A Project Report on

“Effectiveness of ‘SAP HR’ in NTPC

Vindhyachal”

for
National Thermal Power
Corporation Limited

In partial fulfilment for the award of

the degree of
Master of Business Administration

(2009 - 2011)

United Institute of Management

Allahabad

Under the guidance of: Submitted by:

Mr.Om Prakash Vishwakarma Ms. Ruby Singh
(Faculty, UIM) MBA 3rd Sem.
 Acknowledgement

A summer project is a golden opportunity for learning and self development. I

consider myself very lucky and honoured to have so many wonderful people lead me
through in completion of this project.

First of all I would like to thank Mr.Sebastian Joseph, DGM (HR) and Mr.John
Philip, Manager (HR) for allowing me to take up my project at their reputed
organisation.

My grateful thanks to Ms.Shilpa Dungdung Officer (HR) who in spite of being

extraordinarily busy with her duties, took time out to hear, guide and keep me on the
correct path.

My special thanks to Ms.Sayoni Majumdar Officer (HR), Mrs.B.Sucharita

Sr.Officer (HR) and every staff member of NTPC-VSTPS for their guidance at every
stage of the project that enabled me to successfully complete this project which
otherwise would not have been possible for me to complete the report with fullest
endeavour.

Mr.O.P.Vishwakarma (Faculty, UIM) whose patience I have probably tested to the

limit. He was always so involved in the entire process, shared his knowledge and
encouraged me to think.

Last but not the least there were so many who shared valuable information that helped
in the successful completion of this project.

RUBY SINGH
MBA 3rd Sem.

2
 Preface

“Learning categorizes you and practicing on that learning specializes you.”

Practice orientation of management student is must generating competence to deal

with issues at grass root level; it is for this reason that six weeks summer training is
prescribed as a part of syllabus for MBA course.

This training is the mode of imparting practical knowledge to the student. The
objective is to provide a deep insight into practical aspects of the functioning of the
organisation. It provides us with the knowledge of the various kinds of problem that
crop up in the day to day functioning of the organisation, the way they are solved by
the departments and appraisal of the crucial decision taken by the manager at the
crucial time.

The Project focuses on aligning Employees, Strategies and Processes for Business
Success. In the first part of the study, the overall power related activities that have
been undertaken by NTPC over the past years have been discussed to give a basic
understanding of the work that is performed by the company. In the second part, the
need of SAP ERP in different areas of NTPC to effectively deal with business
challenges has been discussed. In this project work, the basic aim is to establish a
report which can state the importance of SAP ERP in today’s business development.

By adopting some of the recommendations identified in the questionnaire, the NTPC

Limited could improve their service effectiveness through SAP ERP process, and as a
consequence, their customer satisfaction and loyalty.

This has given me an altogether new experience, which would be an immense help to
me in my days to come.

3
 Declaration

I Ruby Singh hereby affirm that the Project Report entitled “Effectiveness of SAP
HR in NTPC Vindhyachal” prepared by me during the year 2010-11 in partial
fulfilment of the requirements of Master of Business Administration degree, is my
original work and have never been submitted elsewhere.

4
 Contents

Acknowledgement I
Preface II
Declaration III

Chapter Page No.

1 Industrial Profile 1- 5

• Introduction 2

• Growth of Indian Power Sector 2

• Structure of power supply industry 2

• Indian Power Industry – Current scenario 4

2 Organisation Profile 6 - 34

• Brief history of NTPC 7

• Organization structure of NTPC 9

o NTPC Mission 10

o NTPC Vision 10

o Core Values – BCOMIT 11

o Location of NTPC Plants 12

o Subsidiaries 13

o Acquisitions 14

o Introduction to NTPC Vindhyachal 15

o Human Resources 16

• Performance 26

o Recognitions and Awards 26

5
 o Diversified growth 28

o Future capacity additions 30

• Products and services of NTPC 31

o Power generation 31

3 Objective and scope of study 35 - 36

• Objective of the study 36

• Scope of the study 36

4 Theoretical Concept 37 - 70

SAP AG Profile 38 - 52

• Overview 39

• SAP Business Suite 40

• ERP software from SAP 42

• The evolution of mySAP ERP 49

• Best practice using SAP ERP 49

• SAP ERP Human Capital Management 50

• Advantages and disadvantages of SAP ERP 52

Change Management 53 – 63

• Change Management 54

• Change Management Principles 56

• Change Management Models 56

• Change Management Process 59

• ERP (Enterprise Resource Planning) 60

6
 Project LAKSHYA in NTPC 64 - 70

• LAKSHYA Mission 65

• Project objectives 65

• Implementation of SAP ERP (Project LAKSHYA) 65

• Importance of LAKKSHYA in NTPC 66

• Project DISHA 67

• Screen shots for SAP HR modules 68

5 Research methodology 71 - 74

6 Data analysis and Interpretation 75 - 94

7 Conclusion and Recommendations 95 - 98

8 Limitations of the study 99 - 100

Bibliography 101
Annexure
Abbreviations

List of figures
Figure 2.1 Growth chart 7
Figure 2.2 NTPC’s Power Contribution towards India 8
Figure 2.3 Organization structure of NTPC 9
Figure 2.4 Location of NTPC Plants 12
Figure 2.5 Employee development and growth 16
Figure 2.6 Elements of HR Strategy 19
Figure 4.1 R/3 Core Business Processes 46
Figure 4.2 Change Management Process 59
Figure 4.3 Factors for success of ERP implementation 61
Figure 4.4 Challenges in ERP implementation 61
Figure 4.5 Forces for successful change management 63
Figure 6.1 Training 76

7
Figure 6.2 Paper work 77
Figure 6.3 Productivity 78
Figure 6.4 Integration of all departments 79
Figure 6.5 Time & delivery of services 80
Figure 6.6 Customer satisfaction 81
Figure 6.7 Workload 82
Figure 6.8 Chances of error 83
Figure 6.9 Efficiency of employees 84
Figure 6.10 Compliance with changing global and local regulation 85
Figure 6.11 Convenience than older system 86
Figure 6.12 Availability of SAP ERP services 87
Figure 6.13 Transaction process 88
Figure 6.14 Decision making 89
Figure 6.15 Application Tracker 90
Figure 6.16 Adaptation to changing environment 91
Figure 6.17 User friendly 92
Figure 6.18 Transparency and control of the organisation 93
Figure 6.19 Standardized business 94

8
 Chapter-:1
Industrial Profile

Introduction
The power sector has registered significant progress since the process of planned
development of the economy began in 1950. Hydro -power and coal based thermal
power have been the main sources of generating electricity. Nuclear power
development is at slower pace, which was introduced, in late sixties. The concept of
operating power systems on a regional basis crossing the political boundaries of states
was introduced in the early sixties. In spite of the overall development that has taken

9
place, the power supply industry has been under constant pressure to bridge the gap
between supply and demand.

Growth of Indian Power Sector

Power development is the key to the economic development. The power Sector has
been receiving adequate priority ever since the process of planned development began
in 1950. The Power Sector has been getting 18-20% of the total Public Sector outlay
in initial plan periods. Remarkable growth and progress have led to extensive use of
electricity in all the sectors of economy in the successive five years plans. Over the
years (since 1950) the installed capacity of Power Plants (Utilities) has increased to
1,59,398 MW (31.3.10) from meagre 1713 MW in 1950, registering a 93 fold increase
in 60 years. Similarly, the electricity generation increased from about 5.1 Billion
Units to 765.83 Billion Units in 2009-10 – 150 fold increase. The per capita
consumption of electricity in the country also increased from 15 kWh in 1950 to about
704 kWh in 2008-09, which is about 46 times. In the field of Rural Electrification and
pump set energisation, country has made a tremendous progress. About 85% of the
villages have been electrified except far-flung areas in North Eastern states, where it
is difficult to extend the grid supply.

Structure of power supply industry

In December 1950 about 63% of the installed capacity in the Utilities was in the
private sector and about 37% was in the public sector. The Industrial Policy
Resolution of 1956 envisaged the generation, transmission and distribution of power
almost exclusively in the public sector. As a result of this Resolution and facilitated
by the Electricity (Supply) Act, 1948, the electricity industry developed rapidly in the
State Sector.

In the Constitution of India "Electricity" is a subject that falls within the concurrent
jurisdiction of the Centre and the States. The Electricity (Supply) Act, 1948,
provides an elaborate institutional frame work and financing norms of the
performance of the electricity industry in the country. The Act envisaged creation of

10
State Electricity Boards (SEBs) for planning and implementing the power
development programmes in their respective States. The Act also provided for
creation of central generation companies for setting up and operating generating
facilities in the Central Sector. The Central Electricity Authority constituted under
the Act is responsible for power planning at the national level. In addition the
Electricity (Supply) Act also allowed from the beginning the private licensees to
distribute and/or generate electricity in the specified areas designated by the
concerned State Government/SEB.

During the post independence period, the various States played a predominant role in
the power development. Most of the States have established State Electricity Boards.
In some of these States separate corporations have also been established to install and
operate generation facilities. In the rest of the smaller States and UTs the power
systems are managed and operated by the respective electricity departments. In a few
States private licensees are also operating in certain urban areas.

From, the Fifth Plan onwards i.e. 1974-79, the Government of India got itself
involved in a big way in the generation and bulk transmission of power to supplement
the efforts at the State level and took upon itself the responsibility of setting up large
power projects to develop the coal and hydroelectric resources in the country as a
supplementary effort in meeting the country’s power requirements. The National
thermal Power Corporation (NTPC) and National Hydro-electric Power
Corporation (NHPC) were set up for these purposes in 1975. North-Eastern
Electric Power Corporation (NEEPCO) was set up in 1976 to implement the
regional power projects in the North-East. Subsequently two more power generation
corporations were set up in 1988 viz. Tehri Hydro Development Corporation
(THDC) and Nathpa Jhakri Power Corporation (NJPC). To construct, operate and
maintain the inter-State and interregional transmission systems the National Power
Transmission Corporation (NPTC) was set up in 1989. The corporation was
renamed as POWER GRID in 1992.

The policy of liberalisation the Government of India announced in 1991 and

consequent amendments in Electricity (Supply) Act have opened new vistas to
involve private efforts and investments in electricity industry. Considerable emphasis

11
has been placed on attracting private investment and the major policy changes have
been announced by the Government in this regard.

Indian power industry- Current scenario

Generation

India has the fifth largest generation capacity in the world with an installed capacity
of 152 GW as on 30 September 2009, which is about 4 percent of global power
generation. The top four countries, viz., US, Japan, China and Russia together
consume about 49 percent of the total power generated globally. The average per
capita consumption of electricity in India is estimated to be 704 kWh during 2008-09.
However, this is fairly low when compared to that of some of the developed and
emerging nations such as US (~15,000 kWh) and China (~1,800 kWh). The world
average stands at 2,300 kWh. The Indian government has set ambitious goals in the
11th plan for power sector owing to which the power sector is poised for significant
expansion. In order to provide availability of over 1000 units of per capita electricity
by year 2012, it has been estimated that need-based capacity addition of more than
100,000 MW would be required. This has resulted in massive addition plans being
proposed in the sub-sectors of Generation Transmission and Distribution.

Transmission
The current installed transmission capacity is only 13 percent of the total installed
generation capacity. With focus on increasing generation capacity over the next 8-10
years, the corresponding investments in the transmission sector is also expected to
augment. The Ministry of Power plans to establish an integrated National Power Grid
in the country by 2012 with close to 200,000 MW generation capacities and 37,700
MW of inter-regional power transfer capacity. Considering that the current inter-
regional power transfer capacity of 20,750 MW, this is indeed an ambitious objective
for the country.

Distribution

12
While some progress has been made at reducing the Transmission and Distribution
(T&D) losses, these still remain substantially higher than the global benchmarks, at
approximately 33 percent. In order to address some of the issues in this segment,
reforms have been undertaken through unbundling the State Electricity Boards into
separate Generation, Transmission and Distribution units and privatization of power
distribution has been initiated either through the outright privatization or the
franchisee route; results of these initiatives have been somewhat mixed. While there
has been a slow and gradual improvement in metering, billing and collection
efficiency, the current loss levels still pose a significant challenge for distribution
companies going forward.

