Kindler Volume XV July-December 2015 Conference Special

KINDLER
THE JOURNAL OF ARMY INSTITUTE OF MANAGEMENT KOLKATA

(FORMERLY NATIONAL INSTITUTE OF MANAGEMENT CALCUTTA)
VOLUME XV q NUMBER 2 q ISSN 0973-0486 q JULY-DECEMBER 2015

Page No.
EDITOR'S NOTE
RESEARCH CONTRIBUTIONS
Cause Related Marketing Campaigns and Consumer Purchase
Intentions: Investigating the Role of Online Social Networks (OSN)
Paridhi Agarwal, Lorita Das & Shaunak Roy
The Phychology Behind Investors Behaviour
Gautami Chattopadhyay & Dr.Gagan Pareek
Status Quo - Changing Scenario in Human Resource
Monirul Islam
Study of the Factors Influencing the Customer Buying Behaviour in
Relation to Readymade Garments in India :A Field Survey based Study
Bratin Maiti & Dr. Chitra Bagchi
A Study on Green Human Resource Practices in some Selected Industries in India
Dr. Manidipa Chatterjee
Consumerism Dictates The Market Culture and Consumer Culture
Sangita Ghosh
Role of Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) in Developing the Human
Capital of India :Case Study of Tata Housing Development Company Limited
Nayan Mitra
Tourism Development and Economic Growth: An Empirical Study in Indian Context
Dr. J. K. Das & Sudipta Ghosh
E-Learning: An Underutilised Sector of E - Commerce in India
Sudakshina Dutta Roy
A Study on Consumer Awareness and Purchase Behaviour of Men's Apparel in Kolkata
Piyush Jhunjhunwala & Supriyo Patra
National Human Resource Development Strategies: Comparing India and China
Dr. Bikram Singh & Prof. Sudipti Banerjea
A Balanced Approach - Competitive Devaluation Vs Market Determined Rates
Debalina Chakraborty
Four Main Characters of Supply Chain Management
Surajit Das
Skill Development: Empowerment of Women in West Bengal
Dr Arundhati Bhattacharyya
21
29
41
69
85
117
133
141
155
165
175
183
195
Page No.
A Comparative Study on the Corporate Governance Codes in the Brics Nations with
Special Reference to the Audit Committee
Dr. Amit Majumder & Dr. Sudipti Banerjea
iTREC: i TRAVEL to Rediscover Escape from Community...
Shujaat Mitra
Promoting Healthcare Provider-Through Camp
Mainak Mukherjee
Theoretical Approach to Develop Psychological Capital
Way to Empower Individuals for High Performance
Dr. Ishita Chatterjee & Dishari Gupta
Impact of Foreign Institutional Investors and Domestic Institutional Investors on Indian
Stock Markets An Empirical Study for the Period 2012 to 2015
Rasesh Bhagat & Baishali Agarwal
FMCG Industry in Rural India
Arun Kumar Singh
Risk Management through Microinsurance: An Empirical Study
Dr. Sreemoyee Guha Roy
Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) - An Important Business
Aspect of Private Companies: A Study of Two Leading Private Brands
Sreyasi Ray & Arpita Sil
Demand And Supply Gap Of Employable Skill
(A Study Of Technical Education Scenario in Odisha)
Dr. Pushkar Dubey & Sri Tarun Kumar Sarangi
Effect of Resilience on Achievement Motivation of Young Adults
Ekta Johar & Divina Raghav
Green HRM: Practices and Challenges
Dr. Satarupa Datta
Impact of Green-HRM on Organization's Internal and External Benefits
- using Employee Engagement and Training as Retention Tools
Rinki Mishra, Dr. Sarup Prasad Ghosh & Dr. Surjyasikha Das
A Study on the Reasons behind the Decrease in the Export Figures of the Indian Potato
Industry in Comparison with the World's other Leading Producers/Exporters
Dr. Manjishtha Maitra & Shantanu. P. Chakraborty
A Study of the Behavioural Predictors of the Personal Effectiveness in Private
Engineering and Management Institutes in West Bengal
Debasish Pal Chaudhuri, Dr. Surjyasikha Das & Dr. Sarup Prasad Ghosh
Adoption of Agricultural Insurance Schemes as Tools of Agricultural Risk Management A Block Level Study on Farmers' Acceptance in the District of North 24 Parganas of West Bengal
Avik Chattopadhaya
Working in the Night Shift: Preparation, Survival and Remedies as Suggested by Experts
Enesha Dey & Dr. Surjyasikha Das
Consumer Attitude Towards Online Shopping in India
Rana Ghosh
The Role of the Governments Consumer Protection Initiatives Towards Inclusive Growth &
Economic Development
Subhro Banerjee & Swarup Prasad Ghosh
A Study of the Role of Micro Finance in the Process of Self Sustainability of Rural Women in India
Dr. Soheli Ghose
209
221
233
237
247
265
275
291
313
327
341
349
361
369
383
393
409
431
441
Editor's Note
The Government of India launched a multi-skill programme, Skill India in March
2015 to provide training and skill development to 500 million youth by 2020. This
would bring about a significant positive change to the growth of the country. Keeping
this development in the background, it gives me great pleasure to inform you that
Army Institute of Management organized its maiden national conference on Skilling
for Tomorrow on November 21, 2015. The objective was to discuss, in a common
platform, the measures that people across academics, business houses, researchers
and students are taking to make this movement a programme for the entire
nation.
The conference received an overwhelming response from academicians/PhD
scholars/students and a few associated with the corporate sector with an academic
mindset. In order to share with our learned readers the perspective that a few of
these participants had on the topic, we decided to bring out this special Conference
issue covering papers on the theme from four functional areas of Management Marketing, Human Resource, Finance and General Management.
Wishing
you
pleasant
kindler.aimk@gmail.com.
Dr. Parveen Ahmed Alam

Editor, Kindler
reading.
Do
send
us
your
feedback
on
Editor's Note
You may be wondering what this new logo symbolizes? It gives me great pleasure
to share with you that henceforth your journal Kindler is being indexed in
International Institute of Organized Research (I2OR) which was established to
promote various domains related to Education and Research around the globe
to make it easily accessible and more organized. As you all are aware, Indexing
is an important parameter for any Research Journal/Serial Publication to increase
its visibility so that maximum researchers can reach it to explore innovative ideas
and opportunities around the world. We are thankful to you all for your kind
patronage.
The current issue has wide ranging topics though predominantly from Finance
and HR. There are articles and research papers on the status of the Indian
insurance industry post-privatization, understanding ULIPS in India, finding out
the association between movements of CNX NIFTY and select broad-based stock
market indices of the world, the impact of Euro zone crisis on the Indian economy,
assessing the risk profile of MSME units and technology as a service enhancer
for Banks. The issue also has an interesting comparative study of select PSUs
on the impact of Human Resource Valuation to shareholders wealth, the effect
of personality on the performance of Life Insurance Advisors, study on Empathy
skills of Indian Army officers and their leadership dynamism and an analysis of
the problems faced in utilizing the skills of Contract Labour in manufacturing
industries in West Bengal. For the first time, we have also introduced a movie
review done by a student. I am indeed happy that the young brigade students
and research scholars are taking the initiative to give flow to their academic
prowess through research papers and articles, and we, the editorial team of
Kindler are committed to this cause.
Best wishes,
Dr. Parveen Ahmed Alam

Editor
RESEARCH CONTRIBUTIONS
Kindler Vol. XV l No. 2 l July-December 2015
Cause Related Marketing Campaigns and

Consumer Purchase Intentions: Investigating
the Role of Online Social Networks (OSN)
Paridhi Agarwal*, Lorita Das** & Shaunak Roy***
ABSTRACT
Cause-related marketing (CRM) has become an incipient buzzword among marketers, who
have gradually been implementing it as a strategic tool that creates a win-win situation for both
the enterprise and the cause it endorses. Notwithstanding, in todays digitally revolutionizing
world, new contexts have surfaced and online social networks (OSN), especially Facebook are
becoming popular implements as non-profits struggle to break out of the clutter. As organisations
appreciate the relevance of enhancing customer relationships, CRM is gradually becoming
digital. Over the past couple of years, several researches have been conducted on CRM and
OSN discretely, but little academic attention has been dedicated to study them collectively. The
present paper shall focus on Facebook, in particular, on account of its widest acceptance in
India.
Key Words: Cause-related Marketing (CRM); Consumer Purchase Intention (CPI); Online Social
Networks (OSNs); Consumer Attitude; Consumer Perceptions; Facebook
INTRODUCTION
Cause-related marketing (CRM) has become an incipient buzzword among marketers,
who have been gradually implementing this promotional partnership as a strategic
implement that creates a win-win situation for both the enterprise and the cause
it endorses. Simply put, cause-related marketing (CRM) is a mutually beneficial
collaboration between a business entity and a non-profit enterprise, in which their
corresponding assets are concocted to germinate shareholder and social value
while communicating the shared values of both organizations. The American Express
Company (or Amex) is often alluded to as the first corporation to effectively
collaborate with a non-profit in a manner that satiates the cause marketing definition.
The object was to foster a more recurrent strategy, beyond the traditional confines
of a rather inorganic Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) campaign. As Daw
*
Student, Post-Graduate Studies in Human Resource Management, St. Xaviers College (Autonomous),
Kolkata; E-mail: paridhiagarwal@outlook.com
**
Alumnus, Post-Graduate Department of Commerce (Marketing Management), St. Xaviers College

(Autonomous), Kolkata; E-mail: lorita0212@gmail.com
***
Lecturer of Marketing and Management Studies, City College of Commerce and Business Administration,
Kolkata; E-mail: scholar.shaunak@gmail.com
(2006) unfurled, this Manhattan-based multinational financial services corporation

trademarked the term in 1983. Notwithstanding, in todays digitally revolutionizing
world, new contexts have surfaced and online social networks (OSN), especially
Facebook are becoming popular implements as non-profits struggle to break out
of the clutter. It cannot be denied that the Millennials or the titular Generation Y
have been the earliest adopters of social media. They now take to Facebook and
Twitter not only to showcase their emotions, motivations, perceptions and other
behavioural trajectories, but also to uphold various social issues. Discerning this
as a colossal opportunity, companies across the globe have embraced social media
as well to endorse their offerings in light of trending or rife causes. Thus, as
organisations continue to appreciate the relevance of enhancing customer
relationships, CRM is gradually becoming digital. Over the past couple of years,
several researches have been conducted on CRM and OSN discretely, but little
academic attention has been dedicated to study them collectively. We shall in this
undertaking, focus on Facebook, in particular, on account of its widest acceptance
in India.
LITERATURE REVIEW
Before we deliberate on the various pieces of literature detailing the concept of
CRM, it would be quite pertinent for us to fathom its divergence with the model of
CSR. Kawamura (2004), has identified and emphasized a socio-ethical context of
corporate behaviour in his explication of the concept of CSR. He defined this socioethical model of corporate behaviour in light of certain relevant elements such as
corporate ethics, legal compliance, prevention of improprieties and corruption, labour
and employment practices, human rights, safety and hygiene, consumer protection,
social contribution, procurement standards, and overseas operations. In contrast,
Bloom et al (2006) have clearly acknowledged that companies have been able to
utilize CRM to help carve and position a distinction for their brands from their rivals
in the minds of their consumers and expectantly beget desirable effects, including
heightened efficiency for other marketing initiatives, an ability to charge higher
prices. While broader perspectives depict it as a strategy, whereby a firm actualizes
its marketing objectives by partnering with a social cause (Gupta and Pirsch, 2006),
others offer a more restrictive perspective, where organizations contribute specific
amounts to designated causes in an attempt to satiate organizational as well as
individual objectives (Varadarajan and Menon, 1988).
In todays technology-empowered world, steered by innovation, the concept of
CRM has undergone certain refurbishments. Indeed, while academics debate the
subtitles of versatile definitions, practitioners have developed a wealth of applicative
papers analysing the concrete challenges and opportunities of implementing the
systems (Bacuvier et al. 2001). Frow and Payne (2004) appended that CRM stresses
two-way communication from the customer to the supplier to build a robust customer
8
base over time. This two-way communication has been enhanced significantly by
advances in technology particularly the Internet. Today, in a digital world, CRM
could be identified as a synergetic application of an enterprise-wide technological
integration, such as data warehousing, websites, intranet/extranet, phone support
system, accounting, sales, marketing and production. Furthermore, the focus has
now shifted to the present generation who are deeply concerned about social
issues (Howe and Strauss, 2000). Cone (2002) had observed that with more and
more companies implementing cause-related initiatives, communications is
increasingly critical to breaking through the clutter. Bush (2011) noted that social
media helps corporate citizenship values stand out in the communication clutter
and is a perfect fit with corporate responsibility. Furlow (2011) further observed that
people today are highly reliant on the power of network marketing and form
meaningful associations with causes over Online Social Networks (OSNs). These
OSNs are distinguished by their interactivity, thus making them dominant implements
in efficaciously influencing consumer behaviour. As Hill and Moran (2011) discerned,
this interactivity, coupled with elevated degrees of customization, raised the odds
of OSNs to increase the attention, retention and interest of consumers so as to
actively connect with the organization when compared to more traditional media
vehicles.
Porter et al. (2011), brought to light one of the biggest impediments in the use of
OSNs for CRM activities, in terms of the actualization of long-term engagement of
the community members. To address this issue, they argued that the core focus
of the community sponsors should be on generating their active participation,
such that consumers evolve from their earlier shell of using the community to
realize their own needs to utilizing it as a strategic tool to advocate for and support
the organization. To this end, multiple strategies may be employed, such as
providing incentives for users to connect with each other while contributing with
high-quality inputs as well as offering them content diversity and customization of
services.
Based on the aforementioned studies, we propose that the key lies in sustaining
long-term customer engagement and cooperation, for which the OSN community
manager must ensure that a holistic platform is provided, which would enable its
members to live through a bona fide liaison with the network and even feel
empowered by the same. In addition to the above proposition, we have also observed
that there have been a mere handful of studies which address the issue of consumer
purchase behaviour on the basis of various CRM campaigns highlighted on OSNs
such as Facebook. According to a study entitled Connected Life conducted by a
global research consultancy firm, TNS, 51 percent of internet users in India use
Facebook, making it the most popular OSN in India. This is why we have truncated
the number of OSN variables to only Facebook.
OBJECTIVES AND HYPOTHESIS FORMULATION

Based on the research gap, we have developed certain hypotheses, which are a
simple reflection of the objectives of our study. With the objective of addressing the
aforementioned research problem, we shall ask respondents about certain key
research questions, which have been listed as follows:
Objective 1: To identify the most relevant factors influencing CRM initiatives on
OSNs
Objective 2: To analyse and test the following hypotheses:
H1: CRM campaigns on Facebook have a direct positive impact on Consumer
Purchase Intention (CPI)
H2: The use of Facebook has a positive impact on the consumers perception of
the CRM campaign
H3: The use of Facebook has a favourable influence on the attitudes of consumers
towards the specific cause in the aftermath of the Facebook CRM campaign
H4: There is a positive association between consumers perception of the CRM
campaign on Facebook and Consumer Purchase Intention (CPI)
H5: There is a positive association between consumers attitude towards the CRM
campaign on Facebook and Consumer Purchase Intention (CPI)
These hypotheses have been captured and summarized in the following conceptual
model, which has been illustrated below:
With the aid of this conceptual model, we shall analyse the impact of the predictor
variables on the dependent variables in the subsequent section on Findings and
Analysis of Data.
Independent
Variable
Mediating
Variables
H2
Cause-Related
Marketing on OSNs
OSN
Consumer's
Perception
Dependent
Variable
H4
Consumer Purchase
Intention
H1
H3
ONS
Consumer's
Attitude
H5
Exhibit 1: A Conceptual Model highlighting the impact of CRM initiatives on Consumer

Purchase Intention via OSNs
10
RESEARCH DESIGN AND METHODOLOGY

The study is primarily quantitative in nature. A total of 187 questionnaires have
been administered randomly for the purpose of generating responses required for
our study, out of which we have generated 176 completed responses, thereby
allowing us to have a response rate of 94.1%. These responses have been collected
using a structured questionnaire, which has been designed specifically for the
purpose of this study. The questionnaire was segmented into three parts:
Demographic Profiling, Facebook Usage Status and Consumer Responses towards
Cause Related Marketing Campaigns on Facebook. However, some questions were
adapted from the study conducted by Dias (2012) and have been blended in the
context of online social networking. It has been assumed, however, that all
respondents access and have access to OSNs, and are all Facebook users. The
results of the analysis have been supported by IBM SPSS 23 software package
and conclusions have been drawn on the basis of the results generated by it.
FINDINGS AND ANALYSIS OF DATA
The study conducted shall offer a novel perspective on how consumers respond
to CRM campaigns on Facebook.
Demographic Profiling of Respondents
A terse demographic profile of respondents has been furnished below in Table 1.
Table 1: Frequency Table for Demographic Profiling
Demographic Elements
16
77
43
25
15
0.09
0.44
0.24
0.14
0.09
TOTAL
176
1.00
Male
Female
TOTAL
84
92
176
0.48
0.52
1.00
Below INR 10000

INR 10001 INR 25000
INR 25001 INR 50000
INR 50001 INR 100000
Above INR 100000
15
68
51
23
19
0.09
0.39
0.29
0.13
0.10
176
1.00
Gender of Respondents
TOTAL
Percentage
Below 20
21-29
30-44
45-60
Above 60
Age of Respondents
of Respondents
Monthly Income
Frequency
11
Of the 176 responses recorded, majority of the population belong to the 21-29
(n=77; 44%) age group. The income parameter is largely scattered within the
range of INR 10001 to INR 50000 (n=119, 68%). The male female ratio is pegged
at 12:13, which is more or less balanced.
The respondents were hence asked about their frequency of usage of Facebook
per day, using a 5-point Likert Scale ranging from Very Often to Never. The
results indicate that 37% of the respondents use Facebook often each day (n=65),
while 24% (n=42) use it very often on any given day. Only 3% (n=3) use Facebook
rarely on a daily basis. This observation gives us an insight of the usage statistics
of Facebook in the Indian context. This made us inquisitive about their medium of
usage with reference to Facebook. The results have revealed that 78% (n=137) of
the respondents access Facebook using smartphones, while 19% (n=33) use their
laptops or PCs. This is also reflective of the massive upsurge in the popularity of
smartphones across India.
Reliability Analysis
We have hence, tried to test for internal consistency among the given set of items
in the questionnaire. For this, we have used Cronbachs alpha to gauge how
closely the items are related to each other as a group. The overall results have
been indicated below:
Table 2: Table representing Reliability Analysis using Cronbachs Alpha
Cronbachs Alpha Coefficient
0.814
No. of Items
20
Table 2 shows that the coefficient for Cronbachs Alpha is 0.814, which is indicative
of an overall high degree of consistency or reliability.
Factor Analysis
A Factor analysis was undertaken to probe into the underlying factors of CRM
initiatives based on the attitudinal and perceptual responses of the respondents.
The object was to reduce attribute space from a larger number of variables to a
smaller number of factors and thus identify, which were the most important factors
influencing CRM initiatives on Facebook. To this end, the KMO and Bartletts Test
of Sphericity has been used first to check for adequacy of sample size and
significance of undertaking the study. This has been portrayed in the following
table (Table 3):
Table 3: Table representing KMO and Bartletts Test of Sphericity
Kaiser-Meyer-Olkin Measure of Sampling Adequacy
Approx. Chi-Square
Bartletts Test of Sphericity
df
Sig.
12
0.867
937.627
18
0.000
In accordance with the results obtained from Factor Analysis, the KMO Test confirms
the appropriateness of factor analysis. This is explained by the KMO test-statistic
which is 0.867 which is greater than the idealistic figure of 0.5. The Bartletts test
of Sphericity indicates the validity and suitability of responses in the data set. The
p-value in this case is significant at 5% level, given that p=0.000 (p<0.05). Hence,
it is appropriate for us to conduct factor analysis.
The KMO and Bartletts Test is succeeded by the Total Variance Explained (TVE),
as illustrated in Table 4. According to the TVE, the results will indicate the number
of factors derived on the condition that Eigen values are greater than 1 (Eigen
Values>1). We have listed out only the 4 factors in accordance with their respective
factor loadings.
Table 4: Table representing Total Variance Explained
Initial Eigen Values
Component
1
2
3
4
Total
7.394
2.001
1.436
1.276
% of Var. Cum. %
36.968
10.003
7.181
6.381
36.968
46.971
54.152
60.533
Loadings
Total
% of Var.
Cum. %
3.536
3.384
2.769
2.417
17.681
16.922
13.845
12.085
17.681
34.603
48.448
60.533
The above table (Table 4) indicates that 4 factors account for 61% of the total
variance. The remaining factors capture lesser percentages of Total Variances as
the percentages gradually keep on falling. This has been graphically substantiated
using a Scree Plot in Exhibit 2.
Exhibit 2: Figure representing Scree Plot of Factors having Eigen Values greater than 1
13
Following the Scree Plot, which portrays four factors which have been extracted
using Principal Component Analysis (PCA), we finally arrive at the Rotated
Component Matrix. However, to ensure more accuracy, we have suppressed the
smaller coefficients having an absolute value of 0.5. They have been rotated using
Varimax rotation with Kaiser Normalization. The rotated component matrix has been
illustrated below in Table 5:
Table 5: Table representing Rotated Component Matrix
(with Factor Loadings)
Component
1
X1
X2
0.700
X3
0.905
X4
0.905
X5
0.714
0.713
X6
0.629
X7
X8
0.817
0.665
X9
0.845
X10
0.691
X11
X12
0.702
0.683
X13
X14
0.766
X15
0.500
X16
0.719
0.691
X17
X18
X19
X20
0.555
Extraction Method: Principal Component Analysis; Rotation Method: Varimax with

Kaiser Normalization.; Rotation converged in 6 iterations.
14
On the basis of Table 5, we have grouped all the variables into 4 factors, which
account for the variability among all the other factors. These four factors have
been renamed as follows:
(a) Feel-good factor, comprising of Perennial Brand Loyalty (X5), Brand
Importance (X8), Self-Happiness and Brand Pride (X12), Strong Brand EQ
(X16) and Popularity-Risk Aversion (X20).
(b) Individual Allusion, consisting of Societal Goodness Reminiscence (X6), Brand
Image Similarity (X9), CRM Message Following (X11), CRM Brand WOM (X13)
and Strong Impression (X17)
(c) Self-Association, encompassing CRM Emotional Connect (X2), CRM impulse
purchase (X3) and CRM Purchase Intention (X4).
(d) OSN Engagement, embracing Online CRM Support (X10), Direct Interactivity
(X14) and Feedback Mechanism (X15).
These 4 factors overall reflect the major reasons which are known to influence
customers with reference to various CRM initiatives on OSNs. They are all quite
relevant in that procuring products or brands which endorse a pertinent cause
triggers a feel-good factor in the minds of the consumers. It also serves as a
medium of self-reference, enabling the consumer to allude to OSNs as well while
purchasing. The OSNs play a pivotal role in creating a direct and often-positive
engagement with the partnering brand and the customers. Through its interactive
interface, customers can get a real-time feel of the brand and the cause it is trying
to endorse.
Testing of Hypothesis
For the purpose of hypothesis testing, we have used linear regression modelling.
The regression coefficient is computed by taking the Cause Related Marketing
(CRM) and Consumer Purchase Intention (CPI) factors, where CRM is taken as the
independent variable and CPI as dependent variable.
Hypothesis 1
The alternate hypothesis in case of Hypothesis 1 states that CRM campaigns on
Facebook (OSN) have a direct positive impact on Consumer Purchase Intention.
The results from Table 3 indicate that there exists a moderately strong impact
(r=0.586) of CRM campaigns hosted on Facebook on the overall purchase intention
of consumers. The regression statistics are shown in the following tables:
Table 6: Model Summary for Regression Analysis
Model
R Square
Adjusted R Square
0.732a
0.536
0.533
Std. Error of the Estimate

1.034
Predictors: (Constant), CRM

15
The R-squared value is pegged at 0.536, which indicates that the model is fit, or
it is a good regression model. The sums of squares help us compute the variance
estimates as displayed in the ANOVA Table in Table 7.
Table 7: Table representing ANOVA Results
Model
Sum of Squares
df
Mean Square
Sig.
Regression
80.796
80.796
75.558
0.000b
Residual
186.062
174
1.069
Total
266.858
175
a. Dependent Variable: CPI

b. Predictors: (Constant), CRM
From Table 7, we can observe that the F-value is 75.56 and the p-value is significant
at 1% level (p=0.000). This has been concluded using a regression analysis, using
the various coefficients.
Table 8: Regression Coefficients
Model
Unstandardized
Coefficients
B
Std. Error
Standardized
Coefficients
Sig.
6.539
0.000
(Constant)
0.814
0.127
Feel-good Factor
0.392
0.034
0.572
9.434
0.000
Individual Allusion
0.323
0.035
0.276
4.321
0.000
Self-Association
0.324
0.342
0.132
0.345
0.000
OSN Engagement
0.538
0.332
0.144
0.685
0.000
a. Dependent Variable=Consumer Purchase Intention (CPI)

From the above multiple regression analysis, we can deduce the following regression
equation:
Here, let us consider Y as the independent variable (CRM initiative on OSNs) and
X as the dependent variable (CPI). The regression equation as we know is:
Y = +B1X1 + B2X2 + B3X3 + B4X4 + e
On the basis of above Regression Coefficients table (Table 8) the above equation
can be substituted as:
Y = 0.814 + 0.392 X1 + 0.323 X2 + 0.324 X3 + 0.538 X4
Here, X1 = Factor 1 (Feel-good factor); X2 = Factor 2 (Individual-allusion); X3 =
Factor 3 (Self-Association) and X4 = Factor 4 (OSN Engagement)
16
The result of the regression analysis successfully conclude that the independent
variable, i.e. CRM, has a significant impact on the dependent variable CPI.
Hypothesis 2
We can deliberate on the second and the third hypothesis on the basis of a simple
correlation analysis only. H2 states that the use of Facebook to voice the CRM
campaign by an organization has a positive impact on the consumers perception
of the CRM campaign. In other words, it is reflective of the social media adoption
quotient of a CRM-focussed enterprise.
Table 9: Correlation Matrix indicating the degree of association
between all variables
CRM_OSN
OSNC_Per ONSC_Att
CRM_OSN
P. Correlation
Sig. (2-tailed)
1.000
OSNC_Per
P. Correlation
Sig. (2-tailed)
0.712**
0.000
1.000
ONSC_Att
P. Correlation
Sig. (2-tailed)
0.627**
0.000
0.695**
0.000
1.000
CPI
P. Correlation
Sig. (2-tailed)
0.586**
0.000
0.512**
0.000
0.591**
0.000
CPI
1.000
**Correlation is significant at 0.01 level (2-tailed)
The results of a correlation analysis conducted indicate that there exists a strong
correlation (r=0.712) between CRM initiatives conducted on Facebook and consumer
perceptions towards the same. Since it is significant at 1% level of significance
(p=0.000), we can reject the null hypothesis and accept the alternate hypothesis,
thereby concluding that CRM campaigns which are conducted using Facebook are
favourably perceived by the users.
Hypothesis 3
Similarly, H3 states that the use of Facebook has a favourable influence on consumer
attitudes towards the specific cause in the aftermath of the Facebook CRM campaign.
The correlation results indicate a rather strong relationship (r=0.627) between the
two constructs. It implies that CRM campaigns on Facebook leave a positive impact
on the minds of the consumers in the aftermath of the campaign. Since the p-value
is significant at 5% level, we can reject the null hypothesis and accept the alternate
hypothesis which observes that CRM campaigns which are conducted using
Facebook have a favourable attitudinal response by the users or customers.
17
Hypothesis 4
H4 states that there is a positive association between consumers perception of the
CRM campaign on Facebook and Consumer Purchase Intention The correlation
results indicate that there exists a moderately strong relationship between (r=0.512)
the two factors and since they are significant at 1% level, we can reject the null
hypothesis and accept the alternate hypothesis, and safely conclude that there
exists a favourable association between consumer perception of CRM campaigns
on Facebook and CPI.
Hypothesis 5
H5 states that there is a positive association between consumers attitude towards
the CRM campaign on Facebook and Consumer Purchase Intention The correlation
results indicate that there exists a strong relationship between (r=0.591) the two
factors and since they are significant at 1% level, we can reject the null hypothesis
and accept the alternate hypothesis, and safely conclude that there exists a
favourable association between consumer attitude of CRM campaigns on Facebook
and CPI.
CASE STUDIES IN THE INDIAN CONTEXT
In this segment, we shall deliberate on the concept of CRM with the aid of a few
contemporaneous case studies in the Indian context.
There are several success stories where companies have been able to tap the
underlying concept of CRM to derive success. Consider how Idea Cellular, a division
of the Aditya Birla Group, which has been one of the longstanding players in the
Indian telecom industry, is committed to foster a positive influence on the environment
as well as society. Idea Cellular launched its Use Mobile Save Paper campaign in
the year 2010, wherein they have undertaken the responsibility of educating 500
million people in India. By virtue of this campaign, the company has been able to
capture the attention of their customers in relation to the alarming rate of
deforestation occurring around us.
HULs Lifebuoy is another success saga in the arena of CRM campaigns undertaken
on OSNs. Its Help A Child Reach 5 campaign aimed to eradicate preventable
deaths from diseases like diarrhoea one village at a time, by teaching lifesaving
handwashing habits. HUL helped reduce incidence of diarrhoea from 36% to 5% in
the village of Thesgora. These results testify the fact that handwashing programmes
have significant positive impact on health of the community. In fact, HUL now plans
to scale up the hand wash campaign to reach 45 million people in the country.
The story that captures our attention the most is Facebooks Internet.org initiative
instituted in collaboration with six companies namely, Samsung, Ericsson, MediaTek,
Opera Software, Nokia and Qualcomm. Putting aside the heavy criticism that
Internet.org has received in India for violating net neutrality and giving preferentiality
18
to Facebooks own services over its rivals, the idea in itself, is one of the best
illustrations of a CRM campaign undertaken on OSNs. Hence, from a strictly academic
perspective, we shall tersely mull over the Internet.org initiative as an exemplary
illustration of CRM. Indeed, this campaign plans to bring affordable access to
selected Internet services to people in the lesser developed countries, much like
India and China, by increasing efficiency, and facilitating the development of new
business models around the provision of Internet access. In September 2015,
Facebook changed the name of Internet.org to Free Basics to highlight that the
campaign did not endorse net neutrality and continued to propagate the use of
zero-rated platforms. In fact, Mark Zuckerberg, the Chairman and CEO of the
company, has on Facebook, exhibited in his Facebook wall page, the case of Aasif
Mujawar, a soybean farmer from rural Maharashtra, India, who has two daughters,
and asserts that he makes better parenting decisions by accessing expert advice
through the BabyCenter app for free through Internet.org. In fact, millions of people
like Aasif have been using Internet.org to get vital health information, such that
BabyCenter and MAMA apps have reach 3.4 million people through Internet.orgs
Free Basics services alone. This sui generis initiative aims at bringing together
technology leaders, non-profits and local communities to foster a liaison between
the two-thirds of the world that do not possess Internet access. Truth be told,
connecting billions of people is am colossal global endeavour that mandates
perennial innovation.
MANAGERIAL IMPLICATIONS
It is no rocket science that cause-related marketing and social accountability are
beneficial to all individuals. Further, social networking sites such as Facebook and
Twitter help connect people to other compatible people across the globe.
Conversations between online and offline friends influence buying decisions.
Expressing humanity and engaging stakeholders with a compelling cause positively
energizes a brand. CRM is a happening issue today and social media is nothing
but its communication partner. There is indisputable evidence that people of this
generation, claim to be socially conscious and brand loyal to organizations that are
aligned with causes that they support. Thus, in an effort to engage these consumers,
a large number of brands are reaching out to these young consumers where they
can most likely find them on OSNs such as Facebook. Although it is a matter of
concern that people might become jaded by businesses that do not live up to their
cause marketing claims, cause-marketers should also be alert about the fact that
too many causes online may impair their initiatives.
REFERENCES
1.
Bacuvier, G., Peladeau, P., Trichet, A. and Zerbib, P. (2001), Customer Lifetime Value:
Powerful Insights into a Companys Business and Activities, Booz Allen Website, Available
at: http://www.bah.com/viewpoints/insights/cmt clv 2.html
19
2.
Bloom, P.N., Hoeffler, S., Keller, K.L., and Meza, C.E.B. (2006), How Social-caused Marketing
affects Consumer Perceptions. MIT Sloan Management Review, Vol. 47 (2), pp. 49-55
3.
Bush, M. (2011), What is Social CRM? Advertising Age, Vol. 82(9), pp. 1-2
4.
Cone, C. (2002), 2002 Cone Corporate Citizenship Study: The Role of Cause Branding,
Retrieved from Cone Inc. Available at: http://www.coneinc.com /stuff /contentmgr /files /0/
7c6165bb378273babd958 415d58ec980/files/2002_cone_corporate_citizenship_study.pdf
5.
Dias, I. (2012), Cause-related marketing on Facebook: How successful is it really?,

Universidade Catlica Portuguesa, pp. 1-100
6.
Frow, P. and Payne, A. (2004), Customer Relationship Management: From Strategy To

Implementation, ANZMAC 2005 Conference: Business Interaction, Relationships and
Networks, pp. 85-93
7.
Furlow, N. E. (2011), Find us on Facebook: How Cause Marketing has Embraced Social
Media, Journal of Marketing Development and Competitiveness, Vol. 5(6), pp. 61-64
8.
Gupta, S. and Pirsch, J. (2006), A Taxonomy of Cause-related Marketing Research:

Current Findings and Future Research Directions, Journal of Non-profit and Public Sector
Marketing, Vol. 12 (1/2), pp. 25-43
9.
Hill, R. P. and Moran, N. (2011), Social Marketing meets Interactive Media: Lessons for
the Advertising Community, International Journal of Advertising, Vol. 30(5), pp. 815-838
10. Howe, N., and Strauss, W. (2000), Millennials Rising: The Next Great Generation, New
York: Vintage Books
11. Kawamura, M. (2004), The Evolution of Corporate Social Responsibility in Japan (Part 1)
Parallels with the History of Corporate Reform. Nippon Life Insurance (NLI) Research,
pp. 1-10.
12. Porter, C. E., Donthu, N., MacElroy, W. H. and Wydra, D. (2011), How to foster and sustain
engagement in Virtual Communities, California Management Review, Vol. 53(4), summer
2011, pp. 80-110
13. Qamar, N. (2013), Impact of Cause Related Marketing on Consumer Purchase Intention:
Mediating Role of Corporate Image, Consumers Attitude and Brand Attractiveness, MiddleEast Journal of Scientific Research, Vol. 16 (3), pp. 633-643
14. Youn, S. and Kim, H. (2008), Antecedents of Consumer Attitudes toward Cause-related
Marketing. Journal of Advertising Research, Vol. 48 (1), pp. 123-137
15. Varadarajan, P.R. and Menon, A. (1988), Cause-Related Marketing: A Co-alignment of
Marketing Strategy and Corporate Philanthropy, Journal of Marketing, Vol. 52 (3), pp. 5874
20
The Phychology Behind Investors Behaviour

Gautami Chattopadhyay* & Dr.Gagan Pareek**
ABSTRACT
Recent studies accept that psychological factors play a major role in investment decisions and
economic performance. The fact is that investors make decisions with fundamental uncertainty
regarding the future, and for doing so, they seem to use psychological instincts based on the
viability or otherwise of the proposed investment into account. Because investment markets are
complex in nature, the most important trait of a good investor requires an understanding of
tolerance level (self) and understanding the potential risk which clarify why avoiding big
mistakes are more important than trying to achieve market-beating performance. As individual
behavioural attributes becomes a massive factor relating to investments, it requires emotional
prowess from the part of investors to acquire fruitful outcomes. When investors plan is tied to
their perceived goals and not tied to any biases, it has a better foundation for dealing with
uncertainty and its effect on their decisions. This helps also to identify the determinants and
behavioural patterns of individuals while investing and its affect in financial decisions. By
understanding human psychological functioning, attitudinal inputs involved in investing and
financing may help to avoid common errors and make investment behavior better.
Key Words:
Investment, Risk, Emotions, Behavioural Finance
INTRODUCTION
Human behavior may be defined as the stamina of physical and mental activities
where our emotions play a vital role in forming social bustle experienced during the
five stages of our life namely: prenatal, infancy, childhood, adolescence, and
adulthood. This has great affect as dictated by any culture, society, norms, values
and ethics along with genetics. In case of investors we may share after going
through research that they are sacrificing of certain present value in lieu of uncertain
future reward. A better understanding of behavioral processes is crucial for the
investment advisors or financial planners to acknowledge and appreciate about
how investors respond to market movements. This would help them to chalk out
prudent strategies relating to better asset allocation for their stakeholders. Studies
have shown that Behavioral Finance states -investors are irrational, and are
regulated by emotions and sentiments. It depicts that while selling or buying a
stock, an investor generally takes the decision based on self perceptions and
*
Research-Scholar, (Management/Humanities and Social Science), Techno India University, Kolkata 700091, Email: gautami811@yahoo.com
**
Associate Professor, HOD Management, Techno India University, Kolkata - 700091,

Email: gpareek76 @gmail.com
21
beliefs rather than fundamental awareness. Therefore chances of committing

mistakes gets more because of limited awareness, over confidence, influence of
agent/broker or peer pressure.
REVIEW OF LITERATURE
A lot of research has been conducted in the recent past. There has been a need
to identify the factors that influence investor behavior. In a review presented by
Shalla Harrison and Kreps (1978) it was pointed out that individual investors behave
differently depending on the information they had or gather from sources. Ritter
(2003) felt the need to include Behavioural Finance in the main stream of finance
and it still needs to be explored further for research.
Takahashi and Terano (2003) have analyzed that the prices are influenced by,
investors and investment systems. They introduced fundamentalist and nonfundamentalist types of investors. Lee (2004) on study of investor behavior of
option market in the bubble period late 1990s and early 2000 proved that purchase
of puts decreased in order to overcome short-sale constraints.
Wanyana (2007) said psychology of investors plays a huge role in the performance
of the stock market. The investors tend to invest in stocks with higher maturity
period compared to stocks with lower maturity period. They also prefer local stocks
compared to foreign stocks in the market. They also rely more on highly publicized
stocks in the media.
Srinavasa (2007) in his study on individual investor behavior said that there is a
correlation between the factors that behavorial finance theory and previous empirical
evidence identify as the influencing factors for the average equity investors. Dr.
Kishore presented a paper, which claimed that investor behavior is affected by lack
of quality of information available to them and it is the duty of the analysts to study
the human element and devise strategies and instruments for them.
Barnea, Cronqvisit and Segal (2009) made an interesting conclusion that investors
are biologically predisposed to take decisions in the stock market. John, Wranik
and Salovey (2009) discussed about the influence of emotional intelligence on
investor behavior. They confirmed strong relation between psychological instructs
and behavorial finance. There is a need of products and services, which can
overcome psychological biases.
Elan (2010) identified the role of investment professionals to advice and monitor
the accounts of investors judiciously. Karol Hadon (2010) said Investor behavior
depends on non-financial factors. They are emotion-driven. People tend to make
bad decisions as they depend on other persons decisions and instincts, this is
called fear of autonomy. Sometimes people have a belief that possessing wealth
is shameful, this is called fear of wealth. Fear of risk occurs when people are risk
averse and are reluctant to take decisions as they fear that the decisions might
22
incur losses. Addiction to acquisition of money is the attraction towards fame,

power and status quo. Difference of decision taking also depends on the stage of
life. A younger person makes decision based on peer pressure but an older person
is able to apply logic and experience.
Barbara and Ordean (2011) Majority of investors hold poorly diversified portfolio
and get carried away by unnecessary media hype. They tend to sell the good
assets and hold on to the less profitable ones.Chandra and Kumar (2011) found
that determinants of investor behavior like precautious attitude, conservatism, under
confidence, information asymmetry, financial addiction, conservatism and under
confidence which were not mentioned in previous studies were determined by him.
Dharmaja, Ganesh and Santhi (2011) found through research (mostly focused on
Geojit BNP Paribas Financial Service Limited, Coimbatore) that accounting
information was the most influencing factor and proved that advocate
recommendation was the least influencing factor.
Lee and Kao in their study of the Taiwan Stock market hypothesized that there
exists no significant difference between investment behavior and the background
of the investor. They said that depending on the assets they possess they select
the market. Many factors like age, gender, marital status, education, career, income
and average amount of quarterly investment did not have significant influence. The
most predominant factors were market selection and investor expectations.
Bhatt, Kumar and Malekar (2012) on study of investment behavior in Mumbai Fenil
felt that Mumbai being a financial capital, investors are more aware of the market
and possess the necessary, time, energy and sources to compete in the market.
Yet they feel there is a need of a financial planner. Mathi and Kungumapriya (2012)
on their study on Investor Behavior in Rural areas found the need of financial
inclusion and financial awareness in these isolated areas as the growth of the
economy depends not just on urban but rural areas as well.
Kaur and Vohra (2012) pointed out the inequalities in the society, which prevents
them from participating with men in the stock market. They feel there is a need of
change in attitude and promotion of literacy programs to involve more women in
the stock market.
Allanjar (2013) discussed about the irrational behavior of the Stock market. He
states traditional finance theory is not enough to describe their behavior. Investors
should be further protected by stock market policies and regulations introduced by
the government.
Imran and Rehman (2013) identified stock attributes including dividend volatility
end, price trends and volatility, firms status in the market, source of recommendation,
corporate social performance, firms status in the market, sources of recommendation,
corporate reputation, corporate social performance, firms visibility in the media on
23
investor behavior but factors such as management team competence, knowledge

about products and services, firms principal place of operations and investor relation
management do not have influence on individual equity investors.
RESEARCH OBJECTIVES
To gain a better insight regarding the psychological features of investors, to avoid
mistakes and illusions and develop fine skills towards obtaining best results from
investment.
BEHAVIOURAL THEORIES
Psychologists mentioned that, its in the human nature to be emotional, and the
experiences of life, gets richer for it. But this same emotion at times reduces
investment returns when investors make systematic errors in their investment thinking,
due to their emotions, and innate cognitive biases. They endure from confirmation
bias, tending to seek out instances to support their position rather than select the
fundamentals that might deny it. To invest better, know in depth about human
psychology. Speculate how emotions lead to cognitive errors, so as to avoid those
errors and safeguard ourselves. Ruch (1970) stated that emotions play a vital role
in our motivational patterns. When strong emotions arise strong motives are satisfied.
Further focus was given on this fact that investor behavior often diverge from
compelling reasons. Biases can simply be stated as preferences for a certain thing
or purposive view point. Investment decisions get intricate because of the emotional
processes, mental mistakes, and individual personality traits associated with them.
As individual behavioural attributes becomes a massive factor relating to investments,
it requires emotional prowess from the part of investors to acquire success. People
tend to make judgments to derive opportunities after analyzing the surrounding
without knowing about certain biases they put observations through a number of
screens made by their experiential learning. There is no exact remedy for human
psyche, but greater awareness of biases can, and expert advisers avoid major
pitfalls.
Most people are aware that emotions affect decision making. Investing biases can
be framed in two categories cognitive and emotional. Cognitive biases may lead to
more effective actions in a given context as these enable faster decisions when
time span take precedence over accuracy. Consider this point, how often it is that
individuals analyzed a stock and proceeded with thorough research. Most likely
they make similar types of assumptions. These assumptions are cognitive in nature
and acts as fixed norms which may or may not be factual. Emotional biases can
be stipulated as those factors which incline any individual to take decisions primarily
based on emotional cues even though more rational options are available. At times
certain overlap exists between cognitive and emotional biases, hence it is termed
as behavioural biases. A fruitful aspect to stop such biases is to gather clear idea
of them. Research has shown that there is consistency in the publics deviations
24
from objective risk assessments and that affective/emotional reactions appear to

drive both perceived benefit and perceived risk. (Alhakami and Slovic, 1994;
Finucane et al 2000) found that if any particular stock was preferred, by people
then their perception is to judge its risks as low and its benefits as high on the
other hand where the stock was not preferred, the risk judgments gets high and
low benefit which derives out a negative relationship between risk and return.
Further it was mentioned by Finucane et al.(2000) that stock market, investors
are prone towards local bias where investments in local stocks are more preferred
than foreign stocks hence a low perceived risk for such stocks and higher likelihood
for investing in them. Thus, by evading behavioural biases investors can promptly
select ideas based on available data and logical measures.
Cognitive psychologists have documented many patterns of human behavior which
tries to justify the theories behind investors emotions/affect: Heuristics; Anchoring;
Gambler s Fallacy; Overconfidence; Mental Accounting; Framing;
Representativeness; Conservatism; Disposition effect; Loss Aversion, Regret
Aversion. Affect is a generic term that refers to many experiential concepts including
moods, emotions, attitudes, evaluations and preferences. Emotions are acute, they
are relatively momentary experiences. Studies show that affect is a major component
to understand investors behavior.
Investors Behavioural Aspects
Influencing
Factors
Attitudinal
Factors
Motivating
factors
Overcoming Barriers
When studies are conducted about investors behavioral style they are catogerized
in three types according to their expectations:
l
More return with minimum risk
More return with comparatively higher risk
High return with higher risk.
25
As shown in the figure Investors Behavioural Aspects may be classified into three
factors like influencing, motivating, attitudinal. These three factors mainly regulated
by overt and inert behavior and relates with philosophical and speculative concepts
with consciousness, feelings, experiences likewise. These three terms are intertwined
in many instances but consists a slight difference as elucidated.
Firstly influencing factors is able to help shape peoples views or opinions and, to
produce an effect by creating imperceptible or intangible means or, to sway and
modify decisions of a person or even (in some cases) a group in some way.
Examples of most influencing agents on investors may be listed as:
i)
the past performance and goodwill of the company;
ii)
Dividend policies / Rate of return ;
iii) Gain maximum wealth quickly in short span of time;

Influencing factors work like a skill on the part of investors decision-making strategies.
It has been noticed in some of the cases heuristic factors portrays a negative form
of influence and becomes a hurdle. Speculation of the market gets extremely
necessary in these situations.
Secondly motivating factors are to act on the conceptual thoughts and give a
reason to get certain benefit by taking action. These factors implicate with attitudinal
factors to preview investors pattern of behavior. Examples of motivating factors
are:
i)
Desire to achieve a goal like (childs marriage, education for children, home
etc)
ii)
Family and peer groups opinion.
iii) I mproving financial status.

Attitudinal factors mainly relates to mental orientation and emotional position. These
factors shape the investors ideology in who and what they are, in their part the
investors may feel empowered and energetic when prudent decisions are made.
Examples of attitudinal factors are:
l
Risk tolerance- the higher the level of tolerance is the more aggressive
pattern of behavior can be noticed in particular investors.
Investors separating their investments between a safe investment and a

speculative portfolio in order to prevent the negative returns.
To obtain a clear idea we may state that, if fire is attitudinal then at the time when
matchstick is rubbed to the matchbox its motivational and burning is influential.
Similarly we may align that risk bearing is attitudinal, gaining profit is motivational
and becoming rich is influential. From a practical standpoint, a great deal of
uncertainty remains regarding what individuals should do to better regulate the
influence of their affective feelings on decision making, even if principle evidence
26
supports that greater affective influence regulation will lead to higher decisionmaking performance. Hence supports a way to reduce the uncertainty and, in
doing so.
Behavioural finance investigates the role of biases in decision making, such as the
use of simple rules of thumb for making complex investment decisions thus its
impact on the markets. Generally it has implications on social sciences, but it is
also highly applicable to the field of investing. Biases occur when information is
complex, decisions involve risk and uncertainty, also people are excited to see things
only positively with considering all aspects (e.g., investment will make me rich soon),
and when people feel the desperation in their short-term vs. long-term desires
(e.g., spending now vs. saving for future).
METHODOLOGY
The paper is based on information involving personality and risk avoidance that
are used in this study are regularly highlighted as evidence and well established
in the management and industrial/organizational psychology literature.
FINDINGS
Some interesting facts which had been highlighted in Financial Journals regarding
the behavioral aspects of Indian scenario rendered by the studies performed:
Most of the investors discuss with their family and friends or peers before
making a decision.
Majority of the investment decisions in stock market are influenced by brokers
/agents.
There is lack of awareness about the financial market among the investors.
Risk tolerance level in old people is very low.
Most Investors prefer to keep their funds in avenues like Life insurance, FD,
Gold and Real Estate.
Majority of the active and regular Investors belong to accountancy and
related employment, non-financial management and some other occupations
are very few.
Male investors dominate the investment market in India.
CONCLUSION
Psychological research has documented certain parameters of biases that may
affect decision making process while investing among others. These biases probes
deep within the psyche and acts as fundamental part of human nature, they affect
all types of investors. Understanding these biases may help investors work better
and process to work around them.
Some of the key biases that affect financial decisions include:
Investing with overconfidence, which lead to inappropriate or risky
investments.
27
Avoiding investing decisions altogether, which means either they dont save
for the future, or stay with an inappropriate strategy.
Limitations are mainly the number of financial instruments in the financial market
is vast and contain lot of options hence requires lot of resources to analyse them
all and provide accurate picture.
Although investors cannot keep all biases at arms length, they can subdue their
effects. This requires going over ones behavioural biases, resisting the tendency
to engage in those. Investors also need to invest for the long-term span, identify
self level of risk tolerance, determine a good plan towards appropriate asset allocation
and rebalance portfolios at least once a year. Individuals should make them financially
aware and this will truly help them to reach their investment objectives.
REFERENCES
1.
Charles, A., Kasilingam, R. (2014), Does individuals investment personality explore their
investment success?, ASIAN JOURNAL OF MANAGEMENT RESEARCH Volume 5, pp.
16 -30
2.
Griffin, D. and Tversky, A., (1992), The weighing of evidence and the determinants of
overconfidence, Cognitive Psychology, Vol. 24, pp. 41135.
3.
KAHNEMAN, Daniel, and Amos TVERSKY, (1996), On the Reality of Cognitive Illusions.
Psychological Review, Volume 103(3), pp.582591.
4.
Mayfield, C., Perdue, G. Wooten, K. (2008), Investment management and personality type,
Financial Services Review 17, pp. 219236
5.
MITROI, A.,(2014), Behavioral finance: biased individual investment decision making; like
the company but dislike the investment, Theoretical and Applied Economics Volume XXI
1(590), pp. 63-74
6.
Parashar, N., (2010), An Empirical Study on Personality Variation and Investment Choice
of Retail Investors, Journal of Management and Information Technology, Vol. 2, No. 1 , pp.
33-42
7.
Subrahmanyam, A.,(2007), Behavioural Finance: A Review and Synthesis, European

Financial Management Volume 14, pp. 12 29
28
Status Quo - Changing Scenario in

Human Resource
Monirul Islam*
ABSTRACT
Change has become a constant phenomenon. The interesting fact is that instead of engaging
with it as more of a compulsion, coercion, corporate are now proactively taking on change. The
constant effort to be agile and adaptable requires one to introspect on the roles formulation,
implementation of the strategic roles & its control. At the same time, measure are being initiated
and instituted in the industry to address the needs & demands of the present business scenario
with a glocal perspective. The article addresses the changes with particular focus on the HR
aspects.
Its no secret that employees attitudes, interest, opinions about their jobs, their benefits and
their employers can range from exuberant to sour. Whats less well known and harder to find
out is exactly what matter to specific types of employees and how effective various types of HRD
policies, practices, framework and workplace characteristic are, in spurring employee productivity
and retention. Since human resource development and management is culture sensitive,
therefore through this paper we shall examine the recent scenario of HRD in India context by
having a brief preview of HRD scenario in the global context as well as the changes with
particular focus on the HR aspects.
Key Words:
Glocal, HRD, attrition, performance appraisal, potential appraisal
INTRODUCTION
H = HEADS
U = UGRES OF HIGHER NATURE
M = MEMORY LIFE SMAPLES
A = ANALYTICAL ABILITY
N = NORMS
R = RECRUITMENT
E = ENABLING
S = SOUL
O = OUTSOURCING
U = UNDERSTANDING
*
Assistant Professor, Department of Business Administration, Aligarh Muslim University, AMUMC
29
R = RETURN
C = CULTURE
E = EFFECTIVE
P = PECULIARITIES/PERISHABLE
E = EMOTIONS
R = RELAXING ATTITUDE
S = SENSITIVITY
O = OBJECTIVES OF INDIVIDUALS
N = NORMS
The term Human Resource has been mentioned above reflects its function &
application in various fields and dimensions of life. It may also refer to the individuals
which comprises the workforce, manpower, man force etc of an organization. Human
Resource Management deals with recruiting, managing, developing and motivating
people including specialized support and managing system for regulating compliance
with employment and human rights standards.
Change is a word which cannot be more emphasized upon. It is universally known
to be a law of nature. In fact, while, the general connotation is of bigger picture;
it is all around even in terms of every changing moment. In organizational terms,
this calls for ongoing efforts to align itself amicably with the environment. One of
the most important insights that many organizations have got today is the fact
that doing more is not enough. Giving more in terms of monetary benefits is now
being paralleled by the struggle to manage people differently- creating an
imperative to innovate, transform & reengineer human capital practices. This has
a definite bearing on the performance management (PMS) of the organization.
Major employers are analyzing and assessing the returned value from each penny
& dollar spent on its work force and employees. They are frequently targeting &
positioning specific programs, principles and practice to the employees which
value them the most and becoming matter of due concern & important than ever.
Finding and determining what matter the most to the employees and equating
expenditures with priorities is a strategic and present challenges for HRD function.
Employee ought to change continuously due, in part, to change the changes in
personal preference but also in part to the churn that occurs as number of
employees leave and the new ones enter into the organization. Moreover, it is
neither cost effective nor pretty practical to satiate every employee. Therefore,
understanding employees, gather deeper related facts & figures and the grievances
and issues they face holds the key to the function to respond quickly and time
effective manner.
30
In order to recognise some change situations (problems/opportunities), it can be
known by nature of their complexity and particular characteristics, it require soft
rather than hard systems approaches to change; it consider the philosophy, value
orientation and theoretical underpinnings of Organisation Development (OD) as a
generalised example of soft systems models for change. Change is only effective
when peoples feelings, needs, perceptions, ways of doing things & hopes are
addressed. AND messy situations require managers to dissolve existing problems,
by challenging underlying purposes and assumptions.
Various factors such as power bases, organizational culture, leadership styles, and
changes in the organizations environment, can in many cases make organizational
change a lot more technically complex and emotionally charged (therefore messy)
than the Hard Systems Model of Change can adequately deal with. (Barbara
Senior- organizational change lectures guide 2002)
The return of value from the employees by the employer includes- HR Planning &
Implementation, Systems Set Up and Integration, Management Successor,
Identification & Assessment, Training Formal & Informal, Coaching- Internal &
External. The actual return for the whole organization involves an array of issues
regarding human resource viz., Lower Turnover & Recruiting Costs, Continuity of
Projects & Strategy, Greater Productivity, Fewer Leadership Gaps, Improved
Knowledge Transfer, Opportunity Costs, Greater Company Stability.
BROAD OBJECTIVES
a)
To know lack of adoption of intuitive and innovative HRD practices in

organization because of inadequacy in cooperation amongst trade unions.
b)
To explore the existing gap between demand and supply with respect to
competitive HRD professionals.
c)
To focus on the emphasis of organizational and LLL (life long learning).
SCOPE OF STUDY
Human resources are undoubtedly the key resources in an organization, the easiest
and the most difficult to manage! The scope of the HRM span right from the
manpower needs assessment to management and retention of the same. To this
effect Human resource management is responsible for effective designing and
implementation of various policies, procedures and programs. It is all about
developing and managing knowledge, skills, creativity, aptitude and talent and
using them optimally.
Human Resource Management is not just limited to manage and optimally exploit
human intellect. It also focuses on managing physical and emotional capital of
employees. Considering the intricacies involved, the scope of HRM is widening with
every passing day. It covers but is not limited to HR planning, hiring (recruitment
31
and selection), training and development, payroll management, rewards and

recognitions, Industrial relations, grievance handling, legal procedures etc. In other
words, we can say that its about developing and managing harmonious relationships
at workplace and striking a balance between organizational goals and individual
goals. The scope of HRM is extensive and far-reaching. Therefore, it is very difficult
to define it concisely. However, we may classify the same under following heads:
-
HRM in Personnel Management
HRM in Employee Welfare
HRM in Industrial Relations
METHODOLOGY
It includes various data collection methods. Data has been collected from various
Published & Unpublished Journals, Articles, Magazines, information available in
various websites, popular Journals, Text Books etc. which focused on various aspects
of HRM changes in corporate sector.
FINDINGS
This article discusses some of the aspects of changing business scenario and the
challenges involved, with special focus on the HR issues which are as follows: Temporary workforce - This has become a widely used phenomenon &
concept today. As the name truly suggests, it has to do with employees in an
organization, on a temporary basis. In 2013, 40 percent of surveyed hiring managers
expressed an interest in taking on temporary and contract employees. One year
later, that number rose to 42 percent, and most forecasters predict a continuing
rise into 2015. At this point, theres no doubt that temporary and contract
arrangements are a popular choice among employers. As the economy slowly
recovers from the recent downturn, hiring managers hesitate to take payroll risks
and make long term commitments. But at the same time, economic recovery means
growth, new product lines, new services, and expansion into new markets, and all
of these require extra pairs of hands.
Temporary employment contracts keep every gear in motion. They allow workers
to stay mobile and keep their skill sets fresh as they explore their long term
options, and they give hiring managers the chance to take on new workers during
business peaks, transitions, short term projects and periods of unpredictability.
With a temporary contract, both parties can get to know each other before deciding
to extend the relationship. And if the employee works with a temporary staffing
agency, she can simply be transferred to another assignment if she doesnt find
the temporary position acceptable.
Temporary arrangements lack stability and predictability, but in exchange, they
allow both workers and employers to travel light. And in many cases, these temporary
relationships become permanent when the contract period comes to an end.
32
According to the employment outlook report (April 2014- September 2014),

employment requirement is expected to grow not only across cities but also industry
and domains/ functional area. The Manpower Employment Outlook Survey for the
first quarter 2015 was conducted by interviewing a representative sample of 1,508
employers in Australia. All survey participants were asked, How do you anticipate
total employment at your location to change in the three months to the end of
March 2015 as compared to the current quarter?
Australian employers report encouraging signs for job seekers in the upcoming
quarter. With 19% of employers expecting to increase staffing levels, 12% forecasting
a decrease and 68% anticipating no change, the Net Employment Outlook stands
at +7%. Once the data is adjusted to allow for seasonal variation, the Outlook
stands at +8%. Hiring prospects decline by two percentage points when compared
with the previous quarter but remain relatively stable year-over-year.
Sector comparisons of temporary staff hiring
(Source:
The Manpower Employment Outlook Survey 2015)
(Source:
The Manpower Employment Outlook Survey 2015)
33
Global Employment Outlook
As per the data For the fourth consecutive quarter, employers in India report the
most optimistic forecast among all 42 countries and territories participating in the
survey. The Outlook is unchanged from three months ago but notably stronger in
a year-over-year comparison, with considerable year-over-year gains forecast in
six of seven industry sectors and two of four regions. Talent is expected to remain
in short supply across all sectors, but especially in organisations associated with
IT, Finance, Construction and Consumer Durables.
(Source: The Manpower Employment Outlook Survey 2015)
Knowledge Creation and Management

Knowing how and knowing that:- Knowing how is the ability of a person to perform
tasks, and knowing what is holding pieces of knowledge in ones mind.
Forms of Knowledge:
Embedded in technologies, rules and organizational procedures.
encultured as collective understandings, stories, values, and beliefs.
Embodied into the practical activity-based competencies and skills of key
members of the organisation (i.e. practical knowledge or know-how).
Embraced as the conceptual understanding and cognitive skills of keymembers (i.e. conceptual knowledge or know-how)
Distinction Between Data, Information, and Knowledge:
Data consists of the basic facts the building blocks for information and
knowledge.
Information is data that have been processed in a way which is meaningful
to individuals. It is available to anyone entitled to gain access to it.
Information is data endowed with meaning and purpose.
Knowledge is information put to productive use. It is personal and often
intangible and it can be elusive the task of tying it down, encoding it and
distributing it is tricky.
34
From Knowledge to Knowledge Management:

Knowledge Assets are nothing but knowledge about:
Markets (including competition)

Products
Process, and
Technologies
The Key Processes associated with these assets are :
Knowledge generation
Knowledge storage, and
Knowledge utilization
Knowledge Management Technologies
Internet
Push Technologies
Intranet
Simulation
Data Warehousing
Doc Management
Date Mining
Collaboration
A1, Expert System
Groupware
(Artificial Intelligence)
KBMS
DBMS
Information retrieval
Web Mapping Tools
Electronic Publishing Technology
Help Desk Technology
The Contribution of the HR to Knowledge Management

Ten ways in which HR can contribute:
1.
Help to develop an open culture in which the values and norms emphasis the
importance of sharing knowledge.
2.
Promote a climate of commitment and trust.
3.
Advise on the design and development of organizations which facilitate sharing

through networks and communities of practice (groups of people who share
common concerns about aspects of their work), and team work.
4.
Advise on resourcing policies and provide resourcing services which ensure

that valued employees who can contribute to knowledge creation and sharing
are attracted and retained.
5.
Advise on methods of motivating people to share knowledge and rewarding

those who do so.
35
6.
Help in the development of performance management processes which focus

on the development and sharing of knowledge.
7.
Develop processes of organizational and individual learning which will generate

and artist in disseminating knowledge.
8.
Set up and organize work steps, conferences, seminars and symposia which
enable knowledge to be shared on a person-to-person basis.
9.
In conjunction with IT, develop systems for capturing and, as far as possible,
codifying explicit and tacit knowledge.
10. Generally, promote the cause of knowledge management with senior managers
to encourage them to exact leadership and support knowledge management
initiatives.
KM The Future
The following significant things are happening in the market.
1.
IT company stocks are being valued at some truly mind blowing figures;
2.
A virtual inundation of the market place by new dotcom ventures is taking place
and the existing brick and mortar business are going the e-business way;
3.
Linkage of the customer request to other back-end systems like say the
customer database or sales systems; and
4.
Enhanced internal operational efficiencies to reduce the overall response time;
5.
Integration of the front end interaction with backend automated systems.
6.
Optimized internal processes for improving overall efficiency for servicing a

customer requirement.
7.
Enhanced (web-based) collaboration with and supply chain partners.
8.
Close coordination with physical delivery systems.
9.
Survival of the intermediaries.
Virtual Organization- Virtual organization is a social network in which all the

horizontal and vertical boundaries are removed.
Characteristics of virtual organization:
36
Power flexibility
Informal communication
Flat organization, multi disciplinary teams
Goal orientation
Dynamics
Homework
Customer orientation
Organizational boundaries are vague
Sharing of information
Features of Virtual Organization
Technology
E-mail Integration
Office systems integration
Voice mail alert
Mobile data
Types of Virtual Organization

Types
Least Virtual
Most Virtual
Telecommuters
Core corp. with virtual

outsourcing
Complexity virtual
Employees with
virtual office
Combination of employees Virtual employees and or /

Virtual employees,
participants in a complexity
outsourcing (virtual office, virtual organization.
virtual production)
Emerging HR Issues in Virtual Organization
Career Dynamics
Performance Management
Sharing Information
Selection process
Workforce Diversity & Inclusion
The challenge is to make organizations more accommodating to diverse groups of

people.
The Workforce Today
minorities and women have become the fastest growing segments
the numbers of immigrant workers and older workers are increasing
More diversity of race, gender, age, and ethnicity
37
How Diversity Affects HRM

n
Need to attract and maintain a diversified work force that is reflective of the
diversity in the general population.
Need to foster increased sensitivity to group differences.
Must deal with the different

l
Values
Needs
Interests
Expectations of employees
LIMITATIONS OF THE STUDY

There is always a space and room for improvement and this research study is not
an exception. The study relies on the secondary information available across various
mediums viz., printing and broadcasting. The results of the study are affected by
various factors and are subject to varying in different issues based on the writers
perspective. These limitations need to be addressed in future studies.
The undertaken research is only related to emerging changing scenario and its
current position only. It excludes various other factors which might have been taken
into consideration which truly paves the way for further scope & research. There
is future scope for doing a research on wider basis on international basis.
SCOPE FOR FURTHER RESEARCH
It would be pretty interesting to conduct different and another study within the
same area of research, with the incorporation of more and more burning and
emerging issues in this ever changing aspects of management branch which will
give more integrated result to the topic and better utility to the human resource
consultants, organization development consultants & professionals and
management as a whole.
The study focuses on changes on the HR aspects across the business verticals
and organizations. While, it could be of interest to conduct a study on more areas
of work and including the other aspects & levels and departments of management
which either directly or indirectly affects the human resource factor thereby enabling
more comprehensive understanding and over view of the difference in the weak
and strong organizational culture practices in different organizations.
Since change is the organization culture which in turn is pervasive to different
departments, and even different organizations. Similar concepts like, organizational
socialization, organizational commitment, dual commitment, organizational climate,
organizational stress, organizational efficiency, organizational reward system,
organizational communication system, organizational citizenship behavior, mergers
38
and acquisitions, global changes, role of trade unions, trust, etc, would therefore
be interesting to study and to be included for further study
Here the study concentrates only the generalized aspects of change in human
resource. While a comparative study of other parameters & factors on organizational
change and culture with reference to human factor would be an interesting study
to analyze.
ANALYSIS & RESULTS OBTAINED
Rules of the game are changing at a fast pace today. And this is true for all the
walks of life. It has been deducted that issues with respect to HRM & HRD, three
levels are involved for tackling the issues viz., the individual, group, and organization
level.
Individual level
Human resource issues: Goal setting, performance appraisal, reward systems, career
planning and development, work-force diversity, and employee wellness.
Group level
Human resource issues: Goal setting, performance & potential appraisal, reward
systems, and work-force & cultural diversity.
Organization level
Human resource issues: Organizational confrontation meetings, inter-group relations,
large-group interventions, and managerial grid development.
This article truly focused to identify the changes happening in the field, their
implications for business organizations and their impact on the role of HR department
CONCLUSION
Todays business world is truly a global village. This term refers to the fact that
businesses currently operate around the world. HRM functions are more complex
when employees are located around the world. Consideration must be given to
such things as foreign language training, relocation and orientation processes, etc.
HRM also involves considering the needs of employees families when they are
sent overseas. Whatever change within the company are adopted, they must be
executed so that four key levers-strategy, operations, culture, and compensationare totally in alignment and the entire organization is aligned with the competitive
market and customer base. A change in one primary internal element is always
accompanied by changes in one or more of the others.
REFERENCES
1.
Aswathappa, K. (2005) Human Resource And Personnel Management, Tata McGraw-Hill

Education, Personnel management - 686 pages
2.
French, W.L. and Bell, C.H, (1995). Organization Development: Behavioural Science
Interventions for Organization Improvement, Fifth edition, Prentice-Hall, p.28.).
39
3.
McCalman, J & Paton, R (1992). Change Management Guide to Effective Implementation,

London, P.C.P. p 131).
4.
Rao T.V. (1999), HRD Audit, Evaluating the Human Resource Function for Business
Improvement, New Delhi; Response Books.
5.
Samir R. Chatterjee, Human Resource Management: Where from and where to Research
practice in HRM, 15(2), 92 -103.
6.
International Journal of Computing and Corporate Research
7.
http://goodmorningishan.blogspot.in/2011/07/recent-scenario-of-human-resource.html/ last
accessed on 25.08.15
8.
http://www.extensionrecruiting.com/2014/04/03/milwaukee-temporary-hiring// last accessed

on 26.08.15
9.
http://www.managementstudyguide.com/talent-management-by-successful-companies.htm
last accessed on 12.08.15
40
Study of the Factors Influencing the Customer

Buying Behaviour in Relation to Readymade
Garments in India :
A Field Survey based Study
Bratin Maiti* & Dr. Chitra Bagchi**
ABSTRACT
Consumer buying behaviour is a study of how individuals make decisions to spend their
available resources: time, money and effort on consumption related aspects. Understanding the
consumer and their behaviour is a vital factor to succeed in marketing. The purchase of
consumable goods like readymade garments depends on the choice of the individual, fashion
and style of the current generation and the psychology of the consumer. Therefore, the
manufacturer of readymade garments, in India, should have knowledge of the perception and
attitude of their customers. The current study examines the factors which influence the buying
behaviour of Indian customers with respect to readymade garments. The study is confined to
a regional study taking some selected readymade garments outlets in the South Kolkata
region, West Bengal, India. For the purpose of the research, primary data was collected from
different willing respondents (customers) visiting the shops in this area. The respondents, a
mixture of different demographic profiles were selected on the basis of non-random sampling
and convenience sampling. The major findings of the study showed that consumer buying
behaviour is highly influenced by the factors like comfort, price and style and less influenced
by known-shop factor and store attribute or design.
Key Words: Consumer, Buying behaviour, readymade garments, Purchase Decision
INTRODUCTION
Consumer buying behaviour is the sum total of a consumers attitudes, preferences,
intentions and decisions regarding the consumers behavior in the marketplace
when purchasing a product or service. Formerly coined as overt behaviour it is
an uninterrupted consumption process related to prepurchase decision, purchase
action and post purchase services. This refers to the action of the consumers that
can be observed directly and measured by others. According to Frank R. Kardes
(2002), consumer behaviour is the study of human or consumer responses to
products, services and the marketing of products and services. According to Michael
Assistant Professor, The Heritage Academy, Kolkata. Email: bratin.maiti@heritageit.edu
**
Assistant Professor, The Heritage Business School, Kolkata. Email: chitrabagchi@yahoo.com
41
R. Solomon and Nancy J. Rabolt (2004), consumer behaviour is the processes

involved when individuals or groups, select, purchase, use or dispose products,
services, ideas or experiences to satisfy needs and desires.
The textile industry in India plays a significant role in the economic growth and
development of the nation. One of the largest foreign exchange earner, the textile
and apparel industry is also the second largest employment provider after agriculture
and plays a vital role in the development of the economy (Shetty, 2001; Rajput et
al 2012). Readymade garments occupy a unique position in the Indian textile
scenario and Bengal is no exception. Its predominant presence in the Indian economy
is manifested in terms of its contribution to the foreign exchange earnings,
employment generation and industrial production. Clothes give a representation of
the culture of the people living in a place. People in different parts of the globe
have their own style of dressing up which speak of their culture and symbolizes
status. The diversity of choices of the consumer, the different tastes of people
regarding the buying of readymade garments makes the task of analyzing consumer
behaviour patterns difficult. According to figures released by the Ministry of
Commerce, ready made garments were among the top five export sectors during
the financial year (2013-2014). A major sector of the textile industry is occupied by
readymade garments and it accounts to about half of the Indias total textile exports.
Readymade garments account for approximately 45% in Indias total textile
export. India is the sixth largest supplier of readymade garments in the world with
a 3.7 per cent share in global exports, as per the World Trade Integrated Solutions
database.
It has been noticed that the major segment of consumers are between the age
group of 16-35 years. This segment of consumers is of utmost importance in terms
of both spending capacity and magnitude. The size of population is one of the
determinants of demand for goods and services. Approximately 45% population of
India falls in the age group of 15-45 years. The income level is found to be rising
which has a direct influence on the consumer behaviour and buying pattern of the
consumers with regards to ready made garments.
Given the above scenario, every producer of goods and services tries to build
a potential market share by making consumers realize that they can find the
answer to their needs and wants. It is therefore crucial that producers of readymade garments should become familiar with the attitude and perception of the
consumer.
Keeping in view the above, the purpose of the study is to find out the factors that
have a direct influence on the buying behaviour of the consumers in India, especially
Bengal with respect to ready-made garments. The study is confined to a regional
study of a few selected ready-made garments shop in Jadavpur area, more precisely,
Jadavpur Station Road Area, South Kolkata, West Bengal, India.
42
LITERATURE REVIEW
Consumer behaviour refers to the physiological process and the physical action of
the consumers that can be observed and measured. An attempt has been made
to present the review of various studies carried out in this field. A brief overview
is presented below:
(Sproles and Kendall 1986) established a model to conceptualize consumers decision
making behaviour with eight consumer mental orientation variables viz., brand
consciousness, perfectionism consciousness, novelty and fashion consciousness,
habitual and brand loyal consumer, novelty and fashion consciousness, impulsive
and careless consumer, confused by over choice consumer, habitual and brand
loyal consumer, recreational and hedonic shopping consciousness and price and
value consciousness.
According to (Gerson, 1993) customer satisfaction may be considered as a baseline
standard of performance and a possible standard of excellence for any business
organization. (Kotler,2000); (Kim et al 2003) tested the behavioral intentions model
of online shopping for clothing and the study results supported Fishbeins behavioral
intentions model in predicting behavioral intention to shop for clothing online. The
result of positive relationship between attitude and subjective norms implies that
behavioral intention is a function of interdependence between the set of attitudinal
and normative variables.
(Isabel & Graeme, 2005) examined the communication factors which affect the
buying behaviour of 12-13 year old girls while purchasing fashion clothes. Brand
name and its associations are found to be highly important while purchasing fashion
clothes. (Ciavolino & Dahlgaard, 2007) contends that service quality is the measure
of service levels based on the attributes of the core product. (Kaushik & Taneja,
2007) analyzed the factors that affect ready-made garments purchase in multibrand retail outlet and found out that physical evidence, promotional offers,
responsiveness of the store people, tangible cues and services are the important
factors. In addition, the study reveals that family income and preference for retail
format are significantly related.
(Catherine & Etienne, 2009) explored the association between age and other key
variables, i.e. price, durability, suitability affecting the buyer behaviour of clothes.
Young participants prefer low price while the older prefer suitability and durability
as crucial while purchasing clothes.
(Jin and Kang 2010) in their study of purchase intention toward foreign brand jeans
using four antecedents viz. face saving, attitude, perceived behaviour control and
subjective norms found that face saving, attitude, perceived behaviour control
have significant influence on purchase intention where as subjective norms have
not significant influence towards purchase intention. (Saravanan 2010) concluded
43
that education plays an important role in buying decision making process. Majority
of the respondents said that women play a major role in family buying decision
making process.
(Krishnakumar & Gurunathan, 2012) observed that consumer behaviour changes
in buying of apparel are attributed to their want of more choice, value, service,
experience and convenience. The study also reveals that for the next generation
customers the preference of tailor made clothes is slowly diminishing. According to
Rajput et al (2012), price, fitting, income level of consumers are the important
factors while other factors such as status, durability and celebrity endorsement can
be ignored by the apparel retailers in their efforts to tap and capture the market.
The customers purchase ready-made garments mostly during the discount period.
Quality, price and design are the essential factors considered by them while shopping
(Mittal & Aggarwal, 2012; Pandian et al, 2012; Kanthi & Kumar, 2013). The above
cited empirical evidences suggest that customer satisfaction is valuable both from
the financial perspective of a firm as well as from customer goodwill & satisfaction
perspective.
The above literature review brings forth that there exists few studies in India which
take into account all the factors affecting consumer buying behaviour. Not too
many authors have focused on the demographic factors of market segmentation.
Apart from factors like price, quality, etc there are other factors like market position,
its proximity from home which also affect consumer buying behaviour. We have
tried to bridge this gap through our field based survey.
OBJECTIVES OF THE STUDY
1) To study the socio economic demography of the potential customers of
readymade garments in Jadavpur area and Jadavpur Station Road Area, where
thousands of customers, belonging to different strata of the society, either from
the city or suburb, visit these shops.
2) To investigate into some other factors which may affect either directly or indirectly
the customers purchase intention towards readymade garments
METHODOLOGY
The study has been conducted by survey method by collecting primary or raw data
from field survey. For the purpose of study, a survey was made among different
readymade garments shops at Jadavpur area, South Kolkata. The survey was
conducted during the month of August and September, when the sale of garments
is maximum due to Durga puja, a religious festival of the Bengalis, where people
wear new clothes during the whole duration of the puja. We have interviewed 100
customers (a combination of both male and female).
44
Sampling Plan
The data has been collected from different readymade and apparel shops Jadavpur
area, more precisely, Jadavpur Station Road Area, South Kolkata, West Bengal,
India. The data has been collected through questionnaire from 100 respondents.
Sampling method
The respondents were the customers of different apparel stores and they were
selected by non-random sampling and convenience sampling; i.e. only those
customers who were willing to respond to the questionnaire were selected. The
sample size selected was 100.
Sources of Data
The study is dependent on primary data collected through a series of questionnaire
circulated amongst the customers coming to the garment shops in that particular
area. The study involves the collection of data both from the primary and secondary
sources. Different types of data and their sources are discussed under the following
heads:
a) Primary Data: Primary data was collected by the researchers themselves through
personal interview with a structured questionnaire.
b) Secondary Data: The secondary sources include different web sites, journals,
books, annual report and unpublished research work. The collected data was
entered in SPSS software package and analyzed on various demographic factors
like age, gender, proximity to the market, through a method of cross tabulation.
Sample Data Set
Details of the shops and customers questioned
For the analysis part and to arrive at a conclusion, we have chosen 10 shops
according to the shop size at the Jadavpur Station Road, the details of which are
given below:
Table1: Names of the shops and the customers
Sl No.
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
Name of the Shop

Meghna
Sister
Sarada Boutique
Jharna Stores
Swarnamoyee
Ranjani Stores
Albeli
Cut Piece Centre
Jhumpa Stores
Saha Textiles
Total customers questioned

10
10
10
10
10
10
10
10
10
10
100
45
ANALYSIS OF THE RESULT:

Table 2 Frequency Table
Statistics
Age
Gender
Market Preference
Valid
100
100
100
Missing
Table 3 Frequency Table - Age wise

Age
Frequency
Percent
Valid Percent
Cumulative
Percent
Valid
15-25 yrs
6.0
6.0
6.0
26-35 yrs
40
40.0
40.0
46.0
36-45 yrs
34
34.0
34.0
80.0
Above 45 yrs
20
20.0
20.0
100.0
Total
100
100.0
100.0
(Source: Primary data from Field survey)
From the above table, it can be seen that both young aged people (26-35 years)
and middle aged group (36-45 years) like readymade garments. The older group
(above 45 years) also shows a growing interest in the readymade garments (having
occupied 20% in the total respondents).
Table 4 Frequency Table - Gender wise
Gender
Frequency
Percent
Valid Percent
Cumulative
Percent
Valid
Male
61
61.0
61.0
61.0
Female
39
39.0
39.0
100.0
Total
100
100.0
100.0
In our study, most of the respondents are male as displayed in the above table.
46
Table 5 Frequency Table - Market preference wise

Market Preference
Frequency
Percent
Valid Percent
Cumulative
Percent
Valid
Close to Home
17
17.0
17.0
17.0
On way to Work
8.0
8.0
25.0
Convenient Position
66
66.0
66.0
91.0
Others
9.0
9.0
100.0
100
100.0
100.0
Total
Our study reveals that most of the respondents choose this market due to its
convenient position (66% of the total respondents) while the next group (17% of
the total respondents) choose the market due to its proximity from their home.
Table 6 Cross tabulation of Age * Price
Age * Price Crosstabulation
Price
Age
15-25 yrs
26-35 yrs
36-45 yrs
Above 45 yrs
Total
Total
Not
Important
Important
Extremely
Important
Count
% within Age
16.7%
50.0%
33.3%
100.0%
Count
17
20
40
% within Age
7.5%
42.5%
50.0%
100.0%
Count
12
18
34
% within Age
11.8%
35.3%
52.9%
100.0%
Count
20
% within Age
25.0%
35.0%
40.0%
100.0%
Count
13
39
48
100
% within Age
13.0%
39.0%
48.0%
100.0%
(Source: Calculated from primary survey data)
From the above table, it is clear that price is not extremely important factor for the
young age group (15-25 years). Rather, for all the other age groups, price is an
extremely important factor. Out of the total respondents, 48% of the sample thinks
that price is the most important factor, 39% feel it is important while 13% think that
47
price is not the most important factor. The above figures are represented by the
bar chart given below.
Table 7 Crosstabulation of Age * Style

Age * Style Crosstabulation
Style
Not
Important
Age
15-25 yrs
26-35 yrs
36-45 yrs
Above 45 yrs
Total
Important
Total
Extremely
Important
Count
% within Age
0.0%
50.0%
50.0%
100.0%
Count
23
17
40
% within Age
0.0%
57.5%
42.5%
100.0%
Count
18
15
34
% within Age
2.9%
52.9%
44.1%
100.0%
Count
10
20
% within Age
15.0%
35.0%
50.0%
100.0%
Count
51
45
100
% within Age
4.0%
51.0%
45.0%
100.0%
( Source: Calculated from primary survey data)
48
From the above table it can be seen that in case of young age people (15-25
years) style is important, as for the next age group (26-35 years) only 42.5% give
extreme importance to style while in case of middle aged people (36-45 years) only
44.1% give extreme importance to style. Considering the whole sample, 45% give
the most weightage to style when buying readymade garments while 51% think it
is important. About 4% of the respondents feel, style is not an important factor.
Table 8
Crosstabulation of Age * Comfort
Age * Comfort Crosstabulation

Comfort
Not
Important
Age
15-25 yrs
26-35 yrs
36-45 yrs
Above 45 yrs
Total
Important
Total
Extremely
Important
Count
% within Age
0.0%
33.3%
66.7%
100.0%
Count
12
27
40
% within Age
2.5%
30.0%
67.5%
100.0%
Count
25
34
% within Age
0.0%
26.5%
73.5%
100.0%
Count
14
20
% within Age
0.0%
30.0%
70.0%
100.0%
Count
29
70
100
% within Age
1.0%
29.0%
70.0%
100.0%
49
From the above table it is clear that people belonging to any age group give
extreme importance to comfort when buying readymade garments. 70% of the total
sample responded that they gave the most importance to comfort, 29% thinks
comfort is an important issue while only 1% think that comfort is not an important
factor to be considered when buying readymade garments.
Table 9 Crosstabulation of Age * Store Attribute/Store Design

Age * Store Design Crosstabulation
Store Design
Not
Important
Important
Age
15-25 yrs
26-35 yrs
36-45 yrs
Above 45 yrs
Total
Total
Extremely
Important
Count
% within Age
0.0%
83.3%
16.7%
100.0%
Count
11
18
11
40
% within Age
27.5%
45.0%
27.5%
100.0%
Count
11
19
34
% within Age
32.4%
55.9%
11.8%
100.0%
Count
20
% within Age
45.0%
40.0%
15.0%
100.0%
Count
31
50
19
100
% within Age
31.0%
50.0%
19.0%
100.0%
50
From the above table it can be seen that for the young age group store design
is important (83.3%) while for 16.7% young age group, store design is an extremely
important factor. In the next age group store design is extremely important for
27.5% and important for 45% while 27.5% does not lay any importance to store
design. In the next age group 67.7% lay importance to store design while 32.4%
does not give any importance to this factor when buying readymade garments.
Considering the total number of respondents, 69% give importance to store design
while 31% do not lay any importance to store design.
Table 10 Crosstabulation of Age * Known Shop

Age * Known Shop Crosstabulation
Known Shop
Not
Important
Age
15-25 yrs
26-35 yrs
36-45 yrs
Above 45 yrs
Total
Important
Total
Extremely
Important
Count
% within Age
66.7%
33.3%
0.0%
100.0%
Count
10
27
40
% within Age
25.0%
67.5%
7.5%
100.0%
Count
11
18
34
% within Age
32.4%
52.9%
14.7%
100.0%
Count
14
20
% within Age
25.0%
70.0%
5.0%
100.0%
Count
30
61
100
% within Age
30.0%
61.0%
9.0%
100.0%
51
From the above table it is clear that only 33.3% in the age group 15-25 years give
importance to known shops while 66.7% do not give importance to this factor. In
the next age group 75% give importance to known shops while 25% do not give
importance. In the middle age group of 36-45 years 67.6% give importance to
known shop factor while 32.4% do not give any importance to it. In general,
considering the total sample, 70% give importance to known shop factor while 30%
do not think it is important when buying readymade garments. The below figure
depicts the tabular figures.
Table 11 Crosstabulation of Gender * Price

Gender * Price Crosstabulation
Price
Gender
Male
Female
Total
Total
Not
Important
Important
Extremely
Important
Count
25
27
61
% within Gender
14.8%
41.0%
44.3%
100.0%
Count
14
21
39
% within Gender
10.3%
35.9%
53.8%
100.0%
Count
13
39
48
100
% within Gender
13.0%
39.0%
48.0%
100.0%
52
The table above shows that while 61% of the sample is male the rest 39% is
female. Out of this, 85.2% of the males think that price is an extremely important
factor while the rest 14.8% of the males think that price is not an important factor.
In contrary, 89.7% of the females think that price is an extremely important factor
while only 10.3% of the females think that price is not an important factor. Out of
100 respondents, 87% of the total give importance to price while 13% does not
give any importance to price when buying readymade garments.
Table 12 Crosstabulation of Gender * Style

Gender * Style Crosstabulation
Style
Gender
Male
Female
Total
Total
Not
Important
Important
Extremely
Important
Count
29
29
61
% within Gender
4.9%
47.5%
47.5%
100.0%
Count
22
16
39
% within Gender
2.6%
56.4%
41.0%
100.0%
Count
51
45
100
% within Gender
4.0%
51.0%
45.0%
100.0%
53
The above table shows that while 95% of the males think style is an important
factor, 97.4% of the females think that that style is an important factor. Combining
the above two, out of the total 96% of the total think that style is an important factor
while only 4% feel that style is not an important factor when buying readymade
garments.
Table 13 Crosstabulation of Gender * Comfort

Gender * Comfort Crosstabulation
Comfort
Not
Important
Gender
Male
Female
Total
Important
Total
Extremely
Important
Count
15
45
61
% within Gender
1.6%
24.6%
73.8%
100.0%
Count
14
25
39
% within Gender
0.0%
35.9%
64.1%
100.0%
Count
29
70
100
% within Gender
1.0%
29.0%
70.0%
100.0%
54
From the above table it is clear that 73.8% of the males feel comfort is extremely
important while 24.6% feel that comfort is important and only 1.6% of the males feel
that comfort is not important. In case of females, 64.1% feel that comfort is extremely
important while the rest 35.9% of the females feel that comfort is important in case
of readymade garments. The above data is represented in the bar chart shown
below.
Table 14 Crosstabulation of Gender * Store Design

Gender * Store Design Crosstabulation
Store Design
Gender
Male
Female
Total
Total
Not
Important
Important
Extremely
Important
Count
19
30
12
61
% within Gender
31.1%
49.2%
19.7%
100.0%
Count
12
20
39
% within Gender
30.8%
51.3%
17.9%
100.0%
Count
31
50
19
100
% within Gender
31.0%
50.0%
19.0%
100.0%
55
The above table shows that only 19.7% of the males feel that store attribute or
design is extremely important factor when buying readymade garments, while 49.2%
feel that store design is an important factor. The figures for females are more or
less similar where 17.9% of the females feel that store attribute or design is extremely
important factor when buying readymade garments, while 51.3% feel that store
design is an important factor. The number of respondents who feel that feel that
store attribute or deign is not an important factor is also high, 31.1% in case of
males and 30.8% in case of females. The bar chart given below represents the
tabular figures.
Table 15 Crosstabulation of Gender * Known Shop

Gender * Known Shop Crosstabulation
Known Shop
Gender
Male
Female
Total
Total
Not
Important
Important
Extremely
Important
Count
16
38
61
% within Gender
26.2%
62.3%
11.5%
100.0%
Count
14
23
39
% within Gender
35.9%
59.0%
5.1%
100.0%
Count
30
61
100
% within Gender
30.0%
61.0%
9.0%
100.0%
56
From the above table it is clear that 73.8% of the males give importance to the
known shop factor while 64.1% of the females give importance to this factor. While
26.2% of the males do not give importance to the known shop factor, 35.9% of the
females also do not show any importance to the known shop factor as depicted
below in the bar chart.
Table 16 Crosstabulation of Market Preference * Price

Market Preference * Price Crosstabulation
Price
Not
Important
Market Preference
Close to Home
Count
% within Market Preference
On way to Work
Count
Convenient Position
Count
Others
Count
Total
Count
Important
17.6%
23.5%
0.0%
25.0%
26
13.6%
39.4%
11.1%
77.8%
13
39
13.0%
39.0%
57
Market Preference * Price Crosstabulation

Price
Total
Extremely
Important
Market Preference
Close to Home
Count
On way to Work
Count
Convenient Position
Count
Others
Count
Total
Count
10
17
58.8%
100.0%
75.0%
100.0%
31
66
47.0%
100.0%
11.1%
100.0%
48
100
48.0%
100.0%
From the above table it can be inferred that 82.4% of the respondents who shop
here due to the close proximity of their homes believe that price is important for
them while 100% of the respondents who shop here on way to work feel price is
important. 86.4% of the respondents who shop here for its convenient position
believe that price is important while 88.9% of the others category believe that price
is important. In total, 87% of the total sample who use this market believe that price
is important while only 13% believe that price is not important. The bar diagram
below depicts these figures.
58
Table 17 Crosstabulation of Market Preference * Style

Market Preference * Style Crosstabulation
Style
Not
Important
Market Preference
Close to Home
Count
On way to Work
Count
Convenient Position
Count
Others
Count
Total
Count
Important
10
0.0%
58.8%
12.5%
87.5%
28
4.5%
42.4%
0.0%
66.7%
51
4.0%
51.0%
Market Preference * Style Crosstabulation

Style
Total
Extremely
Important
Market Preference
Close to Home
Count
On way to Work
Count
Convenient Position
Count
Others
Count
Total
Count
17
41.2%
100.0%
0.0%
100.0%
35
66
53.0%
100.0%
33.3%
100.0%
45
100
45.0%
100.0%
Source: Calculated from primary survey data
From the above table it is evident that 100% of the respondents who shop here
due to the close proximity of their homes believe that style is important for them
while 87.5% of the respondents who shop here on way to work feel style is important.
Again 95% of the respondents who shop here for its convenient position believe
that style is important while 100% of the others category believe that style is
important. The bar diagram below depicts these figures.
59
Table 18 Crosstabulation of Market Preference * Comfort

Market Preference * Comfort Crosstabulation
Comfort
Market Preference
Close to Home
Count
On way to Work
Count
Convenient Position
Count
Others
Count
Total
Count
60
Not
Important
Important
0.0%
41.2%
0.0%
62.5%
13
1.5%
19.7%
0.0%
44.4%
29
1.0%
29.0%
Market Preference * Comfort Crosstabulation

Comfort
Total
Extremely
Important
Market Preference
Close to Home
Count
On way to Work
Count
Convenient Position
Count
Others
Count
Total
Count
10
17
58.8%
100.0%
37.5%
100.0%
52
66
78.8%
100.0%
55.6%
100.0%
70
100
70.0%
100.0%
From the above table it is evident that 100% of the respondents who shop here
due to the close proximity of their homes believe that comfort is important for them
while 100% of the respondents who shop here on way to work feel comfort is
important. Again 98.5% of the respondents who shop here for its convenient position
believe that comfort is important while 100% of the others category believe that
comfort is important. The bar diagram below depicts these figures.
61
Table 19 Crosstabulation of Market Preference * Store Design

Market Preference * Store Design Crosstabulation
Store Design
Not
Important
Market Preference
Close to Home
Count
On way to Work
Count
Convenient Position
Count
Others
Count
Total
Count
Important
12
23.5%
70.6%
37.5%
62.5%
21
29
31.8%
43.9%
33.3%
44.4%
31
50
31.0%
50.0%
Market Preference * Store Design Crosstabulation

Store Design
Total
Extremely
Important
Market Preference
Close to Home
Count
On way to Work
Count
Convenient Position
Count
Others
Count
Total
Count
17
5.9%
100.0%
0.0%
100.0%
16
66
24.2%
100.0%
22.2%
100.0%
19
100
19.0%
100.0%
From the table we can see only 76.5% of the respondents who shop here due to
the close proximity of their homes believe that store design is important for them
while only 62.5% of the respondents who shop here on way to work feel store
design is important. Again 68.1% of the respondents who shop here for its convenient
position believe that store design is important while only 66.6% of the others
category believe that store design is important. The bar diagram below depicts
these figures.
62
Table 20 Crosstabulation of Market Preference * Known Shop

Market Preference * Known Shop Crosstabulation
Known Shop
Market Preference
Close to Home
Count
On way to Work
Count
Convenient Position
Count
Others
Count
Total
Count
Not
Important
Important
12
11.8%
70.6%
50.0%
37.5%
19
43
28.8%
65.2%
55.6%
33.3%
30
61
30.0%
61.0%
63
Market Preference * Known Shop Crosstabulation

Known Shop
Total
Extremely
Important
Market Preference
Close to Home
Count
On way to Work
Count
Convenient Position
Count
Others
Count
Total
Count
17
17.6%
100.0%
12.5%
100.0%
66
6.1%
100.0%
11.1%
100.0%
100
9.0%
100.0%
From the table it can be inferred that 88.2% of the respondents who shop here due
to the close proximity of their homes believe that known shop factor is important
for them while only 50% of the respondents who shop here on way to work feel that
known shop factor is important. Again 71.3% of the respondents who shop here for
its convenient position believe that known shop factor is important while only 44%
of the others category believe that known shop factor is important. The bar diagram
below depicts these figures.
64
FINDINGS
From the above analysis of our data, we arrive at the following findings. Most of
the respondents in our study were male (61%). Our study reveals that most of the
respondents (66% of the sample population) choose this market due to its covenient
position. About 87% of the sample population believe that price is the most important
factor. 96% of the respondents feel that style is important while only 4% feel it is
not. About 98.4% feel that comfort is the most crucial factor in case of readymade
garments. Considering the total number of respondents, 69% give importance to
store attribut/design and 70% give importance to the known shop factor. Considering
the whole sample, 70% give importance to known shop factor and 69% give
importance to store design. Thus, about 30% of the respondents do not give
importance to known shop factor and store design. 68.9% of the males feel that
store design is important, 69.% of the females feel the same. While 73.8% of the
males give importance to known shop factor, only 64.1% of the females give
importance to this point.
CONCLUSION
Exploring consumer buying behaviour related to our perspective, it has been
observed that factors like price, style, comfort, store attribute/design and known
shop factor affect the consumer buying behaviour towards readymade garments.
So out of these variables, comfort carry the highest weightage while price comes
after it and then style.. Store attribute/design and known shop factor are less
important to consumers when they are purchasing readymade garments while
comfort and price are the most important factors for all age group of people.
With the present study an endeavour has been undertaken to depict the existing
situation regarding the consumer behaviour of Indian customers, especially that of
West Bengal about readymade garments. This market is in a very conenient part
in the southern fringe of the city, where people can flock to the shops either by
getting down at Jadavpur station (southern railway section) or at bus terminus of
Jadavpur University, Kolkata. The crowd here is a mxture of different segments of
the society, both living in the city as well as mostly living in the suburbs like
Canning, Lakshmikantapur, etc. The mixed crowd gives a variation in demographic
profile of the population.
Comfort, price and style are the most significant factors which have a direct influence
on the consumer behaviour regarding readymade apparal purchase. In practice,
the acceptance or rejection decision of the consumer depends upon the comfort
factor and the price factor. Style is secondary while store attribute and known shop
factor comes later. There is also a section of the consumer whose income is not
high enough but willingness on the part of the consumer to buy branded garments.
Therefore, the companies should think over new strategies to increase the volume
65
of their sales by introducing low range branded garments. For the formulation of
marketing strategy, one must recognize the perception of consumers behaviour in
relation to buying readymade garments. Customers response to this strategy will
determine the success or failure of the organiztion.
LIMITATIONS OF THE STUDY & FUTURE RESEARCH SCOPE
The present study has a number of limitations which must be acknowledged. The
study is only confined to a small region of Jadavpur Area situated in the southern
part of Kolkata, India taking only a few shops of Jadavpur station road area for
a short period of time. Since the data used is primary, therefore it suffers from the
limitations of primary data. Most of the customers were reluctant to answer the
questions. The sample size is very small due to time constraint. Thus, sample size
may not be precisely practicable for the very large population of India. For the
purpose of the study, a convenience sample of customers were chosen who were
willing enough to respond and consequently on the basis of the results analyzed,
a generlized inference cannot be drawn which may depict that this result is applicable
for consumer buying behaviour in all readymade garments shop in India. For future
research, it is recommended that further comparative study on both branded as
well as non-branded garments may be done selecting more number of respondents
from urban, suburban as well as rural respondents on the basis of stratified random
sampling.
ACKNOWLEDGEMENT
This paper has been greatly improved thanks to the comments of Prof. Dipankar
Das, and for anonymous reviewers. Its final form although remains the authors
responsibility.
REFERENCES
1.
Anderson, E.W.,Claes F. and Donald, R.L.(1994) Customer Satisfaction, Market Share and
Profitability; Findings from Sweden,Journal of Marketing, 58(3), 53-66
2.
Anderson, E.W.,Claes F. and Ronald, T.R.(1997) Customer Satisfaction, Productivity and

Profitability; Differences between Goods and Services, Marketing Science, 16(2), 129-145
3.
Bolton, R.N.(1998), A Dynamic Model of the Duration of Customers Relationship with a

Continuous Service Provider: The Role of Satisfaction, Marketing Science, 17(1), 45 -65.
4.
Drucker, P.F.(1954). The Practice of Management, New York: Harper & Row,31
5.
Frank R. Kardes, Consumer Behaviuor and Managerial decision making, Second edition,
Pearson education, 2002
6.
Gerson, R.F.(1993). Measuring customer satisfaction: A guide to managing quality service,

