INTRODUCTION

”Quality is the degree to which the working organization contributes to

material and psychological well-being of its members” -Harrison

The term “quality of work life” (QWL) originated from the concept of open socio-
technical system designed in the 1970s that helps to ensure autonomy in work,
interdependence and self involvement with the idea of “best fit” between technology
and social organizations. Although he open socio-technical system is traditional
concept for practice, it assumes that optimal system performance and the “right”
technical organization coincide with those job conditions under which the social and
psychological needs of the workers are satisfied.
A better QWL initiative supports to fulfill technical and social requirements of job in
the organizations. Both technological and organizational developments aim to have a
direct impact on productivity and employment at the workplace level. The view taken
is that productivity can be increased by investing in new technology, machinery, human
resources and work organization. New products, services and operating models affect
the workplace’s production capability which, in turn, generates 20 more jobs.

A distinction between technological advances and organizational development is that

organizational development also aims to influence the quality of working life (QWL)
i.e. the well being of the work community and individual employees. The view taken
is that the aim should not merely be higher productivity in the short-term but rather a
sustainable long-term increase in productivity. Many researchers and politicians have
supported a broader concept for productivity, including QWL aspects such as
“sustainable high performance”, “sustainable productivity” or “sustainable work
systems”.
Quality of Work Life (QWL) is a relatively new concept which is defined as the overall
quality of an individual's working life. Quality of Work Life is a philosophy, a set of
principles, which holds that people are the most important resource in the organization
as they are trustworthy, responsible and capable of making valuable contribution and
they should be treated with dignity and respect.The term refers to the favorableness or
un favorableness of a total job environment for people. Several notable factors that
influence quality of work life are adequate and fair compensation, safe and healthy
working conditions, opportunity to use and develop human capabilities, administrative
system and relationship between life on and off the job, opportunity for carrier growth
etc.

QWL consist of opportunities for active involvement in group working arrangements

of problem solving that are of mutual benefit to employees or employers, based on
labor management cooperation.
People also conceive QWL as a set of methods, such as autonomous work groups, job
enrichment, and high involvement aimed at boosting the satisfaction and productivity
of workers. It requires employee commitment to the organization and an environment
in which this commitment can flourish. Thus, QWL is a comprehensive term that
includes an individual’s job related well-being and extend to which work experience
are rewarding, fulfilling and devoid of stress and other negative personal
consequences.QWL provides for the balanced relationship among work, non-work and
family aspects of life. In other words, family life and social life should not be strained
by working hours including overtime work, work during inconvenient hours, business
travel, transfers, vacation, etc.Quality of work life is viewed as an alternative to the
control approach of managing people. The QWL approach considers people as an
‘asset’ to the organization rather than as costs. It believes that people perform better
when they are allowed to participate in managing their work and make decision.

1.1 BACKGROUND OF THE PROBLEM

As of today there has not been any work life improvement programme in the Indian
small scale industry. Although there are a number of joint bodies and workers
participation schemes in existence at the large scale units, it is highly lacking in this
sector. In Indian context, the quality of work life is confined mostly to the organized
sectors which constitute a meager per cent of the total working population. The retail
industry are not realizing the importance of quality of work life in their performance.
The management of the firm are not knowing that the organizational performance of
the units can be achieved only by the satisfied employees with better quality of work
life. To attain the ultimate goal of enhancing the quality of work life of people in
general, it is necessary to broaden the framework of this movement so as to encompass
the vast majority of population working in this sector. A study on the level of quality
of work life will be beneficial to owners and Government for increasing the quality of
work life of all the sectors and thereby improving their social environment with
balanced development in the Indian economy.

1.2 SIGNIFICANCE OF STUDY

A high quality of work life is essential for organizations to continue to attract and retain
employees.QWL is a comprehensive program designated to improve employee
satisfaction.This research aimed to provide insights into the positive and negative
attitudes of Al Manama HyperMarket’s employees from their quality of life.A cross
sectional, descriptive and analytical study was conducted among the employees by
questionnaire.

1.3 SCOPE OF THE STUDY

The study examines the quality of work life at Al Manama hyper Market and how it
helps in improving the quality of work life in the organization. This study helps to
understand the important factors of quality of work life of employees in the
organization. Quality of work life is a term that had been used to describe the broader
job- related experience an individual has.

Improved quality of work life leads to improved performance. Performance should not
only be physical output but also the behavior of the worker in helping colleagues in
solving job related problems ,accepting orders with enthusiasm, promoting a positive
team spirit and accepting temporary unfavorable work condition without complaint.

1.4 OBJECTIVES OF THE STUDY

 To study about the facility provided by Al Manama HyperMarket

 To study the development programmes conducted by the organization

 To study the social security provided by the organization

 To study the organization culture

 To study the working environment of the employees at Al Manama.

 To study the welfare facility provided by the management.

 To suggest the measures to attain improved quality of work life

1.4 CONCEPT AND DEFINITION
According to Seed and Leord (1997) quality of life means the enjoyment in an
individual’s life. Generally it depends on many factors. While quality of work life
referred to Rossi et al. (2009) it can be more specific and can be defined and more
related to the level of the happiness of someone for his work or career. Each individual
has distinctive needs regarding their jobs. The quality level of their work life can be
determined by whether those requirements are being met. While some individuals may
be substance with a basic least wage work provided that it assisted to pay the bills,
others might discover this work to be too repetitive or include a lot of physical work
and might discover this position to be highly unsatisfactory.Subsequently, the basics
need to have a high "quality of work life" varies from an individual to another.
Regardless of their standards, those with a high quality of work life usually make
enough to live comfortably, find their work to be engaging or interesting and achieve a
level of personal satisfaction or fulfillment from the job that they do. In the other word,
those employees that are generally happy with their job are said to have a high quality
of work life, while for those that are unhappy or unfulfilled by their job are said to have
a low quality of work life.

To achieve a high quality of work life, it is important to choose a suitable job that can
fulfills our needs and not to be forced to do the jobs. An important thing that we need
to determine is what those needs are. If we want a job that is challenging and engages
our mind, it is important to consider that in future you still might be able to handle it
and you have the strength and qualification which allow you to obtain such a job.
Further is the discussion on Quality Work Life model that might be helpful to
understand a job needs that you are interested in. Broadly, the concept of QWL involves
four major aspects:

safe work environment

(ii) occupational health care

(iii) suitable working time

(iv) appropriate salary

“QWL is a way of thinking about people, work and organisations, its distinctive
elements are (i) a concern about the impact of work on people as well as on
organisational effectiveness, and (ii) the idea of participation in organisational problem-
solving and decision making. ” —Nadler and Lawler

“The overriding purpose of QWL is to change the climate at work so that the human-
technological-organisational interface leads to a better quality of work life.”-Luthans

1.5 RESEARCH METHODOLOGY

Research methodology is the way to solve systematically the research problem. Here,
descriptive research is used for the study. Descriptive research is used to describe
characteristics of a population or phenomenon being studied. This research is a fact
finding investigation with adequate interpretation.

Research design
A research design is the arrangement of conditions for collection and analysis of data
in a manner that aims to combine relevance to the research purpose with economy in
procedure.The research is descriptive in design as it includes survey and fact finding
enquiries of different kinds. The purpose of descriptive research includes the
description of state of affairs. It is the fact finding investigation with adequate
interpretation

1.6.1 SOURCES OF DATA COLLECTION

Primary sources:

A primary data is a data, which is collected for the first time for particular interest to
have more information. Primary data for the study were collected using structured
questionnaire. The questionnaire is divided based on the objectives. The first set of
questionnaire based on first objective says about working condition and working
experience of the employees. The second set of questionnaire based on the second
objective deals with management and employees relationship. The third set of
questionnaire based on the third objective says about the development programmes
conducted by the organization.The fourth set of questionnaire based on fourth objective
deals with social security of the organization. The fifth set of questionnaire on the basis
of fifth objective deals with welfare facility of the organization.
Secondary sources:
Secondary data are those which have already been collected by someone else and which
already have been passed through statistical process. The secondary data for the
study were collected from the company’s report, journals, publications and internet

1.6.2 SAMPLING DESIGN

Sampling design is a design, or working plan, that specifies the population frame,
sample size, sample selection and estimation method in details. Objective of sampling
design is to know the characteristic of the population.

Sample size:

Category of Population Sample Sampling

employees size Method
Full time 250 100 Simple
Employees Random
Sampling

Stastical Analysis
 Percentage Analysis
 Weighted average method
 Correlation method
 Chi-square test

PERCENTAGE METHOD
Simple percentage can also be used to compare the relationship distribution of
two or more items.

