s hierarchy.
invitation; they felt, “might” go against top management’s
wishes. Although very good friends, the lady professor was The Board observed that changes were called for. Wage
seen as an intellectual threat to Dr ShankerIyer, whose rates at the plant in Bombay and in the plantations are poor,
knowledge of his subject lacked both rigour and depth. as is the quality of skill of those employed. The HRD
function is non-existent.
Professor PremHegde, the other Management Trainer from
the same Institute as Dr ShankerIyer (who was present at The Board also agreed that professionally qualified
the meeting when the lady was dropped from the Managers must be recruited, but without creating a panic
programme unceremoniously), objected on the grounds that amongst the “old guard”. There was no real countervailing
such discrimination was against the Fundamental Rights tendency within the organisation, which could take on the
guaranteed by the Constitution and amounted to a violation “old guard” and bring about change. So “new blood” at
of the I L O Charter to which India is a signatory. the highest level was scouted for and found.
When Professor PremHegde took up the matter with the The new Vice President of Decade Mills, Dr. Yashvir Sinha,
Director of his Institute, he was brushed aside. The has a Doctorate from Harvard Business School. He is
argument tabled was that the institute was starved of funds shocked at the lack or absence of an HRD Function in
and the Director did not think that discrimination against Decade Mills. He believes that forming an Human
women was something important enough to lose a Training
Resources Management Department would be the start of 2. But Dinesh has taken a company loan of Rs.1.5 lakh
a new era and many of the inherited ills of the past to buy a flat in Thane. Haricharan has quietly sent
orthodoxy will soon disappear, if the Department is word to him that if he leads the strike, Haricharan
successfully set up and made operative. will have him sacked and demand that the loan be
Both, Dinesh Joshi and PremHegde, now agree with Sinha paid back at once. Dinesh has paid up only Rs.50,000
and have volunteered help in setting up such an HRM so far.
department at Decade Mills. Haricharan and the old guards 3. Militancy among the workers is well known but their
feel threatened and are planning to sabbotage the move. real strength has not been tested. They are quite
Joshi is well connected with the Government of vociferous in their demands, but they are not
Maharashtra and the Press although he does not belong to unreasonable men.
any political party. Haricharan is distantly related to the
Director of the Institute, which has the contract for 4. The workers who follow Dinesh Joshi are highly
Management Training, and the Director has friends in “high skilled. They man a vital section of the Mills and can
places”. Haricharan, on his own has no clout. bring the production to a grinding halt despite being
few in number.
Both, Dinesh Joshi and PremHegde, also support Yashvir
Sinha’s idea of recruiting MBA’s and PM specialists from 5. One group of militant workers who are faithful to
the top institute of India from May 1994 and of not rushing Haricharan has united and wants Dinesh removed and
things this year for fear of rocking the boat too much. are pressing for fresh elections to be held. If that
The Management at the Annual Meeting on 31.12.1992 happens, Dinesh is sure to lose, unless he takes up
has declared a dividend of 22% on equity shares and the the case of the workers within the week. One other
share prices are rising at an average rate of 35% per annum group of militant workers want to tie up with Dr Dutta
consistently since 1987. Samant and disassociate with the INTUC totally, if
the workers’ case is not taken up. They have no
The inflation rate in Greater Bombay, according to official
dealings with either Haricharan or with Dinesh.
Government figures for 1991-92, was 8% per annum but
the Bombay University Economists have calculated it at 6. Women’s Rights activists from Baroda, Nagpur,
14% per annum during the same period. The unemployment Poona and Greater Bombay are putting pressure on
rate for Greater Bombay, according to Government figures Professor PremHegde to expose the discriminatory
for 1991-92, was 25% per annum (for the category practices of Decade Mills. In fact, he first brought
employable in Decade Mills) but the Economists calculated this discriminatory practice to the knowledge of the
it to be in the region of 40% per annum. Women’s Rights activists.