Crisp Publications, Menlo Park.
7.
Hassan Masadul Mohammad, Saha Sajeeb, Rayhan Johir Shah (2014), Factors affecting
the Customer buying behavior in Relation to readymade garments in Bangladesh,
International Journal of Marketing and Logistics, 1(1);pp 8-14
66
8.
Helen, M & Charlotte, L.(2012), Analysing the influence of the presentation of fashion
garments on young consumers online behaviuor, Journal of Fashion Marketing &
Management, vol 16, Issue 1, pp 22-41
9.
Jin and Kang (2010), Face or Subjective norm? Chinese College Students Purchase
Behaviour towards Foreign Brand Jeans, Clothing and Textile Research Journal, vol.28
(3), pp. 218-233
10. Kanthi, K.P. and Kumar, M.A.(2013), The Impact of Business Strategies on Readymade
Garments Market at Thrissur District in Kerala, Global Research Analysis, vol.2 (1), pp. 1314
11. Krishnakumar, M. and Gurunathan, K.(2013), Factors Influencing Apparel Buying Behaviuor
in India: A Measurement Model, Indian Journal of Research, vol.2 Issue: 3, pp.218-224
12. Krishnakumar, M. and Gurunathan, K.(2012), A Study on Age Demography in the Preference
of Custom Made Tailoring for Dress Making by Men in Tamil Nadu, European Journal of
Social Science, vol. 27, Issue 2-4, pp. 470-480
13. Krishna, C.V.(2011), Determinants of Consumer Buying Behaviuor: An Empirical Study of
Private Label Brands in Apparel Retail, Vilakshan: The XIMB Journal of Management, vol.8,
Issue 2, pp. 43-56
14. Kaushik, N. and Taneja, G (2007), Customers Preference and Satisfaction Towards Mens
Readymade Garment Retail Formats, The Icfai Journal of Brand Management, vol.4 no.4,
pp.14-27
15. Kotler,P. (2000) Marketing Management 10 (ed), New Jersey, Prentice Hall.
16. Lahiri, I. and Kumar, P.(2010), Factors Influencing Purchase of Apparels from Organized
Retail Outlets, IUP Journal of Marketing Management, Feb 2010
17. Lamba Bhuvan, Thakur Anand, Factors influencing readymade apparel purchasei Jalandhar
city, International refereed research journal, vol. 4 issue-3, pp 156-162
18. McGraw Hill (2007), Consumer Behaviuor and Marketing Strategies, 7th edition
19. Ray Sarbapriya (2014), An empirical analysis of the factors affecting customer buying
behaviuor relating to readymade garments in India: A Field based study, United States of
America Research Journal, vol.2 No.4, 2014
20. Sproles, G.B. and Kendall, E.L.(1986) , A Methodology for Profiling Consumers Decisionmaking Styles, Journal of Consumer Affairs, Vol. 20(2), 267-278
67
68
A Study on Green Human Resource Practices

in some Selected Industries in India
Dr. Manidipa Chatterjee*
ABSTRACT
In this paper an attempt has been made to study the awareness of green HR practices and
its implementation in some selected Indian Companies and to conclude about future direction
of Green HR practices in such industries. The facts are exemplified through different case
studies and literature reviews especially in manufacturing and in some selected service sectors
like hotel and health care industry. Thus through this study one can conclude that India is not
far away in making the Green HR practices into reality but there is an urgent need to create
more opportunities in research and development endeavour by both Government of India and
private companies in application of Green HR.
BACKGROUND OF THE STUDY

Across the globe, companies are transforming themselves into a talent based
economy and Going in a green way for corporate HR has become the most
discussed buzzwords. Companies all over the world to some extent are thinking of
creating awareness among the employees through green movement whereby
retaining the natural resources for our future generation through sustainable
development. Today Green HRM is the requirement of the 21st Century. Excess
consumption of natural resources as raw materials by industries and corporate
world, creates tremendous pressure on our mother Earth to maintain ecological
balance. Rampant cutting of trees and deforestation for the purpose of housing
and industrial growth often leads to global warming, abrupt changes in climatic
condition, frequent floods, earth quake and extinction of valuable species of plants
and animals.
Green initiatives within HRM form part of wider programmes of corporate social
responsibility. Green HR involves two essential elements- Environment Friendly
HR practices and the preservation of Knowledge Capital. Thus Human
resource department can be involved in facilitating an inclusive approach for creating
a culture of sustainability.
Assistant Professor, Institute of Business Management, National Council of Education Bengal
69

l
To study the awareness of green HR practices and its implementation

especially in manufacturing and in some selected service sectors in India.
To give specific suggestions or recommendations for future direction to

Green HR practices in such industries.
LITERATURE REVIEW
Daily and Huang (2001) proposed that organizations essentially need to balance
the industrial growth as well as preservation of the environment because it has
been confirmed that by endorsing green practices, the companies may profit
more than before (Murari & Bhandari, 2011).For services-oriented business Green
Human Resource Practices (GHRM) is a manifesto which helps to create green
workforce that can understand and appreciate green culture in an organization.
Such green initiative can maintain its green objectives all throughout the HRM
process of recruiting, hiring and training, compensating, developing, and advancing
the firms human capital (Dutta, 2012). The Human Resource Department of a
company is capable of playing a significant role in the creation of sustainability
culture within the company (Harmon et al., 2010). HR processes play an important
role in translating Green HR policy into practice (Renwick, 2008). Huslid (1995)
mentioned the selection processes, incentive compensation, performance
management systems, the employee involvement, and training to be central for
the companys success.
3 (i) Emergence of Green Movement in India and World Wide
Green movement is a type of political movement, which advocates four important
principles. These are environmentalism, sustainability, non-violence and social
justice. The Environmental Movement is a very diverse social
movement characterised by relatively loose organisations of activists involving people
in local activity around global environmental and natural issues, organised on
a transnational basis thereby promoting a holistic, global and ethical world
view emphasising preservation of nature and restraint on economic development.
Friends of the Earth, the most longstanding and radical transnational Green
organisation, was founded in 1969 and had branches all over the developed world.
The more mainstream Green Peace was founded in Canada in 1971 to oppose
U.S. nuclear testing in Alaska and still have full-time staff protecting whales and
exposing toxic waste dumps all over the world. One of the first successful Green
political parties was die Grnen, founded in West Germany by Herbert Gruhl, Petra
Kelly, and others in 1979 by the merger of about 250 environmental groups. An
umbrella organisation known as the European Greens was founded in January
1984 to coordinate the activities of the various European parties, and by the end
of the 1990 almost every country in Europe had a party known as the Greens or
70
by some similar name. Green parties developed also in countries such as Canada,
Australia, New Zealand, Argentina, Chile, and the United States. Like all social
movement, the Green Movement grew from being scattered groups of single-issue
protesters, to being a world-wide movement with its own radical and mainstream
wings each offering a broad view of the world.
In India in the wake of reckless deforestation, a unique movement which was called
Chipko Movement in 1980 in the Garhwal Himalayas, shoved aside urban armchair
naturalists. Led by Chandni Prasad Bhatt and Sunderlal Bahuguna, it was a peoples
revolt against mindless deforestation. Again there was a battlefield of personal
agendas, between the then prime minister Morarji Desai, the Kerala government
and the environmentalists. The Silent Valley hydroelectric project was to dam the
Kunthipuzha River, submerging the entire biosphere reserve and destroying its
four-million-year-old rainforests. In 1980, the M.G.K. Menon Committee set up to
review the project, came out with a recommendation to scrap it. With 40 per cent
of its so-called surplus power being supplied to other parts and many villages of
Kerala waiting to be electrified, this grassroots movement became the bedrock of
Indian environmental activism (India Today, August 2003).
Jungle Bachao Andolan of 1980s, that began in Bihar and later spread to states
like Jharkhand and Orissa. The tribals of Singhbhum district of Bihar bubbled up
a protest when the government decided to replace the natural sal forests with
highly-priced teak, a move that was termed a greed game, political populism.
Navdanya Movement of 1982 whether its about empowering women or antiglobalisation campaigns, environmental activist Vandana Shiva always had an upper
hand in her fights against the authorities. Her eco-feminist movement reinstated a
farming system centred on engaging women, changing the current system. She
founded Navdanya in 1982, an organisation promoting biodiversity conservation
and organic farming. One of the largest , most successful and powerful environmental
campaigns, Narmada Bachao Andolan began with a wide developmental agenda,
questioning the very rationale of large dam projects in India (India Today, December
2007).
Narmada Bachao Andolan is a social movement consisting of
adivasis, farmers, environmentalists, and human rights activists against a number
of large dams being built across the Narmada river. Their mode of campaign
includes hunger strikes and garnering support from film and art personalities with
its leading spokespersons Medha Patkar and Baba Amte, received the Right
Livelihood Award in 1991.
GREEN HUMAN RESOURCE PRACTICES
In this part of the paper, let us briefly discuss some specific functional HRM activities
which identify with the sustainability and the natural environment at the workplace
and also provide opportunities for research in future.
71
i)
Green Recruitment
Selection and Job Analysis:
Green recruitment can be defined as the process of hiring individuals with

knowledge, skills, approaches, and behaviors that identify with environmental
management systems within an organization. According to Wehrmeyer (1996),
recruitment practices can support effective environmental management by
making sure that new entrants are familiar with an organizations environmental
culture and are capable of maintaining its environmental values. Green
recruiting is a system where the focus is given on importance of the environment
and making it a major element within the organization. Further research should
address questions related to the green employers enthusiasm in achieving
the environmental goals and how the potential job seekers perceive or rate
them on the parameters of sustainability as claimed. For example, do the
employers include green job descriptions, eco-friendly locations, paper less
interviews, and such other practices in their recruitment portfolio? Are the new
recruits made aware with the environmental policies and allegiance of the
company at the commencement of the job itself ?. Sometimes even in such
recruitment environmental dimensions are often used as a duty in Job Analysis
and green competencies are included as a special component of Job
specification.
ii)
Green Performance Management

Epstein and Roy (1997) in their study concluded that when HR managers
integrate environmental performance into Performance Management (PM)
Systems they safeguard environment management against any damage. Today
some firms deal with the issue of Performance Management by installing
corporate-wide environmental performance standards, and Green information
systems/audits to gain useful data on environmental performance (Marcus &
Fremeth, 2009). The most important aspect of PM is performance appraisal.
In addition to meeting the criteria of reliability, validity, and fairness, effective
performance appraisals provide useful feedback to employees and support
continuous improvements in the firms environmental outcomes (Jackson et
al., 2011). We suggest that future research on green performance appraisal
should focus upon issues such as environmental incidents, environmental
responsibilities, communication of environmental policy, and green information
system and audits.
iii) Green Training, Development & Induction

Green training and development programme educate employees of the
concerned organization about spreading the awareness about green practices
in the industry and train them in that working method that help to conserve
energy, reduce wastages of vital resources and provide employees with
72
opportunities in environmental problem-solving as well as new methods of

reducing workplace environmental pollutants and hazards specially in chemical,
pharmaceutical, manufacturing and service sector like hotels and hospitals.
So in such industries induction programme for new entrants often include
familiarising them with the greening effort of the organization and to develop
module in the induction programme which can help them develop green
citizenship behaviour in future.
iv) Green Compensation
The efficacy of green rewards and compensation was best observed in a
study conducted by Berrone & Gomez-Mejia (2009) on 469 US firms operating
in high-polluting industries. They found that the firms having eco-friendly
performance paid their CEOs more than non-eco-friendly firms. They also
concluded that long-term company results in accordance to pay were associated
with greater pollution prevention success. By incorporating elements of green
management in the compensation program, managers can promote the green
behaviors among the employees. Green rewards can include the use of
workplace and lifestyle benefits, ranging from carbon credit offsets to free
bicycles, to engage people in the green agenda while continuing to recognize
their contribution (Pillai and Sivathanu, 2014).
v)
Green Employee Relations and Green Disciplinary Management

Several workers in their study concluded that individual empowerment positively
influences productivity and performance, and facilitates self-control, individual
thinking, and problem-solving skills (Renwick, 2008; Wee and Quazi,2005).The
scope of employee relations should be broadened by initiating a suggestion
scheme within the organization, wherein each and every employee from top
most to the lowest level gets an opportunity to contribute to the scheme.
This practice will help in creating greater awareness on green issues besides,
new ideas for eco-friendly practices. IBM, UK has an action-team program.
This gives grants to encourage employees and their families to get involved
in local environmental project (Wehrmeyer, 1996). Other firm policies that
support employee eco-initiatives and supervisors who support employee
environmental actions have been seen in firm practice in the US and Europe,
where at GE Plastics in the Netherlands, Lucent Technologies in Pennsylvania,
and Nestle in Finland, supportive behaviors from supervisors toward employees
are seen to encourage employees to produce possible solutions to
environmental problems (Ramus, 2001). Sometimes publishing rules of conduct
related to greening of workplace and many companies are also developing
progressive disciplinary system to punish employees who violate the rules of
green conduct.
73
vi) Green Building

The organizations round the globe are considerably opting for green building
as their workplace and offices as an alternative to traditional offices. The
phenomenon is quite trend setting as Green buildings fulfil certain criterion for
reducing the exploitation of natural resources that are utilized in their
construction.
vii) Paperless Office
Most of the work in the office is managed on paper but, with introduction of
IT, the consumption of paper has been reduced. Today E-business and learning
have changed the methods and procedures at offices converting them into
paperless offices. Paperless office is a work place where the use of paper is
either restricted or eliminated by converting important official documents and
other papers into automated workflows.
viii) Conservation of energy
The HR department at the UK arm of Sky has started a campaign where the
employees are asked to turn off PCs, TVs, and lights when leaving, to use
100% renewable energy, and introduced solar lighting (Davies & Smith, 2007),
whereas the HR department of other British organizations is emphasizing upon
their travel policy which promotes car sharing and the increased use of public
transport (Simms, 2007).
ix) Recycling and Waste Disposal
Recycling is the methodology of processing used up materials (waste) into
new and useful products. Recycling reduces the use of raw materials that
would have been otherwise used to produce new products. Consequently, this
practice saves energy and reduces the amount of waste that is thrown into the
dustbins, thereby making the environment cleaner and the air fresher. As a
part of their green initiatives, several organizations are implementing recycling
program to increase the amount of recycled products and decrease the amount
of waste.
GREEN HUMAN RESOURCE PRACTICES IN MANUFACTURING SECTOR IN INDIA:
The Government of India would like the manufacturing sector to play a bigger role
in the countrys economy and to be more conscious towards the application of
green HR practices. The Ministry of Commerce and Industry, though has set stiff
target of growth in this sector but the Government is equally concern about reducing
the environmental pollution the manufacturing sector must use energy and
resources efficiently, and minimize generation of waste. It is estimated that even if
every factory, power plant, car and aeroplane is shut down, the average global
temperature would still increase by 0.6C in this century. Green Manufacturing or
74
sustainable industrial activity is now the need of the hour and no more an empty
slogan. Green manufacturing involves transformation of industrial operations in
three ways: (1) Using Green energy, (2) Developing and Selling Green products
and (3) employing Green processes in business operations.
Manufacturing companies that adopt Green practices benefit not only through
longterm cost savings, but equally important are through brand enhancement with
customers, better regulatory traction, greater ability to attract talent and higher
investor interest. The motivation for adopting Green has varied across sectors.
Some take it up owing to regulatory compulsions (e.g. power), while others see it
as an opportunity to build a stronger brand with consumers (e.g. retail). Steel
manufacturers have adopted Green initiatives to stabilise rising energy costs, while
automobile companies have seen it as an opportunity to launch electric and hybrid
cars to meet increasingly stringent emission regulations. The impact of Green
initiatives also varies by the industry sector. For example, Green initiatives in the
power sector have the maximum impact on reducing CO2 emissions followed by
transportation and then the industrial sector.
Green manufacturing in India is at the takeoff stage. While there has been
significant policy development and adoption by the manufacturing industry in the
area of Green energy, there is substantial scope on both the policy front and its
adoption in the areas of Green products and Green processes. Successful
transformation into Green manufacturing will bring tremendous benefits, both tangible
and intangible, for the nation and the business community. The Government of
India has to play a key role in the transformation into Green Manufacturing. To
promote Green energy, both the central and state Governments have launched
many initiatives with significant budgetary support (e.g. Solar Mission). The promotion
of Green technologies has been included in the draft strategy for the manufacturing
sector prepared by the Department of Industrial Policy & Promotion (DIPP), Ministry
of Commerce and Industry. However, there has not been adequate attention given
to financial, regulatory and policy support to promote Green products and Green
processes in ongoing business operations. For example, an equivalent of ISI
certification can be implemented as part of a holistic policy framework to govern
Green products by giving Green ratings based on criteria like product recyclability
and biodegradability. These ratings have to be actively promoted and will provide
a critical lever to companies to differentiate themselves, and also enable the
consumers to make more informed choices The scope of these efforts can be
widened and integrated into a Green Audit which focuses on all three energy,
water and waste. This could be done through incentivising, through voluntary
participation, or by mandating via an independent regulatory body. Some of the
examples of green manufacturing in India are as follows
75
Haier India launches the green initiative with its Eco-Life series, as a part
of its global rebranding exercise. This is aimed at designing smart products
which not only meet customer needs, but also adhere to environmental
norms. The companys eco-friendly offerings include refrigerators, semi and
fully automatic washing machines, split and windows air conditioners, a wide
range of LED & LCD TVs and the Spa range of water heaters. Air-conditioners,
refrigerators and plasma or LCD TVs are going green with a vengeance.
Voltas from the Tata Group in 2007, Voltas initiated the Green range of
air-conditioners, following which the government made it mandatory for home
appliances to have energy star ratings. Energy Star is an international
standard for energy efficient consumer products that originated in the US.
Thus, devices carrying the star logo, such as computer products and
peripherals, kitchen appliances and other products, use about 20-30 per
cent less energy than the set standards.
Panasonic has manufactured range of air conditioners and LCD screens

which is once again based on energy conservation.
The other company to launch wide range of eco-friendly desktops is Wipro.

Introduced under the Wipro Green Ware initiative, these products aim to cut
down e-waste in environment. Here, the systems launched are toxin free
and operate under a total recycling policy. According to Wipro, with the
removal of the toxins, recycling of the electronic products would be safer,
say company executives. Wipro has 17 e-waste collection centres in India
where products are collected and recycled and most of the Wipro campuses
in the country have been certified as green buildings.
Again in automobile industry Indian Government is on a serious mission to go

green. Rising fuels costs and pollution levels are some of the reasons for this
endeavour. In fact, the India National Electric Mobility Mission Plan 2020 envisages
that by 2020, there will be 5-7 million electric vehicles (EVs) on the roads. There
has also been a conscious shift by auto manufacturers to move towards energy
efficient vehicles and hybrid/ electric vehicles. However, there is still the issue of
old cars on the roads. Currently, India has over 115mn vehicles plying on its roads
(source: Urban Transport in India), 15.5mn of which are passenger vehicles. Older
vehicles pollute far more than new ones, especially if they have been on the road
for more than 8 years, producing more than 90% of the automotive pollution.
Therefore, there is an immediate need to specifically target these vehicles for
improving their fuel/energy efficiency and emissions.
76
GREEN HUMAN RESOURCE PRACTICES IN SOME SELECTED SERVICE SECTOR

IN INDIA
A) Hotel Industry
i)
Taj Hotels Resorts and Palaces has launched EARTH (Environment

Awareness and Renewal at Taj Hotels), a movement that works to minimise
the impact of its businesses on the environment. The hotel follows green
practices that conform with Green Globe Standards and is a responsive
partner in ensuring a brighter tomorrow for future generations. The initiatives
under this umbrella include environmental training for all employees, energy
audits every three years, and a phased reduction of freshwater consumption.
Waste management: In hotels where land is available, kitchen waste and
dry leaves are converted into compost; waste paper from printing is reused
as writing pads; pipe, steel waste is used as safety railings or in barricades;
and old bed sheets are used to make linen bags and cotton napkins.
Conserving energy: Taj hotels use CFL lights, which consume 78 per
cent less energy; Taj Coromandel, Chennai, generates energy from
windmills; solar water heating systems at the Taj West End, Bangalore,
have saved over 51,000 litres of fuel over the last three years; a biogas
plant at Rambagh Palace, Jaipur, helps in cutting energy cost.
Eco-sensitivity: Located in a sensitive ecological zone, the Taj Exotica,
Maldives, focuses on waste management. The use of plastic bags is
restricted and hazardous substances such as lead acid batteries are sent
to Thilafushi Island, a landfill area allocated for refuse. The Taj Coral Reef,
located on a tropical atoll, takes great care to protect the delicate ecosystem
of the coral reefs. Trees are planted near the beach and extraction of sand
from the beach is not permitted.
At Lake Palace, Udaipur, which stands in the middle of the famous Pichola
Lake, the Taj takes care to avoid spoiling the lake water and harming its
marine life. The hotel uses battery-operated boats instead of those powered
by gasoline, and wastewater is recycled and used for irrigation. The Taj
Garden Retreat at Kumarakom, is located near the Vembanad Lake and
the Kumarakom Bird Sanctuary that is a favourite haunt of several species
of migratory birds. The hotel uses special lighting to reduce the glare so
as not to disturb animal life, and wastewater is treated before being
discharged.
ii)
The Orchid has been a pioneer in exhibiting innovative environmental systems

since its inception in 1997.
Under the leadership of its Executive Chairman and Managing Director, Dr
Vithal Kamat the Orchid has created a benchmark for environment standards
77
in the hospitality industry in India. The Orchid is a recipient of 80 international

and national awards. The most recent accolade being the prestigious Times of
India Earth Care Award 2012 for excellence in Climate Change, Mitigation and
Adaptation.The unique feature of the go green initiatives are as follows:
a) Waste
Construction materials used at the Orchid have a high proportion of recycled
content. To elaborate, cement has 15 % fly ash, concrete has approximately
60% fly ash, internal panels are made from fertilizer waste, MDF wood
comes from cotton stalks. Waste is segregated in all the kitchens. Four
separate colour coded bins are used for separating the waste into dry, wet,
recyclable and other. A two bin segregation system is used not only in the
hotels common areas but also in guestrooms. The food waste or wet
waste is decomposed in the hotels premises though vermiculture. The rich
and fertile vermicompost has been serving as an excellent fertilizer for their
gardens. Dry waste is given out to a recycler for recycling. All paper used
has a minimum of 25% recycled content. Guest Room amenities include
biodegradable herbal products and stationery made from environment
friendly material.
b) Energy & Carbon
Energy efficient designs and systems have been integrated into the hotel
from its very foundation. The hotel uses energy efficient lighting such as
CFL (Compact Fluorescent Lighting) and LEDs Solar energy. The hotel
has solar panels on its roof and the electricity generated through these
panels is used for the rooftop lighting, reducing the extent of conventional
coal based electricity used by the hotel. Each room in the hotel has a
master control panel to control the lighting and temperature of the room.
Air conditioning and refrigeration systems use CFC free refrigerants with
low ozone depleting potential.
c) Water
In order to mitigate the negative impact on freshwater depletion due to its
operations, The Orchid has adopted a threefold strategy:
I.
Minimise the consumption of fresh water through installed systems and

system aligned practices.
II.
Water treatment: The Orchid also employs environmental treatment

methods for water purification. Drinking water and the swimming pool
is purified by a combination of Ozone treatment and filtration as
opposed to conventional systems that use chlorine.
III. Linen Reuse Program: The hotel has a linen reuse program for the
guests who stay for more than one night. The standard practice of the
78
hotel is to change the linen every day. However, a guest can opt to
reuse their linen by placing this card on their bed. Guests who reuse
their linen are given a certificate along with a gift. The certificate
thanks the guest for participating in this program and informs them
that their participation helped reduce consumption of fresh water,
electricity and detergent.
Besides other method of water conservation are as follows:
l
Garden plants are watered before sunrise and after sunset, to

avoid water loss due to evaporation.
Other practices include hotel cars being washed using buckets

instead of a direct pipe, dishwashers are operated only when fully
loaded and leaking taps are immediately attended to.
Eliminate discharge of waste water by treating and recycling all

waste water.
Treating and recycling all waste water not only reduces fresh water
intake but also prevents the pollution of fresh water resources.
The Sewage Treatment Plant at The Orchid (on the roof) treats all
the waste water of the hotel with the technology of Rotating Biological
Contractors. This recycled water is reused for irrigating their
gardens.
d) Education & training

Environmental awareness amongst the team members is imperative for the
hotel to sustain its commitment to the environment. Consequently, training
programs and activities for team members are conducted on a regular
basis.
e ) Events
Some of the events conducted are enlisted below:
Nirmalya Composting Initiative:
For the last 18 years, The Orchid Hotel and the Municipal Corporation of Greater
Mumbai (MCGM) embark ED on a Nirmalya Composting Project during the Ganesh
Festival in Mumbai. Nirmalya refers to offerings that are made to Lord Ganesh
which include garlands, sweets, fruits, coconuts etc. To ensure that this Nirmalya
does not end up as waste on beaches, rivers, roads, landfill sites etc. The Orchid
and the MCGM conduct a major collection drive in Mumbai. The collected Nirmalya
is segregated and put into vermiculture pits to compost using earthworms.
Beautification of Mumbai with 18 gardens:
The Orchid has also spread greenery all across Mumbai by maintaining 18 gardens
in the city. The Orchid has adopted gardens and traffic islands around the city for
79
beautification purposes and to improve the overall environment of Mumbai. Plants

and trees act as carbon sinks and remove harmful toxins in the air. They have
developed the first butterfly garden in Mumbai underneath the Bandra-Mahim flyover
which has an area of approximately 2,500 square feet.
B) Hospital & Healthcare Industry
i)
AIIMS to become first Indias Green Hospital

The All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS) here is all set to become
the countrys first green hospital with Union Health and Family Welfare
Minister Dr. Harsh Vardhan announcing his Ministrys green-plan for medical
institutions across the country.
AIIMS plan is to reduce their energy consumption and maximise use of
solar energy and other similar sources. The new-look AIIMS will have
water conservation and waste water recycling systems. There will also be
regular energy audits and a phased renewal plan with a view to making
the buildings on the complex more energy efficient. Waste generation
including medical waste generation must be brought down by an approach
of reduce, reuse and recycling of waste. A scavenging system will be
introduced to deal with nitrous oxide and other waste anaesthetic gases
emanating from their site. The plantation around the hospital will be of
a nature so as to capture particulate pollution preventing harm to the
hospitalised patients. For this purpose, the Health Minister announced
that a Management Information System using IT tools would be developed
for the benefit of Central and State health departments. With environmental
degradation and environmental risks emerging as the single biggest source
of diseases from ordinary water borne diseases to cancers the Health
Minister has also announced plans for setting up a network of capacity
building institutions all over India modelled on the line of All India Institute
of Hygiene and Public Health, Kolkata, and the Centre for Occupational
and Environmental Health in Delhis Maulana Azad Medical College.
ii) Green Initiative by Medica Super Speciality Hospital in Kolkata

The 500-bed Medica Superspecialty Hospital, one of the largest in eastern
India, is also Kolkatas first green hospital, having applied for LEED
(Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) Certification developed
by the US Green Building Council. The hospital is developed by Medica
Synergie Pvt Ltd, a body of healthcare professionals providing integrated
healthcare solutions along various verticals hospital architectural planning
and
building,
managing
hospitals,
public
health,
quality
accreditations and retail pharmacy.
80
CONCLUSION
So, India is not far away in making the Green HR practices into reality. Almost as
discussed in the above cases green initiatives in manufacturing & services both in
the Government and private sector are spearheading though the green movement.
Clearly, a majority of the employees in India strongly feel about the environment
and, exhibit greater commitment and job satisfaction toward an organization that is
ever ready to go Green. The effects of GHRM practices are multifaceted and
require constant monitoring to recognize their potential impact on HRM issues. The
Greening HRM involves specific HRs policies and practices aligned with the three
sustainability pillarsenvironment, social, and economic balance (Yusliza et.
al., 2015,).
One such initiative is Trash2 Cash. It is a Kolkata-based initiative that has found
a way to convert trash into cash providing a solution for solid waste problems in
urban areas is one of the projects that made it to the final 12 selected for the
Momentum for Change awards. More than 5,000 tonnes of solid waste is generated
each day in Kolkata. Given the manner in which solid waste in currently being
dumped, Kolkatas solid waste has ended up polluting the ground water and emitting
large amounts of methane, a gas that is 25 times more potent than carbon dioxide
in trapping heat. This initiative by the South Asian Forum for Environment is an
independent community enterprise led by people who live in the slums and are
trained and paid to collect and recycle corporate and household waste. Organic
waste is diverted from landfills to make compost, while paper waste is recycled and
used for making handicrafts in a workshop run by women. In this manner, by
collecting an average of 1,000 kg of waste paper and 2,000 kg of organic or food
waste each month, slum dwellers involved in this initiative are helping reduce
carbon dioxide emissions by 520 metric tonnes a year.
More research on the overall impact of GHRM systems rather than individual practices
would be particularly helpful in India and such studies can help organizations to
reduce degradation of the environment, become healthier both physically and
financially and, make our country a cleaner and safer place to live for our future
generation.
RECOMMENDATIONS
l
The present generations, HR managers have very effective role to play for
spreading awareness among the new entrants and among the older
employees working for the organization about the Green HRM, Green
movement and utilization of natural resources through less paper work and
to use more technological know-how in every day work.
Companies can organize regular workshops and seminars for spreading the
utilities of green HR practices among the masses.
81
As many Indian companies begin recycling, upgrade to energy-efficient

heating/air conditioning systems and seek production efficiencies that save
energy or reduce carbon emissions, its natural to consider green benefits.
It is high Time to make environmental management an integral part of their
way of doing business where HR professional can provide a constant
calendar of activities which may include initiatives like offering staff incentives
for maintaining clean and pollutant free workplace, savings wastages of
water, sometimes employees receive more positive appraisals or points for
taking public transport or walking to work, or video conferencing rather than
taking a flight.
Prizes can be given to such employees in an organization who take active

part in spreading green citizenship behaviour.
In some selected industries like manufacturing, chemical, pharmaceutical

where lot of pollutants are emanated everyday due to the nature of their
work processes, such companies should make more investment in the
research & development of green HR practices in the context of their work
because by Going green help companies to enhance their public relations,
and improved public relations create positive public perception which can
have a strong impact on product branding and companys profit.
REFERENCES
1.
Bhattacharyay, A., Jain, R. and Chowdhury, A (2011). Green Manufacturing, Energy, Products
and Processes, report of Survey from Boston Consulting Group (BCG) published from
Confederation of Indian Industry (CII)
2.
Berrone, P. and Gomez-Mejia, L. R. (2009). Environmental performance and executive

compensation: An integrated agency-institutional perspective. Academy of Management
Journal, 52, pp.103126
3.
Daily, B. and Huang, S. (2001). Achieving sustainability through attention to human resource
factors in environmental management. International Journal of Operations & Production
Management, 21, pp.15391552
4.
Davies, G. and Smith, H. (2007). Natural resources. People Management, pp.2631.

: h t t p : / / w w w. c i p d . c o . u k / p m / p e o p l e m a n a g e m e n t / b / w e b l o g / a r c h i v e / 2 0 1 3 / 0 1 / 2 9 /
naturalresources 2007-03.aspx
5.
Dutta, S. (2012). Greening people: A strategic dimension. ZENITH: International Journal of

Business Economics and Management Research, 2, pp.143148.
6.
Environmental Management by G.N. Pandey Vikas Publishing house(P) Ltd1997,
7.
Reprinted 2008, .ISBN 81-259-0292-9
8.
Epstein, M. and Roy, M. (1997). Using ISO 14000 for improved organizational learning and
environmental management. Environmental Quality Management, 7, pp.2130.
9.
Harmon, J., Fairfield, K. D. and Wirtenberg, J. (2010). Missing an opportunity: HR leadership

and sustainability. People & Strategy, 33, pp.1621
82
10. Hersey, K. (1998). A close look at ISO 14000, Professional Safety, 43, pp.2629.
11. Huselid, M. (1995). The impact of human resource management practices on turnover,
productivity, and corporate financial performance. Academy of Management Journal, 38,
pp.635672
12. Jackson, S., Renwick, D., Jabbour, C. J. C. and Muller-Camen, M. (2011). State-of-the-art
and future directions for Green Human Resource Management. Zeitschrift fr
Personalforschung: German Journal of Research in Human Resource Management, 25,
pp.99116
13. Marcus, A. and Fremeth, A. (2009). Green management matters regardless.Academy of
Management Perspectives, 23, pp.1726
14. Murari, K. and Bhandari, M. (2011). Green HR: Going green with pride, Journal of Social
Welfare and Management, 3, pp.107110.
15. Pillai, R. and Sivathanu, B. (2014). Green Human Resource Management. Zenith
International Journal of Multidisciplinary Research, 4, pp.7282. Retrieved 5 November,
2014 from www.zenithresearch.org.in
16. Ramus, C. A. (2001). Organisational support for employees: Encouraging creative ideas
for environmental sustainability, California Management Review, 43, pp. 85105.
17. Renwick, D. (2008). Green HRM: A review, process model, and research agenda (Discussion
Paper Series), The University of Sheffield.Retrieved from http://www.shef.ac.uk/content/1/
c6/08/70/89/2008-01.pdf
18. Simms, J. (2007). Direct action, People Management, pp.3639. C Retrieved
romwww.cipd.co.uk/pm/peoplemanagement/b/weblog/archieve/2013/01/29/directation-200707.aspx
19. Wehrmeyer, W. (1996). Greening people: Human resources and environmental management.
Sheffield: Greenleaf.
20. Wee, Y. S. and Quazi, H. A. (2005). Development and validation of critical factors of
environmental management. Industrial Management & Data Systems, 105, pp.96114.
21. Yusliza, M. Y., Ramayah, T. and Othman, N-Z. (2015). While examining adoption factors,
HR role and attitude towards using e-HRM is the start-of in determining the successfulness
of green HRM? Journal of Advanced Management Science, 3, pp.337343.
Retrieved 5 November, 2014 from www.joams.com
Websites:
l
http://www.kpit.com/blog/Imagine/four-top-trends-in-the-indian-auto-industry-in-2014-15
Source: http://www.tata.com/company/articlesinside/vzAtfIWNGNo=/TLYVr3YPkMU=
Source:http://www.thehindu.com/news/cities/Delhi/aiims-to-become-countrys-first-greenhospital/article6088571.ece
Source:
http://articles.economictimes.indiatimes.com/2014-12-03/news/
56684689_1_solid-waste-bhungroo-waste-paper
www.greenhr.com
http://www.medicahospitals.in/
https://www.marxists.org/glossary/events/g/r.htm
83
Source: http://www.greenhotelier.org/best-practice-sub/case-studies/indias-eco-pioneerthe-orchid-mumbai/
http://indiatoday.intoday.in/story/10+most+powerful+movements/1/22812.html
News papers
l
84
India Today, August 2003.India Today, December 2007.
Consumerism Dictates The Market Culture and

Consumer Culture
Sangita Ghosh*
ABSTRACT
In this article I would like to put some light on the fact that actually market dominates the buying
behavior of consumers and vice versa and ultimately all the socioeconomic classes of consumers
are dominated by their urge of over buying of goods and services. The interrelation in between
the effect of conspicuous consumption and consumerism is also analyzed. Income growth in
recent decades has been so heavily concentrated at the very top, luxury markets have become
the biggest drivers of economic activity around the world. Because of its market attractiveness,
the rise of consumerism and the increase in sophistication and quantity of marketing efforts
have been seen from last three centuries. Stearns chronicles shows the side by side emergence
of consumer culture and development of marketing channels and methods across the eighteenth
century in western Europe. Around the same time retailers began to provide consumer credit
and publicity events to attract consumers while text based advertising dominating the market
by the 1780s (Stearns 2001).From then on intensity of marketing continues to accelerate. In
this paper we are trying to focus in a broader aspect to the question What role does marketing
play in the growth materialism? .Consumer researchers suggested a causal relationship
between the advertising and materialism (Zinkhan, 1994; Zinkhan and Prenshow, 1994; Pollay
1986; Belk and Pollay1985) and several empirical studies watched television advertising leads
to higher levels of consumerism and materialism, mostly among children(Kinsey,1987).
Businesses have realized that wealthy consumers are the most attractive targets for marketing
their products. The upper class tastes, lifestyles, and preferences trickle down to become the
standard which all consumers seek to emulate and imitate. The not so wealthy consumers can
purchase something new that will speak of their place in the tradition of affluence(Glickman,
Lawrence B. 2012). A consumer can have the instant gratification of purchasing an expensive
item that will help improve their social status. So actually consumerism or desire to purchase
more is dissolving all boundaries of socio-economic class. Conspicuous consumption refers
to the competitive and extravagant consumption practices and leisure activities that aim to
symbol membership to a superior social class. Studies examining the symbolic role of luxury
brands and status symbols, and the importance of interpersonal relations and upward social
mobility via consumption choices, have been widely discussed in the marketing and consumer
behaviour literature. There is, however, limited research on how the all the socio economic
classes encompassing concept of conspicuous consumption and consumerism. Using field
survey method the paper examines and discusses the impact of socio economic forces on the
evolution of consumerism phenomena. The paper shows how the concept of conspicuous
Assistant Professor, The Heritage Academy, Anandapur, Kolkata-700107;

E-mail:Sangita.ghosh@heritageit.edu,sangitait@gmail.com
85
consumption and consumerism has been affecting all the consumers irrespective of their
socio economic status.
Key Words: Consumerism, Human spirit, Self fulfillment, Psychological dissatisfaction
INTRODUCTION
Our global society has become increasingly focused on consuming goods and
services, day by day with the rise of consumerism, as a means to feel good about
ourselves and to drive the economies of the world (McKibben,1989; Suzuki , 1997;)
. Consumerism affects the individual in a number of ways. Consumerism affects the
psychological health of the individual through attrition of the true self and replacing
it with a false self,
In order to more closely define the issue, it is important to clearly define consumerism.
Consumerism is defined as: The theory that a progressively greater consumption
of goods is economically beneficial; Attachment to materialistic values or possessions
(Dictionary.com , 2000a). Mick (1996) found that research on materialism and
other dark side variables can be influenced by socially desirable responding
(SDR): the tendency for people to present themselves favorably according to current
cultural norms .This kind of behavior is very common in our workplace. Most of the
individuals who are engaged working anywhere are very conscious about how their
co-workers evaluate them in terms of attire, style, fashion or overall appearance
and this psychology has a great influence on their over purchase . Perceived
negative impressions of materialism can lead to denial of materialistic values and
behaviour, in the face of apparent disapproval, respondents may be reluctant to
admit that they are materialistic.
It is important to note that the point of this paper is not to label all consumerism
as bad or evil. But rather to get people to think about consumerism, its effects on
our global society, and to examine the reasons we choose to consume product s
and resources.
Marketing And Consumerism Are They Related?
It is quite possible that a tendency towards materialistic behaviour exists within
human beings because whenever we are given the opportunity we tend to exhibit
this behaviour we cannot ignore the extensive and striking parallels between the
growth of consumerism and the growth of modern marketing. We must try to show
a significant relation in between modern marketing efforts and the all engulfing
impact of consumerism. Basically these two are feeding each other. What alternatives
the consumer society has when people become more affluent and seeking freedom
of choice. If we suspect that marketing is contributing to the harmful effects of
consumerism is there anything that can be done short of rejecting the entire
market economy? If consumers appear to choose excessive material consumption,
86
perhaps they are unaware that such behaviour do not lead to greater levels of
satisfaction. Increased efforts at consumer education may be able to correct this
and lead to changes in consumer behaviour. Studies of relation in between
consumerism and marketing always look to the effects of mass marketing the
kinds of marketing done by larger firms. Now a days large firm are targeting every
consumers irrespective of their socio economic class and preferred quantity of
purchase. Luxury and expensive brands of FMCG products are available in a tiny
size and affordable price so that the class who aspires to buy the product they can
also have the product in a reasonable price. e.g. .Pediasure a premium health
nutrient brand offered by Abott is available in a 22g pack and in a very reasonable
price Rs 30 so that everybody can afford this.
Advertising: induce consumerism
It is unknown whether consumerism occurs naturally in humans or has been artificially
induced . There is considerable documentation which shows that the media and
advertising industry have worked hard over many decade s to convinced the public
of many need s of which they were previously unaware, through a constant exposure
of commercials enforce those needs. By advertising and other promotional devices,
by scientific fact finding ,by carefully pre developed consumption, a measurable
pull on production has been created which releases capital otherwise tied up in
immobile goods .
Christopher Lasch (1979 ) noted a statement made by 30th President of United
States Calvin Coolidge who stated: Advertising is the method by which the desire
is created for better things (p .72) . Lasch (1979) described the intent of the
advertising industry: In a simpler time, advertising merely called attention to the
product and extolled its advantages. Now it manufactures a product of its own: the
consumer, eternally unsatisfied, restless, and bored. Advertising serves not so
much to advertise products as to promote consumption as a way of life. It
manipulates the masses into an insatiable appetite not only for goods but for new
experiences and personal fulfillment .It promotes consumption as the answer to the
age old problems of loneliness, illness, weariness, and lack of sexual satisfaction
(p. 72).
Lasch (1979) completed this thought by equating this mode of rampant consumerism
as keeping up with the Joneses :the propaganda of consumption turns alienation
itself into a commodity. It addresses itself to the spiritual unhappiness of modern
life and proposes consumption as the cure. Do you look dowdy next to your
neighbors? Do you own a car inferior to theirs? Are your children as heal thy? As
popular? Doing as well in school? Advertising institutionalizes envy and attendant
anxieties (p. 73).
87
To cultivate consumer needs advertisers create a false image of ideal consumers.

As an end result not only an impulse to buy creates a consumer false self (
Kanner & Gomes ,1995, P.82).The advertising industry has created the need so
compelling that the wealthiest individuals in the most affluent countries in the world
are deeply entrenched in the consumer false self (Glink,1993.p.5) and continually
striving to increase their ability to consume more products and services.
In this rush to riches consumer mentality, people are not achieving a higher level
of happiness-indeed the opposite is happening. Psychological evidence shows that
the relationship between happiness and personal consumption is weak. Two primary
sources of human fulfilment i.e. social relations and leisure are stagnated in this
rush to riches.
Thus many in the consumer society have a sense that their world of plenty is
somehow hollow, they have been fruitlessly attempting to satisfy with material things
what are essentially social, psychological and spiritual.
OBJECTIVE OF THE STUDY
Consumerism affects the individual in no of ways. It affects the psychological health
of the individual trough erosion of the true self and replacing that with a false self.
Consumerism is ecologically unsustainable and threatens to destroy the beneficial
connection between nature and the human spirit (Berry, 1995; Suzuki,1997;
McDaniel, 2000). In contrast to the conventional wisdom more is better,
Csikszentmihalyi (2000) notes that there is substantial empirical evidence to support
the idea that beyond a rather low threshold, material well-being does not correlate
with subjective well-being. If we suspect that marketing is contributing to the harmful
effects of consumerism, is there anything that can be done short of rejecting the
entire market economy? Csikszentmihalyi (2000) suggests that greater transparency
about the effects of materialism could help. If consumers appear to have chosen
the status quo, it is perhaps because they are unaware of the empirical findings
cited above. If consumers appear to choose excessive material consumption,
perhaps they are unaware that such behaviours do not lead to greater levels of
satisfaction. Increased efforts at consumer education may be able to correct this
and lead to changes in consumer behavior.
So in this paper we tried to find a connection between marketing efforts and the
aspiration of consumer society to consume more and more. The everlasting appetite
of worldwide consumers to consume more than required is ultimately leaving them
unsatisfied as this over consumption is not a solution of the age old problems of
loneliness, sense of unfulfilled and detachment of the human relations. This study
tried to shed light over the fact that this rush to riches philosophy is engulfing the
entire consumer society irrespective of their age and income or other demographic
parameters.
88
So the core objectives of the study is

1
To understand whether the buying habit is dependent on age of consumer or

not.
2.
To understand whether differences in buying habit exist in high income group,

middle income group and lower income group consumers.
3.
To understand whether different marketing efforts influencing the buying habit

of different age and income group consumers.
4.
To understand the negative effect of over consumption by different age and

income group consumers.
5.
More specific insight into the buying habit and influence of marketing and
advertising effort over consumption pattern.
RESEARCH METHODOLOGY
Considering the research problem we can define the research as a descriptive
research because this research describes the characteristics of consumers and
also deliberately sheds light into the processing and interpretation of marketing
efforts and their influence on buying habit. This research also estimates the
percentage of responses of a specified sample population exhibiting a certain
behavior. We can also find that the research wants to determine the perception of
different age and income group respondents and make predictions regarding the
consumers buying behaviour.
In this research for the sake of time and cost constraint we have decided to focus
on only two demographic parameters i.e. age and income.
So we started with two age groups of consumers one is young to middle aged and
another is elderly. Both set of respondents would then be asked to express their
opinion and feelings on the specific buying behaviour freely on some predefined
parameters. A structured questionnaire is used for this purpose. The questionnaire
contains questions that are designed to meet the demand to fulfill the objective of
the study.
Each set of respondents with respective age groups are further subdivided
according to their income and grouped as higher, middle and lower income group
respectively
Population for survey
The sample is selected from the
malls in the city. For this survey
selected ,which are situated in
located in South Kolkata, other
Kolkata.
population who came to visit different shopping

three major shopping malls of city Kolkata are
three different locations of the city i.e. one
twos are located in north Kolkata and central
89
Sample size:
Table A. to show the Sample Size
Respondent
Higher
Income Group
Middle
Income Group
Lower
Income Group
Total
Young to middle aged
10
10
10
30
Elderly
10
10
10
30
Total
20
20
20
60
For the purpose of this research a survey is conducted with the total sample size
of 60. Within the specified sample thirty of young to middle aged respondents are
interviewed to record their responses and thirty are elderly respondents interviewed
to get their responses. These two age grouped respondents are also grouped
according to their household income i.e. more than Rs 80,000 per month is labeled
as higher income group, more than Rs 10,000 per month is labeled as middle
income group and less than Rs 10,000 per month household income is labeled as
lower income group and we have taken ten respondents from each income group
within the two sets of respondents of two age groups.
Method of data collection and analysis:
In the process of interview one copy of the structured questionnaire is given to
each respondent and asked to express their opinion regarding their purchasing
pattern.
For this research statistical software SPSS is used for analyzing the collected data
deliberately for accurate result and methodological finding.
DATA ANALYSIS AND CONCLUSION
ANALYSIS BY AGE
Age by shopping preference
Table1. 1 Age by like to shop cross-tabulation
Count
Like to shop
AGE
Total
Yes
No
Total
Middle Aged
27
30
Elderly
16
14
30
43
17
60
In the above table 1.1 we can see that 90% of youngster to middle aged respondents
like to shop but only 53.33%of elderly customers really enjoy shopping.
90
The chi-square test reveals that significant association between the age and
preference of shopping of the respondents. From the chi square test output table
we can see that a significance level of 0.002 has been achieved. This means the
chi square test is showing a significant association between the above two variables
at 99.8%confidance level(100-0.2).Thus we conclude at 99%confidance level age
and shopping preference of respondents are associated significantly with each
other.
From the contingency coefficient(C)of 0.377,it can be inferred that the association
between the dependent and independent variable is significant .Also from the
lambda asymmetric value (with Age dependent)of0.367,moderate level of association
between these two variables.
Age by reason of shopping
Table 1.2 Age by reason of shopping cross-tabulation
Count
Reason of shopping
AGE
Total
Purely
need
based
Occasionally
purchase
Impulsively
purchase
more than
required
Enjoy
shopping as
a stress
buster
Total
Middle Aged
17
30
Elderly
22
30
39
60
In the above table1.2 and clustered bar graph we can see 56.66% of middle aged
respondents are involved in shopping on purely need basis and 73.33% of elderly
respondents are involved in shopping due to same need based reason. On the
other hand 20% of middle aged respondents are occasionally involved in shopping
and another 20%of young to middle aged respondents impulsively purchase more
than required quantity.3%of young to middle aged respondents enjoy shopping as
a stress buster but 10% of elderly respondents do the same.
From the chi square test output table we can see that a level of 0.2 has been
achieved therefore we have sufficient evidence to conclude that the two variables
age and reason of shopping are independent to each other.
91
Age by decisive factor of purchase

Table 1.3 Age by decisive factor of purchase cross-tabulation
Count
Decisive factor of purchase
Brand
name
Value for
money
High price
high value
benefit
Unique
benefit
attached
Most
Premium
brant
Total
AGE Middle Aged
20
30
Elderly
24
30
Total
44
60
From the above table 1.3 we can see that 66.66% of young to middle aged
respondents preferred value for money as the most influential decisive factor of
purchase and 80% of elderly respondents also preferred value for money. On the
other hand 20% of young to middle aged respondents depend on brand name to
take purchase decision. Only 6% of young to middle aged respondents took most
premium brand appeal as the most influential factor of taking purchase decision
but no elderly respondents have chosen the same.
From the chi-square test we can see that a significance level of 0.449 has been
achieved so null hypothesis should not be rejected. Therefore the two variables
age and decisive factor of purchase are independent to each other.
Age by brand name
Table 1.4 Age by Brand name cross-tabulation
Count
Brand-name
AGE
Very little
Somewhat
influential
Influential
Influential
Most
Total
Middle Aged
11
10
30
Elderly
13
30
Total
24
18
13
60
Influential
From the above table1.4 we can see that 36.66% of young to middle aged
respondents found brand name as an somewhat influential factor of buying decision
and 33% of them found that factor influential and 26.66% of them found brand
name as the most influential factor of purchase decision. On the other hand 43.33%
of elderly respondents found brand name as a somewhat influential factor of
purchase decision and 13% of them found that factor very little influential.
92
From the chi square output table we can see 0.410 significance level achieved so
we can say no significant association present between age and brand-name as a
decisive factor of purchase therefore these two variables are independent to each
other.
Age by value for money
Table 1.5 Age by value for money cross-tabulation
Count
Value for money
AGE
Very little
influential
Somewhat
Influential
Most
Influential
Total
Influential
Middle Aged
21
30
Elderly
25
30
Total
46
60
From the above table 1.5 we can see that 70% of young to elderly respondents
found value for money as the most influential decisive factor of purchase and
83.33% of elderly respondents also found the same factor as the most influential
decisive factor of purchase.
The chi square test revels that the two variables age and value for money as a
decisive factor of purchase are independent to each other.
Age by high price high value benefit
Table 1.6 Age by high price high value benefit
Count
High price high value benefit
AGE
Very little
influential
Somewhat
Influential
Influential
Most
Influential
Total
Middle Aged
12
30
Elderly
11
30
Total
23
16
10
11
60
From the above table 1.6 we can see that 40% of young to middle aged respondents
found high price high value benefit is very little influential to take purchase decision
and almost 37% of elderly respondents also found the same. On the other hand
26.66% of young to middle aged respondents found this factor most influential
while taking purchase decision but only 10% of elderly respondents found the
same.
93
The chi-square test output table showing significance level of 0.244has been
achieved so we have sufficient evidence to conclude that the high price high value
benefit as a decisive factor of purchase and age of respondents are independent
to each other.
Age by unique benefit attached as a decisive factor to purchase
Table 1.7 Age by Unique benefit attached
Count
Unique Benefit Attached
AGE
Very little
influential
Somewhat
Influential
Influential
Most
Influential
Total
Middle Aged
13
11
30
Elderly
10
10
30
Total
10
23
19
60
From the above table 1.7 we can see that 33.33%of elderly respondents found
unique benefit attached as a decisive factor of purchase is very little influential and
only 6.66% of them found this factor most influential while taking purchasing decision.
On the other hand 20% of young to middle aged respondents found the same
factor most influential to take purchase decision,36.66% of them found this unique
benefit attached as an influential factor and 43.33% of them found this same factor
somewhat influential while taking purchase decision.
The chi-square test output table showing significance level of 0.005 has been
achieved. This means Chi-square test is showing a significant association between
age of respondents and unique benefit attached as a decisive factor of purchase
at 95%confidance level.
Age by most premium brand appeal as a decisive factor of purchase
Table 1.8 Age by most premium brand appeal
Count
Most Premium Brand
Not
Influential
Very Little
Influential
Somewhat
Influential
Influential
Most
Influential
Total
AGE Middle Aged
10
30
Elderly
30
Total
18
17
11
60
94
From the above table 1.8 we can see that 30% of both the young to middle aged
respondents and 30% of elderly respondents found the most premium brand appeal
as not an influential factor of purchase decision. On the other hand 33.33% of
young to middle aged respondents found this factor somewhat influential to take
purchase decision and both 13% of young to middle aged and elderly respondents
found this factor most influential.
From the chi-square test output table we can see that significance level of 0.864
has been achieved. Therefore no significance association between the above two
variables at 95%confidance level.
Age by reason of impulsive purchase
Table 1.9 Age by reason of impulsive purchase
Count
Reason of Impulsive purchase
AGE
Total
Attracted by
several
promotional offers
by marketers
Depends on own
preferential
purchase
Availability of
credit facility
Total
Middle Aged
12
12
30
Elderly
18
30
18
30
12
60
are engaged in impulsive buying due to they are attracted by several promotional
offers but only 20% of elderly respondents are impulsively purchasing due to the
same reason.
From the Chi-square output table we can see significance level of 0.202 has been
achieved and this value is greater than =0.05.Therefore these two variables age
and reason of impulsive purchase are independent to each other.
Age by FMCG product purchase quantity
Table 1.10 Age by FMCG product purchase quantity
Count
FMCG purchase quantity
AGE
Bulk
Medium
Few
Very Few
Total
Middle Aged
11
30
Elderly
13
30
Total
13
17
24
60
95
respondents prefer to buy FMCG products in few quantity 30% of the same category
respondents prefer to buy FMCG products in medium quantity and 26.66% of them
prefer to purchase in bulk quantity. On the other hand only 16% of elderly
respondents prefer to purchase in bulk quantity,26.66% of elderly respondents
prefer to purchase FMCG products in medium quantity,43.33% of them prefer to
purchase in few quantity. Only 6% of young to middle aged respondents prefer to
purchase in very few quantity and 13% of elderly respondents also preferred the
same.
The Chi-square test revealed that these two variables age and FMCG purchase
quantity are independent to each other.
Age by buying habit adversely affecting wellbeing
Table 1.11 Age by Buying habit adversely affect wellbeing
cross-tabulation
Count
Buying habit adversely affecting wellbeing
AGE
Affecting
Very Much
Somewhat
affecting
Neither
Somewhat
affecting nor Unaffecting
uneffecting
Total
Middle Aged
15
30
Elderly
23
30
Total
15
38
60
told their buying habit neither affecting nor unaffecting their overall wellbeing and
almost 74% of elderly respondents also gave the same response.16% of young to
middle aged respondents told their buying habit very much affecting their overall
wellbeing but only 3% of elderly respondents told the same.30% of young to middle
aged respondents told their buying habit somewhat affecting their overall wellbeing
and 20% of elderly respondents also gave the same response. So we can conclude
that most of the respondents irrespective of their age are unaware of the adverse
effect of consumerism.
The Chi-square test revealed that these two variables are not significantly associated
or independent to each other.
96
Table 1.12 Influence of marketing efforts on purchase depends on age

ANOVA
Influence of marketing efforts on purchase rating
Sum of
Squares
df
Mean
Square
Sig.
Between Groups
8.817
8.817
7.823
.007
Within Groups
65.367
58
1.127
Total
74.183
59
We would like to know the rating given in a10point scale by respondents of two age
groups, young to middle aged and elderly are different from each other or not.
The output of the computerized one way ANOVA is shown in the above table1.12.
When we go to the last column where the significance of the F-test is given, It is
0.007in this case for the age groups. This indicates that at the confidence level of
95%(corresponding to significance level of 0.05) the F test proves the model is
significant. In other words the ratings given to the influence of marketing efforts on
purchase are significantly different from each other. So significant differences exist
between mean ratings given by the two age grouped respondents.
Table 1.13 Age by percentage of income spent on shopping
AGE * Percentage of Income spent on shopping Cross-tabulation
Count
Percentage of Income spent on shopping
AGE
<10%
10% to
20%
20% to
40%
40% to
60%
Total
Middle Aged
14
30
Elderly
13
14
30
Total
27
22
60
respondents spent less than 10% of their income in shopping and 43.33% of
elderly respondents also do the same.26.66% of young to middle aged respondents
spent 10% to 20% of their income on shopping but 46.66% of elderly respondents
also spent the same. Another 26.66%of young to middle aged respondents spent
20% to 40% of their income on shopping but only 3% of elderly respondents spent
the same.
97
On the other hand around 6% of elderly respondents spent 40% to 60% of their
income on shopping but no young to middle aged respondent does the same. The
Chi-square test reveals the association between age and percentage of income
spent on shopping. From the Chi-square test output table we can see that significance
level 0.028 has been achieved so we can conclude in 95% level of confidence
association between the above two variables are significant.
ANALYSIS BY CATEGORY
Category by shopping preference
Table 2.1 Category * Like to shop Cross-tabulation
Count
Like to shop
Category
Yes
No
Total
HIG +Middle Aged
10
HIG +Elderly
10
MIG +Middle Aged
10
MIG +Elderly
10
LIG +Middle Aged
10
LIG +Elderly
10
Total
43
17
60
From the table 2.1 we can see that 90% of high income group young to middle
aged respondents preferred to shop. Same percentage of middle income group
and lower income group gave the same response.
But in case of elderly respondents 60% of high income group 80%of middle income
group and 20% of lower income group preferred to shop. So shopping preference
is dependent on age and income of respondents
The Chi square test revealed the same result that the category of respondents with
respect to their age and income and shopping preference is significantly associated
with each other at 95% confidence level(significance level 0.05%) as from the Chi
square test output table we can see significance level 0.002 has been achieved.
So the above two variables are not independent to each other.
98
Category by reason of shopping

Table 2.2 Category * Reason of shopping Cross-tabulation
Count
Reason of shopping
Purely
need
based
Category HIG + Middle Aged
Occasionally Impulsively
Enjoy
Total
purchase
purchase
shopping
more than as a stress
required
buster
10
HIG + Elderly
10
MIG + Middle Aged
10
MIG + Elderly
10
LIG +Middle Aged
10
LIG + Elderly
10
Total
39
60
From the table2.2 we can see that 30% of high income group young to middle aged
respondents are involved in shopping on purely need basis but 70% same income
group but elderly respondents shop due to the same reason. On the other hand
60% of middle income group and young to middle aged respondents purchase on
purely need basis and 80% of lower income grouped young to middle aged
respondents purchase due to the same reason, 90%of middle income group elderly
respondents and 60% of lower income group elderly respondents purchase on
purely need basis. On the other hand 30% of young to middle aged high income
group respondents impulsively purchase more than required quantity but no elderly
respondents either higher or middle income group respondents purchase in that
way. Only 10% of young to middle aged respondents and 20% of elderly respondents
in high income group enjoy shopping as a stress buster.
From the Chi-square test output table we can see at 95% confidence level
(significance level =0.05) 0.291 significance level has been achieved. So we can
conclude category of respondents and their reason of involvement in shopping are
not associated significantly or these two variables are independent to each other.
99
Chart 2.1.0 Category of respondents by reason of shopping
Table 2.3 Category by decisive factor of purchase cross-tabulation

Category* Decisive factor of purchase Cross tabulation
Count
Decisive factor of purchase
Brand
Category HIG + Middle

Aged
Total
100
Value
for
money
High price
high value
benefit
Unique
benefit
attached
Most
Premium
brand
Total
10
HIG + Elderly
10
MIG + Middle
Aged
10
MIG + Elderly
10
LIG + Middle
Aged
10
LIG + Elderly
10
10
44
60
From the above table 2.3 we can see that 40% of young to middle aged high
income group respondents prefer brand name as most influential decisive factor of
purchase 30% of the same category respondents prefer value for money,10% of
them prefer high price high value benefit and 20% of them prefer the most premium
brand appeal while taking purchase decision. 80% of the same age group but
middle income group respondents prefers value for money as the most influential
decisive factor of purchase.
90% of Middle income group elderly respondents and 100% of lower income group
elderly respondents found the same factor i.e. value for money as the most influential
decisive factor of purchase. 90% of lower income group young to middle aged
respondents also found the same. Other influential decisive factors such as high
price high value benefit, unique benefit attached or most premium brand appeal
are only significant to some extent to the higher income group respondents.
The Chi-square test output table we can see significance level of 0.039 has been
achieved so we can conclude at 95% confidence level the category of respondents
and their decisive factor of purchase are significantly associated with each other.
Table 2.4 Category by brand name cross-tabulation
Count
Brand-name
Total
Very little
influential
Somewhat
Influential
Most
Influential
Total
Influential
10
HIG + Elderly
10
MIG + Middle Aged
10
MIG + Elderly
10
LIG + Middle Aged
10
LIG + Elderly
10
24
18
13
60
From the obtained contingency coefficient( C) of 0.592,it can be inferred that the
association between the decisive factor of purchase and category of respondents
is significant ,as the value 0.592 is closer to 1 than to 0.Also from the lambda
asymmetric value(with category dependent) of 0.180,we conclude that there is a
moderate level of association between the above two variables. This lambda value
tells us that there is a 18% reduction in predicting the category of respondents
when we know the decisive factor of purchase of a consumer.
Category by brand-name as a decisive factor of purchase
in high income group found brand name as the most influential decisive factor of
101
purchase 40% of the same category respondents found this factor influential and
only 10% of them found brand name very little influential while taking purchase
decision. Responses of high income group elderly respondents are almost similar.
Responses of middle income group is showing that most of the young to middle
aged respondents found brand name as an influential decisive factor of purchase.
Most of the same income group elderly respondents also found brand name as an
influential factor to purchase.
On the other hand 80% of lower income group and young to middle aged
respondents found brand name as a somewhat influential factor while taking
purchase decision and only 20% of the same category respondents found brand
name as an influential factor of purchase decision.60% of lower income group
elderly respondents found brand name as somewhat influential and 40% of elderly
lower income group respondents found brand name very little influential while
taking purchase decision.
The Chi-square test revealed that significance level 0.001 has been achieved so
these two variables are significantly associated with each other at the 95% confidence
level.
From the contingency coefficient(C) of 0.627,we can infer that the association
between category of respondents and brand name as a decisive factor are highly
significant.
Also from the lambda asymmetric value with category dependent of 0.240, we
conclude that there is a moderate level of association between the above two
variables.
Table 2.5 Category by value for money
Category * Value for money Cross-tabulation
Count
Value for money
Very little
Somewhat
influential
Influential
Influential
Influential
10
HIG + Elderly
10
MIG + Middle Aged
10
MIG + Elderly
10
LIG + Middle Aged
10
LIG + Elderly
10
46
60
Total
102
Most
Total
From the above table 2.5 we can see that most of the respondents irrespective of
their age and income group found value for money as a decisive factor to purchase
is most influential.
The Chi square test output table also showing that significance level 0.520 has
been achieved. So at the 95% confidence level association between the category
of respondents and value for money as a decisive factor is not significant or these
two variables are independent to each other.
Category by high price high value benefit as a decisive factor to
purchase
Table 2.6 Category by high price high value benefit cross-tabulation
Count
Total
Very little
influential
Somewhat
Influential
Most
Influential
Total
Influential
10
HIG + Elderly
10
MIG + Middle Aged
10
MIG + Elderly
10
LIG + Middle Aged
10
LIG + Elderly
10
23
16
10
11
60
From the above table 2.6 we can see that 60% of high income group young to
middle aged respondents found high price high value benefit as the most influential
decisive factor to purchase. On the other hand 90% of the lower income group
respondents irrespective of their age found this mentioned factor very little influential
while taking purchase decision. In case of middle income group 50% of respondents
irrespective of their age group found this factor somewhat influential to take purchase
decision.
The Chi square test reveals that the association between category of respondents
and high price high value benefit as a decisive factor to purchase is highly significant
at 95% confidence level.
From the contingency coefficient (C) 0.669, it can be inferred that the association
between the dependent and independent variable is highly significant. Also from
the lambda asymmetric value (with high price high value dependent dependent) of
0.405 we can conclude that there is a high level of association between the above
two variables.
103
Category by unique benefit attached as a decisive factor to purchase

Table 2.7 Category by unique benefit attached cross-tabulation
Count
Unique Benefit Attached
Category HIG +Middle Aged
Total
Very little
influential
Somewhat
Influential
Most
Influential
Total
Influential
10
HIG + Elderly
10
MIG + Middle Aged
10
MIG + Elderly
10
LIG + Middle Aged
10
LIG + Elderly
10
10
23
19
60
From the above table we can see that 40% of high income group young to middle
aged respondents found unique benefit attached as a decisive factor to purchase
is most influential and 40% of elderly respondents in same income group also
found the mentioned factor influential to take purchase decision.
In case of middle income group 60% of young to middle income group respondents
found the mentioned factor somewhat influential and 40% of elderly respondents
of the same income group found the factor very little influential while taking purchase
decision.
In case of lower income group 60% of elderly respondents found the same factor
somewhat influential and 60% of young to middle aged respondents in same income
group found the factor influential while taking purchase decision.
The Chi square test output table we can see that at 95% confidence level the
association between category of respondents and unique benefit attached as a
decisive factor to purchase are highly significant. The contingency coefficient (C)
of 0.577, it can be inferred that the association between the variables are highly
significant. The lambda asymmetric value (with category dependent) of 0.200, we
can conclude that there is a moderate level of association between the above two
variables.
104
Category by most premium brand appeal as a decisive factor to

purchase
Table 2.8 Category * Most Premium Brand Cross-tabulation
Count
Most Premium Brand
Not
Influential
Total
Very Little Somewhat

Most
Total
Influential Influential Influential Influential
10
HIG + Elderly
10
MIG + Middle Aged
10
MIG + Elderly
10
LIG + Middle Aged
10
10
LIG + Elderly
18
17
11
60
From the above table 2.8 we can see that the most premium brand appeal is the
most influential decisive factor to purchase to the 40% of high income group elderly
respondents. Another 40% respondents of the same age and income group found
the factor influential while taking purchase decision.40% of respondents in the
same income group and young to middle age group found the same factor influential
to take purchase decision and 20% of the same category respondents found the
factor not influential to take purchase decision.
In case of middle income group most of the respondents irrespective of age group
found the factor somewhat influential to take purchase decision on the other hand
in lower income group most of the respondents irrespective of their age found the
factor not influential to take purchase decision
From the Chi-square test output table we can see that the association between
category of respondents with respect to age and income and most premium brand
appeal as a decisive factor to purchase are highly significant. The contingency
coefficient (C) of 0.715,it can be inferred that the association between the dependent
and independent variable is significant. Also from the lambda asymmetric value
(with most premium brand dependent) of 0.357, we conclude that there is a high
level of association between the above two variables
105
Table 2.9 Category by reason of impulsive purchase

Category * Reason of Impulsive purchase Cross-tabulation
Count
Reason of Impulsive purchase
Attracted by
several
promotional
offers by
marketers
Depends on
own
preferential
purchase
Availability of
credit facility
Total
10
HIG + Elderly
10
MIG + Middle Aged
10
MIG + Elderly
10
LIG + Middle Aged
10
LIG + Elderly
10
18
30
12
60
Total
From the above table 2.9 we can see that 50% of high income group young to
middle aged respondents are impulsively purchasing due to they are attracted by
several promotional offers by marketers 40% of the same category respondents
depends on their own preferential judgement and only 10% of them impulsively
purchasing due to credit facilities are available. In case of elderly respondents of
the same income group most of them depends on their own preferential judgment.
In case of middle income group most of the young to middle aged respondents are
attracted by several promotional offers by marketers but comparatively less no of
elderly respondents of the same age group are involved in impulsive purchase due
to the same reason. Another 40% of middle income group respondents both in two
age groups are dependent on their own preferential judgement in case of impulsive
purchase. Another 40% of middle income group elderly respondents are involved
in impulsive purchase due to availability of credit facility.
In case of lower income group 90% of elderly respondents are involved in impulsive
purchase depending on their own preferential judgement and only 10% of them are
attracted by the several promotional offers.40% young to middle aged respondents
of the same income group are impulsively purchase depending on own preferential
judgement and another 40%of them are attracted due to credit facilities are available
and only 20% of them are attracted by several promotional offers.
From the Chi-square test output table we can see that the significance level0.110
has been achieved so the category of respondents and their reason of involvement
106
in impulsive purchase are not significantly associated with each other at the 95%
confidence level or these two variables are independent to each other.
Category by FMCG product
purchase quantity
Table 2.10 Category * FMCG purchase quantity Cross-tabulation

Count
FMCG purchase quantity
Bulk
HIG + Elderly
Total
Medium
Few
Very Few
Total
10
10
MIG + Middle Aged
10
MIG + Elderly
10
LIG + Middle Aged
10
10
LIG + Elderly
13
17
24
60
From the above table 2.10 we can see that 50% of the high income group and
young to middle aged respondents are purchasing FMCG products in bulk quantity,
another 40% of the same category respondents are purchasing in medium quantity
and only 10% of them are purchasing in few quantity. On the other hand 30% of
middle income group young to middle aged respondents are purchasing FMCG
products in bulk quantity another 30% of them are purchasing in few quantity and
40% are them are purchasing in medium quantity and 20% are purchasing in very
few quantity. Lower income group respondents in same age group, most of them
are purchasing in few quantity and only 30% of them are purchasing in medium
quantity. In case of elderly respondents most of the higher and middle income
group respondents are purchasing FMCG products in either bulk or medium quantity
but 60% of lower income group elderly respondents are purchasing FMCG products
in few quantity.
The Chi square test reveals the association between the category of respondents
and their FMCG products purchasing quantity.In95% confidence level these two
variables are associated with each other. The contingency coefficient (C) of 0.543,it
can be inferred that the association between these two variables are highly significant.
From the lambda value (with category dependent) we can conclude there is a
moderate association between the above two variables.
107
Chart 2.1.0 Category by FMCG product purchase quantity
Table 2.11 Category by buying habit adversely affecting wellbeing

Category * Buying habit adversely affecting well-being Cross-tabulation
Count
Buying habit adversely affecting well-being
Affecting
Very
Much
Somewhat
affecting
Neither affecting
nor unaffecting
Somewhat
Unaffecting
Total

Aged
10
HIG + Elderly
10
MIG + Middle
Aged
10
Total
108
MIG + Elderly
10
LIG + Middle
Aged
LIG + Elderly
10
10
15
38
60
From the above table 2.11 we can see that in high income group and middle
income group the young to middle age group respondents are approving the fact
that their buying habit adversely affecting their overall well-being but elderly
respondents in these income group are providing neutral response as their buying
habit neither affecting nor unaffecting their overall well-being. But most of the lower
income group respondents irrespective of their age group are not at all bothered
about the adverse effect of their buying and consumption habit. So we can conclude
that most of the respondents irrespective of their age and income are unaware of
the adverse effect of the tendency of overconsumption.
The Chi-square test also reveals that the category of respondents and their buying
habit whether affecting them adversely or not are independent to each other.
Chart 2.1.1 Category by buying habit adversely affecting wellbeing
109
Table 2.12 Influence of marketing effort on purchase on category

ANOVA
Influence of marketing efforts on purchase rating
Sum of
Squares
df
Mean
Square
Sig.
Between Groups
23.883
4.777
5.128
.001
Within Groups
50.300
54
.931
Total
74.183
59
From the output table 2.12 of the one way ANOVA in the last column the significance
of F test is found to be 0.001.This indicates that at a confidence level of 95% and
98% the F test proves the model is highly significant.in other words ratings given
by the categories of respondents for the influence of marketing effort are significantly
different from each other.
Table 2.13 Category by percentage of income spent on shopping
Category * Percentage of Income spent on shopping Cross-tabulation
Count
Percentage of Income spent on shopping
<10%
10% to
20% to
40% to
20%
40%
60%
Total

Aged
10
HIG + Elderly
10
MIG + Middle
Aged
10
MIG + Elderly
10
LIG + Middle
Aged
10
10
LIG + Elderly
10
27
22
60
Total
From the above table 2.13 we can see that 40% of young to middle aged
respondents in both higher income and middle income group are spending 20%to
40% of their income on shopping. But most of the elderly respondents irrespective
of their income are spending less on shopping.
The Chi square test reveals that the association between the category of
respondents respective to their age and income and the percentage of income
110
spent on shopping are highly significant. The contingency coefficient (C) of 0.64,
it can be inferred that the association between the above two variables are highly
significant.
From the lambda asymmetric value (with percentage of income spent on shopping
dependent) of 0.303, we conclude that there is a high level of association between
the above two variables.
Chart 2.1.3 Category by percentage of income spent on shopping
FINDINGS AND CONCLUSION

To check the interpretation of the marketing efforts by young to middle aged and
elderly respondents, the impact of consumerism over them, the higher income,
middle income and lower income group of these two age group respondents are
interviewed and their opinions are evaluated.
We have analyzed the collected data set into two different ways, analysis by age
and analysis by category with respect to age and income of respondents. In most
of the cases we found respondents buying habit is independent to their age but
not always independent to their income. When we are analyzing statistically we can
see the association between age of respondents and their shopping preference,
reason of involvement in shopping, decisive factor of purchase, reason of impulsive
111
purchase, FMCG product purchase quantity are not significant with each other. In
case of influence of buying habit adversely affecting the overall wellbeing is also
independent of age respondents. But age and percentage of income spent on
shopping are associated with each other significantly.
In category wise analysis as we have taken two demographic parameters age and
income of respondents together and analyzed statistically. We found shopping
preference, decisive factor of purchase, FMCG product purchase quantity and
percentage of income spent on shopping with category of respondents are
dependent on each other. On the other hand category of respondents and reason
of shopping, value for money as a decisive factor to purchase, reason of impulsive
purchase are not significantly associated with each other. In other words these
variables are independent with each other. So whether consumers are purchasing
impulsively or more than required quantity are not at all dependent on their age
and income. On that point consumers purchasing pattern can not be shaped by
different demographic profile. The entire consumer society is consuming more and
more and each individual irrespective of their age, income ,social status are engulfed
by the everlasting appetite of more and more consumption are unaware of the
solution of their internal problem of dissatisfaction. But ultimately the aspirations to
consume more or more expensive products are only limited by the ability to spend
of an individual. This rush to riches philosophy ultimately leads to greater
psychological dissatisfaction and many more problems. This never-ending cycle of
more consumption, conspicuous consumption and psychological dissatisfaction
ultimately dissolving the socio-economic class boundaries and dictates the market
culture as well as consumer culture.
LIMITATIONS AND FUTURE SCOPE OF RESEARCH
In order to continue to develop the understanding of marketing and its relationship
with consumerism, a number of areas of research are suggested here. First, the
concept of consumerism/materialism needs further definition and clarification.
Second, we need to find ways to explore questions of causality. This is complicated
by the apparent omnipresence of consumerism in entire worldwide consumer society,
which makes it difficult to find control groups. One possibility is to study the voluntary
simplicity /downshifting movement. Studying the segment of non consumerist
consumer and comparing it with other consumer segments could provide further
insights and understanding into the nature and causes of consumerism. Finally,
studies of the relationship between marketing and consumerism almost always look
to the effects of mass marketing the kinds of marketing done by larger firms.
There has been little study of the differences in impact on materialism between
marketing by large versus by small firms. The phenomenon of consumerism,
sustainability, and spirituality are
112
Inextricably linked, requiring a multifaceted approach on many levels to address

the many environment al problems we now face.
However, the need remains for nurturing and development of the true self through
a journey of self-discovery that leads to the process of self - actualization, the
journey of spiritual exploration and renewal of the human spirit for which we humans
constantly strive
REFERENCES
1.
Belk, R.W. and Pollay, R.W. (1985), Images of ourselves: the good life in twentieth century
advertising, Journal of Consumer Research, Vol. 11 No. 4, p. 8872.
2.
Berry, T. (1995). The Viable Human. In G. Sessions (Ed.) Deep ecology for the 21s t century.
Boston, MA: Shambhala Publications, Inc.
3.
Csikszentmihalyi, M. (1999), If we are so rich, why arent we happy?, American Psychologist,

Vol. 54 No. 10, pp. 821-7.
4.
Csikszentmihalyi , M. (2000), The costs and benefits of consuming, Journal of Consumer

Research, Vol. 27, September, pp. 267-72.
5.
Dictionary.com. (2000a). Definition of Consumerism. http://dictionary.reference.com/ search

?q=consumerism/last accessed on 20.09.2015
Glickman, Lawrence B. (2012). Buying power : A history of consumer activism in America
(Paperback ed.). Chicago: University of Chicago Press. p.265. ISBN 978-0226298672
6.
7.
Glink, I (1993). Farewell to easy street The San Francisco Chronicle, p.5.
8.
Kanner, A.D. & Gomes, M.E. (1995). The all - consuming self InT. Roszak, M.E. Gomes,
& A.D. Kanner (Eds.) Ecopsychology :Restoring the earth healing the mind . San
Francisco, CA: Sierra Club Books
9.
Kinsey, J. (1987), The use of children in advertising and the impact of advertising aimed
at children, International Journal of Advertising, Vol. 6 No. 2, p. 169 .
10. Lasch, C. (1979) . The culture of narcissism: American life in an age of diminishing
expectations. New York, NY: W.W. Norton & Company,Inc
11. McKibben, B. ( 1989).The end of nature. New York, NY: Anchor Books
12. McDaniel , J. (2000) ,Living from the center: Spirituality in an age of consumerism. St.
Louis, MO: Chalice Press.
13. Mick, D.G. (1996), Are studies of dark side variables confounded by socially desirable
responding ?The case of materialism, Journal of Consumer Research, Vol. 23, September,
p.106.
14. Pollay, R.W. (1986), The distorted mirror: reflections on the unintended consequences of
advertising, Journal of Marketing, Vol. 50 No. 2, p. 184.
15. Suzuki, D. (1997) The sacred balance: Rediscovering our role in nature. Vancouver, British
Columbia: Greystone Books.
16. Stearns, P.N. (2001), Consumerism in World History: The Global Transformation of Desire,
Routledge, New York, NY7.
17. Zinkhan, G.M. and Prenshaw, P.J. (1994), Good life images and brand name associations:
evidence from Asia, America, and Europe, Advances in Consumer Research, Vol. 21,pp.
496-500.3 No. 2, pp. 1-4
18. Zinkhan, G.M. (1994), Advertising, materialism, and quality of life, Journal of Advertising,Vol.
23 No. 2, pp. 1-4
113
APPENDIX: QUESTIONNAIRE
Questionnaire Serial Number:
Name of the Respondent:
....
Contact Address:
.
.....
..
.
Age: .. Years
Sex:
1 Male
2 Female
Date of Interview:
INTRODUCTION
Hello, I am Sangita. I am currently doing a survey to understand how consumerism
impact peoples purchase process. In this connection, I shall be grateful if you
could kindly spare me about 15 minutes of your time. I assure you, that as per the
norms of research, your identity will not be disclosed on an individual basis
Location:
North Kolkata
Central Kolkata
South Kolkata
Q. 1.1 Do you like to shop?

1 Yes 2 No
Q. 1.2 Can you please tell me what type of products you purchase the most?
Q 1.3 Can you please tell me the reasons of your involvement in shopping (put a
tick )
a) purely need based
b) Occasionally purchase
c)
Impulsively purchase more than required
d) Enjoy shopping as a stress buster

e) Any other reason
(Please specify)114
Q 1.4.Please tick the most appropriate decisive factor of your purchase

a) Brand name
b) Value for money
c)
d) Unique benefit attached

e) Most premium brand
Q. 1.5. On a scale of 1 to 5, where 1 is least influential factor and 5 is highest
influential factor, how will you rate your decisive factor of purchase .
Value for
Factors
Brand Name money benefit
High price high
Unique benefit
Most premium
value benefit
attached
brand appeal
Most influential
influential
Somewhat influential
Very little influential
Not influential
Q.1.6 Considering everything, in case of your impulsive purchase the most

appropriate reason behind your buy is
a)
b)
c)
d)
Attracted by several promotional offers by marketer

Depends on own preferential judgment
Availability of credit facility
Any other influence
(Please specify-)
Q1.7 In case of FMCG products your preferred purchase quantity is
a)
b)
c)
d)
Bulk
Medium
Few
Very few
Q1.8 Do you think your buying habit adversely affecting your overall well-being in
terms of quality of human relationships and level of happiness ?Please rate
your opinion
Affecting very much
Somewhat affecting
Neither affecting nor unaffecting
Somewhat unaffecting
Not at all affecting
1
2
3
4
5
115
Q1.9 Now consider the impact of marketing efforts on purchase decision on our
purchase behaviour in General. On a scale of 1 to 10, where 1 is no
influence and 10 is full influence, how would you rate the influence of
various marketing efforts on your purchase decisions?
1
10
Q1.10 What percentage of your income you spent on shopping (other than your
habitual purchase)
Upto 20%
Upto 40%
Upto60%
Upto 80%
More than 80%
Q.1.11 Can you please tell me your occupation?
01
Unskilled Worker
07
Clerical / Salesman / Supervisory Level
02
Skilled Worker
08
Officer/Executive Junior
03
Petty Trader / Shop
09
Officer/Executive Middle / Senior
10
Student
11
Retired
12
Home Maker / Housewife
13
Unemployed
Owner (Kirana Shop)

04
Businessman/Industrialist
with 0-9 Employees
05
Businessman/Industrialist
with 10+ Employees
06
Self Employed Professional
Q.1.12 Can you please tell me your Educational Qualification?

01
02
03
04
05
06
Illiterate
School up to 4 years
School 5 9 years
SSC / HSC
Some College but not graduate
Graduate / P.G. General
Q.1.13 Can you please tell me your Monthly Household Income?

01 Less than Rs. 5,000 p.m.
06 Rs 25,001 to Rs. 50,000 p.m.
02 Rs. 5,001 to Rs. 10,000 p.m.
07 Rs. 50,001 to Rs. 75,000 p.m.
03 Rs. 10,001 to Rs. 15,000 p.m. 08 Rs. 75,001 to Rs. 1,00,000 p.m.
04 Rs. 15,001 to Rs. 20,000 p.m. 09 More than Rs. 1,00,000 p.m.
05 Rs 20,001 to Rs. 25,000 p.m.
116
10 More than Rs 10,00,000 p.m
Role of Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR)

in Developing the Human Capital of India :
Case Study of Tata Housing Development
Company Limited
Nayan Mitra*
ABSTRACT
India has the worlds second largest population and predicted to have one of the worlds
youngest and thereby the largest working population by 2026. Yet, it ranks 135 among 186
countries in the Human Development Index (Human Development Report, 2013 by UNDP1).
This paper, through a Case Study of Tata Housing Development Company Limited, seeks to
delve into the role of Corporations in attaining the objective of developing and empowering the
human capital, by streamlining their CSR2 initiatives; study how it complements as well as
abides by the regulatory instruments initiated by the Government to help to reap the demographic
dividend of the country, named India! This Case Study, however, is not intended to serve as
an endorsement, source of data, or illustration of effective or ineffective management. Certain
names and information could have been disguised for confidentiality.
Key Words: Corporate Social Responsibility, human capital, demographic dividend, Tata
Housing Development Company Limited (THDCL)
INTRODUCTION
India has the worlds second largest human population of over 1.31 billion (Geohive,
2015), next only to China and predicted to have one of the worlds youngest and
thereby the largest working population by 2026. Yet, it is this India that ranks 135
among 186 countries in the Human Development Index (Human Development Report,
2013). Out of its estimated 269.3 million poor (2013), 216.5 million reside in rural
India (Rao, 2013). According to a UNESCO3 report (2014), it has 287 million illiterate
adults accounting for the largest population globally and 37% of the world total
(Bhowmick, 2014) and less than 10 per cent of persons with any type of skilling
(2% formal and 8% informal) (FICCI & Ernst & Young, 2012).
1
United Nations Development Programme
Corporate Social Respon sibility
U.N. Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization
CSR Consultant and Research Scholar, Aligarh Muslim University - PhD (Business Administration)
E-mail : mitra.nayan@gmail.com
117
An Ernst & Young report states that out of 40 million people registered with
employment exchanges, only 0.2 million get jobs (Ernst & Young. 2014). Thus, the
dichotomy, is humongous - on one side, India has one of the largest human
population, yet, on the other hand, they are unemployable due to lack of education
and skills, and therefore cannot be converted into human capital that will reap for
the country. The issue, therefore, is not of education or skills in segregation, but
in unison that will develop and empower the human capital and thereby help reap
this demographic dividend (Mitra, 2014).
Infact, according to the IMF4, this democratic dividend could add 2 percentage
points to per capita GDP5 growth per annum (Knowledge@Wharton, 2013). However,
it is easier said than done. Leveraging these seemingly favourable demographics
would include: developing the population through the right education and skills for
the modern job market; and, finding jobs for all these people (Mitra, 2014). In other
words, the population must be first converted into human capital, defined as the
skills, knowledge, and experience possessed by an individual or population, viewed
in terms of their value or cost to an organization or country (Oxford Dictionary,
n.d), that can, in its turn, reap the demographic dividend for the country (Mitra,
2014).
Although, this is an important Government agenda, yet, it is a near impossible task
for the Government alone to convert this population into a human capital, mainly
for two reasons, namely,
a)
Volume of the population
b)
Logistical and operational issues
Thus, it needs to do this in partnership with the Corporations. Infact, it is the

Corporations that are the employers and has a demand for skilled manpower as
well as it is they, who directly benefit from the operations. Incidentally, India is home
to the sixth largest group of super-rich population (billionaires) in the world. The
total billionaire wealth is estimated to be $180 billion (wealth-X and UBS billionaire
census report 2013), bringing Indias billionaire population to 103. Most are
entrepreneurial men, (leading the list with Mukesh Ambani) make most of their
money from private companies (Mitra, 2014).
Thus, the Corporations can greatly complement the regulatory instruments by helping
to reap the demographic dividend (by developing and empowering the human
capital) through:
mapping the skills requirement and providing education and skill training to
the population and make them employable to suit their evolving requirements
4
International Monetary Fund
Gross Domestic Product
118
sponsor/ spend on the education and training either voluntarily or as a part

of their CSR spent. Infact, under the new regulations (Companys Act, 2013),
Section 135 of the Act lays down provision for spending at least 2% of the
average net profits made by certain Companies during the three immediately
preceding financial years on CSR every financial year. It specifies the
formation and composition of the CSR Committee, their dissemination and
accountability along with Schedule VII, which states the priority areas that
may be included by companies in their CSR Policy Activities (Mitra, 2014).
Among these priority areas, promoting education, including special education
and employment enhancing vocational skills especially among children,
women, elderly and the differently-abled and livelihood enhancing projects,
features as one of the top-most areas of concern.
Thus, it is for the best interest of both the stakeholders (the Government and the
governed) that the Government and the Corporations must work hand in gloves to
develop the human capital of India to bring about a glorious future. The ideal
model, then, would be to generate the continuous cycle of conversion (Figure 1)
(Mitra, 2014) and transform the population to reap demographic dividend through
a mutually beneficial relationship with the Government and the Corporation. This
will not only benefit the Corporations, but also the Government, the population and
most importantly, the country, named India (Mitra, 2014)!
FIGURE 1: THE CYCLE OF CONVERSION OF THE POPULATION TO REAP
DEMOGRAPHIC DIVIDEND
(Source: Mitra, N. (2014). CSR should contribute towards developing human capital)
OBJECTIVES
This paper, through a Case Study of Tata Housing Development Company Limited
(THDCL), seeks to:
119
a)
Delve into the role of Corporations in attaining this common objective of

further developing and empowering the human capital, by streamlining their
CSR initiatives;
b)
Study how it complements as well as abides by the regulatory instruments

initiated by the Government to help to reap the demographic dividend of
India!
SCOPE OF THE STUDY

This Case Study is an extension of the theoretical paper, authored by Mitra, N.
(2014), titled, CSR should contribute towards developing human capital,
published in Innovation: New Paradigm for Holistic and Sustainable Advancement
in Business (ISBN: 978-93-83842-36-0) by Excel India Publishers, with a Case
Study on CSR policies of the Tata Housing Development Company Limited (THDCL).
METHODOLOGY
This paper follows a Case Study approach. This Case Study method has a
distinctive advantage in this Research as how questions are being asked about
a contemporary set of events, over which the investigator has little or no control
(Yin, 2003).
FINDINGS
The Tata Group, founded by Jamsetji Nusserwanji Tata (J.N. Tata) in 1868 is
headquartered in India, and has, since then, grown to become a global enterprise,
with a mission to improve the quality of life of the communities they serve globally,
through long-term stakeholder value creation based on Leadership with Trust.
(Leadership with Trust, 2015; Mitra, 2015a). They have, over one hundred
independent operating companies, in more than one hundred countries across six
continents. Among them, the THDCL is a closely held Public Limited Company
(incorporated in the year 1942), that commenced real estate operations in the year
1984. The Tata Sons Limited, promoter of the major operating Tata companies,
commonly referred to as the Tata group, holds 99.90 per cent equity share capital
of the Company.
THDCL have emerged as the fastest growing companies in real estate sector in
India, (since its revival in the late 2006) and has established themselves as a High
growth pan India sustainable residential developer. The company has grown its
turnover 32 times from INR 360 millions in the Financial Year (FY) 2008 to INR
1146 billion during FY 2014 with a Compound Annual Growth Rate (CAGR) of 37
per cent in last five years (Tata Housing Imprints Sustainability Report 2013-14,
2014). The vision of the company is to build sustainability into everything they do
so that their profitable growth helps reduce inequality and rejuvenates the
environment (Tata Housing CSR Policy, 2015; Mitra, 2015a).
120
However, while doing business, THDCL faced various Social challenges, as follows,
that affected them, as well:
Youth School drop-outs from among Scheduled Caste/ Scheduled Tribe

(SC/ST)6 children that led to shortage of construction workers - both skilled
and unskilled;
Lack of quality teaching and inadequate school infrastructure in city outskirt

areas that affected the urbanization in terms of social unrest resulting in
unemployment, lack of household services (salon, drivers, tailors etc.) in
their new project areas.
Thus, there was an acute need to overcome these social challenges in order to
overcome THDCLs business challenges. This compelled THDCL to deliberately
identify, prioritize, and address the social causes that matter most, or at least the
ones on which it can make the highest impact to society, as well as the businesss
future.
Thus, they came up with strategic objectives or social opportunities that
integrated their Business to social challenges, such as the followings:
Skill training in construction trades as well as non-construction services

generating employment among SC/ST that would also help the business.
Providing quality education, thereby gaining community confidence in their

project areas
To operationalise these solutions, THDCL started evolving their Community

Engagement model from the year 2011 and have gradually developed to comprise
of the five broad projects, viz. the TAAP, SAMARTH, SRIJAN, SWACHH, SPARSH;
implemented by the Companys formal and informal structure along with the project
partners at the community; conducted within a radius of ten kilometers from the
project area (Mitra. 2015a); as documented in Table 1.
Scheduled Castes (SCs) and Scheduled Tribes (STs) are official designations given to various
groups of historically disadvantaged people in India. The terms are recognized in the Constitution of
India and the various groups are designated in one or other of the categories. During the period of
British rule in India, they were known as the Depressed Classes. In modern literature, the Scheduled
Castes are sometimes referred to as Dalits (Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes, 2015).
121
TABLE 1: CSR OPERATIONAL PLAN AT THDCL

CSR PROJECT
CSR PROJECT PLAN
PARTNERS
TATA AFFIRMATIVE
ACTION
PROGRAMME
(TAAP)
- attempts to address the

prevailing social inequities in India
by
encouraging
positive
discrimination for the SC/ST
communities- aligned with the
framework on affirmative action
(AA)
prepared
by
the
Confederation of Indian Industry
(CII), which focuses on four areas
of development: employment,
employability, entrepreneurship
and education, ie the four Es
Non-Governmental
Organisations
(NGOs)
and
Institutions such as
Entrepreneurship
Development Institute
of India (EDI), Jay
Bharati Foundation,
Udyogwardhini,
Shikshan Sanstha,
NIIT Foundation and
Sambhav Foundation
etc.
SAMARTH
- provides skill development

training to the people other than
SC/ST, thereby Enhancing
employability, Enabling people. Most of the people trained are in
construction related trades and
thereby the company is also
nurturing
the
construction
ecosystem with this project.
civil societies/ NGOs

like the Pipal Tree,
Labournet
and
Udyogvardhini
SRIJAN
- undertakes several educational

development initiatives, thereby
Enlightening minds, Empowering
masses. - not only provides
Remedial Coaching to students;
but also helps in up gradation of
school infrastructure of schools in
and around project sites.
Various Schools
SPARSH
- provides community care by

taking care of the development
in and around project sites in
terms of repair, renovation,
reconstruction and development
Nil
122
of roads, community halls, play

grounds etc. and addresses
basic survival needs including
relief
and
rehabilitation,
addressing
developmental
disorders among children etc.,
thereby
Enriching lives,
Expanding avenues.
SWACHH
- aims to create an integrated

approach of behavioural change
by raising Health and sanitation
awareness, construction of clean
toilets etc. in the Schools and
Neighbourhoods of the project
area.
Environmental
Sanitation Institute
(Ahmadabad), Habitat
for Humanity India,
and
Innovations
Unlimited, Gurgaon
[Source: Adapted from the Tata Housing Imprints - Sustainability Report: 2013-14, 2014; Mitra, N (2015b)]
Among the above five projects, the first three, namely, TAAP, SAMARTH and
SRIJAN contribute directly in developing the human capital of India.
Infact, the budget for THDCLs CSR is embedded within their business model,
divided into two levels - one at the corporate level (1 per cent of the net profit of
the preceding year) and the other at the projects (construction sites) level (INR 6
per square feet of saleable area in case of premium and luxury housing and INR
4 per square feet of saleable area in case of affordable and value housing divided
by the project) (Tata Housing Imprints Sustainability Report 2013-14, 2014; Mitra,
2015b).
ANALYSIS
THDCL shares Porter & Kramers (2003) view that the more a social
improvement relates to a companys business, the more it leads to economic
benefits as well. For example, improving education is generally seen as a
social issue, but the educational level of workforce substantially affects a
companys potential competitiveness (Porter & Kramer, 2003). Similarly, by
developing and empowering the community within ten kilometres radius through
its various community engagement projects, THDCL is also positively affecting
its competitiveness.
It is no doubt, then, so far, the societys perception on Social impact of THDCL
has steadily grown over the years (Tata Housing Imprints Sustainability Report
2013-14, 2014). The Community engagement work of THDCL have also seen
123
considerable appreciation in terms of Social Performance Awards, received in

various forums over the years. Some of them, that has been received in the
FY 2013-14 are as follows (Table 2):
TABLE 2 SOCIAL PERFORMANCE AWARDS RECEIVED
BY THDCL IN FY 2013-14
Sl.
No.
Name of the Award/

Rating/ Certification
Rating/ of Awarding/
Certifying Organization
Reality King Best CSR Practice Award
Think Media
Reality King CSR Leader of the Year
Think Media
Best Skill Development Initiative of a

Corporate
Think Media
Best CSR Practice for Affirmative Action
Think Media
Certificate of Excellence for Exemplary CSR
Think Media
Highly Commendable Project - Myst
Asia-Pacific Property Award
[Source: Adapted from the Tata Housing Imprints - Sustainability Report: 2013-14; Mitra, N. (2015a & b)]
The Company was conferred CII-ITC Sustainability Award, 2014 in December,

2014 for its Outstanding Accomplishment in Sustainability-the highest award in
its category, given for sustainable performance in economic, social and
environmental bottom-line, cutting across industries. This award is considered
as one of the most sought after recognition for triple bottom line performance
in India. The Company was also the recipient of Golden Peacock Award for
Sustainability, 2014 handed over at London, by Institute of Directors, India
(Mitra, 2015a & b).
However, THDCL, through its diverse projects in the areas of development of
human capital, impacts all the issues, that affects a company in deciding which
social concern to choose, namely, Generic issues, Value chain impacts and
Social dimensions of competitive context (Porter & Kramer, 2007) as follows
(Table 3):
124
TABLE 3: ISSUES AFFECTING A COMPANY IN DECIDING WHICH SOCIAL

CONCERN TO CHOOSE
ISSUE
MEANING
EXAMPLE
Generic
issues
Good citizenship Going by the Tata ethos and vision, Company gives
importance to serve the people at the bottom of
the pyramid. Example, through the project SRIJAN,
THDCL has been able to impact from 150 students
in 3 schools in FY 2010-11 to 10,000 students in
35 schools in FY 2013-14.
Value
chain
impact
Transform
value
chainactivities
tobenefit
societywhile
reinforcing
strategy
THDCL has mapped its value chain, identified the

social and environmental dimensions of its
competitive context and leveraged its corecompetencies in addressing those elements
strategically from a long-term perspective.
Example, through the project SRIJAN, Tata Housing
National Scholarship for girls is one of its flagship
initiatives where Civil Engineering/ Architecture/
Construction students, from families whose income
is less than INR 3 hundred thousand per annum
are given high value scholarships. With 20 new
scholarships added each year, in the FY 2015-16,
20 + 20, i.e 40 scholarships are being given and
in the FY 2016-2017, 60 scholarships will be
released. Once they get scholarship, they will
continue to get it for 3 years and post completion
of their degree, they are given preference in
THDCLs hiring process.
Through the project SAMARTH, the Company has
plans to train 500 entrepreneurs by FY 2017-18
and 1,00,000 underprivileged youth by 2024.
Considering the issue of skilled labour shortage,
the trained youth have considerably helped the
business in enhancing productivity while being
gainfully employed; as well as, created a huge
group of entrepreneurs who are not only doing
good business but are also supporting the
construction ecosystem. The Company helps them
125
by providing business under its Supply Chain

Diversity Policy (unique to the industry globally)
whereby it encourages and gives preference to
entrepreneurs from SC/ST communities and other
vulnerable communities in doing business with it.
Social dimensions
of competitive
context
Strategic
philanthropy
that leverages
capabilitiesto
improvesalient
areas of
competitive
context
THDCLs recruitment polices are designed to take

maximum intake of people from the region that the
projects are located. This also adds to the diversity
of employees in the company. The TAAP
programme focuses on positive discrimination for
SC /ST to encourage the diversity and strengthen
the community.Example, through TAAP, 47 SC/ST
beneficiaries in FY 2011-12 have steadily grown to
6149 in FY 2013-14. Two high value scholarships
of INR 70 thousand each were provided to SC/ST
students for higher technical education through
Foundation for Academic Excellence and Access.
4000 SC/ ST students were benefitted through
various educational institutions. A total of 2040 SC/
ST youth were provided skill development training
in various constructions related and vocational
trades during the FY 2013-14.
[Source: Adapted from Porter and Kramer (2007)]
Thus, the human capital development by Corporations can have a bidirectional

implication. It can benefit the industry which is offering the jobs through increase
in revenue, productivity and competitiveness while the individuals who are gathering
the skill-set becomes employable. A companys engagement in the local community,
then, can be motivated by a combination of factors, like a desire to obtain business
benefits, on the one hand, and value-based reasons, on the other (Mitra, 2014).
The methodology through which the companys (THDCLs) commitments in the local
community can be made, may be categorized under three headlines (Table 4),
following Bronchain, Ps (2003) framework
126
TABLE 4 METHODOLOGY THROUGH WHICH THE COMPANYS

COMMITMENTS IN THE LOCAL COMMUNITY CAN BE MADE
METHODOLOGY
MEANING
EXAMPLE
Community giving
Based on the
companys
involvement in
the local
community
through cash or
in kind
contributions or
may include
advice and
follow-up to
contributions.
Through focused areas of interventions

in community engagement programmes
like:
l Tata
Affirmative
Action
Programme (TAAP) Employment,
Educational
development,
Employability Enhancement and
Entrepreneurship Development of
people from the Scheduled Caste
and Scheduled Tribe Community.
l Vocational Skill Development
(SAMARTH
Enhancing
employability, Enabling People-Tata
Housing
Skill
Development
Initiatives):
Employability
enhancement of the people other
than SC/ST
l Educational
Development
(SRIJAN - Enlightening minds,
Empowering masses - Tata Housing
Educational Development Initiatives)
: Remedial coaching and upgradation of school infrastructure of
schools in and around project sites
l Other
initiatives
including
Community Infrastructure
Employee
involvement
Active
involvement of
company
employees in
community
Activities.
Employee Volunteering Programme,

branded
and
promoted
as
SYNERGIZERS, is encouraged and is
an integral part of THDCLs Corporate
Sustainability initiatives, whereby it
encourages its employees to become
involved in the communities, lending
their voluntary support to programmes
that enrich the quality of life and
127
opportunities for all people. The

Objectives of the project are to: engage
employees in socially useful activities;
give them a sense of satisfaction for
their social involvement; deliver a
unique brand experience to the
employees, the great feeling of working
for an organization which make them
involve and participate in its CSR
activities and utilize the skills and
competencies of the employees for
social transformation. Infact, 811
employee volunteers (94 % of the total
employee base) have volunteered
around 11 hours of volunteering each
during the year 2014-15 (Mitra, 2015a).
Entrepreneurship
and employability
Activities aimed
at the integration
or inclusion of
often
disadvantaged
workers.
THDCL has integrated its skill

development training initiative with
entrepreneurship development training
initiative. It has thus created a huge
group of entrepreneurs who are not
only doing good business but are
supporting the construction ecosystem
Example, in project TAAP, more than
half of the trainees have already been
gainfully employed/ started their own
enterprises with an enhancement in
their income level. 49 SC/ST
entrepreneurs have done business
worth more than INR 182.9 millions with
the Company during the FY 2013-14.
The project SAMARTH has provided
skill development training to 10,000
socio-economically backward youth,
among whom more than 60 per cent
have been gainfully employed and
about 214 successful construction
related entrepreneurs have been
created post training.
[Source: Adapted from Bronchain, Philippe (2003)]
128
Thus, THDCLs CSR strategy not only makes meaningful social impact, but also,
strengthens the firms long-term competitiveness, by converting the human capital
in its community to reap demographic dividend that not only, affects THDCLs
business, but, also, of the country, named India.
Moreover, since the Corporate CSR budget is aligned to profit (shareholder value)
and the project level CSR is to be spent every year irrespective of profit or loss
(stakeholder value), the CSR spend every year, on an average is more than 3 per
cent of the net profit of the Company, much more than the mandated 2% spent by
the Companys Act, 2013. The Companys CSR expenditure in FY 2011-12 rose
from INR 9.4 million (0.6 per cent of net profit and 0.09 per cent of turnover) to
INR 37.2 million (3.23 per cent of net profit and 0.32 per cent of turnover) (Mitra,
2015a). The Company, therefore, not only complies to the regulatory environment
in India, but also have prioritised its areas of community engagement in the areas
laid out by the Government like that the of Skill India through its project TAAP and
SAMARTH.
Thus, the cycle of conversion (Mitra, 2014) has been followed at THDCL as is
evident from the Figure 2 hereunder:
FIGURE 2 THDCLS ROLE IN THE CYCLE OF CONVERSION
Moreover, to account for the transparency, THDCL is the first Indian Real Estate
Company to have reported the triple-bottom-line performance in line with the Global
129
Reporting Initiative (GRI) G4 (2013) Sustainability Reporting Guidelines (In

Accordance Core criteria). The GRI Guidelines which are the most widely adopted
non-financial reporting framework in the world. It helps in communicating our
sustainability performance and encouraging transparency and accountability. The
report is also aligned to the nine principles of Ministry of Corporate Affairs National
Voluntary Guidelines on Social, Environmental and Economic responsibilities of
business (NVG-SEE) and the ten principles of United Nations Global Compact
(UNGC). This report is externally assured by Ernst & Young (India). The assurance
statement has been attached in this report (Tata Housing Imprints Sustainability
Report 2013-14, 2014).
CONCLUSIONS
Thus, the importance of CSR in developing the human capital of India can go a
long way. A Real Estate Company like THDCL alone can contribute immensely as
is evident from the Case Study; especially, at a time, when, according to the
Economic Survey of India (FY 2012-13), the real estate sector not only contributes
(5.9 per cent in FY 2011-12) to Indias total GDP7; but also likely to grow in the
years to come, becoming the second largest employment generator after agriculture
in India (employing nearly 7.6 million across India in 2013) (Roy, 2014). THDCL
has not only trained youth across India in various construction related trades in
project sites during the year 2013-14, but also, considering the issue of skilled
labour shortage, the trained youth have considerably helped the business in
enhancing productivity while being gainfully employed, thus pertaining to the Cycle
of Conversion of population (within THDCLs community) to human capital, that, is
further converted to yield demographic dividend for the Company (THDCL) and the
country (India).
However, this paper is limited by the study of THDCL alone. Further research
needs to be done with other Companies and Industry Associations, like Larsen and
Toubro (L&T), Hindustan Construction Company (HCC), CREDAI8 to name a few, to
understand and document the total contribution of these organisations and
associations into developing the human capital of India in the Real Estate Sector;
as well as of other companies with respect to other industries to gauge the CSR
impact on their specific industry.
REFERENCES
1.
Bhowmick, N. (2014, January 29). 37% of All the Illiterate Adults in the World Are Indian.
Time World. Retrieved from http://world.time.com/2014/01/29/indian-adult-illiteracy/ last
7 Gross Domestic Product

8. Consortium of organizations throughout India designed to further the cause of orderly real estate
development
130
2.
Bronchain, Philippe (editor). (2003). Towards a sustainable corporate social responsibility.