Percentage of respondents = Number of respondent/total *10

CORRELATION
When the relationship is of a quantitative nature, the approximate statistical tool for
discovering and measuring the relationship and expressing it in a brief formula is
known as correlation. That means correlation is an association between two variables.
The measurement of correlation is known as correlation coefficient. Coefficient of
correlation ranges between -1 and + 1.when the correlation is negative; it lies between
0 and - 1. When correlation is positive it lies between 0 and 1.if the correlation is zero,
it means that there is no correlation between the variable.

Karl Pearson’s coefficient correlation

It is one of the popular methods to find out coefficient of correlation.

r= n (∑ xy) - (∑ x) (∑ y)

√ {n (∑x2) - (∑x) 2} √ {n (∑y2) - (∑y)2}

CHI SQUARE TEST

Chi-square is statistics to list the goodness of fit verify the distribution of observed data
with assured the theoretical distribution. It is developed within an initial hypothesis. The
chi square test is an important test amongst the several tests of significance developed by
statisticians. As a non parametric test, it “can be used to determine if categorical data
shows dependency or the two classifications are independent. It can also be used to make
comparison between theoretical population and actual data when categories are used “.
Thus, the chi square test is used for study. Chi-square test is one of the important tests
developed to test hypothesis. It is a non parametric test. It is frequently used for testing
hypothesis concerning the difference between a set of observed frequencies of a sample
and corresponding set of expected or theoretical frequencies.

ଶ
(ܱ − ‫)ܧ‬ଶ
ܺ =෍
‫ܧ‬

Where O = Observed frequencies

E = Expected frequencies
 Degree of freedom (v) =n-k
n = number of frequency classes
k = number of independent constraints.

For a contingency table with “r” number of rows and “c” number of columns

the degree of freedom is

V = (r-1) (c-1)

STEPS INVOLVED IN APPLYING CHI-SQUARE TEST

 Calculate the expected frequencies

 Take the difference between observed and expected frequencies
 Obtain the square of the difference
 Divide (O-E) 2 with the expected frequency
 Obtain E (O-E) 2/E

The calculated value of x2 is compared with the table value of x2 for a given degree of
freedom at a certain specified level of significance. If the calculated value is more than
table value, null hypothesis is rejected and accept the alternative hypothesis. If the
calculated value is less than table value, null hypothesis is accepted and alternative
hypothesis is rejected.

The important applications of chi-square test are given below.

o To test variance of a normal population.

o To test the goodness of fit.
o To test the independence of attributes.
1.6.3 TOOLS FOR ANALYSIS
Questionnaire
Interview
Observation
1.6.4 PERIOD OD STUDY

The time period for the research was 45 days from September 20 to November
03,2019

1.7 LIMITATIONS

1. The study depended entirely on the responses of the employees

2. Some employees were not willing to participate in this survey
3. The employees attitude and opinion may change in future, so future
relevance to the study cannot be assured
4. Reliability of the study depends greatly on the reliability of the
information provided by the respondents
5. The personal bias of the respondents is another limiting factor
6. The results obtained from the analysis would not be applicable to similar
organizations in the industry
7. Most of the employees are busy with their work and are not be able to give
all the information at the right time
8. The data collected from a small sample hence there is no chance for
sampling errors
1.8 CHAPTERISATION
Chapter 1:

It deals with the introduction, it contain problems in brief, significance of the

study, Scope of the study, objectives and methodology of the study, Limitations
of the study.

Chapter 2:

It contains literature review of the study. This chapter reviews the concept of
quality of work life various definitions and views of numerous authors

Chapter 3:

It gives a profile of industry and company.

Chapter 4:

It deals with the theoretical framework of the study. It gives the detailed
knowledge about the quality of work life of employees its measures and
importance through the theoretical aspects of them.

Chapter 5:

It contains analysis and interpretation of the study. Here analysis and

interpretation is based on the primary data. I had used various statistical methods
for data analysis.

Chapter 6:

It deals with summary of findings and suggestions. Summary depends on the

analysis and interpretation of the study. Through analysis we can find out the
pitfalls related to the study topic. It also contains suggestions to company for
overcoming that pit falls.
LITERATURE REVIEW
“Human resources are the greatest assets of any industries. Dissatisfaction with working
life affects the workers some time or another, regardless of position or status. The
frustration, boredom and anger common to employees can be costly to both individuals
and organisations.

Managers seek to reduce job dissatisfaction at all organizational levels, including their
own. This is a complex problem, however, because it is difficult to isolate and identify
the attributes which affect the quality of working life.

Quality of work life refers to the level of satisfaction, motivation, involvement and
commitment individuals experience with respect to their lives at work. It is the degree
to which individuals are able to satisfy their important personal needs while employed
by the firm. Companies interested in enhancing employees Quality of work life
generally try to instill in employees the feelings of security, equity, pride, internal
democracy, ownership, autonomy, responsibility and flexibility.
Raudan et al., (2006)1 analysed the quality of work life and career-related variables.
They identified that the profile of the employees are significantly associated with their
perception on QWL. The QWL have a significant positive impact on employee’s career
satisfaction, career achievement and career balance.

Hackman and Oldhams (2000)2 highlight the constructs of QWL in relation to the
interaction between work environment and personal needs. The work environment that
is able to fulfill employees’ personal needs is considered to provide a positive
interaction effect, which will lead to an excellent QWL. They emphasized the personal
needs are satisfied when rewards from the organization, such as compensation,
promotion, recognition and development meet their expectations.

Lawler (2002)3 defines QWL in terms of job characteristics and work conditions. He
highlights that the core dimension of the entire QWL in the organization is to improve
employees’ well-being and productivity. The most common interaction that relates to
improvement of employees well-being and productivity is the design of the job. Job
design that is able to provide higher employee satisfaction is expected to be more
productive.
Beukema (2007)4 described QWL as the degree to which employees are able to shape
their jobs activity, in accordance with their options, interests and needs. It is the degree
of power an organization gives to its employees to design their work. This means that
the individual employee has the full freedom to design his job functions to meet his
personal needs and interests. This definition emphasizes the individual’s choice of
interest in carrying out the task.

Heskett, Sasser and Schlesinger (2007)5 defined QWL as the feelings that employees
have towards their jobs, colleagues and organizations that ignite a chain leading to the
organizations’ growth and profitability. A good feeling towards their job means the
employees feel happy doing work which will lead to a productive work environment.

Lau, et al., (2001)6 operationalzied QWL as the favourbale working environment that
supports and promotes satisfaction by providing employees with rewards, job security
and career growth opportunities. Indirectly the definition indicates that an individual
who is not satisfied with reward may be satisfied with the job security and to some
extent would enjoy the career opportunity provided by the organization for their
personal as well as professionals growth.

Serey (2006)7 on QWL is quite conclusive and best meet the contemporary work
environment. The definition is related to meaningful and satisfying work. It includes
(i) an opportunity to exercise one’s talents and capacities, to face challenges and
situations that require independent initiative and self-direction; (ii) an activity thought
to be worthwhile by the individuals involved.

Caryon, et al., (2000)8 highlighted the importance of a variety of job and organizational
factors as predictors of quality of working life and turnover. The most important job
and organizational factors identified in this literature are: job demands, job control,
social support, job content, role conflict and role ambiguity.

Thomas and Chay (2001)9 from their study in Singapore arrive at four factors namely
favourable work environment, personal growth & autonomy, rewarding nature of the
job and stimulating opportunities & co-workers comprising a quality of working life
experience among organizational employees.

Smith J. Michael and Salvendy Gavriel (2001)10 conducted a study with a focus on
Information Technology work place and attempted to identify what job organizational
and quality of working life factors influence turnover intention within the current IT
workforce and in what way the gender and race play a role in the relationships between
job and organizational factors QWL and intention to turnover.

Balt Rosemary et al., (2002)11 identify the sets of employee voice mechanisms and
human resource practices that are likely to predict firm level quit rates in
telecommunications industry.

Cole C.Donald, Robson S. Lynda, (2005)12 conducted a study to investigate the

understanding, collection, diffusion and use of QWL indicators in Canadian Health
Care Organizations. The authors have concluded that increase in targeted health care
organizations resources, inclusion of other QWL indicators and greater integration with
health care organizations management systems could all improve health care
organizations decision makers access to information relevant to employee health.

Anandan Pillai (2006)13 discusses that though the high packages and sophisticated
work environment in BPO’s succeeded to attract a large people of youngsters, they
failed to sustain the pool, and the reasons behind it range from physiological fatigue,
psychological unsatisfaction to fear of an illusive feature. The author suggests that HR
activities should recognize career stages and assist employees with the development
tasks they face at each stage.

