Appendix-122
Appendix-122
Appendix-122
ORGANIZATIONAL
BEHAVIOUR
Editorial Board
Prof. Vijay Kumar Shrotryia
Dr. Anuja Mathur
Content Writers
Dr. Reema Aggarwal, Dr. Nidhi Kesari,
Dr Anupreet Kaur Mokha, Dr. Dimpy Handa,
Ms. Veenu Shankar, Ms Manisha Yadav,
Dr. Jyotika Bahl
Academic Coordinator
Mr. Deekshant Awasthi
Published by:
Department of Distance and Continuing Education under
the aegis of Campus of Open Learning/School of Open Learning,
University of Delhi, Delhi-110 007
Printed by:
School of Open Learning, University of Delhi
Organizational Behavior
TABLE OF CONTENTS
Lesson 1: Introduction to Organizational Behaviour ........................................................... 1
1.1 Learning Objectives
1.2 Introduction
1.3 What do you mean by Organization?
1.4 Manager and interpersonal skills
1.5. What do managers do?
1.6 Management Skills
1.7. Managerial Activities: Effective versus Successful manager
1.8. Organizational Behaviour
1.9 Major disciplines that contribute to the domain of organizational behaviour
1.10 Level of analysis in organisation behaviour
1.11. Challenges and opportunities in Organisational behaviour
1.12 Managerial Implication
1.13 Summary
Lesson-2: Personality............................................................................................................ 22
2.1 Learning Objectives
2.2 Introduction
2.3 Concept of Personality
2.4 Determinants of Personality
2.5 Types of Personality
2.6 Theories of Personality
2.7 How personality develops?
2.8 How personality influences organizational behaviourr?
2.9 How to Measure Personality?
2.10 Summary
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LESSON-1
STRUCTURE
1.2 INTRODUCTION
Organizational behaviour (OB) is the domain that deals with understanding people's
behaviour within an organization. The discipline deals with the individual behaviour of
employees, group behaviour of employees, and behaviour of employees at the organizational
level. In addition, the field investigates the impact of various cognitive, affective and
behavioural aspects of human resources on the effectiveness of an organization (like what
motivates employees, what makes a manager a good leader, how one can manage group
dynamics, etc.). Organizational behaviour is crucial in facilitating present-day managers in
dealing with various organisational challenges and opportunities.
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“Organizational behaviour is a field of study that investigates the impact that individuals,
groups, and structure have on behaviours within the organizations to apply such knowledge
towards improving an organization's effectiveness.”- Stephen P Robbins.
Before exploring the various components of organizational behaviour or the three levels of
analysis in organizational behaviour (namely, Individual, Group, and Organizational level), it
is crucial to understand what we mean by these three levels of analysis. How has the domain
of Organization behaviour formed? Furthermore, who are managers, and what functions and
roles do they perform in an organization.? Finally, it is also essential to understand managers’
present-day challenges and opportunities in organizational behaviour.
A social unit that is structured and managed to pursue collective goals. All organizations have
a management “Structure” that determines relationships between different activities and the
members; assigns roles, responsibilities, and authority among members to carry out various
tasks. Organizations are open systems--they affect and are affected by their environment.
Organizations are formed to achieve some “Purpose”. An organisation's purpose is stated
through its vision, mission, goal, and specific objectives. To fulfil the underlying goals,
organizations need “People”. People form part of structures that allow them to collectively
work and accomplish the set Purpose (Refer to the last lesson to learn more about various
types of structures). The purpose or structure both differs from organization to organization.
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Managers are the coordinators responsible for managing social units; these social units help
the organization achieve its goals. For managing people, a manager needs technical, human,
and conceptual skills (Refer to the 1.6. section of this lesson for more details). Earlier more
focus was on technical skills and less on interpersonal skills, but eventually, interpersonal or
people skills have become crucial; at times, they are preferred over technical skills.
Interpersonal skills or soft skills help a manager connect with others at work. Managers are
responsible for getting the job done through people. Their main task is not to complete the
task directly. Therefore, it becomes essential for a manager to understand people's behaviour
and connect with them. OB principles provide insights that help a manager develop their
interpersonal skills, which could yield various organizational-level outcomes (like employee
satisfaction with their respective jobs, employee commitment to an organization, employee
engagement, stress levels, etc.).
Managers with high interpersonal skills can attract high-performing employees and are also
able to improve employee retention. Recently, the organisations have been impacted by the
“Great Resignation”, a phenomenon that is used to describe situations in which huge numbers
of employees have quit organisations towards the end of the Covid-19 pandemic. Also known
as Big Quit or Great Reshuffle, it has made retaining employees critical to an organisation, as
a process of hiring them is both costly and time consuming. Consequently, it has become
essential to retain employees and control such trends.
Managers are the coordinators; they help an organization accomplish its objectives through
people most effectively and efficiently. Here “Effectiveness” means completing a given task
within the planned time frame. The manager should focus on “Doing The Right Things” to
achieve goals on time. “Efficiency” means achieving goals with minimum resources. To
achieve efficiency, managers should focus on “Doing Things Right” to minimize wastage as
much as possible. Both Effectiveness and Efficiency are essential to accomplish
organizational goals. Managers strive to achieve goals with minimum wastage.
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organization. Managers should ensure that various activities complement each other.
Effective coordination will also reduce conflicts and stimulate employees’ motivation.
Controlling: The manager sets standards/objectives at the planning stage. However, the
planning stage will remain incomplete unless the manager compares the standards with actual
performance. Therefore, a manager should periodically compare the targets with the actual
performance and take corrective actions in case of any gap.
The five functions identified by Henry Fayol provide an overview of the main functions of
management; it may not cover all the complexities that a manager is expected to deal with in
their day-to-day functioning.
Planning
Controlling Organizing
Coordinating Commanding
work of social and legal nature. This role inspires others in the organization. Secondly,
the manager acts as a “leader" responsible for hiring, motivating, and directing employees.
The third managerial role within interpersonal is called “Liaison”; under this role; he builds
his network. He can gather the required information through networking with people internal
or external to the organization. Such contacts also provide a manager with favours.
Informational Role of a manager: The informational role of a manager is associated with a
process where the manager gathers required information, transfers it into the organization,
and transmits it to the outside organization. This role includes three subsets. The first subset
is known as “Monitor”; under this role; the manager collects information through various
sources and analyses the internal and external environment. Later the manager transmits
relevant information to other members of the organization; this role also defines the second
subset known as “Disseminator”. Finally, under the third subset, the manager as a
“spokesperson” transmits the information outside the organisation.
Decisional Role of a Manager: The manager is not only a symbolic head who manages
information or directs employees but also a decision-maker. As an “Entrepreneur” manager
searches for new opportunities and brings new assignments/ projects to the organization, a
manager also initiates change. The manager is responsible for “handling disturbance” in the
organization. For example, suppose there is some roadblock in the organization's functioning;
the manager is responsible for handling it. The manager also acts as a “Negotiator”, where he
represents the organization in all the major negotiations. Lastly, as a “resource allocator,” he
is responsible for procuring and allocating resources.
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But in the current scenario, in addition to these functions and roles, a manager should
change and get away with the traditional approach while dealing with the employees. With
growing competition and technological advancement, a manager must change some
commonly followed practices like limiting his role to problem-solver, micromanagement,
giving direction to employees, etc. To meet the contemporary challenges in the workplace
the manager must shift from-
1. Directive to Instructive: The role of the supervisor has considerably changed with the
advent of technology. Robots driven by AI (Artificial Intelligence) have already replaced
manual & repetitive work in the majority of industries. AI could impact the present roles
of the employees, but it won’t be able to exclude the need for human resources. New roles
are emerging and are replacing the old ones. The present-day manager needs to explore
best practices to shape the impact of AI on the industry.
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5. Problem solver to Challenger- The role of the present-day manager is not limited to
problem solver, today manager needs to be proactive in understanding, analyzing, and
solving upcoming challenges in the industry.
For more details on how roles of managers are changing Read Pistrui, J., & Dimov,
D. (2018). The role of a manager has to change in 5 key ways. Harvard Business Review.
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IN-TEXT QUESTIONS
5. ________is a symbolic role, under this role manager inspires the employees.
6. The _______stage will remain incomplete unless manager will compare the
standards formed at ____stage with actual performance.
Robert L. Katz has identified various skills necessary for a successful manager. According to
him, a manager needs the following skills to accomplish their goals-
1.6.1 Technical Skills: Technical skills refer to the “Employees’ ability to apply specialized
knowledge or expertise while performing the given task”; in other words, technical skills
mean knowledge and the ability to accomplish the given task.
For example, for a manager at ABC Ltd. (an audit firm), technical skills could include
knowledge about the fundamentals of accounting, Indian Accounting Standard rules, and
procedure for conducting an audit. Education/ and qualification are essential for technical
skills (like a chartered accountant degree), along with knowledge gained through schooling/
college and / or on the job experience.
1.6.2 Human skills: The primary responsibility of managers is to communicate with
employees and coordinate the work between employees. A manager should be able motivate
and lead employees to accomplish the organisation’s purpose. In addition, a manager should
be able to resolve conflicts in the organisation.
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For example, an audit manager with a chartered accountant degree might possess sound
technical knowledge about the audit process. Still, he won't be able to manage a team or
accomplish goals unless he has good human skills (like- the ability to communicate, listen,
and motivate; the ability to create good coordination between team and client to achieve the
set targets; etc.)
1.6.3. Conceptual skills: The organisational environment today is highly Volatile, Uncertain,
Complex, and Ambiguous (VUCA). In such an environment, making a decision based on
only past knowledge is not possible. Therefore, to work in a present-day environment, a
manager should have the mental ability to deal with complex problems. The ability to analyse
a complex problem “Conceptual skill”. Furthermore, for decision-making in the VUCA
environment, a manager should have good conceptual skills.
For example, To handle diverse client-specific queries or any challenge posed by the external
environment (like the pandemic), a manager needs to analyze the problem, generate various
alternatives and choose the best alternative.
Fred Luthans and his associate found that all managers could be engaged in four activities,
namely-
✔ Human resource management: This includes managing people using human skills
(like motivation, training, handling conflicts, etc.).
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The definition of OB suggests that it is a “field of study, " meaning it is a distinct area with a
common body of knowledge. Further, the field of study investigates individuals or groups to
apply this knowledge to increase organizational effectiveness. The study focuses on the
behaviour of employees at the group, individual or organizational levels that impact the
performance of an organization. The study also focuses on various interpersonal skills that
could help to deal with employees effectively. Following are some critical areas in OB-
● Motivation
● Leadership
● Stress management
● Group Dynamics
● Conflict Management
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● Personality
● Change process
● Interpersonal communication
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Figure 1.6 Major disciplines that contribute to the domain of organizational behaviour
Source: Robbins, S. P., Judge, T. A., & Vohra, N. (2019). Organizational behaviour by
Pearson 18e. Pearson Education India.
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There are three levels of analysis in organizational behaviour employee behaviour can be
analysed at three levels individual, group, and organizational. The individual-level analysis is
a micro-level analysis, whereas the organizational-level analysis is a macro-level analysis.
This difference in the analysis is required because it has been observed that the behaviour of
employees is different when they work in groups compared to when they work individually.
1.10.1 Individual level analysis-
Unlike static resources, humans as a resource differ from one another. Organizations are
made up of people, and every employee in an organization is central to the study of OB.
Individual-level analysis or micro-level analysis helps in understanding individual
differences. Integrating these individual factors provides insights to a manager and facilitates
an understanding of human behaviour. Some factors that fall under this category could be an
input (like- personality, values, attitude, etc.) or a process (like perception, learning,
motivation of individual employees, etc.)
1.10.2. Group level analysis:
Employees are expected to work in a group. Working in teams is essential for surviving in a
competitive environment. Individual employees perform differently when they work in
groups. The group-level analysis, also known as meso-level analysis, helps understand group
dynamics. Areas of interest in this category include group cohesiveness, teamwork, power,
politics, group dynamics, etc.
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IN-TEXT QUESTIONS
8. Individual level analysis is also known as micro level analysis. True / False
a) Personality b) Attitude
c) Values d) Culture
10. __________ is also known as meso level analysis.
Organizational behaviour has grown in importance as the work environment has become
more challenging, and the understanding of organisational behavior is being looked upon to
provide solutions to the challenges. The diversity in the workplace has increased, and now
organizations need more flexible employees. With technological advancement and
globalization, new employment opportunities have emerged, and managing the workforce has
become more challenging. The emerging gig economy and use of artificial intelligence in all
spheres of business are presenting fresh challenges for managers. Following are emerging
challenges where the understanding of OB could provide a solution to the manager.
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Enabling Leaders to lead in a VUCA world: Leading in today’s VUCA world (Volatile,
Uncertain, Complex & Ambiguous) creates unprecedented challenges that traditional
leadership development fails to address. Leaders need to regain control of what they pay
attention to and be capable of maintaining focus whilst experiencing feelings of fear, self-
protection and, uncertainty. By practising mindfulness, leaders can equip themselves with the
ability to feel calmer, be more present and develop clearer thinking amidst these challenging
external conditions.
Agility and the Game of Teams: With the increasing need for organisations to become more
agile, teams are becoming the foundation of organisational structure. Cisco, for example,
already has more than 20,000 teams, with people sitting on many teams simultaneously.
Agile teaming as a work practice requires agile minds, focusing more on “we and our
priorities” and less on “me and my priorities”. The pace of forming-to-performing and team
disbanding has now become a strategic advantage. As we practice mindfulness, our default
“all about me” thinking patterns become less automatic and habitual, and we open up to more
inclusive thinking. Mindfulness also increases our cognitive flexibility, enabling us to think
about things in new ways, be that the new ways of working, new team members, or a new
project.
Responding to Globalization: Globalization refers to the integration of various economies.
Today businesses are no longer restricted to a particular region. Today companies have
presence in multiple countries; for example, Samsung a South Korean company has
worldwide operations and so does the Burger King Brazilian company. Companies hire
employees from other countries due to the cost of labour; like Apple Inc is an American
company, but most Apple employees are not from the US. Even the production process is
undertaken in a foreign land by some companies like Honda cars are built in Ohio. The world
has become a "Global village". Therefore, a manager needs to focus on global issues. An
expatriate manager must understand the cultural difference among employees. Something
that fits the culture of the homeland might not work in other countries.
Managing Workforce Diversity: Workforce diversity means differences and similarities
between employees in terms of gender, ethnicity, race, sexual orientation, age, value, etc.
organizations operating globally have to deal with a diverse workforce. The heterogeneous
workforce is essential because it helps the organization understand the customer needs, it
helps in bringing new innovative ideas to the organization and increases the morale of other
employees. But the diversified workforce is also a challenge for management. It is difficult to
resolve conflicts as people tend to stick to their viewpoints which often centre around their
values, belief, religion, or ethnicity.
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Improving customer service: Employees in front roles (directly dealing with customers) play
an essential role in ensuring customer satisfaction. In addition, customer satisfaction plays a
vital role in a competitive environment. Therefore, there is a need for a “customer-
responsive” culture in an organization. Organizational behaviour could help managers bring
such a culture into the organization by working on employees’ attitudes and behaviour.
Working in Networked Organization: Network organizations allow employees to work
together even when they are far away from each other in terms of distance. Worldwide
lockdown around 2020 due to the pandemic (Covid-19), forced most organizations to move
to the virtual platform. Even today in 2022, many businesses are still working through virtual
platforms or have permanently adopted a hybrid mode. Managing such an organization needs
different set of skills virtually collaborating and coordinating with employees is an emerging
challenge for managers.
Helping employees in Work-life balance: Employees today find it challenging to create a
balance between their work and life. Long working hours are one of the main reasons for
work-life conflict. Today, employees from all over the world are virtually connecting through
online platforms. It may be a daytime for one employee and a night for another employee. So,
the world never sleeps. Work is endless, and there is no specific working time. Such
conditions of present-day work lead to work-life conflict. Work-life conflict could increase
burnout and stress among employees and, as a result, could drop the employee’s productivity.
Creating a positive work environment: The new wave of positivity within the organization
led to the growth of a new concept of positive organizational behaviour (POB), a study that
focuses on the strength of employees. The earlier focus of managers was to work on the
weakness of the employees or correct what is wrong, but the field of POB suggests that the
focus needs to be deviation from what is wrong to what is right. Therefore, a manager today
needs to learn how to get the best from the strengths of the employees.
Improving ethical behaviour: It is not that employees always want to do something
considered wrong on moral grounds for their benefit or that they are not aware of what is
right or ethical. It is just that people at work face Moral Distress, i.e., they mostly know what
is right, but due to the limitations and fear of adverse outcomes, they fail to do the right thing.
There is no clear line between what is right and wrong. Still, a manager needs to create an
“ethically- healthy climate”, which could minimize the vagueness between right and wrong
behaviours. Further, it is important to promote integrity in the organization at all levels.
Economic Pressure: Managing employees in bad times, like during Covid-19, is more
challenging than managing employees in good times. The Covid-19 pandemic besides
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impacting health conditions pushed organizations to cost-cut. Therefore, COVID -19 brought
about a suddenly change in the business environment and presented unprecedented
challenges to most businesses and their management. Under good economic conditions,
managers work on employee motivation through rewards, but under bad economic
conditions, managers need to deal with the growing stress conditions at the workplace.
The above challenges could also provide various opportunities to present-day managers. For
instance, workforce diversity brings new ideas to the organization but could also lead to
increased conflicts. Therefore, a manager must learn how to convert these challenges into
opportunities.
IN-TEXT QUESTIONS
13. Role of manager is changing and becoming more challenging due to the
technological advancements. (True/False)
14. _____suggests that the focus needs to be a deviation from what is wrong
to what is right.
1.13 SUMMARY
The lesson aims to highlight the meaning of organizational behaviour, the need for
interpersonal skills, and managerial functions and roles. The present-day managerial roles
have changed with technological advancement, globalization, organizational structures, and
changing employee lifestyles. A manager needs to learn how to convert these challenges into
opportunities. Additionally, with increasing complexity in an organization, the skills required
by a manager could also vary. The domain of organizational behaviour integrates the
knowledge drawn from various disciplines like psychology, social psychology, anthropology,
and sociology. It helps in understanding people's behaviour at an individual, group, and
organisational level. It applies knowledge that enhances organizational effectiveness.
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1. Assume you become a bank manager. As per Mintzberg's theory, what roles do you
think you will be required to play as a manager? (BMS; Open book exam)
2. An effective manager may not be an efficient manager. Comment. explain the various
skills required by a manager to become successful
3. Explain the difference between various levels of management, along with a suitable
example.
4. Write short note on the functions of a manager. State how functions of management
are different from managerial roles.
5. Explain the various challenges faced by present-day managers. Elaborate on how the
role of manager is changing with time.
6. “Management is a universal concept”. Do you agree? Comment.
1.16 REFERENCES
Robbins, S. P., & Coulter, M. (2017). Management 13E. Noida, India: Pearson India.
Robbins, S. P., Judge, T. A., & Vohra, N. (2019). Organizational behavior by Pearson 18e.
Pearson Education India. (Chapter 1)
Pistrui, J., & Dimov, D. (2018). The role of a manager has to change in 5 key ways. Harvard
Business Review.
F. Luthans, R. M. Hodgetts, and S. A. Rosenkrantz, Real Managers (Cambridge, MA:
Ballinger, 1988).
Bartol, K. M., & Martin, D. C. (1994). Management (International 2nd ed.). New York:
McGraw-Hill
Robbins, S. P., Judge, T. A., & Vohra, N. (2019). Organizational behavior by Pearson 18e.
Pearson Education India.
Kaul, V. (2011). Business Organization and Management: Text and Cases. Pearson
Education India.
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LESSON-2
PERSONALITY
STRUCTURE
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2.2 INTRODUCTION
The term "personality" originates from the Latin word "persona," which means "to speak
through." This Latin term refers to the masks used by the actors. As a result, personality is the
role that an individual performs in public. Personality does not just refer to a person's charm,
appearance, smiling face, and attitude toward life. However, it is a dynamic notion that
represents the evolution and development of an individual's entire psychological system.
Traditionally, the idea of personality pertains to how individuals affect others through their
outer appearances and conduct. Personality is a reasonably consistent set of characteristics
that impact an individual's behavior and may be defined as the sum total of an individual's
reactions and interactions with others.
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Now that you have understood the meaning of personality, the next question arises about how
an individual's personality is developed.
Personality is an intangible idea. It is complicated since it is linked to cognitive and
psychological processes. It is said that an individual is born with certain mental and physical
characteristics, but personality gets shaped depending on the environment in which a person
has been raised. A variety of factors influence an individual's personality, including
biological factors, family and social factors, situational factors, and environmental factors.
Let us discuss them one by one.
Biological Factors
Biological factors are those factors that are related to the human body. Three factors are
considered to be relevant namely:
● Heredity: It refers to the characteristics of a person's personality that are passed down
from parents to their children. These parameters are decided at the time of conception.
Temperament, sex, energy level, reflexes, etc. are often inherited totally or partially
from the parents. This viewpoint contends that the molecular structure of genes is the
foundation of human personality.
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IN-TEXT QUESTIONS
1. _______refers to the characteristics of a person's personality that are passed down
from parents to their children.
a) Heredity b) Physical Attributes
c) Brain d) Socialization
2. Which of the following are the factors that determine personality?
a) Biological b) Environmental
c) Situational d) All of these
3. ________ is the process by which a newborn acquires a wide variety of behavior
from the extremely vast range of behavioral potentialities that are available to him
at birth.
a) Identification b) Physical Attributes
c) Birth order d) Socialization
4. A coward and a physically frail person might occasionally act bravely to save the
life of his close one is an example of which factor of personality?
a) Biological b) Situational
c) Environmental d) All of these
5. When a person attempts to identify himself with someone in the family who he
considers ideal it is known as:
a) Birth order b) Physical Attributes
c) Identification d) Socialization
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Personality qualities help people understand their personality types. The personality types
have been discussed below:
The Myers-Briggs Type Indicator (MBTI)
The MBTI is a personality assessment instrument that is widely used across the world. This
instrument consists of 100 statements on human personality. It asks individuals how they
generally feel in specific scenarios. Based on the responses provided by the individuals, they
are categorized as:
● Extraverted vs. Introverted (E or I): Extraverted individuals are outgoing, friendly,
and self-assured, whereas introverted people are calm and reserved.
● Thinking vs. Feeling (T or F): Feeling types of individuals often base their decisions
on their own morals and feelings, whereas thinking individuals are more logical and
sensible in general.
● Sensing vs. Intuitive (S or I): Sensing individuals are highly practical and tend to
stick to routines and orders. In contrast, intuitive individuals are not practical and
typically rely on unconscious processes.
● Judging vs. Perceiving (J or P): Judging personalities appreciate order and
organization in their surroundings and seek control, whereas perceiving personalities
are more adaptable and impulsive.
Higher and lower scores in each of these characteristics aid in categorizing individuals into
16 different personality types. For instance, Extraverted/Sensing/Thinking/Judging (ESTJ)
people are effective organizers and decision-makers because they are logical, reasonable, and
analytical. Introverted/ Intuitive/ Thinking/ Judging (IITJ) persons are self-sufficient, driven,
excellent creative thinkers, and have a strong desire to pursue their own ideas. As a result, it
can be stated that MBTI is a highly effective instrument that is frequently used for employee
selection, enhancing self-awareness, and offering career direction.
The Big Five Personality Model
The Big Five Personality Model is a paradigm that identifies five essential personality
dimensions namely conscientiousness, emotional stability, extraversion, agreeableness, and
openness to experience. These five characteristics are fundamental and accurately reflect the
majority of the substantial differences in personality. These factors are discussed below:
● Conscientiousness: This factor measures an individual's reliability. Individuals that
are very conscientious are more trustworthy, reliable, systematic and organized. An
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In the preceding section, you have learned about types of personality. Now, the next question
arises about theories that shape personality. Personality theories have been established to give
insight into an individual's personality. They aid in comprehending the factors that form
personalities. There are four main theories of personality. Let us discuss them one by one.
Psychoanalytic Theory
The psychoanalytic theory is a personality theory that holds that an individual is more driven
by unseen forces that are influenced by conscious and logical thinking. The psychoanalytic
theory is directly associated with Sigmund Freud. He contends that the interaction of the
three components of the mind shapes human behavior namely:
● Id: The primitive aspect of the mind that desires instant fulfilment of biological or
instinctive needs is known as the id. Biological needs are the fundamental physical
requirements, whereas instinctive needs are the unlearned or natural demands, such as
hunger, thirst, sex, and so on. Id is indeed the unconscious component of the mind
that acts instantly and without giving any consideration to what is right and what is
wrong. Id is, therefore, the source of psychic energy and the driving factor underlying
all mental forces.
● Super-Ego: The Super-Ego is associated with the social or moral norms that an
individual instils as s/he gets older. It serves as an ethical restriction on action and
aids in the development of an individual's conscience. As an individual matures in
society, cultural values and social conventions leading towards distinguishing right
and wrong get acquired.
● Ego: The ego is the rational and conscious aspect of the mind that is linked to the
reality principle. This implies that it balances the needs of the Id and the super-ego in
real-life situations. While the Id is an unconscious part, the ego is conscious of the
realities of the external world, hence, the ego keeps the id in control through intellect
and reason.
Self-Concept Theory
The self-concept theory focuses on an individual's set of perceptions about oneself, as well as
the perceptions of his/her interactions with others and other areas of life. Carl Rogers made
substantial contributions to the self-theory. He defined self-concept theory as “an organized,
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consistent, conceptual gestalt composed of perceptions of I or Me”. There are four factors
that comprise self-concept theory namely:
● Ideal-Self: The term "ideal-self" refers to the “way an individual would like to be”. It
differs from the self-image as it depicts the ideal position that is perceived by an
individual, whereas the self-image represents the reality that an individual
experiences. The difference between these two factors may thus exist. The ideal-self
acts as a stimulus to drive an individual to engage in activities that are consistent with
the features of his ideal self.
● Real-Self: The real-self is “what others show you in terms of your self-image”. An
individual's self-image is verified when others respond to him and express their
beliefs or perceptions about how they genuinely feel about him. This is seen as an
input from the environment, which allows an individual to modify the self-image in
accordance with the information received.
Socio-Psychological Theory
According to the belief of socio-psychological theory, person and society are found to be
closely linked. This indicates that an individual seeks to satisfy the demands of society and
society assists him/her in accomplishing the goals. An individual's personality is formed as a
result of this interaction. Adler, Horney, Forman, and Sullivan contributed to the socio-
psychological theory. This theory (also known as Neo-Freudian Theory) varies from Freud's
psychoanalytic theory in the following ways:
1. This theory contends that social variables rather than biological instincts play an essential
role in forming an individual's personality.
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2. In this, motivation is conscious, which means that the individual is aware of his or her own
needs and desires, as well as the kind of behavior necessary to achieve those requirements.
Thus, the theorists think that socio-psychological factors are a mix of social (family,
religion, society, money) and psychological (ideas, feelings, beliefs) factors that are regarded
to have a significant impact in determining an individual's personality.
Trait Theory
According to trait theory, an individual is made up of a set of defined predisposition
characteristics known as traits. These characteristics are identifiable and often long-lasting
qualities of an individual that set him apart from others. There are two main trait theories
namely:
● Allport Trait Theory: This theory was proposed by Gordon Allport. According to
him, an individual's personality may be examined by distinguishing between common
traits and personal dispositions. The common traits are used to compare people based
on six values, i.e., religious, economic, social, political, theoretical and aesthetic.
Apart from common traits, there are personal dispositions that are distinct and are
categorized as follows:
o Cardinal Traits: The cardinal traits are strong and few people have personalities
that are dominated by a single trait such as Mother Teressa's selflessness.
o Central Traits: These are the general features that numerous individuals share in
varying degrees such as friendliness, loyalty, kindness, agreeableness, etc.
o Secondary Trait: Secondary traits explain why an individual acts differently than
his/her usual behavior at times. For example, a cheerful individual may become
irritated when others taunt him.
● Cattell's Trait Theory: Raymond Cattell developed this trait theory. According to
him, a vast number of factors should be investigated to have a good comprehension of
an individual's personality. He gathered life data (individuals' daily life behaviors),
experimental data (standardizing experiments by evaluating actions), questionnaire
data (responses gained through introspection of an individual's behavior), and
performed factor analysis to find traits that are connected to one another. He identified
16 key personality factors by performing factor analysis techniques (Table 2.1).
Table 2.1: Cattell’s 16 Key Personality Traits
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Traits
The trait theory is based on the premise that traits are shared by many individuals and
fluctuate in absolute amounts. Furthermore, the traits remain constant over time and may thus
be assessed using behavioral indicators.
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IN-TEXT QUESTIONS
ACTIVITY
Observe persons you know very closely and note down the various attributes of
Id, Super Ego and Ego they possess.
There are two main prominent psychologists namely Sigmund Freud and Erikson that
described the development of personality. Let us discuss them one by one.
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individual wants to attain ideal genital attributes then they should learn to work, delay
gratification, become responsible, and, most importantly, take a more active part in
dealing with life's issues.
Erikson’s Stages of Personality Development
Erikson criticized Freud's emphasis on biological and social factors in the
development of personality. He believed that social concerns should be given more
consideration. Erikson established eight stages of life that reflect a person's continuous
development. He described each stage as a specific conflict that must be successfully
resolved before moving on to the next. These eight stages are explained below:
• Infancy: During the first year of life, a child resolves the fundamental problem of
trust vs. mistrust. An infant who receives love and care develops a sense of trust for
other people whereas mistrust develops from a lack of love and care. This period has a
significant impact on a child's future events.
• Early Childhood: A child's independence begins to develop in the second and third
years of life. A sense of autonomy will emerge if the child is permitted to govern
those parts of life that the child is capable of controlling. If the child often faces
rejection from adults, a sense of self-doubt and humiliation is likely to emerge.
• Play Age: The four and five-year-olds are curious about their abilities. A child will
acquire a feeling of initiative if he is encouraged to try and attain appropriate goals. If
the child is controlled and made to feel incompetent, he will develop remorse and a
lack of self-confidence.
• School Age: A child learns numerous new skills and develops social talents between
the age of 6 and 12 years. A child will acquire a sense of enterprise if he sees actual
progress at a rate that is appropriate for his abilities, whereas, in the opposite scenario,
a child will acquire a sense of inferiority.
• Adolescence: The problem of adolescence is gaining a sense of identity rather than
being confused about who you are. While enduring rapid biological changes, the
adolescent is simultaneously attempting to distinguish himself or herself as socially
distinct from the parents. The autonomy, enterprise and initiative established in earlier
stages are critical in assisting the teenager to effectively resolve this issue and prepare
for adulthood.
• Early adulthood: The young adult in his or her twenties faces the conflict of
intimacy against isolation. The feeling of identity acquired throughout the adolescent
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years permits the young adult to begin building meaningful and enduring
relationships.
• Adulthood: During this stage, adults must choose between generativity and self-
absorption. A self-absorbed individual never learns to see beyond themselves. They
become preoccupied with maintaining and advancing their careers, and they never
learn to care about the well-being of future generations, the organizations to which
they belong, or the welfare of society at large. A generative individual perceives the
world as much larger than themselves. Workplace productivity and societal growth
become vital to them. They start to exert influence that is advantageous to their
organizations through innovation and creativity.
The personality traits of employees are used to analyze their behavior and to build
appropriate tactics to cope with their behavior. The following are some of the attributes that
impact organizational behavior:
jobs and are more active in seeking out information to make decisions than externals.
Externals are more likely to be absent from their work, less satisfied and less
committed to their jobs than internals.
● Machiavellianism: The term Machiavellianism is named after the works of Nicolo
Machiavelli. Machiavellianism refers to an individual's tendency to manipulate others
in order to gain and achieve power. Such people are more inclined to be active in
organizational politics. Those individuals who exhibit this attribute with greater
intensity are known as high Machs. High Machs are more realistic, emotionally
stable, and willing to use any means to attain their goals. They manipulate more and
generally win more. They are more likely to succeed in an environment with few rules
and restrictions and are more self-assured and have higher self-esteem. They perform
well in jobs that are more rewarding or that demands bargaining skills.
● Achievement orientation: It is a personality attribute that is used to predict an
individual’s behavior at work. An individual having a strong desire to succeed will
make continuous attempts to do things better. Such individuals are convinced that
their failure or success is the result of their own talents and flaws, as well as their own
actions. These individuals dislike performing easy jobs because they do not appear to
be challenging, nor do they enjoy performing tough tasks since the odds of failure are
significant. As a result, they favor tasks with a moderate level of difficulty. High
achievers often work better when they receive continuous performance feedback and
the job has a direct link between efforts and rewards.
● Self-Esteem: A sense of liking or disliking oneself is referred to as self-esteem. A
person with a strong drive for achievement is said to have high self-esteem. Such
individuals feel that they have the necessary skills to succeed in work. People who
have high self-esteem are risk-takers. They like dangerous and difficult tasks. They
have an internal locus of control. They value pride, flair, recognition, achievement,
and independence and are fulfilled with higher-order requirements over simple
monetary motivation. People with low self-esteem, on the other hand, are impacted by
external factors. They value and appreciate other individuals' perspectives more. They
do not wish to be in an uncomfortable situation. As a result, they strive to please.
● Risk Taking: People's attitudes toward taking risks vary. The willingness to accept
risks impacts decision-making. The risk-takers are more inclined to make quick
decisions. Taking risks is also linked to job demands. High risk-taking is more
prevalent in some castes, nationalities, religions and gender groups. Risk-taking
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There are several reasons for assessing an individual's personality. Understanding personality
impacts numerous decisions, including recruiting personnel, developing relationships,
designing motivational packages, and so on. A variety of metrics and procedures must be
employed to comprehend an individual's personality. This, in turn, emphasizes the need of
developing appropriate methodologies for assessing personality. Depending on the goal of the
personality assessment, the usage of assessment methods for understanding personality may
change from time to time and from circumstance to circumstance. There are three ways that
are extensively utilized among the different methods of analyzing personality i.e.
• Personality Inventories (Objective Tests)
• Projective Tests
• Assessment Center
Personality Inventories (Objective Tests)
Personality inventories (often known as objective tests) are the most widely used method of
measuring personality. They are standardized and can be administered to a large group of
people at the same time. As the name implies, this approach consists of a series of statements
referring to a specific aspect of the individual's personality. These statements are collectively
known as 'Personality Inventories,' and they serve as the foundation for prediction, or
perhaps more accurately, understanding of personality. It is a questionnaire-based way of
assessing personality that asks an individual to express reactions or feelings in certain
scenarios. Individuals are asked to indicate their level of agreement or disagreement with
each statement. Sometimes even a simple yes or no answer pattern is required.
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However, these replies are considered to have drawbacks such as faking a positive reaction.
This highlights the importance of taking corrective actions to avoid and manage these
drawbacks in order to generate a more and more trustworthy personal inventory. One method
is to ask both positive and negative statements about the same aspects of personality, as well
as to reverse the degree of agreement or disagreement values. The most popular personality
inventories is the 'Locus of Control' developed by J.B. Rotter. As per Rotter, locus of control
is a method of personality assessment that examines an individual's internal and external
orientation, as well as his or her attitude toward control. On the basis of this, individuals are
usually categorized into two extremes i.e., internal and external locus of control. People with
an "internal locus of control" are those who think they have total control over their destiny
and luck, whereas, people with an “external locus of control” are those who feel that what
occurs to them is completely at the mercy of forces outside their control. The locus of control
influences the individual’s behavior and performance.
Projective Tests
Projective tests, as opposed to the inventory method of personality measurement, are
primarily used to determine the more subtle characteristics of personality. As a result, these
tests are predicated on the underlying fundamental beliefs that an individual’s personality
may be judged by assessing some of his or her dormant feelings, ambitions, aspirations, and
hopes. Numerous projective tests for assessing personality have been developed over time.
Projective tests include the Inkblot Test, Sentence Completion Test, Thematic Appreciation
Test (TAT), Picture Frustration Test and World Association Test. Among them, the most
extensively used projective test to measure personality is the Inkblot test, popularly known as
the Rorschach test, devised by the Swiss psychiatrist named Herman Rorschach. In the
Inkblot test, Rorschach employed ten ambiguous and unstructured images termed inkblots,
with one-half identical to the other. The individuals are then shown these inkblots/images and
asked to describe what they perceive in the inkblots/images. The interpretations of these
inkblots/images represent their sentiments or feelings, which serve as the foundation for their
personality assessment. Whereas, Morgan and Murrary devised the Thematic Appreciation
Test (TAT) projective test, which is also used to measure an individual's personality. It is
made up of twenty images that depict various societal situations. Unlike the Rorschach test,
these images depict a more precise picture of a situation. Individuals are then asked to
compose a story about what may be happening in such a social context.
Assessment Centre
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In the 1930s, the notion of an assessment center was first applied to military situations in the
German army. The primary goal of this approach was to evaluate applicants in a social
setting. During the 1960s, this paradigm spread from the army to the business world. An
assessment center is a tool that is used to examine personality. Situational tests, management
difficulties, business plan presentations, in-basket exercises, scenario-based decision-making
exercises and other simulated activities are used to evaluate personality. Individuals are
required to take part in these activities. Multiple trained assessors, who might be from inside
or outside the business, monitor the applicants' behavior and grade them based on specified
aspects considered significant in their job. A job analysis is used to discover the critical
aspects of a job. Each assessor creates an evaluation report for each applicant in the
assessment exercises. Finally, all of the reports are combined to create the employee's profile.
IN-TEXT QUESTIONS
11. Which is a term used to characterize people who have negative perceptions toward
their jobs and workers?
a) Authoritarianism b) Locus of Control
c) Machiavellianism d) Achievement Orientation
12. A person with a strong drive for achievement is said to have _____self-esteem.
a) Low b) Medium
c) High d) None of the above
13. _________is the capacity to adjust to the demands of the situation.
a) Machiavellianism b) Locus of Control
c) Achievement Orientation d) Self-Monitoring
14. Which approach is a questionnaire-based way of assessing personality that asks an
individual to express reactions or feelings in certain scenarios?
a) Personality Inventories b) Projective Tests
c) Assessment Center d) Regressive Tests
15. Sentence completion test is an example of____________.
a) Projective Tests b) Personality Inventories
c) Assessment Center d) Regressive Tests
The assessment center approach to personality evaluation is beneficial for both the
organization as well as employees. Organizations gather enough information about their
employees to determine their strengths and weaknesses. This data assists the organizations in
planning the selection, training, career paths and promotions of their employees. On the other
hand, employees, gather favorable impressions about their jobs, chances of promotions and
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long-term loyalty to the organization. Many Indian companies, including Hindustan Lever,
Modi Xerox, Crompton Greaves, Eicher, etc., have embraced this approach of assessment.
This strategy, however, is not without limitations. One is that many stimulating approaches
could not accurately represent the circumstance, and as a result, the applicant might not act
genuinely. Second, even if the employee will be evaluated by many assessors, the halo effect
in terms of personal abilities may affect the assessment.
2.10 SUMMARY
• Personality qualities help people understand their personality types. The following
personality types have been classified as The Myers-Briggs Type Indicator (MBTI),
The Big Five Personality Model, Type A and Type B Personalities and Introversion
and Extroversion.
• The MBTI is a personality assessment instrument that is widely used across the world
and includes various personality types such as extraverted vs. introverted, thinking vs.
feeling sensing vs. intuitive and judging vs. perceiving.
• The Big five Personality Model is a paradigm that identifies five essential personality
dimensions namely conscientiousness, emotional stability, extraversion,
agreeableness, and openness to experience.
• There are four main theories of personality namely psychoanalytic theory, self-
concept theory, socio-psychological theory and trait theory.
• The psychoanalytic theory is a personality theory that holds that an individual is more
driven by unseen forces that are influenced by conscious and logical thinking.
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• Freud proposed that there are five universal stages of personality development namely
oral, anal, phallic, latency and genital.
• Erikson established eight stages of life that reflect a person's continuous development
namely infancy, early childhood, play age, school age, adolescence, early adulthood,
adulthood and mature adulthood.
• The personality traits of employees are used to analyze their behavior and to build
appropriate tactics to cope with their behavior. The following are some of the
attributes that impact organizational behavior: authoritarianism, locus of control,
Machiavellianism, achievement orientation, self-esteem, risk-taking and self-
monitoring.
• The three ways of measuring personality are personality inventories (objective tests),
projective tests and assessment centers.
2.11 GLOSSARY
Looking-Glass-Self: “An individual's impression of how others see his attributes or feel
about him”.
Machiavellianism: An individual's tendency to manipulate others to gain and achieve power.
Openness to Experience: A person's creativity and interests.
Real-Self: “What others show you in terms of your self-image”.
Risk Taking: Willingness to accept risks.
Self-Esteem: A sense of liking or disliking oneself.
Self-Image: “What an individual perceives about himself”.
Self-Monitoring: Capacity to adjust to the demands of the situation.
Socialization: Process by which a newborn acquires a wide variety of behavior from the
extremely vast range of behavioral potentialities that are available to him at birth.
1. Explain the concept of personality. Discuss the various factors that determine
personality.
2. Briefly explain various theories of personality. According to you, which theory is
more comprehensive? Give reasons.
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5. CASE STUDY
Rahul is the CEO of ABC Ltd. He is very particular about his work and is very obedient
toward his authorities. He is self-centered and is not in favor of making decisions based on
feelings and emotions. He has a negative attitude toward other people who are not like him.
He does not like changes and follows traditional ways of meeting challenges, hence, he is
very stubborn. On the other hand, Dhruv is an employee of ABC Ltd. He is opposite to
Rahul. He makes a decision based on his feelings and emotions and is open to new challenges
and experiences, hence flexible. But, Rahul wants his employees to work like him.
Based on this study, answer the following questions:
a) Which personality trait(s) does Rahul possess? Discuss.
b) Does this trait(s) influence organizational behavior?
c) Enumerate the differences between the personality traits of Rahul and Dhruv.
d) Which theory of personality does apply in this case?
2.14 REFERENCES
Pareek, U. & Khanna, S. (2016). Understanding Organizational Behavior (4th Ed.). New
Delhi: Oxford University Press.
Robbins, S. P., Judge, T.A., & Vohra, N. (2015). Organizational Behavior (16th Ed.). New
York: Pearson Education.
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Nelson, D. L., Quick, J.C., & Khandelwal, P. (2016). ORGB: A South Asian Perspective (2nd
Ed.). India: Cengage Learning India Pvt. Ltd.
Robbins, S. P., Judge, T.A. & Vohra, N. (2015). Organizational Behavior (16th Ed.). New
York: Pearson Education.
Singh, K. (2015). Organizational Behavior: Text and Cases (3rd Ed.). New Delhi: Vikas
Publication.
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LESSON-3
STRUCTURE
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The primary goal of this lecture is to comprehend perception and attribution theory in depth.
After going through this lesson, the learner will be able to comprehend the following:
● Perception and its process, biases in perception, and three stage perception process
● The theory of attribution and its consequential determinants
● How to apply the rational framework of decision making
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3.2 INTRODUCTION
The opening case study (Buzz09’s Algorithm for Social Media Posting- mentioned above)
demonstrates a few of the issues that people encounter while seeking for strategies to improve
their decision-making abilities. One of the reasons why some individuals favour rational
decision making is the possibility that human decision makers may be biased or wrong in
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many ways. This chapter examines some of these biases in human decision-making as well as
the possibility that people may outperform computers, particularly in terms of innovation.
3.3 PERCEPTION
Through the process of perception, people organize and interpret their sensory experiences
to give their surroundings meaning. However, there could be a significant discrepancy
between what we perceive and what is real. For example, the whole employees of a company
may agree that it's a great place to work because of the friendly office atmosphere, fascinating
job assignments, competitive pay, first-rate benefits, and considerate management. However,
as most of us are aware, it is rare to see such unanimity. Why is perception important in OB
research so much? As opposed to reality, behavior is dependent on one's perspective of
reality.
How can we explain the fact that various people may observe the same thing and form quite
different opinions about it? Many factors affect perception, sometimes skew it as well. The
perceiver, the object, target being perceived, or the context in which the perception is
produced may all have these components (or a few of them) (see Figure 3.1).
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Your attitudes, personality, aspirations, interests, prior experiences, and expectations all
have a significant impact on how you interpret what you see while trying to understand a
target. Regardless of their real features, you can see someone as authoritarian if you consider
police officers to be that way or as slow if you assume young people to be that way.
The target's characteristics also influence how we see it. Silent individuals are less likely to
stand out in a crowd than loud individuals. The link between a target and its backdrop, as
well as our tendency to group nearby items and those with similar characteristics together, all
influence perception since humans do not examine targets in isolation. Male and female, as
well as members of any other group that can be quickly classified in other, unrelated ways,
frequently have something in common. How attentive we are can vary depending on the
environment, including the time of day, location, light, temperature, and several other
variables.
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CASE STUDY
INDIA VERSUS AMERICA
Consider the situation of American citizen Ms. Thompson, who starts working for a
major corporation in India. She meets with Mr. Roy, her boss, on the first day. Mr. Roy
greets everyone and then begins to collect information about Ms. Thompson's mother's
relatives, siblings, father, and grandfather's jobs. He devotes a lot of his time to family
discussions that Ms. Thompson deems inappropriate and unimportant.
Ms. Thompson is an expert at conducting interviews and avoiding personal questions,
so she carefully avoids all these intrusive questions. During the hour-long meeting, she
doesn't learn much about her duties or Mr. Roy’s expectations. She is quite perplexed. Mr.
Roy is unhappy and concerned that Ms. Thompson is vague about her background and
won't talk about her family from his perspective. How can she expect to connect with
others if they don't know anything about her or her family? Before knowing someone's
personal background, he cannot trust them.
In this scenario, both sides evaluate the situation from their own cultural vantage
points. The Spanish social structure and ties to family and friends hold the key.
Roy, on the other side, Ms. Thompson is used to working in an American
environment where private things are inappropriate and unimportant. Given her cultural
background, Ms. Thompson is appropriately avoiding these personal challenges, but Mr.
Roy is only striving to show that his new employee has the necessary and core family
background to be trustworthy.
The cultural misconceptions in this scenario appear to be based on a variety of cultural
conventions and assumptions.
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perfume. For instance, people who wear bright colours when they dress, are more likely to be
remembered after a meeting—though not always favourably. Aside from that, cultural
differences may play a role in why some events remain in our recollections. For instance,
standing close to someone while speaking is normal in Middle Eastern and Mediterranean
cultures. These acts are not observed in other cultures. In contrast, the same gesture is
typically unheard of in the United States, where people become uneasy if a co-worker speaks
to them too near or touches their arm or shoulder. That co-worker’s actions are obvious,
which increases the likelihood that you'll see them and recall them.
The people in each of these cases stand out, prompting us to remember them and form
opinions about them. They impede our perceptual filter due to their prominence. This is
not to argue that you must try to stand out to be better remembered. People could recall you
more vividly, but they can also hold your harsher behaviour against you. We must organize
the cues and the material that draws our attention into sets that make sense and that we may
use later.
CASE STUDY
AN INDO-AMERICAN WOMAN CEO IN INDIA
When Malti, a 1975 passed out from Harvard Business School, who spent her entire life in
the United States since her childhood, joined ABS in 1977, she questioned long-held views on
both sides of the Indian thinking (mostly bureaucratic and paternalistic society back then),
which was her ultimate glass ceiling-cracking moment. ABS, an enterprise that owns the several
educational institutions worldwide was being operated by Malti, who also served as its first
female CEO. Around 17,000 individuals were employed at ABS at the time. Malti's credentials
were out of the ordinary for a top executive of an Indian corporation. Having no prior
experience in control of a large, multi-billion-dollar global organization while being a Texas
native born in India, a former attorney, and a former journalist.
Following Malti's arrival, ABS's equity returns significantly lagged those of its competitors.
The successes of Malti's predecessor, who held the position for 15 years until retiring in 1977,
included increasing ABS's workforce, doubling its profitability, experiencing a more than 80%
increase in share prices, and converting a struggling company into a global powerhouse.
How did this implausible "outsider" from another continent work for a very conservative
company in India and become one of the most respected CEOs there?
Upon finishing business school in 1975, Malti relocated to West Virginia and started
working for the Associated Press. She then created a Pulitzer-winning newspaper in Georgia
with her husband. The two relocated to India in 1977 when the newspaper went out of business,
becoming CEO of ABS, where she grew sales by 130 percent in just four years. Malti admits
that she faced scepticism when working at ABC: "I had analysts in on the first day, and I could
hear them asking, 'Who is this person? Then I started to wonder, "Who is this person?"
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When she stated that she wanted to double ABS’ market worth, the company's
shares surged. She promised that more changes will be made. However, for the time
being, our objective is to enhance overall corporate performance.
Malti usually wore khadi clothing to meetings and used Indian slangs. It was
clear that she had no reservations about grabbing attention. She was referred to the ABS
chairperson as "an enthusiast and exuberant" because of her egalitarian viewpoint,
which contrasted with the traditional Indian thinking.
In her words, "I don't even use that phrase because, first of all, that's what old
people do, and second of all, it's what you do after dinner." she expresses that she is not
ready to retire at age 66. Through her blunders, she discovered that "you may fail, but
you don't die."
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IN-TEXT QUESTIONS
1. Perception is a _________
a. Scientific process c. Mental process
b. Both A and C d. None
2. Which process’ fundamental components are stimulus selection,
interpretation, and use?
a. Perception c. Organizational development
b. Locus of Control d. Ethics
3. _______ permits us to assess a fading circumstance by filling that partial
image based on our experiences.
a. Closure c. Creativity
b. Communication d. Connotation
2. Organization Stage
The second step of the perceptual process is organization. The data that our filters have
permitted through must now be organized. We group information into sets that make sense,
are practical, and are organized. We create new sets, build new links between the various
parts, classify newly found information into pre-existing, well-known categories, and
combine things into bundles we can remember.
Schemas
At this level, the primary activity is the use of schemas. Schemas, which are mental or
cognitive models or patterns, are used by people to understand and explain situations and
events. They act as structures that enable us to fill in the gaps in social contexts. For instance,
during the closure phase, people use schemas to help fill in gaps in incomplete visualizations.
Although some of our schemas may be conscious to us, they usually operate subconsciously.
Schemas at work
Schemas are beneficial since they hasten the information processing. They help us remember
details and close gaps in our perception. Schemas greatly facilitate the organization of
knowledge, which enhances our capacity to recall specifics about people and events. Because
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we use closure to fill in information we don't know and make snap decisions, schemas might
lead to mistakes.
Table 3.1
Advantages and Disadvantages of Schema
IN-TEXT QUESTIONS
4. What comes last in the process of perception?
a. Results c. Selection
b. Judgement and Interpretation d. Consistency
5. Which element enhance the process of processing information?
a. Filters c. Perception
b. Schema d. Prejudice
6. Choose the wrong option.
a. Distinctiveness c. Consistency
b. Consensus d. Selective Filters
The act of assuming a cause for a behaviour and presenting that cause is known as the
attribution process. One of the initial steps in the attribution process is determining whether
an action's cause is internal or external (see Figure 3.6). An internal attribution is when you
suggest that the person's actions are the result of something "inside" the person. These are
either more or less stable factors (such as personality, morality, or intrinsic skill) (such as
effort or motivation). Internal attributions, which places a strong emphasis on the individual,
are occasionally referred to as personal attributions.
When we think that factors "outside" of the person are the cause of behaviour, such as
"Mary is late for work because she is lazy" or "Sergio did well on the test because he worked
hard," we establish external attributions. These factors might include the surrounding
natural environment, the difficulty of the job, the workplace culture, the presence, and
behaviour of other people, or even luck. Since they link behaviour to its environment,
external attributions are often referred to as situational attributions.
External attributions are mostly dependent on task difficulty and chance, but internal
attributions are based on ability and effort.
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Like us all, managers are prone to apply internal attributions excessively and
external attributions insufficiently. For instance, supervisors who are evaluating
employees are more prone to conclude that low performance is due to a lack of
skill, effort, or motivation. They are much less inclined to attribute poor
leadership to contextual factors, such as insufficient training, insufficient support
from co-workers, insufficient tools, or even their own subpar performance.
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1. Distinctiveness
We initially consider if the behaviour is unique to a certain profession or situation.
Does the individual always behave in this way? If the answer is yes, we'll probably
hold that person accountable for their actions. If not, we can consider external
influences. Consider how a manager appraising his employees may consider how
distinct each employee's performance histories are to illustrate how this component
functions in an organizational setting. Or are computer-related jobs the only ones
where they perform well? Do they perform similarly across the board? If the
performance is particular to one or a few tasks and is therefore specific to a scenario,
an external attribution is more plausible.
2. Consensus
Is this a typical behaviour or is this person acting strangely? Is the employee in
question the sole member of the team that is having issues with the new method after
the bad performance was addressed? If other individuals behave in a similar way,
demonstrating that there is agreement, we are more likely to assign something to the
outside world.
3. Consistency
Depending on what is constant, we can ascribe anything to either the internal or
external reality. Without consistency, we find it difficult to make any kind of
judgment; assigning responsibility calls for extreme consistency. It would be
challenging for management to assign blame to a worker whose performance differs
significantly from month to month and from task to task.
3.4.2 Attribution Through Behaviours
Researchers have shown that even though we have more information about ourselves than
about others, we usually use the same approaches to identify the root causes of our
difficulties. We consider our actions and behaviours and extrapolate our thoughts and aims
from them to understand why we operate in the manner that we do. Self-perception theory
is the name given to this theory. According to self-perception theory, when asked to explain
their own behaviour, people tend to search both inside and outside of themselves for answers.
The self-perception theory of attribution has surprising findings. Consider how
we behave when we are recognized for our work and given a reward. For instance, how
would a professional basketball player justify his performance if he received a significant
bonus for playing well? Would he say he loved the game so much or would he say the big
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bonus was the reason he won? How would the worker who regularly lends a helping hand to
other workers without getting paid for it defend her actions? It's noteworthy that when we
receive large monetary compensation or positive public attention for our efforts, we are more
likely to blame our actions on the outside reward. Over-justification refers to the tendency to
blame our own behaviour on outside forces after getting an external benefit. Over-
justification has several negative effects on managers. It suggests that giving people
significant external incentives for finishing pleasant tasks may reduce their internal
motivation to complete the task. If the reward is strong and meaningful enough, people are
more likely to make an external attribution—that is, to place blame for their actions on
something other than their own motivations. Because of this, employees may become less
motivated to achieve internally and may perform less successfully unless they continue to get
significant incentives. This practice may provide one explanation for why some professional
athletes perform badly despite being paid well. Managers should emphasize internal features
and make them obvious whenever possible to maintain employees' internal Motivation and
interests. High amounts of praise and reward from the public may have an immediate effect,
but they can have the opposite effect in the long run.
IN-TEXT QUESTIONS
7. Assuming an explanation for a behavior and advancing that reason is known
as:
a. Attribution Process c. Distinctiveness
b. Consistency d. Consensus
8. Personal attributions are related to?
a. External attributions c. Internal attribution
b. Societal attributions d. Physical attributions
9. Situational attributions are
a. External attributions c. Internal attribution
b. Societal attributions d. Physical attributions
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IN-TEXT QUESTIONS
10. To understand why we behave in the way that we do, we consider our
actions and behaviours and extrapolate our attitudes and aims from them.
This concept is known as
a. Self-evaluation c. Self-organized
b. Self-role d. Self-parameters
11. After earning an external incentive, we tend to blame outside forces for
our own conduct.
a. Under-simplification c. Under-analysis
b. Over-analysis d. Over-justification
12. ___________ is the final element of the attribution process.
a. Conscience c. Concordance
b. Concept d. None of the above
13. “We are inclined to attribute something externally if other people act
similarly, indicating that there is agreement”. This is related to:
a. Distinctiveness c. Consistency
b. Consensus d. All of the above
We discussed how people often attribute other people's behaviour by exaggerating their own
personal traits and underestimating external factors. This tendency is known as the
Fundamental Attribution Error. For instance, if your boss is unresponsive, you are more
likely to blame his lack of people skills or propensity for being cold and distant than you are
to blame the expectations placed on him or the amount of work he must do. In this way, you
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are more likely to attribute a co-worker’s obstructionist behaviour to her personality than to a
lack of communication. These accusations make us less likely to see others favorably.
Table 3.2
Perceptual Biases
7. Self-Serving Biases The propensity to give success credit and deny failure
blame
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"The Trayvon Martin case featured a significant amount of perception and prejudices
in the Florida, United States. Martin was wearing a hoodie the night he was shot,
demonstrating how even something so basic may affect how we perceive people.”
There might be negative consequences from the Fundamental Attribution Error. Because of
this propensity, we frequently internalize victims mistakenly and blame them for their
suffering. For instance, in the well-publicized case of the Florida teenager who was shot by a
self-appointed neighborhood watchman, the fact that Trayvon Martin was wearing a hoodie
became the focus point, obscuring many of the crucial issues. When assessing people, we
typically focus on internal factors.
The Fundamental Attribution Error, however, works in the other direction when we
try to justify our own behaviour. We rely more on external justifications to support our own
actions. This process is known as the actor-observer difference. In addition to making
internal attributions about other people's behaviour, which is a common fundamental
attribution error, we also commonly make external attributions about our own behaviour.
This differentiation is brought about by the numerous perspectives that come from having
access to different kinds of information. Contrary to how others may see us, we are aware of
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our own history and how we respond in different situations. As a result, we often have
different perspectives than observers on how distinctive and consistent our own behaviour is.
Because actors and observers have different perspectives, actors are more likely to ascribe
external causes because environmental impacts are more apparent to actors than to
observers.
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law enforcement, however, argue that they meet the physical standards and even offer unique
attributes to the position, such as compassion and effective communication skills.”
The halo effect (also known as the horn effect) occurs when a general opinion or
assessment of one aspect of a person or circumstance results in either a halo, which is a
favourable impression, or horns, which is an unfavourable impression, and which then serves
as the focal point around which all additional information is selected, arranged, and
interpreted. For instance, a study done in the United Kingdom discovered that a person's first
name might have a big impact on how they are seen. Another example is when someone
identifies themselves as a "Apple" or "Google" employee. Because of the reputation of these
companies, we are likely to form an opinion of the person immediately away.
A strong element that might result in a halo or horn is the "similar-to-me" effect.
The similar-to-me effect occurs when we like someone we believe to be similar to
ourselves and dislike someone we believe to be distinct from us. In a multicultural
environment Lack of likeness may be extremely problematic when the other person is likely
to be different and as a result, perhaps unlikable.
Do you believe that first impressions are important? If you say that, you are correct!
The importance of initial impressions is referred to as the primacy effect. It speaks about a
tendency to exaggerate fresh knowledge. Early information is often recalled, and it frequently
affects subsequent perceptions. In contrast to the primacy effect, the recency effect leads us to
focus more on the latest information. The recency effect is most prevalent when there is a
temporal gap between the earlier and later information.
The tendency to accept credit for our successes but reject accountability for our errors
is known as the self-serving bias. On the one hand, when we do poorly on a test, fumble a
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presentation, lose a client, or fall short of our objectives, we frequently attribute external
blame rather than internal attribution on our own lack of effort or skill. We blame the unfair
professor, the disinterested audience, the finicky client, or the unachievable company goals.
The sum of all the prejudices makes the relationship between managers and their
employees fascinating. Stereotypes, halos-horns, and primacy-recency may bias the data that
managers gather. Additionally, managers usually blame employees' incompetence and lack of
effort for poor performance, whereas employees blame managers' poor managing skills.
However, since they are so confident in their own abilities and commitment to success, both
sides frequently fail to recognize the contributions made by the opposing party. Perceptual
biases allow us to perceive social situations quickly and accurately, but they can also
result in errors.
People in companies are constantly evaluating one another. Managers are required to evaluate
the work of their staff. We assess the level of effort each of our co-workers is putting out in
their task. Members of the team assess a newcomer right away. Our decisions frequently have
substantial ramifications for the organisation. Let's examine the most straightforward
examples.
Employee Interview: Most hiring decisions involve an interview. However, interviewers
frequently form false perceptions and form hasty impressions that stick with them. According
to research, we establish opinions about people in less than a tenth of a second based on our
initial impressions. If these initial thoughts are unfavourable, they frequently carry more
weight in the interview than if they were revealed later. After the first 4 or 5 minutes of an
interview, many interviewers' decisions don't vary all that much. Because of this, information
gathered earlier in the interview is given more weight than information gathered later. A
"good candidate" is therefore likely defined more by the absence of bad traits than by the
existence of favourable ones.
Performance Expectations Even when their perceptions of reality are flawed, people
nonetheless try to justify them. The concepts of self-fulfilling prophecy and the Pygmalion
effect are used to illustrate how a person's conduct is influenced by the expectations of others.
A manager won't likely be let down if she has high expectations for their staff. Like this, if
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she merely expects mediocre performance, they will probably live up to her low standards.
Expectations are fulfilled. It has been discovered that the self-fulfilling prophecy has an
impact on how well accountants, warriors, and even students perform.
Performance Evaluation Performance evaluations will be covered in more detail later, but
for now it is important to realise that they heavily rely on the perceptual process. Promotion,
wage increases, and continued employment are some of the most evident results that are
directly related to an employee's future and are determined by the evaluation. Many tasks are
evaluated subjectively, even though the assessment might be objective (for instance, a
salesperson is evaluated based on how much revenue he earns in his region). Even though
they are frequently important, subjective assessments are troublesome since they are affected
by all the flaws we've covered so far, including selective perception, contrast effects, halo
effects, and more. Ironically, performance reviews may reveal just as much about the assessor
as they do about the employee.
IN-TEXT QUESTIONS
14. Which sort of bias is the tendency to accept credit for our successes but
reject accountability for our failures?
a. Self-error c. Self-serving
b. Self-recency d. Self-primacy
15. A generalization about a person based on the group they are a part of is
a. Prejudice c. Assumption
b. Stereotype d. Observation
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Here, we focus on the variables that affect people's decision-making processes and their
susceptibility to biases and mistakes. We talk about organisational and personal limitations.
1. Individual Differences
The use of intuition, frequent biases and mistakes, and bounded rationality are characteristics
of decision-making in practice . Individual variations also lead to departures from the
rational paradigm. We examine gender and personality differences in this area.
Personality plays a critical role in defining perceptions. For instance, people with
high self-esteem tend to follow a self-serving bias. It means that they accept the credit
for success but blame others if they fail. Therefore, personality allows individuals to
perceive in some ways that are limited to their personal traits.
Gender is another individual characteristic that influences decision making. For
instance, women ruminate more than men.
You may anticipate that those with greater levels of mental capacity would be less
prone to frequent judgement mistakes given that we know they can process information more
rapidly, solve problems more precisely, and learn quicker. However, it seems that only some
of these may be avoided by persons with mental capacity.
Time orientation, the value placed on reason, the conviction that individuals can solve
issues, and the propensity for group decision-making are all cultural differences. We may
better understand why Indian managers make choices considerably more slowly and
deliberately than American managers by examining differences in time orientation. In India,
reason is respected, although this is not universally true.
2. Organizational Constraints
Employee Evaluation The standards by which employees are judged have a big impact
on managers. We shouldn't be shocked to discover that a division manager's plant managers
spend a significant portion of their time making sure that bad information doesn't reach him if
he feels that the manufacturing facilities under his supervision operate best when he hears
nothing unfavourable.
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All companies establish rules and regulations to guide choices and influence behaviour.
They naturally restrict the options for making decisions as a result.
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Tatas have recently taken over Air India. Air India was founded by Dadabhoy
Tata back in 1932. “In 1953, the Government of India passed the Air Corporations
Act to purchase a majority stake in the airline carrier from Tata Sons. Its founder
JRD Tata continued as the chairman till 1977”. However, from 2006 onwards, Air
India started to incur heavy losses even after merging with Indian Airlines. The combined
losses for Air India and Indian Airlines were rising exponentially every year. In January
2022, Tata bought back its one of the ventures that were started by its Stalwarts.
Questions:
Utilitarianism, which promotes making decisions only based on their outcomes in an effort
to maximize the good for the greatest number of people, is the first ethical standard. This
view dominates business decision-making. It is consistent with goals like great profitability,
productivity, and effectiveness. Another ethical need is to make decisions in conformity with
the basic freedoms and rights contained in documents like the Bill of Rights.
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The recognition and defence of essential liberties possessed by people, such as the
right to due process, free expression, and privacy, are required when placing a focus on rights
in decision-making. This standard protects whistle-blowers who make use of their freedom
of speech to alert the public or the media to an organization's unethical behaviour.
A third need for laws to be justly or equitably distributed in terms of costs and
benefits is that they be applied in a fair and unbiased manner (also known as Justice).
Typically, this viewpoint is shared by union members. It advocates paying everyone the same
wage for a given post regardless of differences in performance and relying heavily on
seniority in layoff decisions. Each criterion has advantages and disadvantages. A utilitarian
worldview may promote efficiency and production, but it also has the potential to diminish
some people's rights, particularly those of people of colour. Rights are used to safeguard
individuals from damage and are compatible with freedom and privacy, but they may also
encourage a legalistic environment that lowers productivity and efficiency. An emphasis on
justice protects the rights of the underrepresented and weaker, but it may also encourage a
sense of entitlement that hinders innovation, risk-taking, and productivity.
3.9 SUMMARY
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3.10 GLOSSARY
Egalitarianism is a belief in human equality especially with respect to social, political, and
economic affairs.
Perception filter is the process of letting some information in while keeping out the rest.
Selective attention is the “process of paying attention to some, but not all, physical and
social cues”.
Salient cues are those cues that are somehow so striking that they stand out.
Stereotypes vs Prejudice - Stereotypes are unfounded assumptions about a social group
that lack any basis in fact. Stereotypes are assumptions made about a social group that can be
either good or negative, conscious, or unconscious. Prejudice is a strong unreasonable
feeling of not liking or trusting somebody/something, especially when it is based on
his/her/its race, religion, or sex.
1. C 9. B
2. A 10. B
3. C 11. C
4. B 12. B
5. D 13. C
6. A 14. B
7. C 15. A
8. A
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Discussion Question:
1. What are perceptions? Describe all seven biases in detail.
2. Describe the differences between primacy effect and recency effect with your real-life
examples?
3. In the Trayvon Martin case, which perceptual bias became more relevant (and
irrelevant) at the same time?
Individual and Group Activity:
For complete understanding, please read the following brief case and repeat it as many times
as you feel necessary. As directed by your instructor, you won't be allowed to consult it until
the end of the activity.
“A well-liked college instructor had just completed the final exam and had turned off
the lights in the office. Just then, a tall, dark, and broad figure appeared and demanded
the exam. The professor opened the drawer. Everything in the drawer was picked up
and the individual ran down the corridor. The dean was notified immediately”
The First Stage: Individual Scores
Answer the following questions about the case you have just read without referring to the
case. Circle T if the statement is true or correct, F if it is false, and? if you are not sure or
cannot tell.
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● Without turning back to the case or changing any of your answers, compare your
answers with those of your group members. Discuss any discrepancies. The goal is
not to come to an agreement and a common group answer, but to explore areas of
differences and their causes.
● Now that you have discussed the case in your group, how many questions do you
think you answered correctly?
The Last Stage: Scoring and Discussion
Your instructor will provide you with the scoring key for the questions. What explains your
score? What processes are operating? What are the implications?
3.13 REFERENCES
Casse, S., & S, T. (Vol. 8(1)). For Female Leadership: Who is the winner. Business
Leadership Review, pp. 1–7.
Fung, K. (2012, March 23). Geraldo Rivera: Trayvon Martin's 'Hoodie Is As Much
Responsible For [His] Death As George Zimmerman' (VIDEO). Retrieved from
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www.huffpost.com: https://www.huffpost.com/entry/geraldo-rivera-trayvon-martin-
hoodie_n_1375080
Nahavandi, A. M., Denhardt, R., & Aristigueta, M. P. (2020). Organizational Behavior.
USA: Sage Publication.
Robbins, S. P., & Judge, T. A. (2013). Organizational Behaviour. Newyork: Pearson.
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LESSON-4
STRUCTURE
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4.2 INTRODUCTION
4.3 LEARNING
The concept of learning plays an important role for developing human nature. It helps an
individual understand complex situations and respond logically and rationally. It is a concept
that shapes an individual’s skills, lifestyle and thoughts. Learning can have lasting change in
individual’s behaviour caused by direct and indirect events. Learning as a concept is quite
often misunderstood as education and training. Whereas, education, training, practice and
experiences are rather tools of learning that cause permanent changes. Temporary change
does not truly reflect learning and eventually disappears. For instance, an employee out of the
fear of pay cut may become punctual at workplace but in personal life where there is no fear
of pay cut may not practice punctuality. This kind of temporary change requires practice and
experiences to intensify individual learning process.
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The Cambridge Dictionary defines learning as “the process of getting knowledge or a new
skill”.
According to E.R. Hilgard, “Learning is a relatively permanent change in behaviour that
occurs as a result of a prior experience”.
Henry P. Smith defined learning as “…the acquisition of new behaviour or the strengthening
or weakening of old behaviour as the result of experience”.
4.3.1 Nature of Learning
Learning is basically the process of acquiring Knowledge, Skill, Ability (KSAs), etc. This
gives a refreshing understanding to the process of learning having distinctive features:
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Motor Learning
Learning that require muscular coordination.
Walking, running, driving, eating, etc.
Verbal Learning
Individuals learn different languages.
Helps to communicate with others.
Sounds, images, pictures, etc.
Concept Learning
Builds and develops mental framework in
individuals.
Thinking, reasoning, finding logic, etc.
Discrimination Learning
Helps in distinguishing stimuli and identifying
suitable response to the stimuli.
Distinguishing among various animal sounds.
Learning of Principles
Helps in building value system of individuals.
Learning to be honest, helpful, etc.
Problem Solving
Application of concept learning in solving a
problem.
Finding shortest route to reach a destination.
Attitude Learning
Developing a predisposition for directing
individual behaviour.
It can be both positive or negative.
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The first three "Laws of learning" - readiness, exercise and effect were given by Edward
Thorndike. Later, came the psychologists who recognized several other principles/laws of
learning which are generally applicable to the learning process. These principles have been
discovered, tested, and used in practical situations. They provide insight into what makes
people learn most effectively. We discuss these principles in brief hereunder:
Exercise: Learning continues as individuals practice more. Practice involves recall, review
and summary, and manual drill and physical applications. All of these serve to create learning
habits. For instance, to be a good doctor or lawyer, individuals have to practice their
profession.
Primacy: Learning must be facilitated in a logical order, step by step, making sure the
individuals have already learned the preceding step. For instance, an individual is first
oriented and then trained on the job.
Recency: The principle of recency states that things learned recently will be remembered
most at a particular time. Conversely, the far an individual is removed time-wise from a new
fact or understanding, the more difficult it is to remember things. For instance, an individual
will remember what he/she wore yesterday than what he/she wore a month or a year back.
Intensity: A sharp, dramatic, clear, vivid, or exciting learning experience creates an earning
more than a routine or boring experience. The principle of intensity implies that an individual
will learn more from the real-life experiences than from a substitute. For instance, a toddler
learns to walk after falling many times.
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Freedom: The principle of freedom implies that learning should be self-motivated and not
forced upon an individual. Individuals must have freedom of - choice, action, bear the results
of action—imbibing personal responsibility. If no freedom is granted, individuals might have
little interest in learning.
Requirements: The principle of requirement implies that “one must have something to obtain
or do something". It can be an ability, skill, instrument or anything that may help individuals
to learn or acquire knowledge. For instance, in order to learn piano, an individual must have
availability of piano.
IN-TEXT QUESTIONS
Over the years, academicians have been focusing on describing different patterns and/ or
process through which learning occurs in an individual. The four popular theories that offer
explanation of how individuals acquire patterns of behaviour are explained further.
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Theories of
Learning
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After
Conditioning
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punishment for good behaviour. Next time, the employees may delay the completion of
assigned tasks.
Classical Conditioning
Stimulus Response
Operant Conditioning
Response Stimulus
Works Is paid
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Attentional Process: Individuals learn from only those models whom they find
attractive. For instance, celebrity’s outfits are often duplicated by common people.
Retention Process: Individuals learn from only those models whose actions are
remembered by the individuals. For instance, cricket lovers remember Sourav
Ganguly's waving his jersey in the Lord's stadium.
Motor Reproduction Process: Individuals learn from only those models when they
replicate models’ behaviour immediately. For instance, while watching a cooking show,
the recipe is learned if you immediately prepare it.
Reinforcement Process: Individuals exhibit model behaviour if they are presented with
positive consequences. For instance, higher pay for higher productivity.
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4.4.5 Reinforcement:
The operant conditioning is based on the law of effect as given by Edward Thorndike. The
law of effect states that the behaviour with rewarding consequences is likely to be repeated;
while behaviour with negative consequences is not likely to be repeated. This law serves as
the foundation of reinforcement theory. Reinforcement is the core of the learning process.
Reinforcement can be defined as anything that strengthens a response and/or tends to increase
its frequency. There are four types of reinforcement strategies.
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Strategy
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Table 4.4: Schedules of Reinforcement (Source: Robbins Stephen P and Judge T.A., Vohra,
Organisational Behaviour, 16th Ed. Pearson.)
• In a learning organization there is a shared vision that can emerge from many places
but the top management is responsible for ensuring that the vision exists and is
nurtured.
• Employees understand their own jobs as well as the way in which their own work
inter-relates with and influences that of other employees.
• Conflicts are resolved using collaborative learning and the integration of diverse
opinions of employees throughout organization.
• The role of the leader is to empower employees, inspire commitment, and encourage
effective decision making throughout the enterprise through the use of empowerment
and charismatic leadership.
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Presence of Tension
Gap between vision and reality
Questioning
Challenging status quo
Critical reflection
IN-TEXT QUESTIONS
4. According to Skinnerian Operant conditioning theory, a negative
reinforcement is:
(a) Nothing but punishment
(b) A biofeedback
(c) A withdrawing or removal of a positive reinforcer
(d) An instinctive drift
5. Which schedule of reinforcement is a ratio schedule stating a ratio of responses
to rein-forcements?
(a) Variable Ratio Schedule (b) Fixed Interval Schedule
(c) Variable Interval Schedule (d) Fixed Ratio Schedule
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Ford used the accounts payable as illustrated in the figure below prior to
installation. The initial purchase order for raw materials is sent by Ford's
purchasing department. Additionally, a copy of the purchase order is forwarded to
the accounts payable division. The vendor raises an invoice for the accounts
payable division after delivering the raw supplies. The accounts payable division
totals the purchase order, the items that have been received, and the invoices
before paying the supplier. While Mazda, a Japanese automaker competitor,
managed the same procedure with 100 workers—a surprisingly low number of
employees even when the magnitude of the operation is taken into account—Ford
used roughly 500 individuals to handle the entire process.
Instead of tinkering with the company procedures just slightly. Ford made the
decision to employ IT to drastically alter its accounts payable procedure. A
mechanism without invoices has been put in place. The departments responsible
for purchasing will create the purchase order and update the database. The
payment will be made without waiting for the vendor to send an invoice as soon
as the materials have been received and a warehouse worker updates the materials
received.
4.6 ATTITUDE
Evaluative remarks regarding things, people, or events are called attitudes. It can be positive,
neutral or negative. They are a reflection of one’s feelings. If an individual says that “I like
my job” that describes how the individual feel about his/her job. Attitudes are intricate. In
order to comprehend, individuals must take into account the underlying components of
attitude. There are three important components of attitude as - cognition, affect, and behavior
which are closely related.
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Cognitive = Evaluation
My supervisor gave a promotion
to a coworker who deserved it
less than me. My supervisor is unfair.
Negative
attitude
toward
supervisor
Behavioral = Action
Affective = Feeling
I’m looking for other work; I’ve
I dislike my complained about my supervisor
supervisor! to anyone who would listen.
Fig 4.6: Components of Attitudes (Source: Robbins Stephen P and Judge T.A., Vohra,
Organisational Behaviour, 16th Ed. Pearson.)
Characteristics of attitude:
● Attitude may be fluctuating. An individual may dislike something at first then
like same thing later.
● Attitudes are intangible psychological phenomenon.
● Attitudes toward something are acquired over a period gradually.
● Attitudes are built in the process of socializing.
● Attitudes help in adjusting to a new environment. With positive attitude
individuals can welcome changes instead of resisting.
● Individuals build attitudes to create their self-image. Attitudes help in
expression of one’s value system.
● An ambitious person will have a positive attitude for the job instead of
complaining about it whole day.
● Knowledge can be substituted by the attitudes. For instance, people stereotype
about others due to lack of personal information about them.
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Individuals form positive, neutral and/or negative attitude towards something depending on
various factors:
Psychological factors: It includes ideas, beliefs, perception, values, information, etc.
For instance, an employee perceives hard work will yield rewards to him than the
employee will have a positive attitude towards job.
Family: An individual is well influenced by the family as he/she spends the major
time of childhood with the family instilling ready-made attitudes of the family
members. Family is involved in decision-making towards education, job, religion,
economic conditions, etc. For instance, an individual with low income family will
develop a saving attitude towards money.
Society: Society creates the circle of tradition and culture around the individual,
influencing the attitude. For instance, the attitude of Japanese people towards their job
is critically different from that of Americans. Japanese employees are better adjusted
to the notion of work as honourable.
Political factors: Ideologies of the political parties, and leaders greatly affect an
individual’s attitude. For instance, an individual from any communist party may
oppose liberal democracy.
Organisational factors: During the adulthood, individuals spend most of their time
in the organization they work for. They collectively, not just form the organizational
culture but influence each other’s attitude as well. For instance, a nurturing culture in
the organization may influence their employees towards personal development by
providing opportunities to learn new things and grow professionally. Such practices
develop good attitude towards organization and job.
Economic factors: Economic conditions of an individual affect the spending
capability of individuals that may develop negative attitude toward individual
spending lavishly on leisure.
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Psychological
Factors
Political Family
Factors
Organization
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reduce the tension inherent in the dissonance (the dissonance is less distressing if
accompanied by something good, such as a higher pay raise than expected).
IN-TEXT QUESTIONS
6. The defining characteristic of________ is that they express an evaluation of some
object.
a. Beliefs
b. Attitudes
c. Interaction
d. Perception
7. Bob cooks for his girlfriend; it's his way of showing her he cares about her. His
cooking is an example of
a. dissonance
b. a terminal value
c. a relational currency
d. self-promotion
4.7 VALUES
Values represent the fundamental convictions that “a specific mode of conduct or end-state of
existence is personally or socially preferable to an opposite or converse mode of conduct or
end-state of existence.” Values have a judgmental element because they carry people’s ideas
about right, good, or desirable. They have both content and intensity qualities. The content
characteristic says a code of conduct or end-state of existence is vital. The intensity
characteristic specifies the extent of importance of end-state of existence. When people rank
values in terms of intensity, they obtain that person’s value system. Everyone has a hierarchy
of values according to the relative significance they assign to values such as freedom,
honesty, obedience, pleasure, self-respect, and equality.
The basic characteristics of values are:
● They are relatively stable and enduring.
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● People starts establishing their value system in the early years—by parents,
teachers, friends, and others.
● They reflect standards of human behaviour.
Business, as I have seen it, places one great demand on you: it needs you to self-
impose a framework of ethics, values, fairness and objectivity on yourself at all
times.” - Ratan N Tata, 2006. Tata has always been a values-driven organisation.
These values continue to direct the growth and business of Tata companies.
The five core Tata values underpinning the way we do business are:
Unity: We will invest in our people and partners, enable continuous learning, and
build caring and collaborative relationships based on trust and mutual respect.
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Table 4.7: Dominant Work Values in Today’s Workforce (Source: Robbins Stephen P and
Judge T.A., Vohra, Organisational Behaviour, 16th Ed. Pearson.)
4.7.1 Types of Values:
Broadly speaking, there are two types of values - Terminal and Instrumental Values.
Table 4.8: Types of Values (Source: Robbins Stephen P and Judge T.A., Vohra,
Organisational Behaviour, 16th Ed. Pearson.)
Allport and his associates have identified six types of values –
Theoretical: Interests that develop reasoning and systematic thinking.
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Role demands – Role demand refers to the behaviour which is associated with the
particular position or role profile in an organisation. Every individual play multiple
roles in life. The problem occurs when there is a role conflict. In such case,
individuals quickly learn the value system prevailing in the organisation so that they
may survive and progress in the same organisation.
Constitution – Almost, all the existing constitutions of various countries highlight the
values of democracy, equality and world peace. The values enshrined in the
Constitution of India are stated in its Preamble are Justice, Liberty, Equality of status
and opportunity and Fraternity. Herein, justice occupies the first place, followed by
liberty, equality.
The difference between values and attitudes is firstly that while values are always positive
(i.e. expressing preferences), attitudes can be both positive and negative. Secondly, values are
general, but attitudes are specific and can vary from object to object. It is also believed that
attitudes are more apt to change than values. Behaviour depends on underlying attitudes, but
is also affected by many other things like opportunities to act, norms, expected consequences
etc. Therefore, the link between attitudes and behaviour is not direct. The characteristics and
relationships between individual values, attitudes and behaviour are presented hereunder:
Fig 4.9: The relationship among Values, Attitudes and Behaviour (Source: Jaakson, K.
(2022). Management by values: the analysis of influencing aspects and its theoretical and
practical implications.)
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Although Collins and Porras (1994) are of the opinion that mere articulation of values
increases the likelihood of values-based behaviour, there has to be support via organisational
systems as well. Basically, there are two paths for organisational support of values-based
behaviour. The first option is having the people with the “right” attitude who are naturally
inclined to behave in the desired way. Stackman et al., (2000) maintain that values are key
determinants of employee attitudes, which in turn affect work-related behaviour. This is to
say that values do not affect behaviour directly, but via attitudes, which are defined as
“dispositions to respond favourably or unfavourably to an object, person, institution or event”
(Ajzen, 2005: 3).
4.9 EMOTIONS
The root of the word emotion comes from a French term meaning “to stir up.” And that’s a
great place to begin our investigation of emotions at work. Emotions are intense feelings
directed at someone or something. They are reactions to a person (seeing a friend at work
may make you feel glad) or an event (dealing with a rude client may make you feel
frustrated). They are also useful for creative tasks, because positive people tend to be more
creative and open to new ideas. In addition to helping with employee creativity, companies
such as Microsoft Corporation often want to understand which features of their products
produce not just high ratings for usability but also high emotional ratings. Individuals with
strong positive emotional reactions are more likely to use their product and recommend it to
others (Weler, 2008). This is something Apple Inc. has been known for doing well, as their
products tend to evoke strong positive emotions and loyalty from their users.
Characteristics of Emotions:
● Emotions accompany Instincts: For instance fear is associated with the instinct of
escape, in a situation which is considered by an individual as dangerous.
● Emotions are primary or secondary: For instance resentment, indignation, sullenness,
rage and fury are the variations of anger (primary).
● Emotions are subjective: These are, in reality, personal experiences.
● External situations produce emotions: An external situation like thunder engenders
fear in the mind of the individual.
● Overt behaviour is the product of emotion as fear arouses crying.
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● Emotions are complex affective states: It includes cognition to the extent that the
individual experiences emotion only after he recognises a particular situation.
● There is a wide range and wide degree of emotions.
● Reasoning and emotion: Reasoning provides a check on emotional upsurge. The
emotional response is weakened by the application of intellect.
4.9.1 Types of Emotions:
There are few attributes more core and universal to the human experience than the emotions.
Of course, the broad spectrum of emotions humans are capable of experiencing can be
difficult to articulate.
Fig 4.9: Types of Emotions (Source: Adapted from H. M. Weiss and R. Cropanzano,
“Affective Events Theory,” in B. M. Staw and L. L. Cummings (Eds.), Research in
Organizational Behavior, Vol. 18, JAI Press, Greenwich, Conn., 1996, pp. 20–22 and Daniel
Goleman, Emotional Intelligence, Bantam Books, New York, 1995, pp. 289–290.)
The workplace contains a wide variety of emotions. Furthermore, it is probably not
overstatement to say that many administrative and organisational decisions, as well as most
personal ones, are based more on emotions than on rational cognitive processes. For instance,
rather than what is logically best for one's profession, career decisions are frequently
dependent on feelings of satisfaction, affection, or even fear. In reality, rather than being
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influenced by factors like marginal costs, return on investment, or other considerations that
the classic rational economic/finance models would predict, management decisions are
frequently motivated by unpleasant emotions like fear or rage.
4.9.2 Sources of Emotions:
Emotions emerge from a wide range of sources:
a) Personality: Every person has a natural tendency to experience some moods and
feelings more frequently than others. We also differ in how strongly we feel the same
emotion; people who are affectively intense feel both positive and negative emotions
and moods more strongly.
b) Day of the week or time of the day: People are typically at their worst early in the
week and at their best late in the week. As people tend to avoid delivering unpleasant
news or request favours on a monday morning.
c) Stress: The emotions and moods can suffer from stress. The consequences
accumulate over time, and ongoing stress can make our moods and emotions worse.
d) Social activities: For the majority of people, social activities boost emotions and have
minimal impact on negative emotions. A positive emotion encourages social contact.
e) Lifestyle Factors: Sleep quality does affect emotions. People are more prone to
experience tiredness, rage, and aggression when they are exhausted, which can affect
decision-making and make it challenging to control emotions. Another factor be
exercise that enhances our positive emotions. This is especially good for depressed
people.
f) Demographic Factors: As people age, negative feelings tend to happen less
frequently. Highly happy emotions linger longer in elderly persons, but negative
emotions pass more swiftly in older people. With age, emotional experience gets
better. Moreover, Men are less demonstrative in their emotions than women are.
Compared to males, they feel them more strongly and hang onto them for longer.
Except for rage, they express both pleasant and negative emotions more frequently.
This is so because men are drilled to be courageous and tough. Women exhibit greater
good moods because they are social and nurturing.
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IN-TEXT QUESTIONS
8. The link between attitudes and behaviour
a) direct b) not direct
c) neutral d) does not occur
9. Emotions are:
a) objective responses to experiences in our environment
b) subjective responses to experiences in our environment
c) physiological changes to experiences in our environment
d) behavioral changes to experiences in our environment
10. Which of these supports the James-Lange theory of emotion?
a) emotion is a visceral response producing a behavioural response
b) artificial induction of visceral changes does not necessarily produce emotion
c) the viscera are ‘insensitive structures’
d) visceral changes are the same in many emotions
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The capacity to recognize, use, and regulate your own emotions in order to reduce stress,
communicate clearly, sympathizes with others, overcome obstacles, and diffuse conflict is
known as Emotional Intelligence (EQ). You can develop stronger relationships, perform well
at work and school, and reach your professional and personal objectives with the aid of
emotional intelligence. Additionally, it can assist you in establishing a connection with your
emotions, putting your intentions into practice, and choosing what is most important to you.
Emotional intelligence is commonly defined by four attributes:
Self-management – Individuals control impulsive feelings and behaviors, manage your
emotions in healthy ways, take initiative, follow through on commitments, and adapt to
changing circumstances.
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4.11 SUMMARY
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4.12 GLOSSARY
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Learning: The process by which a relatively enduring change in behavior occurs as a result
of practice.
Negative reinforcement: Reinforcement that strengthens a response because the response
removes some painful or unpleasant stimulus or enables the organism to avoid it.
Operant conditioning: Learning that occurs as a consequence of behavior.
Positive reinforcement: Action that increases the likelihood of a particular behavior.
Punishment: An uncomfortable consequence for a particular behaviour response or the
removal of a desirable reinforcer because of a particular behaviour response.
Values: The conscious, affective desires of wants of people that guide their behaviour. Basic
guidelines and beliefs that a decision maker uses when confronted with a situation requiring
choice.
1. What is meant by learning in the organization? What are the different ways in which
employees may learn at work? Cite suitable examples.
2. How important is attitude in making people attached to a company and making
employees satisfied?
3. Values have become secondary for achieving success in the organization. Discuss.
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4.15 REFERENCES
• Robbins Stephen P and Judge T.A., Vohra, Organisational Behaviour, 16th Ed.
Pearson.)
• Singh, B.P. & Chhabra, T.N. (2013). Organisation Theory and Behaviour, Dhanpat
Rai & Co.
• Kaul Vijay Kumar (2012). Business Organization & Management - Text and Cases,
• Pearson.
• Robbins Stephen P and Judge T.A. (2017) Organisational Behaviour, 17th Ed.
Pearson.
• Stephen P. Robbins & Mary Coulter (2017) Management. 13th Ed. Pearson.
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LESSON-5
INTERPERSONAL RELATIONSHIP
Dr. Reema Aggarwal
Assistant Professor
Department of Distance & Continuing Education,
Campus of Open Learning, University of Delhi
reemaaggarwal@sol-du.ac.in
Ms. Manisha Yadav
Assistant Professor
Department of Distance & Continuing Education,
Campus of Open Learning, University of Delhi
Manishayadav@sol-du.ac.in
STRUCTURE
5.2 INTRODUCTION
Organisations accomplish their objectives through their employees. It takes collective efforts,
which requires smooth interpersonal interactions among employees. Globalization and
technology improvements have made it more critical for employees to interact with one
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that helps understand interpersonal behaviour and analyse social interaction between people.
Transactional Analysis is a theory to improve interpersonal communication. Transactional
analysis was initially thought to be a simple model and was criticized. But eventually, the
understanding of transactional analysis increased, and many acknowledged it. Transactional
Analysis has wide applications in clinical, therapeutic, organizational and personal
development, encompassing communications, management, personality, relationships and
behaviour.
Today TA is used in organizations as psychotherapy. Eric Berne said that verbal
communication, particularly face-to-face communication, is at the centre of human social
relationships and psychoanalysis. His starting point was that when two people encounter each
other, one of them will speak to the other, which he called the Transaction Stimulus. The
reaction from the other person he called the Transaction Response. The present lesson
includes the concept of ego states, life positions, psychological games, strokes, and the Johari
window that could help understand how interpersonal relationships could become smooth.
Humans are teeming with whims and fancies. Accordingly, when employees interact, their
conduct varies as per the situation. An employee is cooperative at one time and grumpy at the
other. He is cordial to one colleague and gives a cold-shoulder to another. Such different
actions occur because of varying ego states.
At the core of transactional analysis are the Ego states. Paul Federn coined the term Ego
states. According to this, human personality comprises three "ego states". Ego states refer to a
“pattern of behaviour”. As one grows up, one develops a certain behaviour pattern known as
the Ego State. According to Dr Eric Berne, there are three ego states: parent ego, adult ego,
and child ego. Each ego state consists of some common behavioural pattern an individual
follows in various situations. Usually, their present-day reactions are based on their past
experiences and feelings. Following is a brief detail on each ego state-
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Activity
a) Who normally suggests place, fix time, and decides do’s and don’ts for the whole
group.
b) Who says, “don’t worry, I am with you”, or “I’ll help you in best possible manner” or
shows care and concern.
5.4.2 The Adult Ego State: An adult’s ego state refers to a pattern of behaviour where an
individual behaves more logically. Past experiences do not influence such individuals and
they believe in seeking facts and tend to reflect problem-solving behaviour. Their behaviour
is inclined toward rational decision-making. They analyze the situation after going through
the available facts and behave rationally. Logical thinking, thoughtful conversation and
factual discussion are the cornerstones of an adult ego state. The adult ego state is stored by
facts, not feelings and emotions.
5.4.3 The Child Ego state: The child ego state refers to a pattern of behaviour that could
be characterized by spontaneous, impulsive, creative, and emotional components of
personality. A child’s Ego state could take two types, one is a happy child (no harm to
anyone), and the second is a destructive child (behaviour might harm others or themselves).
People operating in this state usually act as they did when they were a child. The Child Ego
State is primarily concerned with feelings though that does not mean that when in the 'here
and now’ experience, the person does not have access to attitudes and thinking, but it simply
means that when activated, feelings are usually the executive energy force. People operating
in this state act emotionally and make impulsive decisions. Immature behaviour characterizes
this state. Anxiety, dependence, fear, hate, and conformity are other characteristics of a Child
Ego State. Physical and verbal cues such as giggling, compliance, seeking attraction and
coyness indicate the Child Ego State.
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Conclusion: There is no general rule regarding the effectiveness of any ego state in any
given situation. Each type of ego state may lead to positive or negative behaviour. It is not
only about words but also tone, body postures, expressions, and gestures that reflect the ego
state during the communication exchange. From an organizational perspective, learning and
reflecting on the positive side of each ego state is essential.
IN-TEXT QUESTIONS
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Fig.5.2: Transaction
An arrow passes from the ego state from which the stimulus(S) originates to the ego state
which receives the message. The arrow represented by “R” shows the corresponding
response(R).
Depending on the ego states of the persons involved in transactions, there may be four types
of transactions: Complementary, Non-Complementary, Ulterior and Gallows.
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The supervisor wanted to take stock of the work assigned to the employee. The employee
responded from his adult ego state. As a result, both individuals had effective and
complete communication.
ii. Adult-to-Parent Transaction: In this transaction, an individual sends a transactional
stimulus as an adult to another individual. If the other individual responds from
the nurturing parent's ego state, the communication will be smooth. On the other
hand, if the response comes from a critical parent ego state, it could give rise to a
conflict.
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viii. Parent-to-Child transaction: when the manager interacts from the Parent Ego
and the employee responds with the Child ego; this can be satisfying for both in
the short run. Conflict and pressure are eliminated. But in the long run, the
personality of the employee may remain underdeveloped, which may create a
feeling of frustration.
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IN-TEXT QUESTIONS –
MCQs
3. In _______two messages are conveyed at the same time — a social
message on top and the psychological message at the bottom.
i) Ulterior transactions
ii) Cross Transaction
iii) Complimentary Transaction
iv)Gallows Transaction
4.) When manager speaks to a subordinate as Parent to Child and Subordinate
respond as Child to parent; then it is an example of –
i) Ulterior transactions
ii) Cross Transaction
iii) Complimentary Transaction
iv)Gallows Transaction
5.) When stimulus and response lines are not parallel it is known as –
i) Ulterior transactions
ii) Cross Transaction
iii) Complimentary Transaction
iv)Gallows Transaction
6.) “A mother smiling at a stupid behavior of her son” - Following is an
example of:
i) Ulterior transactions
ii) Cross Transaction
iii) Complimentary Transaction
iv)Gallows Transaction
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Transaction Analysis is a prominent tool for positive change and growth. It is the study of
how individuals introject certain behaviours, either by accident or from their early caretakers
or authority figures and then continue to acquit themselves in that same behaviour pattern.
TA is a model for people to work towards 'autonomy', where they can choose to live the way
they want to and not act as if they are controlled by past events or messages. Determination
of one's ego state through TA helps them to be in the driver's seat of their way of life. An
understanding of the TA can help the person change their life's script and choose to rewrite it
without being hooked on to the inappropriate behaviours of the past.
Before moving ahead, let us understand some commonly used jargon in transactional
analysis.
a. Script: A story we have learned and internalized about ourselves. Negative stories
about us or others tend to result in dysfunctional social outcomes. The script itself
tends to be out of our conscious awareness.
b. Games: We all have our scripts and engage in various “games” that generally involve
winners and losers. Games in Transactional Analysis have been defined as: “a series
of duplex transactions which leads to a ‘switch’ and a well-defined, predictable
‘payoff’ that justifies a not-OK, or discounted (less-than) position.” In a transactional
game, we act out our internalized script and things go well for a while. Then, we
receive the “strokes” we expect to get from acting out our script instead of being
vulnerable and authentic until things inevitably go south – the “switch” – and then we
get the “payoff.”
c. Strokes: The pleasant or familiar thoughts and feelings we receive from playing
social games with our internalized scripts.
d. Switch: The moment when our internalized script’s utility breaks down. This is
usually when the script prevents us from expressing our authentic identity at that
moment. We begin to feel sad, confused, and angry.
e. Payoff: The usual, expected result of our game, wherein we end up feeling a loser or
less-than.
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A child is like a clean slate. However, in the process of growing up, he wades through a lot of
experiences and emotions. These experiences lay the groundwork for making assumptions
about their self-worth and the worth of significant people in the environment.
Thomas Harris has called these assumptions life positions, which tend to be firmer than the
ego states. During our formative years, we make decisions about ourselves, our world, and
the people around us. These decisions get built upon the pattern of strokes we receive from
our parents and primary caregivers. These decisions lead us to accept one of our four basic
psychological life positions. Once a life position gets decided, it drives our patterns of
thought, emotion, and behaviour. The positions are acquired very early, i.e., in childhood, and
stay throughout our life. Life positions develop an individual's perception, which may be
positive or negative. In this way, four “Life Positions” may be generated as shown in the
following figure-
● I am OK-You are OK: This is the ideal life position. People with this life position
have healthy relationships and a positive outlook. They are cordial, forthcoming and
accepting of themselves and others. Managers working from this life position feel
comfortable delegating authority as they have confidence in themselves and their
subordinates. This life position is based upon the adult ego state.
● I am OK-You are not OK: is occupied by those who project their difficulties onto
others. They are blaming and critical. Transactional games that reinforce this position
involve a self-styled superior (the “I am OK”) who projects anger, disgust, or disdain
onto a designated inferior or scapegoat (the “You are not OK”). This position requires
someone to be ‘worse than’ to maintain the sense of self as OK. Managers in this life
position consider delegation of authority a threat because they do not trust others.
These are the individual who possesses the rebellious child ego.
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● I am not OK-You are OK: People with this life position feel powerless and keep
grumbling. They think others are more competent and have fewer problems.
Managers working in this life position are unpredictable and erratic in behaviour.
They use their bad feelings as an excuse to act out against others.
● I am not OK-You are not OK: is a position of hopelessness, futility, and frustration.
From this position, life seems uninteresting and hopeless. It may result in self-
destructive or violent behaviour. Managers in this life position neither take decisions
on time nor properly delegate authority.
Out of these positions mentioned above, the ideal one is “I am OK – You are Ok”, This is
because:
● It indicates healthy acceptance of self
● It demonstrates respect for others.
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IN-TEXT QUESTIONS –
MCQs
7. _____ are more permanent than ______
i) Life Positions; Ego States
ii) Ego States; Life Positions
iii) Ego States; Psychological Games
iv) Psychological Games; Life Positions
8) _______ is an ideal life position-
i) I am Ok; you’re not OK
ii) I am Ok; you’re OK
iii) I am not Ok; you’re not OK
iv) I am not Ok; you’re OK
9) _______ -people tend to feel that whole world is miserable
i) I am Ok; you’re not OK
ii) I am Ok; you’re OK
iii) I am not Ok; you’re not OK
iv) I am not Ok; you’re OK
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From our earliest beginnings, in utero, we depend on another person. We are born needing
and seeking contact, with an innate sense that we can’t survive without it. Throughout our
lives, we receive this contact through various types of verbal and nonverbal communication:
● a smile
● a hug
● praise for something we do or who we are
● a challenge to something we do or who we are.
In transactional analysis, these modes of contact are called strokes. Eric Berne
described strokes as a unit of recognition, one person acknowledging another by way of act or
speech.
5.8.1 Types of strokes:
● positive and negative
● verbal and nonverbal
● conditional and unconditional.
Telling someone that we love them is an unconditional positive stroke (the ultimate one)
whereas telling someone that we love their cooking is a conditional positive stroke. The
former strokes the person’s entire being, whilst the latter strokes one aspect of their being.
Conversely, telling someone, you don’t like their cooking is a conditional negative stroke and
telling someone you hate them is the ultimate unconditional negative stroke.
Throughout life, this communication develops our personality, informs our sense of self-
worth, and defines our beliefs in ourselves, the world, and others. Depending on the type
of strokes we receive before adulthood, we end up in one of four life positions, as defined in
TA.
If the strokes we receive through childhood are appropriate to our age and stage of
development and are a balanced mix of positive and negative, as needed, then we are likely to
grow up with a sense of “I am OK-You are OK”. In TA, this life position describes a
balanced emotional and cognitive outlook on life.
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However, if the balance of strokes has veered far to the positive, contained too many
negatives or been an inappropriate mix, then we are likely to struggle with a fair sense of self
and the world.
Those brought up with too many positive strokes might hold the life position of I am OK-You
are not OK and struggle to see the others' point of view, having developed an over-inflated
sense of self-worth.
On the other hand, children who receive too many negative strokes (or not enough positive
ones) can grow into adulthood believing others to be more important than themselves;
this life position is called I am not OK- You are OK. Alternatively, they might hold the life
position of “I am not OK. You are not OK” with little hope for themselves and seeing little
good in the world.
Games in Transactional Analysis are "a series of duplex transactions which leads to a switch
and a well-defined, predictable payoff which justifies a not-OK, or discounted, position”.
Let us have a look at what that means. Firstly, what is a duplex transaction? A duplex
transaction is where we say one thing and mean another. Only about 8% of our
communication is through words; the rest is through tone, body language and facial
expressions. Berne observed that whenever we say one thing (the social message) and mean
another (the psychological massage), it is always the psychological message that gets heard.
We tend to open games with duplex transactions, not saying what we really mean. Then, the
game will deliver positive strokes until the “switch” clicks in. The switch is the point at
which things suddenly feel like they are going wrong. It is the point at which we may feel
confused, scared, angry, or whatever our racket feeling usually is. This leads quickly to us
taking a “payoff”. It confirms that whatever negative (untrue) thoughts we have held onto
about life are true.
Let us give an example of a game and take it apart using the language introduced above. Let
us take the game “Yes, But”. In this, one person has a problem, and another is invited to solve
it. Everything the other person suggests is rejected with a “Yes, I could do that, but... (insert
reason for not doing that)”. We all know people who play this. We may even play it
ourselves.
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Whilst it may appear the player is asking for help on the social level, what they are really
doing on the psychological level is proving that they can't help and no one else can control
them. The switch comes when the other person gives up trying. The payoff for the player is
proof that no one can help them even though they remain passive. Feelings of sadness or
anger may accompany this.
The other player in this game may feel helpless and frustrated that they have been unable to
help the starter of the game – these feelings are likely to be very familiar too and reinforce a
belief that they are not a very good friend, problem solver, therapist, etc. It takes two to play a
game.
Why do we play games?
Games are a way in which we can get strokes without risking intimacy and confirm our
beliefs (mostly wrongly held ones) about life.
How do we stop Playing games?
The first thing we need to do is identify what games we are playing. Ask yourself what
patterns keep emerging in your life? What predictable events occur? What feelings do you
often end up having? Spot the games and bring them into the light, where you can chew them
over and decide whether you want to keep on playing or do things differently, avoiding the
negative payoff.
IN-TEXT QUESTIONS
MCQs
10) . _______________ proposed the concept of life positions.
i. Thomas Harris
ii. Eric Berne
iii. Paul Federn
iv None of the above
11. ___________ is basic unit of motivation.
i. Stroke
ii. Life Positions
iii. Ego States
iv. Script Analysis
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Johari window is a framework developed by two psychologists, Joseph Luft and Harrington
Ingham, who combined their first names to name the model. It is a widely used model to
understand and train self-awareness and biases for personal development and to improve
communications, group dynamics, team development, interpersonal relationships, and inter-
group relationships.
People using the framework engage in two primary ideas, acquiring trust by revealing
information about oneself to others and receiving feedback to learn more about themselves.
The Johari Window model captures such information (feelings, attitudes, opinions, intentions,
etc.) from four perspectives, as shown in the four quadrants.
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● Open Area (Anything about yourself that you're willing to share with others): This is the
region where actions, behaviours, and information are known to the individual and those
around him. This type of interaction is marked by openness and compatibility and has a
very little possibility for defensive feelings and behaviour. An “Open Area” is desirable
as a team because when we work in this area with others, we are at our most effective and
productive. This is the space where good communications and cooperation occur, free
from distractions, mistrust, confusion, conflict, and misunderstanding. Soliciting feedback
can help increase this area horizontally to reduce the blind spot while sharing one’s
feelings, and can extend the area vertically, reducing the hidden area.
● Blind Area: (Anything about oneself that you are unaware of but that others have
become aware of): It reflects behaviour, feelings and motivation known to other parties
but not to self. A person’s observable habits, manners, feelings, etc., may be unknown to
the self but known by others. Others may interpret these actions differently than what one
expects them to. In fact, an individual may even annoy others unintentionally. This area
could also be referred to as ignorance about oneself or issues in which one is deluded.
Seeking feedback can help reduce this blind spot.
● Hidden Area: (Anything about yourself that you are reluctant to reveal to others is in the
hidden area): It reflects behaviour, feelings and motivation known to self but not known
to others. In other words, the individual understands themselves but does not know about
others. The individual tends to be hidden from others for fear of their reactions. The true
feelings or attitude of the individual may remain a secret from others. It also includes
sensitivities, fear, hidden agendas, manipulative intentions, and secrets- anything that
person knows but does not reveal. Individuals are reluctant to share such information as it
may affect their relationships. Disclosing information to others can help decrease the
hidden area.
● Unknown Area: Any region that neither you nor anyone else is familiar with is the
unknown area. The information in this quadrant is mysterious and has unknown potential.
This includes subconscious information such as early childhood memories, undiscovered
talents, etc. These feelings and motivations remain unclear till people allow these to
surface. Uncovering ‘hidden talents’ that is unknown aptitudes and skills should not be
confused with developing the Johari ‘hidden area’. It is another aspect of developing the
unknown area and is not as sensitive as unknown feelings. The unknown area could also
include repressed or subconscious feelings rooted in formative events and past traumatic
experiences, which can stay unknown for a lifetime.
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There are two interpersonal processes of ‘disclosure’ and ‘feedback’, which cause the
redistribution of awareness and changes in the size and form of the four quadrants. The model
assumes that an ‘open self’ becomes larger, and the relationship tends to be more rewarding
and productive. Thus, the model is dynamic and sensitive, especially to the interpersonal
application of ‘disclosure’ and ‘feedback’. The ‘hidden self’ can be reduced, and the ‘open
self’ can be increased through disclosure.
The ‘blind area’ can be reduced by seeking feedback from others, thereby increasing the open
area i.e., to increase self-awareness. Therefore, managers must promote a climate of non-
judgmental feedback and group response to individual disclosure and reduce fear.
In the ‘hidden area’, relevant hidden information and feelings, etc., should be moved into the
open area through the process of ‘self-disclosure’ and ‘exposure’ process. The extent to
which an individual discloses personal feelings and information must always be at the
individual’s discretion. Organizational culture and working atmosphere significantly
influence team members’ preparedness to disclose their hidden selves.
The use of self-disclosure forms a mechanism for sharing awareness with others. However,
self-disclosure involves risk for the individual, and the outcome must be worth the cost.
Likewise, the ‘feedback’ process can decrease ‘the blind self ‘and simultaneously increase the
‘open self. In other words, others must give, and the individual must use the ‘feedback’ in
social encounters. It forms the means whereby the individual encourages, supports, and
presents himself as open to the disclosure of others. In this context, the active solicitation of
feedback data in social interactions is essential.
IN-TEXT QUESTIONS –
12. Fill in the blanks-
a) ________ developed the model of Johari Window
13. State True/False
a) There are five quadrants in the model of Johari Window
b) Undiscovered/ or unknown self is also termed as mysterious
14. MCQs
Which process can cause change in the size & form of the four Johari
Window quadrants:
a) Suppression b) Feedback
c) Disclosure d) Both B&C
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Thus, the Johari window aims to improve interpersonal relationships, behaviour, attitude, and
skills within an organization by continually assessing the scope of growth.
5.11 SUMMARY
Transactional Analysis is one of the most accessible theories of modern psychology. In the
1950s, Eric Berne began developing his Transactional Analysis theories. He said that verbal
communication, particularly face-to-face, is at the centre of human social relationships and
psychoanalysis. Transaction refers to the communication between two persons. The
transaction could be both Complementary and Cross in nature. Healthy communication
occurs when individuals follow Complementary Transactions, whereas Crossed Transaction
causes most difficulties in social situations. The concept of ego states, life positions,
psychological games, strokes, and the Johari window could help us understand how
interpersonal relationships could become smooth. This life position influences our behaviour
when we interact with others. The Life Position refers to the specific behaviour towards
others that an individual learns based on certain assumptions made very early in life. Life
positions develop an individual's perception, which may be positive or negative. Johari
Window Model is dynamic to the interactive processes of disclosure and feedback. It assumes
that interpersonal relationships tend to be more productive and rewarding as one's “open self'
expands.
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5.14 REFERENCES
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LESSON-6
MOTIVATION AT WORK
Dr. Reema Aggarwal
Assistant Professor
Department of Distance & Continuing Education, Campus of Open Learning,
University of Delhi
Reemaaggarwal92@gmail.com
STRUCTURE
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Shweta - Pretty good. Today Mr Jain and I discussed targets that I have to achieve
in the next week. It is to counsel 40 teachers at TGT level. Through my contacts, If
I succeed in doing so, then I'll get a bonus of $75. It is difficult, but I want to give
it a shot.
Amrita - Good to know. I would have left this job if I didn’t have monetary
constraints.
Shweta - Look at the brighter side; you are paid more than Rahul. Rahul joined
before you joined.
Amrita-True. Rahul gives way too much effort, and to me, it doesn't even make
sense. If daisy is getting more pay, then I think daisy should also take all
responsibilities as well.
Amrita - (while looking at the watch) yeah, I am getting late; Mr Das is very
particular about time. He expects his subordinates to reach 5 minutes before time. I
think it's time to format documents.
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6.2. INTRODUCTION
The motivational process begins with identifying an employee's needs and drives. Needs are
the deficiencies a person experiences at a particular point in time that makes specific
outcomes appear attractive. These deficiencies cause psychological (e.g., need for
recognition) or physiological (e.g. need for water, shelter, or food) imbalances within the
individuals. The deprived person, in turn, examines the environment (surroundings) to find
the sources to gratify these imbalances. An unsatisfied need often acts as an energizer as they
create tension within the individuals. Therefore, employees explore ways to satisfy them.
Next comes the effort given by employees within a context of opportunity (resources at
disposal) to bridge the gap. Actions should be goal-oriented, as motivation is primarily goal-
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directed. Goal-directed efforts lead to performance towards which skill and technology (i.e.,
ability) undoubtedly contribute significantly. In the next phase, if performance is suitably
rewarded, it results in need satisfaction. Finally, once the employees have received rewards,
they reassess their needs.
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Several theories attempt to explain how motivation works. The theories could be broadly
categorized into Cognitive and non-cognitive models.
6.4.1. Cognitive Models: The cognitive model of motivation consists of theories that focus
on the human mind's internal state. The focus is on mental processes that emerge from human
needs, desires, expectations, and drives. Theories under the cognitive model could be further
subdivided into Content and Process theories.
6.4.1.1. Content Theories- Content (or need) theories of motivation focus on factors internal
to the individual that energize and direct behaviour. These theories suggest that people have
certain needs and/or desires which are internalized. In general, such theories regard
motivation as the product of internal drives that compel an individual to act or move (hence,
"motivate") toward satisfying individual needs. It answers the following question-
"WHAT MOTIVATES EMPLOYEES?"
The motivation process starts with specific unsatisfied needs (as mentioned above). These
psychological and physiological needs create tension in the mind of employees. The
employees explore ways and act in a particular manner to satisfy these unsatisfied needs.
Content theories explain different types of needs within employees. Following are some
popular content theories-
⮚ Maslow's Need Hierarchy Theory
⮚ Herzberg's Motivation Hygiene Theory
⮚ Alderfer's ERG Theory
⮚ McClelland's Needs Theory
6.4.1.2. Process Theories: Process theories are concerned with determining how individual
behaviour is directed and maintained in the specifically self-directed human cognitive
processes. Process theories of motivation are based on early cognitive ideas which posit that
behaviour results from conscious decision-making processes. It looks at what people are
thinking about when deciding whether to put effort into a particular activity. It answers the
following question-
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6.4.2. Non-Cognitive or Reinforcement Model: Unlike the cognitive model, which focuses
on the internal state, the non-cognitive model focuses on external forces. If an action is
rewarded, the employee is motivated to repeat the action. Similarly, if action is punished,
employees will be motivated not to repeat it. A manager could use various external forces,
like rewarding, punishing, ignoring, etc., to motivate employees to behave in a particular
manner. Both cognitive and non-cognitive models are complementary to each other. It is not
mutually exclusive. It means both models work together to motivate employees.
IN-TEXT QUESTIONS
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It is one of the popular motivation theories given by A.H. Maslow. Maslow suggested that
employees' needs are arranged in a particular hierarchy (as shown in figure 3). As lower-
order needs are satisfied, the hierarchy's next need becomes dominant. From the standpoint of
the theory, we could say that no need is ever gratified. A substantially satisfied need no
longer motivates. Maslow separated the needs into higher and lower-order needs.
Physiological and safety needs are lower-order needs, while higher needs are social esteem
and self-actualization. The differentiation is that the higher-order needs are satisfied only
within a person, and the lower-order needs are satisfied by material things. Following is a
brief on various categories of need as mentioned by Maslow-
⮚ Physiological Needs: Physiological needs are basic needs that are important for
human survival, like water, food and shelter. Unless these basic needs are fulfilled,
other needs won't be able to motivate employees.
⮚ Safety and security Needs: Once physiological needs are met, one's attention turns to
safety and security needs. Such needs might be fulfilled by living in a safe area,
medical insurance, job security and financial reserves.
⮚ Social Needs: Employees are social beings. The need for social circle and
belongingness remains important. Social needs are the first higher-level wants that
become essential after a person has satisfied their lower-level physiological and safety
requirements.
⮚ Ego or Esteem Needs: Esteem needs may be classified as internal or external. Internal
esteem needs are related to self-esteem, such as self-respect, independence, and
achievement. External esteem needs are such as social status and recognition. Some
esteem needs are self-respect, attention, recognition, and reputation.
⮚ Self-Actualization: It is the quest of reaching one's full potential as an individual.
Unlike lower-level needs, this need is never fully satisfied as one matures. There are
always new opportunities to continue to grow. Self-actualized people tend to have
needs such as truth, justice, wisdom, and meaning. Self-actualized persons have
frequent occurrences of peak experiences, which are energized moments of profound
happiness and harmony.
Note: However, not all people are driven by the same needs - at any time, different people
may be made by entirely different factors. To motivate employees, managers must recognize
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the needs level at which the employee is operating and use those needs to motivate
employees.
6.5.1 Appraisal of Maslow’s' Need Hierarchy Theory
The theory suggests that needs follow a definite sequence. However, due to cultural
differences, this may not hold. Some cultures appear to place social needs before others (for
example, Spain and Belgium workers felt this way). Similarly, some assumptions might not
work in all cases; for example, employees won't move to the next level need unless a lower
need is fulfilled. Also, satisfied needs won't motivate employees further. Finally, there is little
evidence to suggest that people are motivated to satisfy only one need level at a time, except
when there is a conflict between needs. A "multiplicity of motives often guides employees".
Even though Maslow's hierarchy lacks scientific support, it is pretty well-known and is the
first theory of motivation to which many people are exposed.
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Three need model is formulated by `David McClelland’. David McClelland proposed that an
individual's specific needs are acquired over time, shaping one's life experiences. The needs
can be classified under three categories: Achievement, Affiliation, and Power. Also termed as
the need for affiliation (n Aff), the need for power (n Pow), and the need for achievement (n
Ach).
Need for
Achievement
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power. Here institutionalized power refers to the power used for social benefit, and
personalized power refers to the power exercised for individual gain.
Need for affiliation (n Aff): The desire for friendly and close interpersonal relationships. It
refers to the need for affiliation, i.e. the desire to be liked and accepted by others. Individuals
with this need strive to maintain friendships and prefer cooperative situations.
6.6.1. Implication of the McClelland's theory of needs
David McClelland's Human Motivation Theory gives a manager a way of identifying people's
motivating drivers. It can help get praise and feedback effectively, assign suitable tasks, and
keep oneself highly motivated.
Certain problems have also been identified in theory: The degree to which we have each of
the three needs is difficult to measure, and therefore the theory is difficult to put into practice.
It is more common to find situations where managers aware of these motivational drivers
label employees based on observations made over time. Therefore, the concepts are helpful
but not often used objectively.
The ERG theory is an extension of Maslow's hierarchy of needs. The theory was developed to
reduce the overlap between the five needs described by Maslow. Maslow's need theory was
condensed into three types of needs, namely, existence, relatedness, and growth by Alderfer.
It also assumes that no rigid structure of needs hierarchy is followed.
⮚ Existence Needs: The existence needs comprise all those needs that relate to the
physiological and safety aspects of human beings and are a prerequisite for survival.
Thus, Maslow's physiological and safety needs are grouped into one category because
of their same nature and similar impact on an individual's behaviour.
⮚ Relatedness Needs: The relatedness needs refer to the social needs, that an individual
seeks to establish relationships with those he cares for. The relatedness needs refer to
our desire to maintain essential relationships interpersonally. These align with
Maslow's social needs and the external component of Maslow's esteem needs
⮚ Growth Needs: Growth needs refers to the intrinsic desire for personal development
and the characteristics included under self-actualization. The ERG theory
demonstrates that more than one need may be operative simultaneously, and if the
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Growth
Relatednes
s
Existence
Frederick Herzberg proposed the two-factor theory of motivation. An empirical study was
conducted using a sample of 200 engineers and accountants, and based on the study's
findings, the various needs were categorized into two factors, namely, hygiene factors and
motivators.
Hygiene factors, which were previously thought to be the motivators, do not result in
motivation but are necessary to bring the level of motivation to a start level or platform so
that the motivation of personnel from that platform becomes easier. It was reported in the
study that the presence of hygiene factors would not cause satisfaction, but their absence
would cause dissatisfaction. Hygiene factors must be present in the Job before motivators can
be used to stimulate that person.
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Hygiene Factors
(Job-
Dissatisfaction)
Motivating Factors
(Job- Satisfaction)
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IN-TEXT QUESTIONS
3. MCQs
I. Physiological and safety needs are the _______ of motivation given by A.H.
Maslow.
a) lower order needs
b) Higher-order needs
c) Important needs
d) Required needs
II. Higher order needs are ______ and ______
a) social esteem
b) self-actualisation
c) Safety needs
d) Both (a) and (b)
III. ________proposed the two-factor theory of motivation.
a) Frederick Herzberg
b) A.H. Maslow.
c) Alderfer
d) Locke
IV. Absence of Hygiene factors results in dissatisfaction, presence results in
________
a) no dissatisfaction
b) Satisfaction
c) Achievement
d) Dissatisfaction
V. ______argued that job enrichment is required for intrinsic motivation.
a) Herzberg’s’ Two-factor Theory
b) Maslow's Need Hierarchy Theory
c) Alderfer's ERG Theory
d) McClelland's Needs Theory
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There are some similarities and differences between Herzberg two factor theory and
Maslow’s' need hierarchy. Herzberg's maintenance factors include part of self-esteem needs.
Esteem needs consist of two portions; one is intrinsic in nature, like recognition. Recognition
comes through competencies and achievements. Hence it acts as a motivator. However,
esteem needs are extrinsic, like status gained through the position one occupies, which only
falls under the hygiene factor. As shown in figure 7, motivation factors are higher-order
needs.
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Herzberg Maslow
The theory fails to explain the behaviour It is true for all employees in general.
of workers. It is more relevant for
professionals.
Douglas McGregor formulates theory X and Y. After studying managers' dealing with
employees, McGregor identified two different viewpoints based on the assumptions a
manager follows while managing employees.
Theory X
Assumptions
▪ Employees in general does not like work and if possible, tries to avoid it.
▪ Unless manager closely supervise employees, it is difficult to ensure task completion.
Therefore, manager must push employees to work either through reward or
punishment.
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▪ Employees lacks aspiration and dislikes responsibility. They give more weightage to
job security.
▪ Manager needs to direct them at every step.
Under the first viewpoint, the manager believes that employees dislike working and therefore
it is important to direct them as managers. This viewpoint is based on the "Carrot and Stick
Approach". According to the "Carrot and Stick" approach, a manager could motivate such
employees through rewards or could make them work through punishments. In other words,
Theory X assumes that lower-order needs (as Maslow suggested) dominate the employees. It
represents a pessimistic viewpoint.
Theory Y
Assumptions
▪ Unlike Theory X, employee like their work.
▪ Employees possess self-direction and self-control. They are dedicated to achieve the
goals set by organisation.
▪ Employees are loyal and committed towards organisations.
▪ Employees are ready to take responsibility, and they possess capabilities to solve
problems and complete the task on their own.
Unlike theory X, Under Theory Y is an optimistic viewpoint. Here, managers assume that
employees are self-motivated and like to do the work. If we look at Maslow's need hierarchy,
then according to theory Y employees are motivated by higher-order needs, like esteem and
self-actualization needs motivates employees.
Implication of Theory X and Theory Y
Theory Y encourages employee participation in decision making process. It encourages
decentralization. According to this theory employee are problem solver and knows how to
discover new ways to complete a task. It is found to be more reasonable and valid as
compared to Theory X. Unfortunately, no evidence confirms that either set of assumptions is
valid. Theory X and Theory Y lack empirical support, which is vital for accepting the OB
theories.
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IN-TEXT QUESTIONS
4. MCQs
I. Three need model is given `______
e) David McClelland
f) Frederick Herzberg
g) A.H. Maslow.
h) Alderfer
II. The need for _____ is the desire to have an impact on others or to be able to
influence or control others.
e) Affiliation
f) Power
g) Safety needs
h) Achievement
III. The desire for friendly and close interpersonal relationships. It refers to the
need for _________
e) Affiliation
f) Power
g) Safety needs
h) Achievements
IV. People with high on _______are more inclined toward motivators
e) Achievement needs
f) Affiliation needs
g) Safety needs
h) Social needs
V. The _______ is an extension of Maslow's hierarchy of needs.
e) Herzberg’s’ Two factor Theory
f) Goal Setting Theory by Edwin Locke
g) Alderfer's ERG Theory
h) McClelland's Needs Theory
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Expectancy theory is part of process theories. Unlike previous theories, where the focus was on
what motivates employees? Expectancy theories attempt to answer how motivation takes place
in employees' minds. Expectancy, Instrumentality and Valence interact psychologically to
create a motivational force such that the employee acts in ways that bring pleasure and avoid
pain. In other words, individuals' perception of the outcomes of their actions and the value they
add to the outcomes will determine their motivation to do a particular action. The Vrooms'
theory of motivation consists of three components: Expectancy, Instrumentality, and Valence.
Expectancy (Effort -performance probability) -Employees have different expectations and
levels of confidence about what they can do. Expectancy refers to an employee's perception
of his/her capabilities to perform the given task. It could range from 0 to 1. Example: If an
employee believes that s/he lacks the required knowledge and the chances to complete the
given task are zero, zero will be scored in expectancy. Similarly, if s/he believes that s/he will
be able to complete the task based on confidence level, higher score on expectancy would be
obtained.
Instrumentality refers to employees’ perception about receiving desired rewards if they
perform the given task. In other words, employees' beliefs about doing specific actions will
lead to promised rewards (strength of relationship). It could range from 0 to 1. Example: Let
us assume an employee X needs a promotion. Suppose Employee X believes that his/her
efforts will give him the promotion. Then, s/he will score high on Instrumentality. Similarly,
if s/he believes the efforts have nothing to do with promotion, s/he will score zero in
Instrumentality.
Valence– This represents employees' preference for the reward. In other words, it refers to
how highly the employees value the rewards. It could range from -1 to 1. If an employee is
indifferent about the reward, his valence will be zero.
All three components could be arranged in the form of an equation:
Motivation= Expectancy x Instrumentality x Valence
All components should score above zero. If either of them becomes zero, motivation among
employees will become zero. Conversely, motivation will be high if all three components will
score high.
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Expectancy
Motivation
Instrumentality
Valence
J.S. Adams formulated the Equity Theory of motivation. The equity theory helps us
understand the importance of equal treatment of all employees in an organisation. The theory
explains the process through two components, namely inputs and outcomes. People use
subjective judgement to balance the outcomes and inputs for comparing other employees with
themselves. If people feel they are not equally rewarded, they either reduce the quantity or
quality of work. However, if people perceive that they are rewarded higher, then they are
motivated to work harder.
This theory believes that a manager's fair treatment and balanced decisions are crucial in an
organisation and states that an employee compares his/her job's input and outcomes with
others, whether within or outside the organisation and then responds to eliminate these
inequalities.
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IN-TEXT QUESTIONS
5. MCQs
I. Theory X and Y are formulated by `______
a) David McClelland; b) Frederick Herzberg; c) A.H. Maslow; d)
Douglas McGregor
II. Under this, manager believes that employees usually dislike working and
therefore as a manager it is important to direct them
a) Theory X; b) Theory Y; c) Theory Z; d) Three need theory
III. Expectancy theory is part of _______
a) Process theories
b) Content Theories
c) Non cognitive Theories
d) Reinforcement Theory
IV. ________ refers to how highly do the employees value the rewards.
a) Valence
b) Instrumentality
c) Expectancy
d) None of the above
V. “If people feel that they are not equally rewarded they either reduce the quantity
or quality of work to some other organization.”, the statement holds true as per-
a) J.S. Adams Equity theory
b) Equity theory by Edwin Locke
c) Alderfer's Equity theory
d) McClelland's Equity theory
Edwin Locke and Gary Latham formulated the goal-setting theory. The theory states that
goals affect employees' motivation. The goal-setting theory emphasizes on the importance of
setting specific and challenging goals for achieving motivated behaviour. Challenging goals
are difficult but not impossible to attain.
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Instead of giving vague tasks to people, specific objectives are more helpful. It revolves
around the concept of "Self-efficacy," i.e., an individual's belief that he or she can perform a
given task. According to Locke and Latham, goals affect individual performance through four
mechanisms. First, goals, direct effort toward goal-related activities and away from unrelated
activities. Second, goals energise employees. Challenging goals lead to higher employee
effort than easy goals. Third, goals affect persistence. Employees exert more effort to achieve
high goals. Fourth, goals motivate employees to use their existing knowledge to attain a goal
or to acquire the knowledge needed to do so.
The goal-setting model indicates that individuals have needs and values that influence their
desires. According to Maslow's hierarchy of needs, all individuals possess some basic needs.
Individuals do, however, differ in their values. Therefore, if an employee finds that they are
not satisfied with the current situation, goal setting becomes a way of achieving what they
want.
B.F. Skinner formulated reinforcement theory. This theory proposes that behaviour is a
function of its consequences. In other words, unlike cognitive theories of motivation, other
than the inner state, motivation can be enhanced through external factors. People are
motivated or demotivated by the action of their consequences. Positive consequences lead to
people repeating their behavior, whereas negative consequences restrict employees from
repeating their actions.
Skinner argued that individuals' internal needs and drives could be ignored because people
learn to exhibit certain behaviours based on what happens to them as a result of their
behaviour. Skinner states that the work environment should be made suitable for the
individuals. He also mentioned that punishments lead to frustration and de-motivation.
Hence, the only way to motivate is to keep making positive changes in the organisation's
external environment. The focus is on operant
conditioning. There are two types of reinforcement, namely, positive and negative. Positive
reinforcement refers to the occurrence of a valued behavioural consequence that strengthens
the probability of the behaviour being repeated. The specific behavioural consequence is
called a reinforcer.
An example of positive reinforcement might be a salesperson that exerts extra effort to meet
a sales quota (behaviour) and is then rewarded with a bonus (positive reinforcer). The
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administration of the positive reinforcer should make it more likely that the salesperson will
continue to exert the necessary effort in the future.
Negative reinforcement refers to an undesirable behavioural consequence that is withheld,
with the effect of strengthening the probability of the behaviour being repeated. Negative
reinforcement is often confused with punishment, but they are not the same. Punishment
attempts to decrease the probability of specific behaviours; negative reinforcement attempts
to increase desired behaviour. Thus, both positive and negative reinforcement increases the
likelihood that a particular behaviour will be learned and repeated.
An example of negative reinforcement might be a salesperson who exerts effort to increase
sales in his or her sales territory (behaviour), followed by a decision not to reassign the
salesperson to an undesirable sales route (negative reinforcer). The administration of the
negative reinforcer should make it more likely that the salesperson will continue to exert the
necessary effort in the future.
As mentioned above, punishment attempts to decrease the probability of exhibiting specific
behaviours. Punishment is the administration of an undesirable behavioural consequence to
reduce the occurrence of unwanted behaviour. Punishment is one of the more commonly used
reinforcement-theory strategies, but many learning experts suggest that it should be used only
if positive and negative reinforcement cannot be used in the given circumstances. For an
example of punishment might be demoting an employee who does not meet performance
goals or suspending an employee without pay for violating work rules.
The purpose of extinction is to reduce unwanted behaviour. In this manager tends to ignore
the behaviour completely. Due to the absence of desired response, the employee avoids the
behaviour.
For example, if an employee receives no praise for his/her contribution for months, his/her
desirable behaviours will diminish. Thus, managers may continue to offer posit behavioral
consequences to avoid unwanted Extinction.
6.14.1. SCHEDULES OF REINFORCEMENT
The reinforcement schedule is timing the behavioural consequences following a given
behaviour. There are two broad types of reinforcement schedules: continuous and
intermittent. If a behaviour is reinforced each time it occurs, it is called continuous
reinforcement. Researchers suggest continuous reinforcement is the fastest way to establish
new behaviours or eliminate undesired ones. However, this type of reinforcement is generally
not practical in an organisational setting. Therefore, intermittent schedules are usually
employed. Intermittent reinforcement means rewards are given at irregular intervals. There
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are four types of intermittent reinforcement schedules: fixed interval, fixed ratio, variable
interval, and variable ratio.
Fixed interval schedules of reinforcement occur when desired behaviours are reinforced after
set periods. The simplest example of a fixed interval schedule is a monthly paycheck.
The fixed ratio schedule of reinforcement applies the reinforcer after a set number of
occurrences of the desired behaviours. For example, the sales commission is based on the
number of units sold. Like the fixed interval schedule, the fixed ratio schedule may not
produce consistent, long-lasting behavioural change
Variable interval reinforcement schedules are employed when desired behaviours are
reinforced after varying periods. Examples of variable interval schedules would be special
recognition for successful performance and promotions to higher-level positions. This
reinforcement schedule appears to elicit desired behavioural change resistant to Extinction.
Finally, the variable ratio reinforcement schedule is the reinforcer after a number of desired
behaviours have occurred, with the number changing from situation to situation. The most
common example of this reinforcement schedule is the slot machine in a casino, in which a
different and unknown number of desired behaviours (i.e., feeding a quarter into the machine)
is required before the reward (i.e., a jackpot) is realized. Organisational examples of variable
ratio schedules are bonuses or special awards that are applied after varying numbers of
desired behaviours occur.
6.14.2. BEHAVIOUR MODIFICATION AND REINFORCEMENT
Behaviour modification is the use of empirically demonstrated behaviour change techniques
to improve behaviour, such as altering an individual's behaviours and reactions to stimuli
through positive and negative reinforcement.
REINFORCEMENT THEORY APPLIED TO ORGANISATIONAL SETTINGS
The best-known application of reinforcement theory principles to organisational settings is
called behavioural modification or behavioural contingency management. Typically, a
behavioural modification program consists of four steps:
⮚ Specifying the desired behaviour as objectively as possible.
⮚ Measuring the current incidence of desired behaviour.
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Motivation activates human behaviour and gives it direction. Cognitive evaluation theory
suggests that there are two types of motivation; intrinsic and extrinsic. Intrinsic (internal)
motivation is an internal state or condition that drives behaviour, such as a hobby. On the
other hand, extrinsic (external) motivation refers to direction from outside the person,
including the promise of rewards, the threat of punishments, intimidation, and coercion. Both
intrinsic and extrinsic motivations are essentially related to goals.
6.15.1. Intrinsic Motivation
Any of the following may determine intrinsic motivation:
1. Physiological States/Needs: Employees may seek sensory stimulation to
decrease hunger, thirst, or physical discomfort.
2. Emotional Needs: An employee may seek to calm over-aroused emotions,
increase good feelings, decrease negative emotions, maintain optimism and
enthusiasm, develop a sense of productivity, or increase self-esteem.
3. Cognitive Needs: Employees may seek to increase knowledge and
understanding, maintain attention to interesting and personally meaningful
events and activities, solve problems, or resolve uncertainty or confusion.
4. Social Needs: Employee(s) may seek to be like a role model, to be part of a
group, to help others, or to be accepted by peers and have friends.
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IN-TEXT QUESTIONS
6. MCQs
I. The motivational process & not the Motivators as such is associated with
a) Need hierarchy theory. b) Two factor theory
c) Berg theory d) Expectancy theory
II. Who has given the Reinforcement theory of motivation?
a) Abraham Maslow b) David McClelland
c) Victor Vroom d) Frederick Herzberg
III. How many levels are there in Needs Hierarchy theory of motivation?
a. 2 b. 3
c. 4 d. 5
IV. Name the motivation theory that is based on Satisfaction-progression?
a. Alderfer – ERG theory
b. Maslow – hierarchy of needs theory
c. Herzberg – Two factor theory
d. Skinner’s reinforcement theory
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Job Rotation:
The periodic shifting of employees from one Job to another is known as Job rotation. Job
rotation could be helpful if the Job lacks skill variety and the employee suffers from over-
routinization. In addition, job rotation helps reduce boredom and helps employees understand
how their work contributes to the organisation. Example: Ticket agents may be involved in
baggage handling. The Singapore Airlines is well known for its extensive job rotation.
Job Enrichment:
Job enrichment refers to a vertical movement. The skill variety dimension is increased by
adding more tasks to the current Job. It makes existing jobs comparatively more challenging.
Job enrichment adds more meaning to a job and gives more freedom to the employees.
Recent studies suggest that job enrichment works best when equivalent rewards accompany
it.
Organisations could also motivate employees through various work arrangements like
Flexitime, job sharing and telecommunication. These arrangements are beneficial in the
current scenario because of diversity in the workforce, like a single parent and dual-earner
couple.
Job Sharing:
Job sharing refers two a system in which two or more employees split a 40-hour-a-week job.
For example, Ford engineers Julie Levine and Julie Rocco engaged in a job-sharing
program. One worked in a morning slot, while the other worked in an evening slot. It helped
them in managing their work-life balance while working on the Job of redesigning the
Explorer Crossover.
Job sharing combines the talent of two or more employees and gives flexibility to employees,
which could motivate them to perform better. Japanese organisation follows Job sharing for
different reasons, like avoiding layoffs due to overstaffing.
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Case Study
Sunaina works at “Insta International”. She is a coordinator responsible for handling
applications received from agency partners. She is also responsible for reviewing and
ensuring all fields are filled properly. She is also responsible for following up with
agency partners and building a relationship with agency partners. As per the job
description, it is a full-time job requiring a minimum of 8 hours of commitment.
Presently, her office timing is from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m.
Sunaina is a good performer who meets her deadlines. Last year her performance
rating was above average. She also received “applause” from her immediate
manager. Keeping her professional life aside, In her personal life, Sunaina is a single
mother. She wakes up at 5 a.m. and prefers to sleep before 9 a.m. Recently her
daughter has started going to school, due to which from next month she needs to pick
her daughter up from school at 3 p.m.
Now Sunaina has no choice other than to leave her present job. Sunaina goes to meet
her manager, Mr Amit, in person with a resignation letter-
Amit: Hi Sunaina, How are you?
Sunaina: I am good. Due to some personal engagements, I am afraid I won’t be able
to continue with this job.
Amit: Why? What happened?
Sunaina explained her situation and left the resignation letter on his desk. After two
days, Amit calls Sunaina in his office.
Amit: I was going through your resignation letter. I can recall that we lost
hardworking employees in the past for similar reasons. After talking with the HR
department, we have come across an alternative. The office opens at 6 a.m. and
closes at 8 p.m., and you are supposed to devote 8 hours to the office. We could give
you an option to pick up suitable hours, provided the hours should fall within the
opening and closing time of the office.
QUESTIONS:
Question 1: Identify the alternative work arrangement that Mr Amit provides to Ms
Sunaina
Question 2: State the benefits and limitations of such alternative work arrangements.
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Flexi time:
Flexi time refers to flexible work hours. Under this, organisations give an option to
employees to choose working hours. In most cases, core hours remain the same. However,
the flexibility of two to four hours is given beyond the fixed hours. Flexi hours provides
various benefits to organisations; for example, it reduces absenteeism, reduces work
productivity, reduces hostility towards manager, eliminates tardiness, increases autonomy,
etc. However, other than the advantages, Flexi hours have certain limitations, like it is not
suitable for all types of jobs. For example, if Sunaina is involved in direct customer dealing
and customers are usually unavailable before 10 a.m., it won't be possible to give any
alternative.
Telecommuting:
Work from home facility. For at least two days a week, employees could work from home.
Post covid, many organisations across the globe allow telecommuting. It not only gives
flexibility to employees but also is a cost-saving way for an organisation.
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often are driving forces, and accomplishing those goals affects performance. Goals affect
performance through four mechanisms.
First, goals serve a directive function; they direct attention and effort toward goal-relevant
activities and away from goal-irrelevant activities. Second, goals have an energising function.
High goals lead to greater effort than low goals. Third, goals affect persistence. When
participants are allowed to control the time they spend on a task, challenging goals prolong
effort. Fourth, goals affect action indirectly by leading to the arousal, discovery, and/or use of
task-relevant knowledge and strategies.
Employee involvement programs use inputs for employees in the decision-making process.
Employee involvement creates an environment in which people impact decisions and actions
that affect their jobs. Employee involvement is not the goal or tool practised in many
organisations. Instead, employee involvement is a management and leadership philosophy
about how people are most enabled to contribute. It is a participative process that uses the
total capacity of employees and is designed to encourage increased commitment to'' the
organisation's success.
Following are a few Employee involvement programs-
Participative management refers to a process where subordinates share decision-making
power with the superior. The degree of power is significant, but the subordinate should have
the required knowledge and competencies to participate. It helps in motivating employees.
Quality Circles - A group of employees meeting regularly to discuss their quality problems,
investigate causes, recommend solutions, and take corrective actions.
Employee Stock Ownership Plans - Company established benefit plans in which employees
acquire stock as part of their benefits.
Linking Employee Involvement Programs and Motivation Theories
Many motivational theories can be linked with employee involvement programs. For
example, theory Y of motivation shows consistency with participative management, while in
the case of hygiene theory, employee involvement programs could provide employees with
intrinsic motivation by increasing opportunities for growth, responsibility, and involvement in
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the work itself. Employee involvement is attuned with ERG theory and efforts to stimulate
the achievement need.
1. Name the various motivation theories that have been highlighted in the above case
2. Identify the motivation theory that explains Amrita’s behaviour towards the end.
3. Using expectancy theory explains the difference in motivation between Amrita and
Shweta.
6.20 SUMMARY
Motivation is the process in which basic need leads to creating drives aimed at a goal. Highly
driven people put in much effort at their jobs, whereas those who lack motivation do not.
The cognitive model of motivation consists of theories that focus on the human
mind's internal state. Theories under the cognitive model could be further
subdivided into Content and Process theories.
Content (or need) theories of motivation focus on factors internal to the
individual that energise and direct behaviour. In contrast, Process theories are
concerned with determining how individual behaviour is directed and
maintained in the specifically self-directed human cognitive processes.
Content theory includes Maslow’s Need Hierarchy Theory; Herzberg’s
Motivational Hygiene Theory; Alderfer’s ERG Theory; and McClelland’s
Needs theory; while Vroom's Expectancy Theory, Adam's Equity theory; and
Goal Setting Theory fall under Process Theories.
B.F. Skinner formulated reinforcement theory. This theory proposes that
behaviour is a function of its consequences. In other words, unlike cognitive
theories of motivation, other than the inner state, motivation can be enhanced
through external factors.
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Cognitive evaluation theory suggests that there are two types of motivation;
intrinsic and extrinsic.
It is essential to apply various motivational concepts to organisations. Some of
the applications of motivation and their linking with motivational theories
includes redesigning of job, providing alternative work arrangements to
employees; management by objective, initiating employee involvement
programs and employee participation programs.
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4. Do you believe that motivational theories are affected by the Culture? Justify your
answer with suitable examples.
5. “Millionaires keep working even in the later years of their lives” What motivates
them to work.
6.23 REFERENCES
Kaul, V. (2011). Business Organization and Management: Text and Cases. Pearson
Education India.
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LESSON-7
LEADERSHIP
Dr. Reema Aggarwal
Assistant Professor
Department of Distance & Continuing Education,
Campus of Open Learning, University of Delhi
reemaaggarwal@sol-du.ac.in
Ms. Manisha Yadav
Assistant Professor
Department of Distance & Continuing Education,
Campus of Open Learning, University of Delhi
Manishayadav@sol-du.ac.in
STRUCTURE
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7.2 INTRODUCTION
“If your actions inspire others to dream more, learn more, do more and become more, you
are a leader!” - John Quincy Adams.
Leadership is one of the most complex and multidimensional phenomena. It has been studied
extensively over the years and has taken on greater importance than ever before in today’s
fast-paced and increasingly globalised world. Nonetheless, leadership continues to generate
captivating and confusing debate due to the complexity of the subject.
The present lesson traces the historical evolution of leadership theories and reviews the
progress over the years. It explores four main eras in leadership theory: trait, behavioral,
contingency, and contemporary leadership theories.
Simply speaking, “leadership” is defined as “the ability to lead.” Leadership in business is the
capacity of a company's management to set and achieve challenging goals, take fast and
decisive action when needed, outperform the competition, and inspire others to perform at the
highest level they can.
Researchers have proposed many different definitions and theories of leadership. Some of the
definitions of leadership given by eminent researchers are:
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4. Motivation skills: a leader must be able to influence followers to work towards shared
goals and concurrently achieve their individual goals.
5. Adaptive: in this ever-changing world, a leader must be receptive to new ideas and
ways of doing things.
7.3.2 Leader vs Manager:
A leader leads by example, whereas a manager dictates terms. A leader is someone whom
people follow or someone who guides others. On the other hand, is someone responsible for
directing and controlling the work and staff in an organisation. The following table states a
few subtle differences between the two:
Leader Manager
Innovator Administrator
The University of Iowa Studies was the first to examine different leadership styles using
scientific methodology. Kurt Lewin, in collaboration with Lippit and White, wanted to
dissect different leadership styles and their effectiveness which resulted in concluding that
there are three leadership styles - authoritarian, democratic, and laissez-faire. These are
widely studied leadership styles around the globe.
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It is well suited in environments where people have a very high level of expertise, like
software engineers, lawyers, doctors, mature teachers, etc. The democratic leadership style
promotes greater job satisfaction and improved morale.
3. Laissez-faire
Laissez-faire is a hands-off approach. A leader trusts his employees and gives them carte
blanche to use their skills and accomplish the organization’s goals. But this is not a one-size
fits its approach. Only individuals with high internal motivation and requisite skill sets can
work under this minimalistic leadership style. On the other hand, if employees are not skilled
or lack motivation, in that case, this style will drive the productivity of the organization into
the ground.
towards others. Others belonging to the democratic style showed less aggressive and more
indifferent behaviour when brought under the autocratic style of a leader. Even under the
laissez-faire style of the leader, boys committed more aggressive acts than the ones under the
democratic style.
The studies found the democratic style to be less productive than the autocratic style. On the
flip side, quality was a rung higher with a democratic leader atop than the group with an
autocratic leader. Besides, decision-making was less creative under authoritarian leadership
than under democratic leadership. The researchers concluded that democratic leadership was
the most effective form.
7.4.3 Conclusion:
Undoubtedly a study on ten-year-old boys cannot be juxtaposed with the leadership
behaviour of adults with much more intricate jobs. Nonetheless, the study in its own right
was a trailblazer for the understanding of leadership styles from the point of scientific
methodology. It depicts how the same group can deliver different results based on the
leadership style deployed by the superiors.
In the 1960s, social psychologist Rensis Likert and his colleagues at the University of
Michigan in the United States administered questionnaires to managers from 200
organizations. He wanted to gauge management performance by determining which
leadership style could extract maximum productivity from the subordinates.
7.5.1 What is Likert’s Management System?
Likert's management systems are management styles developed by Rensis Likert in the
1960s. He studied the patterns and styles of managers for three decades and established a
four-fold model of management systems. His four systems are designed to highlight various
organisational dynamics and characteristics built around interactions between
individuals. Notably, the systems explore several soft management skills, such as trust-
building and their effects on the broader dynamic of the organisation itself.
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o Influence
o Decision-making
1. Motivation: Motivation is a driving force that stimulates the employees to
accomplish the organization’s objectives. Now, it can be used both positively
(through rewards and incentives) and negatively (through punishment and threats).
Exploitative Authoritative and Benevolent Authoritative primarily focus on
punishment, whilst Consultative and Participative are angled more towards a system
of reward, though none is committed to any one approach. Rewards can come in the
form of monetary bonuses, extra responsibility, opportunities for development, or the
improvement of employee relationships with superiors.
2. Communication: In Exploitative Authoritative Systems, communication is virtually
one-way, with decisions being dictated directly from higher management to
subordinates, on the other hand, in Participative Systems, communications are
horizontal, with employees participating in the day-to-day decision-making process.
3. Influence: The levels of influence employees hold are a conspicuous indicator of the
management system at play. In Benevolent and Exploitative Authoritative Systems,
subordinates are generally not consulted about decisions that relate to their role. On
the other hand, in Participative Systems, employees are encouraged to add their
pennyworth to the discussions.
4. Decision-making: When employees are asked their opinions and ideas regarding the
running of the business, they may indirectly influence the decision-making of their
superiors, with their thoughts, ideas and values being included in any strategic
planning. However, in either of the Authoritative Systems, the final decision is made
by individuals at the upper levels of the organizational hierarchy. Alternatively, in
Consultative Systems, the employees are given a role in the decision-making process
through consultation and in a Participative System, subordinates may have as much
influence in decision-making and goal setting as their manager.
7.5.3 Conclusion:
Likert's studies confirmed that the departments or units employing management practices
within Systems 1 and 2 were the least productive, and the departments or units employing
management practices within Systems 3 and 4 were the most productive.
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With the help of the profile developed by Likert, it became possible to quantify the results of
the work done in the field of group dynamics.
The Likert theory also facilitated the measurement of the “soft” areas of management, such as
trust and communication.
According to Rensis Likert, the nearer the behavioural characteristics of an organization's
approach System 4 (Participative), the more likely this will lead to long-term improvement in
staff turnover and high productivity, low scrap, low costs, and high earnings.
Leadership theories seek to explain how and why certain people become leaders. Initially, the
focus was on ascertaining the characteristics of leaders, but some attempted to identify the
behaviours that people can adopt to improve their leadership abilities in different situations.
Early debates on leadership often suggested that such skills were innate abilities. In other
words, these theories proposed that certain people were "born leaders." More recent theories
propose that possessing certain traits may help make people nature leaders, but that
experience and situational variables also play a critical role.
What exactly makes a great leader? Do certain personality traits make people better suited to
leadership roles, or do characteristics of the situation make it more likely that certain people
will take charge? When we look at the leaders around us—be it our employer or the
President—we might find ourselves wondering exactly why these individuals excel in such
positions.
People have long been interested in leadership throughout human history, but it has only been
relatively recently that several formal leadership theories have emerged. Interest in leadership
increased during the early part of the twentieth century.
Early leadership theories focused on what qualities distinguished between leaders and
followers, while subsequent theories looked at other variables such as situational factors and
skill levels. While many different leadership theories have emerged, most can be categorized
into one of the five broad types: Great man theory, trait theory, behavioural theories,
contingency theories, and contemporary theories.
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Are some people born to lead? A cursory glance at the history provides numerous anecdotal
evidence. Alexander the Great, Julius Caesar, Napoleon, Mahatma Gandhi, and Abraham
Lincoln were the nonpareil leaders of their times. They had a strong moral fiber, great
resolute to achieve their objective and a clear vision. Even today, the belief that truly great
leaders are born is common.
7.7.1 What is the great man theory?
In the 19th century, a historian named Thomas Carlyle said, "The history of the world is the
biography of great men". According to him, a leader is one gifted with unique qualities that
captures the imagination of the masses.
The Great Man Theory of leadership espouses that great leaders are born, not made. It states
that some people are born with traits that are the mainstay of a successful leader. Under the
Great Man Theory, prominent leaders throughout history were born to lead and deserved to
do so on the back of their natural abilities and talents. The theory gives the semblance of
heroism.
7.7.2 Criticism:
One of the central problems with the Great Man theory of leadership is that not all people
who possess the so-called natural leadership qualities become great leaders. If leadership is
simply an inborn quality, then every individual endowed with the said traits must have
eventually found themselves in leadership roles.
The Great Man Theory gives the semblance of heroism. Accordingly, a leader is a hero who
accomplishes goals against all odds for his followers. Such assumptions are unrealistic.
Many of the traits cited as being vital to being an effective leader are typical masculine traits.
In contemporary research, there is a significant shift in such a mentality.
7.7.3 Conclusion:
The Great Man Theory was a catalyst for arousing the interest of the researchers in
understanding what leadership is - Who is a leader? What are the distinguishing traits of a
great leader? From this emerged the trait theory of leadership.
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The Great Man Theory is the earliest theory of leadership. It suggested that great leaders were
born and not made. They had some inborn qualities, and this made them great. However,
there was no agreement on the traits these leaders shared or how to identify such people. In
trait theory, the researchers attempted to identify these traits of a leader.
7.8.1 What is the trait theory?
The Trait Theory is an extension of the Great Man Theory. The objective of the Trait Theory
was to discern the innate traits embodied by an individual that transmogrify them into
successful leaders. Different researchers worked on this theory, like Francis Galton. Galton
stated that leadership quality is for those who have specific traits that are rigid by birth.
Cowley also said in 1931 that traits should be part of research in leadership study. In 1948,
Ralph Melvin Stogdill also supported Trait theory and did value addition to it. He added
further that leadership is based not only on inherent traits but also on the way a leader
interacts with the situation.
The theory sought personality, social, physical, or intellectual traits that differentiated leaders
from non-leaders. Underlying this approach was the assumption that some people are natural
leaders endowed with certain traits not possessed by others. It attributed managerial success
to extraordinary abilities such as tireless energy, intuition, uncanny foresight, and irresistible
persuasive powers. Some of the traits identified were as follows:
i. Personality traits: self-confident, adaptable, assertive, emotionally stable etc.
ii. Task-related characteristics: driven to excel, accepting of responsibility, having
initiative, results-oriented etc.
iii. Physical traits: young to middle-aged, energetic, tall, handsome etc.
iv. Social characteristics: charismatic, charming, tactful, popular, cooperative, diplomatic
etc.
7.8.2 Assumptions:
The kernel of this theory is its three assumptions, which are as follows:
• Individuals have innate leadership traits.
• A specific set of traits induces a particular behavior pattern.
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• This behaviour pattern is irrespective of the situation, i.e., doesn’t change according to
the situation.
7.8.3 Results:
There were many studies conducted during the l930s and 1940s to discover these elusive
qualities focusing on the trait of leaders. But the research effort failed to find any traits that
would guarantee leadership success. It could not identify a universal set of traits to recognize
a leader in all situations.
7.8.4 Criticism:
The trait theory of leadership lacks in providing better and clear results. It is not fit for all
situations, as different traits were set forth by different researchers ergo, there is no uniform
list. Consideration of other factors that affect leadership is also missing. Also, the
comparative analysis of traits and their importance is undetermined. It couldn’t justify why
some people with these traits were not influential leaders and why some others with streaks
of rigidness were successful. Tests to measure these traits are also not present.
IN-TEXT QUESTIONS
1. Fill in the blanks- _________ holds a formal position in the organisation,
whereas _____ can influence the group even without a formal position in the
organisation (Leader/Manager)
2. Leaders who practice Laissez- faire style is very good at _____
a) Decision Making b) Delegating work
c)Communicating with employees d) None of the above
3. Under this leadership style followers feel they are participating in the decision
making, but they are not-
a) Benevolent Autocratic b) Dictator Leadership style
c) Manipulative Leadership Style d) Laissez- faire leadership style
4. ____ leadership theory assumes that leaders are born not made.
a) Trait Theory b) Authentic leadership
c) Great man theory of leadership d) Transactional theory of leadership
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The behavioural leadership theory focuses on how leaders behave. Sometimes called the style
theory, it suggests that leaders aren’t born successful but can be created based on learnable
behaviour. Behavioural theories focus heavily on the actions of a leader—this theory suggests
that the best predictor of leadership success is viewing how a leader acts. Action rather than
qualities are the focal points of behavioural learning theory.
The main difference between trait theory and behavioural theory is the process of becoming a
leader. In the trait theory of leadership, people can become leaders smoothly because they
were born with the requisite skills. In the behavioural theory of leadership, however, anyone
can become a leader after learning leadership skills.
7.9.1 Ohio State Studies:
The researchers at the Ohio State University ushered in the direction of studying leadership
extensively. The objective was the examine the impact of a leader's behaviour on job
performance and satisfaction of employees. For this purpose, they administered the Leader
Behaviour Description Questionnaire (LBDQ) to scores of employees. The LBDQ consisted
of 150 statements concerning leadership behaviour. Each employee responded depending on
the degree of a leader's engagement in various behaviours.
After studying the results of the ratings, the researchers subsumed the leader's behaviour
under two categories. First, consideration, and second initiating structure.
i. Consideration: the extent to which the leader exhibits concern for the welfare of the
employees. A leader high in consideration respects employees' ideas, tries to solve their
problems, is approachable, treats them as equals and frequently appreciates their work. S/He
focuses on forging mutual trust and a conducive environment for his employees.
ii. Initiating structure: the extent to which the leader defines individual roles. A leader high
in initiating structure will set clear goals and emphasize meeting performance targets and
deadlines. S/He will set much store by systematic coordination of work. Will delineate job
descriptions of each employee along the pecking order.
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3. Low structure and high consideration: a leader sets much store by the needs and wants
of his employees. His primary concern is the welfare of his employees. For instance, a leader
might define the problem and ask the group members to decide how they will work together
to accomplish the task.
4. High structure and high consideration: a leader is highly active and considerate of his
employees. He defines the structure but is open to alteration to squeeze in employees' ideas,
needs and wants.
Conclusion:
The Ohio State Leadership study found that a leader who is high in initiating structure and
consideration (a high-high leader) is predominantly effective. He achieves high employee
performance and satisfaction. However, in a significant number of cases, there were
exceptions found. These exceptions indicated a need to take situational factors into
cognizance.
7.9.2 University of Michigan:
a study commenced at the University of Michigan intending to identify the leadership styles
that achieved maximum performance and job satisfaction among employees. It draws much
semblance to Ohio State studies. The study identifies two broad leadership styles: employee-
oriented and production-oriented leadership style.
i. Production-oriented leader: This is quite similar to a leader under the Ohio State study
who is high on initiating structure focusing on task-oriented activities. The leader considers
employees as stakeholders.
ii. Employee-oriented leader: This is similar to a leader under the Ohio State study who is
high on the consideration emphasizing on human relations. The leader considers employees
as a means to achieve production targets.
Conclusion:
According to the University of Michigan, employee-oriented leadership coupled with general
direction and not overbearing supervision would yield maximum performance and job
satisfaction.
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Criticism:
The overarching assertion that an employee-oriented style leads to better productivity is
contentious. It does not account for the employees and the circumstances that may warrant
the use of a production-oriented leadership as more effective.
For instance, some intricate jobs might require a more hands-on approach from the leader.
Also, the same leadership style may not yield the same results for two different organisations
due to different dynamics.
7.9.3 Leadership Grid:
The leadership studies at the University of Michigan and the Ohio State University hinged on
task-oriented and employee-oriented leadership styles. In the 1960s, Robert Blake and Jane
Mouton also built their work on these dimensions. They proposed a grid known as the
managerial grid (also known as the leadership grid). The x-axis of the grid indicates concern
for production (keeping tight schedules) by the leader, and the y-axis portrays concern for
people (accommodating people’s needs and giving them priority). Each dimension ranges
from low (1) to high (9) and thus rendering 81 different positions in which the leadership
style may fall.
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i. The impoverished style (1, 1): The managers have low concern for; people and
production. Managers use this style to avoid getting into trouble. The main concern for the
manager is not to be held responsible for any mistakes, which results in less innovative
decisions.
The leader uses a "delegate and disappears" management style. They are not committed to
either task accomplishment or employee satisfaction, which leads to chaos, disharmony
within the organisation and high employee turnover.
ii. The country club style (1, 9): This style has a high concern for people and a low concern
for production. Managers using this style pay much attention to the security and comfort of
the employees in the hope that this will increase their performance. The resulting atmosphere
is buoyant but not necessarily productive.
iii. The task management style (9, 1): With a high concern for production and a low
concern for people, this style finds employee needs unimportant. Managers using this style
manage their employees through rules and punishments. This dictatorial style is based on
Theory X and perceives employees as a mere means to an end.
iv. The middle-of-the-road style (5, 5): the manager tries to balance the company's goals
and workers' needs. This is a halfway between employees' needs and the company's needs,
which are viewed as disparate by the manager. He believes it to be the best way possible as
he assumes that employees' needs and the company's goals can not be reconciled and hence,
tries to achieve acceptable performance.
v. The team style (9, 9): In this style a manager pays high concern to both people and
production. The manager premises his leadership style on Theory Y, where s/he fosters
teamwork. This method relies heavily on making employees feel like a quintessential part of
the company.
The manager leads by positive example and endeavors to harness a team environment in
which all team members can reach their highest potential, both as a team and as an individual.
He or She encourages the team to accomplish team goals effectively and work as a team to
strengthen the bonds among the various members.
Conclusion:
The Managerial Grid is used to help managers analyze their leadership styles through a
technique known as grid training. Under this training, questionnaires get administered to the
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employees that help managers identify how they stand in their concern for production and
people. The training aims to help leaders reach the ideal state (9, 9).
Nevertheless, the model ignores the importance of internal and external limits, matter, and
scenarios.
IN-TEXT QUESTIONS
5. Hersey and Blanchard Model is part of ______ theories
a) Trait Theories
b) Behavioural Theories
c) Contingency theories
d) Contemporary theories
6. Leadership Grid is part of ______ theories
a) Trait Theories
b) Behavioural Theories
c) Contingency theories
d) Contemporary theories
7. Ohio state studies is part of ______ theories
a) Trait Theories
b) Behavioural Theories
c) Contingency theories
d) Contemporary theories
8. If a leader shows more concern for employees over the task, such a
leader falls under quadrant which is popularly also known as ____ as per
the Leadership grid.
a) Impoverished
b) Teamwork
c) Task oriented
d) Country club
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IN-TEXT QUESTIONS
9. If a leader shows more concern for task over the employees, such a leader
falls under quadrant which is popularly also known as ____ as per the
Managerial grid.
a) Impoverished
b) Teamwork
c) Task oriented
d) Country club
10. If a leader shows more concern for both task and employees, such a leader
falls under quadrant which is popularly also known as ____ as per the
Managerial grid.
a) Impoverished
b) Teamwork
c) Task oriented
d) Country club
11. ______ quadrant is best position for a leader as per behavioural theory of
Managerial grid.
a) Impoverished
b) Teamwork
c) Task oriented
d) Mid Way
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The contingency leadership theory, sometimes called situational theory, focuses on the
context of a leader. A leader’s effectiveness is directly determined by the situational context
in addition to his behaviour. This theory takes the specific leadership styles and suggests that
good leaders can adjust their leadership style situationally. It also advocates that it will be
best to find the right leader for a specific situation. Types of contingency theories include
Fiedler’s Contingency Theory, Evans and House's Path-Goal Theory, and Hershey and
Blanchard’s Situational Theory.
7.10.1 Fiedler Contingency Model:
Till the late 1960s, the building blocks of leadership theories were; the innate skill set to be a
leader, and there were predominantly two leadership styles (task-oriented leadership and
relationship-oriented leadership style). None of the theories factored in the clout of external
factors on the effectiveness of a particular leadership style.
In 1967, an Austrian psychologist, Professor Fred Fiedler, concurred with the idea of natural
leadership style dyed-in-the-wool, which is hard to change. Nevertheless, as per him,
situational factors have an equal sway on the efficacy of a leadership style. Fiedler contended
that there is no infallible leadership style for every situation. For this reason, there must be a
match between the leadership style and the situation at hand. So, the two vital tenets of his
theory were:
i. Natural leadership style, and
ii. Situation favorableness
Assumptions:
The model contended that an individual premises his leadership style on his past experiences
and psychology. It is impossible to change one's natural leadership style. There are only two
ways to improve the outcome of an organisation:
i. Change the situation, or
ii. Change the leader
Steps for application of the Model:
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Conclusion:
Fiedler's theory is far too rigid. It states that you can not change your leadership style, so
when a scenario arises where your leadership style and the situation at hand are at odds, you
should bow out. Also, if your score falls in the middle range of the LPC test, the theory does
not categorize you into any leadership style.
7.10.2 Hersey and Blanchard’s Situational Theory:
Until this time, leadership theories focused on the leaders and their traits. However, Paul
Hersey and Ken Blanchard premised their leadership model on the subordinate's maturity.
Under this model, leadership style is not static and should be geared based on employees'
maturity levels. The maturity level has two components:
• Psychological maturity: reflects their self-confidence, willingness, and readiness to
accept responsibility.
• Task maturity: reflects their relevant skills and technical knowledge. High job
maturity means the employee has the ability to execute the task at hand with efficacy.
Four leadership styles:
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1. Delegating style: a low-task, low-relationship style wherein the leader gives carte
blanche to the employees to accomplish the goal. This style is befitting for employees
with high psychological and task maturity.
2. Participating style: a low-task, high-relationship style wherein the leader kindles the
employees to partake in decision-making. This style is suitable for employees with
high task maturity but a flagging willingness to execute the task.
3. Selling style: a high-task, high-relationship style wherein the leader helps employees
to gain confidence. He tries to sell his ideas and vision to the employees. This style is
befitting for employees with high task maturity but, with time, have lost enthusiasm.
4. Telling style: a high-task, low-relationship style wherein the leader gives explicit
directions and supervises work closes. This style is geared towards low-maturity
employees.
Conclusion:
The upside of the model is that it provides leeway for the leaders to gear their leadership style
based on their employees' maturity, understanding and context of the organisation. It
advocates that leadership is flexible and not static, like Fiedler's Contingency Model, which
believes that an individual's leadership style is fixed.
The downside is it places too much responsibility on the leader's ability to decide and change
his leadership style as per the situation. However, these decisions may be flawed.
7.10.3 Path-Goal Theory:
The path-goal theory was the brainchild of Robert House. It has the expectancy theory of
motivation at its core. The path-goal theory expounds on the impact of a leader's behaviour
on an employee’s perception of expectancies between his effort and performance. It is
incumbent on the leader to define goals, clarify the path to achieve goals, and heave any
obstacles from that path.
The path-goal theory endorses servant leadership. Servant leadership theory advocates that a
leader is a facilitator. He should provide the information, support, and all other resources
required by employees to complete the task. According to the path-goal theory, the choice of
leadership style is contingent on several employee and environmental factors. Compendious
details of each component are as follows:
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Leadership styles:
There are four leadership styles:
1. Directive: in this, the leader envisions the present and future goals of the organisation.
Then, he breaks it down into smaller manageable goals with checkpoints at each step.
Employees have explicit information about their work and how to do it. The leader uses the
carrot-and-stick approach. He makes judicious use of rewards and punishments. This is the
same as the task-oriented leadership style.
2. Supportive: the leader is cordial and empathetic. He demonstrates thoughtfulness and
concern for his employees' welfare. This is the same as the people-oriented leadership style.
3. Participative: a leader doesn't consider his employee as a cog in the machine but as a
stakeholder. He consults his employees on important decisions related to goal setting and the
path to achieving those goals.
4. Achievement-oriented: The leader sets challenging goals and encourages employees to
reach their peak performance. The leader believes that employees are responsible enough to
accomplish challenging goals. This is the same as the goal-setting theory.
Contingencies:
The relationship between a leader’s style and effectiveness is dependent on the following
variables:
i. Employee factors: these include factors such as employees’ needs, locus of control,
experience, perceived ability, satisfaction, willingness to leave the organization, and anxiety.
For instance, if there is an employee with low motivation, then a participative leadership style
will be preferable.
ii. Environment factors: these include factors such as task structure and team dynamics that
are outside the employees' control. For example, for employees performing simple and
routine tasks, a supportive style is much more effective than a directive one.
Conclusion:
The theory has been subjected to empirical testing in several studies and has received
considerable research support. This theory consistently reminds leaders that their primary role
as a leader is to assist their subordinates in defining their goals and then to assist them in
accomplishing those goals most efficiently and effectively. This theory gives a guide map to
the leaders about how to increase subordinates' satisfaction and performance levels.
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CASE STUDY
Leadership styles played a critical role in the inability of Xerox to capitalize on its
invention of the first user-friendly personal computer. The researchers in the Xerox Palo
Alto Research Centre (PARC) developed the first graphical user interface, mouse and
menu driven computer-technological advances that made computing accessible to the
novice user (Bennis & Biederman, 1997). The lab's charismatic leader, Bob Taylor,
recruited only the very brightest scientists, gave them the freedom to innovate and
inspired them to work together to solve tremendously complex problems. Researchers at
PARC invented new products, obtained multiple patents, and pioneered many of the
computer technologies we now take for granted. However, because Xerox PARC was not
well integrated into the rest of the company, Xerox's top management was skeptical of the
inventions the lab developed and didn't see how they fit in with their current copying
equipment (Poe, 2000). Xerox lacked a transactional leadership style in the top
management team to provide the structure and systems that could capture the knowledge
generated in the PARC labs. Where Xerox failed, Apple succeeded. Steve Jobs visited the
PARC facility in 1979 and immediately saw the future of computing in the mouse-driven
graphical user interface (Bennis & Biederman, 1997). Jobs left the PARC labs without
any hardware or software but with a vision for how computers should operate. Jobs and
his Apple employees were able to convert the innovative PARC ideas into the Macintosh
computer, which debuted in 1984, changing the face of computing. Because of Jobs'
Leadership, Apple created the systems and structures that were able to convert their
knowledge into a valuable product. Jobs exhibited both transformational and transactional
leadership styles. He used a transformational leadership style to create a vision for the
Macintosh and challenge his employees to reach nearly impossible goals. He used a
transactional leadership style to create the systems and structures in Apple that allowed
the knowledge created at all levels of the organization to be converted into a valuable
product-the Macintosh personal computer.
a. Using the instances from the case study, differentiate between transformational,
transactional, and charismatic Leadership.
b. What led to the success of Apple under the Leadership of Steve Jobs.
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laden and ethical such as "Authentic Leadership." Practitioners like Bill George,
academicians like Avolio, leadership consultants like Kevin Cashman, etc, initially
recognized the concept of Authentic Leadership. Authentic leaders are more effective at
optimizing their effectiveness to achieve superior long-term results.
Authentic leaders are the one who maintains consistency in their words, actions, and internal
value system. In addition, such leaders foster a long-term relationship with an organization in
a self-disciplined manner; such leaders are not only passionate about their work but are
deeply grounded in the roots of their value system and moral conduct. Balanced processing
internalized moral perspective, relational transparency, and self-awareness are the four
significant constructs of authentic leadership that are widely accepted.
Authentic leadership is an approach to leadership that emphasizes building the leader's
legitimacy through honest relationships with followers who value their input and are built on
an ethical foundation. Generally, authentic leaders are positive people with truthful self-
concepts who promote openness. Building on the simple but essential idea that leaders may
construct their sense of self-based on who they are as distinct individuals and based on who
they are.
7.12 SUMMARY
Leadership largely depends upon the followers’ perception and their acceptance. There are
various leadership styles and theories in literature that helps us in understanding what makes
an effective leader. The 19th century witnessed the rule of dictators, and Power - influence
behavior among the leaders. The leadership at that time was mostly all about the one-man
show, the Great man theory, and the Trait theories are grounded in this and were an attempt
to search common traits that make a common man a powerful leader. Even today a leader
equipped with such traits adds to the leadership effectiveness. With time union conflicts,
uneducated workers, adaptation of new technology, etc., emerged and it became difficult to
generalize trait theory. The focus of leadership researchers turned towards the behavior of
leaders. The leader’s behavior plays a crucial role especially in controlling today’s
information era’s highly qualified employees. Due to the accelerated rate of technological
advancements and associated unpredictability in the work environment, the need for
contingency and situational leadership arises. The last decades of the 20th century recognized
the need for leaders who could develop their followers' behaviour and transform them into
new leaders. This led to the development of transactional and transformational theories of
leadership. Till today many organizations are following the transformational style of
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leadership that was introduced in the 20th century. It involves five dimensions namely
attributable and behavioral influence, inspirational motivation, the focus of intellectual
growth, and individual consideration. The dawn of the 20th century and the beginning of the
21st century saw some infamous large-scale scams and periods of recession due to the
deteriorating rate of leaders’ moral and ethical conduct among the employees. The overall
societal loss at the macro level and maintenance of investors’ trust at the organizational level
led to the emergence of new theories of leadership that were more value-laden and ethical
such as Authentic Leadership. Looking at the various theories it can be stated that it is
difficult to define leadership in few words. The current leader should follow a style/approach
that fits the needs of all the stakeholders.
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2. Adams theory
3. Tannenbaum and Schmidt Continuum
4. Managerial Grid
5. Situational Leadership Theory
6. Minzberg Managerial roles
5. Presently work environment has become very challenging in terms of competition.
Additionally, Post Covid-19, many organizations are working in Hybrid mode
(Physically and Work from home). Which leadership style or combination of leadership
styles is more suitable for the present-day leader?
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LESSON-8
STRUCTURE
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8.10 References
8.11 Suggested Readings
8.2 INTRODUCTION
In the previous chapters, you have well understood the concepts of individuals and their
behaviors. It is worth mentioning that individual’ behavior changes when they join a group.
Once an individual is a part of a group, group behavior as a whole becomes crucial for
performance. Let’s understand the same with cricket match example. You must have watched
cricket match; either a one day, 20-20 or test match format. The success and failure
completely depend on the team spirit and team performance. Individual player may be good
bowler or good batsman or good goalkeeper etc. Even though all the players are physically
and mentally fit but for winning a match team performance is essential. If only few players
are performing well but others are not then even a best of the team will fail to win the match.
It is important to understand that if one can play as a team member and build a good team
with essential skill set, nothing can stop the team to achieve its objectives. The beauty of
teamwork can be explained as problem gets divided and strengths get multiplied when a team
stands together. In other words, work team is a backbone of an organization. Big ventures are
not possible without a good team.
Being a student of organizational behavior, one wants to know how people working in an
organization behave or interact with one another as an individual, as a team member and/or as
a group member inside of a business organization for the success of the business.
Individuals may be efficient but may not be effective when it comes to their performance
when they work individually in the organization. As part of a group and team, individuals are
responsible, accountable and have sufficient authority for proper execution of allocated work
which creates a synergy by performing collectively.
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Work groups share information, interact mainly to make decisions and help every group
member in performing and fulfilling responsibility within their area of operation.
a) Goal- share information
b) Synergy- neutral (somethings negative)
c) Accountability- individual
d) Skills- random and varied
8.3.1 Group Properties:
a) Roles: Everybody in a team has to play a role in a well-coordinated expected manner.
For which one has to identify their role as per given position. Identification of role
depends upon how others believe us to act in a given situation. This calls for our own
understanding of others' beliefs. If the compliance of role is as per divergent role
expectation, it results in role conflict that can be minimized if monitored closely.
b) Norms: Norms are acceptable standards of behaviour (do’s and don’ts) which are
shared among the group members. It means groups create strong pressure on
individual members for conformity in respect to changing their attitudes and
behaviour to the group's standard.
c) Status: Is a rank or a position assigned to members of a group or to some group by
others in terms of permeates. The determinants of status are (i) the power exercised by
a person over the others, (ii) ability of a person to contribute to the goals which are set
by the group, and (iii) an individual’s personal traits.
d) Size: The size of the group, which depends on goal, also affects the group’s
behaviour.
e) Cohesiveness: It is the degree to which group members are willing or motivated to
stay in the group as they have spent a great deal of time together. The degree of
cohesiveness depends upon the relationship between group cohesiveness and
performance norms that affects group productivity.
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f) Diversity: It refers to the extent to which group members are different or similar to
one another. It identifies both costs in terms of group conflict resulting in dropout
rates and benefits in terms of increased productivity.
8.3.2 Reasons for Joining Groups:
People cannot live and survive in isolation for a long period. For a variety of reasons, people
join group. Some of them are as below:
a) Security: people join a particular group to get the sense of security from adverse
environments created by management and reduce insecurity from threats.
b) Self-Esteem: joining a group increases self-esteem through group membership.
c) Affiliation: to show association or relationship with a group.
d) Power: it gives a sense of power to members of the group who join the group. Group
power lies in being united as a group. People like to control others and make an impact on
others. Membership of group offers power to people and enables them to use it over the
others.
e) Status: People join groups to gain a status in the society. It provides recognition to the
members of the group.
f) Goal achievement: The group is able to achieve organizational goals which cannot be
achieved when working individually.
Types of Groups:
It is generally seen that an organization has different types of groups which work for the
achievement of common organizational goals. A group is a collection of individuals who
have a relation to one another that make them interdependent to some significant degree.
Group can be classified as formal and informal.
a) Formal Group: Formal group is designated work group defined by an organization’s
structure. Crew members in the ship are the example of a formal group.
A formal group can be divided into the command group and task group.
(i) Command Group or Functional Group: A command group is reflected through the
organizational chart and determines who the reporting officer is. Various functions of
the organization like finance, marketing, human resource, research and development
have functional groups.
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(ii) Task Group or Project Group: This group is created in the organization to identify
and provide solutions for a specific problem. For a particular project a deadline is
fixed and the efforts are made to meet the deadline. Budget for these projects are fixed
in advance to facilitate the time bound resolving of the problem. The group is
dissolved when the project gets completed.
(iii) Task Force or Ad hoc Committee: It is very similar to a task group. As the name
suggests it is temporarily created to address a specific issue. Task force gets dissolved
after making a recommendation on the specific issue. Issue can be redesigning of the
reward system in the organization.
(iv) Quality Circle: Organizations are very much concerned for quality and want to
ensure that each employee is committed to maintaining quality and will upgrade
themselves. A small employee group is created to deal with productivity, and quality
related issues. This group ensures that issues related to quality are resolved so that
organization’s commitment to quality can be ensured in all times to come.
b) Informal Groups: Informal groups are more social in nature. These groups are not
defined by role relationships. The behavior that team members should engage in are
stipulated by and directed toward organizational goals. Employees from different
departments playing chess together is an example of an informal group.
Informal groups are also classified into two groups.
(i) Interest Group: Interest group is a group where people come together to attain a
specific objective with which each one is concerned. A common interest binds the
group members. Members may not belong to the same organization or department.
Joining and leaving the group is at the will of the members and nothing is formal. For
example, the Indian Commerce Association.
(ii) Friendship Group: People have social needs and want to be part of some social
group. Social activities, religious beliefs, other common basis may be create
friendship group. Yoga group, potpourri group, and birthday groups are very
commonly found in the organizations.
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e. Adjourning: It is the final stage in group development which involves the termination of
task and disagreement from relationships. The group may have mixed feelings. Some may
be thrilled over their past achievements and performances, some may be unhappy to
depart. This stage may happen for some groups quite early and some may experience it in
a very long run.
IN-TEXT QUESTIONS
Q1. Which of the following statement is TRUE or FALSE?
Group refers to a collection of individuals who may interact.
The accountability of work group is individual.
The goal of group is to share information.
Groups create strong pressure on individual members for conformity in respect
to change their attitudes and behaviour to group’s standard.
One of the reasons to join group is security.
Diversity refers to the extent to which group members are different or similar to
one another
The stages of group development process are five.
In forming, Work output is low, focused on defining the goals and tasks.
Performing relates to highly productive.
Adjourning is related to termination of task.
Leadership is shared in norming stage of group process.
Q2. Match list I with List II:
List I List II
1. Group (a) Two or more interacting and interdependent
individuals who come together to achieve specific
goals
2. Work group (b) Interacts primarily to share information and to make
decision.
3. Formal group (c) Designated work group defined by an organization’s
structure.
4. Informal group (d) It is social in nature.
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A work team generates positive synergy through coordinated efforts. Team performance
increases due to coordinated individual efforts. Individuals contribute to achieving goals and
are accountable for the same. Individual inputs such as goal (collective performance),
synergy (positive), accountability (individual and mutual), and skills (complementary) are
crucial.
In business terms, teamwork means when a group of people use their skills to overcome each
other’s weakness by collaborating to achieve a mutual goal and creating a synergy effect. In
other words, setting aside any personal conflict and coming to a mutual conclusion that
benefits the group and the organization is teamwork in business. It involves constructive
feedback and improving each other’s ability without any personal grudges and feuds.
Teamwork has tremendous power. A team with good tuning can multiply the efficiency of a
person by many times, and the total output can be unimaginable.
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Common superior Team may not have a common Group has a common superior
superior.
Interaction: Team may not have face to face Group has face to face interaction.
interaction.
Commitment: Team members are supposed to Group members are not much
be highly committed to work. committed to work.
Interdependency Team has the higher degree of Group has a small degree of
interdependence interdependence.
Accountability Team members themselves are Group members are not themselves so
mutually accountable. accountable.
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Member flexibility
Member preferences
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Teams that establish shared leadership by effectively delegating it are more effective than
teams with a traditional single-leader structure.
Climate of Trust: Trust is the base of every successful team. Trust among the members and
on the leaders facilitates cooperation, creates bond, capacity to bear risk increases and
reduces vulnerabilities. A climate of trust makes a strong foundation for a team.
Performance Evaluation and Reward system: Rather than having individual performance
evaluation system, organisations should recognize team players and reward individuals for
their team performance. Organisations must adopt group based appraisals, gainsharing, profit
sharing, and small-group incentives can motivate teams to commit for attainment of goals by
team efforts.
II. Team Composition: Each member in the team is selected on the basis of their skills sets
and abilities. Selection is very focused and limited. Under team composition the ability,
member’s personality, role allocation, team size, diversity, and members’ flexibility and
preference for teamwork is discussed below:
Abilities of Members: Each member of the team is important. Selection depends on skills,
knowledge and abilities. Members must complement each other. Selecting the best of the
employees is not the key. Sometimes a mediocre employee turns out to be excellent and
determined team builder and has precision for work. Managers need to understand the
requirements of the team. For complex problems and high ability teams with intelligent
members must be selected.
Personality of Members: Individual behavior is significantly influenced by personality.
Different dimensions of personality are crucial for team effectiveness. Big five personality
model provides a good base about the relationship between personality and effectiveness.