European Foundation for the Improvement of Living and Working Conditions. Retrieved
from
http://www.empleo.gob.es/es/sec_trabajo/autonomos/economia-soc/
R e s p o S o c E m p r e s a s / d o c u m e n t o s _ r s e / c o n t e n i d o s /
Towardsasustainablecorporatesocialresponsibility.pdf; last accessed on 25.02.2014
3.
Ernst & Young. (2014). Strategic and implementation framework for skill development in
India. Retrieved from http://www.ey.com/IN/en/Industries/GovernmentPublic-Sector/
Strategic-and-implementation-framework-for-skill-development-in-India; last accessed on
27.02.2014
4.
FICCI & Ernst & Young. (2012, September). Knowledge paper on skill development in
India-Learner first. Retrieved from
http://www.ey.com/Publication/vwLUAssets/
F I C C I _ s k i l l _ r e p o r t _ 2 0 1 2 _ f i n a l v e r s i o n / $ F I L E /
FICCI_skill_report_2012_finalversion_low_resolution.pdf/ last accessed on 10.02. 2014
5.
Geohive. (2015). Current world population (ranked). Retrieved from

www.geohive.com/earth/population_now.aspx/ last accessed on 18.09.2015
6.
Human Development Report, 2013 by UNDP http://hdr.undp.org/en/countries/profiles/IND/

; last accessed on 12.03.2015
7.
Knowledge@Wharton. (2013, January 9). Indias Demographic Dividend: Asset or Liability?

Retrieved from Wharton University of Pennsylvanias website: http://
knowledge.wharton.upenn.edu/article/indias-demographic-dividend-asset-or-liability/; last
accessed on 25.02.2014.
8.
Leadership with Trust (2015). http://www.tata.com/aboutus/sub_index/Leadership-with-trust/

; last accessed on 12.09.2015
9.
Mitra, N. (2014). CSR should contribute towards developing human capital. Innovation:
New Paradigm for Holistic and Sustainable Advancement in Business. Excel India
Publishers. ISBN: 978-93-83842-36-0.
http://
10. Mitra, N. (2015a). Community Engagement Models in Real Estate - A case study of Tata
Housing Development Company. Special issue of Asian Journal of Business Ethics (in
print). Springer, Singapore.
11. Mitra, N. (2015b). Embedded Corporate Social Responsibility through community
engagement in the Real Estate sector of India : Case Study of Tata Housing Development
Company Limited. Fourth International Conference on Global Business, Economics, Finance
and Social Sciences (in print).
12. Oxford Dictionary. (n.d). Retrieved from http://www.oxforddictionaries.com/definition/english/
human-capital/ last accessed on 27.02.2014.
13. Porter, Michael E & Kramer, Mark R. (2003). The Competitive Advantage of Corporate
Philanthropy. Harvard Business Review on Corporate Responsibility. p. 27-64.
14. Porter, Michael E & Kramer, Mark R. (2007). Strategy & Society: The link between Competitive
Advantage and Corporate Social Responsibility. Harvard Business Review on Corporate
Responsibility.
15. Rajadhyaksha, M. (2013, March 15). India ranks 136 in human development index. The
Times of India (India). Retrieved from http://articles.timesofindia.indiatimes.com/2013-0315/india/37743090_1_india-s-hdi-human-development-index-india-ranks/ last accessed on
10.02. 2014.
16. Rao, K. (2013, July, 23). Indias poverty level falls to record 22%: Planning Commission.
Live Mint. http://www.livemint.com/Politics/1QvbdGnGySHo7WRq1NBFNL/Poverty-rate-downto-22-Plan-panel.html/ ; last accessed on 11.08.2015
131
17. Roy K (2014) Real Estate Sector: Economic Significance and Sustainability. Real Estate
Digest 1(11): 44-45
18. Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes (2015). https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/
Scheduled_Castes_and_Scheduled_Tribes. last accessed on 18.09.2015
19. Tata Housing CSR Policy (2015). http://www.tatahousing.in/csr/csr_policy.php. last accessed
on 11.09.2015
20. Tata Housing Imprints - Sustainability Report 2013-14, 2014. http://www.tatahousing.in/csr/
pdf/sr_imprints_2013_2014.pdf.; last accessed on 11.08.2015
21. Yin, R.K. (2003). Case Study Research: design and method (3rd ed.). California, CA: Sage
Publications, Inc.
Special thanks to Mr. Ajit Pattnaik, General Manager, Corporate Sustainability, who have untiringly
provided some of the latest and key inputs for the Case Study.
132
Tourism Development and Economic Growth:

An Empirical Study in Indian Context
Dr. J. K. Das* & Sudipta Ghosh**
ABSTRACT
Tourism has various roles to play to stimulate economic growth of a nation. Tourism-led growth
hypothesis (TLGH) postulates that tourism expansion leads to economic growth. Indian tourism
sector is highly promising and expected to grow at an average annual rate of 7.9% from 2013
to 2023. In India, foreign exchange earnings (FEEs) from tourism in 2014 were Rs 1,20,083
crore with a growth of 11.5%, where as foreign tourist arrivals (FTAs) during the 2014 registered
an accelerated growth of 7.1% to 74.62 lakh. Development of tourism sector is crucial to
promote faster, sustainable and inclusive growth in Indian perspective. It can be a part of
Skilling for Tomorrow programme. In this backdrop, this paper examines the relationships
between tourism development and economic growth empirically in Indian context. The results
found in this research paper will help in policy making regarding tourism development and
economic growth in Indian context.
Acknowledgement: Special thanks to Susmita Chatterjee, Assistant Professor in Economics,
Maharaja Manindra Chandra College, Kolkata for her valuable comments on data analysis.
Key Words: tourism development, economic growth, Indian tourism.
INTRODUCTION
Tourism is considered as one of the important and viable avenues for economic
development of many countries. It has emerged as an important and fast growing
industry in the world. Tourism has become one of the most significant export sectors
in many developing countries (Samimi et al.) According to the United Nation World
Tourism Organisation (UNWTO), tourist visits have grown from about 900 to 940
million in 2013 and the figure is projected to rise to 1.6 billion by 2020 and UNWTO
states that tourism is the largest industry in the world with an estimated 11.5
percent of the world GDP and employing about 12.5 percent of the world work
force (Mustafa and Santhirasegaram). It is an important source of earning foreign
exchanges and generating employment. Tourism has various roles to play to stimulate
economic growth of a nation. This belief that tourism can promote or cause longrun economic growth is known in literature as the tourism-led growth hypothesis
(Samimi et al.). Tourism brings foreign investments also. It promotes other industries
through forward and backward linkages. Tourism activities contribute positively to
*
**
Professor, Department of Commerce, University of Calcutta, Kolkata. Email ID: jadabkdas@gmail.com

Assistant Professor, Department of Commerce, Maharani Kasiswari College (affiliated to the University
of Calcutta), Kolkata. Email ID: sudiptaghosh.1982@gmail.com
133
the growth of an economy (although negative effects of tourism activities on

environment and society cant be ignored). Being a labour intensive industry, tourism
provides a wide range of job opportunities to skilled, semi-skilled and un-skilled
workers, especially for women and young people. Overall, tourism creates economic
well being and social stability.
Tourism in India is a booming industry. India has a rich heritage in tourism. It has
one of the most potential tourism markets in the world. Tourism is the most vibrant
tertiary activity and multi-billion industry in India. Tourism earns one third of the
foreign exchange of India. It also employs the highest number of employee. According
to the World Tourism Organization, by the year 2020, it is expected that India will
become the leader in the tourism industry in South Asia (Statistical Year Book India,
2013). The World Travel and Tourism Council (WTTC) has named India along with
China as one of the fastest growing tourism industries for the next 10 to 15 years
(Ministry of Tourism, Govt. of India). Indian tourism sector is highly promising and
expected to grow at an average annual rate of 7.9% from 2013 to 2023. In India,
foreign exchange earnings (FEEs) from tourism in 2014 were Rs 1,20,083 crore
with a growth of 11.5%, where as foreign tourist arrivals (FTAs) during the 2014
registered an accelerated growth of 7.1% to 74.62 lakh. At present tourism is the
largest service industry in India. Development of tourism sector is crucial to promote
faster, sustainable and inclusive growth in Indian perspective. Tourism has the
scope to provide training and skill development to Indian youth. So it can be a part
of Skilling for Tomorrow programme.
In this backdrop, this paper examines the relationships between tourism development
and economic growth empirically in Indian context. The present paper has five
chapters. First chapter is introduction. It makes the background of the study. Next
chapter is the literature review focusing exclusively on tourism development and
economic growth. Third chapter states the objective of the study and describes the
methodology used in this study. Fourth chapter examines empirically the relationship
between tourism development and economic growth both in long-run and short-run
in Indian context by applying econometric tools for a period of ten years. This
chapter also analyses the data and shows the findings. Last chapter concludes the
study.
Tourism can be studied from different perspectives. It has various economic impacts.
Planned and sustainable tourism development promotes economic growth. In this
section literature review is conducted considering the economic growth by tourism
development. Following are some relevant literature focusing on tourism development
and economic growth:
Brida et al. (2009) examined the contribution of tourism to economic growth in
Chile in order to investigate possible causal relationships among tourism expenditure,
134
real exchange rate and economic growth using quarterly data from 1986 to 2007
and found that the economic growth in Chile has been sensible to the expansion
of international tourism. The empirical results of the study showed evidences in
favour of tourism-led economic growth hypothesis.
Ardahaey (2011) conducted a study to understand the economic impacts of tourism
industry, especially in developing countries. The research findings indicated that
most of the economic problems of developing countries like unemployment, inflation,
limits in earning and currency flows can be solved with short-term and long-term
strategic planning and using the specific abilities and tourism products of developing
countries.
Gautam (2011) made an empirical study between foreign exchange earnings from
tourism and gross domestic product covering the period of 1974-75 to 2009-10 in
respect of Nepal. Various statistical tools like co-integration test, error correction
method and granger causality test used to confirm empirically about the positive
impact of tourism in Nepal. The study found evidence in favour of tourism-led
growth hypothesis both in short and long run and also bi-directional causality
between these variables.
Mahmoudinia et al. (2011) investigated the long run and causality relationship
between tourism receipts and economic growth in 17 MENA ( Middle East and North
Africa) selected countries during 1995 to 2007. Their study found bidirectional
causality between tourism receipts and economic growth in long run and short run
in the MENA countries and also the unidirectional causality from exchange rate to
economic growth and tourism receipts.
Samimi et al. (2011) examined the causality and long-run relationships between
economic growth and tourism development in developing countries using P-VAR
approach during 1995-2009. The study revealed a bilateral causality and positive
long-run relationship between economic growth and tourism development.
Suresh et al. (2011) analysed the relationships among tourism, trade, and economic
growth in Indian perspective for the period 1996 to 2009 using quarterly data by
applying co-integration and VECM technique.
Their study found the existence of
a relationship among the study variables only in long-run, not in short-run.
Ekanayake and Long (2012) examined the causal relationship between tourism
development and economic growth using Granger causality test in a multivariate
model and using the annual data for the period 1995 to 2009. The study did not
find evidence to support the tourism-led growth hypothesis.
Mustafa and Santhirasegaram (2014) investigated the long-run and short-run
relationship between tourism receipts and sustainable economic growth empirically
in respect of Sri Lanka covering the period of 1978 to 2011 and got a positive
relationship between tourism receipts and sustainable economic growth in the longrun and unidirectional causality from tourism earnings to economic growth.
135
OBJECTIVE AND METHODOLOGY

Indian tourism sector is a highly promising and rewarding sector. It has significant
contribution to the nations foreign exchange earnings and job opportunity to the
both skilled and unskilled labour force. Tourism-led growth hypothesis (TLGH)
postulates that tourism expansion leads to economic growth. It helps the
government in policy making. Being a tourism resource enriched country India
should attempt to reap the full potentiality of tourism through well organised,
planned and sustainable tourism development. Based on the tune of the above
concept, the objective of the present study is to examine the relationship between
tourism development and economic growth in Indian context. The study is empirical
in nature considering Indian tourism sector. Foreign exchange earnings (FEEs)
from tourism and gross domestic product (GDP) are used as proxy variables. The
time framework of the research paper is last 10 years considering quarterly data
from 2005 to 2014. The study is purely based on secondary data collected from
RBI database and Ministry of Tourism, Govt. of India. Various econometric tests
are used to get findings. Phillips and Perron (PP) test is applied to check the
stationarity of the data in presence of drift (intercept). Co-integration test by
following Engel-Granger (EG) method is applied to understand the long-run
relationship and Engel-Granger second stage test is used to know short-run
relationship, if any, between tourism development and economic growth in Indian
perspective.
DATA ANALYSIS AND FINDINGS
This section describes the relationship between tourism development and economic
growth by using Phillips-Perron test, Engel-Granger (EG) co-integration test and
Engel-Granger second stage test. The quarterly time series data was collected
for the selected country i.e., India for the period of first quarter of 2005 to fourth
quarter of 2014. Two variables are selected for the study viz., GDP (dependent
variable) and FEE (independent variable) and they are transformed in their log
forms i.e. LGDP and LFEE to remove the heteroscedasticity of data. First of all
stationarity of the data is checked by applying Phillips-Perron (PP) test in presence
of drift (intercept).
Phillips and Perron (PP) Test
Phillips and Perron (PP) test is a unit root test and used in time series analysis
to test the null hypothesis that a time series has a unit root i.e., non-stationary.
This test is applied to LGDP and LFEE series separately using the level form
and first difference form of data in presence of drift (intercept). Following are the
results:
136
Table 1
Variables
PP Test for GDP and FEE
Level/1 st
difference
Null
Hypothesis
Level
Phillips and Perron test

p-value
t-Statistics
1% leve
5% level
10% level
LGDP has a
unit root
0.9695
0.205422
-3.610453
-2.938987
-2.607932
1st Difference
D(LGDP) has a
unit root
0.0000
-10.63626
-3.615588
-2.941145
-2.609066
Level
LFEE has a
unit root
0.7668
-0.933412
-3.610453
-2.938987
-2.607932
1st Difference
D(LFEE) has a
unit root
0.0000
-11.66659
-3.615588
-2.941145
-2.609066
LGDP
LFEE
Critical values with Intercept
So from the above result we can conclude that both variables are non-stationary
in level but stationary in first-difference form.
Engel-Granger (EG) Co-integration Test:
Here co-integration test is performed by following Engel-Granger (EG) method.
Long-run relationship between LGDP and LFFF is tested through co-integration
test using OLS model. As both variables are integrated of order (1) we can assume
the existence of co-integration relationship. Now, as both variables are I (1), we
conduct a simple OLS regression of LGDP on LFEE and got the following result:
Table 2 Simple OLS Regression of LGDP on LFEE
Dependent Variable: LGDP
Method: Least Squares
Sample: 2005Q1 2014Q4
Included observations: 40
LGDP=C(1)+C(2)*LFEE
Coefficient
Std. Error
t-Statistic
Prob.
C(1)
C(2)
5.552585
0.483821
0.134381
0.026522
41.31979
18.24250
0.0000
0.0000
R-squared
0.897516
Mean dependent var
Adjusted R-squared
0.894819
S.D. dependent var
0.236255
S.E. of regression
0.076621
Akaike info criterion
-2.251176
7.994044
Sum squared resid
0.223091
Schwarz criterion
-2.166732
Log likelihood
47.02352
Hannan-Quinn criter.
-2.220643
F-statistic
332.7888
Durbin-Watson stat
1.081468
Prob(F-statistic)
0.000000
137
After getting the above OLS regression of LGDP on LFEE, series for residuals are
generated and stationarity of the residuals series is checked following PP method.
The results are given in next table
Table 3 PP Test for Residual
Series
Res(saved
as residuals)
Null
Hypothesis
Res has a
unit root
t-Statistics
p-value
-4.120289
0.0026
Critical values with intercept

1% level
5% level
10% level
-3.610453
-2.938987
-2.607932
The above results indicate that the null hypothesis can be rejected and the Res
series is stationary. It implies that GDP and FEE are co-integrated and there exist
a long run equilibrium relationship between GDP and FEE for India.
Engel-Granger Second Stage Test
As co-integration is valid and result supports the existence of long run equilibrium
relationship between GDP and FEE for India, Engel-Granger second stage test is
performed to determine the short-run relationship between two variables.
Alternatively it is known as Engel-Granger Error Correction Mechanism (ECM). It is
used to test the short-run relationship between two series. Following table shows
the result in this respect
Table 4 Short-run Relationship between GDP and FEE
Dependent Variable: D(LGDP)
Method: Least Squares
Sample (adjusted): 2005Q2 2014Q4
Included observations: 39 after adjustments
Variable
Coefficient
Std. Error
t-Statistic
Prob.
0.012791
0.006649
1.923867
0.0623
D(LFEE)
0.245945
0.030205
8.142523
0.0000
RES(-1)
-0.335107
0.093384
-3.588475
0.0010
R-squared
0.650501
Mean dependent var
0.021571
Adjusted R-squared
0.631084
S.D. dependent var
0.067464
S.E. of regression
0.040977
Akaike info criterion
-3.477816
Sum squared resid
0.060448
Schwarz criterion
-3.349849
Log likelihood
70.81740
Hannan-Quinn criter.
-3.431902
F-statistic
33.50224
Durbin-Watson stat
1.990763
Prob(F-statistic)
0.000000
138
Following is the results of estimated ECM

D(LGDP) = 0.012791+0.245945 D(LFEE) -0.335107 RES(-1)
From p-values of error correction coefficient i.e. Res (-1) and D(LFEE), it is clear
that both are significant. The error correction co-efficient value is negative (0.335107) and 33.51% has to disequilibrium each year in the short run with long
run. As Res (= - 0.335107) is negative (i.e. <0) and statistically significant, so if
there were any short-term disturbance from the long-run stable relationship, that
would be corrected over time and the long-run stable relationship would be restored.
The figures indicate presence of relationship between GDP and FEE in short-run.
So this paper has some important findings which are crucial for policy making. The
paper found long-run as well as short-run relationship between tourism development
and economic growth. So by admitting the above findings, tourism can be considered
as a driver of economic growth in India. Resources to be allocated in favour of
tourism to foster planned and sustainable tourism development and this development
will ultimately drive and accelerate economic growth by its multiplier effects.
CONCLUDING REMARK
The main aim of this study is to examine the relationship between tourism
development and economic growth in India. The results show long-run as well as
short-run relationship between tourism development and economic growth. Tourism
makes various direct, indirect and induced economic impacts in a country. The
results found in this research paper will help in policy making regarding tourism
development and economic growth in Indian context. Policy makers should promote
Indian tourism with proper branding to attract more and more foreign tourists in
order to earn more foreign exchange. As a part of tourism development, various
skill building programmes like PMKVJ (Pradhan Mantri Kaushal Vikas Yojana) to be
applied in tourism sector also.
However, this study is not free from limitations. The time period taken is only of ten
years. The study can be conducted considering longer time horizon. Again, in this
research paper long-run and short-run relationships between two selected variables
are examined ignoring the causal relationship between them. It is better to examine
the causal relationship also for the interest of the research and policy making.
REFERENCES
1.
Ardahaey, F. T. (2011). Economic impacts of tourism industry, International Journal of

Business and Management, 6(8), pp. 206-215
2.
Bansal, S. P., Kulshreshtha, S. and Gautam, P. K. (2015). Inclusive Growth and Sustainable
Development, Bharti Publications, New Delhi
3.
Brida, J. G. and Risso, W. A. (2009). The contribution of tourism to economic growth: an

empirical analysis for the case of Chile, European Journal of Tourism Research, 2(2), pp.
178-185
139
4.
Das, J. K. and Ghosh, S. (2014). An analytical study on investment and financing scenario
of tourism industry of West Bengal, Globsyn Management Journal, VIII (1&2), pp. 39-52
5.
Ekanayake, E. M. and Long, A. E. (2012). Tourism development and economic growth in

developing countries, The International Journal of Business and Finance Research, 6(1),
pp. 51-63
6.
Engle, R. F., and Granger, C. W. (1987). Co-integration and error correction: representation,
estimation, and testing, Econometrica, 55(2), pp. 251-276
7.
Gautam, B. P. (2011). Tourism and Economic Growth in Nepal, NRB Economic

Review, 23(2), pp. 18-30
8.
https://www.rbi.org.in
9.
Mahmoudinia, D., Salimi Soderjani, E., and Pourshahabi, F. (2011). Economic growth,
tourism receipts and exchange rate in MENA zone: Using panel causality technique, Iranian
Economic Review, 15(29), pp. 129-146
10. Mustafa, A. M. M. and Santhirasegaram, S. (2014). Empirical investigation of the relationship

between tourism receipts and sustainable economic growth in Sri Lanka, Journal of
Emerging Trends in Economics and Management Sciences, 5(7), pp. 131-137
11. Phillips, P. C., and Perron, P. (1988). Testing for a unit root in time series
regression, Biometrika, 75(2), pp. 335-346
12. Samimi, A. J., Sadeghi, S. and Sadeghi, S. (2011). Tourism and economic growth in
developing countries: P-VAR approach, Middle-East Journal of Scientific Research, 10(1),
pp. 28-32
13. Statistical Year Book, India 2013
14. Suresh, K. G., Gautam, V. and Kumar, M. (2011). Analysing the relationships among
tourism, trade, and economic growth in Indian perspective, Journal of International Business
and Economy, 12(1), pp. 1-11
15. http://www.tourism.nic.in
140
E-Learning: An Underutilised Sector of

E - Commerce in India
Sudakshina Dutta Roy*
ABSTRACT
In the last few decades we have experienced a rapid growth of information technology which
has not only changed the forms of communication but has also revolutionized the other sectors
like education, travel and tourism, retail and so on. The growth of e- commerce is more evident
in the travel and retail industry. E-retail apparently seems to be the fastest growing sector. But
the share of e-retail represents a negligible proportion of Indias total retail market. E-commerce
is definitely equipped for continued growth in the coming years to take e-business to greater
heights.
The effect of technologies is obvious in the education sector in the form of e-learning. E-learning
or electronic learning includes a computer or a tablet or even a smart phone and the internet
to deliver a part or whole of a course. E learning is a holistic approach which offers customized
training for both students and professionals. It acts as a catalyst in enhancing education,
literacy and economic development in a developing country like India where higher education
is expensive and unaffordable by a big section of the population.
The potential of e-learning in India is huge. With the advent of smart phones, e-learning has
become more accessible due to its easy access to the internet. Our professionals are catering
to e-learning requirements in other developed nations. In India we are yet to incorporate elearning in the different sectors of education, be it corporate training and learning, schools,
colleges or universities. Educators must be aware of the perspective as far as both pedagogy
and technology is concerned.
This research paper based on secondary observation is a study of the concept of e-learning
as a promising sector of e-commerce and its potential in the e-commerce industry. At present
e-learning has a miniscule share in the e-commerce industry. According to the research report,
India E-Learning Market Outlook to FY2018 Increasing Technology Adoption to Drive Future
Growth, the e-learning industry will have a substantial growth by the end of the financial 2018
due to the initiatives taken by the government along with augmented adoption of technology.
Key Words: E-learning, E-Commerce, Technology, Pedagogy
INTRODUCTION
Commerce
The last few years has seen exceptional growth of e- commerce or electronic
commerce in Asia. E-commerce has revolutionized the concept of buying and selling
*
Assistant Professor, The Heritage Academy, Kolkata 700064; E-mail:sdutta.roy @heritageit.edu
141
of goods and services, with the help of electronic network, predominantly the
Internet and the Web. More formally, e commerce can be defined as, digitally
enabled commercial transactions between and among organizations and individuals
(Laudon & Traver, 2008).
Laudon and Traver (2008) further mention that the rapid growth and change that
has occurred in the first 12 years of e-commerce represents just the beginning
what could be called the first 30 seconds of the e commerce revolution. The
technologies involved in the rapid growth of e commerce in the formative years
continue to progress exponentially. These newer technologies present innumerable
opportunities to the entrepreneurs to generate new business concepts or bring
innovations in the existing traditional concepts.
The innumerable benefits of e-commerce include its ubiquity or anytime anywhere
availability, the ease and speed of accessibility, richness as it supports both video
and audio messages, interactivity, an extensive selection of comparable goods and
services and the global expanse. Other advantages include low information costs
and improved quality. The technology also allows personalization or customization
of information.
The twenty first century is already experiencing digitally enabled social and
commercial life. The impact of E-commerce can be felt in all sectors including the
education sector.
Learning
In Einsteins words effective education is constant and always evolving. Education
has experienced a sea change over the past few years. The traditional classroom
has evolved into virtual classroom where learning is instant, online, self-driven and
flexible. One of the significant milestones in education in India is Electronic learning
or e-learning.
In the education sector India is witnessing a period of slow evolution from traditional
method of print, audio and human interaction, to the use of information technology
as a means in imparting education.
Electronic educational technology, also called e-learning, has become a significant
part of learning in the 21st century. It comprises of an extensive selection of digitization
approaches and delivery methods. E-Learning includes different types of media
that deliver text, audio, images, animation, and streaming video, and includes
technology applications and processes such as audio or video tape, satellite TV,
CD-ROM, and computer-based learning, as well as local intranet/extranet and webbased learning.
E-learning can take place in or out of the classroom. It can be self-paced,
asynchronous learning or may be instructor-led, synchronous learning. E-learning
142
may either be synchronous or asynchronous. Synchronous learning is instantaneous

or real time, where all participants interact at the same time. Asynchronous learning
is self-paced and allows flexibility to the learner. Exchange of ideas and information
is not instantaneous as other participants are not present at the same time.
Synchronous learning refers to the exchange of ideas and information with one or
more participants at the same time. Examples are face-to-face discussion, online
real-time live teacher instruction and feedback, Skype and Facetime conversations,
and chat rooms or virtual classrooms where everyone is online and working
collaboratively at the same time.
Asynchronous learning uses technologies such as email, blogs, wikis, and discussion
boards, as well as web-supported textbooks, hypertext documents, audio, video
courses, and social networking using web 2.0. Asynchronous learning is beneficial
for students who require a flexible time frame to complete their learning at their own
pace. Asynchronous learning supports repetition of lectures as well as enough time
to ponder over a question.
In India E-Learning is particularly suitable for distance learning and blended learning.
Blended learning is a combination of face-to-face teaching and teaching with the
help of electronic technology. The use of internet technology in India is just
catching up. Given the vastness of the country and the prevailing socio economic
conditions, internet could not spread widely in Indian society.
LITERATURE REVIEW
E-Learning: Is It a part of E-Commerce?
The boom in E- Commerce can prominently be felt in the retail industry. E commerce
has a bright future as far as India is concerned but it is only the first 30 seconds,
we are yet to experience the real impact of e-commerce on the different spheres
of our society. One such sphere is education where technological influence for
effective teaching and learning is slowly and steadily becoming prominent.
Electronic learning or E-learning has evolved with the advancement and innovation
in newer technologies. Electronic learning in the last decade was more in the form
of blended learning where Information Technology was used for providing teaching
and learning solutions. With the advent of new technologies it has been possible
to provide a part or the entire course in the form of e-learning. This has provided
entrepreneurs with the opportunity of developing learning solutions with the prospect
of profitable business which in turn is for the benefit of the learner.
E-Learning provides the learners with a collaborative platform for the exchange of
ideas and information to enhance their knowledge and skills. This direction of
technological involvement in the pedagogy of teaching and learning helps the
learners to gain more. It is also a major opportunity for colleges and universities
143
to conduct business in an effective manner by being technology ready and through

evaluation of their readiness to conduct business online.
Recent research and survey reports suggest and recommend that in the 21st
century e-learning would prove to be one of the most profitable business
ventures. Reports suggest that E-learning has a role to play in providing the
required skill sets to future job seekers. By 2022, the country would face an
alarming shortage of 250 million skilled workers across the different sectors.
The report said that the tourism and hospitality sectors are critical areas for
skill development, apart from the manufacturing.
Meanwhile, technologies are constantly evolving. Technologies like cloud, big
data and the like are changing the way e-learning content is being produced
and consumed. Technological advances are affecting the way we learn and
work and disrupting the education sector globallyThis opens up endless
possibilities for education providers, says the report.
E-learning is here to revolutionize the concept of e-business.
Indias e learning market second largest after US
A recent report by the UK-India Business Council suggest that India has become
the largest market for e-learning after the US, and the sector is expected to
receive a boost from the governments Rs.1.13 trillion Digital India initiative.
E-learning augments the quality and standard of education, literacy and economic
development in developing countries. In India technical education is expensive
and unaffordable for greater part of the population. Moreover, economic disparities
are rampant in this developing nation.
The present available educational infrastructure is insufficient and inadequate
to meet the current and future e-learning requirements of the country. The
Digital India initiative is expected to increase Internet access which in turn will
help take quality education to large parts of the neglected population, says the
report.
Indias e-learning sector is expected to grow at a compounded annual rate of
17.4% between 2013 and 2018, twice as fast as the global average.
Education providers from various countries are aggressively targeting the Indian
market and the competition is stiff. For instance, Germany is strong on centers
of excellence and education as part of its development agenda. The Australian
model is based on government-sponsored assessment programmes. It has gained
popularity because the certifications issued are recognised by Australian
authorities, the report says.
Many entrepreneurs in India are developing e-learning content for foreign markets
like the US, Australia, the UK and Europe. Unfortunately the same content can not
144
be used locally because of insufficient infrastructural and technological availability,

says the report.
India is the worlds third largest market by Internet users, behind China and the US,
but it has only achieved 20% Internet penetration as compared with 45% in China,
and 84% in the US, according to industry estimates.
The study conducted across 32 emerging and developing nations states that only
20 per cent Indians have access to Internet while a negligible 14 per cent population
owns a smart phone. Access rates vary considerably across the emerging and
developing nations surveyed. The lowest access rates can be found in some of the
worlds most heavily populated nations in South and Southeast Asia. These include
Indonesia, where only 24 per cent of the population has access to the internet,
India (20 per cent), Bangladesh (11 per cent) and Pakistan (8 per cent).
The alarming revelation is that these countries account for approximately a quarter
of the worlds population. The study found that Internet usage is more common
among young people, the well-educated and those who have the ability to read or
speak English.
Moreover, majority of the internet users access it either to connect to the social
networking sites or to apply for a job. Socializing is the most preferred digital
activity for internet users in developing countries. Percentage of users accessing
the internet for the purpose of education is negligible. Taking or conducting online
classes is a less common activity. The people in emerging and developing nations
are more convinced that the internet is having a negative effect on morality. A
median of 42 per cent said it is a bad influence on morality, while only 29 per cent
see the internet as a good influence.
Promising future of E-learning in India
The improved speed and ease of internet connectivity has proved to be a pivotal
catalyst for the rapid growth of e-learning. Due to satellite technology, the
implementation and usage costs have come down so significantly that every student
can take optimum advantage of the improved bandwidth provided by broadband
satellite systems. The stable internet connectivity helps users connect with people
locally as well as globally. This helps e-learning providers to connect with the entire
globe and turns e-learning into a lucrative business initiative. This is true not only
for schools and colleges but also for the Indian organizations who are keen on
adopting e-learning solutions for continuous training and up gradation which is the
order of the day in the corporate sector.
The number of internet users in India is expected to reach 250 million, giving tough
competition to the US and second only to China, Indias prospect as a huge market
for e-learning is colossal. The smartphones have provided the Indian citizens with
further opportunity. A large number of new users are accessing the internet for the
145
first time from their smartphones. Smart phones are the perfect companion for elearning adoption.
It is expected that schools and colleges will see more students accessing their
coursework from outside the traditional classroom. As per the Docebo report issued
in July 2014, the worldwide market for self-paced e-learning reached $35.6 billion
in 2011. The five-year CAGR is estimated to be 7.6%, so revenues should reach
$51.5 billion by 2016. While the aggregate growth rate is 7.6%, several world
regions have higher growth rates. The highest rate is in Asia at 17.3%, followed
by Eastern Europe (16.9%), Africa (15.2%) and Latin America (14.6%).
According to another report, Indias online education market size is set to grow to
$40 billion by 2017 from the current $20 billion. India has one of the largest
education systems in the world with a network of more than 1 million schools and
18,000 higher education institutions. More than half of the countrys 1.2 billion
population falls in the target market for education and related services.
Benefits of E-Learning
Electronic technology in education aids the learner as well as the educator by
developing adaptive content, customized frequent testing, instant feedback and so
on. E-Learning provides the students with the opportunity to practice repeatedly on
core concepts and skills.
It also provides the students with improved access to education and improved
interactions between students and instructors. Course materials are easy to access.
E Learning is learning on the go, with immediate feedback anytime and anywhere.
E learning provides valuable and effective support to the traditional method of
teaching and learning.
It has been observed by many researchers that students usually learn more in less
time when technology is involved. It also helps in making them independent learners
who can learn at their own pace. It is worth mentioning here that in the process
users develop a positive attitude towards technology.
E-learning provides unparallel advantages, the prominent being the ability to provide
customized and personalized attention to all learners. In the conventional education
system, this is only possible with private tutors who are highly skilled and who offer
one-to-one tutorials which are rather expensive and unaffordable for the general
mass. Hence majority of the institutions have traditional classrooms where only one
instructor or facilitator addresses ca group of 30 60 learners.
Another prominent advantage is for people living in suburbs, small towns and cities
who can access the best learning materials from across the world at an affordable
price. E- Learning solutions would possibly never replace the conventional schools
or colleges as holistic development of students though education and learning can
146
never take place through electronic teaching and learning. However, e-learning
can definitely change the way of imparting knowledge.
Disadvantages of E-Learning
Every good thing also poses certain threats and disadvantages which need to be
addressed to make it perfect and beneficial for the larger good. E Learning also
carries with it certain disadvantages.
E-Learning is necessarily dependent on technology. This dependency causes certain
challenges. Insufficient and old computers and other related technology, disruptive
and slow internet connection hinders the process of learning with technology. It
might also cause frustration among employees and students with low confident and
comfort level in handling technology. E-Learning requires the use of a computer /
laptop or even smart phones and may contribute to eye-strain, back pain and other
physical problems related to posture as it requires more time at a desk.
Digital India Project
On July 1, 2015 Prime Minister Narendra Modi launched the Digital India Project via
video conference in two village panchayats of the district.
The Digital India Project, a priority scheme of the Modi government, aims to connect
all gram panchayats by broadband internet, promote e-governance and transform
India into a connected knowledge economy.
The Bharat Sanchar Nigam Limiteds (BSNL) Indore Circle General Manager MR
Rawat said that ten village panchayats, which are around 35 km from Indore, will
be connected with a high-speed internet service under the project. It has been
reported that the BSNL official has further said that work to connect 335 village
panchayats with high-speed internet is nearing completion. The Digital Week would
start celebrations by involving school kids and others who would be introduced to
modern telecommunication techniques.
Digital India is a project by the Government of India to ensure that Government
services are made available to citizens electronically by improving online
infrastructure and by increasing Internet connectivity. Digital India has three core
components. These include - The creation of digital infrastructure, Delivering services
digitally and Digital literacy.
At the launch ceremony of Digital India Week by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, top
CEOs from India and abroad committed to invest Rs 4.5 lakh crore towards this
initiative. Newspapers reported that the CEOs said the investments would be utilitized
towards making smart phones and internet devices at an affordable price in India
which would help generate jobs in India as well as reduce the cost of importing
them from abroad.
Reliance Industries Chairman Mukesh Ambani said his company would invest Rs
2.5 lakh crore across different Digital India heads, which have the potential to
147
create employment for over five lakh people. He also announced setting up of the
Jio Digital India Start Up Fund to encourage young entrepreneurs who are setting
up businesses focused around the Digital India initiative.
The Department of Electronics & Information Technology (DeitY) has identified ELearning as a driving force for imparting quality education to the neglected population
using educational technology and communication media. The extensive objective is
to develop electronic technologies to promote e-learning.
The Department has been financially supporting Research and Development (R&D)
projects in the area of E-Learning at various academic educational institutes, R&D
Labs and so on.
According to DeitY in the 12th Plan R&D projects would be initiated in the area of
both hardware and software development for e-learning tools, technologies and
pedagogy. Their aim is to enhance content adaptation, personalized learning,
creation of high quality interactive simulation environment, Open Educational
Resources (OER), Adaptable e-Learning, Accessibility Models for the disabled,
Ubiquitous Learning, Augmented Reality, gaming environment for learning for specific
target groups and so on. The thrust would be on developing new tools and solutions
while developing and evolving the existing technologies.
OBJECTIVE OF STUDY
The above mentioned literature provides an encouraging scenario of e - learning
in India but the truth is quite different from what we perceive. E Learning, which
has the potential to provide innovative business ideas to promising entrepreneurs,
provide employment, boost the Indian economy and last but not the least change
the traditional classroom by providing access to knowledge in a ubiquitous manner
to change the educational system and reach the neglected mass, is under-utilised
in India.
The objective of this study is to find out the problems and limitations of e -learning
which is preventing the optimum usage of this electronic technology for the larger
good. E-learning as an e-business initiative is largely underutilized. It has become
imperative to address the problems and provide solutions towards e-learning for
economic and social development of the nation.
METHODOLOGY
Literature, journal writings, research on this field and reports published by different
organisations were considered for the purpose of collecting secondary information
on e - commerce and e - learning to ascertain the main problems of implementing
e - learning in India.
FINDINGS: LIMITATIONS OF E-LEARNING
After considering research and literature on e-learning the following infrastructural,
technological and personal limitations of e-learning came to the forefront.
148
Infrastructural and Technological Barriers

Prominent infrastructural and technological barriers are one of the reasons for
underutilisation of e- learning.
Access to technology
The primary requisite for students is proper hardware for e- learning. Hardware
includes computers, laptops, printers and so on. In India 90% of the rural population
do not possess a computer nor have they any access to it. For the purpose of
developing e- learning it is important to reach the neglected population . the
penetration of computers/ laptops in India is only 9.4% or less than one out of 10
households with only 3% having internet facility. The penetration of internet is 8%
in urban as compared to less than 1% in rural area according to a statistics
provided in 2011. The cost of computers exceeds the monthly income of most of
the rural population. The same is true for a percentage of urban population as well.
This prohibitive high cost of computer sometimes results in the purchase of second
hand computers which are age old and do not function properly. The lack of
personal computers as well as in the organisations and institutions acts as a major
barrier towards e- learning. One study mentioned that the lack of necessary hardware
to support e- learning is one of the reasons why small and medium enterprises are
unable to involve e- learning to educate and upgrade their employees. Thus access
to technology continues to be a big hindrance in the implementation of e- learning.
Access to Internet
It is imperative that without easy access to efficiently functioning Internet e- learning
cannot gain popularity. Internet access whether through smart phones or computer/
laptop continues to be highly expensive and unaffordable for many in India. Internet
connectivity helps us to stay connected to the entire world. Internet connection is
not only expensive it is also slow in majority of the places. The high cost of Internet
services automatically calls for limited usage as the cost of use increases with the
increased usage of data. The Digital India Project is an initiative in this direction
to provide better Internet connectivity in the urban and most importantly the rural
areas. India needs more service providers who can provide Internet facility at a
more affordable price to all users. The basic network infrastructure in developing
nations like India needs to improve to promote e- learning and e- commerce in
general. The prerogative to develop online learning and utilise it as a promising
business venture is proper affordable network infrastructure without which individuals
as well as businesses cannot flourish.
Limited Bandwidth
Downloading any video lectures in India can prove to be extremely time consuming,
persevering and sometimes a futile effort. The Limited bandwidth of Internet facility
does not support fast video downloads. Moreover transmission capability reduces
149
the capacity of audio and video usage. E learning is necessarily a multimedia rich
learning experience, and limited bandwidth is an alarming hindrance towards such
enriched experience. Study shows that the problems of video conferencing could
result in delay of class start time or loss of audio. Increasing number of customers
in India are complaining about the lack of broadband speed and efficiency.
Broadband refers to high speed internet which is acquired by customers at quite
a high price. India has one of the largest internet users globally but the number
of users having broadband service is abysmally low. The Digital India Project would
also face a huge setback if the bandwidth does not improve.
Payment Issues
The users should have faith and trust in the financial transactions that need to be
made online. Common behaviour amongst Indians show that they would spend a
small amount in online transactions but the moment the amount happens to be
considerable Indians question the integrity of online transactions. Users in India do
not feel comfortable in providing personal, sensitive financial information in online
portals. Online Incidents of fraud and theft have also been reported causing further
apprehension amongst the users. The legal system in this direction is also
underdeveloped. This discourages entrepreneurs as well as users.
Users have not yet developed sufficient confidence on online commerce. The
social and cultural influence on people in India is a bigger challenge for the promotion
of online learning and teaching. E learning is all about technology and until and
unless we develop confidence in using this technology, have trust and faith in its
integrity and in this online transaction e- learning would not be utilised properly in
India.
Personal Issues
Learners develop a bond with their instructors. Learners get influenced by their
facilitator to the extent that the students start loving the particular subject or paper
because of the teacher. Teachers aid not only in academic pursuits but in a more
holistic manner where the students personal problems and hindrances are also
given a patient hearing and guidance. This personal touch is missing in e- learning.
In e- learning most of the communication is online with the instructor or facilitator
which does not provide any access to the speakers body language or more
generally speaking to non verbal communication. Moreover instructors are not
available round the clock to answer queries. They are only available during the live
session or through e mails. The same is not true in the traditional classroom where
the student has easy and more access to the instructor.
In the traditional classroom the students are forced to study as there is continuous
physical monitoring and peer pressure of doing good also acts as a motivating
factor. In e- learning the learner should necessarily be disciplined and self motivated.
150
In asynchronous learning, learning is self paced. Learners need to handle and

direct their learning as well as schedule these assignments.
In the Indian context, organisations have senior employees who are not comfortable
using or handling new technologies. This causes undue stress and frustration
amongst the learners as they are not technology friendly. This also acts as a
barrier to e- learning. It is necessary for online learners to learn the developed
advanced technologies. It is a cause of discomfort for many learners to work in
isolation in an unconventional set up.
This study is not a complete study of the limitations of elearning due to which it
is underutilized in India. The study has certain limitations. The prominent limitations
are the following:
1.
This study has considered only the infrastructural/ technological and personal
limitations. There are other economic, social and cultural limitations which need
to be identified and addressed urgently. A more detailed study on e-learning as
well as a survey on the learners feedback should be taken. A demo e-learning
platform can be developed to find out the problems and deliver practical
solutions to the problems.
2.
Case studies of e- learning involvement in developed nations should also be

considered to provide practical solutions. Many of the university campuses
abroad are technology driven. Massively Open Online Courses (MOOCs), in
developed countries (more so in US), is one such example. One of the stated
goals of MOOCs is to provide less fortunate populations an opportunity to
experience courses with quality content and structure. Unfortunately, research
shows only 3% of the registrants are from low-income countries and although
many courses have thousands of registered students only 5-10% of them
complete the course.

Further research to consider the allied limitations should be conducted to provide
a holistic solution towards the implementation of electronic learning in education as
well as for the purpose of developing business in India. Research in the area of
development of implementation principles would not be sufficient, research seeking
better designs of e-learning content is also imperative and an urgent need of the
hour. E Learning is beneficial for both the user and the service provider and for
the economic and social development of the country.
Research in the field of pedagogical changes for effective adoption of e-learning
is essential. This would in turn help design effective and user friendly e-learning
content for the learners to provide the learners with rich learning experience.
E-Learning is growing at a fast pace but the present growth is far below what
151
e-learning can provide all the learners and business ventures. A lot of relevant and
useful research can be conducted in this direction for the nation and the human
race.
CONCLUSION
Smart phones and tablets have captured not only the urban market but also slowly
advancing towards the rural market of India. Smart phones and tablets would
provide the users with better access to internet facilities. Moreover, the 21st century
generation is technologically better and quite evidently tech savvy. This generation
has accepted certain aspects of technological intervention in learning as it is cost
effective, hassle free effective and provides more options to the learners.
E-learning should be a combination of both asynchronous and synchronous learning
to make it more effective. Self paced learning calls for self discipline which is not
found in all students. To make e-learning a universal learning platform the virtual
instructors should be visible to the learners by utilizing the characteristics of video
conferencing and live lectures. A sense of personal connection should be established
between the learners and instructors to help students achieve their goals. Moreover,
the infrastructural and technological constraints should be addressed at the earliest.
REFERENCES
1.
Garrison, G. R., and Anderson, T. (2003), E-Learning in the 21st Century: A Frame work
for Research and Practice, Routledge, London
2.
Greener. S., Wakefield. C., Developing Confidence in the Use of Digital Tools in Teaching,
University of Brighton, Brighton, UK, ejel-volume13-issue4-article436.pdf/ last accessed
on 30.10.2015
3.
h t t p : / / w w w. a c a d e m i a . e d u / 8 7 4 5 1 4 6 / D o _ y o u _ t h i n k _ e - l e a r n i n g _ c o n s i d e r s _ e commerce_and_e-business/last accessed on 30.10.2015
4.
http://deity.gov.in/content/e-learning/ last accessed on 30.10.2015
5.
https://www.docebo.com/landing/contactform/elearning-market-trends-and-forecast-20142016-ocebo -report.pdf/ last accessed on 30.10.2015
6.
http://www.elearning-companion.com/disadvantages-of-online-learning.html/ last accessed

on 30.10.2015
7.
http://elearningindustry.com/elearning-statistics-and-facts-for-2015/ last accessed on

30.10.2015
8.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Digital_India/ last accessed on 30.10.2015
9.
http://www.financialexpress. com/article/industry/jobs/why-e-learning-has-a-promising-futurein-india/19204/ last accessed on 30.10.2015
10. http://indiatoday.intoday.in/story/internet-access-india-facebook-twitter-social-mediasmartphone/ 1/425323.html/ last accessed on 30.10.2015

11. http://www.indiaprwire.com/pressrelease/education/20130828234207.htm/ last accessed
on 30.10.2015
152
12. http://www.livemint.com/Politics/ZFlUNCpCcCPGL0rqsKPQsO/Indias-elearning-marketsecond-largest-after-US-says-repo.html/ last accessed on 30.10.2015

13. http://www.ndtv.com/india-news/pm-narendra-modi-to-launch-the-digital-india-project-in-2village-panchayats-on-wednesday-776930/ last accessed on 30.10.2015
14. https://www.pwc.in/en_IN/in/assets/pdfs/publications/2015/ecommerce-in-india-acceleratinggrowth.pdf / last accessed on 30.10.2015
15. http://www.reuters.com/article/2013/09/30/research-and-markets-idUSnBw305924a+100+
BSW20130930/ last accessed on 30.10.2015
16. Laudon. K. C., Traver. C. G. (2008) E-Commerce: Business. Technology. Society, fourth
edition, Pearson Education
17. Lawrence. J. E., Tar. U. A., Barriers to Ecommerce in Developing Countries, Information,
Society and Justice, Volume 3 No. 1, January 2010: pp 23-35 ISSN 1756-1078/ last
18. Mahanta. D., Ahmed. M., E-Learning Objectives, Methodologies, Tools and its Limitation,
International Journal of Innovative Technology and Exploring Engineering (IJITEE) ISSN:
2278-3075, Volume-2, Issue-1, December 2012, http://www.ijitee.org/attachments/File/v2i1/
A0370112112.pdf/ last accessed on 30.10.2015
19. Mulchandani, K., A Study on Opportunities and Challenges Ahead for Electronic Learning
in India, pioneerjournal.in/ last accessed on 30.10.2015
20. Noesgaard. S. S. and rngreen. R., The Effectiveness of E-Learning: An Explorative and
Integrative Review of the Definitions, Methodologies and Factors that Promote e-Learning
Effectiveness, ejel-volume13-issue4-article438.pdf/ last accessed on 30.10.2015
21. Remenyi., D. (2007) Computer Managed Instruction (ICEL 2007) 2nd International
Conference on E-Learning, Columbia University, New York https://books.google.co.in/
books?isbn=190530546X
22. http://www.worldwidelearn.com/education-articles/benefits-of-online-learning.htm/ last
153
154
A Study on Consumer Awareness and

Purchase Behaviour of Men's Apparel
in Kolkata
Piyush Jhunjhunwala* & Supriyo Patra**
ABSTRACT
Textile industry holds a significant status in India. It provides one of the most fundamental
necessities of the people. It is an industry, with basic requirement as raw material with huge
value addition at every stage of processing. Readymade garment is really becoming booming
business.
Presently, the textile industry is undergoing re-orientation towards clothing segments of textile
sector, which is commonly called as technical textiles. India is becoming the most preferred
destination for out sourcing readymade garments for the international market. Through this
research an attempt is being made to understand Consumer Purchase Behaviour towards
Mens Apparel in Kolkata and also identifying awareness about various brands in the city in
the given segment.
The findings have been analysed and a well defined conclusion is reached at with scope for
further research mentioned later in the paper.
Key Words Consumer Awareness, Purchase Behaviour, Mens Apparel, Kolkata
INTRODUCTION
Gone are the days of made to stitch garments. Readymade Garments are now
preferred across all age groups. Nowadays, people are willing to spend money,
and with the rise in disposable income of Indian population, they want to wear
good, look good and feel confident through their outfit.
In the words of Keller, Brand awareness is the extent to which a brand is recognized
by potential customers, and is correctly associated with a particular product.
According to Schiffman, Kanuk and Kumar, Consumer behavior is defined as the
behavior that consumers display in searching for, purchasing, using, evaluating
and disposing of products and services that they expect will satisfy their needs.
The last couple of decades have seen a sea change in the world of Apparels and
Readymade Garments.
*
**
Student, 3rd year Marketing Specialisation, Department of Business Administration, St. Xaviers College
(Autonomous), Kolkata-700016. Email: piyush@goldcoinfashionindia.com
Assistant Professor in Management (Marketing), Department of Business Administration, St. Xaviers
College (Autonomous), Kolkata-700016; Email: supriyo_patra@rediffmail.com
155
According to analysis by FICCI (2009-2012), Indian Apparel industry is expected to

witness high growth rate in the coming years.
Textile and Apparel Industry Post the expiration of the Multi Fibre Agreement on
January 1, 2005, has witnessed a clear distinction between countries as production
and consumption hubs. Developed countries like the USA, countries of the European
Union and Japan have emerged as consuming countries while developing countries
like India, China and Bangladesh are producing countries. Cheap labour is one of
the most important factors driving the developing countries to gain production
advantage.
According to the Technopak Report, 2014, the expected slower annual GDP growth
(CAGR 2013 to 2018 is 2.4%) in the advanced economies is directly impacting the
consumption of textile and apparel, hence reducing its demand.
On the other hand, the expected higher annual GDP growth (CAGR 2013 to 2018
is 5.4%) of the developing countries has led to an increase in purchasing power
of consumers, favouring the growth in textile and apparel consumption in these
countries.
India is one of the largest exporters of textiles and apparel. India also has vertically
integrated supply chain and is known for producing wide range of textiles and
apparel products.
In Indias exports of textiles and apparel, 60% contribution comes from apparel, and
40% from textiles. (Source: Technopak Report, 2014).
Source: Technopak Report, 2014
According to Babita et al (2013): With growing fashion consciousness among females
and males, they demand for better and updated products and if they dont get the
desired apparels, they switch to a better brand very easily.
According to Kanthi and Kumar (2013), Readymade garment is a part of the textile
industry and it accounts for about half of Indias textile exports.
Study by Thakur and Lamba (2013) show that Tommy Hilfiger is the most popular
brand in customers of Jalandhar City.
156
Sullivan, Pauline et al (2012) say that despite Generation Y (Gen Y) consumers

significant role as a decision maker in the market, it is increasingly challenging for
retailers to understand these consumers behaviour and psychology.
Lahiri et al (2010) concluded that There is no significant difference between the
average expenditure on apparel among different income groups.
CRISIL Report (2009) says that Rising incomes and growing preference for
readymade garments vi-vis tailored garments will contribute to 7.4 per cent CAGR
for the domestic market. Within the domestic market, the rural market is expected
to outperform the urban RMG market.
FICCI (2009-2012) says that Indian Apparel industry is expected to witness high
growth rate in the coming years.
According to CRISIL Research Coverage on Readymade garments, The domestic
apparel market can be classified into rural and urban segments. Around 70 per
cent of Indias population still resides in rural areas and contributes almost 55 per
cent to the total domestic RMG industry (value terms). The urban population, which
represents only 30 per cent of the total population, puts in the balance 45 per cent.
By 2015, we expect the domestic apparel market size to reach Rs 2,027 billion,
translating into a 10.7 per cent CAGR over the next 5 years
A study was conducted by Memon (2006), to trace the impact of private level
brands on retailing dealing in garments. This work considered only two retail brands
Westside and Pantaloons in Ahmedabad city and accepted the hypothesis that
people are ready to switch over to other brands if the same facilities are available.
Based on the literature review, we have focused our research on the following
major objectives:
l
To study the awareness about different mens apparel brands in the city
among the respondents of Kolkata.
To understand factors affecting customer purchase behaviour of Mens

Apparel in Kolkata.
To identify most preferred purchase pattern by the customers in this

segment.
According to G.C.Beri & Lisa M.Given, Descriptive research provides a detailed
account of a social setting, a group of people, a community, a situation, or some
other phenomenon. This kind of research strives to paint a complete and accurate
picture of the world by focusing on the factual details that best describe a current
or past event.
A descriptive research was conducted through online questionnaire.
157
A convenience sample is made up of people who are easy to reach.Respondents

were selected based on Non Probability/Convenience Sampling belonging to
age group 18-50years.
According to Chris Olsen & Diane Marie M. St. George, One of the most common
and well-known study designs is the cross-sectional study design. In this type
of research study, either the entire population or a subset thereof is selected, and
from these individuals, data are collected to help answer research questions of
interest. It is called cross-sectional because the information about X and Y that is
gathered represents what is going on at only one point in time. Our research
design is a cross sectional research.
A structured questionnaire containing 13 questions was sent to 200 respondents
and reply was received from 146 respondents.
The data received from Google Forms was transferred to Ms-Excel software for
Analysis.
FINDINGS AND ANALYSIS
The responses on Brand Awareness gave us the following results:
100% respondents were aware about the presence of brands Raymonds and Allen
Solly. Louis Phillipe was least known brand in the study with 83% respondents
ticking about awareness.
Which Segment do you prefer for your Qutfit?*
l
Buying Readymade from Multi Brand Stores like BigBazaar, Pantaloons
Buying Readymade from Single Brand Stores like Allen Solly, Raymonds
Buying Tailormade, Stitched
158
65% of the respondents said that their most preferred purchase segment was
buying Readymade Garments from Multi Brand Stores or Hypermarkets like Shoppers
Stop, Pantaloons, etc.
Your frequently purchased Apparel Brand:*
(Multiple options can be selected)
l
Remonds
Raymonds
21%
Allen Solly
Allen Solly
19%
Louis Phillipe
Louis Phillipe
9%
Turtle
Turtle
24%
Color Plus
Color Plus
15%
Others
Others
12%
159
Turtle emerged as the most preferred brand (24%), followed by Raymonds (21%)
and Allen Solly (19%).
When you buy a premium garment, what are the things in your mind?*
(Select Multiple Options)
Brand: Status Symbol
l
High Quality
Designs and Colours
Sale offering
Gift to family members
I will look smart in this shirt. The world will compliment me
Other
The customers buy a premium garment, the most probable factor depicted by the
survey is that they will look smart and everyone will compliment them. High Quality
and the premium brand is a status symbol is also an important factor.
Do you buy clothes online?*
l
Yes
No
160
Only 39% of the respondents said that they shop online.

Why you may prefer not to shop online?*
l
Physical Feel of the Garment is not there
Do not use internet
Quality issues
Lack of Payment options
For those who do not shop online, the major reason was that Physical Feel of the
garment is not there (78% responses).
l
The number of respondents was limited to 146 due to limited time and cost
considerations.
This study is limited only to the city of Kolkata.

l
Conducting the same survey with a greater size of sample would give
more reliable conclusions.
161
Conducting the survey in different cities of the country may tend to

depict a different purchase pattern and behaviour.
This survey was limited only to Mens Apparel, it may be extended to

Womens Wear and Childrens Wear also.
There is huge scope in analyzing online purchase behaviour of Readymade

Garments.
CONCLUSION
Based on our study, we can conclude on the following areas of our research:
65% of the respondents said that their most preferred purchase segment was
buying Readymade Garments from Multi Brand Outlets (MBO) or Hypermarkets
like Shoppers Stop, Pantaloons, etc.
Tailor-made Garments which was once the choice of the people has lost their
demand in the market, only 4% chose to order tailor-made garments.
Turtle emerged as the most preferred brand (24%), followed by Raymonds (21%)
and Allen Solly (19%).
The customers buy a premium garment, the most probable factor depicted
by the survey is that they will look smart and everyone will compliment
them. High Quality and the premium brand is a status symbol is also an
important factor.
Only 39% of the respondents said that they shop online.
For those who do not shop online, the major reason was that Physical Feel of the
garment is not there (78% responses).
Hypothesis testing revealed that customers greatly associate High Price of
a garment with High Quality.
REFERENCES
Journal Papers
1.
G.C.Beri (2007) Marketing Research
2.
Lahiri, Isita, Samanta, Pradip Kumar (2010): Factors Influencing Purchase of Apparels
from Organized Retail Outlets IUP Journal of Marketing Management9.1/2: 73-87
3.
Schiffman, Leon & Kanuk,
4.
Malhotra (2013) Marketing Research
5.
Ms. Babita, Dr. Gaur Arti, Arora Nancy, Bhardwaj Deepak (2013): Brand awareness of
readymade garments: A comparative study of males and females International Journal of
Managment, IT and Engineering, Volume: 3, Issue : 2 pp141-154
6.
Thakur, Anand, Dr and Lamba, Bhuvan (2013), Factors influencing readymade apparel
purchase in jalandhar city, Journal of Arts, Science & Commerce, Vol.IV, Issue3, July
162
Leslie (10th Edition) Consumer Behavior
Websites
1)
http://rai.net.in/RetailLearning.aspx (accessed on 15.06.2015)
2)
http://theglobaljournals.com/gra/file.php?val=January_2013_1358502181_37069_06.pdf
(accessed on 15.06.2015)
3)
http://ipindia.nic.in/tmr_new/tm_journal/Journal_TMR_1493.pdf (accessed on 14.07.2015)
4)
http://www.crisil.com/pdf/research/research-industry-information-report-readymadegarmentscontents.pdf (accessed on 14.07.2015)
5)
http://www.hdfcsec.com/Apparel-Market-Research/Research-Details/Reports/3010115
(accessed on 18.07.2015)
6)
http://shodhganga.inflibnet.ac.in/bitstream/10603/11265/3/03_abstract.pdf (accessed on
18.07.2015)
7)
http://www.crisil.com/pdf/research/research-industry-toc-readymadegarments.pdf (accessed
on 19.09.2015)
APPENDIX 1
Link to Online Questionnaire https://docs.google.com/forms/d/
1gkDWktkaKfzbE2_3bUH6a69QSTXUOuDjVFYrqaMzLdw/viewform
163
164
National Human Resource Development

Strategies: Comparing India and China
Dr. Bikram Singh* & Prof. Sudipti Banerjea**
ABSTRACT
National human resource development (NHRD) is equated with the country-level man-power
planning and human capital development. It is quite evident that the economic success of
Japan, Taiwan, Singapore and South Korea were largely due to their concerted efforts to create
and pursue appropriate NHRD policies designed to support their countries economic
development strategies. Many countries of the world have developed national-level HRD
programmes and strategies. A countrys progress in terms of NHRD policies can be evaluated
from certain macro-indicators and by conducting in-depth analyses of specific policies using
the information obtained from the government publications, analytical reports and researchbased articles. This paper has tried to focus on the systems that contribute directly to the
development of the human capital of India and China. In addition, the paper has attempted to
provide insight into the country-level planning and coordination among the systems, and to
provide an assessment of the strengths and weaknesses of the NHRD efforts of India and China
in a comparative manner.
Key words: National Human Resource Development, Knowledge Economy, Knowledge
Economy Index
INTRODUCTION
National human resource development (NHRD) is equated with country level manpower planning and human capital development. According to McLean (2004),
NHRD goes beyond employment to include health, culture, safety, community, and
a host of other considerations that have not typically been perceived as manpower
planning or human capital investment. Zanko and Ngui (2003) mention that national
or regional human resource development (HRD) encompasses education- and
training-related issues that are cast very widely to include basic education, industrial
training, productivity of manpower, equity in labour forces and workplaces, generation
of comparable labour market data, life-long learning and management development.
It is quite evident that the economic success of Japan, Taiwan, Singapore and
South Korea are largely due to their concerted efforts to frame and pursue NHRD
policies designed to support their countries economic development strategies. Many
*
*
Assistant Professor, Department of Commerce, University of Calcutta

Professors, Department of Commerce, University of Calcutta
165
countries of the world have developed national-level HRD programmes and

strategies.
A countrys progress in terms of NHRD policies can be evaluated from certain
macro-indicators and by conducting in-depth analyses of specific policies using the
information obtained from government publications, analytical reports and researchbased articles.
Table 1 Economic and Demographic Characteristics of India and China
Country
Population
(millions)
GDP (US
billion $)
valued at
current prices
GDP per
capita (US$)
GDP (PPP*) as
share (%) of world
total
Life Expectancy at
Birth (country rank
out of 144
Countries)
India
1243.3
1870.7
1505
5.83
110
China
1338
9181.4
6147
15.40
53
*at purchasing Power Parity (PPP)

Source: World Economic Forum 2014
One of the most frequently used macro-indicators in NHRD research is the Human
Development Index (HDI) which is a composite index, measuring average
achievement in three basic dimensions of human development. The three subindicators are health, education and the populations economic well-being. Health
is measured by life expectancy at birth; education is measured by mean of years
of schooling for adults aged 25 years and expected years of schooling for children
of school-going age; and economic well-being is measured by gross national income
(GNI) per capita. In addition, one can compare measures of societys innovativeness
and efforts to promote its knowledge-based resources by using the Knowledge
Economy Index (KEI), an aggregate index representing a countrys/ regions overall
preparedness to compete in the Knowledge Economy (KE). The KEI is based on
a simple average of four sub-indices which represent the four pillars of the KE,
namely, Economic Incentive and Institutional Regime (EIR), Innovation and
Technological Adoption, Education and Training, Information and Communications
Technologies (ICTs) Infrastructure.
The EIR comprises incentives that promote the efficient use of existing and new
knowledge and the flourishing of entrepreneurship. An efficient innovation system,
made up of firms, research centres, universities, think tanks, consultants, and
other organizations, can tap the growing stock of global knowledge, adapt it to local
needs, and create new technological solutions. An educated and appropriately
trained population is capable of creating, sharing, and using knowledge. A modern
and accessible ICT infrastructure serves to facilitate the effective processing,
dissemination and communication of information. A more specific analysis of the
166
NHRD policies could cover many systems, including health care and social security
among others.
Table 2 Dynamics of HDI in India and China
Year
2012
Rank out of
186 Countries
2013
Rank out of
186 Countries
India
0.583 (M)
135
0.586 (M)
135
China
0.715 (H)
93
0.719 (H)
91
M= Medium Human development; H= High Human Development

Source: Human Development Report 2014
Table 3 Indices of Knowledge Economy

Country
KEI
Rank*
EIR
Rank*
Innovation
Rank*
Education
Rank*
ICT
Rank*
India
3.09
110
3.50
99
4.15
76
2.21
111
2.49
122
China
4.47
84
3.90
97
5.44
54
4.20
95
4.33
94
Source: http://siteresources.worldbank.org/INTUNIKAM/Resources/2012.pdf
*
Rank out of 146 Countries

Table 4 Global Competitiveness Index (GCI)
Period
India
Score(1-7)
China
Rank
Score (1-7)
Rank
2014-15
4.2
71 out of 144
4.9
28 out of 144
2013-14
4.3
60 out of 148
4.8
29 out of 148
2012-13
4.3
59 out of 144
4.8
29 out of 144
2011-12
4.3
56 out of 142
4.9
26 out of 142
Source: World Economic Forum 2014
This paper has tried to focus on the systems that contribute directly to the
development of the human capital of India and China. In addition, the paper has
attempted to provide insight into the country-level planning and coordination among
the systems, and to provide an assessment of the strengths and weaknesses of
the NHRD efforts of India and China in a comparative manner.
NHRD IN INDIA
According to Rao and Varghese (2009), by 2050, Indias population will reach 1.8
billion people, surpassing that of China. Indias economy is third largest in the world
based on GDP at PPP (World Economic Forum, 2014).
167
As per Table 2, Indias HDI has been growing but at a very slow rate. India has a
medium human development unlike China which has high human development.
The low rating in the education component of the index has been the main reason
for the medium levels of Indias HDI. The Indian education system has not been
able to keep up with the demand. There has been an increase in the number of
educational institutions in India but, in terms of quality, there is a serious dearth of
college and university programmes.
As per Table 3, Indias KEI fell 6 spots to 110th in the 2012 KEI Rankings. Mainly
because of growth in US Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO), patents, Indias
innovation pillar, has leaped up 20 places to rank 76th . Indias EIR and ICT pillars
have registered slight decline, falling 4 and 8 spots respectively.
As per Table 4, in terms of GCI, India ranks 71 among 144 countries. The
most problematic factors identified for doing business are inadequate access to
financing, unfavourable tax regulations and rates, unfavourable foreign currency
regulations, inadequate supply of infrastructure, corruption, inefficient government
bureaucracy, restrictive labour regulations, instability at the government levels,
inadequately educated workforce, policy instability, poor work ethic in national
labour force, crime and theft, inflation, insufficient capacity to innovate and poor
public health.
In the year 1985, the Government of India (GOI) created the Ministry of HRD
keeping in mind the fact that it is the human capital of the country which is the
source of competitive advantage in the global market. The said Ministrys efforts
are focused on the priority areas mentioned below.
l
increasing investment in education
increasing the number of educational institutions
expansion of vocational and specialised education
focus on the quality of training programmes
increased access to education, supported by government subsidies
In keeping with the efforts to improve human capital, the GOI has designed
implemented the Sarva Siksha Abhiyan (SSA). It focuses on learning for all
through broadening access to primary and secondary education; improving the
quality of education, especially in the fields of linguistics, mathematics and
technology; and reducing gender disparity in education. The programme is funded
by the GOI with the support of some international organisations.
The programme has resulted in some impressive changes stated below.
l
decline in the number of children not receiving education
increase in the number of student enrolment in primary schools
168
decline in the school drop-out rates
narrowing of gender gap in education with the Index of Gender Equality

in primary education and higher education levels reaching 90 % and 83
% respectively
access to education for people from lower strata has risen
The GOI, in its pursuit to develop human capital, has undertaken a series of
development strategies such as mid-day meals programme to provide subsidised
food to primary school students and passing a legislation in 2006, prohibiting
children, aged 14 years and younger, from engaging in low-paid work instead
of attending schools. In the year 2000, the GOI announced a programme for
technological leadership in the new millennium. In addition, the new Science
and Technology Policy, adopted in 2003, aims at increasing expenditure on R
& D to 2 per cent. of the GDP. In spite of these efforts, India occupies only
the 110th place among the 144 countries in terms of the measures of Knowledge
Economy.
In the area of Vocational and Technical Education (VET), the GOI has articulated
its ambition in the National Skills Development Policy of 2009, aiming at increasing
the number of individuals annually completing the VET programmes from 3
million to 11 million in just 5 years. The VET programmes, envisaged as a part
of the comprehensive economic and workforce education programme of the
government, emphasise the development of a highly skilled andflexible workforce
for the high-technology and service sectors of the economy.
Outcomes of establishing the National Skill Development Agency (NSDA)
and the National Skill Development Corporation (NSDC)
NSDA is launching a campaign for enrolling youths for skill development through
the existing network of 2.77 lakh Nehru Yuwa Kendra Sangathans across the
country.
l
Young professionals will be recruited to create a team of PMs Skill

Development Fellows who will coordinate the skill development activities in
the districts.
Rashtriya Kaushal Evam Udyamita Puraskar is being launched to recognize

the outstanding contributions of institutions in skill development.
NSDC has launched a TV commercials-based campaign to advocate

vocational skills which has received a very great response of 3.3 lakh calls
in the first 15 days.
NSDC partnered with Cinema Vision to create Indias first ever television
reality show on skills called Hunnarbaaz of which 14 episodes have already
been aired.
169
Incentivisation of Vocational Education:

a.
Institution of the STAR Scheme: National Skill Certification and Monetary

Reward Scheme popularly branded as STAR (Standards Training
Assessment and Reward) was rolled out on 16th August 2013. As on
date, 13.99 lakh candidates have been trained and 6.3 lakh candidates
have been certified as a part of this scheme.
b.
Central Government Schemes: 21 Ministries of GOI, engaged in skill

development, have achieved 24.31 lakh trainings till August 2014
against a target of 1.05 crore trainings for this financial year.
c.
World Skills Competition: India won 3 medallions of excellence for the

first time ever in the World Skills Competition held in Leipzig in June-July
2013.
Future Road Map

l
Cradle to Career Approach: Integrated seamless skill development

interventions at every stage of an individual, starting from unique identification
(UID) at birth to vocationalisation of education, with multiple livelihood options
that are in sync with industrial needs of the country.
Digitized Market Place: Seamless transactional experiences are enabled,

through a digital platform, among youth seeking job opportunities, training
providers and employers.
One Nation One Quality: National Standards for skilling are globally aligned
and Indian youths can aspire to avail of local, national and international job
opportunities.
Vocational Education by Choice: Vocational education, a well-accepted career

choice by youths, as skills get their due recognition and industry accepts
wages linked to skill and competencies.
Talent Capital of the World: A vibrant educational and skill eco-system

makes India well poised to earn the title of talent capital of the world.
NHRD IN CHINA
During the last three decades, China has undergone fundamental socio-economic
reforms, accompanied by strong economic growth rate. It is predicted that, by
2020, China will become a member of the elite group of innovative economies
including the United States, Japan, South Korea and Finland. China, like India, is
rich in human resources. GDP-wise, in terms of PPP, China is the second largest
economy in the world (World Economic Forum, 2014).
As per Table 2, the Chinese HDI has been growing steadily. China has a high
human development and is ahead of India. In its move towards improving human
resource, the Chinese government is trying to strengthen significantly its innovation
170
and research potential by 2020. The slogan for the new policy is man [sic] is the
root of everything (Shilov, 2009). The aim is to develop a harmonious society with
high moral ideas and high degrees of creativity.
With significant improvements in its EIR, innovation and education pillars China has
jumped 7 spots to a KEI rank of 84th out of 146 countries. Its innovation pillar has
made the largest gains because of rapid improvements in all three key indicators.
However, its ICT pillar dropped 14 positions because of relatively slow progress on
all three indicators since 2000 compared to other countries.
As per Table 4, in terms of GCI, China occupies 28th rank. The most problematic
factors identified for doing business are inadequate access to financing, corruption,
unfavourable tax regulations and rates, inadequate supply of infrastructure, inefficient
government bureaucracy, inflation, policy instability, insufficient capacity to innovate,
restrictive labour regulations, unfavourable foreign currency regulations, inadequately
educated workforce, instability at the government levels /coups, poor work ethic in
national labour force, crime and theft, and poor public health.
The traditional educational system in China has a long and rich history. It had a
leading position in terms of educational development in the middle ages but, since
the 17th century, the country faced a drastic decline leading to a transition to a
Western system of education in the 20th century. During the period 1950s to 1970s,
a westernised vocational education system was successful in fulfilling the need for
growing numbers of trained employees for the newly- created state-owned industrial
enterprises. However, with the growing change in needs, it has become quite
imperative to move towards a knowledge-based economy.
According to (Barabasch, Huang and Lawson, 2009), the fast economic growth
achieved since 1980 resulted in increase in investment in VET but the quality of
training provided by the system was generally low. In 1996, the Chinese government
passed the Vocational Educational Law, aiming to establish a more comprehensive
VET system, focusing on establishment of occupational standards, creation of a
certification system, incentives to companies to provide training to their employees,
and collaboration amongst the VET institutions. However, the efforts to develop the
VET system have faced serious obstacles. One of the barriers is that, unlike higher
education, the Chinese VET system suffers from an image problem, viz., while most
Chinese parents are strongly committed to make necessary sacrifices to help their
child(ren) acquire the best possible higher education, very few of them would
consider VET a desirable choice. Therefore, despite the governmental efforts to
upgrade the VET system, it is not likely to attract the best pupils and instructors.
According to (Shilov, 2009) the Chinese government is focused on replacing an
excessive specialised vocational training approach by a professional education
approach towards preparing generalists capable of thinking independently and
171
being innovative. At the same time, the government is investing in the development
of VET programmes in different regions of the country. It is based on the model
2+1 or 1+2, which means two years of learning at university and one year of
experiential learning in a company; two years of learning in the western region and
one year of learning in the eastern region, or two years learning in an urban area
and one year of learning in a rural area.
The new strategy for NHRD development, formulated under the guidance of the
Ministry of Human Resources and Social Security and designed to be completed
by 2020, includes the priorities stated below.
l
development of a life-long learning education system based on Chinese

cultural values
expansion of vocational training, aimed at better matching of employee

competences to business requirements
investment in intellectual capital, providing for closer links amongst education,

scientific and technical innovations and economic development as amongst
between educational, cultural and social improvements.
In a bid to develop scientific and technological capacity, the State Programme 863
was launched in 1986, the priority areas being bio-engineering, space engineering,
information technology, laser technology, automation, energy, new materials, and
ocean engineering (Grishina, 2009). The emphasis on science and technology
requires the development of a new educational system that is able to provide highquality human resources with a strong background in mathematics, science and
engineering. To achieve this goal, the Chinese government has adopted a set of
regulations giving higher educational institutions (HEIs) more autonomy, while at
the same time establishing special agencies for evaluating the HEIs efficiency.
According to these new regulations, all Chinese universities have to complete a
quality assessment once every five years. This activity is controlled by the Ministry
of Education of China, which maintains the database on the quality of higher
education. The system engaged in assessing and monitoring the quality of education
in China comprises both state and independent public agencies, which report to
the Ministry of Education. Three of these agencies arethe National Audit
Committee, which provide the accreditation of new universities or programmes; the
Higher Education Evaluation Centre (HEEC), which conducts assessment of
programmes of undergraduate higher education; and the China Academic Degrees
and Graduate Education Development Centre (CADGEC), which provide assessment
of graduate level programmes of higher education.
In the recent years, the government has added some more priority areas, such as
networking, information security, software, advance processor chips, and intelligent
information-processing systems.
172
CONCLUSION
In the recent years both India and China are making great advances in terms of
their economic development and NHRD. While the Indian government is focusing
on high-technology development and reforms in the educational system with an
aim of becoming a major global supplier of talent for the high technology sectors,
the Chinese government is also putting special emphasis on the development of
human resources for the science and technology fields. However, both India and
China need to make a lot of improvements in their NHRD strategies to make their
manpower world class. India faces the problem of disparity in income and access
to services and benefits between the different states, remnants of the caste system
and gender inequality in terms of educational attainments and access to education.
On the other hand, China also faces a lot of societal and structural problems such
as regional disparities in terms of levels of economic development. While China
leads in the number of patents, India is the leader in outsourcing and export of
high-tech services. India and China have lead in the share of scientific publications
throughout the world and the number of research institutions. The Chinese and
Indian models of NHRD are close to what Ashton, Sung and Turnin (2000) describe
as the development state model, characterised by centralised government planning
at multiple levels, encompassing multiple elements of the overall system, targeted
at the development of specific priority areas that are tied to larger economic policies.
Such approaches have been successfully implemented in the past by Japan, Taiwan
and South Korea. It is a matter of time that India and China will overtake the
developed economies of the world on most indices provided they can keep the
momentum created through their NHRD strategies.
REFERENCES
1.
Ashton, D., Sung, J. and Turnin, J. (2000), Towards a framework for the comparative
analysis of national systems of skill formation, International Journal of Training and
development, 4(1), pp. 8-25
2.
Barabasch, A., Huang, S. and Lawson, R. (2009), Planned policy transfer: impact of the
German model on Chinese vocational education, Compare: A journal of comparative and
International education, 39 (1), pp. 5-20
3.
Grishina, I. (2009), Development of the national innovation system of China, State Services,
1, pp.90-93
4.
Sustaining Human Progress: Reducing Vulnerability and Building Resilience (2014), Human
Development Report [http://hdr.undp.org/sites/default/files/hdr14-report-en-1.pdf] (last
accessed on 18-10-2015)
5.
McLean, G.N. (2004), National Human Resource Development: What in the world is it?,
Advances in Developing Human Resources, 6(3), pp. 269-275
6.
Rao, T.V. and Varghese, S. (2009),Trends and Challenges of developing human capital in
India, Human Resource Development International, 12 (1), pp.15-34
173
7.
Shilov, A. (2009), Problems of education in contemporary China: A comparative analysis,

Problems of Culturology, 2, pp. 49-52
8.
World Economic Forum (2014), The global competitiveness report 2014-2015, [http://
www.weforum.org/reports/global-competitiveness-report-2014-2015] (last accessed on 1810-2015)
9.
Zanko, M. and Ngui, M. (2003), The implications of supra-national regionalism for human
resource management in the Asia-Pacific region, in The Handbook of Human Resource
Management Policies and Practices in Asia-Pacific economies, Zanko and Ngui (edrs.),
vols. 1 and 2, Edward Elgar, Cheltenham, UK
10. http://siteresources.worldbank.org/INTUNIKAM/Resources/2012.pdf (last accessed on 1810-2015)
174
A Balanced Approach - Competitive Devaluation

Vs Market Determined Rates
Debalina Chakraborty*
ABSTRACT
The research concerns an in-depth study of international market scenarios relating to competitive
devaluation of currencies, which has been adopted by several countries in several times of economic
history, with an objective of achieving competitive exports and lowering imports - a way to revamp
a countrys economy.
History dates back to the Great Depression of 1930, when countries abandoned the Gold Standard
and adopted the mechanism of depreciating their currencies in order to gain a competitive position
vis--vis others. Currency rate cut in one country triggered a cut in another country and so on,
resulting in snowball effect with every country trying to expand exports and shorten imports. However,
with each country racing to expand exports, imports decline and ultimately exports too. The outcome
being a vicious cycle of negative growth.
Therefore, a balanced approach towards determination of exchange rates considering free market
forces along with needed governmental intervention is ideal.
Key Words: Competitive-devaluation, Currency-war, Real Effective Exchange Rate
INTRODUCTION
An initiation during the Great Depression of 1930, competitive devaluation, and better
known as Currency War is a mechanism used by any country to depreciate its own
currency in order to gain a competitive position vis--vis others. The end objective is
to achieve a relatively lower exchange rate for its own currency. The origin lies in the
basic economic theory of demand and supply. For our ease of understanding let us
assume that there are only two countries in the world having two different currencies.
Let the countries be A and B, with currencies X and Y respectively. Now lets
say to buy one unit of X, 4 units of Y are required. If now, the authority in country B
deliberately depreciates its currency Y, then the buying power of country A will increase,
for instance, now, A would be able to buy more than 4 units of currency Y, for each
unit of its own currency. Therefore, devaluating Y and making it easily available to the
other country, only increases the supply of Y in the economy. The more country A
would be able to buy currency Y, for each of its unit, the more will the supply of Y
increase in the economy. And as the theory goes, increase in supply leads to fall in
*
Manager, Solutions, Corporate Sales, Mjunction Services Limited, Kolkata-700091,

Email: chakrabortydebalina920@gmail.com
175
price, the value of Y further diminishes. Its a vicious cycle a fall in value leading to
a bigger fall.
However, this vicious cycle gradually breaks when more number of countries join the
league. Out of the hypothetical condition of having just two countries, in real world,
there are a number of countries who are competing to get a competitive edge over
others. So now, if another country say C comes in to the picture and lets say it is in
dire need of importing some items/services which are available in plenty in country B.
Therefore C would require Bs currency Y, to fulfill the import. This leads to increase
in demand for currency Y by country C, as it needs to make payments in Bs currency
for the import. Consequently, the law of diminishing return shows itself. A continuous
increase in supply of Y in the economy leading to a fall in its value, therefore reaches
a saturation at certain point of time and finally a reverse scenario follows with an
equal and opposite strength of demand for the same.
The whole point in showcasing the above instance is to reiterate the fact the market
corrects its position on its own, and it is always desirable to let the free forces of
demand and supply decide the fate of economy.
Considering the entire account of records and facts, it is found that competitive
devaluation or currency war has had come into limelight in different times of
international trade scenario, sometimes in a benign manner, and sometimes even
maturely. Here, we will put up a few instances relating to competitive devaluation
which has had been faced by several economies in several times, discussed in different
forums and penned down in numerous journals around the world.
The former Brazilian Minister of Finance, Guido Mantega, who popularized the term
Currency War, anticipated it in September 2010; when several countries joined the
league of depreciating their own currencies with a view to make cheaper exports and
costlier imports, the most noted one being that of between USA and China, a conflict
over valuation of Yuan. In an interview in 2010, Mantega quoted, Were in the midst
of an international currency war, a general weakening of currency. This threatens us
because it takes away our competitiveness. That is to say it is always judicious to
allow market forces to work freely in determination of exchange rates.
Mid-week of August 2015 showed us yet another instance of spiral effect of currency
devaluation, when China devalued Yuan by 3%. The motive behind such a step by
China is determined to be the countrys aim towards creating an export-led growth in
order to revive its weakening economy. However, such a step by China has had left
other emerging nations of the world under stress of depreciating currency, costlier
imports and lowering purchasing power of the people, creating recessionary waves
across the globe.
176
The renowned consulting editor of The Economic Times, Swaminathan S.