Rose C. Raudan (2006)14 in his study aimed to determine level and relationship
between the QWL and career related variables in Malaysian electronic industries. The
authors concluded that QWL could be heightened through harmonious organizational
climate that serves as a psychological dynamism.

Dargahi H. and Yazdi Sharifi (2007)15 discussed the need for high quality of work life
for the clinical laboratories employees. Based on the empirical investigation they have
concluded that the clinical laboratories employees responding to the survey have a poor
quality of work life and the authors suggested that the senior managers of the labs
should devote significant resources ensure better QWL conditions which inturn can
result in a better motivated work place.

Huang Tung Chun (2007)16 examined the impact of quality of work life on the
auditors’ career and organizational commitment in Taiwanese public accounting firms
and how those commitments inturn affect the turn over intentions

According to Harrison (1985) 17, QWL is the degree to which the working organization
contributes to material and psychological well-being of its members. The QWL as “a
process of joint decision making, collaboration and building mutual respect between
management and employees”; it is concerned with increasing labor management co-
operation to solve the problems, improving organizational performance and employee
satisfaction.

According to the American Society of Training and Development (1979), 18 it is a

process of work organization which enables its members at all levels to actively
participate in shaping the organization’s environment, methods and outcomes. This
value based process is aimed towards meeting the twin goals of enhanced effectiveness
of the organization and improved quality of life for employees.

Payne and Pheysey (1971)18 in the light of an interesting study conducted on

organizational climate came to conclusion that job satisfaction is an indicative of
positive Quality of Work Life. This was to highlight qualities of employee’s work life.
Job satisfaction is an indicative of positive quality of working life. Hence, whatever
studies will be put forth on job satisfaction would be determining relationship of some
variable as its important determinants.

Pestonjee (1973)19 reported that supportive organizations are truly related to workers
morale and job-satisfaction. Similarly in a study conducted by Schnider and Snyder
(1975), it was found that climate and satisfaction are positively correlated and almost
the same result was found in a study of Lafollette and Sims (1975), as they found
organizational climate and organizational practice correlated to jobs. Rajappa (1978)
found that organizations with achievement oriented climate were highly productive.

Costello and Sang (1974),20 reported that majority of job incumbents of publicly owned
utility firms were satisfied with security and social needs but, were different in the
fulfillment of increase order needs self-esteem, autonomy and self-actualization.

Study conducted by Rhillehard et.al (1969)21 on managers, compared managers

working in government agencies with those from business and industries. They found
that perceived deficiency in need fulfillment likely to increase successively at lower
level which was almost similar to the findings of Jhonson and Marcrum (1968). Their
study also revealed that increased dissatisfaction was found among managers of
government agencies as compared to managers of business and industries.

Balkrishnan (1976)21 examined the relational importance of physical, social, financial,

security, achievement, responsibility, recognition, and growth factors of industrial
employees. Results indicated that financial and physical factors were very important as
compared to other factors. Workers were found to be above physical and safety needs
and were somewhere between social and ego needs.

Taylor (1977)22 suggested usefulness of job satisfaction measures in assessing job

characteristics in improving Quality of Work Life is problematic. Paradoxically the high
and stable levels of job satisfaction cannot explain the frustration and alienation in the
organization. This leads to the notion that employees’ participation in the action
researches on Quality of Work Life may itself reduce their frustration and feeling of
alienation.

Hackman et al. (1978)23 propounded that the job can be re-designed to have the
attributes desired by the people and organization, and also to have the environment
desired by the people. This approach seeks to improve the quality of working life.
Rajappa (1978) found in his study that organizations with achievement oriented climate
were highly productive.

Soharab Ahmad and Khurram Shezad70 (2011)24 in their study titled, “Impact of
Compensation, Promotion, and Performance Evaluation Practices on the Performance
of University Teachers of Azad Jammu and Kashmir” have concluded that
compensation has strong and positive impact on performance of University teachers of
AJK. Compensation is the major element to influence teachers. The more teachers are
compensated fairly the more they will perform better. On the other hand the performance
evaluation and promotion practices were insignificant with the performance of
university 25 teachers of AJK. The reason for this is most promotion and performance
evaluation procedures are vague and not properly practiced.

Baqer Kord72 (2012)25 in his paper titled, “A Cross – Cultural Study of Job
Satisfaction and Organisational Commitment of Bank Employees of Iran and India”
has found that Iranian bank employees hold negative perceptions about their pay and
promotion policies, which generates low job satisfaction, while their Indian
counterparts hold favorable opinions about pay and promotion policies.

FOOTNOTES:
1. Raudan et al., (2006): “The Quality of Work Life of Australian Employees- The
Development Index”,
2. Hackman and Oldhams (2000) “The Impact of Quality of Work Life Programs and
Grievance System Effectiveness on Union Commitment”
3. Lawler (2002) “High-involvement Work Systems and Performance Outcome:
4. Beukema (2007) “A Case Study of a Failed Program: Implications for Labor
Education”
5. Heskett, Sasser and Schlesinger (2007) “Quality of working life for nurses”,
6. Lau, et al., (2001)6 “Influence of Quality of Work Life on Company and Union
Commitment”
7. Serey (2006) A Study on Management Morale in Iron & Steel IndustrY
8. Caryon, et al., (2000) “Predictors for Managers’ Career Mobility, Success, and
Satisfaction
9. Thomas and Chay (2001) Organizational Behavior: Group Structure, Process, and
Effectiveness
10. Smith J. Michael and Salvendy Gavriel (2001)10 Relational Job Design and the
Motivation to Make a Prosocial Difference Balt Rosemary et al., (2002) Teacher
quality of work life: Integrating work experiences, psychological distress and morale
11. Cole C.Donald, Robson S. Lynda, (2005) Quality of Work Life and Human
Resource Outcomes
12. Anandan Pillai (2006) Quality of Working Life (QWL) and Job Attitudes of
Industrial Craftsmen
13. Rose C. Raudan (2006)14 An International Perspective on Work-Family Issues
14. Dargahi H. and Yazdi Sharifi (2007) Helping Labour and Management set up a
Quality-of-Work Life Program,
15. Hackman and Oldhams (2000) Personnel: Human Resource Management: A
Diagnostic approach
16. Lawler (2002) The daily Power Game, Leiden, Netherland; Martinus
17. Nijhoff.Beukema (2007) Development and Validation of Work-family Conflict and
Family-work Conflict Scales
18. Heskett, Sasser and Schlesinger (2007)5Organizational Behavior- Human Behavior
at Work
19. Lau, et al., (2001)6 Technology, Productivity and Job Creation
20. Serey (2006) Engineer and Industrial Corporation, Columbia University Press,
21. Caryon, et al., (2000) “Employees’ Perception on Quality Work Life and Job
Satisfaction in a Private Learning Institution
22. Thomas and Chay (2001) Quality of Working Life (QWL) and Job Attitudes of
Industrial Craftsmen
23. Smith J. Michael and Salvendy Gavriel (2001)10 Matching Creativity
Requirements and the Work Environment: effects on Satisfaction and Intentions to
Leave
24. Balt Rosemary et al., (2002) An International Perspective on Work-Family Issues
3.1 INDUSTRIAL PROFILE

RETAIL INDUSTRY-GLOBAL SCENERIO

In the global environment retailing or retail has begun from the ancient time. People
exchanged goods for other goods it was the beginning of the retail. Even in the periods
of monarchy people were practiced the retail business on a low scale. After the
emergence of money as the medium of business transaction, the people performed the
retail business on a large scale. The king’s ruling has passed away, the political structure
and administration, every things has changed but that change did not affected the
retailing. With the increasing demand of the people the retail business flourished in the
global business environment.

The retail industry actually emerged in the developed countries such as; USA, UK,
RUSSIA, CANADA in eighteenth century. The various formats of retail business such
as; general stores, specialty stores were developed in only that area that had a population
of 5000. Supermarkets flourished in US and CANADA with the growth of the suburbs
after World War II. One of the main features of the business economy is its
synchronizing character that is, the business culture and practices travelled from
continents to continents and countries to countries and spread across the world.
Globalization played a great role in the spread of retail technique all over the world.
After that, the retail business boosted at every country. Retail business helped in the
economic growth of both the developing country and developing country.