13
 Chapter-:2
Organisation Profile

Brief history of NTPC

India’s largest power company, NTPC was set up in 1975 to accelerate power
development in India. NTPC is emerging as a diversified power major with presence
in the entire value chain of the power generation business. Apart from power
generation, which is the mainstay of the company, NTPC has already ventured into

14
consultancy, power trading, ash utilisation and coal mining. NTPC ranked 317th in the
‘2009, Forbes Global 2000’ ranking of the world’s biggest companies.
.

The total installed capacity of the company is 31,704 MW (including JVs) with 15
coal based and 7 gas based stations, located across the country. In addition under JVs,
3 stations are coal based & another station uses naptha/LNG as fuel. By 2017, the
power generation portfolio is expected to have a diversified fuel mix with coal based
capacity of around 53000 MW, 10000 MW through gas, 9000 MW through Hydro
generation, about 2000 MW from nuclear sources and around 1000 MW from
Renewable Energy Sources (RES). NTPC has adopted a multi-pronged growth
strategy which includes capacity addition through green field projects, expansion of
existing stations, joint ventures, subsidiaries and takeover of stations.

NTPC has been operating its plants at high efficiency levels. Although the company
has 18.10% of the total national capacity it contributes 28.60% of total power
generation due to its focus on high efficiency.

Source: www.ntpc.co.in Figure 2.1: Growth Chart

In October 2004, NTPC launched its Initial Public Offering (IPO) consisting of 5.25%
as fresh issue and 5.25% as offer for sale by Government of India. NTPC thus became
a listed company in November 2004 with the government holding 89.5% of the equity
share capital. The rest is held by Institutional Investors and the Public. The issue was

15
a resounding success. NTPC is among the largest five companies in India in terms of
market capitalisation.

Source: www.ntpc.co.in

Figure 2.2: NTPC’s Power Contribution towards India

At NTPC, People before Plant Load Factor is the mantra that guides all HR related
policies. NTPC has been awarded No.1, Best Workplace in India among large
organisations and the best PSU for the year 2009, by the Great Places to Work
Institute, India Chapter in collaboration with The Economic Times.

The concept of Corporate Social Responsibility is deeply ingrained in NTPC's culture.

Through its expansive CSR initiatives, NTPC strives to develop mutual trust with the
communities that surround its power stations.

Organization Structure of NTPC

16
Source: www.ntpc.co.in
Figure 2.3: Organization structure of NTPC

Organization structure includes three levels of management i.e. corporate

level including top management, then region level comprising management of SBU
regional level management & last as planning level management as GMs of various
plants.

17
 NTPC MISSION

“Develop and provide reliable

power, related products and services at competitive

prices, integrating multiple energy sources with innovative

and eco friendly technologies and

contribute to society”

NTPC VISION

“A world class integrated

power major, powering India’s growth, with

increasing global presence”

Core Values – BCOMIT

18
 Business Ethics

Customer Focus

Organisational & Professional Pride

Mutual Respect & Trust

Innovation & Speed

Total Quality for Excellence

Location of NTPC Plants

19
 Source: www.ntpc.co.in

Figure 2.4: Location of NTPC Plants

Subsidiaries

20
NTPC Electric Supply Company Ltd. (NESCL)
The company was formed on August 21, 2002. It is a wholly owned subsidiary
company of NTPC with the objective of making a foray into the business of
distribution and supply of electrical energy, as a sequel to reforms initiated in the
power sector.

NTPC Vidyut Vyapar Nigam Ltd. (NVVN)

The company was formed on November 1, 2002, as a wholly owned subsidiary
company of NTPC. The company’s objective is to undertake sale and purchase of
electric power, to effectively utilise installed capacity and thus enable reduction in the
cost of power.

NTPC Hydro Ltd. (NHL)

The company was formed on December 12, 2002, as a wholly owned subsidiary
company of NTPC with an objective to develop small and medium hydroelectric
power projects of up to 250 MW.

Pipavav Power Development Co. Ltd. (PPDCL)

A memorandum of understanding was signed between NTPC, Gujarat Power
Corporation Limited (GPCL) and Gujarat Electricity Board (GEB) in 2004 for
development of a 1000 MW thermal power project at Pipavav in Gujarat by forming a
new joint venture company between NTPC and GPCL with 50:50 equity
participation. Pursuant to the decision of Gujarat Government, NTPC Ltd. has
dissociated itself from this company. PPDCL is under winding up.

Kanti Bijlee Utpadan Nigam Limited, (formerly known as Vaishali Power

Generating Company Limited)
To take over Muzaffarpur Thermal Power Station (2*110MW), a subsidiary company
named ‘Vaishali Power Generating Company Limited (VPGCL)’ was incorporated on
September 6, 2006 with NTPC contributing 51% of equity and balance equity was
contributed by Bihar State Electricity Board. This company was formed to renovate
the existing unit and run the plant. The second unit has been successfully re-

21
synchronised on October 17, 2007 after 4 years of being idle. Renovation and
modernisation of the first unit is under progress. The company was rechristened as
‘Kanti Bijlee Utpadan Nigam Limited’ on April 10, 2008.

Bharatiya Rail Bijlee Company Limited (BRBCL)

A subsidiary of NTPC under the name of ‘Bharatiya Rail Bijlee Company Limited’
was incorporated on November 22, 2007 with 74:26 equity contribution from NTPC
and Ministry of Railways, Govt. of India respectively for setting up of four units of
250 MW each of coal based power plant at Nabinagar, Bihar. Investment approval of
the project was accorded in January, 2008.

Acquisitions
Business development through Acquisition serves both NTPC's own commercial
interest as well as the interest of the Indian economy.

Taking over, being a part of the acquisition process is also an opportunity for NTPC
to add to its power generation capacity at a very low gestation period. NTPC has, over
the years, acquired the following three power stations belonging to other
utilities/SEBs and has turned around each of them using its corporate abilities.

POWER STATIONS TAKEN OVER YEAR ORIGINAL OWNER

2x210 MW Feroze Gandhi Unchahar Thermal UP Rajya Vidyut Utpadan
1991
Power Station Nigam Limited
4x60 MW +2x110 MW Talcher Thermal Power Orissa State Electricity
1995
Station Orissa State Electricity Board Board
UP Rajya Vidyut Utpadan
4x110 MW Tanda Thermal Power Station 2000
Nigam Limited

705MW Badarpur Thermal Power Station Central Electricity

2006
Central Electricity Authority Authority

Introduction to NTPC Vindhyachal

22
The Vindhyachal Super Thermal Power Project (VSTPS) is one of the largest super
thermal power stations set up by NTPC. It is situated on the north-western bank of
Govind Vallabh Pant Sagar (Rihand Reservior) adjacent to massive coal field of
Singrauli. It is the largest power plant of India- installed in three stages. Stage-I is
installed with the help of USSR engineers and machinery and Stage-II & III are
installed by Indian machines of BHEL, L&T, CG, ABB etc. Details of this project are
given in table below.

FACT FILE:

Total manpower- 1565 in which 620 are executives and 945 are non-executives as on
21-06-2010.

P.O.- Vindhyanagar, Dist.- Singrauli, Madhya Pradesh-

Location
486885
3260 MW (Stage-I 1260 MW + Stage-II 1000 MW +
Approved capacity
Stage-III 1000 MW)
Installed capacity 3260 MW
Coal source Nigahi Mines
Discharge canal of Singrauli Super Thermal Power
Water source
Station
Madhya Pradesh, Chattisgarh, Maharashtra,
Beneficiary states Gujarat, Goa, Daman & Diu and Dadar & Nagar
Havali
Stage-I & II- Rs.4053.42 Crores + Stage-III-
Approved investment Rs.4201.5 Crores
Stage-I: 6×210 MW + Stage-II: 2×500 + Stage-
Unit sizes III: 2×500 MW
Units commissioned Unit-I : 210 MW October 1987
Unit-II : 210 MW July 1988
Unit-III : 210 MW February 1989
Unit-IV : 210 MW December 1989
Unit-V : 210 MW March 1990
Unit-VI : 210 MW February 1991
Unit-VII : 500 MW March 1999
Unit-VIII : 500 MW February 2000
Unit-IX : 500 MW July 2006
Unit-X : 500 MW March 2007

23
 USSR- Stage-I
International assistance
World Bank under time Slice Loan- Stage-II

Human Resources

'People before PLF (Plant Load Factor)' is the guiding philosophy behind the entire
gamut of HR policies at NTPC. They are strongly committed to the development and
growth of all the employees as individuals and not just as employees. They currently
employ approximately 24500 people at NTPC.
Competence building, Commitment building, Culture building and Systems building
are the four building blocks on which our HR systems are based.

Source: www.ntpc.co.in

Figure 2.5: Employee development and growth

Our HR Vision

"To enable our people to be a family of committed

world class professionals."

Recruitment
NTPC believes in the philosophy of 'Grow your own timber'. 'Executive Trainee'

24
scheme was introduced in 1977 with the objective of raising a cadre of home grown
professionals. First Division Graduate Engineers/ Post graduates are hired through
nation-wide open competitive examinations and campus recruitments. Hiring is
followed by 52 weeks of fully paid induction training.

Career Advancement & Opportunities

NTPC has a well established talent management system in place, to ensure that they
deliver on their promise of meaningful growth and relevant challenges for their
employees. Their talent management system comprises PERFORMANCE
MANAGEMENT, CAREER PATHS and LEADERSHIP DEVELOPMENT.

Rewards & Recognitions

NTPC has, from inception, created a culture of rewards and recognitions through
celebration of various achievements and events and recognising the contributions
behind such success.

Innovate, Create, Compete

NTPC has introduced numerous initiatives which seek to enhance the creativity,
innovation, functional aptitude and teamwork of employees. These initiatives include
National Open Competition for Executive Talent (NOCET), Professional Circles,
Quality Circles, Business Minds and Medha Pratiyogita (a quiz for our employees). A
management journal called “Horizon” is published quarterly to enable the employees
to share their ideas and experiences across the organisation.

Quality of Work-Life
NTPC is proud of its systems for providing a good quality of work-life for its
employees. In addition to providing beautiful and safe work places, NTPC encourages
a culture of mutual respect and trust amongst peers, superiors and subordinates.
Away from hectic city life, NTPC townships provide an environment of serenity,
natural beauty and close community living. Numerous welfare and recreation facilities
including schools, hospitals and clubs are provided at the townships to enhance quality
of life & the well being of employees and their families. An entire range of benefits,
from child care leave to post retirement medical benefits are extended to employees to
meet any exigency that may arise in a person's life.

25
Knowledge Management in NTPC
To meet the ultimate objective of becoming a learning organisation, an integrated
Knowledge Management System has been developed, which facilitates tacit knowledge
in the form of learning and experiences of employees to be captured and summarized
for future reference.

Training & Development

NTPC subscribes to the belief that efficiency, effectiveness and success of the
organisation, depends largely on the skills, abilities and commitment of the employees
who constitute the most important asset of the organisation.
NTPC’s Training Policy envisages a minimum of 7 man days of training per employee
per year. They have developed their own comprehensive training infrastructure.

Education Up-gradation Schemes

To meet the academic aspirations of employees and match them with the needs of the
organisation, NTPC has tie-ups with institutes of repute like MDI, Gurgaon; IIT Delhi;
BITS Pilani, etc. NTPC sponsors fixed size batches of employees who are inducted
into these courses based on their performance rating in the company and their
performance in the entrance exam conducted by the respective institute. Unlike other
study leave and sabbaticals, employees undergoing these courses do not forego their
salary or growth during the duration of the course.

Seeking Feedback

NTPC actively seeks and encourages employee feedback to ensure that their HR
interventions and practices remain relevant and meaningful. Employee Satisfaction and
Organisational Climate Surveys are conducted regularly.