Teams which reflect high conscientiousness and are open to experiences are better
performers. Studies suggest that specific behavioral tendencies such as personal organization,
cognitive structuring, achievement orientation, and endurance boost higher levels of team
performance.
Allocation of Roles: Identification of potential roles and selecting the members keeping the
roles can be very effective. Team should have a proper blend of experienced and skilled
members. Managers must understand each individual strengths and weaknesses and allocate
assignments that most suit them.
Diversity of Members: Diversity, like race and gender diversity, among the team can show
different results. One, it may not at all impact the team performance. Two, it may impact
team performance in a very positive manner and third, may produce negative impact on team
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performance. Diversity in function, education, and expertise are positively related to group
performance, but these effects are quite small and depend on the situation. Leaders can play
an important role in managing diversity effectively.
Size of Teams: Effectiveness lies in keeping the team small in size. Most effective teams
have five to nine members. Managers must focus on roles / tasks and accordingly select most
responsible and accountable members. Small is beautiful is the mantra.
Member Flexibility & Preferences: Every employee is not a team player. Many employees
prefer to work alone than in teams. High-performing teams are composed of members who
prefer working as part of a team. Managers must identify the work preference and
accordingly select the members.
III. Work Design: Work designs are motivating by nature because it increases the sense of
ownership of work and makes employees responsible for the tasks done. Variables which are
concerned with work design such as autonomy, skill variety, task identity, and task
significance are discussed below:
Autonomy: Is the freedom to do the task as per my choice which doesn’t violate the
generally accepted rules. It answers the question ‘how much does the task let employees
exercise its freedom?’
Skill variety: Opportunity to use different skills and talents to complete the tasks.
Task identity: Task identity is related to the ability to complete a task in a given time. A task
needs to be understood well and identified completely to execute it well.
Task significance: Task significance means a task should create substantial impact on others.
Team members should be more than willing to work on such tasks or projects which create
impact on others.
IV. Team Processes: Common purpose, specific team goals, team efficacy, level of conflict,
and are some of the variables which contribute to the team effectiveness. The idea behind the
team process is to enhance process gains by reducing process losses to create positive
synergy.
Common Purpose: Organizations mission has to translate at all levels of the organization.
Teams follow the mission and develop their goals. Strategies are developed to achieve the
goals. Clarity over the purpose is vital for the success of the teams. Directionless team will
lead to nowhere. It is worth spending time to thoroughly draft the mission, vision of the
organization and then for a specific team.
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Specific Goals: Goals must be measurable, specific and realistic. Best of the specific goals
fail if they are not properly communicated. Goal should be challenging. Team performance
increases with attainable but difficult goals.
Team Efficacy: Teams work harder to achieve success and success further motivates the
teams to work harder. Managers can provide training to the employees and also help the team
achieve small targets to boost their confidence. High level of confidence will increase the
capability to deliver and make a team effective.
Conflict Levels: Conflict is not always bad. Conflict has a complex relationship with team
performance. Functional conflicts are positive and dysfunctional conflicts create frustrations.
Task related conflicts are functional in nature and relationship conflicts are dysfunctional in
nature. Moderate level of task conflict like disagreements among members on certain issues
may ignite creative thinking and team may lead to better decisions. Dysfunctional conflicts
like incompatibilities and tensions among the members may become complex and lead to
negative outcomes.
IN-TEXT QUESTIONS
Q5. Which of the following statement is TRUE or FALSE?
a) A work team generates positive synergy.
b) Team performance increases due to coordinated efforts.
c) A team with good tuning multiply the productivity of the person.
d) Virtual teams connected through the use of internet.
e) Video conferencing is an example of virtual team.
Q6. Fill in the blanks:
a) Team members themselves are ………..accountable.
b) The goal of team is …………….performance.
c) The leadership of team is…………..
d) There are ……….components of effective team.
e) Strategies are developed to ………….the goals.
f) Autonomy is the variables of ……………
Social Loafing: It is the tendency when individuals put less effort to complete a task when
working collectively than working alone. There is a general belief that productivity of the
group working together will be higher than the total performance of the individual members
working independently in the group. Members can engage in social loafing so making
members individually and jointly accountable is logical.
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Group cohesiveness is important for the smooth functioning of a group. Group differs in their
cohesiveness. Cohesiveness is the tendency of a group to remain together while working
towards a goal for the emotional need satisfaction of its members. It develops over time.
Factors that influences group cohesiveness:
a. Time spent together,
b. Size of the group,
c. Structure of the group,
d. Agreed upon group goals,
e. Inter-group competition,
f. Task commitment,
g. Group pride,
h. Favorable evaluation.
Advantages:
a. Worker satisfaction
b. Low turn-over
c. Less absenteeism
d. Higher productivity
To encourage cohesiveness suggestions are given below:
● Make a small size group to create bonds among the members.
● Encourage members to have conformity with group goals.
● Time spent together by members should be increased.
● Membership in the group should be perceived as difficult to attain and status of the group
should be increased.
● Offer a reward to the group rather than to individual members.
● Encourage inter group competitions.
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c. Deliberations of all kinds should be open and all divergent of views should be welcomed
from \the members. Leaders should play an active role to make this process free and
devoid of pressure tactics.
d. Stimulate an environment of healthy debate to avoid groupthink by which better ideas
may arise.
e. Have people from different backgrounds who will have different experiences, beliefs, and
views which prove to be beneficial in avoiding groupthink and can lead a productive
debate.
f. Include members of other departments to get different perspectives.
g. Take time enough over decisions that enable you to properly analyze the situation and
come to a more rational response.
h. Consult an outside expert to get knowledge and information that you don’t have
8.5.2 GroupShift
Group shift refers to the tendency of group members to exaggerate their initial positions that
they hold in the beginning of group discussion. While taking decisions in groups, the
discussion leads to a significant shift from the initial positions of members in which they
were before the discussion.
It is seen that group decisions are more conservative and riskier than individual decisions.
Group decisions set individual members free from accountability for the group’s final choice.
No single individual can be held fully responsible even if the decision fails. Group can
undertake greater risk in this case.
The main reasons for groupshift are diffusion of responsibility throughout the group by
members. It is said that smaller groups have higher groupshift than larger groups.
Difference between Groupthink and Group Shift:
1. Groupthink refers to the group pressure which is created on any member of the group
which influences member’s ability and thought process to take decisions in a particular
way, whereas, groupshift is the tendency of group members to exaggerate their initial
positions that they hold in the beginning of group discussion.
2. In groupthink, the group creates pressure on the individual member, whereas, in
groupshift, the individual member creates pressure on the group.
3. In groupthink, popular view is favored and personal view is put aside whereas, in
groupshift, due to group influence personal view becomes much stronger.
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IN-TEXT QUESTIONS
Q7. Which of the following statement is TRUE or FALSE?
a) Group cohesiveness develops over time.
b) One of the advantages of group cohesiveness is less absenteeism.
c) Brainstorming is a process of generating ideas.
d) The nominal group technique is an inexpensive means for generating a large
number of ideas.
e) Delphi technique in used to develop consensus.
Q8. Fill in the blanks:
a) Group …………….in their cohesiveness
b) Group cohesiveness is important for the ………..functioning of a group.
c) Groupthink refers to a ……………..phenomenon.
d) Groupthink denotes a situation where the members …………...their
opinions and beliefs.
e) Group shift refers to the …………..of group members to exaggerate their
initial positions that they hold in the beginning of group discussion.
f) The main reasons from groupshift are ……………..of responsibility.
g) Smaller groups have ……………..groupshift than larger groups.
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CASE STUDY
Mumbai’s Dabba Walas
Mumbai’s Dabba wala is not a new name for any Indian. They have gained lot of
popularity not because of glossy business but because of their efficiency and commitment
to work. Dabba Wala’s case study is discussed in the most renowned business schools in
the world. The high level of effectiveness has earned them a six sigma certification for
which other businesses strive and dream of.
The flawless quality service since 1890 has ensured complete customer satisfaction with
regards to the reliability of the system from twelve decades in India.
Dabba Walas run a tiffin service in Mumbai whose objective is supply of packed lunch
food in tiffin from the customer’s home to the customers’ work place every working day.
They arrange the collection of packed lunch in traditional tiffin boxes, load them on local
trains (a compartment is reserved for the bulk tiffins) and deliver to all the areas in Mumbai
including suburbs of Mumbai. These meals are cooked and packed by wives or mothers (or
sometimes local restaurants) for individual office workers in central Mumbai. The
noticeable feature of this delivery is that every office workers gets home tiffin every
working day on time without any fault or delay. Obviously, the contents (in terms of variety
and taste) of each tiffin box are unique, which is the central appeal of the service. When the
lunch time is over in the day, the dabba walas again collect the empty tiffins from the
working place and return them to the workers’ homes.
The supply system adopted by dabba walas is extremely unique and full of risks. At each of
the central stations, where train stops for about 20 seconds, other members of dabba wala
teams unload the tiffin boxes for destinations near the station and sort them for hand
delivery to the offices and workshops where the individual recipient work. Sharp round
12:45 pm tiffins are delivered and then the process is reversed to return the empties boxes
to the homes. The service cost per box is about Rs. 300 per month and each dabba wala
earn about Rs. 4,500 a month. Customers pay one month’s bonus to the organization for the
Diwali festival.
This seems to be simple process but it’s a highly complicated, precisely well-coordinated
operation. Mumbai city is known for its traffic chaos and local train rush. Traffic delays
and occasional chaos are very common. Some of the dabba walas negotiate the traffic on
foot and by bicycle at a cracking pace irrespective of weather conditions; the tiffin must get
through.
The error rate is said to be vanishingly very small; one box may go astray every two
months; about one in six million deliveries.
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CASE STUDY
Mumbai’s Dabba Walas Contd.
One of the eye-catching point is that there is no government or IT support except special
reserved train coach, no track and trace, no computers, no bar codes is leveled, just a
handwritten code on each box that allows the dabba walas to identify or recognize which
station the box has to be sent to and unloaded, its ultimate destination and its return address.
Many of the dabba walas have low level of literacy, but their ability to decode and correctly
route the boxes that they each carry through the crowded streets is the key to the whole
system. This kind of supply chain system requires very low levels of capital intensiveness. It
is the team work that makes the service happens. Dabba walas commitment has made them
special and the guiding force behind this commitment is Shivaji. In the name of Shivaji the
members find the motivation to do the hard work and serve people with their home cooked
food. They have a team of 5000 dabba walas who serve almost 2,00,000 Mumbaikar daily.
The future of the service
Of late, the migrations of workers in search of job in metro cities at large are very high. Due
to covid-19 pandemic, people are hesitant to have meals from the nearby local road side
restaurants or dhabas. The people with all sphere of life irrespective of different regional
styles and traditional loves to eat home cooked hygiene food. This diverse range of home-
prepared meals reliably to the individual in the workplace is in high in demand. The growth
of fast food centre is a global phenomenon who also delivers fast food at destination as they
claim as hygienic. They do have a website and are now able to accept orders via the site or
by SMS. It requires frequent ordering every day which is quite monotonous for the office
going workers. It is also seen that some of meal delivery centre claim that they supply home
cooked hygiene meal on order at destination but it is good only for few days or emergency
time not for all days in terms of variety, quality and taste.
The reasons for using dabba walas services are the following appeals:
1. Homemade food is cheaper and hygienic.
2. Homemade food is best for health as against junk foods which make you sick.
3. If you love to eat food made by your wife or mother, dabba walas is the solution.
4. They assures that they deliver yours home cooked meal on time at right destination.
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List I List II
1. Brainstorming (a) develops group cohesiveness
2. Delphi technique (b) Develops consensus.
3. GroupShift (c) No single individual can be
held fully responsible even if
the decision fails.
4. Groupthink (d) an illusion of unanimity that
creates a belief that everyone is
in full accord.
8.6 SUMMARY
Most of the work in organization is done in teams. People often join groups to satisfy their
needs of security, status, self-esteem, affiliation, power and goal achievement. In any
organization, many different types of groups coexist. Whatever be the kind of group, every
group goes through five stages of development, namely forming, storming, norming,
performing and adjourning. Group cohesiveness is very important for the smooth functioning
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8.7 GLOSSARY
● Adjourning: the final stage of group development that involves termination of the
group.
● Brainstorming: generating ideas without any criticism.
● Delphi technique: a decision-making method which does not require the physical
presence of group members.
● Forming stage: the first stage of group development in which people join the group
and then define the group's purpose, structure and leadership.
● Formal group: the organization’s structure, with designed work assignments
establishing tasks.
● Group cohesiveness: the tendency of a group to remain together.
● Group: a collection of individuals working in face-to-face relationships to share
information and resources for a task to be achieved.
● Groupthink: when a group exerts extensive pressure on an individual to align his or
her opinion with others opinions.
● Group-shift: changing the decision as per the group.
● Informal group: group that appear in response to the need for social contact
● Norming stage: the third stage of group development where resolving of differences
takes place.
● Performing stage: the fourth stage of the group development when the group is fully
functional and works on group tasks.
● Storming stage: the second stage of group development in which conflicts start
arising.
● Team: a group of individuals working in face-to-face relationship for a common goal,
having collective accountability for the outcome of its efforts.
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Q1 All true
(a) group (a) voluntarily (b) informal groups (c) formal groups
Q5 All true
Q7 All true
Q8. (a) Differ (b) Smooth (c) Psychological (d) Put aside
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8.10 REFERENCES
Robbins S. P., & Judge, T. A. (2017). Organisational Behaviour. 17th Ed. Pearson.
Pareek, U., & Khanna, S. (2016). Understanding Organizational Behaviour. 4th Ed. Oxford.
Mullins, L. J. (2010). Management & Organisational Behaviour. 9th Ed. Printice Hall.
Singh., K. (2015). Organisational Behaviour Text and Cases. 3rd Ed. Vikas Publication.
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LESSON-9
DECISION MAKING
Dr. Nidhi Kesari
Assistant Professor
Shaheed Sukhdev College of Business Studies
University of Delhi
nidhikesari@sscbsdu.ac.in
STRUCTURE
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● Explain the concept of rational decision making and contrast it with bounded
rationality.
9.2 INTRODUCTION
Decisions are an essential part of one’s life both personally or professionally. Decision-
making is an integral part of a managerial job. Decisions are required at all the levels of
management, but it’s particularly imperative to managers. It plays an important role and is a
key to success in management. An organisation’s success is largely driven by its superb
decisions and its execution. Decision making is the essence of management because various
functions of management cannot be performed since it all requires decisions.
A decision is a choice. It is at the core of planning in which managers have to take decision to
select a most suitable or appropriate course of action from several alternative courses to be
adopted to achieve objectives. Decision making process takes place only when managers
have two or more options or alternatives.
Decision-making is a tough and conscious process of making objective decision which is
acceptable by those who would execute it and is beneficial for the organisation.
A manager may make following decisions:
1. Planning: (a) what are the organisation’s long-term objectives? (b) what strategies will
best achieve those objectives? (c) what should be the organisation’s short-term objectives;
(d) how difficult should individual goals be?
2. Organising: (a) how many employees should report directly to the supervisor? (b) how
much centralisation should be there be in the organisation (c) how should jobs be
planned? (d) when should the organisation put into operation a different structure?
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3. Leading: (a) how to handle employees who appear to be low in motivation? (b) what is
the most effective leadership style in a given situation? (c) how will a specific change
affect worker productivity? (d) when is the right time to intervene in a conflict?
4. Controlling: (a) what activities in the organisation need to be controlled? (b) how should
those activities be controlled? (c) when is a performance deviation significant? (d) what
type of management information system should the organisation have?
Definitions:
Decision making has been defined by several management scholars. Some of the definitions
are given hereunder:
According to Stoner, Freeman & Gilbert, “Decision making is the process of identifying to
deal with a specific problem or take advantage of an opportunity.”
R. Terry defines decision making as the “Selection of one behaviour alternative from two or
more possible alternatives.”, “Decision making involves the selection of a course of action
from among two or more possible alternatives in order to arrive at a solution for a given
problem.”
Weihrich & Koontz state that - All management work is accomplished by decision-making.
According to Allen – management decision making is the work a manager performs to
arrive at conclusion and judgement.
According to Shull, Delberg and Cummings - “A conscious and human process involving
both individual and social phenomena based on factual and value premises which concludes
with a choice of one behavioural activity from among one or more alternatives with the
intention of moving towards a desired state of affairs.”
Kreitner defines it as “Decision making is a process of identifying and choosing an
alternative course of action in a manner appropriate to the demand of the situation.”
In other words, at every stage of managing, the manager faces the challenge of making
correct, qualitative and effective decision to get the best out of a situation. Managerial
decisions are formally directed towards making the organisation a functional entity
preserving its identity and maintaining continuity in its working life.
Managers at all levels make decisions such as top level executives take decisions on major
issues and matters that are directly concerned with the survival, profitability and growth of
the organisation. For handling the matters arising day-to-day operations, lower level
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managers are granted authority to decide upon them. Managers at all areas of organisations
make decisions regarding production, distribution, finance, purchase, personnel, research and
development etc.
Characteristics:
⮚ Decision making is an integral part of planning.
⮚ It aims at choosing an appropriate course of action by weighing and weeding out
several available alternatives.
⮚ It involves the judgement and discretion of the decision maker.
⮚ It is an activity with a purpose.
⮚ Decisions are made to solve problems, resolve crises and conflicts.
⮚ It is all pervasive.
IN-TEXT QUESTIONS
Q1. Which of the following statement is True or False:
a) Managers at all levels make decisions.
b) Decision making takes place only when managers have two or more than
two options.
c) Decisions are an integral part of organisations’ life.
d) Decision-making involves the discretion of the decision maker.
Q2. Fill in the blanks:
a) Decisions are made to ..............problems, resolves............. and ....................
b) Top level executives take decisions only on matters that are directly
...........with survival.
c) Lower-level managers are granted.............. to make decisions on day-to-day
operations.
d) Decision is a ............
e) Decision making is the conscious ........................of making decision.
f) Decision’s managers may makes are...........................................
g) Whatever a manager does he does ....................decision-making.
h) All management work is ...........................by decision-making.
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● Nobody would accept any gift from the outsiders except token gift.
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delegate routine decisions to their subordinates so that they can deal with more difficult
issues. Example of non-programmed problems are:
● Top management prepares strategic plans and policies for the enterprise.
(c) Strategic Decisions: Strategy is a deliberate search for a plan of action that will develop
a business’s competitive advantage and compound it. The search is an iterative process
that begins with recognition of where you are and what you have now. The difference
between you and your competitors are the basis of your advantage.
Strategic decisions are usually made by top-level management which are important and
critical for the survival, success and profitability of the organisation.
Every organization has to make decisions throughout the day that will impact the
outcome of the organization. Decisions can be simple, like deciding on what to wear to
work or whether to organize a meeting or not. However, strategic decisions that impact
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the direction of the organization are harder to make and are often the most important. The
examples of strategic decisions are the selection of a product and processes, making
capacity planning, selecting location of plant, switching to new technology, taking over
other organization, and strategic alliance etc. are taken by higher level of management.
The main characteristics of strategic decisions are that once they are taken, it is neither
desirable nor feasible to withdraw them and is based on risk.
(d) Operational Decisions: Mere formulation of strategic decisions are not the guarantee of
success of any organisation unless until such decisions are implemented by making many
other operational or tactical decisions such as production planning, quality control, cost
control, inventory control etc. These decisions are concerned with routine and repetitive
matters to implementation of strategic decisions. That’s why the authority for making
tactical or operational decisions is vested in lower level management.
The differences between strategic and Operational decisions are as below:
These are considered where the future planning These are medium period based decisions
is concerned.
It is taken in accordance with organisational These are taken in accordance with strategic
mission and vision and administrative decision.
These deal with organisational growth These are related to production and factory
growth
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(ii) The conceptual style: This style has a low tolerance for ambiguity and seeks
rationality. They are efficient and logical requires minimal information.
(iii) The directive style: It makes decisions fast and they focus on the short-run.
(iv) The behavioural style: This style has a strong concern with well-being of the
subordinates and usually in this style suggestions from others are sought.
Individuals have a tendency to think and question before performing, which is fruitful in
analysis and forecasting of an individual’s behaviour.
Advantages of individual decision-making:
i. Individual generally makes prompt decisions.
ii. Individual decision-making saves time, money and energy. In other words, it is cost
effective.
iii. Individuals are responsible and accountable for their own decision. They have no
excuse for their bad acts and performance.
Disadvantages:
i. An individual uses own intuition and may be biased.
ii. Individual decision-making is proved more fruitful and productive in very small
business organisation like sole-proprietorship or in family matter.
iii. Lack of consensus decision-making.
Group Decision Making:
It is generally believed that two heads are better than one. In group decision, the final
authority to take decisions is vested in the group itself rather than in an individual.
A group decision is one in which more than two people are participating, deliberating and
developing an amicable solution to the problem. If group is diverse, better decisions may be
made because different group members may have diverse ideas based on their background
and experience.
To deal with the problems, the manager is delegated with enough authority and within the
extent and scope of it decisions are made, both on important as well as less important matters.
Whatever the power and authority they have, they can exercise it only through meetings in
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which they make decisions unanimously or by majority votes. Such decision is generally
taken in executive body (Board of Directors) or in various committees formed for the purpose
of deciding on various matters at the lower level of the organisation.
Sometimes, the superior involves subordinates to get their cooperation and involvement in
decision making in which subordinates may be of more concern with the objective of their
acceptance. Group decisions may also be in the following form:
(i) Group participation in decision-making: Where the superior shares authority of
decision making by involving subordinates.
(ii) Group decision-making: where the members or subordinates may share the
authority of decision making with the chief executive.
(iii) Workers participation in management: Where the superior and subordinates may
share the authority of decision making with the workers.
Advantages of group decisions:
(i) Creates Synergy: It is found when output is more than the inputs, which means
whole is greater than the sum of its parts. As group also creates synergy effects in
the quality and productive decisions because two or more members are involved in
deliberation and amicable solution of the problems that may increase or improve
the results.
(ii) Sharing of information: In group decisions, the members of the group not only sit
together around the table for making decisions but also they contribute fruitful
information and expertise which increases understanding, clarity and facilitates
movement towards a collective decision.
(iii) Team spirit: Members involved in group decision-making represent cooperation,
trust, respect and develop a team spirit to get maximum contribution from them.
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IN-TEXT QUESTIONS
Disadvantages of group decisions: The flip side of the group decision making are as follows:
(i) Diffusion of Responsibility: Group members are not themselves so much
responsible and accountable which affects the quality of decision making
adversely. Everyone is responsible for a decision which might mean no one is
responsible. They do not exhibit a sense of responsibility.
(ii) Reduce efficiency: Ordinate delay in decision-making is also marked in a group
decisions because of long discussions, diverse opinions of members and
procedural technicalities. It sometimes reduces the effectiveness of the decision
making process.
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(iii) Encourage indecisiveness: If the least competent member dominates the group
decision it impedes the efforts of the most competent ones.
(iv) Groups suffer from social loafing.
(v) Groups may also suffer from groupthink.
9.3.2 Techniques of Individual and Group Decision Making:
The use of techniques improves the efficiency of decision-making as well as the quality of
the decisions made by the manager. These techniques are as under:
Individual Decision Making Techniques:
There are six decision making styles of an individual. Every individual is not only different in
nature but also their approach of decision-making differs and depends on different situations.
5. Deep Deliberation: In this style, the person spends excessive time and attention on
weighing all possibilities before deciding on any one possibility. This style is
appropriate when an issue is of great importance such as family problem, career
choice, or serious relationship issue.
6. Impulsive Decision: An impulsive behaviour is when one act quickly with no thought
to the consequences. An impulsive person is commonly described as hot-headed, rash,
unpredictable and unstable. It is simply a person’s reaction to situation in front of
others. Such decision is often intuitive one. It is inappropriate in the cases related to
academic choice, career choice, and relationship etc.
7. Escape: in this style, decision-making is avoided, by giving temporary solution and
escaping from the situation. Escape would be an appropriate style if one has to face
reality and is attempting to avoid it.
8. Compliance: Compliance refers to the act of obeying an order, rule, or request. It is an
integral part of decision-making. In this style, the decision is made by someone else
and the individuals has to obey the decision because of they are not comfortable to
take decision due to lack of sufficient information.
9. Safe playing: Safe playing refers as taking least risky decision. In this style, the
person chooses the option that has the least amount of risk. It is best option
particularly when high risk is involved in decision-making.
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Directive Behavioural
The above matrix shows that individual decision behaviour depends upon a combination of
tolerance for ambiguity and way of thinking. On the X axis we have way of thinking and on
the Y axis we have tolerance for ambiguity. If the tolerance level is high and way of thinking
is rational then individual decision style will be analytical. Likewise, if the tolerance level is
low and way of thinking is rational, individual decision style will be directive. If the tolerance
level is high and way of thinking is intuitive, the decision style will be conceptual and if the
tolerance level is low and way of thinking is intuitive, the decision style will be behavioural.
Group Decision Making Techniques:
(a) Brainstorming: Brainstorming is a process in which creative thinking is encouraged for
developing creative solution to problems by small groups of managers. Generally one of
them is given the role of leader of the group who throws light on the various aspects of
the problems and explains its nature to the other members. This technique does not offer a
readymade solution to the problem. Rather, aims to generate possible alternative solutions
and leads to evaluation for selecting the best one.
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Rules of Brainstorming:
(i) All the members sit together and start discussing the problems with generation
of creative ideas with tentative solution as a member of free association one by
one without any interruption by others.
(ii) Once, each one point of view on the problems is recorded in black and white
to make every member familiar with the ideas generated.
(iii) Again, they are given an opportunity to make improvements upon them.
(iv) Later on each member, one by one is allowed to give suggestion on the
various ideas so generated with the purpose to improve upon these ideas.
(v) In the subsequent session, ideas so generated are reviewed and alternatives
evaluated for selecting a suitable one.
(b) Delphi Technique: This is the technique in which a small group of specialised experts are
formed to express their opinion on the problem and its solution. The opinion expressed by
each expert independently is not made known to the others because anonymity is desired.
The expert does not know on whose response what new question has been framed.
In this technique the organisation after collecting the responses of experts to solve the
problems, the opinions of experts are consolidated and summarised by the group leader
and sent back to the experts for further analysis unless until a unanimous decision come
out to solve the problems.
The Delphi technique involves the following steps:
(i) Under this technique, the organisation prepares questionnaires in two or more sets on
the various aspects of the problems after analysing the sets of responded
questionnaire.
(ii) The first questionnaire is sent to experts to seek their responses independently and
after getting the responses of the experts, the group leader compiles and analyse
the responses.
(iii)Again the second new set of questionnaire is sent to the experts and they are asked to
respond. After receiving the response, it is analysed.
(iv) If any area remains untouched or untouched adequately, a third questionnaire may be
designed and sent, and the responses are again compiled and analysed.
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(v) The said process repeated unless until a unanimity develop on each aspect of the
problem.
(c) Nominal Group Technique: Under this technique, a group of individuals is formed to
address a particular problem. It resembles the brainstorming technique but is considered
to improve the effective of group decision-making because all the members of group are
physically present in the meeting but discussion among the group member is not allowed.
In this technique, a problem is presented before the group members to experience the
problem and then following steps take place:
(i) Each one is asked to write independently all the possible ideas to solve the
presented problem that come to their mind about it.
(ii) Thereafter, each member has to present their idea to the group.
(iii) Further, the members are asked to add new ideas to the list on the basis of the ideas
presented by others.
(iv) Once all possible ideas have surfaced and been recorded, the members may be
allowed to suggest a possible solution and comment on the ideas with their relative
merits and demerits.
(v) After this, the members privately vote on an idea and assign a particular rank to it
on the basis of priority of the alternative solution.
(vi) The ideas getting the highest aggregate ranking are selected as a solution to the
problem.
(d) Fish Bowl Technique: It a technique of role rotation in which a group of experts is
formed who sit around the table and the members of the group have opportunities to
express their viewpoints as a member as well as leaders in each round of discussion
which is more structured and direct in nature.
(i) The central place is occupied by a leader who expresses his opinion on the problem
with some solution for it. The members are allowed to ask questions and
clarification of the problem. Member present in the meeting put their point of view
one by one on leader’s opinion. Once his viewpoint is discussed fully and
understood, the leader gives up his chair to another member who now becomes the
leader.
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(ii) Again new second leader gives his viewpoint in the light of the views expressed by
the first leader. The members can ask questions based on the new leader’s ideas
which must stem from the first round of discussion.
(iii) This cycle of discussion continue till all the members have done their turn as a
group leader.
(iv) At the end, all the viewpoints and ideas are taken stock of and further discussed
collectively to arrive at a suitable solution.
Difference between individual decision and group decision
Best individual in a Identifying the best Greater commitment Group dynamics such
group usually individual can be to ideas as groupthink can
outperforms the group challenging occur
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IN-TEXT QUESTIONS
Q5. Which of the following statement is True or False?
a) The use of techniques improves the efficiency of decision-making.
b) Brainstorming technique does not offer a readymade solution to the
problem.
c) In the Delphi technique, the opinions of experts are collected in multiple sets
of questionnaire.
d) Nominal Group technique resembles the brainstorming technique.
Q6. Fill in the blanks:
a) Brainstorming aims to generate possible ............... solutions and leads to
........... for selecting the best one.
b) In Delphi technique the opinion expressed by experts is ...............to the
others.
c) Fish bowl technique in a technique of ................
d) Under the nominal group technique, the ideas getting the
...................aggregate ranking are selected as a solution to the problem.
Decision making process is concerned with the developing a consensus that suits to solving a
problem. The steps in decision making have been identified by various authors has been
summarised as follows:
The rational choice paradigm assumes that decision makers follow the systematic process
which is discussed below:
Step-1: Identify the problem: The first step of decision-making begins with the identification
of the problem which is a challenging task. A problem may define as the discrepancy
between the current and the desired situation i.e., the gap between “what is” and “what ought
to be.” The efficiency of decision-making depends upon definition of the problem. Suppose,
the management identified the problem that sales data is not readily available for evaluating
whether sales target is achieved or not. It is found that sales representative who works in the
field do not have digital mode of recording data. Further, it is noticed that sales
representatives send a requisition for laptops which was not entertained by the department.
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Step-2: Identify Decision Criteria: Criteria that define what’s relevant to resolving an
identified problem. The relevant decision criteria, in regards to the purchase of a laptop may
be such as price, display quality, and memory that will help guide the final decision that can
be depicted as:
● Memory and Storage
● Battery life
● Warranty
● Display quality
● Price
● Carrying weight
Step-3: Allocating weight to the criteria: A simple way to assign weight is to give the most
important criteria a weight of 10 and then assign weights to the rest using that standard, Such
as:
CPU 8
Battery life 6
Warranty 2
Display quality 3
Carrying weight 0
Price 1
Step-4: Develop Alternatives: At this stage, the decision maker requires to list viable
alternatives using creative thinking and innovativeness that could resolve the problem.
Developing alternatives need to exercise cognitive flexibility.
Step-5: Analyse the alternatives: Once alternatives have been identified, a decision maker
must evaluate each alternative with pros and cons in the light of the solution of the problems
by giving due consideration to risk involved, time consumed, efficiency of the alternatives
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and resource position along with ethical and moral value. For this the management can take
the help of some experts in regards to viable, scalable and worthy of investment.
Step-6: Selecting the best alternative: This step is concerned with choosing the best
alternative or the one that generates the highest scores in solving the problem which is cost
effectiveness and produce synergy effect. Selecting the best alternative does not mean that
rest of the alternatives are worthless. Other alternatives are ranked as plan B, C and so on.
Step-7: Implementation of Decision: Decisions are implemented to achieve the desired
outcome. It involves a series of actions and utilisation of resources. It must be noted that the
lower level managers who have to implement a decision must participate in the process
because they will help to re-evaluate. Before implementing a decision, necessary structural,
administrative and logical arrangements are made.
Step-8: Reviewing Decisions: The last step in the decision making process involves
reviewing the outcomes with regards to the resolved problems. We should access to what
extent objectives are achieved. If the review shows that the problem still exists, then the
manager needs to assess what went wrong.
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(e) This model also assumes that the manager have the ability to apply the criteria to analyse
the collected information, develop alternatives and evaluate alternatives in the context of
the defined goal.
(f) Every information is fully known and has no time or cost constraints.
(g) The manager must have a desire to optimise/ maximise benefits by selecting the best
course of action.
2. Bounded Rationality Model:
This model is also known as Behavioural model or Administrative Man model.
In real-life situation, man cannot be always fully rational in his approach to make decision to
solve all types of problems. This is the basis of developing behavioural approach of decision-
making. This model is more pragmatic as it considers several factors that affect real-life
decision-making in practice.
Herbert A. Simon propounded the theory ‘bounded rationality’ which states that the norm of
rationality is bounded by information limitations or inadequacy of information which
deviates from the rationality to solve the problems.
The major limitations that bound the managers are as follows:
(a) Uncertainties of environment: The future environment is full of complexities and
uncertainties that cannot be predicted with a high degree of accuracy. Therefore,
managers have to accommodate their choice accordingly.
(b) Conflicting Objectives: Generally organisations set multiple objectives such as primary
objective and secondary objectives to serve the interest of organisation as well as to meet
out social responsibility that may be conflicting to each other.
(c) Time Constraints: The concept of rationality is also bounded by time constraints because
it is time consuming to process the whole steps involved in decision-making and the
nature of complexity of problems.
(d) Organisational Constraints: The philosophy of the organisation, power structure,
multiplicity of goals, existence of informal groups and set of organisational plans for
which managers may be bounded to make decisions which are more practicable and
feasible even by defying the norms of rationality.
3. Intuitive Decision Model:
When managers reach at a decision without conscious reasoning it is called intuitive decision.
This is one of the most commonly used models for decision making. As per the Burke &
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Miller, 1999 survey, 89% of the managers sometimes used intuitive decisions and 59% used
often. Intuitive decisions are not based on gut feelings. These are backed by experience and
so not completely baseless.
Ethics generally refer as the set of moral ideology, shaped by social norms, cultural practices
and religious influences that guide a human’s behaviour about do’s and don’ts. In decision-
making only economic implication is not involved but their value and ethical dimensions are
found to be equally important. The ethical behaviour of a decision maker plays an important
role in those managerial decisions that directly involve the interests and objectives of society
such as policies regarding recruitment, selection, dismissal, wages and salary etc.
For example, a decision to switch over to a new technology should be made by taking into
account not only by economic implication but also ethical ones which require a high degree
of honesty and integrity and depends on individual personality and organisational
environment.
An individual or group can use the following three criteria to make such decision:
1. Utilitarian criterion: Under this criterion, managers evaluate the decisions and actions
on the basis of their consequences. While taking a decision, they ensure that it will
produce the greatest good for the large number of people.
2. Criterion of right: This criterion holds that all people have fundamental rights
provided in the constitution of India particularly the right to property, freedom of
expression, knowledge, privacy etc. It protects individuals from injury but hinders
productivity and efficiency. So decision maker should respect and protect these rights.
3. Criterion of justice: It is said that justice delayed is justice denied. It urges upon
decision maker to be fair, impartial and equitable with all class of people especially
less powerful and unrepresented group of people while making decisions which
ensure equitable distribution of cost and benefits among parties involved in it.
James Weber suggested the following guidelines to add an ethical dimension to decision
making:
1. By formulating and implementing an appropriate policy and code of ethics.
2. By using a formal committee to ensure that a code of ethics is observed by the
employees.
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IN-TEXT QUESTIONS
Q7. Which of the following statement is True or False?
a) Decisions are always made to get them implemented.
b) Developing alternatives course of action requires to list viable alternative.
c) Rational decision-making model is also known as Normative Model.
d) Ethics requires a high degree of honesty and integrity and depends on
individual personality and organisational environment.
Q8. Fill in the blanks:
a. Decision making process is concerned with the developing a .................that
suits to ..........problem.
b. The first step of decision making begins with the........................
c. Bounded Rationality model is also known as....................................
d. In decision-making only ..............implication is not involve but
their...........and ...............dimension is equally important.
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9.7 SUMMARY
CASE STUDY 1
Mr. Vikas is a customer in an India public sector bank. Mr. Vikas enjoys internet
banking facility with the bank. One day he visited the bank branch and requested with
the concerned clerk to make a fixed deposit by debiting his saving bank account. Instead
of honoring the request made by the Mr. Vikas, the clerk refused to do so and said to
Mr. Vikas; since you have internet banking that why I could not help you. Please make
online fixed deposit. Again, Mr. Vikas requested by saying that internet is not property
working due to weak signal, but the clerk did not consider the problem and again
repeated the same. Mr. Vikas made a complaint with the branch manager but in spite of
helping him, the branch manager said do whatever the concerned clerk has said.
Q1. What should Mr. Vikas do? Who is at fault? Suggest a solution.
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CASE STUDY 2
The Managing Director's driver had been with the company for 25 years. He was very
good at his job. One day he took the car home after dropping the Managing Director late
at night. While driving back to his home, he met with an accident and kills a girl
crossing the road. Although it was not his mistake, the court punishes him. The
personnel officer in the company recommends dismissal of his appointment.
Q1. What should the company do? Retain him or fire him?
9.8 GLOSSARY
Brainstorming: A freewheel, face-to-face meeting where group members are not allowed to
criticised but are encouraged to express freely, generate as many as possible, and build on the
ideas of others.
Bounded rationality: The view that people are bounded in their decision-making
capabilities, including access to limited information, limited information processing, and
tendency toward satisfying rather than maximising when making choices.
Conflict: A process in which one party perceives that his or her interests are being opposed
or negatively affected by another party.
Decision-making: The consensus process of making choices among alternatives with the
intention of moving towards some desired state of affairs.
Ethics: The study of moral principles or values that determine whether actions are right or
wrong and outcomes are good or bad.
Group decision-making: where the members or subordinates may share the authority of
decision making with the chief executive.
Norms: The informal rules and shared expectations that groups establish to regulate the
behaviour of their members.
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9.11 REFERENCES
Robbins S. P., & Judge, T. A. (2017). Organisational Behaviour. 17th Ed. Pearson.
Pareek, U., & Khanna, S. (2016). Understanding Organizational Behaviour. 4th Ed. Oxford.
Mullins, L. J. (2010). Management & Organisational Behaviour. 9th Ed. Printice Hall.
Singh., K. (2015). Organisational Behaviour Text and Cases. 3rd Ed. Vikas Publication.
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LESSON-10
STRESS AND WELL BEING AT WORK
Dr. Jyotika Bahl
Assistant Professor
Gargi College
University of Delhi
submittojyotika@gmail.com
STRUCTURE
10.8 Summary
10.9 Glossary
10.10 Answers to In-text Questions
10.11 Self-Assessment Questions
10.12 References
10.13 Suggested Readings
⮚ The need for devising strategies to deal with stress both at organisation and individual
level
10.2 INTRODUCTION
This chapter is designed to provide an understanding of the terms- stress and well-being
which assume importance due to challenges and opportunities being faced by employees due
to multiple role playing, work life imbalance, demanding nature of jobs, high competition,
workforce diversity and flexible work schedules.
Humans in the organisation can stay committed, loyal and engaged if they experience
optimum level of stress and are able to maintain a good standard of well-being. Often
management of stress and maintenance of well-being are ignored by employees and the
organisations. But the need for handling stress is increasing because of complexity of work,
role conflict, task demand, life trauma and so on. Most of the time employees are unable to
identify stress and get addicted to smoking or even drugs to provide the much needed relief
from stress. Thus timely identification and management of stress is the need of the hour.
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Well-being is increasingly deliberated on various platforms to promote the idea of not only
physical well-being but also emotional and mental well-being. The concern for holistic
human health has gained importance as employees are burdened with tasks and forget to
prioritise their well-being over other unimportant tasks. The understanding and importance of
the concept of well-being is relevant to the organisations also as it helps increase
productivity, reduce absenteeism and turnover. Organisations need to promote the idea of
well-being among the employees.
According to Selye, “Stress is the non-specific response of the body to any demand made
upon it.”
R S Schuler described “Stress as a dynamic condition in which an individual is confronted
with an opportunity, constraint and demand related to what he desires and for which the
output is perceived to be both uncertain and important.”
Stress is associated with opportunity, constraints and demand. Constraints prevent us from
achieving what we desire whereas demand is something that we desire. For example, while
confronting the annual performance evaluation at work we encounter opportunities,
constraints and demand. Good performance will entail an opportunity for promotion and
higher salary, while poor performance may result in loss of job. Clearly a rational human will
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demand and even aspire for a promotion. But performance at work is constrained by
resources, time, politics and other conditions.
Stress is not necessarily bad in itself. It no doubt has a negative connotation attached but
stress may also have a positive value. For example, the front line workers during covid were
exposed to risk of virus transmission, uneven and long working hours and uncertainty due to
non-availability of medical treatment. They were undergoing huge stress. But an optimum
amount of stress is necessary to motivate them to undertake breakthrough research in medical
treatment. Thus stress is not always negative but has positive value as well.
Stress is additive. New stressors may be added to previous stressors to create a high level of
stress. A single incident of stress does not have the potential to create a feeling of stress or
tension in an individual. In order to appreciate the stress level in a person, one needs to sum
up his opportunity stress, constraint stress and demand stress.
From the discussion and understanding of stress, the following characteristics of stress are
evident.
1. Stress is an experience of physiological and psychological imbalance within a person.
Stress can have both positive and negative connotations. Stress is positive if
experienced within limits, for example the pressure of deadline for completion of an
assignment is important for employees to motivate them to meet the finish line. Stress
experienced by a deserving employee who has lost an opportunity of promotion due to a
biased performance appraisal is negative. Potential Stress can become actual stress if
there is uncertainty associated with an important outcome.
2. Stress is additive and it accumulates in the mind of a person.
3. It is a dynamic condition which is associated with opportunity, constraints and demand.
4. It is natural and unavoidable. Everybody experiences stress irrespective of the hierarchy
in the organisation, status or even personal conditions.
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IN-TEXT QUESTIONS
The sources of stress can be categorised into two factors- organisational stressors and
individual stressors.
10.4.1 Organisational Stressors: The organisational stressors are discussed below:
1. Task demands - They are the stressors associated with the job a person performs. Some
jobs by nature are more stressful than others. For example, jobs of professionals like
lawyers may need long hours of research to prepare case arguments. In some unusual
cases they may be required to refer to judgments of foreign courts or writings of
renowned jurists. Doctors and surgeons may be required to be available 24X7 for
emergency cases and thus might need to make extra effort to maintain work life balance
as their jobs are demanding. Similar holds true for defence personnel, airline staff,
football/ cricket coaches. Even factory workers or non-managerial employees working
in hazardous industries such as coal mines are exposed to health hazards causing them
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stress. The contractual nature of skilled jobs may make the workers vulnerable for want
of job security.
2. Role demands - The source of stress in organisational role includes role ambiguity, role
conflict, responsibility towards people and things and other stressors. Role ambiguity
includes lack of clarity about work expectations, objectives, colleagues related to
responsibilities of the job. For example, a new recruit at work might not fully
understand the responsibilities due to a poor orientation program or due to lack of
training. Role conflict arises when workers are exposed to conflicting job demands or
required to do things which they do not want to do. For example, an employee performs
multiple roles at the same time, a lady lawyer may be arguing cases in court, required to
prepare for cases, may need to fulfil responsibilities as mother, wife, daughter and so
on. Responsibility towards things may also cause stress, for example, a cashier in the
bank might be entrusted with safe keeping and dealing in cash. The mismatch of cash
balance may be a cause of stress for him. Similarly, a factory supervisor entrusted with
keeping boilers at correct temperature, to avoid hazardous substances escaping the
factory premises. Ensuring safety standards is stressful during natural calamities.
3. Interpersonal relations at work - Maintaining interpersonal relations with superiors,
colleagues and subordinates is the prerequisite to avoiding stress. But sometimes
superiors, colleagues or even subordinates are not cooperative, thereby increasing the
chances of stress. Bad interpersonal relations may be due to different orientations,
philosophy, personality, interest and so on. Stressful interpersonal relations among
superior-subordinate may be due to task-oriented approach, autocratic leadership style
or misunderstanding of motivational needs of subordinates. Whatever may be the
reason, it has the effect of lowering the morale of the subordinate, increasing the
absenteeism from work and even job hopping. Colleagues may be unable to maintain
cordial relations because of difference of interest, opinion, unhealthy competition
between them, desire for achieving higher goals in less time.
4. Organisation structure and climate - Stress can be generated because of employee
organisation mismatch. For example, if the employee does not relate to the philosophy
of the organisation or objectives of the organisation, the employee may find it difficult
to adjust with the organisation. Lack of belongingness, poor communication, scarce
opportunity in decision making, practice of politics by organisation members are other
reasons for stress in employees.
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5. Organisation leadership - The leadership style can also be a cause of stress in some
cases. For example, an employee needing support and guidance may not receive it as
his leader shows no concern or even compassion for him. The employee would
naturally feel demotivated and experience stress. Another employee, for instance, may
want active participation in decision making but if disallowed an opportunity to
participate in decision making process may experience stress. The mismatch of
leadership style with the requirements of the employee may be cause of concern for the
management.
6. Group pressures - Employees may feel stressed when there is group pressure to
conform to the decided output or norms. For example, an employee may be willing to
produce more than the output decided by the group for getting promotion or a raise in
pay but may be restricted by the group. This may cause stress as his personal goals
conflict with the group pressure. Acceptance and observance of group norms may also
cause stress as an employee may not personally agree to the same. For example, during
a strike the labourers may be expected to abandon work but a labourer may feel the
need to work for his daily wage. Thus group norms can be a source of tension and stress
among workers.
10.4.2 Individual stressors: Some individual factors in relation to personal or professional
life may be a cause of stress among individuals. They are discussed as follows.
1. Career development - There are numerous stressors in relation to career development
including job security and status incongruity. Individuals are keen on career
development and would prefer job security. Situations like contractual nature of job or
loss of job due to fear of obsolescence of skills, redundancy or even early retirement
may cause potential tension for employees. Situations of status incongruity which
include under or over promotion or even frustration from attainment of career ceiling
may also cause stress.
2. Personality profiles - Individuals possess different personalities – type A and type B.
While type A experience a chronic sense of urgency and a competitive drive and they
aspire to achieve more and more in life in less and less time. Type B personality is
totally opposite. Both personalities require a different environment to flourish and grow.
Non-availability of such opportunity may be a cause of stress and tension in the
individual.
3. Life change - Changes in life of an employee both professional and personal may be a
source of stress. Different situations may have varying impacts. For example, divorce
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may be considered more traumatic for one whereas loss of livelihood may be more
traumatic for others. Different situations represent different intensity of life change
units (LCU) in a person’s life. Negative events like trouble with the boss, turnover or
biased evaluation of performance and positive events like marriage or change of house
have a unique value or LCU. Major negative changes may cause stress, depression and
even health issues. Thus it is essential that individuals handle only that threshold of
LCU which doesn’t set in and cause tension.
4. Life trauma - It is an upheaval in an individual’s life that alters his or her attitude,
emotions or even behaviour. For example, if an individual is experiencing a life change
because of divorce, there is certainly stress and potential ground for health issues to
surface. The individual also experiences emotional turmoil during the actual divorce
process and the court proceedings. This turmoil may be in the form of life trauma and
will cause stress which may creep in the work space.
Life trauma is similar to life change but a narrow term which has shorter term focus. Major
life traumas which may cause stress include marital problems (like domestic violence,
divorce, custody of children), family difficulties and health problems. For example, an
individual having knee injury may have to restrict his physical activities, may even require
giving up his hobbies of playing sports and may feel stressed. Similarly, an individual being a
victim of domestic violence or dowry demand may be going through tough times which may
affect their concentration at work and ultimately affect their performance at work.
10.4.3 Environmental Stressors: Environmental factors also influence the level of stress
among the employees in an organisation. Some environmental factors causing stress are
discussed below.
1. Economic uncertainty - Changes in business cycle create economic uncertainty. When
economy experiences a contracting trend, people experience anxiety in relation to job
security. Slowdown of business may reduce the profitability and have a spillover effect
on the employment of employees, salary and other benefits.
2. Political uncertainty - A stable political environment would relatively be less stressful
in comparison to an unstable political environment.
3. Technological uncertainty - Obsolescence of technology is another reason for tension
and stress as it requires the employee to upgrade himself with the latest skills. New
innovations in technology may render the present skill and experience redundant. The
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evolution of technology, robotics and automation are a threat to employee and can be a
cause for stress.
4. Terrorism - Terrorism witnessed at the global level is another major source of stress.
For example, employees in Israel have faced this threat for long and have learnt to deal
with it. The instances such as 9/11, cyber threats and cyber-crime pose a challenge and
risk to the health and well-being of the employees.
IN-TEXT QUESTIONS
Stress is indispensable in life. Everyone experiences stress for some or the other reason. With
growing competition, complexity of life and commercialisation of activities, stress free life is
a myth. Stress has an impact on the health of an individual and the life of an organisation.
10.5.1 Consequences for an Individual
1. Physical Consequences – Stress has the ability to cause unnecessary toxin in the body
and harm the health and well-being of an individual. Minor ailments like headache,
backache, stomach or intestinal issues, skin disorders like acne or hives are common.
Major health issues like heart disease or stroke can be the harmful impacts of stress.
Depending on the perception of stress, an individual may experience either minor or
major health disorders.
2. Behaviour Consequences – An individual may experience a behavioural change
because of stress. Stressed people may become aggressive easily or may even be violent
at times. In stressful situations they seek support of drugs or alcohol. They might even
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be addicted to smoking. Studies show that people smoke in stressful circumstances and
get so addicted to smoking that they smoke even in the absence of the stressful
environment. Stress has the potential of making a stressor prone to accidents and can
even cause appetite disorder.
3. Psychological Consequences – Extreme stress may impact the mental health and well-
being of individuals. Stressed people may experience depression, lack of sleep, over
eating, loss of appetite, etc. They may become restless in many situations and may even
experience panic attacks.
IN-TEXT QUESTIONS
9. Which of the following is the change in behavior due to stress (a) addiction to
drugs (b) aggressive nature (c) smoking (d) all of the above
10. The adverse effects of stress on the organization include (a) reduced productivity
(b) heart disease (c) loss of popularity
12. Stress of an individual effects mind, body and behavior (a) true (b) false
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3. The motivation, morale, commitment, attitude and job satisfaction might suffer. The
employee may be unwilling to put his best at work and might look for options for job
change. Stressed people may be prone to complain about unimportant matters.
4. Decision making may suffer as stressed individuals may lack the calm and patience to
take the correct decision. Stressed individual may be inclined to make poor decisions.
5. Stress adversely affects the communication and human relations at work.
Since each one of us experiences stress in different aspects of life. It becomes increasingly
important to devise strategies to deal with stress both at organisational and individual level.
Some strategies to deal with stress are discussed below.
10.6.1 Strategies to deal with stress at organisation level
1. Organisation Role Clarity – Employees experience stress when they are unaware of
their role in the organisation. This could be due to role conflict or role ambiguity. For
example, if a project manager is required to report to two bosses and if the instructions
of the bosses contradict each other, the manager will feel the need for clarity. Thus the
organisation needs to focus on clarifying the roles expected from employees. Role
analysis is a technique that can be used to analyse what the job entails and what are the
expectations. Breaking the job into various components will help clarify the job of the
job holder for the entire system. This can help reduce stress because of unrealistic
expectations.
2. Job Redesign – Job can be a source of tension among the employees. Designing the job
properly by inserting appropriate tasks and preparing work schedules can help ease the
stress and streamline the work.
3. Stress Reduction and Stress Management Programmes – Stress reduction programmes
aim to identify the organisational stressors and reduce their effects by redesigning,
reallocation, workloads, job variety or improving supervisory skills. Stress management
programmes aim to train employees or their work groups to manage their stress
symptoms effectively.
4. Collateral Programmes (Personal Wellness) – These are those programmes which are
created for the well-being of the employees. Organisations adopt stress management
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4. Meditation – Meditation can help reduce stress and restore inner balance. It requires
quiet, concentrated inner thought in order to rest the body physically and emotionally. It
helps to calm in stressful situations temporarily.
5. Support Group – Any individual has primary and secondary groups. Primary groups are
those with which a person relates very closely like family and close friends. Primary
group can provide support during stress. Individuals can share their worries, stress and
feelings with them. Support groups have the potential to boost the morale of the person
and keep them going.
IN-TEXT QUESTIONS
14. Which of the following needs to be managed to reduce stressful situations (a)
role ambiguity (b) role conflict (c) role overload (d) all of the above?
15. Taking power naps or breaks in between work can help reduce stress (a) true
(b) false
16. ____ helps in reducing stress by talking to expert thereby releasing tension
and stress
10.7 WELL-BEING
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Positive emotion It implies the ability to connect to happiness, stay optimistic and view
past, present and future from a constructive perspective.
Waddell and Burton define well-being as “the subjective state of being happy, healthy,
contented, comfortable and satisfied in one’s life.”
IN-TEXT QUESTIONS
17. Which of the following is not one of the five pillars in the PERMA model (a)
positive feeling (b) engagement (c) relationship (d) meaning (e) accomplishment.
18. Relationships include (a) connections (b) quality relations based on love,
intimacy, emotional bonds (c) both (a) and (b) (d) none of the above.
19. The study of well-being requires study of (a) individual factors (b)
organizational factors (c) societal factors (d) all of them
10.8 SUMMARY
This chapter focuses on employee health, well-being and managing stress. Understanding the
importance of well-being, health and stress can help in organisational success, increasing
productivity and performance of employees. At the same time it reduces chances of
absenteeism, turnover and accidents at workplace. It also helps employee enhance their
loyalty, commitment and satisfaction. Healthy and stress free employee can be an asset for
organisations. Thus maintaining optimum level of stress and good standard of well-being
should be one of the goals of an organisation.
10.9 GLOSSARY
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Job redesign involves designing the job by inserting appropriate tasks and preparing work
schedules.
Well Being is more than just feeling good and happy, it reflects the amount of flourishing
and optimal psychosocial functioning.
1. Sam has been facing the issue of role ambiguity and is reporting to two bosses.
Sometimes he gets contradictory instructions and orders to execute. In this situation he
is unable to decide what to do, he feels pressured and is even thinking of quitting the
job. Help him identify the source of stress and suggest ways in which he can deal with
stress and workplace pressure.
2. Some stress is indispensable and necessary to make the job challenging and keep the
motivation high. Comment on the statement.
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3. Discuss the organisational sources of stress. Can the organisation reduce the possibility
of stress among the employees? Discuss.
4. The study of Well-Being is gaining significance today. Discuss the concept of well-
being and its scope.
10.12 REFERENCES
Marko Divjak (2021), How to enhance the Employee Well-Being at work, International
Journal of Management, 10, 109-114.
Robbins, S.P, Organisation Behaviour, Pearson Education.
Schulte, P & Vainio H (2010), Well-being at work- overview and perspective, Scand Journal
of Work Environ Health, 36(5), 422-429.
Singh and Chhabra, Organisation Theory and Behaviour, Dhanpat Rai &Co.
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LESSON-11
STRUCTURE
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11.2 INTRODUCTION
This is the last chapter in which we are going to learn about the organizational structure.
Though this is the last chapter, but its importance cannot be undermined. It is difficult to
imagine a business that has no organizational structure. The need of organizational structure
arises as it helps in bringing role clarity and reporting structure, helping in making effective
decisions. It also helps in ascertaining the accountability status of employees falling at
different levels in the organizational structure. Organizational Structure is necessary for
running a successful business because it improves workflow and efficiency, promotes
communication, identifies company needs, and aligns employees with company goals. It
provides leverage and can help enhance operating performance.
The structure supports the organizational objectives and implementation of the organizational
strategy. Different organizational structures have their own advantages, disadvantages,
characteristics and suitability.
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In an organisation jobs and tasks are formally designed, coordinated, divided and grouped.
The organisational structure narrates information flows from top to bottom and vice versa
according to the roles, responsibilities and levels of authority within the enterprise. Most
importantly, it identifies who supervises to whom and who reports to whom. It also provides
for the appropriate position of superior and subordinate. It describes the organizational
hierarchy in terms of different functions, roles, responsibilities, supervision, etc.
A good organizational structure and design is usually illustrated through an organisation chart
which develops an environment where employees can work effectively with improved
communication, increased productivity, and inspired innovation. Thus, an organizational
structure has these elements – (1) task assigned in the organization to individuals; (2) line of
authority, responsibility for the task, reporting requirements, span of control and hierarchical
levels in the organization; and (3) develop systems across departments for efficient
coordination among the employees.
11.3.1 Purpose, Role and Nature of Organizational Structure:
Purpose of organizational Structure:
The purpose of an organization structure is:
a) To help the organization to achieve its objectives,
b) To help the employees to complete their work effectively and efficiently.
c) To allocate employees designated work roles and responsibilities,
d) To help management to coordinate and control activities, and
e) To show how information flows throughout the organization.
Role of Structure: The role of structure is essentially to:
i. Clarify roles and responsibilities, and
ii. Determine who had power and authority to make certain decisions.
Nature of organizational structure:
The nature of organizational structure is to understand whether it is centralized or
decentralized.
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(a) Centralized Structure: In this type of structure, decision-making is centralised and the
decisions are taken by the top management. Under this structure, the top level
management makes most of the decisions and has tight control over the different
departments and divisions. It has a top-down approach which tells that employees and
managers are responsible for the successful execution of decisions but the employees
falling lower in the chain of command play a minimal role in the process of decision-
making.
This structure could be useful when the environment is stable, the company is large, and
the decisions are relatively minor.
This structure has following advantages:
(iii) Clear communication and chain of command
(iv) Cost reduction, i.e., administrative cost
(v) Fast implementation of decisions
(vi) Improved work quality and reduction in task replication
Centralised structure has following disadvantages:
Dictatorship in terms of leadership
(a) Work delays due to dependency on management.
(b) Employees feel disconnected in result reduce work efficiency.
(c) Lack of authority in managers.
(b) Decentralized Structure: In this structure, decision-making power regarding day-to-day
tasks is distributed and various departments and divisions provide autonomy in varying
degree to the supervisors at the middle level and/or lower level. It increases the
responsibility and accountability of middle and lower level supervisors.
This structure has following advantages:
Better customer service
(a) Better staff motivation
(b) Quick decisions
(c) Effective communication
(d) Improved supervision and control
Decentralised structure has following advantages:
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Difficult to coordinate
(a) Expensive process
(b) Unnecessary cost increase due to benefits by external factors.
11.3.2 Determinants of Organizational Structure:
The primary determinants are:
g) Strategy: A strategy is defined as a long-term plan of action designed to achieve a
particular goal which gives an edge over the competitors. The objectives are derived from
the organization’s strategy, hence, strategy and structure should be closely linked. The
strategy focuses on innovation, cost minimization, and the structural design that best work
with each other.
h) Technology: It refers to how an organization transfers its inputs (financial, human and
physical resources) into outputs (products or services). Organizations with continuous
technology have an organic structure at the top and mechanistic structure at lower levels.
The relationship between technology and structure depends upon the degree of
routineness of the activities. Routine technology leads to centralized control if there are
minimum rules and regulations. If formalization is high, routine technology can be
accompanied by decentralization. In general, the more routine the technology, the more
mechanistic the structure can be, and organization with more non-routine technology are
more likely to have organic structures.
i) Size: It refers to the capacity, the number of personnel, outputs (customers and sales) and
resources in an organization. If the size of the employees is large, it tends to have more
specialization, departmentalization, centralization and rules and regulations than do small
organization. Once an organization grows up to a certain size, size as such starts having
less influence on structure.
j) Environment: Every organization has to work and survive in an uncertain and dynamic
environment which includes suppliers, customers, competitors, government regulatory
agencies, public pressure groups etc. So, the structure is affected by its environment.
Static environments create significantly less uncertainty for managers than do dynamic
ones. Since, uncertainty is a threat to an organization’s effectiveness; management tries to
minimize it through adjustments in the organization’s structure. It is advisable to use
mechanistic structure in stable environment and organic structure in dynamic
environment.
k) Differentiation-integration: Organizations should be structured differently suited in
different environments to achieve the best ‘fit’ to their environment. It is the degree to
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which the various departments or sub-units within the organization specialize to perform
different activities.
l) Power and Control: It is related to decision-making and allocation of resources. A more
skilful manager can control a greater number of staff.
m) Chain and Span: It also determines organizational designs. The chain of command is the
line along with orders and decisions are passed down from the top to the bottom of the
hierarchy. In a hierarchy, span of control is the number of people who report to one
manager. The more people under the control of one manager, it indicates the wider span
of control and less people means a narrow span of control. A tall organization has a larger
number of managers with a narrow span of control and vice-versa.
IN-TEXT QUESTIONS
Q1. Which of the following statement is TRUE or FALSE?
a) An organisational structure is usually illustrated through an organization
chart.
b) Organizational structure describes the organizational hierarchy in terms of
different functions, roles, responsibilities, supervision, etc.
c) Organizational structure show how information flows throughout the
organization.
d) Centralize structure has a top-down approach.
e) Decentralize structure increases the responsibility and accountability of
middle and lower level supervisors.
Q2. Fill in the blanks:
a) Organizational structure defines how…………..are directed towards the
achievement of organizational aims.
b) Organizational Structure ………………. what employee’s do, whom they
report to, and how decisions are made across the business.
c) There are following ……… key elements that management need to address
while designing their organization’s structure.
d) ………………refers to how an organization transfers its inputs into outputs.
e) Environment may be …………..and external.
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Organizational Design provides the structure for business processes and the framework for an
organization to deliver its core qualities. Choice of the organisation’s structure is dependent
on six elements as mentioned below:
a) Departmentalization: basis of grouping of the jobs together is described by the
departmentalization.
b) Work Specialization: it describes the degree of subdivision of activities into jobs.
c) Span of Control: defines the number of subordinates which a manager can effectively
and efficiently supervise.
d) Chain of Command: it describes to whom the subordinates will report either
individually or in group.
e) Formalisation: the degree of rules and regulations at different levels of management
which guides the employees.
f) Centralization and decentralization: it describes the degree of the authority to take a
decision.
11.4.1 Simple, Bureaucratic, and Matrix Designs
The three organizational designs are mentioned below:
1. The Simple Structure: it is characterized by a low degree of departmentalization, little
formalization, wide spans of control, and centralization of authority in a single person.
2. The Bureaucratic: This structure comes with highly routine operating tasks achieved
through specialization, much formalized rules and regulations, tasks that are grouped
into functional departments, centralized authority, narrow spans of control, and
decision making that follows the chain of command.
3. The Matrix Structure: it creates dual lines of authority and combines functional and
product departmentalization.
11.4.2 Models of Organizational Structure
It revolves around two organizational forms which are as follows:
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● Disadvantages:
c. Most suited and skilled employees can be picked by the supervisors for the projects.
d. The employees are sent back to their functional department once the project is
completed.
e. Coordination and control is the key to success of project.
Disadvantages:
(d) Every employee has two bosses which violates the principle of unity of commands.
(e) Profitability and productivity are compromised if employees are indiscipline.
(f) Organizational relationships become very complex.
3. Network Structures:
A networking structure includes the linking of numerous, separate organizations to optimize
their interaction in order to accomplish a common goal. Company with multiple locations
with different functions uses this structure to share resources with another company to
collaborate with each other. Networking requires synergy and a high level of collaboration.
Advantages:
a. The outsourcing nature of network structure provides companies with the advantages
of lower costs, more focus, and increased flexibility.
b. Outsourcing allows saving money as they don’t have to bear the expense of setting up
a department for the same purpose.
c. It gives the flexibility to change their processes and the ability to focus on their core
functions.
Disadvantages:
a. Creates lot of confusion when similar things are done by many offices or freelancers.
4. Spaghetti Structure:
It refers to a flat, flexible or lack of organisational structure characterised by ambiguous job
boundaries and extensive delegation of task and project responsibilities to autonomous
teams.
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Features:
i. Lack of structure of organisation
ii. No employee had a desk or office of their own, or a role except one they chose for
themselves from a list of projects on a bulletin board.
iii. Project based organisation (staff initiate projects and assemble teams)
iv. Multiple roles
v. Transparency (knowledge is shared throughout the organisation)
The key characteristics of a spaghetti organization are choice (staff initiate projects and
assemble teams; individuals invited to join a project can decline); multiple roles (the project
approach creates multi-disciplined individuals); and transparency (knowledge is shared
throughout the organization).
5. Fishnet Structure:
The fishnet organization is a new organizational form. It is a temporary flexible organization.
It is dynamic and adaptable to situations, opportunities and influences from its environment.
Features:
9. Flexible
10. Form and reform varied patterns
11. Middle manager may be at one being at the apex, at another time in the middle.
12. Rearrange it quickly while retaining its inherent strength.
13. Allows any structure to be woven together electrically and altered as needed.
6. Virtual Organisation:
The members of the virtual organisation may never meet each other face to face and
communicate through telecommunications. With the business going global, emergence of
virtual organisations facilitate quick decision making. The organization may form virtual
groups, who work together to achieve a common goal using video conferencing supported
computer technology, to communicate and achieve results.
7. Learning Organisation:
Learning organisation has the ability to continually change structure. Accordingly, based
on the feedback internals processes are also modified to suit the present need of the
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organisation. Success mantra of the organization depends on fast changing the structures
to suit the specific need of the organization as per the changing environment.
IN-TEXT QUESTIONS
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on the performance level of the employees. So, the structure and culture must be open,
innovative and creative in which the employees can easily adjust and gain satisfaction
from the work environment. If the structure and culture is rigid or centralized, the
performance will be average and normal because the rigid structures do not allow
freedom. On the other hand, the decentralized structure allows the employees to
participate in the business and decision-making process which motivates them to perform
better and stay loyal to the organization.
b) Culture and Employees Structure Preference:
The national culture greatly influences the preference for structure. Organizations that
operate with people of diverse culture, find employees much more accepting of
mechanistic structures than where employees come from low power distance countries.
So, organizations need to consider cultural differences along with individual differences.
c) Culture and Boundaryless Organization:
In Boundaryless organisation there is very little face to face communication between
employees. Employees mainly communicate using technology, such as text, email, social
media, and various other virtual methods of communication. The key features of this
organization are participative decision-making, cross-hierarchical teams and 360 degree
performance appraisals with minimal practice of ranks and status.
Boundaryless organizations play a significant role in eliminating cultural barriers, as
people from different cultures and backgrounds can work at the same organization under
a harmonious work environment.
Employees do not have to come to the office all the time, there are usually flexible
working schedules which allow employees to work at the time that is most convenient for
them, especially when they’re working from a different country in an entirely different
time zone. This makes it easier for the employees to achieve work-life balance. It also
develops a very strong work ethic in them.
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IN-TEXT QUESTIONS
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CASE STUDY
Nucor pioneered the mini-mill concept, built new plants from scratch, promoted from
within, and remained a domestic company. Management practices of Nucor have been
successful and effective for more than five decades in spite of Nucor doesn’t appear to
have mastered—how to structure itself.
The organizational structure at Nucor is flat to an extreme. There are three layers of
decentralized management separating the CEO from factory workers. With Nucor’s
structure, headquarters receives weekly performance reports from each operating division
which is then circulated to other divisions. As Nucor continue to grow through, CEO is
finding difficult to maintain this simple structure.
The operating principles of Nucor allow pushing decision-making authority down into the
organization, thereby reducing the need for staff organizations and middle management
levels, with only four management layers, with key decisions for the daily operations made
by the line managers. The management hierarchy is composed of four layers as follows:
In 2006, Nucor added another layer of management creating a new layer of five executive
vice- presidents; Nucor is surprisingly lean and simple.
Nucor employs 22 employees at its corporate headquarters. The main channel is its direct
sales team. The company promotes its offering through its website, social media pages.
Nucor’s customer relationship is primarily of a self-service nature. These indicate that
management still answers their phone calls and e-mails and the company has no corporate
jet.
Toyota Company, even comparatively, looks lean but appear fat as compared to Nucor.
“You are going to get at least 10 layers at Toyota before you get to the president, “says a
former Toyota engineer.
Questions:
1. How does the Nucor case illustrate the limitations of the simple organizational
structure?
2. Do you think other organizations should attempt to replicate Nucor’s structure?
3. Why do you think other organizations have developed much more complex structure
than Nucor?
4. Generally organization structures tend to reflect the view of the CEO. As more “new
blood” comes into Nucor, do you think the structure will begin to look like that of
other organization?
5. What are the pros and cons of Nucor’s structure?
6. What are the most important elements of Nucor’s organizational structure?
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11.6 SUMMARY
11.7 GLOSSARY
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Organic structure: is a highly adaptive form that is as loose and flexible structure as it
allows changing rapidly operating in volatile and technology driven environments.
Organisational structure: the way in which the inter-related groups of an organisation are
constructed.
Power distance: describes how different countries handle the fact that people are unequal.
Spaghetti Structure: Lack of structure of organisation in which no employee had a desk or
office of their own.
Team structure: in which the entire organisation is made up of work teams.
Q2. (a) Activities. (b) describe (c) six (d) technology (e)
internal
Q3. All true
Q4. (a) mechanistic (b) products (c) Language (d) Promotes (e) flows
Q5. (a)Vital role (b) Organic (c) Mechanist (d) greatly (e)
structure employees
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11.10 REFERENCES
Robbins S. P., & Judge, T. A. (2017). Organisational Behaviour. 17th Ed. Pearson.
Pareek, U., & Khanna, S. (2016). Understanding Organizational Behaviour. 4th Ed. Oxford.
Mullins, L. J. (2010). Management & Organisational Behaviour. 9th Ed. Printice Hall.
Singh., K. (2015). Organisational Behaviour Text and Cases. 3rd Ed. Vikas Publication.
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Content Writers
Prof. Pushpender Kumar, Dr. Mona Verma,
Dr. Abhishek Kumar Singh, Dr. Sandeep Mishra,
Dr. Rituraj Saroha, Dr. Ashishh Garg,
Dr. Satish Kumar, Dr. Dhirendra Singh.
Dr. Anupreet Kaur Mokha Mr. Jigmet Wangdus
Academic Coordinator
Mr. Deekshant Awasthi
Published by:
Department of Distance and Continuing Education under
the aegis of Campus of Open Learning/School of Open Learning,
University of Delhi, Delhi-110 007
Printed by:
School of Open Learning, University of Delhi
Data Analysis and Decision Tools
INDEX
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LESSON-1
INTRODUCTION TO STATISTICS
Dr. Abhishek Kumar Singh
Assistant Professor
Ramanujan College, University of Delhi
abhishekbhu008@gmail.com
STRUCTURE
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1.9 Summary
1.10 Glossary
1.11 Self-Assessment Questions
1.12 References
1.13 Suggested Readings
1.2 INTRODUCTION
This chapter explains the idea of grasping the various statistical methods and using them
effectively to address statistical problems. The various skewness classes and accompanying
coefficient changes will be able to be named. To understand the current trends and place an
emphasis on running ANOVA and other non-parametric tests, it is important to analyse the
data set using statistical measures of both central tendency and dispersion when utilising time
series analysis and trend analysis on your data. Additionally, you need to be aware of how
useful these tests are for addressing any potential issues. You can also learn more about how
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computers are utilised in statistics and learn about the various managerial applications of
statistics that are applied in a variety of industries. Understanding data tabulation and
classification will help you come up with useful solutions to issues. Multi-dimensional
diagrams can be used to illustrate the diagrammatical and graphical representation of data.
Discovering numerous numerical values that illustrate the fundamental properties of a
frequency distribution and how crucial they are for management are among statistics' key
goals.
The Latin term "Status" or the Italian word “Statista,” which either mean “Political State” or
“Government,” is the origins of the word statistics. Shakespeare's play Hamlet contains the
word "statist" (1602). Government officials used data in the past. Although statistics were
rarely used, monarchs and kings needed knowledge about their states' territories, agriculture,
commerce, and population in order to evaluate their military might, riches, taxation, and other
governmental functions.
In 1749, Gottfried Ache wall used the term "statistik" at a German university to refer to the
political science of various nations. Elements of Universal Erudition, published by Baron
B.F. Biddeford in 1771, was translated into English by Englishman W. Hooper. In his book,
statistics is defined as the science that tells us what the political structure of all modern
governments on the globe is. Although there is a significant difference between old and new
statistics, historical statistics are still used in the current statistics.
The term "statistics" was first employed by English writers in the 18th century, and since then
it has slowly evolved over the past few centuries. The latter part of the nineteenth century
saw a lot of progress. The techniques for generating decisions based on a small collection of
data were created by William S. Gosset at the start of the 20th century. Many statisticians
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were engaged in the development of novel statistical techniques, ideas, and applications
during the 20th century. The availability of electronics and computers today unquestionably
plays a significant role in the growth of statistics today.
Different authors have defined statistics differently, and each author has given the field new
boundaries that should be covered in its scope. At present, a few definitions of statistics from
various authors before drawing a conclusion regarding the subject's scope.
A.L. Bowley defines, "Statistics may be called the science of counting." In another place he
writes, "Statistics may be called the science of averages." Both these definitions are narrow
and throw light only on one aspect of statistics.
According to King, "The science of statistics is the method of judging collective, natural or
social, phenomena from the results obtained from the analysis or enumeration or collection of
estimates."
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• Crunching financial data and applying financial strategies are essential tasks for a
finance manager. Knowing statistics improves a manager's capacity and expertise as a
researcher, giving them an advantage.
In order to succeed, one must cultivate "Creative and Statistical thinking." With the
help of quantitative analysis, events and actions can be supported objectively and
factually. Data and analysis work together to quantify the size of issues and potential
fixes in ways that other types of information rarely can. Simple tools like tables, graphs,
and measurements of central tendency, dispersion, and association for data analysis have
found their way into corporate boardrooms, as have more complicated methods like
multivariate techniques, big data analysis, structural equation modelling, and statistical
approaches. This demonstrates how crucial statistics are to managerial choices.
When we need to evaluate a dataset that contains a large number of records (such as airline
passengers, the weight and GPA of every student at an institution, and share prices). We start
by searching for a summary of the dataset, such as a list of all the features' qualities
(variables). The dataset's many records have a tendency to cluster around a single value.
These numbers are known as Measure of Central Tendency since they pinpoint where the
dataset's Central Value is located.
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• Median
• Mode
A series' centrality can be determined by using central tendency measures like Mean, Median,
and Mode. They show the overall size of the data but don't fully disclose all the quirks and
traits of the series. In other words, they don't show how widely distributed or how variable
the distribution's individual elements are. Other measurements, also referred to as "Measures
of Dispersion" or "Measures of Variation," can explain this.
The study of statistics does not seem to be particularly interested in constants. A person who
is interested in research may not find the size of the planet to be particularly significant, but
the space occupied by various types of vegetation, woods, and buildings—both residential
and commercial—is significant since these areas are always shifting. The study of evolving
phenomena is a popular field of research.
• The second point is that an average depicts the data from the empire and makes it
easier to compare data within a group or across groups. As a result, it is possible
to compare a group's performance to the average performance of other groups.
• The third point is that computing an average can help with other statistical measures
like dispersion, skewness, kurtosis, etc.
1.5.1 Mean , Median and Mode
Arithmetic Mean
The most widely used average or gauge of central tendency, solely applicable to quantitative
data, is the arithmetic mean, usually known as the "mean." "Arithmetic mean is a quotient of
sum of the supplied values and number of the given values," is how the term is defined.
Both ungrouped data (raw data: data that have not undergone any statistical processing) and
grouped data can have their arithmetic means calculated (data arranged in tabular form
containing different groups).
Mean is the average value.
Mean = (150+160+175+190+200)/5=875/5=175
Mean Height = 175 cm
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The sum of the observations divided by the total number of observations is the
arithmetic mean.
firmly established
Considering all the evidence
If there are n observations, with x1, x2, x3,..., xn, then
or
x̄ =
Illustration 1.1 For the frequency distribution of seed yield of plot given in table,
calculate the mean yield per plot.
No of Plots 3 5 7 20
Solution:
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64.5-84.5 3 74.5 -1 -3
84.5-104.5 5 94.5 0 0
104.5-124.5 7 114.5 1 7
124.5-144.5 20 134.5 2 40
Total 35 44
A= 94.5
Types of Data
Data can be present in raw form or tabular form. Let's find the mean in both cases.
Raw Data
Let x1, x2, x3 , . . . , xn be n observations.
We can find the arithmetic mean using the mean formula.
Mean, x̄ = (x1 + x2 + ... + xn)/n
Illustration 1.2: If the heights of 5 people are 142 cm, 150 cm, 149 cm, 156 cm, and 153 cm.
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Mean, x̄ = 150 cm
Thus, the mean height is 150 cm.
Frequency Distribution (Tabular) Form
When the data is present in tabular form, we use the following formula:
Mean, x̄ = (x1f1 + x2f2 + ... + xnfn)/(f1 + f2 + ... + fn)
Consider the following example.
Illustration 1.3: Find the mean of the following distribution:
X 4 6 9 10 15
F 5 10 10 7 8
Solution:
Calculation table for arithmetic mean:
xi fi xifi
4 5 20
6 10 60
9 10 90
10 7 70
15 8 120
∑ fi = 40 ∑ xi fi = 360
xi fi xifi
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4 5 20
6 10 60
9 10 90
10 7 70
15 8 120
∑ fi = 40 ∑ xi fi = 360
• It is firmly established
• It is easily applied to algebraic treatment, and sample fluctuations have the least
impact on it.
1.5.3 Disadvantage of Mean
• Extreme values significantly alter the arithmetic mean.
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• the mean occasionally does not agree with any of the observed values.
• It is impossible to reliably compute if any item is missing, and the mean occasionally
does not agree with any of the observed values.
1.6 MEDIAN
The variable's median value is the point at which the group is divided into two equal sections.
The values larger than and less than the median is split into two parts, respectively. The value
of a variable that surpasses and is exceeded by the same number of observations is the
median of a distribution. It is the value at which there are exactly as many observations above
it as there are below it. So, although the median is a positional average, meaning it depends
on the location a value occupies in the frequency distribution, the arithmetic mean is based on
all elements of the distribution. In the case of an individual observation, the value of the
series' middle item is known as the median whether the items are organized in ascending or
descending order of magnitude.
Median is a symbol for the size of the n-th item.
If the number of elements is even, the series' middle value is not exactly known. The median
is arbitrary chosen in this case to be midway between the two centre elements.
Raw data, or ungrouped data
Sort the values provided in ascending order. The median is the middle value when the
number of values is odd. The median is the mean of the middle two values when the number
of values is even.
Illustration 1.4 If the weights of sorghum ear heads are 45, 60, 48,100,65 gms, calculate the
median
Solution: Here n = 5 First arrange it in ascending order 45, 48, 60, 65, 100,
Median =
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Illustration 1.5 If the morgum ear- heads are 5,48, 60, 65, 65, 100 gms, calculate the median.
Solution: Here n = 6
Grouped data
A clustered distribution has values and frequencies attached to them. A discrete frequency
distribution or a continuous frequency distribution might be used for grouping. Regardless of
the distribution style, cumulative frequencies must be calculated to get the overall number of
items.
Cumulative frequency (cf)
Cumulative frequency of each class is the sum of the frequency of the class and the
frequencies of the pervious classes, i.e., adding the frequencies successively, so that the last
cumulative frequency gives the total number of items.
Discrete Series
Step1: Find cumulative frequencies.
Step2: Find (n/2+1)
Step3: See in the cumulative frequencies the value just greater than (n/2+1)
Step4: Then the corresponding value of x is median.
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Illustrations 1.6: The following data pertaining to the number of insects per plant. Find
median number of insects per plant. Number of insects per plant (x) 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12
No. of plants(f) 1 3 5 6 10 13 9 5 3 2 2 1 Solution Form the cumulative frequency table.
Solution Form the cumulative frequency table
X f Cf
1 1 1
2 3 4
3 5 9
4 6 15
5 10 25
6 13 38
7 9 47
8 5 52
9 3 55
10 2 57
11 2 59
12 1 60
60
Median =
where l is the lower limit of the median class, m is the cumulative frequency before the
median class, c is the class width, and f is the frequency in the median class.
n = Total frequency
Illustration 1.7 For the frequency distribution of weights of sorghum ear-heads given in table
below. Calculate the median.
60-80 22 80 22
80-100 38 100 60
Total 164
Solution =
Median =
(n/2) =164/2 =82
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It ranges from 60 to 105. The lower class, which corresponds to 60, is 100, and the lower
class, which corresponds to 105, is 120. The median class is therefore 100–120. Its minimum
value is 100.
In this instance, 100, n=164, f=45, c=20, m=60, and n=Total frequency.
Median = 100 + 82-60/45 *20 = 109.78gms
1.6.1 Advantage of Median
1. It is quite straightforward to comprehend and compute. Sometimes it can be acquired
by simple inspection.
2. Because the median is in the middle of the range, extreme values have no impact on
it.
3. It is a unique average that is used to rank qualitative things like intelligence or beauty
that cannot be quantified. This enables us to identify the individual whose intelligence
or beauty is average.
4. By drawing provides, it is possible to locate it graphically in a grouped frequency
distribution.
5. It is especially helpful in open-ended distributions since the median considers item
location rather than item value.
1.6.2 Disadvantage of Median
(1) The item values in a simple series must be ordered. The technique gets tiresome if there
are many items in the sequence.
(2) Because it does not depend on every item in the series, it is a less representative
average.
(3) It cannot be subjected to additional algebraic analysis. For instance, if the medians of
various groups are provided, we cannot find the combined median of two or more
groups.
(4) Because it only considers one item, the centre item, it is more impacted by sample
changes than the mean.
(5) It is not a strict definition. The median cannot be calculated in simple series with even
numbers of entries precisely located additionally, the continuous series interpolation
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formula is based on the erroneous assumption that the frequency of the median class is
distributed evenly across the size of the median group's class interval.
1.7 MODE
The value in a distribution that occurs the most frequently is referred to as the mode. The
most goods are found in and around it, and it is an actual value. It displays the frequency's
primary focus at a particular value. Therefore, it is chosen when the goal is to identify the
location of greatest concentration. Consequently, it is a positional measure.
Finding the average height of a crop variety, the largest irrigation source in a region, and the
largest variety of paddy that is susceptible to disease are just a few examples of its usefulness
in agriculture. In the case of qualitative data, the mode is a crucial measurement.
Illustration 1.8. Find the mode for the following frequency table:
x f
1 5
20 9
25 8
30 1
40 10
50 7
By observing the given data set, the number 40 occurs more often. That is 10 times.
Hence the mode is 40.
Mean = 29.125
Mode = 25 and
Mode = 40.
Number of students 5 10 12 6 3
Solution:
The highest frequency = 12, so the modal class is 40-60.
l = lower limit of modal class = 40
fm = frequency of modal class = 12
f1 = frequency of class preceding modal class = 10
f2 = frequency of class succeeding modal class = 6
h = class width = 20
Using the mode formula,
Mode = l+[fm−f12fm−f1−f2] ×hl+[fm−f12fm−f1−f2] ×h
= 40 + [12−102×12−10−6] ×20[12−102×12−10−6] ×20
= 40 + (2/8) × 20
= 45
∴ Mode = 45
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3. The top left and top right corners of the topmost rectangle are connected to the top left
and top right corners of the preceding and following rectangles, respectively.
4. A perpendicular is drawn on the X-axis from the intersection of the two lines, and that
point is checked on the X-axis. This will be the mode's necessary value.
1.7.1 Advantage of Mode
• It can be found simply by looking at the discrete frequency distribution and ungrouped
data.
• It is shown graphically.
1.7.2 Disadvantage of Mode
• It lacks a clear definition.
• It is stable for large numbers, thus if the data only contains a few values, it won't be
properly defined.
• The data can occasionally have one mode, multiple modes, or no modes at all.
The relationships between the mean, median, and mode, the three measures of centre values,
are as follows (called an empirical relationship).
3Median = 2Mean + Mode
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For instance, if we are requested to find the mean, median, and mode of continuously
grouped data, we can do so by first finding the mean and median using the formulas from the
preceding sections, and then the mode by utilizing the empirical relation.
As an illustration, we have data with a median of 61.6 and a mode of 65.
Using the aforementioned mean, median, and mode relation, we can then calculate the mean.
Median = 2Mean + Mode
2Mean = 3 × 61.6 - 65 ∴
1.9 SUMMARY
Data Facts or figures, numerical or otherwise, collected for a definite purpose are called data.
The number of times a particular instance occurs is called the frequency in statistics. Raw
data needs to be sorted in order to carry out operations. -Sorting ascending order or
descending order. The size of the class into which a particular data set is divided. Divisions
on a histogram or bar graph. Upper class limit minus lower class limit equals class width.
When the class intervals vary in size, A frequency table or distribution shows the occurrence
of a particular variable in a tabular form. The average is the sum of the values of all the
observations divided by the total number of observations. If n (number of observations) is
odd, the median is the mean or average of the (n/2)th and [(n+1)/2]th observations. The class
interval with the highest frequency is the modal class, where the term modal is used to refer
to a period of time during which observation occurs at least once in a billionth of a millionth
of a trillionth of Hertzmann's time.
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1.10 GLOSSARY
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(b) Range
(c) Standard deviation
(d) Coefficient of variation
5. The sum of absolute deviations is minimum if these deviations are taken from the:
a) Mean
b) Mode
c) Median
d)Upper quartile
Weight 31-35 36-40 41-45 46-50 51-55 56-60 61-65 66- 71-
(in kg) 70 75
9 6 15 3 1 2 2 1 1
Number 7 10 10 20 20 15 8
of
Students
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10. The given distribution shows the number of runs scored by some top batsmen of the
world in one-day international cricket matches.
3000-4000 4
4000-5000 18
5000-6000 9
6000-7000 7
7000-8000 6
8000-9000 3
9000-10000 1
10000-11000 1
1.12 REFERENCES
• Draper and Smith, (1981). Applied Regression Analysis, 2nd ed., John Wiley and
Sons.
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1. Aczel, Amir D., Sounderpandian, J.,& Saravanan P. (2012). Complete Business Statistics
(latest ed.). India: McGraw Hill Education India Private Limited.
2. Albright, S.C.,& Winston, W.L. (2015).Business Analytics: Data Analysis and Decision Making
(Latest ed.). Cengage Publications.
3. Anderson, D., Sweeney, D., Williams, T., Camm, J., & Cochran, J. (2014). Statistics for
Business &Economics (Latest ed.). India: Cengage Learning.
4. Anderson, D., Sweeney, D., Williams, T., Martin, R.K. (2012). An Introduction to Management
Science: Quantitative Approaches to Decision Making (13th ed.). India: Cengage Learning.
5. Balakrishnan, N., Render, B., Stair, R. M., & Munson, C. (2017). Managerial decision
modeling. Upper Saddle River, Pearson Education.
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LESSON-2
STRUCTURE
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• Define sample space, events and use of different algebraic operations for events.
• Understand the concept of joint and conditional probability and able to solve problem
based on it.
2.2 INTRODUCTION
The history of probability theory can be traced back to chance games and gambling. It owes a
lot to the inquisitiveness of gamblers who constantly barraged their mathematical buddies
with inquiries. Unfortunately, this link to gambling has caused probability theory's
development as a branch of mathematics to be extraordinarily sluggish and erratic. The first
attempt to give quantitative measure of probability was made by, an Italian mathematician
Galileo (1564-1642). This course is design to provide you with a basic, intuitive, and
practical introduction into Probability Theory. In this unit topic covered are Probability and
Probability distribution, different definition of probability, joint and conditional probability,
Baye’s theorem.
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HISTORY
The earliest game of chance that we can still play today originated in Mesopotamia.
Early in the 20th century, archaeologists working at Ur discovered a board game
that had been interred alongside its owner. The exquisitely made board game dates
back nearly 4,500 years. Ancient allusions to the game have also been discovered,
therefore we are certain that it is a board game and that we even know the rules.
The Game of 20 Squares is the name of this game. Each player relies on a
combination of luck and a little ingenuity to win this game of two players. Rolling
dice to determine how many squares each player can move his or her piece involves
the element of luck.
We value a game's development that is random since each player's ability to jump a
certain number of spaces is determined by the outcome of a dice roll. The Game of
20 Squares has been played for thousands of years throughout much of the world,
including Egypt, India, and Mesopotamia. Despite being one of the most popular
board games ever, it did not lead to the development of a probability theory. There
is no evidence that anyone sought to come up with a winning plan of action based
The Game of 20 Squares was played for 3,000 years—until the first millennium of the common era. This
particular board dates from about 2500 B.C.E. (© Copyright The British Museum)
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The use of statistical methodology is indispensable in modern era. It has a wide application in
every discipline, be it physical sciences, engineering and technology, economics, or social
sciences. For their advance research they are applying statistical tools. It is essential for the
students to get acquainted with the subject of probability and statistics at an early stage. The
probability can be defined as the “Mathematics of Chance”. We frequently encounter the
words probability or chance in our daily lives. We usually say that it is very probable that it
will rain today or it is expected that today is a sunny day. It is obvious that these expectations
are comes from our personal view.
2.3.1 Terminologies
We will define the various terms used in the definition of probability.
(i) Deterministic and Random Experiments:
Every experiment consists of three major steps:
• Input: It relates to the equipment, material, input data etc. which involves in any
experiment.
• Action: Any experiment is performed using the input.
• Output: The results or outcome of the action, called the output of the experiment.
Definition: A deterministic experiments are those experiments in which fixed input and
action yields fixed output. We can predict the output of the experiment. For example;
distance covered by a car travelling at a constant speed, ohm’s law, determining gravitational
constant at a place, etc.
In all the above-mentioned examples for a fixed input and action, we get a fixed output.
Definition: A random or non-deterministic experiments are those experiments in which
fixed input and action does not yield the fixed output. For example; tossing a coin or
throwing a dice, etc. In these examples we do not predict the exact outcome beforehand.
In probability theory we are mainly concerned with the random experiments.
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Illustration 2.1: An unbiased (all faces of the dice are equally likely) dice is thrown. Let A
be the event that we obtain an odd number. Then
so that, .
Illustration 2.2: Two unbiased coins are tossed. Let us define an event A that getting at least
one head. Then
so that, .
Illustration 3: Among the digits 1, 2, 3, 4, 5 at first one is chosen and then a second selection
is made among the remaining four digits. If all twenty possible outcomes have equal
probabilities, then the probability of selecting an even digit both times is
There are two cases in which both the digits drawn are even, viz., .
Remark: The classical definition of probability, however suffers from some serious drawbacks.
i. When outcomes of the random experiments are not equally likely then this definition fails.
ii. It is a circular definition means the term equally likely is defined in terms of probability and
the term equally likely is used in defining probability.
iii. When the total number of elementary events in the sample space is infinite.
ACTIVITY
Take a coin and spin it 5000 times. Note down the value, n, the number of times
spins made and m, the number of heads in the spins. Now find out the proportion
between these two values and see their fluctuations and draw it on a graph.
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Obviously,
i.
ii. , if, A occurs every time in m repetitions of the experiments;
iii. , if, A never occurs in m repetitions;
iv. For two mutually exclusive events A and B
.
As , converges to P(A) in certain probabilistic sense. This property gives the
empirical or statistical definition of probability.
The only assumption for this definition is that the experiments must be conducted under
identical conditions and the number of trials must be large.
Remark: The disadvantage of this definition is that if an experiment is repeated a large number of
times, the experimental conditions may not remain identical and homogeneous.
2.3.4 Axiomatic Definition of Probability
Axiomatic definition of probability was formulated by Russian Mathematician A.N.
Kolmogorov. There are three simple axioms on which the whole field of probability theory
for finite sample space is based, is given below:
Definition: Probability Function, P(A) is the probability function defined on a B
of events if the following axioms hold.
1. Axiom of non-negativity: .
2. Axiom of certainty: .
3. Axiom of additivity: For pair wise mutually exclusive events
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Remark:
(i) . (ii)
ii. The above axiomatic definition of probability has an obvious advantage, that is, it does not
concern with assigning numerical values to the probabilities of events.
Proof: We have
Hence,
or,
(ii)
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Hence
(iii)Theorem of Addition
Statement: If A and B are any two events (subsets of sample space ) and are not disjoint,
then
.
Hence
[By Axiom 3]
Hence we obtain
.
Illustration 2.3. A fair coin is flipped successively at random until heads is observed on two
successive flips. Write down the sample space .
Solution. Let x denote the number of flips of the coin that are required, then
.
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= {(1, 1), (1, 2), (1, 3), (1, 4), (2, 1), (2, 2), (2, 3), (3, 1), (3, 2), (4, 1)}.
= {(1, 6), (2, 5), (2, 6), (3, 4), (3, 5), (3, 6), (4, 3), (4, 4), (4, 5), (4, 6), (5, 2),
(5, 3), (5, 4), (5, 5), (5, 6), (6, 1), (6, 2), (6, 3), (6, 4), (6, 5), (6, 6)}.
(iii) Let be the event of getting a number multiple of 2 on the first die.
= {(2, 1), (2, 2), (2, 3), (2, 4), (2, 5), (2, 6), (4, 1), (4, 2), (4, 3), (4, 4), (4, 5),
(4, 6), (6, 1), (6, 2), (6, 3), (6, 4), (6, 5), (6, 6)}.
(iv) Let be the event of getting a number multiple of 3 on the first die and a
multiple of 2 on the second die.
= {(3, 2), (3, 4), (3, 6), (6, 2), (6, 4), (6, 6)}.
= {(1, 1), (2, 2), (3, 3), (4, 4), (5, 5), (6, 6)}.
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Illustration 2.5. A letter of the English alphabet is chosen at random, write the event that the
letter so chosen
(i) is a vowel
(ii) precedes S (in alphabetical order)
(iii)follows K and precedes T and is a vowel
Solution. A letter of the English alphabet is chosen then the sample space is is
= {A, B, C, …, X, Y, Z},
= {A, E, I, O, U}
(ii) Let be the event that letter chosen at random be precedes ‘s’
= {A, B, C, D, …, P, Q, R}
(iii) Let be the event that letter chosen follows K and precedes T and is a vowel
= {O}
Illustration 2.6 A card is selected at random from a pack of 52 cards. Let A = ‘the card is a
club’ and B = ‘the card is a queen’. Find P(A), P(B).
Solution. p= .
For event A, n = 13 (there are 13 club in a pack of card), and for event B, n = 4 (there are 4
queens in a pack of card). Therefore
Illustration 2.6 An urn contains 6 white, 4 red and 9 green balls. If 1 ball is drawn at
random, find the probability that:
(i) it is white
(ii) it is not green
(iii)it green or red
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Illustration 2.7. What is the probability of getting 53 Sundays in a randomly selected leap
year?
Solution. We know that there are 366 days (52 complete weeks and 2 days over) in a leap
year. The following are the possible outcomes for these 2 over days:
(i) Sunday and Monday (ii) Monday and Tuesday
(iii) Tuesday and Wednesday (iv) Wednesday and Thursday
(v) Thursday and Friday (vi) Friday and Saturday
(vii) Saturday and Sunday
Let A be the event of getting 53 Sundays. There will be 53 Sundays in a leap year, when one of the
two over days must be Sunday. Since out of 7 possibilities, only 2, viz., (i) and (vii) are favorable to
the event.
Therefore, .
Illustration 2.8. Two coins are tossed. Let A be the event ‘two heads are obtained’, and, B be
the event ‘one head and one tail are obtained’. Find P(A), P(B).
Solution. The sample space in this case is
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Illustration 2.9 If the letters of the word MANAGEMENT are arranged randomly then find
the probability that all vowels come together.
Solution. Let A be the event that selected word contains all vowels together. There are 10
letters in ‘MANAGEMENT’ and in this word vowels are 4 i.e., 2 A, 2 E. If we consider these
vowels as a single letter then we have 7 letters i.e. AAEE, 2 M, 2 N, 1 G, 1 T.
IN-TEXT QUESTIONS
1. The probability of drawing any one club card from a pack of card is
(a) (b) (c) (d)
2. If A and B are mutually exclusive events, then
(a) (b)
(c)
(ii) .
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.
(vii) At least one of the events A or B occurs = .
(xiv) If , then
(i) , (ii)
The possibility of two or more events occurs at once is known as joint probability. It is the
probability of intersection of two or more events. The probability of occurrence of any event
may be influenced by the information about the occurrence of an event which already
occurred, then this probability is termed as conditional probability.
Let's start with an example to better understand the idea of joint probability.
Illustration 1: Consider a hand of five cards in a game of poker. If the cards are selected at
random, there are possible hands of five cards each. Let A = {at least three cards are
hearts}, B = {all five cards are hearts}. Then, the joint probability of events A and B is
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Definition: Let A and B are two events defined on the sample space . Then the joint
probability of event A and B is denoted by is
Now, we are going to discuss the concept of conditional probability. Let's begin with an
example:
Example 2: Consider a bag containing 100 balls out of which 60 are red balls. Two balls are
selected randomly (i) with replacement; (ii) without replacement. Let
A = {first ball is red}
B = {second ball is red}
In with replacement case P(A) = P(B) = 60/100 = 3/5.
In without replacement case P(A) = 3/5. If A has already occurred, probability of occurrence
of B is 59/99. If A has not occurred, probability of occurrence of event B is 60/99. Hence the
information about the occurrence of event A influence the probability of occurrence of event
B.
Definition: Let A and B are two events defined on the sample space . Then conditional
probability of B, given A (means A already occur) and is denoted by , is defined as
Further, let us suppose that in the sample space of a random experiment there are N
exhaustive, mutually exclusive and equally likely outcomes. Out of which outcomes are
favourable to event A and outcomes are favourable to event B and outcomes are
favourable to . Then
Remark:
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ii. The unconditional probability of an event A, P(A) may be viewed as a conditional probability
of event A given .
(*)
For the event A|B, the sample space is B and out of sample points, pertain to be
happen of the event A. Hence
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and subsequent draws was remains unaltered. So, the happening or non-happening of any
draw does not affected by the preceding draws. This example helps you in better
understanding of the concept of independent event.
Let us now define independent event:
Statement: Let be the sample space and are n exhaustive and mutually
exclusive events with . Let A be any event which is a subset of
(means at least one of the events ) with , then
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Bayes’ Theorem:
• Knowing the outcome of a particular situation, Bayes theorem enables us to find the
probability that the outcome occurred as a result of a particular previous event.
The British mathematician Thomas Bayes created a method to calculate conditional
probability in the 18th century to give people a way to re-evaluate their existing expectations.
The Bayes Theorem, Bayes' Rule, or Bayes' Law are common names for this mathematical
theorem. It serves as the basis for the entire statistical field known as Bayesian Statistics.
For example, In a certain assembly plant, three machines, B1, B2, and B3, make 30%, 45%,
and 25%, respectively, of the products. It is known from past experience that 2%, 3%, and
2% of the products made by each machine, respectively, are defective. Now, suppose that a
finished product is randomly selected and found to be defective, what is the probability that it
was made by machine B3?
• This theorem is also known as ‘Inverse probability theorem’, because here moving
from first stage to second stage, we again find the probabilities (revised) of the events
of first stage i.e. we move inversely.
Statement:
Let be the sample space and are n exhaustive and mutually exclusive events
with . Let A be any event which is a subset of (means at least
one of the events ) with , then
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Remarks:
’s are known as “a priori (or prior) probabilities”. They exist before we gain any
information about A (the result of an experiment).
’s are known as “likelihoods”. They indicate how likely event A to occur under the
information that occurs.
’s are known as ‘a posteriori (or posterior) probabilities”. They are determined after
the results of the experiment are known.
Illustration 2.10. A fair die is thrown, what is the probability of getting either a number
multiple of 3 or a prime number.
Solution. A fair die is thrown then sample space is
.
Let A be the event of getting a number multiple of 3 and B be the event of getting a prime
number.
A = {3, 6} and B = {2, 3, 5}, A B = {3} [a non empty set]
Hence required probability is
Illustration 2.11 A box contains three red cards and three green cards numbered as follows:
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One card is picked out of the box at random. If A is the event ‘the card is green’ and B is the
event ‘the card is marked 2’, are A and B independent?
Illustration 2.12 Three cards are drawn at random one by one without replacement from a
well shuffled pack of 52 playing cards. What is the probability that first card is ace, second is
queen and the third is again a j a c k .
Solution. Let be the event of drawing ace in the first draw, be the event of drawing
queen in the second draw and be the event of drawing jack in the third draw.
(ii) If P(A) = 0.5 and P(B) = 0.4, then find P(A|B) and P(B|A).
We know that
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P(
Illustration 2.14. A bag contains 4 white r and 5 black w balls. Another bag contains 2
white and 3 black balls. A ball is drawn from the first bag and is transferred to the second
bag. A ball is then drawn from the second bag and is found to be white, what is the
probability that white ball was transferred from first to second bag?
Solution. Let E1 be the event that a white ball is drawn from the first bag and E2 be the event
that the drawn ball from the first bag is black. Let A be the event of drawing a white ball
from the second bag after transferring the ball drawn from first bag into it.
Therefore,
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Illustration 2.15. In a bolt manufacturing company, three machines manufacture 20%, 30%
and 50% of its total output and of these 6% and 3% and 2% are found defective respectively.
A bolt is drawn at random and is found defective. Find the probability that the defective bolt
is manufactured by machine 1.
Solution. Let be the event that the defective bolts are manufactured by
machine 1, 2 and 3 respectively. Therefore,
Let A denotes the event that the bolt drawn at random is defective. Then, using conditional
probability
By Bayes’ theorem,
The probability that the defective bolt is from machine 1is,
Illustration 2.16. The prior probabilities for events and are and
. It is also given that .
Find the following:
(i) Are and are mutually exclusive?
(ii) Compute .
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Solution. (i) it is given that , the events and are mutually exclusive.
(ii)
IN-TEXT QUESTIONS
3. For any event A in , then A and are independent. (T/F)
4. If A and B are independent events, then are also independent.
(T/F)
5. There are two urns with parts of same type. The first contains ‘a’ goods
parts and ‘b’ defective parts and the second contains ‘c’ goods parts and
‘d’ defective parts. An urn is selected at random and one part is drawn
from it and is found to be good. Probability that urn I is selected is
(a) (b) (a) , where
2.6 SUMMARY
• Those experiments in which we cannot predict the outcome, even we have the
knowledge of all possible outcomes is called Random experiment.
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• The set of all possible outcome of a random experiment is known as sample space
and its subset is event.
• The conditional probability is defined as when occurrence of one event gets affected
by certain condition and the numeric value of probability of occurrence of an event
varies as per this condition.
2.7 GLOSSARY
Axiom: A statement accepted as true to serve as a basis for deductive reasoning. Today the
words axiom and postulate are synonyms.
Bayesian: of or relating to that part of the theory of probability concerned with estimating
probabilities using prior knowledge.
Bayes’ Theorem: the first theorem on conditional probabilities. If one knows the probability
of event A given that event B has already occurred and certain auxiliary information. Bayes’
theorem allows one to compute the probability of event B given that event A is known to
have occurred.
Inverse Probability: the concept of probability that arose out of Baye’s theorem.
1. d 4. True
2. b 5. a
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3. True
1. If a die and a coin are tossed simultaneously, write the event of getting
(i) tail and an odd number
(ii) head and a multiple of 2
(iii)tail and prime number
(iv) head and a multiple of 3
2. What is the probability of drawing a club or diamond from a pack of 52 cards when one
card is drawn at random?
3. Out of 52 well shuffled playing cards, two cards are drawn atrandom. Find the
probability of getting.
(i) One red and one black
(ii) Both cards of the same suit
(iii) One jack and other king
(iv) One red and the other of club
4. A single letter selected at random from the word ‘STATISTICS’. What is the
probability that it is a vowel?
5. A Card is drawn from a well shuffled pack of 52 playing cards, find the probability that
the drawn card is a jack or a black colour card.
6. If the probabilities are, respectively, 0.23,0.24 and 0.38 that a car stopped at a roadblock
will have faulty brakes, badly worn tires, faulty brakes and/or badly worn tires, what is
the probability that such a car will have both faulty brakes and badly worn tires.
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7. A biology professor has two graduate assistants helping him with his research. The
probability that the older of the two assistants will be absent on any given day is 0.08,
the probability that the younger of the two will be absent on a given day is 0.05 and the
probability that both of them will be absent on a given day is 0.02. Find the
probabilities that
i) Either or both of the assistants will be absent on a given day;
ii) At least one of the assistants will not be absent on a given day;
8. A box of fuses contains 20 fuses, of which 5 are defective. If three fuses are selected
randomly and removed from the box randomly (without replacement), what are the
probabilities that
i) All the three are defective?
ii) At most two are defective?
2.10 REFERENCES
Rao C. R. (1973). Linear Statistical Inference and Its Applications, John Wiley
Rohatgi V. K. (1985). An Introduction to Probability Theory and Mathematical Statistics,
Wiley Eastern.
Vilks S. S. (1962). Mathematical Statistics, John Wiley.
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LESSON-3
PROBABILITY DISTRIBUTION
Dr. Mona Verma
Assistant Professor
SSCBS College
University of Delhi
Mr. Jigmet Wangdus
Assistant Professor
Campus of Open Learning
University of Delhi
STRUCTURE
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This lesson extends the concepts of probability theory further to demonstrate random
variables and its distribution. After reading this lesson;
• The learner will be able to identify random variables and can construct the probability
distribution for them.
• Understand the concept of mean and standard deviation has been discussed to find the
solution of the real-life problems.
3.2 INTRODUCTION
The statistical data are summarised and used for presentation by means of frequency
distribution. A frequency distribution table is prepared by listing possible values of the
variable individually or in small groups called class intervals and then the observed frequency
of each one. It is called observed frequency distribution. A probability distribution deals with
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probability, the expectation of an event based upon sample. Such distribution is useful in
situations where actual observations or experiments are not possible. The probability
distribution users (individual/businesses) provide different models which helps managers in
taking decisions based upon limited data and theoretical consideration during the period of
uncertainty.
Example of probability distributions:
1. Consider tossing a six-face fair die. Since the die is fair the outcome probability of all
six face will be equal.
Outcome (x): 1 2 3 4 5 6 Total
Probability (p): 1/6 1/6 1/6 1/6 1/6 1/6 1
If the same fair die is tossed 60 times, then the probability of appearing of each face
will be 60 = 10 times.
2. A coin has two sides; head and tail. If a fair coin is tossed then the probability of
getting head and tail is equal. Thus, the probability of getting head = 1/2 and tails
=1/2. Supposed the coin is tossed 10 times then the probability of getting head and tail
will be 5 times each.
The above two example illustrates that to get the probability distribution we have to find all
the possible outcomes (x) and then calculate the respective probability (p). The desired
expected frequencies can be calculated by multiplying each of the probability values by the
number of times the experiment is performed (N).
Let us perform an experiment of tossing two coins. The sample space for the experiment will
be
S= {HH, HT, TH, TT}
The number of heads (tails) in the experiment will be 0,1,2. We associate a variable X which
denotes the number of heads (tails) on the coin. This implies that X may take values 0,1,2.
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Thus, X is a random variable which is a real number associated with the outcome of a
random experiment. Similarly, we may say Y is a random variable denotes the number of tails
in the above experiment and so on.
Now if we are interested in the probability of getting at least one head, then we should find
P{X≤1}= P{ TT, HT, TH}=3/4
Think about P{X=1}, P{X≤2}.
The random variable will be denoted by capital letters and the real numbers associated with
random variable is denoted by lower case letters. Thus if we denote random variable by X, Y,
Z,…etc then the values of r.v can be denoted as x,y,z,…etc.
ACTIVITY
Consider another experiment of rolling two dice and define a r.v. X which
denotes number of even numbers on the dice. You may find the outcomes and
construct the probability as well.
A random variable is of two types: discrete random variable and continuous random variable.
3.3.1 Discrete random variable
A random variable is called discrete when it takes at most a countable number of values. This
implies that for every outcome of the experiment there corresponds a real number which can
be finitely counted.
Probability Mass function (pmf) of a discrete random variable.
Let X be a discrete random variable taking at most a countably infinite number of
values x1, x2, x3,…For each xi we associate a number pi which is the probability of
xi. Thus,
pi =p(xi)=P(X=xi)
If the number p(xi), i =1,2,3,…satisfy the following conditions,
(i) , (ii)
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then we say that pi is called the probability mass function of the random variable X. The set
{ xi, p(xi)} is known as the probability distribution of the random variable X.
Let us revisit our example of tossing two coins and getting number of heads. The probability
distribution of X will be given as [{0,1/4},{1,2/4},{2,1/4}]. You will agree that this a p.m.f as
all probabilities are greater than zero and the sum of all probabilities is equal to 1.
Distribution Function for random variable X.
For a discrete random variable X , the distribution function denoted as F(X) is defined as
For the above example of tossing of two coins the distribution function F(X) can
easily be defined.
Illustration 3.1: Consider whether the next customer buying a car at a certain show room
buys a SUV or Non-SUV model. The past data shows 20% of customer purchases SUVs
Solution:
Let x =1 (if the customer purchases a SUV model)
x = 0 (if the customer purchases a Non-SUV model)
p(0) = P(x=0) = P(next customer purchases a Non-SUV model) = 0.8
p(1) = P(x=1) = P(next customer purchases a SUV model) = 0.2
p(x) = P(x=1) = 0 for x ≠ 0 or 1
3.3.2 Continuous Random Variable
A random variable X is said to be continuous if it can take all possible values between
certain limits. In other words , we may say that for a continuous random variable ,
different values cannot be put in 1-1 correspondence with a set of positive integers.
Probability Density function (p.d.f) for a continuous random variable
Consider a small interval (x, x+dx). Let f(x) be a continuous function of x. Then
the probability that X lies in the interval (x, x+dx) is given as
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(ii)
In the above section, we have discussed the discrete random variables and how we can
associate a probability distribution with it. In this section, we will discuss various discrete
distributions in which the random variables are defined according to a definite probability
law which can be expressed mathematically.
3.4.1 Binomial Distribution
Let us consider an experiment having only two outcomes viz. success or failure. We define a
random variable X associated with the outcomes of the experiment , which takes two values 0
and 1 with probability q and p. i.e., P(X=0)= q and P(X=1) =p .
Now let us assume that this random experiment will be repeated n times , n being finite, in
which the probability ‘p’ of success in any trial is constant for each trial . Also,
q=1-p is the probability of failure in any trial.
The probability of x successes and consequently (n-x) failures in n independent trials
can be written as . There are ways to get x successes in n trials. Hence the
probability of x successes in n trials in any order is given as
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The two independent constants n and p in the distribution are called parameters of the
distribution. For a binomial variate, we use the notation .
We should note that the variable x (number of successes) is discrete. It can take integer
values
0, 1, 2, ..., n. The probabilities specified in the above table are in fact successes terms of the
Binomial
Expansion of (p + q)n, which is
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Total 1.0000
(ii) p, the constant probability of success for each trial is indefinitely small, i.e.
p
(iii) np=λ, (say), is finite. Thus p=λ/n, q= 1- λ/n where λ is a positive real number.
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= 0, otherwise
Where is known parameter of the distribution.
The mean and variance of Poisson Distribution are equal and is equal to
Illustration 3.4: If one shop in 1000 has a fire in a city every year. What is the
probability that out of 2000 shops exactly 5 shops will be on fire during the year.
Solution:
= np where n = 2000, p = 1/1000
= 2000 =2
P(x) =
P(x) = (e = 2.7183)
= Reciprocal (7.389)
= 0.1352 = 0.036
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= 100 =3
P(x) =
Therefore,
Illustration 3.6: A survey is done by a TV channel at a polling booth by asking them if they
have voted Republican. The data shows the probability (p) that a person voted Republican is
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30% What is the probability that 20 people must be asked before you can find 10 people who
voted Republican?
Solution : Given p = 30% or (0.3), r = 10
The number of failures X is 20 -10 = 10
= 1.54%
The probability you will have to ask 20 people to get 10 votes for Republican is 1.54%
3.4.4 Hypergeometric Distribution
For a finite population when the sampling is done without replacement which means that the
events are stochastically dependent though random, we obtain the hypergeometric
distribution. A discrete random variable X is said to follow the hypergeometric distribution if
it assumes only nonnegative values and its probability mass function is given by
Illustration 3.8: X ltd manufactured 30 bulbs, out of this 10 are defectives. If a sample of 12
bulbs were taken randomly, calculate the probability that the sample consist of:
1. Six good bulbs
2. All are good bulbs.
Solution
Population size (N) = 30
The sample size (n) = 30
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N1 = (30-10) = 20
N2 = 10
P(x) = (n1Cx n2
Cn-x)/ NCn
Illustration 3.9: In a shipment of 25 hard disks, six are defective. If five of the disks are
selected at random, what is the probability that:
a) Exactly one is defective?
b) At least one is defective?
c) Not less than two are defective?
What is the average number of defective hard disks that you would expect to find in the
sample of five hard disk drives? What is the standard deviation?
Solution:
Population size (N) = 25
The sample size (n) = 5
N1 = 6
N2 = (N- N1) = 25 - 6 = 19
P(x) = (n1Cx n2
Cn-x)/ NCn
a) P(x=1) = (6C1 19
C4)/ 25C5 = = 0.4377
b) P(x>=1) = 1- P(0)
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Variance = n(
= 5( = 0.76
Normal distribution is one of the most important continuous distributions in statistical theory.
There are several phenomena which seems to follow normal distribution very closely or can
be approximated by it. The application of normal distribution allows calculating probabilities
in such cases. It is further used as an approximation to other probability distributions. An
important application of the normal distribution is in the theory of sampling.
The Normal Curve: A variable X has normal distribution if its curve is given by the
following equation:
y(x)=
= Standard deviation
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iv) The height of the normal curve is maximum at x= . Hence the mode of the normal
curve is x = .
v) A normal curve has two points of inflection, where the curve changes its curvature.
They are situated at one-sigma (1 ) distance from mean on either side of it.
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vii) Under normal curve, ± 1 covers 68.27 % of the area under the curve; ± 2
covers 95.45 % of the area under the curve; ± 3 covers 99.73 % of the area under
the curve.
viii) The mean deviation about mean s 4/5 standard deviation or MD = 0.7979 standard
deviation.
ix) The inter-quartile range is contained within an interval of the 2/3 of a standard
deviation below the mean to 2/3 of a standard deviation above the means.
x) Then normal distribution is formed with a continuous variable.
3.5.2 Relationship between Standard Deviation, Mean Deviation, Quartile Deviation for
Normal Distribution
z=
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Where x = variable
= Population mean
The z-transformation has the effect of expressing a value of x in terms of the number of
standard deviation units it is situated away from mean. For example, if = 50 = 5 and x =
60 , then z = = 2, we can conclude that x is situated 2 from .
-(z^2)/2
y(z) =
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value of z, we check in the first column for z-value up to its first decimal place while its
second decimal place is read in respect with top row.
Standard Normal Distribution Table
0.0 0 0.004 0.008 0.012 0.016 0.0199 0.0239 0.0279 0.0319 0.0359
0.1 0.0398 0.0438 0.0478 0.0517 0.0557 0.0596 0.0636 0.0675 0.0714 0.0753
0.2 0.0793 0.0832 0.0871 0.091 0.0948 0.0987 0.1026 0.1064 0.1103 0.1141
0.3 0.1179 0.1217 0.1255 0.1293 0.1331 0.1368 0.1406 0.1443 0.148 0.1517
0.4 0.1554 0.1591 0.1628 0.1664 0.17 0.1736 0.1772 0.1808 0.1844 0.1879
0.5 0.1915 0.195 0.1985 0.2019 0.2054 0.2088 0.2123 0.2157 0.219 0.2224
0.6 0.2257 0.2291 0.2324 0.2357 0.2389 0.2422 0.2454 0.2486 0.2517 0.2549
0.7 0.258 0.2611 0.2642 0.2673 0.2703 0.2734 0.2764 0.2794 0.2823 0.2852
0.8 0.2881 0.291 0.2939 0.2967 0.2995 0.3023 0.3051 0.3078 0.3106 0.3133
0.9 0.3159 0.3186 0.3212 0.3238 0.3264 0.3289 0.3315 0.334 0.3365 0.3389
1.0 0.3413 0.3438 0.3461 0.3485 0.3508 0.3531 0.3554 0.3577 0.3599 0.3621
1.1 0.3642 0.3665 0.3686 0.3708 0.3729 0.3749 0.377 0.379 0.381 0.383
1.2 0.3849 0.3869 0.3888 0.3907 0.3925 0.3944 0.3962 0.398 0.3997 0.4015
1.3 0.4032 0.4049 0.4066 0.4082 0.4099 0.4115 0.4131 0.4147 0.4162 0.4177
1.4 0.4192 0.4207 0.4222 0.4236 0.4251 0.4265 0.4279 0.4292 0.4306 0.4319
1.5 0.4332 0.4345 0.4357 0.437 0.4382 0.4394 0.4406 0.4418 0.4429 0.4441
1.6 0.4452 0.4463 0.4474 0.4484 0.4495 0.4505 0.4515 0.4525 0.4535 0.4545
1.7 0.4554 0.4564 0.4573 0.4582 0.4591 0.4599 0.4608 0.4616 0.4625 0.4633
1.8 0.4641 0.4649 0.4656 0.4664 0.4671 0.4678 0.4686 0.4693 0.4699 0.4706
1.9 0.4713 0.4719 0.4726 0.4732 0.4738 0.4744 0.475 0.4756 0.4761 0.4767
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2.0 0.4772 0.4778 0.4783 0.4788 0.4793 0.4798 0.4803 0.4808 0.4812 0.4817
2.1 0.4821 0.4826 0.483 0.4834 0.4838 0.4842 0.4846 0.485 0.4854 0.4857
2.2 0.4861 0.4864 0.4868 0.4871 0.4875 0.4878 0.4881 0.4884 0.4887 0.489
2.3 0.4893 0.4896 0.4898 0.4901 0.4904 0.4906 0.4909 0.4911 0.4913 0.4916
2.4 0.4918 0.492 0.4922 0.4925 0.4927 0.4929 0.4931 0.4932 0.4934 0.4936
2.5 0.4938 0.494 0.4941 0.4943 0.4945 0.4946 0.4948 0.4949 0.4951 0.4952
2.6 0.4953 0.4955 0.4956 0.4957 0.4959 0.496 0.4961 0.4962 0.4963 0.4964
2.7 0.4965 0.4966 0.4967 0.4968 0.4669 0.497 0.4971 0.4972 0.4973 0.4974
2.8 0.4974 0.4975 0.4976 0.4977 0.4977 0.4978 0.4779 0.4979 0.498 0.4981
2.9 0.4981 0.4982 0.4982 0.4983 0.4984 0.4984 0.4985 0.4985 0.4986 0.4986
3.0 0.4987 0.4987 0.4987 0.4988 0.4988 0.4989 0.4989 0.4989 0.499 0.499
For example if we want to find the area between mean and z = 1.33, then we look for 1.3 in
the first column and 0.03 in the column corresponding to the top row of standard normal
distribution table. The value in the table reads is 0.4082 (two tail z table).
Some other examples are:
Range Area
Between mean and z =1.00 0.3413
Between mean and z = 1.45 0.4265
Between z = 1.2 and z = 2.8 0.4974 – 0.3849 = 0.1125
Between z = -1.2 and z = 2.8 0.3849 + 0.4974 = 0.8823
Beyond z = 1.2 0.5-0.3849 = 0.1151
Since the normal curve is symmetry the area between mean and z = -1.2 is the same as the
area between mean and z = 1.2.
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Illustration 3.10:
A variable x is normally distributed with = 100 and =10. Find the (i) P (x > 125) and (ii)
P (90 < x < 120).
Solution
(i) To find P (x > 125), we have to find the area to the right of x = 125
From the normal area table, the area corresponding to z = 2.5 is 0.4938. Thus, the
area to the right of this value is 0.5 – 0.4938 = 0.0062.
Therefore P(x> 125) = 0.0062.
(ii) To find P (90 < x < 120), The relevant area is marked in part (b) of the figure
For x = 90, z= = -1
For x = 120, z= =2
From the normal area table, the area corresponding to z = -1 is 0.3413 while the
corresponding to z = 2 is 0.4772. Accordingly, the total area between x = 90 and x
= 120 is 0.3413 + 0.4772 = 0.8185.
Therefore, the P(90 < x < 120) = 0.8185.
Illustration: 3.11
The average income of doctors is Rs 1,85,000 and standard deviation is Rs 10,000. If the tax
authorities decided to impose tax on the highest 70 percent bracket and exempt the other
30%. What should be minimum taxable income? Assume incomes to be normally distributed.
Solution:
Here = 1,85,000 and = 10,000. To find the required income level is to find the value of
the variable x above which there is 70% or 0.70 of the area under the normal curve.
Z= ……………………………….equation 1
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To obtain the value of z, we can refer to normal area table for an area equal to 0.20. This is
because the table gives areas between mean and a particular value of z. Since the area to the
right of the desired value x is 0.7 and area between x and mean = 0.2 ( 0.7- 0.5 =0.2). As the
x- value is smaller than the mean, the corresponding z value must be negative.
From the z-table we get the area values closest to 0.20 are .1985 corresponding to z = 0.52
and 0.2019 corresponding to z = 0.53. So we can take the average of the two z-score i.e.
(0.52+0.53)/2 = 0.525. The value of z will be negative -0.525.
By using the z-score in equation 1 we get the value of x.
Z=
-0.525 =
x-1,85,000 = -5250
x = -5250 + 1,85,500 = 1,79,750
Thus the minimum taxable amount would be Rs 1,79,750.
Illustration 3.12: The performance (marks) of students of XYZ institute are known to
approximately normally distributed with mean = 118 and standard deviation = 12
a. If student securing minimum of 100 is declared successful, then what is the
probability that a student randomly chosen will be successful.
b. If the institute desire to pass the 70% of students what should be the minimum passing
marks?
c. Calculate the lowest score at the top 25% of the students.
Solution
a. µ = 118, = 12
x = 100
z=
z= = -1.50
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From the normal distribution table, we find that for z = 1.50 the area is 0.4332
Thus, the total area to the right of (x = 100) is 0.5 + 0.4332 = 0.9332
b. To ensure 70% of student passed the examination, we calculate the x value to the
right of which 0.70 area under the normal curve is included.
Let the passing mark = x
z=
z=
The area between x and µ is 0.20, we locate the z-value corresponding to this
area. We observe that area 0.1985 corresponds to z = 0.52 while area 0.2019
corresponds to z = 0.53.
Thus, we take either of these values of z, but a better estimate would be an
average of 0.52 and0.53 since the area value 0.20 lies between the two area values
observed, thus we take z = 0.525. Further, this z-value will be taken to be negative
since x lies to the left of µ.
Thus,
-0.525 =
-0.675 =
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f(x) =
where x 0
>0
For example, let’s assume that the time taken by car mechanic to repair a car follows an
exponential distribution with a mean of 5 hours, then the probability density function is
f(x) =
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Calculation of probabilities: The probability of the variable to take values in a certain range
is given by the area under the graph of the density function. To explain in the context of
above example, the probability that the car machinic will take 4 hours or less to repair a car
will be equal to the area between x = 0 and x = 4. Similar, the probability that it will take
between 4 and 6 hours for the car mechanic to repair a car will be given by the area between x
= 4 and x = 6. The following formula yields the probability that the time taken will be x or
less than it:
P(x ≤ x0) = 1- e-x/u
The Standard Deviation of an exponential distribution is equal to its mean.
Illustration 3.13: The average time a bank teller takes to serve a customer is 6 minutes. The
service time follows an exponential probability distribution. Calculate the probability that :
a) A bank teller will take less than 2 minutes to complete the service.
b) A bank teller will take between 4 and 5 minutes to get the service.
c) A bank teller will take more than 10 minutes for the service.
Solution:
The average time:
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The lognormal distribution plays an vital role in probabilistic design because negative values of
engineering phenomena are sometimes physically impossible. It is a continuous probability
distribution of a random variable in which logarithm is normally distributed. A non-negative random
variable X is said to have the lognormal distribution with parameters μ and σ > 0 if ln(X) has the
normal distribution with mean μ and standard deviation σ. The lognormal distribution is used to
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model continuous random quantities when the distribution is believed to be skewed, such as certain
income and lifetime variables.
The probability density function of the log-normal distribution is defined by two parameters μ and σ
f ( x) = exp ,x>0
is the location parameter and is the scale parameter of the distribution. Note the parameters and
are not the mean and standard deviation of x but of ln(x). The name of the “log-normal” distribution
reveals that it relates to logarithms as well as the normal distribution. Let’s assume that the data fits a
log-normal distribution, then if we take the logarithm of all your data points then the newly
transformed points will now fit a normal distribution. In simple words when you take the log of you
log-normal data, it would result into a normal distribution.
The lognormal distribution is unimodal and skewed right. Specifically, let m = exp( μ − σ 2 ) and
show that
b. f ( x) → 0 as x → ∞.
c. f ( x) → 0 as x ↓0
By using maximum likelihood (MLE) estimation we can estimate our log-normal parameters μ and σ.
The maximum likelihood estimators for the normal distribution are:
The maximum likelihood estimators for the log normal distribution are:
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85 | P a g e
x ≥ 0; γ > 0
where γ is the shape parameter; is the location parameter and is the scale parameter. The
situation where = 0 and = 1 is called the standard Weibull distribution. The situation
where = 0 is called the 2-parameter Weibull distribution. The equation for the standard
Weibull distribution reduces to : f(x) = γx(γ-1) exp (-(xγ))
x ≥ 0; γ > 0
The Weibull probability density function is graphically shown in the below diagram
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The Formula for the cumulative distribution function of the Weibull distribution is:
F(x) =
x ≥ 0; γ > 0
The plot of cumulative distribution function is given below:
= 1.3 and = .8
F(x) =
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F(x) =
The probability that the air void volume of a specimen is between 5% and 6% is
P(5 ≤ X ≤ 6) = F(6; 1.3, 0.8, 4 ) – F(5; 1.3, 0.8, 4)
= -
3.9 SUMMARY
• The mean and standard deviation of a binomial distribution are given by np and
npq, respectively. The distribution is symmetrical if p = q and skewed if p ≠ q. For
a given number of trials, the greater the difference between p and q, more the
skewness
• The normal distribution has two parameters – mean and standard deviation. For
every pair of values, there is a distinct normal distribution. The distribution with
mean μ = 0 and standard deviation = 1 is called standardized normal distribution.
• The proportion of area lying in a given interval to the total area under the normal
curve gives the probability that the variable in question will take a value within that
interval.
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• The Poisson and exponential distribution are related to each other: while the former
provides description of the number of occurrences per interval, the latter gives a
description of the length of interval between successive occurrences.
1. True 9. False
2. True 10. True
3. False 11. False
4. True 12. True
5. False 13. True
6. True 14. Discrete, Continuous
7. False 15. False
8. True
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6. A factory finds that, on an average, 20 percent bolts are defective from one machine.
If 10 bolts are selected at random, find the probability that (a) Exactly two bolts are
defective, (b) Less than two bolts are defective. (c) More than two bolts are defective.
(d) More than eight bolts are defective.
7. If the probability of a defective bolt is 0.2, find the mean and standard deviation of the
number of defective bolts in a total of 900 such bolts.
8. (a) In a binomial distribution involving 5 independent trials, probabilities of 1 and 2
successes are 0.4096 and 0.2048, respectively. Find the parameter p of the
distribution. (b) In a binomial distribution with 6 independent trials, the probabilities
of 3 and 4 successes are found to be 0.2457 and 0.0819, respectively. Find mean and
variance of this distribution.
9. A project yields an average case flow of Rs. 550 lakh and standard deviation of Rs.
110 lakhs. Compute the following probabilities :
(a) Cash flow will be more than Rs. 675 lakhs,
(b) Cash flow will be less than Rs. 450 lakh and
(c) Cash flow will be between Rs. 425 and Rs. 750 lakhs.
10. Bring out the fallacy, if any, in the following statements:
(a) The mean of a binomial distribution is 6 and its standard deviation is 3.
(b) The mean of a binomial distribution is 3 and its variance is 4.
11. For a binomial variable x, it is given that n = 8, and P(x – 2) = 16 P(x = 6). Determine
the values of p and q.
12. The administrative officer of a nursing home reports that the number of patients
admitted to the ICU on any day follows a Poisson probability law, with a mean of 7.
What is the probability that on a given day
(a) No patient will be admitted?
(b) Exactly seven patients will be admitted?
(c) No more than three patients will be admitted?
13. The incidence of occupational disease in an industry is such that the workmen have a
30 percent chance of suffering from it. What is the probability that out of 8 workmen,
6 or more will contact the disease?
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14. In an examination 20% of candidate passed with distinction, 50% passed and 30%
failed. If it is given that a candidate needs 50% marks to pass and 75% marks to pass
with distinction, determine mean and standard deviation of the distribution of marks
assuming the marks are distributed normally.
15. ABC project yields an average case flow of Rs. 600 lakh and standard deviation of
Rs. 100 lakhs.
Compute the following probabilities :
(a) Cash flow will be more than Rs. 700 lakhs,
(b) Cash flow will be less than Rs. 500 lakh and
(c) Cash flow will be between Rs. 400 and Rs. 800 lakhs.
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LESSON-4
STRUCTURE
4.2 INTRODUCTION
Sampling is an important concept in research. It assists the researchers to gather enough data
so as to answer their research questions and will help them to generalize their results. Another
significant concept is the estimation which is done based on the observations taken from the
samples and used to measure the true value of a specified set of populations.
This lesson provides an overview of sampling distribution and estimation. It discusses the
concept of sampling and its various techniques. The next part of the lesson briefly explains
the sampling distribution of a sample mean and sample proportion and also discusses the
central limit theorem. The lesson also explores the four main properties of a good estimator.
Later on, this lesson also discusses the two types of estimates i.e. point and interval estimates.
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This lesson will help the learners to understand various properties related to sampling
distribution and estimation which will assist them in collecting the data and calculating the
mean and standard deviation of the sample mean and proportion.
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• Systematic Sampling: In this, the members of the sample are selected at “periodic
intervals” from a population. Since this technique has a specific set range, hence, it is the
least time-consuming method of sampling. For instance, a research scholar wants to
gather data. So, he/she chooses a systematic sampling technique in which he wants a
sample of 100 individuals from a population of say 1000. As a result, to be a member
from 1-1000, he/she chooses every tenth individual (i.e., 1000/100= 10).
• Stratified Random Sampling: In this technique, the population is divided into smaller
groups (i.e., stratas) where these stratas reflect the entire population and there is no
overlapping. Then the sample is drawn from each group independently using any of the
sampling techniques discussed above. If simple random sampling is used to choose the
sample from each stratum, then it is termed a stratified simple random sampling
technique. The population can be categorized into strata on the basis of characteristics
such as age, income, sex, etc. For instance, if you want to analyze the attributes of
individuals based on their annual family income, then groups (i.e., stratas) will be like:
less than Rs 25,000, Rs 25,000 – Rs 35,000, Rs 36,000 – Rs 45,000, Rs 46,000 - Rs
55,000, and so on.
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Non-Probability Sampling
In non-probability sampling, the researcher selects study participants at random. This
sampling approach is not a predetermined or set selection procedure. As a result, it is difficult
for all parts of a population to have an equivalent probability to be a part of a sample. There
are four types of non-probability sampling namely:
• Purposive Sampling: In purposive sampling, the researcher selects the sample on the
basis of who they believe would be suitable for their study. This technique is also referred
to as judgment sampling as in this, the researcher often uses his own judgment to choose
the sample. Purposive sampling involves greater chances of a personal bias than
convenience sampling as the researcher might select a sample that yields favorable results
as per their point of view. For example, when the researcher wants to study customer
satisfaction regarding the SBI bank’s online channels, then the selection criteria would
be: Are you using the bank’s online channels offered by SBI? Only those who responded
Yes will be included in the sample, others will be excluded.
• Quota Sampling: In quota sampling, the samples are selected from different strata in
quotas. Typically, restrictions are imposed on how each quota is to be filled. The sample
selection is based on the discretion of the researcher as long as the quota criteria are met.
This technique is considered to be a rapid technique for collecting samples. For instance,
if you want to study the technology managers across the companies, the quota can be
divided into 25% from small-scale industries, 35% from medium-scale industries and
40% from large-scale industries.
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is also known as chain-referral sampling, chain sampling and referral sampling. This
technique is usually employed when the subjects are hard to trace or the topic is
extremely sensitive. For example, surveys to gather information about alcohol addicts or
HIV aids patients.
4.3.3 Parameter and Statistic:
A parameter is a number that describes a whole population (such as population mean),
whereas a statistic is a number that describes a sample (such as sample mean). For example,
the average income in India is a population parameter. In contrast, the average income for a
sample chosen from India is a sample statistic. Both these values indicate the average income,
but one is a parameter while the other is a statistic.
Let us look at Table 4.1 below to understand the Parameter and Statistics of various
techniques:
Table 4.1: Summary Value, Parameter and Statistic
Now, let us understand the difference between a parameter and a statistic by carefully looking
at how the same subject and the summary value can be either a parameter or a statistic in
Table 4.2. This difference is based on whether that value is summarized as a population or a
sample.
Table 4.2: Examples of Parameter and Statistic
Parameter Statistic
Mean weight of all Bulldogs. Mean weight of a random sample of 100 Bulldogs.
Standard deviation of all Standard deviation of a random sample of 1000
transaction times in an SBI transaction times at SBI bank.
bank
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IN-TEXT QUESTIONS
6. Median income of 500 college students in University of Delhi is an example
of:
a) Statistic b) Parameter
c) Proportion d) Population
7. Which of the following is called Interval Sampling?
a) Simple Random Sampling b) Stratified Sampling
c) Purposive Sampling d) Cluster Sampling
8. For stratified sampling, the strata should be:
a) Mutually exclusive b) Collective exhaustive
c) Both a and b d) Overlapping
9. _________ is a technique in which the existing samples elements from their
contacts recruit sample elements:
a) Snowball Sampling b) Systematic Random Sampling
c) Purposive Sampling d) Cluster Sampling
10. A _______ is a number that describes a whole population.
a) Element b) Parameter
c) Proportion d) Statistic
ACTIVITY
A research scholar wants to collect the data from the banks’ customers who are
using electronic banking services to analyse the satisfaction and loyalty of the
customers towards the electronic banking services offered by their banks. As a
researcher, what all are required to be undertaken for collecting the data? Do you
need to take sample? Which sampling technique you will use? Is it probability
sampling or non-probability sampling? Discuss the same keeping in view of the
various sampling techniques available in research.
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μx̄ = μ
The above formula depicts that as the sample size increases, the variance of the
sampling distribution of the mean decreases, hence, an inverse relationship exists between the
two.
Illustration 4.1: Assume, the population variance and the sample size given are 120 and 25
respectively. You are required to calculate the variance of the sample mean.
Solution: To compute the value of the variance of the sample mean,
σx̄ = σ
√n
= 120
√25
= 40
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Illustration 4.2: Assume in the previous example, the sample size increases to 36. Now,
calculate the variance of the sample mean.
Solution: To compute the value of the variance of the sample mean,
σx̄ = σ
√n
= 120
√36
= 20
As the sample size increases from 25 to 36, the variance of the sample mean decreases from
40 to 20 depict an inverse relationship between the two.
The Standard Error of the Sampling Distribution of the mean
It reveals how much we are anticipating the means from various samples to differ due
to sampling error. It is known as the standard error of the mean. The distribution of the
sample means that is less spread or has a smaller standard error is considered to be a better
estimator of the population mean.
When the population is infinite, the formula for standard error is:
When the population is finite and our sample is more than 5 percent of the
population, the formula for standard error is:
Population Standard
Deviation
Standard error of the mean
(Finite population)
√n √N - 1
Population Size
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Illustration 4.3: Assume, the population size in the case of textile enterprise is 40 whereas
the population standard deviation is 10. Suppose, we take a random sample of 10 of these
textile enterprises. You are required to compute the standard error of the mean.
Solution: To compute the value of the standard error of the mean,
σx̄ = σ × √N- n
√n √N - 1
= 150 × √40-10
√10 √40-1
= (47.44) (0.877)
= 41.60
Illustration 4.4: Assume, a random sample of 25 is drawn from a population of 120 and the
population standard deviation given is 50. Compute the standard error of the mean.
Solution: To compute the value of the standard error of the mean,
σx̄ = σ × √N- n
√n √N - 1
= 50 × √120-25
√25 √120-1
= (10) (0.894)
= 8.94
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z=x–μ
σ
According to the above formula, we must subtract the mean of the variable being
standardized and divide it by the standard error in order to convert any “normal random
variable” to a “standard normal random variable”. As a result, in this case, the above formula
becomes
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Population
Sample mean mean
z= –μ
σx̄ Standard error
of the mean
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In the question, it is given that 50 samples are drawn, so, as per this Central Limit
Theorem applies which means that as the sample size exceeds 30, the sample mean
becomes approximately normally distributed.
P(110 < < 114) = P (110 - μx̄ < z < 114 - μx̄ )
σ x̄ σ x̄
σ x̄
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= P (z < 36-38.5)
1.11803
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The formula for the mean of the standard error of the sample proportion is:
Standard error of
the sample
proportion σ = √p q , where q= 1- p
n
Illustration 4.9: An opinion poll of 900 residents of a large city asks whether they favour a
particular bond issue. If 45% are in favour, calculate the mean and standard error of the
sample proportion (from a sample of 400).
Solution: In this,
p = 0.45,
hence q =1− p = 0.55.
The mean and standard deviation of the sample proportion is:
μ = p = 0.38
√n √400
Illustration 4.10: An opinion poll of 5000 residents of a large city asks whether they favor a
particular bond issue. If 35% are in favor, calculate the mean and standard error of the sample
proportion (from a sample of 1600).
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Solution: In this,
p = 0.35,
hence q =1− p = 0.65.
The mean and standard deviation of the sample proportion is:
μ = p = 0.35
√n √1600
IN-TEXT QUESTIONS
16. Suppose that a population with N= 144 has μ= 24. What is the mean of the
sampling distribution of the mean if the sample size given is 30?
a) 2 b) 4.8
c) 24 d) cannot be determined from given information
17. The central limit theorem assures that the sampling distribution of the mean:
a) is always normal
b) is always normal for large samples
c) appears normal only when N is greater than 1000.
d) Approaches normality as sample size increases.
18. Standard error (σx̄) varies ________with the square root of n.
a) directly b) inversely
c) positively d) no relation
19. Suppose the population with N=200 has μ= 14 and a standard deviation of 3.
The sample size of your sampling distribution is 100. What is the standard error of
the sampling distribution of the mean?
a) 14 b) 3
c) 0.3 d) cannot be determined from given information
20. As per central limit theorem, as the sample size reaches ____, the distribution of
the sample mean approaches the normal distribution.
a) 10 b) 20
c) 30 d) 40
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4.5 ESTIMATION
Employees in a Mean turnover per Mean turnover for 9.5% turnover per
chocolate factory year 1 month year
In this example, the mean turnover for 1 month is an estimator and the specific numeric value
i.e. 9.5% is an estimated value.
4.5.2 Criteria of a Good Estimator:
As you have now understood the meaning of an estimator and estimate, let us explore
the various criteria of a good estimator. A good estimator is typically close to the parameter
being estimated. Hence, its quality will be determined by the following four properties
namely:
Unbiasedness
An estimator is called an unbiased estimator when the expected value of the estimator
is the same as that of the population parameter that is being estimated. That is, if θ is an
unbiased estimate of θ, then E (θ) must be equal to θ. The sample mean is considered to be an
unbiased estimator of a population mean. This is so because the population mean itself is
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equivalent to the mean of the sampling distribution of a sample mean drawn from the same
population. Many estimators are "asymptotically unbiased," which means that their biases
reduce to a nearly insignificant value (zero) when n becomes sufficiently large.
Efficiency
The term "efficiency" relates to an estimator's sampling variability i.e. the magnitude of the
standard error of the statistic. When two unbiased estimators compete, the one with the lower
standard error or standard deviation of the sampling distribution (for a given sample size) is
considered to be relatively more efficient. For example, in order to estimate the population
mean, we should decide whether to go for the sample mean or sample median. So, for this,
we have calculated the standard error of both the sample mean and sample median and it was
found to be 2.4 and 2.6 respectively. Hence, we can conclude that for estimating the
population mean, the sample mean is a more and better estimator as compared to the sample
median because it has a smaller standard error. Therefore, the smaller the estimator's standard
error, the more concentrated the distribution of an estimator around the parameter being
estimated, and hence the better this estimator is.
Consistency
Whenever there is an increase in the sample size, an estimator approaches the population
parameter closer and closer. Hence, we can say that an estimator is a consistent estimator of a
population parameter. To put it more precisely, an estimator becomes more accurate with
larger samples if it is consistent. The sample mean is considered an unbiased estimator of a
population mean irrespective of the shape of the population distribution, while the sample
median is an unbiased estimate of a population mean only if the population distribution is
symmetrical. In terms of both unbiasedness and consistency, the sample mean outperforms
the sample median as an estimate of a population mean.
Sufficiency
An estimator is considered to be sufficient if it conveys as much information about the
parameter in the sample as possible. The importance of sufficiency stems from the fact that if
a sufficient estimator exists, it is completely unnecessary to examine any other estimate; a
sufficient estimator guarantees that all information a sample may provide with regard to the
estimation of a parameter has been extracted.
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There are several techniques for estimating parameters that might result in estimators meeting
these properties. The two most essential methods are the least square method and the
maximum likelihood method.
4.5.3 Point Estimates
From the previous section, we have understood that the sample mean “x̄” is considered to be
the best estimator of the population mean “μ”. It has all four properties namely unbiasedness,
efficiency, consistency and sufficiency.
Point estimation is described as the process of determining an estimated value of a
population parameter such as the mean of a population from random samples of the
population. Any statistic can be referred to as a point estimate. A statistic is considered to be
an estimator of some parameter in a population. It is a type of estimation in which a single
value or a sample statistic is used to infer information about the population parameter as a
single value or point.
For instance:
• A point estimate of the population mean (μ) is the Sample mean (x̄)
• A Point estimate of the population variance (σ2) is the Sample variance (s2)
• A Point estimate of the population standard deviation (σ) is the Sample standard
deviation (s).
Point Estimate for the Population Mean
Consider the case of a pen manufacturing company. Each pen is individually wrapped
in a clean package before being haphazardly packed in a huge corrugated box. Because of the
haphazard packing, each carton contains a different quantity of pens. Because the pens are
sold per unit, the corporation needs to know how many pens are in each carton for invoicing
purposes. We randomly selected 5 boxes (105+ 110+ 120+ 115+ 130) and counted the
number of pens in each. As you are aware, the sample mean is computed by adding all of the
individual values (in this case, 580) and then dividing by the number of samples tested (in
this case, 5).
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Sample Mean: = ∑x
n
In order to solve this question, we can use the above equation and we get 580/5=116 pens. As
a result, the point estimate of the population mean, using the sample mean as our estimator, is
found to be 116 pens per box.
Point Estimate for the Population Variance & Standard Deviation
Now to estimate the variance or standard deviation associated with a population, the
point estimate of the population variance and standard deviation is simply the sample
variance and sample standard deviation as follows:
proportion of sample units that have the same attributes (symbolized p), we can use this as
an estimator of p.
4.5.4 Interval Estimates:
An interval estimate is described as a set of values between which a population
parameter falls. For example, a < x̄ < b is an interval estimate of the population mean. It
depicts that the population mean is greater than “a” but less than “b”.
4.5.5 Confidence Intervals:
A confidence interval comprises three parts namely i) Confidence level, (ii) Margin of
error, and iii) Statistic. The confidence level is defined as the uncertainty level in a process of
sampling. An interval estimate is formed by a margin of error and statistics that represent the
accuracy of the method. The margin of error of a sample statistic produces the interval
estimate of a confidence interval.
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We may, for instance, state that we have a 90% confidence level that the true
population mean lies within a given range. This is a confidence interval. To put it another
way, if the same sampling procedure is being used to choose other samples and determine
various interval estimates, then, in this case, 90% of the time the true population mean would
fall within the range indicated by the sample statistic margin of error. The confidence interval
for a 90% confidence level is:
x̄ - 1.64σx̄ = lower limit
x̄ + 1.64σx̄ = upper limit
Hence, the confidence limits are defined as the lower and upper limits of the confidence
interval.
Confidence intervals are preferable over point estimates as they emphasize both the
uncertainty and precision of the estimate.
Confidence Level
A confidence level is defined as “the probability element of a confidence interval”. It
expresses our level of assurance that a specific sampling procedure will produce a confidence
interval containing the true population parameter. Assume we collected several samples and
generated confidence intervals for each. While certain confidence intervals might accurately
represent the population parameter, others would not. For instance, if the confidence interval
is 90%, it assures that 90% of the intervals will have the true population parameter.
Relationship between Confidence Level and Confidence Interval
We might believe that in all estimating issues, we should employ a high confidence
level, such as 99%. A high confidence level appears to indicate an estimate with a high
degree of precision. However, in reality, a high confidence level will result in large
confidence intervals, which are not accurate because they may yield vague estimates.
Confidence Intervals for the Population Mean for Large Samples
The level of confidence can be any number between 0 and 100% but the most
common values are probably 90% (α=0.10), 95% (α=0.05), and 99% (α=0.01). For 95%
confidence, see Fig 4.3.
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Fig 4.3: For 95% confidence, the area in each tail is α/2 = 0.025.
When the population standard deviation (σ) is unknown, in that case, for estimating
the population standard deviation, we will make use of the sample standard deviation. So, in
this σ will be replaced by s. However, we can also symbolize this estimated value by ,
which is called a sigma hat.
The formula for the confidence intervals for the population mean for large
samples (n≥ 30):
If σ is known: x̄ ± za/2 σ
√n
If σ is unknown: x̄ ± za/2 s
√n
Estimate of the Population Standard Deviation (When the population is Infinite)
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Illustration 4.11: A random sample of 36 was drawn having a sample mean of 150. The
population standard deviation given is 24. You are required to provide the confidence interval
assuming a 95% confidence interval.
Solution: In this question, the population standard deviation is known.
n= 36, σ = 24, za/2 = 1.96 and x̄ = 150
σ = 24 = 4
√n √36
Now, let us find the confidence limits:
x̄ ± za/2 σ
√n
= 150 ± 1.96 (4) = 150 ± 7.84
= (142.16, 157.84)
Illustration 4.12: A random sample of 25 was drawn having a sample mean of 120 and a
sample standard deviation of 15. You are required to provide the confidence interval
assuming a 95% confidence interval.
Solution: In this question, the population standard deviation is unknown.
n= 25, σ = 15, za/2 = 1.96 and x̄ = 120
s = 15 = 3
√n √25
Now, let us find the confidence limits:
x̄ ± za/2 s
√n
= 120 ± 1.96 (3) = 120 ± 5.88
= (114.12, 125.88)
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Margin of Error
In a confidence interval, the margin of error is defined as “the range of values above
and below the sample statistic”. For example, assume that the local newspaper conducts an
election poll and finds that the independent candidate will receive 40% of the vote. The
survey, according to the newspaper, had a 5% margin of error and a 95% confidence level.
Based on these observations, the confidence interval is as follows:
“We are 95% confident that the independent candidate will receive between 30% and
40% of the vote”.
The formula for the margin of error is:
E= za/2 σ
√n
E= za/2 s
√n
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√n
= 120 ± 1.96 (3) = 120 ± 5.88
= (114.12, 125.88)
Illustration 4.14: Based on the random sample of 25 people working in a company, the
average travel time to reach the office is 60 minutes. The population standard deviation given
is of 20 minutes. You are required to design the working hours by establishing a 99%
confidence interval for the average travel time of everyone in the company.
Solution: In this, the population standard deviation is known.
n= 36, σ = 20, za/2 = 2.58 and x̄ = 60
σ = 20 = 4
√n √25
Now, let us find the confidence limits:
x̄ ± za/2 σ
√n
= 60 ± 2.58 (4) = 60 ± 10.32
= (49.68, 70.32)
Illustration 4.15: Based on the random sample of 100 people working in a company, the
average travel time to reach the office is 60 minutes with a standard deviation of 20 minutes.
You are required to design the working hours by establishing a 95% confidence interval for
the average travel time of everyone in the company.
Solution: In this the population standard deviation is unknown.
n= 100, s = 20, ta/2 = 2.262 and x̄ = 60
s = 20 = 2
√n √100
Now, let us find the confidence limits:
x̄ ± za/2 s
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√n
= 60 ± 2.262 (2) = 60 ± 4.524
= (55.476, 64.524)
Confidence Intervals for the Proportion Mean from Large Samples
The formula for determining the mean and standard error of proportion (already covered in
detailed in the sampling section of this lesson).
The formula for the mean of the sample proportion is:
The formula for the standard error of the sample proportion is:
Illustration 4.16: A random sample of 100 students is chosen for estimating the proportion
of female students at a large college. In the sample, there are 65 female students. You are
required to construct a 90% confidence interval for the proportion of female students at the
college.
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Hence, the confidence interval for the proportion of female students at the college is (0.571,
0.729).
Illustration 4.17: A random sample of 100 students is chosen for estimating the proportion
of female students at a large college. In the sample, there are 65 female students. You are
required to construct a 90% confidence interval for the proportion of female students at the
college.
Solution: The proportion of female students in the sample is
p̂ =65/100=0.65
A 90% Confidence level means that α =1− 0.90=0.10,
So, α/2=0.05, hence, z0.05=1.65.
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Hence, the confidence interval for the proportion of female students at the college is (0.571,
0.729).
Illustration 4.18: A random sample of 25 students is chosen for estimating the proportion of
female students at a large college. In the sample, there are 45 male students. You are required
to construct a 95% confidence interval for the proportion of male students at the college.
Solution: The proportion of female students in the sample is
p̂ =45/100=0.45
A 95% Confidence level means that α =1− 0.95=0.05,
So, α/2=0.025, hence, z0.025=1.96.
± za/2 √ (1 – )
√n
= 0.45 ± 1.96√ (1 – )
√n
= 0.45 ± 1.96√ (0.45) (0.55)
√25
= 0.45 ± 0.976
= (0.526, 1.426)
Hence, the confidence interval for the proportion of female students at the college is (0.526,
1.426).
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Illustration 4.19: You are required to find out the minimum sample size needed to establish
a 99% confidence interval for μ with a margin of error (E) = 0.2. Assume that the population
standard deviation is σ = 1.3.
Solution: 99% Confidence level means that α = 1− 0.99 = 0.01,
So, α/2=0.005, we obtain z0.005 = 2.58.
n = (za/2)2 σ2 (rounded up)
E2
= (2.58)2 (1.3)2 = 280.362
(0.2)2
The final answer is rounded up to 281 as it is not possible to take a fractional observation.
Illustration 4.20: You are required to find out the minimum sample size needed to establish
a 95% confidence interval for μ with a margin of error (E) = 0.5. Assume that the population
standard deviation is σ = 2.5.
Solution: 95% Confidence level means that α = 1− 0.95 = 0.05,
So, α/2=0.005, we obtain z0.025 = 1.96
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IN-TEXT QUESTIONS
11. Which of the following is not the property of a good estimator?
a) Sufficiency b) Biasedness
c) Consistency d) Efficiency
12. A _________is described as a set of values between which a population
parameter falls.
a) Interval Estimate b) Point Estimate
c) Confidence Level d) Margin of Error
13. If the population standard deviation is unknown and the sample size n is
small, then we use _____ distribution?
a) Normal Distribution b) Student t–distribution
c) Non-normal Distribution d) Polynomial Distribution
14. A sample of 45 individuals is taken from a population of 650. From this
sample, the sample mean is found to be 3.6 and standard deviation is
found to be 2.52 respectively. You are required to calculate the estimated
standard error of the mean?
a) 0.476 b) 0.376
c) 0.276 d) 0.176
15. Population mean is denoted by which symbol?
a) x̄ b) σx̄
c) s 2
d) μ
4.6 SUMMARY
• A population is a total group about whom the researcher wishes to make conclusions.
• A sample is a particular group from whom you will gather the data.
• Sampling is a process of picking individuals in order to draw conclusions from them
statistically and estimate the entire population’s attributes.
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• A type of sampling technique in which a researcher chooses specific criteria and picks
individuals randomly from a population is known as probability sampling. It is
categorized into four types namely simple random sampling, stratified random
sampling, systematic sampling and cluster sampling techniques.
• Non-probability sampling is a sampling approach in which a researcher selects study
participants at random. There are four types of non-probability sampling namely
convenience sampling, purposive sampling, quota sampling and snowball sampling
techniques.
• A parameter is a number that describes a whole population (such as population mean),
whereas a statistic is a number that describes a sample (such as sample mean).
• The sampling distribution of the mean is defined as “the probability distribution of all
the possible means of the samples is a distribution of sample means”.
• The central limit theorem states that “Given a population with a finite mean μ and a
finite non-zero variance σ2, the sampling distribution of the mean approaches a
normal distribution with a mean of μ and a variance of σ2/N as N, the sample size,
increases”.
• An estimator is defined as a sample statistic that is employed to estimate a population
parameter. Whenever we want to describe a particular numerical value of our
estimator, we use the term “estimate”.
• The four properties of a good estimator are unbiasedness, efficiency, consistency and
sufficiency.
• Point estimation is described as the process of determining an estimated value of a
population parameter such as the mean of a population from random samples of the
population whereas an interval estimate is described as a set of values between which
a population parameter falls.
• A confidence level is the probability element of a confidence interval.
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4.7 GLOSSARY
Central Limit Theorem: As the sample size “n” increases the sampling distribution of the
mean tends to approach normality irrespective of the shape of the population distribution.
Cluster Sampling: A probability technique in which researchers divide a population into
subpopulations (known as clusters) that reflect the population.
Confidence Interval: A range of values that has some designated probability of including
the true population parameter value.
Confidence Level: Reflects the degree of uncertainty in a sampling process.
Consistent Estimator: Whenever there is an increase in the sample size, an estimator
approaches the population parameter closer and closer, thus, termed as a consistent estimator
of a population parameter.
Convenience Sampling: A non-probability technique in which the samples are selected
simply because they were considered to be the most convenient sample to choose from.
Efficient Estimator: Sampling variability of an estimator.
Estimate: A specific observable statistical value.
Estimator: A sample statistic that is employed to estimate a population parameter.
Finite Population: A population having a stated or limited size.
Infinite Population: A population in which it is not possible to describe all the elements
theoretically.
Interval Estimate: A set of values between which a population parameter falls.
Non-Probability Sampling: A researcher selects study participants at random.
Parameter: A number that describes a whole population.
Point Estimation: A process of determining an estimated value of a population parameter
such as the mean of a population from random samples of the population.
Population: A total group about whom the researcher wishes to make conclusions.
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Probability Sampling: A researcher selects a few criteria and randomly selects individuals
from a population.
Purposive Sampling: A non-probability technique in which the researcher selects the sample
on the basis of who they believe would be suitable for their study.
Quota Sampling: A non-probability technique in which the samples are selected from
different strata in quotas.
Sample: A particular group from whom you will gather the data.
Sampling distribution: A list of all possible values for a statistic and the probability
associated with each value that can be partially described by its mean and standard deviation.
Sampling: A process of picking individuals in order to draw conclusions from them
statistically and estimate the entire population’s attributes.
Simple Random Sampling: A probability technique in which every individual in a
population is chosen at random, and each individual has an “equal probability of being
chosen in a sample”.
Snowball Sampling: A non-probability technique in which the existing sample elements
from their contacts recruit sample elements.
Standard Error of Mean: Reveals how much we are anticipating the means from various
samples to differ due to sampling error.
Statistic: A number that describes a sample.
Stratified Random Sampling: A probability technique in which the population is divided
into smaller groups (i.e. stratas) where these stratas reflect the entire population and there is
no overlapping.
Sufficient Estimator: An estimator is considered to be sufficient if it conveys as much
information about the parameter in the sample as possible.
Systematic Sampling: A probability technique in which the researchers choose sample
members from a population at periodic intervals.
Unbiased Estimator: An estimator is called an unbiased estimator when the expected value
of the estimator is the same as that of the population parameter that is being estimated.
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1. Statistic 9. 0.3
2. Stratified Sampling 10. 30
3. Both a and b 11. Biasedness
4. Snowball Sampling 12. Interval Estimate
5. Parameter 13. Student t–distribution
6. 24 14. 0.376
7. Approaches normality as sample size 15. μ
increases.
8. inversely
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4.10 REFERENCES
Albright, S.C., & Winston, W.L. (2015). Business Analytics: Data Analysis and Decision
Making (5th ed.). Cengage Publications.
Levin, R. I., Siddiqui, M. H., Rastogi, S., & Rubin, D. S. (2017). Statistics for Management
(8th ed.). London: Pearson.
Anderson, D., Sweeney, D., Williams, T., Camm, J., & Cochran, J. (2014). Statistics for
Business & Economics (12th ed.). India: Cengage Learning.
Cooper, D. R., Schindler, P. S., & Sharma, J. K. (2018). Business research methods (12th ed).
New Delhi: McGraw-Hill Education.
Surya, P. K. & Sharma, S. K. (2020). Business Research Methods and Analytics. New Delhi:
Taxmann publication.
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LESSON-5
STRUCTURE
5.2 INTRODUCTION
To understand hypothesis in research, students must have prior knowledge of basic statistics
like average mean, standard deviation, standard error, sampling methods and sample size etc.
In this lesson, students and researchers will be able to understand the concept of hypothesis,
designing of hypothesis, and testing of hypothesis with the help of t-test and ANOVA.
Students will also learn the basics sampling error – I and error – II.
The researchers and students are always curious to understand the tentative outcome
of research. The testing of hypothesis explain us how to design the research hypothesis and
how to know with confidence level that on the basis of just one sample how do we predict
that same thing is prevailing in population also. This lesson will assist students to understand
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the risk involve in testing hypothesis in terms of Sampling error I and II which will help us to
minimize the risk of taking decision of rejecting or fail to reject the hypothesis. This lesson
will also explain different types of hypothesis method and how to design hypothesis. The
confidence interval will give us more confidence that research has not done any mistake in
testing hypothesis. The hypothesis will be tested with the help of T- test and further the
extension of t test in term of analysis of Variance (ANOVA).
Research is all about prediction, forecasting and measuring cause effecting
relationship among different variables. For example, students can test the hypothesis that
intelligence of a student is positively related to student’s grade or marks. Similarly, students
can collect data and analyse them to test any business problem or situation on the basis of a
sample data. This lesson is interesting as it will help students to know the tentative outcome.
Fig 5.1 represent the various topics; we have covered in the lesson.
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We often work with certain datasets, on which we usually use the right statistical and
mathematical methods to find the hidden knowledge in the data. Scientists, mathematicians,
and statisticians have come up with a lot of ways to deal with data from all types of sources.
The real roots of inferential statistics lie in the testing of hypotheses, which is at the heart of
sampling theory. But real-life situations aren't always what you'd expect. Instead, they usually
have random details that are hard to deal with. Hypothesis testing is a related method that can
be used in these situations. Hypothesis testing or statistical hypothesis testing is a way to
compare two datasets or a sample from a dataset. It's a statistical method for drawing
conclusions, so at the end of the test, you can come to some conclusions about the things you
matched.
In this lesson, we start with the basics of sampling, population, sample, standard error,
sampling error, and attempt to understand why this area of analytics is important. We then
proceed on to the basics of hypothesis testing.
5.3.1 Population:
In a statistical investigation, the focus is usually on figuring out how big something is in
general and studying how people in a group differ in one or more ways. The people being
studied are called the population or universe. As such, in statistics, the population is a group
of things, living or not, that are being studied. Depending on the situation, this population
could be small or large. Most of the time, it's either impossible or impractical to get an entire
total number of the population. The population may be so big that it can't be counted. Also,
the units of the population could be destroyed or disturbed during a full examination, making
it impossible. All of these problems lead us to the idea of sampling, which means we need to
know what the word sample means. The characteristics of the population is described with
the population, e.g., the population mean variance etc., referred to as parameters.
5.3.2 Samples:
• A sample is a small group of people from a population that can be counted. The number
of participants in a sample is called the sample size. Instead of counting all of the people
in the population, only the participants in the trial are observed to find out what their
characteristics are. Then, the characteristics of the sample are used to make an
approximation or estimate of the population. However, sampling has a lot of benefits,
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especially when it comes to saving time and money. Sampling is used quite often in our
everyday lives. For example, A housewife usually tastes small quantity of food she has
cooked to see if it is done right and has the right amount of salt. The characteristics of
sample is described in terms of the sample of the respective population, e.g., the
sample mean (𝑥𝑥̅ ), sample variance (s2), etc., were termed as statistics.
ACTIVITY
A Ph.d student wants to conduct a research on students of University of Delhi
regarding their experience about online classroom learning during Covid – 19. In
this case, the population, he suppose to study will be all students of University of
Delhi and it would be impractical to get total number of students at a particular
point of time. So how to make this research/study possible. Do you need to take
sample? Decide on what basis and how you will select a sample for this study.
Make a assumption about the study.
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Sample mean ( )
IN-TEXT QUESTIONS
1. Standard deviaton of sampling distribution is called _______________.
2. There is no difference between standard deviation and standard error. True /
False
3. The characteristics of sample are:
a) sample mean b) Variance
c) population mean d) all of the above
4. Error – I is representing alpha or byta ____________________.
5. I-you-me-mode is a style of writing.
5.4 HYPOTHESIS
5.4.1 Why hypothesis: In research it is very difficult to access the whole population because
it is time consuming and a costly affair so infer the population with the help of sample. In
other words we can’t access population or it’s unknown so use sample and infer to population
(hypothesis). For example, Tata automobile manufacture EV - Tiago and now improved
version of old one and they claim that New millage is > 26 KM. It’s assumption about
population. So population parameter is 26. Can you test all the car to know whether mileage
is more than 26 or not. Answer is no because it is not possible to test all the car so We go for
sample (subset of population) and test the hypothesis.
5.4.2 What hypothesis: Hypothesis is an assumption to claim. In businesses and industries,
manager, supervisor, and expert claim on the basis of their experience, practices and hunches.
For example:
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• Mahindra claim about Thar that now improve version will give mileage more than 25
is a claim and alternative hypothesis. In this example something is more than other so
Here, , called a right-tailed alternative hypothesis. This is also
known as directional hypothesis as direction of more than something is given.
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• During Covid – 19, Bharat Biotech claim that efficacy of covaxin and covi-shild is
not same. In this example nothing is more or less. You don’t have any direction that
which is one is more or less so this is called non-directional hypothesis.
, called a two-tailed alternative hypothesis.
Null Hypothesis: the complimentary of alternative is called null hypothesis. The null
hypothesis is an assumption taken during the estimation of any test statistic, that denies the
possibility of any difference from the situation present in the actual population as a whole, it
is denoted by . The null hypothesis is the hypothesis that is tested for possible rejection
under the assumption that it is true. For example:
The null hypothesis for above alternative (Mahindra claim about Thar that now
improve version will give mileage more than 25 is a claim and alternative
hypothesis. In this example something is more than other) will be :
That now improve version of Thar will give mileage less than or equal to 25.
So null hypothesis is : ≤ 25.( μ ≤ μ1)
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The null hypothesis for above alternative (Dolo paracetamol manufacture claim
that chances of ineffectiveness of dole is less than 2%. In this example something
is less than other) will be:
That now Dolo ineffectiveness will be more than or equal to 2%.
So null hypothesis is ≥ 2%. (μ ≥ μ1).
The null hypothesis for above alternative hypothesis (During Covid – 19, Bharat
Biotech claim that efficacy of covaxin and covi-shild is not same.) will be:
That efficacy of Covaxin and Covi-shield vaccine is same.
So null hypothesis is: μ = μ1.
5.4.3.1How to decide right tailed or left tailed:
On the basis of alternative hypothesis.
(i) > right tailed
(ii) < Left tailed.
(iii)μ1 ≠ μ2 two tailed.
Caveat: never use equal sign in alternative. always use in null hypothesis.( ≥, or ≤, =)
ACTIVITY
Make different kind of claims to represent different kind of alternative hypothesis
in terms of directional hypothesis and non-directional hypothesis. You can also
design hypothesis on the basis of literature review and on the basis of hunches,
experiences and define them in terms of right tailed, left tailed and two tailed test
hypothesis.
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previous Thar then on the basis of sample testing of 10 (sample) from population of Thar
(1000). You can test and claim whether claim is true or not. This process of matching sample
with population is called hypothesis testing. Here we will discuss the steps of hypothesis
testing
Setting up the hypotheses: In this step, we set up alternative hypothesis on the
basis of claim and information available in the literature etc. and then make
complementary null hypothesis H0 by assuming that the sample statistical value is
the same as the population value. Also, the alternative is said to be consistent with
the null hypothesis. The most important thing is to choose the type of alternative
(two-tailed or single-tailed) based on the testing conditions and requirements.
Choosing the level of significance: In this step, we choose the right level of
Significance ( ) based on how accurate the estimates are and how much risk we
are willing to take. This will be decided before the sample is chosen, which means
that will be set earlier in the process. Common significance levels are 0.10 (1
chance in 10), 0.05 (1 chance in 20), and 0.01 (1 chance in 100).
Test criterion or test statistic: In this step, we choose the best test statistic and
figure out its value(s) based on the null hypothesis.
Conclusion: Finally, we compare the statistic value with the standard value at the
given significance level, and accordingly conclude that whether to accept or reject
the null hypothesis.
5.4.5 Hypothesis testing with mean - Student’s t-Test (t-Test):
In some cases, researchers want to test hypotheses about population means with sample sizes
that aren't big enough to be roughly estimated by the normal distribution. The t-distribution is
used when the sample size is small and the population's standard deviation is unknown. The
t-distribution is a bell-shaped distribution with a mean of zero and a standard deviation of
one, just like the standardised normal curve. When the number of samples is more than 30,
the distribution and the Z-distribution may be almost the same.
A t-test is a type of inferential statistic that is used to see if the sample mean (x ) is
very different from the hypothetical population mean ( ) value.
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where
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We now compare the calculated value of with the tabulated value of a certain level
of significance. If the calculated value tabulated value of , null hypothesis is
rejected and if the value of tabulated of , null hypothesis may be accepted at
that level of significance. The tabulated values of as given below:
Illustration: suppose a teacher believes that the average marks secured by students in each
subject is 50. A data is collected from 11 students and marks obtained are as follows:
Marks 56 54 44 57 55 57 58 51 61 51 54
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Next, finds the t value associated with the desired level of statistical significance. If a 95
percent confidence level is required, the significance level is .05.
So
CI σ
X̄ ± Z×
= √n
1.35
= 54.36 ± 1.9600×
√11
54.36 ± 0.798
= a 95% confidence interval of the mean [53.56 55.15] suggests that we are 95%
confident that the population mean is between 53.56 and 11.
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Researchers often test univariate statistical hypotheses about the size and distribution of a
population. Based on the sample proportion, you can guess what the population proportion is.
Conceptually, testing a hypothesis about a proportion is the same as testing a hypothesis
when the mean is the main matter. Mathematically, the standard error of the proportion is
calculated differently.
Illustration: MIT sloan school of management published a report on link between
presence of Facebook and a deterioration in mental health among college students.
The negative mental health effects were significant: “Access to Facebook lead to an
increase in severe anxiety disorder by 20%.
In other words, the null hypothesis to be tested is that the proportion of severe anxiety
disorder among college students is .2. The researcher formulates the statistical null
hypothesis that the population proportion (π) equals 20 percent (.2).
If a researcher conducts a survey with a sample of 200 students and calculates p = .7. though
the population proportion is not known. Here we will use Z test rather than t -test as sample
size is large. If the decision will be taken at the ,01 level of significance, the critical Z value
of 2.57 is used for the hypothesis test. Using the following formula
P = proportion of successes
So
Sp = √(.2)(.2)/200 = .028
Here Z value of 21.42 is more than the critical value of 2.57 so the null hypothesis is
rejected.
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1= 2 or 1- 2
S1 = 2.6 S2 = 2.1
n1 = 14 n2 = 21
S = .797
The t – value is = (11.2 – 14.5)/ .797 = 4.14
Here calculated value of t, 4.14 exceed the critical t value of 2.75. at the .01 level. In other
words, research shows that female students have more positive perception towards online
learning.
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In t test, we compare two mean or populations for group. For example comparison between
male and female towards attitude or perception about online learning. Here, we have only two
groups or level of the independent variable, gender (male and female). On the other hand
dependent variable is one (attitude). If in case we want to compare more than two groups then
t- test will not work. For example we want to analyse the attitude of students of primary
school, middle school and college. Here we have three groups of students (independent
variable) but one dependent variable (attitude). In this case one – way analysis of variance
(ANOVA) is the appropriate statistical tool. Here we cannot use the t – test for hypothesis
testing. So null hypothesis is:
Ho: 1= 2= 3
Ha: 1 2 3
The null hypothesis is that all the means are equal and alternative is that atleast there is
difference between two groups.
Assumptions: (i) Data is normally distributed
(ii) Groups are independent.
(iii ) Equality of Variance
Difference between groups: The difference between 1 and 2 and 3 is called difference
between group.
Difference within groups: The difference within 1 or 2 or 3 is called difference within
groups.
Simultaneously comparing mean in case of more than two level is called Anova.
Illustration:
Using the following data, perform analysis of variance (ANOVA) using α = .05
67 45 74
45 43 76
33 23 87
53 23 56
43 43 56
Sol:
SSwithin: is calculated by squaring the deviation of each score from its group mean and
summing these scores.
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SS between is the variability of the group means about a grand mean, is calculated by squaring
the deviation of each group mean from the grand mean, multiplying by the number of items
in the group, and summing these scores.
t= grand mean
= 1892.8
= 3185.23
F = 1592.5/157.6 = 10.10
Fcritical(2,12)=3.89
Decision = Reject H0
The critical value of f at the .05 level for 2 and 12 degrees of freedom indicated that
an F of 3,89 would be required to reject the null hypothesis. In this example, we
conclude that we reject the null hypothesis. It appears that all groups are different.
How confident you are if test is repeated, are you going to get same result or not. Because
hypothesis is tested on the basis of sample. There may be chance of error while selecting the
sample. So there is chance of risk involve in the hypothesis testing. Basically two types of
risk is involved while testing hypothesis. Here we will see which risk is more problematic.
The risk arise due to different situations.
Situation 01: Mahindra and Mahindra claim about new Thar that now new engine will give
you mileage more than 25.
In this case, if null hypothesis is rejected while it was true. Then in long run company image
will be affected due to wrong message about mileage of Thar.
Situation 02: Micro -lab pharmaceutical claim about dolo paracetamol that ineffectiveness of
medicine is less than 2%.
In this case if null hypothesis is rejected while it was true then cost of risk would be at the
cost of people. So in Error I and II we discuss the two types of error while testing the
hypothesis. The main goal of sampling theory is to be able to make valid conclusions about
the parameters of the whole population based on the results of a sample. In practise, we
decide whether to accept or reject a lot after looking at a sample from it. Because of this, we
might make the following two kinds of mistakes:
The α and β are called the sizes of type I error and type II error, respectively. α is called the
producer’s Risk, and β is called the consumer’s Risk.
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is true is false
Accept No error
Reject No error
CASE STUDY
US Study: Being addicted to social media can cause anxiety and depression
According to new research published in the American Economic Review, there is a strong
link between using Facebook and feeling more anxious and sadder. But social networks
don't agree and say the evidence isn't clear. The MIT Sloan School of Management wrote a
report about how college students' mental health seems to get worse when they use
Facebook. A new study is important because it compares two different sets of data from the
early days of Facebook, from February 2004 to September 2006. Facebook was slowly
introduced to college campuses in the US. It began with Harvard. The researchers compared
how students reacted when Facebook came to a campus. When the researchers looked at the
answers to the 4.3 lakh survey from that time, they found "a significant link between college
students' use of Facebook and their mental health getting worse."
The bad effects on mental health were big: "Access to Facebook led to a 7% rise in severe
depression and a 20% rise in anxiety disorders." Researchers think that using Facebook is
about 20% as bad as losing a job. And this was before the "like" button was added to
Facebook. Another thing that was seen was that Facebook's effects on mental health got
worse over time.
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IN-TEXT QUESTIONS
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5.7 SUMMARY
In a statistical investigation, the interest usually lies in the assessment of the general
magnitude and the study of variation concerning one or more characteristics relating to
individuals belonging to a group. This group of individuals under study is called the
population or universe.
A finite subset of statistical individuals in a population is called a sample and the
number of individuals in a sample is called the sample size.
The two sets of individuals, population and sample, the latter being a subset, may possess
separate statistical constants in varied situations. To avoid the verbal confusion, these
constants associated with the population, e.g., the population mean (μ), variance (σ^2 ) etc.,
referred to as parameters. Similarly, the constants associated with the sample of the
respective population, e.g., the sample mean ( ), sample variance (s2),
Tests of significance are one of an important aspect of the sampling, which helps to
make conclusions based on the sample results if there is:
the deviation between the observed sample statistic and the hypothetical parameter
value, or
the deviation between two independent sample statistics; is significant or might be
attributed to chance or the fluctuations of sampling.
The null hypothesis is an assumption taken during the estimation of any test statistic,
that denies the possibility of any difference from the situation present in the actual population
as a whole, it is denoted by H0. The null hypothesis is the hypothesis that is tested for
possible rejection under the assumption that it is true.
A hypothesis which is complementary to the null hypothesis is called an alternative
hypothesis, usually denoted by H1 or Ha. As such we are liable to commit the following two
types of errors:
Type I Error: Rejecting the Null Hypothesis H0, when it is true.
Type II Error: Accepting H0 when it is wrong, i.e., when H1, is true.
A region (corresponding to a statistic t) in the sample space S which amounts to a
rejection of H0 is termed as the critical region or region of rejection.
A t-test is a type of inferential statistic used to test: the sample mean ( ) differs
significantly from the hypothetical value μ of the population mean. the significance of the
difference between two sample means. a significant difference between the two datasets.
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5.8 GLOSSARY
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1. Explain the need of the testing of hypothesis. Discuss the steps of hypothesis testing.
2. Discuss a hypothesis. What types of hypotheses do you know? Discuss each of them.
3. Discuss two types of errors in the hypotheses testing. Discuss their role in testing?
4. Define the following terms:
i) Type II error.
ii) Type I error
iii) Anova
5. Write the assumptions of the following tests:
i) test
ii) test
A sample of 200 batteries made by a company give a lifetime mean of 1540 hours
with a standard deviation of 42 hours. Is it possible that a sample has been drawn
from a population with a mean life time of 1500 hours? You may use 5% level of
significance. (Given Tabular value is 13.47) (D.U 2021)
The result of students’ survey indicated that a sample of 70 students secured an
average of 80 marks in business research paper with a deviation of 12 marks. Test
the hypothesis that the value hypothesis that the marks of the population mean is 100
against the alternative that is less than 100 marks. Use 5% level of significance.
(Critical value of statistic is 1.64).
Using the following data, perform analysis of variance (ANOVA) using α = .05
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Surya, P.K., Sharma, S.K. (2020) Business research methods and analytics, Taxman
publication, New Delhi
William G. Zikmund (2003), Exploring marketing research. Thomson press.
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LESSON-6
NON-PARAMETRIC TEST
Jigmet Wangdus
Assistant Professor
DDCE, Campus of Open Learning
University of Delhi
jigmet@sol-du.ac.in
STRUCTURE
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6.1 OBJECTIVE
6.2 INTRODUCTION
Parametric tests are generally used to draw inferences about one or more population based
upon sample information from those populations by making certain assumptions about the
population distribution like t-distribution or normal distribution. When the assumption of
normality is not satisfied along with small sample size, then we can use non-parametric
statistical test which is free form the assumption of normality.
The most important and popular statistical test for nominal and ordinal data is chi-
square. A nominal scale can be constructed for affiliation to political ideology by grouping
individual according to party loyalties – so many Right-wing, so many Left-wing, so many
independent and so on. From the nominal scale we cannot characterize the strength of any
individual affiliation to political ideology; we can only know what the affiliation is. From
nominal scale we get nose-counting data which tells us in how many cases a certain trait
occurs. There is no scope of shades of Gray in nominal data ; an observation either has the
trait or not.
Nominal data are generated by sorting and counting – sorting the data into discrete,
mutually exclusive categories and then counting the frequency of occurrence within each
category.
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The non-parametric tests are generally used when the data are not normally
distributed. Therefore, it is also known as Distribution free tests.
The non-parametric test is an alternative to parametric tests such as T-Test, ANOVA,
Linear Regression which are based upon the certain assumptions of the data.
One of the most versatile and extensive used statistical tests is chi-square . The chi-
square is a non-parametric test applied to test any hypothesis relating to categorical data.
• If we have to estimate (m) population parameter from the sample statistic for
calculation of expected frequency, then = k-m-1
• When the total frequency is small and =1, then we need to introduce a
continuity correction factor equal to 0.5 in computing chi-square value.
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• The standard normal variable (Z) lies between -1 and 1 is approximately 68 percent,
hence will be between 0 and 1 approximately 68 percent of time. Similarly,
27 percent of the time the value lie between 1 and 4.
• The shape of chi-square distribution depends on the degree of freedom. With the
increase in the degree of freedom, the distribution trends to be normal.
• For the application of the chi-square test, the data should be given in proportions or
percentages which should be converted into frequencies.
• The height of the density function decreases as the value of the random variables
increases.
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• The data is categorical/nominal. The test data should represent frequencies for k
mutually exclusive categories
Ei = n×pi
n= sample size
Suppose we are given a set of J categories and from sample data the observed number
of occurrences of the random variable in each category : Oj where j = 1, 2,…….j. Under the
null hypothesis we assume that a set of expected frequencies from the J categories can be
computed: Ej where j = 1,2,……,j. The data could be presented as in Table below
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Category 1 2 3 …..................................... J
Observed
frequency O1 O2 O3 …..................................... OJ
Expected
frequency E1 E2 E3 …..................................... EJ
For the goodness of fit test, the number of degrees of freedom (v) is always i-1. One
degree of freedom is lost because the sum of the expected frequencies is forced to equal the
sum of the observed frequencies.
Null Versus alternative hypotheses
Null hypothesis Ho : Oi = Ei for all cells
Where Oi = observed frequency for ith cell
Ei = Expected frequency for ith cell
Alternative hypothesis H1 : Oi ≠ Ei for at least one cell.
Where Oi = observed frequency for ith cell
Ei = Expected frequency for ith cell
Illustration 6.1
We are given a die that we hypothesize to be fair: i.e., all faces equally likely to appear. Then,
if pj equals the probability that the kth face appears, suppose that the die is thrown 54 times
and the one-through-six faces are observed 5,8,9,14,12 and 6 times respectively. If the die is
fair, we would expect to see each face 9 times. The data are presented in table given below.