Relationship between Dinesh Joshi and his team with the 7. Hegde, however, knows that if this is done Dr.
leaders of the “contract labour” is cordial. The leadership ShankerIyer and the Director of the Institute, will
of the “contract labour” has promised not to take up the gang-up on him and put his employment in jeopardy.
issue of regularisation until the position of both Dinesh Professor PremHegde is a family man but also has a
Joshi and Yashvir Sinha are secured in Decade Mills. No conscience.
one is sure whether the leaders can carry the contract labour
with them when the crunch comes. Traditionally, the 8. Two union committee members who hail from eastern
behaviour of contract labour has been “mercurial”. India see nothing wrong in the indiscrimination
Traditionally, the union leadership has been known to be against women, but agree to go along with the band
“reactive” and lacks an ideological base. Hence, any change wagon if the majority so decide. With their support
must be initiated by socially conscious members of the thus secured, the committee could be used to take up
management. the question of discrimination.
The Problem 9. Dr. Yashvir Sinha has got wind of the situation and
1. The workers want a pay increase to keep up with the has called a secret meeting over dinner at his
rise in the cost of living. Dinesh is under pressure residence to decide what is to be done. Invited to
from the rank and file to pursue their demand. Dinesh that dinner are Dinesh Joshi, PremHegde, a top-notch
is assured of support by 85% of the workers. When politician whose reputation is impeccable and the
the union action begins in Bombay, the plantation Regional Editor of a respectable national newspaper
workers will join the struggle. If Dinesh does not who is a common friend of all and can respect a
agree to their demand, he will lose all credibility, confidence.
support and respect.
10. PremHegde and Dinesh Joshi have often felt that so why?
Yashvir Sinha is a little too cautious, although his 3. What will Dinesh’s strategy be in the light of the
heart is in the right place. above scenario? Plan the strategy and justify each
Questions move.
1. This is the month of September 1993 and if 4. Should Prem go against the Director of the Institute
production stops a large foreign contract may be lost. that employs him? How should he go about doing it?
This would adversely affect all parties. What is to 5. How can Yashvir help the union leader, the
be done? conscientious professor and begin to form a
2. How will the problem of manpower allocation be Department for Human Resources Management as
handled? Can it be kept on the back burner? If soon as possible?
Case Study
Internal Branding of Human Resources Using the
Expectation Gap Analysis
[A Case Study of a Power Generation Company in Rajasthan]
Satyajit Bid
Abstract
In this Case Study, we give an overview of the importance of branding, steps involved in building a brand for the HR
department. We have also described the importance of creating a brand for the HR department to attract, motivate and
retain the best and brightest in order to survive in the competitive world. Then we have analyzed the various sub
systems of HR brand system, which serves as the Unique Selling Proposition (USP) of the company to grow in a big way
in the long run. Surveys on the employees of a Power Generation Company in Rajasthan. have been conducted on the
basis of expectation gap analysis and there view points are being mentioned in the survey. (i) Basic Product, which
means to define what, the HR department is all about. (ii) (ii) Expected Product- which means what the employee expect
the HR department to be Augmented Product, which means what are the services in reality provided by the HR
Department of a Power Generation Company in Rajasthan.
Introduction
Customers differentiate firms by their products. Marketers have traditionally used “The 4 Ps” (product, price,
position and promotion) to set the products of their firm apart from those of the competitor in the market place.
Employees now differentiate their jobs by HR branding .The 4 Ps of HR are People, Pay, Position and Prospects.
As the functions of HR started spreading across the organization, the services rendered by the HR department to
the employees can be treated as the same thing as selling services to the external customer. Hence, the HR department
should care about its brand identity.
For a company to be successful, it has to attract, motivate and retain the best and brightest, making it competitive
in the race. As organizations are complex, open systems, single interventions are not enough. The best organizations
have compelling people strategies that are perfectly aligned with the organization’s business strategy. Once the
people strategy is aligned with the business strategy, we can begin creating a great place to work. The HR brand
has to be aligned congruently with what the company delivers to the employee, customer, public and shareholder.
Company Profile
A POWER GENERATION COMPANY IN RAJASTHAN. Limited is the largest thermal power generating
company of India. A public sector company, it was incorporated in the year 1975 to accelerate power
development in the country as a wholly owned company of the Government of India. At present, Government
of India holds 89.5% of the total equity shares of the company and the balance 10.5% is held by FIIs, Domestic
Banks, Public and others... Within a span of 31 years, A POWER GENERATION COMPANY IN RAJASTHAN.
has emerged as a truly national power company, with power generating facilities in all the major regions of
the country.