AnklesariaAiyar in few of his recent articles published during August and early
September 2015 relating to the recent phenomenon of China, has highlighted on
few points worth mentioning here with respect to review of the topic.
It is taken that country with depreciating currency experiences higher and competitive
exports in the outer world while its imports become costlier. As a result, the country
expects a narrowing trade deficit. However, Mr. Aiyar has cited instance showing
occurrence of a reverse scenario. In a recently published article, he explained The
rupee is down only 3.4% since January to Rs 65.26. But the exchange rate was Rs 45
per dollar in 2011, Rs 55 in mid-2013, and Rs 59 when Narendra Modi was elected in
2014. Since then, the rupee is down 10%, but exports have fallen eight months
running.
Therefore, currency war which apparently strengthens a countrys international trade
position cannot be fully validated, given such instance as mentioned above. Growth
in international demand for a countrys goods and services is important, cheaper
cost of goods/services do not suffice.
Also, studies by C Rangarajan, Prachi Mishra, SajjidChinoy and Jehangir Aziz suggest
that Indian export growth is not strongly linked to the exchange rate, and depends
much more on global growth - Swaminathan S. AnklesariaAiyar
RESEARCH OBJECTIVE
Every study is conducted with a view to attain certain objectives. In few cases, the
objective is pre-set, i.e. the proponent of the research knows where to reach at,
whereas in others, the objective gets a shape in the course of the study itself.
The research here has been performed to satisfy the pre-set aim of striking a balance
between competitive devaluation and freely determined market rates, keeping India
as an emerging nation at the center of study. In the process of arriving at the balance,
a couple of other purposes have also been served.
First, the research serves the purpose of understanding India and her forex market
scenario vis--vis her major export competitors in different times.
Second, although currency devaluations primary purpose is to boost a countrys
export and achieve a positive Balance of Payment statement, however, in long run it
hampers the countrys real growth prospects, negatively impacting the purchasing
power of the people.
Third, often countries resort to currency depreciation tactics in order to develop
indigenous industries and generate employment, by way of curtailing imports. However,
such a phenomenon may only stay for a short time, as competitive devaluation starts
spreading wings in each and every country. Consequently, with every country vying
for restricted imports, exports cease automatically.
177
Lastly, it is essential to understand the nature of a countys economy before deciding

on devaluation. A country like India which is a net importer for years, devaluating
rupee would only mean even costlier imports, hence deteriorating her trade balance.
Till the time India achieves PM Narendra Modis ambitious Make in India project in
cent percent manner, other methods such as imposing high import duties shall help
restrict unnecessary imports and boost own manufacturing and production.
Therefore, we try to establish the fact that exchange rate system is always better to
be left freely to decide its own course, thus generating healthy competition among
countries. If not, a balance needs to be maintained between free market forces and
competitive devaluation.
SCOPE OF THE STUDY
The study discusses about the impact that competitive currency devaluation has on
the economy of a country and how it affects other nations of the world. The scope of
the research is broadened by the very fact that such a mechanism of devaluating
own currency has had been practiced by several countries in the world - it has been
seen in all three kinds of economies Capitalistic, Socialistic and Mixed. Every country
is in the race of maintaining a positive trade balance, and hence, boosting indigenous
industries so as to reduce reliance on imports from other countries.
External factors such as demand for a countrys goods and services cannot be much
influenced, of course only exception being devaluating currency to achieve cheaper
exports. The scope of that is also limited, since with each country trying to boost
exports, there will be no one left to import. Therefore, it is essential that each nation
should try to boost indigenous consumption. Sufficient production along with substantial
purchasing power of the people of a country will automatically enhance demand and
consumption and thus create long term growth which is sustainable.
The scope of the study includes India and her forex market scenario, the countrys
import-export situation over several years and to what extent the real currency
movements - appreciation or depreciation have changed or impacted her importexport balance.
METHODOLOGY
Methodology Adopted: Comparison between Export-Import Balances and Real
Effective Exchange Rates (REER) of an Emerging Nation (India) vis--vis her Export
Competitors.
Approach In order to pursue the research, necessary secondary data available from
Reserve Bank of Indias website, have been collected and consequently compared
and analyzed. The data pertains to a period from 2004-2005 to 2011-2012 with the
following data fields:
Export based weights (Nominal Effective Exchange Rates & Real Effective
Exchange Rates) of India during the mentioned period
178
Indias Export value during the same period

Percentage increase in Exports year on year
For the purpose of analysis, Real Effective Exchange Rates (REER) have been
considered since REER gives a clearer picture of a countrys economic standing and
export competitiveness, relative inflation in India and its trading partners being adjusted
in it.
FINDINGS & ANALYSIS
A central bank of a country keeps reserve of foreign currencies in order to safeguard
indigenous economy in times of currency turmoil. Similarly, Reserve Bank of India,
Indias Central Bank maintains a balanced reserve of US Dollars (the most powerful
currency of the world) to protect the Rupee from adverse effects of Dollar appreciation,
by being in a position to sell Dollars in the open market, with a view to strengthen its
home currency.
RBI had intervened into the forex market a number of times since 1993, to prevent a
depreciating rupee. Despite several interventions, market moved on its own and
reports show that exports had risen at an average rate of 22% year on year during
1992-93 and 1996-97, while rupee had actually fallen during the period. Therefore it
was indeed an export - led growth happened due to a freely falling rupee. This was
the scenario till late 90s. The below data-analysis substantiates the stats.
Year
Exports (INR
crores)
Imports (INR
crores)
REER (36
country basket)
Percentage
increase
in Exports
1991-92
44042
47851
64.20
1992-93
53688
63375
57.08
22%
1993-94
69751
73101
61.59
30%
1994-95
82674
89971
66.04
19%
1995-96
106353
122678
Not Available
29%
1996-97
118817
138920
Not Available
12%
*1985, Base = 100 taken as the base year

Source: RBI Bulletin
During 1990-91, nominal value of rupee had been falling from an exchange rate of
INR 19 to a dollar to INR 44 to a dollar and so on. However, if we look at the Real
Effective Exchange Rate (REER) in the table above, we see that rupee had actually
been appreciating from a REER of 64.20 in 1991-92 to 66.04in 1994-95 and again
sharply rising to 76.95 in 2004-05 (from RBI Bulletin, not shown in the table above).
The REER is always a more appropriate way of looking at an exchange rate and
179
judging the export competitiveness of India since the index is adjusted for relative
inflation in India and its trading partners.
Apparently, although it seems that the export growth during the period is directly due
to a falling rupee, however, in reality rupee had actually risen measured by REER
and hence there is indeed an underlying strength in our currency and our economy,
as a result of which export shows a phenomenal growth during the period.
The common belief that a competitive devaluation leads to a bounce in exports, is
hence disproved by historical data and performance of an emerging nation, India.
Also, imports become costlier as a result of devaluated currency leading to controlled
imports. In contrary, the table shows an upward trend in import value from 1991-92 to
1996-97 thus reflecting the appreciating REER of rupee.
A more recent look into the REER index published by RBI, where 2004-05 has been
taken as the base year, will reveal the following:
Year
Export-Based Weights
Indias export value
Percentage
REER
NEER
(INR Crores)
increase in exports
2004-05(base year)
100.00
100.00
375340
27.94%
2005-06
102.74
102.20
456418
21.60%
2006-07
101.05
98.00
571779
25.28%
2007-08
108.57
105.61
655864
14.71%
2008-09
97.77
93.99
840755
28.19%
2009-10
95.26
91.41
845534
0.57%
2010-11 (P)
103.52
94.74
1136964
34.47%
2011-12 (P)
100.68
89.06
1465959
28.94%
Source: RBI Bulletin
REER shows an upward trend, indicating a majorly appreciating real value of

rupee.
Despite an appreciating REER, it is seen that exports have increased at an

average rate of 20%. This indicates too strong a productivity growth to get
constrained by rising rupee.
CONCLUSION
Human control on currency valuation do not necessarily contribute desired outcome
of competitive exports and indigenous development in terms of industry and
employment. Competitive devaluation leads to growth is hence a myth. It might result
in some temporary outcome, but in long run, the ideology suffers. A country should
focus more on reviving indigenous manufacturing and consumption. Letting free
exchange rate determination forces can actually show the true picture of the economy.
180
However, the currency system shall be allowed to be managed by the governing

authority from time to time, to establish a balance in the rates of exchange.
LIMITATIONS
Following are a couple of limitations encountered during the study:
The data available for the topic are entirely secondary in nature. Such data are
satisfactory, however may not be sufficient.
A number of instances concerning Indias foreign trade scenario and exchange rate
of rupee have been put up in the paper to validate the importance of freely determined
rates. However, there is further scope of study of other economies of the world with
respect to competitive devaluation to arrive at the similar inference.
Currency War is a common attribute in a number of countries in the world. The Great
Depression had impacted the entire world which was primarily an up-shot of competitive
devaluation. A single countrys step towards devaluation impacts other countries which
are in direct or indirect link with it by terms of exports/imports trade relations. Realizing
the ill effects of competitive devaluation, countries have abstained themselves from
it. However, in recent view, China, which is an export competitor to India, has had
involved in competitive devaluation of Yuan. Therefore, the research involving the
topic A Balance Approach Competitive Devaluation Vs Market Determined Rates
has the further scope of study of economies of China as well as other trading partners
of India in a holistic manner.
Also, a more detailed study into the advantages & disadvantages of an appreciating
currency, the other side of the coin could be in further scope. An instance being an
appreciating currency leads to fall in inflation as imports get cheap and that causes
fall in price of domestic items. However, none of the extremes is desirable. A currency
always corrects itself to the fluctuating demand-supply scenario. A balanced situation
is appropriate.
REFERENCES
1.
Foreign Trade Performance published by Directorate General of Commercial Intelligence &

Statistics (http://www.dgciskol.nic.in/annualreport/book_3e.pdf accessed on18/8/2015)
2.
Jonathan Wheatley & Peter Garnham, (2010), Brazil in currency war alert, (http://www.ft.com/
intl/cms/s/0/33ff9624-ca48-11df-a860-00144feab49a.html#axzz3oqqXUrHY accessed on 05/
10/2015)
3.
Ministry of Commerce & Industry, Department of Commerce, Indian Trade Statistics(http://

commerce.nic.in/pressrelease/pressrelease_detail.asp?id=442 accessed on 17/10/2015)
4.
RBI Bulletin published on Nov 12, 2012 on REER (https://www.rbi.org.in/scripts/

BS_ViewBulletin.aspx?Id=13817 accessed on 18/8/2015)
5.
Swaminathan S. AnklesariaAiyar, (2005), Lets appreciate the appreciating REER, Article of

The Economic Times
181
182
Four Main Characters of Supply

Chain Management
Surajit Das*
ABSTRACT
Supply chain management (SCM) is the process of planning, organizing, implementing, and
controlling the operations of the supply chain for the purpose of satisfying the customers needs
as efficiently as possible. SCM is responsible for all the storage and movements of raw
materials, work-in-process inventory, and finished goods inventory from point of origin to point
of consumption. (Wikipedia)
The main purpose for the supply chains existence is to fulfill customers needs and request and
at the same time generate profits. The supply chain processes begin when a customer places
an order and ends when satisfied customer has paid for the particular product or services.
Supply chain management has become increasingly important in the efforts of firms to remain
competitive. In todays competitive environment, firms are increasingly recognizing the
importance of collaboration between the various links in the supply chain. A great deal of
attention is also being focused on the role of the supplier, Manufacturer, distributor, customer
in the supply chain. As firms increasingly outsource their non-core activities, these all characters
has a greater role in the firms supply chain, from raw material to product development or
manufacturing product to finished goods inventory management and delivery to the customer
and Integrating this all activities with its own has become critical for the firm, given the need
to minimize inventories and to be able to deliver customer orders on time.
Key Words: Suppliers, Manufacturers, Distributors, Customers.
INTRODUCTION
The supply chain is constantly evolving. In fact, this rapid nature of change impacts
the varied facets of supply chain management for distributors and other companies
that oversee the supply chain process. In order to deal with the evolving nature of
different industries medical, aerospace, defense, automotive, etc. communication
and visibility are essential. Because while time and cost will always be the two
largest issues in supply chain management, the best method to cut down on those
two factors is far from stagnant. Take the medical industry, for instance. In the
earliest days of supply chain management in the medical field, one of the most
difficult aspects of finding the proper medical devices was finding a quality
manufacturer nearby. Competition was limited as resources demanded that proximity
*
Research Scholar, Bhagwant University, Ajmer, Rajasthan 305004; E-mail: Surajit_ mba07 @rediffmail.com
183
to the medical facility was favorable. But today, competition isnt just local, statewide,
or national. For many companies, competition is international. And as the facets of
supply chain management have expanded, so too have the steps in the management
checklist. As with any chain, the supply chain is only as strong as the combined
work of its links. When one link of the chain underperforms, the anticipated profit
and schedule of the business that initiated the supply chain becomes compromised.
For this reason, its vital for businesses or supply chain managers working for
those businesses to verify the quality, timeliness, and cost-effectiveness of each
link in the supply chain.
Other challenges is acquiring high quality raw materials that are as exceptional as
the distributors ability to process, store, create and transport the final product to
the end location. Ensuring multi-party involvement common in all supply chains is
leveraged for the best results.
This study indicates the importance of supplier, manufacturer, distributor and
customer having the supply chain run like a well-oiled machine. When the first
character of the supply chain (suppliers) supply the raw materials completes its
role effectively, the second character (manufacturer) has a better chance of
completing its role effectively by the cost-effective production. This allows the third
character (distributors) which leads and timely delivery of the final product to the
(customers) and fulfill their needs.
Generally, we know supply chain management has been a melting pot of various
aspects, with influences from logistics and transportation, operation management
and materials, distribution management, marketing as well as purchasing and
information technology.
Supply chain management (SCM) is the process of planning, organizing,
implementing, and controlling the operations of the supply chain for the purpose
of satisfying the customers needs as efficiently as possible. SCM is responsible for
all the storage and movements of raw materials, work-in-process inventory, and
finished goods inventory from point of origin to point of consumption. (Wikipedia)
Pienaar W. defines in 2009 Supply chain as a general description of the process
integration involving organizations to transform raw materials into finish goods and
to transport them to the end user.
Bridegefield group defines in 2006 Supply chain as a connected set of resources
and process that starts with the raw materials sourcing and expands through the
delivery of finish goods to the end customer.
Kitsolutions defines in 2003 Supply chain management as providing the right
goods or services, to the right location, in the right quantity, at the right time and
at the right cost.
184
According to Simchi-Levi,D., Kaminsky, P. &Simchi-Levi, E. in 2003 Supply chain

management refers to a set of methods used to effectively coordinate suppliers,
producers, deport and stores, so that commodity is produced and distributed at the
correct quantities, to the correct locations, and at the correct time, in order to
reduce system costs while satisfying service level requirements.
Chopra and Meindl said in 2001 A supply chain consists of all stages involved
directly or indirectly, in fulfilling a customer request.
Handfield & Nichols said in 1999 A supply chain encompasses all activities
associated with the flow and transformation of goods from the raw material stage,
through to the end user, as well as the associated information flows.
Christopher defines in 1998 The supply chain in the network of organizations that
are involved, through upstream and downstream linkages, in the different processes
and activities that produce value in the form of products and services in the hands
of ultimate customer.
Lee & Corey stated in 1995 The integration activities taking place among a network
of facilities that procure raw material, transformation them into intermediate goods
and then final products, & deliver products to customer through a distribution
system.
Cooper & Ellram defines in 1993 SCM is an integrative philosophy to manage the
total flow of distribution channel from the supplier to ultimate user.
Cavinato said in 1992 The supply chain concept consists of actively managed
channels of procurement and distribution. It is the group of firms that add value
along product flow from original raw materials to final customer
Novak & Simco said in 1991 Supply chain management covers the flow of goods
from supplier through manufacturer and distributor to the end-user.
Scott & Westbrook stated in 1991 Supply chain is used to refer to the chain linking
each element of the process from, raw materials through to the end customer.
In the basis of all above discussion we can see that all the researcher defines SCM
is deliver the right product or service to the right customer at the right time or
supply the raw materials from supplier through and distributor to the end user or
Transfer raw materials to finish goods and transport them to end user or product
flow from raw materials to customers. Now the supply chain is constantly evolving.
In fact, this rapid nature of change impacts the varied facets of supply chain
management. In order to deal with the evolving nature of different industries
medical, aerospace, defense, automotive, etc. we need to concentrate more
focus to the importance of four character or pillar of SCM like Suppliers,
Manufacturers, Distributers, and Customers. Because between all these
communication and visibility are essential. Because while time and cost is always
185
be the two largest issues

down on those two factors
one character of the chain
business that initiated the
in supply chain management, the best method to cut

is to give more importance to the four character. When
underperforms, the expected profit and schedule of the
supply chain becomes compromised.
OBJECTIVES
We know the Suppliers, manufacturers, Distributors and customers are the main
support of SCM but our main purpose of the study is to find out the way where we
can make more importance or effective of this four main SCM character and over
all to give best benefit in the supply chain management or make more strong the
chain of SCM.
SCOPE OF THE STUDY
l
Identifying Performance Opportunities
Document and Process Accuracy
Supply Chain Responsiveness
Continuous Communications
Perfect Order Delivery
Vendor Managed Inventory
Coordinated Continuous Improvement
Improving Supplier Performance
Customer service
METHODOLOGY- DESCRIPTIVE
This paper is a thought paper and arose from our discussions about the importance
of four character of supply chain management, a conversation that has indeed
been ongoing for a number of years. From these discussions this paper developed
in order to present a basis for our debate and development around the four
character of supply chain management by attempting to consolidate current learning,
identify possible gaps, and thereby pose possible future directions for development.
Their paper has been instrumental in our approach to the challenge of undertaking
a critical literature review of the field of supply chain management, and this papers
focus on mapping and classifying the area has been motivated to improve this four
character. It is recognized in some parts of the literature that the supply chain
should be seen as the central unit of competitive analysis (Macbeth & Ferguson,
1994; Cox, 1997). Companies will not seek to achieve cost reductions or profit
improvement at the expense of their supply chain partners, but rather seek to
make the supply chain as a whole more competitive. In short, the contention in that
it is supply chains, and no single firms, that compete is a central principle in the
field of supply chain management. (Christopher, 1992; Macbeth & Ferguson, 1994)
186
Supply chain management has received attention since the early 1980s, yet
conceptually the management of supply chains is not particularly well-understood,
and many authors have highlighted the necessity of clear definitional constructs
and conceptual frameworks on supply chain management (Saunders, 1995, 1998;
New, 1995; Cooper, Lambert & Pagh, 1997; Babbar & Prasad, 1998) Saunders
(1995) warns that pursuit of a universal definition may lead to unnecessary
frustration and conflict, and also highlights the fragmented nature of the field of
supply chain management, drawing as it does on various antecedents including
industrial economics, systems dynamics, marketing, purchasing and inter
organizational behaviour. The scientific development of a clear supply chain
management discipline requires that advancements be made in the development
of theoretical models to inform our understanding of supply chain phenomena. In
this paper our concern is not so much with advancing theory per se, but in providing
or improving an area of supply chain management by which we can developing
importance or function of four main character like Supplier, manufacturer, distributor,
customer of supply chain research. In the process, it is our contention that we
also provide a topology of the field of supply chain management, which may provide
a fruitful results to the customers overall whole supply chain.
This paper presents the results of a literature survey in the field of supply chain
management. The main purposes of the survey are:
l
To look at some major issues in supply chain management literature and to

present a framework for classification and analysis
To describe and evaluate the methodologies used in supply chain

management literature The paper is organized on the base of four characters.
In first describing and establish the importance of suppliers and then
subsequently the manufacturers, distributers, and customers.
Identifying the Challenges of Supply Chain Management

Its vital for businesses or supply chain managers working for those businesses to
verify the quality, timeliness, and cost-effectiveness of each link in the supply
chain. Other challenges include:
Acquiring high quality raw materials that are as exceptional as the distributors
ability to process, store, create and transport the final product to the end
location
Using metrics and data effectively to streamline the supply chain process
Ensuring multi-party involvement common in all supply chains is leveraged

for the best results
This last challenge indicates the importance of having the supply chain run like a
well-oiled machine. When the first link of the supply chain (raw materials which
send by suppliers) completes its role effectively, the second link (manufacturers)
187
has a better chance of completing its role effectively. This allows the third link
(distributors) and subsequent links to follow suit, which leads to the cost-effective
production and timely delivery of the final product user (Customers).
RESEARCH ANALYSIS
Supplier: The supplier is the company that turns raw materials into materials that
can be manipulated, molded, and shaped by the manufacturer. For a manufacturer
that creates spinal implants, a raw materials supplier must usually have access to
natural resources in order to collect and disseminate raw materials. For example,
a lumber mill needs trees, which can grow in a number of places depending on the
variety of tree needed by the supplier. Access to trees can require land purchases
or leases from governments or other businesses. The same goes for other natural
materials, such as stone, minerals, fish, or livestock. The creation of agreements
that create exclusive use can help a supplier to engage in better business contracts
when compared to competitors.Some refinement of natural resources or other raw
materials may be necessary. Raw materials suppliers must have these refinement
abilities if they are going to sell their goods directly to manufacturers. Other times,
the supplier may send the materials to a middleman operation, which does the
refining and then sells the goods directly to manufacturers. This process may not
188
be very common as suppliers usually have refinement capabilities in order meet

the demands of manufacturers. In some cases, suppliers may even be able to
engage in refinement activities at the collection point of natural resources. All
companies must have sales departments in order to move their goods from the
point of collection or production to end users. A raw materials supplier is no different.
This organization often has individuals who handle sales and customer service in
order to induce or increase sales. In most cases, the supplier does not care how
many customers it has or who it sells materials to. The more customers who
purchase the materials will increase the suppliers funds and allow for refinement
of the material collection process. The services and products offered by a raw
materials supplier may need to change over time. The free market is rarely stable,
creating this constructive capitalism. Suppliers of raw materials need to adjust their
offerings in order to ensure sustainability. Listening the needs of manufacturers
can help the supplier achieve this goal.
Manufacturer: Manufacturers convert raw materials and natural resources into
useful goods for many different consumers. In order to do this process in an
efficient manner, manufacturers typically rely on a raw materials supplier. The
manufacturer is any natural or legal person who is responsible for designing and
manufacturing a product with a view to placing it on the Community market under
his own name (or trademark). The responsibilities of the manufacturer apply also
to any natural or legal person who assembles, packs, processes, or labels readymade products with a view to their being placed on the Community market under
his own name. Further, the responsibility of the manufacturer is placed on any
person who changes the intended use of a product in such a way that different
essential requirements will become applicable, or substantially modifies or re-builds
a product (thus creating a new product), with a view to placing it on the Community
market. The manufacturer may design and manufacture the product himself. As an
alternative, he may have it designed, manufactured, assembled, packed, processed
or labeled with a view to placing it on the Community market under his own name,
and thus presenting himself as a manufacturer. Where sub-contracting takes place,
the manufacturer must retain the overall control for the product and ensure that
he receives all the information that is necessary to fulfill his responsibilities according
to the New Approach directives. The manufacturer who subcontracts some or all of
his activities may in no circumstances discharge himself from his responsibilities,
for example to an authorized representative, a distributor, a retailer, a wholesaler,
a user or a sub-contractor. The manufacturer has sole and ultimate responsibility
for the conformity of the product to the applicable directives, whether he designed
and manufactured the product himself or is considered as a manufacturer because
the product is placed on the market under his name.
Contract manufacturers often specialize in one specific area, which makes them
the best at what they do. Because they have a specific type of manufacturing down
189
to a science, theyre able to offer quality, scalability, technology and cost-savings

that are often unrivaled by in-house manufacturers. The supply chain manager or
main manufacturer is in charge of bringing the different components made by
contract manufacturers together and preparing a final product for delivery. Because
contract manufacturers often dont play a role in the manufacture of an entire
product and only need to focus on one area, an awesome degree of costeffectiveness and scalability is achieved. In addition to offering impressive scalability
and cost-effectiveness, contract manufacturers also leverage the latest, most
advanced technology.
Distributor: Distributors play a vital role in keeping the lines between manufacturers
and users operating smoothly. They can expedite response times, enhance a
companys reach and even create value-added packages. The distributor is
responsible for getting the product to the customer who initially asked for the
product. Whether the product is patented by the customer or available for widespread
sale, the distributors mission always remains the same: deliver the product on time
in its original condition so the customer can satisfy the needs and desires of its
consumers.
A distributor is an intermediary entity between the producer of a product and
another entity in the distribution channel or supply chain, such as a retailer, a
value-added reseller (VAR) or a system integrator (SI). The distributor performs
some of the same functions that a wholesaler does but generally takes a more
active role.
At a minimum, distributors handle payment and procurement but, unlike wholesalers,
their roles can be much more complex. For example, vendors that lack the means
to build out a channel program by themselves often outsource that work to
distributors. Distributors also frequently take a more proactive approach in educating
resellers about new products, through such activities as presales training, road
shows, and demos on behalf of vendors. Distributors may provide services around
the procurement process, such as contract negotiation, marketing for resellers and
warrantees. Increasingly, distributors also host network operations centers (NOCs).
Although the specific entities and order involved can vary, the supply chain or
distribution channel involving a distributor is generally: vendor to distributor,
distributor to reseller, reseller or to end customer.
Customer: The customer is the company that requests the product and sells it.
For spinal implants, the customer is a medical device company. This is also the
part in the supply chain where the role of an outsourced supply chain manager
typically reaches an end. Unlike an in-house supply chain manager that often helps
market the final product to the consumer, the main objective of a contracted manager
is to get the final product to the customer on time, in perfect condition. A customer
may or may not also be a consumer, but the two concepts are separate, even
190
though the terms are commonly confused. A customer purchases goods; a

consumer uses them. An ultimate customer may be a consumer as well, but just as
equally may have purchased items for someone else to consume. An intermediate
customer is not a consumer at all. The situation is somewhat complicated in that
ultimate customers of so-called industrial goods and services (who are entities such
as government bodies, manufacturers, and educational and medical institutions)
either themselves use up the goods and services that they buy, or incorporate
them into other finished products, and so are technically consumers, too. However,
they are rarely called that, but are rather called industrial customers or businessto-business customers. Similarly, customers who buy services rather than goods
are rarely called consumers.
Tennant also categorizes customers another way, that is employed out with the
fields of marketing. Whilst the intermediate/ultimate categorization is used by
marketers, market regulation, and economists, in the world of customer
service customers are categorized more often into two classes:
An external customer of an organization is a customer who is not directly

connected to that organization.
An internal customer is a customer who is directly connected to an

organization, and is usually (but not necessarily) internal to the organization.
Internal customers are usually stakeholders, employees, or shareholders, but
the definition also encompasses creditors and external regulators.
The notion of an internal customer before the introduction of which external

customers were, simply, customers was popularized by quality management
writerJoseph M. Juran, who introduced it in the fourth edition of his Handbook (Juran
1988).It has since gained wide acceptance in the literature on total quality
management and service marketing; [10] and the customer satisfaction of internal
customers is nowadays recognized by many organizations as a precursor to, and
prerequisite for, external customer satisfaction, with authors such as Tansuhaj,
Randall & McCullough 1991 arguing that service organizations that design products
for internal customer satisfaction are better able to satisfy the needs of external
customers. Research on the theory and practice of managing the internal customer
continues today in a variety of service sector industries.
FINDINGS
Reliability of Inputs
Effective supply chain management can ensure that raw materials consistently
arrive at production facilities on time. A poorly management supply chain, on the
other hand, can bring production to a halt. Without reliable delivery of inputs,
assembly lines can lie dormant while employees have no work to perform, which
could leave a company unable to fulfill time-sensitive orders. If the supply chain
191
breaks down before inputs arrive, a manufacturer can be forced to procure materials
from alternative sources quickly, possibly resulting in higher prices and lower
profitability.
Distribution Costs
Lowering distribution costs is a major function of supply chain management. If we
make stronger this characters with a cost-efficient supply chain, manufacturers can
reduce overhead and direct sales costs at the same time.
Company Infrastructure
Manufacturing managers seek to find the perfect balance of fully-owned distribution
systems and contractor services. Building in-house distribution systems can be
quite costly when vehicles and vehicle repair, fuel and labor costs are taken into
account, but this option allows a company full control over its outgoing supply
chain.
Supplier and Customer Integration
Modern manufacturers crush every ounce of efficiency they can out of production
processes to remain competitive in the global marketplace. Continuous quality
improvement programs that require greater collaboration with customers and
suppliers than ever before. Manufacturers should use a just-in-time ordering system,
or serving customers who do, must integrate ordering and order-processing systems
directly with other companies systems via virtual networks. In a just-in-time supply
chain, orders are processed automatically between computers at both suppliers
and customers facilities, one of which places immediate orders based on
electronically tracked inventory levels, and the other of which instantly processes
payment and queues new orders to be delivered, all without any human interaction.
CONCLUSION
Supply chain management is a systematic approach to managing the distribution
of goods from producers of raw materials, through manufacturers and eventually
down to end users. Supply chain management affects manufacturing companies in
a variety of ways, including the availability of inputs needed for production processes,
costs and profitability of manufactured items, company infrastructure and ways in
which companies interact with their suppliers and customers. Understanding the
ways that supply chain management affects manufacturers from both a daily
operational perspective and a strategic viewpoint is important for all managers and
entrepreneurs in the industry.
There are four main characters in the supply chain which include suppliers,
manufacturers, distributors and customers. Thus, understanding the relationship
between the mentioned groups and efforts to optimize this relationship is the major
issue in companies. Perhaps the difficult and important issue in supply chain
192
management is to manage relations between the four main characters, because

they have the tremendous effect on all aspects of supply chain and its function
level. Many companies supply chain failures are result of poor transmission of
expectations and behaviors that occur between characters of the chain. In addition,
the effective management of relationships is necessary in supply chain that suppliers,
manufacturers, Distributors and customers work together in a coordinated, integrated
way with observation of partnership principles, communication, information and
dialogue. Suppliers manufacturers, Distributors and customers should have the
same goals and trust each other.
When placing their products on the market, manufacturers should ensure that they
have been designed and manufactured in accordance with the requirements set
out in the relevant part of the regulation.
Manufacturers should draw up the required technical documentation and carry out
the conformity assessment procedure applicable or have it carried out. Where
compliance of a product with the applicable requirements has been demonstrated
by that procedure.
Manufacturers shall ensure that procedures are in place for series
production to remain in conformity. Changes in product design or characteristics
and changes in the harmonized standards by reference to which conformity of a
product is declared shall be adequately taken into account.
When deemed appropriate with regard to the risks presented by a product,
manufacturers should, to protect the health and safety of consumers, carry out
sample testing of marketed products, investigate, and, if necessary, keep a register of
complaints, of non-conforming products and product recalls, and shall keep
distributors informed of any such monitoring.
Manufacturers should ensure that their products bear a type, batch or serial
number or other element allowing their identification, or, where the size or nature
of the product does not allow it, that the required information is provided on the
packaging or in a document accompanying the product.
Manufacturers should further to a reasoned request from a competent national
authority, provide it with all the information and documentation necessary to
demonstrate the conformity of the product, in a language which can be easily
understood by that authority. They shall cooperate with that authority, at its request,
on any action taken to eliminate the risks posed by products which they have
placed on the market.
There is also networking potential. Because they often represent several companies,
distributors can have access to new accounts for the manufacturers sales force.
Distributors also have the benefit of reducing inventory and service burdens for
both the manufacturer and the user. They provide aftermarket services, cost
193
reduction and process optimization strategies, as well as inventory management.

Distributors create value by providing total solutions for their customers.
LIMITATION
Weak distribution network: One of the most categorical arguments for a solid
distributor network is the speed with which manufacturers can respond to customer
demands. It is crucial today to be able to respond to customers quickly and in real
time. Because they are more localized and quick, distributors can typically offer a
faster response. To truly be customer-driven, manufacturers need to adjust their
businesses to meet the needs of the customer.
Lack of product knowledge: Distributors also need to be knowledgeable about the
manufacturer s product to sell it. Because they are not employed by the
manufacturer and also represent many other products, this knowledge is not innate.
Manufacturers should take time to teach them about the product.
Geographic problem: A network of distributors often has greater ability to offer
face-to-face service. Good, solid geographic and account coverage is crucial to
success no matter what the economic conditions. With distributors in key geographic
areas, manufacturers can service customers on a level that would be difficult or
even impossible for a main-office sales force.
Poor relationship: Manufacturers should recognize and treat distributors as an
integral part of their teams. Distributors plays a unique role in that they are both
a business partner and a customer at the same time. Manufacturers should look
at distributors as they would their best customers-build relationships with them, and
take the time to educate them about the product.
Poor strategy: Most distributors are looking for manufacturers that view them in a
positive light and support them with marketing tools and strategies to ensure they
are competitive in their markets. Manufacturers who take care of their distributors
will find that they take care of the manufacturers.
REFERENCES
1. http://www.pumpsandsystems.com/topics/seals/role-distributors-todays-marketplace
2. http://www.ce-marking.com/what-is-a-manufacturer.html
3. http://whatis.techtarget.com/definition/distributor
4. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Customer
5. http://www.referenceforbusiness.com/small/Sm-Z/Supplier-Relations.html
194
Skill Development: Empowerment of Women

in West Bengal
Dr Arundhati Bhattacharyya*
ABSTRACT
Skill development has become a national priority. The huge population needs to be transformed
into a goldmine, through skill development. The Government of India and West Bengal have
started providing opportunities to the youth, including women. The paper is based on secondary
sources. The traditional patriarchal social structures still remain an obstacle in the path of skill
development of women. The linkage of skill development and self help groups could provide
a new area of empowerment of women. Skill development could also be tied with higher
secondary education. Kanyashree scheme of the Government of West Bengal could also rope
in vocational training schemes, to benefit the beneficiaries. Market-linkage also needs to be
focused upon.
Key Words: Corporate, Government, Skill, Women
INTRODUCTION
A structural reality of a developing economy, like India, is the existence of surplus
labour. Indias huge population was considered as a curse. Again, it can be converted
into an asset, or demographic dividend, if properly skilled. Low labour cost and a
rich talent pool are distinct advantages available to India. The abundance of youth
power, if harnessed properly, can support the economy and growth. While the
global population is ageing, India is home to one of the youngest populations in
the world. (Manoj Joshi, Arun Bahadauria, Shailja Dixit, 2015) Skill development
has emerged as a national priority. (Sonali Kanchan, Sakshi Varshney, 2015)
There has been several works on skill development, at the international, national
and local levels. Alicia Borges Mansonn Borges and Ulf Farnsveded in the
background paper has analysed that women have been more affected by the
financial problems in different parts of the world. They are becoming vulnerable
workers, who have less and less security in work. They have low wages, less
access to finance, increased stress and violence etc. The paper clearly states that
global economy requires new skills, which women lack. Skill development refers to
the productive capacities acquired through education and training in formal, nonformal and on-the-job settings. Skill development initiatives enable individual at all
*
Assistant Professor, Department of Political Science, Bhairab Ganguly College

E-mail: bhattacharyya.arundhati4@gmail.com
195
economic levels to engage productively in livelihoods. The gender-divide in skill

development needs to be addressed by all the countries, in order to address
macroeconomic issues from a gender perspective. (Alicia Borges Mansonn, Ulf
Farnsveden, 2012)
A policy brief prepared by Tiina Eskola for the International Labour Organization
and Lavinia Gasperini for the Food and Agricultural Organization have stated that
skills development is the best means to improve rural productivity, employability
and income-earning opportunities. It also increases food security and supports
environmentally sustainable rural development and livelihoods. Globally, rural women
have a major role in agriculture and other rural activities, higher obstacles for
women in education and training limit their participation in more productive and
remunerative work. Targeted action is needed to dismantle these hurdles. Skill
development boosts awareness about new technologies, but, also improves business
and life skills, like, health management, decision making, self confidence, conflict
management. Participation of more and more women in training decreases the
gender biases existing in the training process. The discriminatory attitudes of trainers
towards women decrease significantly.(Gender and Rural Employment Policy Brief
#2-Investing in skills for socio-economic, 2010)
The paper by Vandana Saini tries to study the skill capacity of India, the challenges
faced in developing the skills and the suggestive solutions. The paper stresses
that in the scenario of globalization, competitions have gone up. With it, has grown
the need for skill development as one has to be adjustable to the changing needs
of the market. The skill capacity has been found to be very low. The measures of
the government and its partner agencies have taken the initiative in improving the
skill capacity of Indians, but, it has to also try to remove the obstacles in the dayto-day functioning of the skill development initiatives. (Saini, 2015)
Women have the capacity to motivate a generation to change its values, its
aspirations and its concept of civilized life. They have an inherent power which
needs to be rejuvenated in order to become successful in ones endeavours. They
have remained the storehouse of tradition and culture. In the times of modernization,
urbanization and globalization, women are entering new fields, including
entrepreneurship. They are doing wonderful jobs as entrepreneurs, which has led
to empowerment of not only themselves, but, also, several other women and men.
However, they require continuous skill enhancement in order to survive in the
competitive environment. The potentialities of entrepreneurship are large for Indian
women, but, they need to grow their skills and engage in better strategy development
for the future. (Neelima Prashant Warke, Parag A. Narkhede, 2015)
The economy can develop with skill development. Skill development has emerged
as the national priority. Through the five year plans, India has tried to attain
196
sustainable economic growth of the nation. India has to make its population the
greatest resource. For that end, adequate skill has to be imparted to the work
force. This paper also analyzes the present status of skill development and the
challenges in the new initiatives engaged in. (Sonali Kanchan, Sakshi Varshney,
2015)
India is one of the fastest growing economies of the world and has 64 per cent of
the population is in the working age. However, the general education has failed to
provide employability. India is a goldmine for future employers. But, there is a need
for an education system aligned with skills that can support students to be employable
and skilled by the time they pass out. This paper delves into the requirement for
soft skills and employability skills among the youth, so that they are absorbed by
the market. (Adhikari, 2015)
This paper studies the skill development of tribal women from Gujarat villages in
farm forestry, papad making, sewing, cooking, sanitary pads making etc. Women
in these areas face domestic violence. They face resistance in participating in
training programmes. The society is also discriminatory towards women. The
government and the non government organizations have taken the initiative to
empower them through vocational and skill-based training programmes. (Sindhi,
2012)
Executive Summary for the State of West Bengal provides a roadmap for skill
development initiatives. The study focuses on identifying district-wise incremental
skilling requirements in the state of West Bengal during the period of 2012-2022.
Extensive discussions and interactions with industries, vocational training providers
and government officers, focal group discussions with the youth have been
undertaken. (Executive Summary for the State of West Bengal (2012-17) (201722))
All the works have contributed to the research work on skill development. But, none
of them has focused on West Bengal and has linked skill development with
empowerment of women. There is a research gap in this field.
SCOPE OF STUDY
The Labour Bureau Report 2014 has mentioned that the current size of Indias
formally skilled workforce is only 2 per cent. The present education system fails to
provide required expertise for specific jobs. The graduates and post graduates of
Indian universities, having brilliant minds are failing to acquire satisfactory jobs.
The employability skills are missing among a section of the youth population. Skill
development can convert this youth force into the largest source of technically
skilled manpower. The Indian government has undertaken initiatives regarding skill
development of its population. The Skill India Mission aims to skill over 40 crore
people by 2022. (Skilled India, Successful India, 2015) The ten enablers for skilling
197
are aspiration, capacity, quality, synergy, mobilization ad engagement, global

partnerships, outreach and advocacy, ICT enablement, development of trainers
and inclusivity. (M Sairam, Sharanya Ramesh, 2015)
It is recently that the Government of India is making attempts to initiate policies for
the welfare of workers in informal sector, in a broader manner. (Bhosale, 2014) For
example, MUDRA is an initiative by the present government in order to provide
capital to small or micro units to encourage entrepreneurship, which can go a long
way in empowering people at the grassroots. The ministries of the Government of
India have the target of training some 350 million by 2022, which is a big target.
According to the National Skill Development Corporation, a public-private partnership
can help in funding and directing private skilling programmes as there is a huge
skill gap. (Pande, 2013)
Table 1 Initiatives to Address Challenges faced by Disadvantaged in
Skill Development
S. No.
Name of Scheme
Particulars/ Objectives of the Scheme
For School Drop-outs

1
198
Craftsmen Training
The major objectives of the scheme are-
Scheme
i.
Provide semi-skilled/skilled workers to

industry by systematic training to school
leavers; and
ii.
Reduce unemployment among educated

youth by equipping them with suitable skills
for industrial employment.The scheme is
implemented throughgovernment run ITIs
and private ITCs
Apprenticeship Training
The objective of Apprentice Training are-
Scheme
i.
To regulate the programme of training of

apprentices in the industry so as to
conform to the syllabi, period of training
etc. as laid down by the Central
Apprenticeship Council; andii.To utilize
fully the facilities available in industry for
imparting practical training with a view to
meeting the requirements of skilled
manpower for industry.Apprentice
Protsahan Yojana has been launched with
the objective of sharing of 50 per cent of
prescribed stipend by the Government of

India for first two years of apprenticeship
training for 1,00,000 appretices to be
engaged by establishements covered
under the Apprentices Act, 1961
3
TRIFED-Skill
development/upgradation
and capacity building for
Handicrafts/ Handilooms
TRIFED- a National level Cooperative body

under the Ministry of Tribal Affairs,
Government of India, is engaged in the
marketing development of tribal products and
skill development/ upgradation and capacity
building trainings of tribal handicraft artisans
and tribal people in Skill Development and
Capacity Building training of Minor Forest
Produce gatherers and Training of Tribal
Handicraft Artisans engaged in making
Handlooms, Handicrafts, Tribal Paintings etc.
Women and Adolescent Girls

4
Support to Training &

Employment Program
(STEP)
The scheme has 2-fold objective, viz.

i. To provide skills that give employability
to womenii. To provide competencies and
skills that enable women to become selfemployed/ entrepreneurs.
Priyadarshini scheme to
organize women into
effective self help group
The Women Empowerment and Livelihood

Programme in Mid-Gangetic Plains also called
Priyadarshini programme. It envisages holistic
empowerment of 1,08,000 poor women and
adolescent girls through formation of 7200
Skill development. The programme originally
implemented in 6 districts including 4 districts
in Uttar Pradesh
SwadharGreh/Short Stay In this scheme, new Swadhargreh wil be set

Home (Skill improvement up in every district with capacity of 30 women
for rehabilitation)
with the following objectivesi.
To cater to the primary need of shelter,

food, clothing, medical treatment and care
199
of the women in distress and who are

without any social and economic support.
ii.
To enable them to regain their emotional

strength gets hampered due to their
encounter with unfortunate circumstances
iii. To provide them with legal aid and

guidance to enable them to take steps
for their readjustment in family and
society.
iv. To rehabilitate them economically and
emotionally.
7
SABLA-Rajiv Gandhi
Scheme for
Empowerment of
Adolescent Girls
The objective is to improve the nutritional and

health status of adolescent girls in the age
group of 11-18 years and empower them by
providing education in life-skills, health and
nutrition, the Government of India introduced
the SABLA in November, 2010. The scheme
also aims at equipping girls with information
on family welfare, health and hygiene, existing
public services etc and to draw out-of-school
girls into the formal or non-formal education
systems.
(Source: Manoj Joshi, Arun Bahadauria, Shailja Dixit, Skill Development: Capitalizing Resources and
Capabilities, Yojana, October 2015, Special issue, p.59)
Accessibility of skill training is a challenge in India. So, initiatives can be taken to

utilize the expertise of retired government servants and defence personnel for
imparting skills. Moreover, machines, technical specialists and premises of public
sector units and major private units can be made use of. The Government of India
has set a target to skill 119 million by 2022 in 24 sectors and up skilling and reskilling the existing 460 million as projected by the National Skill Development
Corporation, based on the skill-gap studies across the states. (Legislation on
Right to Skill, 2015) The World Economic Forum indicates that only 25 per cent of
the total Indian professionals are considered employable by the organized sector.
According to National Association of Software Companies (NASSCOM), each year,
over 3 million graduates and post-graduates are added to the Indian workforce but
only 25 per cent of technical graduates and 10-15 per cent of other graduates are
considered employable by the industry. The present education system lacks its
focus in training people properly to improve their employability skills. Many are
200
trained with outdated skills, which are useless in the job-market. Only in the IT and
IT-enabled services sectors, India would require a workforce of 2.3 million employees
in the IT and IT-enabled services sectors. In the year 2015, an estimated five
million graduates will be passing out in India. Out of them, only 34 per cent of them
will be employable. The reason is that most of them lack necessary skills required
for any role in the industry. A University degree can no longer ensure a job. Some
of the traits which organization look for in potential candidates include interpersonal
skills, communication skills, behavioural traits, such as attitudes, motivation, time
management, leadership skills and social grace. They need to be ready for their
professional roles. (Adhikari, 2015) Identification of availability of skilling programmes
is another challenge. The diverse nature of the skills sets required that vary across
the geography of the country depending on the industrial demand.
Women have been the worst sufferers in the labour market, traditionally. Many of
them are engaged in home-based, non-agricultural, home-based work. (Bhosale,
Informal Sector: Issues of Work and Livelihood, 2014) The spill-over impact of
women in work creates a social multiplier, where aggregate power will be greater
than individual power. (Padala, 2007) Skill development of women will make them
more suitable for better jobs. However, there are several factors which inhibit the
skill development of women. The cost of employing a woman, in terms of the
maternity and child care benefits are borne by the employer. Many a times, an
employer will prefer to employ a man, where maternity and child care benefits do
not have to be paid. In the manufacturing sector, a factory has to work for three
shifts, in order to satisfy the demands of the market. Women find it difficult for night
shift, due to the difficulty and lack of safety of travelling in public transport. The
lack of safety on roads prevents even skilled women from entering the job market.
(Nathan, 2015)
West Bengal is a key state for human resource development. It is estimated that
the working population will grow to 665 lakhs by 2022. West Bengal has remained
a source of manpower for other states in India and abroad. It is a state with huge
human resource potential. There will be rise in the number of unskilled and informal
workers in the coming decades, who are displaced from agriculture. North and
South 24 Parganas districts account for one-fifth of the population of West Bengal.
The state has socio-economic diversities. Skill training needs to address the social
dimensions in the population of West Bengal. The economy of the state has
evidence growth, driven by secondary and tertiary sectors. For attaining higher
growth, skill development is required in the key economic districts of 24 Parganas
(North), 24 Parganas (South), Kolkata, Howrah, Burdwan, West Midnapur, East
Midnapur, Hooghly and Nadia. Priority sectors for employment generation are tea,
jute, leather and tourism sectors. In order to boost industrial investment in the long
run, improvement in the industrial infrastructure and conducive policies are required.
201
It has been located that qualitative skill gaps may be witnessed in key sectors, like
construction, Information Technology, organized retail, logistics, manufacturing, food
processing, horticulture, sericulture, animal husbandry, hospitality, fashion and beauty
industry or in other service sectors.(Executive Summary for the State of West
Bengal (2012-17) (2017-22)) The Government of West Bengal has decided to
provide vocational training in beauty and personal care segment to female members
of the Scheduled Caste and Scheduled Tribe families of West Bengal. The West
Bengal SC and ST Development and Finance Corporation have tied up with Indus
Integrated Information Management (IIIM) to offer the 3-month vocational course.
The IIIM has teamed up with Sharmila Singh Flora to conduct this programme. In
another venture, the West Bengal government has tied up with Samsung, CESC
and Berger paints, to train men and women in the latest skills for increasing their
employability. Skill training in CAD/CAM has been launched in 62 vocational training
centres with technical assistance from Siemens. This is benefitting higher secondary
students. A skill programme on hospitality has been initiated in Kalimpong. Around
770 trainees are working in well-known chains, like, Caf Coffee Day outlets. The
Government of West Bengal has the vision to transform the intellectual wealth into
top class skill resources. West Bengal Government is working closely with National
Skill Development Corporation for job-linked programmes. Decisions have been
taken regarding setting up of 37 polytechnics. The state government has called
upon the private sector companies to join the mission. The State and the non-State
players in the market need to come together to train and skill people who will be
fit to join the workforce. (Mukherji, 2014)
METHODOLOGY
The paper is based on secondary sources. Government documents, reports, books,
journals, newspaper articles and internet sources have been studied, in order to
understand the relation of skill development and empowerment of women in the
state of West Bengal.
FINDINGS
Skill development is a way towards empowerment of women. However, there is lack
of awareness regarding skill development programmes among the people, especially
women. A major obstacle for women in skill development is their lack of information
about the market, about the schemes of womens training, about the nongovernmental organizations working in this area. They are very less aware of their
legal entitlements, which lead to their exploitation. The rising level of contractual
work is increasing their insecurity-level. Dissemination of information about
opportunities needs to reach women. Poor transport facilities push women from
villages to walk for long distances. Superstition also prevents women to attend
meetings. (Regarding Work Participation and Empowerment) Vocational courses
and diplomas are still not given much importance in school education.
202
In the Indian social structure, family plays a very important role in the life of an
individual. If women get equal rights in the family, including property rights, they are
encouraged to achieve something. But, in many cases, they have to fight against
social taboos of being inferior to male members in the family. Especially, in the rural
areas, it is a difficult feat for women to engage in any work outside the private
space. Patriarchal socialization even can make some elderly women in the family
act as hurdles for the young women in joining ad continuing work. If a family
encourages a lady to work for skill development and achieve empowerment, the
lady works with more energy and interest. But, many a times, the society acts as
a hurdle for women in developing their skills. It is stated that too much of ambition
needs to be curbed among women. When the family has allowed them to work,
there is no need to further upgrade their skills. It is necessary to be happy and
satisfied with whatever they are having. Cultural norms based on caste and religion,
at times, are very big challenges for women to face. Women can turn to be their
biggest challenge themselves when they lack of self-esteem. In the initial stage,
women are hesitant as they feel that balancing home and engaging in skill
development, will not be possible. Lack of skill development of women is also a real
problem. The fear of starting a venture, even after upgradation of skills, gives them
cold feet, as they are not informed about raw materials, market, finance etc.
Moreover, very few women own property, so getting loans for starting their venture
becomes a tough job. Ignorance about market vulnerabilities can act as a challenge.
Fear of competition can push many women in their cocoon. (T. Thileepan, K.
Soundararajan, 2013) The stakeholders of skill development may have less faith
in the capability of women. Gender discrimination still lies at the root of such
behaviour.
ANALYSIS
Linking the skill development of women with self help groups can be rewarding for
the economy. The Pradhan Mantri Kaushal Vikas Yojana is a demand-drive, rewardbased skill training scheme. It will incentivise skill training by providing financial
rewards to candidiates who successfully complete the approved skill training
programmes. If the members of the self help groups take advantage of the Pradhan
Mantri Kaushal Vikas Yojana, their capability will increase. (Skill India, 2015) Most
of the members in the self help groups are women and these self help groups have
become platforms for empowerment of women. The confidence to move beyond the
four walls of the house and contribute to the family income has boosted the
confidence of many women, who earlier could not dream of. Updating their skills
and increasing their basket range according to the demands of the market are
needed. Proper marketing of the goods can push the women further in their path
of empowerment. Economic empowerment could help the members of the self help
groups closer towards the holistic empowerment. Self help groups in West Bengal
203
are engaged in agricultural activities, food processing, cottage industries, hawking,

vending out of agricultural produces, garments, grocery etc. They are again working
as agents for collection of bills for West Bengal Electricity Distribution Company
Ltd. in lieu of commission.
The Government of West Bengal has launched a programme named Anandadhara
under the aegis of the National Rural Livelihood Mission. The National Rural
Livelihood Mission is another format of the Swarnajayanti Gram Swarojgar Yojana.
The aim is to atleast connect one woman from every poor family in the country with
a Self help group so that one can address economic issues properly. The
Government of West Bengal has focused on marketing of the goods produced by
the self help groups. (West Bengal will provide Marketing Outlet for SHG, 2012)
Bishwa Bangla stores have been opened up in many places which showcase and
promote handloom articles from all parts of Bengal. A Rural Craft Hub, collaboration
between the Government of West Bengal and UNESCO, has been undertaken
where the SHGs have an option to market their goods. Ten Rural Craft Hubs,
comprising nine traditional crafts spread across West Bengal, are being built as
model cases of culture-based rural development. The hubs integrate culture and
artistic skills into an entrepreneurship development strategy. It is helping 3,000
craft families directly and 7,500 indirectly. Moreover, all round the year, exhibitions
are being organized in the state and in different parts of India. The self help groups
in West Bengal can acquire the opportunity to exhibit their products through Bishwa
Bangla stores. Bishwa Bangla stores have been inaugurated in Kolkata airport,
Dakshinapan, Bagdogra airport and Delhi. (Biswa Bangla Making a World of
Difference to West Bengals Traditional Craftsmen and Weavers, 2015)
The Government of West Bengal had initiated a programme of Kanyashree in 2013
for curtailing the drop-out rate of girls in schools. The government is providing
financial help to the girls to complete their education and be independent. It includes
an annual scholarship of Rs.500 for girls between the ages of 13-18 years and a
one-time grant of Rs. 25,000 when the girl completes 18 years of age and is
enrolled in some form of education. Annual scholarship amount under the scheme
has been raised from Rs 500 to Rs 750. Skill development can be linked with the
formal system of education. Around 22 lakh girls are beneficiaries of this scheme.
If all of them are motivated to be engaged in skill development, the level of
empowerment of these girls will increase many fold. They will turn to be talent pool
for future employers in the market. Economic independence of these girls will turn
a generation towards growth. Education will be linked to market and the Kanyashree
scheme will have better prospects for its beneficiaries and their family. Vocational
education through short-term programmes could provide a fillip to the students to
increase their skills. The local priorities in West Bengal for skill development among
women could include manpower-intensive industries. Initiatives that can be taken
204
up by various stake holders, could include, public-private partnership, incorporating

skill training in mainstream education in the higher secondary level, offering demanddriven skill training programmes and setting up anchor institutes. District Employment
Exchanges could be transformed into Skill Management Centres. Cluster-based
skill training initiatives in private-public partnership model could be set up near
industry clusters. (Executive Summary for the State of West Bengal (2012-17)
(2017-22))
LIMITATION
As the paper is based on secondary sources due to paucity of time, it fails to
provide a field level picture, which is available only through primary sources. Better
insights could have been provided with field work on the beneficiaries of skill
development.
The Government of India could soon legislate a new Act to grant Indias youth the
Right to Skill. For that end, a new cess may be imposed to fund the Skill India
Mission. In a recent comprehensive report submitted by a sub-group of Chief
Ministers, has recommended utilizing funds from education cess and half of
corporate profits set aside for corporate social responsibility to create a nonlapsable pool of funds that could be used to provide vocational training to millions
of youth for the coming years. It has also stated that the Government of India and
the states may explore the need for enacting legislation on Right of Youth to Skill
Development in line with a law in the state of Chattisgarh. Its recommendation also
includes that out of the 2 per cent of the average net profit of companies earning
a net profit of Rs 5 crore or more, half may be earmarked for skill development
activities. Funds under major flagship programmes can be earmarked for skill
development as success of these programmes such as Digital India, Housing for
All, Smart Cities and Swatch Bharat can be successful with the availability of skilled
labour. (Legislation on Right to Skill, 2015)
Field level survey among the beneficiaries of skill development in any specific
district or in specific area could be the targeted as the universe of study, for further
research.
CONCLUSION
The World Banks 2012 World Development Report on Gender Equality and
Development supports that gender equality is significant for development outcomes.
It improves productivity, quality of social policies and prospects of the next generation.
(Alicia Borges Mansonn, Ulf Farnsveden, 2012) The National Policy for Skill
Development and Entrepreneurship 2015 proposes to meet the challenge of skill
development and upgradation with speed, standard and sustainability. It will
standardize the process of skilling and linking it with demand centres, throughout
205
the world. Skills are important, but, along with it, the efforts and motivation to have
a better life are equally necessary for having a successful and happy workforce.
(Skilled India, Successful India, 2015) The challenge of skill development lies not
only skilling the youth, but also to maintain their standards up to the international
one.
REFERENCES
1.
Adhikari, S. (2015). Building Human Capital through Skilling. Yojana , 68-70.
2.
Alicia Borges Mansonn, Ulf Farnsveden. (2012, January). United Nations Girls Education
Initiative(UNGEI) Gender and Skills Development: A Review. New York, United States of
America: United Nations Girls Education Initiative(UNGEI).
3.
Basole, A. (2014). The Informal Sector from a Knowledge Perspective. Yojana , 8-13.
4.
Bhosale, B. V. (2014). Informal Sector: Issues of Work and Livelihood. Yojana , 36-39.
5.
Biswa Bangla Making a World of Difference to West Bengals Traditional Craftsmen and
Weavers. (2015, July 6). Retrieved October 20, 2015, from http://www.biswabangla.in/
biswa-bangla-1/2015/7/6/biswa-bangla-making-a-world-of-difference-to-west-bengalstraditional-craftsmen-and-weavers
6.
Executive Summary for the State of West Bengal (2012-17) (2017-22). (n.d.). Retrieved
October 28, 2015, from National Skill Development Corporation: http://www.nsdcindia.org/
sites/default/fault/files/files/wb-exec-summary.pdf
7.
(2010). Gender and Rural Employment Policy Brief #2-Investing in skills for socio-economic.
Geneva: ILO.
8.
Harriss-White, B. (2014). The Role of Indias Informal Economy. Yojana , 21-28.
9.
Legislation on Right to Skill. (2015, Otober 27). The Economic Times . Kolkata, West
Bengal, India: Economic Times.
10. M Sairam, Sharanya Ramesh. (2015). Skilling India through Blended Learning- An AvantGarde Attempt. Yojana , 22-24.
11. Manoj Joshi, Arun Bahadauria, Shailja Dixit. (2015). Skill Development: Capitalizing
Resources and Capabilities. Yojana , 50-54.
12. Mukherji, U. P. (2014, June 20). West Bengal to tie up with big brands for skill development.
Retrieved August 3, 2015, from The Times of India: http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/
kolkata/West-Bengal-to-tie-up-with-big-brands-for-skill-development/articleshow/
36899199.cms
13. Nathan, D. (2015). Skill Development of Women: Enabling Factors. Yojana , 65-66.
14. Neelima Prashant Warke, Parag A. Narkhede. (2015). Women Empowerment: Skills
Enhancement through Encouraging Entrepreneurship. Tactful Management Research
Journal , 70-76.
15. Padala, S. R. (2007). Entrepreneurship Development among Women: A Case Study of Self
Help Groups in Srikakulam District, Andhra Pradesh. ICFAI Journal of Entrepreneurship
Development , 8-20.
16. Pande, S. (2013, March 31). A Cut Above. Retrieved August 10, 2015, from Business
Today: http://www.businesstoday.in/magazine/cover-story/companies-work-towards-skillsgap-in-india/story/193097.html
206
17. Regarding Work Participation and Empowerment. (n.d.). Retrieved October 23, 2015, from
http://wbsc.gov.in.work%20participation/regarding_work_participation_and.htm
18. Saini, V. (2015). Skill Development in India: Need, Challenges and Ways Forward. Abhinav
National Monthly Refereed Journal of Research , 1-9.
19. Sindhi, S. (2012). Prospects and Challenges of Empowerment of Tribal Women. IOSR
Journal of Humanities and Social Science , 46-54.
20. Skill India. (2015, July 25-30). Employment News , p. 56.
21. Skilled India, Successful India. (2015). Yojana , 5.
22. Sonali Kanchan, Sakshi Varshney. (2015). Skill Development Initiatives and Strategies.
Asian Journal of Management Research , 666-672.
23. T. Thileepan, K. Soundararajan. (2013, December). Problems and Opportunities of Women
SHG Entrepreneurship in India. Retrieved August 29, 2015, from http://irjbm.org/irjbm2013/
Paper9.pdf
24. Tiina Eskola, Lavinia Gasperini . (2010). Gender and Rural Employment Policy Brief #2Investing in skills for socio-economic. Geneva: ILO.
25. West Bengal will provide Marketing Outlet for SHG. (2012, January 22). Retrieved September
1, 2015, from The Hindu: http://www.thehindu.com/news/national/west-bengal-will-providemarketing-outlet-for-shg/article2820944.ece
207
A Comparative Study on the Corporate

Governance Codes in the Brics Nations with
Special Reference to the Audit Committee
Dr. Amit Majumder* & Dr. Sudipti Banerjea**
ABSTRACT
The term Corporate Governance conveys how a corporation is directed and controlled under
a set of missions, values, and philosophy. It is a phrase implying greater transparency of the
management system in corporate entities. In common parlance, it is a relationship among
various participants in determining the direction and performance of a corporation. In order
to ensure the accountability, transparency and disclosure in corporate management activities,
various tools in corporate governance mechanism have been prescribed from time to time
across the world like independence in board, separation of the position of managing director
and chairperson, auditor independence, rotation of auditors, formation of various board
committees like audit committee, remuneration committee, shareholders relationship
committee, corporate governance committee, corporate social responsibility committee, etc.
Among various board committees that are considered to uphold the spirit of good governance,
the most significant is the audit committee, whose main responsibility is to ensure self
discipline, constituted with the objective of strengthening and overseeing management of
companies and to ensure that the board of directors discharge their functions effectively.
Around the world, various codes and committees of good governance (presently 431 codes)
have made a number of recommendations regarding formation of audit committee, its
composition, functioning, etc. The block of emerging nations known as the BRICS nations
are not far behind. In these emerging nations, various distinct corporate governance codes
have been prescribed from time to time to ensure good governance practices of the corporate
sectors in their respective nations with special emphasis on a number of key governance
parameters like independence of board, board committees, issue of duality of roles of
chairperson and CEO, remuneration and succession of directors, etc.
Against this backdrop, the present paper aims to provide a comparative analysis of the
provisions of the corporate governance codes and guidelines of the BRICS nations with a
special emphasis on the Audit Committee. The present study, based on secondary information,
has considered the provisions relating to the Audit Committee in the Corporate Governance
Codes and Guidelines of the BRICS nations and presented a comparative study on the
corporate governance models in vogue in the BRICS nations.
Key Words: BRICS, Audit Committee, Independent Directors, Fiscal Council
**
Assistant Professor of Commerce, Bijoy Krishna Girls College, Howrah, 5/3, M.G. Road,
Howrah-711101. E-mail: amitmajumder1@gmail.com
Professor, Department of Commerce, University of Calcutta. E-mail : sudiptiban@yahoo.com
INTRODUCTION
The term Corporate Governance conveys how a corporation is directed and
controlled under a set of missions, values, and philosophy. It is a phrase implying
greater transparency of the management system in corporate entities. In common
parlance, it is a relationship among various participants in determining the direction
and performance of a corporation. In order to ensure accountability, transparency
and meaningful disclosure in corporate management activities, various tools in
corporate governance mechanism have been prescribed from time to time across
the world like independence in board, separation of the positions and roles of
CEO and chairperson, auditors independence, rotation of auditors, formation of
various board committees like audit committee, remuneration committee,
shareholders relationship committee, corporate governance committee, corporate
social responsibility committee, etc. Among the various board committees that are
considered to help uphold the spirit of good governance, the most significant is
the audit committee, whose main responsibility is to ensure self-discipline,
constituted with the objective of strengthening and overseeing management of a
company and to ensure that the board of directors discharge its functions
effectively. Around the world, various codes/ committees of good governance
(presently 431 codes) have made a number of recommendations regarding
formation of audit committee, its composition, functioning, etc. The block of
emerging nations known as the BRICS nations are not far behind. In these
emerging nations, various distinct corporate governance (CG) codes have been
prescribed from time to time to ensure good governance practices of the corporate
sectors in their respective nations with special emphasis on a number of key
governance parameters like independence of board, board committees, issue of
separation of the positions and roles of CEO and chairperson, remuneration and
succession of directors, etc.
OBJECTIVE
Against this backdrop, the present paper aims to provide a comparative analysis
of the provisions of the corporate governance (CG) codes and guidelines of the
BRICS nations with a special emphasis on the Audit Committee.
The present study, based on secondary information, has considered the provisions
relating to the Audit Committee in the CG Codes and Guidelines developed the
BRICS nations mentioned below.
l Code of Best Practices of Corporate Governance (2010), Instituto
Brasileiro de Governana Corporativa (Brazilian Institute of Corporate
Governance [IBGC], 4th edn. (English version) [http://www.ecgi.org/codes/
documents/ibgc_may2004.pdf]
l Russian Corporate Governance Code (2014) (English version) [http://
www.eiod.org/uploads/Publications/Pdf/final_code_english.pdf]
l Clause 49 of the Listing Agreement, Securities and Exchange Board of
India [SEBI] (1999 as amended in 2003) (Indian Code) [http://
www.sebi.gov.in]
210
Code of Corporate Governance for Listed Companies in China (2001),

China Securities Regulatory Commission and State Economic and Trade
Commission (English version) [http://www.ecgi.org/codes/documents/
code_en.pdf]
King Committee Recommendations [King III] (2009), The South African
Institute of Chartered Accountants (SAICA), Republic of South Africa [http:/
/www.eiod.org/uploads/Publications/Pdf/final_code_english.pdf]
Taxmann Companies Act, 2013 with Rules (2015), Taxmann, New Delhi,
1.165-1.166
SUMMARY OF FINDINGS
The major findings of the paper vis-a-vis the BRICS nations have been presented
in a
A) Comparative manner based on a few significant common minimum parameters,
and
B) Stand-alone manner based on some highlighted issues with special reference
to the Audit Committee.
A. Comparative Analysis of the CG Codes among the BRICS Nations
Issue #1 Composition of the Audit Committee
Brazilian Code
Russian Code
Indian
The Audit
Committee
should
preferably be
made up of the
independent
members of
the Board of
Directors.
Directors also
serving as
officers should
not take part in
the Audit
Committee.
The Audit
Committee
shall comprise
independent
directors.
The Audit
Committee
shall have
minimum 3
members, all
being nonexecutive
directors and
majority of the
members
rd
(2/3 ) being
independent.
The
chairperson
shall remain
present at the
companys
AGM to
respond to the
shareholders
queries.
Code
Chinese
Code
Audit
Committee
shall be
composed
solely of
directors.
Independent
directors
shall
constitute
the majority
of the Audit
Committee.
South
African
Code
All members of
the Audit
Committee
should be
independent nonexecutive
directors. The
Audit Committee
should consist of
at least three
members.
211
Issue #2 Status of the Chairperson of the Audit Committee

Brazilian
Code
No Specific
Provision is
there.
Russian
Code
The Audit
Committee
shall be
chaired by an
independent
director.
Indian
Code
The
chairperson
should be
an
independen
t director.
Chinese
Code
The Audit
Committee
shall be
chaired by
an
Independen
t Director.
South
African
Code
The Audit Committee

should be chaired by
an independent nonexecutive director. The
chairperson of the
board should not be the
chairperson or member
of the Audit Committee.
Issue #3 Qualifications of the members of the Audit Committee

Brazilian
Code
Russian
Code
Indian Code
Chinese
Members
should be
familiar
with basic
financial
and
accounting
matters
and, at
least, one
member
should be
more
experience
d in
accounting
issues,
audits, and
financial
manageme
nt.
At least,
one
independen
t director
from the
Audit
Committee
shall be an
accounting
professiona
l.
Majority of the
members of the
Audit Committee,
including its
chairperson, shall
be persons with
ability to read and
understand the
financial
statement
(Companies Act,
2013). At least,
one member of
the Audit
Committee should
have financial and
accounting
expertise (Clause
49 of the Listing
Agreement).
The members of
the Audit
Committee
should possess
special
knowledge of
the basics of
accounting and
financial
reporting. At
least, one
independent
director from the
Audit Committee
shall be an
accounting
professional.
212
Code
South
Code
African
The Audit
Committee
collectively
should have
sufficient
qualifications
and experience
to fulfil its duties.
Issue #4 Functions of the Audit Committee

Brazilian Code
Russian
Code
The Audit
The Audit
Committee
Committee
needs to
needs to
analyze the
control
financial
over
statements in
completenes
detail and
s, accuracy
support
and
financial
reliability of
supervision and the
accountability.
companys
The Audit
accounting
Committee
(financial)
should
statements.
additionally
see that the
organizations
Code of
Conduct is
enforced.
Indian
Code
The Audit
Committee
should
recommend
for
appointment,
remuneration
and terms of
reference of
auditors;
review and
monitor their
performance;
examine
financial
report,; review
related party
transactions,
valuations of
undertakings,
etc.
Chinese
Code
The Audit
Committee
is to
oversee the
interaction
between
the
company's
internal and
external
auditing
institutions,
and to
inspect the
company's
financial
information
and its
disclosure.
South African Code

The Audit
Committee should
review the
disclosure of
sustainability
issues in the
integrated report to
ensure that it is
reliable and does
not conflict with the
financial
information;
satisfy itself
regarding the
expertise,
resources and
experience of the
companys finance
function; be
responsible for
overseeing the
internal audit, etc.
Issue #5 The Audit Committee and the Internal Audit & Control System
Brazilian
Code
The Audit
Committee
should ensure
that the
management
adequately
develops, and
adheres to,
sound internal
controls, that the
Internal Audit
Department
satisfactorily
fulfils its role and
that the
independent
auditors assess
and review the
Management
and Internal
Audit
Departments
practices.
Russian Code
Indian Code
The
companys
executive
bodies should
regularly
report to the
board of
directors (its
audit
committee) in
relation to
creation and
functioning of
an efficient risk
management
and internal
control system
and should be
responsible for
ensuring its
efficient
operation.
The Audit
Committee
should
evaluate
internal
controls and
risk
management
systems.
Moreover,
the Audit
Committee
may call for
the
comments of
the auditors
about
internal
control
systems
(Companies
Act, 2013).
Chinese
Code
The Audit
Committee
is to review
the internal
audit
system and
its
execution
as well as
monitor the
company's
internal
control
system.
South
African
Code
The Audit
Committee
should be
responsible for
the appointment,
performance
assessment
and/or dismissal
of the internal
auditor. The
Audit Committee
should ensure
that the internal
audit function is
subject to an
independent
quality review as
and when it
determines that
appropriate.
213
Issue #6 Frequency of Meeting of the Audit Committee

Brazilian
Code
The Audit
Committee
should meet
regularly and
also meet with
the Board of
Directors, the
Fiscal Council
(when
established),
the CEO and
the other
officers, and
the
independent
auditors.
Russian
Code
The Audit
Committee
should hold
meetings,
at least,
once a
month and
prepare its
recommend
ations for
the board
of directors
of the
company.
Indian Code
The Audit Committee
must meet, at least,
four times a year,
once every 4 months
and once before
finalization of
accounts. The
quorum for the
meetings of the Audit
Committee will be
two or one-third of
the total number of
members, whichever
is higher, at least two
of the members
constituting a
quorum must be
independent (Clause
49 of the Listing
Agreement).
Chinese
Code
No specific
provision
regarding
frequency
of meeting
of the Audit
Committee.
South African
Code
The Audit
Committee
should meet as
often as is
necessary to
fulfil its
functions but,
at least, twice
a year.
Issue #7
Separate Meeting of the Audit Committee with the External Auditor
Brazilian
Code
Russian Code
Indian Code
The Audit
Committee
should
regularly
meet with
the Board of
Directors,
the Fiscal
Council, the
CEO and
the other
officers, and
the
independent
auditors.
No specific
provision is
there.
No specific provision
is there. However,
the Companies Act,
2013 has a provision
that the auditor(s) of
a company and the
key managerial
personnel shall have
the right to be heard
in the meetings of
the Audit Committee
when it considers the
auditors report but
shall not have the
right to vote.
214
Chinese
Code
No specific
provision is
there.
South African
Code
The Audit
Committee
should meet
with internal
and external
auditors, at
least, once a
year without
the presence
of the
management.
Issue #8 The Audit Committees Role in Hiring and Firing the External Auditor
Brazilian
Code
Russian Code
The
independent
auditor(s)
recommendati
ons and
assessments
on the control
and risk
environment
should be
permanently
monitored by
the board of
directors
and/or Audit
Committee,
which should
enforce the
accountability
of the officers
regarding the
recommendati
ons made by
the auditors.
The Audit Committee

should be engaged
in evaluation of
independence,
objectivity and lack of
conflict of interest in
relation to the
external auditor(s) of
the company,
including evaluation
of the proposed
auditor(s) of the
company,
development of the
proposals on
appointment, reelection and
dismissal of the
external auditor(s) of
the company, and
payment for their
services and terms
and conditions of
their engagement.
Indian
Code
The Audit
Committee
should
recommend
for
appointmen
t,
remunerati
on and
terms of
reference
of the
auditor(s),
review and
monitor the
auditor(s)
independen
ce and
performanc
e, and
effectivene
ss of the
audit
process.
Chinese
Code
The Audit
Committee
should
recommend
the
engagemen
t or
replacemen
t of the
company's
external
auditing
institutions.
South African
Code
The Audit
Committee
must nominate
the external
auditor (s) for
appointment
and must
approve the
terms of
engagement
and
remuneration
for the external
audit
engagement.
The Audit
Committee
must monitor
and report on
the
independence
of the external
auditor (s).
Issue #9 The Audit Committee and the Related Party Disclosure

Brazilian
Code
The Audit
Committee
should assess,
on a regular
basis, the
relevant aspects
of its relations
with the third
parties and also
should ensure
quality
information from
the subsidiaries,
associated
companies and
third parties in
view of the
impact of such
information on
the consolidated
financial
statements.
Russian Code
Indian
Code
Chinese
Code
South African
Code
A detailed description of
such a transaction
means that the
information is disclosed
relating to the date of
the transaction, the
description of its terms
and conditions, the
names of the
counterparties to the
transaction and the
nature of their affiliation,
the grounds for
deeming the transaction
to be a related party
transaction, the grounds
for entering into the
transaction, the
transaction amount/the
percentage of the value
of the assets that such
amount represents.
The
Audit
Committ
ee
should
take the
approva
l for any
subseq
uent
modifica
tion of
the
transact
ions of
the
compan
y with
the
related
parties.
No specific
provision is
there.
No specific
provision is
there.
215
Issue #10 The Audit Committee and the Term of Office

Brazilian Code
Russian
Code
Indian
Code
Chinese
Code
South
Code
The term of office of the Audit

Committee can be limited
through an automatic rotation
system and/or by restricting the
number of committees in which
a member can serve in other
companies.
No
specific
provisio
n is
there.
No
specific
provisio
n is
there.
No
specific
provisio
n is
there.
No specific
provision is
there.
A.
(a)
(b)
(c)
216
African
Stand-alone Analysis of the CG Codes among the BRICS nations

Brazilian CG Code
Fiscal Council is the inspection body, whose functions are directly defined
by the shareholders and, by law, that does not report to the Board of
Directors. The Fiscal Council may be permanent or not. If temporary, it should
be established at the request of a shareholder or a group of shareholders.
The law defines the way to elect the Fiscal Council members. When there is
no defined controlling shareholder or there is just one class of shares, the
establishment of a Fiscal Council, requested by any group of shareholders,
should be facilitated by the organization, All shareholders should be
represented in the Fiscal Council even in organizations without a defined
controlling shareholder. It is recommended that the Fiscal Councils opinion
be included in the companys information disclosure policy.
Russian CG Code
It is recommended that the head of the Control and Audit Service of the
company and, at least, two thirds of its personnel, with the exception of
technical personnel, should have a higher economic (financial) or legal
education. In addition, it is advisable that the head of the Control and Audit
Service should have, at least, five years of work experience consistent with
his/her special training.
Indian CG Code
The audit committee has been entrusted with the task of making
recommendations for appointment and remuneration of auditor(s) and review
of independence of auditor(s), providing approval of related party
transactions, and scrutinising over other financial mechanisms of the company.
The Companies Act, 2013, requires the board of every listed company and
certain other public companies to constitute the Audit Committee consisting
of a minimum of 3 (three) directors, with the independent directors forming a
majority. It prescribes that a majority of its members, including its Chairperson,
have to be the persons with the ability to read and understand financial
statements.
Companies
1956
Act,
Section 292A
Every
large
specific class of
public
company
shall constitute an
Audit Committee
consisting of not
less than three
directors of which
two-thirds of the
total
members
shall be directors
other
than
managing or whole
time directors.
(d)
(e)
Companies
2013
Act,
Section 177
The
Board
of
Directors of
all
specific class of major
public
companies
shall constitute an
Audit Committee with
a minimum of three
directors forming a
majority provided that
the majority members,
including
Chairperson, shall be
persons with ability to
read and understand
the
financial
statement
Clause 49 of the
Listing Agreement
Clause 49(II)
A
qualified
and
independent
Audit
Committee shall be set
up with minimum three
directors as members.
Two-thirds
of
the
members of the Audit
Committee shall be
independent directors
and all members shall
be financially literate
and, at least, one
member shall have
accounting or related
financial management
expertise.
Revised
Clause
49 of the
Listing
Agreement
Unchanged
Chinese CG Code
The composition of the Audit Committee, Audit Commission and Control and
Audit Service of the company should allow for efficient supervision of the
financial and business operations of the company. In particular, members of
the Audit Committee should possess special knowledge of the basics of
accounting and financial reporting. The Audit Committee shall be chaired by
an independent director, and independent directors shall constitute the
majority of the Audit Committee. At least, one independent director from the
Audit Committee shall be an accounting professional. The main duties of the
Audit Committee are (1) to recommend the engagement or replacement of
the companys external auditing institutions, (2) to review the internal audit
system and its execution, (3) to oversee the interaction between the
companys internal and external auditing institutions, (4) to inspect the
companys financial information and its disclosure, and (5) to monitor the
companys internal control system.
South African CG Code
Listed and state-owned companies must establish an Audit Committee. The
Audit Committee should recommend to the board to engage an external
assurance provider on material sustainability issues. The Audit Committee
should ensure that a combined assurance model is applied to provide a
coordinated approach to all the assurance activities. Every year a review of
the finance function should be performed by the Audit Committee and the
217
results of the review should be disclosed in the integrated report. Moreover,

the Audit Committee should report to the board and shareholders on how it
has discharged its statutory duties and duties assigned to it by the board.
CONCLUSION
With the growing importance of the BRICS nations in the global economic and
political map, it becomes to study the CG practices of these five emerging nations.
The researchers have observed that different CG models are in vogue in the
BRICS nations. For example, the dual board structure model like the Japanese
model or the German model can be observed in the countries like Russia and
China, where they believe in setting up of dual boards supervisory board and
managerial board. Moreover, like the German model, in a Chinese Board, the
presence of representative of employees can also be observed. On the other
hand, the Indian, South African and Brazilian models, traditionally, are inclined
towards the Anglo-Saxon model, where the Board of Directors is considered to
play the pivotal role vis-a-vis the issues and responsibilities relating to CG. So far
as the composition of the Audit Committee is concerned, the relevant provisions
in all the BRICS nations are almost identical in nature, i.e., in favour of a properly
constituted committee with, at least, one member with expertise in finance. However,
with regard to the presence of outsider independent directors in the Audit
Committee, only the Russian Code and the Indian Code have advocated that.
However, the composition of a well-formed and independent Audit Committee does
not automatically ensure efficient performance until the said committee meets
regularly. Here, all the BRICS nations, except China, are very specific about
conducting the meeting of the Audit Committee at regular intervals. However, the
most unique practice and functioning of the Audit Committee can be observed in
case of Brazil. The Brazilian Code has advocated the establishment of the Fiscal
Council, basically an inspection body, whose functions are directly defined by the
shareholders and which, as per law, does not report to the Board of Directors.
The Fiscal Council may or may not be permanent. If temporary, it has to be
established at the request of a shareholder or a group of shareholders. The law
defines the way to elect the members of the Fiscal Council. When there is no
defined controlling shareholder or there is just one class of shares, the
establishment of a Fiscal Council, on the basis of a request by any group of
shareholders, has to be facilitated by the organization. All the shareholders should
be represented at the Fiscal Council, even in an organization without a defined
controlling shareholder. It is recommended that the Fiscal Councils opinion has
to be included in the companys policy relating to information disclosure.
This sort of comparative analysis of the corporate governance (CG) codes and
guidelines of the BRICS nations, based on some significant common minimum
parameters, and stand-alone analysis of the CG codes and guidelines there, with
a special emphasis on the Audit Committee, are expected to help the BRICS nations
and other emerging nations improve upon and effectively implement the provisions
their CG codes and guidelines with respect to the Audit Committee in future, given
the increasing complexities and managerial challenges in the corporate world.
218
REFERENCES (last accessed on 20.10.2015)

1.
Code of Best Practices of Corporate Governance (2010), Instituto Brasileiro de Governana

Corporativa (Brazilian Institute of Corporate Governance [IBGC], 4th edn. (English version)
[http://www.ecgi.org/codes/documents/ibgc_may2004.pdf]
2.
Russian Corporate Governance Code (2014) (English version) [http://www.eiod.org/uploads/

Publications/Pdf/final_code_english.pdf]
3.
Clause 49 of the Listing Agreement, Securities and Exchange Board of India [SEBI] (1999
as amended in 2003) (Indian Code) [http://www.sebi.gov.in]
4.
Code of Corporate Governance for Listed Companies in China (2001), China Securities
Regulatory Commission and State Economic and Trade Commission (English version)
[http://www.ecgi.org/codes/documents/code_en.pdf]
5.
King Committee Recommendations [King III] (2009), The South African Institute of
Chartered Accountants (SAICA), Republic of South Africa [http://www.eiod.org/uploads/
Publications/Pdf/final_code_english.pdf]
6.
Taxmann Companies Act, 2013 with Rules (2015), Taxmann, New Delhi, 1.165-1.166
Additional Readings (last accessed on 20.10.2015)

1.
Claessens, S. and Yurtoglu, B. (2012), Corporate Governance in Emerging Markets: A

Survey, Working Paper Series [http://ssrn.com/abstract=1988880]
2.
Ernst & Young (2012), Six Global Trends Shaping the Business World. http://www.ey.com/
GL/en/Issues/Business-environment/Six-global-trends-shaping-the-business-world
Emerging-markets-increase-their-global-power
3.
Goldman Sachs (1999), Ideas. http://www.gs.com/insight/research/reports/99.pdf
4.
McKinsey & Company (2000), Investor Opinion Survey on Corporate Governance. http://
www.oecd.org/dataoecd/56/7/1922101.pdf
5.
ONeill, J. (2001), Building Better Global Economic BRICs, Global Economics, Paper No.
66 http://www2.goldmansachs.com/ideas/brics/building-better-doc.pdf
6.
Wilson, D. and Purushothaman, R. (2003), Dreaming With BRICs: The Path to 2050,
Global
Economics, Paper No. 99 http://www2.goldmansachs.com/ideas/brics/book/99dreaming.pdf
219
220
iTREC: i TRAVEL to Rediscover Escape

from Community...
Shujaat Mitra*
ABSTRACT
Tourism India today seems to be fading out as the destinations have become repititive. The
thrill of new adventure however lingers in the mind of a traveller. The paper intends to be able
to satisfy the quench by facilitating rural tourism. There have been talks about development
of this sector in India in the past but they werent completely successful. Thus we are going to
address this problem in news ways of doing business in the digital age.
There has been a lot of developments in rural tourism within several nations of the world and
certain nations of north-western europe has worked on really efficient models. The money
funelled in from their ventures into rural tourism helped their agriculture and dairy industries.
The model developed over the years to added cottage industry attractions. Moreover the model
has caused people in their villages to interact with citizens worldwide, they have accepted ideas
from all over the world. The concept is spreading today to even lesser developed nations like
Israel and South Africa.
Rural India, its lifestyle, greenery, ambience and rawness holds the potential to attract the
masses who have led a lifestyle in the common humdrum of articulate civilization. The problem
however lies in a gap in information about connectivity and personal security.
Platform independent mobile applications have taken over most of our lives. From ordering
food to booking flight tickets the internet has changed the way we lead our lives and also
enabled us to do a lot of things that were unimaginable just a few years back. Using mobile
application technology with an MIS model to aid travellers this paper intends to develop a
successful model that would divert more tourism into the villages of India. The application will
provide all necessary information to the traveller thereby removing the fear of being in an
unknown place. Using data forensic technology the app would also provide verified reviews
from trustable sources so that the traveller can make the most informed decisions.
Acceptance of this model may lead to mass expansion of tourism in the villages of india, a
resource that we have in plenty and the added finances funnelled into the indian village will
cause development of india in our most important sector. Moreover when the people of our
villages interact with people worldwide they will develop a better outlook and sense about their
well being. This developed outlook could make these people open to accept better ideas and
practices regarding their dairy and agriculture industries thereby increasing their efficiency and
productivity. The changes we are talking about affects 70% of our nation and a significant
change could be a milestone in the lifestyle of majority of India. Thus we would be in turn
Skilling India for Tomorrow.
*
PhD Scholar (MIS), Indian Institute of Education Science and Technology, Shibpur
E-mail: shujaat@aimk.org
221
INTRODUCTION
Tourism India today seems to be fading out as the destinations have become
repetitive. The thrill of new adventure however lingers in the mind of a traveler. The
paper intends to be able to satisfy the quench by facilitating rural tourism. There
have been talks about development of this sector in India in the past but they
werent completely successful. Thus we are going to address this problem in news
ways of doing business in the digital age.
There has been a lot of developments in rural tourism within several nations of the
world and certain nations of north-western Europe has worked on really efficient
models. The money funneled in from their ventures into rural tourism helped their
agriculture and dairy industries. The model developed over the years to added
cottage industry attractions. Moreover the model has caused people in their villages
to interact with citizens worldwide, they have accepted ideas from all over the world.
The concept is spreading today to even lesser developed nations like Israel and
South Africa.
Rural India, its lifestyle, greenery, ambience and rawness holds the potential to
attract the masses who have led a lifestyle in the common humdrum of articulate
civilization. The problem however lies in a gap in information about connectivity and
personal security.
Platform independent mobile applications have taken over most of our lives.
From ordering food to booking flight tickets the internet has changed the way
we lead our lives and also enabled us to do a lot of things that were
unimaginable just a few years back. Using mobile application technology with an
MIS model to aid travelers this paper intends to develop a successful model
that would divert more tourism into the villages of India. The application will
provide all necessary information to the traveler thereby removing the fear of
being in an unknown place. Using data forensic technology the app would also
provide verified reviews from trustable sources so that the traveler can make
the most informed decisions.
Acceptance of this model may lead to mass expansion of tourism in the villages
of India, a resource that we have in plenty and the added finances funneled
into the Indian village will cause development of India in our most important
sector. Moreover when the people of our villages interact with people worldwide
they will develop a better outlook and sense about their well being. This
developed outlook could make these people open to accept better ideas and
practices regarding their dairy and agriculture industries thereby increasing their
efficiency and productivity. The changes we are talking about affects 70% of
our nation and a significant change could be a milestone in the lifestyle of
majority of India. Thus we would be in turn Skilling India for Tomorrow.
222
As per figures the growth of Indian tourism keeps fading over the years to such an
extent that last year the growth in India has fallen to 5% whereas Sri Lanka and
Bhutan have shown a growth of 17% in tourism despite being from the same south
Asian region.
An interview with Harkirpal Singh Taai, chief representative of the Travel Agents
Association Of India revealed some very basic facts about waning tourism in India.
To name it precisely he blames the following reasons
1.
No Place To Stay: The governments report of the Working Group on

Tourism, under the 12th Five Year Plan (2012-2017) set up by the Planning
Commission stated that the country requires an additional 1,90,108 hotels
rooms by 2016 to meet a projected 12% growth in tourism.
2.
Bad Roads or No Roads:
3.
Security Concerns and Bureaucratic Hurdles
So that brings us to the important question, how does India get this added tourism
because clearly the rate of development of amenities in India is fairly slow.
India houses the slogan of Atithi Devo Bhava or Guest is God. Believing in such
principles every local household can turn into a guest house for a guest or maybe
2 guests. The guests would be made aware of the amenities in the specific
household. So instead of visiting the same old tourist destinations the users of the
model proposed in this paper could visit the most remote villages of India to stay
in the home of any person from that place who has signed up for this and stay for
a reasonable sum of money. As the cycle of guests continue arriving in the
household, the inflow of money will increase thereby allowing the household to
supply more amenities for their guests like modern toilets or better beds and better
quality of food. The interaction and the outlook of the children in the household
would also be influenced by the interaction with people from another part of the
country / world.
Rural environments have a long history of extending themselves for recreational
purposes. Historical data reflects the existence of countryside recreation in European
countries right from the 17th and 18th century. Thomas Cook, the pioneer of tour
packages conducted its first excursions to country areas (Williams, 1998). However
before the 19thcentury few people other than the upper class travelled. This trend
changed by the mid-19th century. Invention of the railways, availability of free time,
increase in disposable income and other technological advancements (Sharpley &
Sharpley, 1997) all contributed to luring the middle class to experience holidays
once considered the domain of the elite. The motivation for these early tourists
were either the urge to experience the popular images that they had been subjected
to or in some industrialized regions, the working population (ex-migrants) visiting
their rural roots in the countryside. Hungary is a classic example of the latter (Rtz,
223
& Puczk, 1998). Until this point the region didnt feel the need to build on this
segment, as the volume was small. However with the continuous increase in the
number of tourists visiting rural areas, the awareness of developing the region to
cater to the needs also grew. The sliding economies, changes in agricultural practices,
the rural-urban migration initiated by the industrialization, were also contributory
factors for this shift (Figure 1). With the increase in popularity and numbers, the
impacts of tourism on the environment and people started emerging. As early as
the 20th century questions of access to and preservation of valued landscapes
were becoming contentious issues.
Figure 1: The context of Rural Tourism
Source : Thomson Learning
From Figure.1 we can conclude that the development of rural tourism in a region
was based on a two-pronged agenda: developmental benefits (job retention, creation
of new jobs, farm support, and infrastructural development) and the preservation
& conservation of the environment (landscape and nature conservation). Apart
from the developmental and environmental reasons, the social criteria (broadening
of cultural provision, enrich and revive dying arts and craft forms and social
interaction for local people who often live relatively isolated regions) (Swarbrooke,
1996 in Rtz, & Puczk, 1998) are also motivational factors for the development
of rural areas. It was based on one or more of the above factors, which has led
many countries both developed and developing to focus on rural tourism.
Fortunately this problem has presented itself to us in the digital age where with the
use of advanced technology and MIS we can resolve it. Websites and network
media are the tools of this new age and information is the mightiest artillery today.
224
Considering the rise of social networking sites, this paper proposes a tourism
networking website. The site in itself will have profiles for all places that would be
covered under this model. Moreover this website will be linked to popular social
networking websites like facebook and google plus. Thus the information will be
available as to which of an individuals facebook or google contacts have been to
the place in question and thereby the person can just contact the individual and
get relied feedback about this place.
The website will be couple with a mobile application which would use the gps of the
phone to guide the user throughout the trip and provide all necessary information
about the location of the phone. But first let us talk about the website.
The profile page would contain feedback of others as well of all individuals who
have experienced the place and are kind enough to provide reviews about it. This
system will give the travel seeker a good mental picture of what he may be about
to experience. The page will also be loaded with all contacts of necessities like
hospitals, police stations, fooding and boarding requirements etc.
The website would login with an individuals facebook account and thereby customize
the page to the preference of the user. The history of the users tours will be
tracked and kept in the database. This information would be used like a standard
CRM (Customer Relationship Management) system to help predict what places
should this user visit in the future and these predictions would be made available
to the user. Thus the system will also give the user a specified direction in which
to start touring instead of a wild goose chase.
225
Thus to go through the aspects of the user landing page, after the user has logged
in:
1.
MY TOURS: Shows the history of the user based on the locations tracked
by the mobile app. This bar will be a reminder of the user and also serve
as a hall of fame in case the user wants to display his track record of
escapades from community
2.
The Content Section: Generally the website would land on the profile
page of the place where the user is accessing it from. Nowadays all
computers connected to the internet are generally tracked by location finders
to give the user localised information with all the searches etc being made,
this would provide the website the location of the user and open the profile
page of the location. The profile would contain description facts pictures
and a section for nearest emergency contacts like ambulance police etc.
3.
The reviews section: this portion would contain all the reviews
about the place about its previous visitors it would also contain a
feature of which of the users facebook/google friends have been
place and when and if they have left behind any comments about
4.
The local Information Bar (CONTACT): would contain information of the

nearest places to board and lodge or tour. Each boarding and lodging
house would also have a rating feature and the highest rated house would
appear first along with description, vacancy, amenities and prices.
5.
Friends who have visited the place: so the visitor can check from his
facebook friends about their visit to the village in question and thereby take
a more personal review
written
special
to this
it.
6. Photos of friends who visited: for a more personal touch.

The website is however just the initial support of this model. The major portion of
the model is dependent on the mobile application.
The mobile application tracks via gps the users phone and having been installed
keep updating a whole stream of information on the users handset so that the user
may not feel lost at any point of time. Primarily through RSS feeds it keeps feeding
information regarding the locality, nearest places of attraction and the emergency
helpline numbers of the neighbourhood area. The location from the phone is also
updated on to the web server in case of any emergency the phone can be tracked
should the user feel the need to be done so.
The app when switched on keeps updating the user with relevant notifications in
such detail that the user doesnt have to rely on a guide or a local person to visit
all the spots of his interest. Moreover based on his travel history the search
algorithm can be personalized that the user recieved priority notifications about
things that he has liked in his past travels. So if the tracker data of the person
226
shows that he has spent more time near temples then more priority is given in his
account to the temples that are around him.
The app also keeps updating on the page of the respective place about the users
visit and the time spent there and at the end of each trip asks the user for a rating
and a feedback such that this information may help the other people in their visit.
The website synced with the social media applications like facebook will also keep
giving notifications to these persons friends about his visit. This of course can be
controlled by privacy options.
Due to the rise of the use of smart phones today even food delivery is trusted to
happen through applications on android or ios platform, the new age world needs
to look at rural tourism of india with a new light and moreover the maximum impact
of global tourism can only be brought about by putting information on platform
independent applications and on the world wide web.
Further as the travel habit of individuals are being recorded on the servers, travel
patterns of groups of people across the world can be tracked and predicted. When
the iTrec model moves from one village to the other, the server information can be
studied and the next village can be customized by iTrec to meet requirements of
the urban traveller based on the knowledge gained from the tours of the previous
village. So in fact iTrec model will develop in itself redundantly.
In the similar fashion along further developments of this model more customization
can be built based on the choice of food that a person would prefer to be served
along his trip to the type of bed that he may want to sleep in or the location of the
place or any special requests like western style lavatories.
PRICING
The pricing for the residence and fooding was built on levels based on the availability
of amenities. So in case of boarding the following were the slabs
1.
Sleeping on Floor, no toilet, no electricity (Typical Camping)
2.
Seperate bed, Indian toilet, no electricity
3.
Seperate room, Indian toilet, electricity
4.
Seperate room, western toilet, electricity
Similar slabs are to be built on the basis of the food that can be provided by the
respective households. The slabs will be based on the cost of the amenities in the
respective part of the country and the cost of acquiring the slab from the neighbouring
city.
The result of this slab will actually intend the host household to develop itself so
that the house moves up to the next slab in order to earn more money on the
arrival of the next guest. Thus in order to earn more money the people in the
house are actually developing their own living standard.
227
Local hotels and Restaurants were contacted to identify the prices of the standard
meals. The contents were meticulously identified and individual pricing were added
to derive at the cost.
We conducted an affordability survey with a similar target segment to identify what
they would pay for such a concept tourism once they opt to offer themselves for
trials.
SWOT
The strength of the above model is that it runs completely on existing infrastructure
and the model is redundant to keep increasing its own infrastructure should it be
chosen to do so. Thus opens up the opportunity for new sources of income in the
Indian village and also increase in employment. Furthermore this model does not
require any amount of huge investment to start with unlike most ventures. The
existing condition of any village is in itself the USP or Unique Selling Point for that
specific village.
However there are some challenges to the implementation of this proposal and the
biggest hurdle in this case is the issue of trust on all parties. The issue of trust of
the visitor about his safety and security in the atmosphere where he is venturing
into and the issue of trust of the village people who sign up for this program in
terms of letting strangers into their house.
The issue of trust amongst the tourists can be resolved by putting more reviews
and star rating systems on the website and moreover promotions to make people
understand that it is this thrill of being in unknown territory that they seek. The
promotions or the ideas must be clear to them that they are stepping out of their
humdrum and comfort zone for recreation. This leaves us only with the issue of
trust of the villagers. The money funneled in can be used for further development
of the agriculture and dairy sectors as it has been done so in Switzerland.
BENEFIT TO THE AGRO-DAIRY SECTOR
iTrec in itself would provide financial support to the rural sector and this money can
be utilized to improve the dary sector of the nation. The following citations show
the problems of the dairy sector in the Indian villages.
Technopak (2010)report on Indian dairy industry shows Lack of proper cold chain
facilities, Gaps in information, Lack of trained and skilled workers, Logistics, Lack
of infrastructure, leads to revenue and milk losses.
FAIDA report of the Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) and Mckinsey and Company
(2006)
Both the report shows that there is great potential for development of food
processing and other agro industry. However, Indias agro industry development
is today plagued by tough challenges, including costly raw material, supply
228
chain inefficiencies, and market demand constraints (Srivastava and Patel,1994;

Goyal, 1994; CIIMckinsey, 1997).Rangasamy& Dhaka, (2007,2008)Show that
the cost of collections and the chilling respectively with the dairy cooperative
societies and the bulk milk coolers keeps on rising due to low milk
procurements, which further increases the cost of transportation, and
processing. Furthermore due to lack of infrastructure at the collection level in
the villages, a lot of the collection is lost or perished.
Brahmaprakash and Dinesh (1997)In their study on infrastructural requirements
for establishment of development and operation of agro-processed, industries
in rural areas opined that lack of market information systems, timely and adequate
financial support and post-harvest technology as the major problems to realize
the rural projects in India.
Roy (1997) opined that lower capacity utilization of the agro-based industries
was reasoned by lack of infrastructural facilities such as lack of transportation,
storage and technology for post-harvest handling. He also opined that the lack
of integrated network between the producer, farmer and the processor as indirect
problem of agro-based industries.
These problems basically point to the simple fact that the lack of development
of the dairy sector is related to the poor financial condition of the villages.
Clearly the government funds arent enough on the grass root level and in
some scenarios the dairy farmers in rural India need the additional income
funneled directly to them in order for them to develop a solution to the above
problems.
CONCLUSION
Models like this on rural tourism has been successful on much smaller scales
as websites promoting mock villages and mock village tourism has been very
successful. For one example we must cite Chokhidhaani, a mock rajasthani
village on the outskirts of Sonipat near Delhi. This campus is a mock of a
typical rajasthani village where the food is served in brass plates and the
guests interact with actual village dialect speaking individuals who sing folk
songs and dance as they do in Rajasthan.
229
Mock villages like these are coming up in numbers and this clearly is an evidence
of the fact that a rural tourism model like iTrec implemented on a large scale can
impact India. iTREC targets to be a premium travel application for every person
who wishes to escape into adventure. It wishes to position as to where the adventure
begins....
Questionnaire
We are researchers who wish to propose a entirely new concept of tourism like
iTrec that helps you escape from your digital civilization into remote India and live
and experience what it feels like to be a part of rural India and the real Incredible
India.
Would you offer yourself to opt for such a concept of tourism ? (Y = 87%; N = 13%)
Would you trust a website and/or app to guide you through vacation in the unknown
parts of our nation? (Y=72%, N=28%)
Does the iTrec website screenshot motivate you further to go in for rural tourism?
(Y=72%, N=28%)
Do you feel you are motivated enough to discontinue the regular type of recreational
tours ? (Y = 78%; N = 22%)
What would offer to pay per day : [For 3 meals a day and boarding]
Pie chart of percentage of people for the units in Rupees
230
How long do you feel that each of your tours will last in an iTrec establishment?
REFERENCES
1.
Roselyne, O. & Morteza, H., (2012), Rural Touriamas a Sustainable Development Alternative:
AN ANALYSIS WITH SPECIAL REFERENCE TO LUANDA, KENYA
2.
Aliza, F. & Abraham, P. (1997), Rural Tourism in Israel
3.
Pompl, W. and Lavery, P. (1993), Tourism in Europe: Structures and Developments.

Wallingford:
4.
CAB International.
5.
Rigg, J., & Ritchie, M. (2002), Production, consumption and imagination in rural Thailand.
Journal
6.
of Rural Studies, 18(4), pp.359-371.
7.
Sharpley, R. and Sharpley, J. (1997), Rural Tourism: An Introduction. London: International

Thomson Business Press.
231
8.
Sirakaya, E., Teye, V. and Snmez, S. (2002), Understanding Residents Support for
Tourism
9.
Development in the Central Region of Ghana. Journal of Travel Research
10. Rural Tourism Strategy by Department of Tourism South Africa (2012)

11. Indo-Israeli Initiative for the Development of the Rural Sector in India
12. Kumar, R & Prabhakar, R. K., Opportunities and Challenges in Indian Dairy Industry Supply
Chain, International Journal of Logistics & Supply Chain Management Perspectives
Pezzottaite Journals.
Websites:
1.
http://www.travelbizmonitor.com/Coverstory/top-10-challenges-for-tourism-growth-in-india10816
2.
http://www.yourarticlelibrary.com/tourism/problems-and-prospects-of-tourism-industry-inindia/14094/
3.
http://www.firstpost.com/india/why-india-is-not-so-incredible-for-tourists-1012121.html
232
Promoting Healthcare ProviderThrough Camp

Mainak Mukherjee*
ABSTRACT
Indian healthcare industry is in mode of expansion. One of the highest growing industry in
India, with enormous scope. The factors where the healthcare provider need to emphasis are;
Quality service 2. Better facilities 3. Security and safety 4. Reasonable price, and we should
promote our services. There are several ways of promotion, i.e. Advertisement, hoarding,
conference, continuous medical education, social media promotion, search engine
optimisation, sponsoring events, camps etc. This article will help to understand the promotion
through camps and its effectiveness. And this will benefit the society as well as the healthcare
provider. We can come to know the need of patient. This will help the healthcare provider to
promote their services through camp in effective ways and identify the increasing of patient
from camp promotion. The scientific methods used to analyse the date which are collected
from primary sources i.e. filling survey forms.
Key Words: promotion, healthcare, camp, marketing
INTRODUCTION
Healthcare industry is a wide and intensive form of services which are associated with
well being of human. The healthcare sector in India is expected to grow at a CAGR of 15
per cent, to touch USD90 billion in 2017 from USD58.2 billion in 2014. The per capita
healthcare expenditure has increased at a CAGR of 10.3 per cent from USD43.1 in 2008
to USD57.9 in 2011, and is expected to reach USD88.7 by 2015. Rising incomes, easier
access to high-quality healthcare facilities, and greater awareness of personal health
and hygiene have all led to the growth of healthcare in India. Healthcare providers in India
are expected to spend USD1.08 billion on IT products and services in 2014, a four per
cent increase over 2013. And the requirement of quality healthcare provider will always be
in demand. Quality health care provider will work toward quality service at reasonable
price.
Promotion refers to raising customer awareness of a product or brand, generating sales,
and creating brand loyalty. It is one of the four basic elements of the market mix, which
includes the four Ps: price, product, promotion, and place.
Promotion is also defined as one of five pieces in the promotional mix or promotional
plan. These are personal selling, advertising, sales promotion, direct marketing,
and publicity. A promotional mix specifies how much attention to pay to each of the five
factors, and how much money to budget.
Fundamentally, there are three basic objectives of promotion. These are.
*
Research Scholar, Bhagwant University, Ajmer, Rajasthan 305004. e-mail:mainakdoc@gmail.com
233
1. To present information to consumers and others.