Null Hypothesis Ho : pj = 1/6 (The die is fair)
Alternate Hypothesis H1 : pj ≠ 1/6 (The die is not fair)
Level of Significance, = 0.01
Calculation of chi-square =
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1 5 9 -4 16 1.78
2 8 9 -1 1 0.11
3 9 9 0 0 0
4 14 9 5 25 2.78
5 12 9 3 9 1
6 6 9 -3 9 1
∑Oi
=54 ∑Ei 54 ∑(Oi-Ei) = 0 6.67
The critical value of chi-square with 5 degree of freedom (v = k-1) and α of 0.01 is
15.09 (given in chi-square table). Since our computed value of 6.67 is less than the critical
(15.09) we fail to reject the null hypothesis. Thus, we can conclude that the die is fair. We
could have rejected the null hypothesis if the computed exceeds the critical value of
Illustration 6.2
An automobile company routinely purchases a certain type of raw material in lots of
1,000. The purchase department spread the orders among suppliers M,N,O,P in the ratio of
2:2:1:1. Data of 48 purchase orders are randomly selected from the last one-year orders.
Supplier M,N,O and P have received 26,8,8 and 6 orders respectively. Does the purchases
were done as per the given ratio? Test at α = 0.01.
Ho: purchases are distributed in the ratio of 2:2:1:1
H1: purchases are not distributed in the ratio of 2:2:1:1
Under Ho:
Supplier M is expected to receive = 2/(2+2+1+1) = 1/3 of the purchase orders. (16)
Supplier N is expected to receive = 2/(2+2+1+1) = 1/3 of the purchase orders. (16)
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Calculation of chi-square =
M 26 16 10 100 6.25
N 8 16 -8 64 4
O 8 8 0 0 0
P 6 8 -2 4 0.5
∑Oi
=48 ∑ Ei = 48 0 ∑ =10.75
The critical value of chi-square with 3 degree of freedom (v = k-1) and α of 0.10 is
6.25 (given in chi-square table). Since our computed value of 10.75 is more than the
critical (6.25) so we reject the null hypothesis. Thus, we can conclude that the purchases
are not distributed in the ratio of 2:2:1:1.
Illustration 6.3
ABC Sports company manufactures cricket bat of 3 different sizes. The company claims 60%
of bats are large, 30% Medium and 10 % small. Suppose a random sample of 100 cricket bats
has 45 large size, 50 medium and 5 small sizes. Is this consistent with the company’s claim?
Use a 0.05 level of significance.
Solution:
Let pl = the proportion of large
pm = the proportion of medium
ps = the proportion of small
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Observed Expected
Bat Size (Oi) (Ei (Oi-Ei) (Oi-Ei)2
Small 5 10 -5 25 2.5
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For example: if you want to understand whether there is any association between gender
(Male & Female) and profession (Teacher & Doctor), then we employ test of independence
to determine whether the variables are statistically independent. Suppose the response
obtained are given below
Male 32 48 80
Female 16 24 40
Total 48 72 120
Here the respondents are classified into four categories: Male teacher, Female teacher, Male
Doctor and Female doctor.
The following are the steps of computation
• Compute the expected frequency (Ei). The expected frequency counts at each level of
the categorical variable are equal to the sample size times the hypothesized proportion
from the null hypothesis
Eij = =
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• Decision rule: Compare the computed chi -square with critical value of chi-square.
If the computed value is greater than critical value (from chi-square table) then
rejects the null hypothesis. And if computed chi-square value is smaller than or
equal (<=) to critical value of chi-square then we fail to reject he null hypothesis.
Illustration 6.4
Apple a smartphone manufacturing company provides you with the following information
about age groups and the liking for a particular model of smartphones which it plans to
launch.
On the basis of above data, can we conclude that the model appeal is independent of the age
of the respondents? Use alpha = 0.05 percent.
Like 90 60 50
Unlike 110 40 50
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Decision rule: 2,0.05 > 5.9915 then reject the null hypothesis.
Like 90 60 50 200
100 50 50
Unlike 110 40 50 200
100 50 50
Observed Expected
frequency frequency (Oi-Ei) (Oi-Ei)^2 (Oi-Ei)^2/Ei
Total 6
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IN-TEXT QUESTIONS
True of False
6. Non-parametric test deal with cases in which the assumption of normality
of the population is not satisfied.
7. Non-parametric tests are also called distribution-free tests because they do
not involve tests related to probability distribution
8. The observed frequency of every class should be at least equal to 5.
9. The O and E used to calculate must be absolute frequency
10. In goodness-of-fit test, the rejection region lies in both tails of the
distribution.
The sign test is used to test the null hypothesis that the median of a distribution is equal to
some value. It is applicable when the objective is to compare samples from two populations
and the samples are matched pairs. It can be used a) in place of a one sample t-test b) paired
sample t-test, c) for ordered categorical data (ordinal data) where a numerical scale is
inappropriate but where it is possible to rank the observations.
Types of sign tests:
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• Calculate the median value. The value greater than the median value is treated with
positive signs and values lesser than the median value is treated as a negative sign. If the
value is equal to the median value, that observation is excluded from data, and the size of
the sample gets reduced accordingly.
• For hypothesis testing, it is assumed that positive sign values are equal to negative sign
values. Hence, the data for the small sample is assumed binomial distribution. The data
for a large sample is assumed normal distribution. Data is considered as large sample
when np and nq are at least 5. In such a situation Z-statistic is used. Formulate null (Ho)
and Alternate (H1) hypothesis:
Null hypothesis: p=½
Alternative hypothesis: p ≠ ½ (Two-tail) or p > ½ or p < ½ (One-tail)
• Select an appropriate level of significance (a) for testing the null (Ho) hypothesis.
(Usually, 0.05/0.01/0.10 is used).
z=
• Where X = observed number of positive signs in sample. For large sample (np and nq
are at least 5) X value is increased by 0.5 if X < np and decreased by 0.5 if X> np, =
mean of the binomial distribution, x= standard deviation of the binomial distribution
= np
x= =
• Estimate the table value for critical regions by using the Z-test statistic table.
• Decision Rule: Compare Z- test computed value and critical value (given in chi-square
table) (Decision Rule of the run test).
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Illustration 6.5
In a clinical trial, survival time (weeks) is collected for 10 subjects with non Hodgkin's
lymphoma. The exact survival time was not known for one subject who was still alive after
362 weeks when the study ended. The subjects' survival times of 10 subjects are
49, 58,75, 110, 112, 132, 151, 276, 281, 362
The researcher wished to determine if the median survival time was less than or greater than
200 weeks. Use 5% significance level for testing.
Solution
The median value is given as 200 weeks.
Number of observations below 200 weeks = 7 observations Negative (-)
49,58,75,110,112,132,151
Number of observations above 200 weeks = 3 observations (+)276, 281,362
Hypothesis: The null hypothesis is that the median survival is 200 weeks
Ho: p = ½
Ha: p ≠ ½
The formula used to estimate one sample Z-test is
z= = = 0.949
Where X =7. For large sample (np and nq are at least 5) X value is increased by 0.5 if X < np
and decreased by 0.5 if X > np. Here, np = 10 x ½ = 5, nq = 5. Hence, consider the sample as
large sample size. Now, X > np; X value is decreased by 0.5 which will be 7- 0.5 = 6.5
= mean of the binomial distribution, = standard deviation of the binomial distribution
np = 10 x 1/2 = 5
x= = = = 1.581
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calculated value (0.949) of Z is lies between the table values (t1.96), the null hypothesis (Ho)
is accepted. Therefore, the median survival is 200 weeks.
The sign test is used when two observation of the same sample is done, one before treatment
another one after the treatment. It uses only sign between two values let's say x and y. Sign
test will only observe whether x > y or x = y or x < y. The values are not used in the
computation process.
• calculate the difference between the two observation's value. The difference between
two value is given positive or negative sign. Hence two samples are taken, one with a
plus and another with a minus sign. If the values have no difference, the values are
deleted from the data and the sample size gets reduced accordingly.
• For hypothesis testing, it is assumed that positive sign values are equal to negative
sign value. Hence, the data for the small sample is assumed as binomial distribution.
The data for a large sample is assumed as normal distribution. Data is considered as
large sample size when np and nq are at least 5. In such a situation Z-statistic is used.
• After that, the third (3) step to the sixth (6) step process is the same as in the one-
sample sign test.
Illustration 6.6:
researcher has administered 10 students. The results are presented in the below table. Use a
5% level of significance, test the claim that there is no difference between two instruments.
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Solution
Difference
Students Researcher1 Researcher2
(R1-R2)
1 142 138 +
2 140 136 +
3 144 147 -
4 144 139 +
5 142 143 -
6 146 141 +
7 149 143 +
8 150 145 +
9 142 136 +
10 148 146 +
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z= = = 1.582
Where X =8. For large sample (np and nq are at least 5) X value is increased by 0.5 if X < np
and decreased by 0.5 if X > np. Here, np = 10 x ½ = 5, nq = 5. Hence, consider the sample as
large sample size. Now, X > np (8>5); X value is decreased by 0.5 which will be 8- 0.5 = 7.5
= mean of the binomial distribution, = standard deviation of the binomial distribution
np = 10 x 1/2 = 5
x= = = = 1.581
The Mann-Whitney U test is used to compare differences between two independent groups
when the dependent variable is either ordinal or continuous, but not normally distributed. The
test is used to examine whether two samples have been drawn from population with the same
means. This test is an alternative to a parametric independent sample test.
The following steps are required to calculate the Mann-Whitney U test:
1) Formulate hypothesis: The two independent samples are equal or not.
Null Hypothesis: Two samples have an equal distribution from the mean
Alternative Hypothesis: Two samples do not have equal distribution
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Or
The sample I has the higher or lower distribution of mean as compared to the II
sample
2) The two independent samples are pooled together into a single sample to provide a
rank to each observation in the pooled sample. Arrange all the observations in the
ascending order and assign ranks all. If two or more observations have the same value
then the rank is equal to the average of the ranks that otherwise be allotted in the
pooled sample.
3) Now, Segregate the sample and determine the sum of the ranks of each sample (R.
and R2). R1 and R2, is the sum of the ranks to sample one and two
4) The formula used to estimate U-test is:
U1 = – R1
U2 = – R2
Z=
Where, =
5) Estimate the table value for critical regions by using the Z-test statistic table. ( Refer
run test step 4 for computation of z-table critical value).
6) Decision Rule: Compare Z- test computed value (given in step 4) and table value
(given in step 5)
Illustration 6.7
The following data shows the age at which type II diabetes was diagnosed in young adults.
Use the 5% level of significance to check whether age of diagnosing is different for males
and females?
Females: 20 11 17 12 18
Males: 19 22 16 29 24 20 23 25 28 10
Solution:
The two independent sample of females (n1) and males (n2) age at the time of diagnose of
type II diabetes is given.
Null Hypothesis: Ho: Two groups of males and females have an equal distribution of age
mean
Alternative Hypothesis: H: Two groups of males and females do not have an equal
distribution of age mean
Ist step is to pool the data in a large sample and arrange it in ascending order to assign rank.
Next step is to segregate the sample and determine the sum of ranks of each sample (R1and
R2)
The formula used to estimate U-test is:
U1 = – R1
= – 24.5 = 50.5
Z= = 3.123
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Where , = =
= = 8.165
10 M 1 2
11 F 2 2
12 F 3 3
16 M 4 4
17 F 5 5
18 F 6 6
19 M 7 7
20 F 8.5 8.5
20 M 8.5 8.5
22 M 10 10
23 M 11 11
24 M 12 12
25 M 13 13
28 M 14 14
29 M 15 15
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The critical value of the Z-test at 5% level of significance lies between (±1.96). As the
calculated value (3.123) of Z is higher than the table values (1.96), the null hypothesis (Ho) is
not accepted. Therefore, there is a difference in two groups of males and females as they do
not have an equal distribution of age mean.
Wilcoxon signed-rank test is used to test the paired or two related samples means. It is used
to examine whether their population mean ranks are different in two related samples or not. It
Can be used as an alternative to paired t-test. The assumptions of the normal distribution are
not required in the Wilcoxon signed-rank test. It is a non-parametric test that can be used to
determine whether two dependent samples were selected from populations having the same
distribution or not.
The following steps are required to calculate the Wilcoxon signed-rank test:
1. Formulate the hypothesis
Null Hypothesis; There is no difference in two related sample mean
Alternate Hypothesis: There is a difference in two related sample mean
2. Compute the difference between the two paired samples. Retain the positive and negative
values but remove the value with no difference (zero) which reduces. sample size
accordingly.
3. Convert the difference in values into absolute values by removing their signs and assign
the rank to the absolute difference values. If two or more observations have the same
value then the rank is equal to the average of the ranks.
4. Segregate the ranks of absolute differences into positive and negative ranks. The
division. is possible by re-looking at the signs given in first step difference columns.
5. Calculate the sum of ranks of positive and negative values which is represented as T+
and T- respectively. Select T be the smaller of T+/ T-.
6. The formula used to estimate Z-test is:
Z=
Where, =
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7) Estimate the table value for critical regions by using the Z-test statistic table.
test step 4 for computation of z-table critical value)
8) Decision Rule: Compare Z- test computed value (given in step 6) and table value (given in
step 7)
Illustration 6.8
The below table provides details of people who lost weight due to medicine -X. The table
provides weight details of 12 people before and after taking medicine - X. The
weight (in kgs) is given below
Before 7 5 8 9 4 6 8 10 10 6 7 8
After 6 5 3 8 4 9 12 14 13 7 5 11
Z= = = -1.244
Where, = =
= = 11.247
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d
(Before - The absolute The rank of Negative Positive
Before After After) value d absolute d rank rank
7 6 -1 1 2 2
5 5 0 0 6.5 6.5
8 3 -5 5 11 11
9 8 -1 1 2 2
4 4 0 0
6 9 3 3 6.5 6.5
8 12 4 4 9.5 9.5
10 14 4 4 9.5 9.5
10 13 3 3 6.5 6.5
6 7 1 1 2 2
7 5 -2 2 4 4
8 11 3 3 6.5 6.5
Total 66 19 47
The critical value of the Z-test at 5% level of significance lies between (±1.96). As the
calculated value (-1.244) of Z lies between the table values (±1.96), the null hypothesis (Ho)
is accepted. Therefore, there is no impact on weight reduction due to medicine X.
The Kruskal -Wallis test is used to compare differences of more than two independent groups
when the dependent variable is either ordinal or continuous, but not normally distributed. It is
also used when the sample size is very small. The test is used to examine whether the 'n'
number of samples has been drawn from population with the same mean or median. This test
is an alternative to a parametric one-way ANOVA test.
The following steps are required to calculate the Kruskal-Wallis test:
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H=
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NE Jog Gym
23 22 59
26 27 66
51 39 38
49 29 49
58 46 56
37 48 60
29 49 56
44 65 62
Use 5% level of significance to check whether physical exercise significantly effects in the
alleviation of depression or not?
Solution:
The researcher has three sample groups with no exercise, doing jogging and gymming.
The hypothesis is:
Null Hypothesis: Ha: Alleviation of depression level is the same from all types of physical
exercises
Alternative Hypothesis: H1: Alleviation of depression level in at least two is different from
all
types of physical exercises
The next step is to pool the data of all the samples and arrange them in ascending order. After
that assign rank and segregate based on type of physical exercise. Then do some of the ranks
of each sample and label it 'r1'. 'r2', 'r3.
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Pooled K R1 R2 R3
Ascending order
data sample ri Rank (NE) (Jog) (Gym)
23 NE 22 Jog 1 1
26 NE 23 NE 2 2
51 NE 26 NE 3 3
49 NE 27 Jog 4 4
58 NE 29 NE 5.5 5.5
37 NE 29 Jog 5.5 5.5
29 NE 37 NE 7 7
44 NE 38 Gym 8 8
22 Jog 39 Jog 9 9
27 Jog 44 NE 10 10
39 Jog 46 Jog 11 11
29 Jog 48 Jog 12 12
46 Jog 49 NE 14 14
48 Jog 49 Jog 14 14
49 Jog 49 Gym 14 14
65 Jog 51 NE 16 16
59 Gym 56 Gym 17.5 17.5
66 Gym 56 Gym 17.5 17.5
38 Gym 58 NE 19 19
49 Gym 59 Gym 20 20
56 Gym 60 Gym 21 21
60 Gym 62 Gym 22 22
56 Gym 65 Jog 23 23
62 Gym 66 Gym 24 24
Total 300 76.5 79.5 144
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H=
H=
= 7.27
Where k = 3 and n = 8+8+8 = 24
Estimate table value by using chi-square distribution with degree of freedom, df =k -1 = 3-l
=2. And at 5% level of significance. The table value is 5.991
Here, computed value (7.27) > Critical Table value (5.991). The null hypothesis (Ho) is
rejected. That means alleviation of depression level in at least two is different from all types
of physical exercises. There is a significant effect of exercise on depression levels.
Illustration 6.10: In a college 4 (Four) different groups of students were randomly assigned
to be taught by 4 different teachers, and their achievement test scores were recorded. Are the
distributions of test scores the same, or do they differ?
1 2 3 4
67 75 59 94
87 69 78 89
73 83 67 80
79 81 62 88
Solution: Rank the 16 measurements from 1 to 16, and calculate the four rank sums.
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1 2 3 4
Ti 31 35 15 55
H =
= 8.96
H0: the distributions of scores are the same
Ha: the distributions of scores are not same
Rejection region: For a right tailed chi-square test with α = .05 and df = 4-1 =3, reject H 0 if
H ≥ 7.81.
Reject H0. There is sufficient evidence to indicate that there is a difference in test scores for
the four teaching techniques.
Kolmogorov- Smirnov test or K-S Test is a nonparametric test named after Andrey
Kolmogorov and Nikolai Smirnov which is used as a goodness of fit and is suitable for small
sample size. It is the test of the equality of continuous or discontinuous, one-dimensional
probability distributions that can be used to compare a sample with a reference probability
distribution (one-sample K–S test), or to compare two samples (two-sample K–S test). In
essence, the test answers the question "What is the probability that this collection of samples
could have been drawn from that probability distribution?" or, in the second case, "What is
the probability that these two sets of samples were drawn from the same (but unknown)
probability distribution?". It is named after Andrey Kolmogorov and Nikolai Smirnov.
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Figure 6.1: Illustration of the Kolmogorov–Smirnov statistic. The red line is a model CDF,
the blue line is an empirical CDF, and the black arrow is the K–S statistic
The Kolmogorov–Smirnov statistic quantifies a distance between the empirical distribution
function of the sample and the cumulative distribution function of the reference distribution,
or between the empirical distribution functions of two samples. The null distribution of this
statistic is calculated under the null hypothesis that the sample is drawn from the reference
distribution (in the one-sample case) or that the samples are drawn from the same distribution
(in the two-sample case). In the one-sample case, the distribution considered under the null
hypothesis may be continuous, purely discrete or mixed. In the two-sample case, the
distribution considered under the null hypothesis is a continuous distribution but is otherwise
unrestricted. However, the two-sample test can also be performed under more general
conditions that allow for discontinuity, heterogeneity and dependence across samples.
Let’s assume that we have observation X1,X2…………Xn, which come from a distribution
P. The KS Test is used here to test whether the sample belong to P distribution.
Null Hypothesis H0 = the sample come from P distribution
Alternate Hypothesis H1 = the sample do not come from P distribution
The value of test statistics D is calculated as:
D = Maximum |Fo(X)−Fr(X)|
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Where:
• F0(X) = Observed cumulative frequency distribution of a random sample of n
observations.
• and F0(X) = k/n = (No. of observations ≤ X)/(Total no. of observations).
• Fr(X) = The theoretical frequency distribution.
The critical value of D is found from the K-S table values for one sample test.
Acceptance Criteria: If calculated value is less than critical value accepts null hypothesis.
Rejection Criteria: If calculated value is greater than table value rejects null hypothesis.
Illustration 6.11: Data was collected from 60 students (12 from each program) enrolled in
different programs to understand the intention of student to join the NCC.
It was expected that 12 students from each class would join the NCC. Using the K-S test to
find if there is any difference among student classes with regard to their intention of joining
the NCC.
Solution:
H0: There is no difference among students of different program with respect to their intention
of joining the NCC.
We develop the cumulative frequencies for observed and theoretical distributions.
No. of students interested in FO(X)
Streams FT(X) = T/N ||FO(X)−FT(X)|
joining =O/N
Observed Theoretical
(O) (T)
B.Sc.
10 12 0.1667 0.2 0.17
Maths
B.A.
11 12 0.1833 0.2 0.18
Eco
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6.9 SUMMARY
• Non-parametric tests make fewer and less stringent assumptions like data is not
requirement to be normally distributed, data is drawn by random sampling, variables
association can be non-linear and observations are independent of each other. The
test is mainly used non-metric data i.e., ordinal or nominal.
• The Chi-square test is a non-parametric test used for mainly two purposes. First it
determines whether a sample data matches the population. This is a test of goodness
of fit. Secondly, it determines the association between the two variables. The
comparison of two contingency (categorical) variables are checked to find whether
they are related or not. This is a test of the independence of variables. Chi-square test
has certain properties like data is unsymmetrical values greater than or equal to zero
and categorical variables.
• The sign test is used to test the null hypothesis that the median of a distribution is
equal to some value. It can be used a) in place of a one-sample t-test b) in place of a
paired t t-test some value. or c) for ordered categorical data where a numerical scale
is inappropriate but where it is possible to rank the observations.
• The Mann-Whitney U test is used to examine whether two samples have been drawn
from population with the same mean. This test is an alternative to a parametric
independent sample test.
• The Wilcoxon signed-rank test is used to test the paired or two related samples
means. It is used to examine whether their populations mean ranks are different in
two related
samples or not. It can be used as an alternative to paired t-test.
• The Kruskal-Wallis test is used to examine whether the 'n' number of samples has
been drawn from populations with the same mean or median. This test is an
alternative to a parametric one-way ANOVA test.
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1. T 2. F, 3. F 4. T 5. F
MCQ Questions
1. The nonparametric equivalent of an unpaired samples t-test is
a) Sign test
b) Wilcoxon signed-rank test
c) Mann-Whitney U test
d) Kruskal-Wallis test
2. The Wilcoxon rank-sum test compares
a) Two populations
b) Three or more populations
c) A sample mean to the population mean
d) None of these
3. The Wilcoxon rank-sum test can be
a) Upper tailed
b) Lower tailed
c) Either of upper tailed or lower tailed
d) None of these
4. If a Chi-square goodness of fit test has 6 categories and an N=30, then the correct
number of degrees of freedom is
a) 5
b) 6
c) 28
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d) 29
a) A Kolmogorov-Smirnove test
b) A Kruskal-Wallis test
a) F test
c) Runs test
a) K
b) K-1
c) K-2
d) n-K
8. When using the Sign test, if two scores are tied, then we
a) Count them
b) Discard them
c) Depends upon the scores
d) None of these
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Sales Territories
I II III IV
120 95 118 72
Should the manager's assumption be rejected? Use a = 0.05.
21. A sample analysis of examination results of 1,000 students was made. It was found
that 260 students had failed, 110 students secured first division, 420 secured second
division and the rest obtained third division. Are these figures commensurate with the
general examination result which is in the ratio of 2:1:4:3, respectively, for the
various categories? You are given that the critical value of chi-square for 3 degrees of
freedom at 5% level of significance is 7.81
22. The following table gives the number of car accidents in Delhi that occurred during
various days of the week.
Day Sun Mon Tue Wed Thu Fri Sat
No. of accidents: 14 16 8 12 11 9 14
Test whether the accidents are uniformly distributed over the week.
23. 7. A die is tossed 180 times with the following results:
No. Turned Up: 1 2 3 4 5 6
Frequency: 25 35 40 22 32 26
Test the hypothesis that the die is unbiased. Take a = 0.05.
24. A survey of 300 families, with three children each, selected at random gave the
following results:
No. of Male Children: 0 1 2 3
No. of Families: 60 87 93 60
Are these data consistent with the hypothesis that male and female births are equally
likely, at a lev of significance of 0.01?
25. The first proof of 200 pages of a book containing 560 pages revealed the number of
printing errors: following distribution of the
No. of errors in a page: 0 1 2 3 4 5
Total
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6.12 REFERENCES
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LESSON-7
STRUCTURE
After going through the lesson, the learners will be able to:
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7.2 INTRODUCTION
This lesson will introduce you to the statistical concepts of covariance, correlation and
regression. Further, it will help you appreciate the techniques of building and fitting of a
linear regression model along with its applicability in predicting future statistical outcomes.
As in the previous lessons, the learner has already had a fair idea of various relevant
statistical techniques including sampling and hypothesis testing, this lesson will add to the
previously acquired knowledge base of the learner. Further, the new knowledge provided in
the lesson will help you interestingly appreciate how the learnt concepts are put to practical
uses in real-life scenarios.
The lesson attempts to make the learner understand in simple terms the statistical concepts of
covariance and correlation:
7.3.1 Covariance:
Covariance is a statistical tool used to assess the directional relationship between two random
variables i.e. how a variable moves with regard to the direction of the other variable’s
movement. In simple terms, it lets you understand if a variables’ value will increase or
decrease in relation to the increase or decrease in the other variable’s value. It studies how
two variables change in comparison to one another. A positive covariance between two
variables means that the two variables increase or decrease together while a negative
covariance denotes that the two variables move in opposite directions. However, it does not
indicate the degree to which the two variables being measured move or increase/decrease in
relation to one another. A covariance of zero means that there is an unclear directional
relationship between the variables being measured i.e. an increase in the value of a variable is
equally likely to be paired with either an increase or decrease in the value of the other
variable under study.
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As learnt in the previous lessons, in order to statistically study the behaviour of two variables,
a number of observations are taken into consideration. So, in order to study the directional
relationship between the two variables, it is the directional relationship between the mean
scores of the two variables which is studied. Thus, covariance measures how data points are
distributed around a calculated mean.
Covariance is measured in units. Covariance formula deals with the calculation of data
points in relation to their movement from the average value in a dataset. As an example, the
covariance between two random variables X and Y i.e. Cov (X, Y) can be calculated using
the formula mentioned below (for population):
While for a sample covariance, the covariance formula is slightly tweaked as mentioned
below:
where,
Xi denotes the values of the X-variable
Yj denotes the values of the Y-variable
denotes the mean value of the X-variable
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ACTIVITY
Suppose Mr. X is an investor whose existing portfolio of stocks owned by him
tracks the performance of the Nifty 50 stock market index. Now, Mr. X wishes to
include the stock of NNN Corp. But, before adding the stock to his portfolio he
wants to assess the directional relationship between the performance of his stock
and that of Nifty 50 as he doesn’t want to own a stock that tends to move in the
same direction as Nifty 50 as that might increase the unsystematic risk of his
portfolio. How can you help Mr. X make his decision?
Suggested course of action:
• Mr. X can obtain the average stock prices of NNN corp.’s stock along
with the yearly average figures of Nifty 50 index for the last 5 years and
calculate the mean scores for both.
• The differences between the respective stock prices and index values are
to be calculated from their respective mean values and the resultants be
multiplied with each other to be finally divided by four to give sample
covariance .
• If a positive covariance is found, it would indicate that the stock price and
the Nifty 50 index would tend to move in the same direction and thus, the
stock should not be bought.
7.3.2 Correlation:
Correlation is the statistical tool that measures the degree to which two random variables
move or behave in relation to each other. Thus, correlation measures the strength of
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relationship between the two variables. The correlation between two variables is determined
by the value of correlation coefficient which ranges between -1 and +1. A perfect positive
correlation between two variables denotes that the value of correlation coefficient is +1 while
that in case of perfect negative correlation will be -1. A positive correlation between two
variables means that if the value of one variable increase than the value of the other variable
will increase too and similar will be the case while the variable values are on decline. A
perfect positive correlation means that the two variables under study will move in a similar
manner i.e., simultaneously increase or decrease together for absolute 100% of the times. For
example, if the prices of the oil related stocks increase in the stock market while the gas-
related stock prices tend to increase as well, the both will be said to be positively correlated
with each other. And, the more predictably the two given types of stock prices continue to
increase or decrease together, their correlation coefficient will continue moving closer to +1
i.e., towards perfect positive correlation. Likewise, is the case for negative or perfect negative
correlation wherein the variables under study move in reverse direction with respect to each
other. For example, the height above sea level and temperature shares a negative correlation
between them as the temperature drops as the height above sea level increases. A zero
correlation is said to exist between the two variables if they share absolutely no relationship
between themselves. For example, the level of intelligence vis-à-vis the amount of tea
consumed could possibly be case of zero correlation if tested statistically.
There are several methods used to calculate the correlation between the variables. The most
commonly used method for measuring the strength of relationship between two variables is
calculating the coefficient of correlation through product moment method or Karl Pearson’s
coefficient of correlation or ‘r’ (also known as Pearson’s R statistical test) which measures
the linear relationship between the two variables under study.
where,
Cov (X,Y) is the covariance between X and Y
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where,
n is sample size
, are the individual sample points
ACTIVITY
Count the number of glasses of water you consume in a day and find out the daily
average temperature of your city for a week. On the basis of the data so collected,
find out what level of correlation exists between the number of water glasses
consumed in a day and the average daily temperature.
Illustration 7.1: Calculate the coefficient of correlation from the data pertaining to a sample
as given below:
X 50 100 150 200 250 300 350
Y 10 20 30 40 50 60 70
Solution:
X X- (X - )2 Y Y- (Y - )2 (X - (Y-
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200 0 0 40 0 0 0
= = 200
= = 40
= 265
= 53
The calculated value of the Pearson’s correlation coefficient as 1 denotes a perfect positive
correlation between X and Y variables.
Illustration 7.2: A sample of five pairs of the ages of husbands and their wives is taken as
given below. Calculate Karl Pearson’s correlation coefficient between the ages of husbands
and their wives and interpret the value of correlation coefficient.
Husband’s age in years (X) 21 23 27 29 31 35 37
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X X- (X - )2 Y Y- (Y - )2 (X - (Y-
21 -8 64 19 -7 49 56
23 -6 36 20 -6 36 36
27 -2 4 25 -1 1 2
29 0 0 22 -4 16 0
31 2 4 29 3 9 6
35 6 36 32 6 36 36
37 8 64 35 9 81 72
= = 29
= = 26
= 14.42
= 15.10
The calculated value of the Pearson’s correlation coefficient as + 0.96 denotes a high degree
positive correlation between the ages of husbands and their wives for the chosen sample.
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It was Sir Francis Galton (1885) who introduced the term “regression” during his
study which postulated that the average height of the children of tall parents tends to
“regress” or move back towards the mean height of the population. He presented the term to
imply it as a process of predicting one variable from analysing the values of the other
variable. Regression as a tool of statistical analysis is employed to ascertain the inter-
relationships or associations among the various variables which happen to occur in any given
set of collected data. It can indicate the degree of strength of such inter-relationships and also
ascertain their statistical significance i.e., whether or not the observed inter-relationships or
associations exist due to chance or they exist owing to some logical reasons which warrant
further investigation. Thus, regression is a potent tool for statistical exploration and inference
that can also be used for predicting future results on the basis of the past observations.
‘Linear Regression’ is a scientific method or a statistical procedure of reliably
predicting the future values of a ‘dependent variable’ based on the values of one or more
variables known as ‘independent variables. It is a way of quantifying the causal effect of one
or more independent variables upon the dependent variable. For example, it can be used to
predict upto a certain degree the expected change in quantity demanded of a commodity in
case its price is increased or decreased. However, the prediction of future values is always an
estimate which can be reported to be close to the actual values only within a certain degree of
confidence or ‘confidence interval’.
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a (intercept) =
b is a constant which represents the slope of the regression line, which can be
calculated as
b (slope) =
Illustration 7.3 : Find simple linear regression equation for the following two sets of data for
dependent variable ‘y’ and independent variable ‘x’:
x 2 5 6 9 8 3 7
y 3 7 4 10 5 6 4
Solution:
x y x2 xy
2 3 4 6
5 7 25 35
6 4 36 24
9 10 81 90
8 5 64 40
3 6 9 18
7 4 49 28
n=7
b (slope) = = = = 0.46
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a (intercept) = = = = 2.94
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This indicator of goodness of fit which is also known as standard error of regression
measures the standard deviation of the error term or residual of the predicted regression
model. It measures the average distance that the observed values fall from the predicted
regression line. Smaller values of standard error of regression indicates a better fit as they
mean that the actual observations are closer to the fitted line. Thus, it is a measure to assess
the precision of the predictions made using the regression model. The formula for calculation
of the standard error of estimate for a linear regression model with one independent variable
is given as follows:
SEE = =
where, the variable names represent the same as already explained above.
Although the standard error of estimate gives some indication of how certain one can be
about a particular prediction of dependent variable (Y) using the regression equation, it still
does not tell how well the independent variable explains the variation in the dependent
variable.
In order to determine how well the independent variable explains the variation in the
dependent variable, the measure of coefficient of determination i.e. R2 is employed. It
measures the fraction of total variance in dependent variable that can be explained by the
independent variable in a regression model. The coefficient of determination or R-squared is
a fraction of total variation that can be explained by the regression model. So, if the R2 of a
model is 0.50, it implies that approximately half of the observed variations in the outcome
can be explained by the model's inputs. The formulae for calculating the R2 are as mentioned
below:
R2 =
= 1-
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= 1-
where,
Total variation = i.e. summation of squared deviation from the mean
( of the dependent variable Y
• Adjusted R-squared:
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example, in the field of marketing, the regression model can be used to predict the increase or
decrease in a firm’s revenue in response to the advertising efforts such as the size of an
advertisement campaign put up by it.
Any regression equation does not signify the direction of causation. So, the context of
the relationships among the independent and dependent variables must be understood in order
to justify the direction of causation indicated by the predicted regression model. For example,
a robust relationship might be indicated by a regression model between the number of clicks
received on an online advertisement and the amount of sales revenue actually collected.
However, the researcher will be at a loss regarding the direction of causation i.e. what leads
to what. At such a juncture, it is the common knowledge of marketing as a discipline which
leads to the conclusion that the clicks on online advertisements actually lead to sales and the
relationship is not vice versa. The regression equation in itself does not provide any idea
about the direction of the relationship.
By putting in the respective values of the independent variables in the regression
equation, the corresponding value of the mean of the dependent variables can be obtained.
The value of the mean of the predicted dependent variable can prove to be a fairly accurate
measure of the desired future outcome. However, it is subject to an error of prediction whose
value is determined by the known as the residual variance or unexplained variance in the
prediction model. The less the percentage of the unexplained variance is obtained, the more
robust the predicted model is claimed to be. The regression of best fit is the one which
contains the minimum amount of unexplained variance.
Further, the predicted regression model is subject to bias and precision. Bias in a
regression model implies the systematic high and low that creep into the predicted values. On
the other hand, the precision of a regression model implies the closeness of the observed
values to the predicted values. The model is to be precise if the predicted values are close
enough to the observed values.
The predictions in regression are made for calculation of the mean of the dependent
variable and there is variation around that mean. In the fitted regression line plot, the
regression line is nicely in the centre of the data points. However, there is a spread of data
points around the line. We need to quantify that spread to know how close the predictions are
to the observed values. If the spread is too large, the predictions will not provide useful
information.
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Regression analysis find applications in a number of industries as it can be employed for the
prediction of future industrial indices on the basis of a time-series of observations of the
generally industry-accepted statistical means. Regression analysis endeavours to obtain a
"best fitting" straight line between data points (plotted as X and Y coordinates on a graph)
such that the line can then be extended to determine future points on that graph. This process
can yield acceptable results subject to certain criteria which it is expected to satisfy. The
study of past performance is logical method to predict future outcomes as the trend
highlighted by the regression analysis attempts to demonstrate what might happen in future if
no additional actions are taken. It is a good method as it is based on past data which
represents a true or actual trend that had actually taken place in the past. Also, enough or
adequate data should be available in order to enable the researcher to study the past trend.
Outliers must not present in the data under analysis.
Let us study how we can actually regression analysis for prediction of future outcomes using
a method known as ‘Least Squares Method’. Least Squares Method is a type of mathematical
regression analysis which is employed for determination of the line of best fit for a given set
of data along with providing a visual demonstration of the relationship between the data
points. Each point of data represents the relationship between a known independent variable
and an unknown dependent variable. This method is used to find the best fit for a set of data
points by minimizing the sum of the offsets or residuals of points lying off the plotted curve.
This method of regression analysis involves the plotting of a set of data points on an x and y-
axes graph. An analyst using the least squares method will attempt to obtain a line of best fit
which will happen to be at the least possible distance from the maximum number of data
points. Such line of best fit explains the potential relationship between independent and
dependent variables which can be further extrapolated in order to predict the future data
points that would fall on the explolated line of best fit. This way, the analyst can get a fairly
close ides regarding how the future data points would behave.
The method of least squares also attempts to let the research have an idea of the overall
rationale or a plausible explanation behind the placement of the line of best fit among the data
points being studied. The most common application of this method, which is sometimes
referred to as "linear" or "ordinary", aims to create a straight line that minimizes the sum of
the squares of the errors that are generated by the results of the associated equations, such as
the squared residuals resulting from differences in the observed value, and the value
anticipated, based on that model. The line of best fit determined from the least squares
method has an equation that tells the story of the relationship between the data points. Line of
best fit equations may be determined by using various computer-assisted software models,
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which include a summary of outputs for analysis, where the coefficients and summary
outputs explain the dependence of the variables being tested. The line that best fits the linear
relationship between the two variables is known as a least-squares regression line, which is so
plotted that it minimizes the vertical distance from the data points to the regression line. The
term “least squares” is used because it is the smallest sum of squares of errors, which is also
called the "variance". While plotting the regression analysis line graph, the dependent
variables are shown on the vertical i.e. y-axis, while the independent variables are shown on
the horizontal or x-axis as shown in Fig 7.1. These designations will form the equation for the
line of best fit, which is determined from the least squares method for the given set of data
points by reducing the sum of the squares of the offsets (residual parts) of the points from the
plotted curve.
Fig 7.1: Line graph of regression equation using ‘Least Squares Method’
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7.4.3 Mathematical procedure to establish the line of best fit using “Least Squares
Method”
As per the least squares method, the mathematical equation of the regression line can
be expressed as given below:
Y = mX + b
where,
y = how far up on the y-axis
x = how far along the x-axis
b = the Y-intercept (where the line crosses the Y-axis)
m = slope or gradient of the regression line (how steep the line is)
Accordingly, in order to find out the line of best fit for ‘n’ points, the following steps are to
be followed:
Step 1: For each (x,y) point, calculate the values of x2 and xy
Step 2: Calculate the summation of all x, y, x2 and xy, which are represented as ∑x, ∑y, ∑x2
and ∑xy
Step 3: Calculate the value of slope m as below:
m (slope) =
b (intercept) =
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accordingly if the weather forecast (hours of sunshine expected) is known. The information
as recorded by the shopkeeper is as mentioned in the below table:
1 Mon 2 4
2 Tue 3 5
3 Wed 5 7
4 Thu 7 10
5 Fri 9 15
Now, so as to predict the number of ice cream cones that the shopkeeper can expect to sell on
Saturday, we need to find the best m (slope) and b (y-intercept) that suits the data
Y = mX + b
Accordingly, we ned to sequentially follow the steps as explained above:
Step 1: For each (x,y) point, the values of x2 and xy can be calculated as below:
x y x2 xy
2 4 4 8
3 5 9 15
5 7 25 35
7 10 49 70
9 15 81 135
Step 2: Let us calculate the summation of all x, y, x2 and xy, which are represented as ∑x,
∑y, ∑x2 and ∑xy as below:
x y x2 xy
2 4 4 8
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3 5 9 15
5 7 25 35
7 10 49 70
9 15 81 135
m (slope) =
= = 1.5183.….
b (y-intercept) =
= 0.3049.….
Step 5: Accordingly, let us put together the equation of the regression line as below:
y = mx + b
y = 1.518x + 0.305
Accordingly, the expected number of ice cream cones can be predicted within a certain
degree accuracy by putting in the value of x (number of hours of sunshine predicted) in the
above equation of regression line. So, suppose the shopkeeper gets to know about the weather
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forecast report which says "we expect 8 hours of sun tomorrow", he can then use the above
equation to estimate that he will sell
y = 1.518 x 8 + 0.305 = 12.45 ice cream cones
Accordingly, the shopkeeper can prepare the fresh waffle cone mixture atleast for 13 ice
cream cones in advance.
7.5 SUMMARY
The lesson, in a sequential order, covers the statistical concepts of covariance, correlation,
regression and model fitting. It lets the learner understand the basic fundamentals at work
behind the aforesaid statistical techniques along with appreciate the mathematical formulae
used in order to quantify the values obtained as result of running the mentioned statistical
techniques on a quantitative data set. Further, the lesson allows the learner to appreciate how
the regression analysis is used for model fitting and prediction of future outcomes using the
least squares method. Utilizing the knowledge acquired from studying the given lesson, the
learner is encouraged to further expand his mental horizon by undertaking further study of
how the given statistical techniques are practically applied in real-world scenarios. Doing so
will result in a deep rooted and internalized knowledge with regard to the statistical
techniques covered under the purview of the given lesson.
MCQ
Q.1) Which one of the following cannot be a value of a correlation coefficient between two
variables?
A.) +1.25 B.) +1 C.) -1 D.) -0.5
Q.3) Which statistical tool is used to assess the directional relationship between two
random variables?
A.) Correlation B.) Covariance C.) Linear Regression D.) Multiple Regression
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Q.5) What do smaller values of standard error of regression indicate in a linear regression
model?
A.) A better fit B.) A worse fit C.) No fit D.) None of the above
Q.6) The term “least squares” means the same as which one of the following?
A.) Covariance B.) Variance C.) Correlation D.) Standard error
Q.7) Which of the following is the best among the given indicators of goodness of fit of a
regression model?
A.) R-square B.) Adjusted R-square C.) Correlation Coefficient D.) Standard error
Q.8) i.e. summation of squared deviation from the predicted value ( ) of the
dependent variable Y denotes which of the following?
A.) Total variation B.) Explained variation C.) Unexplained variation
D.) Coefficient of determination
Q.9) Which of the following statistical tools is often employed for prediction of future
values based on the analysis of past values?
A.) Correlation B.) Covariance C.) Regression D.) Variance
Q.10) Which of the following cannot indicate the goodness of fit of a regression model?
A.) R-square B.) Adjusted R-square C.) Covariance D.) Standard error
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Q.11) In the formula of Pearson’s correlation coefficient for sample, what does ‘n’ stand
for?
A.) Sample size B.) Covariance C.) Mean D.) Error
Q.13) Which of the following involves using an independent variable is used to explain a
dependent variable?
A.) Linear regression analysis
B.) Multiple regression analysis
C.) Non-linear regression analysis
D.) None of the above
Q.14) Which of the following statements is true about the regression line?
A.) A regression line is also known as the line of the average relationship
B.) A regression line is also known as the estimating equation
C.) A regression line is also known as the prediction equation
D.) All of the above
Answer Keys
Q.1) A Q.9) C
Q.2) C Q.10) C
Q.3) B Q.11) A
Q.4) A Q.12) C
Q.5) A Q.13) A
Q.6) B Q.14) D
Q.7) B Q.15) D
Q.8) C
Long Questions
1. Explain the difference between the concepts of covariance and correlation. Elaborate
each difference with providing suitable examples.
2. Discuss the various indicators of fitness of model for a multiple linear regression
model.
3. Using a suitable example, explain how regression analysis can be used for prediction
of future outcomes.
7.7 REFERENCES
Ethington, C. A., Thomas, S. L., & Pike, G. R. (2002). Back to the basics: Regression as it
should be. In Higher education: Handbook of theory and research, 17, 263-293.
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Sykes, A.O. (1993). An Introduction to Regression Analysis. Coase-Sandor Institute for Law
& Economics Working Paper, No. 20.
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LESSON-8
STRUCTURE
8.8 References
8.9 Suggested Readings
8.2 INTRODUCTION
There are several techniques that someone can employ while making decisions. For example,
quantitative techniques enable someone to take decisions objectively and efficiently.
Linear programming
This technique basically helps in maximizing an objective under limited resources. The
objective can be either optimization of a utility or the minimization of a disutility. In
other words, it helps in utilizing a resource or constraint to its maximum potential.
Someone generally uses this technique only under conditions involving certainty. Hence, it
might not be very useful when circumstances are uncertain or unpredictable
Game theory
Sometimes, someone uses certain quantitative techniques only while taking decisions pertaining
to their business rivals. The game theory approach is one such technique.
This technique basically simulates rivalries or conflicts between businesses as a game. The aim
of managers under this technique is to find ways of gaining at the expense of their rivals. In
order to do this, they can use 2-person, 3-person or n-person games.
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Queuing theory
Every business often suffers waiting for periods or queues pertaining to personnel, equipment,
resources, or services.
For example, sometimes a manufacturing company might gather a stock of unsold goods due to
irregular demands. This theory basically aims to solve such problems.
The aim of this theory is to minimize such waiting periods and also reduce investments in such
expenses.
For example, departmental stores often have to find a balance between unsold stock and
purchasing fresh goods. someone in such examples can employ the queuing theory to minimize
their expenses
Network techniques
Complex activities often require concentrated efforts by personnel to avoid waste of time,
energy, and money. This technique aims to solve this by creating strong network structures for
work.
There are two very important quantitative techniques under this approach. These include the
Critical Path Method and the Programme Evaluation & Review Technique. These techniques
are effective because they segregate work efficiently under networks. They even drastically
reduce time and money.
This technique basically helps in maximizing an objective under limited resources. The
objective can be either optimization of a utility or the minimization of a disutility. In
other words, it helps in utilizing a resource or constraint to its maximum potential.
In this problem we will find out the variable, constraints and objective function then we will find
out the solution of the mathematical model of exist.
8.3.1 Formulation of LPP Models: Whenever some word problem is given then we convert
it into a mathematical model which is known as LPP Problem.
We Shall begin with some simple examples.
Illustration 8.1: - Consider a calculator company that produces a scientific calculator and a graphing
calculator. Long-term projections indicate an expected demand for at least 1000 scientific and 800
graphing calculators each month. Because of limitations on production capacity, no more than 2000
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scientific and 1700 graphing calculators can be made monthly. To satisfy a supplying contract, a
total of at least 2000 calculators must be supplied each month. If each scientific calculator sold
results in Rs.120 profit and each graphing calculator sold produces an Rs.150 profit, how many of
each type of calculator should be made monthly to maximize the net profit?
Solution -
Let’s make a mathematical model for the problem. Suppose x is the number of scientific
calculators produced and y is the number of graphing calculators produced.
Since the company cannot produce negative calculators; it will produce either no or positive
numbers of calculators only,
we must have x ≥ 0, y ≥ 0. But, keeping in mind the demand of each type of calculator we
have
x ≥ 1000
y ≥ 800
let x ≥ 0, y ≥ 0. Thus, we can drop a superficial requirement of x ≥ 0, y ≥ 0 from our modeling.
But we caution you that this may not be the case always and many times it makes sense to assume
variables t o be non-negative.
Another issue is to take care of the production capacity of the calculators. So,
x ≤ 2000
y ≤ 1700.
Looking at the supply restriction, we must have
x + y ≥ 2000.
There is no other information which is in the form of restrictions/conditions in the question.
Then, we move on to look at the profit part. The net profit from sale of x scientific and y
graphing calculators is
120x + 150y
Finally, we are able to identify our aim (or objective) so as to maximize the net profit per
month, which means,
max 120x + 150y
but our x and y must satisfy the restrictions. In conclusion, the ultimate model of the problem
becomes
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Max 120x+
150y
subject to
1000 ≤ x ≤ 2000
800 ≤ y≤ 1700
x + y≥ 2000.
8.3.2 Graphical Method of Solving LPP:
Illustration 8.2
Consider a calculator company which produces a scientific calculator and a graphing calculator.
Long-term projections indicate an expected demand of at least 1000 scientific and 800 graphing
calculators each month. Because of limitations on production capacity, no more than 2000 scientific
and 1700 graphing calculators can be made monthly. To satisfy a supplying contract, a total of
atleast 2000 calculators must be supplied each month. If each scientific calculator sold results in
Rs.120 profit and each graphing calculator sold produces a Rs.150 profit, how many of each type of
calculators should be made monthly to maximize the net profit.
Solution -
Let’s make a mathematical model for the problem. Suppose x is the number of scientific
calculators produced and y is the number of graphing calculators produced.
Since the company cannot produce negative calculators; it will produce either no or positive
numbers of calculators only, we must have x ≥ 0, y ≥ 0. But, keeping in mind the demand of
each type of calculator we have
x ≥ 1000
y ≥ 800.
let x ≥ 0, y ≥ 0. Thus, we can drop a superficial requirement of x ≥ 0, y ≥ 0 from our modeling. But
we caution you that this may not be the case always and many at times it makes sense to assume
variables be non-negative.
Another issue is to take care of production capacity of the calculators. So,
x ≤ 2000
y ≤ 1700.
Looking at the supply restriction, we must have
x + y ≥ 2000.
There is no other information which is in the form of restrictions/conditions in the question.
Then, we move on to look at the profit part. The net profit from sale of x scientific and y
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graphing calculators is
120x + 150y
Finally, we can identify our aim (or objective) so as to maximize the net profit per month,
which means,
max 120x + 150y
but our x and y must satisfy the restrictions. In conclusion, the ultimate model of the problem
becomes
max 120x + 150y
subjected to
1000 ≤ x ≤ 2000
800 ≤ y ≤ 1700
x + y≥ 2000
Since the model is set up in a two-dimensional plane, we can see what we are intending to
do. Let us draw the region formed by the restrictions on x and y.
1000 ≤ x ≤ 2000
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800 ≤ y ≤ 1700
x+y ≥ 2000
Now, what we want is to maximize 120x + 150y in this domain (i.e., red shaded region) only. In
other words, we wish to find a pair (x∗, y∗) which lies in the shaded region and provide the maximum
value of our goal function 120x + 150y.
Though there are infinite points in the identified region and testing everyone of them is not a good
idea, we need to design a strategy that can find the answer to our objective in a simpler way. This is
what we shall be intending to do in the next few modules to follow but for the time being, let us see
how the objective function behaves on the ‘corner points’ of the shaded region.
The corner points are A, B, C, D, E, and their coordinates are described in the graph. Let us
tabulate the results
Point Value of
120x+150y
A:(1200,80) 264,000
B:(2000,800) 360,000
C:(2000,1700) 510,000
D:(1000,1700) 375,000
E:(1000,1000) 270,000
From these five values(only), we can clearly make out that the best one is C (2000, 1700) with the
maximum value of 120x + 150y as 510,000.
Although, we have not checked it just by looking at the above graph we can at least guess and
get confident about our guess that no matter what other point (x, y) we select in the shaded
region, the maximum value remains 510,000 and no further improvement (or enhancement) is
possible in it within the shaded region.
We can conclude that the company should manufacture 200 scientific calculators and 1700 graphing
calculators to get the best monthly profit of Rs 510,000 within the limitations of the company.
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If the value of the objective function can be increased or decreased indefinitely, such
solutions are called unbounded solutions. In this case we say that the problem has unbounded
solutions.
Let’s take some examples for better understanding .
Illustration 8.3. Solve graphically the following L.P.P.
Sol:
Proceeding stepwise, the permissible region is shaded in the figure which is unbounded.
From the figure it is clear that the dotted line through the origin representing can be
moved parallel to itself in the direction of increasing and still have some points in the
permissible region.
Thus can be made arbitrarily large and so the problem has no finite maximum value of .
Hence the problem has unbounded solution.
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Sol:
Proceeding stepwise, the permissible region is shaded in the figure which is unbounded.
From the figure it is obvious that the dotted line through the origin representing can be
moved parallel to itself in the direction of increasing and still have some points in the
permissible region.
Thus can be made arbitrarily large and so the problem has no finite maximum value of .
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A set of values of the variables satisfying the constraints and the non negative restrictions of a
L.P.P is called feasible solution of the L.P.P.
A solution is infeasible when no combination of decision variable values can satisfy the entire
set of requirements and constraints.
Illustration 8.5
Sol:
In the given problem sum of two variables less than or equal to zero but objective function is
to maximize sum of the variable. So here we will have region in which solutions is not in the
first quadrant so we can say solution is infeasible.
8.3.2 Simplex method with more than two variables:
COMPUTATIONAL PROCEDURE OF SIMPLEX METHOD. (THE MAXIMIZATION
PROBLEM)
-It consists of the following steps systematically.
Step 1. If the given problem is of minimization, convert it into the maximization problem.
For this, multiply both sides of the objective function by and put .
If is the maximum value of then will be the minimum value of .
Step 2. Make all the 's non-negative.
The R.H.S, of each of the constraints should be non-negative. If the L.P.P. has a constraint
for which a negative is given, it should be converted into positive value by multiplying
both sides of the constraint by .
Step 3. Convert inequalities of constraints into equations. For this introduce slack or surplus
variables. The coefficients of slack or surplus variables in the objective function are zero.
Introduce artificial variables, if necessary.
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Step 4. Find the initial B.F.S. Follow the method to find the initial B.F.S. If artificial
variables are introduced in the L.P.P. then follow the two-phase method or Big -method for
solving such problems.
Step 5. Construct the initial simplex table. It should be remembered that the values of non-
basic variables are always zero at each iteration.
Step 6. Test the initial B.F.S. for optimality. Compute the net evaluation for each variable
by using the formula .
Note that in the starting simplex table 's are same as 's. Also 's corresponding to basic
variables are zero.
Optimality test. (a) If for all , the solution under consideration is optimal.
(i) Alternative optimal solution will exist if any (for non-basic variable) is also zero.
(ii) If for all , corresponding to non-basic variables, then the solution is unique
optimal solution.
(b) If for any f i.e, if at least one is positive the solution under test is not optimal. In
this case we must proceed to improve the solution (step 7).
(c) If corresponding to maximum positive , all elements of the column are negative of
zero, the solution under teat will be unbounded. ach) If optimality condition is satisfied but
the value of at least one artificial variable present in the basis is non-zero, the problem will
have no feasible solution.
step 7. Select the entering (incoming) vector and departing (outgoing) vector. To improve the
initial B.F.S. we select the vector entering the basis matrix and the vector to be removed from
the basis matrix by the following rules :
To find Incoming vector. The incoming vector is always selected corresponding to the
largest positive value of .
If maximum value of occurs for more than one then we can select any of these vectors
as incoming vector.
To find Outgoing vector. The departing vector is selected corresponding to that value of
for which
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if is the incoming vector. Note. If the above-mentioned minimum value is not unique then
more than one variable will vanish in the next solution. As a result the next solution will be a
degenerate B.F.S. for which the outgoing vector is selected in a different way.
Step 8. If is the entering vector and is the outgoing vector then the element which
lies at the intersection of minimum ratio arrow and incoming vector arrow is called the
pivot element (key element). We put this element in .
In order to bring in place of incoming vector , unity must occupy the place In other
words key element should be 1 . If it is not so then divide all the elements of this row by
the key element . Then subtract suitable multiples of the row containing the key element
from all other rows and obtain zero at all other positions of this column . Now bring in
place of and construct the revised simplex table.
Sol. The given problem is of maximization and all 's are positive.
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subject to
B CB Cj 2 5 7 0 0 0 Min. Ratio
XB Y1 Y2 Y3 Y4 Y5 Y6 XB /Y3
Y4 0 100 3 2 4 1 0 0 25(min)
Y5 0 100 1 4 2 0 1 0 50
Y6 0 100 1 1 3 0 0 1 100/3
Z = CB XB 2 5 7 0 0 0 XB/Y2
=0
Y3 7 25 3 /4 1/ 2 1 1/4 0 0 50
Y5 0 50 -1/2 3 0 -1/2 1 0 50/3 (min)
Y6 0 25 -5/4 -1/2 0 -3/4 0 1 Neg
Z = CB XB -3 0 0 -3/2 -1/2 0
=200
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In the last table all delta j’s are less than or equal to zero so solution is optimal and optimal
solution is 0,50/3,50/3 and maximum value of objective function is 200.
Every LPP called the primal is associated with another LPP called dual. Either of the problems is
primal with the other one as dual. The optimal solution of either problem reveals the information
about the optimal solution of the other
Subject to restrictions
Subject to restrictions
Subject to
and
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Dual
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2 If the constraints have an inequality sign ‘≥’ then multiply both sides by -1 and convert the
inequality sign to ‘≤’.
3 If the constraint has an ‘=’ sign then replace it by two constraints involving the
inequalities going in opposite directions. For example, x1+ 2x2 = 4 is written as
x1+2x2 ≤ 4
All constraints have ‘≤’ sign, where the objective function is of maximization
form.
All constraints have ‘≥’ sign, where the objective function is of minimization
form.
Subject to
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Solution
Primal
Subject to
Dual is given by
8.5 SUMMARY
The main points which we have covered in this lesson are what is LPP and how to represent it
geometrically and find its solutions and later on we have discussed duality of Linear
Programming Problem and how to convert primal to dual LPP.
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products are produced and sold on a weekly basis. The weekly production cannot
exceed 25 refrigerators in Department I and 35 coolers in Department II, because of
the limited available facilities in these two departments. The company regularly
employs a total of 60 workers in the two departments. A Refrigerator requires 2 man-
week of labour, while a cooler requires 1 man-week of labour. A refrigerator
contributes a profit of Rs. 60 and a cooler contributes a profit of Rs. 40 . How many
units of refrigerators and coolers should the company produce to realize maximum
profit?
2) A firm manufactures two types of products and sells each of them at a profit of
Rs. 2 per product. Each product is processed on two machines and . Type
product requires one minute of processing time on machine and two minutes on
machine . Type product requires one minute on machine and one minute on
machine . The machine is available for not more than 6 hours and 40 minutes
while machine is available for 10 hours during any working day.
Formulate the given problem as a LPP and find how many products of each type
should the firm produce each day in order to get maximum profit.
4) A company produces two types of leather belts, say type and . Belt is of
superior quality and belt is of a lower quality. Profits on the two types of belts are
40 and 30 paise per belt, respectively. Each belt of type A requires twice as much time
as required by a belt of type . If all belts were of type , the company would
produce 1000 belts per day. But the supply of leather is sufficient only for 800 per
day. Belt requires a fancy buckle and 400 fancy buckles are available for this, per
day. For belt of type , only 700 buckles are available per day. How should the
company manufacture the two types of belts in order to have maximum overall profit?
(Rohilkhand ; Jodhpur 93)
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5) A publisher sells a hard cover edition of a text book for Rs. 72 and a paperback
edition of the same text for Rs. 40. Costs to the publisher are Rs. 56 and Rs. 28 per
book respectively in addition to weekly costs of Rs. 9600 . Both types of books
require 5 minutes of printing time, although hard cover requires 10 minutes binding
time and the paperback requires only 2 minutes. Both the binding and printing
operations have 4800 minutes available each week. How many of each type of book
should be produced in order to maximize profit?
6) A manufacture has employed 5 skilled men and 10 semi-skilled men and make an
article in two qualities : deluxe model and an ordinary model. The making of a deluxe
model requires 2 hrs work by a skilled man and 2 hrs work by a semi-skilled man.
The ordinary model requires 1 hr by a skilled man and 3 hrs by a semi-skilled man.
By union rules no man may work more than 8 hrs per day. The manufacturer's clear
profit on deluxe model is Rs, 15 and on an ordinary model is Rs. 10. How many of
each type should be made in order to maximize his total daily profit ?
Answer:
1) Refrigerator 12.5 , Cooler 35, Max Profit 2150
2) Maximum profit is Rs 800 when Products A And B are produced corresponding to the
points on the corresponding to the points on the line segment MN.
3) Trucks 30, Automobiles 15 per week, Max profit 12000
4) 200 belts of type A, 600 belts of type B ; profit Rs 260.
5) Maximum profit is Rs 3072 when 288 books of hard cover edition and 672 books of
paperback edition are sold.
6) Maximum profit is Rs 350 when 20 ordinary and 10 deluxe models are made.
Fill in the blanks and MCQ’s Problems
Fill in the blanks "....." so that the following statements are complete and correct.
1 In L.P.P. the function which is to be optimized is called an ...... function.
2 The linear inequations (or equations)under which the objective function is to be
optimized are called ......
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6 The positive variables which are added to L.H.S. to the constraints to convert them
into equalities are called the ...... variables.
7 The positive variables which are subtracted from the L.H.S. of the constraints to
convert them into equalities are called the ...... variables.
8 The non-basic variables in a basic solution are ...... valued variables.
9 A feasible solution to a L.P.P. in which the vectors associated to non-zero variables
are ...... is called a B.F.S.
10 A L.P.P. of ..... variables can be solved graphically.
Multiple Choice Questions.
Indicate the correct answer for each question by writing the corresponding letter from (a), (b),
(c) and (d).
11 The extreme points of the convex set of feasible solutions of the L.P.P.
s.t. are
(a)
(c)
(b)
(d) .
12. If there is no feasible region in a L.P.P. then we say that the problem has
(a) infinite solutions
(b) no solution
(c) unbounded solution
(d) none of these.
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(a)
(b)
(c)
(a)
(b)
(c)
16. A basic feasible solution is said to be optimum, if it optimizes the objective function.
17. A basic feasible solution is called degenerate if one or more basic variables are zero-
valued.
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8.7 REFERENCES
Kanti Swarup, P.K Gupta, Man Mohan, Operation Research ,Sultan Chand Publication, 4th
Edition
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LESSON-9
SENSITIVITY ANALYSIS
Dr. Satish Kumar & Dr. Dhirendra Singh
Designation: Assistant Professor
Institute : Shaheed Rajgruru College of Applied Sciences for Women
University: University of Delhi
Email Id: satish.kumar@rajguru.du.ac.in &
dhirendra.singh@rajguru.du.ac.in
STRUCTURE
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After studying this chapter, students should be able to identify situations in which sensitivity
analysis can be applied. Understand fundamental concepts and mathematical structure of
sensitivity model.
9.2 INTRODUCTION
In solving a linear programming problem after getting its optimal solution, sometimes it is
desired to make some changes in some of the parameters of the problem. There are two ways
to find the solution of a new problem. One is to solve the changed problem starting from the
scratch, as the original problem has been solved and other way is to solve it using the optimal
table already obtained. The second option saves time and labor and that is from where
emerges the idea of sensitivity or post-optimality analysis. Some of the changes in the given
problem which we shall consider are:
1. Changes in the objective function coefficients, Cj’s i.e. profit (cost) per unit
associated with decision variables.
2. Changes in the bi values (or right-hand side constants of the constraints), i.e.,
available of resources.
3. Changes in the coefficients of decision variables on the left-hand side of the
constraints, i.e., consumption of resources per unit of decision variables .
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The coefficient, Cj in the objective function of an LP model represents either the profit or the
cost per unit of an activity (variable) Xj . The question that may now arise is: What happens
to the optimal solution and the objective function value when this coefficient is changed? For
example, let Rs 12 be the per unit profit coefficient of a particular variable in the objective
function of an LP model. After obtaining an optimal solution, the decision-maker may realize
that the true value of this coefficient might be any value between Rs 11 and Rs 13 per unit.
The sensitivity analysis can help him to determine both lower and upper value (i.e., range) of
this coefficient (or any other such coefficients) without affecting the current optimal solution.
For this he may decide whether resources from other activities (variables) should be diverted
to (diverted away from) a more profitable (or less profitable) activity.
Here, again two cases arise:
i. Cj is to be changed is the cost of a non-basic variable.
ii. Cj is to be changed is the cost of a basic variable.
In both cases, feasibility of new problem remains unchanged but the optimality may change.
For case (i) only one entry is to be evaluated. If then the solution of the
existing problem remains optimal for the new problem also and write it down. In case (ii)
calculate for all non-basic variables. If then the solution of the original
problem remains optimal for the changed problem and write it down. If for some
j, then prepare new simplex table for the changed problem with new entries and use
the regular simplex method till the optimality conditions are satisfied and write the solution
of the changed problem from the optimal table thus obtained.
Evaluation Method
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Discuss the change in on the optimality of the optimal basic feasible solution.
Solution: Convert all constraints into equations by using slack
variables , we get
B 3 5 5 0 0
0 18 3 2 1 0 0 18/2=9
0 4 1 0 0 1 0 ------
0 6 0 1 0 0 1 6/1=6→
Z = 0 -3 -5↑ 0 0 0
0 6 3 0 1 0 -2 6/3=2→
0 4 1 0 0 1 0 4/1=4
5 6 0 1 0 0 1 ------
Z =30 -3↑ 0 0 0 5
3 2 1 0 1/3 0 -2/3
0 2 0 0 -1/3 1 2/3
5 6 0 1 0 0 1
Z=36 0 0 1 0 3
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Sensitivity Analysis
or or
Let be changed to , then
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and
Where, number of units of products A, B and C, respectively, to be produced.
(a) Find the optimal product mix and the corresponding profit of the company.
(b) Find the range of the profit contribution of products A and C in the objective function,
such that current optimal product mix remains unchanged.
(c) What shall be the new optimal product mix when profit per unit from product C is Rs.
12 and not Rs. 2
Solution:
(a) Convert all constraints into equations by using slack variables and then
solving the linear programming problem by usual simplex method, the optimum solution
is given by
Table-9.2 Optimal Simplex Table
B 4 6 2 0 0
4 1 1 0 -1 4/3 -1/3
6 2 0 1 2 -1/3 1/3
Z = 12 0 0 6 10/3 2/3
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or or
(ii) Change in i.e., . Let be the change in . Then . If or
or
This implies that as long as the profit contribution per unit of product C is less than Rs. 8
(i.e., change should not be more that Rs. 8), it is not profitable to produce it and the current
optimum solution will remain unchanged.
(c) Increase the value of is Rs. 12 in place of Rs. 2 then new optimal table
Table-9.3 Updated Table
B 4 6 12 0 0
Z = 12 0 0 -4 ↑ 10/3 2/3
4 2 1 ½ 0 11/6 -1/6
12 1 0 ½ 1 -1/6 1/6
9.2.1 CHANGES IN
Because of any change in , solution of the changed problem may become infeasible as
. If the new basic solution is feasible, then the same simplex table will be the
optimal table for the changed problem also and write the new solution. If new gives
infeasible solution, then use dual simplex method to restore feasibility of the solution and
write the solution of the changed problem. In this method, the evaluation criteria are as
follows:
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Determine the range for discrete changes in the component and of the requirement
vector so as to maintain the feasibility of the current optimum solution.
Solution: Convert all constraints into equations by using slack and surplus
variables and artificial variable we get
0 10 3 1 -1 1 0 0 0 10/1=10
0 6 -1 4 1 0 -1 0 1 6/4=3/2→
0 4 0 1 1 0 0 1 0 4/1=4
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0 6 3 0 -2 1 0 -1 0
2 4 0 1 1 0 0 1 0
0 10 1 0 3 0 1 4 -1
Z=8 1 0 3 0 0 2 M
And
Let is change
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Illustration 9.4: A factory manufactures three products A, B and C for which the data is
given in the table below. Find the optimal product mix if the profit/unit is Rs. 32, Rs. 30 and
Rs. 40 for product A, B and C respectively.
Product Available Resources
A B C
(a) Find the optimal solution if machine hours available become 1,350 instead of 1,275.
(b) Find the optimal solution if labour hours become 2,000 instead of 2,100
Solution: Formulation of Linear Programming Problem
and
Where, number of units of products A, B and C, respectively.
Convert all constraints into equations by using slack variables and
then solving the linear programming problem by usual simplex method, the optimum solution
is given by in the following table:
Table-9.5 Optimum Simplex Table
B 32 30 40 0 0 0
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Z = 24,000 3 0 0 0 4 9
Z = 24,300 3 0 0 0 4 9
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Z = 24,300 3 0 0 0 4 9
If labour hours decreased by 100 (2100-2000), the machine hours will increase by 10 units
and product C will decrease by 30 units. Thus, the optimal solution will be
and Max. .
Suppose that the elements of coefficient matrix A are changed. Then two cases arise:
i. Change in a coefficient, when variable is not a basic variable.
ii. Change in a coefficient, when variable is a basic variable.
Evaluation criteria for case-I
When a non-basic variable column B is changed to , the only effect of such change
will be on the optimality condition. Thus the solution will remain optimal, if
However, the range for the discrete change in the coefficients of non-basic variable in
constraint, i can be determined by solving following linear inequalities:
b)
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Discuss the effect of discrete changes in the activity co-efficient of ‘A’ on the current
basic feasible solution to the given linear programming problem.
Solution: From the above table, we have
Thus, we have
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⇒
Hence, or
or
⇒
or
or
⇒
Case-II: is in the basis B
In the optimum table , and are in the basis, therefore, any discrete change in
belonging to any of these vectors may affect the feasibility as well as the optimality of the
original optimum basic feasible solution .
Consider the discrete changes in
Evaluation Criteria
The range for the change in the element in in order to maintain the optimality of the
solution is therefore given by
Further, since for the element , r=2 and k=4, therefore, we have
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The range for the discrete change in the element in order to maintain the feasibility of the
solution is, therefore, given by
i.e. 84/19
Hence, 5-84/19 or 11/19 (since )
Similarly, the ranges for changes in the elements , etc. can also be obtained.
Addition of new activity, adds one more column in the given optimal table of the problem
which may or may not affect the optimality condition. If optimality condition
is not affected, the solution of the given table will remain optimal for the changed problem
also. If optimality condition are affected then use the usual simplex method to find the
optimal solution.
Illustration 9.6: Consider the following linear programming problem:
B 3 5 0 0
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0 4 1 0 1 0 -----
0 18 3 2 0 1 18/2→
Z=0 -3 -5↑ 0 0
0 4 1 0 1 0
5 9 3/2 1 0 1/2
0 4 1 0 1 0 1 4/1=4→
Since all , So the solution under test is not optimal. This indicates that the conditions of
optimality are violated. Therefore, a new optimum solution can easily be obtained.
Table-9.10 Updated Table
B 3 5 0 0 7
7 4 1 0 1 0 1
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5 9 ½ 1 -1 1/2 0
Addition of a constraint in the given problem means addition of one more row in the given
optimal simplex table which may affect the feasibility of the solution. While adding the new
constraint, first check whether the given optimal solution satisfies the constraint. If it satisfies
then the same solution remains optimal for the new problem also and write it. If it does not
satisfy the constraint, the current optimum solution become infeasible. In this situation, dual
simplex method is used to find the new optimum solution.
Illustration 9.7: Consider the following linear programming problem:
If add a new constraint . Then discuss the effect of adding this constraint
and find out its revised solution if any.
Solution: Convert all constraints into equations by using slack variables , we get
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0 48 8 6 1 1 0 0 48/8=6→
0 20 4 2 3/2 0 1 0 20/4=5
0 8 2 3/2 ½ 0 0 1 8/2=4
0 16 0 0 -1 1 0 -4 -----
0 4 0 -1 ½ 0 1 -1/2 8→
60 4 1 ¾ ¼ 0 0 1/2 240
Z=240 0 15 -5↑ 0 0 30
0 24 0 -2 0 1 2 -5
20 8 0 -2 1 0 2 -1
Z=280 0 5 0 0 10 10
9.3 SUMMARY
Sensitivity analysis provides the ranges within which a linear programming model can vary
without changing the optimality of the current optimal solution. The formulation to conduct
sensitivity analysis followed by numerical examples have been solved how changes in the
parameters specially:
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Discuss the effect on the optimality of the solution, when the objective function is changed to
The optimal table of this linear programming problem as slack variables added to
constraints (1) and (2) respectively is
B 5 6 0 0
6 3 0 1 2/5 -3/5
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5 2 1 0 -1/5 4/5
0 0 7/5 2/5
Use the sensitivity analysis, find the optimal solution with the following changes in above
linear programming problem:
a) Change from 5 to 1
The optimal table of this linear programming problem with as slack variables added to
constraints (1) and (2) respectively is:
B 1 2 0 0
2 3/2 0 1 1/2 ½
1 ½ 1 0 -1/2 ½
0 0 1/2 3/2
a) .
b)
Then discuss the effect of adding this constraint and find out its revised solution if
any.
4. Given the LPP
Determine the separate ranges for discrete changes in , and consistent with the
optimum solution of the given LPP.
Finishing hours
Packaging hours
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The application of simplex algorithm to solve the problem for optimal solution in the
following table is given by
B 5 10 8 0 0 0
In context of this problem, determine whether the current basis would change for each of the
following independent changes:
(a) Profit for A increases by Rs. 2 per unit and profit for B increases by Rs. 3 per unit.
(b) New profit value of product B is Rs. 14 and product C is Rs. 6.
(c) Profit rate for each product decreases by rupees two
(d) Availability becomes 80 hours in each department.
(e) Fabrication hours increased by 10 and finishing hours decreased by 10.
6. A manufacturer produces four products A, B, C and D each of which is processed on three
machines X, Y and Z. The time required to manufacture one unit of each of the four
products and the capacity of each of three are indicated in the following table:
A 1.5 4 2
B 2 1 3
C 4 2 1
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D 3 1 2
The profit contribution per unit of the four products A, B, C and D is Rs. 4, 6, 3 and 1
respectively. The manufacturer wants to determine its optimal product-Mix.
(a) Formulate the above linear programming problem
(b) Find out the optimal product-mix and total maximum profit contribution.
(c) Which constraints are binding?
(d) If the profit contribution from product Y increase by Rs. 2 per unit, will the optimal
product-mix change?
(e) If machine X is to be shut down for 50 hours due to repair, will the product-mix
change?
9.5 ANSWERS
1. and Max.Z=12
2. and Max.Z=36
b) and Max.Z=5
3. i) and Max.Z=7/2
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and
, Maximum Profit Z=525
(c) First and third constraints
(d) Product-mix will not change.
(e) Product-mix will not change.
1. Sensitivity analysis
(a) is also called post-optimality analysis as it is carried out after the optimal solution
is obtained
(b) allows the decision-maker to get more meaningful information about changes in
the LP model parameters
(c) provides the range within which a parameter may change without affecting
optimality
(d) all of the above
2. When an additional variable is added in the LP model, the existing optimal solution
can further be improved if
(a)
(b)
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(a) improvement
(b) feasibility
(c) infeasibility
(d) optimality
12. The shadow price for a constrain is the value of an
(a) additional unit of the resource
(b) Same value of the resource
(c) both (a) and (b)
(d) none of these
13. To maintain optimality of current optimal solution for a change ∆ in the coefficient
ck of non-basic variable xk, we must have
(a) ∆ -
(b)
(c)
(d)
14. The 100 per cent rule for RHS values says that if the sum of the percentage change is
less than or equal to 100%, then
(a) dual prices do not change
(b) different dual prices may exist
(c) both (a) and (b) may occur
(d) none of the above
15. The 100 per cent rule for objective function coefficients says that if the sum of the
percentage change is less than or equal to 100%, then
(a) optimal solution does not change
(b) a different optimal solution may exist
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A stainless-steel utensil manufacturer makes three types of items. The restrictions, profit and
requirements are tabulated below:
If stainless steel (raw material) available is 25 kg and welding and finishing time available is
20 hours per day, then the optimum product mix problem is expressed as:
Time restriction
b) The simplex multiplier associated with the machine time restriction of 20 hours is (–
3/5). Thus, the multiplier remains unchanged for the upper limit on the machine time
availability of 25; 27.5; 35; 42.5; 32.5 hours.
c) The increase in the objective function for each unit availability of machine time
higher than the upper limit indicated in part (b) is ... (show calculations).
d) The profit of the third type of utensil is Rs. 4 per unit. The lower unit on its
profitability such that the current basis is still optimal is 4; 3; 2.5; 2; < 2.
9.8 GLOSSARY
Linear Programming
A mathematical technique used to help management decide how to make the most effective
use of an organization’s resources.
Objective function
A mathematical statement of the goal of an organization, stated as an intent to maximize or
minimize some important quantity such as profit or cost.
Inequality
A mathematical expression containing a greater than or equal to relation or less than or equal
to relation between the left-hand side and the right-hand side of expression.
Constraint
A restriction that inhibits the value that can be achieved by the objective function.
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Sensitivity Analysis
Analysis of how sensitive the optimal solution is to the value of each parameter of the model.
Analysis of how the recommendations of a model might change if any of the estimates
providing the numbers in the model eventually need to be corrected. The study of how other
plausible values for the probabilities of the states of nature would affect the recommended
decision alternative.
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Range of Optimality
The range of values over which an objective function coefficient may vary without causing
any change in the optimal solution.
9.9 REFERENCES
Swarup, K., Gupta, P.K. & Mohan, M.(2012). Introduction to Management Science
Operations Research 13th Edition. Sultan Chand & Sons Educational Publishers, New Delhi.
Sharma, S.D. (2017). Operations Research 15th Edition. Kedar Nath Ram Nath 132,R.G.
College Road, Meerut (UP), INDIA
Malik, A.K., Yadav, S.K. &Yadav, S.R. (2012). Optimization Techniques. I.K. International
Publishing House Pvt. Ltd.
Vasishtha, A.R., Gupta, R.K., Kumar, R., Arti, R. & Vasishtha, H.(2011). Linear
Programming 12th Edition. Krishna Prakashan Media (P) Ltd. Meerut (UP), INDIA
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LESSON-10
STRUCTURE
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Thousands of decision variables and constraints are used in the model to solve practical
problems in marketing research. The underpinning strength is the use of the extreme point of
a function to satisfy certain constraints (Bazaraa et al., 2011). In this situation, the constraints
on the problem are linear, and the function in the linear equation that is used to optimise
solutions for the marketing research problem is known as the objective function.
Canonical nature of LP
The linear programming problem typically has a canonical form that involves maximisation
and minimization. Decisions involving certainty, uncertainty, and risk can be made using the
model. Maxima criteria, which offer the suitable optimistic decision criterion, can be used to
make decisions in uncertain situations. Given the unpredictable nature of the situation, the
payoffs must be taken into account. This same value can be calculated as follows:
(maximum reward) + (1- ) (minimum payoff)
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amount of computing power to test every combination in order to choose the best assignment.
However, by framing the issue as a linear programme and using the Simplex algorithm, the
best answer can be found in a matter of seconds. The number of potential optimal solutions
that must be checked is drastically reduced by the linear programming theory.
10.2.4 Area of Application of LP
Product Mix
Use to decide which products to include in the production plan and in what quantities those
products should be produced in order to make the best use of the machines and machine
hours that are available while maximising profit.
Blending Issues
Use for choosing different raw material mixtures to create the best products at the lowest
possible cost, such as food, drinks, etc.
Production Schedule
Utilize to create a production schedule that will meet future product demand while reducing
production and inventory costs.
Production Quantity
Use in figuring out how many different grades of petroleum products to produce, say, in
order to make the most money.
Distribution System
Use the distribution system to choose one that will reduce the overall shipping costs from
numerous warehouses to various market locations.
Minimal Advertising
In order to maximise returns on investment, use in allocating a small advertising budget
among radio, TV, and newspaper spots.
Investment
Using a variety of available stocks and bonds to build an investment portfolio in order to
maximise returns on the investment
Scheduled Work
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Use in creating a work schedule that enables a large restaurant to accommodate staff needs at
all times of the day while reducing the overall staff size.
10.2.5 Prerequisite of Linear Programming
1. A clearly stated goal must be set for either increasing revenue or reducing expenses.
2. The objective function must be linear, and the number of resources available for the
objective functions must be constrained.
3. To choose the best course of action, alternate options must be available.
4. It is necessary to express an objective function mathematically.
10.2.6 Formulation of Linear Programming Problem
Linear programming problems typically consist of three components:
1. Decision variables, the value of which is determined by the problem to be solved.
2. The objective function, which must be maximised or minimised (e.g., maximisation
of profits or minimisation of total costs, as the case may be).
3. Decision variables-related constraints, limitations, or conditions
A Linear Programming problem is solved by:
1. First listing the goal in algebraic form, including the decision variables, but in
algebraic expression. This expression is known as the objective function, and it can be
maximised or minimised.
2. Using algebraic notations to express the constraints as algebraic inequalities involving
the decision variables.
3. The above steps complete the development of the Linear Programming problem.
10.2.7 Assumptions
Linear Programming is based on the following assumptions:
1. Purpose All of the relationships between function and constraints are linear.
This assumption has the following corollaries:
(a) We assume no economies of scale or diseconomies of scale; six units of product T require
six times the amount of raw material as one unit of T.
(b) We assume that the decision variables do not interact; the total raw material required for
X and T is simply the sum of the individual requirements for X and K 2.
There is only one goal function. There was only one goal in our product-mix problem, and
that was to maximise profit. However, it is not easy in practise. An organisation may have a
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number of objectives for a specific decision, with possibly some priorities in between, all of
which must be considered together.
In the above formula, AA is the target audience, E × F is the fraction of the audience that
reads the advertisement, and (E v F) is a subjective weight that is based on a scale of 0-1
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score. Assume that 4 advertising vehicles have been considered, the objective function is
expressed as:
To determine the best advertising vehicle, enter the formula into Excel and run an excel
solver.
Illustration 10.1
The Dyson Company, which recently launched a new line of hair appliances, has $282,000 to
spend on advertising. The product will first be tested in the Dallas area. The funds will be
used for a TV advertising blitz over one weekend in November (Friday, Saturday, and
Sunday).Daytime advertising, evening news advertising, and Sunday game-time advertising
are the three options available. A mix of one-minute TV spots is preferred.
Dyson intends to display at least one ad of each type (daytime, evening-news, and game-
time). Furthermore, only two game-time ad spots are available. Every day, ten daytime and
six evening news spots are available. SMM wants to run at least five ads per day, but only
spend $50,000 on Friday and $75,000 on Saturday.
Define the Decision Variables
DFR = number of daytime ads on Friday
DSA = number of daytime ads on Saturday
DSU = number of daytime ads on Sunday
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Solution Summary
Total new audience reached = 199,000
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2. Resource Utilisation
Utilizing resources effectively to satisfy customer needs is another important goal. To
achieve effective operations through efficient resource use, customer service must be
provided. Operating system failure due to ineffective resource management or poor customer
service.
Utilizing resources effectively, that is, getting the most out of them or reducing their loss,
underutilization, or waste, is the main focus of operations management. The percentage of
time that is used or occupied, the amount of space used, the intensity of activity, etc. can all
be used as indicators of how fully the resources are being used. Each metric shows how much
of these resources' potential or capacity is actually being used. This is referred to as the
resource utilisation objective.
The achievement of the both satisfactory customer service and resource utilisation is a
concern of operations management. A change in one will frequently result in a decline in the
other. Often, neither can be maximised, so both must be accomplished with a satisfactory
level of performance. These two goals must be the focus of all operations management
activities, and operations managers will encounter many issues as a result of this conflict.
Therefore, operations managers need to try to balance these fundamental goals.
1.5.3 Application of Linear Programming
Operations managers use linear programming (LP), a mathematical modelling technique, to
find alternative solutions to decision-making issues. Prior uses include figuring out the best
trucking and airline routes, chemical and oil blends, staffing plans, and patient case mixtures.
The primary objective of operations management is to increase an organization's operational
systems' productivity. The supply chain transformation process is the main focus of
operations management.
The terms variables, constraints, and objective function are used in linear programming.
Additionally, the variables are possible inputs for the problem.
The limitations are mathematical equations that restrict the values of the solutions. The
objective function is also the equation that stipulates the performance metric. Processes,
operations, and supply chain activities are terms used in operations management. Processes
are actions that both humans and machines take part in.
Operations are specific actions that convert raw materials into finished goods. The
management of resources, information, and finances between the supplier and the customer is
another aspect of supply chain activities.
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1 7 5 6 4
2 4 7 5 8
3 2 9 7 3
Formulate a L.P. model to determine the number of production run for each method so as to
maximize the total number of complete units of the final product.
Solution:
Formulation of Linear Programming Model
Let X1, X2, X3 represent the number of production run for method 1,2 and 3 respectively. The
objective is to maximize the total number of units of the final product. Now, the total number
of units of part A produced by different method is 6X1, 5X2, 7X3 and for part B is 4X1, 8X2,
3X3 .Since each unit of the final product requires 5 unit of part A and 4 unit of part B, it is
evident that the maximum number of the final product cannot exceed the smaller value of
and
Z = Minimum of ( and )
Raw material 2,
The above formulation violates the linear programming properties since the objective
function is non-linear. (Linear relationship between two or more variable is the one in which
the variable are directly and precisely proportional). However, the above model can be easily
traduced to the generally acceptable linear programming format.
i.e., and
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Formulate the L. P. model to determine the product mix that maximizes the profit.
Solution
Formulation of L.P. Model Let x1 and x2 represent the number of units of A and b to be
manufactured per hour. The objective is to maximize the profit. Profit per part of item A and
B is calculated as:
Part A (Rs.) Part B (Rs.)
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Therefore, objective is to
Maximize z= 1.2X1 + 1.4X2
Constraints are on the capacities of the machine. For one hour running of each machine, they
are
1X1 + 1X2 ≤ 1,
25 40
1X1 + 1X2 ≤ 1,
28 35
1X1 + 1X2 ≤ 1,
35 25
OR 8X1 + 5X2 ≤ 200,
5X1 + 4X2 ≤ 140,
5X1 + 7X2 ≤ 175,
Where, X1 ≥ 0, X2 ≥ 0
3. Transportation Problem
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Prestige Equipment transports refrigerator units from Dehradun and Ludhiana factories to
distribution centres in Ambala and Noida. The following table summarises transportation
costs:
Transportation of product from source of production to distribution centre:
Source Destination Transportation Cost (Rs)
Dehradun Ambala 30
Noida 40
Ludhiana Ambala 60
Noida 50
The supply and demand, in number of units, is shown below:
Capacity of supply and demand of refrigerator:
How should transportation from Dehradun and Ludhiana be organised save the money?
Solution
The information of this problem can be summarized by the following map which is referred
as figure:
200 600
Supply
Transportation
30
Costs (Rs.)
Number X
Figure: Map of no of supply and demand of refrigerator along with transportation cost
Table : Source of supply to destinations with number and transportation cost
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10.6 SUMMARY
Marketing Application
Media Selection
• Media selection is one application of linear programming in marketing.
• LP can assist marketing managers in allocating a set budget to various advertising
media.
• The goal is to maximise exposure reach, frequency, and quality.
• Restrictions on allowable allocations typically arise as a result of company policy,
contract requirements, and media availability.
Marketing Research
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9. A school is preparing a trip for 400 students. The company who is providing the
transportation has 10 buses of 50 seats each and 8 buses of 40 seats, but only has 9
drivers available. The rental cost for a large bus is $800 and $600 for the small bus.
Calculate how many buses of each type should be used for the trip for the least
possible cost.
10. A store wants to liquidate 200 of its shirts and 100 pairs of pants from last season.
They have decided to put together two offers, A and B. Offer A is a package of one
shirt and a pair of pants which will sell for $30. Offer B is a package of three shirts
and a pair of pants, which will sell for $50. The store does not want to sell less than
20 packages of Offer A and less than 10 of Offer B. How many packages of each do
they have to sell to maximize the money generated from the promotion?
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LESSON-11
Structure
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11.2 INTRODUCTION
This chapter facilitates an overview of the notion about transshipment issue is a special
Linear Programming Problem (LLP) because it takes into account the presumption that all
sources and sinks can simultaneously accept and distribute shipments (function in both
directions). The goal of the transportation model, a special form of linear programming
issues, is to reduce the overall cost of moving commodities from the various supply origins to
the various demand destinations and the basic goal of an assignment problem is to reduce the
overall amount of time needed to accomplish a group of activities, or to increase skill ratings,
or to reduce the cost of the assignments.
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The main goal of solving a transportation problem is to determine the most efficient way to
use the resources of m supply sites to meet the needs of n demand places. A variable cost of
moving the goods from one supply point to another or a comparable constraint should be
taken into account while trying to discover this ideal combination.
Important definitions of Transportation problem are:
Determining the quantity to be transported from each origin to each destination while
minimising the overall transportation cost is the goal of the transportation problem.
There should be n destinations and m origins. Let ai be the supply volume at the I th origin.
Let bj be the demand at j's destination. It is known for all combinations that the price of
shipping one unit of an item from origin I to destination j is equal to cij (i,j). Transported
quantity from point I to point j will be xij. In order to reduce the overall transportation cost,
the quantity xij to be delivered over all routes (i,j) must be determined. Both the origins'
supply constraints and the destinations' demand demands must be met.
The above transportation problem can be written in the following tabular form:
:
Now the linear programming model representing the transportation problem is given by
A feasible solution to a transportation issue is a set of non-negative numbers xij(i=1,2,..,m,
j=1,2,...n) that meets the conditions.
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Basic Variable Solution: If a feasible solution to a transportation problem only requires m+n-
1 allocations, where m is the number of rows and n is the number of columns, then the
solution is said to be basic.
The phrase "optimal solution" describes a practical (though not always "basic") strategy that
lowers the overall cost of transportation.
Non degenerate basic feasible solution: If a transportation problem's basic viable solution has
precisely m+n-1 allocations in independent positions, it is not degenerate. In this example,
there are m rows and n columns in a transportation problem.
Degeneracy: If a fundamentally workable solution to a transportation problem has fewer
allocations than m+n-1, it is said to be degenerate. The transportation issue in this instance
consists of m rows and n columns.
11.3.1 Types of Transportation Problem
Transportation issues of several kinds:
Balanced: When both supplies and demands are equal, a transportation issue is said to be
balanced. When supply and demand are not equal, a transportation issue is said to be out of
balance. Depending on what is required to make the problem balanced, either a dummy row
or dummy column is introduced in this type of problem. After then, it can be addressed
similarly to the balanced problem.
11.3.2 Method to solve Transportation Problem
To find the initial basic feasible solution there are three methods:
1. NorthWest Corner Cell Method.
2. Least Call Cell Method.
3. Vogel’s Approximation Method (VAM).
The transportation issue was introduced in the section before; in this section, the NorthWest
Corner Cell Method will be used to find the first simple, practical answer.
Destination
D1 D2 D3 D4 Supply
Q1 3 1 7 4 300
Q2 2 6 5 9 400
Source
Q3 8 3 3 2 500
Demand 250 350 400 200 1200
Explained: Given three origins (O1, O2, and O3) and four destinations (D1, D2, D3, and D4)
For the sources O1, O2, and O3, the supplies are 300, 400, and 500, respectively. Demands
are respectively 250, 350, 400, and 200 for the destinations D1, D2, D3, and D4.
Solution: According to the North West Corner approach, the beginning point must be the
north-western corner of the table, or (O1, D1). When determining the price per transportation,
every single value in a cell is taken into consideration. After evaluating the supply from
source O1 and demand for column D1 in the figure, a minimum of two should be awarded to
the cell (O1, D1). Since there is no longer any requirement for Column D1, the entire Column
D1 will be cancelled. The quantity coming from source O1 is still 300 – 250 = 50.
Destination
D1 D2 D3 D4 Supply
250
Q1 3 1 7 4 300 50
Q2 2 6 5 9 400
Source
Q3 8 3 3 2 500
250
Demand 0 350 400 200 1200
Examine the northwestern quadrant of the table, which is (O1, D2), but leave off column D1.
Then, distribute the bare minimum of supply among the corresponding column and rows. The
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sourceO1 should only allocate 50 to the cell, which is less than what is required for D2 (i.e.,
350). (O1, D2).
Cancel row O1 because the supply from row O1 is finished. Column D2 still has a demand of
350 - 50 = 50.
Destination
D1 D2 D3 D4 Supply
250 50
Q1 3 1 7 4 300 50 0
Q2 2 6 5 9 400
Source
Q3 8 3 3 2 500
250 350
Demand 0 300 400 200 1200
Finding the north-west corner of the remaining table, O2, D3, now compare the O2supply
(100) to the D2 demand (400) and assign the smaller (100) to the cell (O2, D2). Cancel the
row O2 since the supply from O2 has been fully satisfied. 400 - 100 = 300 is the remaining
demand for column D3.
Destination
D1 D2 D3 D4 Supply
250 50
Q1 3 100 7 4 300 50 0
300
Q2 2 6 5 9 400 100 0
Source 8 3
Q3 3 2 500
350 400
250 300 300
Demand 0 0 200 1200
Proceeding in the same way, the final values of the cells will be:
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Destination
D1 D2 D3 D4 Supply
250 50 100
Q1 3 7 300 4 300 50 0
300 300
Q2 2 6 5 9 400 100 0
Source 8 3 3
Q3 2 500 200 0
350 400 200
250 300 300 0
Demand 0 0 0 1200
Note that in the last remaining cell, which was cell, the demand for the pertinent columns and
rows is equal (O3, D4). Since O3 was in supply and D4 was in demand, the cell in this case
received 200. The last item was that neither a row nor a column contained anything.
To get the basic solution, which is (250 * 3) + (50 * 1) + (300 * 6) + (100 * 5) + (300 * 3) +
(200 * 2) = 4400, just multiply the value of each cell by the assigned value.
Destination
D1 D2 D3 D4 Supply
Q1 3 1 7 4 300
Q2 2 6 5 9 400
Source
Q3 8 3 3 2 500
Demand 250 350 400 200 1200
The Least Cost Cell approach requires that the least expensive cell in the table be identified,
and that cell is 1 (cell (O1, D2)).
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Now contrast the supply in row O1 with the demand in column D2 and assign the cell with
the lower number. Give the cell 300 because it is the lesser value. As the supply from O1 is
exhausted, the demand for column D2 is 350 - 300 = 50, hence this row should be cancelled..
Destination
D1 D2 D3 D4 Supply
300 1
Q1 3 7 4 300 0
Source Q2 2 6 5 9 400
Q3 8 3 3 2 500
350
Demand 250 50 400 200 1200
Find the cell with the lowest cost among the remaining cells next. Cells (O2, D1) and (O3,
D4) are the two least expensive, both costing 2. Let's decide (O2, D1). Next, ascertain the
supply and demand for the relevant cell. Then, allocate the smallest sum between the two to
the cell. Finally, remove the row or column whose supply or demand is now zero as a result
of the allocation
Destination
D1 D2 D3 D4 Supply
300
Q1 3 1 7 4 300 0
2 400
250
Source Q2 6 5 9 150
Q3 8 3 3 2 500
250 350
Demand 0 50 400 200 1200
Now, (O3, D4), with a cost of 2, is the cell with the lowest cost. As the supply is greater than
the demand, assign 200 to this cell. Therefore, the column is removed.
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Destination
D1 D2 D3 D4 Supply
300 1
Q1 3 7 4 300 0
250
2 200
9 400
Source Q2 6 5 150
500
Q3 8 3 3 2 300
250 350 200
Demand 0 50 400 0 1200
The two unallocated cells with the lowest costs are the other two. Please choose any at
random (O3, D2). From the supply in the corresponding row and the demand in the
corresponding column, enter the smallest amount you can into this cell. Remove the row or
column with a value of zero.
Destination
D1 D2 D3 D4 Supply
300 1
Q1 3 7 4 300 0
2 9
250 200
Q2 6 5 400 150
Source 50
Q3 8 3 3 2 500 300 250
350
250 50 200
Demand 0 0 400 0 1200
Currently, the cheapest cell is (O3, D3). Eliminate the row or column with a value of zero and
distribute the minimum of supply and demand.
Destination
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D1 D2 D3 D4 Supply
300
1
Q1 250
3 7 4 300 0
9
200
Q2 2 6 5 400 150
Source 8 50 250 3 500 300 250
Q3 3 2 0
350
250 50 400 200
Demand 0 0 150 0 1200
There is only one cell left, (O2, D3), and it costs $5. Its supply is 150 and demand is 150,
hence demand is 150 and both are equal in quantity. Allocate it to this cell.
Destination
D1 D2 D3 D4 Supply
250
3 300 1
Q1 7 4 300 0
150
5 200 9
Q2 2 6 400 150 0
50 250 3 200 2
Q3 8 3 500 300 250 0
350 400
250 50 150 200
Demand 0 0 0 0 1200
Destination
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D1 D2 D3 D4 Supply
Q1 3 1 7 4 300
Q2 2 6 5 9 400
Source
Q3 8 3 3 2 500
Demand 250 350 400 200 1200
The answer is to first identify the lowest value for each row, then the next lowest. The
corresponding row difference should then be filled in with the absolute difference between
these two lowest values, as seen in the image below. The second-least value, 3, and the two
least values in row O1 are separated by an absolute difference of 2. Rows O2 and O3 have
identical absolute differences of 3 and 1, respectively.
The lowest value should be found for each column, then the next lowest. The corresponding
column difference should then be filled in with the absolute difference between these two
lowest values, as shown in the image. Column D1's least value is 2, followed by its second-
least value, 3, and their absolute difference is 1. Columns D2, D3, and D3 all have absolute
differences of 2, 2, and 2, respectively
Destination
Row
D1 D2 D3 D4 Supply difference
Q1 3 1 7 4 300 2
Source Q2 2 6 5 9 400 3
Q3 8 3 3 2 500 1
Demand 250 350 400 200 1200
Column
Difference 1 2 2 2
These numbers for the row and column disparity are also known as penalties. Pick the most
severe penalty right now. Three strikes, or row O2, is the maximum penalty. Then, by
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choosing the cell in row O2 with the lowest cost, divide the minimal amount between the
supply of the corresponding row and the demand of the corresponding column. Since demand
is lower than supply, put 250 in the cell to reflect the desire for the column. Delete column
D1 next.
Destination
Row
D1 D2 D3 D4 Supply difference
Q1 250 3 1 7 4 300 2
400
Source Q2 2 6 5 9 150 3
8
Q3 3 3 2 500 1
250
Demand 0 350 400 200 1200
Column
Difference 1 2 2 2
From the remaining cells, find out the row difference and column difference.
Destination
Row
D1 D2 D3 D4 Supply difference
Q1 3 1 7 4 300 2 3
250 400
Source Q2 2 6 5 9 150 3 1
Q3 8 3 3 2 500 1 1
250
Demand 0 350 400 200 1200
Column
Difference 1 2 2 2
- 2 2 2
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Select row O1 to correlate with the maximum penalty of 3, once more. The cheapest cell in
row O1 is (O1, D2), with a cost of 1. Distribute from the relevant row and column the least
quantity of supply and demand to the cell. Remove the row or column with a value of zero.
Destination
Row
D1 D2 D3 D4 Supply difference
1
300
Q1 3 7 4 300 0 2 3
250 400
Source Q2 2 6 5 9 150 3 1
Q3 8 3 3 2 500 1 1
250 350
Demand 0 50 400 200 1200
Column
Difference 1 2 2 2
- 2 2 2
Now find the row difference and column difference from the remaining cells.
Destination
Row
D1 D2 D3 D4 Supply
300
difference
1
Q1 3 7 4 300 0 2 3
250
-
400
Q2 2 6 5 9 3 1 1
150
Source 8
Q3 3 3 2 500 1 1 1
250 350
Demand 400 200 1200
0 50
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Column
1 2 2 2
Difference
- 2 2 2
- 3 2 7
You should now select the maximum penalty, which is 7 and falls under column D4. The
cheapest cell in column D4 is (O3, D4), which costs 2. More cell phones are available than
are needed (O3, D4).
Remove the column and give the cell $200.
Destination
Row
D1 D2 D3 D4 Supply
300
difference
1
Q1 3 7 4 300 0 2 3
250
-
Q2 2 6 5 9 400 150 3 1 1
Source 8 200
Q3 3 3 2 500 300 1 1 1
• Find the row difference and the column difference from the remaining cells.
Destination
Row
D1 D2 D3 D4 Supply
difference
Source Q1 3 1 7 4 300 0 2 3 -
-
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250
Q2 2 6 5 200
9 400 150 3 1 1
1
3
Q3 8 3 2 500 300 1 1 1 0
250 350 200
Demand 400 1200
0 50 0
Column 2
1 2 2
Difference
2 2 2
-
3 2 7
-
2
- 3
The maximum punishment at this time is three, which corresponds to column D2. The cell in
D2 with the smallest value is (O3, D2). Select the supply and demand that is least balanced,
then remove the column.
Destination
Row
D1 D2 D3 D4 Supply
difference
300
Q1 3 1 7 4 300 0 2 3 -
-
250
Q2 2 6 5 9 400 150 3 1 1
50 1
200
3 500 300
Q3 8 3 2 1 1 1 0
250
250 350 200
Demand 50 400 0 1200
0
0
Column 2
1 2 2
Difference
- 2 2 2
- 3 2 7
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2
- 3 -
• Now there is only one column so select the cell with the least cost and allocate
the value.
Destination
Row
D1 D2 D3 D4 Supply
difference
300
Q1 3 1 7 4 300 0 2 3 - -
250
Q2 2 6 5 9 400 150 3 1 1
50 1
250 200
3 500 300 250
Q3 8 3 2 1 1 1 0
0
250 350 400 200
Demand 50 150 0 1200
0
0
Column 2
1 2 2
Difference
- 2 2 2
- 3 2 7
2
- 3 -
• Now there is only one cell so allocate the remaining demand or supply to the
cell
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Destination
Row
D1 D2 D3 D4 Supply
difference
300
Q1 3 1 7 4 300 0 2 3 - -
150
250
Q2 2 6 5 9 400 150 0 3 1 1
50 1
250 200
3 500 300 250
Q3 8 3 2 1 1 1 0
0
250 350 400 200
Demand 50 150 0 1200
0 0
0
Column 2
1 2 2
Difference
- 2 2 2
- 3 2 7
2
- 3 -
There is no equilibrium left. Therefore, multiply each cell's assigned value by its
associated cell cost, then sum them all up to get the total cost, which is (300 * 1) +
(250 * 2) + (50 * 3) + (250 * 3) + (200 * 2) + (150 * 5) = 2850.
Transporting goods or containers to one site, then from there to another is known as
transshipment, also spelled transshipment. One possible explanation is transloading,
sometimes known as switching from one method of transportation to another while travelling
(for example, from a ship to a vehicle on the road). Another contributing factor is separating
the enormous shipment at the opposite end after bundling small shipments into one giant
package (deconsolidation). Transshipment often takes place at transport hubs. Additionally, a
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According to our definition, a supply point is one that can deliver goods to another location
but cannot take goods from any other points. Demand points are points, like supply points,
that can accept goods from other points but cannot send goods to any other places. A
transshipment point is a location that has the ability to both accept products from other
locations and send them to other locations. As a result, the Transshipment Problem is defined
as
Minimize z=∑i=1m+n∑j=1j≠im+ncijxij
subject to
∑j=1j≠im+nxij−∑j=1j≠im+nxji=ai∀i=1,2,……,m∑i=1i≠jm+nxij−∑i=1i≠jm+nxji=bj∀j=m+1,
m+2,……,m+nxij≥0∀i,j=1,2,……..,m+n;i≠j
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supply and demand locations are transformed into transshipment sites, yielding m + n
transshipment points.
However, the problem can be easily reduced to a standard transportation
problem.
Where tj is the total quantity shipped as a result of a transshipment from the jth destination
and it is the total amount shipped as a result of a transshipment through the ith origin.
Consider that T > 0 is a big enough number to guarantee that ti T for all I and tj T for all j.
Now that ti + xii = T has been defined, the nonnegative slack variable xii is used to reflect the
discrepancy between T and the actual quantity of transshipment through the ith origin. If we
assume that tj + xjj = T, then the nonnegative slack variable xjj represents the difference
between T and the actual quantity of transshipment through the jth destination.
Thus, the transshipment problem reduces to
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subject to
Cii = 0 ∀i = 1, 2,…………..……m + n
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For the aforementioned problem (P2), we will put together the transportation tableau as
follows: Each supply point and transshipment point will require a row in the tableau, while
each demand point and transshipment point will require a column. Every point of supply will
have an amount equal to its initial amount, and every point of demand will have an amount
equal to its initial amount of demand.
Let T stand in for the total supply. Then, the supply and demand at each transshipment point
will be equal to the point's initial supply plus T and the point's initial demand plus T,
respectively. Every transshipment point that is a net supplier, for example, will have a net
outflow equal to the point's initial supply, and every transshipment site that is a net demander,
for example, will have a net inflow equal to the point's initial demand. Although we do not
yet know how much will be transferred through each transshipment point, the total volume
will not exceed T. This explains why the supply and demand at each transshipment site are
modified by T. We promise that each transshipment's net outflow.
Note 1: An origin's total shipment must include both its production and its transshipment.
Similar to this, a destination's total revenue must equal both its demand and any transshipped
goods.
Note 2: T can also be thought of as an origin and destination buffer stock. T need to be big
enough to handle all transshipments since we believe that any quantity of items can be
transshipped at any point. Given that it is obvious that the volume of products transshipped at
any given location cannot exceed that which is produced or received, we take
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Note3: The problem's (P2) solution uses the basic variables 2m + 2n-1. In contrast, m + n of
these variables that occur in the diagonal cells indicate the leftover buffer stock, and if they
are removed, we are left with (m + n-1) basic variables that are of importance to us.
where P ′ = P + (m + n)T
The transshipment problem with impaired flow is given by
subject to
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According to the flow constraint in the problem (P3), a total amount of source reserves
(i=1mai+(m+n)T)P′) and destination slacks (j=m+1m+nbj+(m+n)T)P′) must be held at the
various sources and destinations, respectively. As a result, an additional destination is created
to receive the source reserves and an additional source is added to fill the destination slacks.
As a result, the linked transportation issue with limited flow is shown below.
Subject to
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Note 4: We assign a cost zero to all the cells in the additional row and column except the
(m + n + 1, m + n + 1) th cell, where we assign a cost M, where M is a large positive number.
11.4.4 Algorithm to solve transhipment problem with impaired flow
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Step 1: Take into account the linear envelope issue. The envelope issue is balanced if
i=1mai=j=m+1m+nbj, in which case take T=i=1mai; otherwise, take T=max(i=1mai, j
=m+1m+nbj), and end.
Step 2: The second step is to limit the flow to P′, where P′="" b="" style="margin: 0px;
padding: 0px;"> a transit desk like this: Each supply point and transshipment point must have
a table row, and each demand point and transshipment point must have a column.
Step 3: Add a fake demand point or sequence with the formula: demand =
((i=1mai+(m+n)T)P′) or supply = ((j=m + 1m+nbj+(m+n) T)-P'). Shipments from a point to
itself and to dummy are both regarded as zero. The supply at each transshipment point is
equal to the initial supply (ai, I = 1, 2,..., m) + T, which is equal to the original demand (bj, j
= m). There is a need. + 1, m + 2,..., m + n) + T. Additionally, each supply point's supply is
the same as the original supply T I = m + 1, m + 2,..., m + n, and each demand point's
demand is the same as the original demand T (for j = 1, 2,..., m). This ensures that at
transshipment sites that are net suppliers, net suppliers have a net outflow equal to the point's
original supply and net consumers have a net inflow equal to the point's original the total
amount that will be transported at each transshipment site is unknown.
Step 5: Find the best elementary feasible solution of the transformed transport problem (P4).
Step 6: Ignoring diagonal cell assignments, the solution obtained is the optimal basic feasible
solution of the envelope problem (P3).
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Subject to
There are different cases of UCTsP depending on the circumstance. We go over the different
UCTsP cases in the section after that.
Case I: Due to high storage costs at some sources, there are occasionally circumstances
where it is desirable to maintain supplies at the sources for emergencies and/or an
excess supply to destinations. The resulting UCTP is as follow
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Subject to
Subject to
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where
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In a different scenario, sources might need to overproduce and some destinations might still
be undersupplied since the entire material supply at sources is less than the total demand at
various destinations. As a result, the problem is as follows:
Subject to
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Subject to
where
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Which is simply resolved. Additionally, the flow-constrained problem (P9) can be simplified
to the form problem (P3).
Case II: The issue appears as follows when the entire supply at the sources is less than
the total demand at the destinations and the problem must be solved by generating
more than enough at the sources:
Subject to
This issue can be simply reduced to problem (P11) form and resolved.
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Consider, too, the scenario in which the issue takes the following form.
Subject to
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(P14)
Subject to
3. The only new column that is required to solve this problem (P14) is one
whose variables represent the sources' stored amounts. Here, the issue is reduced to
the form (P9), making it simple to resolve.
4. The issue is that short supplies are permitted at destinations, precise
amounts must be delivered, and there are restrictions of the following kind:
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Subject to
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Step 2: Problem P9 and P11 have the same fundamental structure as Problem P2, which has
an optimal basic feasible solution that can be found. This is covered in Section 2.
11.4.6 Numerical Examples
Illustration 1. A transshipment issue with a flow issue
Think about the following Two origins and two destinations are involved in the unbalanced
transshipment problem (P16). Table 1 below lists the availability at the sources, the
requirements at the destinations, and the cost of transportation.
Table1 (Cost matrix of unbalanced transhipment problem (P16))
I j O1 O2 D1 D2 aj
O1 0 1 5 4 3
O2 1 0 2 6 4
D1 5 2 0 2 ..
D2 4 6 2 0 ..
bj - - 6 3
I j 01 O2 D1 D2 ai
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01 0 1 5 4 12
O2 1 0 2 6 13
D1 5 2 0 2 9
D2 4 6 2 0 9
dO3 0 0 0 0 2
bj 9 9 15 12
Here you add a dummy row dO3 and a dummy column dO3 with each cell having a cost 0
except c55 having cost M. And we
take demand=∑i=14ai−P′=43−40=3demand=∑i=14ai−P′=43−40=3 and supply=∑j=14bj−P′=
45−40=5supply=∑j=14bj−P′=45−40=5.
Next you have to find out the initial basic feasible solution by any of the regular method and
check its optimality. The optimal solution is given in the Table 3 below.
Table 3 Optimal solution of transformed transportation problem with impaired flow
i j O1 O2 D1 D2 dO3 ai
O1 0(9) 1 5 4 0(3) 12
O2 1 0(9) 2(4) 6 0 13
D1 5 2 0(9) 2 0 9
D2 4 6 2 O(9) 0 9
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bj 9 9 15 12 3
To achieve the best fundamental viable solution for the transshipment problem with hindered
flow by disregarding the allocations in the diagonal cells. The ideal schedule is O1 ——dO3,
3 units; O2——D1, 4 units; O3——D1, 2 units; and dO3——D2, 3 units, with a minimum Z
value of 8. Alternatively, you can state that x15 = 3, x23 = 4, x53 = 2, and x54 = 3.
The flow chart describes the ideal schedule for the transshipment problem with impaired flow
(Fig. 1)
Since the allocations in the diagonal cells in Fig. 1 have no physical significance, i.e., no
transportation, they are disregarded. The following is a summary of the remaining
allocations.
a) O1 moves three units to the dummy point source/destination, increasing dO3's supply
capacity to five units, including the two units that were initially available.
(b) Of the five units that dO3 can supply, dO3 transports two to D1 and three to D2.
In case (c), O2 moves 4 units to D1.
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You now understand the fundamental ideas related to linear programming problems and how
to solve them. Above, we talked about the transportation and transhipment problems. You
will now study the assignment's problem and debate alternative solutions.
Giving various resources (items) to various actions (receivers) one-to-one is the goal of the
assignment issue; that is, assigning the same number of operations to an equal number of
operators, with each operator performing only one operation. Think about an account officer
who has four employees and four tasks. It depends on the subordinates' effectiveness whether
they finish each task more swiftly or more slowly. If you need to give one task to one person
while keeping the total number of person hours to a minimum, you have an assignment
problem. Despite being a specific instance of the transportation problem, the approaches
taught in Unit 4 do not address the assignment problem. We use a different approach, the
Hungarian approach, to resolve an assignment problem.
As It is quicker and easier than other approaches to finding the optimum solution to a
transportation problem. The travelling salesman problem is just one of the assignment
problem kinds that are covered in this section along with methods for their Hungarian
approach resolution.
In the unit that follows, a single server M/M/1 queueing model with Poisson input and
exponential service time will be explained along with the basic structure and operation of a
queueing system.
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Person Job
1 1 2… j…
n
2
. C11 C12 …. C1j….
. C1n
I
. C21 C22… C2i …
. C2n
n .
.
Cil Ci2… Cii…
Cin
.
.
Cn1Cn2…Cnj…
Cnm
Where cij is the time, it took for the ith individual to do the jth job. Let xij stand for
the ith person's jth job assignment. Thus, the assignment problem can be expressed
mathematically as follows:
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The constant cij served as the representation of time in the prior issue. Cost or another
parameter could be the one that needs to be minimized in the assignment problem
under discussion.
Transportation issues in general can be resolved using the same approach as an
assignment problem. The Hungarian approach, an alternative strategy, is how we
resolve it. This approach is more expedient and straightforward than other approaches
to figuring out the best solution to a transportation problem. Let's talk about the
Hungarian method for finding the correct response to a homework question.
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a) Examine the rows one by one until you find a row that contains exactly one zero. In
the corresponding column, circle this zero (written as 0) and cross out all other zeros.
Continue in this manner until every row has been looked at. Do not touch any row
that contains more than one zero; move on to the next row instead.
b) Repetition of step I above for the cost matrix's columns.
c) If a reduced matrix row or column has more than one zero, arbitrarily select the row
or column with the fewest zeroes. Choose at random any zero in the given row or
column. All the zeros in the relevant row and column should be crossed out before
drawing a rectangle around it. Continue performing steps I (ii), and (iii) until every
zero has been assigned (by tracing a rectangle around it) or crossed.
d) The best assignment is done in the cells that correspond to 0 if each row and each
column of the resulting matrix has one and only one assigned 0. You can now quit
because the best possible solution to the issue has been found. If not, move on to the
next action.
5. Execute the following by drawing the least amount of horizontal and/or vertical lines
through all the zeros:
a) Check the boxes next to the rows where assignments haven't been created.
b) Mark with an asterisk (*) any columns that have zeros in the designated rows.
c) Check the boxes next to any rows that contain assignments in marked columns but
have not yet been marked.
d) Then, if any, check the boxes next to any columns that include zeros in the newly
designated rows. Mark with a checkmark ( ) any rows that have assignments in the
newly indicated columns.
e) Make straight lines through each designated column and each unmarked row.
6. Change the cost matrix to read:
a) Determine the tiniest element that is not enclosed by any of the lines.
b) Add it to the elements at the intersection of the two lines after deducting it from all
the uncovered elements.
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Programmes
A B C D
Programmes 1 120 100 80 90
2 80 90 110 70
3 110 140 120 100
4 90 90 80 90
Find the assignment structure that reduces the amount of time needed to create the application
programmes.
Solution: Subtract the minimum element of each row from the sum of its other elements.
Notably, the first row must have at least 80 entries. The elements of the first row must
therefore have 80 subtracted from each of them, from 120, 100, 80, and 90, respectively. The
resulting matrix would thus have the following elements in its first row: 40, 20, 0, and 10,
respectively. In a manner similar to this, the elements of the additional rows of the resulting
matrix are also obtained. The matrix that results is as follows:
A B C D
40 20 0 10
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1 10 20 40 0
2 10 40 20 0
3 10 10 0 10
Now, let's split each component of the resulting matrix by the smallest member in that
column. The first column must have at least 10 entries. Therefore, each of the 40, 10, 10, and
10 components in the first column must have 10 subtracted from it. The resulting matrix has
the following elements in its first column: 30, 0, 0, and 0. In a manner similar to this, the
elements of the other columns of the resulting matrix are also obtained. The matrix that
results is as follows:
A B C D
30 10 0 10
1
0 10 40 0
2
0 30 20 0
3
0 0 0 10
Starting with the first row, we now cross all other zeros in the corresponding column and
draw a rectangle around the 0 in each row with a single zero. Here, there is only one zero in
the first row. Therefore, we cross all other zeros in the appropriate column and draw a
rectangle around it.
We get
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A B C D
1 30 10 10
0
2 0 10 40 0
3 0 30 20 0
4 0 0 0 10
There is not a single zero in the second, third, or fourth row. We therefore proceed column-
wise. One zero appears in the second column. As a result, we outline it with a rectangle and
cross every other zero in the same row. We get
A B C D
1 30 10 10
0
2 10 40 0
0
3 0 30 20
0
4 0 0 10
0
The aforementioned matrix doesn't have a single zero in any row or column. Therefore, we
initially advance row-wise in order to discover the row having more than one zero. The
second row contains two zeros.
So, we arbitrarily draw a rectangle around one of these zeros and cross one of them. In cell
(2, A), let's cross the zero and draw a rectangle around it (2, D). The first column's extra zeros
are crossed out. Remember that we could have just as easily selected the zero in cell (2, D),
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drawn a rectangle around it, and crossed all the other zeros. A different result would have
resulted from this.
The aforementioned matrix doesn't have a single zero in any row or column.
As a result, we initially, in every row and column where a rectangle has been drawn, all that
is left is one zero. This indicates that we have only given one operator control over one
operation. As a result, the following is the best solution:
A B C D
1 30 10 0 10
2 0 10 40 0
3 0 30 20 0
4 0 0 10
0
Keep in mind that task assignments should be based on the cells that correspond to the zeroes
around which rectangles have been drawn. Consequently, the optimum response to the issue
is:
B D 4 A, 3 C, 2 1
Programmer 1 receives program C in this manner, whereas Programmer 2 receives
programmer A, etc. The minimum development time for the programs is 350 minutes, or 80
+ 80 + 100 + 90. You should pause here and try to solve the following assignment problem to
check your understanding.
11.6 Glossary
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Unit Transportation It is the cost of transporting one unit of the consignment from
cost an origin to a destination
Feasible Solution A solution that satisfies the row and column sum restrictions
and also the non-negativity restrictions is a feasible solution
Optimal Solution A feasible solution is said to be optimal solution when the total
transportation cost will be the minimum cost.
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PRACTICE QUESTIONS
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7. One disadvantage of using the North-West Corner Rule to find initial the solution to
the transportation problem is that
a) It is complicated to use
b) It does not take into account the cost of transportation
c) It leads to a degenerate initial solution
d) All of the above
8. When total supply is equal to total demand in a transportation problem, the problem is
said to be
a) Balanced
b) Unbalanced
c) Degenerate
d) None of these
9. Which of the following methods is used to verify the optimality of the current solution
of the transportation problem
a) Least cost method
b) Vogel's approximation method
c) Modified distribution method
d) all of these
10. In the optimal solution, more than one empty cell has their opportunity cost as zero, it
indicates
a) The solution is not optimal
b) The problem has alternate solution
c) Something wrong in the solution
d) The problem will cycle
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c) Queuing problem
d) Game theory
13. While solving an assignment problem, an activity is assigned to a resource with zero
opportunity cost because objective is to ______
a) minimize total cost of assignment
b) reduce total cost of assignment to zero
c) reduce cost of that assignment to zero
d) maximize total cost of assignment
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The problem here is to determine the optimum distribution for the factory to minimize
shipping costs.
3. What distinguishes transshipment problems from transportation problems?
4. How do you solve an assignment problem with a zero? Describe using an example
5. How do you resolve the issue if the assignment's objective is to maximize profits? If
the goal of the assignment is to maximize profits, how do you solve the problem?
6. What distinguishes the transshipment node from the origin node in the shortest route
problem?
7. There are five people available to do four tasks. Table 65 provides the duration of
each worker's time on each job. The objective is to distribute labor so that the four
projects can be completed in the shortest amount of time possible. Apply the
Hungarian approach to the issue.
8. What distinguishes a transportation issue from an assignment issue?
11.8 REFERENCES
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• R.J Aguilar, Systems Analysis and Design. Prentice Hall, Inc. Englewood Cliffs, New
Jersey (1973) pp. 209–220
• H. L. Bhatia, K. Swarup, M. C. Puri, Indian J. pure appl. Math. 8 (1977) 920-929
• Malakooti, B. (2013). Operations and Production Systems with Multiple Objectives.
John Wiley & Sons.
• Das, S. K., A. Goswami, and S. S. Alam. “Multiobjective Transportation Problem
with Interval Cost, Source and Destination Parameters.” European Journal of
Operational Research, Vol. 117, No. 1, 1999, pp. 100–11
-------------------------------------------End-----------------------------------------------------------------
----
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LESSON-12
STRUCTURE
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After studying this chapter, students should understand the limitations of the simplex method
in deriving integer solutions to linear programming problems. Applying cutting plane and
branch and bound methods to obtain optimal integer solutions of the variables in a linear
programming problem.
12.2 INTRODUCTION
Integer Programming Problem (IPP) is a special class of linear programming problems where
some or all variables are constrained to assume non-negative integer values. Such problems
are called all integer or mixed integer problems. In business and industry, it occurs frequently
where quite often discrete nature of variables is involved in many decision variables. One
might think it sufficient to obtain an integer solution to this special class of linear
programming problem by using the usual simplex method ad then rounding off the fractional
values thus occurring in the optimal solution. However in some cases, the deviation from the
exact optimal integer values may become large enough to given an infeasible solution.
Hence, there was a need to develop a systematic procedure in order to identify the optimal
integer solution to such types of problems.
and
where, are integer valued for
An integer programming problem in which all variables are required to be integers is called a
pure or all integer programming problem. For example, the linear programming problem:
Max/
Subject to the constraints
On the other hand, an integer linear programming problem in which only some of the
variables are required to be integers is known as a mixed integer programming problem. For
example, the linear programming problem:
Where,
is a mixed integer linear programming problem. Here is not required to be an integer.
An integer programming problem in which all the variables must have integer values only
zero or unity, is called the zero-one integer programming problem. For example, the linear
programming problem:
where
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There are many algorithms for solving the integer programming problem. Here, we shall
discuss the following two methods:
12.4.1 Gomory’s Cutting Plane Method
12.4.2 Branch and Bound Technique
Since is a non-integer solution, we assume, for the sake of exposition only, that is
fractional.
Now, the constraint equation
Reduces to
……..(1)
Now, since the fractional part of must also be non-negative. We split over each
of the in (1) into an integral part of , and a non-negative fractional part , for j-
=0,1,2,3,4. After this decomposition ,(1) may be written as
Or ……..(2)
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A comparison between (1) and (2) suggests that if we add an additional constraint in such a
way that the L.H.S of (2) is an integer, then we shall be forcing the non- integer towards
an integer.
The desired Gomory’s constraint is
Where
Step 6: Add the Gomorian constraint generated in step 5 at the bottom of the optimum
simplex table. Use dual simplex method to find an improved optimum solution.
Step 7: Go to step 2 and repeat the procedure until as optimum basic feasible all-integer
solution is obtained.
Example-1: Find the optimum integer solution to the following linear programming problem:
where
Solution: Convert all constraints into equations by using slack variables , we
get
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0 5 3 2 1 0 5/3→
0 2 0 1 0 1 ------
Z = 0 -1↑ -1 0 0
0 2 0 1 0 1 2→
1 2 0 1 0 1
Max. Fractional
Since, corresponding to the first row i.e. is the source row.
Now, expressing the negative fraction in the source row as a sum of negative integer and
positive fraction.
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Where, is the Gomory Slack. Adding Gomory Constraint at the bottom of optimum
simplex table 12.1.
Table-12.2
B 1 1 0 0 0
1 2 0 1 0 1 0
Incoming Vector
There is a tie, so we can select anyone of them incoming vector. So, we choose be
incoming vector. And, applying usual simplex method.
Table-12.3
B 1 1 0 0 0
1 0 1 0 0 -1 1
1 2 0 1 0 1 0
0 1 0 0 1 1 -3
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Z = 2 0 0 0 0 0
Since all and all and all restricted variables are integers. Hence, an
optimum integer solution is and Max. Z=2
Example-2: The owner of a ready-made garments stores two types of shirts known as Zee-
Shirts and Button-down shirts. He makes a profit of Rs. 1 and Rs. 4 per shirt on Zee-shirts
and Button-shirts respectively. He has two Tailors A and B at his disposal to stitch the shirts.
Tailor A and Tailor B can devote at the most 7 hours and 15 hours per-day respectively.
Both these shirts are to be stitched by both tailors. Tailor A and Tailor B spend two hours and
five hours respectively in stitching Zee-shirt, and four hours and three hours respectively in
stitching a Button-down shirt. How many shirts of both the types should be stitched in order
to maximize daily profit?
(a) Set-up and solve the linear programming problem.
(b) If the optimal solution is not integer-valued, use Gomory’s technique to derive the
optimal integer solution.
Solution: (a) Let =Zee-shirts and Button-down shirts
Then the linear programming problem becomes
where
(b)Convert all constraints into equations by using slack variables and then
solving the linear programming problem by usual simplex method, the optimum solution is
given by in the following table.
Table-12.4
B 1 4 0 0
Z = 7 1 0 1 0
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Max. Fractional
Since, corresponding to the first row i.e. is the source row.
Since, is the source row, we have
Where, is the Gomory Slack. Adding Gomory Constraint at the bottom of optimum
simplex table 12.4.
Table-12.5
B 1 4 0 0 0
4 7/4 ½ 1 1/4 0 0
Z = 7 1↑ 0 1 0 0
Incoming Vector
Table-12.6
B 1 4 0 0 0
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4 1 0 1 0 0 1
0 9/2 0 0 -5/2 1 7
1 3/2 1 0 1/2 0 -2
Z = 11/2 0 0 1/2 0 2
Max. Fractional
Since, corresponding to the third row i.e. is the source row.
Since, is the source row, we have
Where, is the Gomory Slack. Adding Gomory Constraint at the bottom of optimum
simplex table 12.6.
Table-12.7
B 1 4 0 0 0 0
4 1 0 1 0 0 1 0
0 9/2 0 0 -5/2 1 7 0
1 3/2 1 0 1/2 0 -2 0
0 -1/2 0 0 -1/2 0 0 1
Z = 11/2 0 0 1/2↑ 0 2 0
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Incoming Vector
4 1 0 1 0 0 1 0
0 7 0 0 0 1 7 -5
1 1 1 0 0 0 -2 1
0 1 0 0 1 0 0 -2
Z = 5 0 0 0 0 2 1
Since all and all and all restricted variables are integers. Hence, an
optimum integer solution is and Max. Z=5.
Thus, the owner of ready-made garments should produce one Zee-shirt and also one Button-
down shirt in order to get the maximum profit of Rs. 5.
This method is similar to the Fractional Cut Method—All Integer Linear Programming
Problem. The only difference is in Step V when generating the Gomorian constraint. The
Gomorian Constraint generation is as follows:
and ,
i.e.
where, is known as the Gomorian Slack variable and this constraint as the Gomory’s cut.
Example-3: Find the optimum integer solution to the following linear programming problem:
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where
Solution: Convert all constraints into equations by using slack variables ,
we get
+
Subject to the constraints
0 5 4 -4 0 1 0 0 ------
0 5 -1 6 0 0 1 0 5/6→
0 5 -1 1 1 0 0 1 5/1
Z = 0 -4 -6↑ -2 0 0 0
Z = 5 -5↑ 0 -2 0 1 0
0 25/4 0 0 1 ¼ 0 1 25/4→
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2 25/4 0 0 1 ¼ 0 1
Z = 30 0 0 2 2 2 0
Max. Fractional
Since, corresponding to the first row i.e. is the source row.
Where, is the Gomory Slack. Adding Gomory Constraint at the bottom of optimum
simplex table 12.9.
Table-12.10
B 4 6 2 0 0 0 0
2 25/4 0 0 1 ¼ 0 1 0
Z = 30 0 0 2 2↑ 2 0 0
Incoming Vector
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Table-12.11
B 4 6 2 0 0 0 0
4 2 1 0 0 0 0 0 0
Where, is the Gomory Slack. Adding Gomory Constraint at the bottom of optimum
simplex table 12.11.
Table-12.12
B 4 6 2 0 0 0 0 0
4 2 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
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Incoming Vector
Table-12.13
B 4 6 2 0 0 0 0 0
4 2 1 0 0 0 0 0 1 0
6 1 0 1 0 0 0 0 1/6 1/5
2 6 0 0 1 0 0 1 5/6 -1/5
0 1 0 0 0 1 0 0 -10/3 4/5
0 1 0 0 0 0 1 0 1 -6/5
Z = 26 0 0 0 0 0 2 20/3 4/5
Since all and all and all restricted variables are integers. Hence, an
optimum integer solution is and Max. Z=26
The concept behind this method is to divide the entire feasible solution space of the L.P
problem into smaller parts called sub-problems and then search each of them for an optimal
solution. This approach is useful in those cases where there is large number of feasible
solutions and enumeration of those becomes economically impractical and impossible.
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The branch and bound method start by imposing feasible and infeasible upper or lower
bounds for the decision variables in each sub-problem. This helps in reducing the number of
simplex method iterations to arrive at the optimal solution, because each sub problem worse
than he current feasible bound is discarded and only the remaining sub problems are
examined. At a point where no more sub problems can be created, we will find an optimal
solution.
The iterative procedure is summarized below:
Step 1: Obtain an optimum solution of the given L.P.P. ignoring the integer restriction.
Step 2: Test the integrability of the optimum solution obtained in step 1. There are two
cases:
i) If the solution is in integers, the current solution is optimum to the given integer
programming problem
ii) If the solution is not in integers, go to next step.
Step 3: Considering the value of the objective function as upper bound, obtain the lower
bound by rounding off to integer values of the decision variables.
Step 4: Let the optimum value of the variable be not an integer. Then
subdivide(branch) the given L.P.P into two problems:
Sub Problem 1: Given L.P.P. with an additional constraint
Sub Problem 2: Given L.P.P. with an additional constraint
Where is the largest integer contained in .
Step 5: Solve the two sub problems obtained in step 4. There may arise three cases:
i) If the optimum solution of the two sub problems is integral, then the required solution
is one that gives larger value of z.
ii) If the optimum solution of the one sub problems is integral and the other sub problem
has no feasible optimal solution, then the required solution is same as ha of the
sub problem having integer valued solution.
iii) If the optimum solution of one sub problem is integral while that of the other is not
integer valued then record the integer valued solution and repeat steps 3 and 4 for
the non- integer valued sub problem.
Step 6: Repeat steps 3 to 5, until all integers valued solution are recorded.
Step 7: Choose the solution amongst the recorded integer valued solutions that yields an
optimum value of z.
Example-4: Use the branch and bound method to solve the following linear
programming problem:
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Solution: First solve the given linear programming problem using usual method ignoring the
integer restriction. The optimal solution of the problem is
Since the value of the variable is not an integer, we branch on this variable. The two
branches are and . Thus, we have
Sub-Problem-I
and
Sub-Problem-II
and
and
and
Sub-Problem-IV
and
and
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No Feasible Solution
Non-integer Optimum
Solution Sub-Problem-III
Sub-Problem-II
Sub-Problem-IV
Fig. 12.1
12.5 SUMMARY
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b)
c)
2. Use Branch and Bound method for solving the following L.P.P.
a)
b)
12.7 ANSWERS
1. (a)
(b)
(c)
2. (a)
(b)
(b)
(c) Requires the use of standard LP approach between each cutting plane application
(d) All of the above
3. The 0 – 1 integer programming problem
(a) Requires the decision variables to have values between zero and one
(b) Requires that all the constraints have coefficients between zero and one
(c) Requires that the decision variables have coefficients between zero and one
(d) All of the above
4. The part of the feasible solution space eliminated by plotting a cut contains
(a) Only non-integer solutions
(b) Only integer solutions
(c) Both (a) and (b)
(d) None of the above
5. While solving an IP problem any non-integer variable in the solution is picked up in
order to
(a) Obtain the cut constraint
(b) Enter the solution
(c) Leave the solution
(d) None of the above
6. Branch and Bound method divide the feasible solution space into smaller parts by
(a) Branching
(b) Bounding
(c) Enumerating
(d) All of the above
7. Rounding-off solution values of decision variables in an LP problem may not be
acceptable because
(a) It does not satisfy constraints
(b) It violates non-negativity conditions
(c) Objective function value is less than the objective function value of LP
(d) None of the above
8. In the Branch and Bound approach to a maximization integer LP problem, a node is
terminated if
(a) A node has an infeasible solution
(b) A node yields a solution that is feasible but not an integer
(c) Upper bound is less than the current sub-problem’s lower bound
(d) All of the above
9. Which of the following is the consequence of adding a new cut constraint to an
optimal simplex table
(a) Addition of a new variable to the table
(b) Makes the previous optimal solution infeasible
(c) Eliminates non-integer solution from the solution space
(d) All of the above
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10. In a Branch and Bound minimization tree, the lower bounds on objective function
value
(a) Do not decrease in value
(b) Do not increase in value
(c) Remain constant
(d) None of the above
11. The situation of multiple solutions arises with
(a) Cutting plane method
(b) Branch and bound method
(c) Both (a) and (b)
(d) None of the above
12. The corners of the reduced feasible region of an integer LP problem contains
(a) Only integer solution
(b) Optimal integer solution
(c) Only non-integer solution
(d) All of the above
13. While applying the cutting-plane method, dual simplex is used to maintain
(a) Optimality
(b) Feasibility
(c) Both (a) and (b)
(d) None of the above
14. A non-integer variable is chosen in the optimal simplex table of the integer LP
problem
to
(a) Leave the basis
(b) Enter the basis
(c) To construct a Gomory cut
(d) None of the above
15. Modifications made for the mixed-integer cutting plane method are:
(a) Value of the objective function is bounded
(b) Row corresponding to an integer variable serve as a source row
(c) Top most rows of the simplex table contain integer variables
(d) All of the above
ANSWER
1 (b) 2(c) 3(a) 4(a) 5(a) 6(a) 7(d) 8(d) 9(d) 10(b) 11(d)
12(a) 13(b) 14(c) 15(b)
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The IPP has many applications in industry and management. Some of these are discussed below:
Suppose there are ‘n’ cities with known distances between any pair of cities. A salesman starts
from his home city; visit each city once and return to his starting point. The objective is to min
the total traveling time (or cost of distance). Such a problem can be formulated as zero-one
INTEGER programming problem
Mathematical
here denotes the distance from city ‘i’ to the city ‘j’ and i,j,k are integers varying from 1 to n
such that
3. only one other city can initiate directed are to a specified city j
same city j.
Where is the setup cost or foundation cost for machine j. Thus, the problem is
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The objective function in this case is non-linear because of the presence of fixed charge .
This difficulty mat be removed by using the mixed integer problem as follows
Let
Zodiac is well known brand in the fashion industry. It manufactures different types of shirts
in different sizes, neck ties and other fashion accessories for professionals. Recently, it
decided to make use of some latest techniques in order to help itself in the cloth cutting
operation. The cutting operation for shirts is extremely time-consuming and gives rise to high
set-up costs. A large amount of cloth was also being wasted in the cutting operation. The
process of cutting involved putting several layers of cloth of standard width on a table and
putting stencils, i.e., the templates in order to cut the cloth. However, the choice of the
templates was based on judgement, which was leading to a lot of wastage. To overcome this
problem, the services of R&D department were seeked, so as to minimize the setup cost and
excess, subject to certain constraints:
1. Number of layers that can be cut is limited by the length of the knives and the
thickness of the fabric
2. Length of the cutting table, which limits the number of stencils that can be cut in one
operation. As the length of the stencils for the different sizes is almost equal, the
maximum number of stencils on the cutting table is actually independent of the
combination of the stencils used. Assumed that all stencils have equal length. The
following data on cutting operation of a shirt, and demand pattern for different sizes is
as follows:
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Size 39 41 43 45 47
Demand 55 85 92 61 30
The spreading of the fabric on the cutting table, the fixing of the layers and stencils, and the
cutting itself are extremely delicate and time-consuming operations. Therefore, the number of
these operations should be minimized. The problem then reduces to find the optimal
combination of the number of layers of cloth on the cutting table and the associated set of
stencils to reduce minimum number of setups, while satisfying the demand with no variation.
There was an upper bound on the number of layers at 35 and the cutting table length could
hold at most four stencils. Three cutting patterns were to be used. Develop an appropriate
mathematical model to suggest an optimal solution to this problem.
12.11 GLOSSARY
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Dual simplex method is applicable to those linear programming problems that start with
infeasible but otherwise optimum solution.
12.12 REFERENCES
Swarup, K., Gupta, P.K. & Mohan, M.(2012). Introduction to Management Science
Operations Research 13th Edition. Sultan Chand & Sons Educational Publishers, New Delhi.
Sharma, S.D. (2017). Operations Research 15th Edition. Kedar Nath Ram Nath 132,R.G.
College Road, Meerut (UP), India
Vasishtha, A.R., Gupta, R.K., Kumar, R., Arti, R. & Vasishtha, H.(2011). Linear
Programming 12th Edition. Krishna Prakashan Media (P) Ltd. Meerut (UP), INDIA
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MANAGERIAL
ECONOMICS
Editorial Board
Dr. Ritesh Kumar Mishra
Ms. Shalini Prakash
Content Writers
Ms. Sonal Katyal, Dr. Rajdeep Singh,
Dr. Jitendra Singh, Dr. Dezy Kumari,
Dr. Minesh Srivastava, Mr. Subhash Manda,
Dr. Rajeev Kumar Upadhyay
Academic Coordinator
Mr. Deekshant Awasthi
Published by:
Department of Distance and Continuing Education under
the aegis of Campus of Open Learning/School of Open Learning,
University of Delhi, Delhi-110 007
Printed by:
School of Open Learning, University of Delhi
Managerial Economics
INDEX
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LESSON 1
MANAGERIAL ECONOMICS
Jitendra Singh
jiten10rbs@gmail.com
STRUCTURE
1|Page
● The views of eminent economists on the topic of managerial economics are also given
in this lesson.
● They will learn about the characteristics and nature of managerial economics.
● How do business firms take decisions under different objectives and what are the
major theories that guide their decisions?
● Students will learn about marginal analysis and its uses in business decision-making.
1.2 INTRODUCTION
Economics is the study of the optimal use of scarce resources to satisfy human needs
and wants. In a world, where resources are limited and the population is increasing every day,
there is a mismatch of resources and people using them. This mismatch leads to several
socioeconomic problems in society such as hunger, poverty, etc. There is a race to hoard as
many resources as possible and accumulate wealth disproportionately by the powerful people
of the society. Poor people are at the receiving end of this race. This has resulted in income
inequality, access accumulation of resources in one part of the society, and scarcity in the
other. The study of economics is one way to solve this problem of imbalance and irregular
and artificial distribution of resources and wealth. Therefore, it is imperative to learn to
manage the resources in the best way to serve the needs of all. Economics is all about
learning to manage resources in the best manner.
The same problem can be seen at a micro level also, say, in a firm. Here, the
application of the principles of economics is commonly known as managerial economics.
Managerial economics is the study of the allocation of the resources available to a firm or
management to produce goods and services. It is concerned with choice. It is goal-oriented
and aims at maximizing the achievement of objectives. Managerial economics is a small part
of economics and does the same work as that of economics but at a micro level. In this
chapter, we will be discussing managerial economics in a more detailed manner.
Managerial economics is a branch of economics that deals with the functioning and
management of a business entity. Managerial economics is essentially that part of economics
that is applied to business decision-making. It is a body of knowledge consisting of economic
concepts, logic and reasoning, economic laws and theories, and tools and techniques for
analysing economic phenomena, evaluating economic options, and for optimizing the
allocation of resources. Economists have defined managerial economics according to their
perception of the Subject. Managerial economics is the study of economic theories, concepts,
logic, and tools of analysis that are used in analysing business conditions with the objective
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3|Page
best alternative can become tedious exercise and has a tendency to delay the decision-making
process but with the right knowledge and centralizing the interests of the business, the best
alternative can be found and selected quickly. This is what decision-making is within a
business.
Forward planning refers to making plans for the future. A business organization cannot be
run on narrowmindedness. It needs to have profoundness. Managers are required to plan to
keep in mind the future of the business. A narrow approach would only lead to the failure of
the business. The long approach always works for the better. The plan cannot be made
keeping in mind the lifetime of the owner of the business but keeping in mind the lifetime of
the business which is supposed to be indefinite.
Managerial economics takes the help of decision-making sciences or quantitative methods.
Decision-making sciences or quantitative methods refer to the tools and techniques of
analysis, optimization analysis, statistical methods, game theory, and capital budgeting.
Decision-making sciences make special use of mathematical economics and econometrics to
derive optimal solutions to managerial decision-making problems and other optimization and
forecasting. It is fundamentally concerned with the art of economics making rational choices
to yield maximum return out of minimum resources and effort by making the best selection
among alternative courses of action. The subject matter of the business must go through
economic analysis, as that can be helpful in solving business problems, policy, and planning.
Managerial economics definition by different Economists.
"Managerial economics consists of using an economic model of thought to analyse
business situations."
Malcolm E. McNair and Richard S.
"Managerial economics is the integration of economic theory with business practice to
facilitate decision making and forward planning by management."
Milton H. Spencer & Siegelman
"The purpose of managerial economics is to show how economic analysis can be used
in formulating business policy."
Joel Dean.
"Managerial economics is a study of the behaviour of Firms in theory and practice."
Bates and Parkinson.
"Managerial economics is concerned with the application of economic concepts and
economic analysis to the problems of formulating rational managerial decisions."
Mansfield.
4|Page
1. Deals with the body of principles itself. It deals with the application of
certain principles to solve the
problems of the Firm.
6|Page
the aggregate.
4 It deals with the study and distribution It deals with a study of only
theories of rent, wages, interest, and profit theories.
profits.
7|Page
6.Analysis of
Business Env.
Scope of
Managerial
Economics
4.Pricing-
decision,
2.Cost Analysis
Policies &
Practices
3.Production
& Supply
Analysis
All these factors are considered under demand analysis. To analyse the demand, the demand
function needs to be estimated.
8|Page
In another example, say, a firm 'A' sells paper. For the sake of explanation, we will use this
example of firm A throughout this section. The management will have to do a demand
analysis to find the demand for paper in the market where it operates. Consider the market is
in rural areas where the main economic activity is agriculture. The demand for paper in that
region would be very less and therefore selling paper in that area won't be making any profit
for the firm if it operates in only that region. But in urban areas, where the economic activity
is highly diverse, there are offices of many companies, and they would certainly require
papers for their office work. In that region, the firm would make a profit because of the large
market. Demand analysis would determine the right market for the product where the product
is in high demand.
Demand forecasting is the process of predicting the demand for a product in a future time
period. It is done to plan future production inventories, new product development, etc. The
current demand and values of the product are needed to calculate the future values and
demand for the product. Correct estimates of the demand help the firm in decision-making,
strengthening market position and enlarging profits.
2. Cost Analysis: Cost estimates are most useful for management decisions. The different
factors that cause variations in cost estimates should be given due consideration for planning
purposes. The chief topics covered under cost analysis are- cost concepts and classifications,
cost-output relationships, economies and diseconomies of scale, Cost control, and Cost
Production. Cost analysis becomes more important when the goal is profit-making. The cost
of production should always be less than the sale price of the product in the market. The
margin between the two is the profit after all.
For example, firm 'A' would have to do a proper cost analysis to find the cost of the
production of paper. They would have to ensure the cost of production should not go up to a
limit where the profit margin would be affected. In case it does, they would have to do the
cost-cutting to maintain the profit margin. The management has to consider the competition
in the market during cost analysis. Any increase in the cost of production would either
decrease their profit margin or increase the price of the product in the market and both cases
would be detrimental to the firm.
3. Production and Supply Analysis: Production analysis proceeds in physical terms and
deals with different production functions and their managerial uses. Supply analysis deals
with various aspects of the supply of commodities. The chief topics come under - supply
schedule, curves and function, the Law of supply and its limitation, the elasticity of supply,
and factors influencing supply.
For instance, to capture the market, firm A will have to ensure a proper supply of paper to all
of its customers. Any irregularities will only cause distrust among customers, and they will
look for alternatives in that case. Time is a precious component in the business field.
Customers have deadlines and they need their products on time so that their business runs
smoothly. Therefore, any delay in production or supply would cause distrust among
9|Page
customers. So, management has to do production and supply analysis periodically to find any
deficiencies and resolve them on time so that production and supply work can be completed
efficiently.
4. Pricing Decision, Policies, and Practices: The price of a product is directly related to the
firm’s total revenue, hence it constitutes the most important field of managerial economics.
The various aspects that are dealt with under it cover price determination in various market
forms, pricing policies, pricing methods, differential pricing, productive, and price
forecasting. Pricing decisions should also consider the cost of production before determining
the final price of the product. Therefore, pricing decisions and cost analysis go hand in hand.
For example, firm A would have to price its paper competitively in the market to make it an
attractive option to prospective customers. Customers always look for cheaper options,
therefore, an unnecessary increase in the sale price would be counterproductive. At the same
time, the firm also has to analyse whether the other firms are pricing their products
unreasonably low to weed out the competition in the market. In that case, the firm should
price its products reasonably. There would be some monetary loss for a short time but in the
long term, it would be beneficial as no one can afford to lose money for that long. Therefore,
cost analysis should always be done in line with pricing decisions.
5. Profit Management and Capital Management: The main purpose of a business firm is
to earn maximum profit. There is always an element of uncertainty about profits because of
variations in costs and revenues. The important aspects covered in this area are the nature and
measurement of profit, profit policies, and techniques of profit planning like break-even
analysis. Capital management implies planning and control of capital expenditure because it
involves a large sum and the problems in disposing of the capital assets are so complex that
they require considerable time and labour. The management of these capital assets such as
time and labour to control the cost of production is one of the main duties of managers. The
main topics dealt with under capital management are the cost of capital, rate of return, and
selection of projects.
For example, firm A selling paper would fail if the capital infusion were unnecessarily higher
than the profit. Capital expenditure should always be controlled unless it's going to play a
role in increasing sales. Sometimes, when the demand is high, supply is increased to balance
the demand and the present labour force becomes too less for the job, in that situation, firms
hire more workers who are there just to fill the gap. But when the demand goes down, the
same workers become a liability for the firm. If the surplus workers are not let go on time, it
would create a mismatch between profit and capital. Therefore, proper management of both
profit and capital is necessary for the proper functioning of the business.
6. Analysis of Business Environment: The environmental factors influence the working and
performance of a business undertaking. Therefore, the managers will have to consider
environmental factors in the process of decision-making. Decisions taken in isolation of
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environmental factors would prove harmful to the firm. Therefore, the management must be
fully aware of the economic environment, particularly those economic factors which
constitute the business climate. Certain macroeconomic theories such as Income and
Employment Theory, Monetary Theory, etc., help in analysing business climate. Analysis of
monetary policy, fiscal policy, industrial policy, foreign trade policy, and other direct controls
also help in forecasting business climate. Therefore, macro-economic theory and government
policies are also included in the scope of managerial economics.
For instance, firm A would have to take into consideration the economic environment of the
region where they are operating. Say, in times of recession, the firm would have to decrease
the supply and should have buffer money or an emergency fund to survive during this
difficult time. It should plan for any unforeseen calamity. Other factors such as law and order
in the area, inflation, etc. can also affect the business of the firm and therefore the same must
be properly planned and managed.
Meaning Of Firm
A firm is an organization that combines and organizes resources for the purpose of producing
goods and services for sale. In other words, a firm is a unit engaged in the production of
goods and services. A firm can be –
- Small, medium, and large
- Sole Proprietorships, partnerships, and corporations
- Public sector, Private sector, and Joint sector.
A Firm has many objectives which include: -
● Desired outcomes
● Strategy or policy to achieve their goals
● Consumer satisfaction.
The economists differ in opinion regarding the objective of the business firms. According to
classical economists, the main aim of the firm is to earn maximum profit. The reason for this
is that earlier, owners of the firms were mostly called organizers. For example, Managers or
organizers were the owners of the organization themselves. The interest was in profit
maximization. But in the modern period, the importance of joint stock companies and
partnerships has been increasing. In place of sole entrepreneur or partnership, the owners of
joint stock companies and partnerships are a large number of shareholders who reside in
different places. The actual management of these companies is in the hands of their appointed
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managers. These managers get salaries for the work rendered and certain other facilities like
free accommodation, car, etc. The main interest of the shareholder of the joint stock company
and partnerships is in the profit of the company, but the interest of the manager is not only
earning profits for the firm like increasing the sales and development of the company but also
increasing their own salaries and other facilities. The manager tries to ensure that the
company may go on earning adequate profit.
1.4.1 Major Theories of Business Firms under Different Objectives
1. Profit Maximisation: - Nicholson and Williamson
Profit maximization is the only objective of business firms and is the main assumption of
traditional economic theory. It also forms the basis of conventional price theory. Profit
maximization is regarded as the most reasonable and analytically the most productive
business objective. Under the assumptions of given tastes and technology, the price and
output of a given product under perfect competition are determined with the sole objective of
maximizing profits.
Profit Maximization Theory conditions: - If the difference between Total Revenue (TR) and
Total Cost (TC) is maximum.
Profit= TR- TC
(i) MC (Marginal Cost) = MR (Marginal Revenue)
(ii) MC – must be rising at the point of equality between MC and MR
(a) MC < MR – Total profits are not maximized
(b) MC > MR – The level of total profit is being reduced.
(c) MC = MR – Profits are Maximized.
2. Baumol’s Model (Revenue Maximization Model)
The basic principle of this theory is that the objective of the firms is sales maximization
rather than Profit Maximisation. Sales here mean total revenue earned by the sale of goods.
According to this theory, once profits reach an acceptable level, the goal of the firms
becomes the maximization of sales revenue rather than the maximization of profit.
Managers pursue those goals which further their interests. Sales revenue trend is a more
readily available indicator of firm performance.
3. Marris Model Growth Maximisation
Marris' approach is based on the fact that ownership and control of the firm are in the hands
of two different sets of people. According to this theory, the rate of growth and potential of
growth are the Standards used to measure the success of the Firm. The managers of the firm
12 | P a g e
aim at the maximization of the growth rate and shareholders, or owners aim at the
maximization of their dividend and share price of the firm.
Marris developed a balanced growth model in which the manager chooses the growth rate at
which the firm's sales, profits, assets, etc., grow. He suggests the utility functions of
managers and owners to highlight the different goals set by both. The utility function of
managers is denoted by the symbol 'Um' and includes variables such as salaries, power, status,
job security, etc. upon which managers set their goals in the firm which is different from the
owners'. Utility functions of owners are shown by Marris as 'Uo' which include variables such
as profits, market share, output capital, etc. These are the goals of owners in the firm which
do not coincide with that of managers.
Um= f (Salaries, Power, Status, Job security, etc.)
Uo= f (Profits, Market share, Output capital, public esteem, etc.)
4. Williamson’s Model of Managerial Utility or Discretion.
According to this theory, managers are free to pursue their own self-interest once they have
achieved a level of profit that will pay a satisfactory dividend to shareholders and still ensure
growth. They are free to increase their own emoluments and also the size of their staff and
expenditure on them provided owner-shareholders are paid their expected profits or dividends
as the case may be. Managers seek to maximize their own utility function subject to a
minimum level of profit.
Utility Function U= f (S, M, ID)
Where: - S= staff expenditure (More stuff is valued because they lead to the manager
getting more salary, more prestige, and more security).
M= Managerial Emoluments (Secretaries, company car, phones, perks for employees).
ID= Discretionary Investment (Discretionary investment or investment are what remain with
the manager after paying taxes and dividend to shareholders in order to retain effective
control of the firm).
5. Behavioural Theory of Organisation Goals: -
Simon Model or Satisficing Theory
Herbert Simon propounded the behavioural theory of the firm. According to him the firm’s
principal objective is not maximizing profit but satisfying or satisfactory profits.
He claimed that due to the imperfection of data and uncertainty prevailing in the real world.
The profit policy of the firm is not maximizing profit but Satisficing. The term ‘Satisficing’
means Satisfactory overall performance. The firm’s aim is not to maximize profits but to
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attain a certain level or rate of profit holding a certain share of the market or a certain level of
sales.
Cyert-March Model or Satisfying Theory.
The Cyert-March model says that in a modern large multiproduct firm, ownership is separate
from management. Here, the firm is not considered as a single entity with a single goal of
profit maximization by the entrepreneur. Instead, Cyert and March regard the modern
business firm as a group of individuals who are engaged in the decision-making process
relating to its internal structure having multiple goals. They emphasize that the modern
business firm is so complex that individuals within it have limited information and imperfect
foresight with respect to both internal and external developments. The modern business firm
is a complex organisation in which the decision-making process should be analysed in
variables that affect organisational goals, expectations, and choices.
6. Rothschild’s Hypothesis or Security Profit
Economist Rothschild is of the view that 'there is another motive which is probably of a
similar order of magnitude as the desire for maximum profit, the desire of security profits.’
The firm is motivated not by profit maximization but by the objective of security profit. It
implies that a firm is deciding its price and output policy does not aim at maximising its
profits at a particular time or particular period. The primary goal of the firm is long-run
survival.
7. Satisfaction Maximisation
As per the view of ScitoVsky, maximisation of satisfaction is the main objective of the firm
and not preferring profit-maximisation. He is concerned with managerial effort and the
disfavour that managers have for work. According to him, an entrepreneur would maximize
profits only if his choice between more income and more leisure is independent of his
income. It is due to the fact that after a certain level of profits, the psychology of the
entrepreneur will be to give more preference to leisure in comparison to profits. In other
words, the supply of entrepreneurship should have zero income elasticity. But an
entrepreneur does not aim at profit maximisation. He wants to maximise satisfaction and keep
his efforts and output below the level of maximum profits.
1.4.2 Managerial economics and decision making
The term managerial refers to the function of management. The main functions of
management are decision-making and forward planning. Decision-making means the process
of choosing from among available alternatives to achieve the firm's established goals.
Managerial economics is concerned with the decision-making process, decision model, and
decision variables at the firm level. The managers within the firm think, take and execute
decisions, either individually or collectively. These decisions may be scientific or intuitive,
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strategic or tactical, certain or uncertain, major or minor, hard or soft. All the decisions
involve some degree of choice. Hence, these are economic in nature and attempt towards a
solution to the problem. Business economists assist managers in using specialized skills and
sophisticated techniques to solve the difficult problem of successful decision-making and
forward planning. Business decisions can be classified into various categories depending
upon the functional areas of the managers.
Steps in decision-making
Business economics is concerned with decision-making at the level of the firm. This decision
has a far-reaching effect on the firm. Systematic efforts are required to be made to arrive at
the right decision at the right time and right place. Delays in taking decisions or
implementing decisions might turn things for the worse for the firm. Taking the right
decisions at the right time is also important in the sense that it will keep the firm ahead of the
competition in the market. The steps of decision-making are as follows –
1. Identify Business Problem
2. Defining Objective
3. Discovering Available Alternative
4. Evaluating Consequences of Various Alternatives
5. Selecting Best Alternative
6. Execution Sensitivity Analysis
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In any economic or business decision, the determination of the objective or goal of the
organization is the second step in any decision-making. The most probable answer
will be profit maximization. But, in the modern corporate sector, profit maximization
may not be the only goal, or sometimes, may not even be the most important goal, as
goals like sales maximization or growth maximization takes the centre stage.
Sometimes, organizations have multiple goals like sales maximization along with
customer satisfaction by going for price minimization. Some goals are mutually
beneficial for most of the people within the organization. Say, if the goal is 'market
share maximization'. This will make not only the sales and marketing departments
happy, but the public esteem of that organization also goes up. Achieving such a goal
will make the shareholders and managers very happy. A crucial factor in determining
the objective is the time horizon set to achieve the goal. Further, the presence of risk
and uncertainty, which makes the process of determining the objective a challenging
job, should be seriously considered.
3. Discovering Available Alternatives
The third step involves searching for an answer to the question 'what are the various
options available?' In other words, one has to explore all available alternatives. Ideally
speaking, the decision maker should explore all possible alternatives and choose the
best one. But that is practically not possible due to time, cost, and resource
constraints. For example, in the era of globalization, there is a firm wanting to
modernize its technology. It has various alternatives to choose from. Either it
indigenously develops with its own Research and Development (R & D), or it gets
into a joint venture with a known internationally famed company or gets into a
technical collaboration. This way, one will get the latest technology and they won't
have to spend a fortune or time, which are very crucial for any business to get them.
4. Evaluating Consequences of Various Alternative
Each of these alternatives has its benefits (opportunities) and limitations (constraints)
that bring us to the fourth step, i.e., predicting the consequences of these alternative
options available. If the firm goes for developing its own R & D, it will definitely be
cost-effective, but the time horizon might be lengthened, which is crucial in the
modern competitive world. On the other hand, the use of a known name in the
business may get the firm started within no time. But one has to see what price the
firm has to pay before going in for a joint venture. Alternatively, the firm can simply
borrow the technical expertise.
5. Selecting the Best Alternative
The most important step, i.e., the fifth step of decision making (after exploring the
alternatives), is the decision maker has to choose one of the alternatives, which is the
most optimal and coincides with the stated objective. A variety of tools are used to
reach the "optimal" decision, like marginal analysis, linear programming, game
theory, etc.
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Marginal analysis is a process by which businesses examine the variable change in adding or
buying one unit of a good or service in a present set-up. In simple words, businesses calculate
the net benefits of adding or buying one more unit of a good, service, or business activity in
comparison to its cost.
Generally, there would be a marginal change in value, either positive or negative, when
adding one more unit of a product, therefore the name marginal analysis. For example, in a
factory, ten machines are used to manufacture plastic toys. The owner wants to expand his
business, but he doesn't know if the expansion would be good for the business or not. He can
do the marginal analysis to check the feasibility of expansion by calculating the net benefits
of adding one more machine in the factory over the cost of installing the machine. If the
calculation suggests a benefit, he can go for the expansion otherwise not.
When resources are scarce, managers have to be careful about utilizing each and every
additional unit of resources or inputs. For example, if one has to decide whether an additional
man-hour or machine-hour is to be used, it is necessary to ascertain what is the additional
output expected from it. Likewise, a decision about additional investment has to be taken in
view of the additional return from investment. For all such additional magnitudes of output or
return, economists use the term "marginal", the examples being marginal output of labour,
marginal output of machines, marginal return on investment, marginal revenue of output sold,
marginal costs of production. Before using the concept of marginalism, the following points
are worth noting:
(i) Nature of Relationship among Variables be clearly stated: - This means that the
dependent variable is to be distinguished from the independent one. For instance, if
sales depend on advertisement, advertisement is an independent variable and sales is
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the dependent variable, and one would talk of marginal sales of advertisement. On the
other hand, if the advertisement budget depends on sales revenue, one would speak of
marginal advertisement of sales.
(ii) Independent Variable is to be changed by just One Unit: - To work out the impact
of independent variable on dependent variable, independent variable is changed by
one unit for example, one additional hour of labour to find out 'marginal' output of
labour or an additional one crore of investment to get 'marginal return on investment'.
(iii) Marginal is different from Average: - Concept of margin is not to be confused with
the concept of average. For example, the average output of labour is the ratio of total
output to total labour (Total output ÷ Total labour). But marginal output of labour is
the ratio of change in output to one unit change in labour.
Marginal analysis is the study of variables in terms of the effect that would occur if they were
changed by a small amount.
Marginal is defined as changes in dependent variable (whose value dependent on independent
variable) associated with one unit change in the dependent variable
Y= f(X)
Y= dependent variable
X= independent variable
Using the symbol ∆ is denoting change.
Change in the value of the independent variable X by Notation ∆X and change in dependent
variable Y is ∆Y.
Marginal Y= ∆Y/∆X which means change in dependent variable associated with one unit
change in the value of X.
In economics the term Marginal Analysis
Table 1.1: Explains the relationship between average and marginal concepts.
No. of labours Total output Average output Marginal output
(L) (Q) (Q/L) (∆Q/∆L)
1 22 22 -
2 40 20 18
3 54 18 14
4 72 18 18
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5 95 19 23
6 120 20 25
Note: ∆ is a symbol denoting change.
Facts
1. If the average output decreases, the marginal output decreases faster than the average
output such that the marginal is lesser than the average (18<20,14<18).
2. If the average output remains the same, marginal output equals the average (18=18).
3. If the average output increases, the marginal output is faster than the average output
(23>18,25>20).
Rules
1. Every factor labour may be paid according to the marginal product (W=MPL)
2. Every good (X) maybe priced according to the marginal utility (PX=MUX)
3. Profit is maximized where marginal revenue equals to marginal cost (MR=MC)
In the instance, if these rules are not followed, the equilibrium will not be reached.
The model of marginal analysis is a very useful concept of Managerial economics to use
marginalism, regarding continuous function. But if we have got decreased data, the concept
of marginalism is substituted by incrementalism.
Following Types of Concepts related to Marginal analysis
1. Marginal Revenue: - It is the change in total revenue associated with one unit change
in output sold.
2. Marginal cost: - It is the change in total cost following one unit change in output
produced.
3. Marginal cost pricing: - It is the fixation of price of an item equal to the cost of
producing and assignment of the item.
4. Marginal product of labour: - It is the change in total output due to one unit change
in labour employed with other factors of production remaining constant.
5. Marginal productivity of capital: - It is the change in total output due to one unit
change of capital.
6. Marginal rate of substitution: - The marginal rate of substitution of X for Y
(MRSXY) is defined as the amount of Y the consumer is just willing to give up getting
one more unit of X and maintain the same level of satisfaction.
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7. Marginal Rate of Technical Substitution: - Rate at which one factor, e.g., labour is
substituted for another factor input, e.g., capital, with output held constant.
1.6 SUMMARY
In this lesson, we discussed the nature and scope of managerial economics and how it
is associated with Economics. We discussed the decision process, decision model and
decision variables at the firm level. We also learnt how managers within the framework think
about decisions and their execution. The main points and themes covered in the lesson are
how decisions may be scientific or intuitive, strategic, or tactical, certain or uncertain, major
or minor, hard or soft. Business economists assist managers in using specialised skills and
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1.7 GLOSSARY
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1.9 REFERENCES
R.L Varshney & K.L. Maheshwari (Managerial Economics, Sultan and Chand, 22nd Edition
to be referred)
Samuelson, Paul, (Economics Tata McGraw Hill Publishing Company limited, New
Delhi, 2007).
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LESSON 2
THEORIES OF DEMAND
Dr. Dezy Kumari
Post-doctoral Fellow
Institute of Economic growth, Delhi
Email. id: dezypu@gmail.com
STRUCTURE
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2.2 INTRODUCTION
This unit will contain an analysis of demand, an indifference curve, and demand forecasting.
The reader will understand that demand evaluation is an essential phase of economic and
financial analysis. The producers produce and provide items to meet demand. When demand
and supply are equal, the monetary conditions of the nation are in equilibrium. This demand
and supply are a market force that offers dynamism to the financial stipulations of the
country. The demand is now not continually static. The adjustments in demand, or elasticity
of demand, offer room for managerial choice making like what to produce, how much to
produce, when to produce, and where to distribute the products.
The demand for anything, at a given price, is the amount of it that will be bought per unit of
time at that price. Demand means always demanding something at a price. Demand means
always demanding something at a price; the term has no significance unless a price is stated
or implied.
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Types of Demand:
1 Direct and indirect demand: The demand for consumer goods that satisfy human wants
is called "direct demand." For instance, let us take the case of food, for which demand is
direct, another example is demand for T-shirts On the contrary, when the same good
satisfies human wants indirectly, it is known as indirect demand, or hand demand for
goods that are used by producers for producing goods and services. (Example: demand
for cotton by a textile mill)
2 Joint demand and composite demand: The demand for one commodity leading to the
demand for another is known as joint demand. For example, demand for ink and paper is
joint demand. On the other hand, demand is said to be composite when a thing is
demanded for more than one purpose. The demand for coal and rubber is composite, as
they are used for several purposes.
3 Price demand: Price demand refers to the various quantities of the commodity that the
consumer will buy per unit of time and at a certain price (other things remaining the
same). The quantity demanded changes with the change in price. The quantity demand
increases with a fall in price and falls with an increase in price. In other words, we can
say that quantity demanded, and price have a negative correlation as
D1 = f(P1),
where D1 = Demand for Commodity 1
f = function
P1= Price of commodity 1
4 Income demand (Normal Goods): Income demand indicates the relationship between
income and demand for a consumer good or service. The income demand curve shows
how much quantity a consumer will buy at different levels of income. Generally, there is
a positive relationship between income and consumer demand.
D1 = f(I1),
where D1 = Demand for Commodity 1
f = function
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As per the above figure indicates that as the income of the consumer increases demand also
increases when income falls demand also decreases
Inferior Goods: In the case of inferior goods, the relationship between income and demand
becomes negative. It is only due to the fact that, so long as the income of the consumer
remains below a particular level of minimum subsistence, he will continue to buy more
inferior goods even when his income increases by small increments. But when his income
starts rising above the subsistence level, he reduces his demand for inferior goods. The
phenomenon has been described by Sir Robert Giffen and is called the "Giffen Paradox."
5 Cross Demand: Cross demand refers to the relationship between quantity demand for
good "A" and the price of related good "B," other things being equal. In simple words, by
cross demand," we mean the change in the quantity demand of a commodity without any
change in its price but due to a change in the price of related goods (i.e., B commodity).
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The related goods can either be substitute goods or complementary goods. The demand
curve in the case of substitute goods will be upward sloping, while the demand curve for
complementary goods will be downward sloping.
The law of demand is one of the best known and most important laws of economic theory.
This law is based on the law of diminishing marginal utility. This law states the relationship
between the quantity demanded and the price.
Marshall explains the law as follows: "The amount demanded increases with a fall in price
and diminishes with a rise in price’’
It means that the quantity demanded increases with a fall in price and vice versa. In other
words, when the price of a commodity falls, the demand for the commodity increases, and
when the price rises, the demand for the commodity decreases. However, it can be explained
as follows: DX = f (Px, Pn, Y, T)
Where, DX = Demand for commodity X
Px = Price of the commodity x
Pn= Price of the related commodities
Y = Income of the Consumer
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T = Taste
Assumption
According to Stigler and Boulding, the law of demand is based on the following assumptions:
There should be no change in the income of the consumers
There should be no change the taste of preferences of the consumers
Price of the related commodities should remain unchanged
There should be no change in the size of population
The commodity in question should be a normal one
There should be perfect competition in the market
It is obvious from the above table that with the fall in the price per kg. quantity demand rises,
and as the price goes on rising, quantity demand goes on falling. e.g., when the price of
apples is Rs. 8 per kg., the quantity demanded of apples is 10 kg., and as the price falls from
Rs. 8 to Rs. 2, the quantity demand of apples increases from 10 to 50 kg, thereby establishing
a negative relationship between price and quantity demanded.
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In this figure along X-axis, we measured demand for apples and along Y axis, prices of
apples. if price decreases then quantity increases.
Why the Demand Curve slopes Downward?
There are several reasons responsible for the inverse price demand relationships, which have
been explained as follows:
1. Law of Diminishing Marginal Utility: The law of demand is based on the law of
diminishing marginal utility, which states that as the consumer purchases more and
more units of a commodity, the utility derived from each successive unit goes on
decreasing. It means that as the price of the commodity falls, the consumer purchases
more of the commodity so that his marginal utility from the commodity falls to be
equal to the reduced price, and vice versa.
2. Substitution Effect: substitution effect also leads the demand curve to slope from left
to right. As the price of a commodity falls, price of substitute goods remains the same,
the consumer will buy more of that commodity. For instance, tea and coffee are
substitute goods. If the price of tea goes down, the consumer may substitute tea or
coffee, although the price of coffee remains the same. Therefore, with a fall in price,
the demand will increase due to the favourable substitution effect.
3. Income Effect: Another reason for the downward slope of the demand curve is the
income effect. As the price of the commodity falls, the real income of the consumer
goes up.
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4. New Consumers: When the price of a commodity falls, many other consumers who
were not consuming that commodity previously will start consuming it. As a result,
total market demand goes up.
5. Psychological Effects: When the price of a commodity falls, people tend to buy
more, this is both natural and psychological. Therefore, the demand increases with the
fall in prices. For example, when the price of silk falls, it is purchased for all family
members.
Importance of the Law
The law of demand has great theoretical and practical importance in economics as:
1. Price Determination: The law of demand is useful to the monopolist in fixing the
price of their products. The monopolist comes to know how much the quantity of the
commodity will increase or decrease with the change in price.
2. Importance of the Consumer: The law of demand tells us that with the fall in price,
the consumer will buy more of the commodity. On the other hand, with the increase in
price, he will buy less of that commodity. Thus, the consumer maximises his
satisfaction.
3. Importance to finance minister: The finance minister, while imposing the tax, keeps
in mind the law of demand. It is the law through which he comes to know the effect of
tax on the amount demanded of various commodities.
4. Importance for Planning: The law of demand has great importance for the planning
commission. The planning commission, while framing the plan, keeps in mind not
only the demand schedule but also the effect of price on a commodity.
5. Importance for producers: The law of demand provides guidelines to the producers
regarding the production of goods whose prices have reduced. Generally, the law of
demand states that, other things being equal, with the rise in price, quantity demand
falls and with the fall in price, quantity demand increases. Therefore, it is for the
welfare of the producers to concentrate on the production of those goods for which
prices have been reduced.
6. Importance for Farmers: Through the law of demand, the farmers also come to
know how a good or bad crop affects the economic condition of the country. If there
is a good crop, the price will certainly go down, and the farmers will not be benefited
more, but the rest of society will be benefited.
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2.5.1 Utility
The term ‘utility’ refers to that quality of a commodity by virtue of which our wants are
satisfied. In other words, wants is called the utility of a good. Utility can also be defined as
value in use of commodity as the satisfaction one gets from the consumption of a good, is its
value-in-use. When commodities are used, they also give pleasure or pain to the consumer.
Whatever the effects of goods may be, they satisfy human wants. As long as goods satisfy
human wants, they are said to possess utility. It has been observed that non-material goods
like the services of doctors, teachers, and artists satisfy human wants as much as material
goods. Thus, where there is utility, there are non-material goods.
According to Prof. Hibdon, ‘Utility is the ability of a good to satisfy a want’
According to J.S. Nicholson, "Utility" may be the quality that makes a thing desirable.
2.5.2 Concepts of Utility
The concepts of utility can be explained on the basis of the consumption of a commodity as-
1. Initial Utility:
Initial utility means the utility derived from the consumption of its first unit. In other
words, when the consumption of a commodity is made and the consumer gets the
utility at the first stage, it is known as initial utility. It is always positive. For instance,
when a man starts taking chapati or roti, the utility from the first unit obtained is the
initial utility.
2. Marginal Utility:
It refers to the additional utility on account of the consumption of an additional unit of
a commodity. According to Prof. Boulding, "the marginal utility that results from a
unit increase in consumption" Prof. Chapman says, ‘Marginal utility is an addition
made to total utility by consuming one more unit of a commodity’. Marginal utility
can be expressed as
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For example- When a consumer consumes one roti, he gets total utility equal to 10 units. By
consuming second roti total utility becomes 18 units i.e., 10+8. Therefore, marginal utility of
the second roti is 8 units i.e.,8= 18-10
There are three types of marginal utility:
Positive Marginal Utility: When total utility increases with the consumption
of a commodity, it is called positive marginal utility. Let us suppose. When
one eats roti, one gets total utility at every additional unit, as 10,18,24,28,30---
---- etc. We see that total utility increasing constantly. This is a case of
positive marginal utility.
Zero Marginal utility: Zero marginal utility is defined as no addition to the
total utility by the consumption of an additional unit. In the above example,
total utility reaches 30 by using the fifth unit of an article (roti). One gets the
same total utility, i.e., 30 at the next unit (sixth unit). Thus, the consumer gets
zero marginal utility.
3. Negative Marginal Utility: In the above examples, when the consumer uses the 7th
unit, the total utility diminishes by using one more unit, i.e., from the 6th unit to the
7th unit, the total utility is 28 units. Therefore, at this stage, the consumer gets
negative marginal utility after obtaining maximum satisfaction from the commodity,
i.e., roti (28-20 = -2).
4. Total Utility:
Total utility means the total satisfaction received by the consumer from the
consumption of all units taken together at one time. According to Leftwitch, "total
utility" refers to the entire amount of satisfaction from consuming various quantities
of a commodity. In mathematical terms, total utility is a direct function of the number
of units of a commodity. It can be written as
TUX = f(QX)
Where TUx = Total utility of a commodity X
f= function of Qx
QX = Quantity of a commodity X
Relations between Total Utility and Marginal Utility
Quantity Total Utility Marginal Utility
1 10 10 Initial Utility
2 18 18-10=8
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3 24 24-18 = 6 Positive
4 28 28-24 = 4
5 30 30-28 = 2
6 30 30-30 = 0 Zero
7 28 28-30 = -2 Negative
It is clear from the table that total utility increases as a very large number of units are
consumed by the consumer. At the first unit, total utility is equal to 10, which is the initial
utility, and further, it is increased to 18,24,28,30. Here we must remember that this increase is
at a diminishing rate, but still has positive utility. At the 6th unit, total utility is constant, i.e.,
30 units, and later on starts declining at an increasing rate. At the 7th unit, total utility is
recorded as 28 units. Therefore, we can say that total utility goes on increasing as long as the
marginal utility of a commodity remains positive.
On the other side, at the first unit of consumption, marginal utility is equal to 10, and on
successive units, it goes on falling until 5th unit of commodity is consumed. At the 6th unit,
marginal utility becomes zero, the point of full satisfaction or saturation. Here, the consumer
gets maximum satisfaction. At the 7th unit, marginal utility is -2 i.e., negative. This is the
point of over satisfaction.
2.5.3. Approaches of the consumer Behaviour
There are two approaches of consumer behaviour i.e.
a) Cardinal Approach – Marshallian View
b) Ordinal Approach – Hickian View
Cardinal approach
Under cardinal approach there are two main laws i.e., i) law of Diminishing Marginal Utility
ii) Law of Equi-Marginal Utility
i) Law of Diminishing Marginal Utility
This law was first given by the French engineer, Gossen. According to this law, as an
individual continues to consume a commodity, the marginal utility obtained from its
additional units goes on diminishing. For example, when one man is hungry and finds to get
roti, the utility is maximum for the first unit of roti. At the second time (by eating a second
Roti), one gets less utility. This process goes on, and utility at every step continues to
diminish. Therefore, it is called Gossen’s First Law. Dr. Marshall explained the law in a
better way. He says that "the additional benefit that a person derives from a given increase in
his stock of things diminishes with every increase in the stock that he already has."
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According to Chapman, "the more we have of something, the less we want additional
increments of it, or the more we want not to have additional increments of it’
According to Anatol Murad, ‘The law states that, other things being equal, the marginal
utility of a stock decreases as the quantity of the stock increases."
According to Samuelson, "as the amount consumed of a good increase, the marginal utility of
the good leads to decrease’
Assumptions:
The main assumptions of the law are as stated as:
Utility can be measured in cardinal number like 1,2,3……. n units.
The utility of a commodity depends on its own quantity rather than the quantities of
other commodities.
The law applies only when the commodity is continuously consumed
All units consumed by the consumer are same in all respect i.e., same colour, shape,
and taste etc.
Marginal utility of money remains constant
There is no change in the price of the commodity and its substitute.
There is no change in the taste, habits, fashion of the consumer.
Above table shows that total utility is 12 from the first unit, and as more and more units are
consumed and bought, total utility increases and further by 20, 26, 30, 32……. up to 4 units
at a diminishing rate. At the fifth unit, total utility is constant, and after that, total utility goes
on diminishing. On the other hand, marginal utility refers to the subsequent increment in
total utility. It is clear from the table that the first units yield 12 marginal utilities. This will
satisfy the consumer's desire to some extent, and the intensity of that desire will decrease. At
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the second unit, one gets less marginal utility than at the first unit. Similarly, at the third
unit, one gets less marginal utility as compared to the second unit. This process will go up to
the fourth unit. Therefore, the fifth unit may yield zero marginal utility. Now, if the
consumer is forced to take six units, it will upset the entire system, and the consumer gets
zero utility. In other words, the consumer will get the negative marginal utility at six units,
one gets negative, i.e., -2, followed by a -4 marginal utility. In short, we may conclude from
the above analysis that as the consumer buys more and more units of a commodity, the
marginal utility from each successive unit will continue to decrease.
Diagrammatical Representation of the law
In this figure, units of a commodity are measured on X-axis whereas utility on Y-axis.
MU is the marginal utility curve, which slopes downward from left to right. It shows that the
first unit of the commodity yields 20 units, the second 12 units, and so on. At the 5th unit,
one gets zero marginal utility. Here, the MU curve touches the X-axis at point MU. At the
6th unit, one gets negative marginal utility, and therefore, the MU curve goes below the X-
axis. Therefore, marginal utility from an additional unit goes on decreasing, and so on.
Exceptions of the law
The law is universally applicable if all assumptions are fully met. But in practical life, it is
not so. Therefore, there are exceptions, which are briefly discussed below:
Rare Things: The foremost exception to the law is that it does not apply in the case
of certain rare things like stamps, coins, etc. But this exception cannot be regarded as
genuine because the assumption of homogeneity is violated.
Initial Stages: When the initial units of a commodity are used in less than an
appropriate quantity, the marginal utility of additional units increases.
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Public Goods: In the case of public utility goods, marginal utility from additional
increases. But this assumption is contrary to the law of diminishing marginal utility.
Misers: It is stated that as the stock of money with a miser increases the greed for
acquiring more and more money increases. It means the law of diminishing marginal
utility does not apply in the case of misers.
Things of Display: The present law is also not applicable in the case of display. For
instance, in case of fashion and taste, the law is not properly applicable.
Discontinuous Consumption: The law of diminishing marginal utility does not
apply if there is time lag between the use of commodity. It requires the continuous
consumption for its application.
Music or Poetry: It is said that by hearing music or poetry for the second time, we
get more satisfaction than the first hearing. Thus, the hearing of music and poetry is
another exception of the law.
ii) Law of Equ-marginal Utility
The law of equi-marginal utility was propounded in the 19th century by a French engineer
named Gossen. The law is nothing but an extension of the law of diminishing marginal
utility. The law of diminishing marginal utility applies in the case of a single commodity. In
reality, the consumer does not consume one commodity but a number of commodities at a
given time. Therefore, for this purpose, we have to extend the law of diminishing marginal
utility, which we call the Law of Equi-Marginal Utility. It is also called Gossen’s second law.
Moreover, different economists have called it differently. Dr. Marshall has called it ‘Law of
Maximum Satisfaction’
Statement of the Law
The law of equi-marginal utility may be defined as under:
According to Dr. Marshall, ‘If a person has a thing which he can put to several uses, he will
distribute it among these uses in such a way that it has the same marginal utility in all’
MUa/Pa= MUb/Pb= MUn/Pn
According to Samuelson, ‘A consumer gets maximum satisfaction when the ratio of
marginal utilities of all commodities and their price is equal.
According to Lipsey, ‘The household maximizing its utility will so allocate its expenditure
between commodities that the utility of the last penny spent on each is equal’
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According to Hicks, ‘Utility will be maximized when the marginal unit of expenditure in
each direction brings the same increment of utility’. It means
MU1=MU2=MU3
Assumption:
The law of equi-marginal utility is based on the following assumptions:
Every consumer wants to maximize his satisfaction
Price of the commodity remains constant. No change in the prices of substitutes or
complimentary goods.