Recognizing its excellent performance and vast Internal vs. External Branding: Creating a strong
potential, Government of the India has identified A brand is essential to the success of a business. As a
POWER GENERATION COMPANY IN business owner you want your company to be
RAJASTHAN. as one of the jewels of Public Sector remembered, you want your business name to be the
‘Nirvanas’- a potential global giant. Inspired by its first thing that comes to a customers mind when they
glorious past and vibrant present, A POWER think of the products and services that you sell. There
GENERATION COMPANY IN RAJASTHAN. is well are two major elements to Brand. How the public sees
on its way to realize its vision of being “A world class your business before they become a customer and how
integrated power major, powering India’s growth, they view your business as a customer.
with increasing global presence” External Branding is how we portray ourselves in
Powering India’s Growth: Through people: A public. Projecting the image of our business through
POWER GENERATION COMPANY IN advertising is often the initial contact we have with a
RAJASTHAN. believes in achieving organizational customer. This is the first impression you make, so it
excellence through Human Resources and follows needs to be a good one. Logos, selling sentences,
signage and the overall look of your external branding
“People First” approach to leverage the potential of
are really important.
its 23,500 employees to fulfill its business plans.
Human Resources Function has formulated an External Branding needs to do 3 things.
integrated HR strategy which rests on four building 1. Peak the public’s interest.
blocks of HR viz. Competence building, Commitment
building, Culture building and Systems building. All 2. Be memorable
HR initiatives are undertaken within this broad 3. Explain what your business does.
framework to actualize the HR Vision of “enabling
All these things are targeted to ‘get them in the door’.
the employees to be a family of committed world class
professionals making A POWER GENERATION If you peak a potential customer’s interest, they will
COMPANY IN RAJASTHAN. a learning want to know more. So present a message that allows
organization. you to stand out from your competition.
A POWER GENERATION COMPANY IN If your brand is memorable, people will talk about
RAJASTHAN. has institutionalized “Development you. The more people who talk about your brand the
Centers” in the company to systematically diagnose more customers you will create. So your message
the current and potential competency requirements needs to be something that’s hard to ignore.
of the employees with the objective of enhancing their HR Branding: Branding in HR has traditionally been
development in a planned manner. These Centers give limited to the employment function. The HR branding
a good insight to the employees about their strengths has become a topic of great interest. The importance
and weaknesses, the gaps in their competencies which of mastering the concepts and skills behind branding
they can bridge through suitable support from has greater implications for HR professionals in the
company. Due to innovative people management “new economy”.
practices there is a high level of pride and commitment The success of an organization relies upon excellence
amongst employees as reflected in the various external in execution. Historically, corporate leaders have
surveys including “Great Places to Work for in India” looked to other functions, such as product
in which A POWER GENERATION COMPANY IN development, marketing and sales, to drive corporate
RAJASTHAN. was rated third Great Place to work success, today more and more eyes are looking
for in the country in 2005. towards HR as the call for need.
Branding: Brands were originally developed as labels Success of the brand depends upon of awareness and
of ownership: name, term, design, and symbol. relevance. If target audiences are not aware of the
However, today it is what they do for people that brand, if their internal and external customers don’t
matters much more, how they reflect and engage notice your effort in the cacophony of messages they
them, how they define their aspiration and enable receive each day, then we will never have a chance to
them to do more. Powerful brands can drive success be relevant. And if they become aware of you, if we
in competitive and financial markets, and indeed capture their attention and fail to deliver relevance,
become the organization’s most valuable assets. then they will learn to ignore us.
Reasons for HR Branding: In today’s knowledge take decisions that would not discourage employees
driven economy, HR plays a strategic role in bringing from being aligned to the brand behavior.
in the right kind of people into the organization. In a
Initially, we have to build a brand internally that is
sense, HR is the first face of an organization for a new
prospective employee. Market research has revealed possible by making high participation of internal
that strong brands contribute to strong competitive customers in benefit plans, training programs and
presence. In this way, the HR in its new avatar, the company functions. Greater the acceptance of
importance of branding HR follows quite as a performance plans, compensation programs, and
corollary. policies and procedures, employee assistance
programs, meditation services lead to higher
The challenge faced while structuring the brand is to
satisfaction ratings on employee attitude surveys.
establish new deliverables to sustain strong
partnerships with both internal and external If an organization wants its brand to be perceived as
customers. The ability to see the big picture and to more strategic, more valuable, more reliable, one
deploy the resources to address to this big picture will needs to think about what internal and external
be more important than ever, based on the interactions customers expect from them, how well they can
of HR department with both internal and external deliver it, and how to progress. This isn’t achieved by
customers. fancy packages, catchy slogans and name changes,
The brand ‘HR’ can be well built by concentrating on either. This is achieved by thinking like a business with
the factors, which directly or indirectly influence the a product to be developed, marketed and reliably
expectations of an employee. HR department should delivered to customers who want your services.