2. To increase demand.
3. To differentiate a product.
The purpose of a promotion and thus its promotional plan can have a wide range, including:
sales increases, new product acceptance, creation of brand equity, positioning, competitive
retaliations, or creation of a corporate image.
It have been found that most of the hospitals promote them through free health camps,
and there may be a good number of people who attend the camp but dont ends up to
hospitals. Which make them wonder, whether the whole plan was worth or not. People
who attain the camp forget about the hospital which organised the camp within few days.
And hospitals end up with very less number of referrals from such camps. This study will
help the healthcare provider to identify the best way to promote them in camp.
METHODOLOGY
The study was conducted between January 2015 to March 2015 using survey form. 100
survey forms with open ended questions were distributed at camp site to the people who
came in the camp for their check up. We promised to keep secrets of personal information
of all the subjects. Therefore, this study did not affect the ethics of subjects. Once the
questionnaire completed, the analysis was done through scientific methods, Consisting
of five grade point i.e. Strongly disagree, Disagree, Neither agree nor disagree, Agree,
Strongly agree. And identified the major need of the people, who came in the camp for
their check up.
FINDINGS
Form the rigorous study it have came out people have very less expectation from health
camp, with hundred survey form only six kind of expectation have been found.( Figure 1)
87 % of People feels health camps are beneficial for society. 94% of peoples think camp
is the best medium to reach people for promoting healthcare provider then advertisement.
It have found 43% of people who came in the camp wants initial diagnoses and referring
them to specialised doctors. 21% of people want proper guidance and 18% of people is
asking for discount card this are major requirements. Other then this 5% of people expects
specialised doctor in camp and 2% of people have no expectations.
Figure 2 explains 64% of people need special care as extra for going through camp
whereas 22% of people wants good doctors and 14% of people wants special discounts.
It shows the extra need, people expects for visiting hospitals through camps.
CONCLUSION
The result from the study shows camp is one of the best ways of promotion for healthcare
provider. There are some basic need and special requirement of the patient who comes
from the camp. We can easily find their need:
1. Extra discount
2. They need special care at hospital
234
Fig. 1
Fig. 2
3. Should be properly guided and referred
4. Providing information about specialised doctors
5. Materials for increasing awareness
As >80% of People feels health camps are beneficial for society and > 90% of peoples
think camp is the best medium to reach people for promotion of healthcare provider, only
healthcare provider needs to guide them with proper and correct information and the
benefits the patient can avail, can result more loyal patient.
LIMITATION
As sample size is only one hundred, may be the expectation is low, with increase in
sample size expectation can also increase.
REFERENCE
1.
Kurtz, Dave. (2010). Contemporary Marketing. Mason, OH: South-Western Cengage

Learning
2.
McCarthy, Jerome E. (1964). Basic Marketing. A Managerial Approach. Homewood, IL:

Irwin. p. 769.ISBN 0256025339
235
3.
Rajagopal. (2007) Marketing Dynamics: Theory and Practice. New Delhi, India: New
Age International. Retrieved April 5, 2010, from NJIT EBook Library: http://www.njit.
eblib.com.libdb.njit.edu:8888/patron/FullRecord.aspx?p=437711
4.
www.kpmg.com/IN/en/services/Tax/unionbudget2014/Documents/Healthcare-PoV2014
236
Theoretical Approach to Develop

Psychological CapitalWay to Empower
Individuals for High Performance
Dr. Ishita Chatterjee* & Dishari Gupta**
ABSTRACT
The emergence of the positive psychology movement provided an increased awareness on
the relative importance that positive psychological strengths and capacities can have on human
functioning. Human capital as conceptualized by Fitz-enz (2000) consists of four subsets:
Psychological capital, Intellectual capital, Emotional capital, and Social capital termed as
PIES. We use the term psychological capital here to represent individual motivational
propensities that accrue through positive psychological constructs such as efficacy, optimism,
hope, and resilience.
Psychological Capital (PsyCap) is one of the positive personal resources to enhance an
individuals success at workplace. Luthans et al. (2007a) defined Psychological Capital (or
PsyCap) as: an individuals positive psychological state of development that is characterized
by: (1) having confidence (self-efficacy) to take on and put in the necessary effort to succeed
at challenging tasks; (2) making a positive attribution (optimism) about succeeding now and
in the future; (3) persevering toward goals and, when necessary, redirecting paths to goals
(hope) in order to succeed; and (4) when beset by problems with adversity, sustaining and
bouncing back and even beyond (resiliency) to attain success
Empowerment is the core of a high-performing organization that enables non-managerial
employees to participate in substantive decisions. As organizations seek ways to help
employees navigate the ever-challenging work environment, they increasingly are recognizing
the importance of positivity and concentrating on developing employee strengths, rather than
dwelling on the negative and trying to fix employee vulnerabilities and weaknesses.
Through this paper we have focused on how organizations can take up the process of developing
psychological capital in employees for better performance.
Key Words: Psychological Capital, Efficacy, Optimism, Hope, Resilience, Empowerment

INTRODUCTION
The stock of competencies, knowledge, habits, social and personality attributes, including
creativity, cognitive abilities, embodied in the ability to perform labor so as to produce
economic value comprises of what is generally called Human Capital. Human capital in a
lay mans word is what value each employee brings to the organization, according to his/
her knowledge, capabilities and skills. Traditionally, economic capital (both financial and
*
**
Assistant Professor, Dept. of Applied Psychology, University of Calcutta, E-mail: ishm55@gmail.com

Research Scholar, Dept. of Applied Psychology, University of Calcutta, E-mail:dishari.gupta@gmail.com
237
tangible assets such as plant and equipment) has received all the attention. But managers
today recognize the importance not only of tangible assets, data and physical resources,
but also of this intangible human capital.
One of the positive personal resource to enhance an individuals success at workplace is
Psychological Capital. Although the term psychological capital has been mentioned
briefly in various works on economics, investment, and sociology, we draw on the emerging
positive psychology movement for our definition. Very briefly, positive psychology got its
start just a few years ago when research psychologist Martin Seligman challenged the
field to change from a preoccupation with what is wrong and dysfunctional with people to
what is right and good about them. Specifically, it focuses on strengths rather than
weaknesses, health and vitality rather than illness and pathology. Drawn from positive
psychology and, more recently, what we have termed positive organizational behavior,
or POB, such capacities are measurable, open to development, and can be managed for
more effective work performance, according to Luthans (2002).
In 2004, with the ideas of positive psychology and positive organizational behavior as the
framework for reflection, Luthans et al. set forth the concept of positive psychological
capital with emphasis on positive powers of individuals as the core following the analysis
of characteristics and differences of economic, human and social capital, which makes
scholars start to pay attention to the study on and its impact on leaders and employees.
Luthans et al. pointed out that the PsyCap refers to the individuals positive state of mind,
which mainly includes the four aspects of confidence or self-efficacy, hope, optimism and
resilience. The most promising and comprehensive definition of the term, PsyCap is,
an Individuals positive psychological state of development that is characterized by: a)
having confidence (self efficacy) to take on and put in the necessary effort to succeed at
challenging tasks; b) making a positive attribution (optimism) about succeeding now and
in the future; c) preserving towards goals and, when necessary, redirecting paths to goals
(hope) in order to succeed; and d) when beset by problems and adversity, sustaining and
bouncing back and even beyond (resiliency) to attain success (Luthans, Youssef &
Avolio,2007). PsyCap can be viewed as who one is and what one can become in
terms of positive development (Avolio & Luthans, 2006) and is differentiated from human
capital (what one knows ), social capital (who one knows), and financial capital
(what one have) (Luthans, Luthans & Luthans, 2004). Some of the most recent advances
in the POB domain are concerned with applying, developing and managing psychological
capital at the workplace.
Empowerment forms the core of a high-performance work system is an organization that
enables non-managerial employees to participate in substantive decisions. Empowerment,
as a HRM practice, has found strong support in the literature and has been included in
the set of high performance practices by various researchers in western context (Arthur,
1994; Becker & Gerhart, 1996; Chand & Khatou, 2007; Fey, Bjrkman, & Pavlovskaya,
2000; Forth & Millward, 2004; Godard, 2001; Guthrie, Flood, Liu, & MacCurtain, 2009;
Ichniowski, Shaw, & Prennushi, 1997; Par & Tremblay, 2007; Pfeffer, 1998; Paul &
Anantharaman, 2003; Schneider, 1988; White, Hill, Mcgovern, Mills, & Smeaton, 2003;
Wood & Wall, 2007). As organizations seek ways to help employees navigate the everchallenging work environment, they increasingly are recognizing the importance of positivity
and concentrating on developing employee strengths, rather than dwelling on the negative
238
and trying to fix employee vulnerabilities and weaknesses. In this respect, Positive
Psychology (and in particular PsyCap) has a great potential for influencing the efficiency
and performance of the human resource of an organization.
The four positive psychological capacities of confidence, hope, optimism, and resilience
are measurable, open to development, and can be managed through focused interventions
for more effective work performance (Luthans, Luthans, & Luthans, 2004; Caza, McCarter,
Hargrove, & Wad, 2009) and, therefore, being able to train and develop a positive approach
to OB for leaders/managers and their people is critical to this approach (Luthans, 2002)
including employees in the goal-setting processes can lead to high-hope employees
(Lopez, 2007). Thus, empowerment and firms performance appraisal philosophy can
significantly influence hope of its employees. Selective staffing practices that select
employees based on their levels of positive psychological capacities are more likely to
develop a workforce high on Psychological Capital (Caza et al., 2009). High-performance
work practices signal to the employees that the organization views them as a strategic
resource, invests in their development, recognizes their contribution, and cares for their
well-being (Chuang & Liao, 2010). These HRM practices that focus on employee wellbeing (e.g. empowerment, coaching and mentoring, competency development, merit-based
promotions, information-sharing) create an environment conducive for the development of
psychological capital and can foster positive employee attitudes and behaviors in the
workplace (Muse, Harris, Giles, & Field, 2008). Psychological Capital provides us with a
new human resource development approach to help employees build the critical resources
they need in todays stress-filled work-place (Avey et al., 2009). The delineation of human
(what I know), social (who I know), and psychological capital(who I am and what I can
become) and introducing coherent effort to develop them enables organizations to make
best use of its human resources.
Constituent Elements of PsyCap
According to the concept of psychological capital, its constituent elements must have
the following characteristics: stateful, developmental, enthusiastic, discriminant validity
different from other concepts, and an impact on individual performance. Thus, confidence,
hope, optimism and perseverance are considered PsyCap dimensions most suitable for
the aforementioned criteria (Luthans, 2004). First of all, they can be developed, and are a
positive state of mind that has an impact on employee performance. Speaking of hope,
Snyder (2002) believed that it was composed of the will power, objectives and ways to
achieve them, and that there are convergent validity and discriminant validity between
hope and other positive states, but hope also has an important influence on managers
and their staffs personal performance; the study of Larson et al (2007) also shows that
hope has a positive effect on staff satisfaction, organizational commitment and work
happiness, and there is discriminant validity compared with other concepts. As a result,
hope is in line with the requirements of PsyCap concept, so it could be a dimension of
psychological capital. The relevant confidence (self-efficacy) study is the most solid.
Many studies have shown that the concept of confidence, which is stateful, developmental,
and enthusiastic, is an independent concept, and is closely linked with staffs job
performance. Optimism is a positive experience for the future. Peterson (2003) pointed
out that the real optimism, which can overcome barriers on the road to success, can be
a state that can be changed. Seligman (1998) also found that optimism had a major
239
impact on the work efficiency of insurance staff. Youseff (2007) also pointed out that
optimism is highly correlated with employee satisfaction, work happiness, and work
performance. Similarly, a large number of studies (Luthans; Larson 2006) have also proved
that resilience can be an excellent personal potential that can be cultivated and changed,
and have an important impact on the performance of employees. In addition, there is
discriminant validity based on empirical analysis in the above-mentioned four factors.
(Magaletta & Oliver, 1999; Youssef & Luthans, 1998). Meanwhile, there is a factor that
plays a common role in the deeper level of these concepts. It closely combines them
together and is probably the high-level factorPsyCap. PsyCap is made up of confidence,
hope, optimism, and resilience. Self-efficacy (or confidence) refers to the confidence
level of the role that individuals play of their motivation, cognitive resources and action
steps, and of the ability of the specific tasks in a given scenario of successful management;
hope means a positive motivational state of the sense of success resulting from the
interaction based on between agent (goal-oriented activity) and the path ( plan to achieve
its objectives); optimism can be defined by the two key dimension (persistence and
pervasiveness) of the peoples explanatory style about good and bad events to define,
and refers to the positive explanatory style by which a good case is ascribed to the
internal, lasting and pervasive reason, and the bad events attributed to external and
temporary reason under the specific scenario; resilience is an ability to recover quickly
from adversity. People with this kind of resilience are characterized by steadily accepting
the reality, firmly believing the life meaning under the support of stable values, and having
the capability of supernaturally coping with and adapting to big changes on a temporary
basis.
Hope
Hope in the context of psychological capital is different than the normal feeling of
expectation. The development of hope begins with a deliberate focus on reasonable, yet
challenging goals. Once the goals are specifically stated, pathways toward achievement
are created through answering the following: What resources will be needed? Who can
help along the way? What specific accomplishments will build toward the end-goal?
The purpose is to envision the path from start to finish for each personal or professional
goal.
The key to this step is to consider those events with the potential to derail the success
of the plan. What happens if there is a corporate merge that affects current job duties?
How will the launch of a new product impact the path? What should the response be in
the case of a lost promotion? What will the reaction to displacement be? By asking
these and other impactful questions, multiple pathways are created both in the mind and
on paper so that if one path is blocked, there is another one already prepared. Hope
launches the foundation-building that is essential to shifting pre-learned responses and
the negative behaviors that follow.
Self-Efficacy
For seasoned professionals, self-efficacy might translate as the maintenance of the
practical and people skills that have been learned and perfected to date. In this context,
however, self-efficacy focuses on building the confidence necessary to take on additional
challenges and putting in whatever effort is needed to succeed. Guarding against
240
complacency must be approached intentionally and it begins through task-mastery. Simply

put, take time to develop multiple pathways to success for each goal specified in the
hope component. Confidence is built by having a plan and staying the course until the
goal is achieved. Bandura (1997) has clearly shown that self-efficacy can be enhanced in
four very specific ways. First, efficacy is developed when an employee experiences success
(task mastery). Second, employees efficacy can be developed when they vicariously
learn how to do something by observing others (i.e., modeling) in their relevant comparison
group accomplish a task and be rewarded. Third, efficacy is developed when being
persuaded by or receiving positive feedback from respected others. Fourth, efficacy is
developed and enhanced through physiological and/or psychological arousal and wellness.
Gist and Mitchell (1992) believes that self-efficacy is the way to determine personal
capacities, and use the way of stimulating, cognitive resources and ways of action in
order to reach a future performance on specific tasks. Self-efficacy has decided that
people selected behavioral tasks and the persistence and effort in the tasks
Resilience
Resiliency has been defined as the positive psychological capacity to rebound, to bounce
back from adversity, uncertainty, conflict, failure, or even positive change, progress and
increased responsibility (Luthans, 2002). Therefore, resilience can be characterized by
coping responses not only to adverse events, but also to extreme positive events as well.
It is no longer enough to bounce back after experiencing the unexpected or
disappointment. Those seeking to strengthen their psychological capital must learn to
bounce back even stronger than before. Once learned, these employees are ever-ready
to face whatever challenges yet remain steady in the face of the unknown. Building
resilience begins by recognizing what can be controlled and what cannot.
When a business announces reorganization, employees have zero control over the
companys decision. What can be controlled is the employees reaction to the
announcement. This is also where perception plays a role in behavior. If the reorganization
is perceived as negative, the thoughts and actions that follow will be negative. To combat
the negativity, first decide between rumor and fact. From there, define what can and
cannot be controlled. The key to resilience is to deal with reality, not assumption, and to
recognize that the only part of the unknown that can be controlled is the response to it.
Optimism
Learned optimism is the culmination of the previous three tenets of psychological capital.
When viewing a glass on a table, the optimistic person will immediately recognize that
the glass is full of somethingeven if its only air! This kind of approach to lifes challenges
means making a positive attribution about succeeding now and in the future. It is the
consistent search for something good that can be carried away from every situation. It is
the encouraging factor that propels a person over the obstacle of the unknown. Optimism
is not based on an unchecked process that has no realistic assessment. This realistic
optimism as a state (as opposed to a dispositional trait), includes an objective assessment
of what one can accomplish in a specific situation, given the available resources at that
time, and therefore can vary. Tiger (1979) advocated that when the evaluators regard the
future expectations or materiality as the need in the society, and he has interested and
brought happiness, then this expectation associated attitude is optimistic. Diener (1984)
241
advocated that the optimism affect the physical and mental health and personal
achievements deeply.
Developing these four core areas of the mind positively impacts emotional intelligence
and the leadership behavior that follows. Negativity and anxiety over the unknown can
breed an environment of frustration and ambivalence. Such negativity permeates individual
work, team projects, and manifests itself in the corporate bottom line. The proactive
solution to this is to arm employees with the psychological tools that will serve them in
every position now and for the rest of their professional lives. Sharpening these tools in
the workforce can create a competitive advantage for every psychologically and emotionallydeveloped organization. PsyCap does have effect on performance. A case study on
psychological capital and teaching effectiveness in Elementary schools in Taiwan by J.H.
Wang et al (2014) showed that the aspects of the psychological capital of the elementary
school s teachers have the influence on every aspects and integrity of teaching
effectiveness . The analysis concluded that the Hope self efficacy and Resiliency of
the elementary school teachers have high prediction on the teaching effectiveness. Fatih
Cetins 2011 study on Effects of the Organizational Psychological Capital on the attitudes
of Commitment and Satisfaction in a public sample of Turkey shows that organizational
commitment has positive relationship between hope and optimism dimensions and job
satisfaction has positive relationship between resilience, hope and optimism dimensions
of the organizational psychological capital. Ultimately organizational psychological capital
was found a significant predictor of the employee attitudes of organizational commitment
and job satisfaction.
Implications
In conclusion, this article provides preliminary evidence that PsyCap may be a positive
resource used to enhance employee PWB. While well-being has been shown to have
reciprocal effects on work related outcomes such as job satisfaction, the means for
understanding and affecting these reciprocal processes have received little attention.
Psychologists associate these four qualities with higher performance, commitment, and
satisfaction. In fact, research has found that higher PsyCap directly leads to things such
as lower employee absenteeism, lower employee cynicism and intentions to quit, and
higher job satisfaction, commitment, and organizational citizenship behaviors. Researchers
also report significant relationships between level of PsyCap and:
desirable employee attitudes (job satisfaction, organizational commitment,

psychological well-being),
desirable employee behaviors (citizenship)
multiple measures of performance (self, supervisor evaluations, and objective).
undesirable employee attitudes (cynicism, turnover intentions, job stress, and

anxiety)
undesirable employee behaviors (deviance).

A major factor in a healthy organizational culture is the fit between an organizations
values and the disposition and values of the employees. A specific value is to examine
where on the continuum ones organization falls between change and stability. Some
organizations are prone to change where others are much more stable and stagnant.
How employees respond to change and innovation is important to consider in order to
242
have a good fit with personal and organizational culture. Having a good fit will help
employees be energized, have a positive attitude, and feel safe and secure in their role.
Virtuous organizations infuse an ethical perspective into their cultures, have multiple
bottom lines, promote self-determining, emotionally intelligent, and team-oriented behavior
patterns and develop supportive leaders that enable others to succeed, all of which can
lead to productive and creative outcomes. During times of economic stress and uncertainty,
an organization can benefit from developing a culture of integrity, trust, and respect. An
environment of negativity, cynicism, and mistrust are not as productive or satisfying as
those of positivity, confidence, optimism, hope, and resilience. Organizations can learn
to coach employees to set challenging, measurable, personally valuable goals, as well
as realistic pathways and approach strategies to accomplish these goals and overcome
obstacles. Through using strengths and achieving growth, Positive Psychological Capital
can enhance job-satisfaction and performance. Managers who hire employees with similar
levels of PsyCap may find higher levels of person-organization fit, employee engagement,
and job satisfaction. In terms of selection, managers may look for employees who are
high in terms of PsyCap. Not only has PsyCap been empirically shown to be directly
related to higher levels of performance and job satisfaction (Luthans et al., 2007), but it is
also logical that employees who are more hopeful, resilient, optimistic, and confident
(efficacious) can provide higher value to an organization than can employees lower in
these psychological capacities. Additionally, it would seem beneficial for managers and
leaders to take measures to increase employees identification with their organization,
such as striving for a higher organizational purpose. In turn, this might enhance employees
feeling they are working for a higher good and higher moral standards, which can also
create feelings the organization is a worthy place to work.
REFERENCES
1.
Avey, J. B., Luthans, F., & Jensen, S. M. (2009). Psychological capital: A positive resource
for combating employee stress and turnover. Human Resource Management, 48(5),
677- 693.
2.
Bandura, A. (1997). Self-efficacy: The exercise of control. New York: Freeman.
3.
Becker, B. E. & Gerhart, B. (1996). The impact of human resource management on

organizational performance: progress and prospects. Academy of Management Journal,
39(4), 779801.
4.
Caza, A., McCarter, M. W., Hargrove, D., & Wad, S. R. (2009). Third party effects of
Psychological Capital: Observer attributions and responses. Academy of Management
Proceedings, 1-6.
5.
ETN, Fatih (2011), The Effects of the Organizational Psychological Capital on the
Attitudes of Commitment and Satisfaction: A Public Sample in Turkey, European Journal
of Social Sciences, 21 (3), 373-380.
6.
Chand, M., & Katou, A. A. (2007). The impact of HRM practices on organizational
performance in the Indian hotel industry. Employee Relations, 29(6), 576-594.
7.
Chuang, C., & Liao, H. (2010). Strategic human resource management in service context:
Taking care of business by taking care of employees and customers. Personnel
Psychology,63(1), 153-196.
8.
Diener, E and Emmons, R. A. (1984). The independence of positive and negative effect,
Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, vol. 47, no. 5, pp. 1105-1117.
243
9.
Forth, J., & Millward, N. (2004). High-involvement management and pay in Britain. Industrial
Relations, 43(1), 98-119.
10.
Fey, C. F., Bjrkman, I. & Pavlovskaya, A. (2000). The effect of human resource practices
on firm performance in Russia. International Journal of Human Resource Management,
11(1), 1-18.
11.
Gist, M. E. and Mitchell, T. R. (1992) Self-efficacy: A theoretical analysis of its determinants

and malleability, Academy of Management Review, no.17, pp.183211.
12.
Godard, J. (2001). High performance and the transformation of work? The implications
of alternative work practices for the experience and outcomes of work. Industrial and
Labor Relations Review, 54(4), 776-805.
13.
Guthrie, J. P., Flood, P. C., Liu, W., & MacCurtain, S. (2009). High performance work
systems in Ireland: human resource and organizational outcomes. The International
Journal of Human Resource Management, 20(1), 112-125.
14.
Ichniowski, C., Shaw, K. & Prennushi, G. (1997). The effects of human resource
management practices on productivity. American Economic Review, 87(3), 291313.
15.
J. H. Wang, Y. T. Chen, and M. H. Hsu, (2014) A case study on Psychological Capital and
Teaching Effectiveness in Elementary Schools IACSIT International Journal of
Engineering and Technology, Vol. 6, No. 4
16.
Larson, M., & Luthans, F. (2006). Potential added value of psychological capital in
predicting work attitudes. Journal of Leadership & Organizational Studies, 13(2), 75-92.
17.
Lopez, S. (2007). The business case for instilling hope. Gallup Management Journal,
February 1-6.
18.
Luthans, Fred. 2002(a). The need for and meaning of positive organizational behavior.
Journal of Organizational Behavior 23/6 (September): 695-706.
19.
Luthans, F., Avey, J. B., Avolio, B. J., Norman, S. M., & Combs, G. M. (2006). Psychological
capital development: Towards a micro-intervention. Journal of Organizational Behaviour,
27, 387-393.
20.
Luthans, F., Luthans, K. W., & Luthans, B. C. (2004). Positive psychological capital: Going
beyond human and social capital. Business Horizons, 47(1), 45-50.
21.
Luthans, F., Youssef, C. M., & Avolio, B. J. (2007). Psychological Capital: Developing the
Human Competitive Edge. New York: Oxford University Press.
22.
L. Tiger. (2000) Optimism: The biology of hope, In C. Peterson, The Future of Optimism,
American Psychologist, vol. 55, no. 1, pp. 44-55.
23.
Magaletta, P. R., & Oliver, J. M. (1999). The hope construct, will and ways: Their relations
with self-self efficacy, optimism and well-being. Journal of Clinical Psychology, 55, 539
551.
24.
Muse, L., Harris, S. G., Giles, W. F., & Feild, H. S. (2008). Work-life benefits and positive
organizational behavior: Is there a connection? Journal of Organizational Behavior, 29,
171- 192.
25.
Par, G., & Tremblay, M. (2007). The influence of high-involvement human resources
practices, procedural justice, organizational commitment, and citizenship behaviors on
244
information technology professionals turnover intentions. Group & Organization

Management, 32(3), 326-357.
26.
Paul, A. K., & Anantharaman, R. N. (2004). Influence of HRM practices on organizational

commitment: A study among software professionals in India. Human Resource
Development Quarterly, 15(1), 77-88.
27.
Peterson, S. ve Luthans, F. (2003), The positive impact of development of hopeful

leaders, Leadership and Organization Development Journal, 24, pp 2631.
28.
Pfeffer, J. (1998). The human equation: Building profits by putting people first. Boston:
Harvard Business School Press.
29.
Schneider, S. C. (1988). National vs. corporate culture: Implications for human resource
management. Human Resource Management, 27(2), 231-246.
30.
Seligman, Martin E.P. 2002. Authentic happiness. New York: Free Press.
31.
Snyder C. R. (2002). Hope theory: Rainbows in the mind. Psychological Inquiry, 13(4),
249- 276.
32.
White, M., Hill, S., Mcgovern, P., Mills, C., & Smeaton, D. (2003). High-performance
management practices, working hours and work-life balance. British Journal of Industrial
Relations, 41(2), 175-195.
33.
Wood, S. J., & Wall, T. D. (2007). Work enrichment and employee voice in human resource
management-performance studies. International Journal of Human Resource
Management, 18(7), 1335-1372.
34.
Youssef, C. M. ve Luthans, F. (2007), Positive organizational behavior in the workplace:

The impact of hope, optimism, and resiliency, Journal of Management, 33, pp 774-800.
35.
http://www.globoforce.com/gfblog/2013/self-efficacy-optimism-resilience-and-hope/
245
246
Impact of Foreign Institutional Investors and

Domestic Institutional Investors on Indian
Stock Markets An Empirical Study for the
Period 2012 to 2015
Rasesh Bhagat* & Baishali Agarwal**
ABSTRACT
The Indian stock market is vast and has attracted investors from all over the globe. India is
steadily growing as a market and has attracted both foreign and domestic investors. In the
past few years it has become a hotspot for investments. The major part of investment in Indian
market is attributed to institutional investors who are of primary importance. An eminent concern
in the matter is whether these foreign and domestic investors (FII & DII) direct the trends of
Indian stock market. This paper examines whether the impact of these investors on the stock
markets direct the market movement. FII, because of its short-term nature, can have
bidirectional causation with the returns of other domestic financial markets such as money
markets, stock markets, and foreign exchange markets. On the other hand, DIIs because of
its long term nature can provide the much needed stability to the domestic stock markets.
Hence, understanding the determinants of FII & DII is very important for any emerging economy
as they create a larger impact on the domestic financial markets in the short run and a real
impact in the long run. The objective of the study is to find out whether there exists a relationship
between FII, DII and Indian stock market.
INTRODUCTION
With quick changes in its economy, in light of liberal financial arrangements and rapid
changes because of globalization, Indian business market has turned into a center point
for remote speculators.
Associations tend to target vast volume of exchange in this period of globalization. Trade
flows are indeed one of the most visible aspects of globalization. International investments
can push the world towards closer financial and economic integration.
Institutional investment is the investment made by foundations or institutions, for example,
banks, insurance agencies, shared asset houses, mutual funds and so on in the financial
assets of a nation. Foreign Institutional Investors (FII) alludes to the speculation made by
outside investors in the financial capital and assets of another nation. It encourages vast
**
Undergraduate student, 3rd Year,Department of Business Administration, St Xaviers College, Kolkata.

E-mail:rbhagat@hotmail.com
F a c u l t y, Dep artment of Business Administration, St Xavier s College, Kolkata.E-mail:
bagarwal77@gmail.com
247
profitability and help in taking care of balance of payments. FII flows in India have
ceaselessly grown in significance.
In addition to the foreign institutional investors, the Domestic Institutional Investors (DII)
assume a part in influencing the net venture flows into the economy of a nation. Domestic
institutional investors are those institutional speculators which embrace interest in
securities and other money related resources of their own nation.
Need for Foreign Capital
The need of foreign investment/ foreign capital arises due to the following reasons:
Development of essential infrastructure: Infrastructure assumes a noteworthy

part in the improvement of any economy. The base offices, for example, Roads,
Railways, sea ports, warehouses banking services and insurance services are a
major a portion of our day to day lives. Because of their long term nature, they do
not attract in financial investors. Government of India cannot fund the entire
investment. To fill the gap outside capital is exceedingly suitable.
Rapid industrialization: The requirement for foreign capital emerges because of

the initiatives of the Government to expand the velocity of industrialization. For
example, the Government of India is step by step opening the sectors to foreign
direct investments to push the industrial sector.
To undertake the initial risk: numerous developing nations experience the ill effects
of extreme lack of private speculators. The risk issue can be redirected to the outside
industrialists by permitting them to fund. This is on account of despite the fact that
Indians are risk averse, foreign investors are open to take risks in search of higher
payoffs.
Global objectives: Globalization is the order of the day. The universal understandings
between nations are also a purpose behind access to remote capital. The multinational
organizations are extending their vicinity over the globe through ventures. The
standards of WTO and other territorial affiliations are tying the nations to permit
outside capital.
Comparative favourable position: The variation in the cost of capital like interest
rate is also one of the vital elements for the increment in foreign capital. For instance;
Interest rates are high in India contrasted with developing economies. To diminish
the cost of capital, organizations/associations are currently searching for outside
financial investors. In a few nations the interest rates are as low as 1% to 3%, where
as in a few nations the financing costs are as high as 8% to 10% per annum.
To remove the technological gap: The developing countries are not as

technologically advanced as developed countries. However, these developing
countries posses a strong urge for industrialization to develop their economies and
to wriggle out of the low level equilibrium trap in which they are caught. This raises
the necessity for cutting edge technology present in the advanced countries. That
technology usually comes with foreign capital in the form of private foreign investment
or foreign collaboration.
248
Along with FIIs, Domestic Institutional Investors also play a big role in influencing stock
market valuations. On a daily basis, Indian institutions invest crores of rupees into the
market. This paper reveals if the FIIs & DIIs influence the Indian Equity Market. The
present study also focuses on their investment pattern in the Indian stock market. It
examines the factors expected to affect the investment decisions of FIIs & DIIs. This
paper makes an attempt to understand whether there exists a relationship between FII,
DII and Equity Market returns in India.
Institutional Investors and Indian Stock Market
Foreign Institutional Investor is used to denote an investor, generally an institution or
entity that invests money in the financial markets of a country. The term FII is most
commonly used in India to refer to companies that are established or incorporated outside
India, and are investing in the financial markets of India. And, Domestic Institutional
Investors are those establishments that invest in the home country itself. These investors
must register with the Securities & Exchange Board of India (SEBI) to take part in the
market. Over the past ten years, foreign investment has grown at a faster pace than
international trade and world economic production. From 1980 to 1998, international capital
flows, a key indication of investment across borders, grew by almost 25% annually,
compared to the 5% growth rate of international trade. Along with FIIs, Domestic Institutional
Investors also play a big role in influencing stock market valuations. On a daily basis,
Indian institutions invest crores of rupees into the market, which is a powerful catalyst for
economic growth. But as with many of the other aspects of globalisation, foreign investment
is raising many new questions about economic, cultural and political relationships around
the world. Flows of investment and the rules that govern or fail to govern it can have
profound impacts upon such diverse issues as economic development, environmental
protection, labour standards and economic stability. India opened its stock market to
foreign investors in September 1992, and in 1993, received portfolio investment from
foreigners in the form of foreign institutional investment in equities. This has become one
of the main channels of FII in India. Initially, there was a lot of restriction on FIIs to invest
in India. But over the years, in order to attract more investors, the major source (almost
50%) of money invested by FIIs is from the issue of Participatory Notes (P-Notes) or what
are sometimes called Offshore Derivatives. They are instruments used by foreign investors
that are not registered with the SEBI (Securities & Exchange Board of India) to invest in
Indian stock markets.
According to analysts, the upward revision of economic growth, better-than-expected
performance of companies at the year-end and the new investment environment provided
by the government have all revived the confidence of FIIs investing in India. FII make up a
major portion of these investments through the primary market, rather than buying via
secondary markets.
249
Figure 1 FII Investments each financial year.
(Source: National Securities Depository Ltd.)

The chart clearly indicates that investments by FIIs have gone up exponentially during
the last few years compared to the 1990s.However the drastic decrease was only due to
the Global Recession during 2008.
Figure 2
(Source: SEBI website)

250
The figure shows the daily market movements of the Sensex and the daily net inflows
from the FIIs during the period of study.
Figure 3

Figure 3.

251
The figure shows the daily market movements of the Sensex and the daily net investments
from the DIIs during the period of study.
Figure 4

The figure shows the daily market movements of the Nifty and the daily net investments
from the DIIs during the period of study.
TREND OF FII AND DII INVESTMENTS IN INDIA
Foreign Institutional Investors (FII) and Domestic Institutional Investors (DII) include the
following foreign based categories:
Pension Funds
Mutual Funds
Investment Trust
Insurance or reinsurance companies
Investment Trusts
Banks
Endowments
University Funds
Foundations
Charitable Trusts or Charitable Societies
Further, following entities proposing to invest on behalf of broad based funds, are also
eligible to be registered as FIIs:
252
Asset Management Companies

Institutional Portfolio Managers
Trustees
Power of Attorney Holders
Financial instruments available for FII investments
Securities in primary and secondary markets including shares, debentures and

warrants of companies, unlisted, listed or to be listed on a recognized stock exchange
in India;
Units of mutual funds;
Dated Government Securities;
Derivatives traded on a recognized stock exchange;
Commercial papers.
Figure 5 Sectoral investment by FIIs in India as on 31st March 2015
(Source: National Securities Depository Ltd. (NSDL)

It can be seen from the diagram above that the major proportion of FII investments is into
financial services and then followed by investments in the IT and the pharmaceutical
sector.
It can be inferred from the above figure that maximum investments come from the United
States. Mauritius too is a big investor in Indian markets. It is closely followed by Singapore,
Luxembourg and the United Kingdom. The US has always been a key player in markets
all around the globe. India signed a double-tax avoidance agreement with Mauritius and
Singapore which is one of the primary reasons for their investments here.
253
Figure 6 FII AUC Country-wise (top 10 countries) data
(Source: National Securities Depository Ltd. - NSDL)

Figure 7 FII AUC category wise data
(Source: National Securities Depository Ltd. - NSDL)

254
Investments come from a variety of different sources. Mutual funds have a very high
majority. A large chunk of inflow is from broad based funds. These are funds have more
than 20 investors with no investors having more than 10% stake. A sovereign wealth
fund is a state-owned investment fund investing in real and financial assets globally. These
wealth funds including pension funds, banks and university funds invest heavily in Indian
markets.
NEED OF THE STUDY
Since the beginning of liberalization FII flows to India have steadily grown in importance.
Foreign capital flows have come to be acknowledged as one of the important sources of
funds for economies that would like to grow at a rate higher than what their domestic
savings can support. This resulted in the integration of global financial markets. As a
result, capital started flowing freely across national borders seeking out the highest rate
of return. India is considered as a good investment option by world investors in spite of
political differences and lack of infrastructure facility etc. Indian market presents vast
potential and alluring and encouraging foreign investors continuously. Foreign portfolio
inflows through FIIs, in India, are important from the policy perspective, especially when
the country has emerged as one of the most attractive investment destinations in Asia.
Foreign Institutional Investors (FIIs) have emerged as important players in the Indian
equity market in the recent past. Domestic Institutional Investors channelize the funds
from the public to the stock markets via mutual funds, trusts, banks and various other
funds. These pooled in resources of the countrys citizens helps to stimulate more activity
and volatility in the home markets. Examining the trends of these DIIs has become equally
important as the chunk of funds invested by them in the markets is pretty huge.
The primary objective of the study was to find a relationship between Foreign Institutional
Investors (FII), Domestic Institutional Investors (DII) and the Indian Stock Market. The
study tries to determine the factors that may influence the investment decisions of FIIs
and DIIs. With the help of the paper we analyse whether there exists a relationship
between these institutional investors and the domestic indices S&P CNX Nifty and
BSE Sensex.
LITERATURE REVIEW
Past studies on FIIs majorly focused on various determining factors to FII flows and
effects of such flows. Past studies in the Indian context have revealed that investments
by FIIs and the movements of Sensex are closely correlated and FIIs significantly affect
influence on the movement of Sensex .
Kumar (2001) investigated the effects of FII investments on the Indian indices by
examining monthly data from January 1993 to December 1997. He concluded that
their investments are more driven by fundamentals and they do not respond to shortterm changes or technical position of the market.
Mukherjee, Paramita (2002), explored the foreign institutional investment flows to

Indian equity market with its possible covariates based on a daily data-set for the
period Jan. 1999 to May 2002 by employing Granger Causality Test on it. He obtained
255
256
the result that the FII net inflow is correlated with the return in Indian equity market.
So far as investment in Indian equity market is concerned, foreign investors do not
seem to be at informational disadvantage compared to domestic investors. The study
found t that post Asian-crisis period the return in the Indian equity market was the
major driver of the FII inflows, while for the pre-Asian crisis period other factors like
return in other competing markets, urge for diversifications etc. were important reasons
for FII net flows.
Stanley Morgan (2002) has examined that FIIs have played a very important role in
building up Indias forex reserves, which have enabled a host of economic reforms.
Secondly, FIIs are now important investors in the countrys economic growth despite
sluggish domestic sentiment. The Morgan Stanley report notes that FII strongly
influence short-term market movements during bear markets. However, the correlation
between returns and flows reduces during bull markets as other market participants
raise their involvement reducing the influence of FIIs. Research by Morgan Stanley
shows that the correlation between foreign inflows and market returns is high during
bear and weakens with strengthening equity prices due to increased participation
by other players.
Agarwal, Chakrabarti et al (2003) the paper analyses that given the huge volume of
investments, foreign investors could play a role of market makers and book their
profits when the indices rise buy sell their assets.
Gurucharan Singh (2004) highlighted that the securities market in the country needs
to review and check the exchanges and other institutions involved in the process.
Biswas, Joydeep (2005), in their study conducted between 1991 to 2004 found that
foreign institutional investments in India increased the turnover and market liquidity.
But over speculation by FIIs is the major cause for abnormal fluctuations of share
price in Indian stock market in the post-liberalization period. The study concludes
that FII influences the share price movements in Indian stock market but their role in
the development of Indian stock market is still questionable. In his study he used
select stock market development indicators like FII net investments, market
capitalization, turnover ratio, value traded ratio etc.
Pal, Parthapratim (2005), for the period March 2004 to June 2004 investigated
how the withdrawal of funds by foreign portfolio investors post election affected the
equity price and holding pattern of different Sensex companies. He found that
sensex are quite closely related to FIIs movement in India and also support the
feedback-trading hypothesis. He also supports that FIIs being the most influential
in the nonpromoter category of the sensex companies increase volatility in the
market. Kumar investigated the FII inflows on the Sensex from January 1993 to
December 1997 and found that FII investments are more driven by Fundamentals
and are not responsive to short-term changes or technical position of the market. In
order to test the influence of Net FII Investment (NFI) on Sensex, a regression of
NFI was estimated on lagged values of the first difference of NFI, first difference of
Sensex and one lagged value of the error correction term (the residual obtained by
estimating the regression between NFI and Sensex). It was also seen that one
month lag of NFI significantly affected the sensex .However it contradicted the
findings of f Rai and Bhanumurthy who did not find any causation from FII to return
in BSE using similar data between 1994 and 2002 but found significant impact of
return in BSE on NFI. Rai and Bhanumurthy (2004),examined the determinants of

foreign institutional investments in India and their impact on the other domestic
financial markets on the basis of monthly data of BSE from Jan. 1994 to Dec. 2002.
They employed ARMA, GARCH and TARCH model on the data and concluded that
FII inflows depend on stock market returns, inflation rates (both domestic and foreign)
and ex-ante risk. In terms of magnitude, the impact of stock market returns and the
ex-ante risk turned out to be the major determinants of FII inflows. They also suggest
that stabilizing stock market volatility and minimizing the ex-ante risk would help to
attract more FII, an inflow of which has a positive impact on the real economy.
Tripathy (2007), examines the interlinkage among stock market, market capitalization
and net FII investments by applying both Ganger Causality and Vector Auto
Regression test (VAR). The results indicate that there is no significantly causality
between FII investment and market capitalization but there is an unidirectional casual
relationship between market capitalization and stock market and net FII investment
and stock market.
P. Krishna Prasanna (2008) has examined that the institutional investors invest more
in companies included in the Sense. They study the ownership structure, financial
and stock performance, share returns and EPS.
Anand Bansal and J.S. Pasricha (2009) studied the market returns and volatility
preceding the emergence of institutional investors in the stock markets. They
analysed the changes in volatility and average market return after their entry.
Wei (2010) , examined whether capital flows by foreign institutions improve liquidity
in domestic markets. It was found that stocks with increased foreign institutional
ownership subsequently experience higher liquidity. The results from a 2SLS (IV)
regression confirm that liquidity improved more in dividend-paying stocks located in
US tax-treaty countries compared to similar stocks located in non treaty countries.
These patterns are consistent with the notion that institutions improve liquidity through
a variety of channels including information competition and greater liquidity trading.
Thus we see that most empirical researches carried out in the past dealt mostly with FII
net flows which includes both primary and secondary market. The studies concentrated
establishing relationships between return on various market indices, equity returns, market
liquidity, market capitalization and many other stock market development indicators.
The paper examines the Influence of Foreign Institutional Investment and Domestic
Institutional Investment on Equity Stock Market in India. The scope of the research
comprises of information derived from secondary data from various sources. The various
information and statistics were derived from the different sources e.g. websites, journals,
etc. Sensex and Nifty was a natural choice for inclusion in the study, as they are the
most popular market indices and widely used by market participants for benchmarking.
The study period covered under this is for the financial years 2012-13 to 2014-15. The
study conducted is empirical in nature. The secondary data constitutes of daily FII & DII
flows data and the daily returns of SENSEX and NIFTY from BSE and NSE websites
respectively. The analysis has been made by, correlating the FII net investment with
equity market returns to identify whether a relation exists between them. Findings are
included which transmits the important points, which were gathered from the study.
257
Correlation techniques have been used for analysis purpose .The sample data consists
of 724 observations for FII, DII, Sensex and S&P CNX Nifty each starting from April 2012
to March 2015. The daily difference between the open and close of the index and daily
net investment of FII and DII have been taken for the purpose of the study.
The number of scripts under following indices is:
BSE Sensex 30
NSE Nifty 50
From
To
Frequency
BSE Sensex
01-04-2012
31-3-2015
Daily
S&P CNX Nifty
01-04-2012
31-3-2015
Daily
FII
01-04-2012
31-3-2015
Daily
DII
01-04-2012
31-3-2015
Daily
Coefficient of correlation lies between 1 to -1. Coefficient being close to 1, states that the
variables have strong positive linear relationship. Coefficient being close to -1, states that
the variables have strong negative linear relationship.
The following tables 1, 2 and 3 represent the data collected for month of April, 2012. Table
1 showcases the data relating to net investments by FIIs and DIIs. Table 2 and 3 represent
daily data of Nifty and Sensex respectively. Similarly, data was collected for the entire
period of 3 years.
Table 1
FII (Rs. Crore)
DII (Rs. Crore)
DATES
Gross
Purchase
Gross
Sales
Net
Investment
Gross
Purchase
Gross
Sales
30-Apr-12
2100.62
1621.09
479.53
668.05
914.86
-246.81
27-Apr-12
2078.31
2454.53
-376.22
967.17
824.61
142.56
26-Apr-12
3356.74
3732.82
-376.08
1491.42
1427.93
63.49
25-Apr-12
2176.64
2517.48
-340.84
911.18
870.48
40.7
24-Apr-12
2158.43
3019.21
-860.78
1462.54
1043.46
419.08
23-Apr-12
1351.7
1759.19
-407.49
1206.48
754.78
451.7
20-Apr-12
1729.83
1415.79
314.04
1059.95
925.21
134.74
19-Apr-12
1866.75
1969.21
-102.46
936.84
835.84
101
18-Apr-12
2478
2256.37
221.63
988.09
950.21
37.88
17-Apr-12
2403.64
1962.49
441.15
964.09
1177.3
-213.21
258
Net
Investment
16-Apr-12
1341.24
1850.67
-509.43
932.45
714.22
218.23
13-Apr-12
2634.23
2496.98
137.25
1329.61
1809.29
-479.68
12-Apr-12
2030.33
1894.35
135.98
1087.74
850.34
237.4
11-Apr-12
1890.35
2336.12
-445.77
943.15
1025.39
-82.24
10-Apr-12
1864.42
2193.09
-328.67
790.4
980.58
-190.18
09-Apr-12
1075.5
1344.93
-269.43
586.69
692.51
-105.82
04-Apr-12
1330.46
1284.64
45.82
839.54
712.84
126.7
03-Apr-12
1995.03
1662.56
332.47
1096.77
896.49
200.28
02-Apr-12
1861.47
1615.53
245.94
770.91
843.72
-72.81

Table 2
NIFTY
Date
Open
High
Low
Close
(High
(Open-
Low)
-Close)
(Close
-Prev.
Close)
30-04-2012
5201.45
5262.15
5201.45
5248.15
60.7
-46.7
57.55
27-04-2012
5189
26-04-2012
5214.75
5223.05
5154.3
5190.6
5215.6
5179.05
5189
68.75
-1.6
1.6
36.55
25.75
-13
25-04-2012
24-04-2012
5222.2
5236.1
5160.65
5202
5215.9
5232.35
5180.35
5222.65
75.45
20.2
-20.65
52
-6.75
22.05
23-04-2012
5277.4
5310.55
5187.15
20-04-2012
5313.95
5336.15
5245.45
5200.6
123.4
76.8
-90.25
5290.85
90.7
23.1
-41.55
19-04-2012
5320.6
5342.45
5291.3
18-04-2012
5320.7
5342
5293.45
5332.4
51.15
-11.8
32.4
5300
48.55
20.7
10.3
17-04-2012
5266.6
5298.2
16-04-2012
5190.6
5233.5
5208.35
5289.7
89.85
-23.1
63.5
5183.5
5226.2
50
-35.6
18.75
13-04-2012
5255.7
12-04-2012
5246.75
5306.75
5185.4
5207.45
121.35
48.25
-69.4
5290.6
5246.75
5276.85
43.85
-30.1
50
11-04-2012
5209.45
10-04-2012
5254.1
5263.65
5190.8
5226.85
72.85
-17.4
-16.75
5255.8
5211.85
5243.6
43.95
10.5
9.2
09-04-2012
5282.5
04-04-2012
5328.65
5287.9
5228
5234.4
59.9
48.1
-88.5
5338.4
5305.3
5322.9
33.1
5.75
-35.6
03-04-2012
5353.2
5378.75
5344.45
5358.5
34.3
-5.3
02-04-2012
5296.35
5331.55
5278.8
5317.9
52.75
-21.55
40.6
5317.9

259
Table 3
SENSEX
Date
Open
High
Low
Close
(HighLow)
(OpenClose)
(ClosePrev.
Close)
30-04-2012
17195.51
17359.18
17195.51
17318.81
163.67
-123.3
184.56
27-04-2012
17145.39
17242.15
17022.09
17134.25
220.06
11.14
3.58
26-04-2012
17191.02
17193.25
17084.05
17130.67
109.2
60.35
-20.62
25-04-2012
17225.54
17249.61
17019.24
17151.29
230.37
74.25
-56
24-04-2012
17154.75
17247.53
17046.72
17207.29
200.81
-52.54
110.61
23-04-2012
17347.76
17444.18
17056.77
17096.68
387.41
251.08
-277.16
20-04-2012
17459.72
17519.88
17231.34
17373.84
288.54
85.88
-129.87
19-04-2012
17432.89
17530.3
17361.71
17503.71
168.59
-70.82
111.32
18-04-2012
17447.26
17522.8
17371.93
17392.39
150.87
54.87
34.45
17-04-2012
17200.97
17381.92
17103.36
17357.94
278.56 -156.97
206.99
16-04-2012
17047.87
17173.06
17010.16
17150.95
162.9
-103.08
56.44
13-04-2012
17232.56
17398.22
17027.3
17094.51
370.92
138.05
-238.11
12-04-2012
17276.87
17395.15
17276.87
17332.62
118.28
-55.75
133.22
11-04-2012
17125.96
17319.15
17075.89
17199.4
243.26
-73.44
-44.44
10-04-2012
17259.26
17274.69
17135.76
17243.84
138.93
15.42
21.7
09-04-2012
17407.66
17407.66
17199.63
17222.14
208.03
185.52
-263.88
04-04-2012
17553.26
17553.26
17436.6
17486.02
116.66
67.24
-111.4
03-04-2012
17576.21
17664.1
17570.01
17597.42
94.09
-21.21
119.27
02-04-2012
17429.96
17529.98
17382.38
17478.15
147.6
-48.19 17478.15
DATA ANALYSIS AND FINDINGS

Observations
Particulars
260
Correlation Coefficient
FII and BSE Sensex
-0.03747
FII and S&P CNX Nifty
-0.22284
DII and BSE Sensex
0.031449
DII and S&P CNX Nifty
0.128455
KEY FINDINGS
We see that the correlation coefficient between Foreign Institutional Investors and
Sensex is -0.03747 while with Nifty is -0.22284. This indicates that there is negative
relation between the daily net purchase and sale of FIIs with daily movement in the
Indian indices. They are inversely proportional so far as the dataset is concerned.
However Correlation does not imply causation. Hence, it wont be right to conclude
that every time FIIs invest money here the Indian markets fall or vice versa as there
might be plenty such reasons which affect FII investments in our country . The
coefficient is very low i.e. close to 0.What might be presumed is that FIIs might not
be interested in daily returns or they might not be affecting daily returns either. If the
study would have been based on monthly net investments of FIIs we could have
found a positive correlation. We can safely say that there are multiple reasons which
influence FII decisions abroad and they evaluate a number of variables before investing.
The economic depression of 2008 and the recent European Union crisis have impacted
the FII investment techniques largely.
With the help of calculations we see that the correlation coefficient between Domestic
Institutional Investors and Sensex is 0.031449 while with Nifty is 0.128455. In this
case too, the correlation is very low i.e. close to 0. Hence, we can say that daily net
purchases of DIIs do affect the market directly however at a very low scale. On the
primary reasons for this could be the fact that Indias biggest DIIs like LIC, UTI, etc.
invest for a span of more than 3 years. This long duration of the investment is very
contradictory to the volatility in the Indian markets.
Though Sensex and Nifty both capture market sentiments, their correlation coefficients
with FII and DII differ largely. For example, in the case of FII while the Nifty shows a
correlation of -0.22284, the Sensex demonstrates a correlation of mere -0.03747.
This is due to Nifty consisting of 50 shares while Sensex of 30 shares. Hence, Nifty
covers more sectors and exhibits market sentiment more accurately.
Factors influencing investment decisions:
Risk-Whenever risk in home market increases, the foreign investors would start to
pull out of their home country thereby creating a deficiency of funds in domestic
market, hence so as to attract investment domestic interest rate would increase
thereby to ensure that the above equality is restored.
Inflation-At the time of high inflation, the real return on fixed income securities like
bonds and fixed deposits declines. Thus a bond which gives say around 7.5% interest
rate actually gives a real return of just 1% if the inflation is 6.5%. If the inflation
increases further, the real return would decline more.
Interest rates -For the business, cost of borrowing rises this has a negative result
on their profit margins. As a result they might even delay any investment activity
which may be funded by borrowing to some later period when the interest rates are
lower so as to reduce their investment costs. As it can be seen from the above table,
over the past year RBI has increased the repo rate reverse repo rate, CRR and SLR.
This has led to an increase in the Prime Lending Rate (PLR) and hence the general
interest rate in the economy.
Good news /bad news -If say there is some bad news in the nation, which affects
that is decreases the asset price, which in turn decreases the return and hence FII
261
would withdraw from the market. However on the other hand, if there is good news,
asset prices would increase; thereby increasing return and hence FII would be
attracted. But the sensitivity with which investors withdraw is greater than with which
they invest i.e. they would be more cautious while investing than at the time of
withdrawing. This is primarily due to their basic nature of being risk averse, thus
they would react more vigorously to bad news than to good news.
Equity Returns-The results show that, the equity return in India is the main driving
force for foreign institutional investment, which is significant at all levels. That is
increase in the returns in US stock market adversely affects the portfolio investment
flowing to India. Predictable risk in foreign market adversely affects FII flow to India
and is highly significant in the model.
GDP of India -Both have more or less direct relationship. The reason is change in
capital account. When interest rates were high India was attracting lot of investments
so the credit balance was high for that period. It kept on increasing form 2003-04 to
2007-08 and interest rates also kept on increasing from 2003-04 to 2007-08.besides
there are various other factors like rules and regulation , taxation , govt. policies etc.
As the time available is limited and the study involves collection of daily data the
relationship could be only established for the last 3 years. Analysing more data
would provide us a better outlook.
The research is based mainly on the data available on various websites. Since
collection of data government data is not easy we cannot go into in depth analysis.
With more research techniques we can study the data better. Only studying
correlation coefficient isnt enough to comment on the relationship between FII, DII
and Indian stock indices.
CONCLUSIONS
We can safely conclude there are various factors which influence the Indian stock markets
as well as investment decisions of Foreign Institutional Investors and Domestic Institutional
Investors. Institutional investors play a huge role in maintaining market volatility however,
their actions arent always enough to affect the market indices. These investors provide
the much required capital to boost our economy.
There is little doubt that FII inflows have significantly grown in importance over the last
few years. According to findings and results, it was found that FIIs negatively influence
the stock indices however, at a very low scale. On the other hand DIIs positively affect the
market but that too at a low scale.
There are other major factors that influence the bourses in the stock market. Data on
trading activity of FIIs, DIIs and domestic stock market turnover suggest that institutional
investors are becoming more important at the margin as an increasingly higher share of
stock market turnover is accounted for by FII trading. Moreover, the findings of this study
also indicate that though Institutional Investors have emerged as a dominant investor
group in the stock market in India there seems not much relation between them and the
262
daily stock market returns in recent years implying that sort term daily margins may not
be the driving force behind such investors keeping them off from the speculator or market
distorter category.
REFERENCES
1.
Aswini A. and Mayank Kumar (2014), Impact of FII on Stock Market in India, Global
Journal of Finance and Management
2.
Anand Bansal and J.S. Pasricha, Foreign Institutional Investors Impact on Stock Prices
in India, Journal Of Academic Research In Economics
3.
Biswas, Joydeep. Foreign Portfolios Investment and Stock Market Behavior in a

Liberalized Economy: An Indian Experience, Asian Economic Review, August, Vol. 47,
No.2, pp. 221-232,2005.
4.
Dr. K. Mallikarjuna Rao & H. Ranjeeta Rani, Impact of Foreign Institutional Investments
on Indian Capital Markets, International Journal of Marketing, Financial Services &
Management Research
5.
Foreign Institutional Investors in India An Overview, Chapter 2: http://

shodhganga.inflibnet.ac.in/bitstream/10603/11266/10/10_chapter%202.pdf
6.
Karan Walia, Dr. Rimpi Walia & Monika Jain, Impact of Foreign Institutional Investments
on Stock Markets, International Journal of Computing and Corporate Research
7.
Malayendu Saha, Stock Market in India and Foreign Institutional Investments: An

Appraisal, Journal of Business and Economic Issues
8.
National Securities Depository limited: http://203.199.247.102/ sebiweb /investment/

statistics. jsp?s=fii last accessed on 28 th August, 2015
9.
National Stock Exchange: http://203.199.247.102/sebiweb/investment/statistics.jsp?s=fii

last accessed on 28 th August, 2015
10.
Pal, Parthapratim, Foreign Portfolio Investment in Indian Equity Markets: Has the Economy
Benefited?, Economic and Political Weekly, March 14,pp. 589-598.1998.
11.
Paromita Mukherjee, Suchismita Bose, Dipankar Coondoo. Foreign Institutional

Investment in the Indian Equity Market An Analysis of Daily Flows during January, 1999May 2002, Money & Finance, ICRA Bulletin, April Sep, 2002.
12.
Securities and Exchange Board of India: http://203.199.247.102/sebiweb/investment/

statistics.jsp ?s=fii last accessed on 28th August, 2015
13.
Tripathy, N. P., Dynamic Relationship between Stock Market, Market Capitalization and
Net FII Investment in India, ICFAI Journal of Applied Finance, pp. 60-68, 2007.
14.
Chishen Wei, Do Foreign Institutions Improve Stock Liquidity?, Nanyang Technological

University (NTU) Division of Banking &Finance, November23,2010, Working paper
Series.
263
264
FMCG Industry in Rural India

Arun Kumar Singh*
ABSTRACT
The Fast Moving Consumer Goods (FMCG) sector is a corner stone of the Indian economy.
This sector touches ever day life of common Indians. The FMCG companies are now availing
of the opportunity that this sector offers. In India more than 6, 00,000 villages and more than
70% of the population live in rural area, rural India has become huge market for every consumer
goods. The FMCG producers now realize that there is a lot of opportunity for them to enter into
rural market FMCG has emerged as a major product category in rural consumption. FMCG
Company makes different market strategies rural market. In this process, they need to
understand crucial issue relating to rural consumer behavior and more specifically relating to
different geographic regions of the country.
Keywords: Rural market, Consumer

INTRODUCTION
The Indian Fast Moving Consumer Goods industry began shape during the last sixty odd
years. Indian FMCG market has been divided for a long time between the organized
sector and the unorganized sector. The US market is dominated by a global player but
the Indian market remains highly fragmented with roughly half the market going to
unbranded, unpackaged home made products. This present a tremendous opportunity for
makers of branded products who can convert consumers to buy branded products. FMCG
sector has been successful in selling products to lower and middle income groups, and
same is true in India. The income of rural people is rising and which is willing to spend on
goods designed to improve lifestyle. The rural market is unsaturated, completion is less
but culture and life style play a important role of buying behavior of rural people so that
FMCG required bold new strategy for targeting and tap the rural consumer in a big way.
MART, the specialist rural marketing and rural development consultancy, has found that
53% of FMCG and 59% of FMCD sales lie in the rural market.
Increase the National Income
The Indian middle class, target consumers for many companies, is expected to swell up
to 267 million people in the next five years, up 67% from the current levels, thus providing
a great market opportunity for firms, according to NCAER. A report by National Council
for Applied Economic Researchs (NCAER) Centre for Macro Consumer Research said
by 2015-16, India will be a country of 53.3 million middle class households, translating
into 267 million people falling in the category. As per the study, which uses household
income as the criterion, a family with an annual income between Rs 3.4 lakh to Rs 17
lakh (at 2009-10 price levels) falls in the middle class category. NCAER also said with
*
Research Scholar, Bhagwant University, Sikar Road, Ajmer, Rajasthan 305004;

E-mail:aksingh5206@gmail.com, Mobile: 9331783704
265
increase in village incomes and growing urbanisation, the percentage of rural population
in the total middle class of the country will reach 48.8% by 2025-26 from 37.4% at present.
Market Communication
NEW FORMATS OF
MEDIA MIX
VIZ
MELAS,
HAATS
RURAL TRADE
FAIRS
OPINION LEADERS
GOVERNMENTS
INITIATIVE FOR
LITERACY AND
SOCIAL
EDUCATION
RURAL CONSUEMERS
EFFECTIVELY
EDUCATING
RURAL
CONSUMERS WITH
TACIT CHANGES IN
PRICING AND
PRODUCT
PORTFOLIO
Rural India is a power house waiting to emerge. This is an incredible opportunity of potential
adding 1.8 trillion to our economy equal to current GDP of India.
DEFINITION OF RURAL SOCIETY IN INDIA:
There is a lack of universal definition of rural and consequently urban society in India. The
differences exist between urban and rural societies but both are parts of one human
society. Thus differences are more of theoretical concept than divisions based upon the
community life.
266
Definitions:
Definitions of Rural
Limitation
Census
Village: Basic unit of rural areas is the

revenue village, might comprise several
hamlets demarcated by physical
boundaries.
Town: Towns are actually rural areas
but satisfy the following criteria:
Minimum population >=5000
Population density>=400/sq.km.
75% of the male population
engaged in non-agri activity.
Term rural is not defined.

The definition does not
specify the Population strata.
Term rural is not defined.
The definition does not rule
out 5000+ population villages.
RBI
Locations with population up to 10,000

will be considerate as rural & 10,000
to1,00,000 as semi-urban.
It does not include 10,000+

population villages in rural
definition.
In country, the definition
Includes 5,000 10,000
population towns in rural.
NABARD
All locations irrespective of villages or

town, up to population of 10,000 will
be considered as rural.
Village & town characteristics

are not defined.
.
Planning
Towns with population up to 15,000
Commission are considered as rural.
Town characteristics are not

defined.
Sahara
Locations having shops/commercial

Population criteria & other
establishments up to 10,000 are treated characteristics are not taken
as rural.
in to considerations.
LG
Electronics
The rural & semi urban area is defined

as well other cities other than the seven
metros.
(Source: Kashyap, P. (2012), Rural Marketing, Pearson.pg-4)
The definition of urban society adopted by 2001 census is as under:

All places with a municipality, corporation, cantonment board or notified town area
committee etc. All other places: (i) minimum population of 5000 (ii) at least 75 % of the
male workbag population working engaged in non-agricultural pursuits and (iii) a density
of population of at least 400 persons per square kilometer. For our purpose, the reverse
conditions of the urban society above may be taken as rural.
Defining Rural Marketing:
According to the national commission on agricultural: Rural marketing is a process which
267
starts with a decision to produce a saleable farm commodity and it involves all the aspects
of the market structure or system, both functional and institutional, based on technical &
economic consideration & includes pre & postharvest operations, assembling, grading,
storage, transportation & distribution.
According to Thompson The study of rural marketing comprises all the operations &
the agencies conducting them, involved in the movement of farm produced food, raw
materials & their derivatives, such as textiles, form the farm to the final consumers & the
effects of such operations on producers, middlemen and consumers.
According to Ramkishen.Y Rural marketing is the process of developing, pricing,
promoting, distributing rural-specific goods and services, leading to exchange between
urban and rural markets which satisfies consumer demand and also achieves organizational
objectives. Thus, rural marketing is a two way marketing process that includes the flow of
goods and services from rural to urban areas & the flow of goods & services from urban to
rural areas, as well as the flow of goods & services within rural areas.
DEFINITION OF CORPORATE RURAL MARKETING
Rural marketing can be defined as a function that manages all activities involved in
assessing, stimulating, & converting the purchasing power of rural consumers in to an
effective demand for specific products & services & moving this products & services to
the people in rural areas to create satisfaction level & a better standard of living & there
by achieving organizational goals.
REASONS FOR CORPORATE TO GO RURAL
In the present scenario, companies operating in India will have only two options either go
Global or go Rural. The cost of going global is very high, and its difficult to gauge markets
in other countries. Its better to target the rural market as it is growing by the day. Rural
India is emerging as a large market for a number of goods and services financial services,
healthcare, education and telecommunication, etc. here are some of the reasons:
Urban Markets are Getting Saturated
There is cutthroat competition in urban markets, with a wide variety of choices of products.
Its becoming difficult for existing companies to maintain their market share in urban
markets.
A Huge Untapped Market
With only 100,000 of the 638,667 villages tapped so far, there is a huge potential and
market area. With a rural population of more than 700 million, it is a huge market.
Rising Disposable Incomes
Good monsoon during the past 10 years have raised farmers incomes. Non-farm sectors
now account for almost 50% of total rural incomes. Its a market that corporate cannot
afford to ignore. Another reason for the rising disposable incomes of villages is that
agricultural income is not taxed.
Remittances from Abroad
Many household in rural India have one of their family members abroad, mostly in Gulf
268
countries. People working there send their savings to their families in India, which is an
additional source of income.
Impact of Media
The growing reach of the electronic media has created a huge change in the lifestyle of
rural consumers because of TV programmers like soaps and other serials. Rural people
are spending more on lifestyle products like lipsticks. Modi Revlon, for instance, sells
more lipstick in the rural market than in urban areas.
PROBLEMS IN RURAL MARKETING
Although the rural market does not offer vast potential, it should also be recognized that
it not easy to operate there. Rural market is a time consuming affair and requires
considerable investments in terms of evolving appropriate strategies.
The major problems with rural markets are:
Deprived People and Deprived Markets:
The number of people below the poverty line has not decreased in any appreciable manner.
Thus by and large rural markets are characterized by poor people and underdeveloped
markets. A vast majority of rural people is traditional bound and fatalistic. They believe in
old customs, traditions, habits, taboos and practices.
Lack of Proper Physical Communication Facilities
Communication with these villages is difficult and highly expensive. Even today, most
villages in the eastern parts of the country are inaccessible during the monsoon. Moreover,
3000,000 villages in the country have no access to telephones.
Transport
Many rural areas are not connected by rail transport. At least 50% of rural roads are
poorly surfaced, and many are totally destroyed or severely damaged by the monsoon
and remain unserviceable, leaving interior village isolated. And the use of bullock carts in
the country, 12 millions are estimated to be in total areas, transporting about 6 billion
tons of freight per year.
Many Languages and Dialects
The number of languages and dialects vary widely from state to state, region to region
and probably from district to district. Messages have to be delivered in local languages
and dialects. Even though the number of recognized languages is only 18, there are an
estimated 1700 dialects. It is difficult for marketer to design promotional strategies in
different languages and local dialects.
Dispersed Markets
Rural population scattered over a large land area and it is almost impossible to ensure
the availability of a brand all over the country. Seven Indian states account for 76% of the
countrys rural retail outlets, the total number of which is placed at around 3.7 million.
District fairs are periodic and occasional in nature. Manufacturer and retailers prefers
such occasions as they allow greater visibility and capture the attention of the target
audience for larger span of time.
269
Low Per Capita Income

Even though about 26% of GDP is generated in rural areas, it is shared by 74% of the
population, so per capita incomes are low. Moreover demands for goods in rural markets
depend upon the agricultural situation, as agriculture is the main source of income and it
depends upon the monsoon to a large extent. Therefore, demand is not stable or regular.
Low Levels of Literacy
Literacy rates are low in rural areas compared to urban areas. This leased to the problem
of communication. The print medium is ineffective in rural areas since its reach is poor.
Prevalence of Spurious Brands and Seasonal Demand:
For any branded product there are a multitude of local variants, which are cheaper and
therefore, more desirable for villagers. Rural consumers are cautions about buying and
decisions are slow. They like to give a product a trail and buy it again only after getting
personal satisfaction.
Different Way of Thinking
There is a vast difference in the lifestyle of urban and rural people. An urban customer has
many more choices than his rural counterpart. The rural customer usually has two or
three brands to choose from, whereas the urban one has many more choices. There is
also a difference in the way of thinking. The rural customers lives fairly simply compared
to his urban counterpart.
Distribution Problem
Effective distribution requires a village-level shopkeeper, mandi /taluka level wholesaler or
preferred dealer, a distributor or stockiest at the district level and a company owned
deport or consignment distribution at the state level. So many tiers increase the cost of
distribution. Rural markets typically pose complex logistical challenges that translate
into high distribution cost.
OBJECTIVE
I.
To assess consumer awareness for FMCG products rural areas.
II.
To examine the factors responsible for increasing competitiveness among

FMCG. Manufacturers for entry into the rural market segment.
III.
To study the impact of various factors affecting the rural consumer buying
behavior, towards FMCG products in rural areas.
IV.
To study the satisfaction level associated with selected FMCG products in

rural area.
V.
To study the impact of pricing factor for selected FMCG products rural areas.
SCOPE OF THE STUDY

I.
270
The study will be beneficial for the rural consumer of selected rural areas. With
the help of this study the consumers will know about the various products,
pricing factors, promotional schemes, marketing strategies, competitiveness

of the product and the availability of products in their surroundings.
II.
The study will also be beneficial for the FMCG industry to know about the
expectation of rural. Marketer can decide their marketing strategies, product
strategies, promotional schemes, pricing policies, advertising policy, etc at
the time of taking crucial decisions to enhance their business at mass level.
III.
On academic point of view it is helpful for researcher and academician to take

it as a reference material for further studies on and around this topic at regional,
national and global level.
METHODOLOGY
The present study has been considered a combination of descriptive and analytical
research design. Descriptive in the nature due to fact finding with the help of literature
survey and the analysis of demographic profile of the respondents in the particular area
considered for this study. The present study said to be descriptive due to the information
gathered to describe the current rural marketing phenomenon, distribution channels, level
of awareness, various factors affecting the buying behavior of the customers, motivating
factors for switch over and the various promotional activities being offered by the different
manufacturer and marketer of the products at national, regional and state level in the
country.
Proposed Approach:
The information for the purpose of the present study has been obtained by interviewing
the respondents through structured & unstructured closed-ended questionnaire. Keeping
in view the time availability of the respondents, group interviews and interviews at the
individual level are also been conducted. The observation method has also been used
where conditions were favorable for the same.
Information was sought from the respondents on the buying decision process based on
such factor as impact of religion, customs and traditions, participation of women in buying
decision, impact of advertisements, impact of reference groups and the validity of the
communication process.
Type of research design: Descriptive
A descriptive research studies frequencies, averages, and other statistical calculations.
Although this research is highly accurate, it does not gather the causes behind a situation.
The present study consists of primary & secondary data.
Research Instrument: Survey through undisguised closed-ended questionnaire.
The primary data are collected from consumers who are buying the FMCG products for
use. The primary and secondary data have been collected to cover every aspect of study.
The primary data are related to buying behaviour and response of advertisement of customer.
Considering merits and demerits of both sources of data, these have been used in
combination to meet the requirements of the research.
271
Secondary data is collected from various valid sources such as websites of FMCG
companies, books and articles, magazines, reports of consultancy companies and
Government publications sourced from libraries. However, Internet is the major source of
secondary data.
Analysis: Different statistical techniques, as applicable will be used.
Sampling can be explained as a specific principle used to select members of
population to be included in the study.
Sampling is the process in which a representative part of population for the purpose of
determining parameter or characteristics of the whole population is selected. This is
called a sample. It is easier to contact a smaller part of the population for data collection.
It can be done within a limited time, effort and with minimum cost. For this research
study purpose out of different sampling methods the convenience sampling has been
selected.
Convenience sampling, as the name implies is a specific type of non-probability sampling
method that relies on data collection from population members who are conveniently
available to participate in study.
Convenience sampling is a type of sampling where the first available primary data source
will be used for the research without additional requirements. In other words, this sampling
methodinvolves getting participants wherever you can find them and typically wherever is
convenient. In convenience sampling no inclusion criteria identified prior to selection of
subjects. All subjects are invited to participate.
FINDINGS
1.
Rural market is hugely untapped which offers great scope for FMCG product.
2.
The urban market is going to be saturated & huge competition but in rural market is
unsaturated and player are less so huge opportunity in rural market than urban
market for FMCG product.
3.
Quality & Service are main slogans of success in urban market but for rural area
quality & price are the main mantra.
4.
Company should applying different marketing technique & strategy for rural & urban
market.
5.
For the rural customers, the small size pack items (sachets) are more acceptable.
CONCLUSION
The FMCG sector is growing and will continue to grow very fast. This presents a tremendous
opportunity for the markets of branded products for rural market. The study on the consumer
behaviour towards the products of FMCG has received a pivotal position in the market for
soap, detergent power, paste, tea and biscuit although there are many competitors in the
market. FMCG was able to hold its top rank providing quality products at the reasonable
price to consumer. Quality is the main motivating factor for the consumer to buy the
product of FMCG.
272
1.
Companies need to allocate huge budget for advertising, promotion and publicity in
order to build brand image in the minds of consumer.
2.
Rural market is huge untapped markets which offer great scope and ample opportunity
for the expansion of FMCG product.
3.
Still rural India is untapped by FMCG product, huge scope is there for FMCG industry.
4.
Marketers should take care of cultural value of the customer and accordingly develop
their product.
LIMITATIONS
1.
Lack of communication facilities Still many village or rural area not connected by
road ways and inaccessible during monsoon.
2.
Low levels of literacy & income - Literacy level are low in rural area that why still
rural people still follow the logo in place of name and local marketers sales unbranded
item.
3.
Distribution problem Due to lack of communication distribution is also costly and

disturb.
4.
Language problem in India every 25 km the language is change.
5.
Rural market is scatter over a large area. Still rural markets sales in district fairs
and occasional.
FUTURE DEVELOPMENT
1.
Good quality product & create awareness among the consumer.
2.
Develop good market channel for effective distribution of product and cater the each
customer of consumer.
3.
Educate the retailer to sell the brand item & give the gift for their encouragement.
4.
FMCG companies are devising exclusive rural marketing strategies to tap the rural
consumer base.
5.
Marketers should be take care culture value of the customer according to their
consumer & develop their product.
6.
Technology has been simplified and make available in the industry, where technology
is not available then it bought from foreign countries to meet FMCG sector
requirements.
7.
Power brand strategy (e.g. lifebuoy soap)
8.
Power brand extension. (e.g. lifebuoy talcum powder)
REFERENCES
1.
2.
IOSR Journal of Business and Management (IOSR-JBM) e-ISSN: 2278-478X. Volume

8, Issue 1 (Jan - Feb 2013)
Indian Journal of Commerce, Vol-53, No-3, July September 2000
273
3.
shodhganga.inflibnet.ac.in:8080/jspui/bitstream/.../14_chapter%204
4.
Kotler Pjilip, Keller Kevin, Koshy, Jha Marketing Management, 12th Edition Person
Education, India
5.
Research Report Indian FMCG Industry July 30, 2013
6.
http://www.unmetro.in/wp-content/uploads/pdf/emerging_consumer_demand
7.
www.cii.in/Sectors.aspx?SectorID=S000000081
274
Risk Management through Microinsurance:

An Empirical Study
Dr. Sreemoyee Guha Roy*
ABSTRACT
The range of crisis that the poor are vulnerable to is large. It includes accidents, sudden
hospitalization, and death of a bread earner, loss of crops or assets and natural calamities like
floods, cyclones and droughts. Expenses incurred during such crisis are met either by borrowing
from money lenders, sale or mortgage of assets or drawing on scarce savings. The affected
households suffer a simultaneous reduction in income and savings and an increase in debt
and expenditure. Each such crisis leaves a poor family weaker and more vulnerable.
Microinsurance offers an innovative new way to combat poverty by helping the rural poor
systematically manage financial risks to their livelihoods and lives. The goal of providing
microinsurance should be to financially include the low income market in an efficient and
effective way. Microinsurance is the provision of insurance services to low-income households,
which serves as an important tool to reduce risks for the already vulnerable population. Keeping
this in mind, the present study has been undertaken to examine the need for microinsurance
products among the rural people in 4 districts of West Bengal. The primary data has been
collected among415respondents from villages of this district.
The second part of the study focusses on the performance of the Microfinance Institutions
(providers of microinsurance) in the districts selected for the study. Microfinance has attracted
much attention in the recent years. By resting on market incentives, microcredit is able to
promote small scale investment that generates sufficient revenues from otherwise unrealized
market activities while yielding a return on the amount lent. Microfinance is a means of the
struggle against poverty in developing countries through financing activities that generate
incomes for poor households. As many MFIs primarily exist in order to help the poorest people,
one also has to include aspects of outreach in their performance. Hence, MFIs performance
can be termed multidimensional. There are basically two requirements of microfinance: Targeting
the poorest among the poor (social performance) and enhancing the profitability of the institution
(financial performance).For this study 8 MFIs have been selected who delivers microinsurance
products in the 4 districts selected for the study. Is there a balance achieved between these
two performances or can they be merged into one. This paper will throw light on that.
The study reveals that microinsurance have proved to be quite effective in bringing about
improvements among the low-income people in the study districts. Positive effects that have
been noticed including improvement in standard of living, providing education to children,
protection against seasonality etc.But problems persist.The insurance market in these districts
is highly concentrated; there are only a few providers that dominate and restrict the entry of
*
Assistant Professor, Accounting and Finance (Morning), St. Xaviers College (Autonomous), Kolkata
E-mail: sreemoyeeguharoy@gmail.com
275
others. Although the providers have achieved growth, its penetration into the territory of the
poorest of the poor is still quite minimal. Low-income household struggle to save, and if they
can save they prefer the traditional forms of savings. High premium amount, inflexibility in
collection of premium, claim settlement is among other factors that appear to have a preventive
effect upon respondents in choosing microinsurance as a savings option.The study concludes
with a number of useful recommendations for providers of microinsurance and insurance
regulators.
Key Words: Financial Inclusion, Microinsurance, Vulnerability Assessment, Performance
Indicators, ANOVA, Factor Analysis
INTRODUCTION
Need for managing financial risks has given birth to the insurance industry which
has become an integral part of global finance system as well as financial system
of a nation.Insurance.thus provides security for unforeseen future risk,which is
required for both rich and poor.But till few years back insurance facility was not
available to the low-income people.However,the spread of insurance has been
uneven.Certain unprivileged sections of society have not been benefited by
insurance products.But it is well accepted in present that for development of any
economy,inclusion of marginalised and under privileged sections of society is highly
necessary,and that is why micro insurance has become an important insurance
mechanism in all emerging markets including India.
IRDA Regulations 2002 entitled Obligations of Insurers to Rural Social
Sectionsactually forced the insurance industry to reach to the under privileged
low-income sections of society,who were outside the ambit of insurance.This actually
shaped the concept of microinsurance in India,besides earlier community based
insurance scheme,and in-house insurance schemes run by MFIs,NGOs,TU etc. for
low-income people.
A consultative group on micro insurance was set up in 2003 to look into the issues
which highlighted the:
l
Non-availability of stand alone Microinsurance programme
apathy of insurance company towards micro insurance
the potential of all channel
There is no unanimously accepted definitions of micro insurance despite its profound

use and understanding across stakeholders and others in developing and
underdeveloped countries.In common parlance,microinsurance is the provision of
insurance schemes to low-income households ,which serves as an important tool
to reduce risks for the already vulnerable population. Microinsurance is defined as
insurance that is accessed by the low-income population,provided by a variety of
different entities ,but run in accordance with generally accepted insurance practices.
Next important step in this regard is the IRDA Microinsurance Regulations 2005,which
provides a platform to distribute affordable insurance products to the rural and
276
urban poor and to enable to be an integral part of the countrys wide insurance
system.
At present the demand for micro insurance all over the world is very high.According
to leap Frog Investment ,the world largest micro insurance investment fund,over 1
billion people over the world are seeking and are able to pay for insurance.But the
market is less than 9% penetrated.Over 135 million people are currently covered
with microinsurance which is around 5% of the potential market.Thus there remains
huge potential opportunity for growth of micro insurance in the emerging
workers.India is not out of the situation.
In india most of the people in this segment are illiterate and their awareness about
insurance is low. Some important observations about the demand for micro
insurance in India are made in a recent study by ILO(2004).This study provides
details of micro insurance schemes operational in India.out of the 51 schemes that
are operational most schemes have started operations during the last few years.
LITERATURE REVIEW
Welfare costs due to shocks and foregone profitable opportunities have been
found to be substantial, contributing to persistent poverty (Dercon, 1996; Morduch,
2004). Microinsurance has the potential to reduce these welfare costs. By offering
a payout when an insured loss occurs, it avoids other costly ways of coping with
the shock leaving future income earning opportunities intact. Furthermore, the
security linked to being insured can be expected to allow the avoidance of costly
risk-management strategies with positive impacts on poverty reduction.
Microinsurance, in conjunction with micro savings and micro credit, can therefore
go a long way in keeping this segment away from the poverty trap and would truly
be an integral component of financial inclusion.
Microinsurance should, therefore, provide greater economic and psychological
security to the poor as it reduces exposure to multiple risks and cushions the
impact of a disaster. Thus, insurance is fast emerging as a prepaid financing option
for the risks facing the poor.
Microinsurance is defined in line with Churchill (2006) as an insurance that
(i) operates by risk-pooling
(ii) is financed through regular premiums, and
(iii) is tailored to the poor who would otherwise not be able to take out insurance.
To understand the impact of insurance initiatives, it is instructive to put it in the
context of how risk shapes the behaviour and decision outcomes of the poor.
According to Dercon, (2008), it is necessary to link risk to its consequences in
terms of outcomes in various dimensions of welfare in the short - and long-run.
Households, communities, firms or societies as a whole, face a multitude of risks.
Given their options and characteristics, they will make risk management decisions,
277
or at least decisions with implications for risk management. Peoples responses or

inability to respond will again have implications for outcomes, both in the short run and in the long - run.
It is worth emphasizing that two distinct decision moments are considered: one
when there is still risk (i.e., a potentially large number of different possible events
or circumstances), and one when a shock (i.e., a realization of one of these
possible events or circumstances) has occurred. The decisions that need to be
taken in the face of risk (risk management or ex-ante strategies) are potentially
very different from those taken in the face of a shock (risk coping or ex-post
strategies). Nevertheless, they cannot be viewed independently, as risk management
decisions will have implications for the possible set of risk coping strategies, while
risk coping will have implications for the type of risk management decisions that
can be taken in the next period. These strategies have been widely acknowledged
as a central part of peoples livelihoods. Households have strategies to cope with
ex-post risk, i.e., shocks, to smooth consumption and nutrition when shocks happen,
even if formal credit and insurance markets or social protection schemes are not
available. They may use savings, often in the form of live animals, built up as part
of a precautionary strategy against risk. They may develop personalized informal
credit arrangements. They also often engage in informal mutual support networks,
for example, clan- or neighbourhood-based associations, or even more formal
groups such as funeral societies. However, group-based systems cannot work
effectively in the face of covariant shocks, affecting the whole group, while the lack
of good stores of wealth, with limited risks, also means that building these buffer
stocks is highly costly and indeed not as effective as hoped. A well-known example
of the latter is when households in Northern Wollo in Ethiopia tried to use their
standard smoothing device selling small and large livestock to cope with the
drought and famine in the mid-1980s. Livestock prices collapsed due to oversupply
and lack of demand, in the face of high grain prices, providing a classic case of
entitlement failures (Sen, 1981). In terms of risk management strategies, different
forms of diversification are commonly observed in crops, activities or assets. As
long as the returns to these activities are not perfectly covariate, there will be
benefits from diversification.
RESEARCH PROBLEM
Though there are serious studies on different aspects of microinsurance, the researcher
has not come across any documented work comparative work on two districts in West
Bengal.This has encouraged the researcher to take up an intensive study in this field.
OBJECTIVES
278
1.
To study the awareness level of microinsurance among the rural people

in both the districts
2.
To assess the need of microinsurance product among the low-income

people in both the districts
3.
To identify the hindrances in the microinsurance policies as suggested by

the low-income people in both the districts
The present paper is empirical in nature. This study is empirical and exploratory
in nature. The study is based on primary data.
The data relating to the district-wise populations of the microinsured households
served by each of those eight MFIs were collected from their offices, the details of
which are given below in parentheses.
After discussion with knowledgeable persons, it was identified the eight MFIs key
providers of microinsurance in four district of West Bengal. The data relating to the
MFI-wise populations of the microinsured households served by each of those
eight MFIs were collected from their offices, the details of which are given below
in parentheses.
Table 1 District-wise Distribution of 415 Microinsured Households
PURULIA
SOUTH 24 PARGANAS
KOCH BIHAR
HOOGHLY
TOTAL
90
116
94
115
415
Thispapern was conducted in four districts of West Bengal, viz., Purulia, South 24
Parganas, Koch Bihar, and Hooghly. 415 households in total have been surveyed.
The field work combined interviews through administration of questionnaire and
discussions with the local people and interviewing of some local experts. In most
of the households, the interviewees were of mixed gender. Although, in some
cases, women were formally considered, the heads of the households, most often
male members, responded to the questions. In addition, data relating to the
biographical and socio-economic variables, like age, gender, education, sources of
credit, physical assets, livestock assets, income from various sources, and
adaptation measures have been collected through the field survey. The first part
of this section deals with the microinsured households surveyed. Relevant data
were collected by administering a set of questionnaire.
The second part of this section deals with the microinsurance providers i.e., MFIs.
Relevant
Table 2 Age-wise Distribution of the Respondents
Age (years)
18-30
31-40
41-50
Above 50
Total
Frequency
2
200
191
22
415
%
.5
48.2
46.0
5.3
100.0
(Source: Field Survey)
279
Majority of the respondents interviewed are in the age group of 31-40 years.
Table 3 Gender-wise Distribution of the Respondents
Gender
Frequency
Male
25
6.0
Female
390
94.0
Total
415
100.0
94% of the respondents are female.

Table 4 Occupation-wise Distribution of the Respondents
Occupation
Frequency
Service
231
55.7
Self-employed(agriculture/manufacture/others)
184
44.3
Total
415
100.0
Majority of the respondents are engaged in service.

Table 5 Educational Level-wise Distribution of the Respondents
Educational Level
Frequency
Illiterate
54
13.0
Primary
211
50.8
Secondary
114
27.5
Higher secondary
36
8.7
Total
415
100.0
A very small percentage of the respondents are illiterate. A majority of the

respondents can write their own names and they preferred that to a thumb
impression.
Table 6 Income (p.m.)-wise Distribution of the Respondents
Income (Rs.)
Frequency
Below 5000
150
36.1
5001-10000
193
46.5
10001-15000
70
16.9
Above 15000
0.5
415
100.0
Total
280
A negligible percentage of the respondents falls in the highest income group. More
than 80% of them fall in the lowest and second lowest income groups.
Table 7 Cross Tabulation of Gender-wise Distribution Across Districts
DISTRICT
PURULIA SOUTH 24
PARGANAS
GENDER
Male
Total
KOCH
BIHAR
HOOGHLY
Count
21
25
% within DISTRICT
2.2%
18.1%
.0%
1.7%
6.0%
Count
88
95
94
113
390
% within DISTRICT
97.8%
81.9%
100.0%
98.3%
94.0%
Count
90
116
94
115
415
% within DISTRICT
100.0%
100.0%
100.0%
100.0%
100.0%
Female
Total
Since the microinsurance providers considered in this study mostly cater to women,
a high majority of the respondents are women across districts.
ANALYSIS OF SOCIO-ECONOMIC VULNERABILITY OF THE HOUSEHOLDS
For the purpose of understanding the socio-economic vulnerability of the
respondents, three important factors viz., occupation, education and income per
month have been considered in each district under study. Vulnerability Indices
have been constructed using the Three Categorized Ranking (TCR) Method,
assigning scores of 1 to 3, the least vulnerable being 1. The basic assumptions are
the following:
First, service-employment is associated with lower vulnerability
Second, lower level of education is associated with higher vulnerability
Third, lesser income is associated with higher vulnerability
Table 8 Monthly Income Distribution of Households in 4 Districts
DISTRICT/INCOME p.m. (Rs.)
Below 5000
5001-.10000
10001-15000
Above 15000
TOTAL
Purulia
45
41
90
South 24 Parganas
49
41
25
116
Koch Bihar
22
50
22
94
Hooghly
34
61
20
115
TOTAL
150
193
70
415
More than 50% of the respondents in each district fall in the lower income slab,
indicating that the respondents in all the four districts are highly vulnerable to risks.
281
Table 9 : Occupational Distribution of Households in 4 Districts

DISTRICT
PURULIA SOUTH 24
PARGANAS
OCCUPA-
Service
TION
Selfemployed
(agriculture/
manufacture/
others)
Total
Total
KOCH
BIHAR
HOOGHLY
Count
28
73
56
74
231
% within DISTRICT
31.1%
62.9%
59.6%
64.3%
55.7%
Count
62
43
38
41
184
% within DISTRICT
68.9%
37.1%
40.4%
35.7%
44.3%
Count
90
116
94
115
415
% within DISTRICT
100.0%
100.0%
100.0%
100.0%
100.0%
Only the Purulia District has a high percentage of self-employed respondents,

indicating higher vulnerability to risks. The respondents in the other three districts
are less vulnerable because a high percentage of them are service-employed.
Table 10 : Education Level Distribution of Households in 4 Districts
DISTRICT
PURULIA SOUTH 24
PARGANAS
EDUCATION
Illiterate
Primary
Secondary
Total
Total
KOCH
BIHAR
HOOGHLY
Count
25
11
12
54
% within DISTRICT
6.70%
21.60%
11.70%
10.40%
13.00%
Count
39
43
52
77
211
% within DISTRICT
43.30%
37.10%
55.30%
67.00%
50.80%
Count
37
30
26
21
114
% within DISTRICT
41.10%
25.90%
27.70%
18.30%
27.50%
Higher
Count
18
36
secondary
% within DISTRICT
8.90%
15.50%
5.30%
4.30%
8.70%
Count
90
116
94
115
415
% within DISTRICT
100.00%
100.00%
100.00%
100.00%
100.00%
All the 4 districts have a low percentage of illiterates. Amongst them, the highest
percentage of illiterate-respondents is in the South 24 Parganas District, indicating
their more vulnerability to risks. On the other hand, a high percentage of respondents
are educated up to primary level and a lesser percentage of them are educated
up to the secondary and higher secondary levels in Koch Bihar and Hooghly
Districts. The respondents in the Purulia District are the least vulnerable.
282
Table 11 Vulnerability Assessment in 4 Districts

District
Occupation
Education
Income p.m. Combined
Vulnerability
Purulia
2.33
South 24 Parganas
Koch Bihar
2.33
Hooghly
M
Note: H stands for high; M stands for medium; L stands for low
SECOND PART
In order to assess the performance of the microinsurance providers in West Bengal,
the researcher interviewed, with the help of a structured questionnaire, 8
microfinance institutions (MFIs) in West Bengal in terms of a number of factors that
are expected to play a major role in helping their organisation grow.
Table 12 Period of Operation of MFIs
Period
Frequency
Less than 1 year
%
0.00
1-3 years
12.50
3-5years
50.00
5 years or more
37.50
Total
100
It can be said that majority of the MFIs have been operating for more than 3 years.
Table 13 Target Customers of MFIs
Target Customers
Frequency
Service-employed (men/women/both)
0.00
Self-employed (men/women/both)
37.50
Unemployed (men/women/both)
25.00
All of the above
37.50
Total
100
It can be observed that the MFIs work for all classes of people whether they are
unemployed, self-employed or in service. Different insurance products are designed
for different classes. This is actually a challenging task for the MFIs.
283
Table 14 Frequency of Promotional Campaigns

Promotional Campaigns
Frequency
less than 3 months
14.29
3- 6 months
57.14
6 months to less than one year
28.57
more than 1 year
0.00
Total
100
Majority of the MFIs engage in promotional campaigns, indicating increasing

competition among them in recent times. Their clients are not highly educated and
therefore they have to be continuously educated about the new products and their
features.
Table 15 Income (p.m.) Group of Clients
Income (p.m.)Group
Frequency
Rs.4000 or more per household
57.14
Rs.3000 to Rs.3999 per household
14.29
28.57
0.00
Below 1000 per household
0.00
Total
100
(Source: Field Servey)
It is observed that majority of the clients of the MFIs fall in the highest income
group. During the interviews with the concerned MFI officials, they pointed out that
income of their clients has increased considerably due to microfinance activities.
During the interviews with them, it was also found that their customer awareness
strategies are mainly references and repeat clients, and their product marketing
strategies are door to door campaign, distribution of leaflets/brochures, and word
of mouth.
Apart from the above analyses, primary data relating to few selected factors, that
are expected to help the MFIs grow, have also been analysed.
284
Tableb 16 Crosstab of the Factors and the Responses of the 8 MFIs

FACTORS
Reten- Service Clients
tion of
for
are not
clients clients educated
about
financial
services
RES-
FULLY DIS-AGREE
PONSES
DIS-AGREE
NEI-THER AGREE
Total
Not
EduLanghaving cation uage
releleave barrier
vent
of
infor- clients
mation is low
about
clients
Late
payment
Clients
are not
informed
about
consumer
protection
Clients
are not
informed
about
basics
of debt
management
10
.0%
.0%
.0%
14.3%
.0%
25%
25%
25%
42.9%
14.5%
15
.0%
.0%
12.5%
28.6%
12.5%
75.0%
25.0%
37.5%
.0%
21.7%
13
.0%
.0%
37.5%
57.1%
12.5%
.0%
37.5%
12.5%
14.3%
18.8%
11
14.3%
.0%
37.5%
.0%
50.0%
.0%
12.5%
.0%
28.6%
15.9%
NOR DIS-AGREE
FULLY AGREE
AGREE
Total
85.7%
100%
12.5%
.0%
25.0%
.0%
.0%
25.0% 14.3%
8
20
29.0%
69
Null Hypothesis (H0) there is no significant difference in responses on the factors

that are expected to help the MFIs grow
Alternative Hypothesis (H1) there is significant difference in response on the
factors that are expected to help the MFIs grow
If P value < .05, the Null Hypothesis is rejected.
Chi-Square Tests
Pearson Chi-Square
Value
df
P Value
83.904
32
<0.001
Source:(worked out by the researcher)
Based on the above Chi-Square value, the Null Hypothesis is rejected (as
P<.05) and the Alternative Hypothesis is accepted, indicating that there is
significant difference in responses on the factors that are expected to help the
MFIs grow.
285
Difference in opinion is mostly noted with respect to the following factors:

l Late payments
l Clients are not informed about consumer protection
l Not having relevant information about clients
l Clients are not informed about basics of debt management.
While these factors are major challenges before some MFIs, these can also be
seen as opportunities.
The researcher has also conducted one-way ANOVA and Factor Analysis.
ANOVA
ANOVA is used for examining the differences in the mean values of the dependent
variable associated with the effect of the controlled independent variables, after
taking into account the influence of the uncontrolled independent variables. Oneway analysis of variance involves only one categorical variable, or a single factor.
Table 17 Descriptive Statistics Relating to the Factors and
the Responses of the MFIs
RESPONSE
FACTORS
Mean
Standard Deviation
RETENTION OF CLIENTS
4.86
.378
SERVICE FOR CLIENTS
5.00
.000
CLIENTS ARE NOT EDUCATED ABOUT FINANCIAL SERVICES
3.50
.926
NOT HAVING RELEVANT INFORMATION ABOUT CLIENTS
2.43
.787
EDUCATION LEVEL OF CLIENTS IS LOW
3.88
.991
LANGUAGE BARRIER
1.75
.463
LATE PAYMENTS
2.38
1.061
CLIENTS ARE NOT INFORMED ABOUT CONSUMER PROTECTION
2.62
1.598
CLIENTS ARE NOT INFORMED ABOUT BASICS OF DEBT
2.71
1.704
3.23
1.447
MANAGEMENT
Total
Null Hypothesis (H0) response was not significantly different across MFIs
Alternative Hypothesis (H1) response was significantly different across MFIs
286
ANOVA
RESPONSE
Sum of Squares
Df
Mean Square
P value
Between Groups
80.165
10.021
9.678
<0.001
Within Groups
62.125
60
1.035
Total
142.290
68
If P value < .05, the Null Hypothesis is rejected.

Because the associated probability is less than the significance level of 0.05, the
Null Hypothesis is rejected.
Based on the above ANOVA values, the Null Hypothesis is rejected (as P<.05) and
the Alternative Hypothesis is accepted, indicating that there is significant difference
in response or opinion on factors influencing or causing hindrances across the
MFIs. The unexplained variation within groups is treated as error which is negligible.
The sum of squares between groups is the explained part, which is very high.
CONCLUSION
It is evident that the micro insurance sector will soon cease to be influenced by the
rural and social sector obligations.It is fortunate that the insurers have innovated
products and distribution beyond the regulatory requirement to conduct business
in the low income segment. However the regulator needs to respond to the new
realities of the sector.Group based policies,alternative micro insurance products
and distribution innovations have to be brought under the regulation of
microinsurance to protect and accelerate the growth of micro insurance in India.
It is observed that till today the penetration of micro insurance for both life or nonlife is at very low level in India inspire of tremendous efforts from the LICI.Some
insurers are even dumping poorly serviced microinsurance products on clients
solely to meet their targets.As soon as their targets were met,they immediately
stopped selling microinsurance.
Although micro insurance sector has huge potential of growth,but till today insurance
companys are not willing in promoting various products of micro insurance like
other traditional insurance products.
The analyses
regarding the
field in West
light of such
based on the study have generated a number of interesting findings

types, provision, availability and impact of microinsurance, a nascent
Bengal. The concluding observations have been made below in the
findings.
(i) Policy-induced and institutional innovations are promoting insurance among

the low-income people who form a sizable section of the population and who
are mostly without any social security cover.
287
(ii)
Although the current reach of microinsurance is limited, the early trend in

this respect suggests that the insurance companies, both public and private,
operating with commercial considerations, can insure a significant percentage
of the poor.
(iii)
Imposition of social and rural obligations by the IRDA, the insurance regulator
is helping all insurance companies appreciate the vast untapped potential
of serving the lower end of the market.
(iv)
Given irregular and uncertain income streams of the poor, flexibility in

premium collection is needed to extend the microinsurance net far and wide.
Moreover, the MFIs have started playing a significant role in improving the
economic conditions of the poor households.
(v)
Discussion with a number of MFIs and NGOs has indicated that one of their
major difficulties is the lack of or inadequate service from their insurance
partners.
(vi)
Linking microinsurance with microfinance makes better sense as it helps in

bringing down the cost of lending.
(vii)
At present, microfinance business in the country is not adequately regulated.