Now the retail industry comprises of the establishment encaged in selling merchandise
or commodities for personal or house hold consumption, mainly consisting of apparel
and accessories, technology, food and beverages home improvement, specialty,
pharmaceuticals, and others. The modern retail industry is booming across the world.
Revenues from the retail sales in the US alone stood at 4.48 trillion US dollar in 2007
according to the report by the US Census Bureau. The retail industry helps every
country to emerge from recession, their economies to recover, and to reduce
unemployment rate etc. Now the market segments are experiencing some renewed
growth because of retail industry, which makes annual revenue of 78.45 trillion US
dollar all over the world.
RETAIL INDUSTRY IN INDIA

In India Retail Industry is the largest among all the industries, accounting for over 10
per cent of the country’s GDP and around 8 per cent of the employment. The Retail
Industry in India has come forth as one of the most dynamic and fast paced industries
with several players entering the market. But all of them have not yet tasted success
because of the heavy initial investments that are required to break even with other
companies and compete with them .In India Retail Industry is gradually inching its way
towards becoming the next boom industry.

The total concept and idea of shopping has undergone an attention drawing change in
terms of format and consumer buying behavior, making a revolution in shopping in
India. Modern retailing has entered into the Retail market in India as is observed in the
form of bustling shopping centers, multi-storied malls and the huge complexes that
offer shopping, entertainment and food all under one roof. A large young working
population with median age of 24 years, nuclear families in urban areas, along with
increasing working women population and emerging opportunities in the services
sector are going to be the key factors in the growth of the organized Retail sector in
India. The growth pattern in organized retailing and in the consumption made by the
Indian population will follow a rising chart helping the newer businessmen to enter the
India Retail Industry. In India the vast middle class and its almost untapped retail
industry are the key attractive forces for global retail giants wanting to enter into newer
markets, which in turn will help the India Retail Industry to grow faster. Indian retail is
expected to grow 25 per cent annually. Modern retail in India could be worth US$ 175-
200 billion by 2016. The Food Retail Industry in India dominates the shopping basket.
The Mobile phone Retail Industry in India is already a US $ 16.7 billion business,
growing at over 20 per cent per year. The future of the India Retail Industry looks
promising with the growing of the market, with the government policies becoming more
favorable and the emerging technologies facilitating operations.
THE INDIAN RETAIL SCENE

India is the country having the most unorganized retail market. Traditionally it is a
family livelihood, with their shop in the front and house at the back, while they run the
retail business. More than 99% of retailers function in less than 500 square feet of
shopping space. Global retail consultants KSA Techno Park have estimated that
organized retailing in India is expected to touch Rs. 35,000 crore in the year 2005-06.
The Indian retail sector is estimated at around Rs. 900,000 crore, of which the organized
sector accounts for a mere 2 per cent indicating a huge potential market opportunity
that is lying in the waiting for the consumer-savvy organized retailer.

Purchasing power of Indian urban consumer is growing and branded merchandise in

categories like Apparels, Cosmetics, Shoes, Watches, Beverages, Food and even
Jewelry, are slowly becoming lifestyle products that are widely accepted by the urban
Indian consumer. Indian retailers need to advantage of this growth and aiming to grow,
diversify and introduce new formats have to pay more attention to the brand building
process. The emphasis here is on retail as a brand rather than retailers selling brands.
The focus should be on branding the retail business itself. In their preparation to face
fierce competitive pressure, Indian retailers must come to recognize the value of
building their own stores as brands to reinforce their marketing positioning, to
communicate quality as well as value for money. Sustainable competitive advantage
will be dependent on translating core values combining products, image and reputation
into a coherent retail brand strategy.

There is no doubt that the Indian retail scene is booming. A number of large corporate
houses Tata, Raheja, Piramal, Goenka ,have already made their foray into this arena,
with beauty and health stores, supermarkets, self-service music stores, new age book
stores, every-day-low-price stores, computers and peripherals stores, office equipment
stores and home/building construction stores. Today the organized players have
attacked every retail category. The Indian retail scene has witnessed too many players
in too short a time, crowding several categories without looking at their core
competencies, or having a well thought out branding strategy.
STRATEGIES, TRENDS AND OPPORTUNITIES

Retailing in India is gradually inching its way toward becoming the next boom industry.
The whole concept of shopping has altered in terms of format and consumer buying
behavior, ushering in a revolution in shopping in India. Modern retail has entered India
as seen in sprawling shopping centers, multi-storied malls and huge complexes offer
shopping, entertainment and food all under one roof. The Indian retailing sector is at an
inflexion point where the growth of organized retailing and growth in the consumption
by the Indian population is going to take a higher growth trajectory. The Indian
population is witnessing a significant change in its demographics. A large young
working population with median age of 24 years, nuclear families in urban areas, along
with increasing working women population and emerging opportunities in the services
sector are going to be the key growth drivers of the organized retail sector in India.

GROWTH OF RETAIL SECTOR IN INDIA

Retail sector is the booming sector of India in the present times. Retail, one of India’s
largest industries, has presently emerged as one of the most dynamic and fast paced
industries of our times with several players entering the market, accounting for over 10
per cent of the country’s GDP and around eight per cent of the employment. Retailing
in India is gradually inching its way toward becoming the next boom industry. As the
contemporary retail sector in India is reflected in sprawling shopping centers,
multiplex- malls and huge complexes offer shopping, entertainment and food all under
one roof, the concept of shopping has altered in terms of format and consumer buying
behavior, ushering in a revolution in shopping in India. This has also contributed to
large-scale investments in the real estate sector with major national and global players
investing in developing the infrastructure and construction of the retailing business. The
trends that are driving the growth of the retail sector in India are;

 Low share of organized retailing.

 Falling real estate prices.
 Increase in disposable income and customer aspiration.
 Increase in the young working population.
In India, hefty pay packets, nuclear families in urban areas, along with
increasing working-women population and emerging opportunities in the services
sector, these are key factors which act as the growth drivers of the organized retail
sector in India which now boast of retailing almost all the preferences of life - Apparel
& Accessories, Appliances, Electronics, Cosmetics and Toiletries, Home & Office
Products, Travel and Leisure and many more. With this the retail sector in India is
witnessing rejuvenation as traditional markets make way for new formats such as
departmental stores, hypermarkets, supermarkets and specialty stores.

The retailing configuration in India is fast developing as shopping malls are

increasingly becoming familiar in large cities. When it comes to development of retail
space specially the malls, the Tier II cities are no longer behind in the race. The
development plans till 2012 studied it shows the projection of 300 shopping malls, with
200 malls in metros and the remaining 100 in the Tier II cities. The government of states
like Delhi and National Capital Region (NCR) are very upbeat about permitting the use
of land for commercial development thus increasing the availability of land for retail
space; thus making NCR render to 50% of the malls in India. India is being seen as a
potential goldmine for retail investors from over the world and latest research has rated
India as the top destination for retailers for an attractive emerging retail market. India
vast middle class and its almost untapped retail industry are key attractions for global
retail giants wanting to enter newer markets. Even though India has well over 5 million
retail outlets, the country sorely lacks anything that can resemble a retailing industry in
the modern sense of the term. This presents international retailing specialists with a
great opportunity. The organized retail sector is expected to grow stronger than GDP
growth in the next five years driven by changing lifestyles, burgeoning income and
favorable democratic outline.

INDUSTRY EVOLUTION

Traditionally retailing in India can be traced to the emergence of the neighborhood

Kirana stores catering to the convenience of the consumers. The new governments
support for rural retail. Indigenous franchise model of store chains run by Khadi &
Village Industries Commission1980s experienced slow change as India began to open
up economy. Textiles sector with companies like Bombay Dyeing, Raymond's, S
Kumar's and Grasim first saw the emergence of retail chains. Later Titan successfully
created an organized retailing concept and established a series of showrooms for its
premium watches. The latter half of the 1990s saw a fresh wave of entrants with a shift
from Manufactures to Pure Retailers, for e.g. Subhiksha and Nilgiris in food and
FMCG, Planet M and Music World in music, Crossword and Fountainhead in books.

From 1995 onwards we can saw the emergence of shopping centers mainly in urban
areas, with facilities like car parking targeted to provide a complete destination
experience for all segments of society. With the emergence of hyper and super markets
which try to provide customers with 3 V- Value, Variety and Volume, expands their
target consumer segment. At year end of 2000 the size of the Indian organized retail
industry is estimated at Rs. 65000 crores.

RETAILING FORMAT IN INDIA

Malls:

The largest form of organized retailing today is located mainly in metro cities, in
proximity to urban outskirts. Ranges from 60,000 sq.ft to70,000 sq.ft and above. They
lend an ideal shopping experience with an amalgamation of product, service and
entertainment, all under a common roof. Examples include Shoppers Shop, Piramyd,
and Pantaloon.

Specialty Stores:

Chains such as the Bangalore based Kids Kemp, the Mumbai books retailer Crossword,
RPG's Music World and the Times Group's music chain Planet M, are focusing on
specific market segments and have established themselves strongly in their sectors.