Monitor the Change Performing expectation Gap company, but also in the larger world of human
Analysis: Based on customer input, your HR resources. Reach out to magazines and speak at HR
department needs to do a better job by providing good conferences. This gives external validation for the
services. Whether it s hiring employees or conducting brand changes you have made internally - and
team-building sessions, customers want you to be sometimes that’s what it takes to get managers to pay
more responsive and pleasant to deal with. Because attention.
branding is about delivering a promise, we must Benefits of Building a Brand for HR Department:
ensure that people, practices and systems in the HR
department all work to support the goal of customer 1. It improves credibility and strengthens the bonds
service. There has to be an alignment between the of trust between HR department and the
brand promise and what you actually deliver. employees.
Just as the company does not hire retired men in 2. It acts as a catalyst for pushing change.
leisure suits to sell its hip, young clothing, we should 3. It is communications shorthand for getting the
not staff people who are unwilling to go the extra mile message out.
for line managers. For a brand identity to work, the
systems must provide itself with back-ups. A Shared Responsibility is Arising: It is no secret
that success in business relies upon excellence in
Act the Talk: Does it make sense for the HR execution. While corporate leaders have historically
department to create its own logo and slogan? Is the looked to other functions, such as product
look of the HR department itself important in development, marketing and sales, to drive corporate
communicating brand identity? Packaging is an success, today more and more eyes are looking to
extremely valuable way to communicate and reinforce HUMAN RESOURCE for help.
what a brand is about, but it would not work unless
there is substance behind it. If your HR department The reason for this new-found reliance on HR stems
has made substantial improvements, then the new from a decrease in the effectiveness of the traditional
look can be a way of communicating those levels marketing organizations used to differentiate
improvements to others. For example, as told by Shiv a firm and their products. Marketers have traditionally
Balan, Head of HR at GMR Group, more than 80 used “the 4 P’s” (product, price, position and
percent of stored memory comes from the visual promotion) to set the products of their firm apart from
sense. “What you see, you remember, more so than those of the competitors in the market place. However,
any of the other senses.” Consumer companies in the new economy, product features, pricing and
understand this, and that’s why they spend enormous positioning become almost irrelevant as competitors
sums developing logos with memorable type, images can now mimic and upstage your efforts in very short
and color. periods.
If you think developing a separate logo for your HR While this development forces marketing to become
department will make it stand out and get noticed, more and more branding oriented, it also forces
there s no harm in it. A verbal tag-line can also be an corporate attention on other avenues that can be used
effective tool in getting your message across. But to establish and maintain a corporate brand in the
probably the most important packaging item is the marketplace.
HR department itself. Most corporate leaders and professional marketers
“Branding is not just about a label, logo, name, now admit that one of the few (if not the only)
environment or color.” More to the point a service channels left to communicate the corporate brand to
brand HR is about people. It is all about how those customers is the employee, and the customer
people act, talk and treat others. You could spend experience they are capable of providing. Customer
millions of dollars redesigning your department, service is a factor that is largely influenced by the
developing a logo and tag-line, and communicating quality of the workforce, which in turn is largely
the new brand identity, but if the people in HR are influenced by the quality of recruiting and workforce
impossible to deal with, forget it. Your management systems developed and maintained by
accomplishment is nothing. HR.