Meaningful regulation of the MFIs is needed not only to promote microfinance
activity in the country but also to promote the linking of microinsurance with
microfinance.
(viii)
Life microinsurance has generated great interests among the present and
potential clients. During the interviews, many of the respondents expressed
their interests in having life microinsurance as a form of investment.
Throughout the survey, it was found that most of the clients are willing to
pay a higher premium when it compensates for greater interests and benefits.
(ix)
The survey of 415 users of microinsurance revealed that most of the

respondents are in the age group of 31-40 years, female, in service and do
not have the basic education.
(x)
It has been observed that self-employment, illiteracy and low income make
the respondents vulnerable to risks.
(xi)
The respondents in the 4 study districts under study have different riskcoping mechanisms, in the form of informal borrowings, microloans, selling
of assets, etc.
(xii)
Majority of the MFIs covered in the study have been operating for more
than 3 years, work for all classes of people (whether they are unemployed,
self-employed or in service), and engage in promotional campaigns in less
than one year period.
288
(xiii)
There is significant difference in response on the factors that are expected

to help the MFIs grow.
REFERENCES
1.
Churchill, C. (2006), What is insurance for the poor? in C. Churchill (ed.), Protecting the
poor, A microinsurance compendium, International Labor Organisation, Geneva.
2.
Dercon, S. (1996), Risk, Crop Choice and Savings: Evidence from Tanzania, Economic
Development and Cultural Change, 44(3): 385-514
3.
Dercon, S. (2008), Risk, Poverty and Human Development: what do we know, what do we
need to know?, Background paper to the Human Development Report 2008
4.
Sen, A.K. (1981), Poverty and famines: An Essay on Entitlement and Deprivation, Clarendon
Press, New York
5.
Murdoch, J. (2004), Microinsurance - The Next Revolution? in A. Banerjee, R. Benabou and

D. Mookherjee (Eds.), What Have We Learned About Poverty? Oxford University Press,
New York
289
Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR)

- An Important Business Aspect of Private
Companies: A Study of Two Leading
Private Brands
Sreyasi Ray* & Arpita Sil**
ABSTRACT
In todays era of globalization and high cut throat competition, profit though is the main driving
force and undercurrent for all the private sector organizations, brands do realize that they
must be inspirational in a socially responsible way to all their stakeholders-including
shareholders, employees, customers, environment and society and rise over and above the
concept of sheer profit making. To achieve the same, Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR)
has become a very relevant strategic marketing tool. Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR)
is considered as a continuing commitment by business to behave ethically and contribute to
economic development while improving the quality of life, in ways that are both good for the
business and good for the society thereby creating an atmosphere of sustainable development.
As far as India is concerned, in spite of a lot of developmental endeavor and optimistic
projections, growth and development of the country has really not been very inclusive. To cater
to an inclusive growth of the country, it has been found out that government reforms have to be
complemented with corporate social responsibility activities and hence, corporates have to
play a proactive part to achieve this inclusive growth by ensuring the prosperity of the poorer
section of the population. This research paper, based on secondary observation moves around
developing an understanding of the concept of Corporate Social Responsibility and finding
out its scope in India taking the case study of Infosys which works towards removing malnutrition,
improving healthcare infrastructure, supporting primary education, rehabilitating abandoned
women and children and preserving Indian art and culture thereby treading the path to
sustainable development. Our other case study includes a study on Aditya Birla Nuvo Group
which explores Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) focusing mainly on the rural
developmental activities spanning five key areas- education, healthcare and family welfare,
infrastructure development, sustainable livelihood and social causes along with their singleminded goal to build model villages that can stand on their own feet.
Key Words: Corporate Social Responsibility, Stakeholders, Sustainable development,
Inclusive development, Rural development
INTRODUCTION
Concept and Meaning
Corporate Social Responsibility- the concept though originated in the 1950s in U.S.A, is
not a modern discovery and certainly not a discovery that can be credited to the
*
**
Assistant Professor, The Heritage Academy, Maulana Abul Kalam Azad University of Technology,
Kolkata, Email: sreyasi.ray@heritageit.edu
Assistant Professor, The Heritage Academy, Maulana Abul Kalam Azad University of Technology,
Kolkata, Email: arpita.sil@heritageit.edu
291
economically developed countries of today. The term gained impetus mainly in the 1970s.
The company, according to Berley, is not merely a legal institution. It is rather a legal
device for the attainment of any social or economic end and to a large extent, this is done
by publicly and by being socially responsible. It is therefore a combined political, social,
economic and legal institution. This brings us to the concept of CSR, as corporations
derive wealth from society, create wealth for society, and earn profit by dealing with the
wealth for society. In longer perspective, it is society that actually gives permission to the
business to operate in society and earn money. This obviously demands that the business
would pay for this permission by a legitimate sharing of the wealth it is earning from
society, by sharing it with society.
Organizations are nothing but the collective consciousness of all the members contributing
to its activities. This human operator i.e the individual of the organization is certainly
more important than the objective result because the result is achieved by what the
individual does. Certainly the question that comes to our mind is that Is the human being
for industry-technology or is industry-technology for the human being? Here, we encounter
the importance of the phenomenon of CSR, which is about business taking into account
their total impact on society and the natural environment.
Economic development has traversed a long journey. Modern economy is mainly marked
by three underlying dynamics. The first is the speed of change as a technological
phenomenon as well as in spheres of social and personal activities. The second
characteristic is the increased importance of knowledge, innovation and communication.
With the emergence of this knowledge economy, an increased importance of intangible
assets, such as intellectual capital, skills, research and development, branding and
reputation has also emerged. The third characteristic of the recent economic development
is shifting closeness, which puts diversity at centre stage, because it brings people from
different spheres together. It is the impact of these factors that leads to increasing
distribution of core activities within the company and the country in which the company is
situated, as well as beyond boundaries. Thus, the prerequisite is that the relationship
between business and society should be built on the basis of trust. The hard reality at the
end of the day is that business will survive only if everyone can operate with a sense of
self esteem, faith and trust. If trust is lost, then we will have no organization but only
automation. With increase democratization of politics, economics too needs to be
democratized and with more liberalization, corporates have begun to enjoy more freedom
with responsibility. Therefore, the modern free market has to stay within the boundary for
everyone to enjoy the benefits.
The World Business Council for Sustainable Development (WBCSD) defined CSR as the
continuing commitment of business to behave ethically and contribute to economic
development while improving the quality of life of their workforce and their families as well
as of the local community and society at large (WBCSD, 1999). Thus CSR implies some
sort of commitment, through corporate policies and action. The meaning of CSR has two
fold. On one hand, it exhibits responsibility towards its internal and external stakeholders.
On the other hand, it denotes the responsibility of an organization towards the environment
and society in which it operates. An ideal CSR has both ethical and philosophical
dimensions, particularly in India where there exists a wide gap between sections of people
292
in terms of income and standards as well as socio economic status. But the challenge
for development professional and business community is to identify CSR priorities and
the areas of interventions which are meaningful in the context of rural development as
major part of the population of our country is somehow or the other related to rural sector.
In spite of a good GDP growth, India still has to create more just and fair distribution of its
growth. The struggle to ensure inclusive growth and development is compounded by diverse
socio cultural factors. This is where the corporate in India can play a proactive role by
participating in nation building through CSR. Profits can be earned in spite of being ethical
and socially driven. It is important to understand that CSR goes beyond philanthropy;
though that may be its beginning. It has to take into account integrity and accountability
in the long run process of sustainability. CSR thus, involves a number of stakeholders
with unique demands of their own.
LITERATURE REVIEW
CSR as a Continuum
An ardent promoter of CSR, Simon Zadek (2001) has viewed the development of CSR in
terms of three generations: The first generation showed that companies can be responsible
in ways that do not interfere with commercial success. The second generation is focusing
on CSR as an integral part of long-term business strategy (Schendel and Hofer, 1979).
The third generation of CSR is expected to make a significant contribution to address
issues such as poverty, exclusion and environmental degradation. This will involve both
partnerships with civil society and changes in public policy (Zadek, 2001)
Archie B. Caroll (1979) defines social responsibility as a four stage continuum. According
to him, beyond economic and legal responsibilities lie ethical responsibilities, which are
additional behaviour and activities that are not necessarily codified into law but nevertheless
are expected of business by societys members. Thus according to him, a firm has four
categories of obligations of corporate performance: Economic, Legal, Ethical and
Discretionary. Discretionary responsibilities refer to the voluntary contribution of the
business to the social cause like involvement in community development or other social
projects pertaining to health and awareness of the masses (Srivastava et all, 2012).
According to Ackernmans model CSR operates at three different phases. 1) Top
management recognizes social problem, 2) the company appoints staff specialists to
look into the issue and find measures to tackle it and 3) implementation of the strategy
derived by the specialists. (Srivastava et all, 2012).
CSR primarily is a multidisciplinary approach. It involves data from divergent fields like
economics, politics, sociology, history, psychology, anthropology, philosophy, law, etc.
For a better understanding, CSR can be broadly divided into four broad aspects:
1) Responsibility, 2) Accountability, 3) Sustainibility, 4) Social Contract (Chatterji; 2014).
According to the report on Social Responsibilities of Business Corporations issued by
the Committee for Economic Development (CED) in 1971 accountability of corporate for
CSR operates at three concentric circles: Inner Circle includes the clear cut basic
responsibilities for the efficient execution of the economic function-products, jobs and
economic growth. Intermediate Circle encompasses responsibility to exercise this
293
economic function with sensitive awareness of changing social values and priorities. The
Outer Circle outlines newly emerging and still amorphous responsibilities that business
should assume to become more broadly involved in actively improving the social environment
(Chatterji; 2014).
Multinationals and CSR
Multinationals and their operations slowly began to be scrutinized by different segments
of society from the beginning of 2000. CSR has evolved into a complex concept that is
now a key component of the corporate decision-making of a number of multinationals
that are considered to be the frontrunners in integrating CSR. However, this evolution
came with a cost that various corporations had to pay. Campaigns and public scandals
involving issues ranging from environmental pollution to child labour and racial discrimination
resulted in unwanted media attention. This raises the question of whether reputation
damage is a main motivation behind the adoption of CSR policies by a multinational.
Due to the lack of public regulations regarding corporate best practices in most countries,
Sustainability reporting has become increasingly relevant. Although there is no specific
regulation of CSR, according to the Modernisation Directive (2003/51/EC) large companies
are obliged to include financial and non-financial key performance indicators in their annual
report. In this context an annual report is considered a directors report. Together with the
balance sheet and a profit and loss account it represents the annual accounts. The
annual report also includes information on environmental and employee matters.
According to the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, the US Securities and Exchange
Commission (hereafter SEC) requires public companies to disclose and report on certain
types of business and financial data to the SEC and the companys stockholders. The
SEC has issued an interpretative release to guide US public companies on the disclosure
requirements related to climate change. Transparency in corporate practices seems
desirable for stakeholders.
However, nowadays leading multinationals voluntarily prepare sustainability reports based
on the Global Reporting Initiative (GRI) Guidelines. The GRI Guidelines are a set of
guidelines for businesses created to stimulate socially-responsible corporate behaviour.
The GRI was initiated in 1997 by the UN Environment Programme (UNEP) and CERES
(non-profit sustainability advocacy organization based in Boston, Massachusetts). The
GRI has developed reporting guidelines for companies to assist them in disclosing nonfinancial information about the way they pursue their activities.
History of CSR in India
The history of CSR can be traced back to the description of the aim of the state found in
ancient Indian literature. Religion played a major role in encouraging charity. Hindu
scriptures highlighted the concept of using wealth for granting charity, performing sacrifices,
and discharging debts (Chatterji; 2014). Merchants donated wealth for social causes like
setting up educational institutions, hospitals, garden, charity homes, orphanages, etc.
They were also renowned for their charity, which helped them gain social status. Indians
quickly built on their potential by embracing new technology and business opportunities
that were beneficial to Indian society. Charitable activities were still on traditional lines,
294
like donating to educational and religious institutions (Chatterji; 2014). However with the
spread of western education, a perceptible change was noticed in the process of charitable
investment. Now the shift was towards more inclusive philanthropy, based on the equality
of all human beings. The political awakening in India, on the lines of democratic and
secular understanding of freedom, helped in creating an atmosphere of social justice,
equality, individual freedom, and universal brotherhood. (Chatterji; 2014). Mahatma Gandhis
call for trusteeship, which promoted the idea of voluntary renouncement of part of the
wealth by the business community for the good of the community, and also acting as
trustee of that wealth to ensure proper and fair implementation, appealed to the business
community. Gandhi clearly emphasized that trusteeship was neither charity nor
philanthropy-it was to be a way of life. The combined effects of political and socio-economic
factors led to the development of large-scale philanthropy, and famous families like Tata,
Birla, Shri Ram, Godrej, Dalpatbhai Lalbhai, Singhania, Modi, Murugappa Chettiar,
Kuppuswamy Naidu, Mafatlal, Mahindras, and others became the backbone of Indias
economic strength.
Slowly, the dawn of the era of social responsibility was being acknowledged by business.
The government also moved from closed economy to open economy policies. The
enlightened educated business leaders realized that government alone cannot be held
responsible for development and therefore a movement towards social responsibility
emerged. An important change was the industry acceptance of social responsibility as
part of the management of the enterprise itself (Chatterji; 2014).
Stakeholders and CSR
In simple terms, stakeholders can be defined as individuals or groups who either get
advantage or are disadvantaged by corporate decision or action (Chatterji, 2014). In other
words, Stakeholder is any group or individual who can affect or is affected by the
organizations purpose, because that group may prevent accomplishment. Stakeholders
are those who benefit from or are harmed by and whose rights are violated or respected
by, corporate actions.
Evan and Freeman (1988) extend the concept of stakeholder to those who benefit from
one harmed by, and whose rights are violated or respected by, corporate actions..
According to Eden and Ackermann (1998) stakeholders are people or a small group with
the power to respond to, negotiate with, and change the strategic future of the organization.
A more convenient definition of stakeholder is provided in Wheeler and Sillanpaas (1997)
work. They have offered a very convenient classification by dividing the stakeholders into
categories.
Classification of Stakeholders
Table:1: Classification of Stakeholders
Primary social
stakeholders
Secondary social
stakeholders
Primary non social

stakeholders
Investors
Government and
regulators
Natural environment Environmental

pressure groups
Secondary non social

stakeholders
295
Employees including
managers
Civic institutions
Future generations
Local Communities
Social pressure
groups
Non human species
Suppliers
Media and academic

commentators
Other business
partners
Trade bodies
Animal welfare
Organization
Competitors
(Source: Corporate Social Responsibility; Madhumita Chatterji; 2014;
Oxford University Press)
Broadly stakeholders can be classified into
Stockholders- Shareholders and investors have a financial stake in the organization, in
the form of investment in stocks, bonds, etc. Having invested directly or indirectly through
certain exchanges, these investors would certainly demand returns and the corporation
would have to honour this demand to ensure future investments for carrying on business.
Employees- Employees, including the management, are hired based on their skills and
expertise. Therefore, in return for their contribution, they demand wages, benefits,
meaningful work, and security. Their jobs and livelihood are at stake in this relationship.
Suppliers- As a stakeholder, there is an interdependent relationship between the suppliers
and the organization. They provide products and services to the organization to facilitate
their operations and the organization in return rewards them by giving the suppliers
business. Therefore, the suppliers gain if the organization is successful because they
get more orders, and vice versa.
Customers/Consumers- Customers have been variously described as God, guests,
king, etc. of business. Older tradition promoted the concept that customers are solely
responsible for making the right decision in the market to get the best gains, but modern
business principles consider that the success of companies depend upon how closely
the customer relationship is monitored. The more satisfied the customer is with the products
and services provided by the business, the more profits business reap.
Competitors- Competitors play an extremely important role as stakeholders by creating
a network of relationships where they can impact market share by impacting consumers,
suppliers, employees, and other actual and potential stakeholders.
Government- Government encompasses a large number of actors and institutions that
have the right to issue laws. These actors and institutions vary from the local level to
international level. Since society gives sanction to business, laws normally codify what
society regards as right and wrong.
The relationship of government as a stakeholder in business relates to two distinct activities
296
of Government. First, Government as a representative of community and society trying to

regulate business, usually through rules, laws and taxes and facilitate business through
providing infrastructure, subsidies, tax holidays, licensing and protecting from competition.
Second, Government is dependent on the economic prosperity of the nation and the
economy is run by business, therefore, there is a covert dependence of government on
business for it to retain its own power. Overtly, the Government is also a competitor to
business because very many products and services are provided by public organizations
(Chatterji; 2014)
Society and Community-The question of CSR would require defining acceptability in
the right sense of the economic and social aspects of business. The emergence of the
market forces as a result of post war developments and political movements envisaging
individualism as the core of existence encouraged the concept of free market. The market
volatility has brought to the forefront questions of stakeholder relations in business. The
social responsibility of organizations does not lie outside the organization. It is a part of
the entire process, from planning to production and marketing. The stakeholder theory
highlights this dimension of corporate involvement.
Sustainable Development and CSR
Sustainable development, the term coined by the Brundtland Commission in the year
1987, means development that meets the need of the present without compromising the
ability of future generation to meet their own needs. The three pillars of sustainable
development are a wide variety of economic, social, environmental, pillars. Capitalism, in
its effort to promote individual welfare, forgets that in a knowledge-driven specialized
world which is highly interdependent, one cannot solely survive by advancing personal
goals. Businesses and corporates thus, have to realize that they owe a social obligation
because it is society that gives them the sanction to do business, helps them in the
process of production and promotion and rewards them through profits (Chatterji; 2014).
Approaches of ISO 26000, Triple Bottom Line (TBL) and Triple Loop Learning (TLL) are
the three most popular approaches which help organization to incorporate the concept of
sustainability through the concept of CSR. ISO 26000 is a standardization tool offered to
apply CSR. Another popular mechanism is the approach of TBL accounting which gives
importance to people, planet and profit and attempts to describe the social and
environmental impact of an organisations activities, in a measurable way, to its economic
performance, in order to show improvement or to make evaluation more in depth. The
third approach TLL is concerned with the concept of transformational changes in the
domain of knowledge, organization, and its individual. It goes beyond the domain of secular
rational knowledge and merges with wisdom and mystical spiritual understanding.
Legal Considerations and CSR
The Companies Act, 2013 has introduced several provisions which would change the way
Indian corporates do business and one such provision is spending on Corporate Social
Responsibility (CSR) activities. CSR, which has largely been voluntary contribution, by
corporates has now been included in law.
Section 135 of the 2013 Act states that every company having: - net worth of Rs 500
crore or more, or - turnover of Rs 1000 crore or more , or - net profit of Rs 5 crore or
297
more during any financial year shall constitute a Corporate Social Responsibility
The Act also specifies that there shall be a Committee of the Board. The main
features of the board being
The board would comprise of three or more directors, out of which at least one
director shall be an independent director
The mandate of the said CSR committee shall be:
to formulate and recommend to the Board, a Corporate Social Responsibility

Policy, which shall indicate the activities to be undertaken by the company as
specified in Schedule VII;
to recommend the amount of expenditure to be incurred on the activities referred

to above;
to monitor the Corporate Social Responsibility Policy of the company from

time to time
The Board of every company referred to above shall after taking into account the
approve the CSR Policy for the company and disclose contents of such Policy
in its report and also place it on the companys website, and - ensure that the
activities as are included in CSR Policy of the company are undertaken by the
company, and - ensure that the company spends, in every financial year, at
least two per cent of the average net profits
If the Company fails to spend such amount, the Board shall, in its report specify
the reasons for not spending the amount
Average net profit shall be calculated in accordance with the provisions of

section 198 of the 2013 Act
CSR activities mainly to be included are: - eradicating extreme hunger and poverty promotion of education - promoting gender equality and empowering women - reducing
child mortality and improving maternal health - combating human immunodeficiency virus,
acquired immune deficiency syndrome, malaria and other diseases - ensuring environmental
sustainability - employment enhancing vocational skills - social business projects.contribution to the Prime Ministers National Relief Fund or any other fund set up by the
Central Government or the State Governments for socio-economic development and relief
and funds for the welfare of the Scheduled Castes, the Scheduled Tribes, other backward
classes, minorities and women; and - such other matters as may be prescribed
The 2013 Act provides that the company shall give preference to the local area and
areas around it where it operates
Branding and CSR

Ages ago, companies thought that they were adding value to an economy by employing
people to make good products and services. They added brand thinking later, which
strengthened the companys appeal to customers. More recently, companies see their
reputation as having to possess an additional layer drawing customer respect for the
company. As Professor Kash Rangan of Harvard observed: It is no longer sufficient to
298
compete on quality, price or product innovation alone, to which Dr. Joseph Plummer of
the Advertising Research Foundation added: The brand is what you buy. The corporate
reputation is what you believe in and trust. Its not an either/or. You need both.
Though unreported on most balance sheets, brand value and reputation still remain two of
a companys most important assets in todays hypercompetitive globalized marketplace.
In the world of Business Inc. and Marketing 3.0, successful modern brands need to reach
out not only to the customers own hearts and minds, but also to their concern for the
hearts and minds of othersand for the sustainability of the planet hence we talk
increasingly about companies striving to achieve a Triple Bottom Line Approach: People,
Planet, and Profits. But the question that comes to our mind is what benefits and growth
come to companies that improve their reputation? We list the following:
The company is better able to attract and retain world-class talent.
The company can create an additional level of customer-valued differentiation.
The company may benefit by attracting more socially concerned suppliers and
distributors who are aligned with the companys values.
The company can mitigate its risk of being criticized or slandered.
The company can attract an additional class of customers who care about the
planet.
As wealth and education increase, customers are becoming increasingly aware that their
own well-being is tied to the environments sustainability and societal harmony.
Business for Social Responsibility is a leading nonprofit global organization that provides
businesses with information, tools, training, and advisory services that help integrate
corporate social responsibility into business operations and strategies. Their research
and experience concludes that socially responsible companies have experienced a range
of bottom-line benefits, including
Increased sales and market share
Strengthened brand positioning
Enhanced corporate image and clout

Increased ability to attract, motivate, and retain employees
Decreased operating costs
Increased appeal to investors and financial analysts
OBJECTIVES
The main objectives of our study are :
To study and understand the CSR initiatives being taken by selected private
companies for our country thereby highlighting on the rural development, creating
and inclusive development;
To examine the corporate approach to work and their mode of action for
implementation for CSR initiatives;
To assess the impacts of CSR actions on the major socioeconomic developmental
issues of our country and its impact on the rural sector.
299
SCOPE OF THE STUDY

Our research paper, based on secondary observation revolves around developing an
understanding of the concept of Corporate Social Responsibility and finding out its scope
in India. The paper also tries to find out the impact of CSR in addressing the key socioeconomic developmental problems of our country with special attention to the rural sector.
The first case study that we took as a paradigm is the case study of Infosys, an Indian
based multinational IT service company, which mainly works towards removing malnutrition,
improving healthcare infrastructure, supporting primary education, rehabilitating abandoned
women and children and preserving the Indian art and culture thereby treading the path to
sustainable development. Our other case study was a study on Aditya Birla Nuvo Group,
a division of the Aditya Birla Group, active in textiles and apparel, carbon black, fertilizers,
insulators, mobile telephony and financial services multinational manufacturing and service
company which explores Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) focusing mainly on the
rural developmental activities spanning five key areas- education, healthcare and family
welfare, infrastructure development, sustainable livelihood and other social causes along
with their single-minded goal to build model villages that can stand on their own feet.
METHODOLOGY
Exhaustive literature survey regarding the topic and related concepts have been done.
Secondary data inclusive of quantitative and qualitative has been collected from various
sources including books, journals, research papers, newspapers, magazines, websites
and annual reports of the companies have been analyzed to come to a conclusion.
CORPORATE CASE STUDY-1: INFOSYS
INFOSYS: Company Profile
Infosys was founded on July 2, 1981 in Pune by N R Narayana Murthy and six other
members. The Company was incorporated as Infosys Consultants Pvt. Ltd. in Model
Colony, north-central Bengaluru as the registered office. Now, Infosys is a global leader
in consulting, technology, and outsourcing and next-generation services. Infosys help
enterprises transform and thrive in a changing world through strategic consulting,
operational leadership, and the co-creation of breakthrough solutions, including those in
mobility, sustainability, big data, and cloud computing.
INFOSYS: CSR Policy
Infosys Ltd. has been early adopter of CSR initiatives. They believe in the importance of
social stewardship and embrace responsibility for their company to create a positive
impact in the communities in which they work and live. Their key programs are driven by
the strong CSR platforms which they have built over the years.
Infosys Foundation is one of such platform which was established as a not-for-profit
nodal body aimed at providing a dedicative approach to community development and also
to fulfill their CSR commitments. The policy intends to
300
Strive for economic development that positively impacts the society at large
with minimal resource footprint
Embrace responsibility for the companys action and encourage a positive

impact through its activities on hunger, poverty, malnutrition, environment,

communities, stakeholders and society.
In accordance with the requirements of the Companys Act 2013, Infosys CSR activities
will focus on five thrust areas to bring meaningful impact:
Healthcare: Since its inception in 1996, the Foundation has funded healthcare projects
involving the construction of hospital wards, rest houses, buying of medical equipment
and transport vehicles, sponsoring medicines and organizing health camps across both
remote and urban areas of India.
Education: The Foundation promotes primary education through global partnerships and
sponsors mid day meals, scholarships, teacher training programs, construction of schools
and development of infrastructure such as libraries and laboratories. The Foundation also
works with higher institutes of learning to make the pursuit of learning and research
viable and competitive. Some of the significant investments in higher and specialized
education are in the areas of sponsoring chairs and courses.
Art and Culture: The Foundation identifies and promotes underprivileged artists who do
not have access to promoters. These include writers, painters, poets and musicians. The
Foundation assists them on a need basis by offering financial support, encouraging their
art, or helping them receive much deserved recognition.
Destitute Care: Support and vocational training help the destitute to live with dignity and
earn a livelihood. The Foundation partners with non-governmental organizations to support
destitute children and women, and funds programmes those provide specialized training.
Rural Development: The Foundation works with local administration across the country
to achieve community development goals. It funds projects that involve infrastructural
development and also works towards rehabilitating victims of natural and national calamities
especially in rural areas. The Foundation encourages projects that create awareness
about hygiene, sanitation, vocational training and entrepreneurship.
Other than this Infosys has also founded Infosys Foundation USA which mainly focuses
on bridging the digital divide in America. It aims to give children, young adults, and workers
across the United States the skills they need to become creators, and not just consumers,
of technology.
Infosys Science Foundation is another intiative by Infosys which institutes the Infosys
Prize, an annual award, to honor achievements of researchers and scientists across
engineering, computer science, physical sciences, social sciences, humanities,
mathematical sciences & life sciences
INFOSYS: Financial Details on CSR
The provisions pertaining to corporate social responsibility as prescribed under the
Companies Act, 2013 are applicable to Infosys Limited.
301
Table : 2 Details of expenditure on CSR projects by Infosys

Beneficiary
Sector
Location
(Rs. in crores)
Amount Spent
Akshaya Patra
Foundation
Malnutrition and
Hunger Eradication
Bengaluru, Hydrabad,
Jodhpur, Mysuru, Jaipur
36.83
Chennai Mathematical
Institute
Improving Quality
of Education
Improving Quality
Ramkrishna Mission
Rural development,
Aalo, Shivanahalli, Salem,

Mangaluru, Salem, Kadapa
and others
26.03
Indian Institute of
Science
Improving Quality of
Education
Bengaluru
21.20
Infosys Science
Foundation
mproving Quality of
Education
Bengaluru
20.99
Spark IT Program
Improving quality of
education
Hyderabad, Bengaluru,
Chennai, Pune
15.59
Public Health
Foundation
Healthcare, medical
facility
Delhi
10
International Institute of
Information Technology
education, Destitute
care and rehabilitation
Bengaluru
6.6
Charutar Arogya
Mondal
Health Care Medical

Facility
Karamsad
Presidency University
education
Kolkata
Cancer Institute
Health Care Medical

Facility
Chennai
Medical Research
Foundation
Health Care Medical

Facility
Chennai
NH Charitable Trust
Health Care Medical

Facility
Bengaluru
Bhagwan Mahaveer
Health Care Medical
Viklang Sahayata Samiti Facility
Jaipur
ICRIER, New Delhi
Delhi
Bengaluru
2.5
Rural Development
Institute of Bioinformatics Health Care Medical

& Applied Biotechnology Facility
302
Chitta Sanjeevani Trust
Health Care Medical

Facility
H.D.Kote
2.04
Indian Institute of
Technology
Health Care Medical

Facility
Mumbai
Vishwas Vision
Destitute care and

rehabilitation
Gurgaon
Parivvar Education
Society
Malnutrition and Hunger Kolkata

Eradication Destitute
care and rehabilitation
Institute of Bioinformatics Health Care Medical

Facility
Bengaluru
Vitala International
Institute of
Ophthamology
Health Care Medical

Facility, Destitute care
and rehabilitation
Bengaluru
1.61
Chare Trust
Art and Culture
Lakshmeshwara
1.44
Bannerghatta National
Park
Destitute care and

rehabilitation
Bengaluru
1.33
Agastya International
Foundation
Rural Development
Bengaluru
1.32
Sri Ramakrishna
Sevashram
Rural Development
Pavagada
1.2
Khusi Trust
Destitute care and

rehabilitation
Raichur
Bharata Iango
Foundation
Art and Culture
Chennai
Bone Marrow Regitry
Health Care Medical

Facility
Bengaluru
Search Central
Health Care Medical

Facility
Mumbai
SCARF
Health Care Medical

Facility
Chennai
Raja Dinkar kelkar

Museum
Art and Culture
Pune
(Source: Annual Reports 2014-2015 website: www.infosys.com)
303
Graph : 1 Sector wise allocation of CSR Funds: Infosys
INFOSYS: Findings and Analysis

Infosys has definitely lived upto the commitment as far as its social activities are concerned
and has crossed beyond the boundaries with their social activities. Total amount spent
for CSR in the financial year 2014-2015 was Rs. 239.54 crores as per Annual Report
(Annexure-VIII- Annual Report on CSR activities). Highest spending was in the sector of
Education, which was Rs. 102.63 crores. In the sector of Healthcare it was Rs. 44.83
crores, in the sector of Malnutrition it was Rs. 38.83 crores, in the sector of Rural
development it was Rs. 31.55 crores and in Art and Culture it was Rs. 3.44 crores. From
the above data it can be concluded that Infosys in collaboration with Govt, various NGOs
and premiere institutes has tried to focus on an overall holistic development focusing
primarily on education, health care, removing malnutrition, preserving heritage and culture
thereby encouraging and popularizing the concept of Private Public Partnership(PPP),
leading to an overall inclusive development. It definitely focuses on the aspect of
sustainability as it is education which would ultimately create employment opportunities
thereby creating economic sustainability, leading to social sustainability and finally bringing
about environmental sustainability. However a little more focus on the rural sector and a
pan-India approach, covering the much neglected parts of our country, instead of just
focusing on South India is something that should be taken care of.
CORPORATE CASE STUDY-2: ADITYA BIRLA NUVO LTD.
ADITYA BIRLA NUVO LTD.: Company Profile
Aditya Birla Nuvo Ltd is a diversified conglomerate within Aditya Birla Group. The company
entered into the industry in the year of 1956. It is a foremost player in most of its business
304
segments, including viscose filament yarn (VFY), carbon black, branded garments,
fertilisers, textiles and insulators. Over the past years, Aditya Birla Nuvo, through its
subsidiaries and joint ventures, has also made successful forays into life insurance,
telecom, business process outsourcing (BPO), IT services, asset management and other
financial services, striking a balance between value businesses and high growth
businesses. All the divisions of the company are ISO 9000 / 14001 certified.
ADITYA BIRLA NUVO LTD. : CSR Policy
The main vision of the CSR policy of the Aditya Birla Nuvo Group is : to actively contribute
to the social and economic development of the communities in which they operate. In
doing so, build a better, sustainable way of life for the weaker and marginalized sections
of society and raise the countrys human development index. The Company CSR policy
was outlined in 2010 in the Companies Annual Reports and on its website. The policy
also conforms to the National Voluntary Guidelines on Social, Environment and Economic
Responsibilities of Business released by the Ministry of Corporate Affairs, Government of
India in collaboration with FICCI Aditya Birla CSR Centre for Excellence (July 2011). All
the community projects/ programmes are carried out under the aegis of The Aditya
Birla Centre for Communiy Initiatives and Rural Development and is led by Mrs.
Rajashree Birla, the Chairperson. The activities are in line with Schedule VII of the
companies Act, 2013 as indicated
Education: Their endeavour is to spark the desire for learning and knowledge at
every stage through Formal schools, Balwadis, Quality elementary education, Aditya
Bal Vidya Mandirs, Girl child education, Non formal education and adult education
programmes.
Health care: The goal is to render quality health care facilities to people living in
the villages and elsewhere through their hospitals, primary health care centres.
They have entered into various mother and child care projects, immunization
programmes mainly concentrating on polio eradication. They have encouraged various
programmes on malnutrition, promoted the concept of Anganwadi, adolescent health,
health care for visually impaired and differently abled and physically challenged
They have also taken various preventive measures of health care by awareness
programmes. They also highlight and focus on various non communicable diseases.
Sustainable Livelihood: Their programmes aim at providing livelihood in a locally
appropriate and environmentally sustainable manner through formation of Self Help
Groups for women empowerment, encouraging skill enhancement and vocational
training, creating partnership with Industrial Training Institutes, concentrating on
agricultural development and better farmer focus, animal husbandry, soil and water
conservation, watershed development and agro forestry
Infrastructure Development: The main endeavour of the company was to set up
essential services that form the foundation of sustainable development through basic
infrastructure facilities, housing facilities, safe drinking water, sanitation & hygiene
and renewable sources of energy.
Social Change: The company also advocate and support, dowry less marriage,
widow remarriage, create awareness programmes on anti social issues, encouraging
de-addiction campaigns and programmes and espousing basic moral values creating
Gender equality.
305
The companys collaborative partnerships are formed with the Government, the District
Authorities, the village panchayats, NGOs and other like-minded stakeholders. This helps
widen the Companys CSR reach and leverage upon the collective expertise, wisdom and
experience that these partnerships bring to the table.
In collaboration with FICCI, the company had set up Aditya Birla CSR Centre for Excellence
to make CSR an integral part of corporate culture.
The Company also engages with well established and recognized programs and national
platforms such as the CII, FICCI, ASSOCHAM to name a few, to live up to their commitment
to inclusive growth.
ADITYA BIRLA NUVO LTD. : Financial Details on CSR
The provisions pertaining to corporate social responsibility as prescribed under the
Companies Act, 2013 are applicable to ADITYA BIRLA NUVO Limited.
Table :3 Details of expenditure on CSR projects by Aditya Birla Nuvo Ltd
Projects
Sector
Location
Amount spent
(Rs. In Lakhs)
Pre School Education

Project
Education
Gujarat, UP, West Bengal
1.2
School Education
Program
Education
Gujarat, UP, West Bengal,

Bengaluru, Karnataka,
Tamilnadu
85.69
Education Support Program
Education

Bengaluru
48.03
Vocational and Technical
Education

Bengaluru, Karnataka
26.31
School Infrastructure
Education
Gujarat,UP, Karnataka,
61.85
Preventive Health Care
Health

Bengaluru, Karnataka,
Tamilnadu
7.25
Curative Health Care

Program
Health
UP, Bengaluru, Gujarat,

West Bengal
40.25
Reproductive and Child

Health
Health
Gujarat,
1.03
Quality/ Support Program
Health
Gujarat, UP, West Bengal
1.75
Health Infrastructure
Health
UP, West Bengal, Bengaluru,

Karnataka, Gujarat
467.88
Agriculture and Farm Based
Environment &
Livelihood
Gujarat, UP
9.09
306
Animal Husbandry
Environment
& Livelihood
Gujarat, UP
2.74
Non-farm & skill based

income generation Program
Environment &
Livelihood
UP, West Bengal, Bengaluru,

Karnataka, Gujarat
61.42
Natural Resource
conservation program
& non conventional Energy
Environment &
Livelihood
UP, Gujarat
Rural infrastructural
Development
Rural
Development
UP, Gujarat, West Bengal
25.64
Institutional building &

strengthening:
Social
empowerment
UP, Gujarat, West Bengal
20.45
Support to development
organisations
Social
empowerment
Social
West Bengal
2.52
Awareness Programmes
Social
empowerment
Gujarat, West Bengal
0.11
Social Events to minimize

causes of poverty
Social
empowerment
Gujarat, West Bengal,

Bengaluru,
3.63
Promotion of heritage/
culture/sports
Social
empowerment
Gujarat
1.32
Disaster Relief Programs:
Social
empowerment
Gujarat, West Bengal
2.12
2.53
(Source: Annual Reports 2014-2015 web site:www.adityabirlanuvo.com)

Graph: 2 Sector wise allocation of CSR Funds: ADITYA BIRLA NUVO LTD.
307
ADITYA BIRLA NUVO LTD. : FINDINGS AND ANALYSIS

The work on several CSR initiatives has gained momentum during the year, resulting in a
spend of Rs. 9.61 crores (the same being 2.04% of the average net profits of the last 3
years as defined for the purposes of CSR). Highest spending was in the sector of Health
which is Rs. 518.16 lakhs, then Education, which is Rs. 102.63 lakhs, in the sector of
Environment, it was Rs. 75.78 lakhs, in the sector of rural development it was Rs. 25.64
lakhs, in the sector of Social Empowerment it was Rs. 30.15 lakhs.
The amount spend for CSR activities of Aditya Birla Nuvo Ltd. though is much less than
Infosys but its activities clearly depicts an effort to create inclusive development
concentrating mainly on health- which still remains a major area of lacunae in our country.
From the above data we also see that Aditya Birla Nuvo Ltd. concentrates on creating a
lot of awareness at the grass-root level and create an environment of social empowerment
and sustainability among the rural people of the country. Though from the Annual Report
we do not get the names of the collaborative partners of the company for their CSR
activities but their activity clearly implies that they have made the concept of Private
Public Partnership (PPP) a success in our country.
Aditya Birla Nuvo Ltd. in comparison to Infosys caters to much more states in India with
its social activities covering North, West and South and parts of the East. But North East
region of the country still remains an ignored area for their social activities too. Artistry as
an occupation which comprises as the second largest occupational sector after the
agriculturists, also require some attention in the CSR activities of the company.
LIMITATIONS
The drawbacks of the above research has been mentioned below
Absence of primary data has restricted the scope of the paper as primary data
would have given a much wider view of the case studies taken.
Limitation of time has also restricted the research. A lot more in depth analysis of
the subject is required in future.
Legal aspects like corporate governance, concept of private public partnership (PPP),
labour employee welfare and related issues needed explanation and study.
The last but not the least such a small size of sample do not give a clear picture of
the role of private companies in Corporate Social Responsibility in India
SIGNIFICANCE & FUTURE SCOPE

The above research might help the Policy makers by encouraging Public Private
Partnership for promotion of Corporate Social Responsibility and address major Indian
social problems like Child Labour, Health, Poverty, Unemployment, Illiteracy, Female
Foeticide and Infanticide, Dowry, Labour Exploitation and various other Infrastructural
hazards. It can also encourage the policy makers to change their myopic view about
CSR and consider CSR as an investment rather than just an instrument of branding.
The above research can also be helpful for the society by addressing various social
issues and problems thereby creating a sustainable social situation thereby leading to
environmental sustainability.
308
Finally the above research can be helpful for the economy as encouragement of investment
in CSR activities would ultimately lead to an increase in the growth rate thereby making
the nation a better place to invest in and improve the Human Development Index of the
country.
CONCLUSION AND RECOMMENDATIONS
Analysing all the findings we can come to the conclusion that many corporates like
Infosys and Aditya Birla Nuvo Ltd, has started considering social responsibility as an
important business issue. Indian companies irrespective of size, sector, business goal
and location of the company has initiated various social projects for the upliftment of the
society. Indian companies have realized that without proper socio-economic development
at the grass-root level there cannot be any inclusive development of the country thereby
leading to an unsustainable and instable situation to do business and face the fierce
completion at the global level.
However the concept is not free from criticisms. Milton Friedman (1970) has rightly pointed
out that mere existence of CSR was a signal of an agency problem within the firm. An
agency theory perspective implies that CSR is just a misuse of corporate resources that
could be better spent on valued-added internal projects or returned to shareholders. It
also suggests that CSR is an executive perk, in the sense that managers use CSR to
advance their careers or other personal agendas.
A paper by Reinhardt (1998) finds that a firm engaging in a CSR-based strategy can only
generate an abnormal return if it can prevent competitors from imitating its strategy.
However in competitive markets this is unlikely, since CSR is highly transparent, with
little causal ambiguity.
From the Indian perspective the new Companies Act has though made CSR a financial
obligation, but it still remains a secondary priority for the investors, policy makers and
the corporate. Funds have been allocated for social projects, but seldom out of social
conviction. It has been mostly done to please the political and bureaucratic leaders, or to
secure public support for specific project investments. Today, companies are not engaged
with the beneficiary community. They provide money to build toilets, but they leave
unaddressed the problem of locating the septic tank. They construct schools but do little
about enhancing the quality of education. They give money but have no understanding of
the sub-culture of poverty-the result being a limited impact of their contribution.
So the question that comes to our mind is should the company limit its CSR involvement
to simply meet the financial obligations set down in the act? Or should it get more deeply
engaged in tackling the systemic problems of society? This objective can be nearly
achieved following few recommendations:
Concept of Corporate Social Responsibility should be a multidisciplinary concept,

involving well trained, qualified and experienced professionals from various disciplines
like Sociology, Social Work, Economics, Demographers, Psychologists, Management
Personnel should be engaged for better planning, implementation and evaluation of
CSR initiatives.
The concept of private-public partnership (PPP) i.e collaboration of the Govt along
with the corporates should be applied in the effective implementation of CSR activities.
309
CSR programmes being implemented by Indian companies should be based on the

felt-need of the local people so that their participation in the programme is maximum.
The Human Resource Department both at the political and private level should be
entrusted with the responsibility of measuring and evaluating CSR activities. It can
be done by analyzing the direct results like economic and financial savings and by
analyzing indirect results like increase in employee satisfaction, less absenteeism,
less employee turnover etc
Periodic review of CSR activities should be conducted by every corporate so as to
identify the pitfalls and the lacunae
Periodic review in the form of social audit should be conducted by an external agency
Innovation should essentially be a matter of concern; be it searching and delving
into the untouched areas or formulation of new CSR strategy
NGOs should be encouraged to act in collaboration for the CSR activities under
different schemes and projects as they play a crucial role in the upliftment of the
masses.
Combination of expertise and domain knowledge of the different companies together
rather than singly can create a better and meaningful contribution in the various
social activities.
With these above recommendations Corporate Social Responsibility can really be a

meaningful endeavour by corporates in creating a sustainable society, thus taking India
at its apex of development. Govt in this regard should therefore act as motivator and
facilitator and try to do well taking advantage of the debate taking place by tweaking
Section 135 and Schedule VII of the act and by encouraging such a move
REFERENCES
1.
Chatterjee, D. (2010), Corporate Governance and Corporate Social Responsibility: The

Case of Three Indian Companies International Journal of Innovation, Management and
Technology, 1(5), pp. 507-510
2.
Chatterji, M. (2014), Corporate social Responsibility, Oxford University Press, India,

pp. 5-94
3.
Gautam, R. and Singh, A. (2010), Corporate Social Responsibility Practices in India: A

Study of Top 500 Companies. Global Business and Management Research: An
International Journal, 2(1), pp. 41-56
4.
Kumar, N. (2014) Corporate Social Responsibility: An Analysis of Impact and Challenges

In India, Abhinav International Monthly Refereed Journal of Research in Management &
Technology, 3(5), pp.97-104
5.
Mandal, B.N., (2012) Corporate Social Responsibility in India, Global Vision Publishing
House, New Delhi, pp. 1-26
6.
Mehta, V.S., (2015) CSR: Corporate Should Reach out, Indian Express, pp. 9
7.
Pradhan, S. and Ranjan, A. (2010), Corporate Social Responsibility in Rural Development

Sector: Evidences from India, School of Doctoral Studies (European Union) Journal, pp.
139-147
8.
Sharma, A. and Kiran, R. (2013), Corporate Social Responsibility: Driving Forces and
Challenges, International Journal of Business Research and Development , 2(1), pp.
18-27
310
9.
Srivastava, A. K., Negi, G., Mishra, V. and Pandey, S. (2012) Corporate Social
Responsibility: A Case Study Of TATA Group, IOSR Journal of Business and Management
(IOSRJBM), 3(5), pp. 17-27
10.
http://www.adityabirla.com/csr/overview/ accessed on 30.10.2015
11.
http://www.adityabirlanuvo.com/ accessed on 30.10.2015
12.
http://www.grantthornton.in/service-areas/business-advisory/corporate-socialresponsibility-sustainability/ accessed on 30.10.2015
13.
http://www.infosys.org/ accessed on 30.10.2015
14.
https://www.pwc.in/assets/pdfs/publications/2013/handbook-on-corporate-socialresponsibility-in-india.pdf/ accessed on 30.10.2015
311
312
Demand And Supply Gap Of Employable Skill

(A Study Of Technical Education Scenario In Odisha)
Dr. Pushkar Dubey* & Sri Tarun Kumar Sarangi**
ABSTRACT
This paper highlights the present day requirement by the industries in terms of technical
manpower and the quality of the academic output from various levels of technical institutions
like Graduate Engineers and Diploma Engineers. It seeks to find out the relevancy of academic
output to the industry, i.e. how far the academic institutions in Odisha meets the present day
requirement of industries in terms of technical manpower and to study various aspects of
diminishing quality of employable skill in the outcomes of various technical institutions. It is
also focused on industries perception towards technical manpower in order to sustain in the
global economy and the skill set that is required by recent outcomes of various institutes.
Key Words : Technical Institutions, employable skills, technical manpower, economy.
INTRODUCTION
The social, political, cultural and economic transformation of a country is possible
only through higher education and more specifically technical education (Engineering
Education) as it is directly related to the life of the common people. Engineering is
an activity that is essential to meet the need of the people, economic development
and the provision of services to the society. Engineering is a profession directed
towards the skilled application of a distinctive body of knowledge based on
mathematics, science and technology integrated with business and management,
which can be acquired through education and professional formation in a particular
engineering discipline. Engineering is directed towards developing, providing and
maintaining infrastructure, goods and services for the industry and the community
at large. Therefore engineers obviously need to have a certain skill to help them in
applying and practicing the knowledge effectively in the workplace.
LITERATURE REVIEW
Education is acknowledged as one of the significant elements of the national
development effort and higher education, in particular, is of vital importance for
the nation, as it is a powerful tool to build knowledge-based society of the 21st
century. The activities of Department of Higher Education are focused towards
developing India as a knowledge society (Report on Higher Education). Skills
development, both in the organized and the unorganized sector and training as
an education imperative is an extremely important activity for a growing economy
like India (AICTE Quarterly).
*
**
1
Assistant Professor in Management, Padmashree Krutartha Acharya College of Engineering (P.K.A.C.E),
Bargarh, Odisha
Principal, Padmashree Krutartha Acharya Institute of Engineering and Technology (P.K.A.I.E.T), Bargarh,
Odisha
313
The present scenario of Technical Education is somewhat oriented towards gaining

professional knowledge in the respective discipline of study. Industrial perception
towards technical education is very often ignored by the Government, Promoters
and the Institutional administration. As per the recent survey conducted by
NASSCOM, Manpower Group, FICCI and Aspiring Mind it is observed that 15-17%
of technical graduates are employable, that means they are found Ready for
Work and 20 to 24% found somehow manageable. Almost all industries spend a
lot to train the fresher on different skill set as per the requirement. Such a gap in
between acquiring technical knowledge and find a place in industry, competently
work and motivated to learn is somehow mismatching. It may be due to a variety
of reasons that are discussed later.
We have focused on employability skill requirement and the present trend in
technical education system with a particular reference to our state. Placement
scenario of technical graduates and diploma engineers in the state is not
satisfactory. A declining trend in enrollment shows the lack of interest in the students
to pursue technical education as career.
The skills set of engineers can be characterized by three overall skills factors
(Blom & Saekhi, 2010).
l
Core Employability Skills (which cover generic attitudinal and affective skills,
such as reliability and team-work);
l
Communication Skills (such as English skills, written and verbal
communication), and
l
Professional Skills (which generally covers cognitive skills related to the
engineering professions, such as ability to apply engineering knowledge; as
well as design and conduct experiments and related data analyze and
interpretation).
Employability can be defined as a mix of skills, capabilities and competencies in
potential hires depending on the business its in. The unemployment is not because
of lack of job opportunities but due to lack of skill available in the job aspirant
(Chandrasekhar).
Administrative setup, obsolete technologies, lack of autonomy to institutions, lack
of skill orientation, lack of practical exposure and lack of organized setup to
identify the needs of society are the problems of technical education in India
(Thakur, Davendra and Thakur, D.M., 1996).
Kaur and Bhalla (2009) in their article reported that college ranked higher for
three factors i.e. teaching environment, research environment and educational
material. The perception gap between the industry and the faculty must be bridged
to improve the employability of the students and enhance the quality of higher
education. It is presumed that 15% of the Indian college students are only
employable (Rajsekaran and Raja Singh, 2009)
Present Trends in Engineering Education in Odisha
There has been tremendous transformation of engineering education in the state of
Odisha in the last decade. The growth of the sector is implicated by the growth in the
number of technical education, growth in the approved intake of the institutions.
314
Table 1 Growth in the technical institution of the Odisha (10 years Comparison)
YEAR
2006
2007
2008
2009
2010
2011
2012
2013
2014
2015
GOVT.
4
4
5
8
8
8
8
8
8
8
B-TECH
(+/-)
PRIVATE
0
36
0
41
1
58
3
86
0
93
0
94
0
92
0
88
0
88
0
88
(+/-)
0
5
17
28
7
1
-2
-4
0
0
GOVT.
12
12
12
12
12
12
12
20
30
30
DIPLOMA
(+/-) PRIVATE
0
21
0
25
0
44
0
73
0
77
0
79
0
83
8
84
10
88
0
89
(+/-)
0
4
19
29
4
2
4
1
4
1
Table 1 above depicts the growth of the number of institution from 2006-2015. It
can be seen from the above table there are increased number of institution year
by year. For the degree programme the highest growth in the government colleges
is in the year 2009 where as for the diploma government colleges the highest
increase is noted in the year 2013. Comparing the private sector degree institutions
the highest addition was in the year 2009, whereas for the diploma programme,
private colleges recorded a highest increase in the year 2009. Comparing the
2006 figure with the present trend the degree government colleges have doubled
in number, whereas the number of private colleges have increased in more than
two and a half times. Similarly the government diploma colleges have almost tripled
in the number, whereas the private diploma colleges have increased more than
four times when compared to its figure of 2006.
Table 2 Growth in AICTE approved Intake (10 years Comparison)
YEAR
2006
2007
2008
2009
2010
2011
2012
2013
2014
2015
GOVT.
840
840
1080
1800
1980
1980
2035
2880
2460
3900
B-TECH
(+/-)
PRIVATE
0
10680
0
13750
240
19853
720
29183
180
33653
0
35753
55
37563
845
40700
-420
43135
1440
43255
(+/-)
0
3070
6103
9330
4470
2100
1810
3137
2435
120
GOVT.
1820
2245
2245
2345
2385
3145
3125
4875
6670
7645
DIPLOMA
(+/-) PRIVATE
0
5300
425
7345
0
12280
100
19820
40
22240
760
24635
-20
26475
1750 30700
1795 35520
975
37740
(+/-)
0
2045
4935
7540
2420
2395
1840
4225
4820
2220
315
Table 2 above depicts the growth in the number of AICTE approved intake of
government and private institutions of degree and diploma programme from the
year 2006-2015. It can noted from the above table there considerable addition of
intake capacity of engineering education year by year. The highest capacity addition
for government college degree programme is in the year 2015, where for the
private colleges the highest addition of intake was noted in the year 2009. Similarly
for the government colleges diploma programme the highest increase in approved
intake was noted in the year 2014, whereas for the private colleges the highest
increase is in the year 2009. Comparing the figure of 2006 to the present intake
of the approved seats the government degree colleges have increased their
capacity more than four and a half times whereas the private colleges have
increased their capacity to four times. Similarly for the government diploma colleges
the approved intake for enrolment have increased to more than four times whereas
for the private college the capacity has been added to almost eight times to that
of the figure in 2006.
Table 3 Enrolment data (Diploma) : Seven years statistics
Year
2009
2010
2011
2012
2013
2014
2015
Available Seats
23755
27360
28520
32982
39319
45000
46482
Vacancy
5241
8725
13903
14801
22042
20413
22000
Enrolment
18514
18635
14617
18181
17277
24587
24482
% of Enrolment
77.93%
68.11%
51.25%
55.12%
56.05%
54.63%
52.66%
Table 3 illustrates the enrolment statistics of students in diploma engineering from

the year 2009-15 in Odisha. It can be observed from the table that the enrolment
percentage was highest for the year 2009 (77.93%). In subsequent years there has
been significant addition in the intake capacity, however the enrolment percentage
tends to continuously fall. The lowest percentage of enrolment was for the year
2011(51.25%), which means almost half of the total intake was laying vacant.
Table 4 Enrolment data (Degree) : Seven years statistics
Year
2009
2010
2011
2012
2013
2014
2015
316
Available Seats
30983
35633
39543
39598
43580
46255
47395
Vacancy
21877
17735
16945
21324
18866
17644
17154
Enrolment
9106
17898
22598
18274
24714
28611
29241
% of Enrolment
70.6%
49.77%
42.85%
53.85%
43.29%
38.14%
36.19%
Table 3 illustrates the enrolment statistics of students in degree engineering from

the year 2009-15 in Odisha. It can be observed from the table that the enrolment
percentage was highest for the year 2009 (70.6%). In subsequent years the
percentage tend to fall to less than the half of the total intake capacity, which
signifies the worst enrolment figures in the degree engineering. The capacity
addition has resulted in more reduction in percentage of enrolment of the students.
The lowest enrolment was noted for the current year 2015 (36.19%) which signifies
that almost three-fourth of the total seats were lying vacant
Growth of Intake in Core Engineering Branches
There has been remarkable increase in the approved intake capacity in the degree
and diploma colleges of Odisha. However, this growth is more significant for the
core branches like mechanical, civil and electrical engineering. The addition of
approved intake capacity is less significant for the branches like electronics and
telecommunication engineering, instrumentation engineering and computer and its
related branches.
Growth of Institutions as Per Location
It is also important to access the growth of technical education in terms of its
locations. The growth of degree colleges are found to be non-homogeneously
distributed across the locations of the state of Odisha, as most of the colleges
are finding their place in the renowned knowledge hub of the state capital
Bhubaneswar. However it is not in the case of the diploma institutions where there
are ample of homogeneity found, the institutions are well segregated across
different locations of the state.
Triode of Education System
Figure 1 below illustrates the triode of education system with different requirement
and expertise (FICCI Summit, 2013). These different types of institutions would
require fundamentally different architectural and foundation elements which are:
1.
Research-focused institutions : This type of institutions creates innovation
and knowledge through research based study. They attract academically
brilliant students and stellar faculty from all over the world, and be valuable
assets in Indias knowledge-driven economy
2.
Career-focused institutions : This type of institution focuses on learning
outcome of the students. Career focused institutions are oriented to produce
graduates to meet the needs of Indian economy.
3.
Foundation institutions : This type of institutions provide basic
undergraduate and post graduate courses at basic college education to a
large number of individuals . They aim to achieve social objectives of lessen
poverty and create awareness on improving health, sanitation, law and order,
enable employability at grassroots and thereby serve economic needs of
the country.
317
Figure: 1 Triode of Education System

Three Faceted Globally Relevant and Competitive Higher Education System
Model
FICCI, 2014 has presented a three faceted globally relevant and competitive model
for higher education system in India (Fig.2). According to this model what globally
relevant and competitive higher education means for Indian higher education is
the incubation of three features:
1.
India is prominently placed in the higher education in the global map: India
has the highest number of higher educational Institutes and has the second
highest enrolment in the higher education in the world. On the negative side
only handful of Institutes have global ranking and predominantly lacks global
accreditation system.
2.
India is a talent hub: There are requirement of more than 200 million
workforce in Industry and service sector by 2022. Indian graduates have
ample of opportunities to be a part of that future requirement. The negative
aspect is that only a small proportion of Indian graduates are considered
employable.
3.
Culture of research, Innovation and Entrepreneurship: India lags behind in
the research phenomenon. It lacks International collaboration and published
joint research paper. The prime focus is on teaching rather than on research
318
activities. Incubation centers are also a recent phenomenon in Indian higher

education system. Becoming an entrepreneur is also a difficult task. According
to stats it ranks 179 in terms of ease of starting a business.
Fig. 2 Three faceted model

OBJECTIVE OF THE STUDY
The present study is based on the following research objectives:
1.
To analyze the present day requirement by the industries in terms of technical
manpower and the quality of the academic output from various levels of
technical institutions like Graduate Engineers and Diploma Engineers.
2.
To find out the relevancy of academic output to the industry, i.e. how far
the academic institutions in Odisha meets the present day requirement of
industries in terms of technical manpower and to study various aspects of
diminishing quality of employable skill in the outcomes of various technical
institutions.
3.
To focus on industries perception towards technical manpower in order to
sustain in the global economy and the skill set that is required by recent
outcomes of various institutes.
4.
To suggest suitable measures, so as to minimize the demand and supply
gap of employable skill between the institutes and the industries.
319
SCOPE OF STUDY
1.
The study is generalized to the technical education scenario of Odisha. It
helps in understanding the framework of employable skill requirements of
the industries and that of the actual of the institutes.
2.
The gap highlighted in the study will help the institutes in formulation of
suitable curriculum and policies which will meet the future requirements of
the industries.
3.
It will act as a guide to the government in understanding the root level cause
which leads to the failure of the existing plans and policies designed for
industries and institutes.
4.
It can bridge the gap between the human resource planning and supply
forecast in real scene, creating suitable opportunities for suitable skill holders.
METHODOLOGY
The study is based on exploration of secondary data over a period of time.
Compilations of facts on the basis of literature and the past experience of authors
have also contributed to the development of the study.
ANALYSIS AND FINDINGS
The study identifies 10 key indicators which have greater role in satisfying the
employable skill namely:
1.
Quality Inputs: Technical institutions lack quality input in the form of faculty
resources which is the major cause of deterioration of employable skills in
education. Following are the reasons for declining in quality input:
l
Quality of faculty: Education as profession is the remote choice of the
engineering graduates.
l
Higher education: Faculties those who are in the profession lack attitude to
learn, reluctant to update their knowledge, lack in integrity and lacks research
and development activities.
l
In most of the Institutes it has been observed that significant proportion of
faculty members are fresher without teaching experience and most of them
chose the profession as stop gap arrangement, which affect the teaching
quality.
l
Lack of quality improvement initiatives by university or concern state
government: Faculty members become obsolete inspite of rapid changes in
global technology.
Students Enrollment in Technical Institutions : Decline in number of enrolment
and quality of student orientation towards technical education can be enumerated
in the following under given points
l
Lack of employment opportunities: In todays scenario the problem is not
basically unemployment, but it is related to the declining trend in employment
quality.
320
Growth in the number of institutes has enabled the students to exercise

their options on the basis of available parameters like placement, quality of
teaching, location of institute, infrastructure facility etc. Another remarkable
trend observed during last 2-3 years that students enrolment in lateral entry
has tremendously increased as compared to the freshers.
There is an attitudinal shift of students to go for engineering as a degree
oriented programme rather than opting for engineering as a career.
2. Academic Curriculum for various levels of technical education: The

present pattern of academic curriculum is below par with the requirements of
industry standards. Following under given points shows the same:
l
Up gradation in recent technology are being overlooked by the academician
while designing the curriculum for engineering.
l
Globalised economy always requires update and upgraded knowledge in the
latest technology in order to compete in the global market. Therefore
industrial perception towards technical education has been shifted from
traditional pattern of lecture delivery to practical and hands-on training in
different projects.
l
Curriculum to be designed as per the industry expectations.
l
At the time of curriculum design, collaborative efforts from academician and
industry experts are to be given with more importance.
l
IT enabled education to be given emphasis at the root level.
l
Curriculum to be focused on communication skill as the core employable
skill along with the professional skill.
l
For various level of technical education skills are to be identified and
categorized, so as to find the best fit personnel at the right place.
l
Equal opportunities should be laid on for the growth of every sector. Economic
requirements of different sectors (Industry, service, education etc) should be
carefully investigated, and accordingly students should exercise their options
from the pool of available alternatives. The whole system should lay priority
on students orientation.
3. Policy Changes by different Govt. Agencies: Policy changes of the
government agencies tend to affect the academic standards of the institutions.
l
The entire process of educational administration is based on mistrust. The
system is based on the curriculum and syllabus and doesnt allow the
institutions from deviations or change process. Experimentation in course
content, pedagogy, teaching style, etc remains obsolete. In fact there are
norms starting from the size of classroom to student book ratio.
l
The methodology followed by AICTE is either too strict or too liberal, hence
tends to lose its credential resulting in academic degradation.
l
There are multiplicities of agencies in the educational system which makes
the entire chain of process too complex for functioning, hence results in
deviation from the primary objective of the institution.
321
l
l
The formulated policies are too fragile and are subjected to change from
time to time.
Policy guidelines are meant to become mentors, unfortunately it either
becomes companion or a dictator.
4. Inadequate follow up action : Academic standards have been diluted due to

lack of regular inspection and follow up actions. Following points signifies the
same:
l
University and government agencies though adopting follow up action in terms
of regular inspections, surprise visit, compliance from the institutions they
are working more as a watch dog rather than as a facilitator.
l
Adequate facility is to be given to all institution irrespective of government
and private for self evaluation, self monitoring, and progressing and control
activities and to encourage industry linked teaching learning environment for
better academic growth.
5. Governance of technical institutions : There are performance gap in terms
of effective governance as majority of technical education providers are private
bodies without requisite knowledge and expertise.
l
The perception of the governing body towards technical education has not
yet been shifted from traditional set up mind to present day requirement of
the economy.
l
Institutional affairs are a part of societal obligations for the sake of betterment
of education and society; unfortunately private promoters have transformed
their motive and made it a business model which seeks to give maximum
return on investment.
6. Growth in the number of technical education providers : There has been
significant reduction in educational standard due to overgrowth in number of
technical education.
l
Improper Human resource planning/ manpower planning: Government has
adopted liberal policy in approval process which resulted in overgrowth of
l
Internal competition among the institutions in terms of admission has created
a negative impact on the new entrants as well as to the parents.
7. Institutional support in terms of faculty and infrastructures : Due to
declining trend in students enrolment institutional feasibility has become a vital
question. Institutions that were functioning prior to 2008 were giving importance
to faculty and infrastructure. On the account of liberalized policy of AICTE the
number of institutions grow rapidly in two consecutive year 2008-09 and 2009-10
for engineering degree and 2009-10, 20010-11 for engineering diploma which
resulted in the deterioration of quality in terms of faculty and infrastructure. Which
otherwise affect the academic standard as well as lack of students interest towards
322
8. Declining trend towards IT education : The paradigm shift in declining trend

towards IT education has put a negative impact in employable skills.
l
Declining trend in terms of manpower requirement has been observed in IT
sector in the last five years which resulted in a negative impact towards IT
and IT related discipline of study and subsequently focus has been shifted
to core engineering branches.
9. Industry-institute interaction : Lack of industry-institute inter phase has
resulted in erosion of practical form of education system.
l
Industry always expects the students passing out from different institutions
are for-ready to work but the same message has not been transferred
from the industry to institute. As there is a wide gap between academician
and industry experts in terms of knowledge sharing, practical learning
approach, job related practical exposure, industry culture, ethics, integrity
etc.
10. Expectation from the industry on employable skill : There are mismatches
in Industrial requirements and institutional supply in terms of expected skills needful
to perform a job.
l
The actual meaning of employable skill is not known to the students. The
term employable skill is often misunderstood by faculties as well as the
students. Employable skill as per industrial perception signifies a different
meaning. Different level of engineers have to acquire different set of skills
for functioning in the industrial environment. For a graduate engineer
competence skill or core employable skill and communication skill are more
important requirement, than the professional skills, whereas for the diploma
engineers professional skills are more valued in the organisation. The faculty
of the concern department only encourages them to acquire expertise in the
concern field only. This has resulted in mismatch between industrial
requirement and the acquired skills.
CONCLUSION :
Education in the present day has turned more pragmatic. Replacing the traditional
form which primarily aimed at accumulation of knowledge and ideas, the current
form focuses more on the application of the accumulated knowledge and skills. In
other words it focuses more on employability where a person can learn to earn.
Technical form of education is imperative for pragmatic education system, which
enables the individual to acquire the required set of skills which can be applied in
practical scenario. With modernization countries across the globe are coming
together to develop a unique approach for economic development. Technical
education in the form of engineering education is playing a vital role to produce
the matching power for the industry. The vitality and endurance of which can only
be realized when the potential students realizes their strength and work according
to their acquired skill set.
323
The state Odisha in recent times has emerged as a knowledge hub for creating
realistic manpower which can work on a value driven process. It is therefore very
essential to educate and train them in the right way, so that they can meet the
right specification of the Industry. For an economic system to prosper the supply
of resources must meet the demand. Any imbalance between these two factors
can create imbalance in the economic growth. The supply of right skilled manpower
is the essential of time to satisfy the growing demand of manpower in the industrial
sector. Therefore employability should be given more priority with the input of skill
set. Raw talent cannot fulfill the career objective. In the same way only skill set
cannot meet the Industrial expectations. Appropriate definition and categorization
of skill set requirements are to be designed and potential engineers should be
trained accordingly. Then only supply can satisfy the needful demand of the
industry.
Transformation is an ongoing process and every facet of Industry has to undergo
the same. The challenge behind transformation is adaptability towards technological
changes, the sooner it is achieved the longer is the chances of the industry to
survive, sustain, compete and grow. Manpower in the system has to proactively
react to the change process by bringing attitudinal transformation through learning
required skills.
Unfortunately, skill development in this regards is confined to
plans and policies of the institutions. Huge mismatch tends to exist at the base
level implementation phase. The situation demands for work at the grass root
level to create a balanced framework between present demand and existing supply
of skilled manpower resources.
REFERENCES
1.
AICTE Approval Process Handbook in http://www.aicte-india.org/aboutaicte.php/last

accessed on 14.08.2015.
2.
AICTE Quarterly Bulletin: 1(2), 2013.
3.
Amitendu Palit (2009), Skills Development in India: Challenges and Strategies, Working
Paper No.: 89, Institute of South Asian Studies, National University of Singapore
4.
Arvil V. Adams (2011), The Role of Skill Development in Overcoming Social Disadvantage,
Global Monitoring Report for 2012, UN Educational Scientific and Cultural Organization
5.
B. Rajsekaran and S. Raja Singh (2009) Perceptual chasm between industry and
academic leaders on quality of higher education, Journal of Academic leadership, 6(1)
6.
Blom & Saekhi (2010) Employability and Skill Set of Newly Graduated Engineers in India.
World Bank, November 1.
7.
Consolidated Working group Report of the department of Higher Education: For 12th five
year Plan, Ministry of HRD.
8.
Chandrasekhar S. Employability skill Assessment of Engineering Students, Sri Eshwar

College of Engineering.
9.
Directorate General of Training (DGT) in http://dget.nic.in/ last accessed on 14.08.2015.
10. FICCI Higher Education Summit (2013) Higher Education in India: Vision 2030.
11. FICCI Higher Education Summit (2014) Higher Education in India: Moving towards global
relevance and competitiveness.
324
12. State Council for Technical education and Vocational Training (SCTVT) in http://
sctevtodisha.nic.in/ last accessed on 14.05.2015.
13. Kaur D and Bhalla G.S. (2009) Perception of faculty towards college management: A case
study, The ICFAian Journal of management research, 8(8).
14. Thakur, Davendra and Thakur, D.M.(1996). Technical education in India: Studies in
educational development. Vol.6. New Delhi, Deep and Deep.P.360.
15. Yasini R.M., Amin Nur F.Y, Ridzwan C. R. , Ashikin H.T. and Bekri R.M. (2013), Current
Trends in Technical and Vocational Education Research: A Meta-Analysis, Asian Social
Science; Vol. 9, No. 13, Canadian Center of Science and Education
325
326
Effect of Resilience on Achievement

Motivation of Young Adults
Ekta Johar* & Divina Raghav**
ABSTRACT
In a college setting, the motivation to achieve full potential is very crucial for the academic
success of the students. But students tend to lose focus in case they are not resilient to the
academic pressures and setbacks. Many a times, educators fail to create and combine
achievement motivation and academic resilience in the classroom. This is mainly due to the
reason that their focus is only on the drive of the students to achieve and in the process, they
tend to neglect the ability of the students to handle academic pressures and setbacks. Thus,
the present study has been undertaken to develop and combine the two non-academic,
strength-based factors (achievement motivation and resilience) based on their relationship with
each other.
This paper aims at studying the correlation between Resilience and Achievement Motivation.
The study was conducted on a sample of 200 second year college students of a university in
Noida. The data was collected using Achievement Motivation Survey and Brief Resilience Scale.
The Brief Resilience Scale is a standardized scale which is used to assess the ability to bounce
back or recover from stress. The tool used for measuring Achievement Motivation was Deo
Mohans Achievement Motivation Scale (1985).
The findings of the study have practical implications for college counselors and educators.
Based on this, they can develop strategies to help students in making the right career choices
and prepare them to handle the high stress organizational environment, thereby ensuring
student enhancement.
Key Words:
Achievement Motivation, Resilience, Stress, Academic Performance
INTRODUCTION
In the last two decades many studies have been conducted which establish
achievement motivation as a powerful framework for conceptualizing a students
persistence on task and academic resilience. The last decade has seen a rapid
growth in researches based on resilience with special focus on academic resilience.
Walberg (1994) that resilient students are able to sustain high levels of achievement
motivation and performance in spite of the presence of stressful events that places
them at risk of failing. This would imply that the role of motivation can be considered
central to academic resilience.
*
Ex-student Amity University Noida, AUUP; E-mail: jo.ekta@gmail.com
**
Asst. Professor, Amity University Noida, AUUP; E-mail:draghav@amity.edu
327
For academic gains and success, motivation is without doubt a crucial element but
this advantage can be lost if students are not resilient enough to bounce back from
and kind of academic setback, stress or pressure. Thus both the elements-motivation
to achieve and resilience are necessary for the success of students during the
crucial academic years.
The last stages of education i.e. the last two years of college life are considered
to be of high importance as these years set the direction where the career of the
students are headed to. This phase is also characterized by high stress levels,
frustration, cut throat competition. These two years are like high pressure system
where the students are not only expected to perform well in academics but also
secure a job which is suitable to them in terms of their skills and abilities and its
future prospects. While securing a desired job in the desired company can manifest
itself in form of achievement motivation, students can frequently face setbacks or
failures in their academic performance. This can have an overall de-motivating
effect. This is where resilience comes into picture. If the students do not have the
resilience to endure the setbacks, it can lead to their overall failure.
A problem faced with motivation theories is that it does not provide a way to
educators to combine and develop motivation and resilience together. As a result
educators end up focusing only on strengthening the motivation component and
ignoring the ability of the students to deal with pressures and setbacks. Thus
enhancing resilience levels among students has mostly been a neglected concept.
The aim of the paper is to explore the two complementary achievement motivation
and resilience and how to develop both together. This understanding will help
educators develop new interventions.
While motivation can be understood as students energy and drive to learn and
work effectively so as to reach their potential, it is not enough to withstand the
academic setbacks. Without some level of resilience to face the academic challenges,
the advantages obtained because of motivation may be lost. Thus resilience can
be understood as a process of successful adaption in spite of various challenges
or threatening circumstances (Howard and Johnson, 2000).
For any educational enterprise, the concept of motivation occupies the central
stage. The motivational dynamics of academic achievement involves the combination
of various factors such as the kinds of academic goals of the students, the level
of motivation arising from the goals and the prevailing reward structures that
influences the amount and quality of student learning along with their will to learning.
Higher education is a phase when students encounter a number of challenges and
stressful situations which include academic workload, at times separation from
family and friends, and increased levels of independence with high level of
328
responsibility. The last phase of college usually comprising of second half of the
second/third year and the last year is considered to be the most crucial and difficult
part of college life for any student. After the transitioning taking place during the
first year of college from school life to college life, students are met with a large
number of complex challenges in form of academic performance and securing a
viable job on campus. These challenges not only act as academic but also personal
stressors. Many students are able to handle the stress but others often experience
issues in dealing with the stressful
situations such as personal and emotional
problems, psychological distress, anxiety, low self esteem, long-term emotional
maladjustment, and at times depression.
Achievement Motivation
For students to achieve academic success, they must be able to understand their
growth patten and strengths. This understanding will help to not only set the right
goals but also achieve them consistently without any level of fatigue. This will result
in better performance and progress (Bernard Haldane).
Motivation can be understood as a set of processes which cause stimulation of
human behavior that result in achievement of goals. On the other hand, achievement
is the determinant of the needs of human behavior which helps in self actualization
of individual. It is this need that motivates a person to take control of the situation
and the results. Achievement can be understood as a persons self image which
highlights their achievements in form of their own uniqueness. Such experiences
take place throughout ones lifetime.
According to John Atkinson, achievement motivation is a result of the tendency to
achieve success and to avoid failures. While the tendency to achieve arises from
the possibility of success and the incentives that it offers, the tendency to avoid
failures arises from the probability of failure.
Achievement motivation theory as given by McClelland (1951) explains the way a
person interprets his/her reality in an achievement setting that is the setting in
which individual approaches and participates in achievement tasks. Thus, as per
the theory, goals are the main determinants of an individuals behavior pattern.
This behavior pattern demonstrates how any individual thinks and behaves in
pursuit of the goal.
The goal which individual chooses represents the way an individual seeks to pursue
their competence. This would imply that different goals tend to orient a person
toward different patterns of cognition and behavior. An assumption on which
achievement theory is based is that individual chooses his/her behavior with the
aim to attain desired goals. This orientation is influenced by two factors namely the
personal characteristics of the person and the situation in which the person is
present.
329
Interpersonal competition has been identified to be an important component of

achievement motivation and has occupied a special place in the McCllelands theory
of need for achievement.
As per Murray, the need for achievement includes the need to rival and surpass
others, to work independently and attain a high standard. Competitive attitudes are
a characteristic feature of need for achievement.
Achievement goal theory states that the motive behind students engaging in
academic tasks tends to act as a motivating force which results in achievement
behaviors. The theory identifies 4 types of goals:
(1) mastery-approach goal - learning new knowledge and improving ones skills;
(2) mastery-avoidance goal - avoidance of losing skills and competence;
(3) performance-approach goal - demonstrating ones superiority in comparison
to others; and
(4) performance-avoidance goal - avoidance of showing ones incompetence
relative to others. Yu and Yang (1994) gave the concept of individual and
social-oriented achievement motivations. Individual-oriented achievement
motivation reflect the tendency of an individual to pursue internally
determined goals in ones own way, whereas social oriented achievement
motivation refers to the tendency of an individual to achieve externally
determined goals in a socially desirable way.
The model given by Helmreich and Spence (1978) includes competition as one of
the social dimensions to understand the effect on achievement motivation which
was shown to be positive. Individuals with higher competitive social value also
scored higher on achievement motivation than those individuals who scored more
on cooperative social value.
Importance of Achievement Motivation in Education
Motivation is considered to be important psychological concepts in the field of
education. There are two recognized forms of motivation- intrinsic and extrinsic.
Intrinsic motivation implies doing something because it is inherently interesting. It
results in better educational outcomes, in the form of higher academic performances,
better quality of learning, increased persistence and effort in studies, and better
psychological adjustment of learners. Additionally it is seen that academic
achievement motivation can be increased by the presence of an academic reward
which helps in inducing a sense of competence and achievement. The academic
achievement of students is also affected by the choice of subjects, choice of
university or scholarships being offered.
With regard to students orientation in learning, research has shown that cooperative
learning, which is advocated by the western educators, produces better motivational
and achievement results than individualistic and competitive learning.
330
The concept of need for achievement (nAch) shows that people with high nAch are
more likely to engage in innovative activities and activities which entail individuals
responsibility to the task outcomes. Such people prefer tasks which require skill
and effort and wherein a proper feedback is given.
Resilience
Luthans defined resilience as the developable capacity to rebound from an adversity.
Connor & Davidson (2003) define resilience as the personal qualities and skills of
individuals that allow them healthy/successful functioning or adaptation in times of
adversity. (Luthar, Cicchetti, & Becker, 2000).
Resilience is a concept which is not only multifaceted but also multidimensional
(Ponomarov and Holcomb 2009). In theory, the concept of resilience is very closely
related to the ability of an entity to return to a state of stability after having faced
disruption. (Gunderson 2000, Cumming et al. 2005). This would include the ability
to withstand and sustain systematic discontinuities along with the ability to adapt
to new risk environments (Starret al. 2003, Crichton et al. 2009). Resilience is
considered as a dynamic and not fixed concept which is changeable over time, and
dependent on interactions among various factors surrounding the individual (Dyer
& McGuinness, 1996).
In a general sense, risk and uncertainty are thought of as the same entity but there
is a subtle difference between these two factors. While on one hand, risk means
the possibility to predict the probability of an event occurring in the future (Waters
2007) On the other hand, Uncertainty means that it is possible to list the events
that might take place in the future; but it is impossible to predict their likelihoods.
Thus, resilience can be understood as the key to understanding coping in during
and after a crises situation. (Folkman & Moskowitz, 2000; Tedeschi & Calhoun,
2004).
There are two points of view that define resilience. The first view comprises the
ability to bounce back and this is considered to be an individual trait. The second
view considers resilience as a fixed and stable trait and this is seen as a personality
trait which is used for negotiating, managing, and adapting to various, significant
sources of stress or trauma.
As per Dalziell and McManus (2004) resilience can be understood both as a
function of the vulnerability of a system and the adaptive capacity of the system.
Fiksel (2003) has identified four system characteristics that lead to resilience.
These are:
l
diversity the existence of multiple forms and behaviours
efficiency performance with modest resource consumption
adaptability flexibility to change in response to new pressures
331
cohesion existence of unifying relationships and linkages between system

variables and elements.
It has been observed that the individuals who possess a large number of attributes
associated with resilience are more likely to successfully adapt to a disruptive
event. On the other hand, individuals who have lesser attributes will not be able
to adapt as successfully (White et al., 2010).
In order to get a clearer picture of the nature of resilience, various interrelated
factors that promote or interrupt resilience in individuals and communities should
be understood and this understanding will help acquire the methods or skills to
promote and maintain resilience (Muller, Ward, Winefield, Tsourtos, & Lawn, 2009).
Several theoretical implications results from various studies. Managers, coaches,
and teachers can use these results to help individuals/students develop more
adaptive goal orientations. As per the theory establishes from the study of these
researches, the following hypothesis was taken for the purpose of the present
study:
H0:- Resilience has no effect on achievement motivation
Ha:- Resilience has an effect on achievement motivation
OBJECTIVES
The present study was undertaken to understand the influence that an individuals
resilience level has on their motivation to achieve and be successful. This study,
wherein the primary focus is students in the last stage of their academic education,
helps to analyze and understand how their resilience level affects their achievement
motivation which is an important factor in not predicting their success or failure in
academics but also helps in making correct career choices.
The last stage of education is mostly characterized by the pressures of performing
well in their academics along with the pressure to make the right career choices
and ending up with a job that suits not only their qualifications and skills but is also
as was desired by the student. Success in this area is determined by the drive of
students to achieve their set goals, which is known as achievement motivation. The
focus of educators is mostly on this factor while they ignore the ability of students
to come back from the setbacks and failures that they face while achieving these
goals. Many academicians fail to realize that these setbacks and failures can pose
as obstructions and hurdles in the way of achieving their desired goals. These
hurdles can be overcome if the students have high resilience levels.
Therefore it becomes imperative for academicians to understand the effect resilience
levels of students on their motivation to achieve. This understanding will not only
help them to improve the academic performance of students but also help the
students make the right career choices in terms of the risks and stress involved
332
in different careers and the ability to handle the risk and sustain the failures and
pressures of the highly competitive job environment. This analysis will help indicate
the competence level and the employability of each student for their own respective
career choices.
Thus the objectives of the study can be summed up as:
a)
To analyse whether any relationship exists between the two variables:

achievement motivation and resilience
b)
To understand how resilience effects achievement motivation levels of the

students.
SCOPE OF THE STUDY

The main focus of the study is the students who are in the last few stages of their
academic education. This group and time period was chosen for the study only for
the reason that these students face tremendous amount of stress and pressure
during these years. It is in these circumstances that a clear understanding of their
drive to achieve and their ability to bounce back from a failure can be obtained.
The main aim of the study is to understand whether any relationship exists between
the two strength based factors- achievement motivation and resilience and if there
does exist a relationship then how does resilience influence the achievement
motivation of the students.
Once the kind of relationship that is existing between the two variables is identified,
it will pave way for further research which will help in identifying or formulating a
model for ensuring the success of students in stressful environment by strengthening
or increasing the both these strength based factors simultaneously.
METHODOLOGY
The research method used was descriptive-correlative. The total number of
participants in the study was 199 out of which 105 were girls and 94 boys. All the
participants were second year students. They completed a self-report questionnaire
tapping achievement motivation levels and academic resilience in the classroom
during a 45-min school lesson. The data was collected using Achievement Motivation
Survey and Brief Resilience Scale. The Brief Resilience Scale is a standardized
scale which is used to assess the ability to bounce back or recover from stress.
The tool used for measuring Achievement Motivation was Deo Mohans Achievement
Motivation Scale (1985).
The participants whose questionnaires were incomplete
or incorrect were excluded from the final analyses. All descriptive statistics were
performed with SPSS 18. To analyze the data, relationships between the two variables
were examined, using Pearson product moment correlations, linear regression
and independent sample t test to investigate the prediction of academic motivation
through achievement resilience.
333
FINDINGS
This chapter mainly focuses on the results obtained from using the methodology
detailed in the previous chapter. The main aim of this chapter is to examine the
relationship between achievement Motivation and resilience. The results obtained
are presented in narrative format along with the representation of all relevant data
and tables. This chapter also presents a description of the demographic profile of
the participants of the study, descriptive statistics of the variables used, and results
of data analyses.
Participant Demographics
For the purpose of the study, second year students enrolled for different degree
courses in Amity University were selected as participants for the study. These
degree courses were either of 3 years duration or 4years duration.
The participants of the study were made to completely fill
A total of 199 participants completed the survey. A descriptive analysis was

conducted for the demographic variables pertaining to gender.
The data set consists of 53% (n= 105) female participants and 47% (n= 94) male
participants.
The distribution has been illustrated through the following table and pie chart.
334
GENDER
%AGE
Female
105
53%
Male
94
47%
Descriptive Statistics:
The achievement motivation score obtained on the Achievement Motivation Scale

indicated achievement behavior and motivation levels in students. The achievement
motivation scores range from 55-165 on a maximum score of 200. Here the higher
scores representing higher levels of achievement motivation. The mean of
achievement motivation score for this sample was M = 127.889 (SD = 20.90).
The resilience score on the Brief Resilience Scale represents the ability to bounce
back or recover from setbacks and stressful situations. The resilience scores range
from 1-5 on a maximum of 5, with higher scores showing a greater ability to bounce
back or recover from difficult experiences. The mean score for resilience in this
sample was M = 3.2162 (SD = 0.877).
Statistical Analysis Correlation and Regression
As the aim of the study was to see whether resilience has any effect on achievement
motivation, resilience was taken to be independent variable and achievement
motivation was taken as dependent variable.
Pearsons bi-variate correlation and regression analysis were employed to evaluate
relationships between and among the independent variable - resilience and
dependent variables achievement motivation.
A correlation of 0.463 was found between the two variables which indicate a positive
moderate correlation existing between the two variables.
335
Regression
[DataSet3]
Variables Entered/Removed a
Model
Variables
Entered
Variables
Removed
Method
RESILIENCEb
Enter
a.
Dependent Variable:
ACHIEVEMENTMOTIVATION
b.
All requested variables entered.
Model Summary
Model
R Square
Adjusted R
Square
.463a
.214
.210
Std. Error of
the Estimate
18.5783
The above results also indicate moderate positive correlation of 0.463. From the
above output, we can also see that a low moderate variation of 21.4% in dependent
variable that is achievement motivation can be explained by the independent variable
that is resilience.
As the p value is less than 0.05, the relation between the two variables is significant.
These results indicate that the alternate hypothesis is true which implies that
resilience has an effect on achievement motivation.
336
An independent T sample test was conducted to check whether the variability of

the two variables achievement motivation and resilience, in the two gender groupsfemale and male is same or not.
As the significance value in this case(0.733) is greater than 0.05, this implies that
the variability in the two groups is about same as the scores in female group do
not vary much from the scores in the male group.
As the significance (2 tailed) 0.964 is greater than 0.05, it can be inferred that
there is no statistically significant difference between the two gender groups.
ANALYSIS
From the above findings it has become clear that we can reject the null hypothesis
which stated that no relationship existed between the two variables achievement
motivation and resilience and hence we can accept the alternate hypothesis that
stated that a relationship exist between the two variables. In order to determine the
kind of relationship, one of the variables that is resilience was taken as independent
variable based on the evidence provided by previous researches. Achievement
motivation was taken as the dependent variable.
The results showed that a positive moderate correlation (0.463) existed between
the two variables. This implies that the two variables have a statistically linear
relationship. As the relationship is positive, it means that the variables tend to
increase together. The magnitude of the relationship is moderate as it is closer to
0.0.
The same results were confirmed by the linear regression analysis.
The independent sample t test was used to compare the means between the two
gender groups on the basis of achievement motivation. The results have shown
that variability is almost same in the two gender groups. This implies that scores
in one group vary as much as the scores in the other gender group.
337
CONCLUSION
The present study focused on finding the relationship between the two non academic,
strength based factors achievement motivation and resilience wherein the effect
of resilience on achievement motivation was observed. The results obtained are
of significance for the educators and academicians to prepare and come up with
practices, strategies or models that help identify and increase the level of both the
factors in students in order to prepare them to face the stressful and high pressure
situations in the last stages of their academic life and thereafter the highly
competitive job environment. This understanding for each student can be used to
identify the right career for them based on the stress levels created in each of the
career choices. Educators and academicians can better position themselves to
implement different kinds of interventions that can increase achievement motivation
and thereby improve performance of students. More specifically, educators and
school counselors can use achievement motivation training as a program
intervention.
An achievement motivation training program which is based on McClellands theory
of achievement motivation focuses on three factors:
l
introducing the achievement thoughts which is a characteristic of high

achieving individuals,
the action strategies common among individuals with high levels of

achievement,
preparing the participants to set goals and monitor their progress towards
those goals.
Such training programs can include interactive lessons with lecture, cooperative
learning group activities, motivational games, and exercises (Smith, 1973) along
with goal-setting, decision-making, action strategies, and personal responsibility
and risk-taking opportunities for students. This could help instructors teach finalyear college students achievement thoughts and action strategies identified by
McClelland as thought processes and behavioral characteristics of high achieving
individuals. Students may gain knowledge of the same through applying the
knowledge in case studies, experiential activities, and games. Along with this, students
may set specific goals and develop a personal action plan which can help them
achieve academic success in their academic life. Instructors should also provide
feedback throughout the achievement motivation training program.
These findings can help educators and college counselors in their efforts to improve
the performance and the academic success of final-year college students by
providing effective programs consisting of manufacturing achievement motivation
and teaching resilience. College counselors can utilize these results when working
with final-year college students and can come up with strategies that build resilience
338
in students by developing interventions that notice and reinforce these qualities. In

the preparation of future, the counselors can educate students about the unique
challenges of final-year college students and how interventions focused on strengthbased non-cognitive factors can help improve their performance.
Moreover, these can be used to effectively address student motivation and
performance and counselors can draw on these findings to teach best practices to
future school and college counselors.
LIMITATIONS
The limitations associated with this study are generally pertaining to the sample
used for the study.
l
First, this study employed a convenience sample of students enrolled in

second year
Secondly, self-reported responses on questionnaires and surveys are subject

to response bias and increased error in reliability and validity.
Thirdly, the study is narrowed by concentration on only two nonacademic,

strength-based factors that can help in predicting academic success:
achievement motivation, and resilience.
Future Directions of Research

Additional research on the influence of strength-based non-cognitive factor resilience
on academic achievement is needed to help students meet the academic expectations
of their academic years. Understanding this could prove beneficial in developing
and implementing effective practices for promoting academic success. Studies of
similar nature could be conducted using sampling from several other universities
as well as obtaining a more ethnically and gender diverse representative sample.
Further studies that could include qualitative designs perhaps can provide a morein-depth analysis of the academic and social stressors faced by college students
throughout their academic years.
REFERENCES
1.
Bhamra, R., Dhani, S., & Burnard, K. (2011). Resilience: The concept, a literature review
and future directions. International Journal of Production Research, 49(18)
2.
Deci, E.L., Vallerand, R.J., Pelletier, L.G., Ryan, R.M. Educ. Psychol. 1991 , 26, 325346)
(Ryan, R.M., Deci, E.L. Contemp. Educ. Psychol. 2000, 25, 5467.
3.
Elliot, A., & Dweck, C. (n.d.). Handbook of competence and motivation.
4.
Elliot, A. J. (2005). A conceptual history of the achievement goal structure
5.
Elliot, A. J., & McGregor, H. A. (2001). A 2 6 2 achievement goal framework. Journal of

Personality and Social Psychology, 30, 957971
6.
Fadardi, J. (2010). The relationship between resilience, motivational structure, and

substance use. Procedia Social and Behavioral Sciences 5 (2010) 19561960
339
7.
Hau, K., & Ho, I. (2008). Editorial: Insights from research on Asian students achievement
motivation. International Journal of Psychology.
8.
Jowkar, B., Kojuri, J., Kohoulat, N., & Hayat, A. (2013). Academic resilience in education:
The role of achievement goal orientations. Journal of Advances in Medical Education and
Professionalism.
9.
Khadivi, A., & Alikhani, F. (2007). Relationship between achievement motivations of managers
with their organizational effectiveness in intermediate schools.
10. Lee, J., Nam, S., Kim, A., Kim, B., Lee, M., & Lee, S. (n.d.). Resilience: A Meta-Analytic
Approach. doi:10.1002/j.1556-6676.2013.00095.
11. Maehr, M.L. Meaning and motivation: toward a theory of personal investment. In: Ames,
R.E., Ames, C.
12. Plato, M., & Shave, R. (n.d.). Social value orientations and the expression of achievement
motivation
13. Petri, Herbert, (1996). Motivation, Theory, research and application, third edition, wads
worth publishing, California, US.
340
Green HRM: Practices and Challenges

Dr. Satarupa Datta*
ABSTRACT
Green HRM is the use of HRM policies to support the sustainable use of resources within the
organizations. Businesses are currently focussing on reducing wastage and optimizing resources.
Green HRM practices and policies help to safeguard and enhance employee health and wellbeing. This paper makes an attempt to identify the drivers for green business practices, study
the specific HR policies and practices that improve environmental performance of the
organizations and analyze the impact of green awareness in the workplace. Environmentfriendly HR schemes promote greater efficiencies, better employee engagement and lower
costs and retention which help organizations to job-sharing, car sharing, teleconferencing and
virtual interviews, telecommuting, online training, recycling, reduce employee carbon footprints
by electronic filing, energy-efficient office spaces etc. Many organizations are launching practice
groups that counsel employers on Green Awareness in the workplace. These groups help
employers implement best practices that will improve the environment through reducing, reusing
and recycling certain materials.
Key Words: Green Business, Green HRM, Environmental Awareness, Renewable Resources.
INTRODUCTION
In the global business scenario, environmentally conscious organisations will
increasingly occupy a pivotal position. Green business opportunities provide
consumers with ecologically sound products and services. Green HRM practices
and policies help to safeguard and enhance employee health and well-being.
According to Croston (2009), Green businesses have more sustainable business
practices than competitors, benefiting natural systems and helping people live well
today and tomorrow while making money and contributing to the economy. A
Green business can be defined as an organisation that uses renewable resources
(environmentally sustainable) and holds itself accountable for the human aspect of
their activities (socially responsible) (Slovik, 2013).
Green HRM is the use of HRM policies to support the sustainable use of resources
within the organizations. The term Green HRM is most regularly used to refer
people management policies and practices towards the broader corporate
environmental schedule. Typical green activities involve video recruiting, or the use
of online and video interviews, to minimize travel requirements. Anjana Nath, Regional
Head HR, Fortis healthcare ltd defines Green HR as environmentfriendly HR
*
Assistant Professor, Department of Commerce, Panchakot Mahavidyalaya;

E-mail: satarupadatta10@gmail.com
341
initiatives leading to better efficiencies, lesser cost and heightened employee

engagement levels. Green management is defined as the method whereby
organizations manage the environment by developing environmental management
strategies (Lee, 2009). This conception becomes a strategic principal concern for
businesses, mainly multinational activities operating their business internationally
(Banerjee, 2001).
In this paper an attempt has been made to promote the importance of Green HR
involving environment friendly HR practices. Green HRM means using every
employee interface to promote and maintain sustainable business practices as well
as creating awareness, which in turn, helps organizations to operate in an
environmentally sustainable fashion. The present study is divided into different
sections. The first section identifies the drivers for green business practices. The
second section studies the specific HR policies and practices that improve
environmental performance of the organizations and the third section analyzes the
impact of green awareness in the workplace.
LITERATURE REVIEW
Green management is defined as the process whereby companies manage the
environment by developing environmental management strategies (Lee, 2009) in
which companies need to balance between industrial growth and conservation of
the natural environment so that future generation may thrive (Daily and Huang,
2001). Business organizations play a key role in the problems of environmental
management since they are part of our society and cannot be isolated from the
environment, and in fact, they contribute most of the carbon footprints in the past
(Liu, 2010). Application of new technology could improve the environmental decline
by developing, for example, the biotech products and by searching for alternative
energy to reduce the use of finite natural resources. Therefore, organizations
should put more effort into the research of new technology to minimize the effect
of environmental destruction by creating products that are harmless and causes
less pollution to environment (Liu, 2010; Ozen and Kusku, 2008). In September
2007, the Society for Human Resource Management (SHRM) conducted the SHRM
2007 Green Workplace Survey to examine environmentally responsible practices
from the perspective of HR professionals and employees. This survey brief explores
types of practices organizations have in place, human resource professionals and
employees perceptions of their organizations practices, and HR professionals role
in their organizations environmentally friendly programs. Overall 50 percent of HR
professionals reported that their organization had a formal (written) or informal
environmental responsibility policy. Seven percent indicated that although their
organization did not have a policy, they plan to establish a policy in the next 12
months. Forty three percent reported that their organization had no policy and do
not plan to have one in the next 12 months. To gain a better understanding of
342
environmentally responsible practices, HR professionals were asked to identify the

environmentally responsible practices in which their organizations participated. HR
professionals indicated that encouraging employees to be more environmentally
friendly in the workplace was the top practice for their organizations. This means
that organizations are encouraging their employees to perform activities such as
making double-sided photocopies, powering down computers after a few minutes
of inactivity, using energy-efficient bulbs for desk lamps, ensuring blinds are lowered
in the summer to conserve energy, etc. In 2009, Technology Business Research
(TBR) announced that Dell took the No. 1 position in its inaugural Corporate
Sustainability Index (CSI) Benchmark Report. The report measures the environmental
initiatives of 40 companies in the computer hardware, software, professional services
& network and telecommunication sectors. Scoring 317.9 points, Dell is 52 points
ahead of the firm positioned second in the overall CIS ranking index (Round Rock,
2009). IBM also recently launched consulting services, which is based on the Lean
Six Sigma principles of efficiency. This consulting service is aimed at examining the
use of energy and water and subsequently providing the control measures to
conserve the energy. According to the company sources, IBM in 1990 saved around
4.6 billion Kwh of electricity and prevented emission of almost 3 million metric tons
of carbon dioxide. So, essentially a reduction in wastage and recycling of the used
materials is required to ensure the green IT. There have been many approaches
to green computing suggested by Mike (Mike Ebbers et al, 2009).
OBJECTIVE
This paper makes an attempt to:
1.
Identify the drivers for green business practices.
2.
Study the specific HR policies and practices that improve environmental

performance of the organizations.
3.
Analyze the impact of green awareness in the workplace.
METHODOLOGY
This study is based on secondary data collected from different sources. The data
are generated by responsible authorities of the departments and published research
work by various researchers provided on their site/reports. Apart from these, data
has been collected from different Books, Journals, Research Papers and other
print media.
FINDINGS
(A) Drivers for Green Business Practices
1.
Global environmental pressures and public awareness

Over the past few years public awareness and concern about global climate
change has risen considerably. Private companies followed closely such
343
changes in public attitudes. An instance, in January 2007, 10 major US

companies in collaboration with the four US environmental groups planned
for swift action on global climate change known as USCAP (the United
States Climate Action Partnership (USCAP)) by federal action on carbon
regulations. Moreover, companies around the world are realizing that
reducing their environmental footprints can also provide benefits for business.
A survey of 150 companies in the US, UK, France, and Germany by AMR
Research in 2006 found that the top environmental concern among the
executives in the survey was Energy and Emissions Reductions. As
companies are increasingly scrutinized, it is found that corporate social
responsibility has become a key component of almost every companys
business strategy. Even without government regulations, the energy use
and greenhouse gas emission have apparently risen to the top of the list
of targeted activities of different companies in private or public domain.
2.
Acceptance by capital markets

Capital market investors understand the level of public interest in climate
change issues. The clean tech market originally consisted mostly of
specialist investment firms and people with a strong environmental focus.
It is found that the worlds major public and private equity investment
entities are committing capital investment to clean tech industrial production.
There is a large and growing segment of the population prioritizing on
green factors, provide an attractive market for a number of companies.
Thus niche markets are growing and providing considerable business
opportunities. These niche green markets will account for several billion in
annual revenue. Thus, companies try to capture the market share for
expanding niche of green products by promoting the different qualities of
their products as part of their business strategy. They are also trying to
differentiate themselves through green branding.
3.
Governments ensuring market demand for clean tech products or

services
Government can directly stimulate market demand by leveraging their own
buying power through procurement policies and by making large clean
tech purchases. Thus, government not only increase the market size for
such products (which helps bring their prices down through economies of
scale), but also set a strong example for ordinary consumers that clean
tech purchases are good for the society. Government can also create
demand indirectly by requiring a certain amount of energy to be produced
from a particular technology, thus incentivizing investment in its production.
The most common types of indirect policies in this category are renewable
fuels or electricity standards and obligation.
344
4.
Creation of environment-friendly markets