Discount Stores:

As the name suggests, discount stores or factory outlets, offer discounts on the MRP
through selling in bulk reaching economies of scale or excess stock left over at the
season. The product category can range from a variety of perishable/ non-perishable
goods.

Department Stores:

Large stores ranging from 20000-50000 sq.ft, catering to a variety of consumer needs.
are further classified into localized departments such as clothing, toys, home, groceries,
etc. Departmental Stores are expected to take over the apparel business from exclusive
brand showrooms. Among these, the biggest success is K Raheja's Shoppers Shop,
which started in Mumbai and now has more than seven large stores (over 30,000 sq.ft)
across India and even has its own in store brand for clothes called Stop.

Convenience Stores:

These are relatively small stores 400-2,000 sq. feet located near residential areas. They
stock a limited range of high-turnover convenience products and are usually open for
extended periods during the day, seven days a week. Prices are slightly higher due to
the convenience premium.

MBO:

Multi Brand Outlets, also known as Category Killers, offer several brands across a
single product category. These usually do well in busy market places and Metros.

Hyper markets & Supermarkets:

Large self-service outlets, catering to varied shopper needs are termed as Supermarkets.
These are located in or near residential high streets. These stores today contribute to
30% of all food & grocery organized retail sales. Super Markets can further be classified
in to mini supermarkets typically 1,000 sq.ft to 2,000 sq.ft and large supermarkets
ranging from 3500 sq.ft to 5000 sq.ft. have a strong focus on food & grocery and
personal sales

A supermarket is, a large form of the traditional grocery store, is a self-service shop
offering a wide variety of food and household products, organized into aisles. It is larger
and has a wider selection than a traditional grocery store, but is smaller and more limited
in the range of merchandise than hypermarket or big-box market. The supermarket
typically comprises meat, fresh produce dairy, and baked goods aisles, along with shelf
space reserved for canned and packaged goods as well as for various on-food items
such as kitchenware, household cleaners, pharmacy products and pet supplies. Some
supermarkets also sell a variety of other household products that are consumed
regularly, such as condoms (where permitted), medicine, and clothes, and some stores
sell a much wider range of non-food products: DVDs, sporting equipment, board
games, and seasonal items (e.g.: Christmas wrapping paper in December).The
traditional supermarket occupies a large amount of floor space, usually on a single level.
It is usually situated near a residential area in order to be convenient to consumers. The
basic appeal is the availability of a broad selection of goods under a single roof, at
relatively low prices. Other advantages include ease of parking and frequently the
convenience of shopping hours that extend into the evening or even 24 hours of day.

Supermarkets usually allocate large budget to advertising, typically through

newspapers. They also present elaborate in-shop displays of products. The shops are
usually part of corporate chains that own or control (sometimes by franchise) other
supermarkets located nearby even transnational thus increasing opportunities for
economies of scale. Supermarkets typically are supplied by the distribution centers of
their parent companies, usually in the largest city in the area. Supermarkets usually offer
products at relatively low prices by using their buying power to buy goods from
manufacturers at lower prices than smaller stores can. They also minimize financing
costs by paying for goods at least 30 days after receipt and some extract credit terms of
90 days or more from vendors. Certain products (typically staple foods such as bread,
milk and sugar) are very occasionally sold as loss leaders, that is, with negative profit
margins so as to attract shoppers to their store. There is some debate as to the
effectiveness of this tactic. To maintain a profit, supermarkets make up for the lower
margins by a higher overall volume of sales, and with the sale of higher-margin items
bought by the intended higher volume of shoppers. Customers usually shop by placing
their selected merchandise into shopping carts (trolleys) or baskets (self-service) and
pay for the merchandise at the check-out. At present, many supermarket chains are
attempting to further reduce labor costs by shifting to self-service check-out machines,
where a single employee can over see a group of four or five machines at once, assisting
multiple customers at a time. A larger full-service supermarket combined with a
department store is sometimes known as a hypermarket. Other services offered at some
supermarkets may include those of banks, cafes, childcare centers, insurance (and other
financial services),mobile phone services, photo processing, video rentals, pharmacies
and/or petrol stations.
HISTORY AND EVOLUTION OF SUPERMARKET AND HYPERMARKET

In the early days of retailing, all products generally were fetched by an assistant from
shelves behind the merchant's counter while customers waited in front of the counter
and indicated the items they wanted. Also, most foods and merchandise did not come
in individually wrapped consumer-sized packages, so an assistant had to measure out
and wrap the precise amount desired by the consumer. This also offered opportunities
for social interaction: many regarded this style of shopping as "a social occasion" and
would often "pause for conversations with the staff or other customers. These practices
were very labor-intensive and therefore also quite expensive. The shopping process was
slow, as the number of customers who could be attended to at one time be limited by
the number of staff employed in the store. The concept of an inexpensive food market
relying on large economies of scale was developed by Vincent Astor. He founded the
Astor Market in 1915, investing $750,000 ($18million in 2015 currency) of his fortune
into a165' by 125' corner of 95th and Broadway, Manhattan, creating, in effect, an open
airmen-mall that sold meat, fruit, produce and flowers. The expectation was that
customers would come from great distances ("miles around"), but in the end even
attracting people from ten blocks away was difficult, and the market folded in 1917.

The concept of a self-service grocery store was developed by entrepreneur Clarence

Saunders and his Piggly Wiggly stores. His first store opened in 1916. Saunders was
awarded a number of patents for the idea he incorporated into his stores. The stores
were a financial success and Saunders began to offer franchises. The Great Atlantic&
Pacific Tea Company, which was established in 1859, was another successful early
grocery store chain in Canada and the United States, and became common in North
American cities in the 1920s. The general trend in since then has been to stock shelves
at night so that customers, the following day, can obtain their own goods and bring them
to the front of the store to pay for them. Although there is a higher risk of shoplifting,
the costs of appropriate security measures ideally will be outweighed by reduced labor
costs. Early self-service grocery stores did not sell fresh meats or produce. Combination
stores that sold perishable items were developed in the 1920s. Historically, there was
debate about the origin of the supermarket, and with King Kullen and Ralphs of
California having strong claims. Other contenders included Weingarten's Big Food
Markets and Henke &Pilot. To end the debate, the Food Marketing Institute in
conjunction with the Smithsonian Institution and with funding from H.J. Heinz,
researched the issue. It defined the attributes of a supermarket as "self-service, separate
product departments, discount pricing, marketing and volume selling”. One of the first
supermarkets in the United States was opened by a former Kroger employee, Michael
J. Cullen, on 4th August 1930, inside a 6,000-square-foot former garage in Jamaica,
Queens in New York City. The store, King Kullen, operated under the slogan "Pile it
high. Sell it low." At the time of Cullen's death in 1936, there were seventeen King
Kullen stores in operation. Although Saunders had brought the world self-service,
uniform stores and Nation Wide marketing, Cullen built on this idea by adding separate
food departments, selling large volumes of food at discount prices and adding a parking
lot. A Safeway advertisement from the1950s.Other established American grocery
chains in the 1930s, such as Kroger and Safeway at first resisted Cullen's idea, but
eventually were forced to build their own supermarkets as the economy sank into the
Great Depression, while consumers were becoming price-sensitive at a level never
experienced before. Kroger took the idea one step further and pioneered the first
supermarket surrounded on all four sides by a parking lot. As larger chain supermarkets
began to dominate the market in the USA, which were able to supply consumers with
the desired lower prices as opposed to the smaller "mom and pop" stands with
considerable more overhead costs, the backlash of this infrastructure alteration was seen
through numerous anti-chain campaigns. The idea of “monopsony" proposed by
Cambridge economist Joan Robinson in 1933, that a single buyer could out-power the
market of multiple sellers, became a strong anti-chain rhetorical device. With public
backlash came political pressure to even the playing field for smaller vendors without
the luxuries of economies of scale. In 1936, the Robinson-Pat man Act was
implemented as a way of preventing such larger chains from using this buying power
to reap advantages over smaller, although the act was not well enforced and did not
have much impact in the prevention of larger chains overtaking power in the markets.
Supermarkets proliferated across Canada and the United States with the growth of
automobile ownership and suburb and the development after World War II. Most North
American supermarkets are located in suburban strip shopping centers as an anchor
store along. They are generally regional rather than national in their company branding.
Kroger is perhaps the most nationally oriented supermarket chain in the United States
but it has preserved most of its regional brands, including Ralphs, City Market, King
Scoopers, Fry's, Smith's and QFC. Pyatorochka supermarket is the largest supermarket
chain situated in Moscow, Russia. In Canada, the largest such company is Loblaw,
which operates stores under a variety of banners targeted to different segments and
regions, including Fortinos, Zahras, NoFrills, the Real Canadian Superstore, and
Loblaws, the foundation of the company. Sobeys is Canada's second largest
supermarket with locations across the country, operating under many banners (Sobeys
IGA in Quebec).