Elements of HR Strategy
Competence building, Commitment building, Culture building and Systems building
are the four building blocks on which our HR systems are based.

26
 COMPETENCE
BUILDING

CULTURE COMMITMEENT
BUILDING BUILDING
NTPC

SYSTEMS
BUILDING

Figure 2.6: Elements of HR Strategy

A. Competency Building Measures

• Talent Hiring and Management

 Key Focus of HR: Attracting, Developing & Retaining Talents

to be done on sound manpower planning system based on
benchmarking of international practices of manpower norms.
 The cost and quality of manpower hired to be competitive.
 Development of Business orientation, commercial, marketing
and legal skills

• Competency based Performance Management System

 Shift the focus from performance appraisal to performance

management at all levels
 Define, document and circulate competencies of all employees

27
  Measures like KPA, Review & feedback system, identifying
developmental needs and linkage with T&D and Rewards &
Recognitions
 Online Module of PMS
 Equipping Executives with Performance counselling , coaching
& giving positive feedback to improve performance, transparency and
objectivity
 Performance Evaluation to bring out developmental needs and
linking it to Training and Development Initiatives
 Identifying Performers and Non-performer
 Coaching and counselling the Non-Performers to enhance
performance
 System for suitably dealing the persistent Non-Performance.

• Leadership Development Program

 Leadership Development at all levels with special focus on

developing strategic leaders, functional leaders, business leaders,
entrepreneurial leaders and transformational leaders
 Review & reinforcement of current leadership development
program with emphasis on people orientation and culture building.
 Development of Global Competencies

• Transition of Development Centre to Assessment Centre

at different transitional levels involving role change
• Multi-source Feedback through 360° appraisals
• Integrated Career planning, development and succession
planning

 Focus on employee Development & Job enrichment

 Identifying various career paths leading to business

leaders/functional leaders
 Short-term and long -term career rotation plans

28
  Strengthening succession planning for senior level positions-
Leadership succession criteria up to two levels below the Board
 Identifying the functions and Jobs which are specialist in nature
and development of growth opportunities.

• Training and Development, E-Learning & Global

Exposure

 Build functional Competency in all areas. Strengthen Core

competencies of the people in the company through state of the art
practices.
 Adopting Training Evaluation Model
 Measuring effectiveness of training and transfer of the skill to
the workplace
 E-Learning modules for distant learning
 Global exposure of executives for global competencies and
mindset

• Strengthening R&D

 Revitalized R&D and Technology Centre

 Significant role through applied & basic research
 Global competencies

B. Commitment Building Measures

• Enabling Organizational Climate

 Motivation and commitment through tangible & intangible

motivators
 The employee welfare systems will be designed and maintained
by way of providing best of quality of life to employees, their children
and family members so as to make NTPC a preferred employer.

29
  Enhancing employee satisfaction through regular surveys and
addressing the areas of concern to transform NTPC a great place to
work.

• Compensation

 Compensation on the principle of differentiated compensation

based on performance and merit

• Involvement and Attitude

 Use of participative foray

 Positive attitude through training, role models, value based
behaviour and rewards

C. Culture Building Measures

• Core-Values Actualization

 Value Handbook, Values workshop, Value Actualization

Teams, Value Audit & Rewards
 Development of value based leadership.

• Culture of Respect, Trust and Openness

 Value based behaviour campaign

 New PMS system built around competency, feedback etc

• Culture of Team Work

 Shift from hierarchical to flexible team based work teams

• Customer Focus

 Culture of working as per the needs and expectations of

customers
 Measurement for customer orientation of executives

30
  System for interaction, feedback and evaluation of HR services
by the internal customers.
 Communication (Top Down, Bottom Up, Forums, E-
Communication/ outside world for a socially responsive Organization)
 Communication to be used as tool for removing
misconceptions, managing perception and promoting openness, trust
and transparency.

• Managing Globalization

 Competency for multi-cultural nuances, diversity, law of the

land, language & etiquettes
 Addressing compensation, Organization Cultures, competency
and commitment development issues by developing suitable systems
and processes.

• Managing Mergers and Acquisitions

D. System Building Measures

• Focus on core-competency

 Identifying core-competencies of HR & out-source,

automate/simplify the noncore activities so that time spent for routine
and repetitive activities are released for core-activities
 Competitive and comparable cost for providing HR services
 Hassle free and quality service for achieving high customer
satisfaction
 Continuous feedback from the customers on the service
provided.

• IT enabled Systems

 Implementation of SAP ERP process

31
  Making NTPC a paperless office through state of art
technology

• Knowledge Management System

• Process Improvement Tools

 ISO standards in HR, Six Sigma

• Strategy Measurement and Alignment Tool

 Implementation of Balance Score Card in HR

• Customer Relationship Management

• Managing Change
• Productivity Enhancement measures
• Discipline Management
• Measuring impact of HR Initiatives through research
and Feedback

HR Functions at NTPC
The entire gamut of functions relating to HR in NTPC has been organised under three
levels, viz. Corporate, Regional and project levels. The responsibilities vary from
level to level depending on the tasks assigned, accountability and implementation
criteria. An overview of these functions is given as under.

Corporate Level

Major functions under this level are:

• Industrial Engineering
• Employment and Placement
• Training

32
 • Management Development, Organisational Development and Human
Resource Research
• Employee Benefits
• Policies and Rules
• Employee Relation and Welfare Policies
• HRD – Promotion, Performance Appraisal System and Employee
Development
• Employee Services
• Corporate Office Administration
• Public Relations

Regional Level

At the regional level the functions undertaken by HR department are

• Employee Benefits
• Recruitment
• Employee Services

Project Level

The major functions covered by this level are

• Employee Benefits:

This area covers the activities pertaining to joining, posting and transfers,
confirmation/absorption, promotion and seniority, processing of resignation,
retirement cases pertaining to the non-executive employees of the project apart
from the employee entitlements of all the staff posted in projects as per the
policies laid down.

• Industrial Engineering &Recruitment:

The activities include manpower planning, budgeting, organisation structure,
incentive/reward scheme, preparation of personal data bank and

33
 computerization, job evaluation and development of job
specification/descriptions. Recruitment deals with the various activities
pertaining to recruitment of non-executive manpower required for the project
as per the manpower budgets laid down.

• Employee Relations and Welfare:

This function deals with the implementation of various industrial relations and
welfare policies apart from the day-to-day problem solving and shop floor IR.

• Employee Services:
The activities under this are the development and maintenance of office
facilities and administration of township like house allotments, SC/ST
horticulture, issuing of personal issue items, communication, receipt and
dispatch and all such other activities required at the project level are taken care
by this function.

• Employee Development Centre:

The centre looks after the conduct of long duration training programmes under
the executive/Diploma/ITI trainee schemes apart from short-term skill/
worker/ supervisory development program. The development and maintenance
of workshops, hostels and other training facilities form a part of this function.

• Public Relations:
Establishment of constant liaison with the public, regional press and other
media, publication of house journals etc. form the major components of this
function.

• Law Cell:
The responsibility of this function spans the various activities relating to the
representation of the organisation in various cases in the labour and other
courts on land acquisition, labour dispute cases etc.

• Corporate Social Responsibility:

This cell looks after various activities, which are related to the development of
society as a whole. Resettlement and rehabilitation of lands outside,

34
 community development activities in nearby villages, providing infrastructure
like that for schools, primary health, planting trees etc. One of the major
contributions of this section is the plantation of about 14 lakh trees across the
nation.

Performance
Recognitions and Awards

HR Awards
1. Two Awards for NTPC at Asia Best Employer Brand Awards
2. Overall 7th in ‘India’s Best Companies to Work for 2010’, 1st amongst the
PSUs and 1st in Manufacturing & Production Industry Segment.

3. Great Places to Work Award 2009

4. AMITY HR Excellence Award

5. NCPEDP-Shell Helen Keller Award 2009

6. Vishwakarma Rashtriya Puraskar (VRP) – 2007

7. Best Companies to Work For – 2009

8. SCOPE Meritorious Award for Best Practices in Human Resource

Management

Company Rankings
1. Platts Top 250 Global energy Company for 2009
2. India’s Biggest News Makers Survey

3. Business Standard's "BS1000" companies

Safety Awards
1. Safety Award 2009
2. Best Environment Management Station Award for Safety

Environment Awards
35
 1. The Sunday Indian Special Mega Excellence – “India’s Best Environment
Driven Company Award – 2009.
2. 4th Water Digest Water Award 2009-10

Performance Awards
1. Enertia Awards for NTPC Projects & Shri D K Jain, Director (Technical),
NTPC Ltd receives award for Excellence in Nuclear, Thermal (Conventional
Energy)
2. Vishwakarma Award for 12 NTPC Employees

3. Prime Minister’s Shram Award to NTPC’s Misri Lal Choudhary

4. The Best Performing CFO Award

5. India Pride Awards – Energy and Power Category

6. Enertia Award 2009

7. SAFA Best Presented Accounts Awards 2008

8. CII-EXIM Excellence Award, 2009

9. National Awards for Meritorious Performance

CSR AWARDS
1. 2nd India Power Awards 2009
2. CII ITC Sustainability Award

Corporate Governance Awards

1. Golden Peacock Global Award for Excellence in Corporate Governance –
2009
2. ICSI National Award for Excellence in Corporate Governance 2009

Quality Awards
1. International Gold Star Award for Quality 2009

36
NTPC, the country's largest power producer, has got the ''Maharatna'' status which
empowers the firm to take investment decisions of up to Rs 5,000 crore.

Diversified Growth
NTPC’s quest for diversification started with its foray into Hydro Power. It has, since
then, been moving towards becoming a highly diversified company through backward,
forward and lateral integration. The company is well on its way to becoming ‘an
Integrated Power Major’, having entered Hydro Power, Coal Mining, Power Trading,
Equipment Manufacturing and Power Distribution. NTPC has made long strides in
developing its Ash Utilisation business. In its pursuit of diversification, NTPC has also
developed strategic alliances and joint ventures with leading national and international
companies.

 Hydro Power: In order to give impetus to hydro power growth in the country
and to have a balanced portfolio of power generation, NTPC entered hydro
power business with the 800 MW Koldam hydro project in Himachal Pradesh.
Two more projects have also been taken up in Uttarakhand. A wholly owned
subsidiary, NTPC Hydro Ltd., is setting up hydro projects of capacities up to
250 MW.

 Coal Mining: In a major backward integration move to create fuel security,

NTPC has ventured into coal mining business with an aim to meet about 20%
of its coal requirement from its captive mines by 2017. The Government of
India has so far allotted 7 coal blocks to NTPC, including 2 blocks to be
developed through joint venture route. Coal Production is likely to start in
2009-10.

 Power Trading: 'NTPC Vidyut Vyapar Nigam Ltd.' (NVVN), a wholly

owned subsidiary was created for trading power leading to optimal utilization
of NTPC’s assets. It is the second largest power trading company in the
country. In order to facilitate power trading in the country, ‘National Power

37
 Exchange Ltd.’, a JV between NTPC, NHPC, PFC and TCS has been formed
for operating a Power Exchange.

 Ash Business: NTPC has focused on the utilization of ash generated by its
power stations to convert the challenge of ash disposal into an opportunity. Ash
is being used as a raw material input for cement companies and brick
manufacturers. NVVN is engaged in the business of Fly Ash export and sale to
domestic customers. Joint ventures with cement companies are being planned
to set up cement grinding units in the vicinity of NTPC stations.

 Power Distribution: ‘NTPC Electric Supply Company Ltd.’ (NESCL), a

wholly owned subsidiary of NTPC, was set up for distribution of power.
NESCL is actively engaged in ‘Rajiv Gandhi Gramin Vidyutikaran Yojana’
programme for rural electrification and also working as 'Advisor cum
Consultant' for Ministry of Power for implementation of Accelerated Power
Development and Reforms Programme (APDRP) launched by Government of
India.