One of the most commonly cited proposals for dealing with climate
change is establishing carbon price through an emissions cap-andtrade system, where greenhouse gas (or carbon) emissions would be
capped at a given level for different companies. Those companies who
exceed their allocated limit are required to buy credits to cover their
surplus from those companies who emit less than their limit. The worlds
largest carbon emission cap-and-trade system is the European Emission
Trading Scheme which began operational in 2005. In US, a small number
of States and other independent bodies have banded together to create
emissions markets by placing an actual value on greenhouse gas
emissions for the first time. In 2005, the governors of seven States
from the Northeast and Mid-Atlantic regions (Connecticut, Delaware,
Maine, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New York, and Vermont) established
the Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative (RGGI). In RGGI, the countrys
first mandatory cap andtrade program designed to reduce the regions
greenhouse gas emissions by 10 percent by 2019.
5.
Provision for extra financial backing to clean tech companies

Policies can take the form of subsidies and incentives or tax credits for
clean tech products, or taxes on non-clean tech products. These
programs are typically financed by taxes and also demonstrated the
ability to generate a positive return, which could ultimately lower the
customers bills. A study by the RAND Corporation based on Californias
energy efficiency program showed an increase in the states economy
of $875 to $1,300 per capita between 1977 and 2000 (Bernstein M,
2000). This shows there is a 40 percent decrease in air pollution
emissions from stationary sources and a reduced energy burden on
low-income households.
(B) Specific HR Policies and Practices for Improving Environmental

Performance of the Organisation.
Environment-friendly HR schemes promote greater efficiencies, better
employee engagement and lower costs and retention which help organizations
to job-sharing, car sharing, teleconferencing and virtual interviews,
telecommuting, online training, recycling, reduce employee carbon footprints
by electronic filing, energy-efficient office spaces etc. In this green world,
the green HR or people management function has sustainability at its centre
as part of its people management and talent management, thus organizations
connect with the society by supporting their programs with it. Communities,
customers and contractors all grow to be equal stakeholders along with
employees and shareholders.
345
Companies can adopt the following practices:

1.
By conducting
energy audit, businesses can reduce usage and save
money. Suggestions include: Improve insulation, install timers to
automatically turn off lights, use energy efficient light bulbs, keep
temperatures at comfortable ranges that are not excessively cool in the
summer and warm in the winter.
2. It is important to Survey employees to assess how well the organization is

doing with regard to implementing green business practices. Conducting
the surveys annually will enable the organization to assess going green
progress and provide information, suggestions and insight for future actions.
3.
By encouraging e-mailing, companies can go paperless.
4.
Companies can recycle glass, paper, plastic, metal trash and manufacturing
waste materials. They can eliminate unnecessary photocopying and reuse
packaging for shipping.
5.
Companies can reduce business travel by conducting Teleconference

instead of travelling.
6.
Sustainable products should be purchased from the suppliers. Companies

should consider the environment, and not just price, a factor when
purchasing.
7.
Many offices have toxic substances, such as used batteries which should
be properly disposed.
8.
Companies should communicate about Going Green issues to the suppliers

and customers. They should keep contact with local regulatory agencies,
many of which offer financial incentives to businesses that implement green
initiatives. They should keep employees and shareholders/ investors
informed about going green progress.
9.
By monitoring sinks and toilets for leakage that waste water, companies
can save water. They should prevent wastage of water in manufacturing
processes and in watering the companys lawns.
10. Companies should explore opportunities for implementing alternative energy

sources like using solar energy, bio-fuels, wind power and other alternative
energy sources.
11. Companies should adopt green manufacturing processes like using energyefficient equipment, and can streamline processes to use fewer steps and
less materials and packaging.
12. Companies can implement green policies like hardware energy consumption,
waste disposal, using recycled and environmentally superior content, water
and energy efficient products and alternative fuel vehicles.
346
13. Employees can be advised to start making changes at home, and then
watch them practice environmentally responsible behaviours at work. Once
they witness substantial energy savings from the solar panels or Energy
Star-rated refrigerator, theyre more likely to buy into the value of saving
energy and resources at home and at work.
14. Companies can start an employee green team that can draw some
volunteers from the firms and some from employee workforce. The group
can meet monthly to bring changes such as the addition of transportation
incentives and the use of recycled papers.
15. Companies can congratulate employees who take advantage of the
companys green benefits and then publish a quarterly, online newsletter
devoted exclusively to their storiesand thus reminding workers about
green benefits and how to participate.
16. Everyone can be informed about green benefits like job candidates,
shareholders, the media and community. In advertising campaigns
environmental issues can be focused.
17. The concept has to be explained to the top management by collecting
data. Example: Gathering information on whether quality job applicants are
accepting job offers because of the organizations green benefits. HR
professional can make it a point to ask candidates how important those
benefits were to their decision.
18. Helping employees to understand the real, cash value of green benefits.
(C) IMPACT OF GREEN AWARENESS SERVICES
Many organizations are launching practice groups that counsel employers on
Green Awareness in the workplace. These groups help employers implement
best practices that will improve the environment through reducing, reusing and
recycling certain materials. There are number of programmes which offer monthly
electronic communications, including newsletters and interactive games, as
well as companies appointing green coordinators in local offices to develop
plans for green practices.
The best practice for greening the business are the use of computerized
human resources information systems, applicant tracking systems and online
applications streamline hiring efforts. They also reduce paper usage and costs.
Open enrolment for employee benefits can be conducted online and signatures
for legal documents may be obtained electronically, eliminating excessive use
of paper. Green initiatives such as recycling campaigns, paper drives and
educational programs can be driven by HR department. This contributes to
cleaner air quality as well as saving time and money. Customers are also
aware of admirable green practices that appear responsible and forward thinking.
347
Many employees who are committed to sustainable careers are amenable to

flexible compensation and benefits, alternative transportation, flex work
schedules, and other low-cost benefits. Many green companies these days
boast low turnover rates compared to their non-sustainable counterparts. In
a green workplace survey conducted by the Society for Human Resource
Management (SHRM), 61 percent of respondents who worked for an
environmentally conscientious company said they were likely or very likely
to stay at the business because of those practices.
CONCLUSION
The green business landscape is healthy and is expanding continually. The ecofriendly products, policies and practices not only protect and preserve the
environment by reducing waste but also provide competitive niche. Thus, by adopting
green HRM practices and policies, green businesses are offering green workplace
that is environmentally sensitive, resource efficient and socially responsible.
For effective green management, employees must be motivated, empowered and
environmentally responsive. Green HR efforts mainly focused on increasing
competency within processes, reducing and eliminating environmental desecrate,
and restoring HR products, tools, and procedures consequential in greater efficiency
and lower costs. The results included: electronic filing, teleconferencing and virtual
interviews, job sharing, recycling, telecommuting, online training, and developing
more energy efficient office spaces.
REFERENCES
1.
Banerjee, S. (2001), Managerial perceptions of corporate environmentalism: interpretation

from industry and strategic implications for organizations, Journal of Management Studies,
Vol. 38, No. 4, pp 489-513
2.
Bernstein, M., R. Lempert, D. Loughran, and D. Ortiz. (2000). The public benefit of Californias
investments in energy efficiency. Prepared for the California Energy Commission. RAND
Monograph Report MR-1212.0-CEC. http://www.rand.org/pubs/monograph_reports/
MR1212.0/index (Accessed on 09/08/2015)
3.
Callenbach, E., Capra, F., Goldman, L., Lutz, R. and Marburg, S. (1993), Eco-Management:
The Elmwood Guide to Ecological Auditing and Sustainable Business, Berrett-Koehler,
San Francisco, CA
4.
Clean Tech Venture Capital (2007), How public policy has simulated private Investment,
E2 and Clean Tech venture Network.
5.
Croston,G. (2009), Starting Green: An Ecopreneurs Toolkit for Starting A Green Business
from Business Plan to Profits. Entrepreneur Press. Pg. 324.
348
Impact of Green-HRM on Organization's Internal

and External Benefits - using Employee
Engagement and Training as Retention Tools
Rinki Mishra*, Dr. Sarup Prasad Ghosh**, Dr. Surjyasikha Das***
ABSTRACT
In this globalization phase an organizations achievement or collapse depends on the efficient
and optimum exploitation of the current resources. In 21st Century, business organizations have
become more conscious about the growing of environmental management along with human
resource management, i.e. Green HRM practices. It is the responsibility of the organizations
practicing Green HRM to use employee Engagement and Training as retention tools for the
internal benefits like retention of talented & experienced employee as well as external benefits
like corporate social responsibility to sustain in the competitive global market to retain their
customer, stakeholders. The present study consequently is a challenge to explore the employee
engagement & employee training as retention tools in retention of talented & experienced
employees, as well as corporate social responsibility to keep brand value of the organization
with the customer & their shareholders through green HRM. The collective collision of
environmental sustainability & Human Resource Management activities, which emphasize
desirable performance, can make a foremost involvement in creating continuing internal benefits
like retention of employees & external benefits like corporate social responsibility for the
organization to sustain in this global competitive market. The paper also aims to find the scope
of Green HRM initiatives by ITC & Indian Railways as a case study. A model has been proposed
involving employee engagement & employee training through Green HRM where an organization
can be benefited internally (employee retention) & externally (corporate Social Responsibility).
Key Words: Employee Engagement & Training, Green HRM, Employees retention, Corporate
Social Responsibility.
INTRODUCTION
In this era of globalization an organization achievement or collapse depends on the
efficient and optimum exploitation of its current resources. According to Likert
(1967) All the activities of any enterprise are initiated or determined by the
people who make up that institution, plants, offices computers, automated equipment
and all else that make a modern firm uses are unproductive except for human
effort... The American Society for Training & Development (ASTD) proposed
*
**
***
Phd-Scholar, Management/Humanities & Social Sciences, Techno India University,

E-mail: rinki.mishra0924@gmail.com
Dean of Academics-Faculties & Students, Techno India University, E-mail: dr.sarup.ghose@gmail.com
Asst. Professor & HOD-Management, Techno India University, India, E-mail: surjyasikha.tiu@gmail.com
349
the Human Resource Wheel (1983) identifying the essential functions of HRM in
the organization.
Union/ Labour
Relations
Employee
Assistance
Human Resource
Planning
Selection and
Staffing
Training &
HR areas outpt:
Quality of work life
productivity
readiness for
change
Organization
Development
Development
Compensation/
Benefits
Personnel
Research and
Information
Systems
Organization/ Job
Design
Human Resource Wheel

Employee Engagement in Retention tools
The ability of an organization to retain its employees is known as employee retention.
Employee retention can be represented by a simple statistic (for example, a retention
rate of 80% usually indicates that an organization kept 80% of its employees in a
given period). However, many consider employee retention as related to the efforts
by which employers attempt to retain employees in their workforce. In this sense,
retention becomes the strategies rather than the outcome. In skills shortage areas
several organizations are implementing retention strategy to retain people. Failure
of appropriate communication & commitment made by organization sometimes can
cause an employee to look for other opportunities. To set up a business, function
of the employers is usually to decrease employee turnover, so that it can
simultaneously decrease the training costs, recruitment costs and loss of talent
and loss of organisational knowledge.
350
Retention Programs for Engaged Employees

Before implementing a program, its first need to identify the root cause of the
retention issues. After identify the cause, a selection of programs exist to lend a
hand to increase employee retention:
Career Development
Executive Coaching
Motivating Across Generations
Orientation and On Boarding
Womens Retention Programs
Exit Interview and Separation Management Programs
Employee Retention Best Practices

By focusing on the fundamentals, organizations can go a long way towards building
a high-retention workplace. Organizations can start by defining their culture and
identifying the types of individuals that would thrive in that environment.
Organizations should adhere to the fundamental new hire orientation and on
boarding plans. Attracting and recruiting top talent requires time, resources and
capital. However, these are all wasted if employees are not positioned to succeed
within the company. Research has shown that an employees first 10 days are
critical because the employee is still adjusting and getting acclimated to the
organization. Companies retain good employees by being employers of choice.
Recruitment
Selection
Socialization
Training and development
Compensation and rewards
Effective Leaders
Employee Engagement
Outsourcing Employee Retention Program

Organizations appreciate the importance of implementing an effective retention
program but they are always not so much proactive. Organization can hire third
party specialists to pinpoint the root causes of their workforce challenges. By
identifying the root causes, personalized action plans can modify organizations
need and create a retention program to adapt by the organization. Another benefit
of outsourcing is that organizations can get quantifiable justifying the actions needed
to improve their organization.
351
Employee Training in Retention tools

Increasing the knowledge and skills of employees for doing precise jobs are
concerned as training, and the augmentation of employees in all aspects
acknowledged as development.
Training is the act of increasing the knowledge and skills of an employee for doing
a particular job. Edwin B. Flippo
Gomez-Mezia et al. (2006year) envisage that training tends to spotlight on
organizational needs, whereas development focuses on continuing requirements.
Training is restricted in individual employees development. Training is the imperative
part of the intact education development. Training is precondition to progress
performance, preparing human resource for new jobs, transfers, promotions, and
convert to up to date technology and equipment. To evade individual obsolescence
and improve its competence to hold higher positions, time to time training is essential
for all employees in the organization.
Objectives of Training
Job related knowledge offer to the employees.
Communicate skills amid the employees analytically, so that they may learn
rapidly.
Revolutionize in the attitudes of the employees towards beneficiary

employees, supervisor and the organization.
To improve the productivity of the employees and the organization.
To reduce the number of accidents by providing safety training to the workers,
To make the workers handle materials, machines and equipment efficiently

and thus to check wastage of time and resources.
To prepare workers for promotion to higher jobs by imparting them advanced

skills.
Employee Training as Retention tools

352
Effective training also contributes as employee retention, if the individual employee

can learn what they actually need to be success in their jobs & also if they can
earn plunder for their new awareness. Organizations invest wealth in the training
programme to pick up talent, which will be beneficial for the organizations future
goals. Self enlargement is very much imperative for the employee productivity &
also for the retentions of talent employees. Training is the key retention tools, as
it is part of the employees psychological contract of employment, which ensures
that they acquire the prospect to expand & improve their skills & knowledge. Trainers
can smooth the progress of the retention by asking trainees different procedure of
the learning material which will engage participants to imagine different applications
of erudite pleased & thereby retaining it in the intelligence.
Personal Factors (P)
(Cognitive, affective, and biological events)
Environment
Factors (E)
Behavior (B)
Reciprocal interaction between Cognition, Behavior & Environmental Factors

353
Green Human Resource Management

In 21st Century, many organizations are entering into green management system to
create awareness of environment and empower their employees. Corporate green
management needs to expertise the employees skills & technique to do the job
properly. Till date the slit of Human Resource Management & green-HRM practice
is there. The origin of environmental sustainability, Green HR is the exercise of
HRM policies to endorse the sustainability, by exploiting the resources inside an
organization. By aligning HR practices and policies with sustainability goals dazzling
an eco-focus, the HR function will become the driver of environmental sustainability
within the organization. In India, Railway & flight booking site, mention below of the
booked ticket a default line: Save a Tree and mention that kindly use E-ticket,
dont print this ticket unless they really need to, encourage citizen to isolate waste
at their workplace or home, they further reuse the product for a NGOs for a noble
cost. HR green strategies are also counting activities like adopting technology:
teleconferencing, video conferencing and virtual interviews, emails & scanners now
a days replace letters & faxs entirely in any corporate sectors. Green HRM helps
HR in expenditure acerbic in HR practices, & also retaining talent & experience
employees. Continuous green HR practices are not only of environmental benefit,
its also to sustain in this globalization & global competitive market.
Effects of Green HRM on its subs
Performance Management System (PMS)
Training and Development
Employee Involvement (EI) and Participation (EP)
Pay and Reward Systems
Performance-Related Pay (PRP)
Recognition and Award
Employee Engagement
Competitive Challenges Influencing Green-HRM

354
LITERATURE REVIEW
In the past, economic performance of the firm was expected to calculate success
by the companies & its shareholders. In 21st Century to increase economically &
sustainability in this competitive global market, emphasis on social & environmental
aspects is necessary. In 1990s green management emerged and became imperative
globally in 2000s (Lee, 2009). Green-HRM is defined as the steadiness between
industrial growth & upholding the environment so that the expectations may flourish
(Daily and Huang, 2001). HR-Manager desires to comprise conceptual apparatus
such as pollution prevention, corporate social responsibility by impact through
corporate environmentalism (Hart, 2005; Pullman et al., 2009; Siegel, 2009). By
creating nontoxic product & reduce the pollution in environment by innovative
technology can diminish environmental damage (Liu, 2010; Ozen and Kusku, 2008).
EMS provides a formation to allow management of the organization, the skill to
manage the corporate environmental impacts in enhanced way (Barnes, 1996;
Florida and Davison, 2001).
Employee engagement has been distinct as emotional and intellectual dedication
to the organisation as a whole (Baumruk 2004, Richman 2006 and Shaw 2005). In
the jobs a quantity of flexible effort exhibited by the employee (Frank et al 2004).
Robinson et al (2004) defined engagement as one step up from commitment.
Employees engagement has the manifestation of being yet another trend, or some
force to call old wine in a new bottle. Employee right to be heard can be defined
as the talent for employees to have an contribution into decisions that are prepared
in organisations (Lucas et al 2006).
Organization invests an enormous resource in training programme to retain quality
& talented employees. Advanced quantity of training increases employee satisfaction
and devotion towards the organization and decreases the likelihood of employee
terminations and lay-offs. (Choo & Bowley,2007). The quality of a trainer is also a
key element which affects the training productivity (Coho & Bowleg, 2007). On the
job training opportunities and improved training practices advance employee
retention, (Deery 2008). With the aim of remain attrition little managers must provide
ample training to employees to attain the necessary KSA to perform healthier, so
that experience employees in the organisation are at the same expertise level as
compared to their junior employees (Ian M. Taplin, Winston-Salem and Jonathan
Winterton 2007).
METHODOLOGY
This Research study is entirely based on the secondary sources, like conference
papers, websites, articles, journals, case studies, e-books, and thesis.
ANALYSIS AND DISCUSSION
In 21st Century, many HR practices employee engagement & training as retention
tools to retain the talented employees. But to sustain in this global competitive
355
market & to achieve the organizations goals, the majority of organizations HR

manager start practices green HRM or Corporate environmental for their internal
& external benefits. Through e- engagement & e-training the cost effectiveness of
the training & employees engagement becomes more & employees skills, Knowledge,
productivity & as well as lay off of employees decrease. Corporate social
responsibility is the best external benefits for the organization to retain their
experience & talented employees & also their stakeholders & customers.
Case Studies:
Through case studies, we can understand the importance of employee engagement
& training through green HRM practices, which can grape the internal & external
benefits.
ITC-Enduring value- ITC is one of Indias primary multi-business enterprises
with a market capitalisation of US $ 40 billion and a turnover of US $ 8 billion. ITC
is rated among the Worlds Best Big Companies, Asias Fab 50 and the Worlds
Most Reputable Companies by Forbes magazine and as Indias Most Admired
Company in a survey conducted by Fortune India magazine and Hay Group. ITC
also features as one of worlds largest sustainable value creator in the consumer
goods industry in a study by the Boston Consulting Group. ITC has a diversified
existence in FMCG (Fast Moving Consumer Goods), Hotels, Paperboards & Specialty
Papers, Packaging, Agri-Business and Information Technology. ITC is an marvelous
market leader in its traditional businesses of Hotels, Paperboards, Packaging, AgriExports and Cigarettes, it is swiftly gaining market share even in its nascent
businesses of Packaged Foods & Confectionery, Branded Apparel, Personal Care
and Stationery.
Product Profile
356
ITC is the only enterprise in the world, of comparable dimensions to be carbonpositive, water-positive, and solid waste recycling positive, accredited as a global
standard in sustainability. A demonstration to its commitment to a low carbon growth
path - over 43 % of the total energy requirements of ITC is met from renewable
sources. All ITCs premium luxury hotels are LEED (Leadership in Energy and
Environmental Design) Platinum certified making it the greenest luxury hotel chain
in the world. ITCs Paperboards and Paper business is an icon of environmental
stewardship. ITCs production facilities and hotels have won numerous national and
international awards for quality, productivity, safety and environment management
systems. In India, ITC was the first company to voluntarily hunt for a corporate
governance rating. The Company endlessly endeavours to enhance its prosperity
generating capabilities in a globalising environment to consistently reward more
than 5, 35,000 shareholders, fulfill the aspirations of its stakeholders and meet
societal expectations.
Shortest ITCs CSR Programmes, achieving one or more of the following enhancing environmental and natural capital; supporting rural development;
promoting education; providing preventive healthcare, providing sanitation
and drinking water; creating livelihoods for people, especially those from
disadvantaged sections of society, in rural and urban India; preserving and
promoting sports;
Expand the necessary potential and independence of beneficiaries at the

grass roots, especially of women, in the belief that these are prerequisites
for social and economic development;
Connect in positive action interventions such as skill construction and

vocational training, to enhance employability and generate livelihoods for
persons from disadvantaged sections of society;
Track the CSR Programmes initially in areas that fall within the economic
environs of the Companys operations to enable close supervision and
ensure maximum development impact;
Carry out CSR Programmes in pertinent local areas to fulfil commitments

arising from requests by government/regulatory authorities and to earmark
amounts of monies towards Enterprise Social Responsibility (ESR) activities
and to spend such monies through ESR/CSR Cells of such administrative
bodies of the government and/or directly by way of developmental works in
the local areas around which the Company operates;
To provide equal opportunities to beneficiaries of the Companys CSR

Programmes as vendors or employees on merit;
To promote sustainability in partnership with industry associations, like the

Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) through the CII-ITC Centre of Excellence
for Sustainable Development, in order to have a multiplier impact.
357
Implementation
To put into practice the Companys CSR Programmes from end to end Company
personnel or through external implementing agencies or through ITC Education
Trust, ITC Rural Development Trust, ITC Sangeet Research Academy, ITC
Bhadrachalam Education Trust, Tribeni Tissues Education Society (and other
Trusts, Foundations and Section 8 companies that may be established by the
Company from time to time). In such cases, the Company will specify the CSR
Programmes which may be undertaken by those Trusts in accordance with their
Objects and administrative and accounting processes laid down in the respective
Trust Deeds/ Memoranda and Articles of Association.
Indian Railways- Indian Railways is an Indian state-owned enterprise, owned

and operated by the Government of India throughout the Ministry of Railways.
Railways were first introduced to India in the year 1853 from Mumbai (Bombay)
to Thane. Indian Railways became one of the largest networks in the World in
the year 1951. The middle of the stress for structure Railways in India came
since London.
Past more than 2years, Energy Conservation and Environment Protection has
become one of the most important agenda of the Indian Railways. Green
movement & Corporate Social Responsibility become one of the most important
parts of the Indian Railways. Green movement starts with E-Ticket, E-Hotel
booking, paper less booking to save the tree & Environment sustainability.
Governments green movement give the Indian citizen awareness of the green
movement & environment sustainability.
Green HRM Model

Reviewing different related studies & the case studies, a model is proposed involving
employee engagement & employee training through Green HRM where an
organization can be benefited internally (employee retention) & externally (corporate
Social Responsibility) and also increase the awareness of the sustainability of the
green environment.
Employee Engagement
Retention Tools
Employee Training
Green HRM
358
Retention
Corporate Social Responsibility
(Internal Benefit)
(External Benefit)
In large scale organization to retend the employees & keep the brand value in the
global market employers need to involve the family members of the lower level
employees, whom salary not exceed minimum wage salary. They can start craft
school in the factory area and involve them to educate in the various handcraft &
they can give fair also in the craft fair & earn money. They can retain the employees
& also carry out the corporate social job through green activities. The HRM should
need to give more emphasis on green movement for the environment sustainability
and also internal as well as external benefits.
CONCLUSION
The collective collaboration of environmental sustainability & Human Resource
Management activities, which emphasize desirable performance, can make foremost
involvement in creating continuing internal benefits like retention of employees &
external benefits like corporate social responsibility for the organization to sustain
in this global competitive market. The future of organizations largely depends on
the kind of social investment choices they make and the partners involved in the
decision making process of such investments. A variety of human resource levers
are important for developing retention and CSR organizational capabilities: building
these knowledge and skills through employee engagement & employee training as
retention tools and seeking these knowledge and skills when recruiting new talent
into the organization. Retaining the exiting talented employees to make the brand
value within the employees and as well as into the shareholders and customers
mind.
FUTURE SCOPE OF THE STUDY
The future expansion of an organization & the expectation on the shareholders &
employees, Green HRM activities is the finest for all organization. The study further
can be done by the primary data collection & also based on the Green HR practices,
it can be acceptable that HRs are very important for the organization. HRs
involvement is essential in internal & external benefits for the organization & also
the present and future of the organization to succeed the green Movement.
REFERENCE
1.
4.
5.
Mehta, M., Kurbetti, A., Dhankhar, R. (2014), Study on Employee Retention and Commitment,
International Journal of Advance Research in Computer Science and Management Studies,
2(2), pp.154-164
Renwick, D., Redman, T., Meguire, S.(2008), Green HRM: A review, process model, and
research agenda, The University of Sheffield, pp.1-48
Shaikh, M.W., Green HRM, A Requirement of 21st Century, abhinavjournal, 1(10), pp.122127
http://www.the freelibrary.com/_/printarticle.aspx?id=1492-13864
http://www.itcportal.com/csr/overview
6.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Indian_Railways
2.
3.
359
360
A Study on the Reasons behind the Decrease in

the Export Figures of the Indian Potato Industry
in Comparison with the World's other Leading
Producers/Exporters
Dr. Manjishtha Maitra* & Shantanu. P. Chakraborty**
ABSTRACT
Potato ranks first in vegetables category and main commercial crop cultivated in India. India
ranks fourth in area, and third in production of potato with an average productivity of 22.8 mt/
ha. Potato is considered as a staple food for India. After wheat, rice and maize, potato is the
most important food crop in the world. It contributes to almost 50% of the total tuber and root
crop production. Potato has a good food value as compared to other staple food crops as it
is rich in carbohydrates and also contains proteins, minerals like calcium and potassium and
vitamins like vitamin C. The development of the potato sector is essential to guarantee the
food security of the worlds growing population. It can also serve as a source of added value
to drive the economic development of developing countries like India. For this purpose,
further progress is required to increase the yield, profitability and sustainability of the potatobased farming systems. Although the Indian potato varieties have huge export potential, the
potato export from India has not had much of a progress. The current research tries to delve
into the existing scenario of Potato Industry in India. It tries to understand the possible
reasons behind the decrease in the export figures of the Indian potato industry in comparison
with the worlds other leading producers/exporters.
Key Words: Potato, Staple food, Potato-Based Farming System, Export.
INTRODUCTION
India has a geographical area of 328.7 mn hectares, of which reported area for land use is
306.4 million hectares. The net cultivated area is about 142.60 million hectares i.e. about
46.6% of the total reported land area. 66% of the gross cropped area is under food crops and
nearly 34% area under non-food crops. Cereals and pulses account for nearly 52.93% and
12.64% of the total area respectively. Fruits and vegetables occupy nearly 4.24% of area.
Agriculture has been the mainstay of the Indian economy for years. No one can ever think of
India without agriculture, though it adds only 15% to the countrys GDP (according to the
Union Budget 2015).
The share of agriculture in Indias GDP fell from 29% in 1991 to below 17.5% in 2006. Yet,
around 60% of the labour force is still employed in agriculture.
*
Assistant Professor, J.D. Birla Institute, Department of Management; Kolkata 700017

Email: mmanjishtha@gmail.com
**
Assistant Professor, J.D. Birla Institute, Department of Management; Kolkata 700017

E-mail: shanjdbi@hotmail.com
361
There are about 402.5 million rural workers in India of which 127.6 million are cultivators and
107.5 million are agricultural labourers. Pure agricultural workers constitute nearly 58.4% of
the total rural workers, of which 31.7% are owner cultivators and 26.7% are mainly agricultural
wage earners. Also, 78% of operational holdings in the country are marginal and small,
having less than 2 hectares. About 13% have 2-4 hectares and 7.1% have 4-10 hectares of
land.
According to a research carried out by Saxena and Mathur (2013), potato popularly known
as The king of vegetables, emerged as fourth most important food crop in India after rice,
wheat and maize. In world scenario, India became the second largest producer of potato
(Scott and Suarez, 2011). India produced 42.34 million t from 1.86 million ha with an average
yield of 22.72 t/ ha of Potato during 2010-11 (Agricultural statistics at a glance, 2012).
Though, during the recent past the productivity of potato in India has registered noticeable
increase, but can this level be sustained or enhanced in future, is a matter of concern today.
Knowledge of the past trends in area, production and productivity will aid the planners in
deciding the growth rates to be achieved in accordance with the planned targets. Besides
these, trends in area, production and productivity provide basis for forecasting the future
supply. Many of the studies (Horton, 1987; Jain, 1990; Samanse et al., 1990 and Pandey and
Sarkar, 2005) estimated growth rates.
Potato is mainly a Rabi crop in the country.
Sl.
No.
A
Region
Crop
Planting
Harvesting
North western
Summer
Jan Feb
Jul Aug
North eastern
Summer
Mar Apr
Sep Oct
a. Summer
Mar Apr
Aug Sep
b. Autumn
Aug Sep
Dec Jan
c. Spring
Jan Feb
May Jun
a. Autumn
Sep Oct
Dec Jan
Hills
Southern
Plains
Northern
Plateaus
b. Winter
Oct Nov
Feb Mar
c. Spring
Dec Jan
Mar - Apr
a. Kharif
Jun
Sep Oct
b. Rabi
Oct Nov
Feb - Mar
Contributes
about 80% of
the total
production
(Source:- AGMARKNET)
A technical report by Prof. Singh (2014), in our country potato is grown in 2 million ha area
with a production of more than 45 million tonnes. Uttar Pradesh, West Bengal, Bihar, Punjab
and Gujarat are the major potato producing state. In Uttar Pradesh, potato is cultivated on
6.04 lakh ha area with a total production of 14.43 million tones and an average productivity of
24 tonnes per ha. Uttar Pradesh is largest producer of potato but productivity is highest in
362
Gujarat and West Bengal. During 2013-14 India exported more than 2 lakh tones fresh potato
besides 33 thousand tones of cooked potato and earned more than 302 crores INR.
In country the production of potato is expected to be about 46.4 million tones during current
season. The major potato producing districts in Uttar Pradesh are Farrukhabad Kannuaj,
Etawah and Kanpur. Potato arrival is maximum in Kanpur, Agra and Varanasi APMC Mandi
and the highest arrival is in the month of March and lowest is in September.
However, despite such extensive production of potatoes across India, it is astonishing to note
that the export figures of potato have been on a decline over the years.
OBJECTIVE OF STUDY
In the light of the above discussion, as discrepancies between demand & supply of potato,
marketing inefficiency & its consequences on trade along with other factors increase, the
current study would try to delve into the following issues:
1. To determine the factors responsible for the miserable state of potato export from
India and West Bengal.
2.
It also tries to understand the possible reasons behind the decrease in the export
figures of the Indian potato industry in comparison with the worlds other leading
producers/exporters.
Data Collection:
This study is a part of an ongoing research project. For this purpose, the information was
collected from the Department of Agriculture and Agriculture Marketing whereas the
Export possibilities and potentialities were assessed from several sources as well as public
and private export institutions including the Chambers of Commerce and APEDA.
Marketable and marketed surplus of potato were estimated from both secondary and primary
data.
Statistical Tools Used:
SPSS software was used for data crunching and the technique used was Factor Analysis.
DATA ANALYSIS
Analysis of Global and Indian Potato IndustryAccording to FAO, from 1993-2007, the area harvested for potato cultivation (in Ha) is seen to
be more in China, Russian Federation & India compared to other countries like- Germany,
the Netherlands, the United Kingdom & the US. The proportion of area harvested has increased
over the years for India whereas China experienced a fluctuating rise in the same category
and Russian Federation is seen to be decreasing with time.
According to FAO, from 1993-2007, though the major producers experienced a negative growth
rate during 1994, 1997, 1998, 2001, 2003, 2006 and 2008, yet China registered itself to be
the highest producer of potatoes (in tonnes), followed by Russian Federation and India, among
other countries like Germany, the Netherlands, the United Kingdom & the US. India is seen
to experience a decrease in production from 2006 (29174600 tonnes) to 2007 (28599600
tonnes).
363
RESULTS AND FINDINGS

Secondary Data:
1. India ranks third amongst the highest potato-producing countries, just after China and
Russian Federation. it is clear that, there is enough surplus left after domestic
consumption. So, it can be concluded that, India has an ample scope of potato-export
to other countries.
2. West Bengal is the second highest potato-producing state just after Uttar Pradesh,
followed by Bihar at the third place. Bihar would be leading the production with West
Bengal retaining its status of being the second highest potato grower, followed by
Uttar Pradesh at the third.
3. Burdwan stands at the third position as far as potato production is concerned, after
Hooghly and Paschim Midnapur. From the future projections (Jalpaiguri would be seen
to top the chart, with Paschim Midnapur and Burdwan at the next two positions. Hooghly,
the current highest producer would be lowering its status to the fourth place. So, it can
be concluded that, West Bengal is a major potato producing state with Hooghly, Paschim
Midnapur and Burdwan being the major potato growing districts.
4. In Khandauli (Agra), modal prices are hovering in the range of Rs 1450/ quintal compared
to last year price of Rs 1050/ quintal during same time. The reason for higher prices is
due to less storage in cold store.
5. Assumption made by Agriwatch stated that Potato production for 2013-14 assumed to
be 41 million MT, Post harvest losses are 15-20%. 20% has been taken for this
exercise. Losses in Feb to Oct 2014 are equally spread. Potato processing industry
growing at Compound Annual Growth Rate at 5-6%. Table consumption is approximately
19-20 kg/capita.60-70% of Rabi production goes to store. Table consumption is
expected to grow at 3% p.a. Seed requirement is approx 10% of production.
6. In West Bengal, cold storages are filled with approximately 60.84 lakh ton of potatoes.
It is clear that, the storing capacities of various Cold Storages in different districts of
West Bengal do not fall in line with the quantity produced per year so, there is an
Immense potential and opportunity to export potatoes to other states and countries
from the state.
364
DATA ANALYSIS
Analysis of Global and Indian Potato IndustryArea Harvested (Ha)
YEAR
1999
2000
2001
2002
2003
2004
CHINA
4420703
4725366
4720527
4669167
4524364
4598212 4882647 4216595 4432320
GERMANY
309000
304379
282100
284078
287264
295266 276900 274300
INDIA
1280200
1340900
1211300
1259500
1337200
1484700 1523900 1569200 1742800
NETHERLANDS
180000
180200
163900
165200
158644
163905 156000 155800
RUSSIAN
FEDERATION
3226700
3229060
3216200
3198110
3175000
3130000 3070510 2962420 2851660
UNITED KINGDOM 177600
166000
165000
158000
145000
148700 137400 141000
140200
UNITED STATES
OF AMERICA
545520
494610
514080
505300
472230 439860 451430
456906
539210
2005
2006
2007
274961
156900
FAOSTAT | FAO Statistics Division 2010 | 19 March 2014

According to FAO, from 1993-2007, the area harvested for potato cultivation (in Ha) is seen to
be more in China, Russian Federation & India compared to other countries like- Germany,
the Netherlands, the United Kingdom & the US. The proportion of area harvested has increased
over the years for India whereas China experienced a fluctuating rise in the same category
and Russian Federation is seen to be decreasing with time.
According to FAO, from 1993-2007, though the major producers experienced a negative growth
rate during 1994, 1997, 1998, 2001, 2003, 2006 and 2008, yet China registered itself to be
the highest producer of potatoes (in tonnes), followed by Russian Federation and India, among
other countries like Germany, the Netherlands, the United Kingdom & the US. India is seen
to experience a decrease in production from 2006 (29174600 tonnes) to 2007 (28599600
tonnes).
Top Potato Producing States in India
Units A Area in 000 Ha
Average
States/UTs
U.P
West Bengal
Bihar
M.P
Punjab
Gujarat
Others
Total-India
2010-11
A
P
556.5 13577
406
13391
314
5784
62
743
84
2088
65
1882
375
4874
1863
42339
2011-12
A
P
568
14125
377
9693
315
6102
88
1817
84
2104
81
2396
395
5247
1907 41483
2012-13
A
P
604 14430
387 11591
323 6641
109 2299
85
2132
81
2500
404 5750
1992 45344
2013-14
Prod.
(2nd est.)*
(MT/Ha)
A
P
616
15013
24.4
400
12000
29.7
318.5 6536
19.7
109.9 2322
18.7
87.2 2180
25
81
2500
30.1
418
6044
13.7
2032 46609
22.5
P: Production in 000 MT
(Source:-AGMARKNET)
365
The above table shows various potato producing states in India West Bengal stand second
just after U.P.The Average Productivity of potato is 22.5 MT/Ha
Potato Balance Sheet
(Figures in million tons)
Population (in Billion)
1.175
Year
2008-09* 2010
1.206 1.22
Carry-in(A)
Production(B)
34.39
42.33 41.48
45.34
41
36
Total Availability(C=A+B)
34.39
42.33 41.48
45.93
44.92
7.92
Table Consumption(D)
22.3
22.91 23.79
24.6
24.8
6.2
Processing Purpose(E)
2.67
2.8
2.94
3.12
3.31
2.25
1.05
Post Harvest losses (F)
4.07
6.35
8.3
9.07
8.2
0.8
2.47
2.47
2.46
Exports(G)
1.85
1.59
1.71
1.14
1.3
0.5
0.4
0.4
Usage (H=D+E+F+G)
30.89
33.65 36.74
37.93
37.61
11.72
10.02
8.86
Seed Purpose (I)
3.42
4.23
4.15
4.08
4.1
4.1
Balance
(J=C-H-I)
0.08
4.45
0.59
3.92
3.21
0.92
25.2
15.18
3.22
2011-12
1.23
1.24
2012-13
2013-14 2013-14 2013-14 2013-14
Quarterly
Nov-Oct Nov-Oct Nov-Oct Nov-Jan Feb-Apr May-July

0.59
3.92
3.92
0.92
2013-14
Aug-Oct
25.2
15.18
36.92
25.2
16.18
6.5
6.1
(Source:-* CPRI, Agriwatch Research)
Market Arrival of Potato in 2013-14 Vis-a-Vis in 2012-13

STATES/
UTs
Market Arrival (IN 000 MT)

13-Nov 12-Nov
13-Dec 12-Dec 14-Jan 13-Jan 14-Feb 13-Feb 14-Mar 13-Mar 14-Apr
13-Apr
U.P
259.2
277
429.7
480.7
689
560.5
503.8
483.1
517.8 539.1 426
460.3
West
Bengal
22.82
38.28
27.14
38.25
28.72 40.07
32.99
40.97
156.7 201.6 64.21
52.53
M.P
7.85
13.07
23.2
13.51
25.97 17.21
30.12
22.53
25.3
8.07
Punjab
28.03
32.45
45.91
65.38
33.64 57.54
30.19
47
84.95 41.07 111
Gujarat
38.06
33.46
61.24
56.83
50.11 60.83
43.98
49.28
57.35 57.98 42.26
44.37
Others
577.8
261.9
634.9
300.9
472.2 413.1
357.2
349.2
363.6 395.7 319.8
377.2
Total-INDIA 933.7
656.1
1222
955.8
1300
998.3
992.1
1206
969.2
1149
22.44 13.63
1258
976.8
26.73
Source:- AGMARKNET
Above table shows the market arrival of potatos in various states and union territory
366
Potato Exports
Year
1999
2000
2001
2002
2003
2004
2005
2006
2007
CHINA
481
331
1077
955
1858
1314
1608
2516
15798
GERMANY
28767
40370
44672
55467
46869
33399
60328
66801
72981
INDIA
530
306
201
276
418
466
2195
2698
4086
NETHERLANDS
77462
80812
73876
88351
92212
86740
74731
89139
94064
UNITED KINGDOM 1242
1819
3797
6866
8352
11670
6047
2388
679
UNITED STATES
OF AMERICA
49364
42162
31691
48404
61526
56133
59185
63929
124695
FAOSTAT | FAO Statistics Division 2010 | 19 March 2014

As depicted by the FAO, over the period 1999-2007, in representing the total exports of
potato from the year 1999-2007.
CONCLUSION
The Indian Potato Industry is undergoing a drastic change pertaining to the changing taste
and preferences of the consumers in India and abroad. People are shifting from fresh foods to
the processed ones, at a rapid pace. While people residing in India still ponder on consuming
fresh potatoes, those settled in other parts of the globe prefer frozen or other processed
preparations. This may seem to be a positivity as far as India is concerned, due to its status
of being the third highest potato producing country (after China and Russian Federation), but
the reality is something else. On the flip side, Indian potatoes are not prioritised by most
foreign countries, due to the absence of proper quality grading techniques. Potatoes in India
are not grown as per the specifications decided by the overseas markets, which leaves the
Indian potatoes at a competitive disadvantage. The government should be taking more initiative
and precautionary measures to save the farmers from glut, with most of the produce being
wasted at the stores every year.
LIMITATION OF STUDY
The study was based purely on secondary data, due to lack of time it was not possible to
collect and work on primary data. Few more factor could have been taken that would impact
the exports and production of potato in India.
REFERENCES
1.
Singh H.P. Department of Agriculture & Co-operation (Ministry of Agriculture), Krishi Bhawan,
Approaches to sustaining potato production
2.
FAOSTAT AND FAO
3.
http://www.potatopro.com/world/potato-statistics
4.
International Year of the Potato Secretariat, FAO (UN)
5.
Johl S.S. & Dahiya P.S. Economics and Marketing of Potatoes in India, Central Potato Research
Institute & Agril. Situation India, Potato Marketing with special reference to storage &
processing in the world
6.
Department of Food Processing Industries & Horticulture, Government of India,
7.
POTATO, Opportunities Unlimited
367
8.
Khanna S.M. Paul, Shekhawat G.S., Pandey S.K. & Singh B.P., Indian Potato Association,
Central Potato Research Institute, Potato, Global Research & Development
9.
Sabharwal D.B., APEDA, Export potential of potatoes & potato products
10. Saxena, R. and Mathur, P. (2013): Analysis Of Potato Production Performance And Yield
Variability In India, Potato Journal, 40(1), pp. 38 44.
11. Srinivas K., Dahiya P.S. & Pandey N.K., World Potato Statistics, CPRI, Techno-economic
competitiveness of potato exports from India
12. International Year of the Potato Secretariat, FAO (UN)
13. http://apps.fao.org/page/collections?subset= agriculture
14. International Potato Processing and Storage Convention (IPPSC), 2010
15. Central Potato Research Institute (CPRI)
16. Impact of WTO on Potato Export from India
17. http://www.potatoesusa.com/articleDetail.php?id=6
18. http://www.livemint.com/2010/03/25213353/Problems-of-plenty-for-WestBe.html
19. PotatoPro Newsletter
368
A Study of the Behavioural Predictors of the

Personal Effectiveness in Private Engineering
and Management Institutes in West Bengal
Debasish Pal Chaudhuri*, Dr. Surjyasikha Das** & Dr. Sarup Prasad Ghosh***
ABSTRACT
For the personal effectiveness of the students in regard to developing them as effective
learners, motivation as an independent variable acts as an important factor in the nature
of learning experience. Motivation integrates and articulates the learning goals in
relevance to students academic lives. Emotional Intelligence (EI) is the ability to perceive
access and positively influence ones own and other peoples emotions. While the
students imbibed with higher Emotional Intelligence (EI) manifests and effectively
integrates into projects and work place the skills for values, motivation, potential and
personality. To attain the harmony between self-awareness and behavioural competencies
the students having better Emotional Intelligence (EI) in various scenarios. This often
involves them making better career management and personal life.
The purpose of the study is to design to examine and measure Motivation, Emotional
Intelligence as the behavioural predictors of Personal Effectiveness in Private Engineering
and Management Institutes of West-Bengal. A conceptual framework is developed
involving Motivation and Emotional Intelligence as independent variables and Students
Personal effectiveness as dependent variable. Data were collected from 100 students
using questionnaire from Private Engineering and Management Institutes of West-Bengal.
The data was analyzed using SPSS software.
The result shows that motivation predicts personal effectiveness of the students whereas
there is no practical relationship between emotional intelligence and personal
effectiveness of the students.
Key Words: Personal Effectiveness, Motivation, Emotional Intelligence
INTRODUCTION
Education Scenario of Privates Colleges in India
A scientist dreams to make this world better and an Engineer makes that dream true.
Engineering was started by human beings to make life comfortable. As the world
developed, many important changes were seen in the field of engineering. As a result
*
Phd Scholar, Management Department, Techno India University; E-mail: saphr.debpc@gmail.com
**
Asst. Professor and HOD-Management, Techno India University; E-mail: surjyasikha.tiu@gmail.com
*** Dean of Academic-Faculty & Students; E-mail: dr.sarup.ghose@gmail.com
369
a high percentage of young generation can be seen appearing for IIT-JEE to get into
the elite Indian Institutes of Technology (IITs) and AIEEE, conducted by the Central Board
of Secondary Education (CBSE). Approximately 4 lakh students appear in AIEEE exam
every year. So, these examinations invite very high competition among students. The
same goes for Management Entrance examinations like CAT, MAT etc.
Both Engineering and Management education in India have seen tremendous growth over
the past decade, both in number of students and number of colleges. The recent growth
in Indian engineering education has been overwhelmingly due to privately funded
educational institutions rather than the Government ones.
Engineering education started in India during the British era. In India the first engineering
college was established at Roorkee, known as Thomson Engineering College in 1847.
In early times emphasis was laid on Civil Engineering.
As per the All India Council for Technical Education (AICTE), 401,791 engineers passed
out from different engineering institutes or colleges in 2003. The number increased to
464,743 in 2004-05. Engineering colleges in India have been growing at 20 per cent
per year. Five Indian states Tamil Nadu, Andhra Pradesh, Maharashtra, Karnataka and
Kerala account for 69 per cent of Indias engineers. Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, Gujarat,
Rajasthan and Orissa account for only 14 per cent.
BMS college of Engineering is a private engineering college in Basvangudi, Bangalore,
India. The engineering college, started in 1946 by BM Sreenivasiah, was one of the
first private sector initiatives in technical education in India and is run by the BMS
Educational Trust today.
The percentage growth in number of engineering institutions in India have come down
from high of 43% in 2008-09 (academic year) to 3% in 2012-13. This translates into
slowdown in starting of new institutions from 720 in 2008-09 to 105 in 2012-13.
Although the growth of engineering institutions has slowed down, with 3,500 engineering
colleges and India has disproportionately large number of institutions, indicating high
value Indians place of job-oriented, professional programs with social prestige.
ENGINEERING
YEAR
INSTITUTIONS
2006-07
1,511
2007-08
1,668
157
10%
2008-09
2,388
720
43%
2009-10
2,972
584
24%
2010-11
3,222
250
8%
2011-12
3,393
171
5%
2012-13
3,498
105
3%
370
GROWTH (#)
GROWTH (%)
Education in West Bengal is provided by both the public sector as well as the private
sector. The modern education system was developed by the British missionaries and
the Indian social reformists. West Bengal has many reputed institutes of higher education
like Indian Institute of Management Calcutta (the first IIM), Indian Institute of Technology
Kharagpur (the first IIT), Bengal Engineering and Science University (2nd oldest
engineering institution in India), Jadavpur University, Presidency College, Indian Institute
of Science Education and Research, Kolkata, National Institute of Technology, Durgapur,
Indian Statistical Institute and Visva-Bharati University.
LITERATURE REVIEW
Personal Effectiveness
Personal effectiveness is a branch of the self-help movement dealing with success, goals,
and related concepts. Personal effectiveness integrates some ideas from the power of
positive thinking and positive psychology but in general it is distinct from the New
Thought Movement.
Benefits: Develop ability to think clearly and logically. Structure thoughts and present
ideas cohesively and effectively. Increase levels of confidence in conducting oneself with
internal and external customers. The most powerful and useful framework for thinking
about personal improvement in management skills comes from the work of Albert
Bandura, and his social learning theory . Banduras theory suggests that learning of
any new behavior is the result of three main factorsthe person, the environment, and
the behaviorand they all influence each other. Behavior is not simply the result of
the environment and the person, just as the environment is not simply the result of
the person and the behavior.
For the present study, we reviewed the published training and development literature
from 1960 to 2000. We considered the period post-1960 to be characterized by increased
technological sophistication in training design and methodology and by the use of more
comprehensive training evaluation techniques and statistical approaches. The increased
focus on quantitative methods for the measurement of training effectiveness is critical
for a quantitative review such as this study. Similar to past training and development
reviews (e.g., Latham, 1988; Tannenbaum & Yukl, 1992; Wexley, 1984), the present
study also included the practitioner-oriented literature if those studies met the criteria
for inclusion as outlined below. Therefore, the literature search encompassed studies
published in journals, books or book chapters, conference papers and presentations,
and dissertations and theses that were related to the evaluation of an organizational
training program or those that measured some aspect of the effectiveness of
organizational training. An extensive literature search was conducted to identify empirical
studies that involved an evaluation of a training program or measured some aspects of
the effectiveness of training. This search process started with a search of nine computer
databases (Defense Technical Information Center, Econlit, Educational Research
Information Center, Government Printing Office, National Technical Information Service,
PsycLIT/PsycINFO, Social Citations Index, Sociofile, and Wilson) using the following
371
key words: training effectiveness, training evaluation, training efficiency, and training
transfer. The electronic search was supplemented with a manual search of the reference
lists from past reviews of the training literature (e.g., Alliger et al., 1997; Campbell,
1971; Goldstein, 1980; Latham, 1988; Tannenbaum & Yukl, 1992; Wexley, 1984). A
review of the abstracts obtained as a result of this initial search for appropriate content
(i.e., empirical studies that actually evaluated an organizational training program or
measured some aspect of the effectiveness of organizational training), along with a
decision to retain only English language articles, resulted in an initial list of 383 articles
and papers. Next, the reference lists of these sources were reviewed.
Rotter (1996) originally described the psychological construct of locus of control as an
element of personality. Locus of control refers to the perception of the extent to which
individuals can control events in their lives. Individuals with an internal locus of control
judge outcomes of events to be internally controllable. That is, they believe that their
own personal efforts, behaviors, or skills will influence and determine outcomes, and
they take responsibility for their actions. Individuals with an external locus of control
attribute events to external sources. They believe and behave as if forces beyond their
control such as chance, luck, fate, or others with greater power represent the important
factors in determining the occurrence of reinforcing events (Rotter, 1966). As such, their
own effort or abilities are perceived to have little effect on how events play out.
Becker(2000) in his studies found that the students with internal locus of control are
perceived to be more effective as compared to their counterparts with external locus of
control. The study further states that relatively internal-oriented students are more likely
to pursue successful study strategies and stress-coping mechanisms, achieve higher
grades, and, therefore, award relatively higher evaluation scores than their more externally
oriented classmates, ceteris paribus. Likewise, relatively external-oriented students are
more likely to engage in passive and unsuccessful study strategies, cope poorly with
course-induced stress, achieve lower grades, and blame others for their performance
relative to their more internally oriented classmates, holding all else constant.
Motivation
Something that leads or influences a person to do something. Motivation is usually
defined by psychologists as the processes involved in arousing, directing and sustaining
behavior. (Ball, 1977, as quoted in Robb, 2001b, para. 2).
From the literature on what motivates students to learn, the following key concepts were
obtained from a wide collection of sourcesin a variety of formats. Here is a summary
of what research has shown to be the top six motivators for learning
1. Student control of learning: The focus here is learning. Assessment of learning styles
and adapting lesson delivery is vital.
2. Relevance to student use and teachers genuine interest: There is a dual emphasis
between relevance and genuine interest. Why a lesson is important and how it connects
to life is best embraced by the student when the teacher demonstrates genuine interest
in the subject and students.
372
3. Teachers enthusiasm: Teacher enthusiasm is vital. If a teacher has been assigned

to a grade level or curriculum that he or she is not necessarily interested in, its time
to find the silver lining in the cloud. Students are perceptive and read their teachers
every action, reaction, and comment. Teachers must be excited about what they are
bringing to the students if they expect the students to be interested.
4. Quick feedback and assignment return: Student performance is directly correlated
to the time between assignment submission and return. Students learning increases
when they can make adjustments to errors in a timely fashion. Teachers should strive
to return student work the next day.
5. Instructional variety: Technology has provided the opportunity to deliver instruction in
a variety of ways. Three shifts in approach to curriculum delivery during a 50- to 60minute period will help student interest remain high and engaged. Shifting from lecture
to groupwork to independent study keeps students connected and interested.
6. Encouragement. A simple pat on the back, a smiley face stamp, writing Good Job!
or acknowledging effort can make a big difference in student performance.
Motivation is related in the research literature to the attempt to better understand
principals impact on school performance (Hallinger and Heck, 1998; Leithwood and
Jantzi, 2005; Leithwood and Mascall, 2008; Robinsonet al., 2008; Supovitz et al., 2010;
Witziers et al., 2003). Studies have shown that school leadership affects student
outcomes (i.e. students rates of attendance, achievement, graduation, and college
enrollment) indirectly, by creating the conditions that support teachers ability to teach
and students learning (Hallinger and Heck, 1996; Leithwoodet al., 2007; Porteret al.,
2010) rather than directly (Robinsonet al., 2008; Witzierset al., 2003). According to Porter
et al.(2010), these conditions include high standards for student learning, rigorous
curricula, quality instruction, a culture of learning and professional behaviour, connections
to external communities, and performance accountability.
Within the affective components, motivation is important because students motivation
plays an important role in their conceptual change processes (Lee 1989, Lee and Brophy
1996, Pintrich et al. 1993), critical thinking, learning strategies (Garcia and Pintrich 1992,
Kuyper et al. 2000, Wolters 1999) and science learning achievement (Napier and Riley
1985).
A review of learning motivation studies revealed the diversity and variety of motivation
factors, such as self-perceptions of ability, effort, intrinsic goal orientation, task value,
self-efficacy, test anxiety, self-regulated learning, task orientation and learning strategies
(Garcia 1995, Garcia and Pintrich 1995, Nolen and Haladyna 1989, Pintrich and
Blumenfeld 1985). These studies, on the one hand, highlighted the diversity of the
learning motivation and, on the other hand, showed how researchers interests influenced
the approach taken to aspects of motivation.
Although there are many motivation questionnaires used in the aforementioned educational
psychology studies (Midgley et al. 1993; Pintrich et al. 1991; Ugurogluet al. 1981), these
questionnaires were mainly developed by psychologists who were interested in preKindler Vol. XV l No. 2 l July-December 2015
373
determined motivation domains in understanding students general learning motivation

rather than addressing, specifically, motivation for learning science. For instance, the
Motivated Strategies for Learning Questionnaire (MSLQ) (Pintrich et al. 1991) was
designed to assess college students motivational orientations and learning strategies,
and the Multidimensional Motivation Instrument (Uguroglu et al. 1981) examined the
relation between the learning environment and students motivation, affect and behaviour.
Researchers (Blumenfeld 1992, Blumenfeld and Meece 1988, Lee and Anderson 1993,
Lee and Brophy 1996, Weiner 1990) have stressed the importance of investigating
students motivation when studying specific subject content areas because they may
express different motivational traits in these areas. Hence, it is important to develop a
questionnaire to investigate students learning motivation in science.
The purpose of this study is to analyze existing research to identify motivation domains
in science learning and to develop a questionnaire, students motivation towards science
learning (SMTSL), which addresses students motivation in science learning.
Emotional Intelligence
Emotional intelligence (EI) is the ability to monitor ones own and other peoples
emotions, to differentiate between different emotions and label them appropriately, and
to use emotional information to guide thinking and behavior.
However, substantial disagreement exists regarding the definition of EI, with respect to
both terminology and operationalizations. Currently, there are three main models of EI:
Ability model, Mixed model, Trait model.
Emotional Intelligence (EI) has an up-and-coming track record of mortal linked to
leadership performance. Emotional intelligence joins a leaders cognitive capability with
their affecting state. The capability for leaders to be familiar with the impact of their
own sentiment on their decision making is dominant if a leader is to make sound
decisions based on the best interests of the organization. A leader read emotions in
his/her peers and employees in categorize to be as effective as possible.
Due to the difficulty of managerial change and the role sentiment play in changes such
as global development, job eliminations, leadership changes, as well as stressors of
day to day responsibilities, the EI of supervisor and how they administer their
acquaintances is an element that leadership needs to think about while moving their
institute forward.
Organizations everywhere need now to realize the benefits of primal leadership by
humanizing leaders who create the emotional significance that lets people flourish.
Different representation of EI has a led to the growth of various instruments for the
assessment of the create while some of these actions may overlap, most researchers
have the same option that they tap different assemble.
EI is attracting research interest as an individual difference variable that examines the
way individuals perceive, understand, and manage their emotions (Ashkanasy & Daus,
2005). EI is dominated by psychological theories as a result of its cognitive and
374
physiological associations (Opengart, 2005). In the field of human resource management,

interest in EI has stemmed from the possibility that it may account for aspects of
workplace performance including variance in leader effectiveness that cannot be accounted
for by other constructs (Mayer, 2001; Watkin, 2000).
Ciarrochi and his colleagues (2000) proceeded to examine the relationship of EIto the
personality measures. They found significant relations between EI and empathy,
extraversion and openness to feelings. It is important to note that mixed models are
highly correlated with personality constructs such as empathy and self-esteem (Dawda
& Hart, 2000; Petrides & Furnham,2001; Newsome, Day, & Catano, 2000).While this
is a simplistic view of the personality behavior link, and one that ignores the trait-situation
controversy in the field of personality (Pervin, 1985), it is the basic foundation of Mayer
and colleagues conceptual model. Also Optimism most closely combines which two
emotions? (a) pleasure and anticipation; (b) acceptance and joy; (c) surprise and joy;(d)
pleasure and joy. (Mayer, Caruso & Salovey, 1999).
Emotional intelligence could bring liability and commitment, loyalty and trust between
staff in organization which could cause higher productivity and effectiveness between
teams. (Cooper, 1997). Emotional intelligence is also one of the most important
forecasters of organizational success. Like being discussed in Chapter 1, Martinez (1997)
also mentioned that peoples success factor in their job performance is just 20 percent
on intelligence quotient (IQ), and around 80 percent depends on their level of emotional
intelligence (EI). Leaders and managers are key persons in any organization, they help
to decide the fate and future of nations or firms so developing managers abilities and
keep them updated is essential for permanent growth. Dulewiez and Higgs (2000)
mentioned that, improvement of individuals performance is strongly related to individuals
EI. Moreover they also acknowledged the direct relationship between organizational
performance and individual performance with individual emotional intelligence.
One area of emotions research that has involves significant and heated debate is the
construct definition of emotional intelligence (Ashkanasy & Daus, 2005; Landy, 2005;
Becker, 2003; Jordon, Ashkanasy & Hartel, 2003). Recent research into the emotional
intelligence construct has established its relationship with leadership (Wolff, Pescosolido
& Druskat, 2002), selfefficacy (Okech, 2004), mental health (Manhas, 2004), self-esteem
(Chauhan, 2008) and aspiration (Wells, 2004). Mayer et al. (2000) in an attempt to
clarify the plethora of definitions of emotional intelligence suggested that there are mixed
and mental ability model of emotional intelligence. Mixed models encompass social and
emotional competencies that include aspects of social skills and personality (Goleman,
1995, 1998), while mental ability model explore the interaction between emotion and
cognition. Based on Golemans (1995, 1998) mixed model, motivation forms a subset
of emotional intelligence. Other emotional intelligence researchers reject this notion,
arguing that they are related, yet separate constructs (Jordon et al, 2003; Mayer &
Salovey, 1997). The link between emotions and motivation has been explicitly stated in
a broad range of research (Frijda, 1994; Zurbriggen & STurman, 2002). Goleman saw
375
motivation as a prime antecedent of behaviour while formulating his concept of emotional

intelligence.
RESEARCH MODEL
RESEARCH QUESTIONS
RQ-1: Whether Emotional Intelligence is going to Predicts Personal Effectiveness
studying in Private Engineering and Management Institutes positively?
RQ-2: Whether Motivation is going to Predicts Personal Effectiveness studying in
Private Engineering and Management Institutes positively?
HYPOTHESIS
H-1: Emotional Intelligence is going to Predicts Personal Effectiveness studying
in Private Engineering and Management Institutes positively.
H-2: Motivation is going to Predicts Personal Effectiveness studying in Private
Engineering and Management Institutes positively.
METHODOLOGY
A) Sample
The study was conducted in Private Engineering and Management Institutes of WestBengal.
No of Respondents: 100 students from Private Institutes of West-Bengal. Students
who have studied more than 2 years in the institution selected.
B) Questionnaire
Personal Effectiveness: - Developed by Luft and Ingham (Luft,1973) , No of Items:15. Factors: - Self-disclosure, Openness to feedback, Perceptiveness.
Motivation - Huang and Tuan 2001, Tuan and Chin 1999, 2000, Wu and Tuan 2000.
No of Items - 35. Factors: - Self-Efficacy, Active Learning Strategies, Science Learning
Value, Performance Goal, Achievement Goal, Learning Environment Stimulation.
Emotional Intelligence - Emotional Quotient Self- Assessment Checklist devised by
Sterrett. (Sterrett,2004). No of Items-30. Factors:- a) Self-Awareness, b) Self-Confidence
c) Self-Control, c) Empathy d) Motivation e) Social-Competency.
All scales are in likes scales. The data analysis will be done by SPSS 21 software.
376
RESULTS AND DISCUSSION

Multiple Regression taking EI & Motivation as independent variable and Personal
Effectiveness as dependent variable.
The result obtain is stated below table:
PERSONAL EFFETIVENESS
1
EISCON
0.72
EIE
0.80
EIM
0.77
MVALS
0.88
MVSLV
0.88
MVAG
0.93
(At 95% Confidence Level)

According to the table above Self Confidence as a factor of EI predicts PE (0.72) for
any student if the self confidence is essential to motivate them, In order to develop
the self confidence of these students to attain the personal effectiveness in the academic
scenario the following behavioral predictors needs consideration to a large extent like
using effective speech and body language and being confident, genuine and individual.
In addition to these, being passionate or enthusiastic about the aims and views enables
the students to effectively handle conflict situations successfully. Empathy as a factor
of EI predicts PE (0.80) for any student if the empathy is essential to develop the
platform for effective understanding communication in the student. The most common
Behavioral predictors of empathy in student signifies they being good listeners, sensitive
to others needs and feelings, and treat others with respect which is a prerequisite for
social problem-solving and conflict resolution. Emotional Intelligence Motivation as a factor
of EI predicts PE (0.77) for any student if the emotional intelligence motivation enables
the productive learning of the students. It enfolds the multi-faceted dimensions of
Encourage diversity in learning styles encouraging creativity and self-esteem. Motivation
Active Learning strategies as a factor of motivation predicts PE (0.88) for any student
active learning instructional strategies manifests in the student ability to think critically
or creatively, expressing ideas through writing, exploring personal attitudes and values,
giving and receiving feedback, and reflecting upon the entire learning process. Motivation
Science Learning strategies as a factor of motivation predicts PE (0.88) for any student
incorporates the Students prior ability and capacity to organize knowledge influences
how they learn and apply what they know to focus on goal-directed practice coupled
with targeted feedback enhances the quality of students learning. In the present
academic scenario to become self-directed learners, students must learn to monitor and
adjust their approaches to learning. Hence, Motivation Achievement Goals as a factor
of motivation predicts PE (0.93) for any student is the key to effective time management
and life planning. It encompasses various factors like time management lessons with
an in-depth discussion of the important time management skills, techniques, and
377
activities. In addition, good decision making skills in the students are the foundation
for life and time management skills combined with the good understanding of team work
and team building.
CONCLUSION
In order to encompass the general objective for Higher Education is to teach , facilitate
and encourage students to learn enables them to attain the relative achievement goals.
To achieve these objectives the factors affecting the students learning needs to be
explored. These factors are empathy, motivation, confidence, Science Learning Strategies
as well as Active Learning Strategies combines with achievement goals to to analyze
the students characteristics in association with their learning styles related to their
learning environment. The research conducted examines the following principal factors
on account to signify a dynamic effort to understand how effectiveness in performance
of the students with respect to higher education emphasises the overall learning impact
as a crucial aspect of the development of the students. Hence, in this regard to
examine and explore the various dimensions and roles of these factors in shaping the
comprehensive development of the students in all aspects a considerable amount of
research has been conducted and the following as concluded to access the self efficiency and effectiveness of the learning outcomes to assess the students perception
of their educational environment.
FUTURE SCOPE OF THE STUDY
Students are the bright and capable future of the country believed to be an individual
who can effect change in our society impacted by the learning process both in critical
thinking and academic outcomes. Henceforth, conditions of learning can be improved
among the students in the private engineering and management institutions all over by
undermining their confidence in their own learning on a long term effect has a major
impact upon their ability to perform well. In addition to this, the results of this study
will help to provide the understanding the importance of this study in the context to
affect the learning courses to be more effective to formulate the student effectiveness
and satisfaction in achieving the target goals in terms of positive outcomes.
The qualitative findings, focuses on the approach to the study the predictors of the
behaviors are not only limited to the students who are engaged in the academic
outcomes but considerably also the learning process, engaged in the learning style
related to their relevant field who are the vital asset to the company or other organization
in order to raise their outcomes in the industry. It is most likely to say the strong
reflection components are the behavioral predictors which are inseparable variables has
a positive effect in regard to the personal effectiveness of the students in the short
term or term goals to be attained.
LIMITATION OF THE STUDY
We have taken few samples from private institutions of the state but in account of
consideration of a more comprehensive samples of the government institution of the state
378
separately too it may be noted in that case, the results may vary on more multifaceted
dimensions on account of the variable taken.
As the scenario in the present higher education is dynamic and flexible and changing
it becomes a constrains to create a learning environment demonstrating the intricacy
of the learning process in particular the connection that the students can make between
life experiences may sometimes support a growing movement to enhance a greater
sharing of responsibility for students learning between academic and student affair
depending on various other factors apart from the behavioural factors.
Though the research takes into account the behavioural predictors of the students to
play a very vital aspect in regard to their personal effectiveness but often cognitive
research in the natures of learning hinders and informs us that the students construct
their knowledge that they inculcate from their surrounding and benefit from working
collaboratively in a team work in the same surrounding do not learn in the same way.
Often they learn in a multitude of setting according to their own capability and keen
observation which they have imbibed emotionally, physically and psychologically in
various circumstances.
REFERENCE
1.
Active learning: Creating excitement in the classroom. Washington, DC: School of

Education and Human Development, George Washington University.
2.
Anderson, J. R., Conrad, F. G., Corbett, A. T. (1989). Skill acquisition and the LISP
tutor. Cognitive Science, 13(4),
3.
Ann Arbor, MI: National Center for Research to Improve Postsecondary Teaching
and Learning. (ERIC Document Reproduction Service No. ED 338 122).
4.
Bandura ,A (1982) . Self-Efficacy mechanism in personal agency. American

Psychologist.
5.
Becker,W.E.2000. Teaching Economics in the 21st century. Journal of Economic

Perspectives. 14(1):109-19.
6.
Blumenfeld, P.C. (1992). Classroom learning and motivation. Clarity and expanding
goal theory. Journal of Educational Psychology, 84, 272281.
7.
Blumenfeld, P.C., & Meece, J.L. (1988). Task factors, teacher behaviour, and
students involvement and use of learning strategies in science. The Elementary
School Journal, 88, 235250.
8.
Bransford, J., Brown, A., & Cocking, R. (Eds.). 2000. How People Learn: Brain, Mind,
Experience, and School. Washington, D.C: National Academies Press.
9.
Carver, C.S. & Scheier, M.F. (1998). On the self-regulation of behavior. New York:
Cambridge University Press
10.
Cooper, R. K. (1997). Applying emotional intelligence in the workplace, Training &

Development Vol. 51, pp.31-38
11.
Dweck.C.S & Elliot, E.S (1984), Achievement motivation. In P. Mussen & E.M
Hetherington(Eds.), Handbook of Child Psychology (Vol. 4) New York: Wiley
12.
Eckman, P. (1999). Basic emotions. In T. Dalgleish & J. Mick (Eds.), Handbook of

cognition and emotion. New York: John Wiley & Sons Ltd.
379
13.
Elias, M. (1997). Promoting social and emotional learning: Guidelines for educators
(Chapter 1) The need for social and emotional learning. Association for Supervision
and Curriculum Development, 26. [Online]. Available: http://www.ascd.org/
readingroom/books/elias97.html.
14.
Eison, J. A., & Bonwell, C. C. (1993, January).

learning strategies across the disciplines
15.
Elias, M. (1997). Promoting social and emotional learning: Guidelines for educators.
Association for Supervision and Curriculum Developmen. Retrieved December 16,
2002 from http://www.ascd.org/ readingroom/books/elias97.html.
16.
Ellis, H. C., Ottaway, S. A., Varner, L. J., Becker, A. S., & Moore, B. A. (1997a).
Depressed mood, task organization, cognitive interference, and memory: Irrelevant
thoughts predict recall performance. Journal of Social Behavior & Personality, 12(2).
17.
Ellis, H. C., Ottaway, S. A., Varner, L. J., Becker, A. S., & Moore, B. A. (1997b).
Emotion, motivation, and text comprehension: The detection of contradictions in
passages. Journal of Experimental Psychology:General, 126(2).
18.
Elliott E.S & Dweck,C.S (1988). Goals: An approach to motivation and achievement,
Journal of Personality and Social Psychology.
19.
Felder, R., & Brent, R. (2003). Learning by doing. Chemical Engineering Education,
37(4)
20.
Ford, M.E. (1992). Motivating humans: Goals, emotions and personal agency beliefs.
Newbury Park, CA: Sage Publications, Inc.
21.
Fried, J. (1999). Two steps to creative campus collaboration. AAHE Bulletin, 51(7).
22.
Gamache, P (2002). University students as creators of personal knowledge: an

alternative epistemological view [electronic version]. Teaching in Higher Education,
7(3).
23.
Garcia, T., & Pintrich, P.R. (1992). Critical thinking and its relationship to motivation,
learning strategies, and classroom experience. Paper presented at the Annual
Meeting of the American Psychological Association, Washington, DC, August.
24.
Garcia, T., & Pintrich, P.R. (1995). The role of possible selves in adolescents
perceived competence and self-regulation. Paper presented at the annual meeting
of the American Educational Research Association, San Francisco, CA, April.
25.
Goleman, D. (2001). Emotional intelligence. [Online]. Available: The George Lucas

Education Foundation Web site at http://www.glef.org/eihome.html
26.
Graham, S. (1997). Using attribution theory to understand social and academic

motivation in African American youth. Educational Psychologist, 32(1), 21-34.
27.
Hidi, S. & Renninger K.A. (2004). Interest, a motivational variable that combines
affective and cognitive functioning. In D. Y. Dai & R. J. Sternberg (Eds.), Motivation,
emotion, and cognition: Integrative perspectives on intellectual functioning and
development .Mahwah, NJ: Erlbaum.
28.
Higgs, M.J. and Rowland, D. (2001), Building Change Leadership Capability: the
quest for change competence, Journal of Change Management, Vol.1 No. 2, pp.
31-116.
29.
Kolb,A., & Kolb, D. (2005). Learning styles and learning spaces: Enhancing
380
Recent works on using active
experiential learning in higher education [electronic version].

Management Learning and Education , 4(2).
Academy of
30.
Lee, O., & Brophy, J. (1996). Motivational patterns observed in sixth-grade science
classrooms. Journal of Research in Science Teaching, 33(3), 585610.
31.
Midgley, C., Maehr, M.L., & Urdan, T.C. (1993). Patterns of adaptive learning survey.
Ann Arbor, MI: University of Michigan Press
32.
Mrtinez, M.N. (1997), The Smarts that count, Human Resource Magazine, avaol.42,
pp.72-78
33.
Oliver, B. (2008). Commencing undergraduates self-efficacy and ability in finding

academic resources: are they im proving? [electronic version]. Studies in learning,
evaluation, innovation and development
34.
ONeil, J. (1996, September). On emotional intelligence: A conversation with Daniel

Goleman.
35.
Pintrich, P.R., Smith, D.A.F., Garcia, T., & McKeachie, W.J. (1991). A Manual for the
use of the Motivated Strategies for Learning Questionnaire (MSLQ), Report Number
NCRIPTAL-91-B-004. Uguroglu, M.E., Schiller, D.P., & Walberg, H.J. (1981). A
multidimensional motivational instrument. Psychology in the Schools, 18, 279285
36.
Rotter, J.B. (1966) Generalized expectancies for internal versus external control of
reinforcement, Psychological Monographs 80, 128.
37.
Salovey, P., & Mayer, J. D. (1990). Emotional intelligence. Imagination, cognition,

and personality, 9( 3)
38.
Salovey, P., & Sluyter, D. J. (Eds.). (1997). Emotional development and emotional
intelligence: Educational implications. New York: Basic Books.
39.
Teaching and Learning. (ERIC Document Reproduction Service No. ED 338 122).
40.
Wingate, U. (2006). Doing away with

in Higher Education
study skills [ele ctronic version].
Teaching
381
382
Adoption of Agricultural Insurance Schemes as

Tools of Agricultural Risk Management
- A Block Level Study on Farmers' Acceptance
in the District of North 24 Parganas of
West Bengal
Avik Chattopadhaya*
ABSTRACT
Agriculture is always a risky business and there always have requirements of
agricultural insurance to fight against the risks appeared in the form of natural
calamities, diseases, pests and even price fluctuations or other market-related
uncertainties. There are both public sector and private sector companies under
the control of IRDA offering agricultural insurance benefits to the farmers of India.
Farmers of West Bengal also face several risks and uncertainties in their farming
and allied activities. This study has been undertaken to highlight the current
status of farmers of the District of North 24 Parganas as well as West Bengal
regarding the level of benefits they obtain from these public and private agroinsurance providers. This study also evaluate how far National Agricultural
Insurance Scheme (NAIS) and other agro-insurance schemes are made available
to the poor farmers of West Bengal and to ensure that how far the loanee and
non-loanee farmers get informed about these prevailing insurance schemes.
Key Words: Agricultural insurance, Risk, NAIS.
INTRODUCTION
Agriculture has been the backbone of Indian economy (the primary sector) for
several centuries. On the other hand, agricultural production is always a risky
business and farmers have to face several risks and uncertainties about weather,
pest and disease, input supply irregularity and other market related factors for
which the farmers definitely need the help of agricultural insurance to meet the
agro risks. Risk management in agriculture is a complex proposition. Despite
several constraints in designing a workable agricultural insurance scheme, so
called agriculturists and socialist leaders of India tried to introduce different
agricultural schemes as the tools of risk management in Indian agriculture.
*
Department of Commerce, S. A. Jaipuria College, Kolkata. E-mail: mailtoavik@yahoo.co.in
383
Starting from the initial conceptualization of agricultural insurance scheme based

on irregularity of rainfall approach made by Chakravarti in 1920, evolution of
agricultural insurance has continued through many phases like- Individual
Approach Basis Insurance Scheme (1972-1978), Pilot Crop Insurance Scheme
(PCIS) - (1979 - 1984), Comprehensive Crop Insurance Scheme (CCIS) - (1985
- 1999), Experimental Crop Insurance Scheme (ECIS) - (for rabi crop 1997 1998), Pilot Scheme on Seed Crop Insurance (PSSCI) (for rabi 1999-2000) and
Farm Income Insurance Scheme (FIIS)- (Rabi 2003 - 2004 season and Kharif
2004 season) (Mohapatra and Dhaliwal, 2014).
Agricultural Insurance Co. of India Ltd. (AIC) is operating since 2003 under the
aegis of National Agricultural Insurance Scheme (NAIS) to provide insurance
coverage to the farmers against loss of crops by natural calamities or others.
There are nine States/Union Territories including West Bengal which have
undertaken the crop insurance schemes under the AIC. There are also the
private players like IFFCO Tokio General Insurance Company Ltd, ICICI Lombard
Insurance Company Ltd. which have different insurance schemes to protect crops
and farmers properties in risky situations.
It is said that in West Bengal agriculture provides employment to 2/3 rd of the
population. The official report of the Ministry of Agriculture claims that 8 percent
of Indias foods are being generated by the agricultural sector of West Bengal.
Apart from producing the principal food crop rice, farmers of West Bengal also
cultivate maize, pulses, oil seeds, wheat, barley, potatoes, vegetables and of
course the most vital cash crop tea. Risks and uncertainties always haunt the
farmers of this state in the form of flood, drought, problems in irrigation, diseases
and pests, price fluctuations, storage and processing risks etc. against which the
farmers have the opportunities to be insured by available agricultural insurance
schemes. So, analysis is needed to evaluate how far these agro-insurance
schemes are made available to the poor farmers of West Bengal and to ensure
that the loanee and non-loanee farmers are properly informed about these
prevailing insurance schemes so that they can get the benefits of these
insurances in risky situations. It also directs towards the assessment of
effectiveness of marketing performance of rural insurance services and agricultural
insurance services in West Bengal which is conducted through a block level study
in the district of North 24 Parganas.
Review of literature on relevant aspect is of great significance to conduct the
study in a compact manner. Several researches have been conducted to explore
the evolution of Agricultural Insurance in India, the status and prospects of NAIS
in India to fight against different agricultural risks and the review as well as the
appraisal of the performance of agricultural insurance schemes in some select
384
states of India like Punjab, Maharashtra, Andhra Pradesh, Tamilnadu etc. except
West Bengal.
Singh, S. (2004) carried out a study to trace the history of crop insurance in
India and reviewed both of the methodologies parametric and non-parametric
applied for calculating actuarial premium rate making. Being a former principal
scientist of IASRI, New Delhi, he has highlighted the contribution made by the
fellow scientists and students at IASRI who have analysed the crop yield data
collected from each taluk or mandal under CCIS; the feasibility of reducing the
defined area from a taluk/ mandal to a Gram Panchayat; the contribution of ISAS;
the experience of CCIS; the implementation of the National Agricultural Insurance
Scheme and human aspect of Crop Insurance.
Raju, S.S., and Ramesh, C. (2008) critically analysed the performance of National
Agricultural Insurance Scheme (NAIS) in India and suggested some modifications
to make it more effective. Through their study they have also suggested that
different general insurance companies in the country may be assigned some
reasonable targets by IRDA to cover up the aggregate demand of agricultural
insurance and to make a good start, it could be set as equal to the share of
agriculture in the national income. Their findings show that the overall
performance of Agricultural Insurance Co. of India Ltd. (AIC) and the private
companies is not at all satisfactory to the farmers of the whole nation.
Pal, D. and Mondal, T. (2010) advocated the newly developed concept of perilindexed insurance as an effective tool of risk management to stabilize the
revenue of the farmers which is highly dependent on Indian weather conditions.
They examined the rainfall derivatives with premium as a function of adverse
deviation of rainfall from the threshold and also critically analysed the traditional
crop insurance schemes and the challenges faced by these schemes.
Sidhu, R. S. and Vatta, K. (2012) investigated the major agricultural risks based
on three different agro-zones of Punjab, i.e. Sub-mountainous region, the central
region and the south-western region. Through their study, they highlighted the
major trends in Punjab Agriculture, associated risk factors and recommended
some future course of action, especially the effective use of agro-insurance
schemes.
Adivappar, N. and Aditya, K. S., (2014) highlighted the overall status and
prospects of NAIS in India, which is considered as worlds largest crop insurance
scheme. They carried out a thorough study on different categories of risks in
farming and a comparative analysis among different states of India on the basis
of performance made by NAIS. They appeared with an observation that there
was a positive trend in major states in terms of number of farmers covered under
the scheme since the inception of NAIS. They have recommended to consider
Village / Grama Panchayat as operational unit instead of Hobli / Phirka and to
385
minimize the time used in claims settlement by simplification of the existing

schemes.
Mohapatra, L. and Dhaliwal, R. K., (2014) significantly studied the genesis of
agricultural insurance in India as well as examined how effectively various
agricultural schemes are operated in the state of Punjab. They analysed the
performance of AIC and the general insurance companies of private-sector
operating agricultural insurance schemes in Punjab. Their study highlighted that
post green revolution era of Punjab State needed to address the challenge of
diversification where agricultural insurance could act as a powerful tool of
agricultural risk management.
Kumar, F. R. and Breshnev (2014) critically evaluated the crop insurance
programme in India through the multi-peril yield based National Agricultural
Insurance Scheme (NAIS) and their study appeared with an observation that NAIS
did well on equity grounds but the coverage and indemnity payments were biased
towards a few regions and crops in some select areas of Tamilnadu. Moreover,
delays were observed in settlement of claims by the insurance companies. The
research highlighted the current issues on crop insurance in Cauvery Delda
Region of Tamilnadu.
OBJECTIVES AND SCOPE OF THE STUDY
This study is mainly intended to evaluate how far the agricultural insurance
schemes have reached to the farmers and accepted by the farmers of the District
of North 24 Parganas as well as West Bengal. Keeping this in view, the study
has been conducted in Barrackpore Block-I (Panpur area) in the district of North
24 Parganas of West Bengal to reach the following objectivesl
To study the propensity of borrowing loans for farming by the farmers of

this area.
To understand how far the agricultural insurance policies get acceptance

among the loanee and non-loanee farmers.
To analyse whether there is any influence of farmers family income on

their decision of taking loans for farming in several occasions.
To highlight the status of awareness among the farmers regarding

different agricultural insurance policies available to them.
The scope of this study is enormous as there are lots of research works have
been undertaken in this area but no such study has been conducted on the
evaluation of performance of different agricultural insurance companies, especially
AICI with the benefits of NAIS particularly in West Bengal. States of India like
Punjab, Maharashtra, Andhra Pradesh, Tamilnadu get the coverage of the studies
of performance appraisal of NAIS or other agro-insurance schemes but we lack
the significant study of this in West Bengal.
386
This study is an attempt towards highlighting the status of market acceptance

of agricultural insurance by farmers of a select area (Barrackpore Block-1) of
District of North 24 Parganas of West Bengal. Undoubtedly this study has the
scope to explore the relevant facts and figures from this certain geographical
area and from a greater area in future.
DATA AND METHODOLOGY
This study is mainly aimed towards the analysis of market acceptance level of
these agricultural insurance schemes to the farmers of West Bengal. A primary
survey is conducted by taking the feedback of 107 sample respondents/ farmers
(convenient method) with the help of a structured questionnaire in Barrackpore
Block-I (Panpur area) in the district of North 24 Parganas, West Bengal. To
understand the agricultural potential of the select area (Barrackpore Block-I),
some basic information (secondary data) are also collected from the Office of
the Block Development Officer (B.D.O), Barrackpore Block-1. These informations
reveal the overall status of farming of this geographical area during the period
2013-14.
FINDINGS AND DATA PRESENTATION
Before going to the survey results, some relevant data (secondary) are presented
to highlight the agricultural potential of the area of Barrackpore Block-I (Panpur
area) in the district of North 24 Parganas, West Bengal. This area is very closer
to the Naihati and Kankinara railway station.
Table 1: General Information regarding Barrackpore Block-1
1
Gross Cropped Area
8,773 hectare
Mono-cropped Area
2,660 hectare
Double-cropped Area
3,780 hectare
Triple-cropped Area
2,333 hectare
Cropping Intensity
186%
No. of Gram Panchayets
07
No. of Mouza
40
Average Population Density
1,409/ Sq. k.m.
(Source : Official Report of B.D.O.- Barrackpore Block-1 during 2013-14 )
During the survey, the branches of commercial banks which are personally visited
are- Allahabad Bank (Dogachia Branch), UCO Bank (Mamudpur Branch), State
bank of India (Naihati Branch), Bhatpara-Naihati Co-operative Bank (Naihati
Branch). Among them the first two bank branches serve as rural branches. UCO
Bank, Mamudpur Branch has informed that they cover nearly about villagers of
15 villages and maximum account holders of them are associated with farming.
387
State Bank of India of Naihati Branch is a suburban branch and last one is the
only co-operative bank visited personally by me in Naihati town area.
The following table indicates the relevant information during the year 2013-14
collected from the B.D.Os office, Block-1, Barrackpore.
Table 2: Normal Coverage of Different Crops at Barrackpore Block-1
Sl.No.
Name of Crops
Area of Cultivation in Hectare
Jute
385 hec
Aush(autumn)Paddy(HYV)
245 hec
Aman (winter)Paddy
3,985 hec
Boro(Summer)Paddy
2,355 hec
Turmeric
10 hec
Bhadui Vegetables
225 hec
Bhadui Chilli
20 hec
Arahar
10 hec
Bhadui Kalai
35 hec
10
Oilseed Rape and Mustard
245 hec
11
Linseed
10 hec
12
Winter Vegetables
450 hec
13
Winter Chili
32 hec
14
Potato
105 hec
15
Wheat
195 hec
16
Onion(Bulb)
15 hec
17
Onion(Transplanted)
15 hec
18
Garlic
10 hec
19
Rabi Pulses
130 hec
20
Gram
15 hec
21
Rabi spices-coriander
35 hec
23
Summer Vegetables
35 hec
24
Summer Chili
20 hec
25
Rabi Summer Moong
25 hec
26
Summer Til
45 hec
27
Summer Chili
20 hec
28
Coconut
40 hec
29
Areca nut
10 hec
(Source: Official Report of B.D.O.- Barrackpore Block-1 during 2013-14 )
388
Survey Results
From this survey, it is found that out of 107 respondent farmers,
53 farmers belong to those families whose monthly family income is less than
or equal to Rs.10,000; 41 belong to the monthly income remains between
Rs.10,000 to Rs.30,000 and rests (13) belong to monthly family income of more
than or equal to Rs.30,000.
Chart 1: Pie Chart Showing the Percentage of Farmers Representing
Three Major Family Income Group
It is also found thatTotal number of loanee farmers= 49

Total number of non-loanee farmers= 58
Chart 2: Pie Chart Showing the Percentage of Loanee (who borrowed
loan) and Non-loanee (who did not borrow loan for farming) Farmers
There are several sources of taking agricultural loans, viz. nationalized suburban
banks, rural/co-operative banks, private banks and individual moneylenders
(mahajans) and it is significantly found that maximum (40.81%) farmers have
taken loans from these moneylenders (mahajans). These farmers (40.81% of the
389
total loanee farmers) are deprived from the agricultural insurances as they are
unaware about the compulsory insurance benefit of NAIS scheme of Govt. of India.
Those who have borrowed loan(s) from nationalized suburban banks (16.35%),
rural/co-operative banks (30.6%) and from private banks (12.24%) get benefit
of compulsory insurance benefit of NAIS scheme. Their crops get insured against
all the major risks considered under the policies.
On the other hand, non-loanee farmers or the majority of the respondents (54.21%)
have not borrowed any kind of loan for farming. They are also unaware of the
fact that there are several agricultural insurance schemes available for them.
ANALYSIS AND DATA INTERPRETATION
A Chi-Square (X 2 ) Test has been applied to find out whether there is any
significant influence of farmers family income on their decision of taking loans
for the farming in different situations. For this purpose, the following hypotheses
have been set:
The null hypothesis is:
H0: There is no significant influence of farmers family income on their decision
of taking loans for farming.
The alternative hypothesis is:
H1: There is significant influence of farmers family income on their decision of
taking loans for farming.
Observed Frequencies
Monthly Family Income of the Farmers
Loanee or
Non-Loanee
Less Equal than

10,000
Between Rs. 10,000

to 30,000
Greater than
Rs.30,000
Total
Loanee Farmers
35
49
Non-Loanee Farmers
18
32
58
53
41
13
107
Total
Expected Frequencies
Monthly Family Income of the Farmers
Loanee or
Non-Loanee
Less Equal than

10,000
Between Rs. 10,000

to 30,000
Greater than
Rs.30,000
Total
Loanee Farmers
24.2710
18.7757
5.953271028
49
Non-Loanee Farmers
28.7290
22.2243
7.046728972
58
53
41
13
107
Total
390
Data
Level of Significance
0.05
Number of Rows
Number of Columns
Degrees of Freedom
Results
Critical Value
Chi-Square Test Statistic
5.9915
18.4209
p-Value
0.0001
Here, we can see as the calculated value or Chi-Square Test Statistic (18.4209)
is greater than the table value or the critical value (5.9915) at 5% level of
significance. Therefore, H 0 cannot be accepted. So, after rejection of null
hypothesis, it can be said that there must be a significant influence of farmers
family income on their decision of taking loans for farming.
CONCLUSION OF THE STUDY
It has been revealed from this study that farmers have to take loans depending
on their income constraints. That is why simultaneously they have to take risks
in farming. They may fail to pay their loans if their crops and properties are
not properly insured.
Here, the noticeable fact is that, both public sector and private sector banks still
remain distant from the farmers in providing agricultural insurance benefits and
till now the majority of the farmers are observed to take loan from the individual
moneylenders (mahajans). So, the majority of the loanee farmers are being
deprived from receiving the compulsory agricultural insurances benefits of NAIS
scheme of Govt. of India for the loanee farmers.
Even, those farmers who have not taken any kind of loan for farming are
unaware of the fact that there are several agricultural insurance schemes
available for them. They are not borrowing loan but they are also completely
eligible to access the benefits of NAIS scheme of Govt. of India and other private
agro-insurance schemes.
Based on the findings emerging from this study, it can be concluded that massacceptance of agricultural insurance is still not in a satisfactory level as the larger
part of the farmers of West Bengal are still unaware about how agricultural
insurance schemes might be helpful in their agricultural risk management.
391
LIMITATION OF THE STUDY

This study is very much confined with a limited area of analysis. Apart from the
income factor of the farmers, this study could reveal other results of factor
analysis and their relationships with the decision of taking loans for farming.
Factors like the age and gender (male or female) of the farmers may or may
not have influence on the decision of taking loans for farming. The study has
also the scope to conduct comparative performance analysis of the agricultural
insurance companies so as to reveal how far they are successful to reach the
poor farmers with their benefits. This study is carried on only in one particular
Block (Barrackpore, Block-1). It is to be extended in future to reveal the status
of other areas of North 24 Parganas as well as West Bengal.
REFERENCES
1.
Adivappar, N. and Aditya, K. S., (2014), Status & Prospects of National Agricultural
Insurance Scheme In India, International Journal of Entrepreneurship & Business
Environment Perspectives, Vol. 3, Number 1, pp. 876-880
2.
Mohapatra, L. and Dhaliwal, R. K. (2014), Review of Agricultural Insurance In Punjab

State of India, International Journal of Advanced Research, Volume 2, Issue 5,
pp.459-467
3.
Pal, D. and Mondal, T. (2010), Agricultural Insurance in India: Approaches and

Challenges, International Journal of Rural Studies (IJRS), Vol. 17, Article 5, 1st April
2010
4.
Raju, S.S. and Ramesh, C. (2008), A Study on the Performance of National

Agricultural Insurance Scheme and Suggestions to Make it More Effective,
Agricultural Economics Research Review, 21, pp.11-19
5.
Sidhu, R. S. and Vatta, K. (2012), Risk in Punjab Agriculture: Current Status and
Emerging Issues. http://www.ncap.res.in/Agriculturalrisk&insurance/_private/.../4.../
4.2.1.pdf/ last accessed on 25.8.2014
6.
Singh, S. (2004), Crop Insurance in India - A Brief Review, Journal of Indian Society
of Agriculture Statistics, 57 (Special Volume): pp. 217-225
7.
Kumar, F. R. and Breshnev (2014), Current Issues on Crop Insurance in Cauvery

Delda Region- An Overview, International Journal of World Research (IJWR), Vol. I,
Issue XI, November 2014
392
Working in the Night Shift: Preparation, Survival

and Remedies as Suggested by Experts
Enesha Dey* & Dr. Surjyasikha Das**
ABSTRACT
Humans are biologically programmed as a day-oriented species. Most people
have routine work hours with time left over for recreation and rest. However there
is a group of people who have to work on shifts such as nurses, physicians,
policemen, firemen, factory workers and a new addition to the group are the
ITES/BPO sector employees. Working in a day or evening shift may cause a
change in lifestyle but is not as much hazardous; however working on night shifts
is considered to be unhealthy in recent studies. Changing shifts has a major
impact on human physiological functions and on individuals health. There are
many gaps in our understanding of the effects of shift work on health.
This study aims to find out the medical problems due to the night shifts and
the remedial and preventive measures that can be taken both by the employee
and the organization for their employee welfare and retention.
Keywords: Night Shift, General medical practitioners, Psychiatrists, Health problem
INTRODUCTION
Globalization is a multi-dimensional phenomenon, and each dimension may have
different effects on employment depending upon the geography, time zones,
industry, policies and the like. It comes as a part of large array of socioeconomic, technical, legal and policy changes. Different analysts tend to focus
on different aspects of globalization, thus often talking at cross purposes. Even
when an unambiguous definition is used say, globalization taken only as
increased trade flows received theory is unable to provide a clear guide on
its employment effects.
India has enormous opportunities emerging from globalization and consequent
lowering of tariff barriers. Indian BPO companies have a unique distinction of
providing efficient business solutions with cost and quality as an advantage by
using state of art technology. Through joint efforts of Government and the
PhD Scholar, Techno India University, E-mail: aniisha13@gmail.com
**
Assistant Professor and HOD-Management, Techno India University; E-mail: surjyasikha.tiu@gmail.com
Kindler Vol. XV l Nos. 2 l July-December 2015
393
Industry, software development and IT enabled services have emerged as niche

opportunities for India in the global context.
Going back to the socio-economic effects of globalization different time zones
have worked havoc and has blown the concept of shift working out of proportion.
A shift worker is anyone who follows a work schedule that is outside of the typical
9 to 5 business day. There has been major increase in the percentage of
people working in shifts. Previously shift working was only limited to firefighting,
emergency medical services, law enforcement and security. However, in the past
few years India has become increasingly dependent upon shift workers to meet
the demands of globalization and our 24-hour society. From a competitive
standpoint, shift work is an excellent way to increase production and customer
service without major increases in infrastructure.
While shift work does create potential productivity advantages, it also comes with
many inherent risks. Some of the most serious and persistent problems shift
workers face are frequent sleep disturbance, cardiovascular issues, stomach
disorders, fatigue and other health issues. Sleepiness/fatigue in the work place
can lead to poor concentration, absenteeism, accidents, errors, injuries, and
fatalities. The issue becomes more alarming when you consider that shift workers
are often employed in the most dangerous of jobs as mentioned above. Managers
and policy makers who are responsible for writing and enforcing rules regarding
employee work hours must address the specific issues of a 24-hour work force
in order to succeed and benefit from them. Although addressing these issues
may require some investment up front for training and other measures, the bottom
line is that improved health conditions in workers may lead to improved
productivity. In fact, on humanitarian grounds - to ignore the needs of the shift
worker is reckless and irresponsible considering their economic and social
contributions.
LITERATURE REVIEW
The health troubles allied with night and shift work have been investigated by
many researchers over a few decades (Folkard, 1989; Wilkinson, 1992). These
problems include physiological, psychosomatic, and communal difficulties
experienced by people who constantly have to change their sleep/wake schedule
due to incongruent hours of work (Anch, Browman, Mitler, & Walsh, 1988).
Research indicates that the range of health issues experienced by shift workers
vary from Sleep deprivation and fatigue (physical issues) to Loneliness and mood
swings (psychological issues). Research shows that night workers have increased
sleepiness during work, with most sleepiness occurring during the last half of
the work shift (Akerstedt, Torsvall, &Gillberg, 1982). Studies have also indicated
that there were strong casual links between stress and satisfaction. Research
has also shown that Daytime sleep is shorter than night time sleep and tends
394
to be uneven (Torsvall, Akerstedt, Gillander, &Knutsson, 1989; Tilley, Wilkinson,