Income of the consumer remains constant.
Commodities can be divided and sub-divided into the required commodities.
Marginal Utility of money remains constant.
Consumer has a rational behaviour.
No change in money, taste, fashion, habits, and customs of the consumer.
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will spend fourth and fifth on mangoes and oranges respectively. In this way the consumer
enjoys maximum satisfaction.
Diagrammatic representation
In this figure, units of money have been taken on the X-axis and the marginal utility of both
commodities on the Y-axis. The figure depicts that at a given level of income, i.e., Rs. 5, the
consumer would spend Rs. 3 on oranges and Rs. 2 on mangoes. In the case of mangoes, the
consumer is in equilibrium at point P, while it is at point P1 in the case of oranges. The
consumer finds that when Q = Q1, he gets maximum satisfaction. Moreover, if the consumer
spends Rs. 3 on oranges, the utility gained is equal to the PMNE. On the other hand, if the
consumer spends Rs. 2 on oranges, the loss in utility will be equal to L'M'N'P. So, it is clear
that the loss of utility is greater than the gain. Thus, it is not worthwhile to buy any other
proportion than 3 units of oranges and 2 units of mangoes.
Modern Statement of the Law
Modern economists have given a new name to this law as ‘Law of Proportionality’.
According to them, a consumer yields maximum satisfaction only when the ration of
marginal utilities derived from different goods and their prices is equal. For example: the
price of commodity-X is paise 50 and the consumer buys 10 units. The consumer gets 10
units of marginal utility from 10th unit. In the same way, if the price of the commodity-X is
paise 25 and the consumer buys 12 units, he gets 3 units from the 12th unit. The formula to
calculate the marginal utility according to modern economists is as under:
MUa/Pa= MUb/Pb=………. MUn/Pn
Importance of the law
Let us explain the significance of the law from the following points:
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1. Consumption: Every consumer wants to get the most satisfaction from their limited
income. The income of the consumer is limited, while his wants are multiple.
Therefore, if a consumer spends his limited income on different commodities in such
a way that the last unit of the commodity yields equal marginal utility, he will get
maximum satisfaction.
2. Public Finance: The law of substitution has also its importance in the sphere of
public finance. By public finance, we mean the revenue and expenditure activities of
the government. At the time of levying taxes, the finance minister takes help. He
levies taxes in such a way that the marginal social sacrifice (MSS) of each taxpayer is
equal.
3. Exchange: The law also applies to exchange. Exchange means replacing of goods
which gives him less utility for another which yields more utility.
4. Production: Every producer in the market wants to get maximum Profit. Therefore,
in order to achieve this objective, the producer has to use several factors for
production.
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4. Marginal Utility of money is not constant: The law of equi-marginal utility is based
on the assumption that marginal utility is constant. In real life, it is not so. The utility
of money goes on decreasing with the passage of time, when there is a change in the
price of a commodity.
5. Ignorance of the consumer: It is a fact that a common consumer does not possess
complete knowledge of all commodities and their prices in the market. Moreover,
prices are subject to change. Therefore, ignorance of the consumer is a biggest
hindrance, so the law does not apply properly.
6. Invisible Good: Another limitation of the law is that it is not applicable in case of
invisible goods. There are certain goods which cannot be divided or sub-divided i.e.,
T.V., car, freeze etc. If these commodities are divided, they will lose their utility. In
such cases this law is not applicable.
7. Durable Goods: Still another limitation of the law persists as it is difficult to measure
the utility in respect of durable goods such as car and machinery.
8. Scarcity of the Good: In the present world, there is acute shortage of some
commodities, and the consumer is compelled to purchase an alternative or substitute
goods in the market. In such cases, it is very difficult to measure the utility of such
commodities.
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Given the income and prices of the two goods X and Y, LM is the price-income line of the
consumer which shows the various combinations of X and Y on the given price-income
situation LM. In other words, the consumer can choose any combination between A and B on
the line LM or between C and D below this line. If he chooses A, it is revealed preferred to B.
Combinations C and D are revealed inferior to A because they are below the price-income
line LM. But combination E is beyond the reach of the consumer being dearer for him
because it lies above his price-income line LM. Therefore, A is revealed preferred to other
combinations.
Assumptions:
The revealed preference hypothesis is based on the following assumptions:
The consumer’s tastes do not change
His choice for a combination reveals his preference for that.
The Consumer chooses only one combination at a given price income line
He prefers a combination of more goods to less in any situation
It assumes consistency in consumer behaviour. If A is preferred to B in one situation,
B cannot be preferred to A in the other situation. This is the two-term consistency,
according to Hicks which must satisfy two conditions on a straight-line curve: a) If A
is left of B, B must be right of A; b) if A is right of B, B must be left of A. This is the
Hick’s Direct Consistency Test under strong ordering.
This theory is based on the assumption of transitivity. Transitivity, however, refers to
the three- term consistency. If it is preferred to B, and B to C, then the consumer must
prefer A over C. This assumption is necessary for the revealed preference theory if
consumer is to make a consistent choice from given alternative situations.
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The indifference curve analysis measures ordinal utility. It explains consumer behaviour in
terms of his preferences or rankings for different combinations of two goods, say X and Y.
An indifference curve is drawn from the indifference schedule of the consumer. The latter
shows the various combinations of the two commodities, such that the consumer is indifferent
to those combinations. An indifference schedule is a list of combinations of two
commodities, the list being so arranged that a consumer is indifferent to the combination,
preferring none of the others.
iii) The consumers possess complete information about the prices of the good in the
market.
iv) The prices of the two goods are given.
v) The consumer’s taste, habits and income remain the same throughout the analysis.
vi) The consumer arranges the two goods in a scale of preferences which means that
he has both ’preference’ and ‘indifference’ for the goods.
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Income Effect
As the price of the commodity falls, the real income of the consumer goes up. Real income is
that which is measured in terms of goods and services. For example, a consumer has Rs. 10,
and wants to buy oranges whose price is Rs. 20 per dozen. It means the consumer can buy
one dozen oranges with his fixed income. Now suppose the price of oranges falls to Rs. 7 per
dozen, which leads to an increase in his real income of Rs. 3. In this case, either the consumer
will buy more quantity of oranges than before, or he will buy some other commodity with his
increased income.
For most goods, the income effect asserts that as a product’s price declines (increases), an
individual’s real income (purchasing power) increases (decreases). The increase in real
purchasing power resulting from a fall in prices enables the individual to consume greater
quantities of a commodity, while the opposite is true for an increase in prices. In other words,
an increase in real purchasing power generally (although not always) leads to an increase in
quantity demanded. The goods of the types for which this phenomenon holds are referred to
as "normal goods." Unfortunately, the income effect does not always have the expected
positive effect on the quantity demanded of a good. In some cases, as an individual’s
purchasing power increases, the quantity demanded for that good fall. Goods of this type are
called inferior goods. Examples of such goods may be potatoes, bus tickets, soup bones, and
bologna. We will return to this issue shortly when considering separately the effect of
changes in money income on the demand for goods and services.
Substitution Effect
The substitution effect also leads the demand curve to slope from left to right. As the price of
a commodity falls, prices of its substitute goods remain the same, the consumer will buy
more of that commodity. For instance, tea and coffee are substitute goods. If the price of tea
goes down, consumers may substitute tea for coffee, although the price of coffee remains the
same. Therefore, with a fall in price, the demand will increase due to favourable substitution
effect. The substitution effect reflects changes in consumers’ opportunity costs. The
substitution effect states that as a product’s price declines, consumers will substitute the now
less expensive product for similar goods that are more expensive.
In the majority of cases, the income effect and the substitution effect complement and
reinforce each other. That is, declines in the price of a good will not only have a positive
substitution effect, but will also have a positive income effect as well. As a result, the
ordinary demand curve will be downward sloping. Even in the case of inferior goods, where
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the income effect is negative, the ordinary demand curve will exhibit a downward slope
because the substitution effect, which is always positive with a drop in price, outweighs the
negative income effect.
Therefore, the substitution and income effects will generally work in the same direction,
causing consumers to purchase more as the price falls and less as the price rises. The
indifference curve can be used to separate these two effects.
In the case of a normal good, higher
real income leads to an increase in
quantity demanded, this complements
the increase due to the substitution
effect. This change is shown in the
diagram below:
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The demand function is a function that describes how much of a commodity will be
purchased at the prevailing prices of that commodity and related commodities, alternative
income levels, and alternative values of other variables affecting demand. Price is not the
only factor that determines the level of demand for a good. Another important factor is
income. The rise in income will lead to an increase in demand for normal commodities. A
few goods are named as inferior goods for which demand will fall when income rises.
Another important factor that influences the demand for a good is the price of other goods.
Other factors that affect the demand for a good apart from the above-mentioned factors are:
Changes in Population
Changes in Fashion
Changes in Taste
Changes in Advertising
A change in demand occurs when one or more of the determinants of demand change and it is
expressed in the following equation.
Qd X = f (Px, Pr, Y, T, Ey, Ep, Adv.)
Where,
Qd X = quantity demanded of good ‘X’
Px = the price of good X
Pr = the price of a related good
Y = income level of the consumer
T = taste and preference of the consumers
Ey = expected income
Ep = expected price
Adv = advertisement cost
The above-mentioned demand function expresses the relationship between the demand and
other factors. The quantity demanded of commodity X varies according to the price of
income (Y), commodity (Px), the price of a related commodity (Pr), expected income (Ey),
taste and preference of the consumers (T), and advertisement cost (Adv) spent by the
organization.
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i) Price Elasticity
The response of consumers to a change in the price of a commodity is measured by the price
elasticity of the commodity demand. The responsiveness of changes in quantity demanded
due to changes in price is referred to as price elasticity of demand. The price elasticity of
demand is measured by dividing the percentage change in quantity demanded by the
percentage change in price.
Price Elasticity = Proportionate change in the Quantity Demanded /Proportionate change in
price = Percentage change in quantity demanded/Percentage change in price
(ΔQ/Q)/ (ΔP /P)
ΔQ = change in quantity demanded
ΔP = change in price
P = price
Q = quantity demanded
The following are the possible combination of changes in Price and Quantity demanded. The
slope of each combination is depicted in the following graphs.
1. Relatively Elastic Demand (Ed >1) a small percentage change in price leading to a
larger change in Quantity demanded.
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2. Perfectly Elastic Demand (Ed = ∞) a small change in price will change the quantity
demanded by an infinite amount.
3. Relatively Inelastic Demand (Ed < 1) a change in price leads to a smaller percentage
change in quantity demanded.
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4. Perfectly Inelastic Demand (Ed = 0) the quantity demanded does not change
regardless of the percentage change in price.
5. Unit Elasticity of Demand (Ed =1) the percentage change in quantity demanded is
the same as the percentage change in price that caused it.
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If two commodities are unrelated goods, the increase in the price of one good does not result
in any change in the demand for the other goods. For example, the price fall in salt does not
make any change in the demand for car.
Use of Elasticity of Demand:
1. Useful for Business: It enables the business in general and the monopolists in
particular to fix the price.
2. Fixation of Price: It is very useful to fix the price of jointly supplied goods
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Demand forecasting refers to the prediction or estimation of a future situation under a given
constraint. In a sense, knowledge of future demand is crucial for both new firms and those
planning to expand their scale of production. Since the output is to be sold, since virtually
nothing can be produced overnight, sales forecasts are required to determine the quantity of
production. Therefore, a forecast is a prediction of a future event. It implies measurement of
that event, which may not be per cent accurate since that much accuracy is not possible in
view of the uncertainties of the future. A demand forecast will help the manager take
effective decisions.
Objectives of Demand Forecasting:
The major short run decisions are: The major long run decisions are:
Purchase of inputs Expansion of existing capacity
Maintaining of economic Diversification of the product mix
level of inventory Growth of acquisition
Setting up sales targets Change of location of plant
Distribution network Capital issues
Management of working capital Long run borrowings
Price policy Manpower planning
Promotion policy
ii) Sample Survey: Under the sample survey method, the probable demand expressed by
each selected unit summed up to get the total demand of sample units in the forecast
period. It is then blown up to find the total demand in the market. That is, the total
sample demand is multiplied by the ratio of number of consuming units in the sample.
This method when carefully applied gives good results especially for the new products and
brands. Proper care should be taken in choosing a sample size which should not be too big.
The advantages of sample survey over complete enumeration method are:
This method is simple
This method is less costly
Less possibility of data error
B) End Use method: The sale of a product under consideration is projected on the basis
of a demand survey of the industries using this product as an intermediate product.
The demand for the final product is the end-use demand for the intermediate product
used in the production of this final product. However, an intermediate product may
have many end-uses (like steel, which can be used in agricultural machinery,
construction, etc.). It may have demand in both domestic and international markets.
The demands for final consumption and exports net of imports are estimated through
some other forecasting method, and the demand for intermediate use is estimated
through a survey of its user industries regarding their production plans and input-
output efficiencies. Then the sum of final consumption demand and export demand
net of imports of any commodity can be obtained with the help of an input-output
model.
C) Opinion Poll Method: The opinion poll methods aim at collecting opinions of those
who are supposed to possess knowledge of the market, e.g., sales representatives,
sales executives, professional marketing experts and consultants. The opinion poll
method consists of:
Expert- opinion method
Delphi-method
Market studies and experiments
explained which utilize historical and cross-section data for estimating long-term
demand. Statistical methods are considered to be superior techniques of demand
estimation for the following reasons.
The element of subjectivity in this method is minimum
Method of estimation is scientific
Estimation is based on the theoretical relationship between the dependent and
independent variables.
Estimates are relatively more reliable
Estimation involves smaller cost
Merits of Consumer Survey Method:
The advantages of this method are as under:
This method does not require mathematical calculations
This method is based on the first-hand knowledge of the salesman.
It is useful to forecast the sales of new products
This method does not require any historical data
Demerits:
Although, this method has certain advantages, yet it suffers from the following disadvantages
as:
It is only a subjective approach
It is suitable only for short-term forecasting
Salesman lacks vision and may not foresee the influence of several unknown factors
Individual industry will have to depend on some other method to estimate the future
demand of its product for final consumption.
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the fastest-growing and richest regions in Europe. But ministers on both sides of the water,
especially in Sweden, have been getting edgy about the bridge’s teething problems. Last
month Leif Pagrotsky, Sweden’s trade minister, called for a tariff review: the cost of driving
over the bridge, at SKr255 ($26.40) each way, was too high to help integrate the region’s two
bits.
Businessmen have been complaining too. Novo Nordisk, a Danish drug firm which moved its
Scandinavian marketing activities to Malmo to take advantage of ‘the bridge effect’, has been
urging Danish staff to limit their trips to Malmo by working more from home. Ikea, a
Swedish furniture chain with headquarters in Denmark, has banned its employees from using
the bridge altogether when travelling on company business, and has told them to make their
crossings –more cheaply if a lot more slowly – by ferry. The people managing the bridge
consortium say they always expected a dip in car traffic from a summer peak of 20,000
vehicles a day. But they admit that the current daily flow of 6,000 vehicles or so must
increase if the bridge is to pay its way in the long run. So, they are about to launch a new
advertising campaign. And they are still upbeat about the overall trend: commercial traffic is
indeed going up. The trains have carried more than 1m passengers since the service began in
July. Certainly, the bridge is having some effect. Many more Swedes are visiting the art
galleries and cafes of Copenhagen; more Danes are nipping northwards over the strait. Some
75% more people crossed the strait in the first two months after the bridge’s opening than
during the same period a year before. Other links are being forged too. Malmo’s Sydsvenska
Dagbladet and Copenhagen’s Berlingske Tidende newspapers now produce a joint Oresund
supplement every day, while cross-border ventures in health, education and information
technology have begun to bear fruit. Joint cultural ventures are also underway. And how
about linking eastern Denmark more directly with Germany’s Baltic Sea coastline, enabling
Danes to go by train from their capital to Berlin in, say, three hours? Despite the Danes’ nej
to the euro, it is still a fair bet that this last much-talked-about project will, within ten years or
so, be undertaken.
Questions
1. Explain why the demand for the bridge is likely to be price-elastic.
2. If the Swedish government estimates that the price elasticity is ─1.4, calculate the
effect on traffic using the bridge, stating any assumptions.
3. Why is the calculation above not likely to give an accurate forecast for the long term?
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2.12 SUMMARY
This unit has presented the basic elements of demand, consumer preference pattern and utility
function, demand forecasting. The law of demand states that other factors are held constant
nt, the quantity demanded is inversely related to price. Other factors that affect demand are: i)
income of consumers; ii) price of related product; iii) tastes and preferences; and iv) number
2
Mehta, P.L., ‘Managerial Economics: Analysis, Problems AND Cases’, p.70.
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of buyers. The law of demand is also verified with the help of marginal utility and
indifference curve analysis. The main points highlighted in this unit are:
A change in the quantity demanded refers to a movement along a particular demand
curve caused by a change in the price of the good. It is also known as the Extension
and contraction of demand.
A change in demand refers to a shift of demand curve the resulting from a change in
consumer preferences, income, or prices of related goods.
When an increase in the price of one good results in increased demand for other
goods, then the two goods are said to be substitutes
When an increase in the price of one good results in a decreased demand for other
goods, then the two goods are said to be complements.
When the price of one good increases/decreases but the demand for other goods does
not change, then the two goods are unrelated.
When the consumer consumes additional units of a good, the marginal utility of that
good declines. This is known as the law of diminishing marginal utility.
As an additional unit of a good provides lesser and lesser utility to the consumer, the
consumer will buy these additional units only at a lower price. Hence, the law of
demand states that more is demanded at a lower price.
A consumer maximizes his total utility by allocating his income among goods on the
basis of the law of equi-marginal utility which states that for the best allocation of
income the marginal utility per rupee in each good must be equal.
An indifference curve is the locus of points representing all such combinations of the
two goods which give equal satisfaction.
Indifference curves have the properties of negative slope, convexity, and non-
intersection. A higher indifference curve means higher utility.
2.13 GLOSSARY
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Derived demand: the demand for products or factors that are not directly consumed
but go into the production of a final product. The demand for such a product or factor
exists because there is demand for the final product.
Substitute good: A product that is similar to another and can be consumed in place of
it. Two goods are substitute if the quantity consumed of one increase when the price
of the other increases.
Complementary good: a product consumed in conjunction with another product two
goods are complementary if the quantity demanded of one increases when the price of
the other decreases.
Price effect: change in the consumption of the good due to a change in the price of
the good.
Utility: the amount of satisfaction by consuming a good or service.
Substitution effect: an increase in the quantity of the good whose price falls after
income has been so ‘adjusted’ that the real purchasing power of the consumer remains
the same as before.
MCQ Questions:
1. When there is a change in demand leading to a shift of the Demand Curve to the right,
at the same price as before, the quantity demanded will-
a) Decrease b) Increase c) Remain the same d) Contract
2. An exceptional demand curve is one that moves-
a) Upward to the right b) Downward to the right c) Horizontally d) Vertically
3. Revealed Preference Theory was propounded by-
a) Adam Smith b) Marshall c) P.A. Samuelson d) J.S. Mill
4. If two commodities are complements, then their cross-price elasticity is
a) Zero b) Positive c) Negative d) Imaginary Number
5. ‘Law of Demand’ implies that when there is excess demand for a commodity then─
a) Price of commodity falls
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13. Income elasticity of demand will be zero when a given change in income brings
about-
a) The same proportionate change in demand
b) A more than proportionate change in quantity demanded
c) A less than proportionate change in quantity demanded
d) No change in demand
14. Indifference curve is downward sloping from left to right since more X and less Y
give
a) Less satisfaction b) More Satisfaction c) Equal Satisfaction d) Maximum
Satisfaction
15. The indifference curve which is ‘L’ shape represents
a) Perfect Complementarity b) Perfect Substitutability c) No Substitutability
d) Non-complementarity
Answers
1.b 2.b 3.c 4.c 5.c 6.b 7.b 8.c 9.a 10. d 11. b 12.c 13.d 14.c 15.a
Short Question
1. Retail out the types of demand.
2. Point out any two determinants of demand.
3. Write down the main assumption of law of demand
4. Explain the following: Marginal Utility, Initial utility, Total Utility
5. What do you mean by utility?
6. Briefly explain Revealed Preference hypothesis.
7. What do you mean by Income elasticity?
8. What do you know about cross elasticity of demand?
9. Describe the qualities of a good demand forecasting
10. Discuss the various methods of demand forecasting
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Long Question
1. State the law of demand. What are exceptions of it?
2. Define price elasticity of demand and distinguish its various types. Discuss the
role of price elasticity of demand in managerial decisions.
3. Why is demand analysis essential for successful production planning and capital
expansion?
4. What are the assumptions of the law of diminishing marginal utility?
5. Give the relationship between marginal utility and total utility.
6. Examine the law of diminishing Marginal Utility. What is its assumption,
expectations, and importance?
7. Explain the law of equi-marginal utility. What are its assumptions, limitations, and
usefulness?
8. What is the significance of demand forecasting? What are the steps involved in
forecasting demand?
9. Define the concept of Demand forecasting. Explaining its objectives in economic
theory.
10. Explain the Law of demand. Explain the exceptional situation when the demand
for a commodity may increase even when its price increases.
11. Discuss the various methods of demand forecasting.
12. Define the indifference curve and its assumption with income and substitution
effect.
13. What is the elasticity of demand? Draw the various degrees with diagrams.
14. The enrolment in 10 top business schools in India went up from 2200 in 1980 to
3800 in 2000, while the average tuition fee per year went up from Rs. 6000 to Rs.
72000 during the same period. Does this imply that the demand curve for quality
education is upward-sloping? Comment.
15. Distinguish between:
i) Derived demand and autonomous demand
ii) Demand schedule and demand function
iii) Superior and inferior goods
iv) Complementary goods and substitutes
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2.15 REFERENCES
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LESSON 3
THEORY OF PRODUCTION
Dr Sonal Katyal
Associate Professor and Programme Director
James Lind Institute, Switzerland
Sonal.katyal@jliedu.ch
sonalkatyal@gmail.com
STRUCTURE
3.1 Learning Objectives
3.2 Introduction
3.3 Production Function
3.3.1 Production and cost
3.3.2 Concepts of Production
3.3.3 Relationship between Average Product and Marginal Product
3.4 Production in the Short run
3.4.1 Law of variable Proportion
3.4.2 Economies of Scale of Production
3.5 Production in the Long run
3.5.1 Returns to Scale
3.5.2 Isoquants
3.5.3 Choice of Input Combination
3.6 Summary
3.7 Glossary
3.8 Answers to In-text Questions
3.9 Self-Assessment Questions
3.10 References
3.11 Suggested Readings
The objective of this lesson is to introduce students to the concept and working of
Production in both the short run and long run. This lesson will equip students with the
necessary theory and techniques and the ability to apply them to inform and enhance
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managerial decision-making along with the use of Economic tools to explain the optimal
allocation of resources within the firm and also use the tools of economic theory to obtain
optimal production.
3.2 INTRODUCTION
In previous lessons, we have looked at demand, supply and how the interaction of
demand and supply affects market price. According to the Law of Supply, firms are willing to
produce and sell more when the price is higher and hence the supply curve is upward-sloping.
This lesson will examine firm behaviour and supply-side decision-making.
We will understand firms and their profit-maximizing goals. we will identify the most
profitable level of production for a firm and how its costs vary with output. Firstly, we will
have a look at short-run production, when a firm can vary only one factor of production
which is called the law of diminishing returns. The second part deals with the long run when
all the factors of production are variable. We will also discuss how firms make decisions to
achieve maximum profits.
Many forms are operating in an economy at different scales, some are large-scale firms
operating within the country, some are multinational organizations, and some are small-scale
firms. Every firm uses a different proportion of factor of production according to the scale of
an operation like there might be several Pizza outlets like Domino, Pizza Hut etc. in your city
but there might be only one dry cleaner shop. Many firms in a particular area determine their
pricing and efficiency.
Managerial decision-making involves four types of production decisions:
Whether to produce or to
shut down
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3.3.1 Definition:
Production and Cost
Production is the total amount of goods and services produced in a given year and the cost
incurred to produce these goods and services is called costs of production.
Production Function
It is the relationship between inputs i.e. factors of production (Land, labour, capital and
entrepreneur) to produce a certain level of output.
Q= f (Land, Labour, Capital, Entrepreneurship)
Land
Capital
Output Labour
Entrepreneurship
The Long Run is a period long enough for all inputs or factors of production to be variable as
far as an individual firm is concerned. The Output will be increased by changing both labour
and capital.
The Short Run is a period so brief that the amount of at least one input is fixed and others
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are variable say if capital is a fixed input and labour, is a variable. Hence, an increase in
production during this period is possible only by increasing the variable input.
The length of time necessary for all inputs to be variable may differ according to the nature of
the industry and the structure of a firm
Q = f (X1, X2, X n)
X
Figure 3.3 Production Function
Figure 3.3 depicts the production function. The X-axis represents the inputs and Y-axis
represents the output. The curve shows the relationship between input and output, given the
state of technology.
Q = f (X1, X2, X n)
where Q stands for the output of a good per unit of time, X1 for labour, X2 for land (or
natural resources), X3 for capital, X4 for a given technology, X5 for Entrepreneurship and F
refers to the functional relationship function with many inputs cannot be depicted on a
diagram.
Hence, economists use a two-input production function. If we take two inputs, labour and
capital, the production function assumes the form.
Q = F (L, K)
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Relevance to Business
Homogeneous Production Function helps businesses in deciding the optimal use of inputs,
given the input prices. For example, if he has to double the output, he knows by how much
proportion he needs to increase the input as the production function is linear homogeneous.
ACTIVITY
A Fisherman notices the relationship between number of hours spent catching the fish
and the number of fishes caught:
Hours No of Fishes
0 0
1 10
2 18
3 24
4 28
5 30
1. What is the marginal product of each hour spent fishing?
2. Draw Fisherman’s production function with the help of data and explain its shape.
Average Product: It refers to the ratio of the total product to the total units of the variable
factoremployed in producing a certain level of output.
AP = TP/L
Marginal Product: It refers to the change in total output while producing one additional unit
of a variable factor.
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1 10 10 -
2 24 12 14
3 39 13 15
4 52 13 13
5 61 12.2 9
6 66 11 5
7 66 9.4 0
8 64 8 -2
Quantity
No of workers
Fig. 3.4 Total Product
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The total product (TP) curve represents the total amount of output that a firm can produce
with a given amount of labour. As the number of labour changes, total output changes. The
total product curve is a short-run curve, meaning that technology and all inputs except labour
are held constant. This assumption is keeping the other factors constant. In figure 1.4, X-axis
is the number of workers and the Y- axis is the quantity. The S-shaped total product curve has
an economic meaning. At the lower end, where the number of workers and quantity is low,
the curve is convex. Convexity means that when the number of workers is added, production
increases at an increasing rate. This happens as more workers are added at low production
levels, they can specialize in tasks and more can work more efficiently using the fixed inputs
as specialisation is possible. In the middle production range, the slope of the total product
curve gets flattered, and the shape of the curve becomes concave. Concavity means that
production increases but at a decreasing rate. The economic interpretation of concavity is that
as more workers are added, there is less and less specialization available and the workers are
less and less efficient in using the fixed inputs. Finally, the total product curve hits a
maximum point after which output decreases with each additional worker. After the
maximum is reached, additional employees don’t add anything valuable and are not
productive and unable to use the fixed inputs efficiently. This pattern can be observed in
figure 3.4 and Table 3.1.
Quantity
No of workers
Fig. 3.5 Average Product and Marginal Product
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Average Product
The average product (AP) is output per worker. It can be defined as the total product divided
by the quantity of the variable input (i.e., the number of workers) employed. In Table 1.1
different values of labour are given and they can be determined at different levels of input.
Thus, the average product of labour is maximum at 5 units of labour. Figure 1.5 graphically
illustrates the average product of labour. The average product of the labour shows the
efficiency of the input factor.
The first unit of labour produces 10 units of output and the second unit of labour (when
combined with the first unit and the fixed resources used) produces 24 units and so on. Thus,
the average product for one unit of labour is 10 and for two units of labour is 12. An
important point to note in this context is that when two units of labour are employed, the
average product of labour increases. This shows two units of labour are more efficient than
one unit. This does not necessarily mean that the second unit of labour is more efficient than
the first unit.
The increase in average labour productivity when the second unit of labour is employed in
the production process is a result of more efficient use of both the fixed factor of production
and the first unit of labour. The reason could be an increase in productivity and the
production process becoming more specialized. This can also help managers in measuring the
productivity of each labour and they can accordingly reward labour because of higher per
capita productivity.
Marginal Product
The marginal product may be defined as the rate of change in total output associated with the
employment of one additional unit of the variable factor. The marginal product of labour
(MPL) can be computed as
MPL=dQ/dL
The marginal product of labour is measured by the slope of the total product curve at a
particular point, dQ/dL. The slope of the total product curve is initially positive meaning
positive MPL, then zero MPL where the total product is constant and finally negative MPL.
Alternatively, marginal product per unit of labour input can be calculated over an input range
by simply relating the absolute change in output (∆Q) to the absolute change in the variable
(factor) input (∆L). Thus, when the second unit of labour is employed, MPL per unit is:
Average M/PL = ∆Q/∆L = (24-10)/ (2-1) = 14
Thus, over the range from one to two units of labour, the average marginal product is 14
units.
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This distinction between the marginal value at a single point on a curve and the marginal
value between the two points on a curve can play important role in making managerial
decisions related to cost and output.
3.3.3 Relationship between Marginal Product and Average Product
1. When Marginal Product > Average Product, Average Product rises.
Till the point the marginal product curve lies above the average product curve, the
average product curve will rise. The implication is that the average efficiency of the
variable factor is increasing.
2. When Marginal Product < Average Product, Average Product falls.
3. When marginal product must be equal to average product, they both are at their
maximum.
4. The point at which average product reaches its maximum is the point of maximum
production that can be achieved in the short run, but this may not necessarily be the
point at which profits will be maximized for that cost need to be considered as well.
IN-TEXT QUESTIONS
1. Production theory can be divided into which of the below?
A. Short
B. Long
C. Intermediate
D. Both A&B
2. “The length of time necessary for all inputs to be variable may differ
according to the nature of the industry and the structure of a firm”. Is the
statement true or false?
A. True
B. False
3. Long-run production function is related to _________.
A. Law of Demand
B. Law of Increasing Returns
C. Laws of Returns to Scale
D. Elasticity of Demand
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Holding all factors constant except one, the law of diminishing returns says that:
As additional units of a variable input are combined with a fixed input, at some point the
additional output (i.e., marginal product) starts to diminish.
Assumptions
A Production function is associated with a specific period.
The level of technology is constant.
The factors of production are divisible.
There are only two factors of production namely labour and capital.
The Supply of factors is inelastic in the short run.
The three stages of the law of variable proportions are as follows:
1. Increasing marginal returns- is the range of production for which increases in variable
input led to an increase in the average product.
2. Diminishing marginal returns - is the range of production for which increases in
variable input led to a decrease in the average product while the marginal product
remains non-negative.
3. Negative marginal returns – is the range for which the use of variable input
corresponds to negative values for its marginal product
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TP
Third Stage
This stage begins beyond point B. Here total product starts diminishing. The average product
keeps on declining and the marginal product becomes negative. In this stage ideally, firms
will try to stop production. This happens because the marginal product of the labour becomes
negative implying that additional labour will give negative returns.
Causes of Increasing and Diminishing return:
Initially, due to the underutilization of resources and high efficiency, an increase in variable
factors adds more to output. As we keep on increasing variable factors and as factors of
production are imperfect substitutes for each other so they cannot be replaced with other
factors of production.
The Law of variable proportion can be applied universally in both primary and secondary
sectors.
Relevance for Business:
Businesses can increase productivity by employing skilled labour or more capital. If a nation
invests in modern technology and better infrastructure that can improve the productivity of all
the businesses and the nation as a whole. For example, China has invested its capital, and this
has resulted in growth in the average quantity of output per worker.
3.4.2 Economies of scale of Production:
When a firm increases the scale of production, they achieve economies of scale till a point
and then economies start to convert into diseconomies of scale.
Economies of Scale are two types:
Internal Economies of Scale- These economies are internal to the growth of a firm such as
technical, managerial, financial etc.
External Economies of Scale are external to the firm, and they happen as a result of changes
in the external environment such as localization, vertical disintegration etc.
Diseconomies of Scale When the firm over utilises the used machinery, labour, increased
plant size etc leading to an increase in cost of production and hence the efficiency declines.
This happens due to lack of coordination, depreciation of machinery etc. When the factors are
external to a firm such as an increase in prices of inputs, taxes, lack of funds etc then they are
called external diseconomies of scale.
External Economies and Diseconomies – Relevance to Industry:
The concept of external economies and diseconomies have been used to classify industries
into three types for determining the equilibrium. It can be shown by Decreasing cost industry
where costs decrease as the industry expands, the Constant cost industry has no change in
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average costs and the increasing cost industry where the costs rise due to demand for highly
skilled labour or better technology.
Case Study -1
Apple – Increasing or Diminishing Returns
In some industries, securing the adoption and new technology is favourable to one’s
own product. As the product market share grows, the companies start putting more
effort and money into marketing. Apple is an excellent example. The more customers
start using Apple products and more applications are developed for ios, the greater the
demand for the product. As apple introduces new products and upgrades every year, the
increasing returns persist and hence they are able to spend a proportionate amount of
money on marketing efforts and that is the reason that they are dominating the market.
According to experts, Apple has introduced so many models of all its products like the
iPhone, iPad, and Mac book. Each model represents a considerable advance over the
previous one and the demand goes up as people are willing to pay for upgrades.
However, there is limited scope for users to take advantage of these upgrades. Most of
the products have similar features and customers are unlikely to fully utilize the features
with each upgrade. In this respect, Apple is a victim of the law of diminishing returns.
The majority of the users may not be too impressed with the further capabilities of
Apple products. Given the enormous costs of developing upgrades of the products, the
question is where does Apple go from here? At the moment such products require a
considerable investment from the customers and also the company should be able to get
increasing returns.
IN-TEXT QUESTIONS
6. Draw the TPP and MPP curves for the three sites in the table.
7. Rainfall and the amount of nitrogen occurring in the soil will cause
differences in the position of the TPP curve between sites. One will cause
vertical differences in the curves, and one will cause horizontal differences.
explain which causes which effect and why.
8. What other things farmer needs to know before deciding whether to use 600
kg/ha of nitrogen fertilizer?
9. Does the law of diminishing returns apply here and why?
10. Can this phenomenon be observed in short run or long run?
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600
00
200
100
Labour
Figure 3.7 Increasing Returns to Scale
In figure 3.7, the X- axis represents an increase in labour and Y-axis represents capital. The
combination of both the factors will produce more output as can be seen in the diagram from
point 100 to 200 to 600 units.
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Constant Returns to Scale: a production function for which a proportional change in all
inputs causes output to change by the same proportion. Constant returns to scale refer to the
production situation in which output increases exactly in the same proportion as the ratio of
inputs is increased meaning if inputs are doubled output will also be doubled.
In constant return to scale internal and external economies are exactly equal to internal and
external diseconomies. This situation arises when after reaching a certain level of production,
economies of scale are balanced by diseconomies of scale.
Capital
300
200
100
Labour
Fig. 3.8 Constant Return to Scale
In fig. 3.8, X-axis represents labour and Y-axis represents capital. Diagram suggests that an
increase in factors of production i.e., labour and capital are equal to the ratio of increase in
output. Hence, we get constant returns to scale.
Decreasing Returns to Scale: a production function for which a proportional change in all
inputs causes a less than proportional change in output. It means, that if inputs are doubled,
the output will be less than doubled. If inputs are increased by 20 per cent, the increase in
output is 10 per cent.
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The main cause of the decreasing returns to scale is that internal and external economies are
less than internal and external diseconomies.
Capital
180
150
100
Labour
Figure 3.9 Decreasing Returns to Scale
In this diagram 3.9, X-axis represents labour and Y-axis represents capital. When inputs
increase from 1 to 3 units, the increase in output is proportionately lesser from 100 to 150 to
180.
3.5.2 Isoquants
All inputs are now considered to be variable (both L and K in our case)
How to determine the optimal combination of inputs?
An isoquant is a curve showing all possible combinations of inputs physically capable of
producing a given fixed level of output.
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Units of capital
Units of Labour
Fig. 3.10 Isoquant Curve
In Fig. 3.10, X-axis represents labour, and the Y-axis represents capital. Different points
along the curve show combinations of labour and capital. As the usage of labour increases,
the usage of capital decreases to produce a certain level of output.
An Isoquant is a curve that shows the various combinations of two inputs that will produce a
given level of output
The slope of an isoquant indicates the rate at which factors K and L can be substituted for
each other while a constant level of production is maintained.
The slope is called Marginal Rate of Technical Substitution (MRTS)
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Figure 3.12 depicts Perfect Substitutes. The X-axis represents Amoco gas and Y-axis
represents Texaco gas. As both as perfect substitutes for each other, so whether the consumer
uses Amoco or Texaco does not make a difference. Hence, the curves are straight lines.
Figure 3.13 depicts Perfect complements. The X-axis represents typists and Y-axis represents
Typewriters. Both inputs should be used in fixed proportions as they cannot be substituted.
Hence, the curve will be right angles.
Imperfect Substitutes –It is the rate at which input b can be given up in return for one more
unit of input a while maintaining the same level of output as the number of inputs increases.
For Example - In farming, harvesters and labour for harvesting grain provide an example of a
diminishing MRS considering capital and labour are imperfect substitutes.
3.5.3 Choice of Input Combination
The Input combination used can be shown with the help of Isocost lines.
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Isocost lines show different combinations of inputs which give the same cost. It shows the
various combinations of two inputs that can be bought for a given dollar cost.
The slope of the isocost line is given by
Slope of isocost line = -w/r
The equation for an isocost line is:
C =L. P +K. P
L K
MPL w
MRTS LK
MPK r
A producer aims at either maximizing output for a given cost or minimizing cost subject to a
given output.
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Relevance to Business:
Applicability of Choice of combination for Production will be explained through an example.
Inputs used for Producing Cars
Technology Units of Capital Units of Labour
A 50 120
B 80 100
C 120 40
D 150 30
E 200 20
Consider the choices available for manufacturing cars is given in the table above. Five
different techniques are available. Technology A is the most labour-intensive requiring 120
hours of labour and 50 units of capital to produce 100 cars. E is the most capital-intensive
requiring maximum units of capital.
For choosing the best combination firms must look into input prices of labour and capital. If
the price of Labour and capital is $1 then forms will look at the minimum cost which will be
by using technology C. Now, suppose wages increase to $5 then Technology E will be cost-
minimising for the firm. The flexibility of a firm’s ability to change techniques of production
plays an important role in determining its costs.
CASE STUDY -2
Since the 2000’s, manufacturing firms in India have been relocated to places with
lower land rental rates and labour costs, mostly in the outskirts of the city and small
towns. At the same time, firms in service sectors like finance, insurance,
Information technology etc have been locating near the city centres and contributing
towards urbanisation like millennium city Gurgaon. One of the major reasons seems
to be that manufacturing firms find it difficult to substitute capital for land and
service sector firms do not require lot of space.
IN-TEXT QUESTIONS
11. What is the prime reason of shifting for the manufacturing firms?
12. Is it easy to substitute capital for land as a factor of production?
13. Why is it relatively easier for an IT firm to substitute capital for land?
14. Why is the demand for land likely to be high near the city centre?
15. Can land be substituted for capital near city centre? Discuss
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3.6 SUMMARY
1. A Production function shows the relationship between the number of inputs used and
the amount of output produced in a given period.
2. In the short run, one of the factors of production is fixed.
3. Production in the short run is subject to diminishing returns, as the quantity of
variable input or factor increases, the marginal product diminishes.
4. In the long run, all the factors are variable
5. An Isoquant curve shows the combination of different factors at a particular level of
output.
6. Isocost is the cost incurred or budget of the producer
7. For an efficient outcome, Isoquant should be tangent to the isocost line.
3.7 GLOSSARY
Diminishing marginal product is the property whereby the marginal product of an input
declines as the quantity of the input increases
An Efficient scale is the quantity of output that minimizes the average total cost
Equilibrium is a situation in which the market price has reached the level
at which quantity supplied equals quantity demanded
The Equilibrium price is the price that balances the quantity supplied and the quantity
demanded
Equilibrium quantity is the quantity supplied and the quantity demanded at the
equilibrium price
Efficiency is the property of society getting the most it can from its scarce resources
Factors of production the inputs used to produce goods and services
Law of supply other things equal, the quantity supplied of good rises when the price of
the good rises
Marginal changes are small incremental adjustments to a plan of action
The Marginal rate of substitution i s the rate at which a consumer is willing to trade one
good for another
Quantity demanded the amount of a good that buyers are willing and able to purchase
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A Supply curve is a graph showing relationship between the price of a good and the
quantity supplied
3.10 REFERENCES
Truett L.J and Truett B Dale, 2008. “Managerial Economics: Analysis, problems,
cases”, eighth edition. Wiley India
Edward T. Dowling, 2001.” Introduction to Mathematical Economics”, third edition,
Schaum’s outline series, Tata McGraw Hill.
Keat, P., Young, P.K. and Erfle, S., Managerial Economics, 7th Edition, Prentice
Hall, 2013.
Frank, R.H. & Cartwright, E. (2016). Microeconomics and behaviour. McGraw-Hill
Education
Business News
Research articles
Market News
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LESSON 4
THEORY OF COST
Dr. Rajdeep Singh
Designation- Assistant Professor
Institute- Department of Commerce
University – University of Delhi
Email Id – Rajdeep.srcc@gmail.com
STRUCTURE
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4.6 Summary
4.7 Glossary
4.8 Answers to In-text Questions
4.9 Suggested Readings
4.2 INTRODUCTION
Cost of production refers to the expenses incurred when producing or obtaining items and
services that bring in money for a business. Costs incurred by a company during the
production of its goods and services are a crucial factor in decision-making. It includes both
direct and indirect costs. Direct costs are those that can be linked directly to the production
of a product, such as labour and material costs, whereas indirect costs are those that cannot be
linked directly to the product, such as overhead.
Profit is every business' ultimate goal, and a company's capacity to generate consistent profits
determines how prosperous it will be in the long run. The profit margin of a business concern
is determined by total cost and total revenue. A company works to raise revenue and cut
expenditures in order to maximise profits. The profit margin of a business concern is
determined by total cost and total revenue. A company works to raise revenue and cut
expenditures in order to maximise profits. While a corporation often has no influence over
the selling price, it does have control over a number of costs. Therefore, the business should
strive to minimise and control costs. Since costs are taken into account in every business
decision, it is essential to comprehend the meaning of various terms in order to think
strategically.
Significant cost estimates that are helpful for managerial choices can be obtained from an
analysis of economic costs when supplemented with information derived from the company's
accounting records. If management intends to arrive at cost estimates that are relevant for
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planning purposes, the reasons causing cost changes must be acknowledged and taken into
account. Cost concepts and classifications, and cost output relationships (traditional and
modern theories) are the main topics covered in cost analysis in this chapter.
Costs are very important in managerial decisions that involve choosing between alternative
courses of action. It aids in the quantitative specification of various alternatives. The type of
cost to be used in a specific situation is determined by the business decisions to be made.
Costs factor into almost every business decision, and it is critical to conduct a proper cost
analysis. As a result, it is critical to comprehend what these various cost concepts are, as well
as how they can be defined and operationalized.
Accounting Costs
Economic Costs
Opportunity Costs
Sunk Costs
Historical Costs
Replacement Costs
Incremental Costs
Book Costs
Private Costs
Social Costs
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in payment for labour, materials, plant, building, machinery, equipment, travelling and
transportation, advertising, and so on. For all practical purposes, the total money expenses
recorded in the books of accounts are the actual costs.
4.3.2 Economic Costs:
There are some costs do not take the form of cash outlays and are not recorded in the
accounting system. These are referred to as implicit or imputed costs. An important example
of implicit cost is opportunity cost. Assume an entrepreneur does not use his services in his
own business and instead works as a manager in another firm on a salary. He foregoes his
salary as manager if he starts his own business. This salary loss represents the opportunity
cost of income from his own business. This is an unspoken cost of his own company. Thus,
implicit wages, rent, and interest are the wages, rent, and interest that an owner's labour,
building, and capital can earn from their second-best use, respectively. Implicit costs are not
considered when calculating the business's loss or gain, but they are an important
consideration when deciding whether or not to keep a factor in its current use. The economic
cost is the sum of the explicit and implicit costs.
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ACTIVITY
Identify three imputed costs for the business concern.
Mr. John has invested Rs. 10,00, 000 in his shoes manufacturing business
and has also bought a new land for setting up a factory apart from the
cash investments. Identify if there is any opportunity cost.
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IN-TEXT QUESTIONS
1. _______________ costs do not take the form of cash outlays and are not
recorded in the accounting system.
2. The historical cost of an asset is its original cost. True / False
3. The addition to total cost associated with decisions to expand output are
called:
a) Books Costs b) Incremental Costs
c) Sunk Costs d) Out of Pocket Costs
4. The total cost to society of producing a good is called
____________________.
5. Out of Pocket Costs are also known as Implicit Costs. True/False
The production function expresses a technological relationship between physical inputs and
physical outputs. Further, the cost function shows the relationship between the firm's cost and
firm output given the state of technology. The cost function combines the production
function's information with the prices of the factors of production. Cost functions are thus
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derived functions from production functions. Depending on the time period under
consideration, the firms have different production functions.
Time
Periods
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In the above fig. 3, TFC is a straight line parallel to the X-axis depicting that the fixed costs
do not vary with the change in the level of output.
4.4.1.2 Total Variable Costs
Variable costs are the costs associated with the use of variable factors of production, the
amount of which can be changed in the short run. As a result, in the short run, the total
variable costs vary with changes in output. When the output is zero, the total variable costs
are zero. These costs include payments such as labour wages, the cost of raw materials, fuel
and power used, transportation expenses, and so on. Variable costs are also referred to as
prime costs.
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It is the actual cost of producing a given quantity of output in the short run using both fixed
and variable inputs. It is the total of fixed and variable costs.
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the AFC is a rectangular hyperbola, it approaches both axes asymptomatically, that is, it gets
closer and closer to the axes until it touches them at infinity.
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The AVC curve initially falls as the variable factor's productivity rises, resulting in higher
returns. It then reaches a minimum at the point where the optimal combination of fixed and
variable factors is in place. As the output is increased further, the AVC begins to rise as the
variable factor's efficiency decreases from its maximum level, and the combination of fixed
and variable factors becomes sub-optimal.
4.4.1.6 Average Costs
The average total cost, or simply average cost, is the total cost divided by the number of
output units produced. Therefore,
Since the total cost is the sum of total variable cost and total fixed cost, the average
cost is also the sum of average variable cost and average fixed cost.
= AFC + AVC
ACTIVITY
Draw short-run average variable costs and average cost curves
according to traditional theory of costs.
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If change in output is greater than one unit, then the marginal cost can be found over a range
of output as well.
The MC curve is a U-shaped curve. It initially falls with increasing output due to more
efficient use of the variable factor as output increases, and then it slopes upward as further
increase in output negatively impacts the variable factor's efficiency.
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CASE STUDY
Golden Tires Ltd. which produces rubber tubes for cycles has the following
production details:
Comment on whether Golden Tires Ltd. should continue or shut down its
operations in the short run.
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IN-TEXT QUESTIONS
11. A short run is a time period in which some factors remain constant while
others change. True / False
12. _______________ is the total cost divided by the number of output units
produced.
13. The cost added to the total cost of producing one more unit of output is
known as:
a) Marginal Costs b) Average Costs
c) Fixed Costs d) Average Variable Costs
14. The combination of fixed and variable factors becomes optimal at the
minimum point of ____________________costs.
15. AC and AVC are both U-shaped, illustrating the law of variable proportions.
True/False
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(iii) Each point on the LAC is the point of tangency with the corresponding SAC
curve.
(iv) The firm chooses that short run plant which allows it to produce the expected
output at the minimum cost in the long run. Therefore, the LAC helps the firm in
decision making and is called the “planning curve”.
(v) Each point on the LAC curves shows the least cost for producing the
corresponding level of output. Any point above LAC curve is inefficient because
it represents higher per unit cost of production. Any point below the LAC is
desirable but unattainable.
(vi) The U shape of the LAC curve reflects the law of returns to scale.
(vii) The LAC touches the minimum of SAC only in the special case- where the
optimal plant size is reached.
(viii) The LAC is U shaped, but the sides are flatter than the U-shaped SACs.
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(ii) MC is inversely related to MP, given the price of the variable factor
Since the marginal cost is only dependent on the variable cost, we can say
In case the variable factor is labour (L), and the price of variable factor is wage
rate (W), TVC can also be expressed as,
ΔL
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Therefore,
= W/(ΔQ/ΔL)
Thus, MC = W/MPL
We have learnt about the traditional theory of costs in the previous section. In this section, we
will learn about the modern theory of costs. Unlike the traditional theory of cost, the modern
theory does not agree on the U-shaped cost curves. According to modern theory, the short-run
cost curve is saucer-shaped, while the long-run average cost curve is either L-shaped or
inverse J-shaped. This is due to the presence of built-in reserve capacity, which provides
flexibility and allows the plant to produce more output without increasing costs.
The Modern theory proposes the existence of "built-in reserve capacity," which provides
flexibility and allows the plant to produce more output without increasing costs. The short-
run cost curve is shaped like a saucer, whereas the long run cost curve is either L-shaped or
inverse J-shaped. The firm, according to the Modern theory of costs, can produce a range of
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output rather than a single level of output as in the traditional theory of cost. Firms construct
industrial plants with some degree of flexibility in their productive capacity, so that instead of
a single output level, a wide range of output can be produced optimally and at a low cost. The
'Built-in Reserve capacity' allows for flexibility in the manufacturing process. The 'Saucer -
shaped' short run average variable costs are explained by the planned reserve capacity. The
modern theory of cost emphasizes the role of economies of scale in allowing a firm to
continue production at the lowest point of average cost for an extended period of time. In
contrast to the traditional theory, where the average cost rises after the firm reaches the
optimal level of output, the firm checks diseconomies of scale by planning ahead of time and
enjoys production gains. The L-shaped and inverse J-shaped LAC curves are explained by
developments in managerial economies.
Modern
Theory
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range of reserve capacity. Beyond that, it begins to climb steeply. The average cost curve
looks like this:
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Modern economists divide long run costs into production costs and managerial costs. In the
long run, all costs are variable, giving rise to an L-shaped long run average cost curve. This
curve initially slopes rapidly downwards but later remains flat or gently slopes downwards at
its right-hand. The long run average cost curve looks like this:
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IN-TEXT QUESTIONS
11. According to modern theory, average variable cost is
______________shaped.
12. The flat stretch of short-run AVC in modern theory of costs represents the
firm's reserve capacity to meet seasonal and cyclical demand changes.
True/False
13. Long run average costs as per modern theory of costs is U shaped. True /
False
14. The average fixed costs plot as a rectangular hyperbola according to both
traditional and modern theory of costs. True/False
15. According to modern theory, average variable cost:
a) L shaped b) Saucer shaped
c) U Shaped d) M shaped
4.6 SUMMARY
Both explicit and implicit costs are considered in the economic cost of production. The
actual sums paid to third parties for the acquisition of resources and services are referred
to as explicit costs. The opportunity cost connected with using one's own resources for
business purposes is one example of implicit costs.
Economic profit: The difference between a company's total revenue and total costs,
where total costs include both explicit and implicit costs.
Opportunity cost is the cost of the next best option that was skipped.
Long run and short run costs are distinguished in the traditional theory of costs. In the
short run, certain variables are constant while others are subject to change.
The short run costs of a corporation are the costs associated with using the variable units
of production along with the cost of the fixed elements. Total fixed cost (TFC) plus total
variable cost (TVC) is added to get the short run total cost (TC), which is denoted as
TC= TFC + TVC.
Total fixed costs are those whose total amount does not fluctuate while the output varies.
The TC curve is a horizontal straight line.
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The change in output level directly affects the variation in variable costs. The TVC
curve, which reflects the law of variable proportions, is an inverse S-shaped curve.
Total fixed cost (TFC) divided by output level (Q) yields average fixed cost (AFC); AFC
= FC/Q. The AFC curve is a rectangular hyperbola.
The average variable cost is calculated by dividing the total variable cost by the number
of units of output produced. Therefore, .
Average cost (AC) is the total cost (TC) divided by thelevel of output (AC=TC/Q).
Marginal cost (MC) is the change in total cost resulting from a unit change in output;
MCn = TCn – TCn-1. It is the first derivative of the total cost function. The MC curve is
also "U"- shaped. One should remember that MC is independent of fixed costs.
AC and AVC are both U-shaped, illustrating the law of variable proportions.
The MC curve intersects the AVC and AC curves at their minimum points. The
minimum point of AC comes after the minimum point of AVC. The minimum point of
AC is to the right of the minimum point of AVC.
The behaviour of the AC curve is determined by the behaviour of the AVC and AFC
curves.
Initially, both AVC and AFC are falling, resulting in a precipitous drop in AC. The AVC
begins to rise after reaching its minimum point. The AFC is still in decline. The rate of
fall of AFC is greater than the rate of rise of AVC until the minimum point of AC.
Beyond that level of output, the rate of rising AVC offsets the rate of falling AFC,
causing the AC to rise. It is also possible to observe the AVC approaching the AC
asymptomatically. This is due to the AFC, which continues to decrease as output
increases, which in turn shrinks the distance between AC and AVC.
When AC falls, MC is less than AC and lies below AC.
At the minimum point of the AC curve, the slope of AC is zero. At this minimum point
of the AC curve, AC = MC.
When the slope of AC exceeds zero (AC is rising), MC will be greater than AC and will
lie above it.
LAC is called the “envelope curve” as it envelops the SAC curve since LAC is derived
from the short run cost curves.
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The U-shape of the LAC curve implies that LMC is also U-shaped. The LMC curve cuts
the LAC curve at the latter’s minimum point. When LAC is falling, LMC is below it.
When LAC is rising, LMC is above it. When LAC is at its minimum point, then LMC =
LAC
4.7 GLOSSARY
Short Run- It is a time period in which some factors are fixed, while others are variable.
Long Run- It is a time period in which all factors are variable and none of the variables is
fixed.
Fixed Costs- Fixed costs are those that are not affected by changes in output.
Variable Costs- These are the costs associated with the use of variable factors of production,
the amount of which can be changed in the short run.
Marginal Costs –These are the costs added to the total cost of producing one more unit of
output.
Accounting Costs- These are the expenses that are recorded in the books of account such as
profit and loss statements and the balance sheet.
Economic Costs- It is the sum total of explicit and implicit cost.
Opportunity Costs- These are the returns from the firm's second-best use of resources that it
foregoes in order to reap the benefits of the best use of resources
Sunk Costs- These are investments that have no opportunity cost.
Historical Costs- The historical cost of an asset is its original cost.
Replacement Costs- A replacement cost is the amount of money that would have to be paid
today to replace the same asset.
Incremental Costs- Incremental costs are defined as the change in overall costs caused by
specific decisions.
Books Costs- These are costs that do not involve cash payments, but a provision is made in
the books of account, and they are taken into account when the profit and loss accounts are
finalised.
Out-of-Pocket Costs- These also known as explicit costs, are those that require immediate
cash payment.
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Private Costs- Private cost is the cost of production incurred and provided for by an
individual firm engaged in the production of a commodity.
Social Costs- The total cost to society of producing a good.
Shutdown Costs- Costs incurred when production operations are suspended.
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LESSON 5
MARKET STRUCTURES
Dr. Minesh Kumar Srivastava
Assistant Professor
School of Business Studies
Vivekananda Institute of Professional Studies
Technical Campus, New Delhi
minesh.srivastava@gmail.com
STRUCTURE
5.1 Learning Objectives
5.2 Market Structures
5.3 Perfect Competition
5.3.1 Characteristics
5.3.2 Equilibrium of Firm and Industry under Perfect Competition
5.3.3 Price Determination under Perfect Competition
5.3.4 Dynamic Changes under Perfect Competition
5.4 Monopoly
5.4.1 Characteristics
5.4.2 Equilibrium under Monopoly
5.4.3 Price Determination under Monopoly
5.4.4 Dynamic Changes under Monopoly
5.4.5 Multiplant Firm
5.4.6 Bilateral Monopoly
5.5 Pricing Strategies
5.6 Monopolistic Competition
5.6.1 Characteristics
5.6.2 Equilibrium of the Firm under Monopolistic Competition
5.6.3 Price Determination under Monopolistic Competition
5.7 Oligopoly
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5.7.1 Characteristics
5.7.2 Price Rigidity
5.7.3 Collusive vs Non-collusive Oligopoly
5.7.4 Game Theory
5.8 Summary
5.9 Glossary
5.10 Answers to In-text Questions
5.11 Self-Assessment Questions
5.12 References
5.13 Suggested Readings
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Perfect competition: there are unlimited number of sellers selling homogenous goods at
uniform price. The demand curve of a firm is perfectly elastic parallel to X-axis with freedom
of entry and exit from the market.
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Differentiated
Monopoly Restricted (No Single Unlimited Price- maker
Substitute)
Price rigidity
Identical or
Duopoly Restricted Two Unlimited due to price
differentiated
war
Price rigidity
Identical or
Oligopoly Restricted Few Unlimited due to price
differentiated
war
Identical or
Monopsony Free Unlimited Single Price-taker
differentiated
Identical or
Oligopsony Free Unlimited Few Price-taker
differentiated
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Fig 5.2: Short-Run Equilibrium of the Firm under Perfect Competition (Marginal Cost-
Marginal Revenue Approach)
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Fig 5.3: Short-Run Equilibrium of the Firm under Perfect Competition (Total Cost-Total
Revenue Approach)
B. Short-Run Equilibrium of the Industry
A perfectly competitive industry must fulfil two conditions to reach the equilibrium
position in short run. These are.
(i) SAC = AR and
(ii) SMC = MR for all the firms.
This implies that all firms of a perfectly competitive industry must be earning only
normal profits. This is totally a coincidence, because we have seen that in short run a firm
may earn supernormal profits or incur losses. Even then, there is a possibility of industry to
achieve equilibrium when its quantity demanded equals to its quantities supplied at the price
which clears the market.
Fig 5.4 depicts the equilibrium of a perfectly competitive industry. At point E, the
total demand curve “D” and total supply curve “S” intersects giving equilibrium price OP and
output OQ. But one can see that at the prevailing market price OP, some firms are earning
supernormal profits PE1ST, while some other firms are incurring losses.
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In the long run, this excess profit made by existing firms will attract newer firms into
the market. This incoming of newer firms will result in a rightward shift in the market supply
causing price to fall below the short-run equilibrium level P'. The new equilibrium price may
either remain above the original level, or it may return to the original price P, based on the
magnitude of the shift in the market supply curve. This shift in the market supply curve also
reflects the cost conditions prevailing in the industry which indicates the change in factor
costs as the industry expands.
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Fig 5.8: Impact of Shift in the Market Demand under Constant-cost Industry
2. Increasing-cost industry
In an increasing-cost industry the factor prices increase as the market expands. Under
an increasing-cost industry the long-run supply curve of the industry is positively sloped. In
the fig 5.9, we can see as the market demand shifts from DD to D1D1, the market price
increases giving excess profits to existing firms. This will attract newer firms in the market
resulting increasing demand for factors of production. Our assumption of an increasing-cost
industry will cause an upward shift in the production costs of existing as well as newer firms.
Hence, the newer market prices will be higher than the original market price giving an
upward sloping long-run supply curve.
Fig 5.9: Impact of Shift in the Market Demand under Increasing-cost Industry
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3. Decreasing-cost industry
A decreasing-cost industry means the prices of factors of production will go down as
the market expands. This gives the industry a negatively sloped long-run supply curve. The
situation has been depicted in the fig.5.10 where shift in the market demand DD to D1D1
attracts newer firms in the market. As the demand for factors of production increases their
price decreases. As a result, the cost of production shifts downwards decreasing the market
price. This also results in downward sloping long-run supply curve.
Fig 5.10: Impact of Shift in the Market Demand under Decreasing-cost Industry
B. A Shift in the Costs due to Changes in Factor Prices
The above shifts in the cost curves of the firms depend on whether the change relates
to the fixed or the variable factors. First, let’s see the effect of an increase in the fixed cost of
the firms.
1. An increase in the fixed cost
In the fig 5.11 we have assumed that the rent of the factory is increased. This leads to
an upward shift in both the AFC and the ATC curves, leaving the AVC and the MC curves
remains unaffected. Since the MC curve will remain unchanged, the equilibrium position of
the firm will remain at the same position in the short run. This means the market output and
price will remain at the original position (OQ and OP) respectively.
However, if we assume that the firm was just earning normal profits before the rise in
the fixed cost. Now it will not be able to cover its average costs and will go out of business in
the long run. Resulting a leftward shift in the market supply curve in the long run that
increases the market prices and decreases the market output due to lesser numbers of firms in
the industry.
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Fig 5.11: Impact of an Increase in the Fixed Cost under Perfect Competition
2. An increase in the variable costs
Now we assume that the labour wages have increased that shifting the AVC, ATC and
the MC curves to the left (fig.6.12). Since the MC curve is also the supply curve of the firm,
the rise in the variable costs will shift the market supply curve to the left at the going market
price.
Given the market demand curve, the price will rise to P’ due to the shift in the market
supply curve in the short run.
Fig 5.12: Impact of an Increase in the Variable Cost under Perfect Competition
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5.4 MONOPOLY
Under monopoly market a single firm represents the whole industry. It captures the
entire market and faces no competition. The firm set the prices for its products. This can be
due to sole access to resources, government licenses, Intellectual Property Rights (IPR) over
the product, or high initial setup costs. Under monopoly, the market forces become irrelevant
as the consumer lose all their power to negotiate and become price-takers. Although, a pure
monopoly is very rare but few examples that are close to monopoly are local electricity
supplier, supplier of Uranium and Thorium (raw materials for nuclear power plants), etc.
5.4.1 Characteristics:
Single firm with not rival or direct competition
Entry of new firms is completely blocked due to technical, legal or economic reasons
Firm decides its price, ‘price-maker’.
Demand curve is downward sloping
Monopolist can either set its prices or the quantity but not both
The concept of supply curve is meaningless under monopoly
Monopolist practices price discrimination to extract maximum profit
Monopolist can earn super normal profits even in long-run
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Normal Profits
A monopolist will earn only normal profit when the price charged is just equals to the
SAC (i.e., AR = SAC). In fig 6.15, the equilibrium point is at E where, MC = MR and the
optimal output is OM and price is OP.
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Fig 5.18: Long-run Equilibrium under Monopoly (Total Cost-Total Revenue Approach)
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the equilibrium position shifts rightwards resulting increase in quantity supplied (OX1 <
OX2). However, the price falls from P1 to P2 due to this shift in the demand curve.
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variable cost is identical in both the market shifting the MC curves identically. Since, the
slope of the MR curve is steeper than the AR curve in the monopoly market than pure
completion with MR = AR = P. Consequently, an identical shift of the MC curves in both the
markets results in a larger fall in the quantity and larger rise in the prices of the firm under
pure competition as compared to monopoly.
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equilibrium position, the price is higher, and the output is smaller. The change in the price
may be lower, equal or higher than the specific tax, as in the case of pure competition.
If the MC curve is positively sloped as shown in the part I of the fig 6.24, the increase
in the price for a monopoly will be smaller than the specific tax, as compared to pure
competition.
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However, this cannot be the market equilibrium position because the mining firm is
dealing with a monopsonist firm which possess some power to affect the market price.
Hence, the mining firm cannot attain the profit-maximising position. The monopsonist firm
also interested in maximising his profit by putting some terms and conditions to the
agreement. Since, the upward sloping MC curve of the mining firm is the supply curve to the
thermal power producing firm which indicates that the monopsonist has to pay higher price as
he purchases higher quantity. This is the marginal expenditure for the monopsonist, and the
firm will maximise its profit at a point of intersection between demand curve DD and ME
curve at point e. Thus, he would like to buy OX2 quantity at a price P2.
We clearly see a situation of indeterminacy in the market where the seller is offering
its product at a price P1, and the buyer is willing to pay only P2. In such situation, both the
firms will start negotiations and will settle at somewhere between P1 and P2 depending on the
bargaining skill and power of the firms.
IN-TEXT QUESTIONS
1. The demand curve of a firm under perfect competition is unitary elastic.
(True/False)
2. A firm under perfect competition is a ‘price-taker’ because:
A. the firm’s management doesn’t know what price to set.
B. the output of the firm is too small to influence the market price.
C. the firm is following a price leader
D. the firm produces less output to set a higher price.
3. A perfectly competitive firm will accept a ________ price and also produce
_________ quantity than a monopolist.
4. There is no unique supply curve under monopoly. (True/False).
Pricing objective: whether the firm is pursuing survival, maximum profit, maximum
market penetration, pricing leadership, etc.
Demand of the product: whether the product is highly price sensitive, just like in the
case of perfect competition, or the product is price inelastic in case of highly essential
commodities.
Cost of production: every firm wants to cover its production cost and some
proportion of profit from sale of their products. If the firms are not able to recover its
AVC, its shutdowns its business.
Competitors pricing strategies generally seen in imperfect competition like
oligopoly, where there are only few firms are operating in the market. Here,
competitors pricing strategies affects the firms pricing decisions.
Other factors: like government regulations, number of substitutes, product life cycle,
method of production, brand value, etc.
Based on these the pricing strategies are broadly classified into four major categories.
These are.
A. Cost Based Pricing Strategies: As the name suggests the major factor is the cost of
production that decides the firms’ pricing policy. There are various pricing strategies under
cost-based pricing.
(i) Full Cost/ Cost plus Pricing: Here, the prices are set just equal to the average cost,
also called ‘break-even’ pricing (no profit no loss). Or prices include some share of
mark-up/ margin of profit. It is generally used for pricing public utilities.
(ii) Incremental Cost Pricing: Similar to full cost pricing, but here average variable cost is
used as a yardstick in place of average cost.
(iii) Marginal Cost Pricing: Here, marginal cost is used to determine the prices of the
products.
(iv) Target Pricing: Similar to cost plus pricing but here the firm fixes the mark-up based
on certain targets that it wants to achieve.
B. Competition Based Pricing Strategies: The competitors pricing strategies becomes the
dominating factor in deciding the prices.
(i) Going rate Pricing: under this pricing method firms fixes the prices that are prevailing
in the industry.
(ii) Sealed Bid Pricing: Very common in cases where some kind of bidding is involved.
Here, the prospective companies give their bids in a sealed cover. The firms must
have to stick to their pricing quotes, or they may lose their contracts.
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C. Demand Based Pricing Strategies: The pricing decision is based on the demand of the
products.
(i) Dual Pricing: As the name suggests, here two prices are set. Certain fixed price is
applied to part of the product and remaining product is sold at prevailing market price.
Sugar prices in India is fixed based on dual pricing strategy.
(ii) Price Lining: Prices are fixed on the size, quality, quantity, colour, flavour, etc. of a
same product. For example, in case of garments size XXL may be priced higher than
the size S or M.
(iii) Cyclical Pricing: Every firm goes through some kind of cyclical fluctuation also
called trade cycle. The prices are fixed based on the phase in which firms are in. For
example, prices are high during prosperity phase and vice-versa.
D. Strategy Based Pricing: Different businesses adopts different strategies for their products
based on the nature of the product.
(i) Penetration Pricing: When the firm wants to capture larger market share for their
products, they go for this type of pricing strategies. Here, the prices are fixed at a
lower side to cover larger customer segment and after establishing the product
credibility in the minds of the consumers prices are increased to recover the losses.
(ii) Skimming Pricing: Just opposite to the Penetrative pricing, here the prices are fixed
on the higher side in the beginning to attract elite customer segment. Firms spends
huge sum on Research and Development of their products and wants to recover the
cost as soon as possible. When they believe that the product that they are offering are
innovative and have no close substitute they go for such pricing strategy. This type of
pricing is also used in case of a products having high brand value. For example, Apple
company fixes the prices of their products very high whenever they launch an updated
version of their I-phones.
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Products are not the perfect substitutes: differentiation is created in terms of quality,
colour, packaging, taste, etc.
Firms are free to enter and exit from the market
Firms have a degree of control over price
High advertisement cost: Chamberlin introduced U-shaped selling cost curve.
Excess capacity in the long run
5.6.2 Equilibrium of the Firm under Monopolistic Competition
Short-run Equilibrium
In the short run, each firm under monopolistic competition act as monopolists. As
new firms are not allowed to enter the market in the short run, they can earn supernormal
profits or may incur losses. The equilibrium condition for a firm in the short run is at a point
where SMC = MR. Fig 6.27 depicts the equilibrium position E, where the optimal output and
price are OQ and OP respectively, and the firm earns profit equivalent to the area BPAR.
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Long-run Equilibrium
A firm under monopolistic competition act as perfectly competitive firm and earns
only normal profit in the long run. This is due to the fact that in the long run they are free to
enter and leave the market.
The long-run equilibrium condition for a firm is at a point where LMC cuts the MR
from below (Fig 5.28). The equilibrium level of output and price are OQM and OPM. Note
that the price under monopolistic competition is higher and the output is lower than the
perfectly competitive price and output PP and QP respectively.
5.6.3 Price Determination under Monopolistic Competition:
Each firm under monopolistic competition have a slight control over the prices as they
ignore the market price and sets its own prices. Since the products offered are not perfect
substitutes a firm may increase its prices up to a certain extent without losing its market
share. Firms in order to create a differentiation in the minds of customers for their products
from the competitors incur heavy advertisement expenditure resulting higher costs. The
prices are fixed at the point where the MC curve cuts the MR curve from below both in short-
run and long-run.
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5.7 OLIGOPOLY
Oligopoly comes from the combinations of two Greek words ‘oligo’ and ‘pole’ which
means ‘few’ and ‘merchants’ respectively. Hence, oligopoly is a market structure with few
companies selling identical or differentiated goods and services. Given firms are few in
number, competitive strategies depend on the move of other firms. Firms in this market
either compete with another firm or collaborate together to form a cartel. In either case they
have significant control over the prices and can earn supernormal profits in the long-run as
well unlike in perfect competition where they are price-takers. Few examples of oligopoly
market are Steel industry, Film, mobile phone, natural gas, etc. Given below are the key
characteristics of oligopoly for your reference.
5.7.1 Characteristics:
Few large sellers
Goods can be identical or differentiated in nature
Profit maximization: at point where MC equals MR
Firms are price setters: They have a strong influence over prices
Barriers in entry and exit
Companies can earn super normal profits even in long-run
Firms having complete knowledge of their own cost and demand functions.
Kinked-demand curve: because firms follow price reduction by the competitors but
not the price rise.
Non-price competition among firms
High selling costs: advertisements, promotions, loyalty schemes, etc.
5.7.2 Price Rigidity:
Paul Sweezy is an American economist who argued that the pricing decisions under
oligopoly are guided by competitors’ actions rather than by cost or demand objectives. He
introduced the ‘Kinked Demand curve’ for an oligopolist firm, where a price reduction by the
firm is followed by its rivals but not the price rise.
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In the fig 5. 29, we can see that, the upper portion of the demand curve is more price
elastic than the lower part. It is due to the price-rigidity among firms. Also, note that the MR
curve is discontinuous in shape and the equilibrium condition is at a point where, MC = MR.
Now the second firm B will assume that the firm A will keep its output fixed at OA
and considers its own demand curve is CD’. The firm B will produce the half the quantity
that has not been supplied by the first firms. With its output at AB, firm B will earn
maximum profit.
unrealistic assumptions lead to the criticism of this model for example, the naïve behaviour of
firms, constant production of output by each firm, n number of adjustment periods and zero-
cost production.
Cournot equilibrium can also be determined with the help of reaction-curve approach
which is based on Stackelberg’s indifference-curve analysis. Under reaction-curve approach
we relax the assumption of identical costs and identical demands and uses iso-profit curves of
the rivals. An iso-profit curve for firm A is the locus points of different levels of output of
firm A and firm B, which gives firm A the same level of profit. Fig 6.31 depicts the reaction-
curves of both the firms along with the iso-profit maps.
C. Collusive Oligopoly
The uncertainty arising from interdependence in an oligopolistic model can be
avoided by entering into collusive agreements. Such collusion is mainly of two types, cartels
and price leadership.
1. Cartels
Cartels is a direct agreement among the rival firms to reduce the uncertainty arising
from their mutual interdependence. Firms generally join cartels to maximise their joint
profits. Taking example of a pure oligopoly model where firms selling homogenous goods.
These firm forms a cartel and appoint a central agency that decides total quantity to be
offered at what price along with allocation of production and sharing ratio of profits among
members.
The central agency has access to the production costs of each firm and by their
horizontal summation the MC curve for the industry is derived. The central agency act as a
multiplant monopolist and fix a price at the intersection of the industry MR and MC curves.
Fig 6.35 shows that total production is OX, and it is sold at a price P. The central agency
allocates the output and distributes the profits among two firms.
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a) Low-cost Price Leadership: Under this, a low-cost firm would charge a lower price and
this price is followed by other firms in the market. This may not be a profit-maximizing
situation for the followers but is a necessary step to avoid a price war between the firms
where the one with lowest price will easily win.
b) Dominant Price leadership: As the name suggests, under this model the dominant firm
(one with largest market share) act as a monopolist and fixes the prices at a point where his
MC = MR. This situation leads to a profit maximization for the leader but on the other hand,
the followers act as price-takers and supply the remaining share in the market at a prevailing
price.
c) Barometric Price Leadership: It is a formally/informally agreed market situation where
all the firms follow the prices set by a barometric (leader) firm. This leader firm may not have
the largest market share or lowest curve but have a good market knowledge and can better
forecast the market demands. It is interesting to note that a firm from other industry could be
chosen as the barometric leader. For instance, a firm in the semi-conductor industry may be
selected as a barometric leader for price changes in the Information and Communication
Technology (ICT) hardware industry like laptops, desktops, mobiles, etc.
5.7.4 Game Theory:
Traditional economic theories cannot answer the complexities and uncertainties of
oligopolistic market. Here, interdependence of firms and rivals’ reactions decides the suitable
strategies to be adopted by firms. Even the collusive models, limit-pricing models,
managerial models, and behavioural models, cannot explain the decision-making process of
oligopolist firms.
‘Theory of Games and Economic Behaviour’, published in 1944 by Von Neumann's
and Morgenstern provided a different approach to the study of the oligopoly market. At
present times, economists are using high-speed computers to conduct experiments to predict
oligopolistic behaviours based on game theory.
Firms generally uses various tools and instruments to achieve their desired goals.
These instruments could by production, pricing, costing, marketing, R&D, etc. also called
strategies. A strategy is a specific course of action with clearly defined objectives to achieve
specific aim. For example, a strategy could be setting a price below market price, selling
products using different channels, producing goods of better quality or at minimum price.
To each of these strategies the rival firms may react in different ways, that is, by
adopting different strategies. They may follow the same or different strategies adopted by the
first firm. Thus, different options available to each competing firm and they adopt the one
with maximum advantage. Hence, the payoff of a strategy is the 'net gain' it will give to the
firm considering the counterstrategy of the rivals. This payoff is measured in terms of the
objectives of the firm. For instance, if the aim of the firm is to earn maximum profits, then
the payoffs of a strategy will be measured in terms of profit levels that it gives. Therefore, for
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every strategy and counterstrategy there is a payoff associated. All this can be depicted in a
form of a payoff matrix.
In the table 6.2, we have assumed two firms where firm I can choose five strategies
(A1……A5) and firm II can react by using any one of six counterstrategies (B1…. B6). It
should be noted that the counterstrategies of the competitive firm are probable but not certain.
Thus, a total of 5 x 6 = 30 payoffs are possible (G11 ……. G56).
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Clearly this is a worse situation as compared with the adoption of the 'no confession'
strategy by both robbers. The 'dominant' strategy, which implies the rule 'expect the worst
from the other’ leads to a worse position than the robbers need be in. If communication were
possible, or if from past experience the fellows had learned to trust each other, they would
both plead 'not guilty' and had gone free, thus maximising their 'gains'. This is the prisoner’s
dilemma which leads to a suboptimal solution for the competing firms.
IN-TEXT QUESTIONS
5. The basic difference between monopolistic competition and monopoly is the
barrier to entry. (True/False)
6. Cartels are very common in ____________ market structure.
7. Which of the following is the feature of monopolistic competition?
A. Product differentiation
B. Large number of sellers
C. Huge selling costs
D. All of the Above
8. Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) is an example of?
A. Monopolistic Competition
B. Cartel
C. Perfect Competition
D. Non-collusive Oligopoly
9. A Prisoner’s Dilemma explains the behaviour of firms operating under
A. Monopolistic Competition
B. Cartel
C. Monopoly
D. Oligopoly
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5.8 SUMMARY
We see different types of market structures that in real life. Some are specialized in a
particular goods, some offers products at uniform prices, and some have very limited number
of sellers and so on. In economics, we divide these markets into perfect competition,
imperfect competition and monopoly. In this chapter we have analysed each of these market
structures and defined them along with that determined their equilibrium conditions and
pricing strategies.
While companies in the short run in any market structure can earn super normal
profits. However, the level of competition and freedom of entry decides the long-run profits.
We studied that on the one hand, firms under perfect competition are price-takers and earns
normal profits, and on the other hand a monopolist using its monopoly power sets its prices to
earn super normal profits even in the long-run. We also saw how a monopolist firm segregate
its customers and practices price discrimination to extract entire consumer surplus.
Similarly, under monopolistic competition and oligopoly firms which are closer to
real world market uses different promotional tools to differentiate their products from the
competitors.
In the absence of collusion among oligopolist firms, the monopoly solution (i.e., the
point at which the joint industry profit is maximised) is hard to achieve. Generally, cartels are
formed either to maximise the industry profits or to share the market output. And lastly, the
Game theory approach is a useful tool to generalise the decision-making process of oligopoly
market in a controlled environment.
5.9 GLOSSARY
Bilateral Monopoly: a market situation where a single seller (monopolist) and a single buyer
(monopsonist) operates.
Consumer Surplus: It is “the difference between the maximum amount of money that the
consumers are willing to pay and the amount they actually pay”.
Collusion: It is an agreement between firms to share market output and profits. It is generally
seen in oligopolistic markets.
Firms: Individual unit selling products or services.
Game theory: It is a tool developed to generalise the oligopolistic market behaviour.
Industry: Group of firms selling identical products.
Marginal Revenue: is the addition to the total revenue by selling one additional unit of
output.
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1. False 6. Oligopoly
2. B. 7. D All of the Above
3. Lower, Higher 8. B. Cartel
4. True 9. D. Oligopoly
5. True
5.12 REFERENCES
Chamberlin, E. H. (1933). Theory of Monopolistic Competition. Harvard University Press.
Kotler, P. (2012). Kotler on marketing. Simon and Schuster.
Lipsey, R., & Chrystal, A. (2011). Economics. Oxford University Press.
Robinson, Joan (1961). The Economics of Imperfect Competition. Macmillan, London.
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LESSON 6
OLIGOPOLY
Subhash Manda
Assistant Professor
subhash.manda@rajguru.du.ac.in
University
Email Id
STRUCTURE
6.1 Learning Objectives
6.2 Introduction
6.3 Oligopoly
6.3.1 Meaning
6.3.2 Features of Oligopoly
6.4 Oligopoly Models
6.4.1 Cournot
6.4.2 Bertrand
6.4.3 Sweezy kinked demand
6.5 Game Theory
6.6 Summary
6.7 Self-Assessment Questions
6.8 References
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6.2 INTRODUCTION
Till now, we have learnt about different types of market structures, in which we have
discussed perfect competition, monopoly, and monopolistic competition, and their pricing
decisions and output decisions. Here we are going to learn about oligopoly market structure
in which we are trying to understand how oligopolistic firms take decisions regarding price
and output.
In this chapter, we are going to examine oligopoly market structure and begin
discussing the meaning, features and sources of oligopoly. Later on, we will examine
different models of oligopoly, like the Cournot model and the Bertrand model. An
oligopolistic market is one market structure where there are few sellers of a homogeneous or
differentiated product. All these few sellers are so interdependent that the actions of one
seller can have a large impact on the profits of all other sellers. This chapter's objective is to
examine how this interdependence affects the behaviour of the sellers or companies.
Whenever you are planning to buy a two-wheeler (petrol), it is likely that you will come
home with one of four companies' brands: Hero, TVS, Honda, or Bajaj. These four
companies manufacture nearly all the two-wheelers sold in India. Together, these companies
produce all the units of two-wheelers and given the market demand curve, the price at which
two-wheelers are sold. The two-wheeler market does not fit either the perfect competition,
monopolistic, or monopoly market structures. The extreme forms of market structure are
perfect competition and monopoly. We all know that perfect competition occurs when there
are many companies selling identical products, and a monopoly occurs when there is only
one seller who is going to sell the product in the entire market. When we talk about
monopolistic competition, there are a large number of sellers that are selling the same
category of products, but there is a slight difference in terms of price, quality, and promotion.
So, which market category would you put the two-wheeler market in (because there are few
sellers)? We can also take other industries like cement (Ultra tech, Birla, ACC, Ambuja),
steel (Tata Steel, Jindal Steel, JSW), and airlines (Air India, Indigo, AirAsia India, Vistara).
All these are examples of an oligopoly market structure. Oligopoly is the most interesting of
all the market structures. Although it is one of the most realistic market structure kinds, it is
also the most challenging to characterise as a theory. But when it comes to the application
part of it, or when it comes to the implementation of this form of market, it is generally the
most realistic as compared to any other kind of market structure like perfect competition,
monopoly, or monopolistic.
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6.3 OLIGOPOLY
6.3.1 Meaning:
Basically, word oligopoly derives from the Greek word’s oligo, which means few,
and polo, which means to sell. It follows that an oligopoly market is one where there are few
sellers. So, to put it simply, an oligopoly is a market with few sellers; either they produce a
differentiated product or a homogeneous product while constantly being aware of their
competitors' behaviour.
From the above definition, we can say that there are just a few dominating sellers, and
they are completely aware of their rivals' actions. This, in my opinion, is the most important
characteristic of an oligopoly. This means that regardless of whether they produce
differentiated products or homogeneous products, they always make a decision on price and
output based on how their competitors will react to those decisions. In an oligopoly market
structure, the firms depend on each other because they think about how their competitors will
react when they are making decisions. Due to this, there is intense competition, in which rival
companies spend a lot of money on advertising and promotions (such as discounts and cash
back incentives). This leads to pricing rigidity, in which a single price prevails in the market,
much like in a situation of perfect competition. However, the price is controlled by a
dominating company rather than by market forces.
The conclusion is that in an oligopolistic market structure dominated by a few
companies, in which they are selling differentiated products or homogeneous products, under
the continuous awareness or consciousness of rivals' actions.
A dominating company is a company that has a large market share compared to rival
companies. This company is going to take decisions regarding the price of the product.
These dominating companies get this dominance power because of their efficiency in
production and large market share. And their rivals are going to follow their decisions.
In fact, in real life, you have seen these things on a daily basis, like Amul and Mother
Dairy, two dominating companies in dairy products (especially in Delhi NCR). Amul is
the first company that is going to increase the price, then Mother Dairy and other
companies will also increase their product prices. The same thing will be observed in
the telecom industry, where first Jio will raise the prices of various plans, followed by
other companies such as Airtel and VI (Vodafone -Idea Ltd.)
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oligopoly
Let's take the example of OPEC (Oil and Petroleum Exporting Countries),
which is a perfect example of an explicit collusive oligopoly (also known as cartels).
I hope you have heard about OPEC somewhere. Basically, it's an international group
or cartel of oil exporting or supplying countries. Under this cartel, they have publicly
decided to charge a single price for the product all over the world.
Now let's talk about another form of collusion oligopoly, which is tacit
collusion. Here we will see that there is no formal contract between the companies,
though indirectly they agree to sell products in separate markets or fix a uniform
price. An example could be the telecom industry in this situation if we keep other
things constant. Here you will see three different companies are selling the same
price plan for prepared users. It means they are selling identical products, but at the
same time, each and every company is providing some extra benefits, and that creates
a difference in the consumer's mind. Another thing you will notice here is that there is
no price competition among companies.
Airtel Jio Vi
Price Rs 479 Rs 479 Rs 479
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5. Barriers to entry-
Even though there is no legal barrier in an oligopolistic market like in a monopoly
market, there are still some things that can affect your decision to enter into an
oligopolistic market structure. These are:
There is a huge amount of money need for investment. So, if anybody wants to get
into the market, they need to arrange a lot of money to establish their business in an
oligopolistic market because they have to compete with their products and their
prices. So, it's quite difficult for individual people to arrange this amount of money.
And ultimately, it creates a barrier to entry. For example, if you want to set up a
cement factory, power plant, steel factory, or automobile factory, then you will need a
lot of money.
Strong consumer loyalty to the existing brands can be another barrier. Like, there
are many firms, but only a few firms have the most market share. This is because
customers are very loyal to those few companies. When customers are very loyal to
existing brands, it can be hard for new companies to get into the market and compete.
Another barrier can be economies of scale, as we all know that in an oligopolistic
market, only a few large sellers dominate the market. Existing sellers have already
achieved economies of scale. So, when you try to enter the market or operate in the
market, you have to compete with them with a high cost of production. This creates
an entry barrier for you (the new entrant), because you know that if you enter that
market, you will have to compete with a high cost of production.
Mergers can also create barriers in oligopolistic markets. A merger is the coming
together of two or more businesses into one. This is how we can reduce competition
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in the market. It led to the establishment of oligopolistic companies. The main reasons
for mergers are getting more market power; getting access to more resources; getting
economies of scale; and growing the market, among other things.
Sometimes, an oligopolistic market can also be created by legal restrictions,
licenses, or bidding processes, as you have seen in the Indian power sector, where
there are a few companies that have exclusive rights to produce and distribute
electricity and a few other industries, like the telecom industry through bidding for
spectrum and the coal mining industry through bidding for coal mines, and this
exclusivity is provided by the government through licenses, bidding, etc.
6. Non-price competition-
In general, oligopoly firms avoid price wars because doing so will only benefit
consumers, not the firms. Instead of competing on price, they use other methods to
increase sales, such as aggressive advertising, product bundling, influencing the
consumer's perception of value, branding, and offering better service packages, which
are typically ways to increase sales rather than engaging in price competition.
Why don't companies engage in price competition in an oligopolistic market
structure?
Let's get the answer to this question through a diagram. Suppose there are two
companies in the market, P and Q. Both companies are selling or producing
homogeneous products. If we assume that the price is initially Price1. Q will always
believe that if I lower the price, I'll gain a sizable market share, and because they are
dependent on each other, since Q has lowered the price, P has lowered the price and
increased its market share. Q will now use that plan (as used by P by lowering prices)
and lower its prices to try to get a bigger share of the market. Now, again what will be
the reaction of P, knowing that Q has already reduced the price to get the market
share, also P will reduce again, and reduce the price in order to get the market share,
what will be the reaction of Q; P has already reduced again to gain the market share,
Q will also reduce, this will continue again this will continued by Q; this is the price2
now, at this point, the firms P and Q will feel that, if they are going beyond this, it is
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no longer profitable for them (If they go beyond this price2, then it will be beneficial
for the consumer, not for companies or producers).
Price price1
P price2 Q
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What is duopoly?
It’s a form of oligopoly in which there are only two sellers or producers in the market.
There is no difference between oligopoly and duopoly except the number of players in
the market. For example, in the beverage industry, Coca-Cola and Pepsi, and India’s
telecom industry to some extent, you can consider it a duopoly if two companies
sustain in the market, either Jio and Airtel or Airtel and Vi or Vi and Jio.
6.4.1 Cournot Model:
6.4.1 Cournot Duopoly Model:
This model was developed by a French economist, Augustin Cournot, in 1838. This
model shows us that interdependence exists among oligopolistic firms.
This model is based on the following assumptions:
1. There are only two firms (P and Q) that are selling identical products, i.e., spring
water.
2. It is assumed that there are no production costs because the customers bring their own
containers to the springs.
3. One behavioural assumption is that each firm, while trying to maximise total profits,
assumes that the other firm will hold its output constant at the existing level.
4. Companies are not permitted to form cartels.
Suppose there are two firms, P and Q. Now we will try to figure out how firm P's
output decision is impacted when firm Q enters the market. As a result, the profitability of
firm P depends on how much it estimates the production level of firm Q.
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ddP- It's basically firm P’s demand curve, and right now, we can see that firm Q is producing
zero units, so that's why firm P's demand curve and the market demand curve are both the
same (ddp=D).
MC- There is no marginal cost; the MC curve coincides with the horizontal axis.
MRP – The marginal revenue curve, which corresponds to the D demand curve.
Point E- It is the point where firm P is earning a maximum profit because the MR curve and
MC are both equal at this point, and it is Firm P's equilibrium point (MR = MC). At present,
the firm P is producing 1,000 units.
dd1P- Here you can see the diagram, Firm P is assuming that firm Q will produce 1000 units,
so firm P cuts down on their production by 1000 units. And this is how firm P’s demand
curve shifts leftward.
MR1P- The marginal revenue curve, which corresponds to the dd1P demand curve.
Eq1- It is Firm P's equilibrium point (MR1P = MC). At present, the firm P is producing 500
units.
dd2P- You can see the diagram, Firm P is assuming that firm Q will produce 1500 units, so
firm P cuts down on their production by 1500 units. And this is how firm P’s demand curve
shifts leftward.
MR2P- The marginal revenue curve, which corresponds to the dd2P demand curve.
Eq2- It is Firm P's equilibrium point (MR2P = MC). At present, the firm P is producing 250
units.
Now let's take the extreme point where firm Q will produce 2000 units and firm P will
produce nothing.
What we have seen so far in this model is that firm P's production is decreasing as
firm Q's production is increasing. To define this relationship, we need one curve. That curve
is the reaction curve. It shows us the relationship between a firm's profit-maximising
level of output and the amount it assumes its rival firm will produce. If we want to draw
P's reaction curve from the above diagram, assuming that Q’s output level is 0 units, at that
time P’s profit-maximizing level output will be 1000 units. Further, assuming that Q’s output
level is 1000 units, at that time P’s profit-maximizing level output will be 500 units. If we
assume that Q’s output level is 1500 units, then at P’s profit-maximizing level, output will be
at 250 units. Finally, if we assume Q's output is 2000 units, at the time P's profit maximising
level output would be zero units. If we put all these points on a diagram, we call it firm P’s
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reaction curve PP’. Put all these combinations in tabular form so that it will be quite easy for
us to understand this firm P's reaction curve.
Assuming firm Q’s output Firm P’s Profit maximising level output
0 unit 1000 units
1000 units 500 units
1500 units 250 units
2000 units 0 unit
In a similar way, we can also obtain firm Q's reaction curve while assuming that the marginal
cost of firm P and the marginal cost of firm Q are the same.
Cournot Equilibrium-
The intersection of two reaction curves can be seen in this diagram at point E. At point E,
each company is producing at the output level that, given what the competitor is producing,
maximises its profit. Basically, Cournot equilibrium is a Nash equilibrium, which means that
in an equilibrium situation, each firm is doing as best it can give the actions of its rivals. Each
company chooses its own output under Cournot's equilibrium in order to maximise its profit
in view of what its rival company is producing.
Limitations of Cournot model-
1st – Cournot's duopoly is naive because he never learns from his mistakes. This shows that
his rival is aware of his own sales decisions.
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2nd - One of the first criticisms of Cournot's model was that it didn't take into account a firm's
desire to cut its price and increase sales.
3rd – This is a closed model – does not allow entry.
6.4.2 Bertrand Duopoly Model:
French mathematician Joseph Bertrand proposed a counter-question to the Cournot
model in 1883. Joseph Bertrand asked if the oligopolistic competition is based on price
charged rather than quantity produced. His proposition became the Bertrand model. Again, in
this model, we will consider only two firms, i.e., a duopoly.
If the duopoly company follows Bertrand's theory, it thinks that if it slightly lowers its
price (compared to other prices), it can get the whole market. The duopolist wants to increase
its sales as long as the price is higher than the marginal cost. This is because every extra unit
sold adds to its operating profits. The other company does the same thing, and a price war
starts. The process of cutting prices to win the market continues as long as the price is higher
than the firm's marginal cost at its current sales. Let's understand this model by making a
diagram.
The initial price P is more than firm A's and firm B's marginal costs. As a result, there
is intense price competition, which leads to ongoing price reductions. For example, when
MCR and MCS both equal P1, the output level has reached a point where it is higher than both
market demand and sales. As a result, there will be fewer sales than expected. It is likely that
the marginal costs of either R or S or both will be less than P1 when sales are at a level that is
lower than the desired level. They now have an incentive to increase their sales by lowering
their prices even further. As a result, the price battle will continue until a competitive price
point is achieved.
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The market’s demand corresponds with the combined supply of the two companies at
the competitive price, and the marginal costs of both companies are equivalent to the market
price. The price that can be considered competitive is denoted by the symbol P C. Given this
price, R supplies the g portion of the market, while S supplies the remaining portion, i.e., h.
On the other hand, Bertrand's model does not ensure that equilibrium will be reached at a
competitive price. If the price drops below pc, it is possible that it will stay there despite the
fact that there is an excess of demand. This is due to the fact that whoever raises the price in
response to excessive demand will have a part of the market taken away from them.
The Bertrand’s model can be criticised on the same grounds as the Cournot model-
1st – The behavioural pattern emerging from Bertrand’s assumption is naïve: firms
never learn from past experience.
2nd- Each firm maximizes its own profit, but the industry profit is not maximised.
3rd – This is a closed model – does not allow entry.
6.4.3 Sweezy Kinked Demand Model:
According to the sweezy kinked demand model, each and every company in an
oligopolistic market doesn't want to involve themselves in price war situation. That's why,
instead of a price war, they focus on other non-price competitive strategies like advertising,
sales promotion, and product differentiation. This is how they try to expand their market and
compete with rivals. As a result, in an oligopolistic market, price will remain stable or rigid.
So now we will discuss behavioural assumptions that explain why prices will remain stable or
rigid in an oligopolistic market.
The first one is that if one company reduces its price, other companies will also
reduce their price of the product. The reason is very simple: in an oligopolistic market,
products are very similar to each other (close substitutes), so other companies would worry
that the first or former company would get a large market share. Because of this, the company
that lowered its prices in the beginning doesn't get the benefit it was hoping for, and its
demand curve is very elastic. A price cut will give the company some initial gains, but
because competitors will do the same thing, this increase in demand will not last.
The next behavioural assumption is that if one company increases its price, other
companies will either not follow this strategy or not increase their price of the product. The
reason is very simple: in an oligopolistic market, products are very similar to each other
(close substitutes), so in this case, other companies would not increase their price of the
product, so the first or former company would lose a large number of its customers to other
companies or rivals due to the substitution effect. Because of this, in an oligopolistic market,
company has no other choice but to keep its pricing at the current market price.
Now let's discuss the diagram. If you see this diagram, you will notice that there is a
kink in the diagram at point K, and it divides the demand curve into two parts. When you
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observe this, you will see that DD1 to K is more elastic, and K to DD2 is a less elastic demand
curve. To put it another way, the demand curve above the kink is more elastic than the
demand curve below the kink (below the kink demand curve is less elastic). MP denotes the
current market price at which an oligopolistic firm can sell a product, and OQ denotes the
total quantity. If we see that DD1 to K is more elastic because if any company is going to
increase the price, i.e., if anyone sells a product above the market price, then other companies
will not respond. When we talk about K to DD2, why is it less elastic?
If an oligopolistic company reduces its price, then other companies will also respond
in the same manner (they will also reduce the price). The kink or discontinuity in the demand
curve creates a discontinuity in the MR curve as well. The reason for this discontinuity in the
MR curve between points P and Q is the discontinuity in the demand curve at point K. In this
diagram, the MR curve DD1PQR, so now DD1P is in correspondence with DD1K's demand
curve and QR's marginal revenue curve is in correspondence with KDD2.
why oligopolists are reluctant to alter their pricing, it offers no explanation for how the initial
price was established. It doesn't explain how businesses arrived at the starting pricing or why
they didn't set a different price.
Instead of being an explanation, it is more valuable as a description of pricing rigidity.
Price rigidity can be explained by the prisoner's dilemma and businesses' aim to prevent
harmful price competition.
Second, the model's predictions have not been supported by empirical study. Due to
this, the analysis provided by Sweezy's model has come under scrutiny. Numerous studies
have demonstrated that oligopoly enterprises frequently replicate one another's price
increases during an inflationary time. This goes directly contrary to what this model assumes.
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Why do we discuss game theory only in an oligopolistic context and not in other
market structures?
The first point to mention is that game theory is not important for competitive markets or
monopoly market structure. When we look at the perfect competitive market, all firms are
just part of the whole market. They are insignificant, which means they can't impact the
price and output of the market or other firms in the market. It doesn't matter whether they
are cooperating or not with other firms in the market. And when we see a monopoly,
strategic interactions are absent because there is only one firm. But in an oligopoly
market, it is very useful for understanding the behaviour of oligopolistic firms.
Prisoners’ Dilemma-
The Prisoners' Dilemma emphasizes the value of cooperation. The two participants in the
game have two options: cooperate or defect. The concept is that both players benefit when
they cooperate, but if only one of them does, the other player, who defects, will benefit more.
If both parties cheat or defects, then both lose (or win very little), but not as much as the
cheated or deceived co-operator, whose cooperation is not returned. If both parties cheat, then
both parties lose.
So now let's discuss this prisoner's dilemma through an interesting story. The story begins
like this: The two suspects (Mr. P and Mr. Q) in an armed robbery have been arrested. They
are brought into prison and soon separated. The police believe they have sufficient evidence
to convict Mr. P and Mr. Q of armed robbery, which would result in each of them serving a
sentence of two years in prison. They were instantly separated, and there is no information or
communication between them. The police also believe these two guys are responsible for a
bank robbery in which a victim was seriously hurt. But until one or both of the suspects admit
to the robbery, the evidence isn't strong enough to prove that they did it. Separate
interrogation rooms are set up for Mr. P and Mr. Q, and the police make each of them the
following offer:
1st – If you both confess to a crime, your imprisonment will be for 7 years.
2nd – If one of you confesses to a crime, the other remains silent. In this case, the one who
confesses will get 1 year in jail, whereas the other will get 25 years in jail.
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3rd- We have sufficient evidence against both of you for armed robbery, for which you will
get 2 years of imprisonment.
Now we are going to make a payoff matrix table in which there are two players, Mr. P and
Mr. Q, and imprisonment years are the payoff or outcome. And each individual has two
strategies: confession or remaining silent. As we already discussed in the introduction of
game theory, here's the sentence of imprisonment each prisoner gets depending on their own
strategy and the strategy chosen by the other person. One more interesting point is that here,
neither player has any information regarding which strategy will be chosen by the other
player.
If we think from Q's perspective, he will think like this: if I confess and the other (P) remains
silent, I will get one year of imprisonment. Another thing is that the other person(P)
confesses. Still, my best strategy is to confess because I will get 7 years of imprisonment
rather than 25 years. So, regardless of what the other person (P) is going to do, my best
strategy is to confess. This is called dominating strategy in game theory. And confessing is
also a dominant strategy for Mr. P. Finally, both of the players will confess and get 7 years of
imprisonment.
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Oligopolistic firms also choose their strategies when they are uncertain of how their
competitors will react.
Suppose there are only two companies in the market (P Ltd. and Q Ltd.), and both are
supplying water, so we can consider them to belong to a duopoly market. Following lengthy
negotiations, the two water suppliers agree to maintain production at 60 gallons in order to
maintain their high prices and maximise their combined profit. However, after they reach an
agreement on production levels, each of them must choose whether to work together and
stick to this agreement or to rebel against it and produce at a higher level. Let's make a
diagram in which we will try to show how the strategies used by the two producers affect
how much money they make.
Let's say you are P Ltd. You can think like this: As we had agreed, I could continue
producing at the current level of 60 gallons, or I could increase it and sell 80 gallons. If Q
Ltd. honours the deal and maintains her output at 60 gallons, I will make Rupees 4,000 with
high output and Rupees 3,600 with low output. In this instance, increased productivity is
preferable for me. In the event that Q Ltd. breaks the terms of the deal and produces 80
gallons, I will earn Rupees 3,200 for high output and Rupees 3,000 for low production. Once
again, high productivity is better for me. Therefore, I am better off breaking our agreement
and producing at a high level regardless of what Q Ltd. decides to do. For P Ltd., producing
40 gallons is a key strategy. Naturally, Q Ltd. comes to the same conclusion, and as a result,
both of them produce the greater amount of 80 gallons. The end result is an inferior outcome
(from P Ltd. and Q Ltd. perspectives), with little profit for each of the two producers. This
illustration shows why oligopolies struggle to sustain monopoly profits.
6.6 SUMMARY
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The oligopolistic market structure dominated by a few companies, in which they are
selling differentiated products or homogeneous products, under the continuous awareness or
consciousness of rivals' actions. Oligopolistic market characteristics are few dominant sellers;
products (differentiated or homogeneous); collusive and non-collusive oligopoly; mutual
interdependence; barriers to entry; non-price competition. The causes or reasons for the
existence of an oligopoly market structure are a huge amount of money required; strong
consumer loyalty to the existing brands; economies of scale; merger and legal restrictions;
licences or bidding processes.
In an oligopoly, we cannot determine price and output like we do in other forms of
market structure. Because in the oligopoly market, each and every company is dependent on
another, the price and output of one firm are affected by other firms in the market. There is no
general theory of oligopoly to determine price and output.
We have the Cournot model and the Bertrand model, which state that a firm can
maximise its profit assuming that a rival firm will hold its output constant. And in game
theory, when companies in an oligopoly depend on each other, it's like when two people play
the prisoner's dilemma game and run into trouble. Oligopolistic firms also choose their
strategies when they are uncertain of how their competitors will react.
6.8 REFERENCES
1. Mankiw (2006), principles of Microeconomics, Cengage Learning, 4th edition (India
edition), chapter no. 16.
2. Salvatore, Rastogi, Managerial Economics: Principles and worldwide applications,
Oxford Publication, 8th edition, chapter no. 10.
3. Geetika, Ghosh, Choudhary (2018), Managerial economics, McGraw Hill, 3rd edition,
chapter no. 13.
4. Dr. Deepashree, Microeconomics, chapter no. 11.
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5. https://www.microeconomicsnotes.com/
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LESSON 7
MARKET FAILURE
Dr. Rajeev Kumar Upadhyay
Assistant Professor
Sri Aurobindo College (Evening)
University of Delhi
rajeevupadhyay@live.in
STRUCTURE
L2: Introduction to the concept of market failure and types of market failure.
L3: Introduction to causes of market failure.
L4: Introduction to consequences of market failure.
L5: Introduction to remedies of market failure.
7.2 INTRODUCTION
Economies witness simultaneous interplays of innumerable factors and stakeholders. This
simultaneous interplay of innumerable factors and stakeholders in the economic system
makes the economy a very complex system and a design to completely understand the actual
impacts of complex and cyclical economic activities and respond to. Moreover, the whole
economic system is arranged in a systematic hierarchy of horizontal and vertical structures. It
includes the governments, regulators, consumers, producers, global inter-governmental
organizations and specialists (think tanks)/lobbyists (interest groups) as the main
stakeholders. These stakeholders of the economy altogether act and react to create demand
and supply in any economic system while the market itself tries to bring the economic system
in equilibrium.
Product
Market
Financial
Households
Institution Firms
Factors
Market
In any economic system, there are millions of buyers, consumers, sellers, producers and other
commercial and non-commercial institutions along with many regulators. The flows of
economic activities are circular in nature. The economic activities undertaken by any
stakeholder have direct or indirect impact on that stakeholder as well as the economic
activities too. Because of the presence of a large number of stakeholders interacting
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simultaneously, the whole economic system and the impacts of the economic activities on the
stakeholders as well as the economic activities become very complex. These impacts are of
varying degrees and directions further increasing the complexities.
CASE STUDY
Let’s take the example of interaction between a car buyer and a car
manufacturing company ABC Cars. In a car, there are thousands of small and big spare
parts which have to be assembled together to make a car. Normally a car manufacturer
doesn’t manufacture every part. Rather the car manufacturer sources those spare parts
from hundreds of other suppliers. Those suppliers may also be sourcing some of their
raw materials and spare parts from other suppliers. So, in this process many layers of
buyers and suppliers are involved. Similarly, ABC Cars sources spare parts and
equipment from hundreds of companies.
If a consumer buys a car from ABC Cars, the money that is paid by the buyer would go
in the hands of a large number of stakeholders in varying amounts who have directly or
indirectly contributed to the manufacturing of the car along with sales of the car.
However, the buyer is working for one of the suppliers of automotive microchips for
ABC Cars. This creates a very complex cycle of economic activities in which every
stakeholder plays a very important role and any disturbance with any of the stakeholders
in any ways would lead to a lot of problems for almost every stakeholder in the cycle.
Due to the Coronavirus pandemic, ABC Cars had to face shortage of automotive
microchips. As a result, the cost of microchips increased significantly leading to
increased car prices. This has adversely impacted ABC Cars as well as the automobile
industry as a whole. The adverse impact of automotive microchips was not limited to
only the ABC Cars and automobile industry but the whole economy also along with the
consumers and buyers.
In the economic decision sphere, the government has three fundamental functions such as
macroeconomic, microeconomic and distributive. This chapter focuses on the microeconomic
function of the government. In the context of the microeconomic functions, the government
has two main roles: (1) to regulate the private market by defining and enforcing rules and
intervening in case of market failures, and (2) to provide some certain goods and services
which are not or cannot be provided by the private market.
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Private markets can function efficiently only in an economic environment which is based on a
well-defined rule of law promulgated by the government, enforced by the police and courts.
A well-defined property right is the key instrument for the private market to function. It
should be noted that the nature of the property rights as well as the ethos of property rights
keep on changing over time along with the scope of the property rights. In India the right to
property was a fundamental right but after the 44 Constitution Amendment in 1978, the right
th
IN-TEXT QUESTIONS
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In a typical free market economy, the prices of goods and services are determined by the
forces of demand and supply. Any change in the one force results in the price change and
corresponding change in the price of the other force. These changes lead to price equilibrium.
However, in a situation of misallocation of resources and resultant inefficient distribution of
the goods and services, a state of disequilibrium in the market comes into force and it is
known as the market failure.
Air pollution is caused by many economic activities undertaken by individuals and businesses
in an economy. These economic activities are undertaken by individuals and businesses in
their respective rational self-interest. However, this air pollution proves to be very costly for
the whole economy and society and millions of people across the globe are left worse-off
while the users and producers don’t pay any cost. A report by Lancet Commission on
Pollution and Health found that in 2019, 1.6 million people in India and nine million people
across the globe died due to air pollution. This is a classic example of market failure in which
the economic decisions of a group of individuals and businesses in rational self-interest are
resulting in inefficient economic outcomes for the economy and millions of people left
worse-off (died).
7.3.1 Types of Market Failures
Market failures can be categorized into two categories as follow:
Complete Market Failure
Complete market failure is a situation in the market in which there is no supply of some
specific goods and services at all even though there is some demand for those goods and
services. These goods and services can be public goods as well as profitable goods both. For
example, in late 1980s and early 1990s, India was in a state of complete market failure as far
as the mobile telecom services were concerned. It was a time when the mobile telecom
services in developed countries were becoming very popular and the rich of India also wanted
to use mobile telecom services but there was no supply at all. However, there is often very
little likelihood that profitable goods or services are not supplied at all in the market even
after some demand. Complete market failure is often an ideal situation in today’s modern
economic world. Possibly there are no goods and services which are not being supplied if
there is some demand for.
Partial Market Failure
Partial market failure is a situation in the market in which the market is functional, but the
supply of the goods and services are either inadequate in quantity or prices disproportional.
Basically, when the market for the particular goods or service is in its initial stage, it is
natural that there exists some form of partial market failure. This is a very common
phenomenon and most of the goods and services at one point of time in their life cycle have
to face such market failures. For example, the mobile telecom services in late 1990s in India
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were experiencing a state of partial market failure as the supply of mobile telecom services
were very limited and prices were disproportional.
IN-TEXT QUESTIONS
4. Market failure is
(a). Government Failure (b). Economic Failure (c). Constitutional Failure
(d). Free Market Failure to Efficiently Distribute Goods and Services
5. The types of market failure are
(a). Complete Market Failure (b). Partial Market Failure (c). Ambiguous
Market Failure (d). a & b both
6. Partial market failure is very common in case of new products markets during
(a). Introduction Phase (b). Growth Phase (c). Decline Phase (d). Stable Phase
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Sarva Siksha Abhiyan is a centrally sponsored scheme which is implemented across India
with the help of the state governments with the purpose to provide quality education to every
child. It is an example of positive externality. Access to quality public education to every
child directly educates the children but the benefits of the quality education to every child
spill over to the whole society and economy in the form of more informed citizens and
employable youth for the economy.
Negative Externality
A negative externality is an externality that impacts the third party negatively. In case of
negative externalities, the negative effects of a transaction are borne by the un-associated
third party. Cigarette smoking, air pollution, water pollution and noise are some examples of
the negative externalities.
Smoking of cigarettes is primarily harmful to the smoker. However, the negative impact of
cigarette smoking is not limited only to the smoker but the people around the smoker also
experience negative health impacts even though they don’t smoke. Here smoking is a
negative externality and the people around the smoker are the third parties who pay the cost
of being around the smoker. The cost of non-smokers being around the smoker does not
reflect in the prices of cigarettes and neither the producers nor the smokers bear the costs of
the third parties. This is a market failure.
Public Goods
Public goods are goods or services whose consumption or use by an individual does not
reduce the available quantity of goods or services to other individuals along with no impact
on prices of goods or services. Public goods are consumed or used by a large number of the
population and the prices of those public goods don’t increase even if the numbers of
consumers or users increases. Market failure occurs in case of public goods as the non-payers
keep consuming or using the goods. This problem is also known as the free rider problem.
The public goods can be allocated to everyone efficiently without any change in the price or
even at no cost. The public goods are accessible and available to everyone, and none can be
excluded from the access to the public goods. Even the non-payers have access to the public
goods. So basically, the public goods are non-rivalrous as well as non-excludable in nature.
The typical laws of demands and demands along with state of equilibrium don’t apply to the
public goods. Public goods create a situation of market failure if a section of consumers or
users keep on consuming or using the public goods without paying for it in the same ways as
the payer does. Police services, national defence, toll-free roads and highways are some
examples of public goods.
People keep on using the services of police without paying for the services irrespective of
whether they pay taxes to the government or not. Even if the service providers of police want
to exclude the non-payers from enjoying the services of police, it wouldn’t be possible and
non-payers would keep enjoying services as every citizen is entitled to enjoy these services.
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Same is true in the case of national defence, toll-free roads and highways. Every citizen uses
the toll-free roads and highways as per their needs without limiting the availability of these
services to other citizens.
Market Control
Market control is a situation in which either the buyer or seller has the power to determine the
prices of goods or services in the market. Because of this power to determine the prices of
goods or services, forces of demand and supply don’t apply in the market. Rather either the
buyer or the seller decides the prices of the goods and services. This situation of market
control leads to market distortion and inefficient distribution of goods and services and as
result, there occurs market failure in the market.
Market control can happen either from the supply side or from the demand side.
Market Failure Caused by Supply Side
In a market, market failure can be caused by the supply side. In a market where the sellers
control the prices of goods and services, they cause market distortion leading to market
failure. It is possible either in the case of a monopoly or oligopoly. A monopoly is a market
condition in the market in which there is one large seller along with many small sellers. An
oligopoly is a market condition in which there are a few large sellers along with many small
sellers.
Monopoly
In a monopoly, there is a single large seller in the market and the monopolist decides the
prices of the goods and services and the rest of the sellers in the market follow the
monopolist. To maximize profits, the monopolist may set the prices of goods and services
higher than what should be the prices of goods and services in a state of equilibrium. Apart
from the price decision, the monopolist can control the quantity of goods and services in the
market to create artificial scarcity to justify the increase in the prices. In such cases, the
natural forces of demand and supply fail to work, and a situation of market distortion occurs
that leads to market failure.
Oligopoly
In the case of oligopoly, the large sellers may collude to decide the prices of goods and
services with their profitability objectives and as a result prices of goods and services in the
market might be set higher than the state of equilibrium. Apart from the price decision, the
sellers in an oligopoly can collude to control the quantity to create an artificial scarcity of
goods and services to justify the increases in prices. In such cases, the natural forces of
demand and supply fail to work, and a situation of market distortion occurs that leads to
market failure.
Market Failure Caused by Demand Side
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In a market, market failure can also be caused by the demand side. In a market where the
buyers control the prices of goods and services, they cause market distortion leading to
market failure. It is possible either in the case of monopsony or oligopsony. Monopsony is a
market condition in which there is one large buyer along with many small buyers.
Oligopsony is a market condition in which there are a few large buyers along with many
small buyers.
Monopsony
In a monopsony, there is a single large buyer in the market and the monopsonist decides the
prices of the goods and services and the sellers in the market follow the monopsonist. To
maximize profits, the monopsonist may set the prices of goods and services lower than in a
state of equilibrium. In such cases, the natural forces of demand and supply fail to work, and
a situation of market distortion occurs that leads to market failure.
Oligopsony
In the case of oligopsony, the large buyers may collude to decide the prices of goods and
services with their profitability objectives and as a result price of goods and services in the
market might be set lower than the state of equilibrium. In such cases, the natural forces of
demand and supply fail to work, and a situation of market distortion occurs that leads to
market failure.
Asymmetric Information
In modern times, information is one of the most important pillars of businesses and lack of
information or information not in time can prove fatal to businesses as well as individuals.
Information asymmetry is a situation in which all the market players don’t have access to the
same information at the same time and as a result, their responses to the same events during
the same time span is different.
Market failure may occur due to asymmetric information available in the market. Due to
asymmetric information available to buyers and sellers, the responses of the buyers and
sellers in the market would not be rational. As a result, the prices of goods and services
would not follow the laws of demand and supply and the prices would not reflect all the
benefits or costs associated with the goods and services. In such circumstances, neither the
distribution of goods and services would be efficient, nor would the allocation of resources be
optimal. As a result, the economic output would not be efficient and market failure would
occur.
The lack of information or asymmetric information has different impacts on the buyers and
sellers. Lack of information about the actual benefits of the goods services on the buyer's side
may result in the willingness of the buyer to pay a higher price. This would lead to market
distortion as the laws of demand and supply would not apply. Similarly, the lack of
information on the seller’s side may result in the sellers’ selling goods and services at lower
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prices than the actual opportunity cost of the goods and services. This would again lead to
market distortion. As a result, in such a situation, there occurs market failure in the market.
IN-TEXT QUESTIONS
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Factor immobility refers to a situation in which the factors of production like capital and
labour are challenging to move between the various geography of an economy. Market
failures in the market often lead to a situation of factor immobility which results in increased
unemployment due to under-production and loss of productive efficiency in the market.
Geographical immobility is an example of factor immobility. Due to the high cost of living,
rent and other related expenses, it becomes unaffordable for people to move from one area to
another area. Another example of factor immobility is occupational immobility. Due to a lack
of skills or experience, it is difficult to move between different jobs.
Rising Inequality
In case of market failures, the market can cause a situation in which the distribution of
income is less unequal, and the income and wealth may concentrate in a few hands. As a
result of market failure, poverty in the economy may increase leading to more complex
problems in the economy such as malnourishment, lack of healthcare services, increasing gap
in the education level of the citizens and discrimination in different contexts.
Super-normal Profits
Another consequence of market failure is super-normal profits earned by the monopolist or
the firms in an oligopoly. This super-normal profit not only distorts the market but directly
impacts the consumers in form of high prices also as well as it becomes an instrument for
killing the competition in the market as well as unchecked and possibly unethical practices.
Lack of competition may result in underdeveloped markets and no incentives for new
inventions and processes as well as innovations. In today’s modern times when new
technologies, innovations, new knowledge, and processes are keys for economic growth, the
super-normal profits earned by the monopolist may lead to status-quo in the market and as a
result, the market may be left behind the developments taking place in the new world order.
In the telecom sector in India, before mobile communication took off in the late 1990s,
BSNL, MTNL and VSNL were the monopolies for voice and data services in India, but India
couldn’t catch up with the rest of the world as far as the technology was concerned. Not only
the technology but the telecom services were not accessible to most of the citizens and were
considered to be luxury.
Undersupply of Public Goods
Normally public goods are not economically profitable for businesses. So, these public goods
are often not on the lists of the profit and rent seeking businesses. However, these public
goods are very important for any economy for economic growth and development along with
the businesses in that particular market as well. As a result, there may be an undersupply of
public goods if there is no government intervention.
Pollution
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Pollution is another result of market failure. When the polluting industries and goods and
services that emit or increase pollution levels remain unchecked in an economy and the cost
of the pollution is not priced in those goods and services, the social and economic cost is
huge and very often unmanageable. The Lancet report clearly indicates that in 2019, 2.6
million individuals and more than 9 million individuals died due to air pollution and pollution
respectively in India alone.
IN-TEXT QUESTIONS
purpose to decrease consumption by creating a barrier in the form of high prices. For
example, the government imposes very high taxes on cigarettes and alcohol to decrease the
consumption of these products to bring down the negative impact on third parties. The
products that are good for consumers or the ecosystem, the government provides subsidies or
decreases the taxes to reinforce a particular habit. For example, the government is providing
subsidies on electric vehicles so that people use electric vehicles more so that pollution can
be checked.
Price Floor and Price Ceiling
The government uses the strategy of the price floor and price ceiling to support a particular
group of industries or consumers to make their life better. By doing so the government
ensures that the interests of consumers or the producers are protected. The government uses
the strategy of price floor to ensure that a particular set of producers gets the minimum price
for their products. The minimum Support Price (MSP) for agriculture products in India is an
example of a price floor. Under the MSP, the farmers are entitled to sell their agricultural
products at MSP so that their financial well-being is taken care-off. The government uses the
strategy of a price ceiling to ensure that the prices of particular sets of goods and services
don’t breach the desired levels. The sale of grains using the Public Distribution System (PDS)
in India is an example of a price ceiling. The government of India sells different grains at
zero price or subsidized rates with a price ceiling with the purpose to provide food to
everyone in the country.
Advertising
Advertising can prove to be an important tool in the hands of governments and regulators in
dealing with market failures. An advertising campaign can discourage consumers from
consuming and using those goods and services that generate negative externalities. For
example, the advertising campaign against child labour is such an effort by the government to
make people aware about the harms of child labour in the society.
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Information economics is formally related to game theory. The access to the information as
well as time taken in accessing the information is the most important factor in information
economics. Considering different games, access to the information may be perfect, complete
and incomplete with different results due to these pieces of information. Time lags in
accessing the information are another important aspect of information economics which
affects the results of the games.
Adverse Selection
Adverse selection is a situation in which the market participants have different levels of
information access and as a result, the choices of the market participants lead to one party
having an advantage over the other party. The adverse selection process may lead to market
failure and consequently market collapse. Basically, it is related to information asymmetry.
One the most famous and classical examples of adverse selection is illustrated by George
Akerlof in ‘The Market for Lemons’.
Moral Hazard
A moral Hazard is a situation in which an economic actor has an opportunity to get an
incentive by increasing its exposure to risk. This risk can be unusual, and the economic actor
does have to bear the cost of the increased risk. For example, a real estate management
company decides to not incur any additional cost to maintain the old but insured building and
allows an adverse situation so that it collapses. In such cases, the real estate management
company would have an incentive in allowing the collapse of the building.
IN-TEXT QUESTIONS
7.4 CONCLUSION
Markets always don’t lead to efficiency. In case of market failure, the economic outcomes are
inefficient, and the allocation of resources is not optimal. As a result, market failure leads to
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7.5 SUMMARY
7.6 GLOSSARY
Market Failure: Market failure refers to a situation in which the free market fails to
efficiently distribute the goods and services as a result of misallocation of scarce resources.
Externality: An externality is a cost of benefit experienced by the third party but caused by
producers and not financially incurred.
Public Goods: A public good refers to a commodity or service that is made available to all
members of society.
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7.9 REFERENCES
Samuelson, W.F. & Marks, S.G. (2012). Managerial Economics, 7e, John Wiley & Sons.
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Content Writers
CA. Mannu Goyal, Ms. Priya Dahiya,
Dr. Ruchi Sharma, Dr. Pratibha Maurya
Academic Coordinator
Mr. Deekshant Awasthi
Published by:
Department of Distance and Continuing Education under
the aegis of Campus of Open Learning/School of Open Learning,
University of Delhi, Delhi-110 007
Printed by:
School of Open Learning, University of Delhi
Accounting for Managers
INDEX
LESSON Page No.
Lesson 1 Accounting Theory……………………………………………………… 1
1.1 Learning Objectives
1.2 Introduction
1.3 Objectives of Accounting
1.4 Merits/Advantages of Accounting
1.5 Limitations of Accounting
1.6 Book Keeping
1.7 Components of Accounting Information/ Statements
1.8 Branches of Accounting
1.9 Interested users of Accounting information and their needs
1.10 Qualitative Aspects of Accounting Information
1.11 Some important accounting terms
1.12 Accounting principles, concepts and conventions
1.13 Fundamental Accounting Assumptions
1.14 Accounting Principles and Concepts
1.15 Basis of Accounting
1.16 Accounting Standards
1.17 Objectives of Accounting Standards
1.18 International Financial Reporting Standards
1.19 Summary
1.20 Glossary
1.21 Answers to In-Text Questions
1.22 Self-Assessment Questions
1.23 Suggested Readings
Lesson 3 Depreciation………………………………………………………………. 54
3.1 Learning Objectives
3.2 Introduction
3.3 Meaning of Depreciation
3.4 Objectives for Providing Depreciation
3.5 Factors Influencing Depreciation
3.6 Methods of Depreciation
3.7 Fixed Instalment/Original Cost or Straight line Method
3.8 Reducing/Diminishing Balance/Written Down
3.9 Sum of Digits of Years Method
3.10 Machine Hour Method
3.11 Production Units Method
3.12 Depletion Method
3.13 Accounting Entries for Depreciation
3.14 Change in Cost and Residual Value/Life of Asset
3.15 Change in Method of Depreciation
3.16 Revaluation of Depreciable Assets
3.17 Cessation of Depreciation
3.18 Retirement
3.19 Sale / Disposal of Depreciable Assets
3.20 Summary
3.21 Self-Assessment Questions
3.22 Suggested Readings
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v|Page
LESSON 1
ACCOUNTING THEORY
CA.Mannu Goyal
Assistant Professor
Campus of Open Learning
University of Delhi
Mannugoyal@sol-du.ac.in
STRUCTURE
1.2 INTRODUCTION
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3|Page
4|Page
business transactions and events in a defined manner as per the standards and principles given
in the relevant Financial Reporting framework.
It is concerned with only the recording part whereas accounting covers both the recording,
summarizing, communicating and interpretation part of an accounting system.
The differences between Book keeping and Accounting can be described as under:
shows the net profit earned or loss incurred from business operations during a
particular accounting period which is usually a financial year.
2. Information relating to financial position: Balance Sheet is a statement which
shows the application of funds in the form of assets and sources of funds in the form
of capital and external liabilities.
3. Schedules and Notes to Accounts: which forms the part of balance sheet and
statement of profit and loss to give detailed information of various line items shown in
balance sheet and income statement and significant accounting policies relating to
recognition, valuation, classification and disclosures, which are used in the
preparation and presentation of financial statements.
4. Cash Flow Statement: It shows the inflows and outflows of cash and cash
equivalents from three activities operating, investing and financing.
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IN-TEXT QUESTIONS
1. Select the correct answer for the following multiple choice questions:
(a) Accounting includes:
(i) Identifying the transactions and events;
(ii) Recording the transactions and events;
(iii) Classifying and summarizing the transactions and events;
(iv) All of the above
(v) None of the above
2. Please indicate if the following statement is true or false.
(a) Accounting and Book Keeping are same and there is no difference
between the two.
(b) There is no scope for window dressing in Accounting.
(c) Accounting is subject to personal bias and judgements.
3. Financial Accounting recognises only transactions and events which can
be expressed in terms of…………...
4. As per ………………..concept fixed assets in balance sheet are shown at
their purchase cost less depreciation and not at their current market value
prevailing in the relevant market if they are sold as such.
5. ……………….shows the inflows and outflows of cash and cash
equivalents from three activities operating, investing and financing
There are various categories of stakeholder or users of financial information which are
interested in determining the financial position and financial performance of the business.
Users Category of User Information need of the user
Owners/Proprietor/ Return on investment, Net profit, financial position of the
Shareholders company/business, growth rate.
Internal
Rate of return from different segments, products and
Management
investments.
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changes the financial position of an entity e.g. purchase of goods would involve inflow of
material and goods (asset) and outflow of cash (asset) or creating an obligation to pay
(liability) towards the supplier at a future date. Transaction can be:
1. Cash transaction: When the parties (buyer and seller) settle the transaction
immediately by making payment in cash or by bank.
2. Credit transaction: when the payment is to be settled at a future date as per
agreement or mutual consent between the parties.
Account: refers to a summarized record of all relevant transactions relating to a particular
item at one place. It has two sides debit side and credit side. The left side of the account is
known as debit side and the right side is known as credit side.
Capital: It is amount of resources invested by the owners into the business organisation
either in the form of cash or cash equivalents or in kind or assets. The amount can be invested
in the form of cash, goods, or any other asset. For Business Entity, capital is a liability
towards the owners which is to be settled only in the event of closure or transfer of the
business. In case of corporates it is called as share capital.
Drawings: It represents an amount of cash, goods or any other assets which the owner
withdraws from business for personal use. E.g. if the life insurance premium of proprietor is
paid from the business bank account, goods withdrawn for personal use. It will result in
reduction in the owners’ capital.
Asset: Asset is a resource controlled by the business entity from which probable future
economic assets will flow to the entity by using it for generating future profits. Assets can
be tangible and intangible.
Tangible Assets: are the assets which have some physical existence. They can be seen,
touched and felt such as:
• Plant and Machinery
• Furniture and Fittings
• Land and Building
• Books and periodicals
• Computers and laptops
• Vehicles
Intangible assets: Assets which have no physical existence (cannot be seen or felt although
they help to generate revenue in future) and whose value is determined and restricted by the
rights and expected future benefits that their possession confers upon the owner such as
• Goodwill
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• Patents
• Trade-marks
• Copyrights
• Brand equity
• Industrial designs
• Other intellectual property rights, etc.
Assets can also be classified into Current Assets and Non-Current Assets.
Current Assets – Asset which satisfies any of the following:
a. It is expected to be realised in, or is intended for sale or consumption in the
company’s normal operating cycle,
b. It is held primarily for the purpose of being traded ,
c. It is due to be realised within 12 months after the reporting date, or
d. It is cash or cash Equivalent unless it is restricted from being exchanged or used to
settle a liability for at least 12 months after the reporting date.
Current Asset includes:
• Inventory
• Trade receivables (sundry debtors and bill receivables)
• Prepaid expenses
• Current investments
• Cash and cash equivalents
• Short term loans and advances
Non-Current Assets – All other assets which are not classified as current assets are non-
current assets such as:
• Plant and Machinery
• Furniture and Fittings
• Land and Building
• Patent
• Trade-mark
• Copyright
Liability: It is the present obligation to be settled through outflow of economic resources. In
other words it is the amount of money that the business owes to the other parties. E.g. when
goods are purchased on credit, the entity will have an obligation to pay to the supplier the
price of goods on an agreed future date or when a loan is taken from bank, there is an
obligation to pay interest and principal amount at a future specified date.
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On the basis of the period of holding, liabilities or obligations can be further classified into
long term (non-current liabilities) and short term (current liabilities).
Current liabilities – A liability which satisfies any of the following:
a. It is expected to be settled in the normal operating cycle,
b. It is held primarily for the purpose of being traded,
c. It is due to be settled within 12 months after the reporting date, or
d. The entity does not have an unconditional right to defer settlement of the liability for
at least 12 months after the reporting date
Note: Terms of a liability that could, at the option of the counterparty, result in its settlement
by the issue of equity instruments do not affect its classification.
Non-Current Liabilities – All other liabilities not classified as current liabilities shall be
classified as Non-current liabilities such as:
• Debentures
• Public deposits
• Long term bank loan
• Inter corporate loans
• Long term loan from director
Internal Liability: It refers to owner’s equity, i.e. all the amounts which proprietors are
entitled such as:
• Capital
• General reserve
• Debenture redemption reserve
• Undistributed profits, etc.
Working capital: The assets which are held to maintain the flows of revenue from
operation in the form of current assets such as:
• Cash required to pay for expenses or to the creditors
• Inventories required to smoothen production and sale
• Accounts receivables (debtors and bills receivable) to increase the sales.
• Cash at bank
• Prepaid expenses
The total of current assets constitute the working capital of a firm which is termed as Gross
working capital.
Gross working capital = Total current assets = long term internal liabilities + long term
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Gain: It is a profit of non-recurring nature arising from events or transactions which are
incidental to business but are not part of principle revenue generating activities of a business
enterprise such as sale of fixed assets at a value more than written down value, appreciation
in the value of an investment or asset, etc.
Loss: The excess of expenses incurred during an accounting period over its related revenues.
Loss = Expenses – Revenue.
Goods: The tangible items in which the business mainly deal in the ordinary course of
business. These are the items which are purchased for resale or for use as raw material in
further production and are not held or intended for use in the business for administration
purposes.
Purchases: procurement of goods by a business for the purpose of resale or for using them as
raw material in further production. For a trader of goods, it refers to purchase of stock is
trade and in case of manufacturing businesses it is purchase of raw materials and consumable
supplies. Purchases may further be classified into cash purchases and credit purchases.
Purchase Return: When goods which are purchased are returned back to the suppliers
because they are not as per specifications mentioned in the purchase order, are defective or
due to any other reason.
Sales: It is the amount of total revenues earned from customers through sale of goods or
rendering of services in the normal course of business. Sales may further be cash sales or
credit sales.
Sales Return: When customer return the goods to the business entity due to any reason
which can be defect in the goods, inappropriate quality, lack of attributes as specified by the
customer.
Debtors: refers to the entities to whom the entity has sold goods or render services on credit
and the amount is not completely paid and still to be received by the business entity. These
are considered assets of the business, usually current assets.
Creditors/ Sundry Creditors: If the business buys goods/services from the suppliers on
credit i.e. the amount is not paid to the suppliers at the time of purchase and payment is
deferred to a mutually agreed specified date in future. These are treated as financial
obligations/liabilities for the entity (trade payables under current liabilities) which is to be
paid usually within the normal operating cycle period.
Bill Receivable: It is a bill of exchange where by debtors (to whom goods are sold on credit)
of the business undertakes to pay a certain amount mentioned therein a specified date. These
are considered assets of the business, usually current assets.
Bill Payable: It is a bill of exchange where by the business undertakes to pay a certain
amount mentioned therein a specified date to suppliers from whom goods are purchased on
credit. These are considered liabilities for the business usually current liabilities.
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Discount: It is the amount of rebate given by the seller of goods or services to the purchaser.
It can be further classified into:
1. Trade Discount: This discount is given to persuade or encourage the buyer to buy
more quantity of goods. It is given in the form of agreed percentage of list price at the
time of sale of goods. This discount is not recognised in the books of accounts as it is
deducted in the invoice/cash memo and taxes like GST are imposed on after trade
discount amount.
2. Cash Discount: This discount is given to encourage the debtors to pay their dues
before the expiry of agreed credit period. This discount is recognised in the books of
account as finance cost and charged to statement of profit and loss. It is given as
percentage of the dues.
Account: It refers to a summarised record of all the transaction relating to particular head or
accounting item at one place.
Income: Income is a very wider term profit as it includes not only profit but also the gains
which are non-recurring in nature. Income refers to the increase in the net wealth of a
business enterprise over an accounting period.
Stock: It is the amount of total goods (raw material, work in progress, and finished goods)
available for sale on a particular date.
Cost: It refers to amount of expenditures incurred (the expired portion of benefits) in
manufacturing and processing goods to produce finished goods for sale in the ordinary course
of business.
Voucher: It is documentary evidence of a transaction. For example, if goods are purchased
for cash, the supplier provide a cash memo, if goods are purchased on credit, the supplier
issues an invoice, when the payment is made to creditors, receipt of payment is issued by the
creditors.
The first and foremost objective of accounting is to provide general purpose financial
information which is easily understandable, appropriate, relevant and reliable information
about the financial results and position of the business to various users or stakeholders so
that they can make sound and judicious financial and economic decisions. For this accounting
records are to be maintained on the basis of uniform standards, rules and principles.
Generally Accepted Accounting Principles (GAAP): It is the collection of all the accounting
principles, policies, concepts and conventions. GAAP provides the very base of Accounting.
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GAAP refers to the rules, principles or guidelines with respect to recognition, valuation,
classification, disclosures which are used for recording, classifying, summarising and
reporting of business and financial transactions and events so as to bring standardisation,
consistency and comparability in the preparation and the presentation of financial statements.
These principles are evolved and developed over a long period of time based on the
accounting experiences of the accountants, business-customs and practices, legal decisions,
economic environment, etc. These are generally accepted and followed by the accounting
practitioners and professionals working over a large geographical area in preparation and
presentation of financial statements.
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financial information more relevant and transparent or to give better true and fair view of
financial position and performance.
Implication and Relevance: Helps the management and other stakeholders of financial
information in decision-making by comparing the current year’ financial information with the
information of previous years.
3. Accrual Assumption: All revenues and related expenses are recorded/recognized as and
when they are earned or incurred irrespective of whether the cash and cash equivalents are
received or payment is made at the time of transaction or on a future date for example, if
good are sold on credit (with credit given for two months) for Rs. 2,00,000 on 15th march.
2023 and all the risks and rewards incidental to ownership are transferred to the buyer, then
the Sale is to be recorded on 15th march. 2023 and not on the date when cash is received after
two months from the debtors.
In case of revenue expenses such as salary or rent, if at the end of the accounting period (31st
march), salary for four months is due to the employees but not paid, such unpaid salary will
be recorded in the current year as outstanding salary and the salary expense account will be
debited and transferred to profit and loss statement for the year in which the salary is due, it is
not charged to profit and loss statement in the next year when it will be paid to the
employees.
Implication and Relevance: Earning of revenue and consumption of a resource (expenses)
can be accurately matched with each other relating to a particular accounting period
providing the accurate measurement of financial performance.
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quantified in terms of money, even though they affect the operations of the business
significantly.
Limitations of Money Measurement Concept:
1. It does not considers the qualitative aspect such as efficient and loyal human
employees (assets), loyal and satisfied customers (assets) and dishonest and
inefficient employees and workers (liabilities), strong and healthy
relationships with the suppliers.
2. Since the value of money (currency) is fluctuating on account of inflation. To
keep accounting records simple and understandable, transactions and events
are recorded using a fixed measurement unit therefore carrying value does not
matches with the changes in value of money over a period of time.
3. Accounting Period Concept: Even though we assume the business as Going
Concern, but the users of financial information are interested in knowing the financial
results at regular intervals, therefore as per this concept, the life of any business
organisation is split into smaller periods (accounting period) so that its performance
can be evaluated and financial position can be determined at regular intervals of time.
Accounting period refers to the interval of time, at the end of which financial
statements comprising profit and loss account/or statement of profit and loss and the
balance sheet with notes to accounts are prepared, so that the financial performance
can be measured and financial position can be determined at regular intervals and
decisions such as shutdown, continue, expansion can be taken to control the affairs on
timely basis.
Accounting period is generally a period of one year starting from 1st April and end on
31st march of next year.
Relevance of the concept:
1. Facilitates the classification of expenses into capital expenses and revenue
expenses.
2. Part of capital expenditure which is consumed during the current accounting
period is charged to the Statement of profit and loss and the remaining
unconsumed portion is recognised as an asset in the Balance Sheet.
3. Compliance with taxation laws: According to the income tax provisions,
income tax is computed on annual basis.
4. Prompt corrective action can be taken by the management to improve the
results and financials.
4. Full Disclosure: As per this concept, besides applicable legal provisions, all material
facts and information related to the economic activities of the entity should be
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properly disclosed in the financial statements and the accompanying notes to accounts
as per applicable financial reporting framework.
The financial statements should act as a means of communicating and not escaping
the material and relevant information. The objective of disclosure is to create better
understanding and the users may be able to take sound financial decisions. For
example following disclosures can be provided in the footnotes such as:
1. Disclosure of Contingent liabilities such as pending claims and litigations of a
very big amount against the business, Arrears of dividend on cumulative
preference shares, etc.
2. Change in the method of providing depreciation on fixed assets (Property
Plant and Equipment).
3. Market value of investment in securities and changes thereof.
5. Materiality Principle: Materiality is not defined in exact monetary limits but any
item which influences the economic decisions of the users is considered as material.
Disclosure of all material transactions and information is necessary but it does not
mean that even figures of big amount which are irrelevant are to be mandatorily
disclosed in the financial statements. Therefore, items having insignificant effect or
which are irrelevant to users is not required to be disclosed separately, it may be
merged with other items. Materiality is a subjective item as an item may be material
for one enterprise may not be material for another enterprise, e.g., an item of expense
of Rs. 50,000 may be immaterial for an organisation having a turnover of Rs. 10,000
crores but it may be material for an enterprise having a turnover of just Rs. 10,00,000.
6. Prudence/ Conservatism Principle: As per this principle, prospective or anticipated
future profit should not be recognised or recorded but all prospective future losses
should immediately be recorded by making a provision for them. The aim of this
principle is to protect overstatement of the profit and depiction of a realistic financial
picture of the organisation. Where different alternative methods or policies of
accounting on a particular subject matter or transaction are available, then the
alternative having the least favourable effect on profit should be adopted in
formulating and selection of accounting policies, for example:
1. Stock should be valued at lower of cost or net realizable value (as per AS-2).
2. Provision should be made for future liabilities or expenses such as provision
for doubtful debts and provision for taxation.
7. Cost Principle: The major concern is that at what value fixed assets should be
recorded. As per this principle, fixed assets are recorded in the books of accounts at
its original cost consisting of the cost of acquisition (purchase cost) and all the
expenditure incurred for making the assets ready to use and bringing the asset to
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There are two basis of recording transactions and ascertaining profit or loss during the
accounting period:
1. Cash Basis and
2. Accrual Basis
Cash Basis of Accounting: as per this basis transactions are recorded in the books of
accounts by passing journal entries only on the receipt/ payment of cash and cash equivalents.
The Profit is calculated as the excess of actual cash receipts from sale of goods, services,
other non-operating incomes over actual cash payments or outflow of cash and cash
equivalents for purchase of goods, wages, expenses such rent, electricity, salaries, interest etc.
transactions like credit sale and credit purchases are not accounted for in the books of
accounts.
No transaction is recorded when a payment or receipt is merely due i.e., outstanding
expenses, accrued incomes are not recognised.
This method is in contravention to the matching principle.
Accrual Basis of Accounting: As per this accrual basis Revenue and expenses are recorded
as and when they are incurred or earned. Income is recorded as Income when it is accrued
(when transaction takes place, risk and reward incidental to ownership are transferred and
obligation are performed) irrespective of whether corresponding cash and cash equivalents
are received or not. Similarly, expenses are recorded when they are incurred or become due
(when the benefit of the resource or facility is expired) and not when the cash is paid for
them.
Items such as outstanding expenses, prepaid expenses, accrued income and income received
in advance are identified and taken into account as assets and liabilities.
As per Companies Act 2013, all companies are required to maintain their accounts on accrual
basis of accounting.
Basis Accrual Basis of Accounting Cash Basis of Accounting
Nature of Both cash and credit transactions Only cash transactions are
Transactions are recorded. recorded.
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The accounting principles or GAAP (Generally Accepted Accounting Principles) have been
developed in the form of concepts and conventions to bring comparability and uniformity
preparation and presentation of financial statements. However they allow alternative
accounting treatments for the same items.
Different organizations may adopt different accounting policies depending upon their
requirements, industry, scale of operations for the same transaction or an entity may follow
different accounting policies for different accounting periods. As a result, the financial
statements become inconsistence and incomparable. So it was felt to prescribe minimum
standards universally applicable, so that the accounting statements possess qualitative
characteristics of reliability, relevance, understandability and comparability.
International Accounting Standard Committee (IASC) was set up in 1973 as a non-profit
international organisation to improve the financial reporting throughout the world (now
International financial Reporting Committee (IFRC)). The Institute of Chartered Accountants
of India (ICAI) and the Institute of Cost and Management Accountants of India are also
members of this committee.
ICAI set up the Accounting Standard Board (ASB) in 1977 to identify the areas in which
accounting standards are to be developed. ASB prepares and submits a draft accounting
standard to the Council of ICAI.
The Council of ICAI issues the draft AS for the comments by the Govt., industry,
academicians and professionals etc. After due consideration on the comments received, the
Council of ICAI notifies it for its use in the financial statements.
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1.19 SUMMARY
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1.20 GLOSSARY
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IN-TEXT QUESTIONS
1. Select the correct answer for the following multiple choice questions: Accounting
includes:
(i) Identifying the transactions and events;
(ii) Recording the transactions and events;
(iii) Classifying and summarizing the transactions and events;
(iv) All of the above
(v) None of the above
2. Please indicate whether each of the following statements is true or false.
a) Book Keeping and Accounting are one and the same thing.
b) There is no scope for Window Dressing in Accounting.
c) Accounting is subject to Personal bias and Judgements.
3. Financial Accounting recognises only transactions and events which can be
expressed in terms of…………...
4. As per ………………..Concept Fixed assets in balance sheet are shown at their
purchase cost less depreciation instead at current market value in the relevant which
could be realised on their immediate sale.
5. ……………….shows the inflows and outflows of cash and cash equivalents from
three activities operating, investing and financing
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LESSON 2
PREPARATION OF FINANCIAL STATEMENTS,
CORPORATE BALANCE SHEET
Dr. Pratibha Maurya
Assistant Professor
Shaheed Sukhdev College of Business Studies
University of Delhi
pratibhamaurya@commerce.du.ac.in
CA.Mannu Goyal
Assistant Professor
Campus of Open Learning
University of Delhi
Mannugoyal@sol-du.ac.in
STRUCTURE
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2.9 Summary
2.10 Answers to In-Text Questions
2.11 Abbreviations
2.12 Self-Assessment Questions
2.13 References
2.14 Suggested Readings
The objective of this lesson is to explain students with the mechanics and ways of preparing
financial statements of a company. This lesson will familiarize students with the basic
terminologies, methods, Accounting Standards, Indian Accounting Standards. After
preparation of financial statement this lesson will help the students to analyse it under
different conditions.
2.2 INTRODUCTION
A financial statement is collection of all the financial information of a Business. It provides
information about financial position and performance of an organization. While analyzing
and interpreting the financial statement of a company one can make important decisions and
draw conclusion about financial health of an organization. Assets, liabilities and equity are
the key components associated with the measurement of financial position. However, to
assess the financial performance of the business Revenue and Expenses are taken as essential
element.
2.2.1 Maintenance of Book of Account: Under section 128 of Companies Act 2013, every
single company should prepare and place all financial statements and other relevant books/
papers of the company for financial year at its registered office and its branches (if any) on
accrual basis and double entry system of accounting. These financial statements should
present a true and fair picture of the financial position and financial performance of the
company during the accounting period.
ii) Profit &Loss Account/ Income Expenditure Account shows the financial performance
throughout the time frame.
iii) Cash Flow Statement encapsulates the total cash inflow and outflow for the period
from operating, investing and financing activities.
iv) Statement of Changes in Equity summarizes how equity in the organization (if
applicable).
Along with the statements mentioned above it is necessary to give explanatory notes in
annexure for better understanding. There is an exception for mandatory requirement for
making Cash flow Statement of One Person, Dormant and Small Companies.
2.3.1 Provisions Applicable: While preparing final account of the company the following
point should be kept in mind:
a) As per Schedule III of Companies Act 2013 all necessary requirements,
b) Other statutory requirements
c) Accounting Standards by MCA from AS -1 to AS -29.
d) Statement and Guidance Notes issued by ICAI for understanding the rules related to
accounting treatments, valuation, disclosure for the following companies:
1. If any specific act is applicable e.g. for an insurance company, banking company,
company working in generation of electricity or any other company prescribed under
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Act for which a Form of Balance Sheet and Profit and Loss Account has been
prescribed.
2. All other companies.
As per Section 2(41) of Companies Act 2012 the financial year for making financial
statement should end on 31st March.
ACTIVITY 1
Go to the official website of the following companies and download the statement of
profit& loss and balance sheet of the companies and check the format of each
document downloaded.
i. Bharat Heavy Electricals Limited,
ii. Reliance ltd.,
iii. Infosys ltd. and
iv. HDFC Bank ltd.
The financial Statements provides financial position, performance and cash flows of the
organization which is helpful for various stake holders such as: investors, employees, lenders,
suppliers, creditors, customers, government and general public. The stake holders mentioned
above uses these summarized as per their requirement.
There are various categories of stakeholder or users of financial information which are
interested in determining the financial position and financial performance of the business.
Users Category of User Information need of the user
Owners/Proprietor/ Return on investment, Net profit, financial position of the
Shareholders company/business, growth rate.
Internal
Rate of return from different segments, products and
Management
investments.
Profitability of the employer to bargain wages rates and
Employees
bonus, dues (PF, ESI, etc.) are being deposited regularly.
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MCA has laid down the roadmap for all companies (except banking companies, non-banking
finance companies, and insurance companies) for option of Ind-AS on February 2015. Under
presentation of financial statement Companies Act (Revised) 2016, IFRS conversed with
Indian Accounting Ind-AS from financial year 2016-17 is mandatory where the Finance
Ministry has taken various steps to simplify the implementation of Ind -AS. Ind -AS-1
provides appropriate guidelines related to presentation of Financial Statements. The basic
purpose is to ensure the compatibility of the business entity with its previous year’s
performance and with other business entities.
Structure of the Ind AS Schedule III
A. General Instructions for preparation of Company’s Financial Statements
B. Part I- Preparation of Balance Sheet and Statement Change in Equity (if any)
C. Part I Notes-Notes and general instruction related to point no B
D. Part II-Form of Statement of Profit and Loss account
E. Part II Notes- General Instructions for Point no D.
F. Part III-General Instruction for Preparation of Consolidated Financial Statements
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IN-TEXT QUESTIONS
1. Under section 128 of Companies Act 2013 the financial statements of the
company should kept in_______________.
2. Which of the following is not a part of financial statements under section
2(40) of companies act 2013:
a) Statement of Profit and Loss A/c b) Balance Sheet
c) Cash Book d) Cash Flow Statements
3. Government and regulators uses the financial statements of various
companies to check its governance and tax related matters. (True/False)
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4 Expenses
(a) Cost of materials consumed XXX XXX
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10 Tax expense:
(a) Current tax expense for current year XXX XXX
B DISCONTINUING OPERATIONS
12.i Profit / (Loss) from discontinuing operations (before tax) XXX XXX
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` `
(a) Basic
(i) Continuing operations XXX XXX
(b) Diluted
(i) Continuing operations XXX XXX
(b) Diluted
(i) Continuing operations XXX XXX
IN-TEXT QUESTIONS
4. Under which main Head of Sub-Head of the balance sheet (Equity and
Liabilities) following items are shown?
a) Bills Payable b) Premium on Redemption of Debentures
c) Sundry Creditors d) Public Deposits
5. Give major Heads and Subheads shown in balance sheet as per Schedule III
of Companies Act 2013of the following:
a) Bills Receivable
b) Mortgage Loan
c) Goodwill
d) Patent Rights
e) Surplus i.e. Balance of Statement of Profit and Loss Account
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2.7.1 Items necessarily required to be included the following items in Balance Sheet: As
per Ind-AS asset is defined as follows:
“An asset is a resource controlled by the entity as a result of past events and from
which future economic benefits are expected to flow to the entity.”
Assets
a) Property, plant and equipment
b) Capital Work in progress
c) Investment Property
d) Goodwill
e) Other Intangible Assets
f) Intangible assets under development
g) biological assets other than Bearer Plants within the scope of Ind AS 41,
Agriculture;
h) Financial assets
i. Investments
ii. Trade Receivables
iii. Loans
iv. Others (to be specified)
i) Deferred Tax Liabilities
g) Other Non-Current Assets
Current Assets
a) Inventories
b) Financial Assets (i) Investments (ii) Trade receivables (iii) Cash and cash
equivalents (iv) Bank balances other than (iii) above (v) Loans (vi) Others
(to be specified)
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1 Shareholders’ funds
(a) Share capital XXX XXX
3 Non-current liabilities
(a) Long-term borrowings XXX XXX
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4 Current liabilities
(a) Short-term borrowings XXX XXX
B ASSETS
1 Non-current assets
(a) Fixed assets
(i) Tangible assets
(ii) Intangible assets XXX
(iii) Capital work-in-progress XXX
(iv) Intangible assets under XXX
development
(v) Fixed assets held for sale XXX
XXX XXX
2 Current assets
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Answer1.
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3. Loose Tools These are the assets used in a Current Assets Inventories
company for various production
activities, hence it is helpful in
conversion of raw material to
finished goods.
4. Capital It is a reservation out of profit over Shareholders’ Reserve and
Redemption the years kept in company for Funds surplus
Reserve either redemption or purchase of
companies own shares.
Sources of Cash: to identify the source of cash we check the inflow/increase in cash in the
business.
a) Issue of Shares (equity or preference), debentures, bonds and long term loan.
b) Operating Cash Profit of the Business
c) Sale of fixed asset.
d) Sale of Investments.
Application of Cash: to identify the source of cash we check the outflow/decrease in cash in
the business.
a) Repayment of Bank loan or redemption of Debentures
b) Payment of income tax, dividend, interest.
c) Operating Loss of the Business (Cash)
d) Purchase of any fixed asset.
Source of cash can be internal and external both. Internal sources usually cash from
operations of the business. So, it is important to identify operating and non-operating
activities in the business such.
Non-operating activities are one-time event in a business which may impact on revenue but
falls outside of daily routine of the business and hence, excluded while calculating cash flow
statements (loss/profit on sale of fixed asset, amortization of intangible asset).
The net profit calculated by the profit and loss account will have to be adjusted for non-
operating items. Also, all non-cash items (depreciation, creation of reserve, provision of bad
debts) already considered during computation of profit and loss account will have to be
adjusted for calculation of cash flow statements.
2.8.1 Classification of Cash Flow activities: As per As-3, the cash flow can be classified
into three broad categories: Cash Flow from Operating, Investing and Financing activities.
The Operating activity is principal revenue generating activity of the business, the Investing
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Activity is summary of acquisition and disposal of investments and fixed assets in the
business and financing activity summarizes change in the size of composition of owner’s
capital and borrowings in the business.
A. Operating Activity: Operating activities are daily activities related to producing and
selling of product for generation of revenue to the business (sales, direct expenses,
marketing expenses etc.) and it should be considered while calculating cash inflow
and outflow of the business. It records both inflow and outflow of cash. The Net cash
flow is reported as ‘Cash Flow from operating activities’. Examples:
a) Cash payment made to suppliers for goods and services.
b) Cash receipts from sales of goods/ services.
c) Cash received from royalties, fees and other revenue.
B. Investing Activities: Investing Activity is summary of acquisition and disposal of
investments and fixed assets in the business. Examples:
a) Cash paid for acquisition of fixed asset, investments, bonds, research and
development.
b) Cash received from sale of property.
c) Purchase of government securities
d) Interest/ dividend received from investment made.
e) Cash advances or loans given to other parties.
C. Financing Activity: financing activity summarizes change in the size of composition
of owner’s capital and borrowings in the business. Example:
a. Bank loan repayment
b. Cash proceeds from issue of shares/ debentures
c. Cash payment by lessee for outstanding liabilities related to finance lease.
2.8.2 Calculation of Cash Flow Statement: A businessmen can be calculated the cash flow
using direct/ indirect method.
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1. Direct Method: In the direct method of cash flow statement, we calculate operating
cash profit by taking all cash gross receipts and payment which are operating in
nature. All non- operating and non-cash items are ignored under direct method of cash
flow statement.
Format for assessment of ‘Cash Flow from Operating Activities’ using Direct
Method
Particulars Amount
Cash Receipts from: xxx
Cash sales
Recovery of cash from debtors for credit sales
Recovery of cash on account of Bills Receivables for credit sales
Sale of scrap
Less : Cash Payments for:
Salaries and Wages
Rent
Electricity expense
Suppliers
Cash Purchases (xxx)
Payment to Suppliers
Cash generated from Operations xxx
Less: Income Tax Paid during the current year (xxx)
Cash Flow before adjustment for Extra-ordinary Items xxx
Adjustments for Extra-ordinary items xxx
Net Cash utilised in/ generated from Operating Activities xxx
Source: ICAI Study Material
2. Indirect Method: Under indirect method of calculation of cash flows, the net profit is
taken as the base and starting point and exclude all non-operating and non-cash item.
The main motive remains same using both the method i.e. calculation of operating
cash profit from the business. Hence, non-operating items such as profit/loss on sale
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of fixed asset and investments, amortization of intangible asset and all non-cash items
such as deprecation, provision for tax, provision for Bad-debts, transfer to general
reserve is adjusted to net profit of the business.
Format for calculation of ‘Cash Flow from Operating Activities’ as per Indirect Method
Particulars Amount
Net Profit before Adjustments for Non-Cash items, Non-Operating items, Tax xxx
and Extra-ordinary items
Adjustments for Non Cash and Non-Operating Activities
Add: Depreciation provided during the year xxx
Add: Loss due to Foreign Exchange rate fluctuations xxx
Add: Loss on sale Investments xxx
Less: Gain due to Foreign Exchange rate fluctuations xxx
Less: Gain on sale Investments xxx
Less: Dividend Received xxx
Less: Interest Received xxx
Operating Profit before Working Capital Adjustments xxx
Adjustments for Working Capital Changes
Add: Decrease in the amount of Current Assets during the year xxx
Add: Increase in the amount of Current Liabilities during the year xxx
Less: Increase in the amount of Current Assets during the year xxx
Less: Decrease in the amount of Current Liabilities during the year
Cash generated from Operations xxx
Less: Interest Paid (xxx)
Less: Income Taxes paid (xxx)
Cash before Extra-Ordinary Items xxx
Adjustment for Extra-ordinary items xxx
Net Cash Flow from Operating Activities xxx
Source: ICAI Study Material
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2.9 SUMMARY
The Main objective of the financial statement is to evaluate the position and performance of
the business. As we know that a company has numerous stake holders and it is very important
to protect the interest of the stakeholders. The publication of such relevant financial statement
as per guidelines of Companies Act, MCA, and ICAI gives the power to these stakeholders to
interpret and take decisions accordingly.
A financial statement is collection of all the financial information about financial position and
performance of an organization.
The financial statement under Section 2(40) of Indian Companies Act 2013 includes the
followings:
v) Balance Sheet reports the financial position of a business at a certain point in time.
vi) Profit &Loss Account/ Income Expenditure Account shows the financial performance
throughout the time frame.
vii) Cash Flow Statement encapsulates the total cash inflow and outflow for the period
from operating, investing and financing activities.
viii) Statement of Changes in Equity summarizes how equity in the organization (if
applicable).
Users of Financial Statements
Users Category of User Information need of the user
Internal Owners/Proprietor/ Return on investment, Net profit, financial position of the
company/business, growth rate.
Shareholders
Management Rate of return from different segments, products and
investments.
Employees Profitability of the employer to bargain wages rates and bonus,
dues (PF, ESI, etc.) are being deposited regularly.
External Potential investors Business and financial risk, EPS, future prospects of the
business.
Creditors/Suppliers Short term liquidity: creditors are interested in knowing
financial capability and ability of the business to pay its debts
on time.
Lenders Repaying capacity, credit worthiness, short term liquidity and
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Tax Authorities Assessment of income and expenses, tax dues, true and fair
disclosure of accounting information.
Others Customers, researchers seek different in-formation for different
own customised interests and reasons.
Financial Statements of companies are to be prepared as per the Schedule III of the
Companies Act 2013. Financial statements report the information about entity’s:
i) Assets
ii) Liabilities
iii) Equity
iv) Income and Expenses, including loss and gain:
v) Contribution made by the Owner (Contribution/Distributions made by owner and
his/her capacity in the business as owner)
vi) Cash flow in the organization
Statement of Profit and Loss account: The Statement of Profit and Loss account reports the
financial performance of the business during a specific period taking revenue and expenses as
a key variable usually a fiscal quarter or a year.
Balance Sheet: The balance sheet of the company is a summarized statement of its financial
position. It represents assets, liabilities and other essential things of the company. The old
format of balance sheet was a represented in horizontal form also known as T-Shaped balance
sheet. However, the method of preparation of Balance Sheet and its format has been revised
in Companies Act 2013 and the new format is in statement form also known as vertical
format of balance sheet.
The balance sheet of the company has two sections i.e., the asset and liabilities where the
former shows what a company owns and the later reports what the company owes.
Cash Flow Statement: it is the periodic statement showing the inflows and outflows of Cash
and Cash equivalents from Operating, Investing and Financing activities during a particular
period which is usually a financial year.
Sources of Cash: to identify the source of cash we check the inflow/increase in cash in the
business.
e) Issue of Shares (equity or preference), debentures, bonds and long term loan.
f) Operating Cash Profit of the Business
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2.11 ABBREVIATIONS
1. What do you understand by the term Financial Statements and the method of
preparing the financial statements under Companies Act 2013?
2. What do you mean by statement of profit and loss account? How is it helpful in
ascertaining financial performance of the business, also explain the advantages of
profit and loss accounts to the business.
3. Explain the purpose of making cash flow statements. Also give details about direct
and indirect method of making Cash Flow Statement.
2.13 REFERENCES
Institute of Chartered Accountants of India. (n.d.). Retrieved August 20, 2022, from
https://resource.cdn.icai.org/66495bos53751-cp4-u1.pdf
Maheshwari, S. N., Maheshwari, S. K., & Maheshwari, S. K. (2018). Paper back 1 (12th ed.,
Ser. e). Vikash Publishing House.
https://resource.cdn.icai.org/66494bos53751-cp4-annex.pdf
Dugar, P., & Tripathi, V. (2015). Convergence to IND AS 16: Changes and
Implications. IUP Journal of Accounting Research & Audit Practices, 14(3).
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Kavitha, D., Maheswari, B. U., & Nandagopal, R. (2016). Usefulness of Annual Report to
Professional Investors in India. Asian Journal of Research in Social Sciences and
Humanities, 6(5), 179-188.
Tawiah, V., & Boolaky, P. (2020). Consequences and determinants of IFRS convergence in
India. International Journal of Accounting & Information Management.
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LESSON 3
DEPRECIATION
CA.Mannu Goyal
Assistant Professor
Campus of Open Learning
University of Delhi
Mannugoyal@sol-du.ac.in
STRUCTURE
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3.20 Summary
3.21 Self-Assessment Questions
3.22 Suggested Readings
3.2 INTRODUCTION
The Assets which are expected to give benefit over a long period of time are not charged to
expense at the time of their acquisition rather they are capitalised in the balance sheet as
Fixed Assets or Property Plant and Equipment and are charged to profit and loss account
through the medium of depreciation or amortisation.
As per IND AS 16 Property, plant and equipment are tangible assets that:
(a) are held for:
use in the production or
supply of goods or services,
rental to others, or
administrative purposes;
And
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Depreciation is the systematic allocation of the depreciable amount of an asset over its
useful life. It is the reduction in the value of fixed tangible assets due to wear and tear, up
gradation of technology and afflux of time
Depreciation commences from the day asset is available for use even if it is not put to use.
Depreciation is charged on property plant and equipment to serve the following objectives:
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1. Historical Cost:
Purchase price XX
Add : Other Non-refundable taxes & duties XX
Add: Any directly attributable cost of bringing the asset to its working XX
condition for its intended use
Less: Trade discount & rebates (XX)
Cost of Asset XX
2. 'Useful Life' is either -
(a) The period over which a depreciable asset is expected to be used by the enterprise, or
(b) The number of production or similar units expected to be obtained from the use of
theasset by the enterprise.
3. Residual/Scrap Value is the amount likely to be obtained by the disposal of the Fixed
Asset at the end of its Useful Life.
DEPRECIABLE AMOUNT
'Depreciable Amount' of a Depreciable Asset is determined as under:
Particulars Amount
Historical Cost, or other amount substituted for it in the Financial XX
Statements
(XX)
Less: Estimated Residual Value
Depreciable Amount XX
Note: Depreciation is calculated on the Depreciable Amount, i.e. Cost less Residual
Value
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In this method, Depreciation is computed based on the number of Machine Hours (rather than
years).
Where it is practicable to keep a record of the actual running hours of each machine,
depreciation may be calculated on the basis of hours that the concerned machinery worked
for. Under machine hour rate method of calculating depreciation, the life of a machine is not
estimated in years but in hours. Thus depreciation is calculated after estimating the total
number of hours that machine would work during its whole life.
Depreciation= Depreciable Amount x No.of Machine Hours during the year
Total Machine Hours during the entire useful life
Example: X Ltd purchased a machine costing Rs 22,00,000, having a Scrap Value of Rs
1,30,000.
The machine has a useful life of 20,700 machine hours distributed as under –
Years 1 to 3: 2,500 machine hours each,
Years 4 to 6: 2,000 machine hours each, and
Years 7 to 10: 1,800 machine hours each.
In this case, Depreciation Amounts will be computed as under –
Depreciable Amount = 22,00,000- 1,30,000 = 20,70,000
Depreciation per hour = 20,70,000/20,700 = 100 per hour
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Depreciation can be recorded in the books of account, under 2 approaches, which are
described below:
Method Method 1 Method 2
Asset Credit Provision for Depreciation Method
Method
Journal Depreciation A/c Dr. Depreciation A/c Dr.
Entry To Fixed Asset A/c To Provision for Depreciation A/c
Profit and Loss A/cDr. Profit and Loss A/c Dr.
To Depreciation A/c To Depreciation A/c
Provision Depreciation for each year is credited to
for There is no Provision for Provision for Depreciation A/c, which
Depreciat Depreciation Account at all. shows the Accumulated Depreciation on
ion A/c the Asset.
Effect Asset A/c is shown at Historical Asset is shown in the books at Original
on Cost less Depreciation. So, balance Cost.
Asset in Asset A/c is reduced year after Net Book Value = Original Cost less
A/c year.
Accumulated Depreciation thereon.
Note: The above schemes are applicable to SLM and WDV Methods. The same treatment is
applicable under - (a) Sum of Digits, (b) Machine Hours, (c) Production Units, and (d)
Depletion Methods
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The depreciation method applied to an asset should be reviewed at least at each financial
year-end and, if there has been a significant change in the expected pattern of consumption of
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the future economic benefits embodied in the asset, the method should be changed to reflect
the changed pattern.
Whenever any change in depreciation method is made such change in method is treated as
change in accounting estimate as per Accounting Standards.
Change in method of depreciation is applied with prospective effect. Hence, depreciation is
recalculated in accordance with the new method from the date method is changed.
Subsequent Revaluation:
Case 1st 2nd Ist 2nd
1 R/S R/S
2 P&L P&L
3 R/S Use R/S 1st
4 P&L Use P&L 1st
Example: A Plant & Machinery costing Rs. 10,00,000 is depreciated on straight line
assuming 10 year working life and zero residual value, for four years. At the end of fourth
year, the machinery was revalued upwards by Rs. 40,000. The remaining useful life was
reassessed at 8 years. Calculate depreciation for the fifth year.
Solution:
Depreciable amount {Cost less residual value} = Rs. 10,00,000 – Nil = Rs. 10,00,000.
Annual depreciation = Depreciable amount / Useful life = 10,00,000 / 10 = Rs. 1,00,000.
Accumulated depreciation = 1,00,000 × No. of years (4) = Rs. 4,00,000.
Carrying amount at the end of year 4 = Rs. 6,00,000 [Rs. 10,00,000 – Rs. 4,00,000]
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3.18 RETIREMENT
Asset is retired from active use & held for disposal
• It is to be recorded in the books at carrying amount or NRV, whichever is lower.
• Any expected loss is recognized immediately in the P&L statement.
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destroyed and Rs. 27,00,000 is received from the insurance in full settlement. On the same
date, another truck is purchased by the company for the sum of Rs. 50,00,000. The company
writes off 20% on the original cost per annum. The company observe the calendar year as
its financial year.
You are required to prepare the motor truck account for two year ending 31 Dec, 2021
Solution:
Machine A/c
Date Particulars Amount Date Particulars Amount
2020 2020
1/1 To Balance b/d 2,92,50,000 1/10 By Bank A/c 27,00,000
1/10 To P&L A/c 4,50,000 1/10 By Depreciation on lost 6,75,000
(Profit on assets
Settlement of
Truck)
1/10 To Bank A/c 50,00,000 31/12 By Depreciation A/c 83,50,000
31/12 By Balance c/d 2,29,75,000
3,47,00,000 3,47,00,000
2021 2021
1/1 To Balance b/d 2,29,75,000 31/12 By Depreciation A/c 91,00,000
31/12 By Balance c/d 1,38,75,000
2,29,75,000 2,29,75,000
Working Note:
Opening balance on 01.01.2020
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3.20 SUMMARY
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LESSON 4
INVENTORY VALUATION
CA.Mannu Goyal
Assistant Professor
Campus of Open Learning
University of Delhi
Mannugoyal@sol-du.ac.in
STRUCTURE
Inventory refers to the goods which are acquired and held for the purpose of resale in the
ordinary course of business, or for further processing to make goods for sale. These are not
held for administrative purposes. These also includes the consumable supplies such as
lubricants, indirect material used in the production or manufacturing of goods for sale in the
ordinary course of business. For Companies following IND AS based Financial Reporting
Framework, IND AS 2 prescribes the accounting treatment for Inventory and related matters.
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Let us understand some of the important terms used in understanding the guidance provided
by the Ind AS 2 which are as follows:
Inventories are tangible assets or items:
i. held for the purpose of resale in the ordinary course of business; (complete goods-
Finished Goods in case of manufacturer/ Stock in trade in case of trader)
ii. held in the process of further production for selling in the ordinary course of business
(incomplete goods-Work in progress)
iii. held as materials or supplies to be consumed in the further production process or in
the rendering of services. (Raw material or Consumable Supplies)
Note: Costs incurred to fulfill a contractual obligation under a contract with a customer is not
treated as inventories, Ind AS 115 Revenue from Contracts with Customers prescribe the
accounting for such costs.
Net realisable value (NRV): NRV can be expressed in the form of equation given below:
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Estimated selling price in the ordinary course of business - Estimated costs of completion
of work in progress or raw material- Estimated selling costs such as commission,
transportation, etc.
Therefore, NRV is the net proceeds that a business enterprise expects to receive from the
customer through sale of inventory in the ordinary course of business after recovering the
cost of completion and incidental selling expenses (if any).
Fair value is the selling price of inventory in an orderly transaction in the principal (or
most advantageous) market for the same or identical inventory on the date at which value
of inventory is measured.
Net Realisable Value differs from business to business as different business sell the same
item at different prices therefore NRV is entity-specific value while Fair Value is same for all
as it is determined by the free market forces of demand and supply for all the market
participants.
Note: NRV of inventories might not be equal fair value less costs to sell.
Fair value: As per Ind AS 113, fair value is the price in an orderly transaction between
market participants that would be either received on sale of an asset or paid to
transfer/discharge a liability at the date of valuation.
Example
X ltd holds inventories of 2,00,000 units and it could sell it in the market at Rs. 25 each. It
has received an order to sell the inventories at Rs. 28 each. The incidental selling cost per
unit is estimated to be Rs. 1 per unit.
Here, the Fair value is Rs 25 per unit, However, net realisable value is Rs. 27 (Expected
selling price (28) - expected selling expenses (1)) per unit
Difference between Net Realisable Value and Fair Value
Basis of Net Realisable Value Fair Value
distinction
Meaning It is the net amount that a business It refers to selling price of the
enterprise expects to receive from the same or identical inventory in
sale of inventory in the ordinary the principal (or most
course of business. advantageous) market in an
orderly transaction between
market participants at the date at
which inventory is valued.
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Solution
Particulars Amount in Rs
Purchase price (1,600x 2,000 x 90%) 28,80,000
Import duties (2,000 x 80) 1.60,000
Delivery cost 25,000
Cost of inventory 30,65,000
Cost of conversion: include costs which are directly related to the production of finished
goods, such as:
a) direct material,
b) direct labour
c) other direct costs; and
d) allocation of fixed and variable manufacturing overheads.
Fixed production overheads are indirect costs of production that remain constant in amount
in the short run regardless of the volume of production, such as
Depreciation on Property Plant and Equipment
Maintenance charges of factory buildings, Office equipment, Laptops,
Computers, etc.
Cost of factory management and administration.
Rent of the factory
Allocation of fixed production overheads to the costs of conversion is to be done
on the basis of normal production capacity which is the average and expected
production over a number of past periods under normal circumstances after
adjusting the loss of capacity due to planned maintenance if any. The actual level
of production can also be used if it approximately equal to the normal capacity.
If production levels are abnormally low, unallocated overheads are recognized as
an expense in the statement of profit or loss of the period in which they are
incurred.
If there is abnormally high production, then we will take the actual production
levels so that the amount of fixed overhead allocated to each unit of production is
decreased so that inventories are not measured above the actual cost of production
to maintain the principle of prudence.
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Let us first understand the meaning of Net Realisable Value. Net Realisable Value (NRV)
refers to the estimated selling price of goods in the ordinary course of business minus the
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estimated costs of completion of work in progress minus the estimated selling expenses.
Net realisable value = estimated selling price of goods - estimated costs of completion -
estimated selling expenses.
If inventories are
1. Damaged
2. Become wholly or partially obsolete
3. Selling prices have declined due to fall in the demand
Then cost of such inventories may not be recoverable fully. In such cases, Estimates of net
realisable value on the basis of most reliable information available with respect to amount
expected to be realized from inventories. These estimates should be made after considering
price or cost fluctuations with respect to events occurring after reporting date or after the
end of the accounting period on the basis of conditions that exists on the reporting date.
Estimates should be made after considering the main purpose and objective of holding the
inventory. For example, the net realisable value of inventory which is held to supply
against firm sales or service contracts is to be determined on the basis of individual
contract price agreed with the customers. If the contracts for sale of inventory are for the
quantity which is lesser than the quantity of inventory held by the entity, then net realisable
value of such excess inventory to be supplied is determined on the basis of general selling
prices prevailing in the market or as per the recent sales contracts or transactions.
Inventories are usually written down to net realisable value item by item and not on the
basis of a classification of inventory into raw material, work in progress, finished goods.
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IN-TEXT QUESTIONS
6. Cost of Inventories- includes: all costs of purchase; costs of conversion
(direct wages, manufacturing expenses and other direct expenses such as
royalty per unit); and other costs incurred to bring the inventories to their
present location and condition such as transportation costs.
All of the above
7. Cost of purchase- includes: the purchase price, import duties and other
indirect taxes such as GST (other than which are recoverable subsequently
from the taxing authorities such as input tax credit in GST and duty
drawbacks), transport, handling charges and
a) All of the above
8. If production levels are abnormally low, unallocated overheads are
recognized as ______________.
9. If there is abnormally high production, then ______________is taken to
allocate fixed overhead allocated to each unit of production.
10. Variable production overheads are allocated to each unit of output on the
basis of the ____________.
11. Following costs to be excluded from the cost of inventories and
recognised as expense in the Statement of Profit and Loss of the period in
which they are incurred:
a) Abnormal wastage of materials, labour or other production resources
and facilities
b) Storage costs such as warehousing charges, cold storage charges
c) Administrative and selling overheads
d) All of the above.
e) None of the above
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Only Work in Progress and Finished Goods are to be written down below the cost to their Net
Realisable Value.
Generally Raw Materials and Consumable Supplies held for use in the production of finished
goods are not to be written down below cost till the time the finished products in which they
will be used are expected to be sold at or above cost.
However, if due to fall in selling price below the net realizable value of the finished products
in which raw material or consumable supplies are to used, then materials and consumable
supplies are to be written down to net realisable value by taking replacement cost of such
materials as their NRV as these are considered the most reliable and best available measure
of their net realisable value.
For instance, when an inventory is carried at net realisable value, because due to fall in
demand its selling price in the market has declined, but in the subsequent accounting period
and its selling price has increased. In such cases IND AS 2 provides the following guidance
which is as follows:
Net realisable value is determined in each subsequent accounting period.
If the earlier circumstances causing inventories to be valued at below cost does not exists or
there are changes in economic circumstances evidencing increase in net realisable value of
inventories, then the write-down amount is to be reversed upto the amount of the original
write-down so that the new carrying value is the lower of the cost and the net realisable value
(revised).
Question: Whether the following costs should be considered while determining the Net
Realisable Value (NRV) of the inventories?
(a) Costs of completion of work-in-progress;
(b) Trade discounts expected to be allowed on sale; and
(c) Cash discounts expected to be allowed for prompt payment
Question: ABC Ltd. manufactures and sells paper envelopes. The stock of envelopes was
included in the closing inventory as of 31st March, 20X1, at a cost of Rs. 50 per pack.
During the final audit, the auditors noted that the subsequent sale price for the inventory at
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15th April, 20X1, was Rs. 40 per pack. Furthermore, enquiry reveals that during the
physical stock take, a water leakage has created damages to the paper and the glue.
Accordingly, in the following week, ABC Ltd. has spent a total of Rs. 15 per pack for
repairing and reapplying glue to the envelopes.
Calculate the net realizable value and inventory write-down (loss) amount.
Question: At the end of its financial year, Company P has 100 units of inventory on hand
recorded at a carrying amount of Rs. 10 per unit. The current market price is Rs. 8 per unit
at which these units can be sold. Company P has a firm sales contract with Company Q to
sell 60 units at Rs. 11 per unit, which cannot be settled net. Estimated incremental selling
cost is Rs. 1 per unit.
Determine Net Realisable Value (NRV) of the inventory of Company P.
Question: A business has four items of inventory. A count of the inventory has established
that the amounts of inventory currently held, at cost, are as follows:
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The expected production for the year was 15,000 kg of the finished product. Due to fall in
market demand the sales price for the finished goods was Rs. 20 per kg and the replacement
cost for the raw material was Rs. 9.50 per kg on the closing day. You are required to
calculate the closing inventory as on that date.
Sun Pharma Limited, a renowned company in the field of pharmaceuticals has the following
four items in inventory: The Cost and Net realizable value is given as follows:
Item Cost Net Realisable Value
A 2,000 1,900
B 5,000 5,100
C 4,400 4,550
D 3,200 2,990
Total 14,600 14,540
Determine the value of Inventories:
a. On an item by item basis
b. On a group basis
1) carrying amount of the inventories sold in the accounting period in which related
revenue is recognized in the statement of profit and loss or income statement; and
2) the amount of any write-down of inventories to their net realisable value and all
losses of inventories thereof shall be recorded as an expense in the accounting
period in which the write-down or loss occurs reduced by the amount of any
reversal in the same accounting period of any write-down of inventories due to
increase in net realisable value shall be recorded as a reduction in the amount of
inventories recognised as an expense in the period in which the reversal occurs.
Some inventories may be allocated to other asset accounts, for example, inventory used as a
component of self-constructed property, plant or equipment. Inventories allocated to another
asset in this way are recognised as an expense during the useful life of that asset through
charging of depreciation on that asset.
Example:
An item of inventory costing Rs.20,000 as covered under Ind AS 2 is consumed in the
construction of self-constructed property to be accounted as Property, plant and equipment
under Ind AS 16. The cost of such property, plant and equipment other than inventories is
Rs.80,000. Such Inventory needs to be capitalized in the cost of Property, plant and
equipment. The useful life of the property is 5 years. The depreciation on such property
charged to profit and loss account is Rs.20,000 per annum (i.e. 1,00,000/ 5)
4.11 DISCLOSURES
The financial statements shall make the following disclosures with respect to inventories:
1. Accounting Policies with respect to valuation of Inventory
2. Inventories pledged as security for raising funds
3. Detailed analysis of carrying amount of inventory, classified into its components or
categories
4. Amounts recognized in the Statement of profit or loss as expense during the current
year
5. Inventory carried at fair value less costs to sell
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Accounting policies
4.12 SUMMARY
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Fair value is the selling price of same or identical inventory in the principal (or most
advantageous) market place between market participants (in an orderly transaction) at the
date of measurement.
Inventories or closing stock shall be valued (at the end of each accounting period) at the
lower of:
1. cost of inventory
2. Net realizable value
Disclosures to be made in financial statements with respect to Inventory:
1. Accounting Policies
2. Inventories pledged as Security
3. Detailed analysis of carrying amount into its components
4. Amounts recognized in the Statement of profit or loss
5. Inventory carried at fair value less costs to sell
4.13 SELF-ASSESSMENT QUESTIONS
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LESSON 5
ANALYSIS OF ACCOUNTING INFORMATION
CA.Mannu Goyal
Assistant Professor
Campus of Open Learning
University of Delhi
Mannugoyal@sol-du.ac.in
STRUCTURE
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5.2 INTRODUCTION
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Besides many advantages, ratio analysis suffers from the following disadvantages
1. No Standard Ratio: There is no benchmark against which actual ratios can be
compared determine whether a ratio is favourable or adverse.
2. Reliability issues: Ratios are calculated on the basis of information given in the
financial statement which is not futuristic but relates to past only, further if the
information available is not then ratios will be incorrectly calculated. Therefore, one
cannot completely rely on ratios to make any future economic decisions.
3. Qualitative Aspects are ignored: Ratios considers only quantitative factors and all
the qualitative factors such as efficiency of management, customer satisfaction level,
etc. are ignored, which are also to be considered future decision making.
4. Incomparable in case of different Financial Reporting Framework: Different
entities within the same industry may follow different Financial Reporting Framework
having different policies and procedures for preparing and presenting financial
statements. Due to which amount of financial items such as sale, profit, current assets,
etc. would also differ. Thus, accounting ratios of different business organisation
cannot be compared as they based on information derived from different accounting
policies and methods.
5. Ignores changes in Price Level: Since accounting is based on the historical cost
concept, the assets are carried at historical cost minus accumulated depreciation and
not on their current market value prevailing in the relevant market.