 Equipment Manufacturing: Enormous growth in power sector necessitates

augmentation of power equipment manufacturing capacity. NTPC has formed
JVs with BHEL and Bharat Forge Ltd. for power plant equipment
manufacturing. NTPC has also acquired stake in Transformers and Electricals
Kerala Ltd. (TELK) for manufacturing and repair of transformers.

Future capacity additions

NTPC has formulated a long term Corporate Plan upto 2017. In line with the
Corporate Plan, the capacity addition under implementation stage is presented below:

PROJECT STATE MW

Coal

1. NCTPP II ( 2 x 490) Uttar Pradesh 980

2 Korba III ( 1 x 500) Chhattisgarh 500

3 Sipat I (3 x 660) Chhattisgarh 1980

38
4. Farakka III ( 1 x 500) West Bengal 500

5. Indira Gandhi STPP- JV with IPGCL & HPGCL ( 3 x 500) Haryana 1500

6. Simhadri II ( 2 x 500) Andhra Pradesh 1000

7. Vallur I -JV with TNEB ( 2 x 500) Tamilnadu 1000

8. Vallur Stage-I Phase-II -JV with TNEB ( 1 x 500) Tamilnadu 500

9. Bongaigaon(3 x 250) Assam 750

10. Mauda ( 2 x 500) Maharashtra 1000

11. Rihand III(2X500) Uttar Pradesh 1000

12. Vindhyachal-IV (2X500) Madhya Pradesh 1000

13. Nabinagar TPP-JV with Railways (4 x 250) Bihar 1000

14. Barh II (2 X 660) Bihar 1320

15. Barh I (3 X 660) Bihar 1980

Hydro

1. Koldam HEPP ( 4 x 200) Himachal Pradesh 800

2. Loharinag Pala HEPP ( 4x 150) Uttarakhand 600

3. Tapovan Vishnugad HEPP (4 x 130) Uttarakhand 520

Total 17930

Products and services of NTPC

Power generation is the main activity of NTPC which has an installed capacity of
28,840 MW shared by 22 generating stations. Five generating stations in joint venture
have an additional capacity of 2,864 MW. Consultancy in fields of water supply and
treatment, fossil fuel based thermal power stations, environment engineering, and
cogeneration plants. Consultancy service has got NTPC over 435 domestic and
international orders.

Power Management Institute in Noida provides classroom training in power plant

operations and management. Full Scope Replica Training Simulator for coal and gas
based power plants makes training meaningful and effective. Students from outside
NTPC can also undergo these training schedules.

Power generation
Presently, NTPC generates power from coal and gas. With an installed capacity of
31,704 MW, NTPC is the largest power generating major in the country. It has also

39
diversified into hydro power, coal mining, power equipment manufacturing, oil and
gas exploration, power trading and distribution. With an increasing presence in the
power value chain, NTPC is well on its way to becoming an “integrated power
major”.

Installed Capacity

Be it the generating capacity or plant performance or operational efficiency, NTPC’s

Installed Capacity and performance depicts the company’s outstanding performance
across a number of parameters.

NO. OF PLANTS CAPACITY (MW)

NTPC Owned

Coal 15 24,885

Gas/Liquid Fuel 7 3,955

Total 22 28,840

Owned By JVs

Coal & Gas 5 2,864

Total 27 31,704

Regional Spread of Generating Facilities

REGION COAL GAS TOTAL

Northern 7,525 2,312 9,837

Western 6,360 1,293 7,653

Southern 3,600 350 3,950

Eastern 7,400 - 7,400

JVs 924 1,940 2,864

Total 25,809 5,895 31,704

Coal Based Power Stations

With 15 coal based power stations, NTPC is the largest thermal power generating
company in the country. The company has a coal based installed capacity of 24,885
MW.

COAL BASED(Owned COMMISSIONED

STATE
by NTPC) CAPACITY(MW)

1. Singrauli Uttar Pradesh 2,000

40
2. Korba Chhattisgarh 2,100

3. Ramagundam Andhra Pradesh 2,600

4. Farakka West Bengal 1,600

5. Vindhyachal Madhya Pradesh 3,260

6. Rihand Uttar Pradesh 2,000

7. Kahalgaon Bihar 2,340

8. NCTPP, Dadri Uttar Pradesh 1,330

9. Talcher Kaniha Orissa 3,000

10. Feroze Gandhi, Unchahar Uttar Pradesh 1,050

11. Talcher Thermal Orissa 460

12. Simhadri Andhra Pradesh 1,000

13. Tanda Uttar Pradesh 440

14. Badarpur Delhi 705

15. Sipat-II Chhattisgarh 1,000

Total 24,885

Coal Based Joint Ventures:

COAL BASED COMMISSIONED

STATE
(Owned by JVs) CAPACITY

1. Durgapur West Bengal 120

2. Rourkela Orissa 120

3. Bhilai Chhattisgarh 574

4. Kanti Bihar 110

Total 924

Gas/Liquid Fuel Based Power Stations

GAS BASED COMMISSIONED

STATE
(Owned by NTPC) CAPACITY(MW)

1. Anta Rajasthan 413

2. Auraiya Uttar Pradesh 652

3. Kawas Gujarat 645

4. Dadri Uttar Pradesh 817

5. Jhanor-Gandhar Gujarat 648

Rajiv Gandhi CCPP

6. Kerala 350
Kayamkulam

7. Faridabad Haryana 430

41
Total 3,955

Gas Based Joint Ventures:

COAL BASED (Owned COMMISSIONED

STATE
by JVs) CAPACITY

1. RGPPL Maharashtra 1940

Total 1940

Hydro Based Power Projects (Under Implementation)

NTPC has increased thrust on hydro development for a balanced portfolio for long
term sustainability. The first step in this direction was taken by initiating investment in
Koldam Hydro Electric Power Project located on Satluj river in Bilaspur district of
Himachal Pradesh. Two other hydro projects under construction are Tapovan
Vishnugad and Loharinag Pala. On all these projects construction activities are in full
swing.

APPROVED
HYDRO BASED STATE
CAPACITY(MW)

1. Koldam (HEPP) Himachal Pradesh 800

2. Loharinag Pala (HEPP) Uttarakhand 600

3. Tapovan Vishnugad (HEPP) Uttarakhand 520

Total 1,920

42
 Chapter-: 3
Objective and scope
Of study

Objective of the study

The main objective is
1) To check the validity of employees and to maintain their backup in SAP
ERP.

2) To measure the effectiveness of services through SAP ERP that is offered

by NTPC in different departments.

3) To identify the changes in management after the implementation of SAP

ERP process.

4) To know if SAP ERP has reduced workload of employees and thus is an

efficient tool.

43
Scope of the study
The project findings will help in

1) Validating the records of all the employees thus reducing the errors.

2) Maintaining a good and competitive environment among the employees

and also help in measuring the effectiveness of services through SAP ERP
in NTPC.

3) Making better HR practices and proper management of workforce in the

organisation.

4) Improve the company at each level and give a competitive advantage over
the other companies that are into the power sector and ultimately to
achieve the organisational goal.

Chapter-: 4
Theoretical Concept

44
SAP AG PROFILE

45
Overview

SAP AG is the largest European software enterprise & the third largest in the world,
with headquarters in Walldorf, Germany. It is best known for its SAP ERP
Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) software.

Originally the company was founded by five (5) prior IBM employees in 1972 who
wanted to create a real-time business data system. The first name chosen for the
company was not Systeme, Anwendungen und Produkte in der Datenverarbeitung (or
SAP) but instead, what we know today as the company SAP was originally called
Systemanalyse und Programmentwicklung or in English, Systems analysis and
program development. The company name and the ERP software application name of
SAP stands for Systems, Applications and Products (Systeme, Anwendungen und
Produkte in der Datenverarbeitung, in the original German) in Data Processing. It
uses the concept of modules ("individual programs that can be purchased, installed,
and run separately, but that all extract data from the common database"). SAP AG, the
company that provides the enterprise resource planning solution has upgraded the
package and launched it as SAP ECC 6.0 in 2005. ECC stands for ERP Central
Component. The purpose of positioning it as ECC is to enable SAP to build and
develop an environment of other products that can function upon the foundation of the
central component.

SAP is a world market leader in E-Business applications, modernizing

business and government operations worldwide, making them more
efficient.

 Over 21,000 businesses and government worldwide customers.

 The US government is SAP’s largest customer including; NASA, GSA, DOJ,
DOT, DHS (customs), army, DLA, NAVY and treasury.
 More than 20% of SAP revenue is reinvested into research & development
activities.

46
SAP's products focus on Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP). The company's main
product is SAP ERP. The current version is SAP ERP 6.0 & is part of the SAP
Business Suite. Its previous name was called R/3. The "R" of SAP R/3 stood for real
time even though it is not a real-time solution. The number 3 related to the 3-tier
architecture: database, application server & client (SAPgui).

Other products are:

• Relationship Management (SAP SRM)

• SAP Product Lifecycle Management (SAP PLM)
• SAP NetWeaver
• SAP Business One
• SAP Business ByDesign
• SAP Business All-in-One

SAP BUSINESS SUITE

MANAGE A LEAN ENTERPRISE, LEVERAGE CUSTOMER

COMMUNITIES, AND OPTIMIZE BUSINESS MODELS FOR GROWTH

Integrated enterprise applications delivered with SAP Business Suite software enable
enterprises to execute and optimize business and IT strategies. SAP Business Suite
enables to perform essential, industry-specific, and business-support processes with
modular solutions that are designed to work with other SAP and non-SAP software.

Organizations and departments in all industries can deploy these business applications
in a step-wise manner to address specific business challenges on their own timelines
and without costly upgrades. These business applications provide better insight and
visibility across organizations, improve operational efficiency and effectiveness, and
increase flexibility to address business change.

You can incrementally adapt and tailor SAP Business Suite applications through
enhancement packages that alleviate the need for costly and time-consuming
upgrades. SAP Business Suite applications increase visibility across departments and

47
business silos - improving your ability to make clear business decisions and
eliminating process bottlenecks.

Services-Enabled Business Applications

Built on an open, service-oriented architecture (SOA) - and powered by the SAP

NetWeaver technology platform, SAP Business Suite applications offer companies
the opportunity to develop practices for greater differentiation and to integrate
business processes that enable companies to compete more effectively in the
respective industry.

SAP Enterprise Support

SAP Enterprise Support services help reduce the total cost of ownership of SAP
Business Suite applications with integrated life-cycle management capabilities. The
holistic support offering accelerates innovation and decreases implementation cycles
by providing experts, tools, and best practices that simplify testing, reduce
customization effort, and control operational risk and cost.

SAP Business Suite software provides best industry practices with industry-specific
applications and the core applications of SAP Business Suite:

• SAP Customer Relationship Management

• SAP ERP (enterprise resource planning)
• SAP Product Lifecycle Management
• SAP Supply Chain Management
• SAP Supplier Relationship Management

SAP BUSINESS SUITE

BUSINESS BENEFITS

Your company and employees can gain these and additional benefits using
applications in SAP Business Suite:

48
 • Enhanced visibility, insight, and decision making – SAP Business
Suite applications help you improve visibility into operations and provide one
version of business information for improved decision making. By connecting
operations with strategy, your company can create and align plans, budgets,
and operational reports across organizations and for all business processes.
• Improved efficiency across mission-critical processes – With
extended end-to-end processes, SAP Business Suite applications can help you
increase process integrity and increase business and IT efficiency. The
applications encourage collaboration within and across company boundaries,
so you can use supply chain and sales information from suppliers, distributors,
retailers, and customers to improve operations.
• Increased flexibility for innovation and expansion – SAP Business
Suite applications are service-enabled. That means you can innovate and add
functionality to the software as needed. Enhancement packages replace
upgrades to help you innovate and expand without disrupting business. You
can compose and design new processes, implement individual applications
according to budget and scope, and integrate non-SAP solutions that address
niche needs.