Québec's first supermarket opened in 1934in Montréal, under the banner Steinberg's. In
the United Kingdom, self-service shopping took longer to become established. Even in
1947, there were just ten self-service shops in the country. In 1951, ex- US Navy sailor
Patrick Galvani, son-in-law of Express Dairies chairman, made a pitch to the board to
open a chain of supermarkets across the country. The UK's first supermarket under the
new Premier Supermarkets brand opened in Street Ham, South London, taking ten
times as much per week as the average British general store of the time. Other chains
caught on, and after Galvani lost out to Tesco's Jack Cohen in 1960 to buy the
212Irwin's chain, the sector underwent a large amount of consolidation, resulting in 'the
Big four' dominant UK of today: Tesco, Asda (owned by Wal-Mart), Sainsbury's and
Morrison’s. In the 1950s, supermarkets frequently issued trading stamps as incentives
to customers.

Today, most chains issue store-specific “membership cards," "club cards," or "loyalty
cards ". These typically enable the card holder to receive special members-only
discounts on certain items when the credit card-like device is scanned at check-out.
Sales of selected data generated by Club Cards are becoming a significant revenue
stream for some supermarkets. Traditional supermarkets in many countries face intense
competition from discounters such as Wal-Mart, and Tesco in the UK, which typically
are non- union and operate with better buying power. Other competition exists from
warehouse clubs such as Costco that offer savings to customers buying in bulk
quantities. Superstores, such as those operated by Wal-Mart and Asda, often offer a
wide range of goods and services in addition to foods. The proliferation of such
warehouse and superstores has contributed to the continuing disappearance of smaller,
local grocery stores; increased dependence on the automobile; suburban sprawl because
of the necessity for large floor space and increased vehicular traffic. Some critics
consider the chains' common practice of selling loss leaders to be anti-competitive.
They are also wary of the negotiating power that large, often multinational have with
suppliers around the world. With the growth in developing countries, there has been a
rapid transformation of the food sector in developing countries, beginning in the 1990s.
This applies particularly to Latin America, South-East Asia, China and South Africa.
However, growth is being witnessed in nearly all countries. With growth, there has
come considerable competition and some amount of consolidation. The growth has
been driven by increasing affluence and the rise of a middle class; the entry of women
into the work force; with a consequent incentive to seek out easy-to-prepare foods; the
growth in the use of refrigerators, making it possible to shop weekly instead of daily;
and the growth in car ownership, facilitating journeys to distant stores and purchases of
large quantities of goods. The opportunities presented by this potential have encouraged
several European companies to invest in these markets (mainly in Asia) and American
companies to invest in Latin America and China. Local companies also entered the
market. Initial development of supermarkets has now been followed by hypermarket
growth. In addition there were investments by companies such as Macro and Metro in
large-scale Cash-and-Carry operations. While the growth in sales of processed foods in
these countries has been much more rapid than the growth in fresh food sales, the
imperative nature of supermarkets to achieve economies of scale in purchasing means
that the expansion of supermarkets in these countries has important repercussions for
small farmers, particularly those growing perishable crops. New supply chains have
developed involving cluster formation; development of specialized wholesalers;
leading farmers organizing supply; and farmer associations or cooperatives. In some
cases supermarkets have organized their own procurement from small farmers; in others
wholesale markets have adapted to meet supermarket needs.

RETAIL SALES IN INDIA: CHALLENGES & OPPORTUNITIES

Today, retailing is about so much more than mere merchandising. It is about casting
customers in a story, reflecting their desires and aspirations, and forging long-lasting
relationships. As the Indian consumer evolves they expect more and more at each and
every time when they steps into a store. Retail today has changed from selling a product
or a service to selling a hope, an aspiration and above all an experience that a consumer
would like to repeat.

For manufacturers and service providers the emerging opportunities in urban markets
seem to lie in capturing and delivering better value to the customers through retail. Only
innovative concepts and models may survive the test of time and investments. However,
manufacturers and service providers will also increasingly face a host of specialist
retailers, who are characterized by use of modern management techniques, backed with
seemingly unlimited financial resources. Organized retail appears inevitable.

The retail sector has played a phenomenal role throughout the world in increasing
productivity of consumer goods and services. It is also the second largest industry in
US in terms of numbers of employees and establishments. There is no denying the fact
that most of the developed economies are very much relying on their retail sector as a
locomotive of growth. The India Retail Industry is the largest among all the industries,
accounting for over 10 per cent of the country GDP and around 8 per cent of the
employment. The Retail Industry in India has come forth as one of the most dynamic
and fast paced industries with several players entering the market. But all of them have
not yet tasted success because of the heavy initial investments that are required to break
even with other companies and compete with them. The India Retail Industry is
gradually inching its way towards becoming the next boom industry.

3.2 INDUSTRIAL PROFILE

AL-MANAMA GROUP

Al-Manama Group commenced its entry into the gracious market of United
Arab Emirates in the year 1978 with a humble beginning comprised of a commercial
team of 16 and outlet with an area of 1200 sq.ft in Ajman. With the opening of Al-
Manama Hypermarkets, Manama group set the pace for a revolutionary change in the
shopping concepts of the regional Hypermarkets. They symbolize quality retailing and
have been an instant hit with the discerning customers in the UAE. Today, guided by
their core values and corporate motto 'Excellence in Service', fuelled by opportunities
thrown open by a buoyant market and empowered by the commitment of their
employees and associates, Al-Manama Group has entered new markets, built new
landmarks, delivered more value for the customers money, achieved greater glory and
touched the lives of more and more customers which they will continue to do so. They
strive forward for a promising future ahead and are absolutely confident about realizing
their corporate goals. To continue best efforts to provide all the customers with the best
product and services with guaranteed satisfaction under one roof. And also continue to
offer highest quality products at the lowest prices to strive to be the best in the retail
industry for non-stop shopping experience.

Al Manama hyper market Kollam is one of the subsidiary stores of the Al Manama
groups. Al Manama hyper market Kollam was established on 2011 march 18. The
founder of the store was A.K SABEER, who is the present MD of the store. The store
is completely a retail outlet which deals with wide variety of both Indian and
international branded fast moving consumer goods. Al Manama hyper market Kollam
is the head store for other Al Manama store located in Kollam district. The Al Manama
store located in Kollam provide training to employees required for other divisions of
the store and the store have a bakery processing unit located in Kottiyam named
Bakeins.

Mission

 To continue the best effort to provide all the customers with the best product
and services with guaranteed satisfaction under one roof and also continue to
offer highest quality products at the lowest prices to strive to be the best in the
retail industry for non-stop shopping experience.

Vision (core values)

 Delighted customers with superior quality deliverables at competitive prices.

 Exceed customer expectations by being sensitive to the ever changing customer
needs.
 Amplify value by seizing merging opportunities in a dynamic market.
 Regards employees and associates as partners in success.
 Optimize productivity through proactive corporate culture.
 Ensure highest ethical standards while conducting business
Figure 3.1

Organizational Structure of Al-Manama Hyper market Kollam

MANAGING DIRECTOR (A.K SABEER)

GENERAL MANAGER (SHAHUDEEN MUSLIAR)

MANAGER (S.R SREELAL)

FLOOR MANAGER (B.RAJEEV)

SUPERVISORS

SALES STAFFS AND BILLING STAFFS

Source: Primary Data

THEORETICAL FRAMEWORK OF THE STUDY

The National Productivity Council has found that Indian organizations have
successfully blended human resources and technology and evolved strategies which
aims at increased productivity and performance and better quality of work life (NPC,
1991)62. Nadler and Lawler (1983)63 mentioned that quality of work life is a way of
thinking about the people, work and organizations. Saklani (2003)64 defined the QWL
as an individuals’ reaction to work or the personal consequences of the work
experience. Chandrasekhar (1996)65 and Knoop (1994)66 conceptualized the quality
of work experience as the degree to which people perceive their work experiences
reflect an ideal work environment. The intrinsic QWL is conceptualized as the degree
to which people perceive the less tangible and qualitative aspects of life at work whereas
extrinsic QWL as the degree to which people perceive more tangible and qualitative
aspects of life at work. Cacioppie and Mock (1984)67 defined QWL as the degree to
which members of a work organisation are able to satisfy important personal needs
through their experience in organisations. Dimensions of QWL The term quality of
work life (QWL) has become well known not only to social scientists, but to lay men
as well. Klatt, Murdick and Schuster have identified eleven dimensions of QWL in the
year

Objectives of Quality of Work Life

1) To increase in individual productivity, accountability and commitment.