Warren, Watson, & Drud, 1982). Because of the problems inherent with night
work, many interventions have been attempted to improve the ailing effects. Some
of the methods undertaken during the night shift to stimulate alertness and
performance include rest breaks, social activity during breaks, increasing task
demands, feedback about work performance, work out, bright lights, and naps
(Penn & Bootzin, 1990; Bonnet, 1990).
Other researchers have reported increased accidents due to sleepiness in night
workers (Hamelin, 1987; Ribak, Ashkenazi, Klepfish, Avgar, Tall, Kallner & Noyman,
1983; Torsvall & Akerstedt, 1987). According to a report by the Association of
Professional Sleep Societies Committee on Catastrophes,Sleep and Public Policy,
cardio vascular issues like heart attacks, automobile accidents, performance
errors, and other major disasters are more likely to occur during the early
morning hours of shift work (Mitler, Carskadon, Czeisler, Dement, Dinges &
Graeber, 1988). In order to be awake during shifts, abuse of substances like
nicotine, caffeine, and other stimulants are done and later the use of sleeping
pills to help obtain sleep has also been reported. Another major problem
witnessed by shift workers are from social and family disruptions related with shift
work (Penn & Bootzin, 1990). Employees desiring to spend time with family and
friends may not sleep when the opportunity comes, leading to more fatigue and
lack of sleep due to social and family activities. The study by K. Padmini and
Dr. D. Venkatramaraju, 2013 highlights that the factors determining the
dissatisfaction with the quality of work life in the organization were Lack of Income
& Fair Compensation, Safe & healthy working conditions, Oppor-tunities & develop
human capacity, Opportunity for career growth. They also state that there are
other studies which points out the regular practices of many Health care institutes
and the National Institute of Mental Health and Neurosciences in Bangalore also
treats patients for stress-related ailments. It examines the close study conducted
in Bangalore which indicates that work-related insecurity, extended working hours
and stringent deadlines also contribute to Bangalores rising stress levels.
Psychologists say that employees suffering stress should spend more time with
the family and it is helpful if they talk about their problem.
This study was designed to address some of the health trouble associated with
shift workers. The study employs advice from Medical practitioners which can be
followed by an individual or an organization to ensure Health and Safety in an
organization. It can also be used to help employees who are suffering from any
health issues due to the rotating shift.
OBJECTIVE OF THIS STUDY:
The overall aim of the study was to collect valid and reliable information on
employers support and medical advice on how to mitigate the adverse health
395
issues caused by shift working. Within this broad theme, the research aims to
understand the impact of incongruent working hours on:
l
Physical health of the employees
Psychological changes
FORMATION OF QUESTIONNAIRE
Health condition of the employees working in night shift is one of the most
important issues; however there are no specific questionnaires available which
can be administered on Doctor s to know their opinions. Therefore a
questionnaire was intricately designed using the different available research
papers, journals and articles. A few of the employees who are regularly working
in night shifts were also interviewed and asked to give their opinions regarding
the different health issues that they are facing because of the incongruent hours.
The questionnaire used to collect information for this research is attached
(Appendix 1).
SAMPLE
The sample of the study consists of Doctors practicing general medicine and
psychology.
Sampling Design Type: Purposive Sampling
The respondents were selected by using Purposive sam-pling technique. A
thorough review of literature was con-ducted before selecting the topic of the
study. The medical practitioners who deal with the health hazards due to working
in irregular and night shifts were identified and then a thorough discussion with
each of them was done using a structured questionnaire.
Sampling Unit: Kolkata
Selected Sample: The respondents here are either associated with some
hospitals/nursing homes or are having their own private practice in Kolkata. 8
medical practitioners were chosen due to lack of time and availability of doctors
dealing specially with health issues arising due to shift works.
The pilot study had increased the insight in the study and has also helped to
restructure the questionnaire; it identified the defects in the question-naire and
helped in to add as well as to remove the questions in the questionnaire. The
reviews, reference cases and secondary data were collected from a range of
sources such as re-search study, Journals and internet.
RESULT
There is growing evidence to suggest that shift work, particularly night shifts, is
detrimental for employees health which if not cared for properly leads to many
serious troubles in future. As per the study (Fig.1) 100% Doctors confirm that
Sleeping Disorder/Circadian Rhythm is the most common issue found in
396
employees. Blood pressure is the next most frequent trouble faced, followed by
Stomach Disorders and Peptic Ulcers. 75% doctors agree that Head Aches,
Migrainesare also reasons of night shifthowever again 100% of the sample
population confirmed that Fatigue isanother major trouble and that Appetite
problems is also encountered by the majority of the mass. As per the sample
other issues like Thyroid, Obesity, Eye sight Issues and Cancer are not affected
by night working. Almost 60% of the sample confirmed that Diabetes may be
slightly aggravated by night shift however the chances are nominal. Fig 2. Shows
that 100% of the respondents confirmed that night shift definitely works its way
through to individuals mind and mental health. People working these hours
encounter Depression, Mood swings and Loneliness. Fig 3 illustrates that working
the night shift is more of a challenge to a female than to a male. There are
many women specific issues faced by the lady employees over the male
employees which includes Pregnancy complication and Monthly cycles. Fig.4
explains that Fatigue is one such problem which is encountered by maximum
workforce working the irregular hours. It is created by sleep deficient and the
study confirms that it leads to reduction in Memory, Reaction Time, Awareness,
Decision making power, Communication power and almost all the doctors are in
accord with the same.
397
The study reveals that Physical exercise does help in night shift and it should
be done before onestartsthe shift (Fig. 5). It also confirms that External factors
like Light, Temperature, Ventilation, Humidity and Work place environment doesnt
have much of an influence on the health of an individual working on night shift
(Fig. 6). The physicians suggested that the most advisable stimulant in these
hours is Caffeine and it should be taken in the form of Tea (Fig. 7). The
research also gave us a detailedinsight regarding the diet of an individual who
is working a night shift or is about to start the shift. As confirmed by maximum
doctors individual should have a light or regular diet before starting the night
shift followed by small light meals at regular intervals (Fig. 8). Fig. 9 helps to
understand the sleep strategy as discussed by the expertswhich should be
followed while working the night shift. Fig. 10 shows the various social effects
which an individual can encounter while working in the incongruent hour. These
are issues which have huge psychological and physiological effects on an
employee health.
398
DISCUSSION
Many people are expected to work at night meeting the demand of employment
in our country, and most do so relativelyeffectively. However, all have to cope
with the fact that working atnight inevitably causes sleep scarcity and fatigue.
This is because thehuman body is designed to sleep at night.Our bodies are
controlled by an internal daily body clock, situated in the suprachiasmatic nucleus
(SCN) in the hypothalamus which is responsible for the circadian rhythm. These
circadian rhythms run over a period of approximately 24 hours and are strongly
influenced by the natural cycles of light and dark.Although individuals vary, most
peopleneed at least one hour of sleep for every two hours awake, or
approximately eight to nine hours of sleep each night.A fundamental aspect of
being a successful night worker is learning how to manage the daytime sleep
so that one can keep their sleep debt to a minimum.The combination of fatigue
and a poorly adapted body clock makesworking during the night uncomfortable
and increases errors.Employees can overcome this by sleeping more during the
day and by having a peaceful life style. One should try and maintain a disciplined
399
and social life so as to manage fatigue and sleep debt. The employers on the
other hand should keep a regular watch over the employees and encourage
them to pursue their hobbies.
Research commissioned by the Health and Safety Executive has indicated that
unrealistic deadlines and expectations, technology overload, unmanageable
workloads, over-demanding and inflexible work schedules, unsocial hours etc
leads to stress. Stress flowers from the bed of thoughts. The way one respond
to any situation will lead towards a stressful or a stress- free outcome. Directing
individuals thoughts in the right manner is what is essential to encounter stress.
Therefore, stress levels should be kept on check for an individual to stay healthy.
Blood Pressure supposedly shoots due to stress, hence it is important for
employers to arrange for regular stress relieving activities in office such that the
stress levels are minimized. Stress is by far the most common trigger for migraine
and other types of headaches, such as tension headache and sinus headache.
People who have already been diagnosed with Migraine should not be allowed
at night shift and people who are developing the symptoms should quit working
night shift immediately. Migraine is triggered by many factors, recognizing the
personal triggers are the key to manage Migraine. Shift work is related to
nutritional and health problems therefore, matching diet to the workload involves
supplying the calories and nutrients that the body needs to maintain the desired
body condition. The analysis shows that the food choices and nutrient intake is
important in shift workers, because appetite is an added issue encountered by
people while working the unlikely hours; however it can be taken care by having
small meals in short intervals. Proper balanced meal should be taken at the start
and after every 3 hours something should be eaten which is easily digestible
like biscuits, cakes (fruit cakes and not cream cakes), oat meals, momos etc.
Sandwich and Toasts can also be eaten however people having acidity problems
should avoid these. The body should be properly hydrated therefore plenty of
fluids are also advisable. These precautions if taken would also help keep away
the stomach disorders, peptic ulcers, gastric disorders and the irritable bowel
syndrome.
Developing a napping routine is an indispensable part of working safelyovernight.
An afternoon sleep before one starts on duty will help keep fatigue at bay and
therefore increase the vigilance and alertness. While working night shift the most
advisable stimulant is Caffeine and it should be taken in the form of Tea. One
should avoid having coffee especially black coffee. Tea should also be taken after
having something as otherwise it can have adverse effect on the intestine walls.
No other kind of stimulants should be used in order to remain awake at night.
Working and surviving the night shift is more of a challenge to a female than
to a male.The study infers that pregnant women should quit working night shifts
and the employers should also have policies in place to support their pregnant
400
lady employees. The monthly cycle also goes erratic in women while in night
shifts. It is caused partly because of the physical stress and partly because of
the mental barrier of night shifts. A balance has to be found to manage work
and life so as to make the cycles work properly. Breast cancer and Polycystic
Ovary are the other women specific problems however they are not aggravated
by night shifts. Dysfunctional arterial bleeding, gout and osteoarthritis are few
more types of women specific disorders which can be aggravated due to the
irregular hours. Ladies should always take care of any calcium deficiency in the
body to avoid these problems.
There are various social and psychological effects which an individual can
encounter while working in the incongruent hour. Few of them being Insecurity
in marriage, Child care,Social attachments and Parental Care. Employees also
encounter Depression, Mood swings and Loneliness. As per psychologists
employee working in a night shift can also come across anxiety disorders and
various other phobic problems. A new form of phobia called Device Mania has
been observed; in this the individual becomes repellent towards any electronic
gadgets like computer and mobiles. If these problems are avoided for a long
time it becomes impossible to treat them and the individual will have to seek
continuous psychological assistance. These are issues which have huge effects
on physical and mental health and if not identified or treated in time it affects
hearing and can also lead to brain tumor. Individuals having such problems
become cranky and loose the motivation to work, therefore tend to do more
errors leading to degradation of performance. In order to help employees cope
with such problems the organizations should have flexible working hours. The
employers should also keep a proper check on the mental health of its employees
and have a regular psychologist visit in the campus. The organizations should
arrange for psychological analysis in every 3-6 months intervals and arrange for
any counseling sessions if required by anybody. They should also allow sufficient
leaves to the employees and help them maintain a work life balance. The
psychological problems are mainly faced by the women employees. Once the
symptoms are identified the employee should stop working in night shift and
immediately consult a psychologist. Psychologists also confirmed that Neurotic
disorders if avoided for a long time or not treated properly can even turn into
Schizophrenia.
REMEDIES
Working at night, regardless of the shift pattern, can have consequences on both
physical and mental health. It increases the risk of making poor decisions or
even mistakes. It is therefore important to learn how to prepare for night shifts
and to manage ones sleep, so that one can minimize the risks. However, by
preparing sufficiently in advance, mentally and physically, negative impact of night
401
shifts can be reduced. This will not only make the experience less painful, but
also safer and with minimum side effects.Previous studies showed that both a
long nap of 2 hours and a shorter nap of 45 minutes duration can significantly
help enhance performance during a night shift (Rocco, Comperatore, Caldwell,&
Cruz 2000).
According to a new survey conducted (2015) by the Mens Health Network (link
is external) in partnership with the bio-pharma company Cephalon conclude that
79 percent of shift workers have a negative emotional, social and physical impact
on their lives. As per this study psychologists advised that any abnormalities like
loneliness, mood swings, tension and depression should immediately be reported.
Untreated depression can increase the risk of possible suicide. These symptoms
typically respond to proper treatment, and usually can be avoided with early
intervention for depressive illness. Any concerns about suicidal risk should always
be taken seriously and evaluated by a qualified professional immediately. People
in night shift are fatigued and fatigue, in turn, worsens moods, decreases
cognitive abilities and reflexes, and makes people more vulnerable to disease.
Psychological diseases like generalized anxiety disorder and bipolar mood
disorders are most commonly found these days in night workers. People can also
develop Agraphobia (phobia of sexual abuse) and Agoraphobia (anxiety disorder)
while working on these shifts. Therefore if an employee feels any disappointment,
depression or abnormalities, it should instantly be reported and treatment should
be started.
The findings from another study show that there is dissatisfaction among the
em-ployees regarding the Quality of Work life in BPO sector. The factors
determining the dissatisfaction with the quality of work life in the organization were
Lack of Income & Fair Compensation, Safe & healthy working conditions,
Oppor-tunities & develop human capacity, Opportunity for career growth
(Padmini&Venkatramaraju, 2013). The organizations these days have started to
focus on fun in the work place. Fun in the workplace can significantly improve
retention, happiness, talent quality, and even productivity as Fun is an important
component of emotional wellness. Under the right circumstances, a fun work
environment can benefit both organization and employees in a number of ways.
The rewards are great enough that each and every organization should be
compelled to at least consider it as an option. Relationships and loyalty
(sometimes retention) go hand in hand. A staggering 79 percent of companies
believe they have a significant retention and engagement problem. The tides are
shifting and given the choice most people will choose culture over pay. Culture
and fun is a differentiator that can give the competitive advantage to an
organization. Organizations can also have the facility of indoor games like table
tennis; carom etc to help keep the employees occupied whilst on break in the
odd hours. This helps the employees to do something and not wonder about
402
the campus feeling the sleepy world around. It also helps keep employees fit as
Playing involves some physical activities. Along with these intercompany sports
can also be arranged on off days such that the employees can socialize with
the other employees of the organization and therefore a sense of belongingness
can be built. Regular breaks should also be encouraged. The employer should
also arrange for small screen in some common break out area such that the
employees can stay in touch with the latest happenings like the Cricket score,
news etc.
With the increasing risk of health in night shifts the organizations should have
a doctor round the clock with proper ammunitions. There should always be an
ambulance on standby in case anyone should be taken to the hospital. Employees
should not be given fixed shifts like straight nights instead the shifts should be
rotational and the organizations should also ensure that no one is made to work
continuously on night shifts. As per the experts people should listen to music
as it helps release stress and soothes the brain. Counseling sessions should
be opted for in case of any stress or abnormalities. The employers should not
give unrealistic targets to employees otherwise it will increase the stress level.
The employers should also be generous and arrange for Yoga and meditations
classes so as to increase the concentration of the employees and help them
achieve their goals.
There are many recent developments in this field which suggests that prolong
night shift can cause Type-2 Diabetes and can even prove to be carcinogenic.
FURTHER SCOPE OF THE RESEARCH
As per the research it can be inferred that work- life balance is a core necessity
for healthy survival. Future researchers can focus on how a night shift worker
can establish a work-life balance. The study on evaluating the psychological
change pattern of the employees with increasing years in night shift can also
be pursued.
The above study gives more room for thorough research on employers role in
night shift health management. Researchers can also focus on health issue
caused by prolonged night shifts and the preventions that can be taken.
LIMITATIONS
l
This study does not involve the consultation of specialist doctors like
Gynecologists, endocrinologists or cardiothoracic experts.
The study has only been done involving doctors established in the urban
areas. Doctors in rural areas were not covered.
The medical field has been restricted only to allopath.
403
REFERENCES
1.
Akerstedt, T., Torsvall, L., & Gillberg, M. (1982). Sleepiness and shift work: Field studies.
Sleep, 5, S95-S106
2.
Anch, Browman, Mitler, & Walsh (1988). Sleep: A Scientific Perspective. Englewood Cliffs,
New Jersey: Prentice Hall
3.
Bonnet, M. (1990). Dealing with shift work: physical fitness, temperature, and napping.
Work and Stress, 4 (3), 261-74
4.
Cao, Caroline G. L., Weinger, Matthew B., Slagle, J., Zhou, C., Ou, J., Gillin, S. and
Mazzei, W. (2008), Human Factors : Differences in Day and Night Shift Clinical
Performance in Anesthesiology, Center for Perioperative Research in Quality, , Vol.
50, No. 2, April 2008, pp. 276290
5.
Folkard, S. (1989). ShiftworkA growing occupational hazard. Occupational Health, 41

(7), 182-6
6.
Hamelin, P. (1987). Lorry drivers time habits in work and their involvement in traffic
accidents. Ergonomics, 30 (9), 1323-33
7.
Health and Safety Authority (2012): Guidance for Employers and Employees on Night
and Shift Work, The Metropolitan Building, James Joyce Street, Dublin 1
8.
http://jnci.oxfordjournals.org/content/93/20/1563.fullExpand+ accessed on 25.07.2015
9.
http://www.admin.cam.ac.uk/offices/hr/policy/stress/causes.html
10.
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/12781167 accessed on 26.10.2015
11.
http://www.webmd.com/sleep-disorders/excessive-sleepiness-10/shift-work?page=2
12.
Kumar. P, Saravana Praveen and Dhamodharan, Dr. V. (2013), Interdisciplinary Journal

Of Contemporary Research In Business: An Empirical study on talent retention strategy
by BPOs in India, Vol 5, No 4
13.
Managing shift work : Health and safety guidance (2006) version of HSG256,
978 0 7176 6197 8
14.
Mitler, M., Carskadon, M., Czeisler, C., Dement, W., Dinges, D., & Graeber, R. (1988).
Catastrophes, sleep, and public policy: Consensus report. Sleep, 11 (1), 100-9
15.
Monk,Timothy H., Folkard, S. and Wedderburn, Alexander I. (1996), Applied Ergonomics:

Maintaining safety and high performance on shiftwork, Vol 27, No. I. pp. 17-23, 1996
16.
Penn, P., & Bootzin, R. (1990). Behavioral techniques for enhancing alertness and
performance in shift work. Work & Stress, 4 (3), 213-26
17.
Ribak, J., Ashkenazi, I., Klepfish, A., Avgar, D., Tall, J., Kallner, B., & Noyman, Y. (1983).
Diurnal rhythmicity and Air Force flight accidents due to pilot error. Aviation, Space, and
Environmental Medicine, 54 (12), 1096-9
18.
Rocco, P.S.D., Comperatore, C., Caldwell, L., Cruz, C. (2000), Office of Aviation Medicine
Washington, D.C. 20591, DOT/FAA/AM-00/10
404
ISBN
19.
Torsvall, L., & Akerstedt, T. (1987). Sleepiness on the job: Continuously measured EEG
changes in train drivers. Electroencephalography and Clinical Neurophysiology, 66, 50211
20.
Torsvall, L., Akerstedt, T., Gillander, K., & Knutsson, A. (1989). Sleep on the night shift:
24-hour EEG monitoring of spontaneous sleep/wake behavior. Psychophysiology, 26
(3), 352-8
21.
Tilley, A., Wilkinson, R., Warren, P., Watson, W., & Drud, M. (1982). The sleep and
performance of shift workers. Human Factors, 24 (6), 629-41
22.
Venkatramaraju, Dr. D. and Padmini, K. (2013), Indian Journal Of Applied Research : A

Study on Quality of Work Life in BPO Sector With Reference to Chennai City, Volume
: 3, Issue : 12, ISSN - 2249-555X
23.
Wilkinson, R. (1992). How fast should the night shift rotate? Ergonomics, 35 (12), 142546
APPENDIX
Questionnaire
Name :
Date :
Specialist :
1. What can be the different health issues caused by night shift?
Problems
Yes/No
Employee
Care
Employer
care
Sleeping Disorder
/ Circadian Rhythm
Cardio Vascular issues
/Blood pressure
Fatigue
Head ache/Migraine
Thyroid
Diabetes
Obesity
Appetite
405
Stomach Disorders / Peptic Ulcers

Eye sight issues
Cancer
2. What are the psychological effects?
Problems
Yes/No
Employee Care
Employer care
Depression
Mood swings
Loneliness
3. What can be the different health issues specific to Women?
Problems
Yes/No
Employee Care
Employer care
Employee Care
Employer care
Pregnancy complication
Monthly Cycle
Breast cancer
Polycystic ovary
4. Can night shift/Fatigue affect any of the below?
Problems
Yes/No
Memory
Reaction time
Awareness
Decision making power
Communication power
5. Does physical exercise help during night shift? If yes then it should be done:
(a) Before
(b) After
6. What are the external factors that can affect health at night shift?
Problems
Yes / No
Any additional care
Light
(a)Environmental
(b) Artificial
Temperature
(a)Air conditioned environment
406
(b)Natural environment
Ventilation
Humidity
Work place environment
7.
8.
9.
10.
What can be used as stimulants in night shift?

(a)
Caffeine
(b)
Nicotine
(c)
Alcohol consumptions (eg: drivers etc)
(d)
Others
What should be the diet?

(a)
Spicy
(b)
Light
(c)
heavy
(d)
Regular
(e)
Doctors prescribed
Sleep strategy to be followed in night shift?

(a)
More sleep before start
(b)
Short nap between shift
(c)
Should sleep after
What are the social effects of night shift?

(a)
Insecurity in marriage
(b)
Child care
(c)
Social attachments
(d)
Parental Care
11.
Recreational activities the corporate can introduce?
12.
What others precautionary measure the corporate must take for welfare
of the employees?
13.
Any other recommendations:
407
408
Consumer Attitude Towards Online

Shopping in India
Rana Ghosh*
ABSTRACT
Determining what consumers value, and how online stores compare to traditional
stores on valued attributes is a necessary first step in understanding the relative
benefits of e-commerce. In this paper, we measure consumers valuation of online
stores compared to traditional stores by measuring their perceptions of the
performance of online stores & Online shopping behavior. It is yet to understand
what factors influence online shopping decision process. The objective of this study
is to provide an overview of online shopping decision process by comparing the
offline and online decision making and identifying the factors that motivate online
customers to decide or not to decide to buy online. It is found that marketing
communication process differs between offline and online consumer decision.
Managerial implications are developed for online stores to improve their website
We find that all product categories in our survey of online stores are less
acceptable overall than traditional stores. Online stores are perceived to have
competitive disadvantages with respect to shipping and handling charges,
exchange-refund policy for returns, providing an interesting social or family
experience, helpfulness of salespeople, post-purchase service, and uncertainty
about getting the right item. These disadvantages are not entirely overcome by
online stores advantages in brand-selection/variety and ease of browsing.
Keywords: retailing, online attitude,
online shopping decision.
online shopping, online shopper behavior,
INTRODUCTION
There is a growing need to evaluate the true drivers of shopping behaviour in
the Indian context.
The number of consumers buying online, and the amount being spent by online
buyers has been on the rise; Forrester Research has estimated Internet sales in
1999 to be more than double that of 1998, $20 billion (see estimates at
www.forrester.com). Despite the hype and the growth, consumer e-commerce sales
Lecturer - Marketing Management, Heramba Chandra College, Kolkata;

E-Mail: 2009rana ghosh@gmail.com
409
currently account for less than 1% of retail sales, and experts and scholars have
argued over the possible upper limit to the percentage of consumer online
spending. Ultimately, the degree to which online and offline shopping fulfill various
consumer needs both goal-oriented and experiential is likely to impact the
amount of shopping dollars that consumers will choose to spend in each
environment. Inarguably, online and offline environments present different shopping
experiences even when the same products can be purchased. Consumers shop
with utilitarian, goal driven motives as well as for experiential motives, such as
fun and entertainment; in sum, they shop to acquire products or they shop to
shop (Babin, Darden and Griffen 1994; Bloch and Richens 1983; Hirschman 1984;
Hirschman and Holbrook 1982; Hoffman and Novak 1996; Schlosser and Kanfer
1999).
Based on previous study, online and offline shopping experiences are perceived
and evaluated by shoppers with respect to their ability to deliver satisfaction on
two dimensions: (1) goal fulfillment and (2) experience-related outcomes. Goaldirected motivations are more likely to be satisfied online while experiential
shopping motives are more likely to be associated with offline shopping.
Nevertheless, there are online buyers who shop for fun; typically they shop auction
sites, engage in ongoing hobby type interests (see Bloch, Sherrell and Ridgeway
1986 for a discussion of offline hobby behavior) or enjoy the thrill of looking for
bargains.
Internet and information technology are creating new opportunities for consumers
to share their product evaluations online (Avery, Resnick and Zeckhauser 1999).
Amazon.com started to offer consumers an option to post their comments on
products on its website in 1995. Currently, Amazon.com has about 10 million
consumer reviews on all its product categories, and these reviews are regarded
as one of the most popular and successful features of Amazon (New York Times,
Feb. 24, 2004). In recent years, an increasing number of online sellers (e.g.,
BevMo.com, BN.com, cduniverse.com, circuitcity.com, GameStop.com,
computer4sure.com, c-source.com, half.com, goodguys.com, wine.com) are
adopting the same strategy. These online sellers invite users of their products to
post personal product evaluations on the sellers websites or provide their
customers consumer review information offered by some third-party sources such
as Epinions.com and CNET.com. Online consumer reviews are common for many
product categories such as apparel, books, electronics, games, videos, music,
beverages, games, and wine.
Online retailers can use high technology to improve their websites in order to
influence consumer perceptions of the web environment (Prasad and Aryasri,
2009). If the web site is too slow, not navigability, or not safe enough, will have
negatively impact consumer willingness to try or buy products from the website.
410
Consumer experience with online shopping (Broekhuizen and Huizingh, 2009) or

consumer skills, which refer to the knowledge that consumers have about product,
and how online shopping works (Laudon and Traver, 2009) also influences online
shopping behaviors. Clickstream behavior is another aspect that becomes more
important in the online world. It refers to the behavior that consumers search for
information through web sites many sites in the same time, then to a single site,
then to a single page, and finally to a decision to purchase (Laudon and Traver,
2009). All these factors lead to specific attitudes and behaviors about online
purchasing and a sense that they can control their purchasing environment thru
the online world.
It has been found in literature review that there is a lot of study done on
developing buyer behaviour but most of it is fragmented and does not provide a
comprehensive approach on online buying behaviour of Indian buyer.
Online buyer behaviour has become an emerging research area with an
increasing number of publications per year. The research articles appear in a
variety of journals and conference proceedings in the fields of information systems,
marketing, management, and psychology. A review of these articles indicates that
researchers mostly draw theories from classical buyer behaviour research, such
as behavioural learning, personality research, information processing, and attitude
models (Fishbein 1980). Moreover, a close examination of the literature in this
area reveals that most of the components of buyer behaviour theory have been
applied to the study of online buyer behaviour. However, the application is not
as straightforward as simply borrowing the components and applying them. There
are still significant differences between offline and online buyer behaviour that
warrant a distinguishing conceptualization.
The trademark of Indian retailing, the small shop with a high level of personalized
service, is making shoppers reluctant to depart from traditional ways of shopping.
Store choice and patronage have been widely studied across the world. Indian
consumer values the new store dimensions offered by retailers as a part of the
new formats emerging in the market place. The framework evolved for evaluating
effectiveness of newer store formats is necessary since it has a major impact on
the overall profitability of the retailing business. Store choice and patronage have
been widely studied across the world. An earlier research has indicated that
shopping behaviour has changed with format (Sinha, 2002). Shopping is a
process, composed of a set of distinct components linked together in a particular
sequence (Peterson et al., 1997), and the choice of shopping mode is among
them. Typical elements of the shopping process include desire, information
gathering/receiving, trial/experience, evaluation, selection, transaction, delivery/
possession, display/use, and return (Mokhtarian, 2004), and the choice of shopping
mode can play a role in each element of the shopping process. Of these elements,
411
information gathering, transaction/purchase and delivery may be the three more

noticeable ones for the shopping mode choice between e-shopping and store
shopping (e.g., see Rotem-Mindali and Salomon, 2007). However, involving these
three elements in the shopping process seems enough to perplex the issue. For
example, Farag et al. (2007) note a hybrid form is evolving across these three
elements, and cite that empirical research shows that nowadays many individuals
tend to start their shopping process with an information search on the Internet
before they go to the store, and many others to search for a product online,
check it out in-store, and finally buy it online. Nevertheless, this study still tries
to extract the attributes associated with time and cost expenses for further
empirical use by examining the comparative advantages of e-shopping and store
shopping according to these three major elements.
In this context, a study is required to identify factors that influence people to shop
in online websites. This forms basis of the present research.
L.R. Vijayasarathy (2001) integrated the web specific factors (online shopping aid)
into the theory of reasoned action (TRA) to better explain buyer online shopping
behavior. Song and Zahedi (2001) built on the model of the theory of planned
behaviour (TPB) and examined the effects of website design on the adoption of
Internet shopping.
Sin and Tse (2002) in their study Profiling Internet Shoppers in Hong Kong tested
a model of Internet Shopping behavior. The model postulated that consumer
internet shopping behavior is affected by the consumer s demographic
psychographic, attitudinal, and experiential factors. Data from 400 respondents was
analyzed. Findings of their study indicated a relationship between consumer who
shop online, and some of the variables included in the study. The study found
that Internet buyers tend to be male, well educated, with higher income, and were
mainly in the age groups between 21 and 30 years. They were also likely to
have high Internet Usage rates than other non-Internet in-home shopping
experiences. In addition, they tended to be time conscious, self confident, and
had a greater positive attitude towards Internet shopping than non-buyers.
Shu(2003) in his research tried to identify the factors that affect consumers
willingness to indulge in Internet shopping. For the research purpose, 296
university students were selected as research participants. The survey results
showed that 50.9% of the respondents were between the age group of 20-30
years. Most of the respondents (53.7%) were undergraduate students. Majority
of the respondents had more than one year experience in working with the
Internet. The results showed that consumers willingness to indulge in Internet
shopping correlated positively and significantly with trust placed in Internet
412
shopping, perceived ease of use usefulness, playfulness, security, privacy,

information quality and service.
Chiang & Dholakia (2003) in their article examined consumers intention to shop
online during the information acquisition stage. The study incorporated three
essential variables, which are likely to influence consumer intentions: a)
Convenience characteristics of shopping channels, b) product type characteristics,
and c) perceived price of the product. Respondents were surveyed on a train
travelling in the north-east region. The result of the study indicated that
convenience influences consumers intention to shop online when consumers
perceived shopping offline as inconvenient, and as a result, they are more likely
to shop on the Internet. They study also revealed that the product type influences
consumers to shop online. For search goods such as books, intention to shop
online is higher than the intention to shop for experience goods. The result did
not support the influence of price on online shopping intentions. The study
revealed that the benefits of online comparison shopping that could provide
greater savings was limited. It is possible that higher priced products would have
a greater influence on online shopping intention. Furthermore, online shopping
intention is higher when consumers perceive the product to lie in search goods
than in experienced goods.
Vijaysarathy (2003) examined the relationship between shopping orientation,
product types, and consumer intentions to use the Internet for shopping. He
mailed the questionnaire to over 200 survey respondents. He pointed out that
the results of the regression analysis showed that the product type did have a
significant independent effect on intentions to shop online it did not have a
moderating effect on the relationship between the latter and shopping
orientations. Therefore, irrespective of the product type, the consumers with home
and economic shopping orientations could be expected to use online shopping
more than those with local orientations. Moreover, consumers would be more
inclined to use the Internet to shop for intangible than tangible products. He also
concluded that age, gender, and income
have an influence on online shopping
orientations, specifically; younger males with higher household income would be
more likely to engage in Internet shopping.
onsuwe, Dellaert, and Ruyter (2004) in their paper proposed a framework to
increase researchers understanding of consumer attitudes toward online shopping
and their intention to shop on the Internet. The framework used the construct of
the technology acceptance model (TAM) as a basis, extended by exogenous
factors, and applied the same to the online shopping context. They built up such
a framework based on previous research on consumer adoption of new selfservice technologies and Internet shopping systems. They authors suggested that
consumers; attitude toward Internet shopping first depends on the direct effect
413
of relevant online shopping features. Online shopping features can be either

consumers perceptions of functional and utilitarian dimensions, like ease of use
and usefulness, or their perceptions of emotional and hedonic dimensions like
enjoyment.
Kim, Lee, and Kim (2004) in their study focused on various factors affective online
search intention, which has been found to be a key predictor of online purchase
intention participants who had experience in purchasing books online were
surveyed through a self-administered questionnaire. Data were collected from a
sample consisting of mostly young adults who were familiar with using the Internet
and had prior online shopping experience. They concluded that the utilitarian value
of Internet information search, hedonic value of Internet information search,
perceived benefits of Internet shopping, perceived risk of Internet shopping, and
Internet purchase experience predicted online search intention quite well. The
findings also showed that online search intention positively affects online purchase
intention. The greater the benefits of Internet shopping as perceived by the
consumers, the greater is the intention to use the Internet for information search.
Rajamma and Neeley (2005) examined the influence of social orientation of the
customers, out shopping orientation, and enjoyment derived from customers
preference to shop online using shopping preference theory as the theoretical
framework. The research was conducted by using Gen Y University students. The
study found that online shoppers are more likely to be out shoppers and are
likely to derive more enjoyment from shopping. The social orientation of the
shoppers did not influence their online shopping preferences. In addition, it was
found that as pointed out by earlier studies, men preferred to shop online more
than women.
Jayawardhena, Wright, and Dennis (2007) examined the purchase intentions of
online retail consumes, segmented by their purchase orientation. The aim of this
research paper was to further understand the area in a measurable way by
carrying out empirical research into consumer motivation to shop online. This
study examined purchase orientation and purchase intention of online shopping
consumers. The study showed that the consumers can be clustered into five
distinct purchase orientations, and be labeled as: (1) Active Shoppers, (2) Price
sensitive, (3) Discerning shoppers, (4) Brand Loyal, and (5) Convenience-oriented.
The author concluded that consumer purchase orientations have no significant
effect on their propensity to shop online. This contradicts the pervasive view that
Internet consumers are principally motivated by convenience. It was found that
aspects that do have a significant effect on purchase intention are prior purchase
and gender.
414
Nielsens Global online survey (2008) on Internet shopping habits revealed that
78% of the Indian respondents close accessing the Internet) had used the Internet
to make a purchase, and more than half of the respondents had made least one
online purchase in the past one month. The survey also revealed that:
73% of the Indians had purchased Airline tickets/booked a reservation online the
past 3 months; this percentage among the highest for any country in the Asia
pacific region. Books (46%), electronic equipment (29%), tours and hotel
reservation (24%), videos/DVDs/games (23%), event tickets (23%), clothing (21%),
and music (20%) are some poplar online purchases made by the Indians. Credit
cards are the most common method of payment for online purchase made by
Indians, with 84% opting for particular payment option.
The latest survey on online shopping habits by master Card Worldwide (2008)
revealed that online shoppers hoped more frequently in the fourth quarter of 2008
than they did in the same period the previous year. The survey suggested that
the economic crisis could have made online shopping more attractive. The survey
found that 54% of the respondents have used the Internet for the purpose of
online shopping. The top three most popular the purchases included airline tickets
(54%), home appliances and electronic products (48%), and DVDs/VCDs (44%).
When it came to impulsive shopping, Indians seemed to prefer home appliances
and electronic products (51%), and CDs/DVDs/VCDs (44%).
Murugaiah and Vishvas (2008) in their study identified the reasons for the innate
relation between women and shopping. The study revealed that married women
shop more than their unmarried counterparts. It was also reported graduate
respondents spent more time in shopping as compared to postgraduate shoppers.
The study also reported higher-income group respondents indulged in other prime
leisure activities than shopping.
The study developed by Laudon and Traver (2009) suggests that a general
consumer behavior framework requires some modification to take into account new
factors.
When consumers want to buy product, they will look at the brand and the
characteristics of 68 product or service. Some products can be purchased and
shipped easily online such as, software, books. On the other hand, some products
are hard to decide through online channel. Web site features, firm capabilities,
marketing communication stimuli, and consumer skills are also important, in terms
of the proposed framework (Laudon and Traver, 2009).
When consumers want to buy product, they will look at the brand and the
characteristics of product or service. Some products can be purchased and
shipped easily online such as, software, books. On the other hand, some products
are hard to decide through online channel. Web Site feature is one of the
415
important things that can influence consumers to buy product online. For example,
online retailers can use high technology to improve their websites in order to
influence consumer perceptions of the web environment (Prasad and Aryasri,
2009). If the web site is too slow, not navigability, or not safe enough, will have
negatively impact consumer willingness to try or buy products from the website.
Consumer experience with online shopping (Broekhuizen and Huizingh, 2009) or
consumer skills, which refer to the knowledge that consumers have about product,
and how online shopping works (Laudon and Traver, 2009) also influences online
shopping behaviors. Clickstream behavior is another aspect that becomes more
important in the online world. It refers to the behavior that consumers search for
information through web sites many sites in the same time, then to a single site,
then to a single page, and finally to a decision to purchase (Laudon and Traver,
2009). All these factors lead to specific attitudes and behaviors about online
purchasing and a sense that they can control their purchasing environment thru
the online world.
It has been found in literature a business intelligence model based on survey
that there is lot of study done on developing buyer behaviour but most of it is
fragmented and does not provide a comprehensive approach on online buying
behaviour of Indian buyer.
Banerjee, Dutta, and Dasgupta (2010) conducted a study on Customers attitude
towards online shopping. The study revealed that among the 202 respondents
who shopped online, 89.1% were satisfied and 96.1% satisfied customers also
intended to indulge in online shopping in the future. It could be concluded that
the availability of extensive and current information was the most important factor
which influenced Indian customers to shop online. It can be stated that concerns
about online security prevented the respondents from shopping online. The
researchers also revealed that there was a significant association between online
shopping and monthly family income, frequency of Internet usage, and time spent
per session on Internet use.
Shalini.S and Kamalaveni.D (2013) in their articles stated that online shoppers
are young, highly educated active, intensive and expert users of the internet. They
have a strong positive perception towards online shopping and generally spend
a very low amount online shopping.
RESEARCH GAP
Review of existing literature has shown that substantial work has been done to
examine consumers intention to shop online during the information acquisition
stage, Chiang & Dholakia (2003). Kim, Lee, and Kim (2004) in their study focused
on various factors affective online search intention, which has been found to be
a key predictor of online purchase intention. They concluded that the utilitarian
value of Internet information search, hedonic value of Internet information search,
416
perceived benefits of Internet shopping, perceived risk of Internet shopping, and

Internet purchase experience predicted online search intention quite well. Banerjee,
Dutta, and Dasgupta (2010) conducted a study on Customers attitude towards
online shopping. The study concluded that the availability of extensive and
current information was the most important factor which influenced Indian
customers to shop online. Jayawardhena, Wright, and Dennis (2007) examined
the purchase intentions of online retail consumes, segmented by their purchase
orientation. Kim & Jones has
found that how offline brand trust moderates: the
relationship between consumers general attitude toward the internet & their
perceptions of the quality of a retailers website. Horppu et.al. have studied the
online brand relationships, & the linkage between satisfaction, trust , & loyalty
on the website level.
However no prior work has been done to compare the Indian consumer s
preference between online & physical stores and this research gap forms the
basis of this study.
RESEARCH OBJECTIVES
The objective of this study is to provide an overview of online shopping & online
purchase decision & identifying the factors that motivate the consumers to choose
different channels for different product categories.
This study will enable:
1. To determine consumer preference for shopping Online & in physical Stores.
2. To study the online shopping
behaviour
of customers.
I have used in this study both primary & secondary data. The secondary data
are collected from internet, books, and journals etc. Primary data are collected
through a structured questionnaire. The questionnaire have both close-ended as
well as open- ended questions. The questionnaire also included demographic
study of age, gender, qualification & occupation etc.
DATA ANALYSIS
The data is analyzed on the basis of suitable tables by using statistical techniques.
The technique that I have used includes graphs technique which contains Bar
Charts, Pie Charts and Line Graphs.
Sample Size and Design
I have considered that the sample size should contain 50 respondents was taken
on the basis of convenience and we collected answers from 50 respondents.
417
PRESENTATION OF DATA ANALYSIS AND FINDINGS

Statistical Representation of the Respondents
Age-wise classification:
Gender-wise classification:
418
Educational Qualification-wise classification

Serial
No.
Education
Number
of Respondents
Percentage
H.S
15
30%
Graduate
25
50%
10
20%
50
100%
Post Graduate
TOTAL
419
Income-wise classification
Serial
No.
1
Education
Number
of Respondents
Percentage
35
70%
Below 10000
10000-20000
10
20%
20000-30000
03
6%
02
4%
50
100%
Number
of Respondents
Percentage
25
50%
02
4%
Above 40000
TOTAL
Occupation-wise classification
Serial
No.
1
2
Education
Student
Businessman
Serviceman
03
6%
Housewife
12
24%
Others
08
16%
50
100%
Total
420
Statistical Analysis of the Survey Result

Q1. To
know
connection.
whether
respondents
have
their
own
internet
Option
Number of
Respondents
Percentage
Yes
36
72%
No
14
28%
Total
50
100%
421
Interpretation
This graph shows us the percentage of respondents who have their own internet
connection, it shows that 72% of respondent have their own internet connection
whereas 28%
Q2. To know what motivates consumer to do online shopping.
Option
Number of
Respondents
Percentage
Easy payment
15
30%
No hidden cost
10%
Wide range of products
6%
No travel to shop
27
54%
Total
50
100%
Interpretation
This pie chart show us the percentage of respondents what motivates them to
buy online, it shows that the main reason which motivates them buy online is no
travel to shop.
422
Q3. To know whether consumers are getting competitive prices

Option
Number of
Respondents
Percentage
Yes
34
68%
No
13
No comment/ cant say
03
6%
Total
50
100%
26%
Interpretation
This diagram shows us that whether online marketers are giving competitive price
or not, and result which came is most of the people though that online marketers
are providing competitive prices than physical stores, and result shows 68% of
people says that it provide competitive price and only 26% people say no.
Q4.To know what products consumers buy on internet.
Option
Number of
Respondents
Percentage
Books
20
40%
Music cds
05
10%
T-Shirt
15
30%
Mobiles
07
14%
Laptop
03
6%
Total
50
100%
423
Interpretation
The above graph gives result that most of people use to buy books i.e 40%,
then t-shirts i.e 30% ,music cds i.e 10% ,mobiles i.e 14% , so, this graph
shows us useful data.
Q5.To know what do you feel that online shopping is better than shopping
at physical stores.
424
Option
Number of
Respondents
Percentage
Yes
25
50%
No
15
30%
Cant say
10
20%
Total
50
100%
Interpretation
This graph shows that the people are in favour of that online shopping is better
than physical store. The percentage of people who says online shopping is better
is 70% and the people who says is not good is 20%,still the percentage of people
who says yes is more than others who says no.
Q 6. To know which of the following stores does consumers visit
online shopping.
Option
Number of
Respondents
Percentage
Flipkart
24
48%
Snapdeal
06
12%
E-Bay
07
14%
Amazon
05
10%
Jabong
06
12%
others
02
4%
Total
50
100%
for
Interpretation
This graph shows that 48% people use to visit flipkart for online shopping , 14%
people use to go E-bay because % of people who buys books is more than any
other products so, people mostly visits flipkart.com.12% of people do shopping
at snapdeal and jabong , and for other people use to visit amazon and others.
425
Q7. To know what factors helps you to decide which site to use for online
shopping.
Option
Number of
Respondents
Percentage
Search engine
09
18%
Personal recommendation
05
10%
Special offers on site
10
20%
Online shopping
16
32%
T.V. Advertising
08
16%
Others
02
4%
Total
50
100%
Interpretation
This diagram shows us that what affect people to buy products on internet and
it shows that 32% people came to know about shopping site through online
advertisement , and the attracted towards it & start getting products from there,
and 20% people decisions is affected by special offers on the site and the
discounts given by the site.
426
Q8. To know how you make your payment on internet.

Option
Number of
Respondents
Percentage
39
78%
Credit card / Debit card

Bank transfer
03
6%
Pay pal
07
Others
01
2%
Total
50
100%
14%
Interpretation
The diagram shows that mostly people uses credit card to pay their payment 78%
people use to pay by credit / debit card & 6% through bank transfer & 14%
through pay pal & 2% others
Q9. To know have you face any problem while shopping online.
Option
Number of
Respondents
Percentage
Yes
29
58%
No
14
28%
Specify
07
14%
Total
50
100 %
427
Interpretation
This graph shows that whether people faces any problem while doing online
shopping or not and the result shows that 58% people say that they faced
problem while buying online & 28% people says that they dont face any problem
& 14% say that we cant say.
CONCLUSIONS
The following conclusion can be drawn from the study:
l
The survey shows that consumers influence & trust in online shopping
is on the rise.
Most of the consumer preference for shopping online than physical

stores.
The factors that motivate the customers to decide to buy online.
REFERENCES
1.
Arun Thamizhvanan., & M.J.Xavier. (2012). Determinants of Customers Online Purchase

intention: an empirical study in India. Journal of Indian Business Research, 5(1) pp.
17-32
2.
Banerjee, N.,Dutta. A., & Dasgupta, T. (2010). A Study on Customers Attitude Towards
Online Shopping An Indian perspective. Indian Journal of Marketing,40(11),43-52
3.
Chiang, K. P., & Dholakia,R.R. (2003). Factors Driving Consumer Intention to Shop
Online:An Empirical Investigation. Journal of Consumer Psychology,13( 1-2),177-183
4.
Jayawardhena, C., Wright, L.T., & Dennis, C. (2007), Consumers Online : Intentions,
Orientations & Segmentation. International Journal of Retail & Distribution Management,
35(6),515-526,DOI:10.1108/09590550710750377
5.
Kim,j.I.,Lee,H.C.,& kim, H.J. (2004). Factors Affecting Online Search Intention and Online
Purchase Intention. Seoul Journal of Business,10(2),28-29
6.
Marianne Horppu , olli Kuivalainen , Anssi tarkiainen and Hanna-Kaisa Ellonen (2008)
Online Satisfaction,Trust and Loyalty,and The Impact of the Offline Parent Brand.Journal
of Product & Brand Management ,17/6 (2008) 403-413
7.
Monsuwe,T.P.Y,Dellaert,B.G.C.,& Ruyter,K.D.(2004). What Drives Consumers to Shop

Online? A Literature Review. International Journal of Service Industry Management,
15(1),102-121,DOI:10.1108/09564230410523358
8.
Murugaiah,V.,& Vishvas, R.( 2008). Women & Shopping An Empirical Study of Bangalore
City. Indian Journal of Marketing,38(7),47-55
9.
Namita Bhandari & Preethi Kaushal (2013). Online Consumer Behaviour : An Exploratory
Study . Global Journal Of Commerce & Management Perspective, 2(4), 98-107
10.
Piyush Kumar Sinha.& Arindam Banerjee, ( 2004 ), Store Choice Behaviour in an

Evolving Market, International Journal of Retail & Distribution Management, Vol. 32
lss 10 pp.482-494
428
11.
Prasad, J.S.,& Aryasri,A.R.(2009). Determinants

An Empirical Analysis. Paradigm, 13(1), 73
12.
Rajamma,R.K.,& Neele,C.R.(2005). Antecedents to Shopping Online: A Shopping

Preference Perspective. Journal of Internet Commerce,4(1),63-78,DOI:10.1300/
JI79v04n01_03
13.
Rao,S.A.,& Mehdi,M.M.(2010). Online User Behaviour in Delhi A Factor Analysis. Indian

Journal of Marketing,40(7),21-29,46
14.
Schimmel,K.(2005). Media Mix Elements that Motivate Online Shopping, Journal of

Website Promotion, 1(1),53-63,DOI:10.1300/J238v01n01_05
15.
Shalini .S., & Kamalaveni .D., (2013) .Online Buying Behaviour of Netizens ,A Study with
Reference to Coimbatore, Tamil Nadu . Indian Journal of marketing, 10(3) ,35 45
of Shopper Behaviour in E-Tailing:
429
The Role of the Governments Consumer

Protection Initiatives Towards Inclusive Growth
& Economic Development
Subhro Banerjee* & Swarup Prasad Ghosh**
ABSTRACT
Consumer protection happens to be the key word in the modern day Government initiatives.
Each and every citizen is a consumer irrespective of the class, income level, location or age.
Countries like India happens to be one of the favorite destination for all the Multinational
companies. With the opening up of the Indian economy, ranges of products and services are
being offered to the Indian consumers. But, the more recent issue is the mode of selling the
products and services. Concepts like ecommerce, financial services, online or tele-shopping,
direct selling are more convenient means for the modern day consumers to procure their
desired goods and services in the best possible price. But, the legal framework of Indian
Consumer Protection are not till date equipped to formulate proper regulations for these new
forms of business, to ensure that the interest of the consumers are not wedged.
Against this background, the policies of the Government in relation to consumer protection
should accommodate the new means of sales and huge range of products and services on
offer. One easy recourse is to close the eyes and not to respond to these changes. It is always
very difficult to keep the law of the land changing to accommodate the new developments.
But, it is indispensable to accommodate and accept the changes. Else, India will miss out of
the race of economic development. India cannot keep their doors shut to the Multi Brand retail,
e-commerce or direct selling marketing concepts and deprive the consumers from choices.
On the other hand, the consumers would adopt other means to procure the products through
grey market, this would lead to a huge loss of revenue for the Nation at large and deprive
India from the Inclusive growth.
An analysis of the Consumer protection initiatives taken by the developed and developing
nations of the World reflects that they have frequently visited their laws and regulations to
reframe the same based on the new avenues in which the consumers can be impacted. One
more avenue is creating a level playing field for the sellers. It is essential also to study,
understand and accept the best practices of the MNCs voluntarily adopted by them. This would
also enable the Government to include these practices in their Policies so that other corporate
houses can also practice the same.
A proper collaboration between the law enforcement agencies and the corporate world would
lead to inclusive growth. It is the duty of the Government to understand the issues of the
corporate houses. Thus, a practical and implementable Consumer Protection Policy can be
developed in consultation with the Consumer Representatives, The Corporate Houses,
Phd-Scholar (Management/Public Affairs), Techno India University, Kolkata-700091;

E-mail: ban.subhro@gmail.com
**
Phd Supervisor, Dean, Techno India University, Kolkata-700091

E-mail: dr.sarup.ghosh@gmail.com
431
Economists & Legal Experts and the Government enforcement agencies. The Consumer
Protection Bill 2015 is a true example of an inclusive policy development.
Key Words : Consumer Protection Policies, Inclusive Growth, Economic Development, Modern
concepts of selling, Multinational companies, Multi brand retail, ecommerce, direct selling
Consumer Protection Bill 2015.
INTRODUCTION
Indias market is consumer driven, with spending anticipated to more than double
by 2025. The Indian consumer segment is broadly segregated into urban and
rural markets, and is attracting marketers from across the world.
Global corporations view India as a vital market for the future. India has a young
demographic and a middle class with rising disposable income. If the country
can sustain its current pace of growth for some time - and that is likely - average
household incomes will triple over the next 20 years and India will become the
fifth largest consumer economy in the world by 2025, as per a study by the
McKinsey Global Institute (MGI).
The growing purchasing power and the rising influence of the social media have
helped the Indian consumers to splurge on good things. A study done by a leading
industry body and Yes Bank has stated that the consumer spending in India is
expected to quadruple to US$ 4.2 trillion by 2017.
As per GSMAs study Smartphone forecasts and assumptions, 2007-2020 India
ranks fourth in the top 10 global smartphones markets. The country had 111
million smartphone connections in the April-June quarter of 2014, behind leader
China, US and Brazil.
India could become the worlds largest middle class consumer market with a total
consumer spend of nearly US$ 13 trillion by 2030, as per a report by Deloitte
titled India matters: Winning in growth markets.
On the back of better incomes and increasing affordability, the consumer durables
market is anticipated to expand at a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of
14.8 per cent to US$ 12.5 billion in FY15 from US$ 7.3 billion in FY12.
Online retailing, both direct and through marketplaces, will grow threefold to become
a Rs 50,000 crore (US$ 8.06 billion) industry by 2016, as per rating agency
Crisil. Also, the growth of internet retail is expected to boost offline retail stores.
According to a KPMG report Indian direct selling has the potential to be a INR
645bn industry by 2025.
Thus, with the new forms of buying options the consumers are also at times
being duped by unscrupulous sellers by offering misleading offers to attract the
innocent consumers. But, at the same time Government cannot restrict the new
forms of marketing as without these India cannot achieve Inclusive Growth and
Economic development.
The Government of India has also played a major role in the growth of this
segment. It has enacted policies that have attracted foreign direct investment (FDI)
and as a result boosted economic growth. Similarly, the Government are closely
studying these new forms of marketing and the potential threat to the consumers
432
and are working towards Policies and Guideline to ensure that the interest of the
consumers are protected and at the same time these new players are provided
adequate opportunity to operate in the Indian market.
LITERATURE REVIEW
Consumer Protection in India A Reflection, Consultancy Project on Consumer
Protection and Welfare IIPA, New Delhi by S. S. SINGH, Professor of Justice and
Administration, IIPA, New Delhi and Sapna Chandah, Assistant Professor, highlighted
that Consumer Protection movement to be effective and meaningful needs the
proactive support of the government, business, organisations of Civil Society,
Educational Institutions Schools, Colleges, Universities and Research Institutions.
Over and above the support of pro bono publico and of every individual is a sine
qua non for the Consumer movement to be purposeful. The policies, schemes
and programmes of the Government of India through the Department of Consumer
Affairs are no doubt useful but their effectiveness finally depend on the involvement
of the institutions and the people at large. A number of schemes have already
been in operation such as, Grahak Jagaran, Consumer Clubs in Schools,
Promoting involvement of Research Institutions, Universities, Colleges, etc. in
Consumer Protection and Welfare etc. Similar schemes and programmes are
needed at the State Government level also to provide further impetus to the
Consumer movement in the Country.
Organisations of the Civil Societies are having special responsibility in this regard
and so is the case of the educational institutions.
A research paper entitled The Sharing Economy and Consumer Protection
Regulation: The Case for Policy Change by Christopher Koopman, Matthew
Mitchell, and Adam Thierer concluded that the fact that regulations were justified
on the grounds of consumer protection does not mean they accomplished those
goals or that they are still needed today. Even well-intentioned policies must be
judged against real-world evidence. Unfortunately, the evidence shows that many
traditional consumer protection regulations hurt consumer welfare. Markets,
competition, reputational systems, and ongoing innovation often solve problems
better than regulation when we give them a chance to do so.
Another paper on The Economic Impact of Eliminating Preemption of State
Consumer Protection Laws by Joseph R. Mason, Robert Kulick, and Hal J. Singer
also concluded that when considered from an economic perspective, consumer
protection and preemption are not contrary policies, but rather are different means
of ensuring that financial markets function to maximize the banking services
available to consumers.
According to a study Contribution of Internal Market and consumer Protection on
Growth by IMCO Committee, US, actions relevant for the Single Market and
consumer protection/empowerment taken as part of the flagship initiative European
platform against poverty could also have positive effects on the European economy.
For example, an impact assessment conducted by theCommission on the proposal
for a Council Regulation on the Statute for a European Foundation claims that
this could potentially create 15,000 new jobs, as well as 15,000 volunteer positions.
433
This study is fully based on the secondary sources, like conference papers,
websites, articles, journals, case studies, e-books.
ANALYSIS & DISCUSSION
As per the Consumer Protection Act, 1986 of India U/S 2(d) consumer means
any person who
(i) buys any goods for a consideration which has been paid or promised or
partly paid and partly promised, or under any system of deferred payment
and includes any user of such goods other than the person who buys such
goods for consideration paid or promised or partly paid or partly promised, or
under any system of deferred payment when such use is made with the
approval of such person, but does not include a person who obtains such
goods for resale or for any commercial purpose; or
(ii) hires or avails of any services for a consideration which has been paid or
promised or partly paid and partly promised, or under any system of deferred
payment and includes any beneficiary of such services other than the person
who hires or avails of the services for consideration paid or promised, or
partly paid and partly promised, or under any system of deferred payment,
when such services are availed of with the approval of the first mentioned
person but does not include a person who avails of such services for any
commercial purposes;
Explanation. For the purposes of this clause, commercial purpose does not
include use by a person of goods bought and used by him and services availed
by him exclusively for the purposes of earning his livelihood by means of selfemployment.
This simply means that the Government has rightly taken up the responsibility to
protect each and every person who buys any goods or hires or avails any service
against some consideration. The Act is very explicit and covers many avenues or
unfair trade practices that might impact the consumers at large.
CONSUMER PROTECTION BILL 2015
The Consumer Protection Act, 1986 had been amended thrice earlier - in 1991,
1993 and 2002. But, over the year a need was felt to revisit the existing Act and
replace the same with a more dynamic one addressing the global challenges.
The first draft was published in 2011 but when the draft was shared at the public
domain it was pointed out that the new Act overlooks some of the new trades
which are very much a part of the modern economy.
A need was felt to revisit the existing Consumer Act to address the concerns
relating to misleading advertisements, tele-marketing, multi-level marketing, direct
selling and e-tailing pose new challenges to consumer protection. Hence, there
was a need to modernize the Act to address the situation effectively.
434
The Bill also has several provisions aimed at simplifying the consumer dispute
resolution process in the consumer fora, which includes enhancing the pecuniary
jurisdiction of the consumer grievance redressal agencies.
The process of drafting this Consumer Policy was not consultative. A first draft
was prepared by bureaucrats and then shared with experts and corporate leaders.
Thus, the draft shared in 2011 was promptly discarded as many relevant aspects
were missing. But, had it been drafted in conjunction with the experts, India would
not have wasted so much of time. Thus, this paper proposed a new model of
drafting policies involving the stakeholders so that the Government does not waste
time in again amending the draft based on feedback form the concerned and
thus implementation of an Act gets delayed.
ROLE OF THE GOVERNMENT
Traditionally, Government agencies had predominantly being playing the role of
steering rather than rowing. The Government had been telling the public what
to do rather than listening from them what are the best practices and how it can
serve the interest of the Public at large. In the modern day context the Government
is more People oriented and Policies are drafted, amended or revisited based on
the issues faced are the grass-root level.
The Consumer Protection Act of India includes in the list of complainant any
voluntary consumer association registered under the Companies Act, 1956 (1of
1956) or under any other law for the time being in force. Thus the Government
creates an opportunity to constitute forums of consumers and represent and bring
forward to the Government agencies the actual concerns of the consumers.
But, the Government should also extend their listening mechanism to the sellers.
To identify the unscrupulous sellers, it is essential to understand the best practices
followed by the Market leaders and how these are protecting the interest of the
consumers at large.
BEST PRACTICES FOR CUSTOMER CARE BY CORPORATE HOUSES
It is not only the legal framework, but the Multi-National companies are having
their own customer care initiatives. These are nothing but voluntary initiatives
taken in the interest of the customers. This is essential for any big corporate
house to retain their customers and make them brand loyal. Thus, no corporate
house would adopt any means which would have an impact on their consumers.
These best practices would rather help the consumers to differentiate between a
trust worthy brand and others.
Some of the best practices of customer care which have become a part and
parcel of consumer protection with or without any legal framework are as follows:
Warranty & Guaranty Policy : This happens to be one of the most traditional
customer support initiatives introduced by some manufacturing companies. This
was an initiative to offer best experience of the products on offer. This was
started as a voluntary initiative, but is now a part of the legal requirement in
most countries.
435
Consumer complaint contact : Some of the companies introduced the concept

of the providing a postal address and now and email id where the customers can
write back and share their feedback regarding the product. This was an easy
means to reach out to the manufacturer.
Customer care number : This was introduced as an initiative to be in contact
with the existing customers. This was introduced to provide an opportunity to the
customers to contact the sellers at the first hand so that the corporate houses
can avoid legal complications due to consumer complaints.
100% Money back guarantee :This was introduced as best practices by some
of the US companies. Over the year this became a part of the federal law. Though
these is no such requirement in India, still most of the companies of US origin are
offering this service. According to this policy, the consumers can return the products
even after consuming twenty five percent of the product and if not satisfied.
Cooling off period : This is a policy followed by Financial institutions where the
Policies can be surrendered within a stipulated date in case the policy holder
realizes that there are some difference between the offered and the actual policy.
The institution returns back the investment without any penalty. This was introduced
by an European financial institution and now being made a part of the IRDA.
No question asked return policy : This is a very common offer given by the
big online shopping platforms. This policy is to take care of the fact that there
can be a mismatch between the picture reflected on the website and the actual
product. The look and feel of the products may also differ or simply may not be
as per the expectation of the buyer. An online shopping platform offered this as
an Unique Selling Proposition for their platform. But, over the years the European
and US law makers introduced this as a law. Till date in India it is practices voluntarily
but is being considered as a useful remedy to safeguard the buyers form the
fraudulent websites.
Product Call Back Policy : This was introduced by of the leading automobile
manufacturing company. This was a voluntary initiative taken by them when they
detected some faults in one of their commercial vehicle model. This involves a
huge cost but to maintain the reputation of the companies, it has become a very
common practice without any legal obligation.
CONSUMER LANDSCAPE: A UK CASE STUDY
The consumer landscape is the network of organisations in the UK that provides
advice and help to consumers and enforces consumer law. The network includes:
l National Trading Standards
l Trading Standards Scotland
l Citizens Advice and Citizens Advice Scotland (together the Citizens Advice)
l General Consumer Council for Northern Ireland
l Trading Standards Institute
l Consumer Protection Partnership
l Competition and Markets Authority
436
Our reorganisation of the network is making it easier for people and businesses
to get the information and support they need. Prosecution of traders who break
the law is also quicker and more effective.
These organisations also work together as the Consumer Protection Partnership.
Its role is to identify, prioritise and co-ordinate joint action to deal with the issues
causing greatest harm to consumers. By working together the partners can make
sure important issues do not fall between the gaps in the network.
RECOMMENDATIONS
It is ostensible that the consumer behavior and buying pattern would keep on
changing over the years. With this, the complexities faced by the innocent
consumers while buying products would also differ from transaction to transaction.
Thus, a model is being recommended where the Government should adopt an
approach to explore new models, take feedback form the consumer groups, study
the best practices and incorporate the new means in the legal framework.
PROPOSED MODEL
Any policy making process should be divided into following steps.
Step A : Appointment of Expert Committee
Representation from the consumer experts representing the consumers, Industry
association representing the corporates, experts having academic knowledge,
economists who can analyze the impact of the Policy on the Indian Economy and
legal experts should constitute a committee to advice the Government authorities
owning the Consumer policy.
Step B : Studying the external factors
The expert committee would evaluate the policies and practices adopted by the
policy makers on similar issues across the globe. At the same the best practices
adopted by the players in the field to be taken into cognizance. It is also essential
for the expert committee to study the impact of the policy on the economy. The
legal implications should also be taken into consideration.
Step C : Giving Feedback to Policy Makers
The expert committee would share their feedback to the Policy makers and as
and when required would extend required expertise while the Policy is being drafted.
Step D : Drafting the Policy based on feedback
The Policy drafting process should be an inclusive one. Based on the feedback
form the expert committee, the concerned department of the Government should
draft the consumer policy.
Step E : Continuous evaluation and scope for amendment and necessary addition
A Consumer policy should have scope for regular revisit so that the Policy can
be kept contemporary and be able to address the new concerns of the consumers
and also accommodate new means adopted by the corporates to reach out to
the consumers.
437
Step F :
The mother policy should empower a specialized committee as recommended for
drafting the Policy to continuously study the changes and amend, alter or
incorporate necessary provisions in the Policy to catch up with the global
requirements.
The detailed Model is given in Diagram I
CONSUMER POLICY DRAFTING MODEL
Impact of the Model

This would have two impacts :
a) This would protect the interest of the consumers form the dubious schemes,
who taking advantage of the new concepts enters the markets and dupes the
consumers. The consumers are often not in a position to discriminate between
the genuine companies and the fraudulent ones and become pray to their
misdeed. If the Government agencies can promptly device some guidelines
the consumers would be safeguarded.
b) One major impact is on the Indian Economy. As this would attract big brands
to enter the economy which would have a major boost to the growth of the
nation. A prompt a proper guideline would also encourage the international
438
players to operate hassle free in the India market. It is often observed that
due to some wrong deed by some of the fraudulent players the consumers
are losing confidence in trying out new buying formats. On the other hand
the big players are also getting harassed due to some mischief done by
some players in disguise of the model introduced by them.
CONCLUSION
The Indian Consumer Protection Policy would have a multiplier impact on the
Indian Economy. This would on one hand make this as one of the favored
destination for selling goods and services. Once the international players starts
operating in the Indian market, they would get along with them some best practices
which would give new experience to the consumers.
A proper policy framework would also encourage International brands to setup
their units in India to cater to the demand from India and neighboring regions.
Therefore, this can also have a positive impact on the Indian Balance of Trade.
Therefore it can be concluded that a collaborative policy development is
indispensable for a policy to be more pertinent and also implementable.
FUTURE SCOPE OF WORK
The objective of the study was to show the importance of collaborative mechanism
of Policy development. This is true for all the policies. A proper consultative
mechanism while developing a policy and constant review of the same to
accommodate the modern developments is the need of the hour. There are certain
Acts in India which were drafted more than fifty years ago and there is no
mechanism to review the same and make them contemporary. Thus studies can
be done to develop the right process to review different laws of India and
incorporate suitable amendments as per the need of the time. Else this would
have a drastic impact on the growth of the nation.
REFERENCES
1.
2.
Study by the McKinsey Global Institute (MGI).

GSMAs study Smartphone forecasts and assumptions, 2007-2020
3.
Deloitte Study India matters: Winning in growth markets
4.
KMPG Report Indian Direct selling 2025
5.
CRISIL Rating Report
6.
Consumer Protection Bill, 2015
7.
https://www.gov.uk/government/policies/providing-better-information-and-protection-forconsumers.
8.
http://www.europarl.europa.eu
9.
http://mercatus.org
439
440
A Study of the Role of Micro Finance in the

Process of Self Sustainability of Rural Women
in India
Dr. Soheli Ghose*
ABSTRACT
Microfinance has been heralded as a tool for inclusive growth especially including rural Indian
women. In the last decade microfinance has penetrated a major part of rural and sub urban
India empowering particularly women in various areas. These women have taken up many
professions including self employed sectors like cottage industries, tailoring, and handicrafts
among others. However it needs to be analyzed whether these efforts are sustainable in the
long term both for the women involved and the rural economy as a whole. In this paper I
have studied the role of women in rural and suburban areas in West Bengal towards
sustainable development through microfinance initiatives. I have studied the amount of
microfinance that has been pushed into the rural sector in the period from 2003 to 2009 in
the form of micro credit. I have also studied how these funds are being distributed and
disbursed to the local residents with a special focus on unemployed women. Further an
analysis has been done to see how various local banks are taking an effort to provide micro
credit in various wards and communities. The data has been collected from the published
accounts of various banks, rural panchayats and community development schemes. The data
has been analyzed using graphs and charts and mainly through comparative analysis of
various schemes undertaken focusing on the involvement of women in the respective schemes.
After the analysis it was concluded that most of the microfinance which is entering the rural
and suburban sectors in West Bengal are attracting women. These women are using this micro
credit to set up self employment opportunities especially at their homes to supplement their
husbands meager income. This has in turn has assisted in the overall development of the
rural economy and made the women self sustaining. One can say that microfinance has gone
a long way towards giving hope to these women towards self sustainability.
Key Words : Empowerment, Micro Credit, Micro Finance, Rural Women, Sustainability.
INTRODUCTION
Supported by Constitutional guarantees to ensure dignity and equal opportunities,
the active participation of women in all walks of life including education, politics,
sport etc., has been growing. Taking note of womens role in the nation-building
activities, the Government had declared 2001 as the year of Womens
Empowerment by adopting a National Policy to offer Swashakti to women. Several
laws have also been adopted to empower women socially, economically, legally
and politically. Considering the role of rural India, the countrys backbone, the
*
Asst. Prof. Department of Commerce (Morning Section), St. Xaviers College (Autonomous),
Kolkata, E-mail : sohelighose@gmail.com
441
Government had taken several measures to strengthen Pachayanti Raj system

with the active participation of women. This gave a boost to increase the number
of women being elected to the Lok Sabha and State Assemblies, an indication to
suggest their political empowerment.
Few initiatives taken up by the Govt. of India are discussed below.
National Mission for Empowerment of Women
The Government has set up a National Mission for Empowerment of Women early
this year and the same has been notified on 8th of March, 2010. The Mission
aims at implementing the women-centric programmes in a mission mode to achieve
better coordination. The Ministry of Women and Child Development is administering
the Support to Training and Employment Programme of Women (STEP) scheme
with a view to help asset less and marginalised women become economically selfreliant. The scheme also aims at providing training for skill up gradation,
development of entrepreneurial skills, asset creation, and mobilisation into small
viable groups to enable beneficiaries to take up employment-cum income generation
activities. The Ministry has also launched the Priyadarshini scheme to empower
vulnerable groups of women in a holistic and sustainable manner by addressing
their social, political, legal, health related and economic problems through vigorous
capacity-building by organising them into Self-Help Groups (SHGs).
Swarna Jayanti Gram Swarozgar Yojana (SGSY)
The Ministry is also implementing the centrally sponsored scheme. The scheme is
designed to promote self-employment oriented income generating activities for
the BPL households in the rural areas. Special safeguards have been provided
for vulnerable sections by way of reserving 50 per cent benefits to Scheduled
Castes and Scheduled Tribes, 40 per cent for women, 15 per cent for minorities
and 3 per cent for disabled persons. Since its inception, about 37 lakh SHGs
have been formed and 134 lakh swarozgaris assisted, out of which, approximately
70 lakh (52 per cent) are women. The Rashtriya Mahila Kosh (RMK) scheme
extends micro-credit support for income generation to poor women grouped into
SHGs in unorganised sector.
India Vision 2020
India Vision 2020 document, while discussing about women in the labour force
has, inter alia, mentioned that secure child care support services are necessary
for working women. The 11th Five Year Plan document of the Planning Commission
incorporated various schemes and programmes for women and child development.
It also mentions about the setting up of crches in unorganised sector and
restructuring and revamping of the existing Rajiv Gandhi National Crche Scheme
for the children of working mothers.
National Policy for the Empowerment of Women (2001)
The principle of gender equality is enshrined in the Indian Constitution in its
Preamble, Fundamental Rights, Fundamental Duties and Directive Principles. The
Constitution not only grants equality to women, but also empowers the State to
442
adopt measures of positive discrimination in favour of women. Within the framework

of a democratic polity, our laws, development policies, Plans and programmes
have aimed at womens advancement in different spheres. From the Fifth Five
Year Plan (1974-78) onwards has been a marked shift in the approach to womens
issues from welfare to development. In recent years, the empowerment of women
has been recognized as the central issue in determining the status of women.
The National Commission for Women was set up by an Act of Parliament in 1990
to safeguard the rights and legal entitlements of women. The 73 rd and 74 th
Amendments (1993) to the Constitution of India have provided for reservation of
seats in the local bodies of Panchayats and Municipalities for women, laying a
strong foundation for their participation in decision making at the local levels.
Many steps have been taken by the Govt. towards the development of women
however, there still exists a wide gap between the goals enunciated in the
Constitution, legislation, policies, plans, programmes, and related mechanisms on
the one hand and the situational reality of the status of women in India, on the
other. This has been analyzed extensively in the Report of the Committee on the
Status of Women in India, Towards Equality, 1974 and highlighted in the National
Perspective Plan for Women, 1988-2000, the Shramshakti Report, 1988 and the
Platform for Action, Five Years after- An assessment.
The goals of the National Policy are to bring about the advancement, development
and empowerment of women. The objectives include creating an environment
through positive economic and social policies for development of women to enable
them to realize their full potential, access to health care, quality education,
employment, equal remuneration and social security. They also include elimination
of discrimination and all forms of violence against women and the girl child and
changing societal attitudes. Specifically, the objectives of this Policy include:
(i)
Creating an environment through positive economic and social policies for
full development of women to enable them to realize their full potential
(ii) The de-jure and de-facto enjoyment of all human rights and fundamental
freedom by women on equal basis with men in all spheres political,
economic, social, cultural and civil economic life of the nation.
(iii) Equal access to participation and decision making of women in social, political
and
(iv) Equal access to women to health care, quality education at all levels, career
and vocational guidance, employment, equal remuneration, occupational
health and safety, social security and public office etc.
(v) Strengthening legal systems aimed at elimination of all forms of discrimination
against women
(vi) Changing societal attitudes and community practices by active participation
and involvement of both men and women.
(vii) Mainstreaming a gender perspective in the development process.
(viii) Elimination of discrimination and all forms of violence against women and
the girl child; and
443
(ix) Building and strengthening partnerships with civil society, particularly womens
organizations.
Economic Empowerment of women includes Poverty Eradication, Micro Credit,
Women and Economy, Women and Industry.
The important role played by women in electronics, information technology and
food processing and agro industry and textiles has been crucial to the development
of these sectors. They are being given comprehensive support in terms of labour
legislation, social security and other support services to participate in various
industrial sectors.
Social Empowerment of Women includes the following
Education : Equal access to education for women and girls should be ensured.
Special measures should be taken to eliminate discrimination, universalize
education, eradicate illiteracy, create a gender-sensitive educational system,
increase enrolment and retention rates of girls and improve the quality of education
to facilitate life-long learning as well as development of occupation/vocation/technical
skills by women. Reducing the gender gap in secondary and higher education
should be a focus area.
Health : A holistic approach to womens health which includes both nutrition and
health services should be adopted and special attention should be given to the
needs of women and the girl at all stages of the life cycle. The reduction of infant
mortality and maternal mortality, which are sensitive indicators of human
development, is a priority concern. Women should have access to comprehensive,
affordable and quality health care.
In this context the role of micro-finance/credit in women empowerment has become
an interesting area of study. Microfinance programs have been increasingly
promoted in India for their positive economic impact and the belief that they
empower women. Most microfinance programs target women with the explicit goal
of empowering them. However, their underlying premises are different. Some argue
that women are amongst the poorest and the most vulnerable of the
underprivileged. Others believe that investing in womens capabilities empowers
them to make choices, which will contribute to greater economic growth and
development. Finally, some proponents emphasize that an increase in womans
resources results in higher well-being of the family, especially children. Another
issue that needs further investigation is whether micro credits reinforce womens
traditional roles or promote gender equality. A womans practical needs are closely
linked to the socially defined gender roles, responsibilities, and social structures,
which contribute to a tension between meeting womens practical needs in the
short-term and promoting long-term strategic change. By helping women meet
their practical needs and increase their efficacy in their traditional roles,
microfinance may in fact help women to gain respect and achieve more in their
socially defined roles, which in turn may lead to increased esteem and selfconfidence. Although increased self-confidence does not automatically lead to
empowerment, it may contribute decisively to a womans ability and willingness to
challenge the social injustices and discriminatory systems that they face. This
444
implies that as women become financially better-off their self confidence and
bargaining power within the household increases and this indirectly leads to their
empowerment. Finally, given that empowerment is a process, the impact of the
microfinance program may take a long time before it is significantly reflected on
the observable measures of women empowerment.
LITERATURE REVIEW
Former World Bank President James Wolfensohn said Microfinance fits squarely
into the Banks overall strategy. As you know, the Banks mission is to reduce
poverty and improve living standards by promoting sustainable growth and
investment in people through loans, technical assistance, and policy guidance.
Microfinance contributes directly to this objective. Indian public policy for rural
finance from 1950s to till date mirrors the patterns observed worldwide. Increasing
access to credit for the poor has always remained at the core of Indian planning
in fight against poverty. Financial services could enable the poor to leverage their
initiative, accelerating the process of building incomes, assets and economic
security. However, conventional finance institutions seldom lend down-market to
serve the needs of low-income families and women-headed households. They are
very often denied access to credit for any purpose, making the discussion of the
level of interest rate and other terms of finance irrelevant. Therefore the
fundamental problem is not so much of unaffordable terms of loan as the lack of
access to credit itself. The lack of access to credit for the poor is attributable to
practical difficulties arising from the discrepancy between the mode of operation
followed by financial institutions and the economic characteristics and financing
needs of low income households. For example, commercial lending institutions
require that borrowers have a stable source of income out of which principal and
interest can be paid back according to the agreed terms. However, the income of
many self employed households is not stable, regardless of its size. A large number
of small loans are needed to serve the poor, but lenders prefer dealing with large
loans in small numbers to minimize administration costs. They also look for collateral
with a clear title - which many low-income households do not have. In addition
bankers tend to consider low income households a bad risk imposing exceedingly
high information monitoring costs on operation. Simanowitz & Walter (2002)
correctly observe that Microfinance is a compromise between social and financial
objectives. To date most emphasis has been on financial and institutional
performance. In order to bring the social aspect back into microfinance, policy
makers has been advocating mainstreaming of Social Performance Management
(SPM) to improve the effectiveness of microfinance in reducing financial exclusion
and poverty. While microfinance may be a winning proposition for banks, the winning
evidence on clients side seems doubtful. The institutional approach flowing out
of past negative experiences has shifted the goalpost to financial solvency but in
the process missed the vital link of credit usage. In this scenario, it can be said
with certainty that potential of microfinance to contribute to achievement of MDGs
in India, especially reduction of poverty remains suspect. Greeley (2005) rightly
notes that in absence of specific poverty targeting and mainstreaming of impact
assessment, the claims about the impact of microfinance on the achievement of
445
MDG lacks credibility. Thus to safeguard the micro borrowers the MFIs should
extend the scope of the market by including various types of savings products,
payment and remittance services, and various insurance products.
OBJECTIVE AND METHODOLOGY OF THE STUDY
In this context I have studied the steps taken by Barrackpore, Ranigunj and North
Dumdum Municipality towards sustainability of women through Micro Finance,
Swarna Jayanti Sahari Rozgar Yojana, and Community Development Society,
Vocational Training through DWCUA groups and similar schemes and incentives
in the period of 2003 to 2009. A comparison is done between the years to see
whether there is any consistency or increase in the efforts. The various schemes
studied were analysed within each other to understand their differences or
similarities. The vocational training activities were analysed to find the most popular
ones. Thus an overall analysis was done to see the role and effect of these
schemes in the respective locality. Data collected for the above study is mainly
Secondary the source being various archives and websites like the concerned
department in the respective municipalities, individual bank websites and others.
ANALYSIS AND INFERENCES FROM THE STUDY
The steps taken by the Barrack pore Municipality towards women empowerment
through self sustenance is a pioneering effort of the Government towards better
living and overall development of the women folk in this semi urban locality. The
Ranigunj and North Dumdum Municipality have also taken a lot of initiative towards
creating CDS and thereby furthering the above mentioned points. These efforts
have given hope, impetus and a new direction to many impoverished families,
where the male members earning is not enough to make both ends meet. Thus
the women of the house are moving towards self sustaining activities. Though
they may look like very small ventures at the onset, however this is a new trend
leading towards micro and small scale entrepreneurship.
The MUNICIPALITY OF BARRACKPORE had started quite a few schemes towards
the development of the women folk in the locality.
Introduction of Swarna Jayanti Sahari Rozgar Yojana
The S.J.S.R.Y. sponsored by the Govt. of India in 1997 was introduced in the
Barrack pore Municipality in the later part of 1998. Since then S.J.S.R.Y. is intended
to uplift the economic condition and the standard of living of the women living
below the poverty line. The Community Development Society (CDS) I was
registered in 2000 and the implementation of S.J.S.R.Y. got momentum, culminating
in Thrift and Credit Groups from 2000-2001. The number of Thrift and Credit
Groups being formed each year have increased from 15 in 2001 to 48 in 2009 in
CDS I (total 383) and from 20 in 2001 to 65 in 2009 in CDS II (total 396). As on
March 2009 there were 779 such groups with a membership of 13260 individuals.
These Thrift and Credit groups have so far garnered savings to the tune of Rs.
60,00,000. Out of this Rs. 45,00,000 was lent to the members for financing their
micro enterprises and meeting their social and consumption needs.
446
ORGANIZATION AND REGISTRATION OF COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT

SOCIETY
The number of NHC comprising CDS I is 10 and that in CDS II is 14. The CDSs
have been performing the following functions.
1.
Investment and recovery of revolving fund
2.
Monitoring the activities of Thrift and Credit Groups and DWCUA Groups.
3.
Sponsoring of micro enterprise and DWCUA enterprise bank loans.
4.
Follow up action for sanction and recovery of bank loans.
5.
Monitoring of vocational training programme.
6.
Implementation of poverty eradication and economic development projects.
7.
Doing contracting job for implementation of infrastructure development work
under KUSP in slums.
8.
Implementation of contracting work for the Municipality whenever asked.
9.
Garbage collection from slum households from two municipal wards.
10. Operation and maintenance of Public Convenience System in the premises
of Barrackpore B.N. Bose Sub-Divisional Hospital and Barrack Pore
Chiriamore through a DWCUA Group.
11. Cleaning of Computers and Telephones by a DWCUA Group.
12. Maintenance, Switching on and off the street lights within the Barrack pore
Municipality through a DWCUA group.
13. Implementation of Mid-day meal programme.
14. Conservation work like cleaning of roads and drains in 6 municipal wards.
15. Collection of water users fees from the households and commercial houses
in all the 24 wards of the municipality.
16. Running of call centre to provide extra municipal services.
Community Development Society I was formed in 1999 and registered in
2000.Through this scheme a number of loans are being provided through micro
financing by various banks as mentioned in the table. Thus one can conclude
that over the years the number of loanees have been increasing under each
bank. The major loan giving banks were Bank of Baroda (BOB), Bank of India
(BOI), SBI (Railway Station) and UBI. Its also seen that in CDSI few banks like
SBI, UBI, and BOB have a large number of loanees as compared to the other
banks.
TABLE 1 : Year wise Bank Loan in respect of Micro-Enterprise in CDS I
S. No
Year
Bank
No. of Loanees
Amount
1
2003-2004
SBI (Rly. Stn)
20
200000
2
2003-2004
Bank of India
5
90000
3
2004-2005
UBI (BKP)
12
135000
4
2004-2005
SBI (Annandapuri)
7
101000
5
2004-2005
BOB
2
35000
447
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
17
18
19
20
21
2004-2005
2005-2006
2005-2006
2005-2006
2006-2007
2006-2007
2007-2008
2007-2008
2007-2008
2007-2008
2008-2009
2008-2009
2008-2009
2008-2009
2008-2009
2008-2009
TOTAL
UBI (NCP)
SBI (Annandapuri)
SBI (Rly. Stn)
BOB
UBI (BKP)
BOB
CBI
BOI
UBI (BKP)
SBI (Rly. Stn)
BOI
SBI (Rly. Stn)
CBI
BOB
UBI (BKP)
BOB
6
20
32
4
15
7
1
2
28
25
1
13
6
10
26
7
249
31100
230000
628000
55000
214000
78000
49000
35000
322000
440000
30000
362000
145000
125000
587000
137000
4029100
CHART 1 Year wise Bank Loan in CDS I from 2003-2009.
TABLE 2 : Year wise Bank Loan in respect of Micro-Enterprise in CDS II

S. No
Year
Bank
No. of Loanees
Amount
1
2003-2004
BOI
5
85000
2
2004-2005
ALLAHABAD BANK
2
15000
3
2004-2005
SBI (Annandapuri)
8
90000
4
2004-2005
IOB
5
50000
5
2004-2005
UBI (NCP)
6
50000
6
2005-2006
SBI (Annandapuri)
23
345000
448
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
17
18
19
20
21
2005-2006
2005-2006
2005-2006
2005-2006
2007-2008
2007-2008
2007-2008
2007-2008
2008-2009
2008-2009
2008-2009
2008-2009
2008-2009
2008-2009
2008-2009
TOTAL
BOB
BOB
ALLAHABAD BANK
UBI (NCP)
CBI
BOI
UBI (BKP)
BOB
BOI
UBI (NCP)
CBI
BOB
BOB
ALLAHABAD BANK
IOB
13
11
3
4
3
12
15
14
9
7
2
14
16
9
15
196
139000
115000
15000
90000
149000
265000
423000
158000
130000
223000
80000
145000
250000
269000
345500
3431500
CHART 2 Year wise Bank Loan in CDS II from 2003-2009.
Community Development Society II was formed in 2001.Through this scheme a

number of loans are being provided through micro financing by various banks as
mentioned in tithe above table. Thus one can conclude that over the years the
number of loanees have been increasing under each bank. The major loan giving
banks were Bank of Baroda (BOB), Bank of India (BOI), Allahabad Bank, SBI
(Anandapuri) and UBI. Its also seen that in CDSII few banks like SBI, UBI, and
BOB have a large number of loanees as compared to the other banks.
On comparing CDSI and CDSII one can conclude that the number of loanees
and also the amount of loan is more in CDSI than CDSII. Thus one can infer that
CDSI has a greater reach and base than CDSII. Its also seen that over the years
the number of Banks giving loans other than SBI has also increased, thereby
indicating that the accessibility of these micro finance loans are increasing to the
449
poor. Thus the CDS are actually doing a good job in acting as a connecting link
between the local people of barrack pore municipality (especially women) and the
banks in accessing micro finance schemes for self sustenance.
Up to 2009 the CDSs have organised 38 DWCUA Groups which have been
engaged in the following tables.
TABLE 3 DWCUA Groups in CDS I
Sl.
No.
1
2
3
4
5
Karukriti
Prerana
Anannya
Akarshani
Dishari
Ward
No.
7
12
12
15
19
6
7
Srijani
Proyojani
20
24
Souharda
Swapno
Mongal Deep
Uduyan
14
16
12
12
8
9
10
11
Name
Nature of
Business
Batik Printing
Cotton Bags Making
Fish Farming
Instant Tea and Coffee, Snacks
Spices and Maintenance of Public Convenience
in B.N Bose Hospital
Grocery and Provision
Call Centre, Street Lighting, Stationery, Grocery
and Provision
Wool Knitting
Jari, Brocade and Embroidery Work
Maintenance of Street Light and Stationery
Foam and Jute Bag Making
The above table shows the various types of activities taken up by DWCUA groups
in CDS I. As we can see Call Centre, Street Lighting, Stationery, Grocery and
Provision in ward number 24 and Maintenance of Street Light and Stationery in
ward number 12 are very new job avenues especially for women. These were not
an option for women previously. However with the effort of the Government through
these CDS, these avenues are also slowly opening up for women.
TABLE 4 : DWCUA Groups under CDS II
Sl.
No.
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
450
Name
Jari
Bijayee
Sarada
Jayanti
Sristi
Loknath
Safalyalata
Ward
No.
1
1
1
2
3
4
4
Nature of
Business
Foam and Jute Bag Making
Home Service
Sale of Rice
Batik Printing and Sales
Stationery and General Order Supplier
Printing and General Order Supplier
Saree and Cosmetics
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
17
18
19
20
21
22
23
24
25
26
Sree
Nistha
Astha
Shilpi
Prarombhik
Suravi
Mondal Para Check Post
Saheli
Roshni
No. 1, G.C. Rd.
Sabnam
Kohinoor
Unity
Chandni
Ashar Alo
Parveen
Tulika
Swapna Nil
Eksathe
Spices, Grocery and Provision

Xeroxing
Beauty Parlour and Saree
Terracota and Handicrafts
Sale of Porcelain and Glass Utensils
Spices and Saree
Supply of Meal to Child Labour School
Leather Goods Making
Maintenance and Operation of Public
Convenience System
27 Khushbu
18 Spices
As we can see in the above table, in CDS II Jari, Brocade and Embroidery Work
is a very popular source of livelihood thereby a number of wards are dedicated
to these professions. On comparing CDS I and II one can conclude that the number
of ward activities is more in the latter. Thus the type and number of activities
taken up by these DWCUA groups are also more varied.
TABLE 5 Vocational Training under S.J.S.R.Y.
S. No
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
5
5
5
5
10
10
17
17
18
18
18
17
18
18
17
18
17
18
21
Trades
Tailoring
Nursing Aid
Wool Knitting
Beautician
Jari Rakhi Bindi and Garland
Foam and Jute Bags
Batik Printing
Wax Decorative and Dry Flower Making
Silk Screen Printing and Glass Painting
Total
No. of Trainees
125
50
25
50
25
50
50
25
25
425
451
CHART 3 Vocational Training under S.J.S.R.Y.
The above table shows the types of vocational training imparted through the
Swarna Jayanti Sahari Rozgar Yojana (S.J.S.R.Y.) in Barrack pore Municipality.
One can conclude that Tailoring is one of the most popular activities. This may
be because women can easily continue their work from home thus being able to
handle their children, household chores while earning a successful living.
The MUNICIPALITY OF RANIGUNJ (REGD. NO. -S/92612 OF 1998 1999) has
incorporated as many as 3 CDSs between 2005 and 2011 each receiving and
distributing funds from the municipality and to the required schemes. The tables
below depict a detailed picture of the funds of the 3 CDS.
RANIGANJ MUNICIPALITY, BURDWAN. CDS I
TABLE 6 Details of CDS I
YEAR
31/3/05
GRANT RECEIVED
FROM MUNICIPALITY
32000.00
31/3/06
20000.00
31/3/07
20000.00
BANK
A/c No. 16527 at BOI
A/c No. 2777 at Co-operative
AMOUNT
21940.00
140757.00
156411.00
11187.00
165902.00
119622.00
CHART 4 Grant Received from Municipality of CDS I
452
CHART 5 : Bank A/c Details of CDS I
We can conclude from the above table & charts that though the grant received
from the municipality may have reduced a little but the amount in the banks and
cooperative have increased considerably. The main account is in Bank of India
where the balance has increased from Rs. 21940 in 2005 to Rs. 165902 in 2007.
The balance at the co-operative account has been fluctuating.
RANIGANJ MUNICIPALITY, BURDWAN. CDS II
TABLE 7 Details of CDS II
YEAR
31/3/07
GRANT RECEIVED
FROM MUNICIPALITY
20000.00
31/3/08
16281.00
31/3/09
14447.00
31/3/10
33985.00
31/3/11
10000.00
BANK
A/c
A/c
A/c
A/c
A/c
A/c
A/c
A/c
A/c
A/c
No.16528 at BOI
No. 2278 at Co-operative
No. 16528 at BOI
No. 16528 at BOI
No. 16528 at BOI
No. 16528 at BOI
AMOUNT
111795.00
143999.50
203051.00
154083.50
254513.00
157590.50
283493.00
183242.50
305178.00
181529.50
CHART 6 Grant Received from Municipality of CDS II
453
CHART 7 Bank A/c Details of CDS II
from the municipality has been fluctuating with a rise in 2010 but again falling in
2011. The main account is in Bank of India where the balance has increased
from Rs. 111795 in 2007 to Rs. 305178 in 2011. The balance at the co-operative
account has been more or less stable with the overall increase from Rs. 143999
in 2007 to Rs. 181529 in 2011. However the rise in the balance of BOI has been
sharper as compared to the balance in the co-operative bank.
RANIGANJ MUNICIPALITY, BURDWAN. CDS III
TABLE 8 : Details of CDS III
YEAR
31/3/09
GRANT RECEIVED
FROM MUNICIPALITY
Data not Available
31/3/10
30620.00
31/3/11
10000.00
BANK
A/c
A/c
A/c
A/c
A/c
A/c
No.
No.
No.
No.
No.
No.
16529 at BOI
2779 at Co-operative
16529 at BOI
16529 at BOI
AMOUNT
61763.00
201798.00
95430.00
255194.00
130033.00
316423.00
CHART 8 : Grant Received from Municipality of CDS III
454
CHART 9 : Bank A/c Details of CDS III
from the municipality may have reduced a little but the amount in the banks and
cooperative have increased considerably. The main account is in Bank of India
where the balance has increased from Rs. 61763 in 2009 to Rs. 130033 in 2011.
The balance at the co-operative account has also increased from Rs. 201798 in
2009 to Rs. 316423 in 2011. Here the rise in the balance in the co-operative
account is sharper than the balance in BOI.
Comparing the three CDSs we can conclude that the bank balance in BOI has
been increasing considerably over the years. In CDS III the rise in the balance in
the co-operative account is sharper than the balance in BOI unlike CDS I & CDS
II where its just the opposite case. The amount of balance in BOI has been
maximum in the case of CDS II and the one in the co-operative being maximum in
the case of CDS III. There has been a comparable decrease in the Municipality
Fund in all three CDSs over the years however the support has been consistent.
Thus in all three CDSs the government has been taking an active role towards
providing funds for the developmental activities.
NORTH DUMDUM MUNICIPALITY
TABLE 9 Details of CDS
CDS I
Cash at Bank
CDS II
1586084.50
Cash at Bank
(Account No. 12386
(Account No. 86479
at UCO, Birati Br.)
at UBI, Nimta Br.)
A/c No. 13632
1341562.40
at UCO, Birati Br.)

A/c No. 21951
at UCO, Birati Br.)
Bank of India
37902.00
At 29670100005748
A/c No. 162234
34852.00
306521.00
(Account No. 123897

at UBI, Nimta Br.)
2544484.00
862708.00
1484966.00
at UBI, Nimta Br.)
Comparing the two CDSs in the year 2011 we can conclude that the bank balance
455
in United Bank of India is much more in case of CDS II each having two accounts
in different branches.
The role of women is no longer confined to being a homemaker. Women all over
India are taking active interest in earning their own living and in most cases
supplementing and supporting their spouses financially for a better livelihood. What
began as a micro Cottage Industry movement is taking new dimensions in women
entrepreneurship. The Indian Govt. is also taking definitive steps through various
projects in helping women from different walks of life and exhaustive socio-economic
backgrounds into being self sufficient through micro and small scale
entrepreneurship not only in Barrackpore but all over the country.
Thus one can conclude that the Govt. has been taking successful steps in
empowering the women in Barrackpore through various micro financing schemes,
CDSs, DWCUA Groups, S.J.S.R.Y. and others. Though we have a long way to go,
these small efforts are helping the impoverished women in a huge way towards
attaining self sustenance. Though the entrepreneurships are micro, they have a
huge growth potential. Thus with the efforts of the govt. and local groups, Women
Empowerment through Entrepreneurship is no longer a myth.
REFERENCES
1.
Gulab Singh Azad (1988), Development of Entreprenuership among Rural Women: An

Overview. The Utkal Business Review, Vol 15. PG Deptt. Of Commerce Utkal University.
2.
Rutherford, S. (2000). The poor and their money. New Delhi: Oxford University Press.
3.
Sa-Dhan. (2002). Enhancing Financial Flows to the Poor: The Way Forward. Summary of
the sub-group reports presented to the empowered committee on financial flows to the
unorganized sector. New Delhi: Sa-Dhan.
4.
Sinha, S. (2001). The role of central banks in microfinance in Asia and the Pacific. Manila:
Asian Development Bank.
5.
Shylendra (2004), The SHG Bank Linkage Programme, Journal of Rural Development.
23(4).
6.
Sriram, M. S. (2001). Case study of SHARE group. In S Datta & M. S. Sriram, Flow of
Credit to Small and Marginal Farmers in India (report submitted to the Ministry of
Agriculture, Government of India). Ahmedabad: Indian Institute of Management.
7.
Sriram, M. S. (2002). Information asymmetry and trust: A framework for studying

microfinance in India (WP No. 2002-09-02). Ahmedabad: Indian Institute of Management.
8.
Wardhana, A. (2001). Introduction. In M. Robinson (Ed.) The microfinance revolution:

Sustainable finance for the poor. Washington DC: World Bank.
Yunus, M. (2003). Some suggestions on legal framework for creating microcredit banks.
Dhaka: Grameen Bank
9.
10. Relevant Departments of the Barrackpore, Ranigunj and North Dumdum Municipality.
456

Kindler Volume XV July-December 2015 Conference Special

Încărcat de

Informații document

Drepturi de autor

Formate disponibile

Partajați acest document

Partajați sau inserați document

Opțiuni de partajare

Vi se pare util acest document?

Este necorespunzător acest conținut?

Drepturi de autor:

Formate disponibile

Kindler Volume XV July-December 2015 Conference Special

Încărcat de

Drepturi de autor:

Formate disponibile

KINDLER

THE JOURNAL OF ARMY INSTITUTE OF MANAGEMENT KOLKATA

VOLUME XV q NUMBER 2 q ISSN 0973-0486 q JULY-DECEMBER 2015

Dr. Parveen Ahmed Alam

Dr. Parveen Ahmed Alam

Kindler Vol. XV l No. 2 l July-December 2015

Cause Related Marketing Campaigns and

Alumnus, Post-Graduate Department of Commerce (Marketing Management), St. Xaviers College

Kindler Vol. XV l No. 2 l July-December 2015

(2006) unfurled, this Manhattan-based multinational financial services corporation

Kindler Vol. XV l No. 2 l July-December 2015

OBJECTIVES AND HYPOTHESIS FORMULATION

Exhibit 1: A Conceptual Model highlighting the impact of CRM initiatives on Consumer

Kindler Vol. XV l No. 2 l July-December 2015

RESEARCH DESIGN AND METHODOLOGY

Below INR 10000

Kindler Vol. XV l No. 2 l July-December 2015

Kindler Vol. XV l No. 2 l July-December 2015

Extraction Method: Principal Component Analysis; Rotation Method: Varimax with

Kindler Vol. XV l No. 2 l July-December 2015

Std. Error of the Estimate

Predictors: (Constant), CRM

a. Dependent Variable: CPI

a. Dependent Variable=Consumer Purchase Intention (CPI)

Kindler Vol. XV l No. 2 l July-December 2015

**Correlation is significant at 0.01 level (2-tailed)

Kindler Vol. XV l No. 2 l July-December 2015

Kindler Vol. XV l No. 2 l July-December 2015

Kindler Vol. XV l No. 2 l July-December 2015

Dias, I. (2012), Cause-related marketing on Facebook: How successful is it really?,

Frow, P. and Payne, A. (2004), Customer Relationship Management: From Strategy To

Gupta, S. and Pirsch, J. (2006), A Taxonomy of Cause-related Marketing Research:

Kindler Vol. XV l No. 2 l July-December 2015

The Phychology Behind Investors Behaviour

Investment, Risk, Emotions, Behavioural Finance

Associate Professor, HOD Management, Techno India University, Kolkata - 700091,

Kindler Vol. XV l No. 2 l July-December 2015

beliefs rather than fundamental awareness. Therefore chances of committing

Kindler Vol. XV l No. 2 l July-December 2015

incur losses. Addiction to acquisition of money is the attraction towards fame,

investor behavior but factors such as management team competence, knowledge

Kindler Vol. XV l No. 2 l July-December 2015

from objective risk assessments and that affective/emotional reactions appear to

More return with minimum risk

More return with comparatively higher risk

High return with higher risk.

Kindler Vol. XV l No. 2 l July-December 2015

the past performance and goodwill of the company;

Dividend policies / Rate of return ;

iii) Gain maximum wealth quickly in short span of time;

Family and peer groups opinion.

iii) I mproving financial status.

Investors separating their investments between a safe investment and a

Kindler Vol. XV l No. 2 l July-December 2015

Subrahmanyam, A.,(2007), Behavioural Finance: A Review and Synthesis, European

Kindler Vol. XV l No. 2 l July-December 2015

Status Quo - Changing Scenario in

Glocal, HRD, attrition, performance appraisal, potential appraisal

Assistant Professor, Department of Business Administration, Aligarh Muslim University, AMUMC

Kindler Vol. XV l No. 2 l July-December 2015

Kindler Vol. XV l No. 2 l July-December 2015

To know lack of adoption of intuitive and innovative HRD practices in

To focus on the emphasis of organizational and LLL (life long learning).

and selection), training and development, payroll management, rewards and