Proven, comprehensive support for a long-term competitive edge – SAP is

committed to continually enhancing the applications in SAP Business Suite so that
they remain the ideal choices for maintaining competitive agility, and attaining
operational excellence for large and midsize organizations. Drawing on decades of
SAP's real-world experiences across a wide range of industries, the applications can
help you create a highly responsive enterprise that flexibly addresses new marketplace
demands, satisfies your customer base, and maintains your competitive advantage
over the long term.

ERP SOFTWARE FROM SAP

A FOUNDATION TO EXECUTE YOUR BUSINESS STRATEGY

49
A sound foundation is necessary to compete and win in the global marketplace. The
SAP ERP application supports the essential functions of your business processes
and operations efficiently and is tailored to specific needs of your industry.

SAP ERP, an application included in SAP Business Suite software, delivers these
solutions:
• SAP ERP Financials
• SAP ERP Human Capital Management
• SAP ERP Operations
• SAP ERP Corporate Services

For current customers, SAP enhancement packages now offer you the benefit of
improving and extending your SAP ERP software without the cost of major upgrades.
For example, you can leverage SAP Master Data Governance – delivered via an SAP
enhancement package – to help govern financial master data used in consolidation and
operational chart of accounts. Tap into the interactive SAP ERP Community to keep
up with the latest SAP ERP enhancements and key topics.

Financials

Meet today's challenges in finance with industry-leading financial management

software in SAP ERP Financials. Complete, industry-specific, scalable and global –
SAP ERP Financials enables your teams to address changing financial reporting
standards, improve cash flow, and manage financial risks.

Support your strategic business activities with these features and functions:

• Financial and management accounting – Improve confidence in financial

reporting.
• Financial supply chain management – Streamline customer-to-cash
processes and improve control of cash flow.
• Treasury applications – Hedge financial risk and comply with accounting
standards.

Human Capital Management

50
Optimize your HR processes with a complete, integrated, and global human capital
management solution: SAP ERP Human Capital Management (SAP ERP HCM).
With SAP ERP HCM, you get the help you need to attract the right people, develop
and leverage their talents, align their efforts with corporate objectives, and retain top
performers.

To increase HCM efficiencies, SAP ERP HCM automates these key processes:

• End-user service delivery – Deliver multiple options of ERP services along

with business content to your entire organization and beyond.
• Workforce analytics – Gain real-time insight into your workforce to manage
your human capital more effectively, and track costs and ROI associated with HR
projects.
• Talent management – Support people through every phase of their
employment, from recruitment through training, development, and retention.
• Workforce process management – Streamline and integrate essential
workforce processes on a global platform.
• Workforce deployment – Deploy the right people based on skills and
availability, monitor scheduling and progress on projects, track time, and analyze
results for strategic decision making.

Operations

For many organizations, the SAP ERP Operations solution is the software backbone
that contributes to achieve operational excellence in key business areas, including
procurement and logistics execution, product development and manufacturing, and
sales and service. With SAP ERP Operations, you can streamline your day-to-day
operations to reduce costs, increase revenues, maximize profitability, and improve
customer service – all key benefits to sustain your competitive advantage.

SAP ERP Operations can help you simplify, automate, and innovate the processes of
your key operations:

51
 • Procurement and logistics execution – Manage end-to-end procurement and
logistics business processes for complete business cycles, from self-service
requisitioning to flexible invoicing and payment. SAP ERP Operations can also
help optimize the physical flow of materials.
• Product development and manufacturing – Support the entire life cycle of
product development and manufacturing. You can perform production planning,
manufacturing execution integrated with shop-floor systems, product
development, and life-cycle data management in a wide variety of industries.
• Sales and service – Manage customer-focused activities, from selling
products and services, to managing professional-services delivery and internal
processes such as calculating incentives and commissions

Corporate Services

With the SAP ERP Corporate Services solution, your company can manage real
estate; enterprise assets; project portfolios; corporate travel; environment, health, and
safety compliance; quality; and global trade services more effectively. SAP ERP
Corporate Services can help you realize meaningful business value in:

• Real estate management – Avoid vacancies and reduce costs associated with
real estate development, rentals, and property management.
• Enterprise asset management – Manage preventive and predictive
maintenance, maintenance cost budgeting, maintenance execution, and work-
clearance management.
• Project and portfolio management – Manage a portfolio of projects – from
strategic portfolio management to project planning, execution, and accounting.
• Travel management – Reduce costs, streamline travel administration
processes, monitor compliance with travel policies, and manage changes in
compensation and pricing models from suppliers, global distribution systems,
and travel agencies.
• Environment, health, and safety management – Implement EHS strategies
on local and global levels. The SAP Environment, Health, and Safety
Management (SAP EHS Management) application not only empowers you to

52
 address regulatory compliance, but also to take an integrated approach to
managing operational risks related to environment, health, and safety, and to
address the needs of corporate sustainability initiatives.
• Quality management – Gain a unified approach to total quality management,
delivering efficiencies that result from fewer product returns and improved asset
utilization.
• Global trade services – Secure your global supply chain, connect and
communicate with government systems, and promote the use of shared data to
streamline cross-border trade and gain sustainable competitive advantage.

Source: www.google.com Figure: 4.1

SAP ERP

BUSINESS BENEFITS

53
SAP ERP delivers a comprehensive set of integrated, cross-functional business
processes. With SAP ERP, you can gain the following benefits:

• Improve alignment of strategies and operations

o Run your enterprise in accordance with strategy and plans, accessing
the right information in real time to identify concerns early.
o Pursue opportunities proactively.
o Achieve corporate objectives by aligning workforce and organizational
objectives.
o Find the best people and leverage their talent in the right job at the
right time.

• Improve productivity and insight

o Leverage self-services and analytics across your organization.

o Improve operational efficiency and productivity within and beyond
your enterprise.

• Reduce costs through increased flexibility

o Use enterprise services architecture to improve process

standardization, efficiency, and adaptability.
o Extend transactions, information, and collaboration functions to a
broad business community.

• Support changing industry requirements

o Take advantage of the SAP NetWeaver platform's latest open, Web-

based technology to integrate your end-to-end processes seamlessly

• Reduce risk

54
 o Solve complex business challenges today with SAP, your trusted
partner for long-term growth, with 30 years of experience working
with organizations of all sizes in more countries than any other vendor.
o Join SAP's world-class partner network, uniquely qualified to support
the best business practices in more than 25 industries.

• Improve financial management and corporate governance

o Gain deep visibility into your organization with financial and

management accounting functionality combined with business
analytics.
o Increase profitability, improve financial control, and manage risk.

• Optimize IT spending

o Integrate and optimize business processes.

o Eliminate high integration costs and the need to purchase third-party
software.
o Deploy other SAP Business Suite applications incrementally to
improve cash flow and reduce costly borrowing.

• Gain higher ROI faster

o Install SAP ERP using rapid-implementation techniques that cost less

than half what traditional approaches cost.
o Leverage preset defaults and pre-packaged versions available for
specific industries.

• Retain top performers

o Retain your top performers through clearly defined career and

development plans.
o Link employees' performance to compensation programs such as
variable pay plans and long-term incentives.

• Provide immediate access to enterprise information

55
 o Give employees new ways to access the enterprise information
required for their daily activities.

The evolution of mySAP ERP

SAP R/3 through version 4.6c consisted of various applications on top of SAP Basis,
SAP's set of middleware programs and tools.

When SAP R/3 Enterprise was launched in 2002, all applications were built on top of
the SAP Web Application Server. Extension sets were used to deliver new features
and kept the core as stable as possible. The Web Application Server contained all the
capabilities of SAP Basis.

As a result of marketing changes and changes in the industry, other versions of SAP
have been released that address these changes. The first edition of mySAP ERP was
launched in 2003 and bundled previously separate products, including SAP R/3
Enterprise, SAP Strategic Enterprise Management (SEM) and extension sets. The
SAP Web Application Server was wrapped into NetWeaver, which was also
introduced in 2003.

A complete architecture change took place with the introduction of mySAP ERP
edition 2004. R/3 Enterprise was replaced with the introduction of ERP Central
Component (SAP ECC). The SAP Business Warehouse, SAP Strategic Enterprise
Management and Internet Transaction Server were also merged into SAP ECC,
allowing users to run them under one instance. Architectural changes were also made
to support enterprise services architecture to transition customers to a services-
oriented architecture.

Best Practice Using SAP ERP

Anderegg (2000) described SAP ERP as a highly integrated, complex system for
businesses. SAP ERP consists of several modules including; utilities for marketing
and sales, field service, product design and development, production and inventory

56
control, human resources, finance and accounting. SAP ERP collects and combines all
the data from the several modules and provides the company or organization with
solutions to problems and also gives the business a competitive advantage.

Some American companies, such as; Hersheys, JoAnne stores, Whirlpool and
Samsonite who have suffered through company disasters claim that software packages
like SAP ERP have the capabilities of preventing financial and business disaster. SAP
ERP is widely used software with over 20,000 customers running the SAP ERP
program today.

Although there can be major benefits for customers of SAP ERP, the implementation
and training cost are expensive. The promises of potential benefits of SAP ERP
software package are appealing to many businesses and organizations.

Many companies experience some problems when implementing SAP ERP software,
such as: failing to specify their operation objectives, unexistence of a strong
commitment or positive approach to change, failing to deal with organizational
differences, failing to plan the change to SAP ERP properly, inadequate testing. All
these mentioned factors can be difference between having a successful
implementation of SAP ERP or an unsuccessful one. If your implementation is
unsuccessful you will end up exceeding your expenses and budget.

If SAP ERP is implemented correctly the benefits may be high, since an Entreprise
can go from its old calculations system to a fully integrated software package. Some
of the benefits may include: efficient business process, inventory reduction, leads time
reduction, improved customer service and higher profitability.

A fully successful implementation of a SAP ERP system can enhance a business in

many ways and help to give a company a competitive edge when it most needs it.

SAP ERP Human Capital Management

Aligning Employees, Processes, and Strategies for Business Success

57
The SAP ERP Human Capital Management solution offers a complete & integrated
set of tools to help organization – regardless of industry or geographic location – more
effectively manage company’s most important asset. Automation of core human
resource processes, such as employee administration, legal reporting, payroll
increases efficiency and supports compliance with changing global & local
regulations. For e.g., organization can create project teams based on skills &
availability, monitor their progress on specific projects, track the time they spend, and
analyze the results. Equally important, integrated talent management functions in SAP
ERP give HR managers insight into organizational talent to more effectively plan,
acquire, educate, align, & retain the talent need to maximize the effectiveness of the
organization. Identifying top performers and potential successors helps organization
minimizes disruption when executives and senior managers leave or retire. To
compete effectively, one need to align all corporate resources – including employees
– with business objectives. To do so, one need to transform traditional HR functions
into a comprehensive program for human capital management (HCM). It maximizes
the value of employees and integrates employees, processes, & strategies to support
business goals. That's why you need SAP ERP Human Capital Management (SAP
ERP HCM). The solution optimizes each employee's contribution by aligning
employee skills, activities & incentives with business objectives and the strategies to
reach them. It also provides tools to manage, measure, & reward individual and team
contributions.SAP ERP HCM enables employees to maintain personal information &
control administrative processes. So HR department can focus on value generating
projects instead of administration.SAP ERP HCM supports payroll functions,
regulatory requirements, integrates with existing business systems and can be
customized to meet your requirements.