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6. Scope for Manipulations and Window Dressing: Accounting cannot prevent the
inherent risk of window dressing by the internal management to modify the financial
performance and position to gain undue advantage at the cost of users, thus
manipulative information will make ratios inaccurate leading to incorrect calculation
of ratios affecting the economic decisions taken on the basis such incorrect ratios.
7. Personal Judgement: Since, recording of transactions and events, preparation of
financial statements is largely influenced by personal judgments of management.
Therefore, accounting ratios calculated on the basis of such information on
comparable and are biased.
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3. Activity/Turnover ratios: These are the ratios which are concerned with
evaluating how efficiently the entity has utilised the resources in the business
operations. It includes the following ratios:
1. Inventory Turnover Ratio (relationship between cost of revenue from
operation and average inventory)
2. Debtor/Trade Receivables Turnover Ratio (relationship between net credit
sales or credit revenue from operations and Average Trade Receivables)
3. Creditor/Trade Payables Turnover Ratio (relationship between net credit
purchases and Average Trade Payables including creditors and bills payable)
4. Working Capital Turnover Ratio (relationship between net sales and working
capital)
4. Profitability: These are the ratios which are concerned with evaluating the earning
capacity of the business organisation as a return on the resources used. It includes the
following ratios:
1. Gross Profit Ratio (relationship between Gross profit and sales)
2. Operating Ratio (relationship between operating cost and sales)
3. Operating Profit Ratio (relationship between operating profit and sales)
4. Net Profit Ratio (relationship between net profit and sales)
5. Return on Investment (relationship between profit and capital employed)
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Ideal or acceptable Current Ratio is 2: 1, current assets must be at least double the amount of
current liabilities so as to provide a sufficient cover for current liabilities.
High Current Ratio indicates better liquidity however very high current ratio indicates poor
credit worthiness among the suppliers and creditors and poor operational efficiency.
Current Assets: these are the assets which are expected to be utilised, realised or
converted into Cash and Cash Equivalents within normal operating cycle or within 12
months from the reporting date whichever is higher. It includes:
1. Short-term loans and advances
2. Current Investments (shares and securities of other entities)
3. Inventories (excluding Loose Tools and Stores and Spares) in the form of raw
material, work in progress, finished goods, stock in trade
4. Trade Receivables (sum of bill receivables and sundry debtors)
5. Cash and Cash Equivalents (credit balance in current account with bank, cash in hand,
time deposits of upto three months, cheques/drafts in hand and other marketable
securities)
6. Other Current Assets (advance given to suppliers of raw material, prepaid expenses,
accrued interest, etc.)
Current Liabilities: these are the liabilities which are expected to be settled or repayable
through outflow of economic resources within 12 months from the reporting date or
within the period of normal operating cycle. It includes:
1. Short-term borrowings (short term bank loans, cash credit, bank overdraft)
2. Short-term provisions (provision for discount on debtors, provision for income
taxation, provision for doubtful debts, etc.)
3. Trade Payables (sum of bills payable and sundry creditors)
4. Other Current Liabilities ( not included in the above categories)
Other Current Liabilities includes the following:
• Current maturities of long term loans or borrowings
• Accrued interest (earned) but not due and not received
• Interest accrued and due (earned but not received)
• Outstanding expenses (outstanding salary, outstanding rent, etc.)
• Unpaid dividend
• Calls-in- advance (advance received for call money on shares), etc.
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Operating Cycle: It is the time span between the acquisition of resources (raw material,
stock in trade, labour) for processing or production of goods and their conversion into
Cash and Cash Equivalents after sale and receipt of cash from debtors.
Note: If the normal operating cycle cannot be determined or not given in the question,
then take it as 12 months for classifying assets and liabilities as current and non-current.
Working Capital: The amount of capita which is used in meeting day to day expenses
and payment to suppliers. It refers to amount by which Current Assets exceeds Current
Liabilities.
Formula for Working Capital is given as:
Working Capital = Current Assets - Current Liabilities
Example: From the following information calculate Current Ratio:
Particulars Amount Particulars Amount
Debtors 3,60,000 Bills Payable 40,000
Insurance (prepaid) 80,000 Creditors 2,00,000
Cash at bank 1,00,000 Long term bank loan 8,00,000
Treasury bills 1,00,000 Raw material 1,60,000
Plant and 10,00,000 Outstanding salary 1,60,000
machinery
Solution:
Current Assets = Debtors + Insurance (prepaid) + Cash at bank + Treasury bills + Raw
material
= 3,60,000 + 80,000 + 1,00,000 + 1,00,000 + 1,60,000
= 8, 00,000
Current Liabilities = Bills Payable + Creditors + Outstanding salary
= 40,000 + 2,00,000 + 1,60,000
= 4,00,000
Current ratio = Current assets/Current liabilities
=8,00,000/4,00,000
=2:1
Here current ratio is equal to the ideal current ratio
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2. Quick or Liquid ratio or Acid Test Ratio: This ratio is concerned with evaluating
the current ability of the business organisation to meet its short-term financial
obligations or current liabilities which arises within normal operating cycle or 12
months from the reporting date. It studies the relationship between liquid assets and
current liabilities. It a better, more prudent and strict indicator of liquidity or short
term solvency as compared to the current ratio because it does not takes into account
blocked assets such as prepaid expenses and inventory which cannot be used to pay
the current liabilities. It is expressed in the form of a pure ratio.
Liquid or Quick Ratio or Acid test Ratio
= Liquid or Quick Assets (Current Assets- Prepaid expenses- Inventory)
Current Liabilities
Idle Ratio: 1: 1, liquid assets must be at least equal to amount of current liabilities to
make their payment on time.
Liquid Assets: These assets are more liquid as compared to current assets and constitutes
mainly Cash and Cash Equivalents or assets which can be converted into Cash and Cash
Equivalent within the normal operating cycle or 12 months whichever is higher.
Liquid Assets or Quick Assets = Current Assets- Prepaid expenses- Inventory.
Prepaid expenses and inventory are deducted from current assets to obtain the amount of
liquid assets because inventories takes time in production and sale to convert in cash and
cash equivalents after recovery from trade receivables and prepaid expenses are already
been paid to outsiders and cannot be used to pay the outsiders and cannot be readily
converted into cash.
Liquid Assets includes the following assets:
• Short-term Loans and Advances,
• Current Investment (into the shares and securities of other entities),
• Trade Receivables ( sum of sundry debtors and trade receivables),
• Cash and Cash Equivalents (cash in hand, credit balance in current
account at bank, time deposits of up to three months, cheques/drafts in hand and other
marketable securities),
• Other Current Assets other than Prepaid Expenses.
Example:
Consider the following information:
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Solvency Ratios are also known as Long term liquidity ratios as these are concerned with
assessment of capital structure, sources and application of funds.
These are the ratios which are concerned with evaluating the long-term financial leverage
and solvency of the business organisation. They depict the ability of business to repay the
long-term financial obligations such as debentures, long term bank loan, and public
deposits. It includes the following ratios:
1. Debt to Equity or Debt Equity Ratio (DE) (relationship between shareholders’ funds
and debt)
2. Total Assets to Debt Ratio (relationship between total assets and debt)
3. Proprietary Ratio (relationship between shareholders fund and total assets)
4. Interest Coverage Ratio (relationship between interest and earnings before interest)
Debt-to Equity Ratio: This ratio is widely used in the industry and is concerned with
analysing the relationship between borrowed funds or long-term external debts (includes
long-term loans, debentures, public deposits and long-term provisions) and Owners’ fund or
Equity (Proprietary funds / Equity/Shareholders’ Funds consisting of share capital and
reserves and surplus).
It determines the capital structure-the mix of outside debts (borrowed funds) and owner’s
funds invested in the total resources of the organisation. It assesses long-term financial
soundness of the business enterprise and indicates dependency of business enterprise on
external borrowed funds for financing its resources. It is expressed in the form of Pure Ratio.
Debt to Equity Ratio = Debt (Non-current liabilities)
Equity (Shareholder's Funds)
Debt includes the following items:
1. Long term Borrowings (debentures, public deposits, loans from bank)
2. Long term Provisions (provision for Gratuity, leave encashment)
3. Deferred tax Liabilities
4. Other Non-Current liabilities
Long term Borrowings:
• These are the borrowings that are due to be settled beyond 12 months from the
reporting date (31st March) or after the operating cycle period whichever is higher.
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• Part of Long Term Borrowings payable within 12 months from the reporting date
or normal operating cycle period whichever is higher, then such borrowing is
termed as ‘Current Maturities of Long Term Debts’ shown under the head Current
Liabilities and will not be considered as Debt while calculating Debt to Equity
ratio.
Long term Provisions: These are the provisions for liabilities to be settled after 12
months from Balance Sheet date or normal Operating Cycle period whichever is higher.
These are shown as line item under the head Non-current liabilities in the balance sheet.
Debt = Long-term Borrowings + Long-term Provisions+ deferred tax liabilities + other long
term liabilities
Or
= Total of Equity and liabilities – Non current liabilities -Current Liabilities
Or
= Capital Employed – Equity (shareholders fund)
Equity = Share Capital + Reserves & Surplus
Capital Employed = Non-Current liabilities + Shareholder fund (Share Capital + Reserves
and Surplus)
Non-Current Assets = Tangible Fixed Assets (Property Plant Equipment) + Intangible
Fixed Assets + Non-Current Trade Investments + Deferred tax Assets + Long-term Loans
and Advances + Other Non-Currents Assets.
Working Capital = Current Assets – Current Liabilities
Note: If there exists Negative Balance of profit in Statement of Profit & Loss under Reserves
and Surplus is deducted from Reserves and Surplus to calculate the Shareholders’ Funds.
Example: Consider the following information:
Particulars Amount
Property Plant and Equipment 16,80,000
Accumulated Depreciation on Property 2,80,000
Plant and Equipment
Non-current Investments in shares and 28,000
securities
Long-term Loans and Advances to related 1,12,000
parties
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Sales = 8,00,000
Gross Profit = 2,00,000
= Sales − Gross Profit
= 8,00,000 − 2,00,000
Cost of Goods Sold = 6,00,000
Let Opening Inventory =x
Closing Inventory = x + 80,000
2,40,000 = x + 80,000
x = 1,60,000
Opening Inventory = 1,60,000
Average Inventory= (1, 60,000+2,40,000)/2
Average Inventory= 2,00,000
Cost of Goods Sold = Revenue - Gross Profit
Cost of Goods Sold = 8,00,000 - 2,00,000=6,00,000
Inventory turnover Ratio (ITR) = Cost of Goods Sold or Cost of revenue from
operation/Average inventory
ITR = 6,00,000/2,00,000
Inventory turnover Ratio = 3 Times
Example: Consider the following financial information of Abhishek limited:
Particulars 2021-22 2022-23
Closing Inventory on 31st 14,00,000 34,00,000
March
1,00,00,000 1,50,00,000
Sales during the year
Gross Profit is 25% on Cost of Goods Sold
In the year 2021-22, inventory increased by 4,00,000.
Calculate the Inventory Turnover Ratio for the years 2021-22 and 2022-23 from the above
information
Solution:
Gross Profit=1,00,00,000×25/125=20,00,000
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Gross Profit=1,50,00,000×25/125=30,00,000
Cost of goods sold=1,50,00,000-30,00,000 =1,20,00,000
Average Inventory= (14,00,000+34,00,000)/2=24,00,000
Inventory turnover Ratio (2022-23) = 1,20,00,000/24,00,000
Inventory turnover Ratio (2022-23) = 5 Times
Debtor/ Trade Receivables Turnover ratio: This is one of the most popular and widely
used ratio which is concerned with explaining the relationship between Credit Revenue from
Operations (Net Credit Sales) and Average Trade Receivables (Average debtors + Average
bills receivable).
It shows the number of times debtors are turned over or realized in a year with respect to
credit sales. I.e. how efficiently and readily trade receivables are realised or converted into
Cash and Cash Equivalents It indicates the efficiency in recovery and collection of cash from
debtors.
A higher ratio indicates that debts are collected more frequently and strict credit policy as less
credit period is involved or less investment in debtors is blocked.
Formula for Trade Receivable Turnover Ratio (DTR) is given as:
DTR = Credit Revenue from Operations (Credit Sales)
Average Trade Receivables (Average debtors + Average bills receivable)
It is expressed in Times
Note 1: Note: provision for doubtful debts is not to be deducted from sundry debtors.
Credit Revenue from Operations (Net Credit Sales) = Credit Sales – Sales Return
Or
= Revenue from Operations – Cash Revenue from Operations
Average Trade Receivables = (Opening Trade Receivables + Closing Trade Receivables)/2
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Average Trade Rec. = (Opening Debtors + Closing Debtors + Opening B/R + Closing B/R)/2
Example: Consider the following information:
Closing Trade Receivables 8,00,000
Cash Sales being 25% of Credit Sales
Excess of Closing Trade Receivables over Opening Trade Receivables 4,00,000;
Revenue from Operations or Net Sales 30,00,000.
Calculate Trade Receivables Turnover Ratio from the above information.
Answer:
Let Credit Sales be =x
Cash Sales =25% of Credit Sale
=x×25/100
Cash Sales =25x/100
Total Sales = Cash Sales + Credit Sales
30,00,000 =25x/100+x
Or, 125x/100 =30,00,000
Or, x =30,00,000×100/125=24,00,000
Opening Trade Receivables = Closing Trade Receivables − 4,00,000
= 8,00,000 − 4,00,000 = 4,00,000
Average receivables = Opening Receivables +Closing Receivables/2
Average receivables = (4,00,000+8,00,000)/2=6,00,000
=Net Credit Sales/Average Trade Receivables
Trade Receivables Turnover Ratio =24,00,000/6,00,000
=4
Therefore, Trades Receivable Turnover Ratio is 4 Times
Debt Collection Period: It shows the average time taken in collection of cash from debtors.
Debt Collection Period = 365 Days/ 12 months
Trade Receivables Turnover Ratio
Lower Debt Collection Period is better. It is expressed in number of days or months.
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Determine the Trade payables Turnover Ratio from the above information.
Solution:
Net Credit Purchases = Purchases – Cash Purchases – Purchase Return
= 19,00,000 -2,00,000-90,000 = 16,10,000
Average Trade Payables = (Opening Creditors & Bills payables + Closing Creditors & Bills
payables) / 2
= 2,50,000 + 20,000 + 1,80,000 + 10,000/2
= 2,30,000
Trade Payables turnover ratio = 16,10,000/2,30,000 = 7 times
Example: Closing Trade Payables 10,80,000, Net purchases `86,40,000, Cash purchases
`21,60,000. Calculate Trade Payables Turnover Ratio
Solution: Trade payable turnover ratio= credit purchases/ average trade payable
Trade payable turnover ratio =64,80,000 / 10,80,000= 6 Times
Credit purchases= net purchases - cash purchases
64,80,000 = 86,40,000- 21,60,000
Working Capital Turnover ratio:
a. It explains the relationship between working capital and net sales.
b. It shows the number of times a unit of rupee invested in working capital generates
sales.
c. It determines whether working capital is effectively used in generating sales.
d. A higher ratio implies overtrading with less use of current assets.
Working Capital Turnover Ratio = Revenue from Operations/COGS
Working Capital
It is expressed in number of times.
Revenue from Operations:
It is the revenue earned by the company from its Operating Activities.
If Revenue from Operations is not given, then take Cost of Goods Sold.
Working Capital: = Current Assets – Current Liabilities
Consider the following information:
Cost of Revenue from Operations (Cost of Goods Sold) 10,00,000
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rendered in the ordinary course of business. It indicates the efficiency with which
production and/or purchase operations and selling operations are carried on. It is used fixing
selling prices and determining the efficiency of trading activities.
Gross Profit Ratio= Gross Profit x 100
Revenue from Operations
It is expressed as percentage of net sales.
Gross Profit: It is calculated as follows:
Gross Profit = Revenue from Operations (i.e. Net Sales) – Cost of Revenue from Operations
(COGS)
Cost of Revenue from Operations: It is calculated using the following:
Cost of Revenue from Operations = Opening Inventory (excl. Spare parts & loose tools) +
Net Purchases + Direct Expenses – Closing Inventory (excl. Spare parts & loose tools)
Or
= Cost of Materials Consumed+ Purchases of Stock-in-Trade+ Change in Inventories of FG,
WIP & SIT + Direct Expenses
Or
Revenue from Operations-Gross Profit
Reasons for decline or increase in Gross Profit Ratio:
Increase: This ratio increases because of the following reasons:
a. If the selling price increases and the cost of revenue from operations is constant.
b. If the Cost of revenue from operations decreases and the selling price is constant.
c. If there exists a combination of above two situations.
Decrease: This ratio decreases if the above reasons are reversed.
Operating profit Ratio: It shows the relationship between Operating Costs incurred in
running the business and related Sales. It is the proportion of Cost of Revenue from
Operations and Operating Expenses to Sales. It helps in determining the operational
efficiency of the business. It is expressed as the percentage of Sales or Revenue from
Operations that is utilized in the Operating costs.
A low operating ratio indicates higher profit margin to meet non-operating expenses such as
dividend, etc. On the other hand, a high operating ratio indicates reduction in the efficiency of
business operations. It is expressed as percentage of sales or revenue from operations.
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approaches:
1. Liabilities Approach: Under this approach, Capital employed is calculated by
adding the following:
i. Shareholders’ Funds/Equity (Share Capital + Reserves and Surplus) and
ii. Non-current Liabilities (Long-term Borrowings (debenture, public
deposits) + Long-term Provisions + Deferred Tax Liabilities + Other Non-
Current Liabilities)
Capital employed = Share Capital + Reserves and Surplus + Long-term Borrowings +
Long-term Provisions + Deferred Tax Liabilities + Other Non-Current Liabilities
Note: if balance of surplus in Statement of profit and loss is negative, it is deducted to
calculate Shareholders’ funds.
2. Assets Approach: Under this approach, Capital employed is calculated adding the
following:
iii. Non-current Assets (Fixed Assets (Tangible & Non-Tangible) + Deferred
Tax Asset + Non-current Trade Investments + Long-term Loans and
Advances +Other Non-Current Asset)
iv. Working Capital (Current Assets – Current Liabilities)
Capital employed = Non-current Assets+ Current Assets – Current Liabilities
5.13 SUMMARY
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Pure
Percentage
Times
Advantages of Ratio Analysis:
• Tool for analysis of Financial Statements
• Simplifies Accounting Data
• Assessment of Operating Efficiency of Business
• Assists in Forecasting
• Identifies Weak Areas
• Facilitates Inter-firm and Intra-firm Comparison
Limitations of Ratio Analysis:
• Reliability of Ratios
• Only Quantitative Factors considered
• No Standard Ratio
• Non Comparable
• Price Level Changes Ignored
• Window Dressing
• Personal Bias
Types of Ratios:
1. Liquidity (short-term solvency): show the ability of the enterprise to meet its short-
term financial obligations. It includes:
i. Current Ratio
ii. Quick Ratio
2. Solvency (long-term solvency): assess the long-term financial position of the
enterprise. They assess the ability to meet the long-term financial obligations of the
enterprise. It includes:
i. Debt to Equity Ratio
ii. Total Assets to Debt Ratio
iii. Proprietary Ratio
iv. Interest Coverage Ratio
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3. Activity/Turnover: shows how efficiently the enterprise resources are being used for
the business operations. It includes:
i. Inventory Turnover Ratio
ii. Trade Receivables Turnover Ratio
iii. Trade Payables Turnover Ratio
iv. Working Capital Turnover Ratio
4. Profitability: show the profitability of the enterprise. It includes:
i. Gross Profit Ratio
ii. Operating Ratio
iii. Operating Profit Ratio
iv. Net Profit Ratio
v. Return on Investment
5.14 GLOSSARY
Capital: It is amount of resources invested by the owners into the business organisation
either in the form of cash or cash equivalents or in kind or assets. The amount can be invested
in the form of cash, goods, or any other asset. For Business Entity, capital is a liability
towards the owners which is to be settled only in the event of closure or transfer of the
business. In case of corporates it is called as share capital.
Drawings: It represents an amount of cash, goods or any other assets which the owner
withdraws from business for personal use. E.g. if the life insurance premium of proprietor is
paid from the business bank account, goods withdrawn for personal use. It will result in
reduction in the owners’ capital.
Asset: Asset is a resource controlled by the business entity from which probable future
economic assets will flow to the entity by using it for generating future profits. Assets can
be tangible and intangible.
Tangible Assets: are the assets which have some physical existence. They can be seen,
touched and felt such as:
• Plant and Machinery
• Furniture and Fittings
• Land and Building
• Books and periodicals
• Computers and laptops
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• Vehicles
Intangible assets: Assets which have no physical existence (cannot be seen or felt although
they help to generate revenue in future) and whose value is determined and restricted by the
rights and expected future benefits that their possession confers upon the owner such as
• Goodwill
• Patents
• Trade-marks
• Copyrights
• Brand equity
• Industrial designs
• Other intellectual property rights, etc.
Assets can also be classified into Current Assets and Non-Current Assets.
Current Assets – Asset which satisfies any of the following:
e. It is expected to be realised in, or is intended for sale or consumption in the
company’s normal operating cycle,
f. It is held primarily for the purpose of being traded ,
g. It is due to be realised within 12 months after the reporting date, or
h. It is cash or cash Equivalent unless it is restricted from being exchanged or
used to settle a liability for at least 12 months after the reporting date.
Current Asset includes:
• Inventory
• Trade receivables (sundry debtors and bill receivables)
• Prepaid expenses
• Current investments
• Cash and cash equivalents
• Short term loans and advances
Non-Current Assets – All other assets which are not classified as current assets are non-
current assets such as:
• Plant and Machinery
• Furniture and Fittings
• Land and Building
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• Patent
• Trade-mark
• Copyright
Non-Current Liabilities – All other liabilities not classified as current liabilities shall be
classified as Non-current liabilities such as:
• Debentures
• Public deposits
• Long term bank loan
• Inter corporate loans
• Long term loan from director
Internal Liability: It refers to owner’s equity, i.e. all the amounts which proprietors are
entitled such as:
• Capital
• General reserve
• Debenture redemption reserve
• Undistributed profits, etc.
Working capital: The assets which are held to maintain the flows of revenue from
operation in the form of current assets such as:
• Cash required to pay for expenses or to the creditors
• Inventories required to smoothen production and sale
• Accounts receivables (debtors and bills receivable) to increase the sales.
• Cash at bank
• Prepaid expenses
The total of current assets constitute the working capital of a firm which is termed as Gross
working capital.
Gross working capital = Total current assets = long term internal liabilities + long term
debts + the current liabilities – Non current assets.
Net working capital is the excess of current assets over current liabilities. It is the amount
of current assets that remain in a firm if all its current liabilities are paid. This aspect of
working capital is a more realistic concept.
Working capital (net) = Current assets – Currents liabilities.
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LESSON 6
CASH FLOW STATEMENT
CA.Mannu Goyal
Assistant Professor
Campus of Open Learning
University of Delhi
Mannugoyal@sol-du.ac.in
STRUCTURE
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6.2 INTRODUCTION
Financial Statement of any company as per the Companies Act 2013 includes Balance Sheet,
Statement of Profit and Loss, Cash Flow Statement and Notes to accounts. The balance sheet
is a blueprint or summarized sheet of entity’s financial position in the form of resources
(assets) equity (shareholder’s funds) and outside obligations (sources of financing resources)
at a particular point of time which is the end of accounting period or reporting date (31st
March of the Accounting year) and the income statement or statement of profit and loss
which reflects the financial performance/results (profit or loss) during the accounting period.
The financial statements as per provisions of The Companies Act 2013 are to be prepared on
accrual basis of accounting. Financial statements does not separately indicates the inflow and
outflows of Cash and Cash Equivalents. It is the Statement of Cash Flows which shows the
inflow and outflows of Cash and Cash Equivalents from three activities of any business
organization which are: operating, investing and financing activities separately and it does
not account for or considers transactions which do not involve cash receipts and payments.
Cash flow statement shows how much cash and cash equivalents are generated or used by a
particular activity which can be operating, investing and financing activities.
Every business organisation, whether small or big, manufacturing or trading concern or
service organization requires cash for financing the operational expenses and assets for
running its business and to provide funding investments in the form of mergers or
acquisitions. Cash is also required to pay dividends, interest and repay loans and borrowings.
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Therefore every business enterprise should generate the cash continuously to make payments.
Even Banks and Financial institutions deals with financial products, accept deposits and give
loans, therefore should also generate the cash profits to make payments on time and to
finance investments in new branches and launch of new products. Therefore statement of
cash flow is also essential for Banks and Financial Institutions.
Cash flow statement or Statement of Cash Flows is a statement showing how the cash is
generated by an entity during a particular accounting period and how it is applied or used by
it in that period. It classifies the inflows and outflows of cash and cash equivalents in three
activities:
1. Operating Activity
2. Investing Activity
3. Financing Activity
Significance of Cash Flow Statement can be understand with the help of following points:
Provides information about changes in net assets and financial structure (Liquidity
and solvency)
Provide measure on the ability to manage the Cash and Cash Equivalents.
Assess and compare the utilization and generation of future cash flows from different
activities.
Act as a tool to compare the efficiency of different entities in the same industry.
Some of the definition which are important while preparing Statement of Cash Flows are as
follows:
Cash: refers to the sum cash in hand and demand deposits with banks and financial
institutions which are repayable on demand.
Cash Equivalents: These includes the marketable securities or are investments which are
short-term, highly liquid and can be readily converted into certain value of cash or money
and are subjected to an very low risk of changes in their value due to market price
fluctuations.
Cash flows: refers to both inflows and outflows of cash and cash equivalents from operating,
investing and financing activities during a particular accounting period.
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Operating activities: these activities are concerned with the principal and main revenue-
generating operations of the business organisation and have no relation with acquisition of
fixed assets or fund raising activities.
Investing activities: these are the activities which are concerned with the acquisition,
purchase or construction and sale of long-term tangible and intangible fixed assets and
investments and related earning from such investments such as dividend received, rental
income, and interest income.
Financing activities are activities that are concerned with raising funds, repayment of funds
raised and the payment of dividend and other fixed financial charges such as interest,
preference dividend, these activities are related to capital structure (size and composition of
equity and external borrowings).
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Some important Issues to be considered while determining Inflows and outflows of cash and
cash equivalents from Operating activities:
1. Profit / Loss on Sale of Fixed Assets or Property, Plant and Equipment: Profit /
Loss on Sale of Fixed Assets is transferred to statement of profit and loss of period in
which sale transaction took place. The cash flows from such sale transaction are
treated as cash flows from investing activities and not operating activities.
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Cash proceeds from the repayment of Cash advances and loans given
advances and loans given to directors, inter-
corporate deposits.
Cash proceeds from derivative contracts such Cash payments for investment in derivative
as such as futures, forward, option and swaps. contracts such as futures, forward, option and
swaps.
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Financing Activity: are activities that are concerned with the changes acquisition and
disposal of funds and the payment of fixed financial charges, these activities are related to
capital structure (size and composition of equity and external borrowings).
Some of the examples of Inflows and outflows of cash and cash equivalents from financing
activities are given below:
Cash Inflows from Financing Activity Cash Outflows from Financing Activity
Cash proceeds from issuing shares, share Cash payments to buyback equity shares or
warrants, call money received, issue of Redeem preference shares;
preference shares, secured premium notes
Cash proceeds from issuing public Cash repayments of loans and advances
deposits, debentures, loans, notes, bonds, taken, redemption of debentures
mortgages, etc.
Cash proceed from short-term or long- Cash payment towards settlement of
term borrowings, loans from banks, loans liability under financial lease.
from related parties other corporates
Cash Inflows and Outflows arising on account of operating activities can be reported and
accounted for in Statement of Cash Flows by applying one of the following two methods:
1. Direct method: In this method, broader groups of cash receipts and cash payments
are reported showing only cash payments and receipts. No adjustments are made for
increase or decrease in current assets and current liabilities, non-operating incomes
and expenses, financing nature.
2. Indirect method: In this method, profit or loss is adjusted to account for non-cash
transactions, working capital adjustments including increase or decrease in current
assets and current liabilities, non-operating incomes and expenses, financing nature
payments such as interest or dividend payments.
Question: Find out the cash from operations by direct method and indirect method from the
following information:
Operating statement of ABC Co for the year ended 31.3.2023
Particulars Rs
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Sales 500,000
Less: Cost of goods sold 350,000
Administration & Selling Overheads 55,000
Depreciation 7,000
Interest Paid 3,000
Loss on sale of fixed asset 2,000
Profit before income tax 83,000
Income Tax (30,000)
Profit After income tax 53,000
Balance Sheet as on 31st March
Equity and Liabilities 2023 2022
Shareholders’ Funds 60,000 50,000
Non-current Liabilities 25,000 30,000
Current Liabilities
Creditors 12,000 8,000
Creditors for Expenses 10,000 7,000
Provisions 8,000 5,000
Total 115000 1,00,000
Assets
Fixed Assets 75,000 65,000
Investment 12,000 10,000
Current Assets
Inventories 12,000 13,000
Debtors 10,000 7,000
Cash 6,000 5,000
Total 115,000 100,000
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Non-operating Cash flows such as cash flows from interest and dividends received or paid
shall each be disclosed separately in the Statement of Cash Flows.
Cash flows from interest and dividends received or paid shall be classified as follows
In case of Financing Company Other than financing company
Interest Paid Cash outflows uunder operating Cash outflows under financing
activities
activities
Interest and Dividend Cash inflows from Cash inflows from investing
Received operating activities activities
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Dividend Paid Cash outflows under financing Cash outflows under financing
activities activities
Question:
A firm invests in a five-year bond of another company with a face value of Rs.10,00,000 by
paying Rs.5,00,000. The effective rate is 15%. The firm recognises proportionate interest
income in its income statement throughout the period of bond. Based on the above
information answer the following question:
a) How the interest income will be treated in cash flow statement during the period of
bond?
b) On maturity, whether the receipt of Rs.10,00,000 should be split between
Interest income and receipts from investment activity.
Cash flows on account of payment or refund of taxes on income shall be separately reported
and treated as cash flows from operating activities unless they can be specifically identified
and attributed to financing and investing activities. However, the related tax cash flows are
usually very difficult to identify and may occur in a subsequent accounting period different
from the accounting period in which the cash flows relating underlying transaction occurs.
Therefore, for the sake of ease taxes paid and refunds of income taxes are usually treated as
cash flows from operating activities.
Cash flows arising from payment and refund of Taxes on income are classified as cash
flows from operating, investing or financing activities in the statement of cash flows.
However, where it is feasible and easy to identify the taxes and refunds with individual
investing, operating or financing activities, then cash flows on account of tax payment or
refunds are treated as cash flows from investing or financing activity as the case may be.
For example: ABC ltd. paid an advance tax of Rs.10,60,000 during the current financial
year including Rs.30,000 as tax on long term capital gains. Outflow of Rs. 10,30,000 will be
treated under operating activity and outflow of Rs. 30,000 will be treated under investing
activity.
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Let us consider some of the issues relating to Changes in Ownerships Interests Held in
Associates, Subsidiaries, Joint Ventures and other Businesses Arrangements and how they
are be dealt while preparing Statement of Cash flows:
1. If there is any transaction relating to obtaining or losing control or equity interest in
Associates, Subsidiaries, Joint Ventures and other Businesses, the cash flows from
such transactions shall be reported separately and treated as cash flows from
investing activities.
2. Following disclosures shall be made with respect to transaction involving obtaining
or losing control or equity interest in Associates, Subsidiaries, Joint Ventures and
other Businesses:
a. Amount of total consideration paid or received;
b. Portion of the consideration paid in cash and cash equivalents;
c. The amount of cash and cash equivalents in Associate company,
Subsidiaries, Joint Ventures and other Businesses over which control is
obtained or lost;
d. Amount of the assets and liabilities other than cash or cash equivalents in
Associates, Subsidiaries, Joint Ventures and other Businesses over which
control is obtained or lost
3. Aggregate amount of Cash flows on account of obtaining or losing control or equity
interest in Associates, Subsidiaries, Joint Ventures and other Businesses shall be
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presented separately as a single line items along with separate disclosure with
respect to assets and liabilities acquired or disposed. The cash flow effects of losing
control are not deducted from those of obtaining control, therefore net cash flow
effect is to be reported.
4. If there is any transaction relating to changes in ownership interests in a subsidiary
that do not result in a loss of control, then Cash flows arising from such
transactions shall be treated as cash flows from financing activities, unless the
ownership interests is held by an investment entity, where ownership interests are
measured at fair value through profit or loss as per Ind AS 110.
Let us consider some of the issues relating to Non Cash transactions and how they are be
dealt while preparing Statement of Cash flows:
1. Investing and financing transactions that do not involve the usage of cash or cash
equivalents such as purchase of machinery by issuing shares to the vendor,
conversion of preference shares into equity shares on maturity shall be not be
considered while preparing a statement of cash flows as there is not inflow or
outflow of cash and cash equivalents.
2. However disclosures for non-cash transactions shall be made in the financial
statements so as to provide relevant information to the users.
3. Non Cash transactions do not affect cash flows however they can cast a significant
influence on the capital structure and asset composition of the business
4. Some of the examples of non-cash transactions are as follows:
a. Acquisition or purchase of assets against issue of Security instruments;
b. Conversion of one form of security instrument into the another;
c. Sale of goods against cancellation of a liability
6.17 SUMMARY
Cash flow statement is a statement, which shows how the cash and cash equivalents are
generated and how it is applied in different activities (operating, investing and financing) by
an entity during the particular accounting period.
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Cash: refers to the sum cash in hand and demand deposits with banks and financial
institutions which are repayable on demand.
Cash Equivalents: are the short-term, highly liquid investments which can be readily
converted into certain value of cash or money and are subjected to a very low risk of changes
in their value due to market price fluctuations.
Cash flows: refers to both inflows and outflows of cash and cash equivalents from operating,
investing and financing activities during a particular accounting period.
Operating activities: these activities are concerned with the principal and main revenue-
generating operations of the business organisation and have no relation with acquisition of
fixed assets or fund raising activities.
Investing activities: these are the activities which are concerned with the acquisition,
purchase or construction and sale of long-term tangible and intangible fixed assets and
investments and related earning from such investments such as dividend received, rental
income, and interest income.
Financing activities are activities that are concerned with raising funds, repayment of funds
raised and the payment of dividend and other fixed financial charges such as interest,
preference dividend, these activities are related to capital structure (size and composition of
equity and external borrowings).
1. Explain the concept of learning. Discuss personal factors that influence learning, with
suitable examples.
2. Discuss some effective methods of learning that you would like your students to
practice in class and at home. Illustrate your answer with relevant examples.
3. Company has provided the following information regarding the various assets held by
company on 31st March 2011. Find out, which of the following items will be part of
cash and cash equivalents for the purpose of preparation of cash flow statement as per
the guidance provided in Ind AS 7:
Name of Security Additional Information
Government Bonds 5%, open ended, main purpose was to park the
excess funds for temporary period
Fixed deposit with SBI 12%, 3 years maturity on 1st Jan 2014
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Fixed deposit with HDFC 10%, original term was for 2 years, but due for
maturity on 30.06.2011
Redeemable Preference shares in The redemption is due on 30th April 2011
ABC ltd
Cash balances at various banks All branches of all banks in India
Cash balances at various banks All international branches of Indian banks
Cash balances at various banks Branches of foreign banks outside India
Bank overdraft of SBI Fort branch Temporary overdraft, which is payable on demand
Treasury Bills 90 days maturity
4. From the following transactions, identify which transactions will be qualified for the
calculation of operating cash flows, if company is into the business of trading of
mobile phones
Nature of Transactions
Receipt from sale of mobile phones
Purchases of mobile phones from various companies
Employees expenses paid
Advertisement expenses paid
Credit sales of mobile
Misc. charges received from customers for repairs of mobiles
Warranty claims received from the companies
Loss due to decrease in market value of the closing stock of old mobile phones
Payment to suppliers of mobile phones
Depreciation on furniture of sales showrooms
Interest paid on cash credit facility of the bank
Profit on sale of old computers and printers, in exchange of new laptop and
printer
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5. From the following transactions taken from a private sector bank operating in India,
identify which transactions will be classified as operating and which would be
classified as Investing activity.
Nature of transaction paid
Interest received on loans
Interest paid on Deposits
Deposits accepted
Loans given to customers
Loans repaid by the customers
Deposits repaid
Commission received
Lease rentals paid for various branches
Service tax paid
Furniture purchased for new branches
Implementation of upgraded banking software
Purchase of shares in 100% subsidiary for opening a branch in Abu Dhabi
New cars purchased from Honda dealer, in exchange of old cars
Provident fund paid for the employees
Issued employee stock options
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6. From the following transactions taken from a parent company having multiple
businesses and multiple segments, identify which transactions will be classified as
operating Investing and Financing:
Nature of transaction
Issued Preference Shares
Purchased the shares of 100% subsidiary company
Dividend received from shares of subsidiaries
Dividend received from other companies
Bonus shares issued
Purchased license for manufacturing of special drugs
Royalty received from the goods patented by the company
Rent received from the let out building (letting out is not main business)
Interest received from the advances given
Dividend paid
Interest paid on security deposits
Purchased goodwill
Acquired the assets of a company by issue of equity shares (not parting any
cash)
Interim dividends paid
Dissolved the 100% subsidiary and received the amount in final settlement
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LESSON 7
STRUCTURE
7.1 Learning Objectives
7.2 Introduction
7.3 Responsibility Accounting
7.3.1 Centres of control in Responsibility Accounting
7.3.2 Advantages and Disadvantages of Responsibility Accounting
7.4 Divisional Performance Measurements
7.4.1 Traditional Measures
(a) Return on Investment (ROI)
(b) Residual Income (RI)
7.4.2 Modern Measures
(a) Economic Value Added (EVA)
(b) Balanced Score Card (BSC)
7.5 Summary
7.6 Glossary
7.7 Answers to In-text Questions
7.8 Self-Assessment Questions
7.9 References
7.10 Suggested Readings
Structures with divisions are common in large organisations. Measuring the effectiveness of
the divisions and their divisional managers is a crucial aspect of the head office
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This lesson discuss financial performance measurements, including how they are used to
evaluate performance and their benefits and drawbacks. The objectives of the lesson are:
7.2 INTRODUCTION
The majority of significant businesses today are decentralising as their operations get more
intricate and they expand internationally. Geographical and complex operations make
management more challenging to control, therefore managers of business units are in charge
of a variety of choices that the head office takes into account.
Numerous operations are carried out by large organisations in various regions. Such an
organisation may be divided into various units, each of which is in charge of planning and
controlling its own operations as well as some decision-making, in order to be managed
successfully. A division of the corporation is the term used to describe each individual unit.
The methods for evaluating and comparing divisional performance are described in this
chapter.
After studying this chapter, the learner will be able to explain the role of responsibility
accounting and divisional performance measurement in value creation, strategy
implementation and monitoring performance to improve strategies.
reflects each center's intentions and actions by allocating specific revenues and expenditures
to the one with the appropriate responsibility. Therefore, the gathering, summarising, and
reporting of financial data is known as responsibility accounting, and it places specific
expenses, revenues, or assets of the company under the accountability of each management.
The data relates to the organization's decision-making centres. It is also known as activity
accounting or profitability accounting.
Responsibility accounting as defined by (CIMA) is a system of accounting that segregates
revenue and costs into areas of personal responsibility in order to asses the performance
attained by persons to whom authority has been assigned. Responsibility accounting can also
be referred to as activity accounting. It is used to measures evaluate and monitor
decentralization process.
For the purpose of performance evaluation, responsibility accounting assesses the actual and
expected performance. Where decision-making authority has been delegated by senior
management, responsibility accounting is appropriate. According to responsibility
accounting, a manager's effectiveness should be assessed based on how successfully they
handle the matters that are within their sphere of influence.
The logic underpinning responsibility accounting is that a manager's effectiveness should be
assessed based on how successfully they handle the matters placed under their direct
authority by upper management.
“The basic idea behind responsibility accounting is that a manager should be held
responsible for those items - only those items - that the manager can actually
control to a significant extent.”- Garrison & Noreen
Responsibility Centres
The main focus of responsibility accounting lies on the responsibility centres. Responsibility
centre is a unit or function of an organization headed by a manager having direct
responsibility for its performance. It is a sub unit of an organization under the control of a
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manager who is held responsible for the activities of that centre. In other words, it is a
personalized group of cost centre under the control of a responsible individual.
Under this approach, the accounting system generates information on the basis of managerial
responsibility, allowing that information to be used directly in motivating and controlling
each manager’s actions incharge of Responsibility centre. It is like a small business to
achieve the objectives of a large organisation.
Based on cost allocation and profit measurement, managerial units are classified into the
following:
1) Cost Centre
2) Revenue Centre
3) Profit Centre
4) Investment Centre
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Profit Centers are areas of responsibility where the management is in charge of both the
revenue and expenses associated with the assets assigned to the division. Performance is
therefore assessed as the difference between the expenses and revenues associated with a
profit centre. So, a profit center's primary goal is to make money.
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Profit centre managers should be in charge of both income and expenses, which implies that
there should be enough decentralisation of power within the organisation to allow managers
of profit centres to decide on selling prices and output levels at those prices. It requires the
existence of organisational units to which both income and costs may be assigned
individually.
A profit centre is any organisational component to which expenditures and revenues are
allocated so that the subunit's profitability may be calculated. The main features of the const
centres are:
• Has the power and duty to make decisions that impact a division's profitability.
• Accountable for both revenue and cost.
• Performance is evaluated by contrasting predicted and actual profits.
4. Investment Centres
Profit centres do not take into account the sum of money needed to invest in order to make a
profit. Investment centres act as a link between profit and the quantity of asset used to
generate such profits. Investment Centers are responsibility centres where the management is
in charge of making investment choices about the sale and purchase of assets, as well as the
assets that produce the expenses and revenues associated with the centre.
It is a division within an organisation where the divisional manager is given certain latitude
about the level of investment made by the division. Profit earned must be compared to capital
invested when evaluating the center's performance. Return on Investment and residual
income are two metrics used to assess an investment center's financial performance.
7.3.2 Advantages and Disadvantages of Responsibility Accounting
To enable the lowest level of management in the organisational hierarchy to control revenue
and expenses, responsible accounting entails a collection of advantages realised through the
use of planning budgets, cost accounting, reporting, and management tools.
The following are some of the main benefits of responsibility:
1. It offers a system of closer control.
Responsibility accounting makes use of the market-specific expertise of divisional managers.
It assigns local managers the duty of deciding which trade-offs to make. It enhances and
regulates the business' operational operations to provide results that are both effective and
efficient.
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Through responsibility accounting, tighter cost and revenue management is made possible,
and planning and decision-making are aided. So, as a management technique, it fosters "cost
consciousness" among employees.
2. Delegation of power aids in establishing accountability.
Responsibility accounting exhorts management to recognise the organisational structure of
the business, determine who is responsible for what, and address issues. The managers' focus
and awareness are improved since they must explain the variances for which they are
accountable.
Each person is given a certain amount of responsibility and is held responsible for his actions.
No one can delegate their own obligation to another. This system fixes accountability on an
individual basis.
3. Help in measuring each individual performance.
Individual employees feel more efficient since their work and accomplishments are
evaluated. And information presentation is made possible through this mechanism. On that
foundation, a framework for management performance review systems may be built in
addition to inspiring managers to behave in the business' best interest.
Any fully established responsibility accounting system includes exception reporting. By
comparing the accomplishments between the intended objectives and the actual outcomes it
helps managers to focus on the pressing problems that require their attention.
4. Provide up to date information
Through responsibility accounting it is possible to get current and pertinent data that may be
utilised to forecast future expenses and/or revenues and establish benchmarks for
departmental budgets. It simplifies the form of the report and offers tips for timely reporting.
Responsibilty accounting directs management in structuring and planning the company's
future income and expenses. The best method is used to define and express both personal and
corporate goals. It measures performance at the divisional level and forces management to
create reasonable budgets and strategies.
5. Aids in the training of aspiring managers
Managers feel themselves vital members of the organisation when accountability is outlined
for each area. It enhances employees' motivation and fosters an entrepreneurial spirit. It
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encourages managers to work hard in the areas they are in charge of and promotes strong
employee motivational factor.
Disadvantages of Responsibility Accounting:
The primary tenet of the responsibility accounting concept is that managing a sizable, diverse
business may be effectively managed by segmenting a corporation into responsibility centres.
However, responsibility accounting has several issues like- it is difficult to introduce, it
confuses division’s results with manager’s performance and overemphasizes on short term
results.
Following are some of the main drawbacks of responsibility accounting:
1. In responsibility accounting goal congruence is challenging to organise. As separate
departmental pursuits may lead to inter-departmental rivalry and it may be prejudicial
to the interest of the enterprise as a whole. Managers may act in the best interest of
their own, but not in the best interest of the enterprise.So, instead of enhancing
organisational performance overall, more attention is paid to boosting divisional
performance.
2. For responsibility accounting to be effective, a proper classification between
controllable and non-controllable costs is a prime requisite. But practical difficulties
arise while doing so on account of the complex nature & variety of costs.
3. Responsibility accounting cannot be used exclusively as a management control tool. It
just focus management's attention on performance areas that need more inquiry.
4. In case of responsibility accounting, creating an organisational chart that clearly
shows responsibility hierarchies and exercising power is a challenging endeavour. The
accounting reports may be overloaded with all available information. And there is
always a risk that errors made by divisional managers that senior management may be
able to prevent.
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IN-TEXT QUESTIONS
1. Select the correct answer for the following multiple choice questions:
(a) When a manager of a division is given the responsibility for or
authority to make decisions that affect costs and revenues but no
responsibility for investments, the division is termed as:
(i) A Cost Centre; (ii) A Profit Centre;
(iii) An Investment Centre; (iv) Revenue centre;
(v) None of the above
2. Please indicate if each of the following assertions is true or false.
a. Personalization of expenses is emphasised in responsibility
accounting.
b. In a responsibility accounting, the amount of authority delegation
determines how much accountability a cost centre has.
c. Accounts for responsibility are exclusively based on previous
costs.
3. Responsibility accounting is applicable in situations where senior
management has the………………. power to make choices.
4. The fundamental tenet of responsibility accounting is that
enormous...................... businesses are challenging, if not impossible, to
operate as a single unit.
5. A........................ is a component of a group that raises operating
expenses for a business but does not result in immediate financial gain.
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From the above data, the ROIs of both businesses will be calculated as:
ROI (Department Shop) = ( Divisional Profit ÷ Divisional Investment ) × 100
= ( 28,000 ÷ 1,50,000 ) ×100
= 18.67 %
ROI (Disount outlet) = ( Divisional Profit ÷ Divisional Investment ) × 100
= ( 40,000 ÷ 2,00,000 ) ×100
= 20 %
The ROI is different for both the divisions. That implies that division with higher ROI is
more successful. The discount outlet ROI (20 %) is higher than department shop ROI (18.67
%).
If all other variables remain the same, any of the following acts will boost ROI:
1) A rise in sales volume or price;
2) A fall in operating expenses; and
3) A drop in divisional investment.
The benefits of return on investment are as follows:
(a) It provides a better gauge of divisional profitability by connecting net income to
investments made in the division.
(b) Other ratios that are helpful for analytical reasons can be derived from it.
(c) Because it is based on financial accounting measurement, it is simple to grasp.
(d) It is acceptable for use in interfirm comparisons as long as the businesses whose
results are being contrasted are similar in size and belong to the same sector.
Over many years, it has been recognised and acknowledged that using ROI to assess a
division manager's performance has limits and can lead to dysfunctional behaviours.The
limitations of return on investment are as follows:
(a) It is challenging to locate satisfactory definitions of profit and investment. PBIT,
PAIT, controlled profit, profit after deducting all assigned fixed expenses, and other
ideas fall under the umbrella of profit. In a similar vein, the phrase "investment" can
refer to a variety of concepts, including gross book value (GBV), net book value
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(NBV), historical cost of assets (HCA), current cost of assets (CCA), and assets
including or excluding intangible assets (IA).
(b) A divisional manager may be influenced by ROI to only choose investments with
high rates of return, that is, rates that are in line with or higher than his goal ROI.
Investments that might increase enterprise value but decreasing segment ROI may be
denied. Some sectors may use the available cash to sponsor initiatives that boost their
return on investment at the expense of the organisation as a whole.
(c) In order to compare the ROI of various segments, it is essential that they employ
comparable accounting rules and procedures for the valuation of stocks, fixed assets,
apportionment of overhead, handling of R&D expenses, etc.
Residual Income (RI)
Operating profit less an interest charge based on the assets used and held by the division is
known as residual income (RI). In other words, the profit that remains after deducting the
cost of capital on investment is known as residual income. It is the difference between net
income and the cost of capital. Profit for the business is any income received beyond the cost
of capital.
The Residual Income may be calculated as:
Residual Income = Profit – (Capital Charge x Investment Centre Asset)
Residual income is defined as controllable contribution less a cost of capital charge on the
investment that the divisional manager can control for the purposes of measuring the
performance of divisional managers. Each division will be charged capital costs at the same
rate that the company as a whole is subject to. The business will do better the more income it
generates over its cost of capital.
Managers wanted an absolute metric, such as residual income, to get beyond the limits of
return on Investment (ROI) measurements. The residual income strategy can be utilised to get
around some of the problematic effects of ROI. There is a higher likelihood that managers
will be encouraged to act in the company's best interests as well as their own if residual
income is utilised to gauge the managerial performance of investment centres.
Let us suppose, the information relating to operation of Division A of a manufacturing
concern is given:
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“The Balanced Score-card (BSC) provides managers with the instrumentation they need to
navigate to future competitive success. Today, organizations are competing in complex
environments so that an accurate understanding of their goals and the methods for attaining
those goals is vital. The Balanced Scorecard translates an organization’s mission and strategy
into a comprehensive set of performance measures that provides the framework for a strategic
measurement and management system. The balanced scorecard retains an emphasis on
achieving financial objectives, but also include the performance drivers of these financial
objectives. The scorecard measures organizational performance across four balanced
perspectives: financial, customers, internal business processes and learning and growth. The
BSC enables companies to track financial results while simultaneously monitoring progress
in building the capabilities and acquiring the intangible assets they need for future growth.”
The balanced scorecard is a tool used by businesses to monitor their performance in relation
to their primary and secondary goals. In this sense, the planning and strategy of the business,
which specifies the relationships it must forge with its workers, suppliers, and the community
to succeed with its target consumers, determines the emphasis and scope of the balanced
scorecard.
Dimensions of Balancescore Card
A collection of performance goals and outcomes related to four performance dimensions—
financial, customer, internal process, and innovation—make up the balanced scorecard. A
management strategy that concentrates on accomplishing corporate goals is the balanced
scorecard. It acknowledges that businesses have obligations to a variety of stakeholder
groups, including consumers, suppliers, employees, and community members. The balanced
scorecard displays how well a company is doing at reaching its goals in relation to its
stakeholders. Sometimes, the desires of various stakeholders might vary. Employees, for
instance, rely on an organisation for their employment. Investors depend on a company to
protect their capital. These conflicting desires must be balanced by the organisation. As a
result, the purpose of a balanced scorecard is to assess how effectively a company is
performing in light of divergent stakeholder interests.
According to Hensen and Mowen, the balanced scorecard is a "strategicbased responsibility
accounting system" that translates an organization's mission and strategy into operational
goals and metrics for four distinct perspectives: the infrastructure (learning and growth), the
customer, the process, and the financial perspective.
So, Customers, internal business, learning and innovation, and finance are the four separate
views that make up the core framework that Kaplan and Norton developed.
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detractors take it a step further and claim that financial controls have no bearing on customer
satisfaction, but these claims are frequently untrue because a well-planned financial control
procedure can enhance a company's overall quality management programme.
(c) Internal business (The key processes that the company use to meet and exceed
customer and shareholder requirements)
Companies determine at this stage the procedures and actions required to accomplish the
goals identified at the stage of the financial and consumer perspectives. By reevaluating the
value chain and making the required adjustments to the current operating operations, these
goals may be accomplished. Companies must adapt in order to satisfy client expectations, yet
doing so requires them to improvise their internal operations. Managers must prioritise
crucial internal processes if they want to live up to customer expectations. The importance of
addressing cycle time, performance, expertise, and labour efficiency. The company's vision,
mission, and objectives should be understood by all employees, from the top down, so that
they may give their all and have a clear understanding of the decisions, actions, and changes
that need to be made in order to achieve the company's objectives. A significant part in
identifying the error in an organisation is played by information systems. When a problem
arises in BSC, it is simple to track it down, pinpoint the issue, and respond right away.
(d) Innovation and learning (How the company foster ongoing change and
continuous improvement)
The learning and growth viewpoint helps businesses identify the initiatives and support
systems needed to foster long-term success and meet the goals outlined in the first three
views. Organizations are adapting to match the global standards as the world is changing
quickly. The others will fail to meet the high standards and fall behind those who keep up
with the pace, improve themselves, and improvise themselves. The worth of a corporation is
correlated with its capacity for innovation, self-improvement, and learning. In other words,
the company must boost operational effectiveness, introduce new goods, and improvise to
gain market share before it can increase revenue and boost shareholder value.
Characteristics of good Balanced Scorecards
For balanced scorecards to be effective and helpful, they should exhibit the traits listed
below:
1. By converting the strategy into a logical and connected set of comprehensible and
quantifiable operational objectives, balanced scorecards should aid in conveying the
plan developed to all members of a business. Managers and staff then act in
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accordance with the scorecard to carry out the firm's plan. It is recommended to create
scorecards at the division and department levels in order to facilitate choices and
actions that are in compliance with scorecards.
2. The balanced scorecard places a lot of focus on financial goals and metrics in profit-
driven organisations. Managers occasionally place too much emphasis on innovation,
quality, and customer pleasure, even though these factors may not directly result in
financial gains. In order to achieve and enhance future financial success, a strong
balanced scorecard takes non-financial criteria into account. Many non-financial
performance variables act as leading indications of future financial performance when
they are correctly connected in balance scorecards.
3. In order to showcase a company's strategy, balanced scorecards should emphasise
cause-and-effect relationships. Let's say ABC Ltd. wants to produce goods at a low
cost and expand quickly. The balanced scorecards ought to provide goals and metrics
from a "learning and growth viewpoint," since this might enhance internal company
operations. These would then translate into increased levels of client satisfaction,
market share, operating revenue, and shareholder wealth.
4. The scorecard draws attention to poor trade-offs that managers could make if they
don't take operational and financial factors into account simultaneously. For instance,
a business where innovation is important might improve its short-term financial
performance by cutting back on R&D. A strong balanced scorecard would indicate
that the drop in R & D output and spending, a leading predictor of that performance,
may indicate that short-term financial performance was obtained at the expense of
future financial performance.
A company can better express its vision and strategy and put it into action with the aid of a
balanced scorecard. A company use it to promote efficient and reliable communication since
everyone speaks the same metrics language; drive attention to important requirements,
regularly facilitate evaluations and guarantee organisational alignment. The good thing about
the scorecard is that businesses can interact with it in accordance with the market's nature and
culture and add additional insight and KPI as they see fit. For this reason, businesses are
currently experimenting with various improvements to the scorecard. The scorecard has
drawn a lot of criticism, but it remains a popular performance management tool.
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IN-TEXT QUESTIONS
6. State which of the following statements is ‘True’ or ‘False’.
(a) Both ROI and RI should be considered while evaluating performance.
(b) In assessing divisional performance, it is usually preferable to use a minimum
rate of return on investment.
ILLUSTRATION
Illustration 1. XYZ Ltd. Company has several divisons. Of these 4 divions are- Venus,
Mars, Jupiter and Saturn. Below are the data for these divisions.
Divisions
Venus Mars Jupiter Saturn
Sales 5,00,000 6,00,000 7,00,000 8,00,000
Income 50,000 1,00,000 1,50,000 2,00,000
Investment 5,00,000 5,00,000 5,00,000 5,00,000
You are required to calculate ROI of the four divisions and rank these divisions on the basis
of their performance.
Solution From the above data, the ROIs will be calculated as:
ROI = ( Divisional Profit ÷ Divisional Investment ) × 100
Divisions ROI Ranking
(Divisional Profit ÷ Divisional Investment) × 100
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Illustration 3 For an investment of Rs. 10,00,000, the division of a business makes a profit of
Rs. 4,00,000. There is an opportunity to make an additional investment of Rs.3,50,000, which
yields a Rs. 1,00,000 yearly return. If the company requires a minimum return of 12 per cent
on its investment. Calculate calculate residual income and comment.
Solution : First of all, We need to calualte the residual Income from existing investment as
well as from additional investment. And formula to calculate the Residual Income is:
Residual Income (RI) = Divisional Profit – (Cost of Capital × Divisional Investment).
Residual Income (Before the additional Investment):
RI = Rs.4,00,000 – (12% of Rs.10,00,000)
= Rs.4,00,000 – Rs.1,20,000
= Rs.2,80,000
Residual Income (From additional Investment):
RI = Rs.1,00,000 – (12% of 3,50,000)
= Rs.1,00,000 – Rs.42,000
= Rs. 58,000
An investment of Rs. 13,50,000 yields a total residual income of Rs. 3,38,000. The increased
investment boosts residual revenue and raises the performance indicator.
7.5 SUMMARY
One of the greatest cost management methods used in large organisations in the event of
decentralisation or divisionalization to lessen the burden of controlling the business is
responsibility accounting. Responsibility canters are distinct areas inside a corporation where
specific managers have agreed to take responsibility and authority. Responsibility canters
specify the specific resources and tasks that each manager is in charge of. To assess the
effectiveness of each responsibility centre, managers create a responsibility report. In this
report, individual deviations are measured and analysed in relation to the responsibility
center's budgeted and actual performance. In order to prevent managers from being held
accountable for actions they have no control over, responsibility reports should only contain
expenses that can be controlled.
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7.6 GLOSSARY
Responsibility Center (RC): A division or unit of the company where a particular manager
is given the power and duty to make decisions.
Cost centre: A is a division of a corporation that raises operating expenses while producing
no direct profit.
Investment Center: A section inside a company whose management oversees both earnings
and has some control over capital expenditures.
Profit Center: A division of a company where expenses, revenues, and profits are measured
independently.
Revenue Center: A division of an organisation called a revenue centre is in charge of raising
money.
Performance Report: A document created by each decision-making centre that details
budgeted and performance measures as well as deviations from the plan.
Return on Investment: The division's profit controllable as a proportion of the investment in
assets that generates that profit is used to determine return on investment.
Residual Income: Operating profit less an interest charge based on the assets used and
controlled by the division is known as residual income.
Economic value added: The concept of residual revenue is the foundation of economic value
added. The cost of capital charge based on the division's assets is subtracted from divisional
earnings to determine the EVA for each division.
1.Profit Centre
2. (a) True
(b) True
(c) False
3. Delegated
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4. Diversified
5. Cost center
6. (a) True
(b) False
7. Asset turnover
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7.9 REFERENCES
Arora, M.N.(2022). Cost Accounting, Vikas Publishing House Pvt. Ltd., New Delhi.
Davidson, Maher, Stickney, Weil. (1991). Managerial Accounting, Holt-Sounders
International Editions, New York.
J. Lewis Brown, Leslie R. Howard (1986). Managerial Accounting and Finance, Machonald
& Evans Ltd., London.
Lovata, L. and Costigan, M.L. (2002) ‘Empirical analysis of adopters of economic value
added’, Management Accounting Research, 13: 215–28.
Oyelere, P.B. and Turner, J.D. (2000) ‘A survey of transfer pricing practices in UK banks
and building societies’, European Business Review, 12(2): 93–9.
Nigam and Sharma. (1999). Advanced Cost Accounting, Himalaya Publishing House,
Bombay.
Perera, S., McKinnon, J.L. and Harrison, G. (2003) ‘Diffusion of transfer pricing innovation
in the context of commercialisation: a longitudinal case study of a government trading
enterprise’, Management Accounting Research, 14: 140–64.
Riceman, S.S., Cahan, S.F. and Lal, M. (2002) ‘Do managers perform better under EVA
bonus schemes?’, The European Accounting Review, 11(3): 537–72.
Francesco G.G Zingales & Kai Hockerts. (2003). Balanced score card& sustainability
examples from literature and practices, p.5.
Kaplan & Norton 1992, The Balanced Scorecard—Measures That Drive Performance.
Kaplan, Robert and Norton, David. (2001). Transforming the Balanced Scorecard from
Performance Measurement to Strategic Management. Accounting Horizons. pp. 87- 104.
Pandey, I.M (2004): Financial Management. (8th Ed.). Vikas Publishing House PVT, Ltd
New Delhi
Singh, Manjit and Kumar, Sanjeev. (2007). Balanced Scorecard Implementations Global and
Indian Experiences. Indian Management Studies Journal. Pp. 21-39.
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Thomas Bieker. (2002). Sustainability management with the Balanced Scorecard Using the
BSC for integrity management”, Paper presented at the “10th International Conference of the
Greening of Industry Network”, Göteborg/Sweden.
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LESSON 8
TRANSFER PRICING
CA.Mannu Goyal
Assistant Professor
Campus of Open Learning
University of Delhi
Mannugoyal@sol-du.ac.in
STRUCTURE
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8.2 INTRODUCTION
Most of business enterprises throughout the world are now following a decentralized form
of organizational structure whereby top management delegates daily routine nature
operations and responsibilities to their subordinates. This leads to creation of responsibility
centres or divisions within the organisation. Divisional managers are solely responsible for
their division’s operations, returns and profit and losses. Though each division aims
towards achieving its own individual goal of their profit maximisation, but their goals have
to be aligned with or in congruence with the organization’s overall objectives known as
Goal Congruence.
A divisional manager have the authority and responsibility to control either the division’s
cost (cost centre) or both cost and revenue (profit centre). Inter-divisional transactions could
involve:
Sale purchase of goods and services
Acquisition or sharing of intangibles and intellectual property rights such as
trademark, copyright, patent against royalty fee or license fee.
Inter-divisional loans against interest payments.
Determining a value for inter-divisional transfer of goods and services is called Transfer
Pricing.
expand operations or not etc. to maximize their individual profits, while also
promoting goal congruence.
4. Helps in taxation and profit remittance to the Head Office: Since transfer pricing
influence profits of MNCs having inter-divisional transfers which might affect the
over-all tax burden as well as the profits because some divisions might be operating in
high tax jurisdiction and some in low tax jurisdiction.
The price for inter-divisional transfer should be fair, reasonable and competitive enough as if
divisions are dealing with an outside third party independently where both the parties are in
pursuit of their own individual goals of profit maximisation.
Transfer price would become revenue for the supplying division which the goods/services
and cost for the divisions which receives the goods/services. Where each division is profit
centre, any interdivisional transaction becomes more profit oriented where each division
strives to maximize its revenue and minimize its costs, same as to how customers and
businesses compete with each other using their bargaining power to set the price favourable
to them. To deal or transact at the fair price for the divisions becomes necessary because it
changes their profitability.
Market
Based
MBA
divisions. The interdivisional transfer is recorded at the market price, after adjusting or
deducting for any costs saved due to internal transfer such as selling and distribution
expenses, commission, packaging cost, etc.
Advantages
It is unbiased: because demand and supply forces determine the market price.
More clear and reliable compared to cost-based pricing because it cannot be
manipulated by the internal managers.
Objective measurement of performance of the division: because the market based
pricing is competitive.
Disadvantages
It might not be completely unbiased in the absence competitive environment such as
in case of distress sale or manipulative pricing strategies like price rigging which
distorts the fairness of the market price.
Market prices might fluctuate quickly to lead the data irrelevant.
Sometimes market price may not be readily available for intermediate goods due to
lack of active market for them.
Cost Based Transfer Price
It is based on the cost accounting records which are prepared by internal cost accounting
departments of the company. It is applied when the management wants to compare actual
performance with the standard costs set within the company or as an alternative method to
calculate the transfer price when market prices cannot be determined because of non-
existence of comparable and relevant market. It might consider:
variable cost
standard cost
full cost and
full cost plus profit mark-up.
Advantages
Performance can be benchmarked on the basis of internal cost budgets which are
readily available within the entity.
Information is comparatively more easily available to market price. Cost elements
can be divided further into more sub components, therefore basis for transfer pricing
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Advantage
Performance evaluation can go in contradiction to budgeted cost targets.
It facilitates better understanding of costs through variance analysis so that measures
can be taken to improve performance.
Disadvantage
Profit performance measurement is centralized and cannot be carried out for each
individual divisions.
Full Cost Based Transfer Price
Transfer price is determined on the basis of full product cost which includes cost of
production plus a share of other costs such as selling and distribution expenses,
administrative expenses, research and development costs, etc.
Advantage
Supplying division recovers full cost of goods transferred from the receiving division.
Therefore supplying division will not incur any loss.
Disadvantage
Since no mark-up can be charged on internal transfers by the supplying division
from the receiving division which discourages the supplying division to supply
internally.
Cost plus a Mark-up Based Transfer Price
Transfer price is based on full product cost plus a mark-up usually as a percentage of full
product cost or of capital employed.
Advantage
Since the supplying division makes a profit by charging a desired markup, this
method encourages the supplying division to supply internally.
Disadvantage
Since the transfer price under this method is near to market price, the purchasing division
may bear a share of the selling expenses even though nothing is incurred for such internal
transfer which could distort the performance of purchasing division.
Negotiation Based Transfer Price
This is mid-way between market and cost methods. Divisional managers of the purchasing
and supplying divisions independently negotiate with each other to arrive at a mutually
agreed transfer price.
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Advantage
Managers are given full autonomy to decide whether to purchase/acquire (or sell)
from its sister unit internally or source then from (or sell to) external market.
Disadvantage
It requires sufficient information with respect to external market price, terms of trade etc.
Internal cost must also be considered in order to negotiate a reasonable price.
Maximum Transfer Price = lower of Net Marginal Revenue and the External Buy-in
Price
2. When the supplying division operates at full capacity, the range for transfer pricing
would be:
Minimum Transfer Price = Marginal cost per unit + Opportunity cost per unit
Since the supplying division is operating at full capacity, it has no incentive to sell
the goods to the purchasing division at a price lower than the market price. If the
internal order is accepted, capacity is to be diverted from external sale to internal
sale. Therefore the supplying division would additionally charge the lost
contribution that could have been earned from external sales which are sacrificed.
Maximum Transfer Price = Lower of Net Marginal Revenue and the External Buy-
in Price.
Different Demand Levels
A supplying division fulfills the demand from:
(i) internal divisions
(ii) external markets
(iii) any special orders.
Production level is subject to available capacity in the form of labour, number of
machineries, factory area, available raw material etc. Production cost is reduced due to
economies of scale. For example, a machinery has a normal capacity of producing 10,000
units. However, production beyond 10,000 units requires the purchase of another machine
requiring additional space, labour, supervisor, etc. This increases the fixed cost of the
production department. Hence, production cost is dependent on economies to scale.
Certain types of demand may also leads to cost savings. For example, internal sales require
lower packaging and transportation costs because the product may be transferred in bulk to
the purchasing division. Special orders saves selling expenses as it is the customer who
approaches the company to sell the product and no broker or agent is involved in the deal.
Therefore, in case of different demand categories, associated cost savings should be
considered to determine the transfer price subject to general rule for minimum and
maximum range of transfer price as discussed above.
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Following System of Transfer Pricing can be adopted resolve the conflict of interest
between interests of individual divisions and the company and to achieve goal congruence:
Dual Rate Transfer Pricing System
The supplying division records transfer price (inter-sale price) by including a normal profit
margin thereby showing reasonable profit. The purchasing division records transfer price
(inter-purchase price) at marginal cost thus recording purchases at minimum cost. This
allows for better performance evaluation of each division and improves co-operation
between divisions, promoting goal congruence and reduces sub-optimization of resources.
Drawbacks of Dual Pricing are:
1. It can complicate the records due to two transfer prices, thereby requires adjustments
and may result in errors in the overall records.
2. Profits reported by the divisions are only artificial and need to be used only for
internal evaluations.
Two Part Transfer Pricing System
This system also aimed at resolving problems of distortions caused by the full cost based
transfer pricing method. Therefore, transfer price should be as follows:
Transfer price = marginal cost of production + a lump-sum charge (two part to pricing).
Where marginal cost component ensures recovery of additional cost of production related to
the goods transferred, lump-sum charge helps in the recovery of some part of the fixed cost of
the supplying division. Therefore, it is beneficial for both the divisions as the supplying
division can report better profitability and the purchasing division is also benefited as it can
purchase at a lower rate compared to the market price.
Availability of low-cost labor with specialized skills. India and China are the most
lucrative sources for companies throughout the world.
The interdivisional transactions in multi-national companies could involve:
1. Buying and selling of goods
2. Provision of services
3. Providing or sharing intangibles such as patents, copyrights, trademarks or brands
against royalty payments.
4. Providing loans against interest payments.
Taxation, profit repatriation and transfer prices are major considerations for the senior
management of the multi-national organisations which try to maximize profits by using
transfer pricing as a tool to reduce the overall tax burden. If, the supplying division is
operating in a high tax jurisdiction such as USA, and purchasing division is operating in
zero or low tax jurisdiction such as Andora, Cayman Islands, then the transfer price will
be deliberately set lower reflect low revenue for supplying divisions (paying high tax rate
on small profits) and low cost for the purchasing division (paying low tax rate on large
income), thereby paying lower taxes in totality .Similarly, supply from divisions
operating in lower tax rate countries are priced higher to report higher earnings for
supplying division paying low tax rate.
Tax authorities of different countries check whether the interdivisional transfers between
the divisions of the MNCs operating in different countries are priced at Arm’s Length
Price, so as to evaluate whether transfer pricing is used as tool of base erosion and profit
shifting. For understanding this we can take the recent case of Starbucks UK subsidiary
vs. British authorities. Starbucks is known for their world famous coffee on which they
huge profit margins due their brand name and quality but their tax records and income tax
computations reported losses every year. Tax investigations revealed that the UK
subsidiary paid its Netherland unit (holding ownership of brand name and trade secrets)
6% of sales as royalty for intellectual property such as trademark and business processes.
The tax authorities raised question whether 6% royalty is at arms-length and whether it is
comparable with market terms for similar transactions between unrelated parties under
uncontrolled conditions.
In India, Tax authorities regulates such tax avoidance measures through section 92A to
92F of the Income Tax Act, 1961.
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Multinational firms or companies are often exposed to foreign exchange rate fluctuation
risks which create uncertain cash flows in corporate currency and also can misrepresent and
misevaluate performance of subsidiaries operating in different countries. In case of inter-
divisional transfers between subsidiaries operating in different countries, when one
subsidiary makes a loss due to unfavorable exchange rate movement, the other might make
a profit if the movement is favorable for the later one. The organization therefore should
manage its exposures to currency risks. The treasury/finance department or mangers of
overall profit centre is responsible for managing the currency risk. A multinational
corporation which is fairly - certain about exchange rate movement in the future always try
to set transfer prices in a currency such that any currency losses arise to that subsidiary
which operates in the high-tax country or jurisdiction, and currency profits arise to
subsidiary in the country with the lower tax rate.
8.11 SUMMARY
Organisation having multinational operations or large scale organisations are usually
divided into departments or divisions which spread across countries in case of
multinational corporations.
Inter divisional transfers may be in form of following transactions:
Sale/ purchase of goods and services
Royalty fee payments for providing right to use in respect of intangibles or
intellectual property rights like brand name, patent, copyright, etc.
Inter-divisional loans against periodic interest payments.
Pricing of transactions involving inter-divisional transfer of goods and services between
divisions or departments of the same organisation is known as Transfer Pricing.
1. Performance Evaluation of Divisions in the form of profitability of divisions.
2. Motivation and Compensation for Divisional managers and employees (fair profit
evaluation motivates employees and managers in improving their performance and
increasing divisional profits for earning bonus and promotions).
3. Resource Allocation (optimum allocation of resources and decisions such as make
or buy).
4. Compliance of Income Tax provisions and Profit Remittance by the divisions
(impact taxable profits of MNCs affecting the over-all tax burden and the profits
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external market price, terms of trade etc. Internal cost information is required to be
shared in order to negotiate a reasonable price which is fair for both the divisions.
Divisional Conflict–
Dual Pricing – The supplying division records transfer price by including a normal profit
margin thereby showing reasonable revenue. The purchasing division records transfer
price at marginal cost thereby recording purchases at minimum cost.
Advantages – Allows better evaluation of each division’s performance, improves
co- operation between divisions, promoting goal congruence and reduction of sub-
optimization of resources.
Disadvantages – Complicate the records, artificial profits can be used only for
internal evaluations
Two Part Pricing System –
Transfer Price = Marginal Cost of Production + a Lump-Sum Charge (two part to pricing).
Lump-Sum charge enables the recovery of some portion of the fixed cost of the supplying
division. Therefore, while the supplying division can show better profitability, the
purchasing division can purchase the goods a lower rate compared to the market price.
Transfer Pricing and Goal Congruence –
Minimum Transfer Price (from the supplying division)
= Additional Outlay Cost per unit + Opportunity Cost per unit.
Where Additional Outlay Cost = Marginal Cost + Incidental Costs such as storage,
transportation etc.
Maximum Transfer Price (from the purchasing division)
= Net Marginal Revenue and the External Buy-in Price whichever is lower
Where Net Marginal Revenue = Marginal Revenue (Selling Price per unit) – Marginal Cost
to Purchasing Division
Transfer Pricing Different Capacity Levels –
Excess capacity with supplying division
a) Minimum Transfer Price = Marginal Cost per unit.
b) Maximum Transfer Price = Net Marginal Revenue and the External Buy-in Price
whichever is lower
Supplying division operates at full capacity:
a) Minimum Transfer Price = Marginal Cost per unit + Opportunity Cost per unit
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b) Maximum Transfer Price = Net Marginal Revenue and the External Buy-in Price
whichever is lower
Transfer Pricing Decision – Different Demand Levels: while catering to different levels
of demand, any change in cost should also be accounted for to calculate transfer pricing.
The general rule for minimum and maximum range of transfer price applies here too.
International Transfer Pricing –Transfer pricing is also considered important in case of
Multinational companies to deal with important area such as:
1. Taxation
2. Profit repatriation to head office.
Multi-national companies try to reduce overall tax burden to maximize profits by using
manipulative transfer pricing tools.
If, the supplying division is operating in a high tax jurisdiction such as USA, and purchasing
division is operating in zero or low tax jurisdiction such as Andora, Cayman Islands, then the
transfer price will be deliberately set lower reflect low revenue for supplying divisions
(paying high tax rate on small profits) and low cost for the purchasing division (paying low
tax rate on large income), thereby paying lower taxes in totality .Similarly, supply from
divisions operating in lower tax rate countries are priced higher to report higher earnings for
supplying division paying low tax rate.
In case of inter-divisional transfers between subsidiaries operating in different countries,
MNCs try to set transfer prices in a currency such that any currency losses arise to that
subsidiary which operates in the high-tax country or jurisdiction, and currency profits arise to
subsidiary in the country with the lower tax rate.
8.12 GLOSSARY
Goal Congruence: Though each division aims towards achieving its own individual goal
of their profit maximisation, but their goals have to be aligned with or in congruence with
the organization’s overall objectives.
Transfer pricing: Determining a value for inter-divisional transfer of goods and services is
called
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LESSON 9
STRUCTURE
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9.2 INTRODUCTION
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In this chapter an attempt has been made that the students will study the various
developments in varied branches of accounting like tax accounting, health accounting, social
accounting, international accounting etc.
Inflation can be defined as the percentage change in the price level from the current period.
The prominent role of inflation accounting is to check conventional historical cost accounts
which are being used in the understatement of inventory and plant and which are being used
in the production of goods, the cost of goods sold and depreciation in order to prevent erosion
of capital during inflation. Inflation accounting being used to give information that is
beneficial for the potential and present investors and also to creditors in making decisions and
also assessing the timing and uncertainty in cash receipts which can be in form of dividends
or proceeds from the sale of redemption of securities or loans. The main objectives of
inflation accounting is
To show the real profit and loss for the period under consideration against the profit
or loss based on historical cost.
To show the real value of assets and liabilities instead of showing on the basis of
historical cost.
To see that sufficient amount of funds will be available when replacement of assets is
being done.
Inflation accounting can be calculated by two methods current purchasing power method and
current cost accounting method.
i. Current Purchasing Power: Under this method monetary and non monetary items
are shown separately. The accounting adjustments for monetary items are being
shown by recording of net gain or net loss. Non monetary items are being updated
into figures according to inflation conversion factor which is equivalent to the
consumer price index at the end of accounting period which is being divided by
consumer price index when the transaction is being done at a particular date.
ii. Current Cost Accounting: This method calculates assets at their fair market value
rather taking into consideration the historical cost, which is the price incurred when
the asset is being purchased. Under this method both monetary and non monetary
items are shown at their current values.
Inflation accounting can be better understood with the help of following practical examples.
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Practical Example 1
Inflation accounting is being used by a company for adjustment of its equipment value in
2022. The equipment was purchased for 20000 in 2006 when the price index was 116 and the
price index for 2022 is 180. The new value using the CPP method can be found out as
Current Index Price= Revaluation (2006 2022)
Historical Price*Conversion factor
2000*(180/116) = 60000. Now the new value of the equipment is Rs 60000 in 2022 based on
conversion factor of 3 and this new value would be recorded in the balance sheet as the
closing balance at the end of the period.
Practical Example 2 :
Calculate the net monetary value
Jan 2020 Dec 2020
Current Assets 30000 42000
Current Liabilties 35000 45000
250 350
Retail Price Index
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ACTIVITY 1
A company provides inflation adjusted accounting, in your opinion who gains
the most by using such kind of accounting.
IN-TEXT QUESTIONS
1. Inflation is measured by ___________.
2. The CPP method distinguishes between ___________and ___________ .
3. CPP is a mixed method in which ___________ are prepared on historical basis
4. The current purchasing power method is also known as ___________ .
In manufacturing units most of the assets are in physical form and these assets can be easily
trace and valued. The value of the firm can be easily calculated without much difficulty.
Manufacturing firms have other assets also other than physical assets like intangible assets,
goodwill, brand value etc. Human capital is the most important factor in any organization and
they do things that ultimately lead the company to the path of success, and the importance of
human asset is mostly seen in software firms. Can it be made possible to assign value to
every individual working in the firm? It is an important question that human beings should be
valued as they form an important asset in the firm. Yes human valuation is considered very
necessary.. It can be said that HRA is a system which informs management about various
changes taking place in the human resources of the company. It is also engaged in the
accounting process of how investments are being done in people and what can be the
replacement costs of such human resources working in the organization. The present
accounting system is not in a position to provide the actual value of human resources working
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in the organization who are showing their knowledge and capabilities at different level. This
will indirectly affect the investments to be done in near future of the company as the cost
incurred on training and recruitment of human resources increases day by day.
The information which is being generated by HRA systems can be used in taking a variety of
managerial decisions like selection, recruitment, planning, analysis of turnover, and capital
budgeting and these kind of decision will save the company from any trouble arising in near
future. Most of the companies in India like BHEL, Reliance, and Infosys have implemented
the concept of HRA system and are also working on it. Infosys have started showing human
resources as an asset in its companies Balance Sheet and due to this Infosys is enjoying high
market valuations and earning good profits in the market. Thus human resource accounting
can be defined as the measurement of various costs and reporting those cost and value of
people as organizational resources. There are several kind of methods used in human resource
accounting are:
Capitalization of Historical Cost Method: This method was developed by William
Pyle in 1967. Under this method the amount incurred on recruitment, training and
selection of the employee is capitalized and written off from the value expected from
human resources. Thus for this purpose a proper record is being maintained about the
expenses incurred in recruitment selection and training of employee. Some amount of
the expense is written off from next year so that some value might be left for the human
service provider in the next year.
Replacement Cost method: This method was developed by Renis Likert and it tells
about the cost of replacing an existing human resource in an organization. It also
indicates the amount spent on training recruitment and selection of human resource in
an organization. This method is more realistic in nature as it reflects the current values
of human resources in an organization.
Opportunity Cost method: This method was developed by Kiman and Jones for a
company who was engaged in bidding services. Thus opportunity cost means the cost of
an asset which can be use in a alternate way. The value of human resource is calculated
on the basis of the cost of the individual. If the employee is recruited from external
source then it has no opportunity cost.
Economic Value Method: According to this method the value of human resource is
measured according to the contribution made by an individual in an organization. This
method estimated the total cash inflow generated by a person for his services in an
organization.
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Standard Cost: The standard cost method reflects the total cost incurred in recruiting
and selection of human resource in an organization. According to this method the
economic value is the amount spent on the entire workforce and it is equivalent to the
money incurred on training and hiring of a human resource during the accounting
period.
Cost benefit method: Under this method the estimated benefit is being calculated
which an employee gives to an organization. After estimation of benefits the value of
the benefits is being calculated which an employee gives to the organization and the
difference of the benefit is the real value of the human resource.
Non monetary method: This method relies on ratings and indices. It is a kind of
behavioural assessment technique of an individual which gives rating to the individual
according to his performance. This method measures the skills of the employee and also
measures the attitude of the employee towards the job and tries to evaluate the
performance of the employees and also assess the capabilities of employees for
promotion purpose.
Human resource accounting also operates through various models. These models are
Lev and Schwartz Model: This model was given by Lev and Schwartz and they
estimated the future earnings during the remaining service life of the employee which is
arrived by discounting the cost of capital. When quantifiable data is available then this
method is being applied for ascertainment of human resources. Under this method all
employees are classified according to their age groups and then the average is worked
out according to their ages and the total earnings are discounted at the cost of capital
and this is the value of human resources.
Eric FalmHoltz Model: This model was developed in 1996 by Falm holtz and this
model is an improvement on the present and future value of earnings. This model
considers the movement of employee from one place to another or earlier death or
retirement. A five step approach is followed for calculation like forecasting the
expected service life of the individual and then identifying the role each one is having in
the organization and the position held by an individual and then estimating the future
probability and then discounting the value at a predetermined rate.
Morse Model: This model says that the value of human resources is equivalent to the
total benefits derived by an organization from the service of its employees. In this
method gross value is calculated and then the value of direct and indirect future
payments is worked out and the excess value of human resources is worked out.
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Likert Model: This model was developed by Likert in the year 1960 to start research in
the field of human resources. This model works on three variables like casual variable,
Interim Variable and End result Variable.
Ogans Model: This model was given by Pekin Ogan in 1976 and this model was the
extension model of net benefit approach. According to this model the uncertainties that
are going to arise in the near future should also be taken into consideration and also the
net benefits which an employee will derive should also to be taken into account.
IN-TEXT QUESTIONS
It can be defined as when a person or firm is answerable to other people for his action and
deeds in the society. Profitable and good organizations are now engaging stakeholders,
suppliers, consumers, regulators, Non Government organization and communities at large to
have a dialogue in open forum at all levels of the company which will affect the decision
making and various business activities in a firm. Companies are now volunteering
information from the stake holders so that their social performance can be measured and the
stakeholders become accountable for their social performance by giving such information to
the firm. In many developing countries social and ethical accounting and auditing practices is
still a new concept. Therefore it can be said that social accounting and auditing build such
kind of framework which helps the organization in building the existing documentation
practices followed by the company and such kind of reporting framework bounds the
company for its social performance. By building a social reporting framework the company
can frame up a action plan for the improvement of its performance and it will also help the
firm in understanding the impact on the community and the company will be accountable to
the society for its performance and to all its stakeholders also. If a company is engaged in
social accounting then it will enhance a image for the company. Some of the important
indicators which are to be included in social accounting framework is:
Health and Safety of the employees.
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IN-TEXT QUESTIONS
8. ____________analyze the economic activities of the nation
9. Recycling of waste paper is a part of ____________.
10. By building a____________ framework the company can frame up a plan of
action
11. Which accounting is also referred as government system of book keeping
____________.
The main motive of any health care industry is prevention and treatment of a disease. The
ultimate goal of any hospital is to help the patients in living a healthy and a longer life and
this can all be possible if a proper accounting system is practiced in hospitals and a proper
budget is being prepared by the hospitals, to have an idea how much money is coming in the
hospital and how much money is going out from the hospital. This will help the hospitals to
plan out their facilities offered in a better way.
Health accounting is that branch of accounting that lay emphasis on the collection and
reporting of financial information regarding with health care organizations. This kind of
accounting can be used by doctors, patients, nurses, lab technician etc. Certified Medical
Accountants and Health managers are responsible for the maintenance of all the accounting
records of the hospital. They keep a record of financial reports, balance sheet and other
financial information of a healthcare organization. There are two basic types of information
rendered by the hospitals Balance Sheet and Income Statement. The balance sheet of a
hospital depicts its assets and liabilities and income statement measures the revenue earned
and expenses incurred by a hospital. The income of the hospital includes donation, amount
received from trusts, grants received from government, patient fees and operation charges
also form part of hospital income. Special registers are being maintained by hospitals for the
income and it is to be incorporated on a daily basis. The expenses of a hospital include
charities, establishment expenses, purchase of surgical equipments etc.
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IN-TEXT QUESTIONS
12. Grants received from government is ____________ .
13. ____________ maintained by hospitals for incorporation of income.
14. Which accounting lay emphasis on collecting information of hospitals
__________.
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Most of the Indian companies especially in pharmaceutical and software industry are also
operating at overseas. Liberalisation in trade has compelled most of the Indian Companies to
become multinational firms in the near future. When firms starts operating at global level
then not only it affects the manufacturing activities but marketing activities of the firm are
also affected and it also affects the investor activities also who are engaged in different
business operations of the firm, and it becomes very difficult for a firm to locate all these
business operations under one roof. Accounting standards vary from country to country and
investors who are the stakeholders in the firm expects that the financial statements of the
company should be prepared according to the accounting standards followed in their country,
so that they find it easy for comparison purpose of one accounting standard with the other
accounting standard of other country. This can be explained with the help of an example, if
you are a shareholder of Reliance or Hindustan Lever you would like to prefer that the
accounts be prepared under the Indian GAAP. But if a investor of Reliance in USA has
majority stake in Reliance would demand to prepare the financial statements according to the
GAAP followed in their country. This consolidation of data of different countries should also
be reflected while preparing financial statements. This consolidation becomes more complex
if varied investors located in varied countries. Now a day’s most of the companies have
started giving financial statements using major countries GAAP so that the investors from
other countries are also satisfied.
IN-TEXT QUESTIONS
15. The account in which the financial statement of the company and its subsidiary
are added together is known as ______________.
16. Which concept motivated Indian Companies to become multinational
______________.
popular way of manipulating is profit and this is being done to avoid excessive taxation in the
near future. The tax figures calculated from various books of account are found to be
generally incorrect and the manipulation of figures is being done at the grass root level.
Manipulation of figures and data is being done by some companies to show that their
financial position of the company is in a sound condition and the investors would start
investing in their companies. The most popular methods of creative accounting are:
i. Companies showing a wrong estimation of inventory: A wrong estimation of the
inventory is being done by some companies to overstate the value of inventory. This
is being done to show that their cost of goods sold is good and when cost of goods
sold is good then the profits of the company will also increase in the current year and
which will reflect a good sound financial position for the company.
ii. Contingent liabilities not shown properly: This method is very technical in nature.
The contingent liability is not reflected in notes to accounts and thus it will give the
impression that the company is not having any contingent liability.
iii. Showing expenses at a lower value: Companies show expenses at a lower value and
this is being done when any client makes a payment in the form of cash or an outdated
cheque and this practice will help the management to book the expenses at a lower
rate every year and a fewer expenses will be reflected in the books of account which
will help in attracting investors.
iv. Manipulation in Depreciation methods: This technique is being used by companies
to have a good impression among the investor. Companies make a change in the
method of depreciation by sampling putting a disclaimer, but in reality no estimation
can increase the life of the asset. The company management sets up an imaginary life
span of the asset which is much higher than the expected level. This will show a lesser
depreciation value and due to this the salvage and asset value of the company will
increase.
v. Manipulation in revenue and sales figure: This manipulation is very common and
is being done by most of the companies. Sometimes the revenue will be lowered
down in order to evade taxes and sometimes revenue figures will be raised to show
that the company is earning profit and will attract the potential investors in the
company.
So many companies are following creative accounting techniques, but a very famous case
where fudging of assets, liabilities and profit has been done was the case of “Satyam
Computers” in 2008 which inflated its assets cash and bank balances of more than 1.5 billion
and also overstated its debtor position to 100 million.
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IN-TEXT QUESTIONS
17. _____________ is a method of recording financial statement which are not real
18. Fudging of assets and liabilities is called _____________ .
19. Which scam regarding creative accounting occurred in 2008 _____________.
This kind of accounting focuses its attention on the transactions of financial nature related
with the management of the project which includes cost of the project, billing of the project
and revenue earned from that project. Project managers and accountants are being appointed
by the company to look after the working of the project and project managers mainly rely on
the advice of project accountants who gives them the data about the status of direct cost,
overhead cost, and any other revenue earned in a specified period of time. Project managers
prepare the reports on the data furnished by the project accountants, which helps in making a
project budget. Various revenue recognition methods are being used in a project but the most
common revenue recognition methods are:
i. Sales Basis: Accountant keep a record of the revenue when the sales take place or
sometimes when the goods are being billed which means when exchanges of goods
and services have taken place. For example If a customer pays for the RO service then
the company will record this service in its payment book when the service has been
delivered to the consumer.
ii. Instalment method: This customer is being taken into consideration when the
consumer pays the amount in instalments. The company will record the revenue when
the customer will pay the instalment amount. For example in construction linked
project plans the customer use to pay the amount in instalments as the work is being
done on step to step basis. When a customer will make a down payment on the
completion of the first floor then the company will record in its payment book as
revenue.
iii. Percentage of Completion Method: This method is being used when it is a long
term contract. The service providers will be able to generate revenue only when the
work is being completed on a percentage basis. This method is commonly used in
engineering and construction firms. For example 75 percent of the work is being done
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by the contractor then the cost of 75 percent work done will be calculated and
accordingly the payment will be made.
iv. Completed Contract: This method is being used when the requirement of percentage
completion method fails. When the project is being completed and all the deliverables
are handed over to the customer then the payment is being made and only when the
contract is completed then the service providers will generate revenue.
v. Cost recoverability: Under this method the gross revenue will not be recognized
until and unless the cost is fully recovered and after the recovery of the cost further
income will be shown in gross profit.
IN-TEXT QUESTIONS
20. ____________ looks after the work of the project
21. ____________ method is used in long term contract
22. Which method is being used when requirement of percentage completion
method fails ____________ .
Tax accounting can be defined as the collection of information for the calculation and
reporting of taxes instead of preparing this information in the form of financial statements.
This kind of accounting is being managed by Internal Revenue Code and not with the
provisions of GAAP. This code highlights certain rules and regulations to be followed while
filing of tax returns. There are four components in tax accounting which are being
represented with the help of following diagram.
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i. Deferred Tax Assets: This component occurs because of the difference in timings
book value of profits and profits which are being taxable. For example provision for
bad and doubtful debts is deducted from debtors in normal course of accounting but
when taxation point comes provision for doubtful debts can be allowed as bad debt if
it is being declared as bad debt in the current which may or mot be a possibility that it
will occur as bad debt in the current year. In such a scenario the taxable profit will
differ. So we can say that the extra amount of money which a business pays in the
form of taxes due to provision amount not eligible for deduction known as deferred
tax.
ii. Deferred tax liability: This kind of liability also arises when there is a difference in
timings and the taxable profit is less than the accounting profit. It can also be defined
as the amount of taxes which the company has underpaid but will be paying in the
near future. This can be explained with the help of following example ABC company
limited sells a wooden furniture for Rs 2000 plus a 20 percent sales tax payable in
monthly instalment. The customer will pay the tax 400+400 for 2 years. In financial
the records the company will show as a sale of Rs 2000 but for tax records it will be
recorded as 400 for 2 years. The deferred tax liability would be 400*20% =80.
iii. VAT Accounting: VAT and GST are not considered as an expense but these go by a
different tax procedure for payment and credit of taxes and also follow a procedure
regarding invoicing and registration of taxes.
iv. Transfer Pricing: When the world is becoming a globalised village most of the
companies are opening and operating in different parts of the country. The exchange
of goods and services takes place between different units of other country. Such kind
of transactions gives a rise to transfer pricing concept. The main idea behind such
concept that the main entity must not get the products and services at a lower cost if
same product is being sold to third party. For example if a company is opening an
office overseas than it has to pay a certain percentage of tax on the expenses the
company incurred in opening of the office overseas.
v. Income categorization: In normal accounting only a extract of receipts and payment
is being prepared and we consider all kind of receipts and payment while preparing
such a extract but for tax purposes all receipts and payment are not taken into
consideration this can be explained with the help of following example.
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In table 1 one can see the extract and in table 2 how categorization of all types of income
is being done.
IN-TEXT QUESTIONS
23. Collection of information for tax purpose is known as ___________ .
24. Full form of GST is ___________ .
25. When taxable profit is less than the accounting profit is known as __________.
Accounting is one of the earliest professions which have witnessed the early computerization
in the commercial world. Today we are on that phase where most of the accounting
operations are being done with the help of computers. Most of the companies now days are
using ERP system like SAP, People Soft etc. ERP helps in integrating all the functions of the
department with the help of software through a common database. For example if you are a
good planner and wants to operate through ERP system then it should be operated in such a
manner that if inventory level comes down to a certain level then the ERP system will
automatically generate all purchase order in electronic form on the same day the order is
being placed with the vendor. When the material is being supplied by the vendor then has to
make dual entries one at the store level when receipt of the order takes place and one at the
account level for data invoicing. The machine will compare both the data and pass the bill for
payment. When the due date will come automatically the cheques will be printed in electronic
mode.
One of the recent developments that have taken place in the field of accounting in respect to
information technology is Cloud Accounting, Block Chain Accounting, and Artificial
Intelligence Systems.
1. Cloud Accounting:
Cloud accounting has revolutionised the world of accounting which helps in
providing a real time solutions to varied problems. Before coming of cloud
technology the accounting software were desktop based and one has to access the
actual application from the hard drive of the computer and the major disadvantage
was the updatation of software which was very costly. Cloud accounting is a kind of
accounting which has same kind of functions but the whole process operates in cloud.
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There is no desktop application and all the data is saved in a cloud server. It gives
24*7 accesses from any location and thereby removing the need for accessing form
the central computer. It also helps in real time reporting and also helps in examination
of current financial position of the company on periodic basis.
2. Block chain Accounting:
Block chain accounting gained popularity in accounting field when the height of bit
coin was looking fancy and suddenly its value crashed in the year 2017. At that time a
decentralized database was built which helped in real time verification and
communication of information. This was linked to a Google accessible document to
network members. Different members were given different access levels and they can
access the network from different places and each level was having a cryptography
and other tools which help in providing information on various cryptographic
currency.
3. Artifical Intelligence Systems.
It helps in collecting and analysing voluminous amount of data which expects a lot
of exercise to be done by the accountants in traditional times. Data collection has become
very easy with the coming of artificial intelligence systems. It analyze a huge amount of data
with the help of algorithms. Now the work of audit has also become easy and data base can
be presented in the form of spreadsheets. Sales forecasting reporting and tracking has also
become easy due to coming of artificial intelligence system.
IN-TEXT QUESTIONS
26. _____________ analyze store data in cloud
27. _____________ is the study of crypto’s
28. Which system helps in collecting large voluminous amount of data
_____________ .
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IN-TEXT QUESTIONS
29. ______________ analysis undertaken in foresenic accounting
30. ______________ reports are submitted in court of law.
31 What kind of techniques are being used in forsenic accounting _____________ .
9.13 SUMMARY
Accounting is a combination of various monetary transactions which takes place between the
company and the others who prepares the financial statements. Accounting information is
being used by various interested parties. Now days the information is being presented with
the help of various accounting software’s. As the world is also changing at a faster pace it is
the requirement on the part of accountants also that they should upgrade their knowledge and
skills. Top management of the companies also now expects that accountants should use
modern tools of accounting while preparing balance sheet and income statements. So it has
become a need of the hour that accountants should be computer savvy and should be familiar
to work in a computerised networking environment. Today the accounting process is
becoming centralised and shared service providers are coming to look after the reports of the
companies. So it is the duty of the accountant to have a thorough knowledge of all the
developments taking place in the current scenario.
9.14 GLOSSARY
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6. Transfer Pricing: . The exchange of goods and services takes place between different
units of other country.
7. Deferred tax liability: This kind of liability also arises when there is a difference in
timings and the taxable profit is less than the accounting profit.
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Q1. Explain the recent development in the field of accounting in respect of technology.
Q2. Discuss the components of tax accounting.
Q3. Discuss the importance of accounting in a health care sector.
Q4. Discuss the important components of social accounting.
Q5. How creative accounting will affect business.
Q6. Discuss the components of Project Accounting.
9.17 REFERENCES
1. Jack Quarter, Lawrie Mook, Jane Richmond (2002) “What counts: Social Accounting
for non profits and cooperatives” Prentice Hall Publication.
2. Pramanik Kumar A (2002) “Environmental accounting and reporting” Deep and Deep
Publications New Delhi.
3. Rajni Sofat and Priti Hiro (2010) “Basic Accounting” Paperback publications.
4. Steven A Finkler (2018) “Accounting Fundamentals for Healthcare Management”
Jones and Barlett Publications.
5. Macmillan (2019) “Contemporary Issues in Accounting: The Current development in
Accounting beyond the numbers” Palgrave Publications.
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Content Writers
Mr. Saurabh Gupta, Dr. Vijay Prakesh,
Mr. Amit Rao, Mr. Abhimanyu Verma,
Dr. Deepti Gupta, Ms. Rableen Kaur Rao,
Mr. Anuj Jatav, Dr. Rohini Baghel,
Ms. Tanusha Jain
Academic Coordinator
Mr. Deekshant Awasthi
Published by:
Department of Distance and Continuing Education under
the aegis of Campus of Open Learning/School of Open Learning,
University of Delhi, Delhi-110 007
Printed by:
School of Open Learning, University of Delhi
MARKETING MANAGEMENT
INDEX
LESSON Page No.
Lesson-1: Introduction to marketing ………………………………………………… ...... 1
1.1 Learning Objectives
1.2 Introduction
1.3 What is marketing?
1.4 Philosophies of marketing
1.5 Marketing Mix Explained
1.6 Summary
1.7 Answers to In-text Questions
1.8 Self-Assessment Questions
1.9 References
1.10 Suggested Readings
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3.4 Segmentation.
3.5 Targeting
3.6 Positioning
3.7 Marketing Research
3.8 Steps in Marketing Research Process
3.9 Summary
3.10 Self-Assessment Questions
3.11 References
3.12 Suggested Readings
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6.2 Introduction
6.3 Branding
6.4 Packaging
6.5 Labelling
6.6 Summary
6.7 Answers to In-text Questions
6.8 Self-Assessment Questions
6.9 References
6.10 Suggested Readings
Lesson-7: Pricing Strategies…………………………………………………. ................. 144
7.1 Learning Objectives
7.2 Introduction
7.3 How Companies Price
7.4 Setting the Price
7.5 Factors Involved in Pricing Decisions
7.6 Summary
7.7 Self-Assessment Questions
7.8 References
7.9 Suggested Readings
Lesson-8: Channels of Distribution ……………………………………….. ................... 174
8.1 Learning objectives
8.2 Introduction
8.3 Defining a channel of distribution
8.4 Retailing
8.5 Wholesaling
8.6 Logistics
8.7 Summary
8.8 Answers to in-text questions
8.9 Self-assessment questions
8.10 References
8.11 Suggested readings
Lesson-9: Promotion………………………………………………………….. ................ 202
9.1 Learning Objectives
9.2 Introduction
9.3 Promotion
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LESSON 1
INTRODUCTION TO MARKETING
STRUCTURE
1.1 Learning Objectives
1.2 Introduction
1.3 What is marketing?
1.3.1 Some important definitions
1.3.2 Nature and scope of marketing
1.3.3 Marketing and its importance
1.4 Philosophies of marketing
1.5 Marketing Mix Explained
1.6 Summary
1.7 Answers to In-text Questions
1.8 Self-Assessment Questions
1.9 References
1.10 Suggested Readings
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Have an idea about the key marketing difficulties to be faced by marketers in the
fourth coming times.
1.2 INTRODUCTION
All small and big businesses strive for one thing i.e., success in achieving its goals,
Numerous factors all together help the business to achieve what they strive for- various factor
endowments like hard-working employees, free flow of information, planning, resource
utilization, strategies, execution of plan, control mechanism etc. But modern businesses have
one thing in common, they prioritize customers and heavily invest in marketing, they
understand the fact that customer is king and accordingly they predict the needs and wants of
customers way in advance by analysing the market, serve to those needs and wants and
ultimately satisfying (delighting) their customers in a manner that it leaves a positive impact
on the target market.
Marketing has different meaning to different people, further in the chapter we will
discuss various definitions of marketing given by eminent authors and institutions, So,
marketing can be considered a lifestyle, marketing is getting the right product (goods,
services, people, places, experience, event etc.) to the right people (target market, customers)
at the right places at the right time at the right price with the right communication and
promotion to deliver more than the perceived value to the customer which will make them
delighted. Businesses now a days know it well that if they take good care of their customers,
every other goal will fall in place including profitability, customer base and an edge over
competitors.
In any business, there are several functional departments, marketing is one such
departmental function which directly deals with customers. Delivering the right value or
sometimes more than perceived value keeps the customers delighted enough to become
another medium of promotion for the business as well as it retains the customer for a longer
period of time.
It is normally perceived that only large businesses having huge profits, practice
marketing or invest in it, but if we pay attention to the environment or markets, we are in, we
will notice that some sort of marketing is being used by all businesses around us, for example
a small vendor on the road side, if you analyze you will find that the vendor has its own
pricing strategy, an unique product mix, the place where this vendor sells is by choice on the
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basis of footfall to that place. So, you consider any business small or big, local or global,
marketing has a role to play in the success story of that business.
Marketing has its own history as well, if you search the term marketing in the
dictionaries of before 1910, you would not find this term in it, but for the first time this term
was propounded in 1910 and was also instilled in dictionaries as well with a clear meaning,
but that meaning has evolved a lot from the era of industrial revolution to the era of digital
revolution. Marketing firstly was brought in use by consumer packaged-goods, consumer
durable and industrial equipment companies and all sort of industries saw the magic of
marketing unfold and then the world saw the evolution of marketing, we will discuss more
about history and evolution of marketing as we move further in this chapter.
Marketing is not confined to core product business only, organization’s working for
welfare of society and providing services have started marketing in modern world like
hospitals, educational institutions, NGOs, police departments etc. Even service providers like
advocates and chartered accountants also market their services.
Source-https://www.advertgallery.com
You already have an in-depth understanding of marketing; you see it happening around
you on a daily basis:
You see and experience marketing through various mails and messages pouring in
your mailbox and inbox.
While surfing the internet various pop-ups make you curious about attaining more
information of the marketer.
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Human needs and wants are the main things to be satisfied by any marketer offering a
product in exchange of monetary value. If we talk about needs, they arise out of deprivation
state, for example food, shelter, clothing, safety etc. and wants are desires which arises when
basic needs are fulfilled, and they keep on changing time to time as and when your social
status changes, your wants also are reshaped, basically stressing upon a specific need is a
want, for example- need is having bread to meet hunger state of body, want is deciding what
exactly to eat out of many choices available. North Indian households would want chapattis
as their main food but South Indians might want rice etc. Human needs might be very few but
wants can be numerous. Once wants are backed by purchasing power it becomes demand, in
other words, demand is willingness and ability to buy a wanted product. So, to understand
marketing we must have a clear understanding of needs, wants and demand as marketing
exist because of these terms. Marketers stress much on demand creation; they would always
want to stimulate demand by attracting the customers through offering better quality product
or through packaging or sometimes through advertising heavily.
Products are the medium to satisfy the needs and wants of customers. Anything
which is offered to market for satisfaction of need and want is called product. In marketing
terminology product is not just physical object like television, fan, table or chair, services,
experience, events, places, ideas and even people come in the category of product. A
customer would buy a product for satisfying their need and want, they might buy it up till it
serves some value to them as expected, otherwise product is of no use to them. Different
customers might choose different product for the same need as per their purchasing power or
taste and preferences or sometimes various other factors play a role in product buying
decision. For example, any one might require mobile phone for communication as its core
feature but some might go for a smart phone, some might choose a simple table phone for
communication, some might choose an advanced version of top class smart phone, core
function of all these devices is communication but people showcase different choices and
behavior while buying a product as per the purchasing power capacity or because of various
other variables.
You must be embezzled many a times while choosing from alternatives available to
buy a product or service? Questions starts creeping in your mind about choosing the best
alternative and you start creating perception-based value for each alternative product by
processing thoughts in your mind as well as by seeking opinion from your close friends,
relatives and near and dear ones. So, Value is your perception about a product’s ability to
satisfy your needs. If customer’s expectation from a product delivering value is met a
customer feels satisfied, satisfaction is that state of mind when a customer judges the
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product’s actual value in comparison to expected value, the customer experiences satisfaction
when actual value meets expected value.
Marketing exchange takes place when two or more parties are involved in the activity
of exchange of something valuable by both the parties, there are certain conditions to be
fulfilled to name it as exchange, which are as follows: -
● There must be two or more parties willing to exchange.
● Both the parties must possess something of value to each other.
● They must communicate well with each other as well as can take delivery of
valuable item being exchanged.
● There must be consent from and rights with both the parties to accept or reject
the exchange being done.
● There should be trustworthiness amongst both the parties dealing with each
other.
According to (Philip Kotler, Gary Armstrong, J. Saunders, V. Wong, 1999) marketing
is “A social and managerial process by which individuals and groups obtain what they need
and want through creating and exchanging products and value with others”.
According to AMA (American Marketing Association,) (American Marketing
Association, 2017) “Marketing is the activity, set of institutions, and processes for creating,
communicating, delivering, and exchanging offerings that have value for customers, clients,
partners, and society at large”.
If you break this definition intently and try to understand it, you see that there are four
exercises, or parts, of marketing:
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● Creating. The most common way of teaming up with providers and customers
to make contributions that have value.
● Communicating. Comprehensively, portraying those offerings, as well as
gaining from customers.
● Delivering. Getting those offerings to the shopper in a manner that enhances
value.
● Exchanging. Exchanging value for those offerings.
ACTIVITY
Find out people near you who are still at need fulfilling stage or want
fulfilling stage or are they demanding in the market?
Also list 5 products each which will fall in category of needs, wants
and demands respectively.
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sometimes single individuals also become managers for such people, ultimately called
person or people marketing. Similarly, marketing can be done for places as in tourism
destination marketing, organizations are also marketed and even ideas can be
marketed for example “Swach Bharat Abhiyan”. So, Marketing has a huge scope and
is still unexplored, it has got potential to tap the untapped, untouched markets, also it
can influence the attitude of customer by making them aware by providing cognitive
learning and ultimately motivating them to buy a product offering.
1.3.3 Importance of Marketing:
⮚ Marketing helps in engaging consumer effectively: Organizations should
engage customers, and thus, marketing ends up being a successful instrument.
Customers can be engaged by letting them know what they don't have and
creating great substance around your products and services. Customers like to
have as much information as they can access for the product they are searching,
marketing just let them get that information with a lot of engagement.
⮚ Creates goodwill: Goodwill of a company or a business is built gradually with
the kind of product and services they have offered for a long period of time, also it
depends on how your business has grown with the time, the better you serve to the
market with the most effective quality of your product, the better will be the
goodwill of the business.
⮚ Helps in creation of customer relationship and its management: Marketing
helps you access the information about the needs and wants of customers and
when you serve to those needs and wants by developing and creating a product
which is customer centric, it will give a sense of attachment to customers with the
business, and once the customer feels an attachment with the business due to the
activities a customer relationship is formed and such customers stay for longer
duration with the business, longer they stay maximum will be the customer equity.
There are various factors like demographic, psychographic and consumer behavior
which gives marketing management a sense of how to deal with those customers,
which will last in fruitful and long-lasting relationship with customers.
⮚ Helps in increasing sales: Since marketing uses various ways of promoting
products or services, it helps in improving the probability of better sales. Cheerful
customers convert into an organization's brand endorsers naturally.
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⮚ Expands reach globally: Many of the big brands like TATA, Reliance, BOAT,
Apple, Tesla, Mc Donald’s etc. can reach their customer now in any country,
earlier these were mainly domestic brands in their home country, but if you
observe the current scenario, these brands are available globally now, with the
help of technology upgradation, digitization has helped many brands to reach their
potential customers. Through internet and social media like Facebook, Instagram
and twitter even customers can share their choices or preferences, with the help of
marketing only companies now can observe these feedbacks and customize the
products according to country’s specification where company is about to operate
or is operational.
⮚ Helps in management of supply chain: Any business does not work separately
from their other stakeholders like suppliers, creditors, logistic companies which
delivers the product etc. with the help of customer requirement analysis business
order raw material from their supplier to process and make finished products
which are ultimately sent to retailers through logistics to make goods available to
needy customers, and timely delivery of goods means better serving to customers
which leads to long term fruitful relationships. And happy customers mean better
revenues and ultimately better profits, all the stakeholders also enjoy fruitful
business.
⮚ Helps customers in ease of life: Today’s customers are rationale customers, and
they search for information which helps them take purchase decisions, marketing
provides that information through various platforms, also, customers like to have
better choices available for their needs, marketing helps them provide better
choices as well. Even pricing is done in such a manner which is friendly to the
pockets of customer so that it does not hinder purchase decision due to pricing,
various assurances in the form of guarantee and warranty are also provided to
customer to create reliability of a product and ultimately customers can withdraw
some value due to these factors.
⮚ Helps in economic growth: Marketing has the potential to uplift an economy and
take it to the path of growth, marketing creates better revenues and even creates
global presence of firm, ultimately leading to creation of big brands, these big
brands create value for nation by providing employment, has major share in GDP
formation, helps in growth of the firms and business leading to growth of
economy.
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IN-TEXT QUESTIONS
Which of the following is defined as a state of felt deprivation of some basic
satisfaction?
a. Need b. Want c. Demand d. Utility
and societal marketing concepts. Companies can use these concepts individually or they can
use more than one concept to make marketing strategy or sometimes all concepts can be used
to make a strategy, pertaining to the situation, product, brand etc.
Source- https://www.invitereferrals.com/blog/marketing-concepts/
The Production Concept
The production concept holds that shoppers will incline toward items that are accessible and
exceptionally reasonable, and that administration should pay attention further on increasing
production and efficiency of distribution. This concept is one of the most reliable and oldest
philosophy of reasoning that guides sellers.
It will prompt economies of scale and decrease in cost per unit. The philosophy holds that
high production proficiency and wide distribution inclusion would sell the item offered to the
market. This direction of the business is generally rehearsed in circumstances where demand
surpasses supply or item cost is high that can be reduced by large scale manufacturing. The
market circumstance in most of the developing nations is that while demand for product
exists, they are not accessible in the market.
The Product Concept
The organizations following this philosophy trust that by making enhanced products and
working on their quality after some time, they will actually be able to bring in more
customers. The hidden supposition is that customer favours quality, execution, quick
delivery, new elements, and so forth the purchaser will respect such products and brands
which works regularly on their quality. Given the product concept, better products always
create excitement amongst customers are consistently invited by the customer. However,
product is just a single component of the aggregate marketing-mix. In this manner even if
customer is offered better product even at high price, they won't consider it expensive as such
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products deliver greater value (since progress in quality maybe at an expense). Nonetheless,
as we will see, pricing is one of the factors of segmentation. The division of segment on
monetary grounds, would come in that approach to executing such better-quality products at
high prices.
For example, some marketers believe that if they can develop a better mosquito replant, all
the customers would reach them in search for a solution." But they are mostly surprised by
the fact that. Customers might be searching for a better solution to a mosquito problem, but
not necessarily for a better smoky coil. The solution may be a body lotion which is harmless,
an oil or spray, a service or something that works better than a coil. Also, an improvised
fragrance-based coil will not sell unless the marketer uses the right product mix to create a
better-quality product, designs, packages and prices it attractively; places it in accessible
distribution channels; and communicate it to people who need it and motivates them that it is
a better product. According to (Theodore Levitt, 1960) giving much emphasis on product
only and not being aware about customer needs and wants might land marketer in trouble, it
is called marketing myopia, he also stated this as short sightedness of business.
The Selling Concept
Many businesses have a practice of putting all their efforts in selling as their management’s
perception is that the customers won’t buy their product until and unless we reach and try to
sell our product to customers, they even bring on plate everything and anything and do not
consider if customer wants certain product or not, sometimes customers feel offended and
even breach to their privacy when sellers barge into their homes, cars or even at private
places. The problem with this strategy is that the seller is not concerned about the customer
satisfaction but are worried about selling only, which in normal scenario makes a customer
offended at times.
For example, credit card sellers, they just find out the contact details by buying data of people
unethically and then cold call them to offer credit card, the selling executives are trained so
well that they will try their level best to sell the card, but now customers also mark these calls
as spam and report these calls as well. Another example if you consider is of politician trying
to sell themselves just before the election, they work so very hard for selling themselves,
even their associated party boast a lot about them and even lie about them that their candidate
is the most deserving person for the seat they are contesting the election, and later they are
not even concerned if people who voted for them are satisfied or not. There is a lot of
expenditure made on advertising through television, radio and newspapers in this concept.
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There are hidden facts about the product as well while making a sale which are not usually
disclosed by the seller at the time of sale.
Most firms practice the selling idea when they have overcapacity. Their point is to sell what
they make as opposed to make what the market needs. Along these lines showcasing in light
of hard selling conveys high risk. It canters around momentary outcomes -making sales - as
opposed to on building long, productive relationship with customers. It expects that
customers who are persuaded to buying the item will like it. Or on the other hand, on the off
chance that they could do without it, they might fail to remember their mistake and get it once
more at a later time. These are normally unfortunate presumptions to make about purchasers.
Most examinations show that disappointed customers don't buy once more.
The Marketing Concept
The marketing concept holds that accomplishing business objectives relies upon deciding the
needs and wants of target markets and conveying the ideal satisfaction more effectively and
proficiently than competitors do. Shockingly, this concept is a somewhat very recent business
philosophy. The selling concept and the marketing concept are often misunderstood as one
thing only. An inside-out approach is followed for selling, it starts from factory and ends on
profit making through sales volume by selling and promoting heavily, whereas, marketing
concept follows outside-in approach, it usually starts with market analysis through knowing
the needs and wants of customers and then designing and developing something of value to
those customers, here marketers earn profit through customer satisfaction. Many established
brands like Tata, Jio, P&G, Patanjali, Kalyan jewellers etc. have built the brand image
following this very concept, they put their customer first always.
Before we go ahead with societal marketing concept, please have a look at key differences
between marketing and selling in table 1.1 given on the next page.
The Societal Marketing Concept
Humanistic or societal marketing concept holds that the businesses' objective is to decide the
requirements, needs and interests of target markets and to address wanted value satisfaction
in such a way that sustains or improves the purchaser's and the general public's prosperity.
Subsequently, each firm ought to deal with social and moral contemplations while fostering
their marketing strategies. This would assist the business in developing a nice public image. It
is one of the latest and trending marketing philosophy to strategies upon.
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Source- https://www.invitereferrals.com/blog/societal-marketing-concept/
The societal marketing concept questions whether the core marketing concept is sufficient
during a time of resource scarcity, environmental degradation age, slogging economies and
ignored social services. It inquires as to whether the firm that detects, serves and fulfils
individual needs is continuously giving what's required and best for customers and society
over the long period of time. As per the societal marketing concept, the core marketing
concept ignores potential dissents between short-run customer needs and long-run customer
welfare. Businesses have realized that they have taken a lot from society in the form of
natural hazard they are causing to environment, and they know if there is a positive image
about them in society that they are concerned about society too, it will create a good image
amongst people of society, also a business gets competitive edge over its rivals when they
work for society because society supports back the business in that scenario.
Table 1.1: Comparison of Selling and Marketing concept
Basis Selling Concept Marketing Concept
Definition ● The selling concept ● The marketing concept is a
considers that in the strategy, which certifies that
event that organizations the firm's benefit lies in
and customers are developing more proficient
isolated, the customers than the competitors, in
won't buy an adequate manufacturing, delivering
number of products and giving remarkable value
created by the business. to the customer in target
marketplace.
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Marketers do have found out and are working on new marketing concepts as well in 21st
century to gain market share as well as public attention. In totality it is called holistic
marketing concept. Explanation to the same is as follows:
Source- https://www.marketing91.com/holistic-marketing-concept/
Holistic Marketing Concept
Holistic marketing concept is a piece of the series on concepts of marketing and it tends to be
characterized as a marketing methodology which thinks about the business in general and not
as an element with different various parts.
As per holistic marketing concept, regardless of whether a business is made of different
divisions, the offices need to meet up to project a positive and joined business picture in the
perception of customers. Holistic marketing concept includes interconnected marketing
exercises to guarantee that the customer is probably going to buy their product as opposed to
competitor's product.
For example, A business will have various departments like marketing, sales, accounting and
finance, R&D and product development lastly HR and operations. In this manner, if you need
to carry out a holistic marketing concept in your business, you really want to guarantee that
R&D and product development take the inputs from marketing and sales to bring the product
to market which is probably going to draw in customers.
Then again, they need to work intimately with accounting and finance to figure out the
specific spending plan for the project. Sales and marketing need to impart to the HR the right
sort of individuals that they need, lastly, administrator and operations need to devise an
arrangement to hold these individuals.
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In text question
2. The concept holds that consumers and businesses, if left alone, will ordinarily
not by enough of an organization’s products. The organization must, therefore,
undertake aggressive selling and promotion. Which concept is discussed above?
a. Production concept
b. Product concept
c. marketing concept
d. Selling concept
marketing strategy to achieve their primary as well as secondary goals. According to (Kotler.
P, Armstrong, G, Agnihotri, P.Y, and Haque, E., 2010) “Marketing mix is the set of
controllable, tactical marketing tools that the firm blends to produce the response it wants in
the target market”. (Mc Carthy, J. William, P.Jr., Joseph, C.E., 2006) explained the term
marketing mix for the first time in terms of 4 Ps. The 4 Ps stands for Product, Place, price and
Promotion. Marketers should know and it is their duty to use these 4 Ps like ingredients and
make an effective marketing mix strategy. Customers withdraw value out of all the 4 Ps, as if
product’s value is not up to the mark customer won’t buy it again, if price is marked too high
or too low which may make a customer switch to some other brand, if product is not available
easily and not accessible to customers then there is no point in having a good pricing or
product mix, and promotion is the only medium which creates buzz in the market, it helps in
increasing sale as well provides information to potential customers.
Source- https://www.business2community.com/marketing/the-marketing-mix-is-it-still-
relevant-today-02298017
A brief introduction about marketing mix’s 4 Ps as well as the additional 3 Ps and its multiple
factors are explained below, detailed explanation you will study in forthcoming chapters: -
Product in Marketing Mix
A product is a good, manufactured or resold to satisfy the need of an individual or a
gathering. The product can be touched or felt sometimes for example, idea, service,
experience, place etc. It is critical to do broad examination prior to developing and offering a
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product as it has various life cycle stages, from the growth stage to the development stage to
the decline stage.
Marketers really must re-examine their products to stimulate more demand once it arrives at
the decline stage. It ought to make an effect in the psyche of the customers, which is selective
and not the same as the competitor's product. There is a well-known saying about marketers,
"how might I offer a superior product to this target market than my rivals". This procedure
likewise assists the organization with building brand value.
Product mix strategy also consider about the right product or service to be offered and
marketed by a business, factors relevant to product mix like quality, quantity, packaging,
choices, design, size, features etc. can be manipulated as per the customization and
specification of customers or target market. Decisions relevant to packaging and labelling,
branding and customer care services are matters of product regulation and are to be dealt by
marketing administration.
Price in Marketing Mix
The money worth, time and energy given by a customer in search of a value-based product is
all together price of that product. Marketers need to certainly find out perception about the
product’s value in target customer’s mind and then move ahead for pricing the product
carefully so that it balances with the perception of customer, while pricing marketer also need
to consider about the life cycle stage of particular product, they also need to look into the
competitive pricing done by other players in the market. There is an issue regarding cost of
other marketing mix elements which is very important to consider, or marketer might run out
of budget as well with low generation of revenue due to wrong pricing. There are variables
like interest on credit, payment period, promotional discounts, basic pricing, transportation
and logistics charges etc. are to be considered while pricing, which will ultimately lead the
marketer to nearly price accurately.
Place in Marketing Mix
The place is where your product or service is sold, and how it is sold. It could be a physical
location or online. If you have a physical location, then it needs to be well thought out to be
as convenient as possible for customers. If your business is based online, then your website
and sales process should be professional, well-structured and easy. You want to make the
process as pleasant as possible, to increase your chance of a sale. There are so many
alternatives online, you do not want frustrated customers going elsewhere. For example, in
current scenario car selling companies have long waiting periods for the delivery of cars and
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in many cases after a customer books a car, wait for a while, say for a month or two and if
their mind changes or their choice shift to some other brand, they might cancel the booking
and go to some other brand.
The sales channels your company uses is another aspect of the place. Are you using
salespeople, intermediaries or selling directly to the customer? Wholesale or retail? Are you
selling through Facebook ads, telemarketing or catalogues? Your business should try
different methods to work out what really works best for customers. An effective channel of
distribution is required to reach to customers on time, in this distribution channel, there are
number of parties involved those helps the product to get delivered on time from
manufacturer to customer. A channel of distribution might be short or sometime might be
long depending on the criteria of the market and there are numerous factors to decide about
number of parties to be involved in channel of distribution by marketers. Also, marketers
need to keep a focus on cost reduction as well because budgets for each department in an
organization are limited, so while choosing logistic partners or warehousing partners
marketers need to keep an eye over the cost of such procurements.
Promotion in Marketing Mix
Promotion is all the way that you communicate with your target audience/customers about
your products/services. It is important to use different forms of promotion and
communication channels to find the best way to reach your customers and make sales.
Promotion includes advertising, content marketing, sponsorship, sales staff, product
placement, direct mail, social media, and influencers. The way we promote our brands in
2020 has changed drastically in just ten to twenty years. What is working today will not
necessarily work next week. Businesses need to update their marketing communication
consistently and stay up to date with what is relevant and the most cost-effective way to reach
and convert prospects into customers.
The major variables of promotion strategy are advertising to inform, personal selling, sales
promotion for example discounts, direct marketing and customer relationship management
etc. In the good old days, just huge companies could profit of the emotional impact of TV
advertisements, boards, and magazines. However, with current opportunity arrives present
day measures and digital marketing is assuming control over the stage. This doesn't mean,
however, that advertisers ought to consequently forego the advantages of traditional
advertising. Twenty-to-thirty-year old's might be assuming control over the commercial
center yet the purchasing force of the gen X-errs actually counts. Furthermore, the quickest
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method for arriving at the non-educated people is through the traditional method for
publicizing.
Thus, with regards to the promotional part of the business, marketers need to compare the
advantages and disadvantages of their modes. Whether it's starting a viral marketing effort or
facilitating a business show; these will all have an impact in the organization's publicity.
4 Ps gives you a marketer’s view point not the customers’, and whole of the marketing now a
days revolve around customers only, value delivery to them etc. 4 Cs suggested by (Coster,
H., 2007), which are Customer solution, Customer cost, Convenience, communication
explains marketing decisions that hover around 4 Ps. While a marketer is selling a product a
customer is seeking a solution to a need or a problem, customers not only consider the price
of the product alone, they also see the cost of keeping the product for a time period which
includes buying, selling and maintaining cost, 4 Cs are important to build 4 Ps of marketing
strategy as it will give an idea about customer’s perspective.
The other 3 Ps explained
The 7Ps model is a marketing model that changes the 4Ps model. As Marketing mix 4P is
turning into an old pattern, and these days, marketing business needs profound
comprehension of the ascent in new innovation and concept. In this way, 3 all the newer Ps
were included in the old 4Ps model to give a profound comprehension of the concept of the
marketing mix. The 4Ps were designed at a time where businesses were more likely to sell
products, rather than services and the role of customer service in helping brand development
wasn’t so well known.
Source- https://www.ventureharbour.com/marketing-mix/
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People
The organization's representatives are significant in marketing since they are the ones who
provides service to the customers. It means a lot to recruit and prepare the right individuals to
serve better, whether they run a help desk, client support, publicists, software engineers…
and so forth. It is vital to find individuals who really trust in your products or services that the
specific business makes, as there is an enormous possibility giving their best performance.
Adding to it, the association ought to acknowledge the legit criticism from the workers about
the business and ought to enter their own considerations and interests which can scale and
develop the business. Customers prefer those brands whose employees are well behaved and
talk nicely and humbly. Training is an important part as in training only they will learn
customer or people skills. And ultimately employees are the representative of your business.
Process
We should always make sure that the business process is well structured and verified
regularly to avoid mistakes and minimize costs. To maximize the profit, it is important to
tighten up the enhancement process. A complete guide or process should be available to
customer before buying any product from a marketer, they should know how a product is
made and then sold to customers, the delivery process and if there is any grievance then
redressal process should also be known to customer, customers rely on any brand when they
know about the quality and hygiene maintained to manufacture a product. Customer needs to
know the complete schedule from manufacturer to them and vice versa in case of any
problem with the product.
Physical evidence
Physical evidence incorporates aspects that demonstrates your brand exists and that a
purchase occurred.
Examples of confirmation that your brand exists can incorporate things like a physical store
or office for your business, a site assuming that your business operates exclusively on the
web, and printed business cards that you exchange while meeting individuals. Examples of
confirmation of purchases can incorporate physical or digital receipts, invoices, or follow-up
email that you wrote to customers as a retaining activity.
Your marketing mix should also take into consideration all the things your client sees, hears -
once in a while even smells - in relation to your product or service. This, obviously,
incorporates packaging and branding, however ought to also acquire the ways products are
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displayed in stores, where they are placed, and the setting wherein they sit, as well as digital
placement, remembering for your site and social media.
In the above explained 7 Ps of marketing mix, the marketer has to choose wisely amongst the
7 Ps in ratio as per the market conditions prevailing and as per the brand you are, life cycle
stage also will impact the way you formulate your marketing mix using these 7 Ps or
sometimes 4 Ps. Marketing department’s only task is to develop an effective marketing
strategy which suits businesses’ current needs, actually it is not just marketing task, it is the
complete marketing, the planning, the framing of marketing mix plan and then effectively
utilizing it.
Marketers sometimes might find contradicting themselves against the profit motive in order
to serve the customer better, some decisions might shun the profit margin, but still it is the
duty of marketer and marketing both to satisfy customer in all the ways they can, marketers
need to choose the right combination in the right ratio to suit to the situation their business is
in, which will ultimately satisfy and delight customers as well as help to achieve greater
market share with businesses’ and marketing objectives.
IN-TEXT QUESTIONS
3. Which of these is not a part of 4 Cs?
a. Customer b. Customer solution c. communication d. customer cost
1.6 SUMMARY
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removing these hindrances, marketing ensures free and smooth exchange of goods and
services from marketers to customers. Some of them are –
Marketing helps in engaging consumer effectively
Creates goodwill
Helps in creation of customer relationship and its management
Helps in increasing sales
MARKETING Philosophies There are various concepts and philosophies which acts as a
guideline and holds good when the various decision is to be made in marketing. According to
Phillip Kottler there are five concepts in marketing. The production concepts. The product
Concept. The selling Concept. The marketing concepts. The societal Marketing Concept.
At last, but not the least we discussed about 4 Ps- Product, price, place and Promotion, with 4
Ps we discussed 4 Cs and after that we discussed the other 3 Ps- People, process and Physical
evidence.
1. a 3. a
2. d
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4. Mc Carthy, J. William, P.Jr., Joseph, C.E. (2006). Basics of Marketing. USA: Mcgraw
Hill Higher Education.
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LESSON 2
MARKETING ENVIRONMENT
STRUCTURE
2.2 INTRODUCTION
The marketing environment is made up of the internal and external environments of the
company. The corporation has some control over its own environment (internal
environment), but little to no control over the external environment (external environment).
There are two components of the Marketing Environment:
2.3.1 Internal Environment
2.3.2 External Environment
a. Micro Environment.
b. Marco Environment.
2.31 Internal Environment
The internal environment of a firm includes all internal forces and components that have an
impact on its marketing operations. These elements can be categorized using the following:
Men: All of the company's workers, both skilled and unskilled.
Machines: The tools a company uses to speed up or complete processes are referred to as
machines.
Materials: The supplies or manufacturing parts that the business needs to complete the
production procedures.
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● Economic Environment
The economic environment, which primarily refers to the level of demand in the
economy and is the most obvious feature in the macro environment, has the greatest
impact on marketing decisions. It comprises factors that influence consumer
purchasing power and spending patterns.
● Technological Environment
The forces that produce new technologies, opening new markets and potential for
products, are probably most spectacular in the technological environment.
Two processes influence technological change. It takes time for certain changes to
develop. But certain technical developments are so significant and upsetting that they
create a new pattern of consumption.
2.3.3. Macro and Microenvironment on Marketing
COMPONEN MICRO ENVIRONMENT MACRO ENVIRONMENT
T
Definition The microenvironment of a The macro-environment is regarded
corporation is essentially its as the company's external or
immediate surroundings or internal general environment that has the
environment. potential to have an impact on how
its entire operation is conducted.
Elements of Customers, suppliers, media, or the Demographic, economic, natural,
factors general public, employees, social-cultural, technical, political,
shareholders, and competitors make and legal elements are the key
up the microenvironment's primary macro environmental influences.
components.
Element’s The microenvironment's component There is a greater emphasis on
nature has a simpler, more specialised regional, national, and international
nature. Usually factors that are elements.
industry specific.
Influence on Direct and regular impact on Influence marketing choices
Organization marketing decisions and also directly and frequently while
remains independent. maintaining independence.
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organization, or product can change. For example, sarees are in high demand because
they are the traditional women's clothing of India. However, the demand for saris can
be nil in any other western nation.
2.5 Environmental Monitoring
The marketing landscape is dynamic and constantly changing. The dynamics that shape the
marketing environment, whether changing gradually or rapidly, create uncertainty,
challenges, and opportunities. To be ready to seize opportunities and mitigate adverse
circumstances, marketers must constantly monitor the marketing environment. Marketing
managers need to conduct environmental scans and analyses to efficiently track changes in
the marketing environment.
The endeavor to monitor changes in external variables that may affect markets and demand
for a company's goods and services. Economic, social, demographic, political, legal, cultural,
and technological pressures are some of the external forces typically considered. The
fundamental objective of environmental monitoring is to control and reduce the impact of an
organization's actions on the environment, either to ensure compliance with laws and
regulations or to limit risks of adverse impacts on the natural environment and to preserve
human health.
2.6 Global Marketing
“The capacity of a company to market to nearly every nation on the earth is known as
global marketing”.
A company's products or services are in high demand throughout a wide range of markets.
The international corporation still has the capacity, reach, expertise, personnel, staff, skills,
and knowledge to offer value to clients everywhere. The business understands the necessity
of providing global standard solutions or products to local customers and localizes those
products as required to maintain an ideal balance between cost, effectiveness, versatility, and
localization in a regulated full spectrum in order to best satisfy the community, national, and
global requirements to position itself against or with competitors, partners, alliances,
substitutes, and defend against new global and local market entrants per country.
2.6.1 Elements (4 Ps) of the Global Marketing
Global marketing is associated with global competitiveness, exporting, joint ventures, foreign
direct investments, government relations, global human capital management, resource
allocation, distributed technology development and management, global business logic, as
well as the standard marketing approaches, strategies, tactics, and processes.
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The standard “Four P’s” of marketing: product, price, placement, and promotion are all
affected as a company moves through the five evolutionary phases to become a global
company.
The Four P’s” of Global Marketing
❖ Product: A worldwide corporation can develop a single product and just need to
make minor adjustments for several regions. Coca-Cola, as an illustration, employs
two formulas—one with sugar and the other with corn syrup—for all markets. Every
nation uses the dynamic ribbon and contour bottle design in some capacity in their
product packaging. The bottle is the same size as other beverage bottles or cans in that
nation, but it may also incorporate the native tongue of that nation.
❖ Price: Markets will always have different prices. The cost of product development
(whether domestically manufactured or imported), the cost of ingredients, the cost of
delivery (due to transportation, customs, etc.), and many other factors all have an
impact on price. The final profit margin is also influenced by the product's position in
comparison to the competitors. The price point of a product is influenced by whether
it is viewed as the high-end, pricey option, the cheap, affordable option, or something
in-between.
❖ Place: The target market's access to the competition affects each country's decision on
the distribution of the product. Not all cultures employ vending machines, to use
Coca-Cola as an example once more. Beverages are offered for sale by the pallet in
warehouse stores in the US. This is not a choice in India. The position of the product
in the market must be taken into account when making placement selections.
❖ Promotion: In a multinational company's marketing budget, promotion is typically
the biggest line item after product research, development, and production. A
company's goal at this point in its development is integrated marketing. The
multinational corporation aims to cut expenses, minimize work and human
duplication, accelerate implementation, and speak with a single voice. If a
multinational corporation wants to communicate the same message to all of its
customers, the problem is to do it in a way that is timely, interesting, and economical.
2.6.2 Advantages and Disadvantages of Global Marketing
❖ Advantages:
Global Marketers has reduced marketing expenses
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Global Marketing companies are more strength and range in their products.
Global market includes the ability to use advertising to introduce its product.
Global Marketing companies have consistent marketing techniques and brands.
Global Marketers have Economies of Scale in the manufacturing and distribution of
its product.
Global Marketing encourages the establishment of ancillary industries to meet the
needs of the global player.
❖ Disadvantages
Variations in consumer reaction to marketing mix components.
Product placement varies depending on administrative practices.
Global Marketing policies may contradict domestic market laws.
There may be variations in the administrative processes and product placement.
Differences in product usage patterns and consumer demands wants, and needs
Differences in the competitive environment, brand and product development, and
legal climate.
2.7 Identifying Market Segments and Selecting Target Markets
The size and diversity of the product market make it challenging for businesses to please
every customer. Companies must define a specific consumer base within a market and
endeavor to fulfil them. Market segment identification is this collection. Additionally,
companies must comprehend the complexity of how this market behaves and functions.
Target marketing is a strategy that is gaining popularity in which businesses identify market
segments with comparable needs and wants, choose one of the market segments, and then
concentrate on developing products and marketing strategies.
The market segmentation task has to follow a scientific process.
1. The first task is to classify customers based on the goods and services they desire.
2. To define a market segment, the second stage is to assess the client by summarising
their demographic, lifestyle, and usage patterns.
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3. The third duty is to do market research to assess growth potential, competition, and
other elements.
4. Assessing the profitability of a market segment is the fourth task.
5. Positioning work for pricing and marketing initiatives is the fifth task.
6. To investigate various positioning and marketing tactics to fully examine the market.
2.7.1. Factors affecting Market Segmentation and Target Market.
Market segmentation and target market are affected by a number of variables.
● Location factors: One such aspect is geography, which divides a nation into regions
based on city, urban, rural, and climate.
● Population Factor: Age, family size, gender, household income, life stage,
occupation, education, religion, race, generation, and social class are used to segment
the market demographically.
● Lifestyle and personality. Markets can be divided at the individual level according to
attitudes, beliefs, and perceptions of products, as well as product awareness and
consumption patterns.
● Operational segmentation: It is based on the type of technology, consumer
preferences, and customer needs.
2.8 CONSUMER BUYING BEHAVIOR
Consumer buying behavior is the popular term, it is the actions and behaviors of the
consumers when he/she engage when making purchases and consuming goods. It is the
term for the ultimate consumer's purchasing habits.
Marketers must examine consumer behavior -
▪ To develop the marketing concept (marketing mix).
▪ To anticipate consumer reactions to marketing tactics.
▪ To influenced by how customers respond to its marketing approach
▪ To examine the what, where, when, and how consumers make purchases.
2.8.1 Type of consumer buying behavior.
Consumer behavior largely depends on what type of goods the consumer would like to buy.
As a result, of the bigger risk, customers are more inclined to go and do research on luxury
items.
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However, when buying a cheap item, consumers behave very differently but it's often a more
hands-off purchase. Businesses should carry out consumer research to discover the
purchasing habits of their customer.
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Consumer's buying behaviors may also be explained by the fact that customers stick with the
goods they use the most and also don't search for alternatives. And it doesn't imply that the
customer has fewer options and must make a decision regardless. Because the product doesn't
differ much from others, the buyer consistently chooses it without thinking about it. Habit
purchasing is the term for repeated purchases. Additionally, the things they buy are
inexpensive and safe to acquire.
2.8.2 Consumer Buying Process
Consumers once more rely on internal and external influences, as well as previous
contacts with a product or brand, both favorable and unfavorable, while evaluating
their options. They may explore possibilities in person or check online sources like
Google or customer reviews during the information stage.
iii. Stage of Evaluation of Alternative: (Compares choices to equivalent alternatives): A
consumer moves on to the next step of evaluating alternatives once their interest in a
product or products has been stimulated.
Cognitive evaluation: When a customer makes a decision based on facts.
Affective evaluation: Using affective factors to evaluate the options is known as
affective assessment
iv. Stage of Purchase Decision: (Makes final purchase decision): The consumer
ultimately decides to make a purchase. Purchase decisions can fall into one of three
categories: don't buy, buy later, or buy now.
Consumers who choose not to purchase reach the stage of problem recognition.
Purchases may be delayed because of diminished motivation or changes in one's
personal and financial circumstances. The consumer will buy if favorable sentiments
are developed toward the selected option.
v. Stage of Post Purchase Evaluation: (Observes the purchase they had made): After
committing to a product, a consumer's behavior is referred to as post-purchase
behavior. Customer satisfaction, customer joy, and customer dissatisfaction are the
three outcomes of post-purchase behavior. Buyer discomfort brought on by post-
purchase conflict is known as cognitive dissonance.
2.8.3 Factors affecting consumer behavior.
a. Advertising & Marketing Initiatives: Purchase decisions are significantly
influenced by marketing initiatives. They can even encourage customers to switch
brands or choose more expensive alternatives if done well, consistently, and with the
right marketing message.
b. Economic Situation: Economic situations play a significant role, especially when it
comes to pricey goods (like houses or cars). Regardless of their financial obligations,
customers are known to become more self-assured and prepared to indulge in
purchases in a healthy economic environment.
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3. Rational buyers: When buying for an organization, the buyer rationalizes. The buying
process involves trained and experienced buyers. Thus, making a purchase becomes
logical.
4. Direct channel: Organizational purchasers purchase items from producers directly
because they purchase in large quantities. Thus, the marketing route is now direct. But
some businesses use middlemen or agencies to purchase their items.
5. Purchase policy: Both organizations and individuals now use different purchasing
strategies. An organization creates a certain purchasing policy and purchases products in
accordance with the policy. The main purchasing strategies used by businesses include
purchasing by quotation, buying through tender, buying through contract, etc.
2.9.3 Factors affecting Organizational Buyers Decision
Factors affecting institutional buying decision are as follows:
❖ Environmental factors
❖ Organizational factors
❖ Interpersonal factors
❖ Personal factors
❖ Environmental Factors
Environmental Factors: Environmental factors have a direct or indirect impact on the
institutional elements that influence purchasing decisions. This covers obligations in the
areas of economics, technology, politics, and the law, among others.
● Economic Factors: Demand intensity, the state of the economy, competitiveness,
technological advancements, the trade cycle, etc. are all included. The demand for
organizational products, which is linked to the demand for consumer goods, is
impacted by changes in a market's overall economic conditions. Consequently, the
demand for organizational products is likely to be impacted by any change in the
economic situation of a nation that affects consumer demand.
● Technological factors: Institutional purchasing and inventory management, the
production process, distribution management, and other areas have changed as a result
of technological factors including the development of e-commerce, the development
of information, and the development of the internet.
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● Political and legal factors: Political and legal variables may have an impact on
institutions. Every corporation must function in accordance with national laws and
regulations, therefore before purchasing goods and services, businesses should
research the political system, political climate, political ideologies, and government
policies.
● Social responsibilities: Social responsibility influences organisational purchasing
decisions as well. Institutions must take into account issues like environmental
protection and addressing community needs. The business must take social welfare
into account while purchasing goods and services.
❖ Organizational factors: Organizational purchasing behavior is also influenced by
organizational characteristics. The organizational buying is significantly influenced by the
buying aim, policies, procedure, and organization.
● Buying Objective: Different organizations have various purchasing goals. Some
businesses priorities cheap prices above great quality and other businesses priorities
high prices over high quality.
● Buying Policies: Some organizations have centralized purchasing policies, while
others have decentralized purchasing policies. The selection of suppliers will be
limited by the organization's purchasing practices that promote the fairness principle.
● Buying process: Each organisation has a different organisational market purchasing
method. Every major acquisition in the government market is subject to sealed bids
and tenders. The majority of commercial purchasing is guided by previous
interactions with suppliers.
● Buying organizations: The organisational buying can vary greatly as a result of
centralized and decentralized buying methods. The purchasing process will become
complicated if sizable purchase committees are engaged.
❖ Interpersonal Factors: Various persons take part in organisational purchasing. They
have an impact on the purchasing process because so many people are involved.
Authority, interest, and prestige are examples of interpersonal factors.
● Authority: There are various levels of authority among the organization's staff. The
manner in which the organization's staff exercises their authority affects the purchase
process and determines whether it is simple, quick, or difficult.
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procurement process after determining a demand. After determining the necessity, buyers
should explain it. Once the needs are agreed upon, the buying team develops a detailed
specification that describes the quantity, performance, and technical specifications for a
product.
Stage 3 - Supplier Search: The buyer is currently attempting to locate the ideal supplier
(also called the vendor). To choose providers who meet their needs and have a solid
reputation for high quality, dependable partnerships, and reasonable prices, the buyer does a
conventional search. The phase of the purchasing process for businesses during which the
buyer attempts to identify the best suppliers or providers.
Stage 4 - Proposal Solution: The buyer asks suitable suppliers to submit proposals at this
stage of the business procurement process. The fifth stage of the organisational purchasing
process is the proposal solution. The buyer now contacts the top providers to get a proposal.
Some people respond by sending the organisation records or agents. The buyer requires a
comprehensive proposal for expensive and sophisticated goods, and the business organisation
mandates presenting the product itself for technical goods.
Stage 5 - Supplier Selection: The buyer evaluates the proposals at this point and makes a
decision. This selection process includes analysing the vendors under consideration as a
crucial component. The selection procedure entails a careful examination of the presented
proposals as well as taking into account vendor capabilities, reputation, client references,
warranties, and other factors. A standard set of criteria may be used by various decision
makers to evaluate proposals. The buyer evaluates the proposal at this step of the business
procurement process before choosing a provider or suppliers.
Stage 6 - Order-Routine Specification: At this point in the company purchasing process,
the buyer writes a final order to one or more chosen suppliers, outlining technical
requirements, quantity needed, anticipated delivery date, return policies, and warranties. The
client makes the decisive purchase after choosing the best suppliers. All of the items, such as
the qualities of the goods, the specification, the guarantee, the quantity, the time for supply,
the mode of payment, the after-sale service, etc., should be clearly specified in this order.
Stage 7 - Performance Review: The buyer evaluates his satisfaction with suppliers in this
final step of the organisational buying process before deciding whether to keep working with
them or find a new one. The buyer assesses suppliers' performance at this point. Making a
decision about whether to change, maintain, or end the relationship with the supplier is aided
by this kind of analysis. The partnership may continue if the supplier's performance is
adequate; if it is only moderately subpar, the relationship may still be maintained with a
partial rectification. However, it is flawed if the performance is offensive.
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2.10 SUMMARY
In any business or marketing activity all internal and external elements that directly or
indirectly affect any business organization. While external influences are out of an
organization's control, internal elements are under its control. The external elements include
government, technological, economic, social, and competitive forces; however, an
organization’s strengths, shortcomings, and abilities form the component of internal factors.
So, the combination of all components that directly or indirectly, internally or externally
affect any business organization is called a Marketing Environment.
Whereas, by keeping an eye on the marketing environment, marketers attempt to
foresee potential future developments. Marketers are continuing to adjust their strategies and
plans in response to these changes.
In this chapter, we also discussed about consumer buying behavior and organizational
buying behaviors, where consumer buying behaviors are influenced by many factors
like Individual Choice and Preferences, economic conditions, group influence, Advertising &
Marketing Initiatives, and purchasing power, etc.
Although there may be some similarities to household buying when more than one
individual is involved in the decision-making process. Organisational buying differs from
consumer buying since the context in which the decisions are made is considerably different.
The buying process at an organization might be more formal and drawn out depending on the
sort of purchase being made.
The decision-making process typically incorporates more rational than emotional
considerations, but because decision-makers are human, not all decisions are as reasonable as
they may seem. Due to the interdependence of buyers and sellers, long-term relationships that
are both advantageous and strategically significant might form.
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IN-TEXT QUESTIONS
1. Which of the following doesn't fall within the umbrella of the external marketing
environment?
a) Economical b) Political
c) Personal d) Legal
2. The gathering and analysis of data regarding the forces, occasions, and
connections that could have an impact on the organisation is known as --
a) Environmental Analysis b) Environmental Scanning
c) Environmental Monitoring d Environmental Searching
3. The environmental factors that affect how people's values, lifestyles, and family
structures change are known as ___ factors.
a) Economic b) Political
c) Demographic d) Socio-cultural
4. The purchase process begins when a customer recognises a ----------
a) Economic Condition b) Money Availability
c) Need or Problem d) Product or Services
5. What are the ideal flow of the consumer purchase process?
Information Search-Recognition of Need-Evaluation of Alternative- Purchase
Decision- Post Purchase Evaluation
Recognition of Need- Information Search-Evaluation of Alternative- Purchase
Decision- Post Purchase Evaluation
Information Search-Recognition of Need-Purchase Decision-Evaluation of
Alternative-Post Purchase Evaluation
Information Search- Purchase Decision- Recognition of Need- Evaluation of
Alternative- Post Purchase Evaluation.
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Answers:
1-C-Personal
2-B- Environmental Scanning
3-D-Socio-cultural
4-C- Need or Problem
5-B- Recognition of Need- Information Search- Evaluation of Alternative- Purchase
Decision- Post Purchase Evaluation
2.13 REFERENCES
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LESSON 3
STRUCTURE
3.2 INTRODUCTION
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When designing marketing communications plans, the STP model is helpful since it enables
marketers to prioritise propositions before developing and delivering individualised and
pertinent messages to engage with various audiences. Market segmentation, market targeting,
and product positioning make up the three steps of the funnel.
Segmentation: The process of employing one or more attributes to divide the
heterogeneous market into homogenous segments.
Targeting: Selecting the number of market categories to target.
Positioning: Giving customers a memorable impression of a product or brand.
3.4 SEGMENTATION
Segmentation is the process of assembling people into groups based on how closely they
resemble one or more product categories. To segment a market, one must first identify the
various consumer types and their varying needs. The selection of the segments to be kept in a
target is the marketer's next step after market segmentation is complete.
3.4.1 Meaning of Segmentation
Market segmentation is the practice of breaking a market into discrete subgroups of
consumers with various demands, features, or behaviors who may require separate products
or marketing mixes. "Market segmentation" is the process of breaking down large,
diverse markets into smaller, more homogeneous groups of customers that the company
can serve. According to the definitions given above, market segmentation is a marketing
approach that divides consumers into a number of homogeneous groups based on factors like
income, age, sex, education, profession, religion, and location. In order to satisfy the clients,
the primary goal of marketing segmentation is to create unique marketing strategies for each
category.
3.4.2 Need for Segmentation
Market segmentation was required to persuade target customers to purchase the goods. In the
past, before market segmentation, businesses used to sell their products independently. It was
accomplished by mass marketing, in which the product was promoted uniformly to all
consumers. Henry Ford was the first to see the necessity for market segmentation when he
offered the public the Ford Motor Company Model T in any colour they chose, as opposed to
the model T's previous availability in only one colour, black.
In the same manner when the Coca-Cola Company used to sell its product only in one
standard size of bottle, then they used to sell its product through mass marketing only.
Similar to how the Coca-Cola Company only ever sold its product through mass marketing
when it was packaged in a single standard size bottle. Nokia has a large selection of phones
for both men and women. When compared to male, durable handsets, the female counterpart
would be slimmer and more colourful. In general, men do not favour fashionable phones. The
businesses cannot offer identical things to everyone. Whereas female deodorants and
perfumes have a sweet scent, whilst male fragrances have a powerful scent. So, a marketer
cannot employ the same tactics with every buyer.
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● Identifiable: Marketers divide the market into discrete segments based on shared
demands using demographic, lifestyle, and other characteristics. Segmentation
bases are the name given to these components.
● Sizeable: A profitable market should have a sufficient number of customers. A piece
can still be identified even if it is small.
● Stable and growing: Marketers look for sectors that are both consistent and
growing.
● Reachable: A segment is not a target segment if it cannot be reached, regardless of
how recognizable, substantial, stable, or growing it may be. Reachable describes a
marketer's ability to communicate with customers in an effective and economical
manner.
● Congruent with marketer objective and resources: Even if a sector meets the
aforementioned criteria, marketers might not be willing to target it.
3.4.4 Bases for Segmentation
The marketer must choose the format for market segmentation, in which different market
bases or market variables are taken into accounts, or even a combination of both.
Market segmentation is done using a variety of bases.
● Professor Cundiff and Still provided a very straightforward assessment of the product
market i.e., Consumer Market & Industrial Market.
Whereas Philip Kotler has categorized the market into different categories based on:
Geographical basis, Demographic base, psychological foundation, Marketing basis, Profit
basis, Quantitative basis, Loyalty basis, etc.
As well as the market for industrial products can be segmented on the basis of:
Business type, Customary purchasing practices, User population and Geographical market
segmentation
The following constitute the main pillars of market segmentation:
Geographic Segmentation: Market division into various geographical units, such as
countries, regions, states, and cities.
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Demographic Segmentation: Using factors like age, gender, family size, family life cycle,
income, occupation, education, race, generation, and nationality, the market is segmented into
groups.
Income: Since it is a privacy issue to disclose one's income, marketers typically segment the
market based on social class.
Sex: The division of the gender market into male and female is another obvious basis for
market segmentation because it makes it very simple to segment the market for personal
products.
Age: Age-based market segmentation aids in accurate market segmentation. This is typically
done in the apparel industry, when clothing is separated based on age.
Social class: In India, social class is recognized as the most important segmentation factor.
Upper middle class, middle class, lower middle class, skilled workers, and working class
make up the majority of the population.
Family size: Family size is a segmentation-based variable that aids marketers in
understanding the volume and scale of purchases that customers will make.
Family life cycle: A family goes through several stages, including the bachelor stage,
newlywed stage, full nest stage, where a married couple has children under their care at
home, and the empty nest stage.
Occupation: White collar and blue-collar groups are the two fundamental divisions of
occupation groups.
Psychographic Segmentation: This method divides the market into various categories based
on socioeconomic status, way of life, and personality traits.
3.4.5 Advantages & Limitations of Segmenting Markets
Advantages:
● Increases sales volume
● Improved growth rate
● Greater return and profit
● Build a new clientele base
● Give sellers a competitive edge.
● Helps with finding and targeting
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3.5 TARGETING
After segmentation, you have to do target marketing. We can say that target marketing is
niche-specific marketing. The niche is not based on products but customers. You have to
identify your potential customers who will purchase your product based on their needs. There
are around billions of people on earth. You can’t sell your product to all people because they
are not interested in purchasing from you. That’s where target marketing works. So Targeting
the Second step of STP Marketing.
Targeting, also known as multisegmented marketing is a marketing strategy that involves
identifying specific personas or markets for specific content. Companies use target marketing
to learn more about their consumers and thus create advertisements for specified groups to
maximize response.
This strategy is much more effective than mass marketing, as it targets the consumers most
likely to interact with the brand or product, based on a buyer persona. There are many key
targets, these are the most common.
Meaning:
Targeting is considered as Second Step of STP Model. Target marketing must come after
segmentation. Target marketing can be referred to as niche marketing. The focus of the
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specialty is on consumers rather than items. You must determine which potential clients,
depending on their requirements, will buy your product. On earth, there are a few billion
individuals. Because they are not interested in buying from you, you cannot market your
goods to everyone. That is how target marketing functions.
Definition: A marketing approach that divides a market into segments before focusing your
marketing efforts on one or a small number of important segments made up of people whose
wants and preferences most closely match your product or service offerings.
The firm must decide which strategy for target marketing it will use. Basically, there are four
differing approaches for it.
I. Undifferentiated
II. Differentiated
III. Concentrated
IV. Customized Target Marketing
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I. Undifferentiated
An undifferentiated approach treats the market as a single mass market with a single
marketing plan, with no distinction made between the various market groups.
II. Differentiated
A differentiated targeting strategy acknowledges that there are various market segments to
target, each of which the marketing organization finds appealing. As a result, marketing
strategies are created for each market group in order to capitalize on them.
III. Concentrated
Market segments are acknowledged in a concentrated or niche-marketing strategy, which still
implements a concentrated strategy by concentrating on a small number of market segments.
These are frequently used by businesses that either have few means to fund their marketing
strategies or are using a very restricted marketing approach.
IV. Customized Target Marketing
The final strategy is a targeted marketing plan that is specifically created for each customer
rather than a market segment. This strategy is more common in consumer markets with high-
value, highly tailored items or B2B industries (such as marketing research or advertising
services). E.g. Purchase of a custom-made car.
Advantages
● The target market is promoted for business.
● Understanding current customers is useful.
● It raises brand recognition among the various target demographics.
● Customizing products to satisfy the needs of specific consumer groups.
● The sale of goods in locations best suited for attracting the targeted markets.
● Pricing will be determined based on what a target market is willing to spend on a
given good or service.
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Limitations
● The incorrect target. When you just concentrate on a target market, you must ensure
that it is appropriate for your good or service.
● Comparatively small Market Share.
● Ethical considerations.
Having a shared market with rivals.
3.6 POSITIONING
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Positioning is the process of choosing a suitable market niche for a brand, product, or
service and establishing it there.
Examples of marketing positioning:
● Starbucks offers itself as a reliable supplier of high-end coffee and beverages.
● Tesla and Audi pitch themselves as luxury status symbols.
● McDonald's positions itself as a location to acquire quick and inexpensive meals.
● Both Microsoft and Apple present themselves as cutting-edge IT companies with
user-friendly products.
3.6.2 Variables of Positioning in Market
i. Pricing
Most buyers base their selections in part on pricing. In many product categories, companies
with the lowest prices and acceptable levels of quality typically prevail.
ii. Quality
Most price wars can be stopped by quality. Quality can determine who the rivals are in some
industries, such as those for high-end cosmetics or automobiles.
iii. Differentiation
What distinguishes your products or service from the competition is differentiation.
Competitors may not be as dangerous if your product or service is very different from theirs.
Take the Toyota vs. Tesla comparison. Tesla quickly overcame entry-level vehicles like the
Toyota Prius by entering the electric vehicle industry with a high-end sports variant. With the
Model S, Tesla genuinely went for the high-end market.
iv. Convenience
Customers' lives are made simpler through convenience. Convenience might include anything
from accessibility to location, including easy returns and online shopping.
v. Customer service
Customer service places a strong emphasis on developing positive, cordial relationships. This
can be especially important in some sectors of the economy, including the restaurant and
banking sectors.
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tagline, etc. if it decides to alter how consumers perceive it. Repositioning the brand is the
process involved in changing how people perceive it.
3.6.4 Types of Positioning Strategies
The following are some examples of positioning strategies used by businesses:
1. Umbrella positioning
2. Premier positioning
3. Positioning against competition
4. Un-owned positioning
5. Repositioning
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Research is a methodical attempt to both accept and reject or modify previously held beliefs.
Young (1988) contrasts this with the idea that social science research is "the systematic
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procedure of discovering new facts or validating old facts, their sequence in the relationship,
causal explanation, and the natural rule that controls them."
Marketing research, also referred to as consumer research, is a component of business
research. A rigorous, objective investigation of issues pertaining to the advertising of goods
and services is known as marketing research.
It can be used in any facet of marketing. Research is the only tool accessible to an
organisation for keeping up with its external operational environment.
Since marketing research is a well-organized, methodical process, planning is necessary at
every stage. It makes use of science. Given that it makes an effort to deliver correct, reliable
information, it is an objective procedure.
3.7.1 Definition of Marketing Research
Marketing research helps marketers to understand the possible need, want and desire of the
consumers and it also helps to forecast the probable future demands of the particular products
or brand. Marketing research considered as one of the important aspects to get feedback and
opinion of the customer as well as their interest in the particular goods and services.
Some definitions of marketing research include the use of the scientific approach to address
issues with marketing. In simple terms “Marketing Research is a systematic process of
determining and collecting information related to target market and future prospects about
the sales.”
3.7.2 Aims and Objectives of Marketing Research
To specify a business concept.
To gain access to market circumstances.
To predict the state of the economy.
To Understanding the distribution pattern
To understand the results of marketing initiatives.
To learn about a product's target market's preferences.
To assess the competitiveness of different company policies.
To choose the distribution strategy that will best serve the product.
To pick the best course of action from a list of commercial decisions.
To research the specifications for the features of goods and services.
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manipulate, and summaries data with the aid of interpretation in order to find answers to
important issues.
V. Report and Present Findings.
The report must be written objectively, coherently, clearly when presenting the concepts, and
with the appropriate use of charts and diagrams. The study may occasionally identify one or
more topics that need for deeper research.
The contents should be divided into smaller chunks and structured under heading and sub-
headings. The purpose is to present a logical and graded arrangement of subject matter.
The language should be simple and easy to understand. It should not be bookish and full of
jargon. The language used should be appropriate to the level of the learner.
Table of contents.
Table of contents.
List of illustrations
Executive summary.
Research aims
Methodology
Results
Limitations.
Recommendations and conclusions
Annexes that include duplicates of the surveys, etc.
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Source: https://businessjargons.com/marketing-information-system.html
1. Internal Records: The report must be written objectively, rationally, clearly, and with the
appropriate use of charts and diagrams when presenting the concepts. The Marketing
Information System should be helped by regularly maintaining the most recent sales data.
The information can be obtained from the documents the company has generated, such as
invoices, transmission copies, and billing documents, once it receives an order for goods and
services from a client, a dealer, or a sales representative. Marketers can utilize this
information to develop their future sales plan.
The Companies maintain several databases such as:
Database for customers that contains all pertinent information on a customer, such as name,
address, phone number, frequency of purchases, financial situation, etc.
Product Database: This is where all the details on a product's features, pricing, and variants
are kept.
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Salesperson database: It stores all of the salesperson's personal data, including name,
address, phone number, and sales target. The data can be obtained whenever necessary from
the data warehouse where the corporations store their data. After the data is stored, statistical
professionals mine it is using a variety of computer programs and methodologies to transform
it into information that provides facts and figures.
0. Marketing Intelligence System: The marketing intelligence system offers information on
market developments, or information about the marketing environment outside of the
company. It contains information on shifting market trends, price strategies used by
competitors, shifts in consumer tastes and preferences, new items introduced to the market,
rival advertising strategies, etc.
The following actions should be taken by the businesses in order to improve the marketing
intelligence system in order to have an effective marketing information system:
● Giving the sales staff the appropriate training and encouraging them to monitor
market developments, such as changes in client tastes and preferences, and to provide
ideas for improvements.
● By learning more about their rivals, businesses can also enhance their marketing
intelligence system.
● By including the devoted customers in the customer advisory panel, who can share
their experiences and offer guidance to the new potential customers, the businesses
can have an effective marketing information system.
● The businesses might use the public data to enhance their marketing information
system. Data on population trends, demographics, agricultural production, and other
topics can be used by a company to design its marketing strategies.
● By using online feedback forms, the Marketing Intelligence system can be further
enhanced by directly asking clients about their experiences with the good or service.
0. Marketing Research: The systematic gathering, organizing, analysis, and interpretation of
primary or secondary data for the purpose of identifying solutions to marketing issues is
known as marketing research. Many businesses do marketing research to apply various
statistical methods to the marketing environment, which includes changes in client tastes and
preferences, competition strategies, the scope of new product launches, etc. Data must be
gathered in order to perform market research. Marketing research makes a significant
contribution to the marketing information system since it offers true information that has
been thoroughly examined by the researchers.
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1. Marketing Decision Support System: It has a number of software tools that marketers can
utilize to examine the data already gathered and make smarter marketing decisions. The
marking managers can use computers to save the massive amounts of data in tabular form,
evaluate the data using statistical tools, and then make decisions based on the results.
3.8.3 Benefits of Marketing Information System (MIS)
i. Prediction of Consumer Demand: Predicting consumer demand helps businesses
grow their markets by laying the groundwork for mass production and distribution of
goods and services. Using an organizational marketing strategy makes it easier to
gather the most recent data about customer preferences.
ii. Identification of Marketing Complexity: The outcome of the modern marketing
concept process is complexity and a deeper marketing strategy. The usage of pertinent
market knowledge and a well-structured information system are required due to the
rapid expansion of global market expansions and marketing operations. Understanding
the multifaceted market's makeup and demand is consequently essential.
iii. Facilitates up-to-date Economic Information or Condition: The cost and market
circumstances are determined by the dynamics of supply and demand, which are
constantly changing. In a large and complex economy, demand, supply, and price
fluctuations are quite intense. People who work in marketing need up-to-date,
sophisticated information on shifting economic conditions relating to supply, demand,
and costs. They rely on market research and market-related intelligence services for
this. The prediction or forecasting of the future is based on economic variables such as
the population, income, GDP, price, etc.
iv. Competitor Analysis: Organizations operate in a highly competitive environment
where several rivals develop tactics to outdo one another. It is necessary to use the
services of the marketing information system and marketing intelligence to anticipate
competitive activity and outperform it. Marketing professionals must have access to
the most recent market data regarding the type and scope of the competition in order to
survive.
v. Up-to-date Information on Technology: Growth in the market results in
technological advancements. The most recent knowledge on technological issues or
advances is needed by marketing professionals. New products, technology, processes,
etc. should be supported by facts. Such is provided by the marketing information
system.
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vi. Proper flow of Information for better Customer Service: There may be a
communication chasm between customers and marketers throughout the market
expansion phase. Due to this mismatch, marketing initiatives and plans may be
exaggerated. Dissatisfaction in consumers is a result of different marketers who are not
regularly involved in marketing activities. An increase in consumer complaints
demonstrates how poorly items meet consumers' requirements and desires.
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IN-TEXT QUESTIONS
Marketers should pay particular attention to:
a) Segmentation
b) Targeting
c) Positioning
d) All of the above
Which segments of the population are represented by age, gender,
income, race, and family life cycle?
Geographic
Demographic
Psychographic
Psychology
A business is engaging in _______ when it determines the segments of
the market that it can service most effectively and profitably.
Concentrated marketing
Mass marketing
Market targeting
Segmenting
Your business has made the decision to adapt its goods and services
to the needs of the regional market. Segmentation would be a wise
strategy to utilise in this situation.
Geographic
Benefit
End-use
Customer
Which method of segmentation is most likely being used by Positive
Image, Inc. when it targets the clothes, cosmetics, and toiletry markets?
Age and life cycle
Gender
Behavior
Psychographic
3.9 SUMMARY
.
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In this chapter we have studied about the segmentation, targeting, and positioning (STP)
marketing model which is a well-known strategic marketing method today. It is one of the
marketing models that is used in practice the most frequently, and marketing leaders.
In brief we can say that Segmentation is the process of employing one or more attributes to
divide the heterogeneous market into homogenous segments whereas Targeting is related to
selecting the number of market categories to target as well as positioning is concerns with
giving customers a memorable impression of a product or brand. We also studied about the
marketing research that is a well-organized, methodical process, which gives reliable
information to the marketers predict their market circumstances, understanding sales and
demand pattern. Finally we discussed about the marketing information which is a systematic
gathering, analysis, interpretation, storage, and presentation of market information to the
marketers on a regular, ongoing basis from both internal and external sources.
1. Answer: B
2. Answer: B
3. Answer: D
4. Answer: A
5. Answer: B
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1. https://www.uou.ac.in/sites/default/files/slm/HM-303.pdf
2. https://www.geektonight.com/segmentation-targeting-positioning/
3. https://www.shivajicollege.ac.in/sPanel/uploads/econtent/42cd59f445c747c35501e9df6bc
a5668.pdf
4. https://businessjargons.com/marketing-information-system.html
5. https://www.mageplaza.com/blog/positioning-in-marketing.html
6. https://www.managementstudyguide.com/need-for-market-segmentation.htm
7. https://www.mbaskool.com/business-concepts/marketing-and-strategy-terms/2762-
positioning.html
8. Kotler, Philip. (2000). Marketing management. Upper Saddle River, N.J. :Prentice Hall.
9. T. N. Chhabra, (2014). An Introduction to Marketing Management, 1st Edition, Sun
India’s.
10. Malhotra Naresh, K. and Dash, S. (2015) Marketing Research, An Applied Orientation.
7th Edition, Pearson, India.
11. Rajan Saxena. (2020) Marketing Management 6th Edition, Mc Graw Hill.
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LESSON 4
STRUCTURE
A written document that outlines your company's future course is a strategic plan. It outlines
the objectives of your business and justifies their significance. By knowing the environment,
you may increase performance by using the strategic planning process.
The student should be able to:
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Describe the process of strategic marketing planning and its significance after
finishing this session.
The capacity to create and apply marketing strategies by analyzing competitors.
To design precise plans for achieving marketing objectives.
The ability to employ marketing warfare techniques through analysis of the external
environment.
4.2 INTRODUCTION
To adapt to the continually changing markets and strengthen their competitive advantage,
businesses adopt strategic marketing planning. A company's strategic marketing planning
outlines how it will change to seize opportunities in a continually shifting environment. The
design and duration of the marketing strategy vary from company to company, but it is
typical to have a yearly plan in place for the strategic and planning tasks. Making the proper
decisions in your marketing planning will help you get the outcomes you want, whether
you're redesigning your website or trying to create a completely integrated campaign. What
justifies the significance of strategic marketing planning? There are a variety of reasons why
businesses should think about strategic marketing planning, from managing initiatives to
creating campaigns and gauging success.
Every company needs to set goals to maintain a healthy work atmosphere and
increase levels of sales and profits. An organization that has a strategy in place and a plan in
place achieves its goals and objectives before its competitors in the market, giving it a
competitive edge. Studying the market environment, learning about the competitors' next
movements, developing novel product concepts, and maintaining customer satisfaction
through a variety of ways and measurements are all part of strategic planning.
A solid marketing strategy is outlined in a plan that takes into account your practice's
needs as well as those of the local community. However, the effectiveness of the strategy
depends on your dedication to putting it into action, allocating enough resources to the
project, involving your personnel, and maintaining open lines of communication with them.
The marketing strategy shouldn't only be prepared, examined, and stored on a shelf. Your
practice marketing strategy should be an ever-evolving road map that directs your efforts and
tracks your progress. When commitment is present, marketing is effective. You are in charge!
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way when they are given the tasks and responsibilities that correspond to their
knowledge and professional qualifications, along with the appropriate wards.
3. Innovation: As was mentioned in the previous point, by recognizing the importance
of strategic planning and implementing it, the company develops goods and services
that score well in terms of uniqueness and innovation. The company prepares and
strategizes its next line of offerings, which are unique and exclusive in the market and
are guaranteed to increase sales, profit margins, and brand value, in the same way as
with strategic planning and feedback from the internal team, external parties, and
experts.
4. The organization becomes more proactive as a result: - Understanding the value of
strategic planning enables a company to be more proactively as opposed to reactively
responding to impending concerns and challenges in achieving its goals and
objectives. The organization becomes more proactive as it anticipates and foresees the
challenges arriving when it adheres to the foundations of strategic planning. Problems
and issues are bound to develop when attaining all the short term and long-term
objectives. Therefore, the management and the team's key players take corrective
action ahead of schedule to resolve problems before they threaten the company's
brand value and bottom line.
5. Increased sales and profits: The Company is quickly achieving its goal of higher
sales and profits when it adheres to the Importance of Strategic Planning in all areas
of its business operations. Since it is a universal truth that all strategic planning and
actions are taken by the company to not only increase the value of its brand in the
market but also to boost sales and profits to keep the cash registers ringing and stay
relevant in the market despite fierce competition, carving a niche for itself.
IN-TEXT QUESTIONS
Strategic marketing planning helps to successfully lead the business through
all environmental changes. True/ False.
Competitive advantage doesnot allow the business to outperform its rivals and
gain market domination. True / False
To be effective, strategic planning must maintain a balance between an
organization's internal ------ and ------ and external ------ and ------- posed by
the environment
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Set
Goals
Evaluate Marketi
ng Audit
Implem Market
ent Research
Strategy
Develop Analyse
Strategy Research
Set Identify
Budget Traget
Audienc
Source: e
1. Setting your marketing goals. Once you've made the decision to advertise your practice,
you need to establish attainable objectives for the following 18 to 24 months. You may
schedule activities around neighborhood events that support your marketing objectives within
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this time frame. We advise against scheduling particular activities more than two years in
advance due to the fast changes taking place in the healthcare industry.
3. Conduct market research. Market research is used to provide a realistic image of your
profession, the community in which you practice, and your present standing in that
community. With this study, you may create reasonably accurate estimates about future
community growth, identify competitive variables, and investigate unorthodox prospects.
Market research is frequently the most time-consuming element in this process. It is,
nevertheless, one of the most crucial phases. This study allows you to determine what your
practice does well and where you need to improve, what the needs of your community are,
who your practice should target, and how you should go about it.
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A strategic marketing plan necessitates the definition of your practice in terms of what it
accomplishes for consumers. The research study will show the strategic benefits of your
practice. After extensively examining your own and your rivals' practices, you may ask
yourself three critical questions: What are the distinctions and similarities between your
practice and those of your competitors? What distinguishes your practice from the
competition? Is your technology more appealing than that of your competitors? Do you
provide a greater range of services than your competitors? Is there a service that you offer
that no one else in the business does? Your competitive advantage might be in your practice
style, the breadth of services you provide, the simplicity of scheduling an appointment, or the
way you communicate.
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• What services does your business offer? Who requires these services? Are these
requirements changing?
Your competitor
You must learn about your competition and what they are offering to their customer
base. Check with your executives and intermediaries to see how many other substitutes and
new entrants have move in the segment in the last five years.
After you've discovered who your competitors are, you must evaluate them. This information
may be more difficult to obtain, but you may try to acquire as much as you can by simply
asking other stakeholders and analyzing rivals' strengths. To evaluate your competitors, ask
the following questions:
Your neighborhood
● In addition to learning about your profession and your rivals' practices, you should study
everything you can about the people in your neighborhood. Answers to the following
questions can be obtained by contacting your local Chamber of Commerce, your state vital
statistics bureau, or by consulting the (www.census.gov). Every state, county, city, ZIP code,
neighborhood, and so on may access census data:
● What is the population density in your service area? Is the population anticipated to increase
or decrease?
● What are the demographic features of your local population?
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5. Identifying your target audience. You should be able to determine your organization’s
"target audience" with the help of your market research analysis, which is the exact group of
people to whom you'd like to aim your marketing efforts. Your target audience might include
people of a given age, education, lifestyle, culture, gender, and so on. Remember that your
target audience should include not just the customers you wish to attract, but also other
stakeholders that may influence and expose that sector of the population.
6. Determine a budget. Before you can select which exact marketing methods to use to
reach your goals, you must first review your financial data and create a marketing budget.
Marketing budgets differ depending on the sort of market a business is in, the age of the
business, and if the organization has previously advertised. There is no set amount that a
business should spend. However, in our experience, practitioners in open marketplaces spend
3–5% of their yearly gross income on marketing. If your practice is new, in a highly
competitive market, or has never been promoted before, or if you plan to launch an ambitious
new program or service, expect to spend 10% or more of your revenue on marketing.
7. Develop marketing strategies. With your budget in place, you can start defining
marketing tactics that will meet your objectives, reach your target demographic, and grow
your client base. Remember to concentrate your efforts on the aspects of your organization
that may be leveraged to generate a unique value in the minds of your clients and referral
sources. Each strategy should be linked to a specific objective and comprised of several steps.
One technique connected to the objective of attracting customers, for example, is to make the
workplace and employees more customer pleasant. The following activities may be necessary
for such strategy:
Improve the reception area's décor; Provide name tags for employees; require staff to identify
themselves to each new customer; provide staff with training sessions on customer
satisfaction; create a method for consumers to self-schedule appointments on the business
website.
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plan's activities, and even its strategies and objectives, are not set in stone. You can always
make changes by consistently keeping track of and analyzing each activity.
Small company entrepreneurs sometimes find themselves juggling many jobs at once. But
even with a hectic schedule, it's worthwhile to undertake a competition study. By supporting
you, it can boost your business by:
Source:
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You may learn about the benefits and drawbacks of your own brand by examining how your
rivals are seen. Knowing your company's advantages might help you position your business
in the market or create the mental image of your product or service that you want people in
your target market to have. It's crucial to explain to potential clients why your service or
product is the greatest option out of all those offered.
Knowing your company's vulnerabilities is just as crucial to advancing your enterprise. You
may find places where you might wish to put time and money to use by understanding where
you fall short of your consumers' expectations.
You could discover, for instance, that clients favor the customer service provided by your
rivals. Investigate your rivals to learn what they're doing well and what you might adapt for
your own firm.
Knowing how the industry is changing as a whole may also be determined by studying the
competitors. However, you shouldn't follow your rivals' lead in accomplishing anything. It's
seldom, if ever, successful to copy the competitors without carefully analyzing your own
position in the market. Don't immediately copy what your rivals are giving if you notice them
doing something that you aren't. Instead, consider your consumers' wants and ways to add
value for them.
You can discover businesses while identifying your rivals that you were unaware of or that
you had not previously considered to be in your industry. To outperform your competition,
start by identifying who they are.
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You might be able to find areas where your market is underserved by conducting an in-depth
analysis of what your rivals have to offer. You can take the initiative and increase your own
products to meet any unmet consumer demands if you discover discrepancies between what
your rivals are giving and what customers desire.
Establish standards for future expansion- You should consider businesses that are both bigger
and smaller than your own while doing a competition study. Studying existing companies in
your field may help you create a vision of success and a benchmark for measuring your future
expansion. On the other hand, the firms that could challenge your market share in the future
might be identified by investigating new competitors in your sector.
Consider where your clients would go if they didn't buy from your firm while compiling a list
of possible rivals. Searching for your product or its category on Google or another search
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engine and browsing the results is a simple method to get started. You may also conduct a
poll or conduct an interview with current clients to learn more about the alternatives they
looked at before choosing your goods or services.
So that you can devote adequate time and effort to investigating each rival, limit your list to
10 or less. To acquire a thorough understanding of the market, when you finish your list, try
to include a variety of businesses. Additionally, take into account companies that compete in
each of the three categories
Direct Rivals
Direct rivals cater to comparable target markets by offering comparable goods or services.
When you consider your competitors, these are probably the businesses that immediately
spring to mind. McDonald's, for instance, probably sees Wendy's and Burger King as direct
rivals in the fast-food burger industry or Coke vs Pepsi in beverage industry.
Indirect Rivals
Although they target a similar demographic to yours, indirect rivals provide a different good
or service in the same market. For instance, McDonald's faces off against pizza delivery
services like Domino's and Papa John's.
Replacement rivals-
Although they compete with you outside of your product category, replacement rivals meet
comparable consumer needs. Any option individuals choose when they're hungry, including
goods like frozen dinners, might be a replacement rival for McDonald's. Replacement
competitors are the most difficult of the three categories of rivals to recognize. You should
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pay close attention to both direct and indirect rivals while doing a competitor analysis. Even
so, it's vital to quickly assess any prospective substitute rivals that can jeopardize your
company's future.
Take some time to arrange yourself before you get into your competitor analysis. You may
organise your research using a table or spreadsheet called a competitor matrix, sometimes
referred to as a rival grid. It will be simpler to compare your results to those of rivals and see
wider patterns as a result.
Start by giving each rival you've identified a row or column to itself. List the data points or
categories of information you want to know about each rival on the opposite axis. If you're
unsure of what to search for at this stage, don't worry. As your study progresses, you may
always add new categories.
Start researching your rivals' companies after you have a list of them. Start by looking for the
most fundamental details, then work your way up from there. Start by checking out any news
items that have been written about the firm as well as its websites and social media profiles.
Here are some fundamental details that you might wish to look for. History of the company-
This covers details like its inception date, financial sources, and any mergers or acquisitions it
has taken part in. The "About" section of their website or previous news releases from the
business are frequently good places to look for this information. You may gain a deeper
knowledge of your rivals' company by researching how they came to be where they are.
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4.Size of Business
How many individuals are employed by your rivals? For this type of information, Glassdoor
and LinkedIn are also good sources. Additionally, you should research the number of clients
and income that your rivals have. For larger organisations, this information will probably be
readily available online. You may have to settle for approximations for smaller, privately
held businesses. You may better contextualise the remaining data you get if you are aware of
the size of your competition.
5. Concentrate on the 4 Ps
It's important to investigate how each competitor approaches that market segment now that
you have determined who their target market is. A thorough examination of their marketing
tactics will be necessary.
The four Ps—product, pricing, promotion, and place—that make up the marketing mix are
the prerequisites for bringing a product to market. For each competitor you've chosen, ask
yourself the following questions as part of your investigation.
Product
Price
• What sort of pricing structure do they employ? Is it a yearly subscription or a one-time
purchase?
• What are their prices for their goods or services? Do they provide discounts or sales?
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• How does the price of a product or service relate to its actual or perceived quality?
Promotion
• How do they disseminate information about their good or service? What mediums do they
utilise for advertising, such as social media, email marketing, print ads, etc.?
• What features of their goods or services do they highlight? What makes them stand out from
the competition?
• What is their business's history? How do they describe their company's brand?
Place
• Where are their products sold? Do they do their business online or offline?
• Do they collaborate with merchants or third-party marketplaces, or do they sell to customers
directly?
These inquiries are supposed to provide a place to start. Feel free to elaborate and modify
them to fit your industry and the objectives of your study.
There is probably a tonne of information available. Make an effort to summarize your results
into brief bullet points that you can later readily refer to. If you can find it, make sure to
incorporate quantitative data where it is suitable.
6.Analyse strengths and weaknesses—yours and your competitors’
Think about each of your chosen rivals' advantages and disadvantages based on the data
you've gathered. Consider the reasons why customers pick a certain brand's goods or services
over competing ones. In your spreadsheet, note your conclusions.