2) For better teamwork and communication.

3) For improving the morale of employees.

4) To reduce organizational stress.

5) To improve relationships both on and off the job.

6) To improve the safety working condition.

7) To provide adequate Human Resource Development Programs.

8) To improve employee satisfaction

Importance of quality of work life
Improved Quality of Work Life was not considered as important factor in India until
recently as there were important impending factors like resource deficiency,
environmental threats and some services of financial problems.
Good quality of Work Life leads to an atmosphere of good impersonal relations and
highly motivated employees who strive for their development. Though monetary
benefits still occupy the first place in the cost of elements like physical working
conditions, job restructuring and job re designing, career development, promotional
opportunities etc are gaining importance rapidly. As such, workers expect the
management to improve all these facilities which thereby improve Quality of Work
life. If provided with good Quality of Work Life, employees concentrate more on both
individual as well as group development which in turn leads to overall development.
Successful organization is turning through the introduction of Quality of Work Life
strategy to the people who work in them to maintain competitive advantage. The
benefits to both management and workers include:

1. Improve organization performance through the development of people.

2. Increase co-operation and team work within and across

all the levels of the organization including movement
towards management or trade union partnership.
3. Increase environment in doing a good job.

4. Improved quality performance

5. Increased commitment to the values and goals of the organization.

6. The anchoring of the development of a quality organization

7. Increased flexibility and responsiveness as the organization moves

away from hierarchical, bureaucratic structures
8. Easier introduction and development of new technology and of few
competitive systems for example, Total Quality Management (TQM) and
Just in Time (JIT)
9. Increased worker satisfaction as a result of better jobs and organizational
environment.

10. Increased opportunities for personal learning and growth

 The factors that influence and decide the Quality of work life are:

1) Attitude

2) Environment

3) Opportunities

4) Nature of Job

5) Stress Level

6) Career Prospect

7) People

8) Challenges

9) Growth and Development

10) Risk Involved and Reward

Attitude:

The person who is entrusted with a particular job needs to have sufficient knowledge,
required skill and expertise, enough experience, enthusiasm, energy level, willingness
to learn new things, dynamism, sense of belongingness in the organization
involvement in the job, interpersonal relations, adaptability to changes in the situation,
openness for innovative ideas, competitiveness, zeal, ability to work under pressure,
leadership qualities and team Spirit.
Environment:

The job may involve dealing with customers who have varied tolerance level
preferences, behavioral pattern, level of understanding; or it may involve working with
dangerous machines or even with animals where maximum safety precautions have to
be observed which needs lot of concentration, alertness, presence of mind, quick with
involuntary actions, synchronization of eyes, hands and body, sometimes high level
of patience, tactfulness, empathy and compassion and control over emotions.
Opportunities:

Some jobs offer opportunities for learning, research, discovery, self development,
enhancement of skills, room for innovation, public recognition, exploration, celebrity-
status and loads andloads of fame. Others are monotonous, repetitive, dull, routine, no
room for improvement and in every sense boring. Naturally the former ones are
interesting and very much rewarding also
Nature of Job:

For example, a driller in the oil drilling unit, a diver, a fire-fighter, traffic policeman,
tram engine drifter, construction laborers, welder, miner, lathe mechanic have to do
dangerous jobs and have to be more alert in order to avoid any loss of limb, or loss of
life which is irreparable; whereas a pilot, doctor, judge, journalist have to be more
prudent and tactful in handling the situation; a CEO, a professor, a teacher have more
responsibility and accountability but safe working environment; a cashier or a security
guard cannot afford to be careless in his job as it involves loss of money, property and
wealth; a politician or a public figure cannot afford to be careless, for his reputation
and goodwill is at stake. Some jobs need soft skills, leadership qualities, intelligence,
decision making abilities, and abilities to tram and extract work from others; other jobs
need forethought, vision and yet other jobs need motor skills, perfection and extreme
carefulness.

People:
Almost everyone has to deal with three set of people in the workplace. Those are namely
boss, co-workers in the same level and subordinates .A part from this: some professions
need interaction with people like patients, media persons, public, customers, thieves,
robbers, physically disabled people, mentally challenged children, foreign delegates,
gangsters, politicians, public figures and celebrities. These situations demand high level
of prudence, cool temper, tactfulness, humor, kindness, diplomacy and sensitiveness.

Stress level:
All these above mentioned factors are inter-related and inter-dependant. Stress level
need not be directly proportional to the compensation. Stress is of different types-mental
stress/physical stress and psychological or emotional stress. A managing director of a
company will have mental stress, a laborer will have physical stress, and psychiatrist
will have emotional stress.
Career prospects:
Every job should offer career development. That is an important factor which decides
the quality of work life. Status improvement, more recognition from the management,
appreciations is the motivating factors for anyone to take keen interest in his job. The
work atmosphere should be conducive to achieve organizational goal as well as
individual development. It is a win-win situation for both the parties; an employee
should be rewarded appropriately for his good work, extra efforts, sincerity and at the
same time a lethargic and careless employee should be penalized suitably; this will
motivate the former to work with more zeal and deter the latter from being so, and strive
for better performance.

Challenges:
The job should offer some challenges at least to make it interesting; that enables an
employee to upgrade his knowledge and skill and capabilities; whereas the monotony
of the job makes a person dull, non-enthusiastic, dissatisfied, frustrating, complacent,
initiative less and uninteresting. Challenge is the fire that keeps the innovation and thrill
alive. A well- accomplished challenging job yields greater satisfaction than a monetary
perk; it boosts the self- confidence also.

Growth and Development:

If an organization does not give chance for growth and personal development it is very
difficult to retain the talented personnel and also to find new talent with experience
and skill.
Risk Involved and Reward:
Generally reward or compensation is directly proportion total the quantum of work
,man-hours, nature and extent of responsibility, accountability, delegated powers,
authority of position in the organizational chart, risk involved, level of expected
commitment, deadlines and. targets, industry, country, demand and supply of skilled
manpower and even political stability and economic policies of a nation. Although risk
is involved in every job its nature and degree varies in them; all said and done reward
is a key criteria to lure a prospective worker to accept the offer
Dimensions of Quality of Work Life

Several studies have brought out the dimensions of QWL (Rethinam, 2008,
Nanjundeswara Swamy and Swamy, 2013). However European Foundation for the
Improvement of Living and Working Conditions (2002) has published several reports
since 2002 and the reviews state that there are six elements which have direct
relationship with QWL: Health and Wellbeing, Job Security, Job Satisfaction,
Competence Development and the Balance between Works with Non- Work Life. Each
of these dimensions of QWL from the perspectives of employees is briefly discussed
below:

Health and Well-being

Health and wellbeing of QWL refer to physical and psychological aspects of an

individual in any working environment. Asakura and Fujigaki (1993) examined the
direct and indirect effect of computerization on workers health and wellbeing. Their
results were similar to the study of Iacovides, Fountoulakis and Kaprins (2003) that
higher job demand leads to higher strain work environment, thus it affects their health
and well being. An unstrained work environment ensures good health and
psychological conditions which enable the employees to perform job and non- work
related functions without inhibitions. Thus, it leads to a non stressful work environment
providing comfortable work life. There are many definitions of stress as it is deemed as
a subjective phenomenon of QWL.

Chan et al. (2000) defines stress as a response to the perceived relationship between the
demands on individuals and the ability to adjust to their work environment. Carayon,
Smith and Haims (2001) revealed that stress arises in the process of interaction between
a person and the work environment that threatens the individual‘s physical,
psychological and physiological homeostasis. Physical illness and psychological
disorders increase when pressure at work increases. Stress causes problems to the
muscular system and circulation thus, increasing the risk of myocardial infarction
which is well documented in psychosomatic studies. Therefore it is important to note
that health and well being considered as an important dimension of QWL.
Job Security

The central aspect of QWL represents strength of the organizations to provide

permanent and stable employment regardless of the changes in work environment.
Watson et al 2003) states that a dramatic change of workforce in contemporary work
environment has revealed a significant amount of organization change. Organization
change such as downsizing, rightsizing and outsourcing have adversely affected
employees’ loyalty, morale, motivation and perceived threat to job security.
Organization of Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) (1996) highlighted
that job security is the most controversial issue in contemporary work environment.
Hence, providing a sense of security is important especially in the work environment
where many facets of jobs can be outsourced. Later, cognitive and behavioral
components were added to this definition.