SAP ERP HCM provides integrated, enterprise wide functionality that:

• Streamlines HCM processes & seamlessly integrates them across global

operations
• Provides real-time access to information that accelerates workforce decision-
making
• Allows you to assign the right people to the right projects at the right time
• Supports both employees & managers throughout the employee life cycle

58
 • Empowers employees to manage processes in a collaborative environment

Advantages and disadvantages of SAP ERP

Advantages
• ERP allows easier global integration (Barriers of currency exchange rates,
language, and culture can be bridged automatically)
• Updates only need to be done once to be implemented company wide
• Provides real-time information, reducing the possibility of redundancy errors
• Creates a more efficient work environment making it easier for employees to
do their job which leads to effectiveness
• Vendors have past knowledge and expertise on how to best build and
implement a system

Disadvantages
• Locked into relationship by contract and manageability with vendor - a
contract can hold a company to the vendor until it expires and it can be
unprofitable to switch vendors if switching costs are too high
• Inflexibility- vendor packages may not fit a company's business model exactly
and customization can be very expensive
• Return on Investment may take too long to be profitable
• SAP ERP implementations have a risk of project failure

59
 CHANGE MANAGEMENT

Change management

60
Change management is a systematic approach to dealing with change, both from the
perspective of an organization and on the individual level. A somewhat ambiguous
term, change management has at least three different aspects, including: adapting to
change, controlling change, and effecting change. A proactive approach to dealing
with change is at the core of all three aspects. For an organization, change
management means defining and implementing procedures and/or technologies to
deal with changes in the business environment and to profit from changing
opportunities.

Successful adaptation to change is as crucial within an organization as it is in the

natural world. Just like plants and animals, organizations and the individuals in them
inevitably encounter changing conditions that they are powerless to control. The more
effectively you deal with change, the more likely you are to thrive. Adaptation might
involve establishing a structured methodology for responding to changes in the
business environment (such as a fluctuation in the economy, or a threat from a
competitor) or establishing coping mechanisms for responding to changes in the
workplace (such as new policies, or technologies).

Organizational Change Management

Organizational change management takes into consideration both the processes and
tools that managers use to make changes at an organizational level. Most
organizations want change implemented with the least resistance and with the most
buy-in as possible. For this to occur, change must be applied with a structured
approach so that transition from one type of behaviour to another organization wide
will be smooth.

Management's Role in the Organizational Change

In most cases, management's first responsibility is to identify processes or behaviours

that are not proficient and come up with new behaviours, processes, etc that are more
effective within an organization. Once changes are identified, it is important for
managers to estimate the impact that they will have to the organization and individual
employee on many levels including technology, employee behaviour, work processes,
etc.

61
At this point management should assess the employee's reaction to an implemented
change and try to understand the reaction to it. In many cases, change can be
extremely beneficial with lots of positives; however certain changes do sometimes
produce a tremendous amount of resistance. It is the job of management to help
support workers through the process of these changes, which are at times very
difficult. The end result is that management must help employees accept change and
help them become well adjusted and effective once these changes have been
implemented.

Change must involve the people - change must not be

imposed upon the people
Be wary of expressions like 'mindset change', and 'changing people's mindsets' or
'changing attitudes', because this language often indicates a tendency towards imposed
or enforced change, and it implies strongly that the organization believes that its
people currently have the 'wrong' mindset, which is never, ever, the case. If people are
not approaching their tasks or the organization effectively, then the organization has
the wrong mindset, not the people. Change such as new structures, policies, targets,
acquisitions, disposals, re-locations, etc., all create new systems and environments,
which need to be explained to people as early as possible, so that people's
involvement in validating and refining the changes themselves can be obtained.

Whenever an organization imposes new things on people there will be difficulties.

Participation, involvement and open, early, full communication are the important
factors.

Workshops are very useful processes to develop collective understanding, approaches,

policies, methods, systems, ideas, etc. See the section on workshops on the website.

Staff surveys are a helpful way to repair damage and mistrust among staff - provided
you allow people to complete them anonymously, and provided you publish and act
on the findings.

Management training, empathy and facilitative capability are priority areas -

managers are crucial to the change process - they must enable and facilitate, not
merely convey and implement policy from above, which does not work.

62
You cannot impose change - people and teams need to be empowered to find their
own solutions and responses, with facilitation and support from managers, and
tolerance and compassion from the leaders and executives. Management and
leadership style and behavior are more important than clever process and policy.
Employees need to be able to trust the organization.

The leader must agree and work with these ideas, or change is likely to be very
painful, and the best people will be lost in the process.

Change management principles

1. At all times involve and agree support from people within system (system =
environment, processes, culture, relationships, behaviors, etc., whether personal
or organizational).
2. Understand where you/the organization is at the moment.
3. Understand where you want to be, when, why, and what the measures will be
for having got there.
4. Plan development towards above No.3 in appropriate achievable measurable
stages.
5. Communicate, involve, enable and facilitate involvement from people, as early
and openly and as fully as is possible.

Change management Models

John P Kotter's 'eight steps to successful change'

American John P Kotter (b 1947) is a Harvard Business School professor and leading
thinker and author on organizational change management. Kotter's highly regarded
books 'Leading Change' (1995) and the follow-up 'The Heart of Change' (2002)
describe a helpful model for understanding and managing change. Each stage
acknowledges a key principle identified by Kotter relating to people's response and
approach to change, in which people see, feel and then change.

Kotter's eight step change model can be summarized as:

63
 1. Increase urgency - inspire people to move, make objectives real and
relevant.
2. Build the guiding team - get the right people in place with the right
emotional commitment, and the right mix of skills and levels.
3. Get the vision right - get the team to establish a simple vision and strategy,
focus on emotional and creative aspects necessary to drive service and
efficiency.
4. Communicate for buy-in - Involve as many people as possible,
communicate the essentials, simply, and to appeal and respond to people's
needs. De-clutter communications - make technology work for you rather
than against.
5. Empowers action - Remove obstacles, enable constructive feedback and
lots of support from leaders - reward and recognize progress and
achievements.
6. Create short-term wins - Set aims that are easy to achieve - in bite-size
chunks. Manageable numbers of initiatives. Finish current stages before
starting new ones.
7. Don't let up - Foster and encourage determination and persistence - ongoing
change - encourage ongoing progress reporting - highlight achieved and
future milestones.
8. Make change stick - Reinforce the value of successful change via
recruitment, promotion, and new change leaders. Weave change into culture.

The ADKAR Model

Change management has been developed over a period of time and one of the models
that have played an influence in change management is the ADKAR model. ADKAR
was a model developed by Prosci. In this model, there are five specific stages that
must be realized in order for an organization or an individual to successfully change.
They include:

• Awareness - An individual or organization must know why a specific change

or series of changes are needed.
• Desire - Either the individual or organizational members must have the
motivation and desire to participate in the called for change or changes.

64
 • Knowledge - Knowing why one must change is not enough; an individual or
organization must know how to change.
• Ability - Every individual and organization that truly wants to change must
implement new skills and behaviours to make the necessary changes happen.
• Reinforcement - Individuals and organizations must be reinforced to sustain
any changes making them the new behaviour, if not; an individual or
organization will probably revert back to their old behaviour.

Lewin & Lippitt’s (3) three-step model

Unfreezing the status quo
• creation of motivation to change
• Present behavior/ attitudes must be disconfirmed
• Discomfort/ disconfirmation will lead to anxiety to motivate a change
• Create psychological safety for change

Approaches to Managing Organizational Change

Moving to a new state
• Developing new attitudes and behavior
• Identification with a role model, mentor or friend
• Scanning the environment for information specially relative to one’s
particular problem

Refreezing the change

• Stabilizing the changes
• Allow testing of new attitudes and behavior
• Team training better than individual training

Change Management Process

65
Source: www.google.com Figure: 4.2: Change Management Process

ERP (Enterprise Resource Planning)

66
A set of applications that help manage and automate a business involving best
practices, thereby improving the performance.ERP incorporates all elements of a
business – finance, materials, maintenance, production, projects and marketing
activities etc into a unified system that operates more effectively and efficiently.

ERP involves change

1) Change in processes
2) Change in roles & responsibilities
3) Change in organization’s working culture- Department to Process perspective
4) Change in attitude & mindset of people

Change Management Strategy would focus on bringing about above changes in

NTPC smoothly

Issues in ERP

• Head of Project (HOP), Head of Department (HOD) & Section heads must act
as Change Agents in their areas and mobilize the people for this big change.
• Functional people have a major role to play in the success of ERP.
• ERP is business initiative – NOT IT initiative – and everybody's
responsibility, IT is only the support backbone.
• Implementation of ERP is project and requires considerable time management
and effort.
• NON Compliance / Deviation from ERP’s Best Practices should be avoided.
• To successfully take an ERP system, organisation needs to change its
“Working Culture”

Factors for success of ERP implementation

67
 Figure: 4.3

Challenges in ERP implementation

Figure: 4.4

Roles & Responsibilities of Change Management

68
1) Change Agents

• Bring clarity on the purpose of ERP implementation

• Create ownership in the locations for the SAP implementation
• Bring awareness about positive aspects of change
• Facilitate acceptance of the SAP system
• Facilitate the benefit realization workshops
• Ensure maintenance of the desired change
• Key link between end users and project team
• Help to address the concerns, apprehensions, issues of people at the
locations
• Update self on ERP Implementation

2) Process Owner

• Take ownership of the improved processes and give approval.

3) Head of Projects

• Act as driver to ensure effective implementation of ERP at their

location.
• Motivate all location people to adopt to the new way of working.
• To ensure availability of infrastructure facilities in time.
• To ensure completion of codification exercise well in time at their
location.
• To expedite data migration activities at their location.

4) Process Anchors

• To finalize the “To Be” processes to be implemented across the

organization
• To get involved with the integration testing of processes configured
for implementation

69
 • To get trained in the processes in their respective functions and train
others

Forces for successful change management

Successful management of change needs four forces to drive the change. These are:

commitment and
Top-down
Leadershi

direction
p

Navigatio
n
Successful Visible changes in
Coordinated Change ways of
change plan Management working

Enableme
nt
involvement and
Bottom-up
buy-in

Ownershi
p

Figure: 4.5

Today, people are the most important assets in by any business, and managing
employees with SAP HR properly is important for growing the top and bottom line,
becoming more productive, and achieving competitive advantage in the marketplace.
Information technology alone can't achieve those goals, but it can set you on the path
to proper asset management in the human resources arena.

70
 Project LAKSHYA in
NTPC

LAKSHYA Mission
71
To make every employee in NTPC information enabled by providing holistic and
integrated business approach through speedy implementation of enterprise wide, state-
of-the art, comprehensive, centralized and integrated solution, thereby supporting
NTPC’s Vision of being a world class power major.

Project Objectives
Liaise with the Operations Core Team to promote best practice and processes for
ensuring effective operation of the business applications.

Actively work together as a unit, to ensure all aspects of the project management, fit
for purpose.

Keep project to time and quality.

Suitably ensure that the desired outcome of the specified programme meets the
expectations and business requirements of NTPC.

Help the Core Team to build upon their knowledge & their specific area of expertise
of the RWE products and subsequent support capabilities.

Year-on-year SLA’s are appropriately adhered to & delivered to the satisfaction of

the customer.

Ascertain the business requirements at an early stage.

Implementation of SAP ERP (Project LAKSHYA)

NTPC Ltd has mandated German business software major SAP AG for the
implementation of an enterprise resource planning (ERP) package. While the move is
broadly aimed at overall operational efficiency improvement, it comes in the wake of
critical fuel shortages that some of NTPC's stations had to face in year 2006, which

72
was finally mitigated through coal imports and resulted in some loss in generation.
NTPC, a thermal power generating company, has gone live on SAP ERP
implementation. Titled project 'Lakshya', the pilot implementation of the project at
Ramagundam, Faridabad, Koldam, NCR HQ and Corporate were completed on
schedule, in a span of 10 months.

The contract for “Procurement of ERP and its Implementation” has been awarded
to SAP India on 2nd May’2006 with Siemens Information Systems Limited (SISL)
as their implementation Partner.

According to R.S. Sharma, chairman and managing director, NTPC, "Given the
large scale of NTPC’s operations and the complexity of our structure, we wanted to
implement a business software solution that would establish uniform business
processes, better decision support and better control over operations."

The SAP solution is expected to help NTPC achieve improved exchange of

information, productivity & reduction of costs, better data consistency, knowledge
sharing and unification of planning & budgeting process.

NTPC will use applications from the SAP for utilities solution portfolio including
wall-to-wall implementation of the core SAP ERP, IS-U, Business Analytics, SEM,
SRM, Enterprise Portal and C-Folders for project-based collaborations across all
locations of NTPC.