Finally, think about the strengths and shortcomings of your own business. How does your
company stack up against the rivals you've studied? You can better serve your target clients
by being aware of what makes your company stand out from the competition and where it
falls short of expectations.
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Marketing warfare strategies are a type of business and marketing strategy that attempts to
make comparisons between business and warfare before applying military strategy to
business situations. Competing firms are compared to sides in a military conflict, and market
share is compared to territory that is in contention.
For instance, in a game of football between two teams, each team will attempt to advance the
ball toward the goal line, and most likely, their rival team will stop them. Teams must create
counter-competition plans that enable them to outmaneuver and outflank opponents if they
want to win the game. The same principles are used everywhere to win, whether it be in
sports, business, or warfare.
Depending on the conditions in the environment and the strategic move of rivals, commercial
enterprises might employ one of four different marketing warfare techniques.
Offensive Flanking
Strategies Strategies
Guerrilla Defensive
Strategies
Strategies
Source:
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Defensive marketing warfare strategies – Defensive tactics are managerial instruments that
may be employed to repel a prospective competitor's attack. Consider it a battleground. To
keep your consumers satisfied and your profitability constant, you must defend your market
share. Defensive tactics are managerial methods that may be used to repel a prospective
competitor's attack. The purpose of these techniques is to keep your position as the market
leader while battling against competitors that want to steal your market share. As a result, it is
characterized as a marketing technique that assists businesses in retaining important clients
who may be stolen away by competitors. The goals of this approach are to maintain current
market share while increasing profitability, to maintain current levels of competitive
advantage and top position in local and existing markets.
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opponent gives little importance for example Close-Up brought first gel toothpaste in the
market by changing product form, similarly Sony brought portable electronics or Volkswagen
with smaller size cars.
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CASE STUDY
Ries and Trout utilise the burger war to show a flanking manoeuvre in the fast food
business. McDonald's was the market leader, and Burger King attempted aggressive
strategies. The moves that failed were those that expanded the product line and imitated
McDonald's. The successful campaigns distinguished Burger King from McDonald's.
Have it your way, for example, targeted a flaw in McDonald's consistent product line
procedure, which had the unintended consequence of being rigid. The campaign
highlighting the fact that Burger King's burgers were flame-broiled whereas McDonald's
were fried was even more popular. Wendy's effectively countered McDonald's by
focusing on adults rather than children, giving adult-sized portions, and creating the
hugely popular Where is the beef? campaign.
Finally, White Castle was the low-end Guerrilla, limiting their geographic spread,
without adding a bewildering array of other goods, and maintaining a high level of sales
at each establishment. White Castle followed the guerrilla philosophy of never acting
like the leaders and was able to coexist peacefully as a consequence.
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IN-TEXT QUESTIONS
-------------- strategy is used to attack competitors on the area where the opponent is
weak to penetrate and gain market share.
The ----------- type of warfare strategy has the goal to maintain current levels of
competitive advantage and top position in local and existing market.
The strategic marketing planning process consist of detailed steps and no of steps are
-------------
4.9 SUMMARY
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1. True 9. Defensive
2. False 10. Nine
3. Strength and Weakness, Opportunities and Threats.
4. Flanking
5. Guirella
6. Offensive
7. Defensive
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8. Flanking
1. Explain the type of marketing warfare strategies the company can use with suitable
examples.?
2. Discuss strategic marketing planning process in detail with relevant examples?
3. What are the measures you will take to analyses competitors?
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LESSON 5
PRODUCT MIX
STRUCTURE
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5.2 INTRODUCTION
To begin with, let us understand the term product. We may define the product as a
collection of physical, psychological, service, and symbolic, attributes that collectively yield
satisfaction, or benefit, to a buyer or user. The marketing identified a product as anything
presented to a market to satisfy a want or need. This chapter helps you to get familiarized
with the significant concepts concerning product management.
Product management is an organizational lifecycle function within a company
involving the planning or marketing of a product or products at every stage of product
lifecycle. We shall be discussing the levels and classifications of products, and the strategies
of product line and product mix. We will also analyze the important steps to be considered in
the new product development process.
A product has different layers like an onion and each layer contributes to the making
of the product. It uses five product levels in which a product is located or seen from the
perception of the consumer. These 5 Product Levels indicate the value that consumers attach
to a product. The customer will only be satisfied when the specified value is identical or
higher than the expected value.
ACTIVITY
One caution to be observed by any lesson writer is the amount of time a learner
needs to spend on any activity/exercise etc. As these activities/exercises are given
along with the material; the learner should not be diverted for a longer duration
by giving longer/difficult questions/activities/exercises etc. At best, learners may
spend a few minutes (5-10) and come back to the material for reading so that
focus and rhythm of study would not be lost.
5. Potential Product: This is about augmentations and transformations that the product
may undergo in the future. Here the marketer is always on constant search for new
methods and processes to differentiate the offer on the basis of product features and
services that will satisfy the customer and create the desired differentiation.
5.3.3 CLASSIFICATION OF GOODS OR PRODUCT:
Classification of Products
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The term product mix refers to the collection of products dealt with by a business firm. The
product mix is one of the elements in the product policy.
5.4.1 DEFINITION
According to Philip Kotler,” Product mix (also called as product assortment) is the set of all
product lines and items that a particular seller offers for sale to buyers.”
According to William J. Stanton,” The product mix is the full list of all products offered for
sale by a company.”
CASE STUDY
The impact of distance education on higher education: A Case Study of the United States
In 2013, Gail D. Caruth and his team of Texas University have studied the impact of
distance education on higher education. Distance education has been credited for bringing
education to students who would not otherwise have educational opportunities. This study used
a qualitative case study approach to examine the research to determine the impact of distance
education on higher education in the United States. They found that the impact of distance
education is significant to higher education because informed knowledge of the impact will
provide insight into the effects of overall education in the United States. The researchers asked
the following two exploratory questions: What happened during the evolution of distance
education in the United States? What themes emerged over time? Their findings suggested that
the impact of distance education on higher education in the United States has been change. They
also anticipated that, in the future changes will continue to occur. Researchers concluded that
the higher education has to be prepared to teach about change and teach students how to handle
change.
3. Depth of the Product Mix: Depth refers to how many varieties are offered in each
product line. In other words, the depth is measured by assortment of sizes, colours,
models, prices and quantity offered within each product line.
4. Consistency of the Product Mix: The consistency of product mix is a measure of how
closely related its various product lines are to one another. The relationship may be due
to the use, production requirements, distribution channels, consumer behavior and other
characteristics.
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aspects of the articles produced and sold. Product development is a more limited term but
includes the technical activities of product research, engineering, and design. Product
planning and development is the result of the coordinated efforts of large number of
specialists – engineers, scientists, marketers, etc. Product planning is usually described as
‘Merchandising’ and it covers both, the existing and potential products. This activity,
therefore, must deal with the proper balance between the old and the new products. New
product planning is a very long and complex process, and it deals with changes in:
The kinds of goods or services offered by a marketer for various segments. The number or
kinds of products, or different lines, that the company offers in various segments. The width
of product line offered.
The quality levels or levels acceptable to various classes of consumers in various target
markets. The degree of distinctiveness. Increased societal and governmental constraints. The
growing shortage of new product ideas in certain areas. Shorter time spans between the
emergence of the idea and the physical launch of the product. The costliness of the new
product development process.
The following decisions are important in new product planning:
● Improving the existing product lines and services,
● Weeding out unprofitable items in the product line (simplification),
● Expansion of the current product line (diversification),
● New product development for the present customers, and
● New product development for new customers (diversified products).
5.5.4 Role of New Product Development
Whatever may be the size and nature of operations of a firm, product planning and
development is necessary for its survival and growth in the long-run. Every product has a life
cycle and it becomes obsolete after the completion of its life-cycle. Therefore, it is essential
to develop new products and alter or improve the existing ones to meet the often-changing
requirements of customers. The role of new product development can be stated in terms of:
1. Ensuring that the product mix, matches changing environmental conditions and that
product obsolescence is avoided.
2. Enabling the marketer to compete in new and developing segments of the market.
3. Reducing the marketer’s dependence upon particular elements of the product range or
vulnerable market segments.
4. Filling excess capacity.
5. Achieving greater long-term growth and profit.
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high and yet there is no certainty that it will succeed. It is for this reason that a company
should move from stage to stage in a careful and systematic manner. The approach is
composed of seven steps as demonstrated in Figure 1: New Product Development Process.
Idea generation
Idea Screening
Concept Development
and Testing
Marketing Strategy
Business Analysis
Product Development
Test Marketing
Commercialization
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This stage requires a close co-ordination between Engineering and Marketing Divisions.
Along with the process of product development, the marketing division of the company
develops a tentative marketing strategy. A blue print is designed about the price structure,
promotion and distribution strategy for the proposed product. The marketing team identifies
the need of sales force needs, advertising program and sales promotion tools for the new
products. After developing tentative marketing strategy, the prototype is released for testing.
5. Business Analysis
After management develops the product concept and marketing strategy; it can evaluate the
proposals business attractiveness. Management needs to estimate whether sales will be high
enough to yield satisfactory profit. At this step business analysis for the new product is done.
Business analysis includes - estimation of sales, frequency of purchases, nature of business,
production and distribution related costs and expenses, and estimation of profit.
6. Product Development
During this stage, the idea-on-the-paper is turned into a ‘product-on-hand’. The idea is
converted into a product that can be produced and demonstrated. The product passes the
business test it moves to R&D and engineering to be developed into physical product. The
R&D department will develop one or more physical versions of the product concept. This
stage is also termed as technical development. Its goal is to find a prototype that consumers
see as embodying the key attributes described in the product statement and can be produced
within the budgeted manufacturing costs.
7. Testing the Product
In this stage of product testing, the new product manager can check the feasibility and
accuracy of product performance. Thus, commercial experiments are necessary to verify
earlier business judgments. The objective of this stage is to assess whether the product meets
the technical and commercial specifications developed at various levels of concept
development for ascertaining product acceptability.
8. Commercialization and final launch
In this stage, the product is submitted to the market and thus commences its lifecycle.
Commercialization is also the phase where marketing is most active in connection with the
new product. This stage is considered to be a critical one for any new product and should
therefore be handled carefully. The following activities are usually undertaken during this
stage:
a. Completing final plans for production and marketing
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Case Study
Amazon is an example of a customer-oriented approach to product development strategy.
Their product strategy is focused entirely around customer needs. Amazon likes to work
backwards from the target market. They write the press release for the product first, and
hone it until its language is simple enough for anyone to understand. The press release has
no technical jargon about technologies or UIs. They then work backward from the press
release to the product. This is a product development strategy that focuses on Amazon’s
internal process, in engaging with customers to create a specific product that meets an
identified need.
Products have a life cycle just like anything else. Professor Raymond Vernon of Harvard
University first proposed and shaped the product life cycle (PLC) idea in 1966. PLC
designates the time frame from the beginning of a product's development (R&D) until the
time it is taken off the market. The four phases of a typical PLC are introduction, growth,
maturity, and decline.
5.6.1 Product Lifecycle Stages
(Source: MBAknol.com)
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The decisions of marketers can change the stage, for example from maturity to decline by
price-cutting.
5.6 SUMMARY
● A product is the offer that the consumer ultimately owns in the exchange process.
Each product offers some level of core, tangible, and augmented benefit to
consumers.
● A product has different layers or levels like an opinion and each layer contributes to
the make of the product. The identified levels are: core layer, basic product layer,
expected product layer, augmented product layer and potential product layer.
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5.7 GLOSSARY
Convenience products: These products satisfy the needs but one isn’t willing to
spend time or effort to shop for them.
Durable goods: These are the goods that survive many uses by consumers.
Industrial products: Products that are used in producing other products.
Non-durable goods: These are the goods, which are consumed in one instance or a
few uses.
Product: A product is anything which is offered to the market to satisfy consumer
needs and wants.
Product line: A set of individual products that are closely related.
Product width: It explains how many different product lines a company carries.
Product depth: It explains the number of products that a product line has in its
overall product mix.
2. Discuss some effective methods of learning that you would like your students to
practice in class and at home. Illustrate your answer with relevant examples.
5.9 REFERENCES
As per APA style (APA Manual 6th Edition to be referred)
1. https://www.tcgen.com/product-development/product-development-strategy/#gettools
2. https://www.mbaknol.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/07/Product-life-cycle-strategy-
mbaknol.jpeg
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LESSON 6
STRUCTURE
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6.2 INTRODUCTION
In the previous lesson you have studied new product development, product life cycle and
product mix strategies. In addition to product development and design, it is very important to
understand how a product is presented to prospective customers. Branding, packaging and
labelling are the three major components which are associated with presentation of a product.
In this lesson we will discuss in detail about branding, packaging and labelling. It is very
important to understand significance of branding and how brand strategy decisions are made
by the companies. We will discuss functions and types of packaging along with its
requirement and criticism. You will also study labelling, its legal requirement, its functions
and types of labels.
This lesson has many real-life examples so that it will be easy for you to understand these
topics and you will be able to relate this to your real-life experiences. This will aid in
understanding the three marketing terms namely: branding, packaging, and labelling from a
whole new perspective.
6.3 BRANDING
consideration its physical characteristics and benefits. In contrast, a brand is a lens through
which a product is viewed with additional feature. that make it different from its counterpart.
Brand is a strategic tool which empowers the firm to bargain with suppliers, creditors and
customers. When you go to the market and purchase Reebok or Nike footwear, you are
assured that the shoe which you are buying has specific standards. This underlines the fact
that a brand name differentiated the product of one company from another which satisfies the
same needs and wants of the customer. Brands have been used by the producers to identify
and differentiate one’s own products from those of the others. Brands are considered units of
meaning in the language of the consumer market culture Pennington (2000).
Marketers can leverage brand name when consumers have to make choice while purchasing
a product. Brand is about making emotional connections. It is a powerful yet intangible asset.
People trust brands, develop strong loyalties, buy them and believe in their supremacy.”
Brand recall refers to the ability of a consumer to retrieve the brand from the memory (Keller
1993). The success of brands depends on the degree of their significance to consumers and
how they use them. They provide consumers with a level of quality and a name that can be
trusted. Since brands provide additional value, they are priced higher.
Brand: A brand can be a sign symbol, term, name or design or a combination of them. When
firms develop good reputation and gain confidence of customers about quality, then brands
help them enjoy greater control over customer and develop brand loyalty. Brand is viewed as
the promise, the reputation and the expectations that dwell into customer’s mind about the
product and/ or the company. Branding is the process of identifying a particular product
among various products available in the market. Branding is not only done to identify a
product or seller, but also to make a product superior to the competitor’s product.
In the rapidly changing business environment of today due to globalization and cut throat
competition a company’s brand can be a feature that distinguishes it product from that of its
competitor. When a new product is introduced in the market, the manufacturer decides
whether it should be known on the behalf of generic name or brand name. Generic name
refers to collective name for a whole class of product. EG: - Soaps, jeans, tea leaves etc.
Whereas brand name refers to the specific name by which the product is to be known in the
market.
Brand Name: Brand name or a trade name is the name given by a producer or manufacturer
to his specific product or service. Mostly it is the name of founder members of the company.
The purpose of giving a brand name is identification and differentiating a company’s product
or service from other related brands, for example: Apple, Nike, BMW, Dunkin Donuts etc.
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ACTIVITY
Think of some more products and prepare the list of popular brand names by
which they are available to you in the market.
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7. Reduces the risk of wrong product choice: Customers may identify different types of
risk involved in buying and utilizing product, such as functional risk -when the
product underperforms and does not meet the expectations, physical risk- when the
product possesses threat to the bodily well-being of the users or others, financial risk-
when the product is not worth the amount spent, social risk when the product results
in social embarrassment, time risk -when the failure of the product results in an
opportunity cost of finding another product that meets the needs.
Benefits of Brand Building to the firms
1. Legal Protection: A brand name offers legal protection for the branded products. It
does so through trademarks patents and copyrights. Trademarks protect the brand
name registered; patents protect the manufacturing process of the firm. Similarly,
copyrights of unique designs protect packaging.
2. Acts as an entry barrier to other brands: A strong brand that meets customer needs
efficiently creates a barrier to the entry of other brands into the market. Branding
helps customers to take decision whether to switch to another brand or not.
3. Brands build financial value: Brands can be measured in financial terms and can be
found in the asset side of the balance sheet. Strong and successful brands can be
bought and sold by the organization. Example: WhatsApp acquisition by Facebook.
4. Branding amplify recognition: A logo is one of the significant components for the
company's brand name. Professional logo design is simple to remember and catchy
enough to give the desired recognition to the company.
5. Customer Loyalty: When customer has a positive experience with a brand, he/she is
more likely to repurchase it, than the product or service competitor is offering. There
are favourable chances that customer will buy related items of the same brand or
recommend that brand to other people in family and friends.
6. Dominance at marketplace for the product: When the product of same company
under a brand name is sold continuously in the market, there develops a dominant
position for such a product or service. The customer has not to think much before
making a choice to buy the product of that brand.
7. Easy availability of agents or middleman for distributing the branded products:
For distribution and selling of branded goods the wholesaler, retailer or agents gets
agreed easily. When a brand becomes quite popular, the manufacturer can even
distribute the product directly to consumers. It is obvious that the less the middleman
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is, the lesser is the price of the product at which it can be made available to the
customer.
Brand Awareness
Brand awareness is defined as the extent to which consumers are familiar with the qualities
and image of a particular brand of goods or services. Brand recognition is the extent to which
a consumer correctly identifies a particular product by viewing its logo, packaging, tagline or
advertising campaign. Brand recall performance is the ability of the consumers to retrieve the
brand from memory when given the product category, the needs fulfilled by the category, or a
purchase or usage situation as a cue.
Brand Equity
Brand equity refers to the value of a brand in the eyes of the customer. It is the ability of a
brand to capture the consumer’s attention while making purchase decisions. A strong brand
name works as a trustworthy signal for the quality of the product and generates price
premiums as a return to branding investments. The firms are able to charge price premiums
that derive from brand equity and product differentiation. A consumer’s knowledge about a
brand also depends on how the manufacturers and advertisers are marketing the brand. Brand
equity is created by educating the customer and formulating investment plans, thereby
admitting an increase in market share and profit margins. These strategic investments will be
realized over time to deliver a return on the initial investment.
6.3.3 Brand Strategy Decisions
Branding includes a set of intricate branding decisions- Development, Positioning, Name
selection, Sponsorship- all are important factors in any brands’ strategy. The company’s
strong branding decisions help it create its unique image in the minds of consumers and stand
out of the competition.
For example: No matter the occasion- from romantic dates to festival celebrations- Cadbury
has created a special place in the heart and palate of its consumers and with the slogan of
“KuchhMeethaHoJaaye”,and has become an integral part of every celebration.
A. BRAND POSITIONING
Brand positioning explains how a brand differs from its rivals in the market and can be
positioned at three levels i.e. on the basis of product attributes, benefits, beliefs and values. It
is the act of designing the company’s offer and image so that it occupies a distinct and valued
place in the target customer’s mind. Good brand positioning helps guide marketing strategy
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by clarifying what a brand is all about, how it is unique and how it is like competitive brands,
and why consumers should purchase and use it.
Imagine a scenario: you just got into the college of your dreams, or you just got a big
promotion at work or the person of your dreams finally agrees to marry you. The list goes on,
but the feeling remains the same. These are the “feel-good” moments of your life, moments
of pure bliss that call for a celebration. And nothing is better than the taste of sweet chocolate
to match the sweetness of life in that moment. This is when comes to mind, the purple
wrapped chocolate of Cadbury. With the words ‘KuchShubhKaamKarne Se PehleMeethaKha
Lena Chahiye’, Cadbury has been the first responder to every happy occasion.
From celebrating the taste of life through ‘Asli Swad Zindagi Ka’ to the auspicious
beginning of new things through ‘Shubh Aarambh’& ‘Kuchh Meetha Ho Jaaye’, - the brands
taglines clearly sum up the attributes that it stands for. In its decade’s long journey, Cadbury
has stood the test of time, rising to glory with an indomitable spirit of celebration, cheer and
happiness.
Recently, the brand moved from its slogan of “Free the joy” in Favour of “Taste like this
feels” to focus marketing on the founding ideologies of the brand & its creator, philanthropist
John Cadbury, by presentation moments of “kindness and generosity”.
B. BRAND NAME SELECTION
Choosing a brand name is very crucial as a good name adds to a product’s success. Finding
the best name requires a careful review of a product and its benefits, and the target market to
which it caters to. Ideally the name of a brand should possess the following qualities in order
to be favorable in the eyes of customers.
Criteria for Brand Name Selection
● Be distinctive
● Easy to pronounce
● It should be easily memorable
● Adaptable to addition to product line
● Capable of being registered and legally protected.
● Should be meaningful or suggest something about product benefit or its use.
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usually manufactured by a third party under license. This third party is called the contract
manufacturer. Example: Big Bazaar, Shoppers Stop, Lifestyle
Licensing: This type of brand sponsorship is a contractual arrangement between two or more
firms where the licensor firm contacts with licensee firm to use its brand name, symbols, logo
in exchange for a licensing fee. This type of sponsorship is common for apparels,
entertainment products, toys, school supplies and accessories. Licensing is a highly profitable
business and provides benefit to the licensor. Gucci, Tommy Hilfiger, Armani receive huge
royalties for their products from licensee. Spider man, Harry Potter, Dora, Winnie the
Pooh are the licensed character names which sellers of children products attach with lunch
boxes, water bottles, toys etc.
Co-branding: In this marketing strategy, two or more brands are used together to promote a
new product. Co-branding offers many advantages as both the brand names dominate in their
respective categories. Both the brands when combine, creates broader consumer appeal and
greater brand equity. This strategy allows company to enter into new and profitable market
segments which were earlier remained untapped. While co-branding each partner must
coordinate carefully in their advertising, promotion and other marketing efforts. Example:
BMW and Louis Vuitton. In their co-branding partnership BMW created a sports car
named BMW i8 and Louis Vuitton made a design of complete 4 piece set of suitcases and
bags that fit to perfection into this sports car rear parcel shelf.
D. BRAND DEVELOPMENT
It is the strategic method for creating and distinguishing a company's image, goods, and
services from those of its rivals. It is an ongoing process that builds and strengthens a brand
so that it can remain relevant, serve a purpose, and grow in the market.
The brand development matrix is as below-
1. Line Extension- Existing Brand Name, Existing Product Category: When a company
extends an existing brand name to new form, flavor, size, colour or ingredient to existing
product category it is called Line extension. For Example: 5 Star- Launched in India in
1969 as a “caramel and nougat mix covered with smooth milk chocolate” in a golden
wrapper decorated with stars, the product has seen many line extensions throughout its
life cycle. Price Options- Rs.5 (11.1 gm), Rs.10 (19.5 gm), Rs.20 (40 gm) Flavours-
Normal, Fruit & Nut, Crunchy and Chomp, 5 Star 3D, 5 Star 3D OREO
2. Brand Extension- Existing Brand Name, New Product Category: It involves
extending an existing brand name to a new or modified product category. This gives the
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new product instant recognition and faster acceptance and can save substantial advertising
costs for establishing a new brand. For example:
Dairy Milk Ice Cream- With another marketing masterstroke, Cadbury successfully rode
into the Ice-Cream category with the help of pre-built reputation of its chocolate brand
Dairy Milk. Dairy Milk, being a household name in chocolates helped successfully launch
the ice-cream segment of the brand and ensured acceptance in the market without putting
in much marketing effort or costs.
Dairy Milk Candies “Marvellous Creations”-Yet another example of successful brand
extension of Dairy Milk is into the candies segment through “Marvellous Creations”
Candies.
3. Multi Brands-New Brand Name, Existing Product Category: This includes marketing
of various different brands in a given product category to cater different segments as per
specific needs. Cadbury offer multiple chocolate brands within the chocolate segment.
The brand sells numerous types of chocolates with unique tastes, textures and features to
cater to different segment of customers in the market.
For Example:
● Dairy Milk for Milk chocolate lovers.
● 5 Star for those who prefer sweet nougat flavor.
● Perk for those who like crispy wafer chocolates.
● Silk for Teenagers &Millennials with changing tastes.
● Bournville for those who prefer dark chocolate.
● Temptations for premium quality customers.
4. New Brands- New Brand Name, New Product Category: A company creates a new
brand name for entering a new product category if the power of existing brand names has
diminished or if current brand name is not suitable for the new product category. For
Example:
Tang- It is surprising to hear that Tang, a drink-mix, is manufactured by a company of
chocolates. Chocolates and fruity drink-mixes have nothing in common, yet they are
offered by (Mondelēz International a.k.a. Kraft Foods), parent company of Cadbury. The
firm used a new brand name Tang to enter a completely new product category, since no
existing brand name was suitable for this diversification. Today, Tang is sold in more
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than 30 countries around the world and is the leading brand in Cadbury’s powdered
beverage portfolio.
Halls- a chocolate manufacturing brand also sells cough-drops. Halls is the leading sugar
confectionary brand in the whole world and accounts for more than 50% of cough-drop
sales worldwide. The same product is used as a cold relief product in the northern
hemisphere and in drier countries; it is even used as a refreshing candy.
IN-TEXT QUESTIONS
A company when uses successful brand name to launch a new or modified
product in a new product category, the strategy is called as ________.
________ assures repeat purchase of same company product and help to
overcome competition from other firms.
Nowadays retailers and wholesalers are creating their own private brand
called ________.
Two established brand names of different companies when join hands to
promote a new product , it is termed as________.
_________ refers to the value of a brand in the eyes of the customer.
Brand name is termed as good when it is easy to pronounce. T/F
Nyka is a clothing brand name. T/F
Branding enhances the financial value of the firm. T/F
6.4 PACKAGING
Packaging entails the functions that ensure the safety and integrity and facilitate the
transportation process. Packaging is a subset of marketing where a brand designs and
develops the wrapper or container to aid its transport, handling, delivery, and communicate
the brand and product information by making it look attractive. However, the function of
packaging has evolved with the times. It no longer serves the simple utilitarian function of
protection but rather it serves as a blank canvas for the company’s marketing team.
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always true. Government has imposed many restrictions on firms to deal which such
situations.
CASE STUDY
The Problematic Purple
The colour Pantone 2685C might seem like any other colour out of the infinite spectrum
of colours, but it has its own history and relation with Cadbury. Pantone 2685Cis the iconic
shade of purple that Cadbury has been using for decades for packaging its products. Since 1905,
the renowned company has wrapped their well adored chocolates in this purple colour and has
also fought valiantly to preserve the rights to use the same. In 1995, Cadbury submitted an
application to obtain legal ownership of the Pantone 2685C colour mark. However, only
chocolates in bar or tablet form were covered by Cadbury'soriginal application of 1995. In 2004,
Cadbury submitted a new application in order to broaden the scope of its colour mark protection
beyond just chocolates to include cakes and drinking chocolates. The application was opposed
by Nestle, another well-known confectionary juggernaut, on the grounds that the colour mark
(for Purple) is not unique and is too general for a variety of products. After years of legal battles,
in 2019 Cadburylost an appeal that would have safeguarded a trademark it had acquired in 1995,
making it more difficult to stop competitors from using a similar colour. However, in July 2022,
Cadbury was again allowed to register the iconic purple colour trade mark after a UK High
Court ruling, allowing brands to register a colour.
Key Take away from the case
Cadbury’s decades long legal struggleemphasis just how crucial it is to ensure the protectionof a
brand’s identity, and how trademarks and brand names must be accurately specified, especially
for distinctive marks like sound, colour etc. A layperson can readily associate some colours with
a particular thing, like red with danger, green with nature, blue with water or the sky and hence
these may not be distinguishable. However, in this instance of Cadbury, the referred-to shade of
purple has nothing to do with chocolates and just goes on to show that in business, competitors
will stop at nothing just to make things even a little harder for you.
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IN-TEXT QUESTIONS
9. Packaging must be designed in such a way that it is convenient to handle the
product for middlemen and final consumers. T/F
10. Packaging always increases the cost of the product. T/F
11. ________packaging is used for shipping and bulk handling.
12. Packaging should be requiring________shelf space.
6.5 LABELLING
6.5.1 Meaning
We have understood packaging in the previous section. Nowadays, there is a need to give
constant attention to government regulations while managing the function of packaging.
Government has laid down various regulations relating to use of packaging materials while
transportation of hazardous cargo and for consumer protection. The most prevalent regulation
is related to the information producer or manufacturer of good is compelled to provide on
packaging is labelling, most importantly on eatables, pharmaceuticals, cosmetic products etc.
Labelling means printed or graphic matter on the package of container or on the container. A
good label is the one which fulfils all legal requirements as well as act as an important sales
instrument. Label is regarded as a source of information for the buyer, who reads the label
and makes a purchase decision on the basis of correct and relevant information. A label
therefore provides the following information:
1. Net weight, when packed
2. Manufacture’s name
3. Manufacturing date
4. Expiry date
5. Maximum retail price
6. Directions for use
7. Directions for storage
8. Ingredients used
9. Cautions against misuse, if any
10. Brand name
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IN-TEXT QUESTIONS
13. _________ is useful in providing detailed information about the product.
14. Label which only denotes the brand name of a product is called________.
15. Labelling protects consumers from deception. T/F
16. Package of Lassi having description of quantity, ingredients, weight, nutritional
value, price is an example of ________ label.
6.6 SUMMARY
In this lesson we have discussed the process by which a product or service is turned into a
brand, a name which is easily memorable and suggest something about product benefit or its
use. Branding includes a set of intricate branding decisions: development, positioning, name
selection and sponsorship. These four factors are important in any brand building strategy.
The company’s strong branding decisions help to create its unique image in the minds of
consumers and stand out of the competition. Further, we learnt that packaging is regarded as
a subset of marketing. It no longer serves the simple utilitarian function of protection but
rather it serves as a blank canvas for the company’s marketing team. The criticism through
which packaging goes through is also viewed along with how this problem can be tackled.
We have also learned various regulations that govern packaging and labelling industry along
with their functions and types.
6.7 GLOSSARY
Brand: A brand can be a sign symbol, term, name or design or a combination of them.
Brand Name: Brand name or a trade name is the name given by a producer or manufacturer
to his specific product or service.
Brand Awareness: Brand awareness is defined as the extent to which consumers are familiar
with the qualities and image of a particular brand of goods or services.
Brand Equity: Brand equity refers to the value of a brand in the eyes of the customer. It is
the ability of a brand to capture the consumer’s attention while making purchase decisions.
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Brand Positioning: It is the act of designing the company’s offer and image so that it
occupies a distinct and valued place in the target customer’s mind.
Labelling: The printed information that appear on the package or on the container of a
product.
Packaging: The activities involved in designing and producing the wrapper or container for a
product.
1. Companies mostly stick to one logo, but Google Doodles are changed as per the
occasion. Do you consider it a powerful branding tool?
2. What is branding? Explain the benefits of branding a product.
3. Discuss the brand development strategies marketers use to develop brands. Provide an
example of each strategy.
4. List the names of store brands found in following stores
a) Pantaloons b) Metro c) Shoppers Stop d) Croma
b) “Packaging is a silent salesman”. What is your opinion about this statement? Give
the advantages of packaging.
5. What are the various functions performed by packaging?
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6.10 REFERENCES
● Kotler, P., Armstrong, G., Agnihotri, P. (2018). Principles of Marketing. pp. 241-249
● Keller, K., Parameswaran, A.M.G., Jacob, Isaac. (2018). Building, Measuring and
Managing Brand Equity
● https://www.cadbury.co.uk/
● https://www.mondelezinternational.com/
● https://www.facebook.com/cadburydairymilkindia
● https://www.cityam.com/cadburys-allowed-to-register-iconic-purple-colour-trade-
mark-in-high-court-ruling/
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LESSON - 7
DEVELOPING PRICING STRATEGIES: SETTING PRICE,
FACTORS INFLUENCING PRICE DETERMINATION
STRUCTURE
The lesson's goals will aid in your comprehension of the following. How a consumers assess
prices? How should businesses decide how much to charge for goods or services? How do
corporations modify themits prices to take advantage of emerging possibilities and changing
conditions? When and how should a business begin changing prices?
7.2 INTRODUCTION
Price is one of the components of 4P’s. If we talk about price it is not simply a number that is
represented on a tag rather it comprises many functions. For instance if we talk about college
fees, bus fares, metro fares, tuition fees, salaries, commissions etc. All the above mentioned
points are said to be an exchange of two things i.e., to purchase a product or to avail any
service you need to pay for its price. Another example, If are purchasing a new car, the ex-
showroom price and the on-road price would be adjusted by various benefits that the
company would like to provide to consumers such as Welcome Kit, Insurance, Other
Benefits, Additional Insurance, Benefits for taking Loans for purchase of your vehicle. In
return they would give you some sought of benefits or goodies to engage and delight
consumers.
If we talk about price throughout the period from traditional to modern marketing, price is
said to be negotiation and deal between the buyer and the seller. In the changing times
nowadays no uniform or same price can be given to all the consumers due to change in
lifestyle and mindset of consumers. Price is considered one of the key aspects for consumers
decision making. Price is equally important if we talk about production, and exchange, for
consumption or even for distribution. Earlier consumers preferred brick and mortar models.
They were not so much concerned about comparing products before purchasing but now with
the use of the internet and newer technologies consumers can compare the same products
over different platforms before its actual purchase.
7.2.1 Pricing in a Digital Era
first century, consumers have all the access to credit nowadays. Consumers and all other
purchasing agents who have all the information which help them to create some sought of
pressure to retailers so as to lower down their prices. In the same manner retails goes further
down the channel to manufacturers to lower their prices so as to compete in this market. This
leads to heavy discounts and other promotions at the marketplace. Nowadays Internet provide
a great access to consumers and the sellers to interact. It can provide various benefits to
buyers and sellers.
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Benefits to Buyers
● Instant price comparisons from thousands of vendors
● Check prices at the point of purchase
● Get Free Products
Benefits to Sellers
● Understand the consumer behavior and provide tailored made offers to them
● Discounted Price to special consumers
● Free Goodies on purchase of certain specified amount
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MARKETING MANAGEMENT
family, etc) prior to purchase of any product or availing services. If we talk about purchase
decision of consumers it is based on the prices which are perceived by consumers and not the
stated market price. The following example talks about the psychology of consumers for a
same product i.e., black T-shirt.
Example
A Black T-Shirt for women looks ordinary. In fact, it’s not that different from the black T-Shirt
sold by Gap and by Swedish discount clothing chain H&M. Yet, the Armani T-Shirt costs $275
whereas the Gap item costs $14.90 and the H&M one $7.90. Customers who purchase the Armani
T-shirt are paying for a T-shirt made of 70 percent nylon, 25 percent polyester, and 5 percent
elastane, whereas the Gap and H&M shirts are made mainly of cotton. True, the Armani T is a bit
more stylishly cut than the other two and sports a “Made in Italy” label, but how does it command
a $275 price tag? A luxury brand, Armani is primarily known for suits, handbags, and evening
gowns that sell for thousands of dollars. In that context, it can sell its T-shirt for more. But
because there aren’t many takers for $275. T-shirts, Armani doesn’t make many, thus further
enhancing the appeal for status seekers who like the idea of having a “limited edition” T-shirt.
“Value is not only quality, function, utility, channel of distribution,” says Arnold Aronson,
managing director of retail strategies for Kurt Salmon Associates and former CEO of Saks Fifth
Avenue; it’s also a customer’s perception of a brand’s luxury connotations.
Figure 2: The perceived Value of a product as simple as a black T-shirt depends in part on
where it is sold
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Fair Price
Typical Price
Lower Bound Price (That is the minimum price which a consumer is willing to pay)
Upper Bound Price (That is maximum price which a consumer is willing to pay)
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Also, if we talk about perception about cars there is a very important relationship of price and
quality in it. The cars which are costly are considered superior and elite class cars. For
examples we always consider BMW, Audi, Ferrari etc. elite and premium cars in the segment
and are generally priced higher than their actual price. If the information about the product is
available the role price is significantly reduced compared to when information is not
available the price act as a benchmark for quality for the product.
Brands often look forward to adopt exclusivity for their product and also lays emphasis to its
uniqueness so as they are able to justify why they are charging exclusive price for the
product. Companies look forward if the consumer is willing to go forward for exclusive and
unique products they certainly charge higher price for the same because few consumers are
able to afford the product.
7.3.4 Psychological Pricing
Sellers in price ending plays with the psychology of the consumers by displaying the price
which ends in odd number. If a consumer is willing to see a price of product is Rs 399, they
would consider the price close to Rs 300 rather than Rs 400 range. The consumers also tend
to process information related to price from ‘left-to-right’ instead of rounding it off to nearest
number. For example, in India Bata is considered as a great example who had played with
price ending by displaying all their products ending with’9’ such as Rs199, Rs299, Rs499,
Rs999 and so on. So the influence of 9 is more in the mind of the consumers rather than ‘0’
or ‘5’.
Figure 3: Bata offering its products on price endings (Source: Bata website)
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ACTIVITY
You are a marketing manager at a company of your choice. You have to
launch a new product in the industry of your selected company. What all
aspect you would consider before pricing the product. Discuss in group of 2-3
students and make a short note for the same.
Firm usually set prices for the product when it developing a new product in the market. For
the new product they need to take into consideration all the factors such as geographical
areas, distribution channels, marketing strategies for the product. The company also
emphasize and segregate the position of the product depending upon its prices and the quality
of the product.
Example
Majorly markets have 3-5 price points. Marriott Hotels had different brands or variations of
brands for different price points:
Highest Price for Marriott Vacation Club
High Price for Marriott Marquis
High- Medium Price for Marriott
Medium – High Price for Renaissance
Medium Price for Courtyard
Medium – Low Price for Towne Place Suites
Low Price for Fairfield Inn
Firms devise their branding strategies to help convey the price-quality tiers of their
products or services to consumers.
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The firm must take into consideration various factors that are important before we set the
price for the product. There are six steps that are considered important for setting the price
which are as follows: -
Survival
Fiv
e Maximum Market
Maj Share
or Maximum Current
Obj Profit
ecti Product Quality
ves Leadership
Maximum Market
Skimming
7.4.2 DETERMING DEMAND
Companies marketing objective is been impacted with different products as every product
have their own demand and its own price. There is an inverse relationship between price of
the product and demand of the product which is shown below in the diagram.
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● Target Return Pricing: In this company determine the price of the product based on
the rate of return they are expecting on the investment.
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● Perceived Value Pricing: Companies set the price of the product based on the value
that the product has in the mind of the consumers which is built on the basis of past
buying pattern, past product performance, the customer support service, after sale
service and trustworthiness of the product. It is a bundle of value that the consumer
hold in its mind by actual purchase of product in the past or the image they develop
watching an advertisement. Example: A Croma Product
● Value Pricing: In this Company at first go prefer to win the loyalty of the consumers
by changing floor price or lower prices for high quality products and continue to
maintain the same over the time frame so that they tend to engage consumers and
have faith in company products and brand image. Many companies now a days prefer
everyday low pricing where consumer research in designing its new products and
markets aggressively to spread the word. The company spent over $1.2 billion on
research and development after the Fusion’ they tend to provide lower prices for the
selected products on selected days. Example: Big Billion Day Sale, Monday Blues
Sale, Weekend Dhamaka Offers etc.
Example: Gillette
In 2006, Gillette launched the “best shave on the planet” with the six-bladed Fusion –
five blades in the front for regular shaving and one in the back for trimming – in both
power and non-power versions. Gillette conducts exhaustive consumer research in
designing its new products and markets aggressively to spread the word. The company
spent over $1.2 billion on research and development after the Fusion’s predecessor, the
Mach3 was introduced. About 9,000 men tested potential new products and preferred
the new Fusion over the Mach3 bya two-to-one margin. To back the introduction,
Procter & Gamble spent $200 million in the United States and over $ 1 billion
worldwide. The payoff? Gillette enjoys enormous market leadership in the razor and
blade categories, with 70 percent of the global market, and sizable price premiums.
Refills for the Fusion Power cost $14 for a four pack, compared to $5.29 for a five-
pack of Sensor Excel. All this adds up to significant, sustained profitability for
corporate owner P&G.
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● Going-Rate Pricing: In this company set prices on the basis of how competitors
perform. In this it is basically we will follow the leaders whatever prices is been set
by them will follow that.
● Auction-Type Pricing: In this the consumer generally bid the price for the product if
it matches with the sellers price the product is sold. It usually applicable in electronic
products.
7.4.6 Selecting a Final Price
While selecting the final price the company must take in consideration all the factors and
additional factors such as impact of other activities which are related to marketing, other
company policy of pricing, various impact of prices on other parties.
IN-TEXT QUESTIONS
How many steps are involved in setting a price ____________________.
Mention the steps involved in setting a price in the sequence
____________________.
Does Estimating Cost come prior to Estimate Demand (True/ False)
Pricing decision factors can be grouped into two categories namely (i) Internal Factors and
(ii) External Factors
INTERNAL FACTORS
Marketing Objectives Market positioning and a number of other pricing
goals influence price strategy. Surviving,
Increasing current profits, Market share leadership,
low cost leadership, and product quality leadership
Marketing Mix Strategies Pricing to be coordinated well with elements of
marketing mix
Target costing on the basis of price support product
positioning strategies..
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External Factors
Nature of Market and Demand • Market types include pure competition,
oligopolistic competition, monopolistic
competition, and pure monopoly.
• Recognizing how customers view value and
price.
Demand curve for prices and quantities.
Competitors' Costs, prices and ● Always examine the costs, prices, and potential
offers reactions of your competitors.
● The type of competitions has an impact on
pricing strategy.
● Low-price, low-margin business practises
discourage rivalry.
● High-price, high-margin business models draw
rivalry.
● Compare marketing expenses to those of the
competition.
Other Environmental Factors ● Economic factors influence production costs,
customer perceptions of price and value, and
production costs.
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IN-TEXT QUESTIONS
How many types of Factors are considered for pricing decisions ………
Does organization consideration part of External Factor (True / False)
Competitors Cost and price are part of Internal Factor (True/ False)
There are various types of pricing strategies which the companies adopt while introducing
their new product in the market or changing pricing strategy of the existing product in the
market. The various types of pricing strategies are as follows:-
1. Penetration Pricing
2. Economy Pricing
3. Premium Pricing
4. Price Skimming or Skimming the Milk Strategy
5. Psychological Pricing
6. Bundle Pricing
7. Geographical Pricing
8. Promotional Pricing
9. Value Pricing
10. Captive Pricing
11. Dynamic Pricing
12. Competitive Pricing
13. Cost-plus Pricing
14. Freemium Pricing
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7.7 SUMMARY
it will sell at each potential price. Then it continues by calculating how its expenses
change with output levels, levels of experience gained in production, and with
differentiated marketing offerings. The costs, pricing, and offers of competitors should
then be compared. We choose a pricing strategy moving forward based on all the
aforementioned phases, and that method chooses the final price.
3. In most cases, businesses establish a pricing structure rather than a single price to
account for changes in geographic demand and costs, market-segment requirements,
purchase timing, order amounts, and other considerations. There are several price-
adaptation tactics available: Geographic pricing is one factor, followed by price
reductions and allowances, promotions, and discriminatory pricing.
4. Businesses frequently need to adjust their prices. A price reduction may result from an
increase in production capacity, a loss of market share, a desire to control prices in
order to dominate the market, or a downturn in the economy. Overdemand or cost
inflation could both contribute to price increases. When raising pricing, businesses
must carefully control customer perceptions.
5. Businesses must anticipate price adjustments from rivals and set up backup plans.
There are several possible answers in terms of maintaining or modifying price or
quality.
6. The company facing a competitor's pricing change must make an effort to comprehend
the competitor's motivations and the anticipated timeframe for the change. The
production of homogenous or nonhomogeneous products by a company has a
significant impact on strategy. A market leader under pressure from lower-priced rivals
may try to better distinguish itself, launch its own low-cost rival, or alter itself more
thoroughly.
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CASE STUDY
Southwest Airlines
Southwest Airlines entered the airline industry in 1971 with little money but lots
of personality. Marketing itself as the LUV airline, the company featured a bright red
heart as its first logo and relied on outrageous antics to generate word of mouth and new
business. Flight attendants in red-orange hot pants served Love Bites (peanuts) and
Love Potions (drinks).
As Southwest grew, its advertising showcased its focus on low fares, frequent flights,
on-time arrivals, top safety record, and how bags fly free. Throughout all its
communication efforts, Southwest uses humor to poke fun at itself and convey its warm,
friendly personality. One TV spot showed a small bag of peanuts with the words, “This
is what our meals look like at Southwest Airlines. . . . It’s also what our fares look like.”
Its ongoing “Wanna Get Away?” campaign uses embarrassing situations to hit a funny
bone with consumers. And its tagline: “Ding! You are now free to move around the
country” is a self-parody of its in-flight announcements. This light-hearted attitude
carries over to the entertaining on-board announcements, crews that burst into song in
the terminal, and several personalized aircrafts, including three painted as flying killer
whales, “Lone Star One” painted like the Texas flag, and “Slam Dunk One,”
symbolizing the airline’s partner- ship with the NBA.
Southwest’s business model is based on streamlining its operations, which results in low
fares and satisfied consumers. The airline takes several steps to save money and passes
the savings to customers through low fares. It flies over 3,100 short, “point-to-point”
trips in a day—shuttling more passengers per plane than any other airline. Each aircraft
makes an average of 6.25 flights a day, or almost 12 hours each day. Southwest can
accomplish such a feat because it avoids the traditional hub-and-spoke system and has
extremely fast turnaround service. In its early years, it turned planes around in less than
10 minutes. Today, its turnaround averages 20 to 30 minutes—still the best in the
industry and half the industry average. Southwest’s unique boarding process helps.
Instead of assigned seating, passengers are assigned to one of three groups (A, B, C) and
a number when they check in. The number refers to where they stand in line at the gate.
Group A boards first, and once on board, passengers may sit anywhere they like.
Southwest grows by entering new markets other air- lines overprice and underserve. The
company believes it can bring fares down by one-third to one-half whenever it enters a
new market, and it expands every market it serves by making flying affordable to people
who could not afford it before. Southwest currently serves 68 cities in 35 states, usually
secondary cities with smaller airports that have lower gate fees and less congestion—
another
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e that leads to faster turnaround and lower fares.
© Department of Distance & Continuing Education, Campus of Open Learning,
School of Open Learning, University of Delhi
MARKETING MANAGEMENT
CASE STUDY
Southwest Airlines - Continued
Southwest currently serves 68 cities in 35 states, usually secondary cities with smaller
airports that have lower gate fees and less congestion—another factor that leads to faster
turnaround and lower fares.
Another unique cost savings strategy is Southwest’s decision to operate Boeing 737s for
all its flights. This simplifies the training process for pilots, flight attendants, and
mechanics, and management can substitute aircraft, reschedule flight crews, or transfer
mechanics quickly.
Jet fuel is an airline’s biggest expense. According to the industry’s trade group, Air
Transport Association, jet fuel now accounts for 40 percent of an airplane ticket versus
15 percent just eight years ago. Southwest’s biggest cost savings technique and
competitive advan- tage has long been its program to hedge fuel prices by purchasing
options years in advance. Many of its long- term contracts allow the airline to purchase
fuel at $51 per barrel, a significant savings especially during the oil shocks of the 2000s
that drove oil past $100 per barrel. Analysts estimate that Southwest has saved more
than $2 billion with fuel hedging. Because lighter planes use less fuel, Southwest makes
its planes lighter by, for instance, power-washing their jet engines to remove dirt each
night. It carries less water for bathrooms and has replaced its seats with lighter models.
Southwest consumes approximately 1.5 billion gallons of jet fuel each year so every
minor change adds up. The airline estimates that these changes saved $1.6 million in
fuel costs over just three months.
Southwest has pioneered services and programs such as same-day freight service, senior
discounts, Fun Fares, and Ticketless Travel. It was the first airline with a Web site, the
first to deliver live updates on ticket deals, and the first to post a blog. Despite its
reputation for low fares and no-frills service, Southwest wins the hearts of customers. It
consistently ranks at the top of lists customer service for airlines and receives the lowest
ratio of complaints per passenger.
Southwest has been ranked by Fortune magazine as the United States’ most admired
airline since 1997, the fifth-most admired corporation in 2007, and one of the top five
best places to work. Its financial results also shine: the company has been profitable for
37 straight years. It has been the only airline to report profits every quarter since
September 11, 2001, and one of the few with no layoffs amid a travel slump created by
the slow economy and the threat of terrorism.
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CASE STUDY
Southwest Airlines - Continued
Although the hot pants are long gone, the LUVing spirit remains at the heart of
Southwest. The company’s stock symbol on the NYSE is LUV, and red hearts can be
found across the company. These symbols embody the Southwest spirit of employees
“caring about themselves, each other, and Southwest’s customers.” “Our fares can be
matched; our airplanes and routes can be copied. But we pride ourselves on our
customer service,” said Sherry Phelps, director of corporate employment. That’s why
Southwest looks for and hires people who generate enthusiasm. In fact, having a sense
of humor is a selection criterion it uses for hiring. As one employee explained, “We can
train you to do any job, but we can’t give you the right spirit.” And the feeling is
reciprocated. When Southwest needed to close reservation centres in three cities in
2004, it didn’t fire a single employee but rather paid for relocation and commuting
expenses.
Questions
1. Southwest has mastered the low-price model and has the financial results to prove it.
Why don’t the other airlines copy Southwest’s model?
2. What risks does Southwest face? Can it continue to thrive as a low-cost airline when
tough economic times hit?
Sources: Barney Gimbel, “Southwest’s New Flight Plan,” Fortune, May 16, 2005, pp. 93–
98; Melanie Trottman, “Destination: Philadelphia,” Wall Street Journal, May 4, 2004; Andy
Serwer, “Southwest Airlines: The Hottest Thing in the Sky,” Fortune, March 8,
7. How do companies understand the psychology of consumer before pricing its product
in the market. Explain with examples.
8. What are various factors affecting pricing decisions?
9. Explain the steps of setting up pricing
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7.9 GLOSSARY
7.10 REFERENCES
Kotler, Philip, Keller, Kevin Lane. (2016). Marketing management 15th ed. (15th). Harlow
Jobber, D., 2010. Principles and practice of marketing. 6th ed. Maidenhead: McGraw-Hill.
Kotler, P., Armstrong, G., Agnihotri, P. Y., Haq, ul Ehsan: Principles of Marketing: A South
Asian Perspective, Pearson.
Kotler, Philip, Keller, Kevin Lane. (2016). Marketing management 15th ed. (15th). Harlow
Jobber, D., 2010. Principles and practice of marketing. 6th ed. Maidenhead: McGraw-Hill.
Kotler, P., Armstrong, G., Agnihotri, P. Y., Haq, ul Ehsan: Principles of Marketing: A South
Asian Perspective, Pearson.
Ramaswamy, V.S. & Namakumari, S.: Marketing Management: Global Perspective-Indian
Context, Macmillan Publishers India Limited.
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LESSON-8
CHANNELS OF DISTRIBUTION
STRUCTURE
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8.2 INTRODUCTION
The process of moving products from the producer to the final consumer is known as
distribution in marketing. Distribution takes place through channels, which are agents that
enable and promote consumer purchasing and whose quantity and nature are decided by the
producers. In order to assemble items, staff, advertising messages, and downstream selling
partners that, when combined, enhance competitive advantage, producers must first choose
and then manage a channel or array of channels. Producers may alter their distribution
methods in reaction to modifications in the market, technological advancements, or other
circumstances, but unwise or poorly executed channel changes usually lead to the loss of
reseller support, disappointing sales, and decreased earnings.
How to go to market, or how to create a distribution system, is a crucial strategic marketing
choice for many businesses, with each strategy offering a different set of advantages and
disadvantages. A multistage distribution process in which a manufacturer sells to a reseller (a
wholesaler, who may subsequently sell to retailers), who then sells to consumers, is
frequently the only viable choice. In the business-to-business market, the producer frequently
sells to the final user through wholesale distribution or, in some cases, through a distributor to
a dealer or supply house who then provides the final user with the product. Simple economic
models of company behavior sometimes neglect the existence of this multistage process, but
economists and marketers are increasingly examining the degree to which producer/reseller
connections and incentives impact how goods and services reach customers and at what price.
A producer must weigh three key factors before deciding on a distribution strategy: control,
effectiveness, and efficiency. Where efficiency is the capacity to provide products and
services to customers and merchants at the lowest possible cost and effectiveness is the
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maximum market coverage and control is the ability to fix the timing and focus of
distribution efforts.
One of a marketing manager's biggest challenges is designing and implementing distribution
channels. All facets of the company's operations, from segmentation and targeting high-
priority clients to defining revenue streams and profitability, could be significantly impacted
by how the company chooses to enter the market. Channel decisions may require more time
to implement than other marketing-mix considerations.
A group of interconnected businesses that work together to make a good or service accessible
for end-user consumption is referred to as a channel of distribution. Important is the
interdependent component. To meet the needs of the end-user customer, channel members
must understand that they cannot act alone and must collaborate. If one member views
another as a dependent, an opportunistic and harmful self-interest is likely to emerge, and
power and conflict may govern the relationship. Conflict tends to be contained if participants
perceive themselves as interdependent, even though it is inevitable in all channel connections.
8.3.1 Designing Distribution channel
The successful introduction of new products is essential for many Organizations to keep their
market dominance. Sadly, empirical facts show that between one-third and fifty percent of all
new goods fall short of a company's financial and marketing objectives. These failures have
been attributed to a number of reasons, including an inadequate focus on the
commercialization process, a lack of management backing, and subpar marketing planning
and execution. In this part, we systematically evaluate, plan, and execute the distribution
channel design.
The main query is to the channel structure; specifically, which intermediary, or intermediary
group, is most suitable to promote the new product? A related but equally crucial issue is how
the intermediary network should be run once it is operational.
Designing a distribution channel refers to the choices made when creating new marketing
channels or altering those that already exist (Rolnicki, 2018).
The distribution channel design decision can be broken down into six steps namely:
1. Identifying the need for channel design decision
2. Setting and organizing distribution objectives
3. Specifying the distribution responsibilities
4. Developing alternate channel structures
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result, Apple revived and re-established its connections with major retail chains,
which it had neglected in recent years.
Similar to this, Coca-Cola wants to increase its market share in schools and colleges.
As a result, it has contacted numerous educational institutions in order to have them
offer only Coca-Cola products on their campuses.
iii. Verify that the distribution goals are in line with the company's marketing, overall
goals, and other strategies. This entails confirming that the distribution goals do not
clash with those of the other marketing mix components or even with the business's
overall goals. Examining the interrelationships and hierarchy of the firm's goals is
crucial for cross-checking. Figure 1.1 gives a clear picture of the same.
Firm’s overall
objectives and
Strategies
General Marketing
Objectives &
Strategies
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A company like Rolex may use a high level of selectivity, whereas a company like Parle
Products may use an intense distribution channel strategy. The third component, or categories
of intermediates, must be handled carefully. Businesses shouldn't disregard the new kinds of
intermediaries that have developed recently.
ACTIVITY
(A) Would you use exclusive, selecting or intensive distribution for the following
products?
1. Kia India Private Limited (Automobile Company)
2. ITC Kitchens of India
3. LG Electronics
capabilities. Larger companies with strong financial foundations are better able to
endure the high expense of these facilities. When a company lacks good managerial
abilities, a thorough channel structure ranging from wholesalers to brokers is required
to carry out the distribution activity. As the company gets expertise, the number of
intermediaries can be changed or decreased.
The use of intermediaries may be constrained by the goals and plans an organisation
has. These tactics may place a focus on aggressive promotion and even change the
duties involved in distribution. This is one of the main factors considered while
appraising something.
iv. Intermediary Variables: The crucial intermediary variables are services provided,
price, and availability. One of the important factors is availability because it affects
the channel shape.
If we look at the example of Dell Computers, it created a direct mail order channel in
the absence of a proper channel structure, which also offered a solid technical backup.
Another factor a channel manager takes into account is the price. The manager may
think about decreasing the use of intermediaries if the cost of utilising a particular
intermediary is too high relative to the services it provides. Another crucial element is
the services provided by the intermediaries; a reputable intermediary will provide
effective services at a reasonable price.
v. Environmental Variables: The various facets of channel development and
management may be impacted by uncontrollable or large-scale environmental
phenomena. In this context, "environment" refers to the setting in which a company,
its consumers, and its distribution channels operate. Environmental variables like
socio-cultural, technological, and legal have a big impact on the channel structure.
The other factors can be changed or improved upon by the organisation, but the
environmental forces are those that the organisation must contend with.
4. Choose the best channel structure
The management should select the best channel structure available in order to achieve the
necessary degree of effectiveness at the lowest cost. Although there isn't a single right way
to choose an ideal channel structure, it all comes down to the firm's orientation. The
channel structure would be appropriate if the company's objective were profit
maximization. However, the majority of channel decisions are still made using
administrative discretion and the information at hand.
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The channel structure should always be kept short as this will always be superior. Food
items and flowers are regarded as being extremely perishable. Highly perishable products
should have a channel structure that allows for quick distribution from producers to
consumers. One crucial factor to keep in mind is that the longer the channels, the lower the
unit value of the product, the less room there is for distribution costs.
Figure 1.2 explains the relationship between the channel length and degree of
standardization. The degree of personalization is greater if the product flows directly from
the maker or producer to the user, but as the product becomes more standardized, it passes
through more channels. While many consumer markets are primarily standardized, B2B
machinery has a high degree of customization as it moves from the maker to the industrial
user.
Because of their technical know-how and support, industrial items are typically distributed
through direct channels, but many technical consumer products do use shorter channel
structures. A shorter channel is suggested to raise awareness when the product is new and
in the introduction stage in order to take advantage of the aggressive promotion.
IN-TEXT QUESTIONS-PART A
What do you understand by the channel of distribution.
State whether the following statements are True or False.
Buying and Selling are the only activities that are carried on by a distribution channel.
Risk bearing is one of the functions of a distribution channel.
Transportation is the primary function of a distribution channel.
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CASE STUDY
Lids Off Jar Opener: Major ADL Distribution Channel, Vast Cross-Media
Marketing Campaign
In the past, opening vacuum-sealed food jars has proven to be a difficult process for
people of all ages and abilities. In today's supermarkets, a wide range of prepared meals
and condiments are packaged in jars, including pickles, mayonnaise, and sauces of
many kinds. It was determined that there was a chance to create an automated jar opener
device that would fill this clear market need and greatly improve the quality of life for
those with functional limits or disabilities.
Black & Decker, a significant consumer appliance maker, was approached and
persuaded to enter this undeveloped market. Throughout the whole product
development process, direct consumer engagement was used, and the end product,
dubbed Lids Off, was produced with an initial manufacturing production run of 500k
units. As a preliminary "testing of the waters" on consumer buy intent and price point,
distribution would first be accomplished through an Internet product launch. Consumer
testing had revealed a consumer price point of $39.39, but for the introduction of its
Internet product, a starting retail price of $49.99 was chosen. Additional distribution
channels would be through big-box stores (Wal-Mart, Target, and others) that already
offer modest home kitchen equipment after a successful internet launch.
At a press and marketing gathering called Christmas in June in New York City, The
Lids off Jar Opener made its official debut. With adverts in numerous newspapers and
family-friendly periodicals, a comprehensive publicity campaign was launched.
Online sales were modest. After about a month, it was decided to boost the product's
advertising budget while lowering the retail price to $39.99. The item was delivered to
big-box stores, who featured it in weekly sales ads that were published across the
country in newspapers and on the Internet. Sales of the new jar opener soared thanks to
an expanded advertising campaign and the product's accessibility through common
distribution channels. Sales were so strong that the company's initial product run was
sold out in November and that it was forced to pull its December holiday advertising for
the appliance because it was out of stock. Sales of Lids off Jar Openers continued to
grow quickly after inventories were restocked the following February, with more than 1
million units sold in the first year.
One important finding from consumer focus groups was that the intended user of the
appliance would not necessarily be the one who bought it. Although older folks were
prepared to spend money on buying the equipment, they clearly wanted and required it.
They were more than happy to accept it as a present, though.
(Source: www.resna.org)
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Channel conflict is defined as any argument, disagreement, or strife between two or more
channel partners if one partner's actions or operations have an impact on the other's
operations, sales, profitability, market share, or achievement of comparable objectives.
Channel conflicts are one of the drawbacks of marketing your company over several web
channels. The likelihood of channel friction grows when we use a variety of sales channels to
promote your business. Other resellers may quickly identify the goods we sell online, where
we store them, and how much we charge, which causes conflict, unlike offline retail.
Particularly when various shops are offering the same products to the same markets at various
costs.
On the other side, thanks to the increasing expansion of ecommerce sales, online channels,
and features like simple-to-use and reasonably priced Sales for ecommerce tools and
platforms, selling directly to consumers (D2C) has never been simpler for manufacturers.
To balance one's ecommerce stores with other online distribution channels like wholesalers
and merchants is difficult for a manufacturer. The first rule is to treat each other as partners
rather than rivals with the aim of creating and maintaining satisfied consumers (Gorchels,
2004).
8.4.1 Types of Conflicts
We define 3 types of channel conflicts:
i. Horizontal Conflicts
In horizontal conflicts, the conflicts arise here between two or more related parties who work
for the producer or wholesaler. Assume a wholesaler provides items to four distinct retailers
in the four cities Delhi, Mumbai, Bangalore, and Hyderabad. A channel dispute can only arise
when one merchant decides to sell products in another city if there is a significant agreement
among all parties to stay inside their cities. Conflicts will undoubtedly arise as a result of this,
and if they cannot be resolved, it's possible that everyone engaged in providing that
product—from the manufacturer to the retailers—may be impacted. Additionally, if these
merchants are the only ones selling the products in specific cities, consumers may suffer.
ii. Vertical Conflicts
Unlike horizontal conflict, vertical conflicts occur between two members on a consecutive
level, like a wholesaler and a retailer. Assume that a retailer gets products from a wholesaler
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for ₹ 40 each, and happens to sell them at ₹ 100 each to consumers. If consumers happen to
get to know the actual cost of such a product, they might make a complaint to the
manufacturer who in turn might phone the wholesaler. Thus, the wholesaler will have to
question the retailer on such actions, especially if it is affecting the demand for such a good in
the market. It may also result in a direct rivalry between manufacturers and retailers resulting
from manufacturers selling directly to consumers (D2C) rather than through retailers.
iii. Multichannel Conflicts
This often refers to disputes that have an impact on various supply circle participants in any
order. Assume for the moment that a company owns both traditional and online marketing
channels. Currently, he charges ₹45 for traditional channel distribution of his goods and ₹30
for internet marketplace distribution. Now, just by taking a quick look at this, one might infer
that it will cause problems for the reseller of such things. Let's however imagine that the
wholesaler purchases these goods from the producer for ₹45 to sell them to the retailer for
₹48. The retailer chooses to purchase this product directly from the manufacturer through the
online marketplace at a price of ₹30 per unit because he just requires a sufficient number of
these products to meet market demand. Now, if he chooses to sell these goods to customers
for ₹35 each, he will be able to increase sales as compared to when he purchases from the
wholesaler and decrease sales as compared when he competes with the manufacturer. This
demonstrates that all three of the involved channels are immediately impacted. In this
situation, the store will suffer greater losses because customers can use the internet market to
purchase goods for ₹5 less, but he would save ₹18 compared to purchasing from the
wholesaler. In either case, the wholesaler won't be selling since there isn't a retailer to buy at
that price, and the retailer won't be selling as much either because there is another channel
with lower pricing. The producer will now have to decide whether to fix the pricing problems
or abandon the conventional sales strategy. To select option two would not be a wiser idea.
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IN-TEXT QUESTIONS-PART B
Explain the concept of channel conflict.
When a single company employs two or more marketing channels to connect with one
or more consumer segments, this is known as multi-channel marketing. True
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8.5 RETAILING
The delivery of finished products starts with the producer and ends with the final consumer.
There is a third party—the retailer—between the two of them. Retailing is characterized as a
series of actions taken to sell a good or a service to customers for domestic or private
consumption. It is in charge of coordinating individual consumer needs with producer
supplies. The French verb “retailer”, which means "to cut a piece of" or "to break bulk," is the
source of the English word "retail."
According to Cundiff and Still, “Retailing consists of those activities involved in selling
directly to ultimate consumers.”
Thus, Retailing includes all the activities involved in selling goods or services directly to
final consumers for personal, non-business use. A retailer or retail store is any business
enterprise whose sales volume comes primarily from retailing.
“A set of business activities carried on to accomplishing the exchange of goods and services
for purposes of personal, family, or household use, whether performed in a store or by some
form of non-selling.” – American Marketing Association
“Retailing includes all the activities involved in selling goods or services to the final
consumer for personal, non-business use.” – Philip Kotler
According to Cardiff and Still, “Retailing consists of those activities involved in the selling
directly to ultimate consumers.”
Our daily lives now include retailing so thoroughly that it is frequently taken for granted. The
countries with robust retail sectors have seen the greatest economic and social improvement.
Why has retailing grown to be such a common way of doing business? The answer is the
benefits of a thriving retail industry i.e., easy access to a wide range of products, freedom of
choice, and excellent levels of customer service.
A retailer is a person, agent, agency, business, or other entity that plays a key role in getting
products, items, or services to the final customer. Retailers carry out particular tasks such as
anticipating client needs, creating product assortments, gathering market data, and financing.
One prevalent misconception about retailing is that it exclusively involves the sale of goods
in physical storefronts. The selling of services, such as those provided at a restaurant, beauty
parlour, or by automobile rental companies, is also included. Selling does not always have to
happen through a store.
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Retailing includes selling through every channel that could be used to approach the
consumer, including the mail, the Internet, and door-to-door sales. Manufacturers like Dell
Computers become retailers when they sell directly to customers. Small family-run chains
and stores with a regional focus are the dominant players in the global retail industry whereas
Wal-Mart, Sears, McDonald's, and Marks & Spencer are a few of the multibillion-dollar
multinational corporations that slowly gained control of western markets. The larger shops
have established huge supply or distribution networks, inventory management systems,
financing agreements, and extensive marketing plans, allowing them to achieve economies of
scale and offer better services at competitive pricing (Xu, 2009).
The introduction of numerous retail formats that have started operating in the majority of
product categories is a significant recent development. Large departmental shops, for
instance, provide a wide range of products and services. Discount retailers compete primarily
on price and provide a wide range of goods. Big Bazaar and Reliance Mart are two examples.
Other high-end shops use luxury labels like Dior and Louis Vuitton to target extremely niche
markets. It will be interesting to observe how these advantages play out for each of these
shops as they each have unique advantages. For instance, bargain merchants typically
outperform their competitors in difficult economic times, whereas the reverse is true when the
economy is doing well (Konings, 2020).
8.5.1 Concept of Retailing
It is essentially the marketing idea of a company-wide, customer-centered approach to
creating and carrying out a plan. It lays forth the rules that all merchants must abide by,
regardless of their size, channel design, or mode of sale.
The retailing concept has four broad areas that are an essential part of the retailing strategy:
i. Customer Orientation – The retailer carefully considers the demands of the
customer and makes an effort to meet those needs.
ii. Goal Orientation –The retailer sets tactics to accomplish its well-defined objectives.
iii. Value Driven Approach –The merchant provides the customer with goods that are
reasonably priced and of high enough quality to appeal to the target market.
iv. Coordinated Effort- Every business operation is coordinated with the overall
objective to maximise effectiveness and provide customers with value.
Although the retailing concept is straightforward to embrace, many retailers fail to adhere to
it because they overlook one or more of the a core mentioned elements. For the retailer to be
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successful, there needs to be a good balance between all the components of this concept. The
retailing notion, while significant, is constrained by the fact that it does not take into account
the firm's internal resources or the level of competition in the outside world. However, it is
still a crucial strategic directive (Ampountolas et al., 2019).
8.5.2 Two Main Channels of Retailing: Multi-Channel Retailing and E-Commerce
i. Channel 1: Multi-Channel Retailing: Retail does not always have to begin with a
physical location. The Indian unicorn startup Nykaa has been around for a very long
time. To supplement their long-running catalogue channel, which was initially
introduced in 2012, they did, however, open their first store in 2018.
Retail Channels and Multi-Channel Retailing
How a retailer sells its goods are known as retail channels. Although physical stores account
for the majority of sales, other avenues including online shopping and catalogue sales are also
significant. Depending on the services a retailer offers and prospective client behavior, a
channel must decide which retail channel to use. Retail channels are currently becoming more
confounded. Given that customers can now purchase "anytime, anywhere," it is crucial for
merchants to be available across multiple channels to retain customers.
Different Retail Channels:
a) Brick-and-mortar stores: Many customers still choose to browse and shop in actual
stores. When we talk about brick-and-mortar stores customers can chat with staff
members and inquire about the goods or services in physical stores. Customers may
try products like video games or laptops at Croma stores and have lunch in cafe while
shopping in IKEA, and other experiences in brick-and-mortar stores. Brick-and-
mortar stores also give customers immediate satisfaction when they make a purchase.
b) Direct response channel: In direct response channels, the retailer contacts and
approaches potential customers directly. Conversion rates (from potential to member)
are greater and it is more personalised. The Direct Response channel also includes
Internet channels.
There are other retail distribution methods also which include selling directly to
customers, souvenir shops, institutional distributors like restaurant chains, etc.
Multi-Channel Retailing
Customers expect to be able to shop "anytime, anyplace" in the modern world. Multi-channel
retailing is a hybrid strategy that combines a variety of possibilities. Technology development
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has improved retail channels as well. Customers can choose between purchasing goods from
an outlet on the one hand and using online websites as their marketplace for their preferred
goods on the other. The goal of multi-channel retailing is to use a variety of distribution
channels rather than just one. Few of the many successful businesses that have benefited from
the multi-channel retailing in the Indian market are Patanjali, Xiaomi and Nykaa.
Benefits of Multi-Channel Retailing
In today's cutthroat industry, multi-channel selling is not an option; it is a requirement.
Customers who use many channels are the most affluent, picky, and time crunched. They are
also your brand's most priceless assets.
Because customers increasingly expect consistently outstanding buying experiences
regardless of the channel, merchants are under increasing pressure to deliver superior
customer experiences across all channels. The thought of developing a thorough and
integrated multi-channel experience intimidates many businesses, and they wonder whether
the work will be worthwhile.
The four benefits that make investment in multi-channel strategy valuable include:
a) Enhanced customer perception
b) Increased Revenue
c) Enhanced data collection
d) Enhanced output.
ii. Channel 2: E-Commerce:
Any business or commercial transaction involving the transmission of information over the
Internet is referred to as "Electronic-commerce" or "e-commerce." It includes a variety of
industries, from consumer-focused retail websites to auction or music websites to commercial
exchanges where firms trade goods and services. Currently, it ranks among the most
significant elements of the Internet.
Over the past ten years, e-commerce has grown quickly and is still growing. The retailing
sector has jumped on board and started to offer online shopping and e-trading, including
fashion retail and grocery retail. "Shopping carts" are used in online retailing which enables
customers to make purchases, track them, and tie all aspects of e-commerce together into a
single, seamless system. E-commerce has the potential to be a tremendously lucrative
endeavour, but success takes time. It is crucial to conduct extensive research, ask questions,
put in a lot of effort, and base business decisions on information obtained through studying e-
commerce (Bloomberg 2020).
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E-Commerce Strategies
Over time it has been observed that both B2B (Business to Business) and B2C (Business to
Consumer) e-commerce are expanding daily. All businesses now understand how important it
is to have an entire retail strategy that includes an e-commerce plan. Ecommerce is a very
different business model from traditional retail in every way.
When launching an online store, a retailer should keep a few things in mind, some of them
are as follows:
a) Understand market trends, opportunities, and risks. Planning for business growth and
dealing with numerous external influences are both aspects of retail strategy.
b) The consumer must come first. When selling through physical, traditional
establishments, customers get a tactile experience, making it simpler to develop a
relationship with them. E-Commerce platforms need to come up with ways to connect
with virtual customers one-on-one and establish relationships. Everything starts with a
great, user-friendly website that delivers the information in the "proper way" to draw
in customers.
c) To stand out from the competition and attract clients to your online store, you must
provide something better than the other e-commerce companies.
d) Pricing: Compared to traditional physical storefronts, online retailers have
significantly lower operating and sales costs, which may persuade customers to make
larger purchases.
Logistical emphasis - The management of shipping costs presents the biggest difficulty in
operating an online store. To save costs, retailers must collaborate with numerous logistical
providers.
IN-TEXT QUESTIONS-PART C
What are the four broad areas of retailing?
Explain the concept of E-commerce retailing.
What is multi-channel retailing?
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8.6 WHOLESALING
Buying products in bulk from the producer and reselling them to the retailer for a profit is
known as wholesaling. A wholesaler is a person or company that acts as a link in the supply
chain, linking the producer and the retailer. They have the option of selling a single item, a
variety of items, or both. Wholesalers are common in industries including banking and
finance, telecommunications, and energy in addition to physical goods distribution. They
offer businesses in the commercial, industrial, and other professional sectors affordable
business-to-business (B2B) services. Even if they charge merchants more, the price they
charge is still considerably less than the standard retail price.
8.6.1 How Does Wholesaling Work?
Buying huge quantities of products from producers and reselling them to merchants who then
sell them to consumers is known as wholesaling. The idea of economies of scale underpins
the entire procedure. A wholesaler first invests in purchasing and warehousing a sizable
quantity of goods. They then make money by offering those goods in modest amounts to
shopkeepers in a town, city, or market. The idea gained popularity in the 19th century as a
result of the development of mass production and marketing techniques.
There may be numerous wholesalers selling the same or different goods made by the same
manufacturer. Similar to how one wholesaler might sell to lots of different stores. It is
important to note that organizations like manufacturers and service providers occasionally
function as wholesalers. Wholesaling has a substantial economic impact because it is an
essential part of the distribution system. To efficiently transport their goods to retailers and
eventually consumers, manufacturers work with wholesalers. In this way, the supply chain is
made up of the manufacturer, wholesaler, retailer, and customer, each of whom functions at
their level and depends on the one above them (Neha Wadhawan., R K Arya., 2020).
8.6.2 Functions of Wholesaling
i. Wholesalers carry out a wide range of tasks in addition to selling products, including
marketing, risk-taking, warehousing, shipping, financing, management, and advising.
ii. Due to operational or warehousing costs that vary depending on process efficiency,
costs of goods and services, and inventory turnover, wholesalers have more control
over pricing.
iii. Since they are not producers and primarily sell competing items, they typically do not
offer after-sales service or product support.
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describes a local store owner who buys numerous things from a wholesaler and then sells
them to customers directly. Retailers are seen as the company's face by end users. Retailers
benefit when wholesalers get a good deal or a discount when buying products from a
company (Shaffer & Zettelmeyer, 2018). After that, retailers pass it on to final customers,
guaranteeing everyone's profit and fairness.
Other striking differences between wholesalers and retailers include:
i. Since wholesalers don't have any additional expenses, they can sell products in greater
quantities and at lower costs to shops, businesses, and other organisations. Retailers
sell products to end customers in smaller quantities and at higher prices as a result of
added expenditures.
ii. The role of wholesalers is to act as a middleman between manufacturers and retailers.
Wholesalers and customers are connected by retailers.
iii. Wholesalers frequently require large sums of cash and have lower profit margins.
Small firms with strong profit margins and little capital requirements are retailers.
IN-TEXT QUESTIONS-PART D
How does wholesaling works and what are its functions?
Explain different types of wholesaling.
Explain how wholesaling differ from retailing.
8.7 LOGISTICS
Planning, implementing and controlling the effective movement of raw materials, work-in-
progress items, finished goods, and related information from the point of origin to the site of
consumption to ensure customer satisfaction is known as the concept of logistics (Rolnicki,
2018).
According to Phillip Kotler, “Market logistics involve planning, implementing and
controlling the physical flow of material and final (finished) goods from the point of origin to
the point of use to meet customer requirements, at a profit.”
Certain pertinent observations on the concept of logistics are:
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Logistics
Inbound Outbound
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Packaging facilities the sale of a product. It serves as a quiet salesman. On the eve of
Diwali, for instance, the sale of sweets, cookies, and other such things is boosted by
their elegant and decorative packaging.
Labelling implies putting identification markers on the package of the goods. A label
contains information about - the date of packing and expiry, weight or size of goods,
ingredients used in the manufacture of the product, instructions for sale handling of the
product, the price payable by the buyer etc.
vii. Warehousing: Storage, often known as warehousing, is a logistical operation that
saves time by keeping items on hand from the point of production until the point at
which the final consumers require them.
viii. Transportation: Transportation is that logistical process which creates place utility.
Transportation is needed for:
a. The transfer of raw materials from suppliers to the production facility.
b. Movement of ongoing projects throughout the plant.
c. Transfer of finished items from the factory to the end users.
8.8 SUMMARY
A distribution channel is a set of people and firms involved in the flow of title to a product as
it moves from producer to ultimate consumer for the business user. A channel includes the
producer, final customer and any middlemen that participate in the process. Distribution
channels perform transactional functions, logistical functions and facilitating functions.
The distribution channel design decision can be broken down into six steps namely:
1. Identifying the need for channel design decision
2. Setting and organizing distribution objectives
3. Specify the distribution responsibilities
4. Develop alternate channel structures
5. Evaluate important variables
6. Choose the best channel structure
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Conflicts across distribution channels are one of the disadvantages of marketing a firm
through many web channels. When you market your company through a multitude of sales
channels, the risk of channel friction increases. In contrast to traditional retail, other resellers
may easily determine the products you sell online, where you store them, and how much you
charge, which might lead to disputes. especially when different stores are charging different
prices for identical products to the same markets. Conflicts can be largely divided into three
types: multichannel, vertical, and horizontal.
8.9 GLOSSARY
Part A Part B
Ans 2. Ans 2.
i. False i. True
ii. True ii. True
iii. False
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8.12 REFERENCES
Ampountolas, A., Shaw, G., & James, S. (2019). The role of social media as a
distribution channel for promoting pricing strategies. Journal of Hospitality and Tourism
Insights, 2(1), 75–91. https://doi.org/10.1108/JHTI-07-2018-0040
Bloomberg (2020): “E-commerce stocks soar with pandemic gains seen as long-lasting”,
24 April
Dent, J. (2011). Distribution channels: Understanding and managing channels to market
(2nd ed.). Kogan Page Publishers.
Gallaugher, J. M. (2002). E-Commerce and the undulating distribution channel.
COMMUNICATIONS OF THE ACM, 45(7), 89–95.
Gorchels, L. (2004). The Manager’s Guide to Distribution Channels. McGraw Hill.
Konings, R. (2020, February 20). Channel Conflicts, or Opportunities? Sitelucent.
Neha Wadhawan., R K Arya., (2020) “Understanding E-Commerce: A Study With
Reference to Competitive Economy” Journal of Critical Reviews, ISSN- 2394-5125,
Vol. 7, Issue 8, Pp. 805-809.
Rolnicki, K. (2018). Managing Channels of Distribution: The Marketing Executive’s
Complete Guide. Amacom.
Shaffer, G., & Zettelmeyer, F. (2018). Advertising in a distribution channel. Marketing
Science, 23(4). https://doi.org/10.1287/mksc.1040.0084
Xu, X. (2009). Optimal price and product quality decisions in a distribution channel.
Management Science, 55(8), 1347–1352. https://doi.org/10.1287/mnsc.1090.1023
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Etzel, M. J., Walker, B. J., Stanton, W. J., & Pandit, A. (2010). Marketing (14th ed.).
Mc Graw Hill.
Kapoor, Neeru (2022). Principles of Marketing. PHI
Kotler, P., Armstrong, G. and Agnihotri, P. (2018). Principles of Marketing (17th
Edition), Pearson Education. Indian edition.
Mahajan, J.P. and Mahajan Anupama (2016). Principles of Marketing. Vikas
Publications.
Sharma, K., & Swati Aggarwal. (2018). Principles of Marketing. Taxmann's.
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LESSON 9
PROMOTION
STRUCTURE
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9.2 INTRODUCTION
Promotion is the important part of marketing mix, they are provided the quality information
for customers in the target market, i.e., its share the features of the products, quality, price
and availability of the goods in market. Marketing professionals are sharing the valuable
suggestion for manufactures to related goods & services. The companies are depending on
the customers interest and needs or wants of the products. The professional are share the
market research related to particular product & services in the market.
“Giving the information to the target customers about the products / service that’s called to
promotion” promotional activities are create the demand in the market about the product/
services.
Promotion is a key element in marketing strategy. Marketing calls for more than developing a
good product, pricing it correctly, and making it easily available to the customer. Product,
price and distribution alone cannot create sufficient sales and profits for the organization. But
promotion is an important role play to share the information for the potential customers and
create the interest to purchase the goods and services.
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We will be discussed about, how the model helps a marketing communicator to arrange
effective messages and media for an intended audience. To do this effectively, we shall
discuss the four elements not in the order of the message flow (from communicator to
audience) but in terms of planning flow (from target audience backward through channels to
the communicator). The communicator must start with the audience because it is the audience
who determines what is to be said, how it is to be said, when it is to be the said, where it is to
be said and who is to say it.
Promotion is a persuasive communication that inform potential customers of the existence of
the products and persuades them that these products have want- satisfying capabilities. The
communication process is the foundation of promotion. Let us, therefore, look at the process
of communication as it is used in marketing.
In marketing management, the communicator is the manager who desires to promote his
product. The audience is the target market segment. Feedback is the flow of communication
information from the consumer to the marketing manager.
9.3 DEFINITION
Prof. Philip Kotler has defined promotion as, "Promotion includes all the activities the
company undertakes the communication and promote its products to the target market."
Prof. William J. Stanton has defined it as, "Promotion in the element in an organization
marketing mix that serves to inform, persuade and remind the market of the organization
and or its products."
E. J. McCarthy has defined promotion as, "Promotion is any method of informing,
persuading or reminding consumers, wholesalers, retailers, users or final consumers about
the marketing mix of product, place and price which has been assembled by the marketing
manager."
The above- mentioned definitions make it clear that promotion is one of the important tools
of marketing. It creates demand in target markets and gives information to the customers
about the products & services. Promotion activities are the crucial part to share the
information’s make believe for the companies, enthusiasm or influence and remind the
customers about manufacturing goods.  These activities are positively impact on customer
mind then now a day, every company and manufacturing firms are conduct these promotional
activities in the market.
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Marketing communications can be defined as “the means by which firms attempt to inform,
persuade, and remind customers—directly or indirectly—about the products and brands they
sell. In a sense, marketing communications represent the ‘voice’ of the company and its
brands and are a means by which it can establish a dialogue and build relationships with
consumers.
9.3.1 Role of Promotion Mix
1. Helpful to create the image in the customer mind: - Promotion tools are very
helpful to create the image in the consumer mind, because the companies are focused
to create the awareness and share the information for the potential customers through
any media channels or social media portals.
2. Create the demand in the market: - Promotion is helpful to create the demand in
the market, today senior mostly peoples are used the social media portals and e-
shopping portals through purchase the products. Promotion is helpful to create the
awareness in consumers mind and prompted the product through social sites.
Promotion is helpful to boost the sale in market. Nike is promoting the shoes for many
social sites and blog & other promotion tools are used by the company, that only
focus to create the interest related to our product.
3. Brand Awareness: - Promotion is main objective to create the brand awareness in
consumers mind through the any media channels i.e., social media, Facebook,
Instagram, e-commerce sites, blogs, amazon, flip kart etc. promotion are main point to
attract the consumers, then appeal to purchase the articles.
4. Create the interest: - Promotion is advantageous, to create the interest in related to
product/ services in consumer’s mind. This is very important thing, which type of
promotion are choose by the company, how much people are engaged to in this
website or social sites. For example, in today, senior mostly companies are used to
promote the product in online or social media portals Facebook, Instagram, YouTube,
social media pages etc.
5. Brand loyalty: -Mostly companies are provided the special service for the specific
customers. Brand loyalty is perception-based (image and experience). Brand-loyal
customers believe that a certain brand represents both higher quality and better service
than any competitor—and the price does not matter. i.e., amazon provided the more
discounts during the festival season. Diwali sale, seasonal sale but they are provided
the special sales or coupons or other types of discounts only prime customers
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payback offers, freebies etc. are the sales promotion schemes. During the sales promotion, the
company has earned the more profits on short terms periods, by attracting the new and
existing customers., Diwali sales, Season sales, Discounts, Coupons, Buy get 1free, promote
the new product in the market, Promote the unsold inventory etc.
American marketing association defines sales promotion as those activities, other than
personal selling, advertising & publicity that stimulate consumer purchasing and dealer
effectiveness, such as display, shows and exhibitions, demonstrations, and various non-
recurring selling efforts not in the ordinary routine.
1. Insistence presence: Many sales promotion tools have an attention -getting, some-
tomes urgent, quality that can break through habits of buyer inertia towards a
particular product.
2. Product demeaning: - some tools are suggested that the seller is anxious for their
sale. If they are used too frequently or carelessly, they may lead buyers to wonder
whether the product class or brand is desirable or reasonably priced.
The term sales promotion is a catchall for a wide variety of promotional activities. But this
category cannot be overlooked. i.e., product samples, coupons, premium etc. sales
promotions often supplement advertising and personal selling to complete the promotion task
by capitalizing on the consumer interest and product knowledge generated by these media.
i.e., free samples complement advertising in new product introductions. Therefore, sales
promotion plays an integral part in the total promotional program of an organization.
Public Relations
“Building good relations with the company’s various publics obtaining favorable publicity,
Building the good image in the company, handing, or heading off the unfavorable rumors,
stories, and events”. (Business Queensland.com)
Public relations tools are extremely helpful to reach the target audience and having their
attention using the media channels i.e., news, word of mouth, government announcements
etc. Trustable sources, brand oriented communication message, two-way communication,
Press release, Sponsorship, event, web pages etc.
Direct Marketing
Direct marketing is different from personal selling. Though even in direct marketing direct
contact with the customer is important, normally it doesn’t involve a highly personalised
sales pitch. Direct marketing refers to a tool of promotion strategy where marketer builds
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lasting relationship with the customer and receive immediate response from the customers
directly. In direct marketing excludes indirect medium like wholesalers and retailer. The
information received by a customer through news tends to influence customers better than the
advertisement.
9.3.4 AIDA Model
(Fig-1.3)
The marketer may be seeking a cognitive, effective, or behavioral response from the target
audience.
Cognitive response: - the marketer may want to put something into the consumer’s mind.
Affective response: - the marketer may want to change the consumer’s attitude.
Behavioral response: - the marketer may want to get the consumer to undertake a specific
action. Here there are four best known response hierarchy models. There are: -
A. The AIDA model shows the buyer as passing through awareness, interest, desire and
action.
B. The ‘communication’ model shows the buyers as passing through exposure, reception,
cognitive response, attitude, intention, and behavior.
C. The “hierarchy -of- effects” models show the buyers as passing through awareness,
knowledge, liking, preference, conviction, and purchase.
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All these models assume that each succeeding stage implies a higher probability
that the person will purchase the product. In general, people may go backward as
well as forward, and skip around. Although being is one stage is neither nor
sufficient condition for moving to another, but the communicator will generally
want to identify the stage his audience is in and tailor his message be desirable: if
the audience is aware of the brand, then arguments for its superiority are required
to be communicated and if the audience has already tried the brand, then
supportive and reminder communications are called for.
IN-TEXT QUESTIONS
1. ________ are the key elements of promotion mix
A) Advertising and sales promotion B) Publicity and public relations
C) Direct marketing and personal selling D) All of the above
2. Which of the following marketing mix activity is most closely associated with
newsletters, catalogues and invitations to organization- sponsored events?
A) Pricing B) Promotion
C) Distribution D) Product
Integrated marketing communication concepts, the company has participated and manages its
many communications channels to deliver a clear and consistent message. It aims to ensure
the consistency of the message and the complementary use of media.
Integrated marketing communication is a multi-disciplinary promotional area, these are
included in old and new media practices. It is a part of holistic marketing approach, and they
are helpful to make the marketing strategy within the context of larger aims of the
organizations and business development s and maintain the needs. Using by the IMC theories
and strategies, marketing specialists, public relations directors, brand managers, digital media
associates, social media marketers, and other media professionals can create, execute and
track multi-channel advertising and communication message that reach the target audience
and influence the specificity audience. i.e., websites display advertisements, blogs, search
engine optimization, newspapers, magazine and more.
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The company has used the marketing tools and approaches for specific reasons, reach the
target audience through the social media, maximize impact of consumers mind and resulting
in maximum profit at minimum cost. It uses several innovative ways to ensure that the
customer gets the right message at the right place and right time.
9.4.1 Definition
According to Philip Kotler, the integrated marketing communications process involves
creating, communicating, and delivering value for consumers such that the 'whole is
more than the sum of parts'.
Simple definitions to own words
“Integrated marketing is a strategy for delivering a unified message across all the
marketing channels your brand uses. It provides consistency wherever customers choose to
interact with a company. Without an integrated marketing strategy, you risk delivering mixed
messages or communicating in a disconnected voice”
"Integrated Marketing is a strategic approach to integrating communications and interactive
experiences targeting defined audiences and individuals which coordinates all aspects of
marketing of a brand, including:
● Paid media (offline advertising, direct marketing, and online display and
programmatic);
● Earned media (Organic search fuel led by content marketing, PR (Public Relations)
and online influencer outreach)
● Owned media (including social media, on-site UX, customer service and direct
messaging through email and mobile)
in order achieve consistent messaging customized where possible by channel which presents
a unified and seamless experience to consumers across the customer lifecycle or path to
purchase".
Plan and optimize your Omni channel digital marketing strategy using The Race Framework
to structure your digital media, digital experiences, and digital data.
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3. Message: -encoding has finished than next one is message mode; Senders gets the
message that he intends to convey. The message is a written, sign, symbol, silent and
body gestures or in different forms of message triggers the response of a receiver.
A message is the idea or information that the sender wants to convey. He may convey
it verbally (by writing or speaking) or non-verbally (through gestures or body
language). Whatever the form, the message should be clearly formed so that the
objective is accomplished
4. Communication channels: - which types of channels are used by the person,
message can attempt to convey the information, alter perceptions, stimulate desires,
produce conviction, direct attention, and provide reassurance. The choice of message
depends on the state the audience is in, each type of message works on a separate set
of principles.
5. Decoding – When the message reaches the receiver, the message must be decoded
into its intended meaning. Therefore, the receiver must translate the words, symbols,
and gestures as the sender intended. Because no two people interpret information in
the exact same way, incorrectly decoding a message can lead to
misunderstanding. Successful decoding is more likely when the receiver creates a
receptive environment and ignores distractions. Alert receivers strive to understand
both verbal and nonverbal cues, avoid prejudging the message, and expect to learn
from the communication.
6. Receiver: - The receiver is the person or group for whom the communication effort is
intended. The message must be crafted with the receiver’s background in mind. An
engineer in a microchip manufacturing company, for example- might have to avoid
using technical terms in a communication with someone in the company’s advertising
department; for the same reason, the person in advertising might find engineers
unreceptive to communications about demographics. If the message does not reach
the receiver, communication has not taken place. The situation is not much improved
if the message reaches the receiver, but the receiver does not understand it.
9.4.3 Factors Influencing Promotion Mix
Type of the product; -
The types of products are helpful to companies, and which types of promotion tools are best
for promoting the product in the market. Companies are divided in different types of
products, first one is branded product and second is non- branded products, luxury products,
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necessary products, new product etc., all these types of products required to different types of
promotion tools in promote in the market. I.e., advertising is suitable for branded and
popular product. Personal selling is fit for non-branded product in the market. Advertising,
personal selling, sales promotion and publicity – four types of promotion tools are required to
launch the product in market by company.
Use of the product: -
Product may be defined as an industrial product (Raw materials), consumable product (basic
products), luxurious product (Gold, diamond) these types of products must be need for
promotional tools. They are depending on the promotion tools. i.e., advertising and sales
promotion techniques are widely used for consumer goods while personal selling is used for
industrial goods.
Purchase, quantity and frequency
Companies are considered, which types of goods are mostly preferred or purchase by the
consumers, that’s an important point, how much quantity are mostly preferred by the
consumers. Then companies are decided to which kinds of goods are needed to promotion
tools. Infrequency buying the goods by the consumers. Investigators are indicated that
individual selling and sales promotion methods used by the companies to sell the goods in the
market.
Fund available in the market Promotion: -
Financial conditional of the company is crucial impact on the promotion tools. Advertising
through the Television ratio, digital marketing, social media, campaign this is very costly
promotion tools. Companies have not financial conditional good that is not bear to these
types of promotion tools. They are chosen to personal selling and any other cheaper tools to
promote the product in the market.
Mostly companies are focus to which types of promotional tools are used to promote the
product in market. Advertising or publicity (organized the evets, trial etc.) this is too much
costly promotion mix.
Types of the market
Consumer characteristics are defined, which types of audience are livelihood in near the
market area. these factors are also helpful to influence the promotion mix, Demographical
factors, (education, age, lifestyle capacity, knowledge, personality of the consumers)
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Geographical factors (locations, areas) these types of factors are very helpful to make the
strategy for successful business.
Stage of the product life: The promotion mix changes as the product moves along its life
cycle. During the introduction stage of the product in the market, the principles and objective
stage of the promotion is too helpful to create a demand by highlighting the product features,
utility etc. Promotion mix are helpful to launch the product in the market, advertising and
publicity is way to convey the message for potential consumers. Each stages pose different
threats and opportunities. Each stage is different strategies in sperate marketing stages.
Identify the target audience: A marketing communicator must start with a clear target
audience in mind. The audience may be potential buyers of the company’s products, current
users decides or influencers. The audience may be individuals, groups, particular publics, or
the general public. The target audience will influence significantly the communicators
decisions on what is to be said, how it is be said, who is to say it, where it is to be said and
who I to say. The communicator should research the audience’s needs attitudes, preferences,
and other characteristics in order to establish the audience’s current image of the object.
Images is the set of beliefs, ideas and impressions that a person holds of an object. The first
step is to measure the target audience’s familiarity with the object. Respondents who are
familiar with the product should be asked how favorable they feel towards it. The marketer
should then know the desired image in contrast to the current image, (in terms of resources &
reality).
Selecting the communication channel: Once the target audiences are identified, the
communicator can think about the specific channels for reaching them. Channels of the
influence are two based types personal, non- personal.
i. Personal (expert channels, social channels)
ii. Non- personal (Mass and selective media, atmospheres, events)
Personal influence channels are means to direct inter-personal contact with the target
individual or groups. These personal influence channels can be distinguished- advocate or
representative or salesman of the company, they have personal contact, connection for the
company. They are important role to influence the consumer to purchase the articles. Expert
channels consist of independent persons, exercising an influence on the buyer by dint of their
expertise. Social media channels consist of the buyer’s associates, neighbors, friends or
family who may exercise an influence on him.
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Non- personal influence channels are media that carry influence without involving
interpersonal contact. Three types of non-personal media can be described, mass and
selective media is related to newspapers, magazines, television, radio and billboards that
people might buy or perceive. Mass media are aimed at large, often undifferentiated
audience, selective media are more specialized in reach and focus. Atmospheres are designed
environments calculated to create positive feelings in persons regarding a company or
product.
9.4.4 Social Media Platform
Social media marketing is strong way to convey the message for the target audience. People
find, learn about, follow and shop from branding product or create the awareness, this is
platform to convey the message for potential consumers., Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn
Social media is helpful to bring remarkable success to your business, creating devoted brand
advocates and even driving leads and sales.
Social media benefits: -
Over 70% of populations are used to social media through the smartphones, and peoples have
positive experience with a business on social media will recommend that business to their
networks.
Facebook users click on 12 Facebook ads on average every month.
81% of the population is use Instagram to research products and services.
IN-TEXT QUESTIONS
3. Which of the following consumer promotion tools is the most effective, but
most expensive, way to introduce a new product?
A) Coupons B) Price Packs
c) Contents D) Samples
4. Which tool of the promotional mix consist od short-term incentives to encourage
the purchase or sale of a product or service?
A) Advertising B) Public relations
C) Direct marketing D) Sales Promotion
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9.5 SUMMARY
Promotional activities are important role play to influence the consumers buying behavior,
these activities are helpful to convey the message for potential buyers. Promotion is a
important part of marketing mix, they are helpful to share the quality information for the
target customer in the market, i.e., ., its share the features of the products, quality, price and
availability of the goods in market. Marketing experts providing the useful suggestion for the
manufactures related to products for according to customers interest & needs and wants for
exploring the markets. Promotion mix- advertising, social media marketing, publicity, public
relationship, direct marketing.
The model of AIDA is defined that, they are helpful to create the awareness related to goods
in the consumers mind, promotion is beneficial to create the interest in consumers mind, and
build up the knowledge, liking, preference, conviction, and purchase. In today scenario,
social media promotion is very effective to manipulate the consumers, because 70% peoples
are used to social site, i.e., Facebook, Instagram, twitter, LinkedIn etc. Communication
process is important role play to convey the message, because which types of tools are used
by the company to convey the message for potential buyers.
1. What does the promotion mix, which factors are influenced to motivate to purchase
power?
2. Which types of factors are more influences the promotion mix activities?
3. What is the integrated marketing?
4. What is the communication and explain the process of communications
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9.8 REFERENCES
Marketing, M., 2022. Meaning of Promotion and Its Objectives in Marketing. [online]
Analysisproject.blogspot.com. Available at:
<https://analysisproject.blogspot.com/2014/04/meaning-of-promotion-project-
management.html> [Accessed 2 August 2022].
Role of promotion in the marketing: Function and benefits. Click here to discover
more! (n.d.). Just Great Database - Experience the Joy of
Learning. https://jgdb.com/business/marketing/marketing-function/role-of-promotion-
in-the-marketing-function-and-benefits
Promotion mix: Introduction, concept, factors, strength and weakness. (2019,
November 22). Essays, Research Papers and Articles on Business
Management. https://www.businessmanagementideas.com/marketing-
management/promotion-mix/20846.
Marketing’s promotional mix: Definition and how to use it | Indeed.com. (n.d.).
Indeed Career Guide. https://www.indeed.com/career-advice/career-
development/marketing-promotional-mix
Bagaria, A. (2022, May 7). Integrated marketing communication - Meaning, tools, &
examples. Feedough. https://www.feedough.com/integrated-marketing-
communication-meaning-tools-examples/
Allen, R. (2022, February 14). What is integrated marketing? [Definition and case
studies]. Smart Insights. https://www.smartinsights.com/traffic-building-
strategy/integrated-marketing-communications/what-is-integrated-marketing/
https://www.google.com/search?q=definition+of+integrated+marketing+communicati
on+by+philip+kotler&oq=definiations+of+intergrated+marketing+&aqs=chrome.3.69
i57j0i22i30l5j0i15i22i30j0i5i13i30j0i390.14158j1j7&sourceid=chrome&ie=UTF-8
Defining integrated marketing communications. (n.d.). Paper
flite. https://www.paperflite.com/blogs/integrated-marketing-communication
Integrated marketing communications - Meaning and its components. (n.d.).
Management Study Guide - Courses for Students, Professionals & Faculty
Members. https://www.managementstudyguide.com/integrated-marketing-
communications.html
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LESSON 10
TRENDS IN MARKETING: SERVICE MARKETING, SOCIAL MEDIA
MARKETING, GREEN MARKETING, CUSTOMER
RELATIONSHIP MANAGEMENT, RURAL MARKETING,
OTHER EMERGING TRENDS
STRUCTURE
10.2 INTRODUCTION
Marketing is a vital ingredient for business success. It affects our day-to-day life in a
significant manner. The concept of marketing has broadened from being associated with
pushing the products to consumers, to understanding the needs of consumers and building
long term relationships with them. The marketer can reach customers 24X7 via mail, smart
phones or even through social media accounts. So the marketer is no more limited to his
shop. This chapter discusses some of the most important trends in the field of marketing. The
growth of online marketing, increasing focus on rural markets, rising concern for green
products and focus on building long term relationships with customers are a few of the visible
changes in the life of a marketer.
excitement of a consumer staying at the resort, so that element of intangibility which cannot
be touched liked a product but can be felt would come under the purview of service
marketing. Hence, Service marketing is a marketing concept which takes into view the
business of non-physical intangible goods. It is done for company given benefits which
cannot be seen, touched, felt etc. The benefits given to the customers are taken up mostly by
people, process & cannot be kept by a customer. Sectors like hospitality, tourism, financial
services
ACTIVITY
In the category mentioned above, identify companies falling into product and service
category.
10.3.1 Concept of Service
A service can be defined as “any act or performance that one party can offer to another that is
essentially intangible and does not result in the ownership of anything.” Its production may or
may not be tied to a physical product. From the organization’s view point, service is a
process, but it is an experience for the customers. To move ahead and dwell deep into the
concept of service marketing it is very important for us to understand the basic difference
between a product and a service. The major differences between the two are tabulated below
in the form of a table. It is very important for a marketer to have a clear understanding of the
difference between the two so that he is able to easily and effectively market the product to
the target audience.
Think of any 10 things that you see or buy in the market. Based on your understanding of
product and service, classify them into the relevant category. Analyze the target segment that
the marketer has tried to target.
10.3.2. Difference between a product and service
Product is tangible while service is intangible. Product is perishable while the services are
non-perishable. There is a uniformity while we talk of products, services might vary from
person to person and service to service.
10.3.3 Marketing Mix for Service marketing
In the previous chapters we have talked about the marketing mix for a product which consists
of 4Ps namely Product, Price, Place and Promotion. In a service marketing mix we have 3
more additional Ps namely People, Physical Evidence and Perishability. Let us now discuss
all the Ps of service marketing in detail.
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1. Product: In service marketing products can be viewed as some asset plus a process
around it. When you book a hotel room for a night you use the hotel room for an
evening (the asset). But you also undergo a series of processes such as checking-in,
checking-out, and having your luggage brought up to the room etc.
2. Price: It is the amount of money a customer is willing to spend for a particular
service. Pricing is slightly tricky as compared to product pricing because of a variety
of reasons or factors. For example, the price of the room will depend upon the season,
group bookings, peak season etc.
3. Place: Place in service marketing refers to ease of access that the customer has to the
service. In the example that we have been discussing it refers to the channel through
which hotel booking is done, like is it done through an online site or some travel agent
or through the hotel itself.
4. Promotion: Promotion refers to the different ways you communicate, describe, and
advertise your product. Since services are intangible it is difficult to promote services.
Various methods used to promote services are celebrity appeals, testimonials,
warranty etc.
5. Physical evidence: It refers to the tangible elements which are involved with the
delivery of services like companies’ website, accounts, business cards, logos,
equipment, brochures etc. in the above case the hotel building would come under the
physical evidence.
6. Process: Process refers to the procedures and flow of activities that occur when the
customer and the business interact with each other. The processes are well defined
and written in a document called as the standard operating procedure. For example,
when a customer enters the hotel, a process is initiated, when he checks out a process
is initiated etc.
7. People: People in service marketing are the resources which are required to complete
or service or through whom a customer will interact. For example, when a customer
enters a hotel, he will interact with the front desk first followed by other people. It is
very important to train the staff well.
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Case Study
Mr. Walter Sullivan (owner of the Sullivan Auto World) has purchased small Ford
dealership in 1983, after the many years; the dealership built their good reputation as one of
the best in city. In 1999, he decided to move locations of dealership to more populated area
closer to major intersections. With sudden death of Mr. Walter at the age of 56 years, her
younger daughter Ms. Carol Sullivan who is health care manager by profession taken over
the charge of family business and which is not running well these days, profit margins
continuously decrease over the years due to increase in fuel prices, interest rates, mainly
poor performance of the service department. Ms. Carol wonders whether a turnaround is
possible.
Q.1 How is marketing of cars different from marketing of services?
Q.2 Compare and contrast the sales and service department of Auto World.
Q.3 From a Customer’s Perspective, What Useful Parallels Do You See Between Running
a Car Sales and Service Dealership and Managing Health Care Services
Social media marketing is about creating and promoting content about your product or
service through various social media platforms. Social media marketing is all about
interacting with your target audience and customers. There are a variety of platforms through
which social media marketing can be done. All major platforms are represented in the table
below:
10.4.1 Tools for social media marketing:
1.9 billion active users 211 million active users 774 million active users 1 billion active users
Best for brand Best for Public B2B relationships, High-quality images
awareness and relations; customer business development, and videos; user-
branding service; community and social selling generated content;
building advertising
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Table 2.1: Table showing comparison of the mostly widely used social media platforms.
10.4.2 Importance of Social Media Marketing
Social Media marketing is gaining importance in today's time because of the following
reasons:
● It helps in building a stronger audience and customers for the business.
● It helps in the generation of more leads and conversions.
● It helps you to give a regular update on your competitors
● It is a cost-effective tool for marketing and promotions.
Examples of companies adopting successful social media campaigns
1. Mercedes Benz – Repeated and successful marketing campaigns
Mercedes Benz to keep the car selling, so they really worked hard on their social media
campaigns. The best one goes back to 2013 when the company believed to have the best
campaigns. Mercedes wanted to reach out to younger audience and hence they hired five top
Instagram photographers to take the wheel of new Mercedes CLA and this campaign really
worked well. By the end of the campaign Mercedes received 87,000,000 organic Instagram
impressions, 2,000000 Instagram likes and 150 new marketing assets.
Oreo : Smart content planning and timely delivery
Oreo is another brand known for their creative social media marketing. They have a big
design team to produce the content. They are consistent with their branding and manage to
catch real time events. The twitter campaign done by them are the best. The campaign Power
out was retweeted 15,000 times.
Q. You have been appointed as the social media manager for a new firm selling ethnic bags.
Create a social media campaign for the same. What platforms will you use for the same.
American Marketing Association defines green marketing as: "the marketing of products that
are presumed to be environmentally safe.”
As per Businessdictionary.com green marketing “Promotional activities aimed at taking
advantage of the changing consumer attitudes toward a brand. These changes are increasingly
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being influenced by a firm's policies and practices that affect the quality of the environment
and reflect the level of its concern for the community."
Green marketing “involves development and promotion of products and services that are
capable of satisfying customer’s wants and need for quality, performance, affordable pricing
and convenience without having any detrimental effect on the environment”
The concept of green marketing has grown over a period of time. Initially it was known as the
ecological green marketing. Green consumerism refers to “recycling, purchasing and using
eco-friendly products that minimize the damage to the environment.” This involves decisions
such as using energy star appliances consuming less power, using alternate sources of energy
like solar, wind to generate electricity, not using plastic bags, car pooling, water harvesting,
buying hybrid cars that emit less carbon dioxide, buying locally grown vegetables and fruits.
10.5.1 Green products and characteristics of green products
A green product is a “sustainable product designed to minimize its environmental impacts
during its whole life-cycle and even after it’s of no use”. These products have two major
goals of reducing waste and improving resource efficiency.
Characteristics of a green product are:
● Grown without toxic chemicals
● Can be recycled, reused and is biodegradable in nature
● Packaging is eco friendly
● Less resources are used
● Are Eco efficient
● Has carbon and plastic footprint.
● In the usual scenario, brands producing green products use green marketing to
communicate their value proposition to the market.
Advantages Of Going Green to The Brands
Diversification of products and markets: Developing green products opens the doors to a
new segment who are willing to buy green products at a higher price also.
Competitive Advantage: Going green helps to achieve a competitive advantage.
Positive Public Image: When a brand does something for the society and the environment,
its brand image automatically enhances.
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Brand Loyalty: Consumers have a higher brand loyalty for such brands since they attach an
emotion or sentiment towards it.
Examples of company showing green marketing
British petroleum (BP) displays gas station which its sunflower motif and boasts of putting
money into solar power. Indian Tobacco Company has introduced environmental-friendly
papers and boards, which are free of elemental chlorine. Toyota is trying to push gas/electric
hybrid technology into much of its product line. It is also making the single largest R&D
investment in the every-elusive hydrogen car and promoting itself as the first eco-friendly car
company. International business machines Corporation (IBM) has revealed a portfolio of
green retail store technologies and services to help retailers improve energy efficiency in their
IT operations. The center piece of this portfolio is the IBM Sur epos 700, a point-of-sale
system that, according to IBM, reduces power consumption by 36% or more. We even see the
names of retail outlets like "Reliance Fresh", Fresh@Namdhari Fresh and Desi, which while
selling fresh vegetables and fruits, transmit an innate communication of green marketing.
Case Study: Coca-Cola: A Case Study In Sustainability
How does Coca-Cola integrate sustainability into their operations? For several years its
facility in Brampton, Ontario, one of its largest in North America, has been transforming its
manufacturing and distribution to save energy, reduce carbon footprint, water usage, and
material usage. In this case study we look at the goals, implementation, and progress of the
programs put in place by this $20 billion food and beverage giant.
Coca-Cola‘s 600,000 square foot facility in Brampton houses the plant, management team,
and warehouse. It has three plastic bottling lines, including a Dasani line; one bag-in-box line
producing syrup for national accounts; one pre-mix line for the restaurant business, and one
canning line. There are 650 plant operators, sales and equipment service representatives,
truck drivers, warehouse employees, management and staff.
Located within the eco-business zone around Toronto Pearson International Airport, Coca-
Cola in Brampton joins the local community of businesses to collaborate on green projects.
Under the stewardship of Partners in Project Green, businesses participate in programs to
reduce energy and resource costs, uncover new business opportunities, and address everyday
operational challenges in a green and cost-effective manner. Other companies in this program
include Xerox, Unilever, FedEx, Hewlett-Packard, Walmart, Kraft, and Loyalty One.
Social and environmental risks are now one of seven business risk categories and are
formally embedded into Coca-Cola’s enterprise risk management process. This in turn guides
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the business processes, including annual planning, three-year business planning, and internal
audit planning. As a result, sustainability decisions are becoming an integral part of the
business decision making, commercialization and capital management processes, the three-
year business planning process, and customer and supplier relationships. Highlighted here are
some of their goals, implementation, and progress.
Energy Conservation and Climate Change
The goal is to reduce the overall carbon footprint of our business operations by 15 percent by
2020, as compared to the 2007 baseline.
The Brampton operation converted to an energy efficient lighting system that uses 50% less
energy and provides 50% more light. These new fixtures also operate on motion sensors for
even greater savings.
In the distribution channels, the company has installed 2000 EMS-55 energy management
devices in vending machines. These devices activate lights and adjust cooling based on use,
leading to improved energy efficiency by up to 35 percent.
In addition, the company installed 1,400 climate-friendly coolers at the 2010 Olympic Games
to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by approximately 5,600 metric tons, the equivalent of
taking about 1,200 cars off the road for an entire year.
Finally, 37 heavy-duty hybrid delivery trucks and tractors were introduced to the Canadian
fleet in 2008 and 2009. These vehicles improve fuel consumption and reduce emissions by
about one third and create less noise and emissions when stopped in traffic.
Water Usage
The goal is to establish a water-sustainable operation to minimize water use and have a
water-neutral impact on the local communities by safely returning the amount of water used
in the beverages to the local communities and environment.
A 20% reduction in water use, accompanied by an efficiency ratio of 1.62 liters was achieved
between 2005 and 2007. Plant teams focused on: 1) reducing the water use ratio; and 2)
recycling the water used in operations (wastewater treatment).
To help reach its water usage goals the company developed and used a water conservation
toolkit to identify actions that would conserve water. It implemented recycle and reclaim
water loops through the plant’s membrane water treatment system. And it installed a new
osmotic water recovery system designed to reclaim nearly 11 million liters of water for
production. In addition water based container rinses were replaced with ionized air rinses and
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the lubrication system on all production lines was retrofitted to discontinue water use, saving
approximately 28 million liters of water annually.
Sustainable Packaging and Recycling
The goals are to: (1) avoid the use of 100,000 metric tons of packaging materials between
2007 and 2010, (2) recycle or recover more than 90% of waste materials at production
facilities by 2010, (3) increase recycled content in plastic (PET) bottles to an average of 10%
by 2010.
For goal (1), Dasani PET bottle weight was reduced by 30%, saving 493 metric tons of PET.
Plastic twist-off closures were designed 24% lighter, saving 235 metric tons of resin. Also,
lighter fiberboard was developed for Minute Maid products saving 124 metric tons of
fiberboard annually. The company also launched the Plant Bottle, a 100% recyclable
packaging made with up to 30% plant-based waste materials.
Goal (2) was achieved in 2009, ahead of schedule. The team also implemented a centralized
recycling initiative that captures broken, damaged or expired product packaging from satellite
facilities to be baled and sold to an industrial recycler.
Investments were made to achieve green innovations in recycling technologies, renewable
packaging materials, vending and cooling equipment controls and design, and hybrid trucks.
Among the tools used was a proprietary packaging database to identify opportunities for
future packaging material reductions and to benchmark performance against the global Coca-
Cola system. See here for more on sustainable packaging.
The Coca-Cola operation in Brampton has shown that there are advantages to thinking
“outside the box”. By respecting the finite nature of the earth’s water and resources the
operation is implementing innovative business practices and contributing to the sustainability
of communities while meeting the expectations of its stakeholders.
Source: https://www.environmentalleader.com/2011/08/coca-cola-a-case-study-in-
sustainability/
● Satisfaction
● Loyalty
● Profitability
● Customer retention
When the competition is high, and the customers are aware, the organizations cannot just rely
on selling their products or services to then. The customers always look for the organizations
which provide an added value or advantage to them along with the product or service.
10.6.1 Importance of Relationship Marketing
1.Increase in Sales Volume: Increased customer experience results in cross selling and
upselling thereby increasing the sales.
2.Creates Brand Image: A satisfied customer will promote the product or service among
circles thereby creating a better brand image.
3.Customer Retention: Acquiring a customer, providing value to him and retaining him can
be done with the help of relationship marketing.
4.Gain a Competitive Edge: A loyal customer feels comfortable buying goods or services
from one single store rather than shopping around at various places. This is an advantage for
the organization over its competitors.
10.6.2 Customer Relationship Management
Customer relationship management (CRM) refers to “the principles, practices, and guidelines
that an organization follows when interacting with its customers. From the organization's
point of view, this entire relationship encompasses direct interactions with customers, such as
sales and service-related processes, forecasting, and the analysis of customer trends and
behaviors. Ultimately, CRM serves to enhance the customer's overall experience”
Before understanding about what CRM Technology should be used, we should know and
understand the difference between CRM technology and CRM strategy which is defined as
below:
CRM Technology: It works as a central place where major customer information can be
organized, used, securely shared and acquired.
CRM Strategy: These are the processes that organizations put in place to standardize and
optimize the way CRM technology is used
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10.6.3 How to lay the foundation of CRM strategy for the organisation
There are 4 steps which would help in identifying the system for CRM:
● Identify internal challenges: Identify hurdles and bottlenecks that your consumers
might have to face.
● Map the customer journey: Document how your prospects find you, interact with your
brand and consume your content.
● Define your metrics: Define metrics for your sales
● Business Milestones: While finalizing any CRM look for any product launches that
you might think of
Examples of companies showing successful CRM strategy:
1. Westfield: Westfield’s business is all about selling. The company, which owns and
operates 100+ shopping centers worldwide, is expert in helping retailers build thriving
businesses. Westfield’s own business is also flourishing because of a custom lease
management app built on App Cloud that lets the company do more to help its customers
meet their goals. Westfield’s specialty leasing group which sells retail carts, kiosks,
temporary stores, sponsorships, and brand activations, as well as trade shows and other
special events wanted to improve the way its sales reps find and showcase inventory to
customers so they could close more deals, faster.
2. Best technology services: In an industry that competes primarily on costs, Best
Technology Services competes based on its incredible reach. The IT services firm delivers
more than 250,000 field service jobs a year throughout Australia – even in the most remote
locations. And while its competitors rely heavily on partners and subcontractors, Best
Technology Services subcontracts less than 1% of its jobs.The firm has a 300-strong team
that stretches from Sydney to Perth, covering all the regional areas in between. Today, these
technicians are all connected on Salesforce Field Service. So, whether a customer requires a
onetime installation or 700 branch upgrade, Best Technology Services can ensure consistent
results.
Source: https://www.salesforce.com/in/crm/examples/
ACTIVITY
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You own a tech-based company. Create a CRM strategy for the same.
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Place: Marketer has to strengthen the distribution strategies. Distributing small and medium
sized packets through poor roads, over long distances, into the remote areas of rural market
and getting the stockiest to do it accordingly is the challenge being faced in rural marketing
and hence efforts should be made to strengthen the same.
Case Study: Turning sugarcane waste into electricity
Read the case and answer the question that follows.
With energy generated from renewable sources predicted to be among the major sources of
power in the next decade, a company in the Philippines is tackling the challenge head-on and
turning trash into a highly prized commodity.
Biopower is constructing three biomass power stations on Negros, the fourth largest island of
the Philippines, with the aim of producing a total of 72 megawatts of green baseload power to
feed into the local grid as well as for export to surrounding islands.
The key to this clean, green energy is the waste products from the harvest of the local
sugarcane crop. The trash that would previously have been left on the ground once the
sugarcane was taken from the fields, the collection of this waste is a crucial part of
Biopower’s operation and one they’ve entrusted to Case IH, one of the world’s leading
agricultural machinery brands.
“The cane farmers leave the trash after the harvest, and we move into the field with our
equipment and collect it, taking it to the power station for burning in a controlled
environment to produce electricity,” said Paul Coveney, Vice-President Biomass Operations
and Materials Management for Biopower.
Tractors and other associated machinery need to collect the trash and get it to the power
station as quickly and efficiently as possible, Paul said, and Case IH is delivering on every
one of these requirements.
Paul said when looking for an equipment supplier, they recognized Case IH’s position as a
leading provider of technology solutions, with a state-of-the-art machinery line-up that
assisted Biopower in sustaining the fuel supply necessary for their electricity obligations.
The company has purchased over 100 Case IH machines including Farm lift telehandlers and
Farmall, Maxum and Puma tractors through Filho land, the distributor of Case IH machinery
in the Philippines.
“Our operation has a very small window to do what we need to do, so we needed reliable
tractors that could operate continuously, 24 hours a day,” Paul said.
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“The technology in these Case IH tractors has given us that reliability, and along with the
support of Filho land, they deliver what we need in the short time we have.”
For the Biopower staff who operate the fleet of Case IH tractors, there’s no doubting their
satisfaction with the machines. Paul said the operators regularly commented on the ease of
operation, power and speed of the tractors, and the technological features that made their job
easier. Staff also had high praise for the training offered by Filho land on the tractors and
telehandlers.
Biopower has also been able to install GPS-trackers and data loggers into the tractor fleet that
identify each machine’s location and provide detailed information on what they’re doing and
how they’re doing it at any given time—it basically provides a live, real-time overview of the
entire operation.
The Case IH Farmall JX is one of the models used in the Biopower operation, a small tractor
designed with maneuverability, visibility and handling top of mind. Powered by an upgraded
8000 Series, Tier 3 turbo-charged engine to provide optimum fuel efficiency and maximum
power, the Farmall JX also offers logically positioned controls with clear, concise
instrumentation that make tasks less arduous when in the field all day.
Paul said the performance of the Case IH tractors and telehandlers had been everything they
had expected and this, coupled with the 24-hour service and support, service updates and
training provided by Filho land, confirmed they had made the right choice.
When it came to running a high-pressure, round-the-clock operation like that of Biopower,
Paul said it was reassuring to have the peace of mind of reliable machinery, and support and
assistance when and where it was needed.
“My experience in the sugar industry in Australia means I have seen a lot of Case IH
equipment, and know the reputation of their tractors and harvesters, so I had the confidence
in the brand to introduce it here onto Negros,” Paul said.
“Case IH is well-known worldwide, and with a good partner like Filho land I would have no
hesitation in recommending their products to anyone in the Philippines.
“The brand has a great support network, it’s a quality product and that’s important when
you’re running any business.”
Source: https://ruralmarketing.in/stories/turning-sugarcane-waste-into-electricity/
Q On the basis of the case above, assess what factors have led the brand to be successful in
the rural sector.
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10.8 SUMMARY
Service marketing needs a different marketing approach to be followed for them from the
approach used for products as they have certain distinctive characteristics. Marketing mix for
services comprises of 7 P‟s. In addition to the traditional 4 P‟s- product, price, place and
promotion, the additional 3 P‟s is- people, process and physical evidence. Green marketing
refers to the marketing of products that are presumed to be environmentally safe. It aims at
sustainable development. The 4 P‟s of marketing mix is modified for green marketing as the
green products are produced, promoted and is disposable in a manner which does not harm
the environment. The price is relatively high and aims to cut down on transportation
emissions while transporting the goods. Relationship marketing aims to build mutually
satisfying long-term relationships with the key constituents in order to earn and retain their
business. It advocates the philosophy “know your customers”. Rural India is gaining
importance as it offers huge potential market for various goods and services. Large
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population, rising disposable incomes, changing lifestyle of rural consumers and saturating
urban markets are the factors making rural market attractive for the marketers.
In India the retail market is dominated by the unorganized sector.
10.9 GLOSSARY
10.11 REFERENCES
Books:
Chhabra, T.N., Principles of Marketing, Sun India Publication.
Jethwaney Jaishri;Jain Shruti. Advertising Management. 2 ed. Oxford
Kotler, Philip; Keller, Kevin Lane; Koshy, Abraham, and Mithileshwar Jha. Marketing
Management: A South Asian Perspective. 14 ed. Pearson
Levy, Michael; Weitz A Barton; Pandit Ajay. Retail Management. 6ed. Tata Mc Graw-Hill
Lovelock, Christopher; Wirtz Jochen; Chatterjee Jayanta. Services Marketing: People,
Technology, Strategy: A South Asian Perspective. 5 ed. Pearson
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Web links:
http://www.investopedia.com/terms/d/direct-marketing.asp
https://www.boundless.com/marketing/integrated-marketing-communication/the-promotion-
mix/direct-marketing/
http://www.pb.com/smb/solutions/direct-marketing/definition-what-is
http://www.referenceforbusiness.com/encyclopedia/Ca-Clo/Catalog- Marketing.html
http://www.webopedia.com/TERM/I/internet_marketing.html
http://www.studymode.com/essays/Green-Marketing-Concept-776072.html
http://www.ibef.org/industry/services.aspx
http://lexicon.ft.com/term?term=services-marketing
http://www.marketingteacher.com/lesson-store/lesson-services- marketing.html
http://www.managementstudyguide.com/definition-and-characteristics-of- services.htm
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tertiary_sector_of_the_economy
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Category:Service_industries
http://www.wisegeek.org/what-is-services-marketing.htm
http://www.learnmarketing.net/servicemarketingmix.htm
http://www.marketingteacher.com/lesson-store/lesson-services- marketing.html
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Green_marketing
http://www.uow.edu.au/~sharonb/STS300/market/green/article2.html
http://curiosity.discovery.com/question/what-is-green-consumerism
http://www.businessdictionary.com/definition/relationship-marketing.html
http://www.forbes.com/sites/marketshare/2013/05/09/this-is-the-most- important-word-when-
it-comes-to-relationship-marketing/
http://www.appature.com/relationship-marketing.html
http://www.learnmarketing.net/benefitsofrelationshipsmarketing.htm
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Customer_relationship_management
http://www.ibef.org/industry/consumer-markets/indian-rural-market.aspx
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http://www.ibef.org/industry/consumer-markets/indian-rural-market.aspx
http://blogs.rediff.com/shinyvikas/2010/02/22/indias-rural-market-the- fortune-at-the-bottom-
of-the-pyramid/
http://www.mbaskool.com/business-articles/marketing/5455-marketing-mix-from-4ps-to-
4as.html
http://www.ccsenet.org/journal/index.php/ijms/article/viewFile/23573/16443
http://india.gov.in/people-groups/community/rural-indian
https://www.google.co.in/url?sa=t&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&source=web&cd=20&v
ed=0CJwBEBYwCTgK&url=http%3A%2F%2Fmiteshk.webs.com%2FRURALMA
RKETING.pdf&ei=jS9hUoKZG4rprQfh4IC4Cg&usg=AFQjCNH8Q2H3r2mpmCAP
ZHugfY8bIRE3Rw&sig2=R6L1hIoUW-kHg41OZt8YPg
https://www.google.co.in/url?sa=t&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&source=web&cd=7&ca
d=rja&ved=0CFsQFjAG&url=http%3A%2F%2Fbig-consultants.com%2Fwp-
content%2Fuploads%2F2012%2F04%2FIndian-Retail-
Industry.pdf&ei=PCZpUqvLLoX9rAe35YGYBg&usg=AFQjCNEGl86_PCGqQtpsW
1L3uS-8yXaX4w&sig2=uYqCzWNypQ7ZoJqKWiil7w
McCarthy, E. Jerome; Cannon, Joseph P., and William D. Perrault, Jr., Basic Marketing: A
Managerial Approach, McGraw Hills.
“Reliance unit hopes to turn a new page in India‟s retail story” available at:
http://www.livemint.com/Industry/d5u6qxdH3RqbcmY06lyigI/Reliance-unit- hopes-to-turn-
a-new-page-in-Indias-retail-sto.html
“Split with Bharti: Why Walmart will stick to India‟s retail story, despite hurdles” available
at: http://articles.economictimes.indiatimes.com/2013-10- 13/news/42993192_1_fdi-rules-
india-s-easyday
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Content Writers
Ms. Veenu Shankar, Dr Malavika Srivastava,
Dr. Jyotika Bahl, Ms. Shalu Garg,
Dr. Saumya Aggarwal, Dr. Sneha Chaudhry
Academic Coordinator
Mr. Deekshant Awasthi
Published by:
Department of Distance and Continuing Education under
the aegis of Campus of Open Learning/School of Open Learning,
University of Delhi, Delhi-110 007
Printed by:
School of Open Learning, University of Delhi
Human Resource Management
INDEX
Module 1
Lesson 1: Foundations & Contemporary Issues in Managing Human Resources .................. 1
1.1 Learning Objectives
1.2 Introduction
1.3 Foundations of Managing People
1.4 Principles of managing people
1.5 Contemporary Issues behind Human Resource Management
1.6 Indian laws related to Human Resource Management
1.7 Summary
Module 2
Lesson 2: Human Resource Planning .................................................................................... 24
2.1 Learning Objectives
2.2 Introduction
2.3 Human Resource Planning (HRP)
2.4 Quantitative Aspect of HRP
2.5 Downsizing
2.6 Employee Retention
2.7 Summary
Module 3
Lesson 6: Performance Management: Systems &Strategies ............................................... 140
6.1 Learning Objectives
6.2 Introduction
6.3 Concept of Performance Appraisal
6.4 Methods of Performance Appraisal
6.5 Performance Management and Potential Appraisal
6.6 Summary
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Lesson 8: Grievance, Conflict Management & International Dimensions of HRM ............ 218
8.1 Learning Objectives
8.2 Introduction
8.3 Grievance
8.4 Discipline
8.5 Conflict Management and Dispute Resolution
8.6 Employee Engagement
8.7 International Dimensions of HRM
8.8 Summary
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LESSON 1
STRUCTURE
1|Page
The objective of this lesson is to thoroughly understand the concept of Human Resource
Management and its relevance in an organization. After this lesson, a student will be able to
understand the following:
1.2 INTRODUCTION
It has been said that when there is two or more people who exist and work together, the entity
they are working for becomes an organization. For instance, a bank is an organization. An
organization includes people with formal roles who work together to accomplish the
organizational goals. But to keep an eye on organizational goals, we need PEOPLE to manage
PEOPLE and supervise PEOPLE. That’s why, an emerging term, Human Resource
Management comes into the picture. In this lesson, we will see how Human Resource
Management is important for an organization through comprehending some real-life case
studies.
Primarily, there are five M(s) in management: Materials, Machinery, Money, Methods, and
Men. Out of these, “Men”1 is the most important as it steers other 4M(s) to achieve
organizational goals by effectively coordinating and utilizing all available resources. The
significance of human resources cannot be replaced as all the organizations are heavily
1
By “men”, we mean human resources of all genders. Hence, not specific to ‘male’ gender.
2|Page
dependent on them for swift functioning of operations. In this section, we will learn some
fundamentals or foundations of managing people.
1.3.1 What is Human Resource Management?
As we discovered above that human resource is the fifth M of management that helps in
effective coordination and utilization of organizational resources. The process of managing all
human resources of an organization becomes Human Resource Management (or HRM).
HRM “is the process of acquiring, training, appraising, and compensating employees, and of
attending to their labour relations, health & safety, and fairness concerns”.
The term "people at work" refers to a sizable population of people of different genders, ages,
socio-religious affiliations, and educational or literacy levels. In addition to sharing some
traits and behaviour patterns with one another, these people in the workplace also display many
differences. Every person who is a part of an organization has a unique collection of
requirements, motivations, objectives, and experiences. Despite having unique physical and
psychological characteristics, every human being is the outcome of interactions with his
environment as well as his biological inheritance.
3|Page
ACTIVITY
Imagine that you are a human resource manager at XYZ corporation. And you
conduct the following mistakes.
1. Hire the wrong person for the job
2. Waste time with useless interviews
3. People that you hired are leaving your company
Take a moment and discuss your thoughts with yourself only as you might be reading
this book on your own. If you have a bunch of friends around you, that’s even better,
share your reflections on the above 3 mistakes that you conducted hypothetically.
Remember that as a manager, you can do everything else right but still fail at the end. HRM is
about thirty percent of everything else and seventy percent of the mistakes that are mentioned
in above activity. As you go ahead with this book, you’ll learn HRM methods and techniques
that you make an effective human resource manager. The importance of human resource is
summed up in Lawrence Bossidy’s quote:
“I am convinced that nothing we do is more important than hiring and developing people.
At the end of the day, you bet on people, not on strategies.”
4|Page
2
“Authority is the right to make decision, direct others’ work, and give orders”
5|Page
IN-TEXT QUESTIONS
1. Ankur has the right the issue orders and Ankit has the right to assist other
employees. Choose the correct option:
a. Ankur is the line manager and Ankit is the staff manager
b. Both are line managers
c. Ankur is the staff managers and Ankit is the line manager
d. Both are staff managers
2. If you are responsible for accomplishing organizational goals, then you are?
a. Boss b. Manager
c. Supervisor d. CEO
3. ___________ includes people with formal roles who work together to
accomplish the organizational goals.
a. Organization b. Firm
c. Company d. All the above
4. Suppose you are the human resource manager at company XYZ, and the top
management wants you to conduct a survey to comprehend the determinants
that drive employees to perform better. What would you include in the survey?
a. Organizational goals b. Personal Demands
c. Both A and B d. None
6|Page
7|Page
Table 1:
Human Resource Development versus Human Resource Management
Particulars Human Resource Human Resource
Development Management
1. Function It is a proactive function. It is a service and reactive
function.
2. Objective It aims to ameliorate efficiency It aims to develop
of people. professional capabilities of
employees while enhancing
overall organizational culture.
3. Responsibility It is the responsibility of human It is the responsibility of
resource as well as technical human resource manager.
manager.
4. Terminology Human Resource ‘Developers’. Human Resource ‘Managers’.
Even though these two concepts are distinct, they have a lot in common. For instance, they
both require addressing problems. When disagreements emerge inside a company, HR
managers may be relied upon to find innovative, considerate solutions. Similar problem-
solving exercises may be assigned to HR developers when creating new training techniques
and systems. Since both positions need interaction with others, having interpersonal skills
may be advantageous in creating and maintaining positive working relationships between
workers and a company.
Many experts believe that managing people mainly involve five functions: planning,
organizing, staffing, leading, and controlling.
• Planning: In this stage, the planning related to tasks is formulated.
8|Page
• Organizing: In this stage, whatever was planned in the planning stage, is allocated to
each employee.
• Staffing: After organizing stage, most of the times an organization feels lack of
adequate personnel, lack of skilled personnel. Therefore, in this stage, activities such as
recruitment and selection, training and development etc. are focussed.
• Leading: Once you are clear on the staffing process, it is consequential to motivate
and encourage employees. Hence, under this stage, motivation is given utmost
importance.
• Controlling: After planning, organizing, staffing, leading, it becomes important to
check how well an organization has achieved its goals. In this stage, evaluation of the
performance is done and based on that corrective measures are devised.
9|Page
(W) and external opportunities (O) & threats (T) to establish a competitive advantage in the
market. This helps an organization decide its strategy.
Strategic human resource management (SHRM) process is “formulating and executing
human resource policies & practices the produce the employee competencies and behaviours
the company needs to achieve its objectives”. An effective SWOT analysis helps organizations
in their SHRM processes.
1.4.2 The New Human Resource Manager
Earlier, a human resource manager used to focus on only administrative activities like hiring
and firing employees, keeping an eye on compensation management etc. But today the
employer faces several challenges related to the functionalities of an organization. The HR
managers of today are expected:
1. To focus more on big picture issues (or strategic issues)
Human resources are more often used in helping companies address strategic and big
picture issues. As explained above in section 1.4.1, this is known as strategic human
resource management.
2. To focus on improving performance
The human resource managers of today are equally responsible for improving
performance of employees associated with the organization.
3. To measure performances of an employee and give timely results to the organization.
Measurability is another task that is very challenging. Human resource managers make
sure to provide well equipped benchmarks for evaluating current performance of
employees.
4. To manage ethics
Ethics is “the standards that someone uses to decide what his/her conduct should be”.
Human resource managers are also responsible to pen down workplace related ethics.
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IN-TEXT QUESTIONS
5. Developing skills of employees are needed to run business in
a. Short-term b. Medium-term
c. Long-term d. All of the above
6. Which of the following problems can be disguised in organizations?
a. Territorial b. Social
c. Environmental c. Economic
7. _______ is the process of acquiring, training, appraising, and compensating
employees, and of attending to their labour relations, health and safety, and
fairness concerns.
a. HRM b. HRD
c. SHRM d. None of the above
8. Which of the following does not imply the staff functions of human resource
management?
a. Advises the top management (CEO, COO, CFO) on personnel aspects
of an organization
b. Assists in hiring, training, counselling, and firing of employees or
managers
c. Administers benefits programmes like retirement, vacation etc.
d. Looking after profit and loss accounts
9. Suppose you are the CEO of XYZ company, which department should you be
giving your valuable time and efforts?
a. Marketing b. HRM
c. Finance and Operations d. All of the above
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CASE STUDY
The Tata Group
One of India's biggest and most reputable business giants, the Tata Group, has a distinguished
history of implementing some of the best human resources (HR) practices. The group had
significantly grown over the years, necessitating the need for a shared HR platform inside the
organization. A successful group-wide HR strategy was developed and put into practice. It
would be difficult to implement HR policies across all the different entities as many group
companies expand internationally. It remained to be seen if the Tata group would uphold the
basic principles and ideals in its pursuit of development and international enlargement.
Discussion of the difficulties huge corporations have adopting uniform HR rules is made
possible by the case. It also makes it easier to have conversations about employer branding
concerns and how to maintain brand equity in a globalized environment. Students can also
explore Tata's HR initiatives as a model employer, the Tata brand's ability to be sustained in
the face of global competition, and whether growth will dilute the company's reputation.
Questions:
1. Is the Tata Group the best employer in the country? What are reasons for your answer?
2. Visit the Tata Group’s website and list down some of their best employee practices of the
following:
a. Tata Steel
b. Tata Motors
c. Tata Electronic Private Limited
d. Tata Consultancy Services
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Figure 1.2:
Human Resource Manager Competencies
3
An ability or skill required for a task
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IN-TEXT QUESTIONS
10. The responsibilities of HRM managers are now expanded to
a. Tasks b. Organizational Strategies
c. Goals c. None of the above
11. Which is NOT one of the competencies of human resource managers?
a. Leaders b. Strategic Managers
c. Tech Savvy d. Outdated Knowledge
12. ______________gave the 10Cs of the human resource management in the year
_________. Choose the correct option
a. Joshua Stuart in 1997 b. Alan Price in 2007
c. Alan Price in 1997 d. Joshua Stuart in 2007
The laws related to the human resource management (or labour laws) are inspired by British
laws. The widespread perception is that Indian Labour laws (or human resource laws) are
outdated and inflexible. However, India as a country, has implemented various labour laws
catering to industrial relationships, wages, working hours, equality & empowerment of women,
and social security. As an HR manager, one should know the following Indian labour laws.
1.6.1 Laws related to industrial relations
These laws help in establishing cordial relationships between management and human
resources (or labour). There are specifically three laws pertaining to the industrial relations:
1. The Trade Unions Act, 1926
The law was passed even before independence, and it stated that all trade unions should
be registered under this act.
2. The Industrial Employment (Standing Orders) Act, 1946
This law acts as a medium of communication between labour and management.
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The objective of this act is to provide financial relief to the employees in case of any
emergency.
Please note that only a few important labour laws have been mentioned in brief.
Please refer Taxman Labour Laws, 2019 edition for deeper understanding on the labour
laws.
IN-TEXT QUESTIONS
13. One of the employees’ unions of your organizations have started protesting
for their unfair demands. As a manager, you feel that the government can
provide better decision and solutions in this scenario. Which act would
allow government to sort out this tussle?
a. Trade Union Act b. Maternity Act
c. Industrial Dispute Act d. Industrial Employment
14. Aman and Naina are working in the ACG company as HR managers at
the same level. However, Naina’s annual package is 6 lacs lower than that
of Aman’s. Which law can help Naina for her remuneration?
a. Equal Remuneration Act b. Maternity Act
c. Trade Union d. Employee’s State Insurance
15. The full form of SWOT is:
a. Strength, weakness, opportunities, tasks
b. System, weakness, opposition, threats
c. System, weakness, opportunities, threats
d. Strength, weakness, opportunities, threats
1.7 SUMMARY
After reading this lesson, all students should be able to answer what is human resource
management, and why is it important? An adequate understanding of this would help
upcoming managers to not commit any hiring mistakes while hiring personnel for their
organization. The section on the new human resource manager will help the students to work
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on the key competencies that are required for strategizing and creating high performance
work systems. A little snippet on the Indian labour laws will help students to comprehend
employments laws.
1.8 GLOSSARY
Strategy: A course of action the company can pursue to achieve its strategic aims.
Strategic Aims: Strategic aims are nothing but organizational objectives.
Benchmarking: The practice of comparing business models with industrial best standards and
practices.
Competitive Advantage: Any factor that allows an organization to differentiate its product or
services from those of its competitors to enhance market share.
Attrition: The involuntary or voluntary departure of employees from the organization.
Retrenchment: An involuntary firing of employees due to the replacement of labour with
technological advancement.
Mission Statement: Summarizes the answer to the question, “what business are we in”.
Employee Awareness: A level to which an employee knows certain policies, situation,
documents, or any other important information specific to his/her organization.
Interpersonal Skills: Interpersonal skills are “the skills we use every day when we
communicate and interact with other people, both individually and in groups”
1. A 10.B
2. B 11. B
3. D 12. C
4. C 13. C
5. C 14. A
6. A 15. C
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7. A
8. D
9. D
Discussion Questions:
1. Explain the concept of human resource management. Discuss major contemporary
issues associated with the concept.
2. What are the basic differences between line and staff managers? Explain with an
organizational example.
3. Define key competencies of the new human resource manager.
4. How HR managements concepts are relevant to other department in an organization?
Individual/Group Activity:
1. Working individually or in groups, develop an outline showing how trends like
workforce diversity, technological innovation, globalization, and changes in work have
affected the college or university you are attending now. Present in the class.
2. Working individually or in groups, interview an HR manager. Based on that interview,
write a short presentation regarding HR’s role today in building competitive
organizations.
Application Case:
India Cleaning Centers
Priyanka Sharma graduated from State University in June 2010, and after considering several
jobs’ offers, decided to do what she always planned to do – go into business with her father,
Amar Sharma.
Amar opened his first laundromat in 1995 and his second in 1998. The main attraction of these
coin laundry businesses was that they were capital rather than labour intensive. Thus, once the
investment in machinery was made, the stores could be run with just one unskilled attendant
and none of the labour problems one normally expects from being in the retail service business.
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Notwithstanding, Amar had decided by 1999 to expand the services in each of his stores to
include the dry cleaning and pressing of clothes. He embarked, in other words, on a strategy of
‘related diversification’ by adding new services that were related to and consistent with his
existing coin laundry activities. He added these for several reasons. He wanted to better utilise
the unused space in the rather large stores he currently had under lease. Furthermore, he was,
as he put it, “tired of sending out the dry-cleaning ad pressing work that came in from our coin
laundry clients to a dry cleaner 5 miles away, who then took most of what should have been
our profits”. To reflect the new, expanded line of services, he renamed each of his two stores
Indian Cleaning Centres and was sufficiently satisfied with their performance to open four
more of the same type of stores over the next 5 years. Each store had its own site manager and,
on average, about seven employees and annual revenues of about $500,000. It was this six-
store chain that Priyanka joined after graduating.
Her understanding with her father was that she would serve as a trouble-shooter/consultant to
the elder carter with the aim of both learning the business and bringing to it modern
management concepts and techniques for solving the business’s problems and facilitating its
growth.
Questions:
1. Make a list of five specific HR problems you think Indian Cleaning will have to deal
with in future.
2. What would you do first if you were Priyanka Sharma?
1.11 REFERENCES
Becker, B., & Gerhart , B. (1996). The impact of human resource management on
organizational performance: Progress and prospects. Academy of Management Journal.
Bowen, D. E., & Ostroff, C. (2004). Understanding HRM–Firm Performance Linkages: The
Role of the “Strength” of the HRM System. Academy of Management Review, Vol. 29, No. 2.
Dessler, G., & Varkkey, B. (2016). Human Resource Management, Indian Edition. Delhi,
Chennai: Pearson.
Gary, D., & Biju, V. (2016). Human Resource Management, Indian Edition . Delhi, Chennai:
Pearson.
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Becker, B., & Gerhart , B. (1996). The impact of human resource management on
organizational performance: Progress and prospects. Academy of Management Journal.
Bowen, D. E., & Ostroff, C. (2004). Understanding HRM–Firm Performance Linkages: The
Role of the “Strength” of the HRM System. Academy of Management Review, Vol. 29, No. 2.
Dessler, G., & Varkkey, B. (2016). Human Resource Management, Indian Edition. Delhi,
Chennai: Pearson.
Lado, A. A. (2000). Strategic Human Resource Management. Academy of Management
Review, Vol. 25, No. 3.
Ulrich, D., Jon, Y., Brockbank, W., & Ulrich , M. (2012). HR from the Outside In: Six
Competencies for the Future of Human Resources. Newyork, The USA: McGraw Hill
Professional.
Wright, P. M., & Snell, S. A. (1998). Toward a Unifying Framework for Exploring Fit and
Flexibility in Strategic Human Resource Management. Academy of Management Review, Vol.
23, No. 4.
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LESSON 2
HUMAN RESOURCE PLANNING: HIRING, RETAINING &
DOWNSIZING
Dr. Malavika Srivastava
Associate Professor
Institute of Information Technology & Management
GGSIPU
Malavika.iitm@gmail.com
STRUCTURE
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2.8 Glossary
2.9 Answers to In-text Questions
2.10 Self-Assessment Questions
2.11 References
2.12 Suggested Readings
2.2 INTRODUCTION
Human Resource or manpower may be defined as the total knowledge, skills, creative abilities,
talents and aptitudes of an organization’s workforce, as well as the values, attitudes and beliefs
of the individuals involved. It is the sum total of inherited abilities acquired knowledge and
skills represented by the talents and aptitude of the employed person. Thus, Human Resource
includes not only human beings but also their knowledge, skills, attitudes, aptitudes etc. Human
resource is considered the most dynamic resource of the organization. Other factors are useless
without their effective use by the Human Resources Hence, proper management of such a vital
resource in an organization is inevitable for organizational success. With that view let us
understand the concept of Human Resource Management.
Human Resource Management may be defined as that activity in an enterprise which strives to
mould human resources into an effective organization, provides an opportunity for maximum
individual contribution under healthy working conditions, promotes individual development
and encourages confidence and understanding between the employees and the employers and
between the employees themselves.
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Primary to any managerial process are the functions of management. Among these functions
Planning is the vital function of management in any organization. The major focus of planning
is majorly on important tasks like product development, methods of production, procurement
of raw materials, machinery tools etc. implementation of the methods of production, sales and
marketing, quality maintenance and so on. In addition to these, some focus is now being placed
on planning the manpower of the organization, led from the increasing people centrism in
organizations. In commercial and Industrial undertakings, planning has been focused on profit
taking, procurement production, marketing, quality control, and recently on manpower.
Manpower has now been recognised as the intellectual asset, that needs to be procured wisely
and managed effectively in order to utilise them optimally for maximum benefits to the
organization. Human Resource is not only a resource that needs to be planned but is important
as one of the most important factors that is needs for execution of all other organizational plans.
an important part of the overall planning of an organization. HRP is essential to realise all other
plans and putting them into action in order to achieve organizational goals.
In a narrow sense HRP may be defined as the replacement planning which encompasses the
analysis of labour turnover and recruitment policies and developing models for planning
recruitment and promotion of employees. But broadly, HRP is a process that can be realised in
two phases, in the first phase by projecting future manpower requirements and in the second
phase by developing manpower action plans to accommodate the implications of projection.
Thus, manpower planning works for ascertaining objectives, policies and programmes that will
help in developing, utilising and distributing manpower for the achievement of organizational
goals.
In the words of Vetter “In the process of Human Resource Planning, management discuss and
finalise strategies for an organization to bridge the gap between existing manpower condition
to its desired manpower condition.”
2.3.1 Nature of Human Resource Planning:
(i) Manpower planning is forward looking in nature. It aims at ascertaining the future
manpower needs of the organization both in number and kind.
(ii) Human Resource Planning is an integral part of corporate planning. Without a corporate
plan, there can be no manpower plan.
(iii) HRP is a continuous process due to changing demand and supply
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(iv) It presents an inventory of existing manpower of the organization to ascertain the status
of the available personnel and to discover untapped talent presently available with the
organization.
(v) It helps in determining the surplus & deficit of manpower by comparing the total
manpower needs with the present supply of manpower.
(vi) HRP is helpful in case future needs exceeds presently available talent, organizational
programme for recruitment and training begins. And, if the presently available talent
exceeds the future needs, organizational programmes of transfer, deployment,
discharge etc. begins.
ACTIVITY
Considering yourself as a Human Resource Manager, in case of surplus of
employees in your organization, what actions will you take? Enumerate the suitable
steps in sequence.
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appraisal of
Human Objectives of
Resource HRP
Planning
Demand &
Employment
Supply
Program
forecasting
Redeployment
Determine net
and
manpower
redundancy
requirement
plan
forecasting. There are specifically two sources of supply of human resource- Internal
and external. Both are utilised depending upon the nature and type of demand. Internal
supply is considered to be more important in comparison to the external sources. It is
so because of accessible availability. It comprises of the employees working in the
organization who can be promoted or transferred to fill up various vacant positions as
and when required. The only thing needed is the evaluation and tallying of needs with
available supply of personnel to understand their suitability. Tools used for supply
forecasting is HR Audit and Replacement charts This would require an evaluation of
the present personnel abilities, strengths and weaknesses, so as to gauge their suitability
for different jobs. In order to estimate the internal supply of personnel, it is necessary
to conduct HR Audit and prepare replacement charts in advance.
a. Human Resource Audit: Process of HR audit systematically examines the
executive personnel or managers leading to the creation of management
inventories and for non-managerial employees it leads to the preparation of skill
inventories.
b. Replacement Charts: It clearly shows that who will replace whom in the long
run. They are prepared for listing key positions in the organization and
indicating time when it is likely to fall vacant. Also list the most likely
candidates in the organization who ca suitably fills vacancies and the time when
they are ready for promotion.
5. Gap Analysis: Gap is what lies between supply and demand. Manpower planning
experts can identify this gap by comparing demand forecasts with supply forecasts.
With the help of which they will be able to assess either deficit or surplus of human
resources in future. In case of deficit, decisions need to be taken regarding procurement
of human resource i.e., recruitment from outside whereas in case of surplus,
redundancy, redeployment, transfer or retrenchment can be the solution. Gaps can also
be in the form of knowledge, skills and aptitudes. If the employees are found to be
deficient of some specific skills or knowledge, they can be trained on the other hand
employees with higher skills may be diverted into more enriched jobs. As soon as these
gaps are identified, plans are prepared, and appropriate decisions are taken to bridge
these gaps.
6. Redeployment and Redundancy Program: On estimation of surplus manpower, a
decision regarding redeployment/retrenchment of such personnel needs to be taken.
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this decision to be effective major emphasis should be on the quality and quantity of
manpower to be employed. These decisions will lead to processes like recruitment,
selection, placement, transfer, promotion etc.
8. Designing Training Programme: In many cases what is mostly required to fill the gap
between human resource requirement and availability is the skill only and not a new
hire. This requirement can be fulfilled to an extent by just training people in such a way
that they can harness their skills to be utilised for new projects and assignments. Hence,
employees in the organization must be given appropriate training for their and
organization’s benefit. Development programmes should also be designed and
conducted for them so that enrich their knowledge. Long-term
9. Appraisal of HRP: An appraisal of Human Resource Planning process must be made
to check its effectiveness. Deficiencies must be pointed out corrective actions should
also be taken whenever it is feasible and necessary to remove the deficiencies in
manpower planning. An appraisal of the existing manpower plays will also serve as a
guide in the future manpower planning.
IN-TEXT QUESTIONS
1. Manpower planning is _______________ looking in nature.
2. Human Resource Planning identifies gaps in existing manpower in terms of
their quantity and talent. True / False
3. Right Estimation of manpower requirements is the objective of:
a) HRD b) Human Resource Policy
c) Recruitment Process d) Human Resource Planning
4. Examination of number of employees during past five years is
____________________ trends.
5. Planners can identify ____________________ by comparing demand forecast
with supply forecast.
The analysis of manpower planning leads to its two broad aspects, viz. quantitative aspect and
qualitative aspect. The former relates to the determination of the right number of personnel
required for each job in the organization and the later relates to specifying the quality of
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personnel in terms of laying down the educational, professional qualification, work experience,
psychological traits, etc. We will now discuss the quantitative aspect of human resource
planning which consists of the following aspects:
(i) Demand forecasting: estimating future manpower needs by reference to corporate and
functional plans and forecasts of future activity levels.
(ii) Supply forecasting: estimating the supply of manpower by reference to analysis of
current resources and future availability, after allowing for wastage.
(iii) Determining manpower requirements: analysing the demand and supply forecasts to
identify future deficits and surpluses.
(iv) Productivity and cost analysis: analysing manpower productivity, capacity utilization
and cost to identify the need for improvements in productivity or reductions in cost.
(v) Action planning: preparing plans to deal with forecast deficits or surplus of manpower,
to improve utilization and productivity to reduce manpower costs.
(vi) Manpower budgeting and control: setting manpower budgets and standards and
monitoring the implementation of the manpower plans against them
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Demand Supply
Analysis of Human
Resource utilization
Forecast
Deficit/Surplus
Human Resource
Plan
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4. Effect of changing conditions on work and absenteeism: This assessment should cover
factors operating within the firm such as changes in normal weekly hours of work;
overtime policies; holidays; retirement policies; policies for hiring part-timers and shift
system. Trends in absenteeism should also be analysed to trace causes and identify
possible remedial actions.
5. Sources of supply: Internal sources of labour include the output from established
training schemes or management development programmes and the reservoirs of skills
and potential that exist within the organization. Besides that, external sources of supply
are also equally vital source of supply of human resource. The factors which can have
an important bearing on the supply of manpower are listed below:
Local Factors:
i. Population densities within reach of the company
ii. Current and future competition for labour from other employers.
iii. Local unemployment levels.
iv. The traditional pattern of employment, and the availability of people with the required
qualification and skills
v. The output from the local educational system and government or other training
institutes
vi. Availability of part-time labour
vii. Local housing shopping and transport facility
viii. Attractiveness of area or company.
National Factors:
i. Trends in the growth of the working population
ii. National demands for special categories of manpower
iii. The output of the universities, polytechnics and professional institutions.
iv. The effect of changing educational patterns
v. The impact of national government training schemes
vi. The impact of government employment regulation.
2.4.3 Problems in Human Resource Planning:
(i) Identity Crisis: Many managers as well as Human Resource specialists do not
understand the Human Resource Planning process completely. There can be little doubt that
unless the Human Resource specialist develop a strong sense of purpose, they are more likely
to fail.
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(ii) Lack of support from top management: Human Resource Planning cannot be fruitful
without top management support. As planning is always said to happen at the top level,
it needs complete support from them so that it should flow down to the other levels and
are executed in its true sense.
(iii) Insufficient initial efforts: Any sort of planning requires initiation, and so is the case
with Human Resource Planning. After a plan is initiated, it flourishes slowly and
gradually by placing things in place, developing a full proof plan and then executing it
well. Without initiation human resource planning may not come in its required shape
and form to benefit the organization.
(iv) Resistance from employees: Manpower Planning is very often resisted by employees
and trade unions. What lead them towards this is their feeling that if this planning
increase it will result in higher workload and may also restrict them from bargaining.
This also drive them to feel that it would lead to widespread unemployment, especially
for unskilled labour.
(v) Coordination with other Managerial function: Planning is always more fruitful and
effective when done in consultation with others. Similarly, HRP if done after
understanding departmental requirements also through a thorough discussion and
consultation with the departmental managers, it would be much better.
(vi) Expensive and time consuming: Human Resource planning is mostly resisted by the
employers because of the expense associated with it and high time-consuming quality
which in turn increases the overall cost of manpower.
(vii) Uncertainties: Planning is always done for future, and future is always unpredictable
and uncertain. There are various factors like absenteeism, labour turnover,
technological transformations and market fluctuations that feed this uncertainty, that
becomes the biggest constraints to Human Resource Planning.
(viii) Insufficient Information: Planning cannot dwell in the absence of vital information.
If there will be insufficient information regarding HR requirement and availability,
human resource planning cannot be done effectively.
2.4.4 Guidelines for effective Human Resource Planning:
(i) Organised Effort: Human Resource Planning function should be properly organized.
A separate cell, section, or committee may be constituted within the Human Resource
Department to provide adequate focus, and to coordinate the planning efforts at various
levels.
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(ii) Support of top Management: Planning cannot come to the execution stage without
top management. It is essential to ensure the necessary resources, cooperation, and
support for successful Human Resource Planning.
(iii) Adequate Initial Effort: Human Resource Planning fails because of lack of sufficient
initial effort. To be successful, human resource planning should start slowly and expand
gradually. Development of accurate skill inventory and preparation of replacement
charts are an integral parts of manpower planning.
(iv) Coordination with other Management Functions: To be effective, human resource
planners must coordinate with other management functions rather than being totally
absorbed in their own specialized areas keeping themselves aloof from the other
operating managers.
(v) Integration with organization plans: Human Resource Planning must go hand in
hand with the organizational objectives, as the basic objective of HRP is to procure
such human resources in the organization that can contribute to the achievement of
organizational goals. An important requisite for this is open communication between
planners. The organization lacks such integration will fail in planning constructively.
(vi) Involvement of Operating Managers: Human Resource Planning must happen at all
levels and departments of the organization. It is not only the task of the Human
Resource department. The involvement of all operating managers can make the process
much more constructive in nature
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CASE STUDY
RovoNov Testing Ltd. has planned for computerization of nearly 50% of the production
operations and control. It has taken care of all resources in the computerization plan including
human resources. The present inventory of human resources and future requirements of the
production department were specified as given hereunder:
Questions:
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IN-TEXT QUESTIONS
2.5 DOWNSIZING
Downsizing involves organizational restructuring which results in decreasing the size of the
organization and often results in a flatter organizational structure to respond more rapidly to
the pace of environmental changes. Downsizing as a strategy has been adopted throughout the
world to achieve operational economies and increase efficiency to be able to survive and grow
in the uncertain environment. In the context of human resource management, downsizing
involves elimination of certain jobs with a view to improve work efficiency. The organization
reduces staff exceeding its need. As a result, some of the employees get separated from the
organization.
Downsizing may become necessary due to the following reasons:
(i) An organization might suffer from overstaffing due to faulty human resource planning.
(ii) A change in man-machine ratio may occur due to technological advances.
(iii) An organization may start outsourcing some of its business functions. As a result,
people employed in these functions become surplus.
Downsizing may create a feeling of insecurity causing low morale and high stress among
employees. Employees may feel that they are paying the price for mismanagement. Moreover,
when competent employees leave the organization, downsizing may erode the skill base.
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Rightsizing an organization is important but retaining human assets in it is even more important
as ‘a bird in hand is better that two in the bush’, i.e., retaining existing talent in the organization
is much better than hiring new ones. Employee Retention refers to the various policies and
practices which let the employees stick to an organization for a longer period of time.
2.6.1 Importance of Employee Retention:
1. The cost of turnover: Increased turnover leads to increased cost due to new hiring and
training of people in replacement of those who have left the positions vacant and work
incomplete for the organizations to deal with. In order to avoid this cost of turnover,
employees must be retained in the organizations.
2. Loss of Company knowledge: With people moving out of the organizations, their
skills, knowledge, expertise also move out, and regaining the same becomes a difficult
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task for the organizations. Human Resource which is also referred to as intellectual
assets must be retained into the organization as much as possible.
3. Interruption of Customer service: In service industries many a times person
rendering services highly matters as the customers establish rapport with them and
wants to be served by them in future as well. In such a scenario if they will leave the
company, it may also lead to losing the customer as well.
4. Turnover leads to more turnover: Many at times it is observed that a person moving
out of the organization can influence other too to take such steps, leading to mass
resignations increasing the overall turnover of the organization. This may be due to
dissatisfaction, discontent, grievance and so on. In such case the root cause needs to be
found out in order to sort it out.
5. Goodwill of the company: Too many people leaving the organization can go in the
bad name of the company losing its reputation and goodwill, which is vital for
organizational growth and success. Hence, this needs to be dealt with in an efficient
manner.
6. Regaining Efficiency: Efficiency ones lost takes too long to gain back. Efficiency in
terms of knowledge, skill, experience if will be lost with the people turning out of the
organization will again require a lot of time, cost and energy to be regained. Therefore,
retention of employees is given importance in the organizations.
2.6.2 Employee Retention Strategies:
Growth
Opportunities
Grievance Attractive
Redressal Package
Retention
Training &
Recreation
Development
In addition to above there are many other important things that can be taken care of for
higher retention:
1. Most important is to hire the Right Person at the Right Place
2. Empower the employees
3. Make employees realize that they are the most valuable assets of the organization
4. Have faith in the employees, trust them and respect them
5. Furnish them with crucial information
6. Keep providing them feedback on their performance
7. Recognize and appreciate their performance
8. Keep their morale high
9. Create a conducive environment for them to work
Middle High
Low Level
Level Level
Appreciating and Promoting worklife
recognizing a well done Appreciating and effectiveness
job recognizing a well done Understanding
Recognizing professional job employee needs
as well as personal Benefit programs for Encouraging
significant event family support professional training
Providing benefits, Providing convenience and development
perks and workplace at workplace and/or personal growth
convenience opportunities
Providing Training &
Ocassional Stress Development & P Provide an environment
relievers ersonal Growth of trust
Support in tough time opportunites Respect opinions and
and professional crisis suggestions
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IN-TEXT QUESTIONS
11. ____________________ involves organization restructuring resulting in
flatter organizations.
12. Downsizing of workforce is generally implemented through
____________________.
13. VRS is also termed as IRON HANDSHAKE. True / False
14. _______________ is the process in which the employees are encouraged to
remain with the organization for maximum time.
15. Which is not one of the retention strategies:
a) Growth Opportunities b) Authoritative environment
c) T&D d) Recreation
2.7 SUMMARY
For an organization it is very necessary plan each and every function, activity, process
etc. as it is only effective planning that leads to its effective execution. Human Resource being
such a vital asset for any organization, its management needs planning too. Human Resource
Planning forms a base for various other important processes viz. recruitment selection,
deployment, retrenchment and so on. For correct planning it is very important to be aware of
the present state of affairs in the organization, hence, demand and supply forecast of human
resource are referred to as the most important tools for human resource planning. Through this
analysis surplus or deficit of human resource is calculated which works as reference for
decisions regarding recruitment, hiring, retention, downsizing, retrenchment etc.
2.8 GLOSSARY
5. Define Human Resource Planning and outline the steps in the manpower planning
process.
6. Briefly discuss the quantitative aspect of Human Resource Planning.
7. How are the requirements of manpower determined in a large organization? Discuss.
8. “The logical approach to staffing begins with a careful assessment and planning of
current and prospective requirements of human resource”. Comment.
9. Explain the concept of Downsizing. Why is it conducted?
10. Explain the concept of Employee Retention. Explain its importance and strategies for
maintaining it.
2.11 REFERENCES
Vetter, Eric W. (1967). Manpower Planning for High Talent Personnel, Bureau of Industrial
Relations, p. 15
Coleman, Bruce P. (1970). An Integrated System of Manpower Planning. Business Horizon,
Vol. 13, p. 89.
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Flippo, Edwin B. (1981). Personnel Management, McGraw-Hill, New York, 1981. P. 110.
Mathis, Rebert L. and Jackson, John H. (1987). Personnel: Contemporary Perspective and
Applications, West Publishing Company, p. 69.
Mackey, C.B. (1981). Human Resource Planning; A Four Phased Approach. Management
Review, p. 17.
Chhabra, T.N. & Chhabra, Monica S. (1988). Essentials of Human Resource Management, Sun
India Publications, New Delhi, p. 6.3-6.24.
Chhabra, T.N. (2019). Principles and Practices of Management, Dhanpar Rai & Co., Delhi, p.
271.
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LESSON 3
JOB ANALYSIS AND TALENT ACQUISITION
Ms. Shalu Garg
Assistant Professor
Guru Gobind Singh Indraprastha University
shalugarg11901@gmail.com
STRUCTURE
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3.6.2 Induction
3.7 Summary
3.8 Glossary
3.9 Answers to In-text Questions
3.10 Self-Assessment Questions
3.11 References
3.12 Suggested Readings
3.2 INTRODUCTION
This lesson will be very helpful for the future job seekers and job providers. In this lesson we
will be learning how to tackle the problem of over staffing, how we will hire the new
employees, how we will be creating a fit between the right people and the right job. We will
be gaining knowledge about how the job analyser analyses the job, develops job descriptions,
and prepares job specifications. We will also learn how can retain the talented employees so
that they do not leave our organization. We will be looking at various internal and external
sources of recruitment, whole process of selection. And lastly, we will also see how we should
orient the new employee in the organization.
instructs about the tasks, duties, and responsibilities related to the job. The management will
collect the data related to the job and then will analyse it.
The meaning of the terms involved in the Job Analysis:
a) Job- Job means grouping of tasks, positions involving some duties, responsibilities,
knowledge, and skills.
b) Position- Position is the collection of tasks and duties regularly assigned to one person.
c) Duty- Duty is the related to sequence of tasks to be performed.
d) Task- It is a specific activity which has a process and few steps.
e) Occupation- Occupation is grouping of jobs.
f) Job Family- Job family consists of jobs of similar nature like all jobs of doctors.
Job Analysis has two by-products which are Job Description and Job Specification. The
purpose of analysing the job is to develop the differentiation between the various jobs so that
not job is same in the organization as it will lead to duplication of work. Job analysis involves
studying the aptitude required, skills required, level of understanding required for a particular
job. Also analysing the physical and mental characteristics required by the job holder for the
job like personality, confidence, learning skills, communication skills, etc.
3.3.2 Job Description:
Job Description talks about the requirements of a particular job which is necessary before
advertising any vacancy. It is a detailed facts about the job which consists of content related to
the job likes roles and responsibilities of the job. It is a factual written document giving
descriptions about the job.
Details which can be included in Job Description are as follows:
a) Name or the Title of the Job- Like Manager, Financier, CEO (Chief Executive
Officer), CFO (Chief Finance Officer).
b) Location of the Job- It includes the name of the department for which the job would
be advertised.
c) Summary of the Job- It will include the task to be performed in a summarised manner.
d) Usage of Tools, Machines or Equipment- Whatever machinery or tools or equipment
will be used should be described in the job description as it will give indication about
the job.
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e) Nature of Relationship- It should clearly indicate the nature of relationship of job with
other jobs in the organization as it will give clearer picture about the job.
f) Work Environment- For interpreting the work environment, condition of work,
condition of physical environment all should be written under job description.
3.3.3 Job Specification:
Job Specifications talks about the requirements of a job. It translates the job descriptions into
physical characteristics which are necessary to perform a job. These are the minimum
acceptable qualities of human beings which should be possessed for a particular job.
The Job Specifications include:
a) Mental Skills
b) Educational Qualifications
c) Training
d) Experience
e) Health
f) Personality
g) Creativity
h) Initiative
i) Aptitude
j) Interests
Job Specifications serve as a guide which helps the management in hiring right people for the
right job. It acts as a parameter which needs to be fulfilled for the candidates and helps the
management in judging the eligible candidates.
3.3.4 Comparison between Job Description and Job Specification:
S.No. Basis Job Description Job Specification
1. Meaning Job Description talks about Job Specifications talks about the
the contents of a particular job qualities required for a job.
2. Importance It is important to define the It is important because it aids in
job. recruitment, selection, etc.
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d) Placement- With the job analysis, the interests, knowledge, skills all these traits can be
matched with the potential employees, and they can be hired and placed to the right
positions in the organization according to their abilities.
e) Training and development- If the employees are clearly acquainted with what is
expected from them then they can also indulge in some skill development and training.
f) Job Evaluation- Evaluating the job will help in fixing the compensation for that job.
Job description helps in knowing the worth of the job to calculate the remuneration for
the job.
g) Performance Appraisal- Job analysis gives the benchmarks or the yardsticks against
which the performance of the employees can be judged. The standards can be matched
with the actual performance of the employee, whether he is able to achieve the targets
given top him or not.
h) Employee Counselling- The employees which are not able to cope with the present job
according to the needs of the job then they can be guided and counselled to adopt
another job which will relate to their domain.
i) Job Design- Job analysis helps in designing the jobs according to the specifications and
descriptions. It also helps in re formulating some jobs.
j) Organisational Design- Job analysis helps in grouping and classifying different types
of jobs which helps in building the structure of organization in terms of authority and
relationship building.
k) Safety and Health- Lastly, job analysis helps in finding the work environment which
guides any hazardous conditions of working or any unhealthy environment. There can
be dust, heat or noise in the industry which can cause issues to the employees.
3.3.6 Process of Job Analysis:
There are number of steps in the process of Job Analysis which are discussed below:
a) Organisational Analysis- The very first most step in the process of Job Analysis is to
find the number of jobs available in the organization to know the linkages and the
relationship between them. It would help the job analyser to know the goals and the
objectives of the organisation and in developing the jobs.
b) Acquiring Knowledge about Jobs- It is critically important to know all the job titles
available in the organization because sometimes the titles which are similar are not
related and vice-versa. After knowing the tittles, the analyser would fetch information
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related to different jobs. The information should answer what, when why and how about
the job.
c) Taking Samples for Jobs- The analyser of course could not analyse all the jobs so he
takes some jobs which will be acting as a representative of other jobs for analysing and
judging.
d) Gathering Information- Now the question arises is who will collect all the required
information. So, the analyser can take the help from trained officials from outside or
can take help from the staff already working in the organization.
e) Data Collection- After this is decided that who is going to collect the data, the phase
of data collection comes into picture. Now the data collection should involve the duties,
tasks, role, responsibilities, etc. related to the job.
f) Development of Job Descriptions- The information which is gathered will be used to
prepare a factual statement describing the roles and responsibilities which are required
for performing a job.
g) Preparation of Job Specifications- The last step is to prepare the specifications for
the job which will specify the physical and mental characteristics required to perform a
job.
3.3.7 Techniques of Data Collection for Job Analysis:
There are some techniques which are used by the management for collecting the data for
analysing the various jobs which are explained below:
a) Questionnaires- The questionnaire is a popular method of collecting data for analysing
jobs. It is distributed to the employees and supervisors for fetching the information. It
consists of questions related to the description of duties, working conditions, tasks,
responsibilities, etc. This method would be impactful if the respondents understand the
questions carefully and provide the answers with objectivity.
b) Written Narratives- In the organizations where the supervisors maintain detailed
records of their tasks, timings of the task, this information can serve as written
narratives. This method is little unsystematic and unorganised. This method should be
coupled with other methods so as to fetch the correct details.
c) Observation- In this method, the analyser of the job observes the workers performing
their tasks, duties, and responsibilities. After observing, he makes the notes for the
same. But this method has limited applicability because observing every job is not an
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easy task. For example, observing the salesman would mean that the analyst should
follow him wherever he goes to sell his products for several days.
d) Log Records- Under this method, job holders are provided with a logbook under which
they need to enter every detail of the work performed. The type of tasks they have done,
type of duties they have performed, starting time, and ending time of each work. But
this logbook provides incomplete information because it does not consist of the type of
equipment used, the type of machine used, and the type of tools used. And also, it
suffers from one more limitation that is not everyone will maintain this logbook
properly and enter every detail. This method is used for the jobs which are not easy to
observe, like job of scientists, senior executives, researchers, etc.
e) Interviewing- Under this method, the job analyst interviews the employee and the
supervisor of the employee to get the information about the job. From this method, the
job analyst can easily get the information related to the job. Structured questions can be
asked to fetch the information from the job holder and the supervisors. After this the
job analyst can make judgements which information is useful for his job designing.
ACTIVITY
Suppose you are given the responsibility of hiring a financier for your company.
Prepare the job descriptions and job specifications for the job of financier.
IN-TEXT QUESTIONS
6. The two by products of Job Analysis are _____ and ______
7. Observing is one of the techniques of data collection. True/False.
8. The _______ explains the characteristics of the job.
9. Job Specifications explains the roles and responsibilities of the job. True/False.
10. Does safety and health are
11. 5included in Job Analysis? Yes/No.
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CASE STUDY
A Case Study on Job Analysis
ABC Pesticides Company is 9-year-old pesticides making company in Kerala,
decided to expand their business in 4 other states namely Jammu, Gujrat, Punjab and
Maharashtra where the product is having good demand. They planned to approach farmers
directly to understand their demands and also the dealers in the said state to establish the
products.
Mr. Arjun is the head of HR department of the company. The senior executive told him to
select four best candidates for marketing purpose who can sell company’s product and
capture good market share. Mr. Arjun started finding the best personnel for this task and
found four candidates who have good experience and have good track record in top
pesticides making companies. So, Mr. Arjun selected these four candidates and also
introduced them to the senior executive and assigned them with their duties and
responsibilities.
After a month, the senior executive was very disappointed with the performance of these
candidates who have been placed. He called up Mr. Arjun and gave him the feedback about
all those candidates. He told Arjun that only one candidate was able to bring the business
from one state, rest of the candidates didn’t add in the business anything and also, they are
quitting. He also added that Mr. Arjun shouldn’t be paid as he was unable to do his basic
HR job.
1. What went wrong in the case?
2. Who is at fault the senior executive or Mr. Arjun or the three failed candidates?
3. How can the pesticides company come out of this issue?
4. What are the HR concepts that you can correlate with this case?
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3.4.1 Downsizing:
Downsizing refers to the process of reducing the number of employees in the organization. It
involves terminating the contract of many employees at the same time. Downsizing is also
referred to as Restructuring or Rightsizing. It leads to flat structure of organization which is
more competitive and eligible to adopt to the threats and opportunities coming. It is a planned
and deliberate action taken by management to reduce the number of staff in the organization.
During downsizing, many workers are waved off and others are forced to work in the
environment which is not certain. Downsizing is a permanent reduction of the employees
unlike the case of layoff which is a temporary elimination of employees. An organization can
also give option of VRS (Voluntary Retirement Scheme)
There can be various reasons for downsizing-
a) Reducing the increased expenses of the organization.
b) Improving the company’s overall operations.
c) Removing the unprofitable projects which will lead to termination of jobs.
d) Meeting the challenges of the environment.
e) Upgradation of technology due to which some employees become obsolete.
f) Changing the location of the business like moving the business from one place to
another which will create difficulty for some of the employees.
g) Solving the problem of overstaff.
h) Reducing duplicate work.
i) To save the organization from recession like in the case of Covid.
j) To adapt to the latest technology.
k) Giving more concentration on core activities and outsourcing the non-core activities.
Measures taken by Human Resource Manager during Downsizing:
a) Communicating with Employees- HR manager plays a critical role during downsizing
as he plays the mediating role between the management and the employees. He conveys
the reasons for the termination of employees. If the manager will communicate
everything positively then chances of negative word of mouth and rumours about the
organization will get somehow reduced.
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b) Gaining Employee’s Union Trust- The manager should gain the support of trade
union by convincing them the need for downsizing. To tackle union can become a
challenge for the management because the union can protest against the organization.
In India, this policy is much opposed by the trade unions.
c) Giving Outplacement Services- The manager can help the displaced employees in
finding alternate jobs by referring them in other organizations or by finding them other
jobs or by helping them in preparing resume according to the industry’s requirement or
helping them with career counselling.
d) Looking at Other Possible Alternatives- The HR manager should try to convince the
top-level management that downsizing should be the last option, first try other
alternatives which can help in overcoming the problem of over staffing. The various
alternatives can be:
i. Reducing the number of work hours of all the current employees which will
lead to cost reduction and the termination of employees will not be required.
ii. If the number of employees is more in one department, then they can be shifted
to some other department which in understaffed.
iii. Giving the option of VRS to the employees.
iv. Laying-off employees which mean temporary elimination of the workers for
some period of time so as to cut down the cost.
ACTIVITY
You are working as the HR manager in ABC company, due to Covid your
business has faced recession. Earlier the company had 120 employees but now
the production of the company got reduced. So, what all other alternatives can
you take except permanently eliminating the workforce?
3.4.2 Retention:
Acquiring talent is not only the challenge faced by the organization, but the bigger challenge
is to retain those employees with the organization for a longer period. There are lots of
opportunities for talented people out there also the problem of poaching and raiding is going
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on there in the industry. If we will not provide the employees with job satisfaction and with all
the facilities, then they may switch to a job with higher pay and higher facilities.
Measures for Retention of Talent:
a) Acquiring Right Talent- It is very important to employ the right people for the right
job as if they will properly fit in the job then they would feel more satisfied with their
work. If there is a misfit between the employee and the job then that employee should
be transferred to the department where he fits well according to his interest,
qualifications, and skills.
b) Providing Attractive Remuneration- If the management wants to retain their current
employees, then it should provide them with good compensation packages so that they
cannot be easily poached.
c) Encouraging the Involvement of Employees- When the management engages their
employees in the decision-making, planning, and formulating of strategies then the
employees feel that they are being valued and they are a vital part of the organisation.
This will increase the loyalty and the commitment of the employees towards the
organization.
d) Challenging Projects- Providing the motivated employees with meaningful and
challenging projects makes them feel satisfied and increases their dedication towards
their work and organization.
e) Recognising Performance- When the employees are recognised for their work, they
feel being valued in the organization because their work is getting appreciated and
praised. This will improve their relationship with the management.
f) Job Security- For retaining the employees, the very simple step a management can
make is to provide the employees with the job security. Some employees prefer secured
jobs even if they are offering little less pay than the unsecured jobs. So, if the employees
feel job insecurity, they may leave our organization for a secured job.
g) Career Development- The employees at higher positions want professional growth
also with the personal growth. So, the organization should try to inculcate some sort of
training programmes for such employees so that they can advance in their careers
simultaneously with their work schedule.
h) Positive Work Environment- Last but not the least, the organization should provide
the employees with positive and cordial work environment. The atmosphere of the
workplace leads a great impact on the effectiveness and the efficiency of the employee.
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ACTIVITY
Imagine you are the manager of the company, and your rival company is
poaching your talented employees.
What all measures will you take to retain your employees?
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collecting various applications, the human resource department advertises the vacancy in
various sources so that people can apply.
Process of Recruitment-
a) Identification of various sources from where personnel can be attracted.
b) Analysing their feasibility and viability.
c) Choosing the appropriate source which will provide us with the desired candidates.
d) Inviting applications from the candidates for the vacant positions.
The scope of recruitment is widespread, and the prospective and potential employees can be
invited from various internal sources and external sources.
Internal Sources- Internal sources of recruitment means when we recruit the employees which
are already working in the organization. Sometimes, the candidate which is required by the
organization is easily available inside the organization only. So, there is no need to hunt the
employees from outside sources.
There are three types of internal sources which are given below:
a) Transfer- Transfer means when an employee is shifted from one job to another, one
unit to other or from one shift to another which carries same set of responsibilities,
compensation, and same designation. It is generally done so that the problem of over
staffing can be overcome. Transfer is a horizontal shift of the employee in the job status.
For example, a manager of a company is shifted from its Mumbai branch to Delhi
branch.
b) Promotion- Promotion means when an employee is shifted to a job with greater set of
responsibilities, higher compensation and with higher position. Promotion is a vertical
shift of an employee in terms of job status. The existing employees may be given some
sort of training for getting promoted to higher positions or higher designations.
Promotion acts as a motivating factor for the employees to work harder in the organization.
For example, promoting an eligible Assistant Professor to the vacant position of
Associate Professor.
c) Re-employment of Ex-employees- Re-employment of existing employees means
employing the people who was working with the organization in the past but left the
organization due to some personal reasons. It is cheaper for the organization to
employee the ex-employees as the company already have a data of them and the
organization knows them too well.
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unskilled workers can be kept at temporary basis, and they are also known as Budli
Workers.
b) Casual Callers- In many reputed organizations, qualified people also approach by
sending their CV. These people can be called whenever the need arises and are also
called Unsolicited Applicants. The organization can maintain a file of these applications
so that whenever vacancy is there, these people can be called.
c) Advertising- Advertising the vacant position has become a fashion these days as it
helps in getting applications from world-wide. The advertisement can contain the
minimum qualifications necessary to appear for the interview which will weed out some
unsuitable candidates.
d) Employment Exchanges- There are some employment exchanges made by
government under which government has also made it mandatory top fill some
vacancies through these exchanges.
e) Placement Agencies- Like employment agencies there is a network of private
companies which provide personnel. These professional companies provide various
categories of personnel to the organizations.
f) Management Consultants- Management consultancy firms specialise in providing the
personnel, the also advertise the vacancy on the behalf of their clients (organizations).
These consultants have a data bank of qualified personnel and specialises in providing
top-level and middle- level executives.
g) Campus Recruitment- Campus recruitment is a very popular method of finding
qualified personnel as in colleges they complete their degrees which makes them
qualified for the job. The organizations can visit the institutions and can conduct
interviews there to find the suitable candidates.
h) Recommendations or Referrals- The organizations prefer referrals of the existing
employees as some knowledge of their background can be easily found. Also, the
recommendation by some business friends, family also acts as a good source of
recruitment.
i) Labour Contractors- Labour contractor b rings labour in the organization, while he
also works in the same organization. But there is a limitation in this method that if the
labour contractor leaves the organization, then the labour which he brought will also
leave with him. So, this method is not very popular but used in construction industries
even nowadays.