Enhancing Your Visibility: Another PR technique that Workforce Lives Your Brand: Companies opting to
will help you to spread the good word about HR is to distinguish themselves in the market through
be as visible as you can - not only within your own customer service require a workforce capable of
providing a notable positive difference in customer Where most companies routinely fail is in managing
experience versus that which a competitor can the impact employees have on making a brand more
provide. Each year, companies spend billions of than words on paper. In every industry, employees
dollars crafting corporate branding or “identity” serve as the primary “channel” used to characterize
strategies. They update their mission and values the brand during direct contact with the customer.
statements, and then work with marketers and But in most companies, employees don’t understand
advertisers to fine-tune and communicate the new the corporate brand elements or what is needed from
perspective to customers. In many companies, the them in order to help customers experience the
value statements are posted publicly at every facility difference. To make matters worse, many
to remind employees and communicate to customers organizations have developed standard operating
procedures, policies and reward systems that drive
what attributes matter most to the company.
behaviors directly in opposition to the brand values.
Table 1 : Analysis of Data: Recruitment is the major task of HR Department
Strongly Agree 36
Agree 18
Neither Agree/ Disagree 6
Disagree 8
Strongly disagree 32
Figure 3
Inference: 52% strongly agree while only 22%strongly agree. This shows that respondents feel that Appraisal
is not the major task of HR.
Table 3 : Training and Development is the major task of HR Department
Strongly Agree 43
Agree 10
Neither Agree/Disagree 5
Disagree 17
Stronglydisagree 25
Figure 4
Inference: 43% of the respondents strongly agree while 25% strongly disagree. This shows that majority of
people agrees that training and development is the major task performed by HR department.
Table 4 : Career Development is the major task of HR Department
Strongly Agree 22
Agree 12
Neither Agree/Disagree 3
Disagree 2
Figure 5
Inference: 61%strongly disagree while 22%agree. This shows that career development is not the major task of
the HR.
Table 5 : Staffing is Major Task of HR Department
Strongly Agree 40
Agree 8
Neither Agree/Disagree 4
Disagree 12
Stronglydisagree 36
Figure 6
Inference: 40%strongly agree while 30%strongly disagree. This shows that staffing is the major task performed
by HR department.
Figure 7
Inference: 45% of the respondent strongly agrees while only 23% strongly disagree. This shows that according
to the respondent HR department provide biased Appraisals.
Table 7 : HR Department is Organization Centric
Strongly Agree 54
Agree 8
Neither Agree/ Disagree 6
Disagree 12
Strongly disagree 20
Figure 8
Inference: 54% of the respondent strongly agrees while only 20% of the respondent strongly disagrees. This
shows that HR department is organization centric.
Volume 2, No. 1, January-June, 2016, Third Issue 94 ISSN : 2395-1737
Case Study
IJAR&D Internal Branding of Human Resources Using the Expectation Gap Analysis
Figure 9
Inference: 40% of the respondent strongly agrees while only 25% of the respondent strongly disagrees. This
shows that respondent feel that there is acute need of the employee union in the organization.
Table 9 : Employees are Satisfied with the Policies of HR Department
Strongly Agree 20
Agree 12
Neither Agree/ Disagree 6
Disagree 10
Stronglydisagree 52
Figure 10
Inference: 20% of the respondent strongly agrees while 52% respondent strongly disagrees. This shows that
employees of A POWER GENERATION COMPANY IN RAJASTHAN. are not satisfied by the policies framed
by HR department.
Volume 2, No. 1, January-June, 2016, Third Issue 95 ISSN : 2395-1737
Case Study
IJAR&D Internal Branding of Human Resources Using the Expectation Gap Analysis
Figure 11
Inference: 34% of the respondent strongly agrees while 34% of the respondent strongly disagrees. This shows
that respondent carry neutral opinion with respecting the HR department.
Table 11 : Training Provided by the HR Department is up to the Mark
Strongly Agree 40
Agree 17
Neither Agree/ Disagree 10
Disagree 18
Stronglydisagree 15
Figure 12
Inference: 40% of the respondent strongly agrees while 15% of the respondents strongly disagree, this shows
that the training and development provided by the HR department is up to three marks.
Figure 13
Inference: 39% of the respondents strongly disagree while 40% of the respondent strongly disagrees; this
shows that the HR department doesn’t play very much role in the holistic development of the employee.
Table 13 : There is Mutual Coordination between HR Department and Employees
Strongly Agree 18
Agree 12
Neither Agree/ Disagree 0
Disagree 2
Strongly disagree 68
Figure 14
Inference: 18% of the respondents strongly agree while around 68% of the employees strongly disagree. This
shows that there is no mutual coordination between HR department and employees.