Importance of Lakshya in NTPC

To power business needs and facilitate collaboration
Implementing of ERP system has become one of the best practices of modern
management techniques. Also with the company undergoing a makeover from a
purely thermal generation utility to an integrated energy firm, organizational
efficiency & better coordination across newly diversified businesses is expected to be
honed through the implementation of the ERP.
The ERP project called `LAKSHYA’ is likely to impart a cutting edge to the
Company in terms of efficiency, flexibility of functioning, transparency, and quicker
response to internal and external stakeholders.

73
Project DISHA
NTPC is a well-known power corporation serving people since 1975. The company
has entered into Hydro sector and plans to enter nuclear power soon. To match its
growth plans, the company needed to have uniform processes throughout the
organization, irrespective of the location and area it belongs to, providing seamless
integration among all its processes with one view of the company as a whole.
To achieve this, NTPC started ‘Project Disha!! Organizational Transformation’
which aimed at implementing SAP at its all locations. All major functions of NTPC
such as Planning, Project Mgmt, vendor mgmt; financial accounting; invoicing etc,
are done through this. The project aims at shortening cycle time, procurement lead
time, realization cycle, account closure time, etc. It is also expected to provide better
mgmt & mobilization of diversified workforce and online visibility of status on sales,
inventory, receivables with improved search facility. To ensure that implementation
works smoothly at all locations NTPC deployed MPLS-VPN through BSNL.
During implementation, change mgmt and user training were the two major
challenges faced.
Disha led to use of standardized processes throughout NTPC with seamless
integration. It has also resulted in effective use of manpower.
Project Disha is a comprehensive organization transformation project with a view to
positioning the NTPC as a globally comparable utility, aligned with global best
practices in various areas of its processes and functions. The project is focused on
important areas, such as core business strategy, portfolio diversification,
globalization, services business model, IT strategy, structural initiatives, planning
process, unit level processes (maintenance, procurement and inventory), engineering
initiatives, project planning and execution, performance management system, rewards
and incentives, career development system and knowledge management system.
NTPC has implemented SAP to bring all functions of the organization under one roof
with uniformity in all processes throughout the organization.

Objective of project Disha

74
 • To position NTPC as a premier and competitive power utility of international
standards

• To maximize the value of NTPC’s equity

Screens Shots for SAP HR Modules

There are different modules in SAP-ERP such as:-
• FI – Finance
• CO – Controlling
• MM – Material Management
• PS – Project System
• PM – Plant Maintenance
• QM – Quality Management
• SRM – Supplier Relationship Management
• PP – Production Planning
• SD – Sales & Distribution
• LDM – Lifecycle Data Management
• IS-U – Industry Solution - Utilities
• HCM – Human Capital Management
• BW – Business Warehouse
• BPS – Business Planning & Simulation
• KM – Knowledge Management

75
Some of the screenshots of HR module - ESS (Employee Self Service) are:-

76
77
 Chapter-: 5
Research methodology

Research methodology
Research methodology is a way to systematically solve the research problem. It may
be understood as a science of studying how research is done scientifically. In it we
study the various steps that are generally adopted by a researcher in studying his/her
research problem along with the logic behind them.

The methodology that is followed to prepare this project is based on the concept of
preliminary investigations that are gathered directly from the company’s employees
and the data that is easily available on the internet.

Primary data collection

78
The primary data is the information which is collected for the first time and thus
happens to be original in character. It is obtained through observation and through
direct communication with the respondents. It includes the collection of data through
questionnaires. The primary data for the report has been collected through the
following tools like:

• Face to face interview with the employees of the organisation

• The survey was done through the help of questionnaire

 The facts were gathered from the primary data as far as possible to prevent the
outcome being guided by the company biases

Secondary data collection

The secondary data is the information which is already available, i.e. they refer to the
data, which has already been collected and analysed by someone else. The secondary
data for the thesis is collected through the following tools like:

• Company websites

• Journals and magazines (Vindhya Sandesh and News Flash)

• Employee handbook

 Analyzing and interpreting the data by applying various analytical tools like
graphical methods such as bar charts have been used.

Sampling method

The sampling method used in the research process is Simple Random Sampling.
Random sampling is also known as ‘probability sampling’ or ‘chance sampling’. In
simple random sampling each element in the sample is selected independent of the
other element. Each element has a known and equal probability of selection and
moreover each sample of the given size has an equal and known probability of being
actually selected. Simple random sampling is simple and easily understood. Random
sampling ensure the law of Statistical Regularity which states that if on an average the
sample chosen is a random one, the sample will have the same composition and

79
characteristics as the universe. This is the reason why random sampling is considered
as the best technique of selecting a representative sample.

Sample Size

Sample size refers to the number of items to be selected from the universe to
constitute a sample. The size of sample should neither be excessively large, nor too
small. It should be optimum. An optimum sample is one which fulfils the
requirements of efficiency, representativeness, reliability and flexibility. The sample
size selected for the survey is 150 employees. One questionnaire was given to every
employee and after discussion and taking their opinion; I have analyzed them
carefully and concluded the result.

Scaling Technique

Scaling describes the procedures of assigning numbers to various degrees of opinion,

attitude and other concepts. This can be done by constructing questionnaire in such a
way that the score of individual’s responses assigns him a place on a scale. Here a
scale is a continuum, consisting of the highest point (in terms of some characteristic
e.g., preference, favourableness, etc.) and the lowest point along with several
intermediate points between these two extreme points.

The scaling technique used in the questionnaire is Likert Scale. In Likert Scale,
respondent is required to indicate degree of agreement or disagreement with each of
the series of statements about the stimulus objects. Each scale has 5 categories from
“Strongly Disagree” to “Strongly Agree”.

Analytical Tool

The data has been analysed and interpreted through analytical tool like graphical
method such as Bar Chart. A bar chart or bar graph is a chart with rectangular bars
with lengths proportional to the values that they represent. The bars can also be
plotted horizontally.

80
Bar charts are used for plotting discrete (or 'discontinuous') data i.e. data which has
discrete values and is not continuous. Some examples of discontinuous data include
'shoe size' or 'eye colour', for which you would use a bar chart. In contrast, some
examples of continuous data would be 'height' or 'weight'. A bar chart is very useful if
you are trying to record certain information whether it is continuous or not continuous
data.

Chapter-: 6
Data analysis and
interpretati0n
81
 1) Based on the responses on whether the employees have been provided
adequate training or not, following graph is drawn.

Out of 150 employees,

Strongly agree- 14
Agree- 42
Neither agree nor disagree- 21
Disagree- 28
Strongly disagree- 45

50
45
40
35
30
25
20
15
10
5
0
strongly agree agree neither agree disagree strongly
nor disagree disagree

Figure: 6.1

Interpretation:

82
From the above graph it can be inferred that out of 150 employees, 56 employees
agree that adequate training has been provided but 73 employees disagree with this
point. They strongly believe that more training sessions are still required on regular
basis as ERP software has very vast applications.

2) Based on the responses on whether the paper work is actually reduced or not,
following graph is drawn.

Out of 150 employees,

Strongly agree- 25
Agree- 57
Neither agree nor disagree- 20
Disagree- 34
Strongly disagree- 14

60

50

40

30

20

10

0
strongly agree agree neither agree disagree strongly
nor disagree disagree

Figure: 6.2

Interpretation:

83
From the above graph it can be inferred that out of 100 employees, 82 employees
agree that paper work has been reduced but 48 employees are not satisfied with this
point. They still believe that in spite of the fact that all the work has been made
computerized but still in many cases hardcopy proof is needed like that for receipts,
approval, etc. So in this case we can infer that paper work is still there. Thus after the
implementation of SAP ERP process in NTPC, paper work is reduced but up to some
extent only because still in some departments paper work is not reduced.
3) Based on the responses on whether the productivity has increased or not,
following graph is drawn.

Out of 150 employees,

Strongly agree- 22
Agree- 54
Neither agree nor disagree- 52
Disagree- 17
Strongly disagree- 5

60

50

40

30

20

10

0
strongly agree agree neither agree disagree strongly
nor disagree disagree

Figure: 6.3

Interpretation:

84
From the above graph it can be inferred that out of 150 employees, 76 employees
agree that productivity has increased but 22 employees are not satisfied with this
point.

4) Based on the responses on whether SAP ERP has integrated all departments or
not, following graph is drawn.

Out of 150 employees,

Strongly agree- 33
Agree- 82
Neither agree nor disagree- 27
Disagree- 6
Strongly disagree- 2

90

80

70

60

50

40

30

20

10

0
strongly agree agree neither agree disagree strongly
nor disagree disagree

Figure: 6.4

Interpretation:

85
From the above graph it can be inferred that out of 150 employees, 115 employees
agree that it has integrated all departments but 8 employees are not satisfied with this
point. So, it is strongly supported that it helps integrate all departments and makes
work easier.

5) Based on the responses on whether it has reduced time and provides faster
delivery of services or not, following graph is drawn.

Out of 150 employees,

Strongly agree- 36
Agree- 61
Neither agree nor disagree- 35
Disagree- 9
Strongly disagree- 9

70

60

50

40

30

20

10

0
strongly agree agree neither agree disagree strongly
nor disagree disagree

Figure: 6.5

Interpretation:

86
From the above graph it can be inferred that out of 150 employees, 97 employees
agree that it has reduced time and provides faster delivery of services but 18
employees are not satisfied with this point.

6) Based on the responses on whether it has increased customer satisfaction or

not, following graph is drawn.

Out of 150 employees,

Strongly agree- 30
Agree- 52
Neither agree nor disagree- 54
Disagree- 11
Strongly disagree- 3

60

50

40

30

20

10

0
strongly agree agree neither agree disagree strongly
nor disagree disagree

Figure: 6.6

Interpretation:

87
From the above graph it can be inferred that out of 150 employees, 82 employees
agree that it has increased customer satisfaction but 14 employees are not satisfied
with this point.

7) Based on the responses on whether it has reduced workload of employees or

not, following graph is drawn.

Out of 150 employees,

Strongly agree- 18
Agree- 51
Neither agree nor disagree- 36
Disagree- 33
Strongly disagree- 12

60

50

40

30

20

10

0
strongly agree agree neither agree disagree strongly
nor disagree disagree

Figure: 6.7

Interpretation:

88
From the above graph it can be inferred that out of 150 employees, 69 employees
agree that their workload has been reduced but 45 employees are not satisfied with
this point.

8) Based on the responses on whether the chances of error has been reduced or
not, following graph is drawn.

Out of 150 employees,

Strongly agree- 28
Agree- 78
Neither agree nor disagree- 33
Disagree- 9
Strongly disagree- 2

90

80

70

60

50

40

30

20

10

0
strongly agree agree neither agree disagree strongly
nor disagree disagree

Figure: 6.8

Interpretation:

89
From the above graph it can be inferred that out of 150 employees, 106 employees
agree that chances of error has been reduced but 11 employees are not satisfied with
this point.

9) Based on the responses on whether it has increased efficiency of employees or

not, following graph is drawn.

Out of 150 employees,

Strongly agree- 23
Agree- 88
Neither agree nor disagree- 24
Disagree- 9
Strongly disagree- 6

100
90
80
70
60
50
40
30
20
10
0
strongly agree agree neither agree disagree strongly
nor disagree disagree

Figure: 6.9

Interpretation:

90
From the above graph it can be inferred that out of 150 employees, 111 employees
agree that it has increased efficiency of employees but 15 employees are not satisfied
with this point.

10) Based on the responses on whether SAP ERP helps in better

compliance with changing global and local regulations or not, following graph
is drawn.

Out of 150 employees,

Strongly agree- 23
Agree- 88
Neither agree nor disagree- 31
Disagree- 6
Strongly disagree- 2

100
90
80
70
60
50
40
30
20
10
0
strongly agree agree neither agree disagree strongly
nor disagree disagree

Figure: 6.10

Interpretation:

91
From the above graph it can be inferred that out of 150 employees, 111 employees
agree that SAP ERP helps in better compliance with changing global and local
regulations but 8 employees are not satisfied with this point.