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j) Web Publishing- Nowadays putting advertisement on the internet has gained a lot of
popularity. Even some websites are also meant specifically for job findings like
www.naukri.com and www.jobstreet.com, etc.
k) Telecasting- When the organization posts the vacant position on television through
some channels like Door darshan, this method is called telecasting. The advertisement
should be with every details along with the job specification.
Advantages of External Sources:
a) When we use external sources, qualified personnel can be attracted.
b) When the advertisement is given in newspaper, the organization receives lots of
applications and has a wider choice to choose from.
c) Fresh and young blood can be catered to when the organization hires the employees
from the external sources which is not possible in the case of the internal source of
recruitment.
d) If the organization caters to external sources, then the existing employees will work
harder to prove their worth to the organisation.
Limitations of External Sources:
a) When the organization caters to the external sources for recruitment, it acts as a source
of dissatisfaction among the existing employees.
b) The hiring from the external sources is a time-consuming process.
c) Also, the hiring the employees form the external environment is a costly affair as
searching candidates needs investment in the whole procedure.
d) Uncertainty factor is there when hiring from external sources as there is no guarantee
of finding the right person for the right job.
Comparison of Internal Recruitment and External Recruitment:
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4. Fresh Talent Fresh talent cannot be found Fresh talent can be found out
out. easily.
5. Time taken It is a quick process. It is a time-consuming process.
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ACTIVITY
Imagine you have been appointed as a recruiting manager in an Automobile
Industry in India, how will you recruit for entry level positions in different
departments.
Prepare a draft for the same in brief.
IN-TEXT QUESTIONS
11. Write down the two sources of external recruitment- _____ and ______.
12. Does employment exchange a part of internal source of recruitment?
True/False.
13. Downsizing involves VRS. Yes/No.
14. Is promotion a part of internal source of recruitment? True/False.
15. _______is the process of gathering a pool of applications.
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CASE STUDY
The XYZ Company Recruitment Process
One of the most notable statements of the CEO of XYZ Company is that “XYZ
Company invests in people.” The main reason why people from different cultures, have
been dreaming of being recruited and hired by XYZ Company is that the company offers
possibly the most outstanding job compensation packages any normal employee could ever
enjoy.
In order to attract the best employees, XYZ Company draws them by the promise of wealth
and luxury, providing their employees with almost everything an employee could possibly
need, from absurdly high compensations to extravagant and luxurious benefits like gourmet
food, carwash, gym, snacks, exercise classes, dry cleaning services, car services, haircuts,
oil changes, massages, check-ups and many more, all for free.
Nevertheless, the recruitment process was also far beyond ordinary. Several people who
have had experience in the XYZ Company recruitment process narrates that the experience
was totally nerve-wracking. One applicant who underwent interviews for XYZ Company
has had five to seven interviews in one day for two to three straight days. That applicant
claims that the interviews were really tough with some of the brightest people in the world,
conducting the interviews filled with brain teasers, algorithmic problems, and IQ tests.
Another applicant who also have had experiences in the recruitment process of XYZ
Company claims that his XYZ Company experience was one of the most nerve-wracking
adventures of his life. The interviewers were looking for extremely bright individuals and
so the recruitment method was filled with IQ tests, brain teasers, algorithms, data structures,
and a lot of mathematics involved in it.
Questions:
1. How was the experience of the employees of the recruitment process at the XYZ
Company?
2. Why the XYZ company was so popular regarding its recruitment?
3. How the XYZ company finds the most suitable candidate for the company?
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3.6.1 Selection:
Selection is the process of choosing the right candidate for the right job. It involves
screening the various applications and from them choosing the best candidate which fits
optimally for the required position. It is the process of differentiation which differentiates a
candidate from the other based on skills, talent, and qualifications.
Selection is a negative process because it involves rejection. In the process of selection,
the selection committee rejects the unsuitable candidates from the list of the candidates. There
are various stages to weed out certain candidates for a job.
Selection is a vital process for the organisation as it involves lot of time and money of
the organisation. It is the process including heavy investment. If the employer has chosen the
wrong candidate for a job in consideration, then there will be a loss of time, money, and effort
which was used during the selection period of the employee. Hence, a systematic procedure for
selecting employee should be made by the organization so that right people can be employed.
Every phase in the process of selection procedure should be eligible in getting more
and more knowledge about the various applicants or candidates. When the company will select
right people for the right job then the employee will prove to be an asset for the business and
lead the business to great heights.
The benefits for selecting right candidate are as follows:
a) Rate of Absenteeism- When right candidate is employees which is dedicated towards
the organisation then he the rate of absenteeism will also get reduced.
b) Labour Turnover- When the employees feel satisfied with the organisation and they
are valued then they do not think about switching their jobs and therefore, the labour
turnover also gets reduced.
c) Rate of Industrial Accidents- When suitable candidate who have knowledge and skills
about that job then the chances for industrial accidents will also be less.
d) Job Satisfaction- When employees have the job of their interest, and which is of their
choice then they feel more satisfied with their jobs and contended towards the
organisation. It will also increase their efficiency.
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When we have recruitment plan ready, and we have plenty of options to choose from then we
can start with the process of Selection. The process of selection involves various steps to choose
the right candidate to choose for the present job or for the future opening of the job. The
responsibility for hiring people lies with the managers and supervisors but Human Resource
Management also plays a critical role in helping the managers in the process of selection. HRM
helps in providing the guidelines and defining the roles for which job openings are there. The
process of selection is an expensive process because of the amount of money and time involved.
The process of hiring involves screening out the various applications, then weighing the
resumes which are more superior than the others.
ACTIVITY
Visit yours or another person’s LinkedIn page. Consider the content from an
interviewer’s point of view. Should anything be removed or changed?
The candidates must pass through various stages during the process of selection. He has
different hurdles in front of him and if he is not able to clear a hurdle then he won’t be
proceeded to the further stages.
The process of Selection included various steps which are given below:
a) Preliminary Interview- The first most step in the process of selection is the interview
of the candidates. It is generally brief in nature and weeds out the unsuitable candidates
in the earlier stage only. For example, the qualifications which is necessary for the job,
or the experience required or some kind of training, all these are not possessed by a
candidate then he stands unsuitable for further stages in the process of selection. He
would be eliminated then and there only.
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The candidate who clears the interview will be allowed to fill the application form for more
details of the candidate. This step helps the employer as well as employee.
The benefits of the preliminary interview:
i. To Applicant- Applicant does not have to pass through the long process of selection if
he is unsuitable for a particular job then he will be saved from getting troubled by giving
all the tests taken by the organization.
ii. To Organization- Organization can save its money and the expenses which would have
been on the unsuitable candidate if the organization takes him to the remaining steps of
the process.
b) Screening of Application Forms- After preliminary interviews the candidates which
are still suitable for the vacant position can be provided with application form wither in
the physical form or the form can be downloaded from the organization’s website. The
application form should be very simple and incorporate all questions which can fetch
the details required of the applicant. The form is required to have a written record of
the qualifications, experience, skills possessed and other qualities of the applicant.
Usefulness of Application Forms-
i. Application form give detailed knowledge about the candidate to the interviewer.
ii. The record can be collected in written from through application forms.
iii. It makes the processing of the applications an easy task.
iv. It helps in eliminating unsuitable candidates.
v. It also helps in taking the suitable candidates to the next stage of employment tests.
c) Employment Tests- These tests are mostly used by the organization to select the
candidates for various jobs. These tests help in matching the right person for the right
job. All the individuals are different from each other in the form of qualifications, skills
acquired, mental capacity, potential to learn and their personality. S these various
employment tests helps in knowing the candidate better.
The following are the employment tests which can be taken by the organization to select
suitable personnel:
i. Intelligence Tests- These tests check the mental capacity of the candidates. These tests
see the ability of the candidates to learn, to understand, to recall and to catch. These tests
also check the reasoning and judgements made by the candidates in the given situations.
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These tests measure the logical ability of the candidates. There are different types of
intelligence tests made by the psychologists, these can be verbal or non-verbal in nature.
ii. Aptitude Tests- Aptitude tests measure the potential of the candidates to learn and adapt
any new skills which are required for the job. It checks whether there is capacity and
motivation among candidates for learning. These tests help the organization in knowing
whether the candidate will be able to adapt to the new situations and the problems which
will arise in the business in the coming future.
iii. Occupational Tests or Professional Tests- These tests are also called as Proficiency
tests, Performance tests or trade tests. These test helps in measuring the skills already
possessed by the candidates. Proficiency tests are different from aptitude tests as the
former measures the skills already acquired by the candidate while the latter measures
the potential of learning new skill by the candidate. Trade tests take some sample of
candidate’s behaviour which will replicate his actual behaviour.
iv. Interest Tests- These tests measure the level of interest of the candidates in different
areas. These tests help in finding the right job for the candidate according to his interests.
v. Personality Tests- These tests help in knowing the different personalities of the
candidates. It reflects their interests, their qualities, their aptitude in a combined manner.
It shows how much mature the candidate is, his emotional side and many more aspects
which does not came out from the other tests conducted.
d) Employment Interview-After all the employment tests has been conducted, the
candidates which clears these tests are called for the final interview. It would be
conducted by the board members consisting of the Human Resource Manager and the
people from other departments. This interview will check whether the candidate is
suitable or not and also give him clearer picture about the role and responsibilities of
the vacant position. In interview, there is a face-to-face conversation between the board
members and the candidate. Apart from oral communication there is also constant
observation regarding body language, confidence and situation handling of the
candidate. The conducting interviews are very important for the organisation.
Importance of Interviews:
i. Face-to-face Contact- There is a face-to-face communication which helps in knowing
more personality traits of the candidate.
ii. More Information- The candidate can also get more knowledge about the organization
and the job and therefore improves understanding about the role of the job.
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ACTIVITY
A new HR manager has been appointed in the company and you are the assistant
of that HR manager. You are given the task of preparing the manager for taking
interviews. At the point when you offer assistance to manager, he says he has
talked with many individuals and needn't bother with your assist in arranging the
meeting with handling. At the point when you sit in the meeting with him, he poses
improper inquiries that you do not feel truly evaluates the capacities of the
competitors. How might you deal with this?
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CASE STUDY
The XYZ Interview Process
In 2013, Since XYZ company is known to be the ultimate recruitment and selection
machine, its processes are also the most gruelling experiences an applicant could ever have.
Usually, the interviews begin using the telephone. Once the phone interviews conducted
have been successful, the applicant would be scheduled by the recruitment officer and be
invited for a series of five to ten interviews in one day with ten different people. Some
people who have successfully undergone this process, described it as the most excruciating
employment experience of their lives as a lot of mental gymnastics were necessary to prove
your skills.
There were many instances when the applicants were asked to write codes, brainstorm, role
play or solve mathematical equations on the spot just to prove that they are highly skilled
and competent. In other instances, the applicants are even tested of their marketing skills
even though the position an applicant is applying for is highly technical. The interviewers
seem to have control and power over the applicants letting them do everything just to prove
that they are worthy for the position. Common questions involved computer network
problems, Java programming and algorithms by which XYZ company is known for.
Moreover, other applicants can rate and share comments on another applicant which XYZ
Company can track and use as another basis for hiring or not hiring an applicant. Overall,
the process was a lengthy, tedious and nerve-wracking experience which can possibly
traumatize anyone whose dream is to work for one of the most prestigious companies in the
world. Nevertheless, the perks and benefits are limitless and are more than enough to
compensate for such a tough employment experience.
Questions:
1. Was the interview process too time consuming for the organization?
2. How this system can be shortened and made simpler? Give your suggestions.
3. Does this process actually able to analyse the skills of the interviewee?
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3.6.2 Induction:
When the whole procedure of selection has been done, and the candidate is given
appointment letter, then comes the turn for the induction process. Induction is the process in
which the employee is introduced to the organization. It is the process of orientation where the
employee is welcomed at made to feel at home in the organization. This process is the first
communication between the new employee and the existing employees. It helps in building
cordial relationship among all the employees.
The whole process of orientation helps the new employee in knowing everyone in the
organization and to get adjusted smoothly with his colleagues. He also gets acquainted with
the work environment. A senior employee has been delegated with the work of systematically
introducing the new joiner to the whole organization. Every organization has different ways of
orientation. Some companies show some small video depicting the company’s past and the
company’s mission and future vision. The new joiner is also given information about the lunch
break, washroom facilities, canteen facilities, tea breaks, etc.
The objectives of Induction are-
a) To build the confidence of the newcomer.
b) To give the new employee all the necessary information.
c) To develop cordial relationships among all the employees.
d) To develop a positive attitude of the new employee towards the organization.
e) To develop a sense of belonging to the organization.
Benefits of Induction-
a) It encourages developing two-way communication between the new employee and the
management.
b) It helps in reducing the nervousness of the new employee.
c) It helps in knowing what the new employee is expecting from the organisation.
d) It fosters developing positive attitude towards the company.
e) It reduces the time of socialisation process.
Induction Procedure-
a) New employee has been provided with the timings and the place where he needs to
work.
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b) When the new employee comes for the duty, the senior employee should meet him and
welcome him.
c) All information related to working hours, number of leaves available, medical leaves
should be conveyed to the employee.
d) After this an introduction to the department should be given in which he will work and
to whom he will report should be told to him.
e) Some printed material related to information should also be provided to the employee
apart from the oral communication.
f) The orientation programme should be conducted by the senior employee who is well
versed with the organization so that he leaves a positive impression about the
organization on the new employee.
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CASE STUDY
XYZ company, a FMCG company recruited ten new employees. On the very first day of the
introduction, the manager of the company introduces the new employees with the company. Also, the
manager gave instructions to the new employees about the company’s rules and regulations, the
timings of the break, the dress code which needs to be followed in the company. The induction
program lasted till lunch.
After lunch, the manager took all the employees on a guided tour in a company van to all the
departments. Meanwhile, the employees were not given any work or training in the initial two days.
And they were asked to acquaint themselves with each other. It will help them in knowing the
company informally.
On the first day, the workers were extremely formal and amiable to one another. They asked their
names and data about one another's instructive foundation and past work insight. On the subsequent
day, they talked about their perspectives on different issues - public governmental issues, global
governmental issues, social issues, changes in innovation, contamination, and business morals, etc.
Assuming any individual offered any expression on any issue, individuals who concurred with him
talked in his help. Most individuals who couldn't help contradicting him didn't stand up. Regardless
of whether they communicated their conflict, they did not do it in a strong way and stayed away from
contentions.
Following two days, the new representatives were given preparation for a week and afterward they
were appointed work obligations and obligations. As they worked, connection among them expanded.
A few representatives fanned sub-gatherings. Assuming contrasts in feelings emerged on any issue,
workers contended fervently and were upheld by their sub-bunch. Following a couple of months, the
representatives got comfortable with their work. They additionally understood the significance of
collaboration and coordination in finishing the work without a hitch. The representatives additionally
educated the significance of tuning in. They attempted to pay attention to their associates' perspectives
and figure out their perspective. Thusly, the recurrence of brutal contentions diminished, and the
workplace moved along. Every individual from the gathering had the option to straightforwardly
communicate his perspectives. The gathering took choices solely after thinking about the assessments
of the relative multitude of individuals. Since everyone partook in navigation and arranging, the
gathering had little trouble in execution. The gathering finished any venture allocated to it effectively.
1. What is the type of group described in the above case?
2. How the group developed in company XYZ?
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IN-TEXT QUESTIONS
16. ______ is the process of choosing the right people for the right job.
17. Induction helps in creating two-way communication between the management
and the employee. True/False.
18. ______ is the process of introducing the new employee to the organization.
19. Selection precedes Recruitment. True/False.
20. Recruitment acts as a base for the process of selection. Yes/No.
ACTIVITY
Suppose you are appointed as the HR Manager of ABC Company which is a fastest
growing company in a FMCG industry. The company needs to hire some interns,
so keeping this in mind explain the procedure of recruiting and selecting the
personnel.
Write the steps in brief.
3.7 SUMMARY
This lesson taught us the job analysis, the two by-products of job analysis, recruitment process,
selection process, induction process. We have also learnt the meaning of downsizing and how
it should be introduced in the organization to face less resistance from the employees and how
can we retain our talented employees in the organization.
3.8 GLOSSARY
Poaching- Hiring the employees of the rival companies by giving greed of money and
facilities.
Compensation- All the remuneration given by the employer to the employee.
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11. Considering yourself as a Human Resource Manager, answer the following question:
(a) What will your workforce look like when the “new normal” becomes the actual norm?
12. Consider yourself as an employee of the company and try answering the following
questions:
(a) How likely are you to stay at this organization if you were to receive a 10% salary
increase from another organization?
(b) How enthusiastically would you reapply for a job here?
(c) How likely are you to be working here in one year?
(d) How likely would you be to refer someone to work here?
(e) How likely would you be to recommend our organization's products or services to a
friend or colleague?
13. An organization is planning to fill up vacancies in the higher positions from amongst
the employees. Do you agree or disagree with the proposal? Explain. (Source: Book-
Essentials of Human Resource Management by T.N. Chhabra and Monica S. Chhabra)
14. Even though interviews have been widely criticised, they are heavily used in selection
of candidates for employment. Discuss why this selection device still rates high
although we know it can provide unreliable information. (Source: Book- Essentials of
Human Resource Management by T.N. Chhabra and Monica S. Chhabra)
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15. How is Job Analysis information helpful in human resource management? (Source:
Book- Essentials of Human Resource Management by T.N. Chhabra and Monica S.
Chhabra)
16. Describe the advantages and disadvantages of hiring an internal and external candidate.
Give an example of when you do not think an external candidate should be considered
for a position. (Source: Book- Human Resource Management by K Aswathappa and
Sadhna Dash)
17. Discuss the significance of employment tests and describe any three types of
employment tests commonly used in industry. (Source: Book- Essentials of Human
Resource Management by T.N. Chhabra and Monica S. Chhabra)
18. Define Orientation and discuss its importance for the organization and the employees.
(Source: Book- Essentials of Human Resource Management by T.N. Chhabra and
Monica S. Chhabra)
19. “Job Description and Job Specification are the two by-products of job analysis.”
Discuss the statement. (Source: Book- Essentials of Human Resource Management by
T.N. Chhabra and Monica S. Chhabra)
3.11 REFERENCES
Chhabra, T.N. (2019). Principles and Practices of Management, Dhanpar Rai & Co., Delhi, p.
271
Amos, T., Ristow, A., Ristow, L., & Pearse, N. (2008). Human Resource Management, JUTA
and company ltd.
Chhabra, T.N. & Chhabra, Monica S. (1988). Essentials of Human Resource Management, Sun
India Publications, New Delhi.
Pande, S., & Basak, S., (2015). Human Resource Management Text and Cases, Vikas
publishing house
Chhabra, T. N., & Chhabra, M. S. (2016). Essentials of Human Resource Management (2nd
ed.). Sunindia.
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LESSON 4
LEARNING, TRAINING AND DEVELOPMENT: PROCESS
AND METHODS
Dr. Saumya Aggarwal
Assistant Professor
Shri Ram College of Commerce
University of Delhi
aggsaumya9@gmail.com
Ms. Bhawna Rajput
Assistant Professor
Motilal Nehru College (Evening)
University of Delhi
bhawnarajput.16@gmail.com
STRUCTURE
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4.2 INTRODUCTION
The chapter first discusses the basic understanding of the concepts like difference between
Learning, Training, and Development. The learner may have layman idea about these concepts.
But before understanding different aspects of Training and Development, it’s important to learn
to differentiate between these concepts.
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This lesson would help the learner to comprehend the different learning theories and its
applications. Learner could differentiate between different techniques of training and know
which is the most suitable one to apply under a particular situation. One would learn about
ADDIE model and the TNA concept. The lesson will develop the understanding on the
changing role of T&D approaches in the e-learning environment.
The last part of the lesson discusses contemporary issues like e-training and e-development
concepts. The latest research on the concept of succession planning is shared with the readers
and it is discussed that how succession planning can be achieved. To gauge the understanding
of the reader on the subject, the relevant case study is shared towards the end of the chapter.
cognitive skills, behavioural outcomes, and affective results like attitudinal and motivational
changes.
4.3.2 Training:
Unlike learning which can be voluntary, training is a planned effort by an organization towards
enhancement of current knowledge, on the job skills, and changing of the existing behavioural
patterns of the employees so that they can be successful in their current jobs. In other words,
training is a practical education imparted to enable better functioning on the job. Training has
more focused outcomes and is short term oriented.
Training is not an intuitive process. There is a science involved in designing a right training
program. Training when designed systematically yields positive results. Effective training
occurs when employees learn required knowledge, skills, and attitude (KSAs) to do the job in
the best possible way. Research shows that employees have a favourable attitude towards
training if they are included in its designing process or when they voluntarily chose it rather
than made to attend under compulsion. Training also adds value only when employees get the
opportunity to apply the newly learned skills and behaviours on their jobs. If trainees continue
doing what they were doing earlier than the entire training gets redundant and is easily
forgotten.
Transfer of training is a crucial problem faced after the training programs where in the training
acquired is not applied to the job. Post training climate particularly supervisory support
determine the transfer of training. Peer support also has a positive effect on the transfer of
training to the job. In the post training environment constant coaching, knowledge repositories,
and debriefs can be used as powerful tools of reinforcing learned training to the job.
4.3.3 Development:
Development focuses on the personal and professional growth and is not restricted to the
enhancement of job-related skills. Development involves making the maximum benefit out of
the available opportunities. It is neither restricted to a formal institutional set up and nor time
bound. It can happen anytime, anywhere, and at any place. It focuses on enhancing employee
and not just his job performance.
One can say that both training and development leads to learning. These concepts are different
yet connected to each other. These three concepts are complementary to each other. Training
is a mechanical phenomenon whereas development involves changing the thinking, actions,
and behaviour. Development is a lifelong concept. Training and learning are also different
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concepts. Every training may not lead to learning and learning can happen without any training
also. But learning is a desired outcome of training.
IN-TEXT QUESTIONS
12. _______________ concept is restricted to the enhancement of job-related skills.
13. Training & Development involves learning. True / False
14. KSA stands for Knowledge, _______, & _________:
a) Skills & Attitude b) self-actualization & Attitude
c) Skills & Aptitude d) Self-development & Aptitude
15. Learning can happen without training. True / False
16. ________of training is a crucial problem.
Different theories have evolved over a period of time as given by different researchers from
time to time. Some of the most prominent learning theories are discussed as followed:
4.4.1. Cognitive Learning Theory:
Learning is dominated by the thinking process that takes place inside the mind of an individual.
Jean Piaget has an important contribution to the cognitive learning theory. According to him
learning is a process of assimilation, accommodation, and equilibration. Assimilation involves
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incongruency between existing knowledge and new knowledge. Based on the experience, the
person may form a new idea or change his existing thinking leading to abstract
conceptualization. Finally, the new knowledge is applied by the learner in the active
experimentation stage.
Identification of the needs for which the training program is required is the very first step of
designing any training program. It involves three components: job-task analysis, organizational
analysis, and person analysis. These three components are explained as follows:
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IN-TEXT QUESTIONS
Identify theories associated with each example:
21. Mother rewards his child with chocolates after he cleans the room. Child starts
cleaning the room on his own every time his mother is around to get the
chocolate.
22. A child is told that white object in the kitchen is a cooker and should not be
touched as it is hot. As the Child walks towards the next white object in the
room, which is fridge, he remembers that white objects are hot and should not
be touched.
23. A younger child imitates the dancing style of his elder brother on seeing that
he is being appreciated by others for his dance form.
24. John was used to working in an offline environment and always thought that
the job can never be performed remotely. During Covid-19, he learnt to work
online effectively and now prefers to do the remote working.
Before we understand different training and development techniques that are adopted by
managers across different industries, lets first understand the ADDIE model. ADDIE
framework stands for analysis, design, development, implementation, and evaluation. This
model enables managers to follow a consistent training and development process. Using this
model managers can also monitor and evaluate the effectiveness of the program in fulfilling
various learning objectives. Details on each phase of this model are as follows:
4.6.1. Analyse:
This stage involves setting of the learning objectives. Based on prior training programs also
the learning modules can be designed. This involves determining the skills sets required for the
job, existing knowledge level of the people, and the resources that can be provided by the
organisation.
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4.6.2. Design:
This phase sets the tone for the entire training program. Based on the learning objectives, the
training strategy is decided. Method to be followed for the delivery of the content, type of
material to be gathered are the decisions to be made during this stage.
4.6.3. Development:
Once the layout of the training program is set, next step involves developing the lectures,
content, and required training material. A small training test can also be done to check the
working of the program and its effectiveness in achieving the desired goals.
4.6.4. Implementation:
This involves implementing the designed and developed training program. Any gaps between
what is desired and what is actually achieved are identified and analysed for future
improvements.
4.6.5. Evaluation:
The learning problems faced by the trainees, and the new learning opportunities are identified
and analysed during this stage. The main purpose of this phase is to refine and improvise the
future training programs.
There is a wide variety of methods to choose from for the training and development purposes.
But the adoption of these method is context specific and need to be adjusted to the specific
needs of the target organisation. Some of these techniques are discussed below:
4.7.1. Coaching or Mentoring:
Coaching is a very effective technique for modifying managerial behaviours in a direct and
personalised manner. It is a customized training program given on a one-to-one basis and over
a period of time. It is generally given in helping out employees with specific problems, or to
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prepare the employee for any new work assignment. This technique is generally used for a
continuous and generalized training program.
4.7.2. Lecture:
There is a single flow of information as it is transmitted from the instructor to the learner.
Learning is dependent upon the knowledge and experience of the trainer. However, this method
puts a cognitive burden on the learner. The knowledge is to be acquired, integrated, and
retained. The pace of every learner also varies from person to person. An improvisation of this
method is lecture-cum-demonstration method in which the lecturer reemphasizes information
by putting the same into action.
4.7.3. Modelling:
In this method, the new behaviour is acquired by observing others performing the same task.
Videotapes can be used for imparting instructions to the trainees. This helps in enhancing the
confidence level among trainees. This technique also enables old learners to understand how
to perform the task.
4.7.4. Active Participation:
This is like a trial-and-error approach where the learners learn by actually performing the task
rather than just observing someone performing it. This approach is based on self-discovery and
learners can learn at their own pace.
4.7.5. Role-playing:
Trainees are supposed to assume a character and play like that character in a particular scenario
or a series of scenarios. It is quite an effective method in changing the attitude of people by
encouraging brainstorming. It is found to be very effective when subjects take the point of view
opposite to their own and express this opposing viewpoint to others. Role-playing is often used
to teach skills such as negotiating, grievance handling, buying and selling and effective
communication.
4.7.6. Job Rotation:
The employee is made to experience working on other jobs while he is still working on a given
task or a project. This can be effective for career development of the employee and can assist
in the employees’ quick promotion. This training method also helps in reducing job burnout
and leads to effective management of existing staff members. This also helps in dealing with
the employee’s absenteeism. When an employee is on leave other employee trained on the
same job can take over. This can also help employee realise his different capabilities and areas
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of interest. But this type of technique might not be suitable to all type of industries especially
where highly specialised workforce is required. Employees may also feel disgruntled and
overburdened with frequent job rotations.
4.7.7. Simulation:
The real-life conditions are imitated, and trainees are repeatedly made to have a multisensory
experience of this simulated environment. It is used when there is high cost involved and the
real-life task is risky to handle. It involves mirroring of a real-life situation. It might be suitable
for industries such as aviation sector (training of pilots), driving schools, and medical industry
(training surgeons). The technique minimizes errors and can be used in creating a team of
experts.
4.7.8. Case Study method:
It is a narrative description of real-life incidents relating to the organization. Trainees are
required to propose a number of viable solutions to a given case. This is used for developing
analytical, reasoning and problem-solving skills. This method can be used to boost learner’s
motivation level. This method requires lower cost and trainee need to have the core knowledge
of the subject.
4.7.9. Game-based training:
It is an interactive approach of training. Trainees are made to compete in various decision-
making tasks that helps them in finding alternative options and also experience the
consequences of their actions. Such techniques enable faster & longer retention of knowledge.
Trainees while learning skills are also able to apply the knowledge at the same time and so
learn by doing approach. This makes training a fun process and keeps the employees engaged
in the training process. For example, taking quiz sessions in between of the lectures or making
employees compete on simulators. This method helps in improving teamwork, leadership style,
and communication skills while playing the games.
4.7.10. Internship:
The trainees learn to do work on the job but with certain restrictions and with less or no pay. It
involves giving a practical work related to student’s field of study. It helps in the career
development of the students. Students get the benefit of insights into real work experience,
constant support and guidance from the mentors, constant feedback, develop professional
contacts, and get new experience and work skills.
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IN-TEXT QUESTIONS
Suggest a most suitable training & development technique in the following cases:
This is the most crucial stage of any training program that determines the overall effectiveness
of the program. It refers to the systematic assessment of the fact that training objectives are
achieved and is able to enhance the job performance. Through evaluation of training &
development programs organisations can know if an alternative training program is required to
be designed. Evaluation provides feedback to the trainees, trainers, and the organisation and
helps in deciding if the program can be replicated to the other organisations or employees.
This effectiveness of the training and development program can be assessed through the
reactions of the employees (feedback survey), understanding acquired by them (small test after
the session), changing behaviour (changed behaviour on the job), and outcomes (higher sales).
Most of the organisations use trainee’s reaction and learning as a tool to decide the
effectiveness of the training program.
Experimental design can also be used in training evaluation in which trainee performance can
be compared with the performance of others who were not trained. The experimental group
consists of employees who received training and the control group consists of employees who
did not receive any training or intervention. Members of both groups should be drawn
randomly. At the conclusion of training, performance of both groups is compared and if the
performance of the experimental group is improved substantially the training program may be
rated effective.
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Training and development programs have expanded beyond the traditional classrooms. The
just-in-time technology now requires providing just-in-time training. Cost effectiveness, timely
availability of content, and flexibility are the major drivers of e-training programs. The term
‘e-training’ refers to training involving technology. It can be face-to-face or even purely online.
Augmented Reality (AR) and Virtual Reality (VR) technology like 3D objects, videos, sounds,
and images can be applied in training of aviation personnel. For example, pilots while being in
air may encounter technical glitches and would need immediate just-in-time learning tools. In
such scenarios Learning on Demand (LoD) instruction manuals containing 3D images and
videos of the aircraft can be very useful. E-content and different applications can enable the
government to aware the citizens about development of smart cities. Applications ranging from
agriculture, education, to health care and safety can be shared with people. E-training can
encourage e-governance where people can be encouraged for online payment of taxes, online
documentation work, online bill payments, etc.
Since 1995, the enrolment of students has multiplied in the distance education courses.
Research shows that course content, video size, age of the participant, and environment
simulator are the factors having a great influence on the online training program. Satisfaction
of participants increase when the content is in narrative form rather than being in numbers or a
technical format. Young individuals are also found to recall content over a web module more
than the older participants. The e-content should be presented with a large video display,
limited use of coloured text, and large letter size. The philosophy to be followed while
designing e-content is “less is more” and “keep it simple”.
It is the support of the ICTs to learning and decision making that contributes significantly to
the process of development. Technology enables both economic and social development by
providing new opportunities to people. ICTs are ignored by the people who are fearful of the
technology. Rather an integrated approach is required. Integrated approach requires
identification of development objectives, identification of new information required to meet
the development objectives, and identification of the crucial role of ICTs in meeting the
information requirements. There are benefits of cost reduction, efficiency, and transparency
gains through e-development.
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Succession planning is the process of selecting the employees to fill higher level positions in
the organisation. The process involves identification of the need of the senior managers. Then
shortlisting the most suitable candidate to fill the senior manager position and ensuring that
relevant core competencies are developed in the candidate for the job. The process provides
job successors for the important executive positions from the existing pool of candidates. A
sophisticated succession plan contains various components such as having a clear vision, a
proper business plan, assessment of current situation, developing potential candidates, and
implementing the plan. An effective succession plan can reduce the turnover rate, fulfil the
career development aspirations of the employees, and can provide the competitive advantage
to the organisation.
Leadership development and succession planning are the two sides of the same coin.
Leadership learning and development should be coupled with succession planning as this can
create a flow of talented successors from early stage of career of employees to being senior
leaders and even headship. In United Kingdom, it was observed that there were leadership
shortages in schools. Poor confidence among teachers, reluctance in taking up new professional
assignments, and lack of career advice were the identified reasons for restricting teachers from
their career advancement and achieving leadership progression. Culture related factors like
teamwork, trust, commitment, and leadership support encourages leadership successors within
schools. Teamwork needs to be created, a distributed leadership approach, and job rotation can
help in succession planning. Techniques like coaching, role-modelling can also assist in the
professional development of teachers.
The leadership development program should fit the organisation’s culture and serve the long
term and short-term objectives of the organisation. Managers can follow the following six steps
for a continuous leadership development model in the organisation:
4.10.1. Evaluate the organisation:
The current state of the organisation needs to be evaluated. This involves understanding the
policy, past practices, strategy, assessment of current resources, and knowing about the culture
of the organisation. It has to be assessed if the right employees are available within the
organisation for leadership roles and how their potential can be fully developed.
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GoIndia Airline started its operations in the year 2016. After covid-19 pandemic and the rising
turbine fuel has greatly damaged the profitability of the enterprise. Recently, the airline is also
in news for maintenance issues, frequently engineering related concerns are being reported in
the headlines. Ministry of State ordered a special audit of the airline to do a spot check on the
airline. The audit results found that there is a deficiency of sufficient and suitably qualified
engineers, and experienced manpower. To add to the existing problems, the competition has
increased in the industry with the upcoming of new airlines. The attrition rate for the existing
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engineers and maintenance staff has been going up for the airline. Employees are lining up for
interviews with the new airlines expecting not the salary hike but better growth opportunities.
There are two categories of engineers being employed by the airline: Category A and B.
Category A staff is cheaper and is responsible for simpler tasks like refuelling, tyre change,
handling cockpit defects, etc. Category B engineers do major maintenance tasks in an aircraft
and are paid higher. Category A employees are now demanding higher wages and better
opportunities. The engineers are facing extreme burnout as they are working on double shifts
at lower wages. This is creating safety concerns for the airline as maintenance and overhauling
of the aircrafts is compromised.
Please suggest the following:
1. Suggest which type of training and development methods can be adopted by the airline?
2. Which learning theory is best suitable under the current situation?
3. Before organising a T & D plan, what are the factors that should be considered by the
airlines?
4. What can be the best method followed for evaluating the success of the T & D program?
5. Is there an issue of succession planning that can be addressed? How?
4.12 SUMMARY
The chapter discusses the difference in the concepts of learning, training, and development
followed by the detailed discussion on different theories of learning and methods of training
and development that can be adopted by the organisations. The contemporary issues like e-
training, e-development, and the need for succession planning are also elaborated.
4.13 GLOSSARY
Augmented Reality: A technology that involves computer generating image on the user’s
view of the real world.
Debriefs: Documentation of recent experiences that enables identification of what went well
and what can be improved.
Learning Transfer: The extent to which learning on one task facilitates learning on a second
task.
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Please answer the following questions based on your understanding of this chapter:
1. Is there any difference between training and development? Please elaborate.
2. How can the organisation assess its training needs?
3. What do you understand by the ADDIE training and development model?
4. How can the effectiveness of a training & development program be evaluated?
5. Is it necessary to focus on succession planning? How is leadership development related
to the concept of succession planning?
6. Explain the difference between cognitive and conditioning learning theories?
4.16 REFERENCES
Callahan, J. (2003). Does Method Matter? A Meta-Analysis of the Effects of Training Method
on Older Learner Training Performance. Journal of Management, 29(5), 663–680.
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Carroll, S. J., Paine, F. T., & Ivancevich, J. J. (1972). the relative effectiveness of training
methods? Expert opinion and research. Personnel Psychology, 25(3), 495–509.
https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1744-6570.1972.tb00833.x
Christian, J., Krieger, H., Holzinger, A., & Behringer, R. (2007). Virtual and Mixed Reality
Interfaces for e-Training: Examples of Applications in Light Aircraft Maintenance. Lecture
Notes in Computer Science, 520–529. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-540-73283-9_58
Fox, S. (1997). Situated learning theory versus traditional cognitive learning theory: Why
management education should not ignore management learning. Systems Practice, 10(6), 727–
747. https://doi.org/10.1007/bf02557922
Garavan, T. N. (1997). Training, development, education and learning: different or the same?
Journal of European Industrial Training, 21(2), 39–50.
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Garg, S., Mittal, S., & Sharma, S. (2017). Role of e-trainings in building smart cities. Procedia
Computer Science, 111, 24–30. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.procs.2017.06.005
Heeks, R. (2002). I-development not e-development: Special issue on ICTs and development.
Journal of International Development, 14(1), 1–11. https://doi.org/10.1002/jid.861
Huang, T. (2001). Succession management systems and human resource outcomes.
International Journal of Manpower, 22(8), 736–747.
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Krumboltz, J. D. (2008). The Happenstance Learning Theory. Journal of Career Assessment,
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Martin, B. O., Kolomitro, K., & Lam, T. C. M. (2013). Training Methods. Human Resource
Development Review, 13(1), 11–35. https://doi.org/10.1177/1534484313497947
Mayfield, M. (2011). Creating training and development programs: using the ADDIE method.
Development and Learning in Organizations: An International Journal, 25(3), 19–22.
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Miodonski, K., & Hines, P. (2013). Leadership Development and Succession Planning in Case
Management. Professional Case Management, 18(1), 5–12.
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Rekalde, I., Landeta, J., Albizu, E., & Fernandez-Ferrin, P. (2017). Is executive coaching more
effective than other management training and development methods? Management Decision,
55(10), 2149–2162. https://doi.org/10.1108/md-10-2016-0688
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Rhodes, C., & Brundrett, M. (2009). Growing the leadership talent pool: perceptions of heads,
middle leaders and classroom teachers about professional development and leadership
succession planning within their own schools. Professional Development in Education, 35(3),
381–398. https://doi.org/10.1080/19415250902987122
Rivera-Nivar, M., & Pomales-García, C. (2010). E-training: Can young and older users be
accommodated with the same interface? Computers & Education, 55(3), 949–960.
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.compedu.2010.04.006
Salas, E., Tannenbaum, S. I., Kraiger, K., & Smith-Jentsch, K. A. (2012). The Science of
Training and Development in Organizations. Psychological Science in the Public Interest,
13(2), 74–101. https://doi.org/10.1177/1529100612436661
Sonnentag, S., Niessen, C., & Ohly, S. (2005). Learning at Work: Training and Development.
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Zainab, B., Awais Bhatti, M., & Alshagawi, M. (2017). Factors affecting e-training adoption:
an examination of perceived cost, computer self-efficacy and the technology acceptance model.
Behaviour & Information Technology, 36(12), 1261–1273.
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Pritchard, A. (2013). Ways of Learning: Learning theories and learning styles in the classroom
(David Fulton Books) (3rd ed.). Routledge.
Robbins, S., & Judge, T. (2021). Organizational Behavior, Updated 18e, Global Edition (18th
ed.). Pearson.
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LESSON 5
STRUCTURE
5.2 INTRODUCTION
The determination of monetary compensation rates is one of the most critical and challenging
aspects of human resource management. Employee compensation decisions are critical to the
success of any organisation because of the total operating costs, effective employee
compensation management is critical from a financial perspective alone. Another rationale for
studying compensation from an organizational point of view is to examine its impact on a wide
range of employee attitudes and behaviours, and, ultimately, the organization's and its units'
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remuneration package, and compensation policies are more transparent. Balancing salary costs
and retaining personnel has become a significant challenge for organisations.
Edwin B. Flippo believes, “as far as the organisation is concerned, employee compensation
programs are designed to do three things:
• To attract capable employees to the organisation.
• To motivate them towards superior performance.
• To retain their services over an extended period of time.”
The objectives of compensation are:
• Ensure Equity: It covers income distribution by reducing inequities, raising the wages
of the lowest-paid employees, protecting real wages, and the principle of equal pay for
equal effort. Internal equity requires that remuneration be tied to the relative worth of a
work in such a way that comparable pay is guaranteed for similar tasks.
• Enhanced Efficiency: Attempts to link a portion of salaries to production or profit,
group or individual performance, skill acquisition and application, and so on.
Preparations for efficiency are equitable if they appropriately reward performance, but
inequitable if the incentive is perceived to be unfair.
• Macro-economic stability: An excessively high minimum wage would have a
negative influence on employment numbers. Low inflation contributes to
macroeconomic stability. Two of the many factors that influence economic stability are
compensation and compensation policy. They either help or inhibit balanced and long-
term economic development.
• Efficient allocation of labour: It relates to the idea of labour/employee leaving a
position for a net benefit. This migration could be from one location to another, within
or outside of an enterprise, or between two locations. Employers evaluate staff attrition
while employees consider net gain.
• Attracting competent personnel: A competitive salary and other benefits helps an
organisation attract qualified candidates.
• Complying with regulations: A good wage and salary system takes into account the
legal challenges imposed by the government and guarantees that firms follow the law.
• Controlling costs: A practical compensation system assists the firm in obtaining and
retaining employees at a fair cost.
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• Ensures equity
• Encourage desired behaviour
• Control HR costs
• Attracting competent personnel
• Adhere to regulatory requirements
• Enhanced employee motivation in the workplace
• Enhanced employee efficiency
• Increased productivity and profitability through employee loyalty
• Improves staff engagement and job satisfaction
• Enhanced organisational efficiency
• Aids in the retention of exceptional employees
• Goodwill in the employment market
• Improved industrial relations
5.3.3 Factors influencing compensation:
The main issue that any organisation faces is establishing a fair and equitable compensation
system. This requires understanding of the various factors that influence compensation, such
as the composition of decision-making bodies. The emphasis of an employee may be on higher
pay to offset their increased cost of living and the price they demand in a competitive job
market. One of the most common differences of opinion between employers and employees is
compensation. An employee's pay is determined by the amount of effort he puts in, the nature
of his job, and his competence. In addition, various other internal and external factors influence
compensation directly or indirectly. Thus, the numerous elements impacting pay are as follows:
• Labor supply and demand: Wage rates rise when labour demand exceeds supply, and
vice versa.
• The ability to pay refers to the employer's financial situation and willingness to pay
the employee.
• Employee’s relative worth: The maximum output that workers achieve on average
based on their ability to execute. Compensation based on the employees’ worth plays
an important role in motivating employees to increase their worth too.
• Cost of Living- Wage rate changes can be caused by the cost-of-living index,
considering that if the cost of living is high, wages and salaries will be higher.
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• Expectancy theory: This idea is based on the assumption that human behaviour is
driven by perceived requirements. This theory defines motivation strength as the value
of the consequence of doing behaviour and the anticipated likelihood that the outcome
would materialise as a result of the activity undertaken. The possibility that a certain
behaviour will result in a specific first level consequence is defined as expectancy.
Employees are asked to prioritise important personal goals and instruments in order to
determine valence. The more certain employees are about their expectations, the more
likely it is that their behaviour can be predicted properly.
• Reinforcement theory: The repercussions of an individual's behaviour, according to
this theory, will affect the level of motivation.
• Achievement motivation theory: This theory distinguishes three types of basic needs:
the need for power, the need for affiliation, and the need for achievement. The
significance of these non-monetary requirements should not be underestimated when
developing compensation plans.
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Job
Description
Policies and
Job analysis
Regulations Components
of
Compensatio
n
Salary Management Job
Surveys Evaluation
Pay
Structure
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2. Job Analysis: The process of assessing employment in order to create job descriptions.
It entails acquiring information on the incumbent's responsibilities. Interviews,
questionnaires, and observation are all methods of job analysis. The job analysis
process entails obtaining information about the incumbent's duties, the nature and
conditions of the employment, and some basic qualifications.
3. Job Evaluation: It is a systematic method for determining the worth and value of each
job within a company. Ranking, classification, factor comparison, and the point method
are the four main strategies. To obtain a sensible job, remuneration organisations
typically compare similar jobs to industry standards.
4. Pay Structures: The pay structure is designed in accordance with job evaluation. Most
pay structures include numerous grades, each with its own minimum and
maximum salary/wage and grade range. An organisation with a defined compensation
structure aids in the development of human resource branding. It can also be used to
standardise pay methods.
5. Salary Surveys: Conducting surveys to acquire market data is part of compensation
management. Salary budget averages, inflation indicators, cost of living indicators, and
typical salaries may all be included. Companies can either purchase the results of salary
surveys conducted by survey suppliers or conduct their own wage surveys for a certain
sector or geographic location.
6. Policies and Regulations: Government policies and regulations are another crucial
component of compensation management since they describe all of an organization's
rules and regulations, as well as its do's and don'ts. Furthermore, these decibels affect
the operation and limitations of an organisation.
5.4.5 Job Evaluation Methods:
A job evaluation is a systematic way of determining the value/worth of a job in relation to other
jobs in an organization. It tries to make a systematic comparison between jobs to assess their
relative worth for the purpose of establishing a rational pay structure.
For example, how would one measure how well your staff performs its duties? How would you
measure if an IT person is doing enough to justify his cost to the company? How would you
measure if a Production in charge is effectively utilizing the resources? It is done through a
process called job evaluation.
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Job evaluation and the methods you use are vital to determine employee output. Measuring
productivity is relatively easy when there is a tangible output of measurable material. However,
it can get quite tricky when that isn’t the case.
The methods of job evaluations used to set compensation levels are point factor, factor
comparison, job ranking and job classification.
1. Ranking Method: This approach of job rating rates jobs based on how valuable they
are thought to be in comparison to other jobs. The market worth of the jobs is not
considered. This approach is effective for smaller enterprises. Larger firms typically
have more positions and might call for grouping the jobs. This approach, for instance,
might be used if all level "A" personnel were put into one section, and the same for
level "B" staff, regardless of what tasks their professions required of them.
2. Grading/Classification Method: Jobs are categorised using this form of job appraisal
based on specific traits. One factor is the degree of expertise required to perform the
task. The second factor is the responsibility an individual has while performing their
work. The time required to complete this job evaluation approach is not as great as it is
for the other methods on the list. Lists of qualities for the job are developed by the
auditor. After that, he assigns ratings or classifications to the jobs.
3. Point-Factor Method: This type of job evaluation looks at particular aspects of the job
to assess how much value they provide to a job function. These elements are broken
down into other categories, such as abilities, obligations, and necessary work.
Then a numerical weight is ascribed to these factors. In order to determine the value of the
occupations, all of the contributing elements or points for a certain work are summed
together and compared to other jobs. This approach makes a job's internal value clear
without taking market value into account.
4. Factor Comparison Method: Each component is given a monetary value rather than
just a numerical weighting. Due of its complexity, this strategy isn't used by many
businesses. The job values that are given to employees might also be difficult to convey
because they are often arbitrary.
5. Competitive Market Analysis Method: A corporation uses a job evaluation approach
to assess where it stands in relation to the competition. This implies that comparable
employment on the market is taken into account, and the knowledge may originate
through job ads. It's crucial to decide what your firm offers in terms of compensation
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because different companies within an industry may give varying salaries for the same
function.
Organizations can better understand the demands of each role and what goes into maintaining
employee pay satisfaction by using job evaluation methodologies. Employees are sure to
appreciate it if a corporation makes the effort to assess the value each person offers and
gradually improves that employee's salary in accordance with their effort or competence.
CASE STUDY 1
Compensation Management
Leena is a new human resource supervisor at a huge and modern Mumbai hospital. The
hospital is a medium-sized institution with cutting-edge health-care services. It has a total of
500 employees, including 15 executives, 10 consultants, 20 managers, and 50 supervisors.
There are 25 technicians, 200 nurses, and 180 administrative and support staff. The majority
of these workers have bachelor's degrees in medical, paramedical, business, or liberal arts
fields.
Leena graduated with honours from a prestigious college five years ago with a bachelor's
degree in human resource management and began working at the hospital as an HR assistant.
After two years on the job, she was promoted to HR specialist in recruitment. She is overjoyed
with the advancement and intends to attend graduate school to get a Master of Business
Administration with a concentration in Hospital Administration. While working as an HR
assistant in the same company, she faced a variety of compensation administration issues and
complaints, including delayed salary adjustments, wage distortions, an uncompetitive pay
scale, and poorly constructed job analysis and job evaluation programmes. She also saw a
high turnover rate, particularly in the technical and professional ranks, which she attributed
to insufficient salary and benefits packages. Because the HR manager was often preoccupied
with labour relations issues, she felt worthless and confused of what to do.
She also suspected that her country's low economic conditions, along with a subpar human
resource management system, were to blame for these issues. She believes that now that she
has the authority to make recommendations and influence management, she must devise a
strategy for establishing a compensation system.
Question:
1. What do you think of Leena's suggestion? What other suggestions do you have for
Leena to improve management?
2. What are the many considerations that organisations examine when creating a
compensation system?
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Total Compensation
Non- Monetary
Monetary Compensation
Compensation
Overtime policy
Insurance plans
Security plans
worked
Gains sharing
Profit sharing
Commissions
Piece rate
Bonuses
Salaries
Wages
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• Bonus: one-time extra reward given to an employee in exchange for sharing good
performance. Generally, when employees meet or surpass their targets, they are paid an
additional amount known as a bonus. Bonuses are also given in the form of free
international excursions, paid holidays, or gold, among other things. Some businesses
have a bonus programme during the holiday season.
• Commission: a popular incentive given to employees who work in the sales
department. In general, salespeople are paid a base pay in addition to their efforts. More
orders imply a higher commission.
• Suggestion system: Employees are compensated under the suggestion method if the
organisation benefits from the idea made by the employee. For example, if an employee
offers a cost-cutting measure, the person is compensated for making the idea. it is a
very good incentive to maintain employees' initiative levels high.
• Productivity linked wage incentives: These are wage rate plans in which higher
wages are offered in exchange for increased productivity. In a piece pay system,
efficient workers are compensated more than inefficient workers. Employees must
perform effectively in order to get higher pay.
• Retirement benefits: To motivate employees, several firms provide retirement
benefits such as pensions, provident funds, and gratuities. These incentives are
appropriate for employees that require protection and safety.
3. Allowances:
Allowances are amounts of something that are authorised, usually within the confines of a set
of rules and regulations or for a specific purpose. Other allowances are granted to employees
in addition to their base income to help them meet their basic needs. Among these benefits are:
• Dearness Allowance (DA): a benefit given to employees to protect their real income
from price hikes. Dearness allowance is determined as a percentage of base wage.
• House Rent Allowance (HRA): Employers who do not provide employees with living
accommodations pay a house rent allowance. This allowance is calculated as a
percentage of the employee's salary.
• City Compensatory Allowance (CCA): This is mostly granted to employees who
work in metropolitan areas and other large cities where the cost of living is higher. For
municipal employees, the city compensating allowance is often a predetermined
monthly sum, such as 30% of base pay.
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Organisation's Strategy
Compensation Policy
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considerations, pressure from trade unions, and numerous labour laws governing pay
management are examples of external influences.
Design and Implementation of Compensation Plan: A company may be able to create a
compensation plan that includes base pay with provisions for wage or salary increases over
time, various incentive plans, perks, and perquisites. These are occasionally chosen by outside
parties, such as pay commissions for government workers and public sector businesses.
Evaluation and Review: Compensation management should have a provision for evaluating
and reviewing the compensation plan. A compensation plan is not a rigid and fixed one but is
dynamic since it is affected by a variety of factors. If it does not work as intended, there should
be review of the plan necessitating a fresh look.
5.5.4 Total Compensation equation
On the basis of the research conducted in the University of Michigan Business School on MBA
students’ expectations from their workplace, John E. Tropman devised a new concept of pay
based on the total compensation equation with 10 variables. To recruit the greatest talent, this
equation blends traditional salary with educational, emotional, and psychological benefits. It
combines the monetary and non-monetary benefits to create effective, employee focused
compensation package.
TC = (BP + AP + IP) + (WP + PP) + (OA + OG) + (EI + QL) + X
Wherein,
TC = Total compensation
BP = Base pay (salary)
AP = Augmented pay (one- time payment)
IP = Indirect pay (benefits)
WP = Works pay (employer subsidized equipment)
PP = Perks pay (special benefits)
OA = Opportunity for role advancement
OG = Opportunity for growth (training)
EI = Emotional income
QL = Quality of life
X = Any unique element
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10. In Both Interests: Wage policies should be created with the interests of employees,
employers, customers, and the community in mind.
11. Increase Production: Good wage and salary administration improves employee
motivation and morale, which leads to increased productivity.
12. Compensation Decision: All pay, and salary decisions should be reviewed against the
wage policy criteria.
13. Periodic Changes: Wage policies and programmes should be evaluated and altered on
a regular basis to reflect changing needs.
14. Consistent: Wage and wage plans should be aligned with the overall strategies of the
company. Financial planning should incorporate compensation planning.
15. Wage and salary plans should simplify and expedite the administrative process.
16. For compensation determination and administration, a suitable database and an
appropriate organisational structure should be constructed.
CASE STUDY 2
Paid time off: Too Little or Too Much?
You recently completed an analysis of data for the current salary and benefits scheme. You
discover that certain modifications should be done because the majority of your employees
(120 in total) are dissatisfied with the services provided. In truth, the plan had not been
amended in almost fifteen years, putting it out of date and in desperate need of updating.
One of the key sources of disagreement is the organization's PTO policy. Employees believe
that the current system of sick and vacation leave provides too few possibilities.
"I frequently come to work unwell, so I can still have my vacation time for my holiday," one
employee explains. "I have given nine years to this organisation, yet I only get three days
more than someone who has just started," another employee complains. Here is the most
recent PTO offer: 7 days for 1 year or more, 10 days for 5 years or more, and 14 days for 10
years or more
1. What cost concerns would you consider when modifying this component of your
compensation plan?
2. What other factors would you examine while designing a new PTO plan?
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IN-TEXT QUESTIONS
1. Components of wage & salary are __________
a. Basic wage b. Overtime wage c. Dearness allowances d. All of these
2. Job analysis is used in compensation to identify or determine ______
a. Skills level b. Responsibilities c. Required level of education d. All of these
3. Job description identifies for a job ______
a. Tasks b. Duties c. Responsibilities d. All of these
4. Compensation management is the establishment and implementation of sound
policies and practices through ______
a. Job evaluation b. Surveys of salaries and wages c. Both d. None
5. Compensation should be ____ to efficiency and result.
6. Payment by result is an ______ scheme.
7. Compensation is the money and other benefits received by an employer for
providing _______
8. ______ is the method and practice of ordering the jobs with respect to their vale
and worth to the organization.
9. ______ states the duties, responsibilities, and mandatory conditions of a specific
job.
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giving them a sense of job security and appreciation for their efforts. Reward system not only
attaching value to the employees but also adding value to the employees.
When investing in human capital, which requires a reasonable return, it is appropriate to pay
people differently based on their contributions. The reward management philosophy
acknowledges that it must be strategic in the sense that it addresses more long-term issues
regarding how people should be valued for what they accomplish. Reward strategies must flow
from the business strategy, as must the procedures needed to implement them. Reward is a
composite of all organisational mechanisms used to finally acknowledge behaviour and
performance of employees. It includes all forms of compensation, non-monetary awards and
training opportunities, recognition, promotions, working conditions, assignments etc. It is a
part of enhancing motivation, loyalty and satisfaction emphasizing on career job security,
opportunities, learning opportunities, recognition, achievements etc. It is more potential in
focus to unleash the underlying potentials of employees, to secure command and control and
create persistent commitment.
5.6.1 Types of Rewards:
1. Extrinsic rewards
Extrinsic rewards are those that aren't directly related to the job, like salary or working
conditions. In their study, Gupta and Shaw (1998) came to the conclusion that monetary
incentives are indeed effective. They adopted the stance that not all jobs are engaging
and difficult by nature; in an ideal world, everyone would be intrinsically motivated
and rewarded, but this is frequently not the case in workplaces. They came to the
conclusion that because of the symbolic and practical value that money carries, it
matters to the majority of us and motivates us. Money's symbolic value summarizes
how we and others view it, whereas its instrumental value refers to the benefits we can
obtain from exchanging it.
2. Intrinsic rewards
Intrinsic rewards are the intangible, non-financial benefits that come with a job, such
as the tasks, interesting and challenging work, and training opportunities that are
available to employees. Acknowledgment and praise are the most effective intrinsic
rewards an employee wants to hear because they want to feel like they are contributing
at work, and they get motivated to work more enthusiastically.
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names appear in the company newsletter. Others enjoy the attention that award
ceremonies and public recognition.
▪ Consistent process: Pay decisions do not vary arbitrary or without explanation among
employees. It should be a consistent process.
▪ Transparent: employees should be aware of the reward process. The system must be
simple and easy to understand.
▪ Performance standard: Establish performance guidelines that the team can control.
▪ Employee’s involvement: Include employees in the reward process and give them the
authority to carry out the necessary tasks to ensure participation in the reward system.
5.6.4 Designing Effective Reward System:
While designing reward system four main points arises that- Whom to reward, what to reward,
how to assess the rewards winner and how it should be given.
▪ Whom to reward?
1. Individual employees
2. Teams
3. The organisation
4. Outsiders like customers, suppliers, vendors etc.
▪ What to reward?
1. Performance at organisational level / Department level/ individual level
2. Speed and Efficiency
3. Loyalty
4. Innovation
5. Upholding values
6. Technical solutions
7. Learning
8. Good behaviour
9. Event management
10. Social concern etc…
▪ How to reward?
Rewarding employees depends upon organisation to organisation. It can be given at
organisational level or department or individual level.
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▪ How to assess?
Assessment can be done by the senior by assessing once performance project wise/
yearly basis, filling of survey forms or questionnaire can be filled by the team leaders
or peer group depending upon the type of organisation.
▪ What to reward?
1. Empowerment
2. Recognition
3. Career growth
4. Development
5. Celebration and fun
5.6.5 Total reward system:
It includes both monetary and non-monetary components, such as salary, variable pay, a
demanding work environment, employee benefits, growth opportunities, and so on. It
encompasses both indirect and direct benefits, as well as internal and extrinsic rewards. Each
facet of reward is connected together and addressed as an integrated and logical whole,
including basic pay, contingent pay, employee benefits, and non-financial incentives, which
include intrinsic rewards from the work itself. Total reward combines the influence of the two
major reward categories:
1) Transactional rewards: concrete rewards resulting from pay and benefit transactions
between the employer and employees.
2) Relational rewards: intangible rewards related to learning and growth and work
experience.
A whole reward approach is universal; confidence is not placed in one or two reward
mechanisms acting in isolation; instead, every method in which employees can be
rewarded and find job satisfaction via their work is considered. The goal is to optimise
the combined impact of a variety of reward efforts on job commitment, motivation, and
engagement.
5.6.6 The significance of total reward:
The idea of total reward basically asserts that rewarding people involves more than just giving
them money. A total reward strategy, according to O'Neal (1998), is essential for addressing
the problems brought on by hiring and retaining employees as well as for influencing
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behaviour: "It can help create a work experience that meets the needs of employees and
encourages them to contribute extra effort, by developing a deal that addresses a broad range
of issues and by spending reward dollars where they will be most effective in addressing
workers' shifting values."
The advantages of a comprehensive incentive system are as follows:
• Greater effect - the combined impact of the many sorts of awards will have a deeper
and longer-lasting influence on employee motivation and commitment.
• Improving the job connection - A total rewards approach to work makes the best use
of both relational and transactional rewards.
• Flexibility to accommodate employee’s needs –Milkovich and Bloom (1998) in their
study stated that ‘Relational rewards may bind individuals more strongly to the
organization because they can answer those special individual needs’.
• Talent management – Relational rewards aid in the creation of a favourable
psychological contract, which is much harder to replicate than individual pay practises
and can act as a differentiator in the recruitment market. The company can develop into
an "employer of choice" and "a great place to work," luring and keeping the talented
individuals it requires.
IN-TEXT QUESTIONS
10. _____ is a comprehensive system to compensate and reward employees fairly
and consistently.
11. Which of the following is an example of a non-financial reward:
a. Bonuses b. Commissions c. health insurance d. employee recognition
programmes
12. A reward management strategy is essential for:
a. Job evaluation b. Human resource planning
c. motivating employees d. compliance with employment laws.
13. Performance-related pay systems:
a. tie rewards to firm profitability b. are easy to implement and measure
c. tie rewards to employee effort d. result in negligible increases in output
14. _____ result in negligible increases in output
15. Rewards may be of two kinds_______and ________rewards.
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5.7 SUMMARY
Compensation is a reward that the organization provides to employees. As a result, the parties
must have a common understanding. Attractive remuneration allows a company to attract,
retain, and motivate skilled employees. Employees examine the fairness of the link between
their performance and the rewards associated with that performance. Remuneration is the single
most important HR activity, with an impact on all other tasks such as recruitment, promotion,
and job appraisal. Because employee compensation consumes a large portion of the corporate
budget, a compensation package is an important component of the overall strategic HRM plan.
Salary, bonuses, health-care plans, and other forms of compensation can all be included in a
compensation package. The purposes of pay are to attract people to work for your organisation
and to keep the ones who are currently there. Compensation is often used to encourage
individuals to perform at their best and boost morale. Employees that are appropriately
compensated are more likely to deliver excellent customer service, which can lead to
organisational growth and development.
1. d 9. Job Analysis
2. d 10. Reward Management
3. d 11. D
4. c 12. C
5. Proportional 13. C
6. Incentives 14. Wage rate
7. Services 15. Intrinsic, Extrinsic
8. Job evaluation
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5.10 REFERENCES
1. Amos, T., Ristow, A., Ristow, L., & Pearse, N. (2008). Human Resource Management,
JUTA and company ltd.
2. Armstrong, M. (2007). A Handbook of Employee Reward Management and Practice,
Kogan Page
3. Durai, P. (2010). Human Resource Management, Pearson
4. Pande, S., & Basak, S., (2015). Human Resource Management Text and Cases, Vikas
publishing house
5. Sanghi, S., (2014). Human Resource Management, Vikas Publishing house
6. Singh, B.D., (2012). Compensation and Reward Management, Excel books
7. Tamanna, S. Components of Employee Compensation (with Benefits). Retrieved from:
https://www.businessmanagementideas.com/human-resource-management-
2/employee-compensation/components-of-employee-compensation-with-
benefits/19228
8. Nakshita R. Employee Compensation Retrieved from:
https://www.businessmanagementideas.com/human-resource-management-
2/employee-compensation/employee-compensation/20570
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LESSON 6
STRUCTURE
6.2 INTRODUCTION
In the last lesson we have learnt the meaning of job analysis, how to deal with the problem of
over staffing, how to hire the new employees, how to create a fit between the right people and
the right job. We have gained knowledge about how the job analyser analyses the job, develops
job descriptions, and prepares job specifications.
Performance appraisal has turned into an extremely critical action in most of the undertakings.
It gives information about past, present, and expected performance of the employees which is
supportive in taking choices on determination, preparation and improvement, salary raise,
promotion and transfer. These days a lot of cash is spent on performance appraisal by most
organizations.
Individuals differ in their capacities and aptitudes. These distinctions are normal and cannot be
dispensed with even by giving similar fundamental schooling and training to them. In this way,
it is important for the top management to know these distinctions so the workers having better
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capacities might be compensated and some inefficient workers can be found and compensated
accordingly. The worker may likewise prefer to know the level of his performance in contrast
with his colleagues so he might improve it. Along with this there is a need to have reasonable
performance appraisal framework to know the general value of every worker.
6.3.1 Definition of Performance Appraisal:
Performance Appraisal can be known by different names like merit appraisal, merit rating,
progress rating and performance appraisal. In simple words, performance appraisal means
evaluating how the employee is performing during the job and what is the scope for his
development. The various authors gave the different definitions in their own words for
performance appraisal. The definitions are given underneath:
According to Beach, “Performance appraisal is the systematic appraisal of the individual with
regard to his or her performance on the job and his potential for development.”
According to Randall S. Schuler, "Performance appraisal is a formal, structured system of
measuring and evaluating an employee’s job, related behaviour and outcomes to discover how
and why the employee is presently performing on the job and how the employee can perform
more effectively in the future so that the employee, organisation, and society all benefit."
According to Heyel, "It is the process of evaluating the performance and qualifications of the
employees in terms of the requirements of the job for which he is employed, for purposes of
administration including placement, selection for promotions, providing financial rewards and
other actions which require differential treatment among the members of a group as
distinguished from actions affecting all members equally."
According to Dale Yoder, ''Performance appraisal includes all formal procedures used to
evaluate personalities and contributions and potentials of group members in a working
organisation. It is a continuous process to secure information necessary for making correct and
objective decisions on employees. Performance appraisal from employee point of view - "A
performance appraisal is meant to help employees realise their strengths and shortcomings and
receive a compensation accordingly."
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ACTIVITY
At the point when you have gone through every one of the definitions by well-
known authors, give your perspectives on the meaning of the performance
appraisal.
ACTIVITY
Assuming you have been given the opportunity what else focuses would you
have included in the basis for performance appraisal?
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ACTIVITY
You are appointed as a chief in the ABC organization which is FMCG company,
and you have been given the task of making goals for the performance appraisal
which will occur in the approaching month. Thus, presently you should set up the
one goal from each category given under:
a) Business (Work) related Objectives
b) Communication Objectives
c) Organizational (Hierarchical) Objectives
d) Career (Profession) Development Objectives
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ACTIVITY
What all benefits could be achieved through performance appraisal in your
organization? Think and write down the advantages what you can imagine.
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ACTIVITY
Scrutinizing all the shortcomings during the process of performance appraisal,
what all weaknesses do you consider can be there? Mention them.
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4. Person vs. Performance appraisal rates the Job appraisal examines the task to
Job employee and not the occupation decide their general work and fix
as it is worried about surveying the a pay level that are fair and even-
capacities of the people. It handed.
estimates the value of various
workers to the association.
5. Policy It helps in making decisions It helps in making the wage policy
Decision regarding transfer and promotion. of the organization.
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ACTIVITY
Numerous new workers joined your organization, so in a similar setting you need
to keep an appraiser. So, what steps you really want to continue in picking the
ideal individual for the performance appraisal system. Mention them.
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to be guaranteed that the appraisers tell the truth, judicious and objective in their
methodology, judgment, and social direction.
c) Awareness to the Employees about the Goals and Objectives- The employees ought
to be made mindful of the presentation concerning objectives, targets, furthermore,
conduct expected of them. An individual condition between the appraiser and worker
must be created to accomplish common comprehension of the standards of assessment.
d) Prepared in Consultation with Subordinates- The appraisal framework ought to be
conceived in a conference with the subordinates. This will expand their obligation to
the arrangement and their comprehension of anticipated performance.
e) Considering Prevailing Practices- The examination framework ought to consider the
appraisal works in different units in the business as well as the most recent reasoning
on performance appraisal. It ought to fit into the design and tasks of the association.
f) Creating a Reliable Appraisal Environment- The top administration should establish
an environment of dependable examination all through the association. Objective
direction, open interchanges, common trust casual connections, and so forth are the
essential components of such an environment.
g) Designed to Achieve Specific Objectives- The appraisal framework ought to be
intended to accomplish explicit targets. The goals of the examination framework might
be to assess current performance at work and to decide the potential for higher positions.
Now and again, performance appraisal relates to explicit targets like a salary increase,
training, promotion, transfer, and so on. The number of elements to be thought of and
the information to be gathered ought to be tailormade to accomplish the goal of the
appraisal.
h) Appraisers should be Selected and Trained Properly- The appraisers ought to be
chosen and prepared appropriately so they have no private predisposition and have the
fundamental abilities for the true assessment of workers. In request to objectivity in the
examination, an individual might be evaluated by additional people autonomously.
i) Provision of Appeals against Appraisals- There ought to be an arrangement of
requests against appraisals to guarantee certainty of the workers and their affiliations or
organizations. The results of appraisal should be talked about with the rates so they
might get a potential chance to communicate their sentiments on their progress reports.
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ACTIVITY
In your enterprise, you have fund that an unfair and biased measures of appraisal of
performance have been take. How will you help them in taking corrective
measures? Will you guide them to use essentials of a sound performance appraisal
system?
IN-TEXT QUESTIONS
17. Performance Appraisal is an ongoing and _____ process.
18. The performance appraisal and job appraisal are same. True/False.
19. The Performance Appraisal should be fair and ________ in nature.
20. Proper training should be provided to the appraiser for appraisal of the
performance. True/False
21. Does performance appraisal help in bringing confidence and motivation among
the employees? Yes/Np
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CASE STUDY
Performance Appraisal at ABC Ltd.
Recently, three employees working at the Head Office have been denied annual
increments due to comparatively low score. They have gone to the Chief Executive of the
company expressing their dissatisfaction with the appraisal system and insisting that
community service is not apart of their job, and it should not influence their ratings. The
employees seem to organise a union and demand that annual increments should be
granted automatically.
ABC Ltd. is a reputed advertising agency having 5 branches in different parts of the
country. Its staff includes 180 operative employees and 35 executives. The company has
a performance rating plan under which the staff members are checked at the end of each
financial year by a committee of two executives by means of checklist method. The
qualities considered are responsibilities, initiative, dependability, leadership potential,
cooperative attitude and community service. After the performance is evaluated, the
check points are discussed with the concerned employees by their immediate boss and
are used to counsel them and arrange further training for them. The check points are also
used for granting or withholding of increments of staff with poor performance and
granting of additional increments to and promoting of deserving staff.
The Chief Executive feels that performance appraised is a dangerous source of friction
and so it should be discontinued altogether.
Questions:
1. If you were the Human Resource Manager of the advertising agency, how would
you solve the issue?
2. How far do you agree with the Chief Executive's view that performance
appraisal should not be continued?
3. On what lines would you recommend improvement or changes in the
performance appraisal system of the company?
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There are different strategies for merit rating which might be ordered into: (i) Traditional
Techniques, and (ii) Modern Methods. The techniques contrast for different clear reasons. To
start with, they contrast in the characteristics to be appraised. The characteristics may vary
because of contrast in work necessities, factual prerequisites, and assessment of the
management. For example, 'collaboration' may not be viewed as at all important by the
management. Then, at that point, it is troublesome additionally to rate such factors as
collaboration dependably. Second, they contrast the inclusion of who is being evaluated, e.g.,
chiefs, sales reps, and processing plant employees. Third, varieties might be caused because of
the level of accuracy in the assessment. Lastly, they might contrast techniques used to acquire
weightage for the different attributes.
To the extent that is practicable, merit rating ought to be founded on true factors; it ought to be
a nonstop cycle and made at standard stretches. Any great strategy for merit rating ought to
evaluate the accompanying individual characteristics of the employees:
(i) Knowledge of work.
(ii) Ability to accomplish the work.
(iii) Quality and amount of result.
(iv) Personal characteristics like constancy, versatility, drive, and so on.
(v) Special characteristics like certainty, administration, and so on.
6.4.1 Traditional Appraisal Methods:
Traditional methods are exceptionally old methods of performance appraisal. They are based
on the methods of appraisal which are followed since years. Appraisal of workers is done based
on principles of individual characteristics or characteristics like mentalities, judgment,
flexibility, drive, reliability, authority, faithfulness, dependability, and information on work.
and so on. There are six traditional methods which are talked about underneath:
1. Confidential Report- Under this, the appraiser is expected to record his impression of
the individual being assessed in an unstructured manner. In any case, in certain
organizations, remarks are expected to be gathered under unambiguous headings like
nature of occupation, performance, reasons for explicit work ways of behaving,
character attributes, and promotion needs. This framework is exceptionally abstract and
has its legitimacy in its effortlessness and is still being used particularly in general
society area and government offices.
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Majorly, there is no standard configuration for the confidential report. It relates to the
performance, capacity, and working of the employee during the earlier year. Extremely
easy-going feedback is found among evaluators while filling confidential reports of the
employees working under them. No criticism is given to the worker being evaluated
and accordingly, its validity is exceptionally low. The worker who is evaluated never
knows his shortcomings and the open doors accessible for defeating them.
2. Ranking- Ranking is a team-oriented assessment strategy that includes the setting of
workers in a position as per their work performance. It grants examination of all
workers in any single rating group no matter what the kind of work is, all specialists
are decided on similar elements also, they are evaluated on the general premise
concerning their work performance rather than an individual appraisal of
characteristics. Along with it, the best is put first in the position and the poorest possess
the last position. The trouble with this framework is that the evaluator is asked to think
about an entire man.
Paired comparison is an improvement over simple ranking. Under this, each worker in
is contrasted with other worker to figure out which is better in his work. The evaluator
is furnished with booklets containing two names on each page. Clearly, the number of
rank requests would be n(n-1)/2, where n is the total number of people to be thought
about. Along with it, each employee is contrasted and each other worker in a similar
work family.
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The graphic rating technique is straightforward and simple to utilize. It allows the statistical
tabulation of scores in terms of measures of central tendency, skewness, and dispersion. It
allows a ready comparison of scores among workers. The scores apparently tell the merit or
worth of each person.
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5. Checklist Appraisal- Different statements are prepared in such a way that they portray
different sorts of conduct of a person in a specific occupation. Every statement is joined
to a scale value. During the hour of rating the workers, the supervisor simply remembers
and check all statements. After all the values are attached to the singular qualities
furthermore and appraisal up to this level is assembled on the rating sheet. Then the
average is calculated, and employee is evaluated. The weighted checklist ought to be
ready by the people completely familiar with the job and acquainted with planning.
When this process is finished, appraisals are put on separate cards for future reference.
6. Critical Incident- A critical incident means when an employee exceeds or fails any
requirement of his job. It addresses an exceptional way of behaving of an employee at
work, concerning example:
(a) Resisted the implementation of change.
(b) Became upset about work.
(c) Refused to help colleague.
(d) Suggested an improvement in the work technique.
(e) Tried to get an individual specialist to acknowledge the administration's choice.
(f) Acknowledging new thoughts.
This strategy requires each manager to keep all such critical incidents in each employee's way
of behaving which demonstrate powerful or effective activity and those which show the
insufficient or unfortunate way of behaving. These are kept in an extraordinarily planned
notepad which contains classifications for qualities under which different ways of behaving
can be recorded. Instances of such sorts of occupation prerequisites for employees are
judgment, learning skills, efficiency, precision of work, obligation, and motive. Day-to-day
recording of these things is by all accounts fundamental because any other way, the boss might
fail to remember the incidents with his subordinates.
The primary issue with this strategy is that the extraordinary incident occur so rarely that
singular examination may not differ. It has been seen that often the workers have neither
positive nor negative occurrences. In cases, where the basic occasion does not occur, rating an
employee will be troublesome. Additionally, it might be hard for a manager to conclude what
is a basic or excellent incident. Here again, the human choice might show up in recording the
basic incident.
The limitations of the critical incident method are as per the following:
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This technique is without any trace of partiality since appraisal is done by multiple
judges. Besides, it is an extremely thorough and basic strategy. The main disadvantage
is that this technique is tedious.
9. Field Review Method- Under this strategy, the supervisors are consulted by a specialist
from the HR or staff division. The specialists question the manager to acquire all the
appropriate data on every worker and takes notes in his journal. Consequently, there is
no evaluating structure with variables where appraisals are acquired. The specialists are
generally grouped into three classifications remarkable, agreeable, and unacceptable.
The evaluator questions the supervisor about the prerequisites of each work in his unit
and about the performance of each man in his work. He tests to know how the
employees are working and how can his performance be improved.
The supervisor is expected to offer his perspective about the promotion of his
subordinates, the level of the performance of each subordinate, his weaknesses, valid
statements, capacity, promotability, and the potential game plans in cases requiring
further thought. The questions are asked and responded to verbally.
The progress of the field survey strategy relies on the capability of the questioner. If he
knows his work, he can contribute essentially to precise examinations. The field audit
technique lets the supervisors free from the tedious work of filling in examination
structures. Superficial judgment can be eliminated.
Criticism of Traditional Methods:
The overall analysis of traditional performance appraisal systems is that they are as well
abstract in nature since every one of them depends on the private judgment of the evaluator.
Individual judgment is constantly exposed to partiality or bias from certain different regions.
The appraiser will most likely be unable to pass judgment on the skill of the employees because
of the absence of preparation.
As a result of the critical job of the supervisors under the traditional methods, performance
ratings are much of the time subject to various blunders and shortcomings which are talked
about underneath:
1. Halo Error- This sort of mistake happens when the evaluator permits one part of a
man's character or performance to impact his whole assessment. It is the inclination of
numerous evaluators to let the rating, they give importance to one characteristic
excessively which impact their appraisals. Numerous managers will generally give an
employee around similar ratings on all elements. This mistake can be perceived
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effectively on factor scales. The rating scale strategy is defective because the supervisor
tends to concentrate on one single factor more than the others before going on the next.
In this way, he can think about every one of the subordinates compared with a norm or
to one another on every characteristic.
2. Central Tendency Error- This blunder happens when the evaluator is uncertain about
the subordinates or has lacking data about them or is concentrating on the rating
process. Because of these reasons, by and large, the evaluators are hesitant to rate
individuals at the external closures of the scale. The evaluator realizes that he needs to
assess his subordinates at intermittent spans. If the evaluator is new to the system or
does not have adequate knowledge regarding the system in the organization, it would
be difficult for him to evaluate the subordinates.
3. Leniency or Strictness Error- Managers tend to be simple evaluators, what is more,
others tend to be strict in their appraisals. Tolerant or simple evaluators allot reliably
high qualities or scores to their subordinates and severe or strict evaluators give reliably
low appraisals. Both the patterns can emerge from changing guidelines of performance
among managers and structure various understandings of what they see in worker
performance. This mistake can be somewhat overwhelmed by teaching the supervisors
and arranging meetings between them with the goal that they might reach settlement on
exactly what they anticipate from their subordinates.
4. Recent Behaviour Bias- Often some evaluators assess people based on their
performance in the new couple of weeks, a normal consistent way of behaving is not
checked. Some workers monitoring this inclination show improved results when they
feel that they are being noticed and the report of their presentation is to be arranged
soon.
6.4.2 Modern Appraisal Methods:
There are some important methods of appraisal which the modern organizations use which are
Managing by Objectives (MBO), Behaviourally Anchored Rating Scale (BARS), 360-degree
appraisal. All these methods are explained underneath:
A. MANAGING BY OBJECTIVES (MBO):
Concept of Managing by Objectives (MBO):
The way of thinking of 'Management by Objectives' (MBO) was presented by Peter Drucker
in 1954 and later created by different journalists like John Humble, Dale McConkey, George
Ordiorne, Edward Schleh, and Douglas McGregor. Noticing that even many is critical years
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before 1954, goals were underscored by traditional administration authors like Fayol, Urwick,
and Barnard.
John Humble defined overseeing by targets as a powerful framework that coordinates the
organization's need to accomplish its objectives for benefit and development with the
administrator's need to contribute furthermore, foster himself. Ordiorne likewise focused on
that MBO isn't simply a group of rules, a progression of techniques, or even a set strategy for
making do, however, it is a perspective about administration.
Features of Managing by Objectives (MBO):
The wide attributes of MBO are as per the following:
(i) Operational Technique- The Management by objectives is a practical technique. The
objectives must be set in quantifiable or quantitative terms. As Drucker puts it,
"Objectives should be functional, and they should be equipped for being changed over
into explicit targets and explicit tasks. They should be fit for turning into the premise
as well as the inspiration for work and accomplishment".
(ii) Comprehensive Technique- MBO addresses an extensive instrument of management.
It is not just a tool of human resource management but an overall management
technique for realizing the various objectives of the organization.
(iii) Participative Management- MBO underlines a participative way to deal with the
management. The goals are set with the help of subordinates. MBO isn't just an
agreement, yet the creation of objectives and their performance working together.
(iv) Result Oriented- MBO is performance arranged. That is the reason, its other name is
Management by Results. This approach focuses on ends instead of means and is
demonstrative as opposed to correctional in character. The presentation of an individual
or unit is assessed as per the outcomes acquired.
(v) Concentration on Key Result Areas- The focus in MBO is on performance
improvement in the areas which are of basic significance to the association overall. By
distinguishing proof of key outcome regions, MBO guarantees that due consideration
is given to the need regions which are significant for good performance and
development of the association.
(vi) Systems Approach- MBO tries to coordinate the person with the organization and also,
the association with its current circumstance. It looks to guarantee the achievement of
both individual and undertaking objectives by making objective consistency.
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without really focusing on the long-range targets of the undertaking which is certainly
not a solid indication of hierarchical proficiency and adequacy. Since the performance
of the subordinates is to be evaluated after six months or one year, they will generally
focus on their nearby targets.
(iii) Resistance to Change- The arrangement of MBO seems, by all accounts, to be
straightforward, yet it requires changes in conventional reasoning and practices. By and
by, it is frequently opposed by both leaders and operative workers.
(iv) Lack of Training- There is an absence of training and information on the part of the
supervisors in executing the program. Many are inclined to sit down with the
subordinate, direct the objectives and focus with no info allowed from the subordinate,
and then, at that point, the request might be met in a predetermined time. No thought is
given to any external elements over which the subordinate has no control or impact. In
such circumstances, there can be no two-way correspondence due to the external forced
goals.
(v) Lack of Follow-up- The absence of follow-up by the predominant at the fitting time is
one more obstacle in the fruitful performance of MBO. The prevalent should get with
the subordinate at the proper time. The subordinate is ready to precisely tell the chief
what has been achieved and how. If the superior postpones the meeting, then the
subordinate also starts taking the program lightly.
(vi) Rigidity- The management by objectives often presents inflexibility in the association.
Since objectives are set after at regular intervals or one year, the superior may not like
to alter in the middle between on account of fear of opposition from the subordinate.
There may emerge a need to change the objectives at lower levels to accomplish the
long-range targets of the venture. The director should deal with such a circumstance
appropriately.
(vii) Limited Application- The management by objectives isn't fitting for all levels and for
everybody. It is reasonable just that the two chiefs and subordinates feel great about
taking part in it and are willing. The heavy demands made by it make MBO valuable
generally to managerial and professional employees.
(viii) Costly Process- MBO is an expensive and time-consuming process. The setting and
valuation of targets are finished over such a brief period that it will most likely be unable
to accommodate sufficient connection among all superiors and subordinates in the
association. MBO requires an extraordinary arrangement of investigation for which
senior leaders don't have sufficient time.
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performance. Under this, accomplishments are examined and the goals of the
subordinate.
Making MBO Effective:
The following guidelines can be followed for making MBO objective:
1. Top Management Support
2. Education about MBO
3. Active Participation in Goal Setting
4. Decentralisation of Authority
5. Orientation of Executives
6. Integration of MBO Programs.
CASE STUDY
Management by Objectives
When these goals were achieved, the executives were so impressed with the branch manager that
he made such clear objectives and also achieved them with assurance. They were so impressed
with his hard work and sincerity towards his branch. Now, he wanted every department to make
his own goals and objectives which are verifiable and clear.
Questions:
1. Can the Branch Manager develop verifiable objectives when they have not been
assigned to him by the Chairman? How?
2. Do you justify the Branch Manager's approach is setting goals? Give reasons for your
answer.
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clear expression from the association that it empowers transparency, and that input is a
two-way process. Furthermore, it is a foundational acknowledgment of the way that a
worker's subordinates truly do play a crucial job in his appraisal. In this manner, the
reason for subordinate's appraisal is to get a direct appraisal of how the subordinates
see their superior to be as far as:
(a) designation of power
(b) directing and preparing subordinate
(c) inspiration of subordinates
(d) group building, etc.
Advantages of 360 Degree Appraisal:
There are various advantages of 360 Degree Appraisal which are given underneath:
(i) Reveals Employee's Strengths and Weaknesses- It uncovers the qualities and
shortcomings of the employees.
(ii) Gap can be Reduced- The gap between self-appraisal and the perspectives of one's
colleagues is decreased.
(iii) Teamwork- When peer group appraisal is considered for performance examination,
cooperation flourishes.
(iv) Initiation of Self-Change- Inflexible administrators are compelled to start self-change.
(v) Improving overall Quality of Staff- It works on the by and large nature of the staff on
the grounds that every part is helping the others to move along.
Drawbacks of 360 Degree Appraisal:
There are various limitations of 360 Degree Appraisal which are given underneath:
(i) Biased Response- Response from peers (colleagues) and subordinates might be one-
sided.
(ii) Ignored Goals- Performance as far as achieving objectives is overlooked.
(iii) Frustration among Employees- Feedback might cause disappointment and
resentment among the employees.
(iv) Time-Consuming Process- 360° examination is a complex and tedious appraisal
procedure.
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Type of Performance
Advantages Disadvantages
Appraisal Method
Subjectivity
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Type of Performance
Advantages Disadvantages
Appraisal Method
Open communication
Many only works for some types of
MBOs
Employee may have more “buy- job titles
in”
Difference Source: 11.2 Appraisal Methods – Human Resource Management. (2016, March
22). Pressbooks. Retrieved October 21, 2022, from
https://open.lib.umn.edu/humanresourcemanagement/chapter/11-2-appraisal-methods/
IN-TEXT QUESTIONS
following promotion toward objectives, trading criticism among organizational parts, routinely
evaluating progress, supporting viable objective arranged exercises, and intervening to make
upgrades when required.
Performance management has other implications than performance appraisal which gives input
about employees' job performance. Other than getting input, performance management also
incorporates performance interviews, archiving of performance data, and use of appraisal data.
These components have been talked about underneath:
1. Getting Feedback- It includes an orderly assortment of worker's performance
information concerning the amount of result, nature of the result, the practicality of
result, helpfulness, and so on. Such information should be gathered formally. It tends
to be incorporated from performance reports documented by the employee and his boss,
and furthermore reports of value auditors.
2. Performance Appraisal Interview- A sound appraisal framework ought to
incorporate the post-appraisal interview. In this meeting, criticism on performance is
given to the employee. The evaluator makes sense of his appraisals of the worker and
the characteristics he has taken into thought for appraisal. The meeting likewise gives
an open door to the employee to make sense of his perspectives about performance
guidelines, rating scales, appraisals, the variables hindering his performance, and so on.
The evaluator can give direction, training, and ideas to the worker for working on his
performance.
The post-appraisal interview is intended to accomplish the accompanying goals:
(a) to tell the employee where he stands.
(b) to assist the worker with going about his business by explaining what is generally
anticipated of him.
(c) to give an open door to the worker to remark upon his appraisal.
(d) to strengthen prevalent subordinate connections.
(e) to trade significant data for vocation promotion; and
(f) to advise the worker for additional turn of events.
Appraisal interview can be of the following types:
(i) Tell and Sell Interview- The motivations behind this interview are:
(a) to let the employee, realize how well he is doing,
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(b) to acquire the worker's acknowledgment of the assessment, and (c) to draw up
an arrangement of progress for him.
It depends on the understanding that workers have few deficiencies, yet they
should be persuaded about these inadequacies, the evaluator's appraisal, and
ideas for development. The questioner requires tolerance, understanding
furthermore, and the capacity to persuade the employee about his assessment
and ensuing medicinal measures without utilizing his positional power. This
sort of interview is fitting for youthful and new workers who are unpractised,
unreliable, and need the counsel of the unrivalled. The predominant can deserve
admiration because of his more prominent information and experience.
(ii) Tell and Listen Interview- The target of this interview is to impart the appraisal to the
worker and afterward listen thoughtfully to his responses. Such a meeting is separated
into two sections: The initial segment covers serious areas of strength for the worker's
work performance, and the subsequent part is utilized to investigate completely the
employee's sentiments about the appraisal. With the help of precautions, taking full
advantage of pauses, and answering sentiments to show understanding are the abilities
expected in this kind of interview. One benefit of this technique is that it makes a great
connection between the superior and the subordinate. The subordinate fosters a positive
mentality towards the superior. Another benefit is that it will generate support and
correspondence.
(iii) Problem-tackling Interview- In this meeting, the point isn't appraisal but
improvement of an employee. Hence, the questioner removes himself from his standard
job as an appointed authority and places himself in the job of a partner. He doesn't
convey (tell) the examination to the employee. He doesn't call attention to the areas of
progress. Maybe he tries to copy the employee into contemplating working on his own
presentation. He doesn't supply cures or arrangements in spite thinks about all thoughts
on work improvement proposed by the employee. This process is done by capable
inquiries.
3. Archiving Performance Data- The records of performance appraisal and performance
interviews should be put away for use in the future. The HR supervisor ought to be
capable to recover this data for taking faculty choice in the future. Such choices may
include pay hikes, promotions, training, etc. For instance, assuming a worker is given
or denied promotion, such choice should be supported by performance data.
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(iv) Satisfaction of Needs and Aspirations- It assists with fulfilling the necessities and
desires of the workers with incredible potential.
(v) Helps in Succession Planning- It works with progression arranging by distinguishing
talented staff who could involve in higher posts when the current occupants move out
of the association.
IN-TEXT QUESTIONS
25. These are the types of Performance Management Interviews- Tell & ____ and
tell & ____.
26. Potential Appraisal and Performance Management constitutes one and the same
thing. True/False.
27. The Performance Management helps in getting inputs in the form of _____
28. Does Potential Appraisal help in succession planning? Yes/No.
29. Potential Appraisal help in career development. True/False.
6.6 SUMMARY
In the lesson we have learnt how important is the timely survey of the performance of the
employees to provide them with just, equitable, uniform and fair wages and incentives. The
regular survey of the employees’ jobs also contributed widely to the growth of the organization.
It helps in understanding the needs of the employees and also helps in taking various important
decisions related to the job of the employees like increase in pay, transfer, promotion, etc.
6.7 GLOSSARY
1. Continuous 9. False
2. False 10. True
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20. Consider yourself as a Human Resource Manager and answer the following questions
based on your knowledge of Performance Management:
(a) What is the objective of your performance review?
(b) Who should participate in your performance review?
(c) What should you measure in your performance review?
(d) What type of questions will you ask your team during your performance review?
21. Review each of the appraisal methods and discuss which one you might use for the
following types of jobs and discuss your choices.
a. Administrative Assistant
b. Chief Executive Officer
c. Human Resource Manager
d. Retail Store Assistant Manager
22. Consider yourself as an employee of the company and answer the following questions:
(a) Do you have everything you need to perform your job? Or what resources or
support do you need from the department to reach your goals?
(b) What are your long-term career goals, and how can the organization help you
in achieving them?
(c) Which of the organizational goals do you think are more aligned with your
personal goals?
(d) What is your biggest strength and weakness?
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(e) In what ways do you think you can contribute to the company?
23. Why is performance appraisal necessary in modern organisations? Discuss any two-
techniques of performance appraisal.
24. What do you mean by Performance Appraisal? Discuss its benefits to an industrial
organization.
6.10 REFERENCES
Chhabra, T.N. (2019). Principles and Practices of Management, Dhanpar Rai & Co., Delhi, p.
271
Amos, T., Ristow, A., Ristow, L., & Pearse, N. (2008). Human Resource Management, JUTA
and company ltd.
Chhabra, T.N. & Chhabra, Monica S. (1988). Essentials of Human Resource Management, Sun
India Publications, New Delhi.
Pande, S., & Basak, S., (2015). Human Resource Management Text and Cases, Vikas
publishing house
Chhabra, T. N., & Chhabra, M. S. (2016). Essentials of Human Resource Management (2nd
ed.). Sunindia lashers.
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LESSON 7
INDUSTRIAL RELATIONS
Dr. Malavika Srivastava
Associate Professor
Institute of Information Technology & Management
GGSIPU
Malavika.iitm@gmail.com
STRUCTURE
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Starting from the medieval period, when the relations between the master and servant were not
complex, moreover it was direct and personal hence it was easy to secure cooperation from the
workers. Relations between them was easy as the masters were approachable, and they were
enough to take workers out of their difficulties. Then the situation underwent a change with the
emergence of factory system after England’s Industrial Relations in the 18th Century. In this
system the old philosophy didn’t work as the workers faced many economic, social and
psychological problems and what was majorly needed was their Welfare and Wellbeing. This
gave birth to the concept of Industrial Relations to tackle with the workers insecurities and
unrest at the industries as there was high need for cooperation between labour and employers.
The term Industrial Relations consists of two words “Industry” and “Relations”.
Relations co-exist with humans and Industry is a place where number of humans, initially
unknown to each other, meet, work, compete & cooperate, which makes it even more important
to tie them in a harmonious relationship to maintain Industrial Peace. Therefore, after Industrial
Revolution, which mark the emergence of factories and labour- management relations,
industrial relations evolved to regulate and harmonise their relations and to safeguard the labour
from all sorts of exploitation at the industries and also to ensure their complete welfare and
wellbeing.
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We shall now understand the concept of Industrial Relations more comprehensively with the
help of some definitions:
H. Henry Richardson asserts “Industrial Relations is an art, the art of living together for the
purpose of production”. To work together it becomes a necessity for them to learn this art by
acquiring the skill of adjustment.
On the other hand, H.A. Clegg emphasised the regulation and institutionalization of industrial
relations when he asserted that “The field of Industrial Relations includes the study of workers
and their trade unions, management, employers’ association, and the state institutions
concerned with the regulation of employment”
National Commission on Labour (NCL) also emphasised that “Industrial relations affect not
merely the interests of the two participants-labour and management, but also the economic and
social goals to which the State addresses itself. To regulate these relations in socially desirable
channels is a function, which the State is in the best position to perform”.
The above definitions clarify that Industrial Relations emerges out of employee employer
relations in industries which are regulated by the Government/State in various aspects.
7.2.1 Nature of industrial Relations:
1. Industrial Relation is interdisciplinary in nature: As the study of conditions like
level of wages and security of employment is related to economics, if we study their
origin and evolution, it comes under history, resultant social conflicts due to these issues
comes under sociology, study of attitude of various parties to Industrial Relations comes
under the purview of psychology, state policies bearing on the issues under political
science, the legal aspect of the issue under law, the technological aspect under the study
of technology and the quantitative assessment of losses incurred by the parties and the
country's economy under mathematics.
2. Industrial Relation is multidimensional in nature: Having three major dimensions
as determinants, namely:
a. Institutional factors such as government policies, labour laws unions of workers
and employers, power, structure, community etc.
b. Economic factors such as type of economic ownership like capitalist, socialist,
company ownership etc.
c. Technological factors such as techniques of production, capital structure,
rationalization etc.
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ACTIVITY
Industrial Relations is a multifarious topic. Like the above points, think of some
more points in nature, features, characteristics of Industrial Relations that you have
observed or experienced through your exposure to any industry or organization.
iii) Enabling workers’ and employers’ organization to associate with government agencies
in consideration of general, public, social and economic measures affecting employers’
and workers’ relations.
iv) Timely redressal of Industrial conflicts and policing the occurrence of strikes and
lockouts.
v) To provide higher job satisfaction to the workers to minimise labour turnover and
absenteeism.
vi) To promote workers participation in management.
vii) To encourage government control in regulating production and industrial relations.
IN-TEXT QUESTIONS
1. Industrial Relations is an _______________ of living together.
2. Industrial Relations came into being in 20th Century. True / False
3. Following is not one of the Aspects of Industrial Relations:
a) Cooperation b) Confidence
c) Conflict d) None of the above
4. Facilitating maximum use of ____________________ is the objective of IR.
5. Concern towards Employees ____________________ are major objectives of
IR.
7.2.4 SYSTEMS APPROACH TO INDUSTRIAL RELATIONS:
John Dunlop proposed System’s Approach to Industrial Relations. This approach focuses on
participants in the process, environmental forces and the output. It also studies inter-relations
among different facets of Industrial Relations system.
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2. Social Factors: In the initial stage of industrialization various social factors such as
social groups, social values and norms, social status influence industrial relations,
which gives rise to the existence of class in industries. But with the progress in
industrialization, such factors lose their importance.
3. Psychological Forces: Lack of motivation, lower morale, loss of personal identity, lack
of interest and dissatisfaction due to dissatisfaction at work give vent to the worker’s
protest and to fight the same, employers form their organizations. Thus, an environment
of ‘power relationship’ is created which might culminate in collective bargaining.
4. Politico-Legal Forces: The system of Government, political institutions, judiciary etc.
influence the industrial relations in the country to a great extent. For ex. The philosophy
of the political party in power influences the state of industrial relations by enacting
and enforcing various statutes for the protection of the interest of the workers.
IN-TEXT QUESTIONS
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trade unions in India, foundation of All India Trade Union Congress (AITUC) in 1920 also was
an important event in the history of Industrial Relations in our country.
Second Phase: As an extension to the First Phase, after the First World War, a number of laws
were enacted. For Ex. Trade Dispute Act, 1929, provided a conciliation machinery for
settlement of disputes. Also, a survey was conducted by The Royal Commission on Labour
(1929-31) to assess labour problems in India related to their working conditions with respect
to health, safety and welfare of the workers and made recommendations to make further
modifications in policies, acts and laws.
Third Phase: The Industrial Truce Resolution adopted in 1947 was the major development in
this phase. This encouraged “the labour and management to assist the Government to secure,
promote & guarantee such agreements between the parties as will usher in a period of
contended and orderly advancement towards a cooperative commonwealth”. Under this phase
more importance is given to the need for respecting the mutuality of interests between labour
and capital in industrial development and recommended to the parties the method of mutual
discussion of all problems, common to both and the determination to settle all disputes without
recourse to interruption in or slowing down of production”.
In the end it can be stated that as far as evolution of Industrial relations in India has been
gradual. It went through phases from traditional to modern times of its existence. The evolution
took place also to bring about change for the betterment of working conditions of the workers
in terms of their health, safety and welfare at the workplace. Finally, it took a turn towards
importance to mutuality of interest and role of Government in practicing law for dealing with
industry related issues.
IN-TEXT QUESTIONS
11. There are ____________________ phases in the Evolution of Industrial
Relations.
12. A major development in Third phase is ____________________.
13. ILO conducted a survey to access labour problems in India. True / False
14. Trade Dispute Act, 1929 was enacted in the _______________ Phase of IR
Evolution.
15. When was All India Trade Union Congress formed:
a) 1920 b) 1820
c) 1944 d) 1947
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Industrial Relations is made of two terms, out of which more important is relations. When it
comes to relationship, their existence is possible only when there are two or more parties to it.
In Industrial Relations this relation is “employment relationships” in industry i.e., between
employers and labour which is secured under the great influence of government of the nation
or state.
Therefore, there are three major parties to industrial relations: Workers and their organization,
Employers & their organization and Government/State.
They have their own unique role to play in regulating industrial relations in the interest of
industry and largely of the nation.
Employee Employers'
Association Organization
Parties
to IR
State
ACTIVITY
Above we have talked about the Three major parties to Industrial Relations. You
are supposed to draw three columns and enumerate the 5-5 functions each of
Employee Association, Employer’s Organization & the State/Government.
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IN-TEXT QUESTIONS
16. There are _______________ parties to IR.
17. Trade Unions are formed to safeguard the recreational interest of the workers.
True / False
18. Which is NOT a party to IR:
a) Trade Unions b) Courts/Tribunals
c)Employer’s Organization d) ILO
19. ____________________ bears power over & above Employees Association &
Employer’s Organization.
20. ____________________ regulates employment related factors.
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other rights, also try to secure share in productivity gains, greater contribution in
management decision making or even control of industry, they can adopt certain
agitational methods like, strike, lockouts, gherao etc. increasing unrest in the industry,
for fulfilment of their demands.
b) Fraternal Function: Fraternal responsibility is about standing in support in
unfavourable times. This is what this function of union addresses. In the period of work
stoppages due to strikes gheraos, or in times of illness, employment injury or when they
are temporarily unemployed, unions are always willing to provide financial assistance
and support.
c) Political Functions: Unions also sometimes attempts to improve the political status of
its leader, members and union itself through associating them with political parties and
sometimes contesting as political parties themselves in order to have influence over
government and the labour policies.
7.3.3 EMPLOYERS’ ORGANIZATION:
Employer’s Organizations in India have a three-tier structure viz. local associations, regional
industrial associations and All India Federation. Of the three, the local associations which
operate mainly through the chambers of commerce covers all industries in an area. Their
activities in the labour field are comparatively less extensive. The industrial associations are
the general patterns of organization of employers in India. They are formed at the area or
regional level as also at the all-India level and are generally affiliated to the central industrial
organizations. At the national level, there are federations namely All India Organization of
Employers (AIOE) formed in 1932, Employers’ Federation of India (EFI) formed in 1933 and
All India manufacturers’ Organization (AIMO) formed in 1941, which have been given
representation on different tripartite labour consultative bodies.
ROLES OF EMPLOYERS’ ORGANIZATION:
Employers’ Federation of India (EFI): The main objectives of the establishment of EFI are:
a) To protect and promote the legitimate interests of employers engaged in industry, trade
and commerce.
b) To maintain harmonious relations between management and labour and to initiate and
support schemes that would increase productivity and give labour a fair share of the
increased return.
c) To collect and disseminate information affecting employers and to advice members on
their labour/employer relations and other related problems.
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productivity, pursuing policies, adopting neighbourhood villages etc. are various social
responsibilities shouldered by Employer’s organizations.
e) Representational Roles: They also represent employers on various significant
platforms as wage boards and various committees formed by the Government to place
their point of views before them.
7.3.4 STATE/UNION GOVERNMENT:
Among the THREE parties to Industrial Relations, the apex governing body is the STATE,
which has the responsibility of correcting correct any kind of imbalance or disrupted social and
economic order so that the complex socio-economic system of industries. In various instances
of disputes and indiscipline which goes out of the hands of the management, and they fail to
resolve it through mutual agreement, bargaining and negotiation.
THE ROLES OF STATE IN INDUSTRIAL RELATIONS:
a) The major role played by the State is to lay down the Labour Policy, as guiding
principles for the labour related issues such as wage payments, regulation of health and
safety, welfare and social security, union management relations etc.
b) Labour policy is directed towards the achievement of various goals like industrial peace
and harmony, reducing inequalities, increasing standard of living of workers, increasing
productivity, providing social security, providing a fair wage, etc.
c) To achieve the above State also has the responsibility of keeping in place the industrial
relation policy, welfare policy, social security policy etc.
d) Concern for planned development and rapid economic growth.
e) Fulfil requirements of a welfare stare as included in Directive Principles of State Policy
f) Addressing to the socio-economic imbalances in the society, depressed conditions in
the working class as observed by the Royal Commission on Labour and the Labour
Investigation Committee
g) Addressing to the imbalances in between unions and employers and the weaknesses of
both the social partners, leading to preference for adjudication despite known
appreciation of the merits of free and fair collective bargaining.
h) To achieve the commanding heights of the economy as per the Industrial policy
resolution, 1956.
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IN-TEXT QUESTIONS
21. Trade Unions are formed on continuous basis and are permanent in nature.
True / False
22. Among the three parties to IR, the Apex body is _______________.
23. Which is not one of the functions of Trade Unions:
a) Fraternal b) Maternal
c) Militant d) Political
24. Full form of AIOE is ____________________.
25. Labour Policy is directed to achieve ____________________.
With the emergence of Industries after Industrial Revolution between 1750 and 1825 AD, that
resulted into modern factory system. It was characterised by large scale production and
employment and separation of management from ownership, because of which personal touch
has been lost and the relations between workers and management became very formal and
complex.
The desire for higher profits by employers and weak bargaining power in the hands of workers
led to the exploitation of working class. After a long time, they realised that if the workers will
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not strengthen their position before employers, they will be in great danger of serious
exploitation by the employers. Hence Trade Unions came into existence. After emergence, with
the passage of time and changes in situation, the face and form of Trade Unions also changed
leaps and bounds.
“Trade Unions owe their origin to class struggle between the capitalist employers and their
workers. To get more and more profits employers exploit the workers, who because of their
common interest to get more wages unite in trade unions and then resist the employers”.
To be more specific, “the origin and growth of trade unionism is the result of the increased
complexities of economic structure. Industrial Revolution made it all the more essential to
organise workers to protect their economic rights and secure better working environment”.
Thus, trade unionism is the child of industrialization born out of the stresses and strains of
Industrial Revolution.
7.4.1 TRADE UNIONS: PAST
Initially, it was some social workers, philanthropist and other religious leaders who started their
efforts towards retaining worker welfare in industries. Social reformers under the leadership of
Sorabjee Shapurjee Bangali started an agitation to draw the attention of the Government
towards deteriorating conditions of workers in industries specially those of women and children
and to appeal to the authorities to introduce legislation for bettering their conditions in
industries.
Such pressure from social reformers and the traders compelled the Government to move ahead
on this path and on the basis of the reports of Factories Commission, the first Indian Factories
Act was enacted in 1881. The Act was a cause of great disappointment due to its
inappropriateness in terms of its insufficient provisions for women and child labour raised
demands for its amendment which led to an atmosphere of agitation.
ACTIVITY
Talking about trade unions here, write your own definition to Trade Unions and
list down the names of Trade Unions you have ever heard of.
When the socialist started Hind Mazdoor Sabha in December 1948, the Indian Federation of
Labour existed then, and they both merged together. Still there were disagreements towards
principles and objectives of Hind Mazdoor Sabha. Therefore, United Trade Union Committee
was formed. The Committee called a conference of various leaders at Calcutta on 30 th April
1949 where the United Trade Union Congress was formed.
By 1949, four Central Trade Union Organizations were functioning in the country:
1. The All-India Trade Union Congress
2. The Indian National Trade Union Congress
3. The Hind Mazdoor Sabha
4. The United Trade Union Congress
With increasing Industrialization, a number of industries emerged, and organized sector started
growing rapidly. With the increasing number of workers, number of trade unions also
increased. The industries were in a better capacity to pay, and unions could negotiate and
extract better wages and facilities through collective bargaining. That era witnessed a
continuous increase in the number of registered trade unions.
Another important reason responsible for this increase in the Political Influence. Various
parties with the intention of being in good books of workers tried to bring workers within the
folds of unions, which also increased the extent of unionization and made workers aware of the
usefulness of this instrument.
IN-TEXT QUESTIONS
26. Trade Unions owe their origins to _______________.
27. Mahatma Gandhi was first labour leader in India. True / False
28. First Worker’s Organization in India was:
a) Calcutta Mill b) Andhra Mill
c) Bombay Mill d) All of the above
29. Pre-Independence three Central Trade Union Organizations are
____________________.
30. ____________________ was an important reason for the increase in number
of unions post-Independence.
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will also showcase that how industries make efforts to keep employees highly motivated. The
future only talks about, Talent acquisition, talent management, Intellectual capital
management, human resource as business partners and the like, leaving no room for employees
to bind themselves as unions, or feel the need to unite for better bargaining and negotiation
with the management, and the agitational methods like work stoppages, strikes, gherao and so
on has only found a place in books and have become only symbolic.
IN-TEXT QUESTIONS
31. At present Trade Unions are in ____________________ stage.
32. Due to modernization of industries employees have developed
____________________ towards unions.
33. In Future organization will try to keep employees more motivated. True / False
34. Employees are the first _______________.
35. In future organizations are believed to become:
a) production centric b) human centric
c) Both d) None
Harmony is where equality is. In the industry where all citizens are treated as equal and are
allowed to participate freely in industrial affairs, they are treated as responsible partners of the
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enterprise and are allowed to participate in the decision making process, where they are also
given the rights of self-expression and an opportunity to communicate their view on framing
the policies of the company and in return what is needed is the service that they are expected
to render in industry, in such kind of a setup Industrial Harmony can prevail for long. Worker’s
participation in management in a nutshell is prerequisite to industrial harmony. There are
various objectives, modes and levels of workers participation in management.
7.5.1 INDUSTRIAL HARMONY
Industrial harmony synonymously used for the term Industrial Peace. There is certain requisite
to Peace & Harmony in industries. When there is non-existence of situations of unrest in
organizations, no-existence of strike by labour unions in organization resulting into competent
and productive, harmony persists. The dimensions that contribute towards Industrial Harmony
also involve nonexistence of industrial dissatisfaction, presence of consensus, trust and respect
between work teams and unions, good connection between unions delegate and administration
of the organization, employee positive attitude towards his or her impact to the organization,
commitment and retention.
Today’s modern philosophy of management, that strives to maintain harmony in industry, is
based on considering workers not merely a wage earner, but also as equal partners in the
productive process. They should be given the opportunity to participate in the management of
the enterprise. Their views and suggestions should be given due consideration while taking
decisions by the management. It is rightly suggested that management of industrial unit will be
smooth and efficient if workers are associated with the management.
Merits of Industrial Harmony:
a) It brings effective communication between workers and management.
b) It leads to cordial labour-management relationships.
c) It gives higher status to workers and drive then towards higher participation
d) It develops spirit of cooperation among workers and management both.
e) Workers feel committed to the decisions taken by them jointly with the management.
For the above harmony to be maintained in industries there are various contributing factors,
and an important one is “Worker’s Participation in Management”. Further in this chapter we
will majorly focus on this aspect.
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ACTIVITY
In modern organizations various efforts are made to increase Worker’s
Participation in Management. Enlist any such FIVE trending activities along with
the name of organizations practicing it.
IN-TEXT QUESTIONS
36. Harmony is where _______________ is.
37. Industrial Harmony is unrelated to Worker’s Participation in Management.
True / False
38. Which is NOT one of the merits of Industrial Harmony:
a) develops better communication b) develops cordial relationship
c) drives them towards recreation d) develops commitment
39. Harmony persists with non-existence of ____________________.
40. Worker’s Participation in Management is a ____________________ to
Industrial Harmony.
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Those providing constructive suggestions are also rewarded. This method is executed
with the help of suggestion boxes. These suggestions are collected every month and
suitable decisions are taken jointly by the committee comprising representatives of
workers and management.
6. Grievance Procedure: In Indian context, Sec 9C of Industrial Dispute Act provides
that in every establishment in which 100 or more workers are employed or have been
employed on any one day in the preceding twelve months, the employer shall setup a
time bound grievance redressal procedure.
7. Quality Circle: First originated in Japan during 1962 and then spread to many other
countries including India. They are autonomous units of about 10 workers led by a
supervisor. The workers who have a shared area of responsibility, meet weekly to
discuss, analyse and propose solution to an ongoing problem, such as, reducing defects,
scrap, rework and downtime leading to higher productivity.
IN-TEXT QUESTIONS
form only when the Government of India enacted Industrial Disputes Act in 1947, which made
it obligatory for all units employing more than one hundred workers to constitute works
committees.
The idea of associating labour with management is even found in the Directive Principles of
the State Policy in the Indian Constitution. The Industrial Policy Resolution of April 1956 made
it clear that “in a socialist democracy, labour is a partner in the common task of development
and should participate in it with enthusiasm……”
7.5.6 SUCCESS FOR WORKER’S PARTICIPATION IN MANAGEMENT:
Following requirements should be fulfilled in order to make Worker’s Participation in
Management Successful:
i) Enterprise should have a progressive management which is conscious of obligation and
responsibilities towards its stakeholders and the country as a whole.
ii) Presence of strong trade union, which is a true representative of the workers.
iii) Unanimity regarding organizational objectives between management and labour as well
as mutual recognition of their rights and responsibilities.
iv) Atmosphere of trust should be there both on management and worker’s side.
v) Both management and workers should be aware of the benefits of participation. Merely
as an action participation cannot be effective, till the time workers, management and
the Government will not feel committed and determined, participation will remain
fruitless.
vi) Single union should work as representative of workers in the participation process so
as to prevent inter-union rivalry, which can adversely affect the industrial growth.
7.5.7 INDUSTRIAL HARMONY & WORKER’S PARTICIPATION IN
MANAGEMENT:
In simple terms it can be explained by saying that Worker’s Participation in Management
crystalizes the concept of Industrial Harmony. On the other this is also a fact that
managers/employers are really fascinated with this concept, but in most of the cases they are
clueless about what should be done to achieve harmony through worker’s participation and
how worker’s participation can be achieved.
We can say that worker’s participation is the basic requirement for Industrial Harmony &
Peace. In order to achieve the same an effective system of communication and consultation
between the employees and workers is required. Industrial Harmony that can be achieved
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through Industrial Democracy is an Attitude, which can be given a clear and concrete shape
only through Worker’s Participation in Management.
There is absolutely no conflict between the two concepts. In fact, they both complement each
other and are supplementary in character.
IN-TEXT QUESTIONS
46. Worker’s Participation in Management was introduced in India in
____________________.
47. Unanimity regarding ____________________ success of Worker’s
Participation in Management.
48. Worker’s Participation in India started in India in a Coal Mine. True / False
49. _______________ made it obligatory to constitute Works Committee for all
units employing more than 100 employees.
50. Industrial Harmony is an:
a) bias b) myth
c) perception d) attitude
In the early stage of Industrialization, when workers and management attempt to negotiate with
each other on frequent basis in order to increase their own gains, individual negotiation became
difficult in such large-sized labour market. Employers found it much convenient to negotiate
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with a group of employees at a time rather than dealing with them individually. This gave birth
to the phenomenon of ‘collective bargaining’. It began from local bargaining at the plant level
to the regional level and finally to the national level. There are various aspects related to this
process which will be discussed further in this chapter.
Famous historians of British Labour Movement, Sidney and Beatrice Webb originated
the term “Collective Bargaining” in the end of nineteenth century. The term denoted a
procedure under which two parties, namely, workers and management, reach an agreement
about wage rates and basic conditions of employment.
In the words of Flippo, “Collective Bargaining is a process in which the representatives of a
labour organization and the representatives of business organization meet and attempt to
negotiate a contract or agreement, which specifies the nature of employee-employer union
relationship”.
Another important definition of Collective Bargaining according to a manual issued by the
International Labour Office in 1960 defines the term as “negotiations about working conditions
and terms of employment between and employer, a group of employers or one or more
employers’ organization, on the one hand, and one or more representative workers’
organization, with a view to reach an agreement”.
John T. Dunlop is of the view that “the term collective bargaining connotes multiple meanings.
“Collective Bargaining is (i) a system which establishes, revises and administers many of the
rules which govern the workers’ place of work; (ii) a procedure which determines the quantum
of compensation which employees should receive and which influences the distribution of
economic benefits; (iii) a method of settling disputes during the pendency of agreement and
of determining, after its expiry, whether a dispute should be reopened or whether a strike or a
lock-out should be resorted to or not”.
From the above definitions, some essential features of Collective Bargaining can be extracted:
(i) It is a collective process.
(ii) It is a continuous process.
(iii) It is a flexible and a dynamic process.
(iv) It is a method of partnership of workers in management.
(v) It is based on give and take approach and not in take or leave approach.
(vi) It is an attempt in achieving and maintaining discipline in industry.
(vii) It is an effective step in promoting industrial jurisprudence.
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(v) Collective Bargaining is a measure to distribute equitably the benefits derived from
industry among all the participants including the employees, the union, the management, the
customer, the suppliers and the public.
7.6.2 Functions of Collective Bargaining:
Arthur D. Butler identifies three important functions of Collective bargaining, which carries
over the process of decision-making and balancing the power between the employers and the
employees. The functions are as follows:
(i) Technique of long-run social change: As a process of social change collective
bargaining in more than the direct clash between employers and unions. It refers to the
rise in the political and social power achieved by workers and the organization. With
gradual rise in social and political power, workers gain greater recognition and ability
to assert against employers.
(ii) Peace Treaty or Temporary Truce: In various cases Collective Bargaining can be
viewed as a struggle between the workers and the management which is smoothened
by the compromises. This compromise can happen in two major ways, i.e., Compromise
with combative aspects and Compromise without combative aspects.
(iii) Industrial Jurisprudence: It means introducing civil rights in industry i.e.,
management be conducted by rules rather than arbitrary decisions. It establishes rules
which define and restrict the traditional authority exercised by management.
7.6.3 PROCESS OF COLLECTIVE BARGAINING:
Collective Bargaining is a process in which through negotiating workers & management
attempts to arrive at an agreement on wages and other economic benefits and other terms and
conditions of service. In this context The Indian Institute of Personnel Management has
suggested the following steps that constitute the process of Collective Bargaining.
1. Composition of the Negotiating Team: The team should consist of the representatives
of both the workers and the employers, with adequate qualities, job knowledge and skill
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for negotiation, they should have full knowledge of the issue and must have full
authority to speak for them and take complete decision.
2. Make a good beginning: Well, begun is half done and is true for Collective Bargaining
too. It will be better to have a perfect clarity of the issue and both the parties begin with
a correct mindset so that mutual co-operation can be secured.
3. Maintain continuity of talks: It is very important for a collective bargaining process to
have continuity in discussions. What needs to be taken care of is that the discussion
should not end mid-way because of any roadblock or confusion or should side-track.
As long as the talk continue, a solution will be possible ultimately.
4. Develop a problem-solving attitude: To solve a problem it is important to have correct
attitude and will to solve it. Both the parties in Collective Bargaining must proceed with
the expectation of solving the problem, only then agreement will be easy to reach.
5. Encourage Leadership: More practical and easier is to deal with a few representatives
of a strong and organized body than with a heterogenous mass of disunited individuals.
To participate in collective bargaining not only management but union also must have
a strong leadership.
6. Bring in other managers: Issues being discussed in collective bargaining may require
diverse knowledge and expertise. Not necessarily every manager is a master in all
fields. Therefore, managers of different field can be consulted to reach at the best
possible solution of problem under discussion.
7. Contract administration: The final phase in the process of Collective Bargaining is to
administer the contract which has been agreed upon between management and union.
There should be unanimity of agreement and harmonious relations between the two
parties for an effective administration of the contract.
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IN-TEXT QUESTIONS
51. The term “Collective Bargaining” has been originated by _______________.
52. Collective Bargaining is a Tripartite system. True / False
53. What does not stand true for features of Collective Bargaining:
a) Collective process b) Not Flexible
c) Continuous process d) Based on give and take
54. ____________________ is the first step in the process of CB.
55. CB is an ineffective step in promoting industrial jurisprudence. True / False
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IN-TEXT QUESTIONS
56. Collective Bargaining is commonly used in Private sector in India. True / False
57. A common trend of collective bargaining in India is _______________.
58. What is not one of the obstacles to collective bargaining in India:
a) Multiple Union b) Complex adjudication procedure
c) Political Orientation d) Non-recognition of Unions
59. ____________________ should not interfere in Collective Bargaining Process.
60. Inter Union rivalry is an obstacle to Collective Bargaining. True/False
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7.7 SUMMARY
Industrial Relations can better be termed as a “complex system” formed with the three major
parties i.e., Employer, Employee and the Government. These parties interact with each other
in the functioning of an industry with their specific and unique roles. In the absence of even
one of them the survival of industry will come under question. Therefore, it becomes even more
important to maintain harmonious relations among them so as to secure industrial peace,
satisfaction and higher productivity. Hence, the presence of machineries to manage industrial
relation is inevitable.
The vital part of Industrial Relations is the one who constitutes Industrial Relations i.e.,
the parties to Industrial Relations and their association with each other. They have their own
representative groups, having their specific and unique roles to play. The analysis of the above
content also shows that these parties co-exist and one without the other will have no significant
role to play. The Employer’s Organization is the representative group for employers and
similarly Trade Unions are for employees.
Trade Unions can be considered as child of Industrial Revolution. It was when the
employers started exploiting the workers, it orders to secure their rights and dignity and to get
them the share due to them in industries, the social reformers came forward with the concept
of uniting the workers to strengthen their position before the management and get their due
share in in terms of monetary benefits as well as respect in return of their service. Along with
that an objective of Industrial Relations is to maintain Industrial Harmony and Peace through
Workers’ Participation in Management. We can say that it is Worker’s Participation because
of which we achieve Industrial Harmony & Peace. Management also plays a very significant
role in securing worker’s participation in management, by providing them liberty to put
forward their ideas and suggestion, rewarding the constructive ones, considering them to be
equal partners and not mere workers, accepting their contribution in decision making and so
on. Worker’s Participation in the form of works committee, joint management council,
suggestion schemes, co-partnership etc. always contributes to Industrial Democracy leading to
harmony.
In an industry peace and harmony can also be maintained when problems can be
resolved collectively and peacefully among the conflicting parties. Therefore, the concept of
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Collective Bargaining was originated. It has been given different definition and meaning by
different theorist. Collective bargaining has its own benefits for Employees, Employers and
Society. It is a process with well-defined steps, which needs to be followed to increase the
effectiveness of the process. In India Collective bargaining is less popular as compared to some
other countries because of the presence of certain obstacles, which can also be prevented easily
with the help of some corrective measures.
7.8 GLOSSARY
25. What do you mean by Industrial Relations? Explain its nature & objectives.
26. Discuss the systems approach to industrial relations and state the actors in Industrial
relation system.
27. Explain the phases of Evolution of Industrial Relations.
28. Explain the various parties to Industrial Relations along with their specific roles.
29. Write an Essay on Trade Unionism in India.
30. “State is an important participant in Industrial Relations in the country”. Comment &
discuss the role of State in Industrial Relations.
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31. What is an Employers’ Organization? State the origin and growth of employers’
organizations in India.
32. Explain the concept of Collective bargaining and discuss its salient features.
33. Explain the Process of Collective Bargaining.
34. Comment on “Collective Bargaining in Indian context”.
35. What is Trade Union? Comment on the beginning of Trade Union Movement in India.
36. What is meant by Industrial Harmony? What are the prerequisites for its success?
37. What do you understand by Worker’s Participation in Management? Is it necessary to
improve the relationship between workers and employers? Explain.
38. Write a comprehensive note on the role of Worker’s participation in Management in
maintaining Industrial Harmony & Peace.
7.10 REFERENCES
Dunlop John T., (1958). Industrial Relations System, Henry Holt and Company, New York,
p.98.
Report of Royal Commission on Labour, 1931, p. 26.
Webb Sidney and Webb Beatrice, (1932), Methods of Social Study, Longmans, Green & Co.,
New York.
Clegg, H.A., Industrial Democracy and Nationalization, Blackwell: Oxford, 1951.
Richardson, J.H., An Introduction to the Study of Industrial Relations, George Allen, London,
1961, p. 26.
Flippo, Edwin B., Personnel Management, Mc-Graw Hill, Tokyo, 1984, p. 443
Butler, Arthur D., Labour Economics and Institutions, American Publishing Co., New York,
1961.
Indian Institute of Personnel Management, op. cit., pp. 194-96
Tannenbaum, Frank, (1951). A Philosophy of Labour.
Flippo, Edwin B. (1984). Personnel Management, McGraw-Hill, New York, p. 378.
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Yoder, Dale and Staudohar, Paul D., Personnel Management and Industrial Relation, Prentice-
Hall, New Delhi. Pp. 418-19.
Dunlop, J.T., 1948. “The Development of Labour Organization: A Theoretical Framework” in
Lester, R.A. and Shister, J. (Ed.), Insights into Labour Issues, pp. 164-65.
Planning Commission, Five Year Plans, (1951-92)
Alexander, K.C., (1973). Worker’s Participation in Management, in Thakur, C.P. and Sethi,
K.C. (Ed.) Industrial Democracy, Some issues and experiences, p. 159.
Chhabra, T.N. and Suri, R.K. (2009). Industrial Relations-Concepts & Issues, Educational &
Technical Publisher.
Mhetras, V.G. (1966). Labour Participation in Management, Indian Journal of Social Work,
Vol. XXI, No. 4.
Kesari, J.P., The System of Worker’s Participation in Management, Indian Journal of Social
Work, Vol XXI, No. 4.
Flippo, Edwin B., Personnel Management, Mc-Graw Hill, Tokyo, 1984, p. 443
Chhabra, T.N. and Suri, R.K. (2009). Industrial Relations-Concepts & Issues, Educational &
Technical Publisher.
Dunlop, John T., (1958). ‘Industrial Relations System’, Henry Holt & Co. New York.
Butler, Arthur D., (1961). Labour Economics and Institutions, American Publishing Co., New
York.
Report on National Commission on Labour, 1969.
Clegg, H.A. (1951). Industrial Democracy & Nationalization.
Blumbery, Paul, (1968). Industrial Democracy, Constable, London.
Alexander, K.C., (1973). Worker’s Participation in Management, in Thakur, C.P. and Sethi,
K.C. (Ed.) Industrial Democracy, Some issues and experiences.
Flippo, Edwin B., (1984). Personnel Management, McGraw Hill, Tokyo.
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LESSON 8
GRIEVANCE, CONFLICT MANAGEMENT &
INTERNATIONAL DIMENSIONS OF HRM
Dr. Jyotika Bahl
Assistant Professor
Gargi College
University of Delhi
submittojyotika@gmail.com
STRUCTURE
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8.2 INTRODUCTION
order to keep them satisfied and involved in the job. Additionally, each organisation
experiences some level of conflict, whether inter-individual or intra- individual. Newer
methods of handling conflicts need to be adopted keeping in mind the dysfunctional impacts
of conflict. The need for discipline cannot be undermined in the achievement of organisational
goals and maintaining good work environment. Going global has also increased the necessity
of understanding the aspects of International HRM.
Clearly the unaddressed issues of grievance or conflict can create frustration, stress and loss of
interest in work. Understanding the need to address grievance and conflict can go a long way
in building employee-employer relation. Engagement / involvement of employees and
maintenance of disciplinary environment can also reduce the chances of grievance or even
conflict. The new challenges and opportunities created by International HRM need an
understanding so as to ensure greater and better mobility of work force.
8.3 GRIEVANCE
8.3.1 Understanding Grievance and its features- Grievance is the feeling of injustice or
discrimination in treatment or an experience of unfair treatment or exposure to unfavourable
situation or any dissatisfaction from the job or any aspect of the job. An employee can
experience grievance in job related matters like performance evaluation, promotion, leave,
transfers, training or even compensation.
According to Michael J. Jucius, Grievance is “any Discontent or dissatisfaction,
whether expressed or not and whether valid or not, arising out of anything connected
with the company that an employee thinks, believes or even feels, is unfair, unjust or
inequitable.”
Keith Davis defines grievance as “any real or imaginary feeling of personal injustice
which an employee has concerning his employment relationship.”
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Unreasonable transfers or improper Lack of proper facilities for work like rest
matching of employee with job rooms, drinking water, ventilation
Subjectivity in Seniority, promotion and Tight production standards
discharge
Lack of career planning and employee
development plan
Lack of role clarity
Hostility with trade unions
Autocratic style of leadership
8.3.3. Consequences of Grievance – Grievance, if not addressed on time may have adverse
effect on the employees and the organisation. The consequences of unaddressed grievance are
discussed below.
(1) The employee experiencing grievance may witness a sense of frustration, disloyalty
and non-cooperation.
(2) They may lose interest in work and show signs of disengagement.
(3) There may be indiscipline in the form of absenteeism, work-to-rule, demonstration,
strike or even mass casual leave.
(4) The quality and quantity of output may suffer in the organisation.
8.3.4. Importance of Handling Grievance – It is pertinent to handle and redress grievance on
time so as to ensure that grievance does not have unfavourable impact on the organisation. The
importance of handling grievance is discussed below.
1. Organisations must collect genuine feedback on company policy, practice and
procedure. This feedback can ensure better employee-employer relation and instil a
feeling of engagement among employees. The involvement of employees in framing or
revising of policies or practices can reduce the chances of grievance from policies,
procedures or practices.
2. Organisation can benefit from keeping grievance within tolerable limits so timely
detection and redressal of grievance is essential.
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IN-TEXT QUESTIONS
1. Grievance can be (1) real or imaginary (2) justified or unjustified (3) valid or
invalid (4) all of the above
2. Which of the following is not the cause of industrial grievance (1) denial of
leave (2) discriminatory compensation (3) family issues (4) lack of proper
working conditions
3. Grievance can be ____ from the conduct of an employee through his
behaviour
4. Every employee expresses his grievance (True or False)
.
8.4. DISCIPLINE
8.4.1. Understanding of Discipline- Any organisation needs to cultivate the environment where
there is orderly behaviour of employees for the achievement of goals of the organisation. In the
absence of discipline there will be chaos, irregularity, disorder or even confusion in the
organisation. Existence of discipline encourages the employees to follow the rules, procedure
and practice and behave responsibly. Indiscipline was associated with punishment for long.
But today organisations have realised that discipline should be followed voluntarily and not
because of threat of punitive action. Thus, concept of self-discipline by education and training
should be encouraged. If an individual is in conflict with the disciplinary process, then it might
be difficult to maintain good human relations. Thus, discipline needs to be developed from
within.
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According to Ordway Tead, “Discipline is the orderly conduct of affairs by the members of
an organisation who adhere harmoniously in forwarding towards the end which the group
has in view, and willingly recognise that.”
8.4.2. Principles of Discipline - Discipline is the essence of our life. The prerequisites of any
disciplinary policy in an organisation are discussed below.
1. The objective of industrial discipline should be clearly understood by workmen. They
must clearly specify the standards expected from the workmen.
2. Clear and unambiguous rules and regulation must be set in consultation with workmen
which serve as a code of conduct. Participation of workmen in designing rules and
regulations would ensure their prompt acceptance.
3. The code of conduct must be made know to all those who need to follow them and all
those who need to monitor the observance of this code in the same sense. The newly
recruited employees should also be given orientation regarding the same.
4. These rules should also contain the provision for investigation and settlement of
grievance and conflict arising during the course of work.
5. The policy should emphasise on observance of the code and prevention of breach of
disciplinary rules rather than penalties for indiscipline.
6. Code of conduct should specify the authorities to be approached for grievance related
to discipline and also appellant authorities. The code should also state the quantum of
punishment for violation of disciplinary conduct.
7. Disciplinary committee may be established for looking into the causes of indiscipline
and devising measures for removal of indiscipline.
8. Implementation of disciplinary code of conduct should be objective and consistent.
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IN-TEXT QUESTIONS
8.5.1 Understanding and Nature of Conflict - Conflicts are indispensable in our everyday life.
It is present in our personal life and professional life. Especially in case of organisations the
manager needs to understand the consequences of conflict and learn to deal with it. Conflict
can have adverse impact on the organisation like inefficiency, loss of interest in work,
absenteeism, low productivity, stress, tension, depression and demotions. The conflict at work
may have a spill over effect in personal life of the employees.
Conflict is a situation of imbalance or difference. It can be inter-individual (among individual)
or intra individual (within individuals). In case of intra individual conflict the individual is in
state of conflict in his mind as he is not in a situation to make decision in a particular situation.
He is in dilemma over a particular issue. For example, an employee may not be able to decide
whether to opt for lump-sum pension or NPS. Taking another example, there might be conflict
of interest in the mind of employee as organisational and individual interests are different.
But an individual is in inter-individual conflict when there is a conflict with some other
individual or group of individuals either because of difference of opinion or breakdown of
decision making. For instance, in teamwork the delegation of responsibility may be difficult
due to differences in opinion of team members on fixation of task responsibility.
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In the light of above discussion Pondy (1967) defines conflict as ‘a breakdown in the
standard mechanism of decision making.’
Follett defines conflict as “the appearance of difference, difference of opinion, of interest”.
Conflict is indispensable as individuals are unique in their way of thinking, perceiving and
interpreting situations. It is present at all levels with varying degrees between different persons.
The nature of conflict is discussed below.
1. Conflict exists when there are alternative courses of action available and there is
difficulty in selection of the best alternative in a given circumstance.
2. Conflict among individuals implies that there is conflicting perception, beliefs or goals.
3. Conflict is a dynamic process as it involves various stages or events. A conflicting
situation does not occur overnight, its presence is due to a series of events occurring
over a period of time.
4. It should be perceived by the parties standing in conflicting situation against each other.
If there is no such perception, then there can be no conflict between the parties.
8.5.2 Adverse impact of conflict
Conflict may be bad as it has the possibility of affecting the efficiency, productivity and
willingness to work. Every employee or member of group is required to deal with the conflict
with strength and courage. It may demand a change in perception and even attitude. The
dysfunctional aspects of conflict are discussed below.
1. Resignation of personnel- an individual may be encouraged to leave the job to avoid
the situation of conflict. An individual may witness inter-individual conflict because of
difference in philosophy between the management and himself or difficulty in getting
along with group members due to difference of orientation or interest or because of
biased attitude of the supervisor. Whatever may be the reason for inter-individual
conflict, the individual employee may resign if he feels dissatisfied or strongly feels
that he might not be able to continue with the organisation. This might lead to loss of
key personnel of the organisation.
2. Tensions- conflict may lead to a situation of stress and even tension. In extreme cases
the management may find it difficult to deal it. Timely action should be taken to avoid
anxiety, frustration, depression and sense of insecurity.
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understand their perception of conflict and deliberate on the friction. This helps identify
the real reason for the conflict.
4. Problem solving- in this method the focus is on transforming the negative feelings of
discontent and frustration by diverting energy towards creativity. The manager plays
the role of communicator who recognises the conflict among the parties, their
relationship and feelings. The management may engage an insider consultant to assist
the two conflicting parties to identify the conflict and mutually decide a solution to
remedy the situation.
5. Conflict stimulation- this strategy is based on the assumption that moderate level of
conflict is essential for existence of creativity and innovation. The tactics involved in
this strategy are
a. Communication- manager can send threatening messages to the groups
involved in conflict with each other to stimulate the conflict. Messages may
include threats to downsize. However, planting such messages in the
communication network should be done diligently to stimulate conflict.
b. Encouraging competition- Conflict can be utilised to encourage healthy
competition among the groups and individuals in the organisation. Additionally
incentive schemes, bonus or awards can act as motivators for outstanding
performance in this competition.
c. Bringing in new employees- addition of new employees to the existing groups
at workplace having different attitude, beliefs, background and values can
enhance disequilibrium or conflict. This disturbance because of disequilibrium
will cause members to struggle for new equilibrium.
d. Restructuring the organisation- the management can restructure the
organisation- its rules or practices to increase the inter-dependence among the
groups. This will help in stimulating conflict, disturb the status quo and demand
adjustments.
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IN-TEXT QUESTIONS
9. Which of the following is not the adverse impact of conflict
(a) stress and tension (b) enhance creativity (c) resignation (d) weakness for
organisation
10. Avoidance of conflict is suitable for
(a) insignificant matters (b) significant and important matters
11. An individual experiencing conflict due to discriminatory treatment given by his
colleagues, experiences (a) inter-individual conflict (b) intra-individual
conflict
12. Conflict is a (a) dynamic process (b) static process
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employee engagement is essential. The employees are disengaged when three needs are not
satisfied namely- meaningfulness (feeling of achievement), safety (work conditions related to
the job) and availability (presence in the job). While the other school suggests a satisfaction-
engagement approach. When employee feels exhausted or fatigued or burn out at his job, he
may have a negative influence on the team members and may experience individual conflict.
Burnout is associated with exhaustion while employee engagement is associated with
satisfaction, emotional involvement, participation, enthusiasm and vigour. This approach links
the employee engagement with business outcomes (such as productivity, profit and turnover).
According to Durand Crosby, “Employee engagement is described as the degree to which
an individual is attentive and absorbed in the performance of his/ her job which in turn leads
to fulfilling, positive experience and state of mind. These positive work-related experiences
are likely to result in desired work outcome, such as increased commitment to the
organisation.”
Robinson defined employee engagement as “a positive attitude held by the employee
towards the organisation and its value.”
Gallup “The term employee engagement refers to an individual’s involvement and
satisfaction with as well as enthusiasm for work.”
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IN-TEXT QUESTIONS
13. Which of the following is not a need in the understanding of employee
engagement (a) meaningfulness (2) burnout (3) availability (4) safety
14. Employee engagement can be linked to __________
15. A disengaged worker is one who is (a) attached to the job (b) unhappy with
the work (c) not passionate about his work.
16. Not Engaged worker lacks (a) energy and passion for work (b) will work (c)
skills for work.
8.7.1 Understanding the International HRM- with the mobility of human resources and
globalisation, business expands beyond their domestic boundaries to provide goods and
services to people spread in different geographic locations belonging to different culture with
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demand. Organisations going global manage human resource not only in their domestic
boundary (parent country) but also in host country and other countries (who may be the
suppliers of human resources). HRM involves the functions of recruitment, selection, training,
development, compensation, when organisations are operating only in parent country. These
functions in case of international HRM would be performed in three countries- parent, host and
other countries. Thus, international HRM is the interplay among the three dimensions namely,
human resource activities, types of employees and countries of operation.
International HRM involves broader functions than domestic HRM. International HRM can be
distinguished from domestic HRM on the following points:
1. Broader HR activities – International HRM involves an understanding of international
taxation, international relocation, orientation, relations with host government, dealing
with expatriates.
2. Different tax laws – Expatriates working in a country other than home country is faced
with different tax structures. The HR department is required to design the compensation
such that there is no tax incentive or disincentive. The tax liability usually arises when
the task/ project is complete. Thus, designing suitable compensation plan is essential.
3. International relocation and orientation – challenges such as pre-travel training,
immigration, housing, medical, travel details, relocation allowance, international
allowance, etc. need to be worked out.
4. Host-Government relations – Its essential to maintain relations with host country as
parent country would need work permits, clearance to set up business, etc. The
compliance with legal framework of host country is essential for operation of business
in countries other than parent country.
5. Extensive involvement of HR personnel in personal life of employee – The HR
personnel may need family details to arrange family visa for relocation or may be
required to constantly explain the housing/ medical facilities extended by employer or
may need to arrange schooling if employee is posted in remote areas. Thus, the scope
of functions of HR department may expand.
6. Risk – There is a risk that the employee may not be able to settle in the foreign country
and may want to return back to its parent country. In such cases the cost of relocation
may be huge, and the employer may have to bear the loss of such failed experiment.
Additionally, the risk due to terrorism, virus or economic uncertainty can also be
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IN-TEXT QUESTIONS
17. International HRM involves operation in (a) parent country (b) host country (c)
other countries supplying human resources (d) all of the above
18. International HRM involves interplay of ____
19. Which of the following is an argument for International HRM being distinct from
domestic HRM (a) relations with host country’s government (b) selection (c)
planning the quantity of HRM required
8.8 SUMMARY
This chapter is an eye opener for both employees and employers as generally employers focus
on organisational goals and ignore employee centric issues of grievance, conflict and
engagement. Any employee can be suitably motivated if his employer can satisfactorily redress
his grievance, maintain the discipline, resolve conflict and engage employee at different stages
of management process. This understanding can create harmonious relations between employer
and employee and benefit the organisation by enhancing the quality of work. The
understanding of different aspects of International HRM can help the reader to appreciate the
importance of this arena.
8.9 GLOSSARY
Grievance: any real or imaginary feeling of personal injustice which an employee has
concerning his employment relationship.
Discipline: orderly behaviour of employees for the achievement of goals of the organisation.
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1. Harsha, manager of ABC perceives that only inter individual conflict can occur in an
organisation. Comment on the above statement and discuss the modes of handling
conflict.
2. Engagement of employees is receiving attention today. Explain the concept of
employee engagement and the factors affecting employee engagement.
3. Discuss the causes of Grievance and the importance of handling grievance.
4. Explain the concept of International HRM, its need and the difference between
domestic HRM and International HRM.
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8.12 REFERENCES
Aswathappa, K. (2017), Human Resource Management: Text and Cases, Mc Graw Hill
Bernard Walker (2011), Employee- Employer Grievance: A Review, International Journal of
Management Reviews, 13, 40-58.
Chandani and Mehta (2016), Employee Engagement: A Review Paper on Factors affecting
Employee Engagement, Indian Journal of Science and Technology, 9(15).
Chhabra, T.N., Text and Cases in Human Resource Management, Dhanpat Rai &Co.
Crosby (2014), Improving Employee Retention in Public Sector by Employee Engagement,
proceeding of the fourth International Conference on Engaged Management Scholarship, Tulsa
Kalokar and Sahu (2022), Employee Engagement: A Review Paper, IJCRT, 10(2), 372-378
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Aswathappa, K. (2017), Human Resource Management: Text and Cases, Mc Graw Hill
Chhabra, T.N., Text and Cases in Human Resource Management, Dhanpat Rai & Co.
Robbins, S.P, Organisation Behaviour, Pearson Education
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Content Writers
Dr. Ankita
Mr. Praful Nair
Academic Coordinator
Mr. Deekshant Awasthi
Published by:
Department of Distance and Continuing Education under
the aegis of Campus of Open Learning/School of Open Learning,
University of Delhi, Delhi-110 007
Printed by:
School of Open Learning, University of Delhi
Business Communication
UNIT OVERVIEW
INDEX
4.2 Introduction
4.9 Summary
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INDEX
Unit: 1 Communication i
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LESSON 1
COMMUNICATION IN ORGANISATIONS
STRUCTURE
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1.2 INTRODUCTION
Communication is the most frequent activity that we engage in throughout our lives.
Even the most challenging tasks can be accomplished with effective communication and
therefore, it is an indispensable asset to have irrespective of the domain that one operates in.
In this lesson, we will learn about communication and how it is used in the context of a
business organisation.
As you go through the lesson, you will be able to relate to how exactly the
communication process takes place in your institution or workplace. You will learn to better
comprehend the messages that you receive from business organisations and also critically
examine the quality of the content and delivery.
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Business environment refers to the internal and external factors that affect the
functioning of an organisation. These internal and external things play-out in an organisation
on a continuous basis and need to be addressed to maintain smooth operations.
Communication is the mechanism which ensures that an organisation keeps functioning
smoothly within the business environment. Therefore, communication permeates an
organisation.
The word is derived from communicare in Latin, which means ‘to share’ or ‘make
common’. Communication can be defined in many ways. Some define it as the process of
sharing and understanding meaning (Pearson & Nelson, 2000) and others use a more
mathematical definition that views communication as a process of coding and decoding
messages. Using a blend of the various definitions of communication, the process of
communication can be depicted as below.
The definition given by Pearson & Nelson is a practical one and intuitive. Let us try
to break it down to have more clarity on the keywords appearing in the definition.
Process
Communication is a “process” which means that some activities are involved in it,
including arranging your thoughts, coding your thoughts into signs, symbols, and words,
sending out the coded message through a channel and receiving feedback from the receiver.
At the other end, the received message is decoded by the receiver who, in turn, encodes the
feedback and sends it out. The process of communication is influenced by many factors,
including the context, language, audience, age group, etc.
Sharing
You would agree that it is difficult to share your thoughts and ideas exactly as they
originate in your mind. A process of coding and decoding is required for sharing the same.
Language, signs, symbols, sounds, etc. help us in sharing our thoughts, feelings and ideas.
You can see that sharing of thoughts, ideas, feelings, etc. is the primary purpose of
communication.
Understanding
Understanding refers to the process of interpreting or decoding the message by
relating it to the knowledge possessed by the receiver. If the communication does not lead to
understanding for the receiver, it is not communication at all.
Two hunters are out in the woods when one of them collapses. He’s not breathing
and his eyes are glazed. The other guy whips out his cell phone and calls 911.
“I think my friend is dead!” he yells. “What can I do?” The operator says, “Calm
down. First, let’s make sure he’s dead.”
There’s a silence, then a shot. Back on the phone, the guy says, “OK, now what?”
Source: Reader’s Digest
Meaning
Meaning refers to what is being shared through communication. As you will see later,
context has a lot to do with meaning. The same words may mean different things in different
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cultures. For instance, bike is a term used for bicycles in the US whereas a bike taken to
mean a motorbike in India.
Source or Sender
Source is where the idea / through / feeling / etc. originates and is coded into a
message. So, the sender decides on what to share, how much to share and how to share. How
well the message is articulated will depend on many factors, such as the knowledge / level of
intellect, language skills, psychological state, level of preparation, etc. of the sender.
Message
For instance, if you tell your boss that you are very enthusiastic about additional work
with your head down and avoiding eye contact it would most certainly be taken the other way
by him.
Channel / Medium
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Whereas the popular written channels are – letters, emails, memorandums, newspapers,
mobile application-based chats, messages sent on social networking sites, press releases, etc.
Receiver
The receiver is the other party in the communication process who receives and
decodes the message. One of the major challenges in communication occurs because the
sender has little control on whether the message will be interpreted in the manner intended by
him. However, the sender must analyse her audience or the receiver before deciding on the
choice of words, language, tone, etc. to increase the probability of the message being
received and interpreted in the intended manner.
Feedback
Environment
Environment refers to the ambience in which the communication takes place which
can be both physical as well as psychological. For instance, if you are in a modern-day café
that plays loud music there is no way you can have a serious business negotiation. Therefore,
it is important for you as a communicator to decide the place of communication to ensure that
it is effective and successful.
Context
The setting, situation, occasion, culture, timing, nature of relationship between the
parties, etc. constitutes the context, which is the turf, so to speak, on which the
communication takes place. You must remember that communication does not take place in
vacuum, there is always a background and variables involved that complicate things in terms
of expectations. For instance, if you meet a business associate at a funeral you will refrain
from discussing business in front of the gathering, as the social context is inappropriate for it.
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We can see that context dominates what people would come to expect from each other and
what would be considered appropriate and acceptable behaviour.
Noise
IN-TEXT QUESTIONS
1. Which of the following is not a key component of the process of
communication?
a) Encoding messages b) Decoding messages
c) Interrupting d) Feedback
2. The _____________ of communication refers to the delivery method which is
used by the sender.
a) Sender b) Receiver
c) Channel / Medium d) Message
3. Feedback can be both intentional as well as unintentional. True / False
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We communicate with people all the time whether it is with family, friends,
colleagues, clients, and so on. It can hardly be taken for granted. The seven Cs of
communication are a set of seven principles that your communication must follow in order to
be effective. You can think of the 7Cs as a checklist of seven characteristics that your
communication or message must possess to communicate successfully. Let us get down to
each of these 7Cs and study what they mean.
i. Clear
Your message should be clear without any room for subjective interpretation by the
receiver. It means that it should not leave room for your audience to read between the lines
and misunderstand. No beating about the bush, get straight to the point. The best thing to do
is to introduce only the bare minimum number of ideas in a sentence.
Clarity is all the more important in business communication as the same message may
be relayed across media. For instance, say, a bank is initiating a drive to update the Know
Your Customer (KYC) details of the account holders whose accounts have been lying
dormant for more than a year. The following notification is sent out through text messaging:
Please update your Know Your Customer (KYC) details to avoid temporary suspension of
your accounts.
If the message does not indicate that it is meant only for the account holders whose
accounts are dormant, the bank will be flooded with calls and branch visits. Even if the
message is sent only to those with dormant accounts, still it may reach the other account
holders through word-of-mouth and panic may still set it as the message itself is not clear. It
will not only cause great inconvenience to the millions of account holders of the bank but
also to the officials of the bank. Therefore, we can see that a lack of clarity in business
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ii. Concise
The message has to be brief and to the point, however it should not be at the cost of
leaving out important information. You can do it by following the strategies given below.
Weed-out any unnecessary sentences and “fillers” from the message, the removal of
which will not cause any loss of meaning.
iii. Concrete
The message should be concrete which means that it should have all necessary details
presented in a focussed manner readily consumable and easily understood. In other words,
the message should be solid in content without compromising on details. There is no room
for embellished, flowery language in a concrete message.
Fig. 1.3: Why Correctness Matters in Communication (Source: From the Internet)
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iv. Correct
The message should be factually correct and free from errors in order to be effective.
Correctness implies correct in terms of facts and language. This principle of effective
communication is most obvious and self-explanatory and therefore, does not require further
elaboration.
v. Coherent
“Come, come, sir,” said Holmes, laughing. “You are like my friend, Dr. Watson,
who has a bad habit of telling his stories wrong end foremost. Please arrange your
thoughts and let me know, in their due sequence, exactly what those events are
which have sent you out unbrushed and unkempt, with dress boots and waistcoat
buttoned awry, in search of advice and assistance.”
Extracted from the short story “The Adventure of Wisteria Lodge” by Sir Arthur
Conan Doyle
The above advice is a perfect one as it beautifully addresses the concept of coherence
of messages in communication.
vi. Complete
The message has to be complete in all respects to convey the intended meaning. This
characteristic will ensure minimum follow-up questions. It will also help the receiver to
immediately swing into required action, if any. For instance, a recruitment notification to be
published in newspapers needs to be complete in all respects to enable interested candidates
to prepare their applications without the need for any clarifications.
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vii. Courteous
Your message should be polite and positive, giving due consideration to the receiver.
It is important, for it impacts the receptivity of your target audience. A courteous message
will always be embraced by the receiver as it is open and candid. Therefore, a conscious
effort has to be made to avoid a confrontationist tone and adopt an empathetic tone to be
effective while communicating.
IN-TEXT QUESTIONS
4. In order to make your message concise, which strategy will you use?
a) Avoid repetition of information b) Weed-out fillers
c) Both (a) and (b) d) None
On the other hand, an organisation has the rather difficult task of keeping its
workforce motivated enough to keep productivity high and attrition low. All this requires
continuous engagement with internal and external stakeholders through effective
communication. The major internal and external stakeholders are depicted in the image
below.
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Fig. 1.4 A Model of the Internal and External Stakeholders in Corporate Communication
The medium and instrument of corporate communication would vary depending upon
the target and the objective which is to be achieved through the communication effort.
PR is a broad term that refers to how a business communicates with the public in
general, including the media. As a part of the PR function, the communications professionals
will be responsible for investor relations, media relations and so on. The activities undertaken
by PR professionals include organising press conferences, planning and executing product
launch events, drafting and circulating press releases, liaising with the media and other
agencies, etc. The PR communication exercise involves regular communication of the major
and minor events pertaining to the company through proper channels so as to help generate a
favourable public opinion about the brand.
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The strategic communication steps that a company takes at the time of a crisis which
can potentially damage the reputation and the brand value of the company. Any unanticipated
event with the potential to cause damage to the organisation requires swift response to
minimize the damage or to prevent the damage from occurring. Such unanticipated events
include factory / workplace accidents, product defects, oil / chemical spills, frauds involving
a company, etc.
CASE STUDY
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approach to the crisis by the venue provider. The crisis management team agreed that it
would be best to invite the two event organisers separately for in-person meetings to
communicate the same.
During the meeting, event organisers were very upset as their events were in serious
jeopardy. The venue team acknowledged the error and assured of all support and
cooperation to deal with the issue. Both organisers were requested to consider changing the
dates of the exhibition. However, none of them agreed and A Ltd. even threatened to take
the matter to court.
After the initial meetings, the crisis team realised that since one of the two would get
to keep the originally booked dates, it would be best to pursue the matter with B Ltd. as A
Ltd. was already thinking of filing a lawsuit. Meanwhile, to prevent the latter from filing a
lawsuit, a formal communication was immediately sent by the venue team giving
assurance of a swift resolution of the matter. The same day, the crisis team invited B Ltd.
for another meeting to understand if there were any circumstances under which they would
consider rescheduling the event.
The crisis team had a series of meetings with B Ltd. at various levels and it got
inkling that the event being organised by B Ltd. did not have enough participation as
expected. The crisis team immediately formulated a strategy and went back to the
management to consider offering a 25 percent discount on the venue rentals to B Ltd. and
becoming a sponsor of the event in return for rescheduling the event. The sponsorship
from the venue provider was much valued in the industry. The management empowered
the team to negotiate with B Ltd. on similar lines and to issue a joint statement for
rescheduling of the event.
With this leverage, the crisis team again communicated in-person with the
management of B Ltd. and made the offer. The crisis team also advised that the change of
dates of the event can be jointly announced in a press conference by the Venue provider
and the event organiser. With this kind of support from the venue provider and the offer of
joint communication, B Ltd. realised that it would be much easier to persuade its
stakeholders for change of dates. B Ltd. was reassured with the gesture of the venue
provider to take the onus and ownership of the mistake and support it in a crisis situation.
In order to complete the deal and prevent a change of mind by B Ltd., the crisis team
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immediately engaged the Legal team of the venue and formalised the legal contract. As
soon as the contract was signed, A Ltd. was informed that their allotment was unchanged
and that their cooperation was appreciated. A press conference was soon arranged and the
venue provider and event organiser jointly addressed the media and assured the industry
that the event will be strengthened with the on-boarding of the venue as a sponsor and that
the event will turn out to be a resounding success.
The venue provider constituted another team from the operations and IT departments
to fix the loopholes in the booking system to prevent such instance of duplicate bookings
in the future.
Discuss the key learning from the above case.
Internal Communication
It is the most commonly used corporate communication strategy and can take the
form of reports (both internal and external), press releases, emails, advertisements,
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advertorials, memorandums, notices, website, blogs and promotional materials. The written
mode tends to be more formal and requires careful planning and strategizing before it is
released to the intended audience.
Spoken Mode
Non-Verbal Communication
IN-TEXT QUESTIONS
6. In the context of corporate communication, which of the following is not an
external stakeholder?
a) Shareholder b) Customer
c) Supplier d) Regulator
7. Which of the following is not a function of the corporate communications
department?
a) Public Relations b) Accounting
c) Marketing Communications d) Internal Communication
In the communication process, listening refers to the act of receiving and interpreting
messages sent by the source or sender. You must distinguish between listening and hearing
before we proceed further. Hearing is just the ability to perceive sound by means of receiving
vibrations through the ears and is confined to your sense of receiving the stimulus of sound.
Whereas, listening involves being attentive to what is being communicated and to hear with a
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conscious mind to interpret the message for a complete understanding of the same. You may
note that your mind is constantly active when you are listening to something.
a. Receiving
The first stage involves merely hearing the message of the speaker by focusing on the
sounds coming from the source and filtering out the other noises. At this stage, as depicted in
the figure above, only your ears are involved.
b. Understanding
This is the most critical stage of the listening process as there are so many factors
involved which can potentially distort understanding of the message. It may be due to
language issues, differences in knowledge level, use of jargons, etc.
c. Remembering
At this stage, you will try to memorise some of the key details mentioned in the
message to enable you to engage in the communication process.
d. Evaluating
The evaluation stage involves making your value judgement as to the message.
Different people will evaluate the same message differently due to differences in perception,
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biases, knowledge levels and so on. In the second, third and fourth stages of listening, the
mind is actively involved.
e. Feedback
Feedback is the final stage of the listening process and involves codifying your
response into a message and sending it to the source. Please note that feedback “completes”
the listening process and without feedback, listening does not mean much.
The ability of paying attention to what the speaker is saying to effectively interpret
and understand the message is known as listening skill. Effective listening skills can be
cultivated and learnt over time. Some of the techniques used for effective listening are
mentioned below.
a. Prepare
In case the communication is a planned one with clarity on the agenda, you must
prepare yourself for it by reading from various relevant sources to develop a basic
understanding of the subject matter. It will equip you to handle the communication better as
you will be in a position to quickly grasp the speaker’s messages.
b. Pay attention
Give your full attention to the speaker without being distracted by environmental
factors and use non-verbal signals to acknowledge that the message is being received. You
can do this by maintaining eye-contact, nodding occasionally and adopting an alert posture.
c. Do not interrupt
You must not interrupt the speaker as it would be perceived as being rude and can
send out the signal that you do not value what the speaker is saying. The best thing to do is to
wait for the speaker to complete and then seek whatever clarification is required.
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d. Empathize
An effective listener has the quality of being empathetic and considerate towards the
speaker. It simply means that you encourage the speaker to share her perspective and then
understand the emotions involved. Empathizing with the speaker would invariably have the
effect of turning the situation in the positive direction.
e. Ask Questions
Asking questions will help the listener to clarify any doubts or gaps in understanding.
It will also let the speaker know that you are actually interested in the conversation and act as
an encouragement for him.
A good listener would wait and listen patiently before he has enough evidence to
make a judgement call. However, jumping to conclusions too early is a characteristic of poor
listeners. The issue with jumping to conclusions too early is that the judgement may be
completely incorrect. Besides, it can be potentially risky to jump to conclusions and also
unfair to the speaker.
g. Feedback
Feedback does two very important things – (a) It shows the speaker that you were
indeed listening genuinely, and (b) It helps improve your understanding of the message in the
manner that the speaker intends.
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Paraphrasing: “So, you think that the increase in interest rates may cause a
decline in the credit offtake for the next two quarters”?
a. Active Listening
Active listening is the process of listening to the verbal and non-verbal messages and
cues of a speaker, asking questions for seeking clarification and providing feedback with the
objective of understanding the message by the receiver as intended by the sender. It is the
most ideal form of listening.
b. Pseudo-Listening
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c. Selective Listening
Selective listening refers to the filtering of the incoming messages to let in only the
part that interests the listener. The listener selects only as much information as he considers
relevant for his interests.
d. Insulated Listening
e. Stage Hogging
Some people seem to be interested only in conveying their own feelings, ideas, etc. in
order to be the centre of attraction. This is done by planning interruptions every now and then
to hog the limelight.
You must have noticed in your day-to-day life that before you start a conversation
with any person, the subconscious mind makes an assessment as to that person’s ability or
expertise in the matter that you wish to talk about and other aspects, such as cultural
background, profession, etc. Accordingly, you will customize and calibrate the message to
suit the receiver’s capacity to understand the same. Your skill lies in how well you can
strategize and customize the message to suit the requirement and ability of the receiver.
These skills can be classified into the following three sets: -
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cultural background of the target? What language does the target speak? What is the level of
education of the target?
The answers to these questions will help you design and plan your communication in
a much better way. For instance, if you have been assigned to design a sensitization
programme on the vision and mission of your organisation, you will have to develop
different modules for, say the executives and the factory workers. It is simply because the
two target groups have different level of education and hence require customisation of the
content to cater to each group.
Clarity of Thought
In order to be an effective communicator, clarity of thought is an attribute that one
cannot do without. Before you start speaking or drafting your message, you should be able to
clearly recognize the relevant thoughts, understand the importance of each one based on the
context and organise them in a logical and interesting fashion to compel the audience to
listen or read through the message.
Articulation
Closely related to clarity of thought is articulation, which means how clearly the
thoughts are expressed in words. Articulate communicators build coherent and concise
messages which stand out for their sharpness and focus.
Receptivity
Receptiveness is a skill that is essential for the communicator to understand the point-
of-view of the other party and reorient the messages to improve understanding. It means that
you have to listen actively to communicate better with your audience. However, receptivity
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should not be confined to the verbal responses or feedback. In fact, the non-verbal signals are
equally important, if not more. The non-verbal signals help you recalibrate your
communication to prevent the audience from losing interest.
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Body Language
Body language is one of the most important type of non-verbal communication that
includes the following:
Kinesics
It refers to the use of body or facial expressions to convey messages. The different types
of kinesics are given below.
Facial expressions – There are numerous facial expressions that convey some
messages or the other. These include smiling, raising eyebrows, winking, etc.
Gestures – The movements made with hands and other body parts, including head,
fingers, arms and legs, etc. are referred to as gestures. Common gestures include the
thumbs-up, beckoning gesture, the OK gesture, and so on. You must remember that
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the same gesture can mean very different things in different cultures. For instance, the
OK gesture which is used in the Western cultures to indicate that something is very
good, whereas in the Arab culture it is a very vulgar gesture.
Posture – It refers to the way the body is positioned by a person while communicating
with his counterpart or his audience. Postures also convey some meaning, for
example, the arms akimbo posture is considered as a dominant posture.
Haptics
In some cultures, touching is also a means of expressing one’s feelings. For instance,
you pat somebody’s back to appreciate his / her achievement. However, as is the case with
most types of body language, touching can be taken very differently in different cultures. For
instance, the American culture is a “no touch” culture, whereas, in Arab culture, touching
your friends is common.
Paralanguage
People use body language all the time consciously or subconsciously. Since these non-
verbal signals are very useful for understanding the verbal message, knowledge of how non-
verbal signals can be interpreted becomes essential. Given below are some of the strategies
for interpreting body language.
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Observe
Eye-movement and eye contact convey a great deal of information. During a meeting,
if your counterpart keeps looking away, it possibly means that the latter may not be
interested. Please remember that paying attention to the eye movement should be in a manner
that the other person does not feel uncomfortable. Because the other person may perceive
your constant tracking of his / her eye movement as intrusive or even threatening.
The position in which a person is sitting or standing can tell you something about his
interest in what is being said. For instance, if a person is standing in a straight posture it
indicates that he is listening and engaged in the conversation.
Gestures can be both voluntary and involuntary. For instance, the open palms gesture
suggests that the speaker has nothing to hide. Another example is that of clenched hands
which may indicate that the person is under stress or angry. As a skilled reader of body
language, you will learn to observe these seemingly unimportant things and utilise them to
have a successful engagement.
Facial expressions are the most commonly used and read non-verbal signals simply
because faces are in focus during any conversation. You will notice facial expressions
changing often during a conversation. For example, when people are focused and listening
intently, their eyebrows are lowered and centred.
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You will notice that when people are feeling bored or restless, they tap heir feet on
the ground. If you see a person sitting with his legs and arms crossed, it indicates that the
person may be creating a barrier with the speaker and may not be very receptive.
Making effective presentations is a skill that is essential for survival in the corporate
world. Generating great ideas is simply not good enough unless you are able to present it in a
manner that is compelling and persuasive to those who matter.
The content should be designed based on the understanding level of the audience. In
case the content is too difficult, the audience may not understand anything and if it is too
simple the audience would not gain anything out of it.
Brevity
The content has to be crisp and to the point. The length and detail of the presentation
would depend largely on the purpose for which the presentation is taking place. You must
also avoid cluttering the slides with text and instead use keywords and images that you can
elaborate upon.
The selection of language of the presentation has to be in consonance with what the
audience would easily understand. The objective is not to make a superfluous masterpiece
out of the presentation but to deliver the point across in an impactful manner.
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Sequencing of Information
In order to keep alive the interest of the audience, you must design the slides in a
sequential manner, revealing little by little. This will help the audience digressing to the next
idea or though in the presentation before completing the present one.
If used in the right manner, humour can help you establish an instant rapport with the
audience. Once a rapport is established, it can be a pretty smooth journey afterwards.
Delivery
The delivery has to be in a clear and audible voice with the presenter’s body language
conveying confidence. The presenter must use voice modulation and intonation to make it
appealing to the audience.
In order to prepare a good presentation, you need to find answers to five questions. If
you can answer these five questions precisely, you can be sure of making an effective
presentation.
Who?
The question we start with is - who is the target group for whom the presentation is
being planned. There are a few more question that logically follow from this, which are listed
below:
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The answer to each of the questions above will impact content planning and delivery.
For example, if the audience is a group of school children who are being given a
presentation on inflation, the content will be different and if the audience is a group of
economists, the content will be entirely different, though the topic of the presentation is the
same.
Why?
The reason for making the presentation is the next key question that needs to be
answered before planning the content. Is the presentation merely informational or is to
introduce a change in an established system that the audience is accustomed to? Or is it a
presentation to raise funds from potential investors? The responses to these questions will
shape the content further.
Where?
This question looks at issues, such as – Where is the presentation being planned? Is it
going to take place at a client’s premises? How large is the venue? What are the facilities and
visual aids available at the venue? What is the level of ambient noise? How comfortable is
the seating? Is there power back-up available? - and so on. The responses to these questions
will help you not only plan the content but also arrange the necessary logistics and support
for the presentation.
When?
The question here is when or at what time of the day is the presentation scheduled. Is
it a single presentation or one of a series of presentations during the course of the day? Is it
immediately preceding or post lunch? Is it the first or the last presentation of the day? You
will have to be very tactful in planning the content and delivery based on the responses to
such questions.
For instance, it has been seen that if your presentation is in the last slot just before the
day is going to be over, the audience will already be drained with all the activity during the
day and hence you will have to plan the content carefully to not include too many heavy
concepts. You may also use appropriate humour to keep the audience’s interest alive.
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What?
With this we come to the all-important question of WHAT. It directly addresses the
issue of what should the content of the presentation look like. The series of questions that
need to be answered to decide the content are –
Keep Notes
If it is a lengthy presentation, you will do better with short notes that mention the key
ideas that you will be speaking about. Keeping notes handy will help you deliver the
presentation in an orderly fashion without having to take long pauses to remember what
would come next. You should not feel embarrassed to refer to the notes as generally it is
acceptable to use the same. However, it would depend on the situation and the context, on
whether your audience would accept you reading from notes. Therefore, if you are expected
not to use notes, you should prepare accordingly and speak from memory.
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Eye Contact
The best way to connect with your audience is to strike eye-contact with the audience.
However, the eye-contact should be with the entire audience and not concentrated towards a
particular zone or spot or an individual. It demonstrates your confidence and sincerity with
which you are delivering the presentation.
Voice
The most important aspect of delivering a presentation is your voice and how you
control it. In case there is no public address system or microphones and speakers available,
you will have to put in a lot more effort to be loud enough to the entire audience. You must
use voice modulation and intonation to your advantage. Intonation and modulation lend a sort
of music to your speech which makes it sound much more impressive. You should think of
the presentation as a usual conversation that you have with your colleagues. The presenter’s
job is to convince people and therefore, he must be convinced of himself. Unless you have
conviction in what you are saying, you cannot expect the others to get convinced. Another
important aspect is the rate of speech. Do not go too fast as your audience may have
difficulty in understanding your messages.
Posture
Your posture during a presentation should be relaxed and composed. There should
not be any stiffness in the body as it would impair your movement and you may not be able
to utilise the stage. You should not remain tucked away from the view of your audience
behind the lectern. Rather, you should use the space on the stage to your advantage. Moving
around the stage, while you deliver the presentation, will make you appear confident and
comfortable. It will also help you overcome any nervousness that you may experience.
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Gestures
Hand gestures, when used properly and naturally, convey confidence and conviction
in what you are communicating. However, overdoing it can often distract the audience and
impair understanding. Some things to avoid include keeping your hands inside your trouser
pockets, locking them at the back or folding hands as these are closed / defensives gestures
and are not considered professionally appropriate.
Many aspects of business communication are regulated by law. The enactment of the
Right to Information (RTI) Act and several initiatives in the area of corporate governance
have ushered in an era of greater transparency and accessibility. This means that internal
documents and records can be produced in the court of law and other such forums. Therefore,
a sound understanding of the legal framework is essential for business communication to
ensure that all communication passes the check on the parameter of legal appropriateness.
Let us get down to the various issues involved in different types of communication
and how an organisation can prevent or minimize legal trouble.
a. Marketing Communication
There exist several provisions in the law that cover some aspects of marketing
communications. In case of advertising, which is a major medium of marketing
communication, there is self-regulation in the form of guidelines for ethical and professional
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conduct. These guidelines have been codified by self-regulatory organisations, such as the
Advertising Standards Council of India (ASCI). The guidelines of ASCI are aimed at
maintaining legality, decency and truthfulness of advertisements. It ensures that the adverts
are in the spirit of fair competitions and not hazardous or malicious in content. Therefore, the
crux of the matter is that there should not be any misrepresentation, deception or
manipulation of facts in the marketing communications rolled out by a company.
b. Disclaimers
Companies must develop suitable product / service disclosures warning about the
risks and dangers of misuse in order to get sufficient protection in the event of misuse or
misunderstanding by clients / customers. These disclaimers need to be prominently displayed
in advertisements, product packaging and should ideally be a part of the sales pitch. For
instance, all toys for children have indication for the age group that it is intended for. The
package clearly displays if it is not safe for children below a certain age. You must have
noticed the warning at the end of every advertisement of mutual fund which goes like this:
“Mutual fund investments are subject to market risks, please read the offer
document before investing”.
It is an example of a disclaimer used by the mutual fund companies from the Banking and
Financial Services Industry (BFSI).
You will also notice that even in the emails that you receive from companies, at the bottom
of the email, there is a disclaimer, which goes something like this:
“This Communication is for the exclusive use of the intended recipient(s) and
shall not attach any liability on the originator. If you are the addressee, the
contents of this email are intended for your use only and it shall not be
forwarded to any third party, without first obtaining written authorization from
the originator. It may contain information which is confidential and legally
privileged and the same shall not be used or dealt with by any third party in
any manner whatsoever without the specific consent of the originator”.
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c. Disclosures
Disclosures are made in order to release all relevant information about a particular
aspect of business often as a part of regulatory requirement. Several disclosure requirements
are a part of financial reporting standards. You must be aware of the mandatory conflict-of-
interest disclosure requirement for stock market analysts. There are non-disclosure
agreements which are often a part of the contracts between two organisations entering into
some sort of business relationship in which one or both of them agrees not to share
information outside of the contractual relationship.
d. Financial Reporting
Financial reports are one of the most strictly regulated areas of business
communication as it involves presenting of key information about the company to investors,
shareholders, regulators and the public in general. Misrepresentation or manipulation of
financial information will lead to penalties, criminal proceedings and irreparable damage to
the reputation of the company.
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IN-TEXT QUESTIONS
8. Which of the following refers to the study of eye contact and movement
of eyes?
a) Proxemics b) Haptics
c) Facial Expression d) Oculesics
9. _____________ refers to the study of how people think the physical
space around them influences their behaviour and communication.
10. Humour should never be included in presentations as it is
unprofessional. True / False
11. Which of the following is not a feature of effective presentations?
a) Very comprehensive and detailed b) Sequenced flow
c) Crisp and to the point d) Language to match audience
12. Which of the following will help in effectively delivering a presentation?
a) Use of gestures b) Maintaining eye contact
c) Intonation and modulation of voice d) All of these
13. You can interpret non-verbal signals by:
a) Tracking eye movements b) Observing hand gestures
c) Observing position of legs and feet d) All of these
14. ________________________ gives a musical touch to your speech?
a) Clarity of Thought b) Articulation
c) Intonation and modulation of voice d) Receptivity
15. Which of the following helps in avoiding particular liability on account
of misuse of a product / service?
a) Disclosure b) Disclaimer
c) Financial Reporting d) None of these
1.9 SUMMARY
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Listening is the act of receiving and interpreting messages sent by the sender.
Listening is different from hearing. Hearing is the ability to perceive sound and is
confined to your sense of receiving the stimulus of sound. On the other hand, listening
refers to hearing with a conscious mind to interpret the message for a complete
understanding.
1. c 9. Proxemics
2. c 10. False
3. True 11. a
4. c 12. d
5. a 13. d
6. a 14. c
7. b 15. a
8. d
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1. Hall, Edward T. (1963). "A System for the Notation of Proxemic Behavior".
**************LMS Feedback:lmsfeedback@sol-du.ac.in**************
School of Open L
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Unit-2
Written Skills
IN-TEXT QUESTIONS
16. Examples of Oral communication ………………
A). Letter B). E-mail
2.1 Learning Objectives
C). Telephone D). Fax
2.2 Introduction (Writing)
2. Reports from the subordinates to the superiors take the form of………
2.3 Writing communication
A). Upward communication B). Downward Communication
C). Face
2.3.1 to face Communication
Advantages D). Person to person Communication
of writing communication
2.3.2 Disadvantages of writing communication
2.3.3 Planning Message
2.3.4 Executive Different types of messages
2.3.5 Different types of messages
2.4 Writing reports
2.4.1 Objectives of reports
2.4.2 Types of reports
2.4.3 format of report writing
2.4.4 steps to write a report
2.5 Improving personal writing skills
2.5.1 Sentence structure
2.5.2 Paragraph construction
2.6 Report Writing
2.7 Summary
2.8 Answers to In-text Questions
2.9 Self-Assessment Questions
2.10 Suggested Readings
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2.2 INTRODUCTION
Enhancing one’s communication skills is of utmost importance. They can go a long way
in helping to prevent many mistakes that one may end up making in a business world.
The clear knowledge and understanding of various concepts such as verbal and
nonverbal communication, writing formal documents, and even correcting the basics
such as sentence structures and grammatical errors, can help build strong business
relationships. Lack of theoretical and practical knowledge of written communication can
lead to awkward situations. Therefore, proficiency in these aspects is highly required
which is the goal of this chapter to be brought forward to the students.
Communication is an activity which cannot be escaped. It is expected that after going
through the contents of this unit and the objectives laid down for the students, the
students will feel at ease and highly motivated to write clearly and enjoy the learning
process throughout. Not only will the various aspects of written communication make
the students confident, but they will also be comfortable with writing different styles of
writing by the time they reach the end of this unit.
This unit will make the students highly efficient in terms of producing writings which
would be complete in all aspects after gaining full knowledge and understanding of the
same. The various elements contained in this chapter will aid the student in learning
about written communication in depth.
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The transmission of messages from one person to another should be carefully planned in
order for the process of communication to be effective. There are some essentials which
heighten this effectiveness while creating a message and result in intended feedback
from the receiver. Following are the prerequisites for a strong and impactful message to
be observed by the sender of a message:
1. Complete: The sender must ensure that the message does not lack any relevant
information which is required to be sent to its audience. It should be complete in all
respects. In case a detail is missing from the message, it can lead to
misinterpretations. The feedback may not as be intended by the sender. The facts and
figures demanded by the subject of the message must be present entirely in the
message.
2. Clear: If the writer does not think clearly and plan in advance regarding what s/he
wants to convey to the receiver, the message runs the risk of losing its meaning. It
will result in bad impression. In other words, the writer must be clear about the
purpose of drafting a particular message. The language of the message should also not
be ambiguous. It may lead to doubt and confusion in the mind of the receiver.
3. Correct: The details provided in a message should be accurate. The statements
should not be misleading. The message should be grammatically and syntactically
correct. No room should be left for any sort of mistake as they cause inconvenience.
Messages such as reports, notices, or letters should be edited and proofread before
they are finally sent to the receiver.
4. Concise: Brevity is the key to effective communication. A writer with clear thought
knows exactly what to write without exaggerating any detail. A message that is short
and to-the-point leads to clear transmission of message. Each statement is meaningful
and relevant to the topic in a concise message.
5. Concrete: Facts and figures should be used to support the message and make it
impactful. These details should also be organized in a systematic manner so that its
meaning is clearly communicated to the receiver.
6. Coherent: A message must flow logically. In many of the written forms of
communication, a proper structure is followed which contains the introduction, the
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body, and the conclusion. Within this structure, all the details must be organized in an
order depending upon the subject matter and the needs of the readers.
7. Courteous: The tone of the message should be polite keeping the audience in mind.
The message should be considerate about the feelings, issues, and sensibilities of the
audience before choosing the appropriate words. The message must convey respectful
attitude towards the receiver. Offensive words and rude tone should be avoided to
have a positive response from the receiver.
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How would I have expected the tone of the letter to be while being explained the
issue?
Should I have expected more clarity on the matter?
Will I be expecting more accuracy in the content?
2.3.5 Different Types of Messages
After having undergone this reflective process, writers execute the messages keeping
the expected feedback in mind. Based on the different types of messages, writers’
draft statements carefully so that the readers don’t get disappointed and maintain a
healthy business relationship.
1. Request Messages: They are claim letters which state direct requests in the opening
of the letter. They are followed by supporting arguments for the request so that
necessary action can be taken at the earliest. These arguments are followed by a brief
explanation which further heightens the need for quick action to be undertaken by the
company. For instance, an electronics company’s response to a claim letter seeking
replacement of a defective air conditioner recently bought from the company could be
“We understand your concern. Since the product is still within warranty, the issue
will be resolved. Thank you for giving us the opportunity to serve you better.”
Statements like these build trust of the buyer in the company and encourages them to
stay connected with them every step of the way.
2. Positive Messages: They are the messages that deliver good news, and the receiver is
expected to react in a neutral to pleased manner. Congratulatory messages, messages
of appreciation, appraisal messages, or apology messages are some of the examples.
Statements like, “We would like to congratulate you for your hard work and your
efforts that you showed towards the project which translated into the company
achieving a higher ranking”, or “We apologize for the inconvenience caused. The
matter will be looked into with immediate effect” result in a positive response.
3. Negative Messages: These are the messages where the reader is expected to be
annoyed and vexed. Some of the examples giving rise to such a situation can be a
company’s refusal to issue a refund or its inability to resolve a matter. It is here that
drafting a neutral response from the company proves to be useful. They have to
ensure that their conclusion is backed by strong arguments that facilitate acceptance
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by the receiver without hampering their business relationship. Instead of saying direct
“No”, the company can offer some positive suggestions in order to direct the receiver
to feasible alternatives. For instance, “Thank you for placing an order with us. We
appreciate your interest in our products. This is to let you know that due to an
unexpected demand of the same product, we would be able to serve you with a slight
delay of 5-6 days. Please find a gift utility coupon of Rs. 250/- in the “Coupons”
section. The coupon is valid for the next 21 days. We are thankful to you for choosing
us to serve you.”
4. Persuasive Messages: These messages are required to persuade an unwilling and
disinterested receiver. The language has to be convincing and confident to move the
receiver. At the same time, it has to be supported by evidence leading the receiver
towards the desired action. For instance, “The new bank portal must be downloaded
by the customer because it is more secure than the previous one. It may appear
incomprehensible at first, but it has various user-friendly features. The bank assures
you that once you start to explore, you’ll be immediately familiarised with it.”
After an understanding of the reader-oriented approach while planning and executing
different types of messages, it becomes clear how these stages play a crucial role in the
business realm. Communication thus is not a mere transfer of messages from the sender to
the receiver. It incorporates various other factors that go into making the whole process of
communication effective.
IN-TEXT QUESTIONS
17. Examples of Oral communication ………………
A). Letter B). E-mail
C). Telephone D). Fax
2. Reports from the subordinates to the superiors take the form of………
A). Upward communication B). Downward Communication
C). Face to face Communication D). Person to person Communication
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The term “Report” originates from the Latin word “report are”. It means to bring back or
carry back. A report, therefore, is a document which aims to bring back details of an
event in an organized manner for a definite receiver. As a form of formal
communication, reports play a vital role in communicating crucial information across
both intra and inter organizational levels. It is an important document which is required
by managers time and again. For instance, within an organisation, a manager relies
heavily on his employees for the collection of data, figures, or other specific information
with reference to an event which is further organized by them in the format of the report
and sent to the manager. The details contained within a report, in turn, can be used for
effective decision-making and problem solving. Similarly, sometimes governments form
separate departments which oversee a set of events specific to each department. In such
cases, the reports get communicated from each department to the government carrying
deciding particulars. Through such instances, it thus becomes clear that reports are
highly informative and help an organization strengthen professional relationships both
within and outside its domain.
2.4.1 Objectives of Reports
While identifying the various objectives of report writing, it is important to keep in
mind that the scope of reports is extensive. A report can be prepared for the following
purposes:
To present information of an event, be it facts or figures, in an organized manner
To disseminate details to a specific audience
To inform the receiver about the progress and the underlying problems of an
organization
To provide recommendations or proposed plan or solutions, wherever required, solely
based on the data provided in the report
To record the event objectively for future reference
To promote efficacious decision-making
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Reports serve as efficient business tools. Business reports usually cover the issues
related to a company’s business. They cover a wide range of topics such as the review
of an issue or an event, the assessment of the business acquired over a period of time,
or the evaluation of the progress of some work assigned to a team of employees of the
company. They are extremely formal in nature. Such reports require inclusion of a lot
of factual data. As mentioned, owing to their manner of objective presentation and
communication of details, and their vertical and lateral movement in the business
world, reports get classified in several forms:
Informational Report: While drafting informational reports, it is made sure that each
and every detail of an event is presented objectively. In other words, no personal
opinions, interpretations or suggestions are offered to maintain the nature of these
reports. Annual reports are a good example of informational report writing. These
reports provide information regarding a company’s growth in their respective sector
from the previous financial year to the current. Financial reports too serve as a useful
tool which inform a company about its business with the help of clearly tracking cash
inflows and outflows of a company.