V16 HR .723
V17 Staffing is the major task by .780
HRHR should undergo
branding Decision made by
HR are fair
F2 HR Job V5 Mutual coordination .927
V8 Employee satisfied by the .874
policies
V11 Of HR .876
V14 Appraisal is the major task .896
by HR
Career development is the
major task by HR
way requires cooperation with marketing and Feedback Form So As To Take The Opinion Of
finance. The People On The Performance Of The HR
2. Identify where your standard operating Department, With This HR Department Would
procedures, policies and reward systems Be Able To compares it’s performance from the
contradict the customer experience your previous one and would improve its services if
corporate brand depends upon, and fix them. needed.
(Every company should find at least one major Conclusion
contradiction. If you are having problems, look We knew that corporate branding initiatives are
at how you provide bonus compensation.) created in a vacuum, and not always based upon
3. Measure the success of your recruiting and reality, or the ability of our firm to live up to the image
training initiatives based on the customer created. Unfortunately, failing to follow through on a
perception of the quality of your workforce; after promise put forth by our brand, either stated or
all, it is their opinion that matters most! implied, is one of the easiest and most effective ways
4. Identify how your employees perceive your to drive customers away and revenues down.
organization, and compare that to how you want Branding initiatives should always have the customer
customers to perceive your organization. If there as their primary focus, and focus on their needs and
is a mismatch, it must be resolved. (Note that wants. In some cases, the customer is internal, in other
resolution does not mean telling the employee cases external. Branding can be used to accomplish a
they are wrong! Branding relies upon their variety of challenges, but success depends upon
perception, not yours.) follow through, and that depends upon the quality
What Needs To Be Done? of your workforce and their ability to deliver. Why
do we go for brands? The answer is simple -.reliability.
• Specific Time Set Aside For Stake Holders: It’s the popular brands which provide this reliability.
There Should Be specific time set aside for the Attracting knowledge workers has become a
stake holders as they are the internal customer Herculean task for the HR department. Only the best
of the organization so they must be given due practices and the best environment can assure their
importance. interest in working for your organization. The
• Feedback: There Should Be Proper Feed Back practices and policies of the HR department and its
Given To The Employee So That They May outlook create a certain brand for the HR. The better
Improve In The Areas Where Ever They Lack. the brand, better are the chances that you attract the
best talent. The focus in our paper outlines all that
• Listening: HR Department Should Listen To
are required to make HR the best brand.
Every Employee Regarding The Challenges And
The Problems Which He/She Faces In The Job. A question that seems to be popping up more and
more in the minds of recruiters and general HR
• Reaching Out: HR Department Should Be Easily
leadership is, “Why should branding be important to
Approachable By Each And Every Employee.
HR manager? I work in HR, not marketing.”
• Total Availability: HR Department Should Be
In proposing an answer to this question, one must
Available 24*7 At The Service Of The Employees.
admit that just a few short years ago, answer would
• Credibility: HR department Should Give have been significantly more limited than it is today,
Complete Credit To The Worthier Employee So in that branding in HR has traditionally been limited
As To Motivate Them Further To Perform Well. to the employment function. But while employment
• Consistency: HR department Should Be Very branding has always been a topic of great interest to
Much Consistence in Its Working Areas and many leading recruiting professionals, the importance
Service providing to the Employees. of mastering the concepts and skills behind branding
have much greater implications for HR professionals
• Monitor Self: HR Department Should Set Up A in the “new economy”.
Suggestion Box For Itself Or Go For A Proper
Annexure 1
Questionnaire
Kindly spare few minutes to fill this questionnaire, we will be highly obliged to you. Please put tick {“} mark
from questions no. 1-18.whereas , SA-Strongly Agree, A- Agree, N-Neither agree nor disagree, DA-disagree,
SDA-strongly disagree.
Personal Details
(Please tick (“ ) the appropriate box)
Name: Designation:
AGE EDUCATION
12th Standard Professional
Degree/
Diploma
18-25 26-35 36-45 46-55 56 and above Bachelors Degree Ph.D
Masters degree
GENDER Department you work in
Male Female Engineering / HR
R&D
Finance Customer
Service
Marketing/ Sales Any other
Accounting