11) Based on the responses on whether SAP ERP is more helpful and convenient
than the older system or not, following graph is drawn.

Out of 150 employees,

Strongly agree- 27
Agree- 73
Neither agree nor disagree- 31
Disagree- 14
Strongly disagree- 5

80

70

60

50

40

30

20

10

0
strongly agree agree neither agree disagree strongly
nor disagree disagree

Figure: 6.11

Interpretation:

92
From the above graph it can be inferred that out of 150 employees, 100 employees
agree that SAP ERP is more helpful and convenient than the older system but 19
employees are not satisfied with this point.

12) Based on the responses on whether SAP ERP services are available as and
when required or not, following graph is drawn.

Out of 150 employees,

Strongly agree- 11
Agree- 78
Neither agree nor disagree- 40
Disagree- 15
Strongly disagree- 6

90

80

70

60

50

40

30

20

10

0
strongly agree agree neither agree disagree strongly
nor disagree disagree

Figure: 6.12

Interpretation:

93
From the above graph it can be inferred that out of 150 employees, 89 employees
agree that SAP ERP services are available as and when required but 21 employees are
not satisfied with this point.

13) Based on the responses on whether it speeds up transaction process or not,

following graph is drawn.

Out of 150 employees,

Strongly agree- 26
Agree- 88
Neither agree nor disagree- 18
Disagree- 15
Strongly disagree- 3

100
90
80
70
60
50
40
30
20
10
0
strongly agree agree neither agree disagree strongly
nor disagree disagree

Figure: 6.13

Interpretation:

94
From the above graph it can be inferred that out of 150 employees, 114 employees
agree that it speeds up transaction process but 18 employees are not satisfied with this
point.

14) Based on the responses on whether it helps in decision making or not,

following graph is drawn.

Out of 150 employees,

Strongly agree- 20
Agree- 52
Neither agree nor disagree- 57
Disagree- 15
Strongly disagree- 6

60

50

40

30

20

10

0
strongly agree agree neither agree disagree strongly
nor disagree disagree

Figure: 6.14

Interpretation:

95
From the above graph it can be inferred that out of 150 employees, 72 employees
agree that it helps in decision making process but 21 employees are not satisfied with
this point.

15) Based on the responses on whether the employees are aware of the uses of
Application Tracker in SAP ERP or not, following graph is drawn.

Out of 150 employees,

Strongly agree- 31
Agree- 76
Neither agree nor disagree- 18
Disagree- 20
Strongly disagree- 5

80

70

60

50

40

30

20

10

0
strongly agree agree neither agree disagree strongly
nor disagree disagree

Figure: 6.15

96
Interpretation:

From the above graph it can be inferred that out of 150 employees, 107 employees
agree that they are aware of the uses of Application Tracker in SAP ERP but 25
employees disagree with this point. SAP ERP process greatly helps in addressing the
complaints of employees without any delay as Application Tracker acts as an efficient
tool in this regard.

16) Based on the responses on whether the employees adapted quickly to the
changing environment or not, following graph is drawn.

Out of 150 employees,

Strongly agree- 12
Agree- 25
Neither agree nor disagree- 54
Disagree- 51
Strongly disagree- 8

60

50

40

30

20

10

0
strongly agree agree neither agree disagree strongly
nor disagree disagree

Figure: 6.16

97
Interpretation:

From the above graph it can be inferred that out of 150 employees, 37 employees
agree that employees adapted quickly to the changing environment but 59 employees
are not satisfied with this point. Most of them believe that it takes some time to adapt
to the changing environment.

17) Based on the responses on whether SAP ERP systems and processes are user
friendly or not, following graph is drawn.

Out of 150 employees,

Strongly agree- 11
Agree- 85
Neither agree nor disagree- 34
Disagree- 12
Strongly disagree- 8

90

80

70

60

50

40

30

20

10

0
strongly agree agree neither agree disagree strongly
nor disagree disagree

Figure: 6.17

Interpretation:

98
From the above graph it can be inferred that out of 150 employees, 96 employees
agree that SAP ERP system and processes are user friendly but 20 employees are not
satisfied with this point.

18) Based on the responses on whether SAP ERP maximizes transparency and
control of the organisation or not, following graph is drawn.

Out of 150 employees,

Strongly agree- 36
Agree- 69
Neither agree nor disagree- 40
Disagree- 5
Strongly disagree- 0

80

70

60

50

40

30

20

10

0
strongly agree agree neither agree disagree strongly
nor disagree disagree

Figure: 6.18

Interpretation:

99
From the above graph it can be inferred that out of 150 employees, 105 employees
agree that it maximizes transparency and control of the organisation but 5 employees
are not satisfied with this point.

19) Based on the responses on whether SAP ERP has standardized business or not,
following graph is drawn.

Out of 150 employees,

Strongly agree- 31
Agree- 66
Neither agree nor disagree- 46
Disagree- 5
Strongly disagree- 2

70

60

50

40

30

20

10

0
strongly agree agree neither agree disagree strongly
nor disagree disagree

Figure: 6.19

Interpretation:

100
From the above graph it can be inferred that out of 150 employees, 97 employees
agree that it has standardized business but 7 employees are not satisfied with this
point.

Chapter-: 7
Conclusion and
Recommendations

CONCLUSION

101
This project report attempted to answer the following question: “How effective are the
services through SAP ERP process in HR departments?” Through an analysis, it was
determined that:

 After the implementation of SAP ERP process in NTPC, employees feel that
more training sessions are required as ERP software has very vast
applications.

 After the implementation of SAP ERP process in NTPC, paper work is not
eliminated but has been reduced up to some extent.

 After the introduction of SAP ERP productivity has increased.

 SAP ERP has reduced workload of employees.

 SAP ERP system is better than the older system as it is more user friendly and
has integrated all departments thus making work easier.

 Understanding of SAP ERP process helps in decision making.

 Employees do not adapt quickly to the changing business environment of SAP

ERP. It takes some time to adjust to new environment.

 SAP ERP process increases the customer satisfaction because of quicker

response and faster delivery of services without any delay.

 SAP ERP process greatly helps in addressing the complaints of employees

without any delay as Application Tracker acts as an efficient tool in this
regard.

A cautious, evolutionary, bureaucratic implementation process backed with careful

change management, network relationships and cultural readiness can lead to
successful ERP implementations. An ERP implementation is not simply a large IT
implementation project- it is a sizable organizational project. Organizational benefits
will not be achieved if the enterprise focuses on the technical aspects only.

Information technologies cannot by itself influence the productivity of a company.

The main efficiency factor lies in the way people use these technologies. Many
information strategies fail for ignoring this issue.

102
 RECOMMENDATIONS
Following suggestions were made to improve the effectiveness of SAP ERP process:

1) Required level of training should be given to employees. Training must stress the
need for more disciplined work habits and make it clear that even simple mistakes can
create consequences in other areas. Regular training should be a strong feature.

2) More training sessions should be given to employees regarding SAP ERP process
as it has very vast applications. Everyone must become familiar with new roles,
revised processes, and new control mechanisms.

3) Reports and returns as well as query system need to be strengthened.

4) Training regarding Application Tracker should be given since it works as a window

to get the correct status of processing of forms applied in the SAP ERP process such
as reimbursement, advances & allowances.

5) Feedback of the users of SAP ERP process should be addressed properly through
training sessions.

6) Overall training sessions & workshops should be provided on quarterly basis to the
SAP ERP process owners of each department.

7) Process owners should be made aware of the new updating in SAP ERP process at
regular basis either through mails or workshops, whichever is required.

8) Top management should formulate some guidelines on how to reduce the paper-
work.

9) Along with Entry facility, Approval facility should also be provided in the SAP
ERP process so as to reduce the paper-work to some extent.

103
Example- In case of claim of the Medical bill, hard copy is taken of all the receipts
and forwarded to the TOP MANAGEMENT for the approval, then again it is
returned to the process owners for its entry in the SAP ERP process. Then again the
hard copy of that entry is attached to the previous documents and is forwarded to the
Finance Management for further process.
So, instead of forwarding the hard copy of the receipts to the TOP MANAGEMENT
if there has been an approval facility in the SAP ERP process, then this extra paper-
work would have been reduced to a great extent and in addition, the processing of
documents will take less time than usual.

Chapter-: 8

104
 Limitations of the
study

Limitations of the Study

The report has been prepared on the basis of data which is collected through
employee’s face to face interview, with the help of questionnaire and through
secondary sources.

Some of the constraints which evolved during the course of study are as follows:

• The most significant limitation has been that the actual effectiveness of the
services through SAP ERP cannot be just presented by doing the survey in
some departments.

• Only human resource aspect of the organization was covered.

• There could have been some errors while selecting items from the universe.

• There could be some errors in data collection, data interpretation, and even the
environment plays an important role in the outcome of the results.

• Some of the errors may have crept in due to the financial constraints.

105
 • There may have been some personal bias on part of employees due to
unwillingness to reveal the fact or due to tiredness.

• There may be some errors due to the responses of worker grade employees
who are uneducated.

Bibliography

BOOKS -
• Copper and Schindler- Business Research Methods (Tata McGraw Hill, 9th
Edition)

• C. R Kothari- Research Methodology Methods & Techniques (New Age

International Publishers, 2nd Edition, 2004)

• Ivansevich- Human Resource Management (Tata McGraw Hill, 10th Edition)

• K. Aswathappa- Human Resource and Personnel Management (Tata McGraw

Hill, 5th Edition)

JOURNALS AND MAGAZINES –

• NTPC manuals
• Employee Handbook

WEBSITES
106
 • www.google.com
• www.ntpc.co.in
• www.sap.com
• NTPC intranet, Vindhyachal

Annexure
SERVICES THROUGH ‘SAP ERP’
EFFECTIVENESS SURVEY
The following questionnaire has been designed to study the effectiveness of SAP ERP
run by NTPC (VSTPS). Please give your free and candid opinion. Your response will
be used only for academic purpose. Kindly rate the various statements listed below on
the following scale by putting a tick mark (√ ) in the appropriate cell.

5 = strongly agree
4 = agree
3 = neither agree nor disagree
2 = disagree
1 = strongly disagree

Respondent details:
Grade:
Department:

107
 S.No. Statements 5 4 3 2 1
1. I have been provided adequate training of SAP ERP.
2. SAP ERP has reduced paper work.
3. Productivity has increased after the introduction of
SAP ERP.
4. SAP ERP has integrated all departments.
5. SAP ERP has reduced time and provides faster
delivery of services.
6. SAP ERP has resulted in increased customer
satisfaction.
7. SAP ERP has reduced work load of employees.
8. Chances of error have been reduced with the
introduction of SAP ERP.
9. SAP ERP increases efficiency of employees.
10. SAP ERP helps in better compliance with changing
global and local regulations.
11. SAP ERP is more helpful and convenient than older
system.
12. SAP ERP services are available as and when
required.
13. SAP ERP helps speed up transaction process.
14. SAP ERP helps in decision making.
15. I am aware of the uses of Application Tracker in
SAP ERP.
16. Employees adapted quickly to changing
environment.
17. SAP ERP systems and processes are user friendly.
18. SAP ERP maximizes transparency and control of the
organization.
19. SAP ERP has standardized business.

Specify your suggestions for improvement, if any.

108
 Abbreviations

CSR – Corporate Social Responsibility

ERP - Enterprise Resource Planning

ECC - ERP Central Component

HCM – Human Capital Management

HR – Human Resource

IT – Information Technology

JV – Joint Venture

LNG – Liquefied Natural Gas

NTPC – National Thermal Power Corporation

PSU – Public Sector Unit

R/3 – Real Time 3 Tier architecture

109
SEB – State Electricity Board

SEM – Strategic Enterprise Management

SAP – System Analysis and Program development

UT – Union Territory

110