Analytical Report: These reports provide the analysis of the observations made by
the reporter along with the collection and presentation of data. This helps the receiver
of this report to understand the actual scenario. The reporter drafts an analytical report
with the aim of bringing to the receiver a description and an understanding of the
events in depth. As opposed to the informational reports, analytical reports tend to
provide interpretations and recommendations based as well in an attempt to solve
problems. A report identifying fall in the sales of a company product and analysing its
effects on the company and seeking recommendations simultaneously for countering
the fall in sales can be classified as an analytical report.
Vertical Report: This refers to the direction in which a report travel. The reports
which follow the upward or downward flow of communication on the corporate
ladder are called vertical reports.
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Lateral Report: Lateral reports, on the other hand, move horizontally at the same
hierarchical level. They help in coordination across different departments.
Internal Report: The reports which move either horizontally or vertically within an
organization are called internal reports. They are also useful in clearly stating the
business objectives to its employees by keeping them updated on several factors such
as sales data or company turnover of the company. A report providing performance
details of a company’s crucial project to its employees with an aim of keeping them
informed is a good example of internal report.
External Report: As opposed to the internal reports, the reports which move outside
the organization are called external reports. The purpose of these reports is to keep all
the stakeholders of an organization informed. For instance, annual report of a
company which clearly states the financial statements move outside the company by
being circulated to its various stakeholders.
Progress Report: These reports are submitted by the employees to their superiors on
a weekly or a monthly basis. In other words, progress reports must be submitted at
regular intervals by the employees in order to keep a track of the work assigned to
them. Descriptive details such as the amount of work completed during a specific
period of time or the future course of action of the project at hand are mentioned.
Simultaneously, these help to keep in check the performance of the employees as
well.
Periodic Report: These reports are required by the upper echelons of the
organization periodically to know precisely the performance of the entire
organization. It involves details of everyday affairs such as the problems that a
company might be facing, the solutions that have already been utilised to resolve the
issues and the proposed solutions which would be fruitful in countering similar
problems in the future. These reports are precise.
2.4.3 Formats of report Writing
Reports have been further divided into two based on the different formats they follow.
1. Letter Format: If a report is to be sent outside the organization, that is, if it is an
external report, the letter format is used for writing report. It is useful for drafting
long reports.
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2. Memo Format:It is short for “memorandum”. It is a brief note or a record for future
reference that moves within the organization. Terms such as “Interoffice
Memorandum” or “Office Memorandum” are used while drafting the memo format of
the report.
Elements of Memo Format of Report:
1. Heading: Name and address of the organization of the reporter
2. Title: Interoffice Memorandum/ Office Memorandum
3. Date
4. To: Recipient’s Designation
5. From: Sender’s Designation
6. Subject
7. Body: The formal salutation which is an essential part of the letter format is not
required here.However, like in the letter format of report, personal pronouns can
be used in the Memo Format as well. It can also include recommendations and
suggestions.
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Writing a report can be a challenging task. A reporter has to make sure that taking
specific subject matters into consideration, the correct type of report should be chosen
and drafted with careful planning. One has to always bear in mind the audience of the
report so that it can be drafted accordingly for their understanding. There are some
steps that should be followed while drafting a report:
1. Introduction: A report must begin with a clear statement of purpose. Here, the
subject of the report can be introduced. At this step, the report should indicate the
readers what they could expect in the following body of the report.
2. Providing Information: All the relevant details including the context of the subject
matter being recorded in the form of a report must be provided to arrive at a logical
conclusion. The observations and findings regarding what happened need to be
included here.
3. Development: Based on the observations provided in the above step, the explanation
and analysis of the issues related to the subject matter is done at this step.
4. Conclusion or Recommendations: A reporter arrives at conclusions or proposes
some recommendations depending upon the details given in the report. If a problem
persists, the recipient can expect the reporter to provide recommendations from
his/her perspective. This will help the recipient to monitor the situation clearly.
5. Editing and Proofreading: After finishing the report, a reporter must ensure that the
correct format of the report is used other than the type of report. Any unnecessary
information has to be removed from the report. The statement of purpose should be
clearly mentioned. The report must be devoid of grammatical and syntactical errors.
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Sample Reports
A: Assistant Vice President of ABC Company has asked for a progress report from the
Manager. Draft a report clearly stating the status of the work assigned to you. Also, provide
your plan for the same over the period of next two months.
ABC Company
New Delhi
Interoffice Memorandum
Date: 17 August 2022
To: Assistant Vice President
From: Manager
Subject: Progress Report for July 2022 and Plan for August and September 2022
As per your requirement, I am sharing the report on the amount of work completed in the
month of July 2022 for the target assigned to me.
S. No. Client Name Date of Meeting Amount of Expected Closure Date
Business
1. Supreme Logistics 03 July 2022 Rs. 10 Cr Closed on 20 July 2022
2 Rajesh Auto Parts 05 July 2022 Rs. 2 Cr Closed on 15 July 2022
3 Kumar Auto Sales 15 July 2022 Rs. 7 Cr Closed on 30 July 2022
4 Smart Ventures Pvt 03 Aug 2022 Rs. 20 Cr Expected to be closed
Ltd on 27 Aug 2022
5 Tarachand & Sons Meeting to be Rs. 5 Cr Expected to be closed
held on 18 Aug on 03 Sep 2022
2022
(signature)
XYZ
B: You are the CEO of ABC Firm. Write a report sharing first quarter’s financial results for
the year 2022 and CFO succession to be sent to a stakeholder.
ABC Firm
Gurugram
Date: 17 August 2022
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IN-TEXT QUESTIONS
3. …….. aims at making people work together for the common good of the
organization.
A). Communication B). Conversation
C). Combination D). Connections
4. Communication is a nonstop………
A). Paper B). Process
C). Programmed D). Plan
It is often found that despite having an understanding of what to write, how to organize
thoughts and execute them in the written format, written communication is full of
grammatical and syntactical errors. It is because of these mistakes that a company ends
up leaving a bad impression upon the receiver. This leads to a decline in an established
business relationship. Therefore, writing skills are of paramount importance. Before
moving on to composing long paragraphs and essays, it is essential to start from the
basics.
2.5.1 Sentence Structure
The knowledge of sentence structure can prove to be the steppingstone for creating
clear and correct messages. Broadly, a sentence has two parts: the Subject and the
Predicate. The subject indicates the doer of the action, while the predicate tells
something about the subject. For example,
Subject Predicate
The police caught the thief.
Anil kicked the football.
The dog jumped over the wall.
Each of the sentences clearly state how a sentence can be broadly divided into two. Delving
deep into this, it is to be understood that each of the words used in a sentence has its own role
which in turn add meaning to the sentence. This brings us to the different parts of speech
which collaborate to make a sentence.
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1. Parts of Speech
Noun: names of people, places, animals, things, the state of a person: for example,
Jia, crown, table, anger
Pronoun: words that are used in place of a noun to avoid repetition: for example, I,
you, he, she, it, we, they
Adjective: words that describe nouns or pronouns: for example, beautiful, vast,
enormous
Verb: words that indicate action or state of being for example, dance, study, be
Adverb: words that describe verbs, adjectives or other adverbs: for example, very,
really, soon, sometimes
Prepositions: words that are placed before a noun or a pronoun: for example, at, on,
for, with
Conjunctions: words that link words, phrases and clauses in a sentence: for example,
because, but, and, either…or
Interjections: words that express sudden emotion: for example, oh, alas, hey
After going through each of these details, one should be comfortable in identifying various
parts of speeches while framing a sentence.
Some of the most common mistakes found in writing styles in terms of Sentence structure
are:
1. Run-on Sentence:
a) Incorrect sentence-The manager asked for the report from Anil by yesterday he
has not sent it yet
This is an example of a run-on sentence which does not separate two independent
clauses with the help of any punctuation mark.
Correction-The manager asked for the report from Anil by yesterday. He has not
sent it yet.
b) Incorrect sentence- She loves to write stories she would write more often if she
had the time
Correction- She loves to write stories. She would write more often if she had the
time.
OR
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She loves to write stories, and she would write more often if she had the time.
2. Sentence Fragment:
a) Incorrect sentence-Because the manager fired Anil is an example of a sentence
fragment. Although it contains the main verb, it stands incomplete as it is
dependent on another clause indicated by the presence of the word “Because”.
Correction-Because the manager fired Anil, he had to advertise for the vacant
position.
b) Incorrect sentence-Shows no sign of declaring a bonus. (Subject missing)
Correction- The company shows no sign of declaring a bonus.
3. Parallel Structure:
It means that the same pattern of words is used throughout the sentence.
a) Incorrect sentence- Reena likes dancing, singing, and to hike.
Correction- Reena likes dancing, singing, and hiking.
OR
Reena likes to dance, sing, and hike.
b) Incorrect sentence- The company awards those employees who are diligent,
efficient, and who submit their work on time.
Correction- The company awards diligent, efficient, and punctual employees.
4. Lengthy phrases and sentences:
It is essential to avoid lengthy phrases and sentences to highlight clarity of thought in
the written content. Concise phrases and sentences should be preferred always.
Phrases
Due to the fact that- because
In the end - ultimately
Give consideration to - consider
Sooner or later - eventually
Sentences
a) When I started my own company, it gave me skills to handle problems on my own
and find their solutions.
Concise version:
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b) There are two employees who have been selected for this year’s Best Employee
Award.
Concise version:
Two employees have been selected for this year’s Best Employee Award.
2.5.2 Paragraph Construction
Now that sentence structure and common mistakes with reference to the same have
been discussed, the next step of paragraph construction demands equal attention. It is
imperative for a paragraph to be dedicated to one central topic. All the sentences of
the topic should be connected to that same topic being discussed in a paragraph. It
must mention the topic sentence either in the beginning, the middle, or the end of the
paragraph. The rest of the sentences in the paragraph provide support using vivid
words, logical sentence order, and grammatically and syntactically correct sentences.
An effective paragraph lacks run-on sentences. It also uses transition words such as
‘then’, ‘in addition to’, or ‘finally’ to connect separate paragraphs coherently. The
concluding sentence of a paragraph summarizes the central idea discussed in the
paragraph.
As far as paragraph breaks are concerned, they offer a pause to the reader before
moving into a different set of ideas in the new paragraph. There is no fixed number of
sentences to be dedicated to one paragraph. The main idea is to stick to one chain of
thought while writing one paragraph. A good writer reflects these aspects in writing.
Look at the following group of sentences and try to compose them logically:
Since this is not the kind of experience, we want you to have, we've made a note of
your feedback on the driver-partner's profile. Please note that we have adjusted the
fare as per our thresholds and will not be able to make any further changes to the trip
fare. We appreciate you bringing this to our attention. We are sorry to hear that you
are not happy with the fare you have been charged for this trip.
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Solution:
We are sorry to hear that you are not happy with the fare you have been charged for
this trip. Please note that we have adjusted the fare as per our thresholds and will not
be able to make any further changes to the trip fare. Since this is not the kind of
experience, we want you to have, we've made a note of your feedback on the driver-
partner's profile. We appreciate you bringing this to our attention.
IN-TEXT QUESTIONS
5. Communication is a ………. skills.
A). Soft B). Hard
C). Rough D). Short
After understanding how to construct a paragraph, it is important to take the next big
step wherein paragraph will be seen as a part of a larger essay. Many paragraphs
combine to make one long essay. An essay composition requires three parts- the
introduction, the body, and the conclusion. Skilful writers remind themselves of these
three broad requirements as they continue to pursue writing essays. Other than one
paragraph dedicated to both introduction and conclusion, there are more than one
paragraphs which develop the key idea in the body of the essay. Just as creating a
paragraph requires supporting statements developing the key idea, essay composition
too demands the same through the inclusion of several paragraphs. The purpose is to
develop the thesis statement in an elaborate manner. There are some steps that can be
followed to compose an essay systematically:
1. Prewriting: it is the first step where a writer comes up with a topic. Various
methods such as making notes, brainstorming, or free writing are used in order to
finalize the main idea on which the body of the essay would be developed. The
whole plan and structure to execute its various themes and sub-topics is charted at
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this stage. The purpose of writing is made clear. Questions such as why, for whom,
and what are thought of and answered. After the topic has been decided, the thesis
statement has to be decided. Clarity in this regard expresses the author’s clarity of
thought. Ideas can be developed logically later in the essay once the thesis
statement is established in the beginning.
2. Writing: a) Introduction- The writer should capture the readers’ attention through
the introductory paragraph. The thesis statement should be carefully placed here so
that the readers become interested in reading further. The plan to incorporate
various themes, and sub-topics which were decided at the prewriting stage must be
divulged here. The reader should be directed towards the organization of the
writing.
b) Body of the essay- Ideas are developed here. Facts, figures, and other details
specific to the topic are provided. Body of an essay can have more than one
paragraph. The writer has to ensure that each paragraph is related to the thesis
statement and gets developed with the help of supporting ideas.
c) Conclusion- After systematically organizing the ideas throughout the
introduction and the body of the essay, the last paragraph that sums up the main
points is called the concluding paragraph. It gives the coherent shape to the whole
writing. Phrases such as, “After a thorough analysis of this, it is clear that…”,
“Therefore,”, “It can be concluded that…” or “Thus,” are used to conclude an
essay.
3. Editing: At the end, editing and proof-reading eliminate any errors present in the
writing. The writer can revise, replace, add or omit any phrase or sentence which
seems incorrect. This will help the readers receive a well-organized and completely
correct version of the essay.
It is therefore clear that writing is a challenging task. It requires dedication at every stage
right from the beginning, be it the sentence structure, grammar, paragraph construction, or
essay composition.
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2.7 SUMMARY
Each business relies heavily on the formal modes of communication. These include a
lot of written communication. Therefore, as seen in this unit, written communication is
put on a high pedestal. If a writer goes wrong even on the basic level, it will end up
leaving a bad impression on the receiver of their message and may also result in
hampering their established business relationship.
A thorough knowledge of the advantages and disadvantages of written communication,
how to plan and execute different types of messages and their relevance in the business
world, the role of different types of reports, and how to improve one’s writing skills
beginning absolutely from the start, can help one achieve efficiency.
As shown through various examples of planning, executing, organizing data in a
systematic manner and correction to be made at the first level of phrases and sentences
will help a writer create highly impactful written communication in every field. Any
person who has to work in a vast business environment should attain fluency in
communication. It will help one attain the ability to perform all tasks without any
trouble.
1. Telephone
2. Upward Communication
3. Communication
4. Process
5. Soft
6. False
Garg, Manoj Kumar. (2020). English Fluency (Part 1). New Delhi: MKM Publishers
Pvt. Ltd.
Garg, Manoj Kumar. (2020). English Proficiency: A Handbook for Basic Learners of
English. New Delhi: MKM Publishers Pvt. Ltd.
Halder, Deb Dulal, Dev, Anjana Neira, & Malhotra, Prerna. (2012). Technical Writing
and Communication: Theory and Practice. New Delhi: Book Age Publications.
Halder, Deb Dulal, & Malhotra, Prerna. (2020). Communication Skills: Theory and
Practice. New Delhi: Book Age Publications.
Markel, Michael H. (1984). Technical Writing: Situations and Strategies. New York:
St. Martin’s Press.
**************LMS Feedback:lmsfeedback@sol-du.ac.in**************
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LESSON 3
INTERNPERSONAL COMMUNICATION
STRUCTURE
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Formulate a plan for mentoring and communicating with mentees for improved
transfer of knowledge and skills.
3.2 INTRODUCTION
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Interpersonal communication is a very important and highly valued skill not just in
the professional context, but also in the personal and social context. It is through
interpersonal communication that humans develop and maintain relationships.
a. Listening – The most important yet the most neglected communication type is that of
listening or active listening which is the cornerstone of interpersonal communication
as well as a relationship.
b. Verbal – It is the spoken word, including the language that you select, the manner in
which you speak, and so on.
c. Non-Verbal – In a face-to-face interaction, everything that gets conveyed without the
use of words is non-verbal communication. It includes gestures, postures, silence, eye
contact (or absence of it), expressions, pitch of voice, intonation and modulation, etc.
d. Written - This type includes the use of writing and involves codifying the message in
a particular language that the receiver understands.
There are certain principles of interpersonal communication that form the basis of our
understanding of the phenomenon. These principles will help a discerning individual to be an
effective communicator. The principles are mentioned below: -
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“And I can now give myself the certificate that a thoughtless word hardly ever
escapes my tongue or pen”.
- Mahatma Gandhi
(iii) Interpersonal communication is a complex process due to the sheer variety of the
variables involved in it. There are the individuals themselves who choose a language,
words, symbols, body language, expressions, etc. followed by perceptions of the
individuals and then there is the all-important ‘context’, all of which have infinite
permutations and combinations causing interpersonal communication to be highly
complex.
(Source: https://redshoemovement.com/)
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There are several theories of Interpersonal Communication that provide very useful
framework for understanding the process. These theories are based on different perspectives
and accordingly help in the study and practice of effective communication.
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The uncertainty reduction theory tries to explain the initial interaction among people
as an attempt to reduce the uncertainty as to their behaviour towards each other. The higher
the uncertainty the greater is the distance between people. The theory assumes that people
would cognitively gauge uncertainty and act with the objective of reducing it. Though, there
needs to be a trigger as per this theory that will prompt the individual to take steps to reduce
the uncertainty. This trigger is usually in the form of a social situation and / or the cognitive
process. The uncertainty reduction theory states that people tend to reduce uncertainty using
the approaches mentioned below: -
Active Approach
It involves an individual trying to gain information about the target by asking those
acquainted with the latter.
Passive Approach
As the name suggests, the passive approach entails gathering information about the
other person by observation.
Interactive Approach
This approach is also an active approach where an individual uses direct interaction
as a strategy to learn about the other person by probing and sharing.
Extractive Approach
The extractive information seeking approach was later added to the theory and is
about using online media to get information about a person.
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The simple difference between a group and a team lies in that, in the former, the
members coordinate their efforts in the pursuit of individual goals and in the latter, the
members coordinate their efforts towards achievement of a common goal.
Clarity of Goal
The fundamental aspect of teams is that before a team is put together, the goals /
objective and the desired outcomes have to be decided. It would help the team to work with a
clear direction. However, the team is often given sufficient flexibility to formulate strategies
for achieving the goals.
Interdependence
The team members are dependent on each other and are unable to achieve the goals
independently. There is considerable reliance of the team members on each other for the right
information and support in terms of expertise in a particular domain.
Authority
The team as a unit is given the authority to make decisions pertaining to the activities
undertaken by it in the pursuit of the desired outcomes and goals.
Open Communication
Communication is the most important ingredient for an effective and successful team.
The way of communication, the methods adopted for communication within the team and the
frequency of communication, etc. determine how well the team is functioning. It is this
characteristic of teams that we will be focusing on.
would agree that the most common cause of failures in the workplace is ineffective
communication. Organisations rely on teams for getting the work done and therefore,
effective teams are valued very highly not just in the organisational context but also in
myriad fields, such as sports, research, etc.
Rapport Building
During the initial phase of a team, improving communication within the team reduces
the uncertainty as to each other’s behaviour which helps break the ice. It leads to better
coordination and helps build trust and confidence within the team. A well-coordinated team
with no trust issues is better placed for achieving the goals and desired outcomes.
Fosters Innovation
Continuous exchange of information and feedback within a team can be the source of
creativity and innovation. It helps discover more efficient ways of doing things and arriving
at out-of-the-box solutions to work-related problems.
Conflict Management
Possibly the greatest advantage of better team communication is that it helps in early
resolution of conflicts within the team. It can even help in avoiding and averting potential
conflict situations. Active listening is a skill that is all important in team communication as it
improves shared understanding of each other’s perspectives, opinions, needs and emotions.
By paying attention to other’s perspectives and giving it a genuine thought, you will be able
to better comprehend and appreciate them and respond in a constructive manner thereby
minimizing the chances of conflicts. Active listening also includes “listening” to the body
language which can supplement your comprehension of the spoken word. Some very simple
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yet useful techniques that will come handy in handling situations of conflict are mentioned
below (Note how these are all closely connected with active listening):
Paraphrase: Restate what the other person has said in your own words. This will prompt the
other person to recognize that you genuinely listened to him / her and that you understand the
other person’s view.
Restate: It is plain repetition of what the other person has just told you. This again
demonstrates that you are actively engaging in the communication.
Reframe: It is a description of what you understand about the other person’s needs or
demands. If you use positive language to reframe, it will show your earnestness to overcome
the impasse.
Summarize: It involves a giving a brief of the situation in your own words also putting into
words the emotions that may have been manifest in the other person’s communication. It will
reassure them that you have the right understanding of the situation.
Improves Productivity
A team that communicates effectively gets to improve its productivity as there is a
clear understanding of each other and very few chances of an information blockage. We have
seen technology coming to the aid of teams in the form of applications that enable sharing of
screens, virtual meetings, etc. It has lowered the timeframe required for team members to get
in sync.
Work Culture
Communicating routinely as a trust and confidence building measure helps build a
work culture that appreciates and values teamwork. It helps create a healthy and transparent
work environment where employees put in their best with earnestness.
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However, the reality is nowhere close to the above picture. Most workplaces are
characterised by mistrust, misunderstandings, conflicts, delays and cost overruns.
There are certain strategies that will help in improving team communication and
overcoming issues, such as misunderstandings, conflicts, delays, etc. Some of these strategies
have been discussed below:
Exchange Feedback
The leaders must help develop a practice of exchanging feedback at various levels.
Feedback is a two-way process and the person receiving the feedback needs to develop a
receptive temperament. However, feedback has to be constructive rather than vindictive.
Documentation of constructive feedback can also help create resources that can be used for
future learning.
Team-Building Exercises
Team outings, excursions, games and other such fun activities go a very long way in
improving the communication between team members. A two-day trip with your colleagues
will help you learn about them more than years of working together in office. Such activities,
if planned at regular intervals, can be a great de-stressing experience. It will help the team
members rejuvenate themselves and the activities undertaken during the team-building
exercise will help expose hidden talents in some of the team members.
Use Technology
Technology has provided tools for teams to better coordinate and simplify workflow.
There are innumerable cloud-based applications available which aid in communicating
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better, especially when the team is not located at one place. Standardizing the use of some of
these applications will make it convenient for everyone and it would be easier to initiate new
members into the ecosystem. These applications enable collaboration, progress-review,
referring to workflow, deadlines, etc. in a much easier way than a conventional email based
communication.
Communication Training
Training the team members in communication-related modules / courses will equip
them with skills to function as a coherent unit by application of effective communication
strategies. The training programmes may be selected based on the nature of the work being
handled by the team and the existing skill sets, strengths and weaknesses of the members.
There are many challenges that teams have to deal with in order to operate efficiently.
It is important for you to understand what these challenges are, so that you can detect issues
before they get out of hand and cause injury to the team fabric. Let us discuss some major
challenges that teams face.
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Lack of Trust
Trust deficit among members of a team is one of the most common causes of lack of
communication within the team. This lack of trust can manifest itself in the form of the
following behaviours:
Low morale
Lack of warmth
Groupthink
When the group members become too comfortable with each other, they tend to
desire group cohesion to such an extent that the group starts thinking of having a consensus
all the time. This is known as groupthink and it has the effect of driving out critical analysis
of ideas, opinions and alternatives. Groupthink retards proper communication within a team
as there is no exchange of fresh ideas, alternative positions and perspectives. Everybody
agrees to everything and eventually, nothing innovative comes out of the team.
It is obvious that the members of a team may not be sitting in the same office. In fact,
some or even all team members may be working from different locations. In such a scenario,
the communication among team members is only as good as the tool(s) used for
communication. If there are hi-tech cloud-based tools for communication, it makes things
pretty seamless, however there may be members who may not be as comfortable with such
tools as others.
Information Overload
It has been observed that when a team makes use of multiple platforms for
communication, such as emails, phone calls, video conferencing, face-to-face meetings,
instant messaging, etc., there is so much of information being exchanged on a daily, even
hourly basis that keeping a track of things becomes a challenge. As you can see, issues in
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team communication can arise not just because of the lack of information exchange, but also
due to excess of it.
Hybrid Teams
After the onset of the Covid-19 pandemic, companies started forming Hybrid Teams.
A hybrid team one in which some members work remotely, and some may be working from
the office premises. Mostly, the facility of working from a remote location is rotated between
members so as to offer flexibility to all. Based on the workload and urgency, the arrangement
is adapted to suit specific requirements. Before the Covid-19 pandemic, the concept of hybrid
teams was restricted mostly to distributed teams. However, it is now used widely because of
obvious benefits, some of which are mentioned below.
Cost-effective both for the employee as well as the employer
Provides flexibility
Companies can hire talent which may not be available locally
Helps in attaining work-life balance
The above benefits notwithstanding, there are several issues with hybrid teams as
well. The most important thing is that in hybrid teams, physical connect is lost. Cohesion
among team members usually develops by means of face-to-face interactions. Especially
those informal conversations around the pantry area during coffee breaks. Further, whatever
important decisions are taken in the office is required to be communicated to the remote
workers to keep them abreast. These communication channels need to be worked-out and
formalised to ensure that the people for whom it is intended actually consume it.
3.5 NEGOTIATION
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You will observe that most people are not very adept at negotiation; in fact, many
people fear negotiations. Though, one can pick up the required skills to be a good negotiator
by training, doing your homework and with some practice.
Distributive
There are negotiations in which the involved parties negotiate for the distribution of a
fixed value. In such negotiations, one’s gain is a result of the share foregone by the other.
These negotiations are like zero-sum games where the gain of one is the loss of the other. It
is also known as a win-lose negotiation.
Integrative
The negotiations where multiple factors and interests are under discussion and
provide an opportunity to the negotiators to satisfy the needs of each party are called
integrative negotiations. It can potentially turn out to be a win-win situation for the parties
involved. Distributive negotiations also have the potential to be turned into integrative if the
issues are rethought and the parameters are reworked.
Team Negotiation
The negotiations which is conducted by a team of negotiators from each side is called
as team negotiation. For instance, an automotive component manufacturer from India is
interested in entering into a Joint Venture (JV) with a Japanese company. The Indian
company sends a team of six negotiators with each of the negotiators having a specialised
expertise. The Japanese counterpart will also have multiple members to proceed with the
negotiations.
Multiparty Negotiation
As the name suggests, multiparty negotiations involve multiple parties and the
interests of each other these parties is at stake which makes multiparty negotiation much
more difficult. For the same reason, multiparty negotiation requires more polished and wider
skills. A very good example is that of trade negotiations at the World Trade Organisation
(WTO), where the interest of all 164 member countries is involved and the representatives of
each of the member countries are experts in the domain.
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Planning
Proper planning to work out the details of the short-term, medium-term and long-term
ramifications of the terms of negotiation will ensure that you are not caught by surprise in the
middle of the negotiation and will prevent you from exposing your position.
Communication
Communication is an indispensable skill that becomes the medium through which
negotiations take place. During a negotiation, communicating the right messages in the right
manner so as to sound compelling and persuasive is a skill that is acquired over time. It
involves careful selection of words, observation of non-verbal cues and developing a deep
understanding of the context, especially in case of an intercultural setting.
Resourcefulness
Resourcefulness and creativity are skills that come in handy during negotiations
where spot thinking is required to overcome new constraints.
Problem-Solving
Most negotiations occur when there is an impasse, and no progress can be made.
Seasoned negotiators apply their problem-solving skills to overcome the situation and end the
stalemate.
Active Listening
This skill helps you to perfectly understand the other party’s position and helps create
an atmosphere of trust and confidence which is a great catalyst for a successful negotiation.
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Persuasiveness
The ability to convince the other party that the terms you have set forth are justified
and get them to agree to it is called persuasiveness. In other words, successful negotiators
have the ability to influence the other party.
Identify Trade-offs
You must study the entire situation deeply to identify issues that are dear to the other
party but not very important for you. Such trade-offs can be exploited to your advantage by
allowing to take a step closer on that point in return for something of value to you.
The naive approach to negotiation is based on a reactive tactic rather than taking the
proactive approach. The biggest downside of the reactive approach is that the outcomes or
possible outcomes of the negotiation will be a function of the proposals / demand coming
from your counterpart. The reactive approach may seem to work in simple situations, such as
haggling for a discount from a street vendor. However, complex negotiations require a well-
developed strategy that you can implement during the process. Some of the key strategies in
negotiation are discussed below.
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The importance of communication for preventing and resolving conflicts can hardly
be exaggerated. Poor communication, more often than not, causes misunderstandings that
soon balloons into a conflict. Therefore, communication as a tool will help you build
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relationships and help you in managing conflicts that will inevitably occur even in the
strongest of relationships.
Active Listening
Active listening is one communication skill that we will keep talking about in this
course. Despite being one of the most potent skills in the entire process of communication, it
remains the most underutilised and neglected one. When in a conflict situation, lend an ear to
the other person and listen genuinely to what he / she has to say. This listening has to be
without any animated expressions, interruptions and loss of attention. The person being heard
will feel placated with your sincere effort. Use the pauses to restate or paraphrase what the
other person has been saying to confirm your understanding.
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Timing of Communication
Bad timing to attempt resolving a conflict can potentially prolong the conflict despite
the best of intentions. In interpersonal conflicts, sometimes it has been observed that one
party is so eager to resolve the conflict that an attempt is made even if the other party is
unwell or in an important office engagement or a social gathering. Such ill-timed
interventions can further worsen the situation and make resolution even more challenging
and painful. The best strategy is to ask the other person if he / she is comfortable and willing
to have a dialogue and take cues from the response, both verbal and non-verbal.
No Absolute Statements
In a conflict situation, one should avoid using absolute statements like “never”,
“ever”, “always” as an expression of emphasis because it can further aggravate the situation
and spark a fresh series of arguments on how the statement was unjustified.
Accept Responsibility
Admitting your mistake graciously is not actually a strategy rather it is plain honesty,
which would resonate well with the other party. Owning responsibility of one’s mistakes is a
trait found in leaders and is appreciated by all. It can be a profound experience for the one
owning responsibility and equally as overwhelming for the other party to see such a gesture
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of honesty and sincerity. It would have an immediate effect of the de-escalation of the
situation.
solve such problems without actual handholding. The mentee may just be learning to
communicate in a professional setting and would look up to the mentor for guidance.
Active Listening
A mentee may have a hundred questions for you simply because he is new to the
professional world or to the industry. You must make it a point to listen to him so as to
inspire and build trust in the relationship. Listening actively is also important for you to
interpret the issue in the right context so that your response caters to it adequately.
Ask Questions
Probing to gauge the understanding of the mentee on the underlying concepts of an
issue which is being discussed helps the mentor to calibrate the learning process
appropriately. Asking questions as you go along during a session is also important to
ascertain whether the mentee is grasping the nuances well.
Body Language
Make use of your knowledge of body language, including gestures, posture,
expressions and eye contact to supplement your reading of the mentees understanding. Any
divergence in the two will prompt you to interject and ask questions to clarify and improve
understanding.
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3.7.3 Appraisals
Confidentiality
The most important aspect of communication of performance appraisals is
confidentiality. Appraisal contains sensitive information as to the employee’s pay grade,
designation, roles and responsibilities, key performance indicators, timelines, etc. which
needs to be kept confidential. When appraisal forms are sent, they are kept in sealed
envelopes and handed over to the addressee only. However, these days the performance
appraisal systems are online application-based with each supervisor and employee getting
login accounts to keep it private and confidential.
One-To-One Communication
Appraisal being such as a sensitive process needs to be conducted with due care and
diligence. Never conduct appraisals for your team members in a group as it would entail
ethical issues. Discussing one’s performance in a group can be insulting and humiliating,
besides you cannot expect a team member to be candid in front of others. Therefore, it has to
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be a one-to-one exercise and a focussed and detailed one at that, conducted in a dignified
manner.
Digital Communication
The process of communicating with people through various online channels,
including social media, emails, web-banner adverts, online adverts and advertorials, blogs,
podcasts, etc. is known as digital communication. The digital medium has gained huge
traction over the past decade.
Social Media
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A platform of interaction for people that they use to create, share and consume
information, ideas, thoughts, entertaining content, etc. is known as social media. The most
popular social media platforms include YouTube, Facebook, Instagram, Twitter LinkedIn
and blogs. Social media is used by a very large number of people on a daily basis for having
conversations, sharing thought and ideas, images and videos, advertising and marketing and
making new friends and relationships. Profiles are created on these platforms not just by
people for their personal use, but also by organisations, institutions and brands.
The biggest advantage of communication using Social Media is that there is hardly
any cost involved in it. Brands can reach a wide audience at negligible costs if they choose to
utilise the social media. In fact, there are many brands, such as Rolls Royce, Ferrero Rocher
and Zara that hardly spend any money on advertising through the conventional media of
television commercials (TVCs) and print adverts. Such companies rely almost entirely on
digital communication and social media for the purpose.
The importance of social media for communication with external stakeholders can be
understood from the reasons mentioned below-
a. Social media facilitates direct and open communication with stakeholders. Brands can
rely on information discovery by stakeholders provided that they keep posting engaging
content.
b. Social media is a great tool for mobilising public opinion and.it is increasingly being used
for market research, surveys, opinions polls, product development, customer service, etc.
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c. Social media enables organisations in reaching a wide audience at negligible costs, which
would otherwise involve spending huge sums on advertising through conventional media.
d. Another great advantage of social media for communicating with external stakeholders is
that it provides a channel for direct feedback on a continuous basis which enables
communication professionals to adapt the company’s offerings to the evolving needs and
expectations of the stakeholders.
Social media campaigns are presently the most preferred medium for businesses to
connect with customers. The primary reason is that social media is much more engaging than
the conventional media. Further, social media enables artificial intelligence (AI)-enabled
delivery of customized content based on the interests of various target groups and
individuals. Let us see how communication professionals build engaging social media
campaigns on various platforms.
Brands utilize Twitter is many ways, including a direct marketing communication with
customers, conduct market research and surveys and provide customer support by setting
up full-fledged customer support handle. Many brands make use of trending handles to
communicate with its target market.
Instagram is used by brands that rely on visual appeal to connect with its target market.
For instance, all brands connected to the fashion industry, celebrity marketing and so on.
LinkedIn is a professional networking platform where people share and discuss their
thoughts, ideas, experiences, etc.
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Blogs are internet sites that are written in the form of a journal where the author posts
entries in a sequential manner. Brands often use blogs as a part of their web content to
reach out to its target audience. Blogging is not just used for external communication, but
also for internal communication regarding policy changes, new initiatives, etc.
Timing
Timing the release of content and the duration for which the content is to be run on
various platforms is also one of the most challenging aspects of social media communication.
Social media communicators have to keep a close watch on how well the content is being
received in order to make the most out of it. If a popular campaign is withdrawn too early to
make way for a fresh campaign, the potential benefits of the former may be lost.
Legal Aspects
Another key issue with social media communication is that of the legal implications
pertaining intellectual property rights (IPR). Therefore, social media communicators have to
be very conscientious when using multimedia content developed by third-parties.
3.9 SUMMARY
1. The exchange of thoughts, ideas and feelings between people through verbal and non-
verbal communication is called Interpersonal Communication.
2. Team communication refers to the exchange of information among the members of a
team working towards a common goal / objective.
3. Negotiation is the dialogue that two or more parties engage in for sorting out their
differences. Effective communication strategies help in successful negotiation and
finding a win-win solution.
4. A disagreement between interdependent parties that arises due to incompatible goals,
scarcity of resources or opposing point-of-view is known as a conflict. Proper
communication is the most potent solution for preventing conflicts from arising and also
resolving them without much damage.
5. Mentoring is referred to as the process of guiding, advising and supporting a junior by a
seasoned and experience senior within the organisation.
6. Appraisal refers to a continuous process evaluating and documenting the performance of
an employee in the execution of the duties assigned to him / her for a specific period of
assessment. The key performance indicators (KPIs), expected outcomes, etc. need to be
documented well and communicated for a fair and just assessment.
7. Digital communication and its major component, i.e., social media are the most
important communication channel for developing and nurturing relationships with your
stakeholders. The right communication mix using various digital media channels help in
reaching the right people and relaying the right message.
8.
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1. Ann Chastain, (2013) “Use active listening skills to effectively deal with conflict”.
Michigan State University Extension - December 2, 2013
2. Carr, Caleb T.; Walther, Joseph B. (July 2014). "Increasing Attributional Certainty via
Social Media: Learning About Others One Bit at a Time". Journal of Computer-Mediated
Communication. 19 (4): 922–937
3. Fisher, R., Ury, W. and Patton, B. (1991), Getting to Yes: Negotiating Agreement
without Giving In, 2nd ed., Houghton Mifflin.
4. Foss, K. & Littlejohn, S. (2008). Theories of Human Communication, Ninth Edition.
Belmont, CA.
5. Lisa Bottomley, Michigan State University Extension (2012), web article published on
https://extension.msu.edu.
6. McShane, S.L. & Von Glinow, M.A. (2009). Organizational Behavior (essentials) (2nd
Ed). New York: McGraw-Hill Irwin.
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7. Michael L. Moffitt and Robert C. Bordone, eds. (2005), The Handbook of Dispute
Resolution, Program on Negotiation / Jossey-Bass, Harvard University.
**************LMS Feedback:lmsfeedback@sol-du.ac.in**************
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LESSON 4
CROSS-CULTURAL COMMUNICATION
STRUCTURE
4.2 Introduction
4.9 Summary
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4.2 INTRODUCTION
Have you noticed that the world around us is getting more diverse and our
interactions with people from different cultures are growing at a rate faster than ever? The
interaction among people from different cultures has been on the rise due to industrialisation,
migration from rural to urban areas and improvement in technology, modes of transportation
and communication. Foreign trade is taking place at unprecedented levels and more people
are travelling to get their business done. Corporations are enthusiastic about having a
culturally diverse workforce and flaunt it in their presentations and annual reports.
Communication with people from different cultures within the country or different
nationalities can be a greater challenge than you imagine. Your chances of success in
business will be determined by how well you are able to overcome this challenge.
Cultural differences can be tangible and intangible. Food, art, costumes, etc.
constitute the tangible or visible aspect of cultural differences. However, it is only a minor
aspect when compared to the intangible aspect which basically stems from differences in
core values across cultures. Therefore, it is upon the intangible aspect of cultural differences
that we will be dwelling upon in this lesson.
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Culture refers to the collective way of thinking and going about life. It evolves as a
consequence of the complex phenomenon of continuous communication between people. As
they go along, the people adopt certain ideas, values, beliefs, principles, rituals and customs
that are passed on from one generation to the next. This definition implies that culture is a
collective asset and is shared by each individual who happens to be a part of it. Those from
the same culture often feel an affinity for each other, especially when interacting in a
heterogeneous environment. A culture often evolves within a geographical region.
Members make conscious efforts to preserve it which means that culture becomes a
unifying factor for its members.
Every culture has certain unique attitudes which greatly influence the communication
patterns of its members. Culture has a deep impact on the style of communication, however
people frequently oversimplify it and create stereotypes which is a barrier to effective
communication.
Examining culture using the structural method entails studying its constitution and
forms. The structural approach is based on identifying the differences in cultures of various
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nation states, geographical regions not confined by national boundaries, faiths, ethnicities,
etc. based on differences in values, beliefs, customs, attitudes, expectations and goals.
For example, there are stark differences in the western and oriental cultures. The
culture of British people is distinct from that of the other mainland European nations which
in turn, have distinct cultures of their own.
The structural approach is the traditional way of studying cultures and offers great
insights in developing an understanding of how to communicate to be successful in our day-
to-day interactions with people from different cultures.
This approach views a culture being created as a result of the communication or the
multifarious interactions between people. In other words, culture emerges and evolves as
people go about transacting their thoughts and responses. The everyday communication
between people leads to creation of patterns which are distinguishable and over a period of
time these patterns get reinforced as the transactions continue to take place over and over
again.
For instance, medical doctors, share brokers/traders, musicians and online gamers all
share a certain vocabulary and display common styles of communication which is essentially
an outcome of the daily transaction of their distinct businesses. Interestingly, studying and
adopting the styles of communication can potentially help one in gaining acceptance or even
membership of various cultural groups.
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EXERCISE 1
1 Look back at your personal and social life and try to pen down the number of
distinct cultures you have come across.
2 Based on the above, do you think cultures change strictly with nationality?
3 Try to remember the longest interaction you had with a person from a different.
4 Make an effort to isolate the key points of difference between your culture and the
other person.
The interaction between people of different cultures, whether between those from
different geographical regions, nation states, religions, etc. is called cross-cultural
communication or intercultural communication. The process of exchanging messages
between people of different cultures can potentially lead them to interpret the verbal and non-
verbal signs differently. Cross-cultural communication involves the study of culture mostly
from the structural perspective to identify the differences from one’s own culture to develop
strategies to align with the target to improve understanding and the probability of a
successful engagement.
Cross-cultural communication deals with how people from varied cultural milieus
interact and the that challenges they face in the process. These challenges are not confined to
differences in languages or dialects but extend much beyond to differences in non-verbal
signals, perceptions, metaphors, and so on.
For the purpose of this lesson, we will delve deeper into the structural construct of
culture to be able to develop strategies for successfully communicating in a cross-cultural
environment.
a. Context
b. Individual / Collective
c. Time
d. Conflict
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Context
Context refers to the setting, environment, relationship, etc. in which the
communication is taking place. The extent to which this communication relies on being
explicit or implicit varies from culture-to-culture. The portion that is left unsaid is decoded
based on the situation and the relationship between the parties in communication. Based on
the degree of what is left unsaid, cultures are classified as high-context and low-context.
High-Context
Cultures that attach high importance to circumstances / setting / environment and are
not very explicit in verbal terms are called high-context cultures. Such cultures tend to be
ceremonial, and protocols exist for conduct in meetings and gatherings. In South Africa,
great importance is given to a person’s tribal lineage when comprehending a conversation. Its
culture considers it fair to assign higher priority to friends, family and close associates even
in business transactions. Therefore, what may seem unethical in, say American culture, is
regarded as ethical in South African culture.
Low-Context
On the other hand, in Low-Context cultures, the message itself does most of the
communication and the context and background are of no or very little consequence. In such
cultures, success would depend greatly on how well-prepared and logical your argument is
and how well it is presented. The relationships in such cultures are consciously removed to
make an unbiased decision, which is why it is common for people to step aside from making
decisions involving family and friends. In fact, such clauses are usually built into contracts
that make it an obligation for the contracting parties to declare any related individuals in the
business under negotiation.
Collectivist / Individualist
There are collectivist cultures and individualist cultures based on whether importance
is given to individual identity or collective identity. It is common knowledge that eastern
societies tend to be more collectivist, whereas western societies are individualist.
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Collectivist
Societies in the east have been collectivist and assign enormous importance to groups.
Decision-making is a consensus-making exercise in such societies. In the villages of India,
the institution of panchayat is a perfect example of how the interest of the community is
assigned paramount importance and individual interests are often sacrificed for the larger
good of the community. In collectivist societies, focussed pursuit of personal goals only
would be considered selfish. It is quite common for the elders to intervene in such a situation
to bring the individual back on the “right” track. In collectivist cultures, much care is taken
not to hurt the sentiment of the community. Therefore, criticism is often very oblique,
especially when it is about seniors / elders.
Individualist
The societies that regard personal pursuits to be more important than collective
pursuits are called individualist cultures. Western societies are classified as individualist and
the aspirations of the individual combined with the liberty to make the decisions for
him/herself are regarded as fundamental to their existence. Individual achievement is
celebrated in such societies. The most remarkable of such societies is the American society
which is quintessentially individualist. In individualist cultures, such as American,
relationships are not diffused, but specific. It essentially means that a boss will just be a boss
and would not be perceived as, say an elder brother, the way sometimes it is in India. This
gives them the leeway to be direct in their criticism. The degree of straightforwardness or
bluntness would vary in Western cultures, for instance Americans are quite blunt whereas the
British would understate.
Time
The views of different cultures on time is one of the most frequently quoted
characteristics of cultures. It is also perhaps one of the most common factors that acts as a
potential dealmaker or deal-breaker in a cross-cultural business environment.
How many times have you heard the cliché – “Time is money”?
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Cultures can be classified into the following two types based on their views on time:
Monochronism
Monochronic cultures take a linear view of time and essentially means that full
attention is focussed on one thing and multitasking is avoided. People from such cultures
strictly observe and respect timelines. They do not appreciate people reaching late for
meetings and digressing too much from the matter under deliberation / discussion. In such
cultures, time is an asset of great value and therefore there is little room for being “flexible”.
Polychronism
Task-orientation People-orientation
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An interesting scale was developed by R D Lewis that rates Eastern and Western
countries on what is termed as a Linear-Active and Multi-Active Scale. As the names
suggest, Linear-Active people focus on one thing at a time and are not too flexible. Multi-
Active, on the other hand, are known to multi-task and do not bother too much about time.
Most Linear-Active cultures, as per Lewis, were German, Swiss, American, Canadian and
British, whereas the most multi-Active cultures were Indian, Latin American, Arab, Pakistani
and Spanish.
CASE STUDY
A Lost Opportunity
Lindsey is a mid-level manager from a UK-based exhibition company that
wishes to organize a trade expo in New Delhi. She seeks appointment with the Manager
in-charge of a leading venue complex in the National Capital Region (NCR) and visits
his office at the scheduled time. To her surprise, Lindsey finds that the venue Manager
is in another meeting at the time that was allotted to her.
She waits for about 30 minutes after which the venue manager arrives in his
office. They start the meeting and Lindsey is perturbed to see that the venue manager
keeps engaging in brief conversations with his subordinates on matters unrelated to the
ongoing meeting with Lindsey. He also attends to walk-in guests and responds to phone
calls during the entire meeting. Lindsey had this unpleasant experience due to the
unawareness of the venue manager about the cultural sensitivities of his potential client.
The venue ended up losing the event to a smaller competitor in the city.
Conflict
Different cultures deal with conflicts differently. An understanding of the various
attitudes towards conflicts can assist in managing conflicts in a better way. As per Martin and
Nakayama (2007), based on the writings of Augsburg (1992), there exist two different
cultural views to conflicts, namely conflict as opportunity and conflict as destructive.
It has been observed that individualist societies see conflicts as opportunities, whereas
collectivist societies view conflicts as destructive.
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Opportunity-Approach to Conflicts
The cultures that view conflicts as opportunities regard conflicts as normal and a
potentially useful process. Attempts are made to resolve the conflict through negotiation with
the underlying assumption that matters may change if confronted and negotiated.
Destructive-Approach to Conflicts
Conflict Management
There are five distinct conflict management styles identified by Rahim (1983): (i).
avoiding, (ii). obliging, (iii). compromising, (iv). integrating, and (v). dominating.
Obliging: It involves giving in to the demands of the other party to end the conflict
situation.
Compromising: To arrive at a solution, both parties take a step back / forward due to
which neither feels fully satisfied.
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EXERCISE 2
1 What is your view on time?
2 Would you classify yourself as monochronic or polychromic?
3 Find out using the table above that classifies the characteristics of monochronic
and polychromic cultures.
4 Do this exercise with your friends from different cultures and compare the results.
If you don’t have friends from other cultures, forget this exercise and get some!!!
Prepare yourself! If you want to be a good, active listener, you should do some
homework and learn about the people that you are going meet. Better preparedness will give
you an edge over people who simply walk-in.
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Make an attempt to ascertain if the person you are communicating with comes from a
high-context or a low-context culture. (Go back to the section in this lesson on
Characteristics of Cultures under Structure-view)
Pay attention! If the speaker notices that you are not being attentive or showing signs
of losing interest, the communication will suffer and so will the business underway.
If the speaker says something that you find rude, do not take offence and try to
reconfirm if the non-verbal signals corroborate the spoken word.
On the other extreme of the cultural spectrum i.e., American, a low-context culture,
the explicit verbal message is considered almost final for the purpose of interpretation. It
must be evident by now that two people from cultures far apart on the cultural spectrum will
do best by studying and understanding each other’s cultural nuances to have a successful
engagement.
Even within the Western culture, there are differences that warrant closer study to be
able to navigate successfully in a global business environment. For example, the British are
accustomed to being rather formal and polite in asking for things in contrast with, say the
Germans who are quite straightforward. The British enthusiastically follow courtesies and
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words and phrases such as, “please”, “sorry”, “thank you”, “beg your pardon”, etc. are used
very frequently.
Written Communication
The written mode of communication is considered relatively easier than the oral mode
as the sender has more time at his disposal to strategize and encode the message. However,
the flipside is that one doesn’t get instant feedback as in verbal communication, that helps
you modulate and fine-tune your strategy during the conversation. In a global business
environment, the written mode is the most commonly used method of communication, and
hence becomes the most important to be mastered. The written word stays forever as it may
be preserved as record. It is reason enough for one to be extremely aware and thoughtful
when communicating through the written medium. The written medium includes letters,
emails, memorandums, reports, contracts, proposals, etc.
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To write effectively and be impactful and clear to your reader, the first step is to be
aware of your own culture. An awareness of one’s own cultural characteristics and biases
will help in neutralizing the influence it would have on your communication with people
from other cultures. Once you clearly have your own culture in mind, you can compare it
with the culture of your target to have a strategy in place to write in a tone and tenor neutral
of ethnocentric biases.
The tone and tenor of the written communication should be consistent with what the
target would be expecting based on whether the latter’s culture is skewed towards low-
context or high-context. Therefore, a mix of theoretical and hands-on approach derived from
one’s own experiences or from that of your seniors / mentors should be employed when
writing to people of different cultures.
Extent of Detail
People from low-context cultures, such as Germany and United States prefer detailing
at minute levels because whatever is explicit is more important for them. Contrast this with
high-context cultures like Japanese, where the writer would expect the reader to have the
basic understanding of the subject matter and therefore will be less-than explicit. You should
have this at the back of your mind to avoid the reader from taking offence at being provided
excess or less information. However, this doesn’t hold true for the decision-making process
in the US and Japan. Corporations in the US tend to be quicker in decision-making as the
powers are sufficiently delegated as individual contribution is important to the Americans,
whereas in Japan the decision-making is a consensus-building process and may take
somewhat longer.
You must select your words carefully and arrange the text in a logical, organised
fashion after building-in sufficient context. Articulation is of much more importance in
written communication than eloquence.
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One should avoid using slangs, idioms and proverbs when writing to a counterpart or
a colleague who is from a different cultural milieu, as it can obscure the understanding of the
latter. Roundabout and ornate language is also best avoided in the written medium.
Use universally recognized conventions rather than the ones in vogue only in a
particular region or culture. For instance, the format of dates can cause confusions as shown
below
As you can see, the British and American conventions of dates differ which can cause
confusion between the month and date. Therefore, it is best to use the neutral convention
which is quite explicit.
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means of non-verbal communication in similar ways throughout the world. However, there
are accepted cultural norms for how emotions are expressed in front of others. For example,
in Arab culture it is quite acceptable to mourn-out loud to express grief. Whereas, in China or
Japan expressing feelings of great happiness or grief openly is considered unacceptable.
CASE STUDY
Cultural Shock
A recent Indian migrant to the United States who was used to pulling cheeks of
even unacquainted kids back in India was shocked when a young American kid snapped
back aggressively saying, "You don’t wanna mess with me!!!," on getting his cheek
grazed by the Indian man with his hand. It is because the expression of affection
through non-verbal medium varies across cultures.
Gestures (Kinesics)
Movements of the body made in particular ways carry meanings that are manifest and
clear only to those initiated into that culture. Most common gestures include the thumbs-up /
thumbs-down, the OK sign, the beckoning sign, etc.
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Table 4.3: Some Common Gestures and their Meanings Across Cultures
This is perhaps the most recognizable hand gesture. It means “OK” or approval of
something in the US.
This gesture is also known as the beckoning sign and can be made using just the
index finger or a curled palm. It is a common gesture used for beckoning.
This gesture is called the Moutza. It is used by spreading out all fingers of a hand
and showing it close to the face of a person. It is an insult gesture traditionally
used by the Greek. You will see the use of this gesture in demonstrations and
protests in Greece.
In India, especially in the northern states this gesture is used when cursing
(la’anat) somebody.
Postures
Postures convey emotions and intentions and can be classified into open and closed
postures. Adopting certain positive postures will help you to make an impact on the people
you communicate with during the course of your professional and personal life.
The basic postures are standing, sitting, squatting and lying down (Hargie, 2011). Out
of these the most relevant for cross-cultural business communication are standing and sitting
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postures. In western cultures, putting one’s hands just above the hips in a standing position is
considered as an attempt to dominate and be assertive.
The physical distance maintained by people communicating with each other is also a
function of the cultural background. The appropriate distance to be maintained in each
culture largely depends on the relation between the people in communication. In the Western
cultures, the personal distance is classified into – intimate, personal, social and public.
Intimate distance is close contact that is reserved for a person with whom you share a very
close relationship. Personal distance, around 1-1.2 metres apart, is the space between two
people shaking hands and is considered most appropriate for face-to-face communication.
Social distance is the distance between people who are in a social gathering or in a business
environment, for instance people working in an office. Public distance is maintained between
speakers and the audience in a public event, teachers and students in a lecture hall, etc.
For the Americans, the comfortable distance for conversation is about arm’s length to
around 3-4 feet. Any intrusion into this space will be perceived as either intimacy or
aggressiveness. Whereas Arabs stand closer to each other than the Americans and perceive it
as a sign of warmth.
Para-Linguistics
Para-linguistics refers to the non-verbal cues that are sent out through intonation and
modulation of voice, pauses, rate of speech, etc. In fact, the famous English sarcasm is also a
para-linguistic medium of communication.
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Oculesics
It is the study of communication through the eyes, for example eye-contact, blinking
of eyelids, gazing, etc.If you make eye-contact and keep nodding while listening to
somebody from the US, it would be appreciated. Whereas, if steady eye-contact is
maintained while listening to a Japanese person it will be construed as inappropriate and even
rude. The Japanese also perceive nodding as merely listening as opposed to valuing what is
being said. They also place great importance on silence and taking pauses as they speak, for
these behaviours connote earnestness and genuineness in the Japanese culture.
EXERCISE 3
1 Studying the idioms in a language can potentially assist in developing a better
understanding of the non-verbal cues in the culture that is associated with that
language. One such idiom been suggested below.
2 Keep at arm’s length – to avoid from getting close.
3 Find out if there are more in English and other languages that you speak.
A code of conduct in the society, professional setting or a group in general with rules,
protocols, courtesies, conventions, customs, proprieties, etc. is called etiquette. It is a part of
culture and human behaviour and has variations across different cultures.
Etiquette Manners
The code of conduct that acts as a set of The way of behaviour consistent with the
guidelines for positive and polite behaviours in expected behaviour.
the society.
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Business Etiquette
A set of guidelines that helps people behave and interact in a business setting with
stakeholders, clients, vendors, etc. in a way that is professional and accepted by the fraternity
and helps portray the right image.
It is clear that business etiquette is a key social skill that is indispensable for success
in the business world. Business etiquette is also a function of the culture under study.
Therefore, in a cross-cultural setting, it is important for you to research about the culture of
the people with whom business is to be transacted.
Now, we will delve into the business etiquette followed in India and some of the
major countries / cultures in the world.
Greeting The common way of greeting people is by shaking hands and it has
overtaken the folded hands greeting almost completely at least in
business.
Eye Contact It is not considered appropriate in the Indian context to maintain eye contact
with seniors though it may be construed as being evasive or even dishonest in
other cultures.
Appointments Appointments can get cancelled even at the last minute, therefore it is best to
give as much warning as to your travel schedule as possible and confirm your
appointment before you leave your office or country!
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Time Indians tend to be flexible with time, especially for social events / gatherings.
However, the practice of punctuality may vary within India too from the north
to the south and so on.
Dress Code The business dress code is mostly smart yet comfortable clothing. The dress
code varies based on hierarchy. Women tend to wear sarees, tunics and
western formal attire which is getting more and more common.
Meetings Meetings tend to start late and overrun the allotted time. A clear agenda may
not be there, and the meetings will usually commence with unrelated casual
banter.
Greeting A firm and warm handshake with proper eye contact is offered while
greeting. If you are meeting a delegation, make sure that you don’t lose eye
contact with the person with whom you are shaking hands.
Eye Contact Maintaining proper eye contact during a conversation is perceived as a sign of
sincerity, genuineness and confidence.
Exchange of If interacting with someone for the first time, it is not appropriate to start a
Cards conversation by exchanging business cards, until the conversation turns
business oriented.
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Appointments People in America like to keep their appointments and there are hardly any
cancellations except in case of emergency.
Time US culture is monochronic and events are scheduled one at a time. They are
particular about punctuality and adhering to schedules.
Hierarchy The culture in US corporates is less hierarchical because of their inherent belief
in equality.
Dress Code Business Suits in navy blue or grey and tie with solid white shirts for formal
meetings. Women wear dresses or suits in classic colours of grey, white, navy,
etc.
Personal Space The US being a no-touch culture, Americans are very particular about their
personal space. In fact, there is concept of personal bubble within which no
intrusion is tolerated. So, at least an arm’s length distance is always
maintained.
Meetings Meetings are taken seriously and have clear agendas. Side-activity is not
appreciated at all and may be perceived as disinterest.
Eye Contact Persistent eye contact should be avoided as it can make people
uncomfortable. The best thing to do is to make eye contact every now and
then.
Exchange of Card etiquette is quite relaxed in Britain. Business cards are considered as an
Cards easy way of handing out your contact details to a potential vendor or client.
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Hierarchy British society had been traditionally class-based and hence, hierarchy is taken
seriously. Titles are very important. So, if a person has been knighted, he will
expect himself to be addressed as “Sir” followed by the first name.
Dress Code For business meetings or engagements, formal conservative attire is the norm,
which includes dark suits for men. Though for women there aren’t much
restrictions as to colour.
Personal Space For English people, personal space is important and touching in public is
considered inappropriate. Also, personal questions are to be strictly avoided as
privacy is very dear to English people.
Greeting Handshakes are the norm, though they last longer than handshakes in the
western cultures. It is best to wait for your counterpart to withdraw his / her
hand before you do. Men are recommended not to initiate a handshake with
an Arab businesswoman unless she extends her hand.
Exchange of Please ensure to get your business cards printed in Arabic and English, keeping
Cards in view that the former is written from right to left.
Time Most of the Arab world follows a different working week from the rest of the
world. Weekends fall on Fridays and Saturdays, barring a few exceptions.
Business hours are truncated during the month of Ramadan, so it is advisable
to avoid business and meetings during this month.
The concept of time is more relaxed in the Arab world, and it is common for
people to be late for meetings. However, it is advisable for you to be on-time
as a visitor.
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Hierarchy Arab societies are hierarchical and organisational functioning is mostly top-
down with decision-making in the hands of the powerful few.
Dress Code Dark coloured business suits for men. Avoid wearing shorts and t-shirts when
travelling in the Arab world. Women are expected to dress conservatively and
modestly in the Arab world.
Personal Space Arabs stand closer to each other during conversations than Americans do.
Touching is also observed between members of the same gender and in fact,
Saudi men can be seen walking hand-in-hand in public, without being judged
as to their sexual orientation.
Meetings Meetings are not planned much in advance and need to be confirmed a few
days beforehand. Meetings usually start with an initial round of small-talk.
Interruptions during meetings are common as the Arab culture is polychronic.
Hospitality You may be offered refreshments during a meeting. Please accept it graciously.
There is a lot of socialising before the food is served. It is common for men and
women to dine separately. When socialising, avoid taking about religion and
politics, especially Israel, as it may be taken offensively.
Other As the month of Ramadan is for fasting and austerity for the Muslim people, it
is advisable to eat and drink indoors and away from the public eye, that is, if
you are in the Arab world during the holy month.
Greeting Between people of the same gender, handshake and a nod at the time of
meeting and departing is the norm. Between people of the opposite gender,
a handshake or a nod is considered appropriate.
Exchange of Make sure that your card is printed in Chinese on one side. Present your
Cards business card with both hands with the Chinese side up. Please see the card
carefully before you place it and never write on a card that is presented to you.
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Hierarchy Chinese corporates are hierarchical and based on age and position and each
individual has a specific position and role in the organisation.
Dress Code Formal business suits are the best for meetings with the Chinese as it conveys
respect.
Personal Space Chinese are comfortable standing less than arm’s length apart, though this
distance increases with strangers. Touching is not observed unless with family.
Meetings Meetings are a formal affair with a ritualistic approach. The senior member of
the host speaks first, introducing himself and his team, followed by the leader
of the visiting party. The Chinese like the visiting party to know who is in
command and the latter should make that evident too during the meeting.
Now that you are equipped with a sound understanding of the theory and practices in
cross-cultural communication, it is time to evolve a strategy to communicate effectively in a
cross-cultural context. Given below are steps that will assist you in developing a strategy and
fine-tuning it.
Be Receptive
Your receptiveness and openness will help you in exploring and dwelling on certain
aspects of your own or the target’s culture that may help you overcome certain biases.
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Read as extensively as possible and watch a movie based on that culture. The movie
will help you understand the non-verbal communication styles and subtleties of the culture
under study.
If you do not speak the language of your counterpart, hire the services of a competent
interpreter. However, if you are fluent in the language, make sure that you brush up your
skills based on the peculiarities of how it is spoken in your counterpart’s region or country as
a native speaker.
4.9 SUMMARY
Culture refers to a set of ideas, beliefs and customs based on which certain norms are
evolved over a long period of time which becomes a way of leading life for the members
who are a part of it. A culture typically traces its origins to a particular geographical
region.
There are two distinct approaches to studying a culture, namely Structure-based and
Transaction-based. The former involves examining the constitution and forms of cultures,
whereas the latter studies its evolution through the multifarious interactions between
people.
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The four characteristics of culture under the Structure-based approach of studying culture
are: -
Low-Context Cultures - the message itself does most of the communication and
the context and background are of no consequence.
Monochronic - Linear view of time, focus on one item and avoids multitasking.
Avoiding
Obliging
Compromising
Integrating
Dominating
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2. Hargie, O., Skilled Interpersonal Interaction: Research, Theory, and Practice, 5th ed.
(London: Routledge, 2011)
**************LMS Feedback:lmsfeedback@sol-du.ac.in****************
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LESSON 5
After a careful reading and understanding of the concepts in this lesson, you will be able to:
Articulate your career objectives and prepare a career plan for achieving the objectives.
Write compelling résumés and cover letters to ensure that you get an interview call.
Perform well in a group discussion and interview.
Communicate effectively in an exit interview.
Understand the ethical aspects of communication and implement it in your career.
5.2 INTRODUCTION
A typical span of one’s career is around 35-40 years, which may seem like a long
time to enable proper planning to accomplish career objectives. Yet, very few people tend to
succeed in this endeavor. Career Management is a continuous process of orienting and
reorienting your career based on the evolving sets of goals and objectives. These goals and
objectives are embodied in certain milestones that one strives to achieve through career
management strategies.
"I always wanted to be somebody, but now I realize I should have been more specific."
- Lily Tomlin
The above quote from Lily Tomlin hits the nail right on its head as career
management starts with setting of specific goals and objectives. However, with for longer
time horizons, the objectives tend to become less specific which is quite understandable.
Therefore, the time scale is the most important factor when it comes to formulation of these
goals and objectives. Time-horizon based goals and objective are classified below.
Short-Term goals tend to be rather specific as one has the advantage of less uncertainty
and therefore are easier to articulate. The time horizon for short-term goals would be up
to two years. Formulating the right short-term goals that align with your long-term
objective is of paramount importance.
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Mid-Termgoals are larger in scope but less specific when compared with the short-term
ones. The time horizon for mid-term objectives is around three to twenty years. As the
timeframe increases, so does the uncertainty which makes mid-term and long-term goal-
setting much more difficult.
Long-Term objectives are the most difficult ones to set due to very high uncertainty
about the future. Though these objectives are easily modified due to the time advantage.
The key takeaway is that the responsibility for your career advancement is entirely
yours. You cannot expect promotions, salary raises and so on to come your way simply with
time. It is sufficiently clear that setting of goals and objective for successive time horizons is
the crux of career management.
The ongoing process of goal setting, devising the means of achieving the goals, and
reviewing and assessing it continuously is known as career planning. It has to be borne in
mind that career planning is not just about the jobs and the positions that you see yourself
occupying in your career. It involves many more activities, including going for higher
education, taking professional certifications, joining membership of professional bodies,
networking, etc.
The first step in career planning can be called - writing the preamble of your career
plan. So, how should the preamble of your career planning document look like? You
must clearly articulate your areas of interest; present skill sets and preferences. The
preamble will keep guiding you as to the overall direction of your career, though it is
quite possible that you may want to rewrite the preamble itself as you go along your
career path.
The second step and the most important one is that of goal setting. Based on the
preamble that you have written, start by setting goals for the very short-term for it is
the easiest to do. The goals should be realistic and objective. You may also use the
SMART criteria of goal setting devised by George T. Doran.
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The third step involves an analysis of the opportunities that are available to you. This
step would automatically be akin to making a career choice. An objective and
informed analysis of the opportunities would help you in making the right choice.
The fourth step is to make a strategy and implement the plan. If the attainment of the
goals necessitates acquiring new skills, you must budget enough time for the same
and keep resources ready.
In the process of career management, one of the most important tools at your disposal
for success is effective communication. However, it can potentially turn out to be a perfect
recipe for failure, if not done properly. Therefore, learning to communicate for career
management should be an essential part of your career planning. There is a series of steps
involved in communicating with a prospective employer. It all starts with applying for a
position by means of a cover letter enclosing your résumé. This will be followed by
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interviews, group discussions, etc.The life cycle of communication involved for a job and
exiting from the job has been shown in the exhibit below.
Job Application -
Resume
Cover Letter
Group Discussion /
Exit Interview
Interview / Both
Let us start with the correct pronunciation of the word résumé. The word is of French
origin and is pronounced as ˈrezjuːmeɪ. You will be surprised to learn that the first resume
to be drafted and sent to a prospective employer was from the Italian polymath Leonardo da
Vinci to the then de facto ruler of Milan, Ludovico Maria Sforza.
different layouts and styles. Please remember that it is a “summary”, therefore it has to be
brief and yet attention-inviting. The following styles of résumés are popular: -
This style of résumé is the most common and best for a work history that is free from
any gaps. The focus is obviously on your work experience. The practice is to start with the
latest job followed by the second most recent and so on.
Functional
Functional style is adopted when a candidate does not possess the relevant experience
that is required for the job. This style of résumé writing focuses on the skills that are required
for the job that you have applied for, based on the details given in the job description.
Hybrid / Combination
This style of résumé writing tends to utilize the best of both functional and
chronological styles. It is best when you have a sizeable work experience behind you along
with skill training / education. You may start with an objective seeking the right positions
followed by a summary of professional training and skills, which in turn will be followed by
a chronological history of work experience.
Targeted
Targeted résumés are specifically designed for a particular opening that interests you.
These résumés are be written in any of the aforementioned styles, viz. Chronological,
Functional or Combination. The prior experience, education and skills are carefully
calibrated and drafted to suit the requirements of the position. Targeted résumés require you
to conduct in-depth research on the organization that you are applying to, its vision and
mission statement, the various business units in the organization, etc. Such résumés also help
in online job portals, where it is important that your résumé ranks higher in searches.
A complete résumé will include the following five parts with the length of each part
varying from individual-to-individual.
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Identification Details
It should have your name, city name and contact details, including Email Address,
Contact Numbers and Address to your LinkedIn profile.
The career objective is usually seen in the résumés of those who are recent graduates
and who do not have much experience or achievement behind them for the objective
to be replaced with a résumé caption or introduction.
You can fine-tune your career objective or introduction based on the nature of the
position and / or the company / industry of which you intend to be a part.
Education
You must include the Degrees, Diplomas and Certificates along with the respective
Universities / Institutions attended along with the city name.
Remember to include the month and year of award of the Degrees, Diplomas and
Certificates.
Experience
Mention your work experience reverse-chronologically, i.e. starting with the present
on top, followed by the next latest and so on.
If you are a fresher with no professional experience, you may include any part-time
work or summer internships, volunteering work, etc.
For each entry under experience, add around 2-5 statements. You may write more for
the current position, if required.
Try to use a bulleted format and use indenting for ample clarity and bundling of
relevant things together.
The entry under the experience head should look like the following:
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……………………………………………………………………………………
Skills
Skills that are relevant to the position that you are applying for may be prominently
mentioned, including technical skills, soft-skills, foreign language, etc.
Awards / Honours
Fellowships, awards, medals and other such recognitions may be listed.
References
Based on whether the prospective employer has sought references, you may write the
names and details of the references. However, please ensure to take permission from
each of them before you go ahead and mention them in the résumé.
The one thing that you need to keep in mind at the time of writing your résumé is –
“What purpose is the résumé going to serve for the prospective employer? “The résumé as a
document will be used for shortlisting potential candidates for interview. Therefore, it has to
catch the attention of the HR Executive or Manager whose task is to sift through hundreds of
résumés. Your drafting should be an exercise in assessing the keywords and information that
your reader will be looking for. Therefore, you must add as many actionable words as
relevant and necessary in your résumé. It will also help your résumé to appear in searches on
online job portals, that is, in case you are applying for a job through an online platform.
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Full Name
New Delhi, India
70420XXXXX
xxxxxx@xxxxxxx.com
LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/in/xxxxxxxxxxxx
PROFILE
EXPERIENCE
2015-02 to 2015-08
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EDUCATION / QUALIFICATION
QualifiedUGC-NET in Management
CERTIFICATIONS
AFFILIATION
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(ISTD).
The objective of a cover letter is to convince a prospective employer that you are
really interested in the opening and qualified for the job. You should avoid writing things in
the cover that you have already mentioned in the resume.
5.6.1 Structure of a Cover Letter
Just as any other formal letter, a cover letter is also divided into three parts, namely
introduction, body and closing. You need to present three basic ideas in the cover letter:
Reason for your interest in the position and the prospective employer.
Let’s see how you can incorporate these ideas in an organized and interesting manner
so as to invite the attention of the hiring managers. Given below is the explanation of the
format of a cover letter with each item elaborated for ease of understanding.
Contact Details
The usual format is to mention your contact information on the top, followed by the
date and the name and contact details of the addressee, all aligned to the left-side of the page.
Salutation
The most widely accepted salutation is Dear Mr./Ms. [Last Name]. If the name of the
concerned hiring manager is not available, you may simply use Dear HR Manager.
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Introduction
The letter starts with an introduction where you have to try to captivate the attention
of the reader. You can briefly introduce yourself and mention the source from which you
learned about the position.
Describe how your education and training have equipped you well for the job.
Mention your successful projects and how your skills were pivotal in making them a
success.
Focus on the skill sets that are required for the position being applied. This is where
your reading of the job description will be of great help to you.
Closing
The closing must include the next plan for follow-up. Ensure that you observe the
courtesy of thanking the prospective employer for considering your candidature.
Your Name
Address 1
Address 2
City
State PIN
Email:
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Address
City
State PIN
I was a part of the core team that established the Strategy Planning Process at
[Company Name]. I helped develop a robust framework for the Strategy function and devised
periodic review mechanisms for continuous assessment and evaluation of the approved
Strategy Plan. All this was accomplished with minimum intervention from external experts.
My strength as a seasoned strategy consultant has led me to work very closely with all
our business units and the senior leadership team in particular for assisting them in
identifyingpotential targets for acquisitions, joint venture and mergers. Based on my work,
over the past five years, two acquisition - [xxxx] and [yyyy], and one JV with a Japanese
brand were completed successfully. All three have been going strong and have emerged as
turnaround stories.
As an industry professional, I regularly read the literature of your company and I have
come to understand that the strategy function at [Company Name] would benefit from my
experience and expertise as having had hands on experience of multiple acquisitions / JV.
I would really appreciate an opportunity to discuss this more elaborately in person with
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you at the time. I am available at the contact details mentioned in my resume (enclosed).
Sincerely
[Name]
Enclosure: Résumé
A Group Discussion (GD) is a type of group activity where the group is given a
common topic on which each individual is expected to exchange ideas, views and opinions
and try to arrive at a conclusion. A group discussion may be moderated or completely free
from any moderation and allowed to take its own course.
5.7.1 Purpose of a Group Discussion
Depending on the purpose of the GD, time and resources in hand, and so on, the
number of individuals in each group may vary. A typical group consists of around 6-10
persons. A group discussion is a just like a meeting, yet there are certain important
differences and are listed below:
There is not fixed agenda in a group discussion.
There are no roles and responsibilities that one has to fulfil. Though the group may be
asked to appoint a leader / moderator from among its members.
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5.7.2 What are some of the key features of an effective group discussion?
All individuals in the group have a chance to speak and express their ideas and views
about the topic of discussion.
Members who are not sure about the topic under discussion or have not formed an
opinion, have the chance to hear what the others have to say and respond afterwards.
New ideas and those that have not been fully developed can be tested.
A wide variety of ideas and views can be obtained in a very short span of time.
The discussion is not hijacked by one dominating member.
There is a tacit understanding among members that the group has to arrive at a
conclusion which leads them to engage constructively even when confronted with
disagreements.
Arguments are considered a healthy way of testing theories put forward by members.
Feedback is exchanged in a constructive manner.
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Prepare yourself
It is always a good idea to have some mock discussions with your friends so that you
get accustomed to a group setting. Selects a few current topics that you can discuss at length.
This little practice session will help boost your confidence level and will assist you in smooth
sailing on the day.
Don’t Clamour
You should avoid clamoring for your turn to speak. Instead, you should smartly try to
initiate your speech between momentary pauses during the discussion. If the discussion is
degenerating into a clamour, somebody has to take the initiative to bring order back into the
discussion. It will be a great opportunity to demonstrate your leadership capabilities and
intellectual maturity.
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5.8 INTERVIEW
Knock the door before opening it and seek permission to let yourself in. Walk in
confidently with your head straight with a relaxed disposition.
Greet the interviewer with a firm handshake and if it is a panel, you may offer a polite
and warm greeting collectively; say “Good Morning Everyone” or just “Good Morning”
warmly.
Wait for the panelto ask you to sit down. Say thank you before you sit down and make
yourself comfortable yet attentive.
Please try not to carry any coins or bunch of keys in your pockets to avoiding clinking.
Refrain from responding to questions only with gestures or facial expressions as it will
be considered as rude and may convey that you are not interested enough.
Using your hands in graceful and professional gestures while responding to questions
from the panel will demonstrate your self-confidence and that you are not nervous.
Try to sport a gentle smile as and when deemed appropriate as it would assist you in
building rapport.
Try to give concise and concrete responses rather than giving long-winded answers. Try
to come straight to the point without long introductions.
Use formal language and avoid using short-forms and slangs, etc. It is considered
unprofessional to use slangs.
Prepare yourself well, at least for those clichéd questions that most interviewers happen
to ask. Some of the questions are:
“Describe yourself.”
These questions are very common, and you should make it a point to prepare well for
these questions. If you falter with these questions, you will have no one else to blame.
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If you do not know the answer to a question, simply regret by stating that “I do not know
the answer to that. However, I will try to find out”. No beating-about-the-bush. An
interviewer will appreciate your courage to say that you do not know. It is alright not to
know. Nobody knows everything.
Refrain from making any sort of excuses and show the courage to accept your past
failure. Make a case of how you learnt from the failure and used it to work on your next
success.
Refrain from using speech fillers, such as “you know”, “um”, “like”, “uh”, etc. as it may
sound annoying and unprofessional. The interviewer will, most certainly, view it as your
lack of fluency in the language. Instead, if you replace these fillers with pauses you can
possibly turn it into strength.
Rate of Speech: Many people have a misplaced notion that speaking fast is the same as
being fluent. It is important that you speak at an optimum rate so as to enable your
audience to receive your messages and process them to have a perfect understanding of
the same.
The most basic etiquette is to reach the interview venue on time. Start early so that
you get to the venue even if you have any hassle finding the route. However, avoid reaching
too early as there is a reason why you have been given a fixed time. The interviewer may
have other things to attend to before getting on with your interview.
Remember Names
Make an extra effort to remember the name of the interviewer, i.e. if you have
corresponded or spoken before. Forgetting names reflects lack of preparedness and even
indifference.
What if you are offered refreshments?
The best thing to do is to have a glass of water as it would help you rehydrate your
dry throat and help you in case you are nervous. For other things you may politely decline as
it would really be awkward.
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No Mobile Phones
Keep your mobile phone off or on silent mode. It is very unprofessional if your phone
rings in the middle of an interview. In case it happens by mistake, please ensure that you
apologize genuinely and immediately switch it off.
Do not share confidential details
You should never share confidential details about your previous employer as it is
unethical and will be taken adversely by the interviewers. Badmouthing or complaining
about your previous employer or job or reporting managers also reflects badly on you.
Employers are looking for professionals who have unquestionable integrity and are reliable.
Express Gratitude
After the interview gets concluded, remember to thank the interviewer(s) for their
time and the opportunity to discuss your suitability for the position at length. It is also good if
you send a thank you email as a follow-up.
An interviewer may ask questions which you may find offensive, for instance “why
did you get fired from the previous employer?”
Intimidating behaviour
The interviewer may show hostile body language in a way that is intimidating. You
may be asked questions in a demanding tone and your answers may be dismissed altogether.
Aggressive manner
The interviewer may be aggressive in his / her manner and ask back-to-back rude
questions.
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These questions are used to gauge if they unsettle you and how well you are able to
handle the situation. The objective is to see if the candidate gets unnerved by the tactics.
CASE STUDY
Mr. X was attending an interview for the post of Management Trainee in a reputed
consulting firm. After his introduction, Mr. X was asked about his father’s occupation
which he found quite offensive. (Mr. X’s father was a stenographer and typist in a
government department)
The interviewer did not stop there, he continued, “Why don’t you become a
stenographer yourself”? Such questions are offensive and may dent the self-esteem of an
individual.
There are many ways in which one might respond to such questions. One of the
better ways to respond is in the manner mentioned below.
It is obvious that the interviewer has deliberately asked this question to see
whether it unnerves you. So, do not show any visible sign of you being upset or perturbed
by the offensive questions. Gather your composure and start responding in a way as if
nothing was amiss.
Try to be as logical as possible. Tell the interviewer that stenography is an art that
is hardly being used in the current context, expect in certain professions, such as legal /
judicial. Most of the younger executives prefer to do their own writing / typing.
Further, you may mention that you have a certain domain expertise which will be
best utilised in the positions such as the one that you are being interviewed for. Also,
mention that as a professional, your efforts are always directed at the actualisation of your
potential.
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Is there anything about your own job that you would like to change?
What is the one thing that you do not like about the organisation? How can we
improve?
Is there anything that you’d like to change about the way the organisation functions?
If a suitable opportunity comes your way to re-join the organisation, would you take
it?
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Source: https://brainstuck.com
Exhibit 5.5: Exit Interview on a Lighter Note
You should aim at attending the exit interview with a balanced state of mind and try
to be objective in your responses. It is an occasion for the final formal interaction between
you and the management and should be seen as an opportunity to make sure that you leave
on a positive note.
Be Candid, Not Virulent
Exit Interview is not to be considered as your chance to give your employer a piece of
your mind and to settle personal scores with your reporting managers. Criticism of your
managers is completely acceptable;however, it should be articulated constructively. If done
the right way, the employer may well take action as per your suggestions for improvement,
which will make life a little easier for your successor.
Be Specific
Your points will be taken seriously depending on how specific your responses are,
and how you can supplement your responses with examples or actual instances. Please focus
on the larger picture of your Business Unit / Department and the organization as a whole
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rather than dwelling on petty personal issues. It will demonstrate that your responses are
valuable and insightful and may compel the employer to take action. The employer will take
it favorably and give you an excellent review and may even make a counteroffer.
Don’t Give a Completely Negative Feedback
If you give only negative feedback, or even a fully positive one for that matter, it will
likely be taken as an unfair / uninterested / not-so-genuine response and may be simply
discarded. On the other hand, if you give a mixed bag of both positive and negative
responses, it will be taken as fair and honest.
As per the Oxford Dictionary, “ethics” are “moral principles that control or influence
a person’s behavior. “So, it is a set of “moral” principles. What is meant by that? Morality is
about the principle of whether something is right or wrong, good or bad and so on.
So, we can say that ethics are a set of principles which governs the conduct of an
individual or a group and indicates whether their actions or inaction, for that matter, are right
or wrong and whether the intent behind it is good or bad.
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makes ethical communication all the more necessary to gain the confidence of your
stakeholders.
Honesty
Honesty is obviously the most common principle that comes to mind when we think
about communicating ethically. If you are honest in your interaction with people, you have
fulfilled one of the most important criteria of ethical communication.
Transparency
The second principle is that of openness in your dealings and interactions. It is one of
the key principles on which building and maintaining the trust of your stakeholders rests.
You must maintain confidentiality of information at all times and strictly refrain from
divulging any information that is sensitive and concerns other parties. There are some
industries where confidentiality is even more important, such as defense, industrial research,
etc.
Acting Responsibly
Being responsible in your actions is seminal to the concept of ethics. At every point in
the process of communication, one must take ownership of things and think responsibly.
Wherever you think that things are going beyond your control, you should escalate the
channel of communication to put things back on track. You must also bear in mind conflicts
of interest that may arise every now and then in an organization.
Suppose that you are a member of a committee whose job is to make recommendations
for appointing a vendor for providing Golf Carts to be used in the factory campus. If one
of your relatives who runs a Golf Cart company has bid for the job, it would be unethical
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for you to be on the Committee and therefore you should immediately communicate the
same to the appropriate authority.
Ethical communication has great bearing on the marketing industry. Companies advertise
about their brands routinely and often they use hyperbole and deception in
advertisements. An interesting example is that of food photography used in
advertisements of popular burger chains. In the photographs, the burgers appear much
bigger and more stuffed that what it is in reality. It is a clear case of deception and
misrepresentation of facts. The companies engaging in such deceptive advertising tactics
should come clean about it to be fair to its consumers. Such companies risk losing their
market share as the consumers gradually become aware of the deception.
5.11 SUMMARY
The ongoing process of goal setting, devising the means of achieving the goals,
reviewing and assessing it continuously is known as career planning.
A Group Discussion is a type of group activity where the group is given a common topic
on which each individual is expected to exchange ideas, views and opinions and try to
arrive at a conclusion.
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Ethics are a set of principles that governs the conduct of an individual or a group and
indicates whether their actions or inaction, for that matter, are right or wrong and whether
the intent behind it is good or bad. Ethical communication helps in building trust and
credible relationships which are essential for business.
1. Explain the concept of career planning and the steps in involved in it.
2. What is the purpose of a résumé and how is it different from a Curriculum Vitae (CV)?
4. What are the etiquettes that you should follow in the interview process?
2. Bennett, Scott A. The Elements of Résumé Style: Essential Rules and Eye-Opening
Advice for Writing Résumés and Cover Letters that Work. AMACOM, 2005 ISBN 0-
8144-7280-X.
**************LMS Feedback:lmsfeedback@sol-du.ac.in**************
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Content Writers
Dr. Pratibha Aggrwal
Dr. Shefali Gupta
Academic Coordinator
Mr. Deekshant Awasthi
Published by:
Department of Distance and Continuing Education under
the aegis of Campus of Open Learning/School of Open Learning,
University of Delhi, Delhi-110 007
Printed by:
School of Open Learning, University of Delhi
Information Technology Management
INDEX
Lesson:1 Introduction to Computers ................................................................................... 1
1.1 Learning Objectives
1.2 Introduction
1.3 Computers: An Introduction
1.4 Computers in Business Organizations
1.5 Generations of Computers
1.6 Computer Languages
1.7 Elements of Information Technology
1.8 Personal Computers in Business
1.9 Planning an Information Technology setup for an organization
1.10 Emerging Technologies
1.11 Summary
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5.6 Extranet
5.7 Intranet
5.8 Applications of Internet
5.9 Internet Technology in Organisations
5.10 Data Communications
5.11 Networking
5.12 Internet Service Providers
5.13 Application Service Providers
5.14 Summary
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LESSON 1
INTRODUCTION TO COMPUTERS
STRUCTURE
1.2 INTRODUCTION
Information Technology (IT) is related to all Information and become a strategic necessity.
Nowadays computers and IT is part of the life of every human being such as used in
government, for commercial purpose, in-home, etc. Computers have many usages in business
organizations. Computers started in this world a long and describe five generations.
Computers are interacting with the help of main elements i.e., hardware and software. The
integration of hardware and software with the end users required different computer
languages for distinct purposes. Business Organisations are growing enough with the help of
information technology and the use of computers. New trends in business organizations,
planning an Information Technology as part of it working on growing pace. There are many
emerging technologies growing well and users are adopting them at a growing pace such as
Cloud, Social Media, IoT, Robotics, etc.
A computer is an electronic device that accepts data and instructions, processes the data and
produces the desired output. It can be said as data processing machine or a problem-solving
machine that accepts data, stores data, processes data and display results. Computers are
ahead to human beings for speed, accuracy, memory and diligence but cannot beat the human
brains, they are not intelligent.
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Computers can perform a variety of tasks. They are used for programming, graphics
presentation, data management, word-processing, spreadsheets, communications and much
more. The ability of computers to do all tasks i.e., processing is built around the two
operations of computers – arithmetic operations and logical operations. Functions of
computers have been done by software (a set of instructions written by human brains to
computers for processing). Software directs all the processing sequence to the computer and
allows it to perform specific tasks. So basic operations perform by any computer are:
1) Input function
2) Storage function
3) Processing function
4) Output function
5) Control function
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This generation of computers was introduced with some disadvantages like less storage
capacity, slow performance as expected. Examples are IBM 360, CRAY-1, PDP-8 SERIES,
UNIVAV-1100, 9000 series etc.
1.5.5 FOURTH GENERATION COMPUTERS
Fourth generation of computers (1981-1995) was the marked generation of Large- Scale
Integration (LSI) of chips with several thousand transistors and microprocessors. And further
this was followed by Intel series of Microprocessors. This was introduced with very large -
scale integration (VLSI) technology for the development of popular personal computers
(PCs), also called as Microcomputers. These Microcomputers were introduced for home and
business users to adapt computers as part of their working by using word processing,
spreadsheet, file handling, graphics, animation and much more. For those purposes, the
input/output devices used in fourth generation are very much advanced like graphic tool,
animation tools, audio terminals, optical devices etc.
Most importantly, fourth generation introduced with graphical user interface (GUI) and
mouse optical devices with very large storage capacity. These systems had very high speed,
high level of accuracy and reliability, also diligent and versatile with small size. Examples are
CRAY-2, IBM PC/AT, INTEL 386 SERIES etc., but systems were not intelligent.
1.5.6 FIFTH GENERATION COMPUTERS
Fifth generation of computers (1995-till date) are enabled with intelligence. Artificial
intelligence is the main part of today`s systems working with `Knowledge Processors` (which
can find the solution of problem itself). They are using IC`s with ULSI (ultra -Large -Scale
Integration) technology and applications with intelligent software. These systems are more
efficient and capable to understand the problem of user, based on intelligent programming
and knowledge-based problem-solving techniques. These system performing tasks according
to the user intelligently with a specialised technique of AI called as parallel processing. Next
goal of this generation is to understand natural language processing and development of such
intelligent devices which are capable enough to learn and self - organized.
All this is possible with the help of Internet and Mobile computing, which is again a great
achievement of this generation. This era is developing continuously with much more
technologies day by day and enabling the world with well performing applications and great
devices. That is done only through great human brain, so `Human Brain` is powerful organ,
which is business oriented. Examples are all AI based application or Robots etc.
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understanding computer languages can be categorized as: Low level languages and High-
level languages.
1.6.1 LOW LEVEL LANGUAGES
These languages are languages of computer in the form of 0 and 1. They have direct
connection with machine, which machine can understand easily based on machine hardware
itself. As they very near to machine, so have fast execution speed and efficient use of primary
memory but writing of code in low level languages is a tedious task and time consuming.
They are again divided into two: Machine Language and Assembly Language.
1.6.2 HIGH LEVEL LANGUAGES
High level languages are close to human beings and mathematical notations. These languages
require less time and effort in writing code with them. High level languages often use English
like words as instructions, but further translate those commands into machine language
instructions. To boost the capability of the system they also use assembly language for
translation purpose. All high-level languages are different for variety of tasks and specialised
for certain purposes. These are categorized according to the specific tasks, examples are as
calculation-oriented language (BASIC, FORTAN, ALGOL, and APL), Data processing
languages (COBOL, RGL, SQL etc.), List processing language (LISP, PROLOG), object-
oriented languages (C++, JAVA, .NET etc.).
IN-TEXT QUESTIONS
1. Differentiate between High-level and Low-level programming languages?
2. Give examples of High-level languages.
3. What are the limitations of High-level languages?
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1.7.1 HARDWARE
The term `Hardware` means the physical parts of the computer, which we can touch. It
consists of interconnected electronic devices that controls the system.
Hardware can be further subdivided into:
- Processing units
- Memory units
- Storage units
- Input / Output units
1.7.1.1 PROCESSING UNIT
Processing unit is processor, that transforms data into information with the help of memory.
Processor act like a brain of the computer, it organizes and process all the instructions given
to the system by user. This device is also called as Central Processing Unit (CPU), which
involves computations and decision making. It also responsible for controlling all the devices
connected. CPU comprises of three parts: control unit, arithmetic unit and logical unit, all
work with the help of CPU memory called registers. CPU works at a very fast pace of
sequence i.e., collecting data, transforming data, then generating output; at the rate of one
computational cycle at a time. There are many types of processors present in the market for
systems based on the working of the CPU.
1.7.1.2 MEMORY UNITS
The memory of computer is storage medium to store data electronically. It holds the data
from CPU and other components of the computer for carrying out its operations. Every
computer has certain amount of physical memory (storage space), usually referred as main
memory / primary memory. It is a semiconductor device that is built using integrated circuits.
Primary memory is internal storage of the computer, where programs and their data stored.
This memory provides temporary storage during execution of the program, so also called as
volatile memory, but its access is very fast. Some part of the primary memory also contains
permanently stored instructions that tell the computer what to do, when it is switched on.
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access than main memory, stores large amount of data permanently. Secondary storage used
for keeping backups or archival storage of data. Various technologies are used for access of
secondary storage, some provide random access, and others provide sequential access. These
technologies effect on speed of data retrieval from then amount of data stored effect on the
performance of the storage device. For example, if device having sequential access and it is
storing large amount of data then its data retrieval speed will be slow.
1.7.1.4 INPUT & OUTPUT UNITS
For the purpose of communication with the computer and user, medium is required. The
collection of devices for input and output of data is called as input/output units. The input is
given to the computer through input devices and the display of processed data for the user is
provided through the output devices. These devices are controlled by the CPU. Basically,
these devices are designed for human beings to interact with computer system in seamless
manner. These are links between man and machine, depends on the processing requirement.
INPUT DEVICES
The input device is an interface between the user and the machine, for inputting the data and
instructions and transformed into machine readable form. Data can be input in many forms
such as audio, video, text, graphics, etc. Some common input devices are:
- Keyboard
- Mouse
- Light pens and Digitizers
- MICR
- OCR
- OMR
- Bar code reader
- Joystick
- Web camera
- Voice recognitions
- Scanner
OUTPUT DEVICES
The output device is an interface between the machine and user, that accepts data from the
machine and transform into readable format for the humans. The output generated by the
computer can be transferred to the user by several devices and media. The output also can be
in many forms such as audio, video, text, graphics etc. Some common output devices are:
- Monitors
- Printers
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- Plotters
- Audio devices/speakers/headphones
- Projector
- Touch screen
- Braille reader
- Secondary storage devices
1.7.2 SOFTWARE
The term `software` means which we cannot touch. Software is interface between computer
hardware and users. In the last two decades, there is a great development in the field of
software. The computer hardware cannot perform any activity without any instructions; these
instructions are given by Software. The software is the set of instructions that hardware units
follow to work done. The process of writing the instructions is called the programming, in
order to communicate for solving problems. There are many types of software available for
almost every type of need. The software available from stores on internet, open source, or
paid software. The different types of software are available but broadly classified into two
categories: system software and application software.
SYSTEM SOFTWARE
The system software directly interacts with the computer hardware and manages all the
hardware components as well as supervises the execution of all applications running on the
computer system. It also controls the saving and retrieval of data from the secondary storage
devices. Operating system and language translator, utilities are main examples of it.
APPLICATION SOFTWARE
Application software enables the computer to solve the specific data processing task.
Application software creates a communication bridge between user, system software and
computer hardware to perform specific task. Nowadays, numbers of application software and
packages have been developed to make life easier. These are easy to learn and use, although
they perform many general and specific functions. However, there may be much kind of
situations, where specific types of application software are not available which can be design
are called as custom application software. The most important categories or types of packages
available are:
- Data communication software
- Database Management software
- Statistical and Operational Research software
- DTP package software
- Presentation and graphics software
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1.7.5 PEOPLE
Information technology of business organisations is based on important element i.e. People.
They are main, because of them whole system works. People the important element that are
needed to run the system and the procedures, so that data collected in databases and data-
warehouses turned into knowledge and information.
People are involved in information systems in just about every way, people imagine
information systems, people develop information systems, people support information
systems, and, perhaps most importantly, people use information systems.
IN-TEXT QUESTIONS
1. Define Software and discuss its types.
2. Explain, why people are involved in information systems.
3. Differentiate between input and output devices.
- Project Management
- Data Analysis
- Marketing & Research
- Healthcare
- Education Sector
- Public Relations etc.
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There are eight steps in the process of planning an information technology setup
includes:
- Define outcomes: At the start of any major ICT project, the project management team
should create a project charter or terms of reference document that summarizes what
the project will accomplish and where and when they will implement it. That way,
there is no confusion about the project’s objectives, targets, and scope.
- Form your team: To avoid misunderstandings and to make sure that your team
possesses the required skills, consider the roles that will be required. Select personals
or organizations that will fulfil these roles. Completing roles and responsibilities, a
matrix should be required.
- Define what your system needs to do: Defining of business processes first, helps to
think about the way people work (or could work) before diving into the details of
what your system will look like. This process enhances the likelihood that the system
will adapt itself to people and their work objectives.
- Find the right solution: organisation will find an appropriate system solution that
aligns with the context, which can be find out by adopting a system and architecture
of business organisation.
- Select right vendors: It is easy to be overwhelmed by vendors with more experience
selling their service or product than business organisation buying it.
- Estimate implementation and operational costs: The cost to maintain the system
should provide an ongoing benefit that outweighs this cost. When seeking to manage
the cost of operations, the organization should review ways to reduce the cost and best
estimate whole cost.
- Create an implementation plan: Just as costs are often underestimated, so is the
time it takes to implement a successful information system. This sometimes leads to
hurried analysis phases, unclear requirement and scope definitions, and skipping
necessary quality controls. In the end, this results in even longer timelines. Having a
plan and following a project methodology is the key to ensuring success. This step
highlights some attention points like define work plan, track milestone then
implement.
- Understand and manage risks of the system: Following the seven steps described
previously should lower project risk by aligning requirements to organizational
objectives, understanding costs, planning appropriately, and choosing the right
vendors and partners. However, despite the planning that takes place, a significant
number of projects have a different outcome than expected. For that just find out
critical factor of failure, then solutions to remove or low down the risk.
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internet, human being are working with internet, almost all devices are connected to internet
and performing task. This gave birth to new term of IoT (Internet of Things), it is an
interconnected network of smart devices using internet, sensors, and RFID for transferring
data without human intervention over the network.
IoT works on few main elements as identification of device, sensing of data for transferring,
then communication of devices to transferring of data. This is the main working of IoT with
the world of Artificial Intelligence and Machine Learning. The IoT creates opportunities for
new products, services and business models. Some of the basic examples of IoT are:
Automotive Industry, Pharmaceutical industry, manufacturing industry, agriculture &
breeding, supply chain management, etc.
Some major challenges face by IoT are of security & privacy, scalability & interoperability,
low power communication, security threats from devices etc.
1.10.3 Robotics
Advancement in AI, machine learning, IoT and big data are driving robots into every aspect
of life. Robots can make life easy for humans as by eliminating dangerous jobs for humans
because they are capable of working in hazardous environments. They can handle lifting
heavy loads, toxic substances and repetitive tasks. This has helped companies to prevent
many accidents, also saving time and money. So, from here term ROBOTICS originated.
The main aim of robotics is to design machines that can help and assist humans. Robotics
integrates many fields of mechanical engineering, electrical engineering, information
engineering, mechatronics, electronics, bioengineering, computer engineering, control
engineering, software engineering, mathematics, etc. They need special hardware with
sensors and effectors.
1.10.4 Social Media
Social media is virtual community within the network, interactive technology that facilitate
the creation and sharing of information, ideas, interests, and other forms of expression. In
today's society, the use of social media has become a necessary daily activity. used for social
interaction and access to news and information, and decision making. In fact, it is a valuable
communication tool, to share, create, and spread information. Social Media is fast evolving
as one of the most reliable ways to connect and stay informed about the most recent
developments in a particular industry. So, it is very useful for businesses.
1.11 SUMMARY
The computer is an electro-mechanical device, which provides assistance in storing and
processing data for business organizations. The personal computers are now in use, which
were introduces in 1980`s, a computer that is used by single user or people working in same
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field by sharing. They are so popular, that are used in every working field of the human being
– small organisation, large organisation and even in homes. According to the trend, PC`s are
reducing size, cost but not the performance.
Computers include CPU, input units, output units, storage units and software. The data is
entered into the system then transformed into machine readable form is input, then after
processing into CPU, data is transformed into human readable form machine is output. Then
it is stored into secondary storage permanently. Collection of all these elements is necessary
for information technology. So, hardware, software, data, telecommunication and people are
important elements of information technology to work with business organisations.
So, we have learnt the main components of an IT system that are used in business
organisations. They follow the sequential path for installation of PCs into the business
organisation with IT setup. These systems are also enables for telecommunications as well as
emerging technologies. Today`s emerging technologies are including AI, Robotics, cloud,
social media etc.
1.12 SELF-ASSESSMENT
1. Define Information Technology and list its major elements.
2. Discuss how IT is supporting the business organisations.
3. What are the components of a computer system?
4. Differentiate between RAM & ROM.
5. What are the major trends in business organisations for Information Technology
enabled PCs / systems?
6. Describe the business benefits of implementing information technology.
7. What are the main types of software and describe their functions?
8. Write a detailed note on the advantages of telecommunication as a component of
information technology.
1.13 GLOSSARY
CPU: central processing unit, having arithmetic unit, logical unit and control unit.
HARDWARE: physical parts of the computer system, which we can touch and
interconnected to each other for performing or solving complex to complex problems.
SOFTWARE: sophisticated part of the computer system, which we cannot touch and act as
interface between user and computer hardware components.
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1.14 REFERENCES
• Banker, R.; R. Kauffman; and M. Mahmood. Strategic Information Technology
Management. Harrisburg, PA: Idea Group Publishing, 1993. (An interesting and
stimulating collection of articles about the strategic use of technology.
• Parker, M. M. Strategic Transformation and Information Technology. Englewood
Cliffs, NJ: Prentice Hall, 1996. (An up-to-date look at the way technology changes
organizations and the opportunities it provides managers.)
• Bill, H., & Jaffe, B. D. (2012). IT manager's handbook (3rd ed.). New York: Morgan
Kauffman.
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LESSON 2
STRUCTURE
2.1 Learning Objectives
2.2 Introduction
2.3 Growth of the IT sector in India
2.3.1 IT Software and Service Industry
2.3.2 Status of IT Software and Service Industry in India
2.4 Trends in IT and ITes sectors
2.5 Applications of Information Technology in business and service organizations
2.5.1 What is Information Technology?
2.5.2 Information Technology in Business
2.5.3 Information Technology in Service Organization
2.6 E-Commerce: A Web-based business
2.6.1 Introduction
2.6.2 E-commerce Business Models
2.6.3 Pros and Cons of E-commerce
2.7 E-Governance: A competent administration
2.7.1 Promoting E-Governance
2.7.2 E-Kranti: Electronic Delivery of Services
2.7.3 Advantages of E-Governance
2.8 Latest developments in Information Technology
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2.2 INTRODUCTION
Our life has been influenced by Technological development to a reasonable extent
that has resulted in the emergence of a replacement of the international economy. It has
remodeled the globe into a worldwide village. With a click of a button, the answer to the
problem appears on the screen. Despite its excellent use, some flaws must be corrected, or
else hackers or any wrong organization will play with the confidential information of many
firms or people. That is why it is necessary to grasp the IT idea at ground level to avoid any
circumstances of fraud.
Information Technology (IT) is the bedrock of current venture associations. The term
rotates on the bottom of computer frameworks, programming, web, and different foundation
that empowers an association’s center skills. Liberal associations read IT as a superiority that
allows them to figure out much intelligence and attain their business objectives.
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Our society has modified a good deal owing to the significant advancements within
the field of IT that style the standard of our lives, economic processes, education, social
relationship, etc. The social group impacts of the IT area deal with each negative and positive
aspect. Technology and society go hand in hand and should complement one another. They
are the two sides of an identical coin.
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Indian businesses have created many highly regarded and well-liked software
packages, including HR management and company accounting by TCS, banking automation
software by Infosys, ERP tools by RANCO, etc.
• IT Services:
IT Services are transitioning from client-server to the web- and package-based
services. This will make up the bulk of the IT services. The most significant opportunity
will continue to be in the expansion of IT services, but other areas of the IT software
industry will also play a significant role. The need for IT services, domestically and
internationally, will increase quickly as new opportunities in management/consulting,
application maintenance, and Internet services arise. The government, banking and
financial services, manufacturing, retail, and distribution are the primary consumers of IT
services.
Communication, healthcare, and utilities are likely to experience new developments
due to the deregulation of these industries. However, top-notch personnel, cutting-edge
abilities, a top-notch telecom environment, and an environment based on IT knowledge
are fundamental requirements for IT services.
• IT Enabled Services (ITES):
The Indian ITES sector has established itself as a significant growth driver for the
country's IT sector and technology-driven services sector. Seventy thousand people are
employed in this sector, which grew from Rs. 2,400 crores in 1999–2000 to Rs. 4,100
crores in 2000–2001.
It includes a wide range of services, some of which include:
• Call center and other customer-interaction services
• Back offices, revenue accounting, data input, data conversion, and HR services
• Transcription and translation services.
• Animation and content creation.
• Additional services include network consulting, market research, GIS, data search,
and remote education.
ITES has significant employment potential and a shorter gestation period than other
IT-related industries. It demands consistent performance with high-quality standards and a lot
of human resources.
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IN-TEXT QUESTIONS
1. What is the position of India in the Global Innovation Index 2021?
2. Economic trends include information relating to
a) Consumer and employment
b) Productivity, capital investment, etc.
c) All are true
d) None is true
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demands of our day. Let us examine a few of these tech-related fields that have been
successful in overcoming the shutdown.
• Artificial Intelligence and Machine Learning
Artificial intelligence and machine learning have taken center stage in recent years in
terms of new information technologies. Many multinational companies have started
integrating AI and ML into their operations, reaping noticeable advantages, including
enhanced customer experiences, faster business processes, fewer production concerns,
and increased profits.
‘Semrush’ figures show that 86% of CEOs expect AI to be standard
technology in their workplace by 2021. Moreover, in 2022, the tendency will continue to
pick up speed. More SMBs will ensure that their development approach includes deep
learning, machine learning, and artificial intelligence.
Intelligent tools and algorithms will increase across various industries, including
manufacturing, healthcare, finance, and education. Businesses that disregard or delay
implementing AI within the next five years run the danger of going out of business.
• Social Media
Social Media is a web-based connection among people. It permits clients to have
discussions, share data and make web content. There are many types of web-based
entertainment for everyone’s taste, including online journals, miniature sites, wikis,
informal communication destinations, photograph sharing, texting, video-sharing sites,
digital recordings, gadgets, and virtual universes. Lockdowns worldwide have kept
people stuck at home with nothing to do. As a result, the social networking site reported a
spike in user engagement during the lockdown period.
• Data-Mining Enterprises
The lockdown has made all the difference for information mining organizations. This
restrictive expansion in the number of hours spent on web-based and online platforms all
over the planet has given these organizations admittance to more extensive information
arrangements than they could have imagined.
• Cloud Computing
Cloud computing has been rising for the last couple of years as the pandemic has
made it the de facto king of computational services. With a rising dependence on remote
working, the capacity to store information in one secure area has become essential.
• E-Commerce
Social isolation measures have made it unimaginable for individuals to genuinely go
out to shop for food and different necessities because of the apprehension about the
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transmission of the infection. Online businesses have been the genuine victors in this
dilemma of worldwide commercialization. With only expectations of cleanliness and at-
home conveyance, these locales have given a simple choice to retail locations.
• OTT (over-the-top) Platforms
Web-based streaming stages like Netflix, Prime, and so forth comprise a generally
more current way to deal with diversion. They had, as of now, in any case, laid out a
name for themselves before the lockdowns and became worldwide famous for the wide
variety of shows and movies among a large set of different aged populations.
• Video-Conferencing Platforms
We need everything over the Internet, and nobody wants to go out. In the current
scenario, this fact is transforming into the new norm in our master culture: learning,
family meetings, etc. Also, this "Work from Home” culture is preferred over full-time
office jobs in the current scenario. Sound or text, yet video conferencing is the need
today.
• Mobile Apps
Mobile Apps and Portable applications have just filled in omnipresence and
popularity throughout recent years. This year, they are surfacing in far superior ways by
executing new assets that can make chipping away at the go more effective.
• Automation
Automation is a pattern that is essentially catching assembling and creation areas and
is supposed to increment further before long. Computerization has likewise empowered
cycles to work quicker, easing the human workload.
• Artificial Intelligence
The previous year saw the presentation of a few new mechanisms of man-made
reasoning. This year, enterprises are taking different steps and measures by which they
can develop these assets and carry out their work. Man-made intellectual prowess is, as of
now, seeing execution for a greater degree, which is set to foster more all through the
following couple of years.
• Virtual Reality
The gaming business has forever been one that has encountered development close to
the field of data innovation, and computer-generated reality has made this one stride
further, giving clients the actual encapsulation of advanced insight. Computer-generated
reality gaming has previously become well known because of innovation, which works on
how the business can develop.
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• Cyber Security
With the development of computerized mediums and innovation, the potential
dangers that individuals can confront are just rising. Because of this, cybersecurity and
network safety has needed to develop broadly throughout recent years. Industries all
around the world likewise understand the significance of putting resources into network
protection, which is why the field is experiencing growth at such a rapid pace.
• Growth of IoT Networks
The Internet of Things is the idea that all computerized gadgets are associated with a
solitary medium through which one would have the option to control everything. More
brands are starting to consolidate this idea encountering development at such a quick
speed so that they can gain more and more profit as the idea of IoT is becoming vaster
and vaster these days.
• Rise Of Chatbots
Chatbots are a program to respond to detailed inquiries somehow or another and are
planned to help clients with a piece of the more fundamental capacities they would
require. These are, clearly, still not in a position wherein they are a complete substitute
for genuine live client care, which has assisted them with the remaining development.
Also, there are a lot more fields like those referenced previously. The end here is that it is
inevitable that the IT business, regardless of its overall youthfulness and more settled areas,
will stay a central participant in the country's financial scene and continuous development
and evolution.
IN-TEXT QUESTIONS
3. ITes refers to:
a) Information Technology enabled Services
b) Information Technology end Services
c) Information Technology enabled Server
d) None of the above
4. A type of _______ based computing is cloud computing
a) Iot
b) Internet
c) Bluetooth
d) Big data
5. Full form of VR is________________.
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to a company's day-to-day operations can be seen in the fact that few businesses, large or
small, could operate without one. Information Technology assists every step, from sending an
email to changing a password, accessing databases, and everything in between. The ultimate
goal of IT in a company is to increase productivity and efficiency.
2.5.2 Information Technology in Business:
Every business plan now includes information technology (IT) as a crucial and vital
component. IT is used by various organizations, including tiny enterprises with one computer
and multinational corporations that manage mainframe systems and databases. The easiest
way to understand the drivers behind computer technology's pervasive use in business is to
examine how it is applied globally.
• Data and Information Security
The primary objective of safeguarding is to keep data secure. The IT division will
guarantee confidential information. To prevent crucial data from being corrupted,
compromised, or lost, IT must also ensure they adhere to data protection rules. Its
criticality has further increased globally with the implementation of the "General Data
Protection Regulation" by European Union.
Examples of data breaches include information theft by hackers or data safeguarding,
which means that industry-standard security measures are in place throughout the entire
organization to guard against the loss, misuse, unauthorized disclosure, alteration, or
destruction of data related to the company or team member the misuse or sharing of
personal information about a company's personnel.
• Investigation of Issues
In the digital sphere, problem-solving is referred to as troubleshooting. Repairing
malfunctioning digital items or processes on a PC or system is one example of how
troubleshooting can be used. When a problem is troubleshot, a methodical and logical
search is done for the problem's cause to fix it and restore the process or product to full
functionality. When something is incorrect, troubleshooting is also utilized to determine
the symptoms.
• Database maintenance and security
The era of massive file rooms, rows of filing cabinets, and document shipping are
quickly passing by. Most businesses now keep digital copies of their documents on
servers and storage gadgets. Everyone has immediate access to these documents, no
matter where they are located within the firm. Employees profit from quick access to the
papers they need, and businesses can store and manage a vast amount of historical data
inexpensively.
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defining not only the trend of consumer wants but also the ability of staff to receive and give
their clients personalized service.
As is apparent, technology has been the main driver of innovation in the service
industry. Because of emerging technology, automated voice mail, interactive voice response
systems (IVR systems), fax machines, ATMs, and other commonplace devices are
conceivable.
• Quick access to services
Incorporating technology into services makes the task easier and provides customers
with speedy and dependable service. Every stage of the process may be automated,
improving the entire customer experience while saving time and human labor. Thanks to
technology, a wide range of services are now at clients' fingertips.
Access to any information is made simple by the digital transition. Customers may
hunt for any service by conducting a simple Internet search on their smartphone.
Consequently, we may use the search to get all relevant results and even save time.
• Improved Method of Service Delivery
Every person, whether a buyer or a merchant, eventually has to adjust their everyday
tasks. The utilization of technology is now coming. It could improve the interactions
between service users and providers. Given the widespread adoption of technology, it is
reasonable to state that technology makes it easier to do fundamental customer service
tasks like paying bills, getting information, reviewing financial records, monitoring
shipments, etc. However, the emergence of automated voice response systems has
enhanced the sector's customer service. Similar to how technology has advanced and
affected nearly every industry, delivery services have also undergone significant changes.
• Friendly Interactions with Customers
Companies in public and private sectors are heavily utilizing technology and
working hard to develop friendly relationships with their clients. Distribution of products
businesses frequently set up order terminals, inventory management terminals, and other
technical devices on their client's premises. This offers the consumer a wonderful
experience and helps the business incorporate a customer relationship.
Every firm offers a range of facilities and services to help its clients advertise their
businesses. However, thanks to technology, customers may now get services right at their
doorstep without any wait time or line-ups.
• Services' Global Reach
The customer's ability to access services globally has significantly grown with the
introduction of technology in the service sector. The Internet is a vast network that
crosses all geographical boundaries and links every person to the services offered. Access
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to the Internet enables international travel and the conveyance of information, customer
service, and global transactions. Thanks to technology, people may work from home for
any multinational corporation. Client living has increased significantly as a result of the
technology-based service.
• Great Service Quality
Thanks to technology, a specific consumer may get services that are tailored to their
needs. This forges strong customer ties and fosters trust in the business and its offerings.
Customers are more dependable when using technology to get services than manual
access since services are easy to access and of high quality.
Web-based selling has changed immensely since it started; the advancement and
history of e-commerce, also known as an online business in simpler terms, is interesting –
and it is progressing at an even rapid speed today. E-commerce is trading labor and products
utilizing the web and exchanging cash and information to finish deals. It is otherwise called
electronic trade or web business. E-commerce mainly evolved during the pandemic, enabling
businesses to survive and thrive. Unlike a brick-and-mortar store, running an e-commerce
store does not require us to spend much money on overhead, and we can reach a global
audience.
2.6.1 Introduction:
E-commerce works just like how a physical store works. Customers search their
individual choice of e-commerce stores; browse various products they want to buy and finally
make a purchase. The significant distinction is that they do not must get off their sofa to do
so, and the purchaser base is not restricted to a selected geographic place or region. These
web applications follow specific steps to sell their products to the customers. Those steps are
as follows -:
1. Accept the order: As soon as the customer places an order, the e-commerce site will
be alerted of an order being placed. The alert description will show the details of the
respective order, like the product name, company name, quality, quantity, etc.
2. Process the order: Next, the charge or payment is processed, the sale is logged, and
the order is marked complete. Payment transactions are typically processed via what
is referred to as a payment gateway which contains various modes for a payment to
happen.
3. Ship the order: Shipping a product is considered the last step in this process. It is to
be ensured that the products are delivered to their correct and respective addresses.
The duration of the delivery process depends on the location.
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Pros Cons
5. Web-based business is
5. It has proven to be pandemic resilient.
a ferocious business.
IN-TEXT QUESTIONS
6. E-commerce is also known as
a) Electrical Commerce
b) Electronic Commerce
c) Entertainment Commerce
d) Electrochemical Commerce
7. Which E-commerce category includes businesses like Flipkart, Amazon, and
Myntra?
a) B2B
b) B2C
c) P2P
d) C2B
8. The idea of online marketing and purchasing goods and services is _______
E-commerce.
licenses, enlistment of various types, benefits plan, the government managed retirement and
government assistance plans, instruction preparation, work, lodging, foundation, monetary
help plans, businesses, horticulture, and other various administrations. This will not just assist
in carrying out e-governance smoothly but will likewise teach and make an IT culture in the
perfect state. There are four types of E-Governance interactions.
1. G2C (Government to Citizens): It refers to interaction between the government and
the citizens. The Digital India programme, the National Portal of India, the Prime
Minister of India portal, Aadhaar, online tax filing and payment, digital land
management systems, Common Entrance Test, etc. are some examples of e-
governance with relation to the G2C.
2. G2B (Government to Business): It is an interaction between the business community
and government using e-governance tools. A government website where businesses
go to pay taxes is a prime example of G2B.
3. G2G (Government to Government): It refers to interaction between various
government entities. Example of G2G is the Bhoomi Project. A self-sustaining e-
government initiative called Bhoomi automates the distribution of 20 million rural
land records to the 6.7 million farmers in Karnataka. The "Bhoomi" project was
taken on and developed by the Karnataka State Government. In order to computerize
all of Karnataka's land records, this was done. The State Government of Karnataka
and the Ministry of Rural Development of the Indian Government, however, both
co-sponsored the programme.
4. G2E (Government to Employees): Interaction between the government and its
employees. E-Mitra, E-Seva project, CET (Common Entrance Test), etc are some
examples of the G2E governance.
2.7.1 Promoting E-Governance:
There are some steps taken to promote e-governance in India are as follows:
1. In 1998, A National Task Force on Information Technology and Software
Development was set up to promote digital plans that will benefit the future.
2. The Ministry of Information Technology was formed at the Center in 1999.
3. A 12-point plan was recorded for e-Governance for execution in every one of the
focal services and divisions.
4. The Information Technology Act (2000) was authorized. This Act was corrected in
2008.
5. The primary National Conference of States' IT Ministers was coordinated in 2000
for showing up at a Common Action Plan to advance IT in India.
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6. The government set up NISG (National Institute for Smart Government), where they
can train the officials to use digital platforms.
7. The state legislatures sent off e-Governance projects like e-Seva (Andhra Pradesh),
Bhoomi (Karnataka, etc.)
8. The National Policy on Information Technology (NPIT) was embraced in 2012.
9. The National e-Governance Plan (NeGP) was launched, consisting of 31 Mission
Mode Projects (MMPs) and eight support components. This project gives a
comprehensive perspective on e-Governance drives across the nation. Around this
thought, a monstrous countrywide foundation arriving down to the remotest of towns
is developing, and colossal scope digitization of records is occurring to empower
simple, dependable access to the web. The government has proposed to carry out "e-
Kranti: National e-Governance Plan (NeGP) 2.0" under the Digital India program.
2.7.2 E-Kranti: Electronic Delivery of Services
E-Kranti is a fundamental mainstay of the Digital India drive. Considering the
essential requirement for E-Governance, portable governance, and excellent governance in
the country, the methodology and critical parts of E-Kranti have been supported by the public
authority and approved by the government. The E-Kranti structure tends to the electronic
conveyance of administrations through an arrangement of mission mode projects that cut
across a few government divisions.
Objectives of E-Kranti-:
1. Rethink NeGP with groundbreaking and result-arranged e-Governance drives.
2. Improve the arrangement of resident-driven administrations.
3. Guarantee ideal use of center Information and Communication Technology (ICT).
4. Advance quick replication and mix of e-Governance applications.
5. Influence arising advancements.
6. Utilize more coordinated execution models like agile implementation.
2.7.3 Advantages of E-Governance:
1. Develops conveyance and productivity of taxpayer-driven organizations
2. Developed government connections with business and industry
3. Resident strengthening through admittance to data
4. More efficient government administration and high transparency among officials
5. Cost decreases and income increases
6. Expanded authenticity of government
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7. Diminishes desk work and red-tapism in the authoritative cycle, which brings about
better preparation and coordination between various degrees of government
8. Developed relations between the public specialists and everyday society
IN-TEXT QUESTIONS
9. E-Governance is a technology that progresses.
a) Accountability
b) The efficiency of government processes
c) Transparency
d) All of the above
10. E-Governance has four types of interactions, namely:
a) E2G E2E E2W E2B
b) G2C G2B G2E G2G
c) G2A G2R G2W G2G
d) G2E G2G G2P G2R
11. The National Policy on Information Technology (NPIT) was embraced in
_____.
12. The idea behind e-Kranti is:
a) More crop per drop
b) One-stop service center
c) Changing the face of Rural India, electronic way
d) Transforming e-Governance for Transforming Governance
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however, have developed applications throughout time and are today among the most
recent in computer science. They have even made it into the hands of regular people
via mobile phones.
A computer science area known as machine learning uses an algorithm to predict
future data based on already created data. The advancement of machine learning into
artificial intelligence allows an algorithm to acquire knowledge based on data and
even perform necessary tasks independently.
2. Data Science:
Data Science is a more recent advancement in computer science. Data science was the
hottest topic for much of the twenty-first century's first decade. The data science field
has existed for much longer than the last 20 months. Data analysis has been crucial for
businesses, the government, organizations, and departments for millennia. Data
analysis is helpful for understanding process effectiveness, surveying the workforce,
and assessing the overall mood among the populace.
Today, however, a lot of data analysis is done digitally—one of the earliest tasks for
which computers were used for data analysis. Data analysis was so standard in the
early 2000s that schools started offering introductory courses on the topic.
Having a profession in data science has the advantage of making us an integral part of
the company's entire operation, regardless of the industry our company operates in.
Any organization we work with will likely use the data we provide and the
interpretations we offer as an essential component of their business plan.
Data science is frequently used in retail and e-commerce to assess the effectiveness of
campaigns and the overall trajectory of the expansion of different items. This, in turn,
aids in creating plans for the promotion of certain items or product categories.
Healthcare data informatics may be crucial in offering affordable alternatives and
packages to patients and enabling clinicians to select the most effective but safe
therapies.
3. Full Stack Development:
One of the most popular and in-demand technologies of 2021 will undoubtedly be
full-stack development, which refers to creating both client-side and server-side
software.
Beginning with the dot com boom, the Internet—a relatively recent phenomenon—
began to permeate households worldwide. Back then, websites were little more than
plain web pages, and web development was not the sophisticated discipline it is today.
Nowadays, both a front end and a back end are used in web development. Websites
consist of a client-side, or the website we view, and a server-side, or the website that
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the business manages, particularly in industries connected to services, like retail and
e-commerce.
4. Robotic Process Automation:
Robots are simply one aspect of robotic process automation. More than anything else,
it is about automating procedures. Most procedures required some human
involvement before computers. Individuals operated even the manufacturing
machinery, and massive production employed thousands of people.
However, as computers have mostly replaced manual labor, manufacturing has also
been affected. Automation is increasingly used in all industries, including
manufacturing and information technology. The amount of human involvement in
these processes is steadily declining, and this pattern is probably here to stay.
Robotic process automation jobs frequently require a substantial level of coding
expertise. Typically, we would need to build code to enable automated, human-free
completion of computerized or non-computerized procedures.
5. Blockchain:
Recently, Blockchain has come up in conversation, primarily concerning
cryptocurrencies. However, blockchain technology has developed to have a variety of
uses. Because Blockchain is consensus-driven, it is essential to note that no single
party has complete control over it. The information we keep on the Blockchain,
frequently used to share medical data in the healthcare sector, cannot ever be changed.
This data may be distributed among parties very quickly because blockchain
technology offers security. Blockchain technology is also used to protect payment
systems' security. External assaults and theft are extremely difficult to commit against
blockchain-based payment systems. Additionally, a supply chain may utilize the
Blockchain to track the status of its items.
E-Governance has moved past government divisions. It is tied in with changing how
states work and reexamining individuals' support in the popularity-based process. E-
Governance gives a stage to coordinate arrangements and administrations between
Government-to-Citizens (G2C), Government-to-Business (G2B), and Government-to-
Government (G2G), engaging both the government authority and the citizens.
2.9.1 ICT: The Revolution
Building trust among state-run administrations and citizens is crucial to excellent
administration and Information and Communications Technology (ICT). It is continuously
becoming a fundamental instrument for advancing responsibility, comfort, and
straightforward administration. States around the country are pushing hard to send data and
innovation in their activities. From using ICT for races, registration, and mechanizing all the
public authority workplaces to computerized storage spaces e-Transportation, e-Health, e-
Education, and e-Taxation, the new India has cleared its direction in the domain of e-
Governance. The public authority is working with partners to construct India on this
progressive dynamism to extend, augment, and scale up its computerized economy before
long, making enormous economic worth and engaging many individuals across varying
backgrounds.
Various plans presented by the public authority like Jan Dhan Yojana to give financial
incorporation to unbanked individuals have empowered banking, benefits (PMSBY and
PMJJBY), and protection (Atal Pension Yojana) administrations to ordinary residents,
accordingly, carefully engaging the residents.
2.9.2 E-Governance in Various Fields
The framework brings together administration of things, for example, ongoing security
and traffic camera film, ambulances' GPS data, temperature, humidity level, water levels,
smart foundation, and horticulture sensors, and air contamination information in every
territory around the state, and afterward imagines the information, which is then utilized in
risk scanning. For instance, when a typhoon hits, the water levels of a stream can be
evaluated, and prompt directions to clear can be given to those in danger utilizing the
prediction ability.
Further, as the set of experiences develops, it offers input for the following time when
the examination is directed. Catastrophe reaction precision has improved decisively and
routinely depended exclusively upon human experience. The framework can likewise be
utilized to increment farming efficiency by introducing and halfway overseeing water level
sensors in water system trenches to handle the dry season or flood harm and to forestall harm
to agricultural fields and crops. Moreover, soil, climate, and water system conditions can be
applied to the calculation, making it conceivable to decide the ideal yield for each plot of land
and increment the reap.
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2.10 SUMMARY
Information Technology assumes an undeniably significant part in citizens' work and
individual existences. PCs, communication, computerized data, and programming — the
constituents of the data age — are all over the place. However, along with this, there is a need
to understand the IT sector's working and growth. Information technology (IT) has great
potential as a means of accelerating economic growth, increasing productivity in all sectors of
the economy, and effective governance. The application of IT is beneficial and profitable to
organizations in the respective E-commerce and E-governance fields. The latest innovations
have helped the nation build a robust infrastructure and economy. Thus, creating more
opportunities for the youth for the betterment of the country on the digital path.
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1. 46th
2. All are true
3. Information Technology enabled Services
4. Internet
5. Virtual Reality
6. Electronic Commerce
7. B2C
8. B2C
9. All of the above
10. G2E G2G G2P G2R
11. 2012
12. Transforming e-Governance for Transforming Governance
2.13 REFERENCES
Bill, H., & Jaffe, B. D. (2012). IT manager's handbook (3rd ed.). New York: Morgan
Kauffman
Muttoo, Sunil & Gupta, Rajan & Pal, S.K.. (2019). E-Governance in India: The Progress
Status. 10.1007/978-981-13-8852-1.
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LESSON 3
STRUCTURE
3.1. Learning Objectives
3.2. Introduction
3.3. Computer System Software
3.4. Software Development Life Cycle (SDLC)
3.4.1. What is SDLC?
3.4.2. Why use SDLC?
3.4.3. Stages of SDLC
3.5. Software Development Process
3.5.1. What is SDP?
3.5.2. Types of Models
3.5.2.1. Waterfall Model
3.5.2.2. Iterative Model
3.5.2.3. Incremental Model
3.5.2.4. Evolutionary Model
3.5.2.5. Spiral Model
3.6. Data Design
3.6.1. Levels in Data Design
3.7. Report Design
3.8. Organization of Data Files
3.8.1. Sequential File Organization
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3.2. INTRODUCTION
‘Data’ has been a buzzword for a very long. Every type of information that we access
is a class of data. Data has always been in close association with electronic devices.
Accordingly, there is a need to store and code this data as a concept in devices in an
optimized form for better usage of this relevant information. At the same time, when we are
talking about storing this data, it is vital to learn about how this data storage is used in
computing environments and problem-solving. Seamlessly managing data has resulted in
modern-day fields like Data Science, Machine learning, and development, with a joint base
concept of 'Data.'
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1. High Speed
2. Secure
3. Written in Low-level language
4. Close to the system hardware
5. Versatile in handling the processes
After evaluating all these points, it can be said that a system software maintains primary
system resources and processes. It must meet specific hardware needs and interactions. It also
acts as an abstraction as it works in the background, and users usually do not access it
directly. It is essential for the system to have the software that administers it to run the
application programs in a computing environment.
Computer programs known as "application software" carry out particular tasks. Application
software can carry out a variety of tasks, including personal, professional, and academic ones.
Application software is frequently referred to as productivity software or end-user software.
Each piece of software is designed to help users with specific productivity, efficiency, or
communication process. In contrast to System software, application software is focused on its
functionality and completes the goal for which it was created. On our smartphones, the vast
majority of the apps we use are examples of application software.
Example: Microsoft products such as Office, PowerPoint, etc., music application software,
etc.
IN-TEXT QUESTIONS
1. The software which performs a specific task is known as _________.
2. Word processing software is an example of application software. True / False.
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The project managers and analysts set up meetings with the other stakeholders to discuss the
scope and intended audience and perform a rough feasibility analysis followed by probing the
customer, the users, and others what the requirements for the system or product are, what is
to be achieved, how the system or product fits into business proving a core understanding of
what is to be built.
In case of any ambiguity, elaboration, negotiation, specification, and validation is performed
by executing follow-up meetings.
Stage 2: Defining Requirements
All the conclusions from the requirement analysis are then drawn into the SRS (Software
Requirement Specification) document, which is thoroughly followed and reviewed by the
stakeholders. This further defines all types of requirements, i.e., functional, non-functional,
hardware, etc., and gets them authorized by the stakeholders.
The SRS document defines the whole project and serves as a basis for ensuring all the teams
are synced, and the process model is followed.
Stage 3: Designing
Now that all the requirements are defined, the designing of the product starts by
understanding the software project's requirements.
The project is modulated and designed to provide the developers with a line on which they
have to build the project. This provides a blueprint to the developers in the form of Data Flow
Diagrams and UML diagrams such as use cases, state diagrams, class diagrams, etc.
Stage 4: Development
The development really starts to take off at this point. The blueprint provided by the design
phase is trailed while writing the code. Various IDEs, compilers, debuggers, and development
tools and languages are used at this stage to implement the project as per the requirements
and constraints.
All this gives a working product as an output, but there is still a lot to do with it in order to
enhance its quality and effectiveness.
Stage 5: Testing
After all the code is generated, it is tested or validated against the requirements to ensure that
the code is developed per the requirements and constraints.
The testing strategies are as follows:
1. Black Box Testing
2. White Box Testing
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All this is carried out by unit testing, integration testing, system testing, and acceptance
testing.
Stage 6: Deployment
The product is created, tested, and ready to be presented to the user at this stage. Hence, it
needs to be hosted for the users to use it. All the authorizations and reviews are performed
with all the stakeholders, and based on the assessment; the product version is released.
Once the deployment is done, feedback/suggestions may be given by the users or
stakeholders to improve the quality of the product. All these suggestions are taken care of in
the next phase.
Stage 7: Maintenance
The issues or suggestions collected once the deployment is done solved at this stage. The
real-time issues are solved, thus, maintaining the working and the quality of the product
throughout its life.
IN-TEXT QUESTIONS
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© c) Line Diagrams
Department d) repetitive
of Distance & Continuing Education, Campus sentences
of Open Learning,
7. I-you-me-modeSchool
is a ____________________ style ofofwriting.
of Open Learning, University Delhi
8. Charts and Pictures are used to create ____________________.
MBA
Process" refers to the iterative, logical procedure used to create software programs that meet
the needs of any corporate or personal goal.
3.5.2 Types of Models
In the software development phase, various software development life cycle models are
specified and designed. "Software Development Process Models" is another name for these
models. To ensure success in the software development step, each process model adheres to a
set of steps that are specific to its type.
3.5.2.1 Waterfall Model
The software development process divides the software development into tiny, sequential
steps to reinforce the product, project, and style altogether. The software development
process is an iterative, logical method for creating computer programs that meet the needs of
any business or personal goal.
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AGILE MODEL
The agile software development life cycle (SDLC) model combines iterative
and incremental process models with a focus on process adaptability and
customer satisfaction through quick delivery of functional software. The
product is divided into smaller incremental builds using agile methods.
Iterations of these builds are supplied. Usually, an iteration lasts between one
and three weeks.
Cross-functional teams work simultaneously on several different topics
during each iteration, including:
• Planning
• Requirements Analysis
• Design
• Coding
• Unit Testing
• Acceptance Testing
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IN-TEXT QUESTIONS
Consider a situation where we need to locate a particular data file among many data files.
Evidently, it is a rigorous process since we have to check every data file. However, what if
we design a structure to arrange the data in a specific pattern? It will not only save us time
but will lead to an efficient mechanism. That is what data designing is about.
To sum up, data designing demonstrates the types of data stored in the system and how we
can group the related data together in a well-organized manner to create a robust design. It
helps to design the databases on a physical and logical level. Producing an entity relationship
diagram (ERD) helps to visualize the mechanism.
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The report is the document that explains the process, outcome, and all the work we have done
to accomplish the final design.
Now, we might have gathered all the relevant information, but there is no certainty that it will
be engaging. Some might find it verbose; we have to design the report in such a way that it
highlights and reflects what we want to convey to the users/readers. In order to accomplish
that, report designing comes into play. Today, we have many tools to design our report. We
can get ready-made templates, and even one can add their specific type of requirements and
designs.
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One has to also look into report styling. It includes some features like:
• Report layouts to make it presentable
• Charts, maps, and other data-bound items to make it engaging.
• Various styling capabilities like conditional formatting etc.
Thus, the reports can be styled and exported in any format.
A file is a named structure that holds related data and can be stored on various secondary
storage devices. Since the data can be organized in different ways, there are various
organization types available for files.
Some File Organizations:
1. Sequential File Organization
2. Random File Organization
3. Indexed-sequential File Organization
4. Serial File Organization
3.8.1 Sequential File Organization
F1 F4 …….. F5 F6
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This is the simplest way of storing data where records are kept in a particular sequential
sorted order. Sorted records make it easy for the operator to search a record in the file by
applying algorithms like binary search. Nevertheless, there is a catch; all records cannot be of
the same size; therefore, it is difficult to inculcate this organizational approach.
3.8.2 Random File Organization
The organization approach allows us to store the records randomly but provides direct access.
For direct access records, keys are used to find the records associated with them. Example:
Magnetic and optical disks follow this technique of organizing files. This has an advantage
over the sequential organization as the records can be of different sizes.
3.8.3 Indexed-Sequential File Organization
An index is used to help the computer find specific records on the storage media, almost
identical to the sequential method. For instance, records are sequentially stored on the tracks
of a magnetic drum. Each record is given a unique index, which can be used to access it
directly.
3.8.4 Serial File Organization
The term "heap file" also refers to serial file organization. This procedure adds records to the
data blocks at the end of the file. The sorting of data is not necessary. This strategy is
appropriate when a large volume of data must be loaded into an organization.
Data access takes longer than using a sorted file approach.
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IN-TEXT QUESTIONS
Various file types are used to store data needed for processing, reference, or backup. The
most prevalent categories of processing files are Master files, Transaction files, Reference
files, Backup files, Report files, and Sort files.
3.9.1 Master File
As the name suggests, ' master' serves as an authoritative data source. It is the main file
pertaining to relatively permanent records about specific items or entries. Output and input
(parameter files) files are specified in the master file. Such files include information that is
continuously updated by recent transactions. It can be further subdivided into static and
dynamic master files. Examples include customer ledgers like a customer file will contain
details of a customer such as a customer ID, name, and contact address.
3.9.2 Transaction File
A transaction file is used to hold data during transaction processing. The data relating to
business events are recorded. The file is later used to update the master file and audit trails.
For example, daily sales are recorded in a busy supermarket on a transaction file and later
used to update the stock file. The management also uses the file to check on daily or periodic
transactions.
Assume we have both a master data set and a transaction data set with the variables ID,
DEPT, and SALARY. The data sets' contents are as follows:
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DATASET MASTER
ID DEPT SALARY
1 MARKETING 12,000
2 SALES 9,000
3 RECORDS 14,000
4 11,000
DATASET TRANS
ID DEPT SALARY
2 15,000
4 PEOPLE
To update the records, apply the transaction data set to the master data set. The new master
file obtained is:
DATASET
NEWMASTER
ID DEPT SALARY
1 MARKETING 12,000
2 SALES 15,000
3 RECORDS 14,000
4 PEOPLE 11,000
Because these IDs 1 and 3 are absent from the TRANS data set, observations 1 and 3 in the
original MASTER data set are unaffected. In observation 2, the MASTER data set's ($9,000)
corresponding value for SALARY was replaced by the TRANS data set's value of $15,000.
However, the DEPT value in observation 2 of the TRANS data set did not take the place of
the DEPT value in the MASTER data set since it was absent. The new observation will be
included in the new master data set if the transaction data set contains a value of the BY
variable (ID) that is absent from the master data set.
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Databases and database systems have become essential components of everyday life in
modern society. Within the course of a day, most folks encounter several activities that
involve some interaction with a database, when we visit the bank to make deposits or
withdrawals, when we book a hotel or flight, when we use a computerized library catalog to
look up a bibliographic item, or when we order a magazine subscription from a publisher, the
likelihood that someone will access a database as part of our activities increases.
The above interactions are samples of what we may call traditional database applications,
where most of the knowledge that is stored and accessed is either textual or numeric. Within
the past few years, advances in technology are leading to exciting new applications of
database systems. Multimedia-based databases can now store pictures, video clips, and sound
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content. Geographic information systems (GIS) based databases can store and analyze maps,
weather data, and satellite images.
Data warehouses and online analytical processing (OLAP) systems are utilized in many
companies to extract and analyze useful information from vast databases for decision-
making. Real-time and active database technology is employed in controlling industrial and
manufacturing processes. Database search techniques are being applied to the planet wide
web to improve the search for information needed by users browsing the Internet. Some
common examples are given below:
i. Reservation System
We all know how to book tickets in places like- movie theatres, train tickets, airline tickets,
etc. While booking, we must supply our details so that a particular seat is reserved with us. So
here also, these reservation systems are using the database and management system for
achieving this. The info stores are like – customer name, train number, price, date, etc.
Moreover, these details are required to spot the correct person during the trip.
ii. Telephone Companies
Without databases and management systems, telephone businesses cannot simply survive.
We can also ask how these mobile operator businesses maintain track of the daily data limit,
as well as the calls we make, given that every mobile phone includes a sim card for calling
and internet access. For keeping our data, they are utilizing databases and database
management systems. They save the data and produce cell bills based on our usage. DBMSs
are used by more than just Internet service providers, mobile carriers, etc.
In conclusion, databases and database technology have a significant impact on how
computers are being used more and more. In the majority of applications where computers
are employed, it is reasonable to assume that databases play a crucial role.
IN-TEXT QUESTIONS
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Diagrams and charts are always descriptive and captivating when it comes to solving a
problem. One such interesting diagrammatic representation technique is flowcharting. The
technique can be used to visualize a direction in which a process heads to produce a solution
to the problem.
When it comes to programming, flowcharting is frequently used to depict how an algorithm
operates. Along with providing direction, the technique also gives us insights into how the
process is broken down into stages to land at the final solution.
One attractive aspect of flowcharting is that each step is independent of implementation at
any stage and is only concerned about the input and output of a particular stage rather than
the actual processing to be done. Additionally, this approach of flowcharting a problem
categorizes types of tasks such as data, decision, process, etc.
To diagrammatically represent these categories, there are symbols that signify each category:
Now that we are aware of how flowcharting acts as a utility, we can dive deep into how the
follow-up that it suggests
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IN-TEXT QUESTIONS
A computer is an electronic device that accepts data, processes data, generates output, and
stores data. Input-process-output (IPO) is another name for the idea of creating output
information from input data.
The input-process-output concept of the computer can be interpreted as follows—
c) Line Diagrams d) repetitive sentences
• Input
18. I-you-me-mode is a ____________________ style of writing.
The
19.computer accepts
Charts and dataareasused
Pictures inputtofrom
createthe user with the help of an input device. The
____________________.
input data can be anything, including characters, words, text, sound, images, etc.
• Process
The computer processes the input data. It performs some operations on the data by using
the instructions or program given by the user of the data. The action could be arithmetic
or logical processing, editing, modifying a document, etc. During processing, the data,
instructions, and output are stored for some time in the computer's main memory.
• Output
The outcome of data processing is known as the output. Text, sound, images, and other
types of output are all possible. The output from the computer can be played, sent to a
printer for printing, displayed on a monitor, etc.
• Storage
Secondary storage devices like discs or tapes permanently retain the input data,
instructions, and output. Anytime later, as needed, the stored data may be retrieved.
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3. Report previewing, saving, and publishing are all included in the phrase "publish and
browse reports."
The process of retrieving the data from the database, structuring it, and exporting it as reports
is referred to as report production. It offers illuminating insights and reassuring references to
decision-makers.
A skilled report generator can be a valuable ally in business at every stage of reporting. It is
best to conduct a thorough study on each feature of report generation software before
selecting the best option for business. A functionally unrestricted free version of FineReport
is available for personal use.
3.13.4 Popular Report Generators (Report Generation Software)
There is a rising need for reporting tools that are entirely written in Java as the B/S structure
is used more frequently. There are canvas-like generators and Excel-like generators from the
standpoint of the interface. These two interface paradigms are sometimes combined by
software.
The top three report generators in the company are as follows:
• Fine Report
• Crystal report
• SQL server reporting system
IN-TEXT QUESTIONS
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Programming is the process of first solving a problem and then writing the code. One
needs to figure it out to solve a problem by keeping fundamental programming concepts in
mind.
This piece talks about two major programming approaches, i.e., procedural programming and
object-oriented programming, as well as other supporting concepts to support these
approaches, namely variable declaration, basic syntax, data types and structures, flow control,
and debugging.
3.14.1 Procedural Programming
A programming style that uses a linear or top-down approach. It relies on procedures or
subroutines to perform certain functions or tasks. Programs written using this approach
comprise a sequential pattern of instructions to be executed to get the desired results.
The procedures can be seen as logic chunks that can be called anywhere in code. The catch
here is that these logic chunks are sequential in nature. Therefore, it follows a structured
programming method that uses block-based program control flow.
3.14.2 Object Oriented Programming
In contrast to procedural programming, this programming approach revolves around objects
and methods rather than sequential procedures.
• Objects are the elementary component of OOP; they can be understood as real-world
entities that have behavior and attributes associated with them. Example: A student is an
object that has attributes such as name, class, roll no, age, and has the behavior of
reading, writing, speaking, etc.
• Class is a blueprint of an object which declares variables, constant, and member
functions and then concludes all these as a single data type and its methods.
The four pillars of OOP are:
i. Abstraction - Hiding unnecessary details.
ii. Encapsulation - Binding data and functions together.
iii. Polymorphism - Methods with the same name but different signatures.
iv. Inheritance - Acquire properties of an existing parent class.
Now that we have a brief overview of the above-mentioned programming approaches, we
need to know about some concepts that support these approaches.
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1. Variable Declaration
These are containers for storing data values at a memory location. The declaration is
usually made by certain keywords according to the language used.
2. Syntax
To write a code that a computer can understand, one needs to use some programming
language; like any other language, programming languages also have words and rules
that define them; these rules need to be followed by a programmer to write a code that
can be understood by the computer.
3. Data Types and Structures
A data type is the category of the data value that is being handled. For example, data can
be of numeric type: 1,2, etc. It can be of character type: 'a', 'b'...
Some of the fundamental primitive data types are:
• Numeric - Integer and Floating Point
• Character
• String
• Boolean
Data structures, on the other hand, are organized structures having a set of data values on
which functions can be applied. These structures are used to optimally store a set of values
and perform efficient operations on the data.
• Stack
• Queue
• Tree
• Heap
• Linked List
• Array
4. Flow Control
The flow of a program is a result of decision-making statements that decide what direction
the program will go based on the derived scenario.
Three types of control flow:
• Sequential - It follows the linear execution of statements, i.e., one after the other
• Selection - A test condition selects what action to perform based on the result of the test
as true or false.
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• Iteration - A statement or a block of code is run repeatedly till the test condition remains
true, thus forming a loop.
5. Debugging
Locating errors and rectifying them is a bottom-line activity that makes the code written to
produce the desired result. Various tools and techniques are used for locating errors to save
time and effort.
IN-TEXT QUESTIONS
18. Which of the following OOPS ideas refer to giving the client access to only
the information they need?
a) Encapsulation
b) Abstraction
c) Data hiding
d) Data binding
19. A computer programming language that states a series of well- structured steps
and procedures within its programming is known as ___________________.
20. ___________ data type is used to store the value 200.
When a program is terminated, complete data is lost but to prevent this; data files are used.
Since data files are stored in Random Access Memory (RAM) when the program is running,
and it is stored in Read Only Memory (ROM) when the program is terminated. Data files are
stored in non-volatile memory after the program is terminated, resulting in the preservation of
data. As shown in the image below, a C program writes something in the file, and the data is
stored on disk (ROM) in the form of an ASCII Text File or Binary File.
c) Line Diagrams d) repetitive sentences
• Handling the Huge Amount of Data
21. I-you-me-mode is a ____________________ style of writing.
Whenever
22. Chartsa program requires
and Pictures a large
are used size of____________________.
to create data, it can be very tedious and time taking
to enter that data. However, if we pass that data into a data file, it will become very
suitable for the programmer to use that data in the program. It is possible because of the
accessibility of the contents of the data file using read commands in programming
languages. The only condition is that the data should already be present in a data file,
and from that data file, the programmer can easily use fragments of data.
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• Data Transmission
Transferring data from one computer to another is a ubiquitous example of data
transmission, but the data produced by a program cannot be transferred. It can only be
transmitted by converting the data into a data file and then transferring the data file to
another computer. The data transmitted by datafile will be unaltered while transferring,
i.e., it will not be affected by the future changes made by the program unless the
programmer explicitly changes the data.
• App and Web Development
We all know that App Development uses XML for Designing the app, Whereas Web
development uses HTML. Whenever we load a web page or an app screen, a data file is
created in the background, storing the data about the design and how that design is
implemented.
• Hidden Datafiles
Sometimes a programmer requires to store some data which should be hidden from the
user to prevent the user from corrupting or tampering with the data. This is accomplished
by using closed datafiles format or proprietary format files. Here datafiles contain
metadata (Data about Data) elements according to the preferences of a programmer.
Data is not helpful in its original form to any organization. For organizations to improve their
business strategy and gain a competitive edge, data processing plays an important role.
Employees worldwide can understand and use data by turning it into a readable
representation in graphs, charts, tables, and documents.
By data processing, we refer to the carrying out of operations on data, especially by a
computer, to retrieve, transform, or classify information to generate usable information from
raw data. An organization's team of data scientists and data engineers often performs it in a
step-by-step manner. The raw data is then collected, sorted, processed, examined, and stored
in a readable format.
Thus, managing a data processing system involves both the system's hardware and software
as well as some stages of data processing: -
• Data Collection-The first step of data processing is the collection of the data. Data is
pulled from the available sources an organization has of its employees. The data sources
available must be trustworthy and well-built.
• Data Conversion- Transforming data into a format that can be processed.
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IN-TEXT QUESTIONS
21. Which of the following terms best defines the kind of analysis that transforms
massive volumes of data into one or more summaries?
a) Analysis
b) Conversion
c) Aggregation
d) Sorting
22. ___________best describes how data is moved from an old system into a new
one, such as a payroll system.
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3.17 SUMMARY
The chapter thus gives us an insight into how data is gathered, organized, and used to give
informative outputs. As we say, data files can be organized in various ways by analyzing the
usage category of the data. Apart from organization and storage, we also learned about
databases and their relevance in real-world scenarios. Data is not just limited to information
view; it is also used in programming to read, write and process information, thereby
introducing us to the Input-Process-Output analysis that data goes through to provide
meaningful solutions.
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3.20 REFERENCES
Bill, H., & Jaffe, B. D. (2012). IT manager's handbook(3rd ed.). New York: Morgan
Kauffman.
Elmasri, R. and Navathe, S., 2011. Fundamentals of database systems. 6th ed. Boston:
Addison-Wesley, p.31.
McLaughlin, Brett D., et. al. Head First Object-Oriented Analysis & Design. (O’Reilly
Media, Inc. Sebastopol, CA: 2007.)
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LESSON 4
PC – SOFTWARE PACKAGES
Dr. Pratibha Agrawal
Assistant Professor
PGDAV (Eve) college
Delhi University
Pratibha.agrawal12@gmail.com
STRUCTURE
After completing the chapter, you will be able to learn about different PC common software.
These software will help you to command your presentations, so this chapter is going to
target the following objectives:
• Provide basic knowledge about the PC- package software.
• Get familiar with the term ‘Operating System’ and it’s working.
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4.2 INTRODUCTION
Economic conditions and computerization in every field of human life gave birth to different
kinds of software. The availability of low-cost hardware and the expansion of software
industry for small to large-scale enterprise have resulted into a wide variety of software
packages. Due to this growth, the previous approach of custom software has changed. Off-
the-shelf software has been more widely employed as the variety of software packages with
the boom in the industry. Although market offers a large variety of software packages, still
there are barriers in the selection of the proper PC package for a particular need of the
enterprise. Due to the immense amount of information available on the internet,
understanding of the PC package and decision process of choosing a package is difficult.
Locating sources of information which describe software packages and ways of effective
usage of software packages for specific requirement is important. The types of PC packages
are described here and their compatibility the operating system. This chapter describes the
different software applications and operating system (windows). It also tells about different
usage and applications of the PC packages.
Operating system is also called as “System Software’, that acts as an Interface between the
computer hardware and the user. Every system has at least one operating system to interact
with the computer system and different application programs. Applications like Browser, MS
Office, Games, Notepad etc., need to work with the help of operating system.
The basic purpose of an operating system is to provide working platform to execute different
application programs in efficient manner and manages the allocation of computer hardware as
well.
4.3.1 BENEFITS OF OPERATING SYSTEM
• User-Friendly Interface for the computer system
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Now we have very important problem of choosing the operating system. We already have
multiple operating systems in the environment. Although it would be nice to stick on one, it is
rarely possible anymore. It’s very important to keep in mind that “choosing” operating
systems directly is not a simple. In fact, it’s a decision that is made almost indirectly based on
some important factors and issues. Specifically, which applications are in use by the
enterprises, which hardware (workstations, servers, handheld, and mobile devices) is required
to support, and what the specific needs of users are often determine which operating
system(s) will be use.
Windows is a graphical operating system developed by Microsoft. It was released for both
home computing and professional works. It is one of the most popular operating system in the
world. It enables users to save data, watch videos, run applications, play games, and connect
to the Internet. The first independent version of Microsoft Windows, version 1.0, released on
November 20, 1985, achieved little popularity.
Now, Microsoft’s offerings are dominating both, the server market (Windows Server 2003
and 2008) and the desktop market (Windows XP, Vista, and Windows 7). Windows has also
step inroads in the smart phone with Windows Phone but has not been as successful as others.
First Version was released in 1985 and there have been many versions of WINDOWS
released since. Due to the popularity, most application vendors will first write their software
to support Windows; many won’t even consider writing their application on any other OS
platforms. However, because of its prevalence, it is also the preferred platform for hackers
and virus creators to go after.
4.4.1 Applications of WINDOWS
• Controls the backing store and peripherals such as scanners and printers.
• Deals with the transfer of programs in and out of memory.
• Organizes the use of memory between programs.
• Organizes processing time between programs and users.
• Maintains security and access rights of users.
4.4.2 Silent features of WINDOWS
• Speed is basic feature of windows for booting speedily.
• Compatibility of windows with other platforms and applications is widely
appreciated.
• Lower Hardware Requirements are well compatible with windows.
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Text processing is the process of analysing and sorting of textual data into valuable
information. Text editing and word processing are two important features of automated
information. To work with these two features, text editor and word processor are combined
software. Text editor provides the ability to add, delete, update, remove etc. with text and
word processor helps in formatting the text or document. It also works with colors, special
symbols, shapes, graphics etc.; editing, printing, and saving.
After a long period, the typewriter has gone and rewarded with computer systems with text
processing software i.e., word processors. Nowadays, word processing is the most common
and popular application software. There are so many word processors available in the market
and allow users to work through a document with its principle activities. Text processing has
many steps or set of activities as described below:
4.5.1 Creation of document
The creation of document includes making of new file, entering text into it, inserting
of different templates, shapes, symbols and different types of graphs etc.
4.5.2 Editing of document
The editing of document is act of making alterations in the content of the document.
This act includes insert, delete, reviewing, find & replace, cut/copy /paste, spelling
check, and much more.
4.5.3 Formatting of document
For the document, formatting means developing, updating and altering the appearance
of a document. Formatting of document has been done manually, but word processing
software provides different tools and techniques.
4.5.4 Output of document
Word processing software provides various types of output such as printing option,
projecting the document with the help of projector; document can be scan with the
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scanner, creating of web document and in last but not least is the saving of document
is necessary first.
The spread-sheet was created in 1978, for the financial purpose in the form of tables. The
spread-sheet allows users to enter data and formulas into rows and columns arranged as a grid
on a display screen. The electronic spread-sheet is most popular for the enterprises and
business organizations. Spread-sheets are commonly used for maintaining student grade
cards, tracking investments, creating and tracking budgets, calculating loan payments,
estimating project costs, and creating other types of financial reports and much more. This is
an application which is used to manipulate the data especially arithmetic data. Spread-sheets
are more collaborative than other tools of this kink. It's easy to manipulate, analyse and
organise the data. It can be integrated with certain other tools. Spread-sheets are quick and
easy to add into a workflow.
Besides performing basic arithmetic and mathematical functions, spread-sheets also provides
built-in functions. Spread-sheet also provide conditional expressions, functions to convert
between text and numbers, and functions that operate on strings of text. Nowadays, spread-
sheet software have multiple interacting sheets and can display data either as text and
numerals or in graphical form. It also provides powerful data optimization and management
solutions that can be integrated throughout accounting, marketing, and development teams,
just to name a few.
4.6.1 Features of Spread-sheet
• Data Management
• Rows & Columns
• Formulas & Functions
• Data filtering & visualization
• Cell definition
• Custom formatting
4.6.2 Advantages of Spread-Sheet
Spread-sheet is quite popular among the organisations all over the world due to:
• Spread-sheets are free for usage
• Spread-sheets require less training and skills
• Spread-sheets are customizable
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• Air-table
• Smart sheet
• Zoho-sheet
There are a number of features and applications that are available in Excel to make your task
easier. It has total nine menus to work with excel. We start from the initial point of creation.
4.7.1 Main Working Steps of Spread-Sheet
• Create worksheet: Choose File → New from the menu bar, The New Workbook task
pane opens on the right side of the screen. Choose Blank Workbook under the New
category heading. A blank workbook opens in the Excel window. The New
Workbook task pane is closed
• Saving worksheet: Choose File → Save As from the menu bar. The Save As dialog
box appears. Click the Save. In: drop-down menu and locate where the file will be
saved. Type a name for your file in the File Name: box. Click the Save button.
• Closing worksheet: Choose File →Close from the menu bar. The workbook in the
Excel window is closed.
• Editing worksheet: editing of excel sheet includes many features as deleting any
entry, replacing, copying, moving of data, etc.
• Printing of Worksheet
4.7.2 Formulas & Functions in Spread-sheet
Spread-sheet is consisting of many types of formulas & functions (set of pre-written
formulas), and it is very difficult to discuss all formulas and their working in single chapter.
So, this lesson will consider few of them.
• Mathematical formulas
• Statistical formulas
• Engineering formulas
• Financial formulas
• Lookup & Reference:
• Logical formulas
• Date & Time formulas
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• Graphical representation summarizes a very large data in a very crisp and systematic
manner.
• It makes comparison easy of data.
• Visual presentation targets the audience.
• Helps in estimating the key values at a glance.
4.9.2 Types of Graphs and Charts in Spread-Sheet
There are many types of Graphs and Charts available in Spread-Sheet. These are as:
• Column Charts: A column charts uses vertical bars or columns to display values over
different categories. They are excellent at showing variations in value over time. It
represents different types of column charts.
• Bar charts: Bar charts are similar to a column charts, except they use horizontal
instead of vertical bars. Like the column chart, the bar chart shows variations in value
over time. These charts are again of different patterns.
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• Pie charts: A pie chart present the contribution of each value to the total. Pie charts
are an effective way to present information when you want to represent different parts
of the whole, or the percentages of a total.
• Line charts: A line chart shows trends and variations in data over time. A line chart
displays a series of points that are connected over time. Often used to plot continuous
data and are useful for identifying trends.
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In Data, ‘Data’ refers to “information in digital form that can be managed to organise the
system. And Database is a collection of related data. The purpose of this type of software is
to organise and manage data. The advantage is that changes in data can be made and stored
then displayed. MS-Access, d-base, Foxpro, Paradox and Oracle are some of the examples of
database manager. Database manager are software systems used to store, retrieve, and run
queries on data. They serves as an interface between an end-user and a database, allowing
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users to create, read, update, and delete data in the database. It also supervises the daily
activities of the data i.e., any update or manipulations. These systems help in association of
understanding the tools and technology that are available to make the database and related
technology even more effective. They also provide basic database management
functionalities including creation and maintenance of databases.
4.10.1 Characteristics of Database Manager Systems
There are some characteristics of database manager system, which allows smooth working:
• Manage remote as well as local databases
• Discover databases on web servers
• Provide the ability to connect to the database available in the network
• Provide administrative functionalities
• Display information from databases catalogs.
• Allow database administrators to new patches for databases and updating
databases.
4.10.2 Basic Functionalities of Database Manager Systems
Database manager systems enables users and provide quick solutions to the organisation by
its functionalities, which are as:
• Sharing of data
• Faster Accessibility with multiple users
• Compatibility across platforms
• Maintain Integrity while sharing
• Manipulation of data ensures consistency
• Provides security with different levels of abstraction
• Following the data models
• Connected on the basis of distribution system
4.10.3 Basic Responsibilities & Uses of Database Manager Systems
Some of the main responsibilities of Database manager are as follows:
• Creation of efficient and consistent database.
• Determination of data storage structure.
• Facilitates data searches.
• Maintain integrity among assets
• Manipulations are required
• Simplifies consultation process
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Presentation Graphics is a way of presentation, which can be used for formal or informal
presentation and in any form (text, audio, video, animation or else). In other words,
presentation is a structured delivery of information or a way of presenting skills or showing
or expressing skills. For the attractive or effective task, presentation is used. Through
presentation user can express views, feeling, opinion, etc. Presentation is generally used in
business, conference, education system, seminars etc. Presentation can be reproduced on
transparency, paper or on-screen. Teachers, professors, politicians and sales representatives
make presentations to present their concepts. Some notable presentation software packages
are available as Harvard Graphics and Lotus Freelance. PowerPoint is a presentation software
package included in Microsoft Office suite. It is used to create professional quality
presentations.
PowerPoint can be used to work on slides, organize presentation contents with outlines and
generate speaker notes and audience hand-outs, helps to structure the ideas and information
that may be convey to the audience. It lets to create the contents of presentation by
typing/inserting text, pictures, sounds and animations. With it, anyone can add visual images,
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Presentation software is software used to show information, normally in the form of a slide
show and present that slideshow to an audience. Presentation software is the medium of
communication for a group of people, much simpler than any other delivery methods. The
software helps educators to bring their lessons to life also used to enhance language learning
with all four language skills: Reading, Writing, Speaking and Listening. It also helps to create
innovative ideas when students come up with creative and interesting slides to illustrate their
talk. The use of presentation aids makes more interesting talk, and such aids helps to develop
students' confidence.
The software comes with tools and templates to add information in the form of text, images,
audio, video, and graphs. It’s major functions includes: an editor pane that allows text to be
inserted and formatted, a method for inserting and manipulating graphic images and a slide-
show system to display the content.
4.12.1 TYPES OF PRESENTATION
• Informative Presentation: An informative presentation is educational, concise, and
to the point. The main goal of an informative presentation is to share information.
• Instructional Presentation: An instructional presentation is to give specific
directions or orders. This presentation will probably be a bit longer, because it has to
cover whole topic thoroughly. In an instructional presentation, listeners should come
away with new knowledge or a new skill.
• Persuasive Presentation: A persuasive presentation is to convince listeners for
accepting the proposal. A convincing persuasive presentation offers a solution to a
controversy, dispute, or problem. To succeed with a persuasive presentation,
presentation should have sufficient logic, evidence, and emotion to sway the audience
to your viewpoint.
• Arousing Presentation: An arousing presentation is to make people think about a
certain problem or situation. To arouse the audience’s emotions and intellect so that
they will be receptive to the point of view. Vivid language used is in an arousing
presentation– project sincerity and enthusiasm.
• Decision-Making Presentation: A decision-making presentation presents ideas,
suggestions, and arguments strongly enough to persuade an audience to carry out
requests. In a decision-making presentation, tell the audience what to do and how to
do it.
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to a package can success be insured. Insuring that a package meets the specific
requirements of an organization is critical to say.
• Flexibility: Technical Environment, laws, policies and procedures constantly change
and a software package must be adaptable to these changes, which is very difficult to
say. The flexibility which, if anticipated, can readily be built into a custom developed
system, and should take updates time to time that must be insured in a product.
• Vendor reliability: It is very important while selecting a package to insure that the
vendor is well established and committed to the product for any kind of updates. This
problem is not as relevant to in-house custom developments since an in-house
development staff is readily available for support but this is not possible every time
and for the long time.
• Conversion: A problem can occur with installation of package, is underestimation of
the magnitude of adjustment to the conversion or transition to a new package. Using
perspective in the selection and acquisition.
• User Acceptance: A common encountered obstacle along with the successful
installation is user acceptance and adaptation to the new package. Although the
package selected may appear to management as a best fit, lower-level staff may be
required to significantly alter their routines. Usually, when a software package is
purchased, the users are required to arrange current operational procedures so they are
compatible with the software.
4.14 SUMMARY
PC Package, basically a synchronisation of interrelated units of the software for the business
enterprises for achieving their objectives and fulfil targets. So, Integration of similar type of
Software is necessary and important goal to manage processes and systems for better
performances. Technology plays important role for the synchronisation of units with less
errors and within budget. The availability of low-cost hardware and the expansion of software
industry for small to large-scale enterprise have resulted into a wide variety of software
packages. There are so many software packages available in the market. But, Applications
like Browser, MS Office, Games, Notepad etc., need to work with the help of operating
system. So market is also providing many types of operating systems. The basic purpose of
an operating system is to provide working platform to execute different application programs
in efficient manner and manages the allocation of computer hardware as well.
WINDOWS is one of the most popular operating system in the world. It enables users to save
data, watch videos, run applications, play games, and connect to the Internet. Different types
of PC packages are available in the environment to interact with the operating system
(WINDOWS). Such as Text Processing Software, Spread-Sheet system, Presentation Graphic
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4.15 GLOSSARY
OS: Operating system is also called as “System Software’, that acts as an Interface between
the computer hardware and the user.
WINDOWS: Windows is a graphical operating system developed by Microsoft. It was
released for both home computing and professional works.
Word Processor: A software that combines, Text editor which provides the ability to add,
delete, update, remove etc. with text and word processor helps in formatting the text or
document.
Spread-Sheet: The spread-sheet a software that allow to enter data and formulas into rows
and columns arranged as a grid on a display screen.
Database Manager Systems: They serves as an interface between an end-user and a
database, allowing users to create, read, update, and delete data in the database. It also
supervises the daily activities of the data i.e., any update or manipulations.
Presentation Graphics: Presentation Graphics is a way of presentation, which can be used
for formal or informal presentation and in any form (text, audio, video, animation or else). In
other words, presentation is a structured delivery of information or a way of presenting skills
or showing or expressing skills.
1. What is a PC package?
2. What are the major differences between an application software and a package?
3. Describe text processing with example.
4. How Database Manager systems are different from databases.
5. Explain about presentation graphics systems and their functionalities.
6. Summarize all the PC packages with examples.
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4.17 REFERENCES
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LESSON 5
STRUCTURE
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The objectives of the lesson will indicate the Intended Learning Outcomes. So, after
completing this lesson, you will be able to:
• Explain different terms as internet, extranet, intranet, networking, data
communications networking and Management system integration etc.
• Explain application portfolio development.
• About Internet Technology & Networking.
• Elements of Internet & its applications.
• Usage of Internet Technology for Business Organizations
5.2 INTRODUCTION
Management system is the way of organising and managing interrelated units of the
organisation to achieve their goal or objectives. Nowadays, management system integration is
basic part of the businesses, in which it combines all aspects of the system, processes, and
standards into smart system for better responses. From the point of view of performance,
organisations are also into practice to implement application portfolios which helps in
effective maintenance.
Analysing, assessing and synchronization of business roadmaps with technology needs some
medium. So, Internet is the basic communication medium of organisations. The content of
this lesson provides the knowledge of Internet, which accompanied with Extranet, Intranet.
Business organisation are integrating their management systems with the help of data
warehouses, and providing their own application portfolios with Internet, Extranet and
Intranet. This is the way; Internet Technology is widely acceptable in business organisations.
This lesson is divided into many subparts in a systematic manner. First part of lesson
describes integration of management system by business organisations with their own
application portfolios. Second part of the lesson providing the knowledge of Internet and its
usage, with the explanation of intranet and extranet. How the data is communicating in
organisation needs the knowledge of Data communication and networking, which is next part
of the lesson. Lastly, this lesson describes about the service and application providers of the
internet, and conclude the lesson.
The advancement in technology leads to global growth and change into prospective of human
life, so the concept of industrial development and business production has changed. Due to
these changes, the process of economic growth and competition of markets have led
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organisations to extend their business segment and more differentiated to stand in the market.
Thus, business organisations have developed with management systems with an extensive
position in the market in which they operate.
There is a variety of management systems standards, which covers various functional areas of
the organisation. With separate and incompatible management systems, organisations can
incur insignificant costs, more errors and failures, redundancy, inconsistency etc. These
issues have very negative impact on stakeholders, employees and consumers. So, to avoid
such kind of prospects, the organisations should have integrated strategy for the management
system. It’s time to provide a holistic system of integration, and organisations can manage
their operations with integrated management system.
The management system integration allows organisations to share work force, information,
infrastructural and financial resources. That is an effective management model, promotes
innovations.
5.3.1 BENEFITS OF MANAGEMENT SYSTEM INTEGRATION
Improvement in the relationship of stakeholders
• Improvement in procedures of organisations
• Change in behaviour at environment & safety levels
• Definition of responsibilities become sharper
• Reduction in documentation
• Reduction in indirect cost
• Better work culture
• Improvement in employee’s communication
• Increase in speed of processes
• Globalisation of vision
5.3.2 CRITICAL SUCCESS FACTORS
Critical success factors are those agents or vital areas, which must take into consideration by
the organisation for successful management system integration, such as:
• Involvement of top management
• Financial and human resource
• Training of personnel’s
• Pre-defined objectives
• Persistence of operations
• Set deadlines
• Employee’s involvement and motivation
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• Experienced consultants
Nowadays, Management System Integration is strategic decision to promote sustainability
and competitiveness. For a successful integration level, organisations should follow some set
of factors described. And it makes possible to identify a set of benefits for the organisation.
Despite that some difficulties also have been pointed out, so should be aware of them.
As Information Technology is the most important tool, most of the business organisations are
working with that only, has no option. Day by day, number of applications is increasing
according to the needs and become substantial assets for the organisations. Consequently,
management of these applications becoming less efficient and sustaining at high costs.
According to the business strategies and goals, allocation of aligned IT applications should be
business centric and supportive and reflect the impact in the portfolio to the business. So, for
the financial benefit of applications, Application Portfolio Development is required. The
Application Portfolio Development is nevertheless a complicated issue to regain the control
of the software automation for the business, which ensures about the added value and
reliability of the application.
Application portfolio refers to a collection of software applications and software – based
services for the business organisation to attain its goals. The managing of application
portfolio is its management. Basically, it’s a framework for the software application to
illustrate the business benefits of every application integration. Most important benefits of
application portfolio development are:
• Eliminate the risks of business & protect it.
• By integration of different applications, lower the costs of IT applications.
• Helps to think strategically for the betterment of business.
• Plan for tomorrow & support future business strategies.
5.4.1 Application Portfolio Development steps
Basically, it is a discipline for the governance of software applications through their entire
life cycle in support of maximizing business value delivered. Following are the steps:
• Identification of best applications work for the business.
• Create content part of the applications and estimating their operations cost.
• Allocation of applications first, then categorize according to the business
strategies.
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• Selecting applications with their features and operation for decision making
for implementation.
• Lastly, integration of application with credible sources then evaluation of
portfolio to maximise business value.
5.4.2 Silent features of Application Portfolio Development
Application Portfolio Development is carried out in a balanced fashion, by prioritizing the
objectives of business and IT concerns to succeed. The silent features of it are as:
• Governance Focus: The focus is only on decision making for higher business
value.
• Development of Application Portfolio: The Life Cycle of application portfolio
is important to lower down the costs and risks.
• Categories of Applications: For acquiring governance approach, it is necessary
to focus on category of applications
• Business Value: The most important objective is to govern the application
portfolio driven by changing business needs for maximum business value.
5.5 INTERNET
The Internet is globally connected computer networks for communication and sharing
information. It consists of millions of public, private networks with the global as well as local
scope. Networks are linked with a broad array of electronic devices consisting of wireless or
wired connectivity. As above said, it is for communication and information sharing, so
internet have large volume of information resources and services linked and the
infrastructure.
5.5.1 History of Internet
The internet is not evolved instantly but is the result of long progressive growth and research.
In 1969, under the American defence department, ARPANET was introduced for
communication and exchange of information. With this, use of internet gradually increased in
universities, scientists, researchers, and private and commercial organisations for sharing
information. In 1990s, the working of ARPANET, and other public, private networks start
increasing for exchanging information and messages.
The term “Internet” actually was coined in 1995 by the FNC (Federal Networking Council,
USA). Therefore, Internet is a world wide web of computer networks’. It is connected with
millions of computing devices that carry and transfer large amount of information from one
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device to the other. Desktop computers, mainframes, GPS units, cell phones, car alarms,
video game consoles and many other devices are connected.
5.5.1 How Internet Functions?
Internet is collection of many public and private networks connected to each other. To avoid
any discrepancy and disturbance, networks are governed by certain rules. They are following
some common standards, but the functioning of internet is not controlled by any one of them.
It is governed and managed by a group of voluntary organisations under the Internet Society.
For smooth working of network, they decide some set of rules called as “Protocols”, for
communication. Other than societies, some networks have their own rules, which they follow
internally only within their network, not on global Internet.
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Internet is working with the help of web browsers and websites, and then connected through
URL within the Domain. There are many web browsers available to serve the user across the
world. All working is based on many web-based application software in every field of life for
each purpose.
5.5.3 Limitations of Internet
Despite of usage and global availability, Internet has many limitations, listed below as:
• Virus threat
• Decrease in face-to-face communication
• Loss/theft of personal information
• Addiction of Internet
• Dangerous for children
• Spamming
5.6 EXTRANET
Extranet is nothing, but in simple terms ‘extension of intranet’ only, i.e., a private network of
linked many cooperating organisation outside the walls of same organisation. Extranet is
providing services with the help of existing intranet interactive infrastructure. So, Extranet is
more economical for proprietary network by using same standard servers, clients and web
applications as well as browser. Due to the sharing of resources enterprises have strong
communication connectivity and typically coupled relationship with common interests.
The usage of Extranet is among various types of businesses such as banking, airlines,
railways, hospital chain, mart chain and corporate offices with branches etc. But, extranet is
using the Internet protocol and public telecommunication for sharing of information with its
any kind of branches. For the security and privacy of extranet, there is a requirement of
firewall server management, which providing authentication, use of virtual network, usage of
encrypted message, for tunnelling the public network. Because companies are more aware
about their communication limits with authorised access. So, Extranets serve an extremely
important role, as they allow for private communication, collaboration, knowledge sharing,
document sharing, and data transfer between organizations.
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5.7 INTRANET
Intranet can be described as “Internal Internet”, i.e., private network, within the organisation,
university, library, enterprise, company, office etc. It is connected with many interlinked
local connections with the help of the wide area network in web.
The main motive or purpose of the Intranet is to share and exchange of information within the
organisation among internal computing resources. It facilitates the working in groups and for
telecommunication. So, it is the web-based architecture for managing internal information
with the help of internet tools, protocols, and technology. The working of Intranet is
accessible through public internet as well as local connectivity with the use of filters and
routing algorithms. This intranet is bound to permission to access resources internally for the
purpose of security of the network within the organisation.
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• E-mail
• Instant Messaging
• Social Networking
• Forum
• Video Conferencing
• Audio Conferencing
• Chatting
• News group
5.8.1 Buying / Selling, services (e-Commerce, e-services)
In this, the vendor and customer conduct a transaction sitting at different geographical
locations, connected through the Internet. There is a wide range of services provided by the
Internet also. These are listed as:
• E-commerce
• M-commerce
• E-services
▪ Net Banking
▪ E-learning
▪ E-gaming
▪ Communities
5.8.2 Searching for Information
A number of programs called search engines are available to search for the information on
any topic. Some famous search engines are provided by:
• www.google.com,
• wikipedia.com,
• webopedia.com,
• MSN.com,
• Yahoo.com, etc.
Advancement in communication and information technology has further strengthened the role
of the internet in business. The internet is widely used in organization for marketing and
promotion of products and services. The internet is used to deliver customer support, share
information and provide training to employees.
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The internet used in different applications to meet the requirement of different people at
different places in different time. Business organisations are widely using the Internet, for the
management of business; they connect and correlate information among organisations’. The
main tasks are as:
• Resource sharing
• Information sharing
• Connecting people
• E-commerce
• E-services
The role of the Internet in business communication is varied and has come to be of great
importance. It can be used to increase effective communication both internally and externally.
Use of the Internet can make it easier to connect with others quickly and more often, in
addition to exchanging a wide array of media types. It can be used to communicate purchase
information to vendors and by customers to ask questions. The factors that make the role of
the Internet in business communication important can also cause conflict, depending on the
way the medium is used.
In Data Communications, ‘Data’ refers to “information in digital form that can be processed”,
and ‘Communication’ means exchanging of information or data from one entity to another
entity in a meaningful way. ‘Data Communication’ is the process of exchanging or
transferring of data/ information in two computing devices or more points. It can be
explained as the transmission, reception, and processing of digital information. For the
effective communication of data, it has some characteristics as:
• Data delivery (data should be delivered to the correct destination)
• Accuracy (delivered data should be accurate)
• Timeliness (delivery of data should be without delay)
• Jitter (network splits the data for easy communication that creates variation in
arrival of data packets)
5.9.1 Components of Data Communications
There are some necessary components of data communications, which allows smooth
communication as:
• Data / Message
• Sender (source)
• Receiver (destination)
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• Transmission Medium
• Protocol
5.11 NETWORKING
Networking is the exchange of information or data at a common platform or ground. This can
be done for professional interest, social interest or personal. Networking is possible with
communication devices interconnected, which is used to transmit with protocols. For the
networking computers and more other devices, machines are connecting people for
transferring the data / information.
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LAN connections provide the high-speed data transfer rates with very low cost, and usually
varies from 10 Mbps to 1000 Mbps.
Over the different advantages, there are many disadvantages also discussed as. Where a lot of
terminals are there in the network, then processing speed will be slow. Secondly, if there is
any virus in one computer then it will proceed further within whole network. Next, if
dedicated server fails, then work stored or shared will not be able to access or use.
5.11.2 MAN (Metropolitan Area Network)
MAN is an extended form of LAN network, covers a larger geographical area as a city, a
town etc. It is not very easy to design like LAN network, as it covers larger area so
troubleshooting is little time taking. MAN network also can be connected to any type of
topology as ring, star. These types of connections can be privately owned or public.
MAN network connects different LAN connections in it or with different devices or type of
connections at longer distance or in larger network. This type of connectivity can be done
through cable, fibre optics, and co-axial cables, PSTN or Wi-Fi. The speed of data transfer is
moderate and ranges from 100 Mbps to 1000 Mbps but it considerably less as compared to
LAN. It is used to provide link to the shared connection to other networks using WAN. This
network typically covers area between 5 Km to 50 Km, although it can be less than that.
A MAN might be owned and operated by a single organization, but it usually will be used by
many individuals and organizations. Examples of MAN: Telephone company network that
provides a high-speed DSL to customers and cable TV network, also used in government
agencies and University campuses.
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network. WAN supports transmission media of both types as guided media or unguided
media.
Despite of many advantages, disadvantages are more. Firstly, it faces security problems in the
network, secondly, higher setup cost, server down and disconnection issues are major.
Examples, railway reservation system, satellite systems, stock brokerage, banking, e-
commerce, m-commerce etc…
Difference between LAN, MAN AND WAN:
S.NO. LAN MAN WAN
1. LAN is defined as a MAN is defined as a WAN is defined as the
computer network that computer network that links telecommunications
links the local areas the metropolitan areas. network that covers a large
like schools, geographical area.
universities,
organizations, etc.
2. The full form of the The full form of MAN is The full form of WAN is a
LAN is Local Area Metropolitan Area Wide Area Network
Network Network.
3. LAN is a wired The connections in MAN The network of WAN is
network, i.e., all the are connected through connected through
computers and printers modem or cables/ wires. broadband services, 3G or
are connected through 4G internet services, etc.
wires
4. The ownership of LAN The ownership of MAN The ownership of WAN
is private. might be public or private. might be private or public.
5. The internet speed of The sped of MAN is The speed of WAN is
LAN is very high, i.e., moderate, i.e., 44-155 relatively less than MAN
1000 Mbps. Mbps. and LAN, i.e., 150 Mbps
6. The maintenance cost The maintenance cost of The maintenance cost of
of LAN is easy. MAN is difficult WAN is difficult.
Internet service providers are for providing internet connection services to individual systems
and organisation. In other words, ISP is an intermediary, which connects internet by
specialised lines and access to the internet. It is possible through authenticated user ID and
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password by using modem or other connecting devices. In addition to that they also provide
software packages, working platforms and virtual accounts, many other services. ISPs are
providing connections in the form of broadband or non-broadband. ISP may be of any type
as, cable, fibre, DSL (Digital Subscriber Line), and satellite internet. Main functions of ISP
are:
• Provide a link
• Hosting
5.12.1 Provide a Link:
To establish communication between you and ISP, a simple protocol is used PPP (Point to
Point Protocol). PPP is a protocol making possible for two remote computers to communicate
without having an IP address. So, internet connectivity between you and the service provider
is established by the PPP protocol which is characterized by:
• a telephone call
• initialization of communication
• verification of the user name (login or user-id)
• verification of the password
5.12.2 Hosting:
After establishing communication connection between two remote computers, ISP lends you
an IP address for being connected to internet is called ‘Hosting’. However, this IP address is
not fixed for connecting every time, because ISP has thousands of addresses. Whenever you
will connect to the internet with your user id and password, whichever address will be free,
you will connect with that. Therefore, connection is a proxy connection, it’s your ISP who
sends all the requests you make.
5.12.3 Types of ISP
ISP can broadly be classified into six categories as:
• Access Providers
• Mailbox Providers
• Hosting ISPs
• Virtual ISPs
• Free ISPs
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With the growth of Information Technology & Internet, the term outsourcing came for the
expansion of networked infrastructure. Outsourcing led to the emergence of a new model for
providing these services, is named as ‘Application Service Provider’ (ASP). Examples of
such applications SAP and FileMaker.
ASP is a third-party application provider, which provides access to different applications,
platforms etc. to multiple customers over the network. The service of an application service
provider comprises the lease of usage time of software applications they own. It facilitates
and manages application software, system hardware and other services on behalf of
customers. The main functions of ASP are:
• Outsourcing
• Internet computing
• Packaged enterprise applications
5.12.1 Characteristics of ASP
There are many characteristics of ASP, which fascinates the customers, are:
• Applications-centric
• Centrally managed
• Point to multi-point service model
• Sells application access
• Delivers services based on contract
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5.14 SUMMARY
5.15 GLOSSARY
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1. What is a protocol?
2. What are the major differences between a LAN and a WAN?
3. What IT organization design variables are affected by networks?
4. Pick a specific company, and describe how it might make use of the Internet.
5. What is an Intranet? What is its role in an organization?
6. What is the purpose of a LAN?
7. What is the importance Management System Integration?
8. Explain the need of Application Portfolio Development?
9. Differentiate between Intranet and Extranet?
10. How business enterprises are dependent on Internet Technology?
11. Explain the role of ASP & ISP IN Internet Technology?
12. Explain the use of the Internet in our daily lives.
5.17 REFERENCES
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