The cognitive aspect represents an employee‘s belief about his job or job situation. This
means an employee may believe that his or her job is interesting, stimulating, or
otherwise. The behavioral component represents an employee‘s behavioral tendencies
toward his or her job which is all about the attending work regularly, working hard and
intending to stay in the organization for long period of time and shows the positive
behavior which indicates job satisfaction. In contrast, negative behavioral outcomes
reveal dissatisfaction in job.

Job satisfaction of an employee differs in meaning and importance in relations to the

facets of work. Some may feel pay and fringe benefits that meet his expectations to be
extremely important; another, it may be essential to have a job that provides an
opportunity for challenging assignment. The results of previous studies indicate that
many different aspects of the job, such as pay, promotions, supervision, fringe benefits,
one‘s coworkers support, and excessive working hours are associated with levels of
satisfaction (Watson et al,. 2003).and perceived threat to job security. Organization of
Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) (1996) highlighted that job security
is the most controversial issue in contemporary work environment. Hence, providing a
sense of security is important especially in the work environment where many facets of
jobs can be outsourced. Later, cognitive and behavioral components were added to this
definition.The cognitive aspect represents an employee‘s belief about his job or job
situati
Competency Development

Growth in skills and knowledge is an important aspect of competency development that

enhances QWL. Therefore competency development is equipped as the nature of the
job that provides opportunities and stimulates growth in skills and knowledge either for
career or Organizational development. Career development opportunity will provide
essential training that will help the individual employees to equip with the new skills
to spearhead in their career. Most Contemporary organizations do not limit themselves
to just training an employee for a job, but they go beyond to furnish them with a support
system that encourages workplace learning. Learning opportunities and skill discretion
have also proven to have a positive effect on job satisfaction and reduced job stress that
will lead to better QWL.

The opportunity to develop and the use of skills are associated with learning
mechanisms. This applies especially when the job requires employees to deploy
cognitive skills. With respect to learning, greater autonomy on job enhances the
acquisition and utilization of knowledge whilst greater participation is held to promote
cognitive growth via increased knowledge transfer among employees (Scully,
Kirkpatrick and Locke 1995). Such a job environment expands knowledge base, leads
to a better understanding of how the job is related to other organizational practices and
a greater ability to solve problems. In such a situation, employees gain the cognitive
and behavioral repertoire to predict, control or cope with uncertain demands thus
reducing the likelihood of poor QWL. In contrast, high job demands with inadequate
control reduce the ability and opportunities to develop new skills and knowledge and
thus enforce negative attitudes and anxiety which deteriorate QWL.

Work and Non-Work Life Balance

A major component of QWL, which is important for both the employees and the
employers, ionship between work and home life. In an increasing competitive
environment, it is difficult to separate home and work life. Employees today are more
likely to express a strong desire to have a harmonious balance among career, family life
and leisure activities. This has been suggested at the international level the need for
national policies in many countries. An
ILO convention that was adopted in 1981, states that it is necessary for organizations
to help employees to balance their work and non-work demands (Lewis, 1997).

Reducing the level of spillover may help reduce the perceived stress and psychological
stress and assist to maintain some amount of balance between the two environments
(Aminah, 2002). The existing low level of organizational support with increase in work
life conflict provides the risk of lower QWL. Organizations need to provide alternative
means of employment practices to eliminate the pressure of spillover without
influencing the career progression. The balance is important particularly among the
employees in order to nurture and develop the sustainable human resource practices in
the work environment. Therefore, balance between work and non work life is suggested
as one of the measures of QWL.

*Walton’s dimensions of quality of work life

Walton (1974) has identified eight dimensions for understanding quality of work life,
which make up the quality of working life framework. They are as follows:

* Adequate Income and Fair Compensation

Motivation experts believe that money is still an important motive, which makes people
work on the job. However, people also want to see fairness and adequacy in their pay
rewards. Equal pay for equal work and pay that is linked to responsibility, skill,
performance and individual accomplishment are viewed with great importance. Pay
must also be competitive with the external labor market and should be responsive to
prevailing practices and changing economic conditions.

*Safe and Healthy Working Conditions

An organization must create working conditions that are physically and psychologically
safe for its workers. The emergence of ergonomics in the 19503 has significantly
improved equipment design and plant layout to enhance the physical as well as
psychological comfort and safety of the workers.

*Immediate Opportunity to Use and Develop Human Capacities Development of

its workers involves training, skill developments, recognition, and promotion. Work
assignments should be made challenging enough to expand skills, abilities, and
knowledge. They should create a positive effect on self-esteem, autonomy, involvement
and motivation.

*Opportunity for Continued Growth and Security

There must be employment, which provides for continual growth and job & income
security. Opportunities for training and advancement should be considered.

*Social Integration in the Work Organization

The work environment should provide opportunities for preserving an employee’s

personal identity and self-esteem through freedom from prejudice, a sense of
community interpersonal openness and the absence of stratification in the organization.

*Constitutionalism in the Work Organization

There should be the right to personal privacy, free speech and equitable treatment, in
the workplace.

*Work and the Total Life Space

A person’s work should not overbalance his life. Ideally, work schedules, career
demands and travel requirements should not take up too much of his leisure and family
life.

*Social Relevance of Work Life

The standing of an organization in society can influence an employee’s value of his

work and career. The workers perceive the organization to be socially responsible in its
products, waste disposal, marketing techniques, and employment practices and so forth.
Objective Indicators of Quality of Work Life
1. Safe and Healthy Working Conditions

It is widely accepted that Employees should not be exposed to working conditions that
can adversely affect their physical and mental health (Orpen, 1981). Safe and healthy
work conditions means using proper work procedures, use of protective clothes and
devices, safe handling practices, first aid and avoid using hazardous materials.
Assurance of safety and health to workers is by setting and enforcing standards;
providing training and education, establishing partnership and encouraging continual
improvement in workplace safety and health. Protection from ill-health and injury at
work and outside of work are enhancement of good health and work environment

2. Future Opportunity for Job Security

Job security deals with the steadiness of employment, with the feeling that one has
reasonable chance of working under conditions of organization stability. It represents
strength of the organization is to provide permanent and stable employment regardless
changes in work environment. Job security includes opportunities of continuous growth
and individuals with security feeling will feel valued, self-adequate and will have
opportunity to learn trade or job.

3. Adequate and Fair Compensation

Reward system includes pay, income, wages, earning, salary, finance and remuneration
and interchanging used. Reward system deals with financial incentives (short term vs.
long term, base vs. incentive pay, and pay for performance vs. pay for seniority). The
extent to which reward systems are linked to strategic plans encourages employees to
work towards accomplishing business needs and meeting customer requirements.

4. Constitutionalism in the Work Organization

Industrial psychologists are concerned not so much with how people behave but rather
with what rights they should enjoy, whether they exercise them or not and only if the
work organization ensures that the following so-called rights of individuals are
officially respected, or their qualityof life is high. The following are some of the
workers’ rights that should be noted in the work place, that is, privacy, free speech and
the right of individuals not to be penalized as of their membership of any particular
group or class. It implies that all individuals are entitled to expect to be treated in the
same way as others, irrespective of the sex, race, religion or social class.

5. Work and Total Life Space

Work and total life space refers to the extent to which there is a balanced role of work
in the employee‘s other life spheres. This concept of a balanced role encompasses work,
schedules, career demands, and travel requirements that do not continually take up
leisure and family time and advancement and promotion that do not require repeated
geographical moves (Walton, 1973).The importance of this point for the concept of
quality of life is that work organizations, by virtue of this kind of ‘spillover effect’,
influence an individual‘s life of the job (Orpen, 1981).

6. The Social Relevance of Work Life

Socially responsible behavior includes a broad array of actions such as behaving

ethically, supporting the work of non-profit organizations, treating Employees fairly,
and minimizing damage to the environment (Mc Williams and Siegel, 2001;
McWilliams and Siegel, 2001; Porter and Kramer, 2002; Saiia, 2002; Margolis and
Walsh, 2003; Boutin- Dufresne and Savaria, 2004).

7. Work Load or Pressures at Work

Van Eerd (2002) mentioned that having high levels of time pressure can endanger the
loss of enthusiasm and an ability to act. High levels of time pressure produces stress,
which in turn lead to passivity and avoidance may occur. At the individual level, time
pressure leads to (1) faster performance rates, (2) lower performance quality and (3)
more heuristic information processing, meaning, people stop considering multiple
alternatives, engage in shallow rather than thorough and systematic processing of
information and refrain from critical probing of a given seemingly adequate solution or
judgment (De Dreu, 2003; Durham, Locke, Poon and McLoed, 2000; Kelly and Loving,
2004). Under high time pressure workers see task completion as their main objective
and complete the task as quickly as possible, but at the sacrifice of quality (Van der
Kleij, Lijkwn, Rasker and De Dreu, 2008).
 8. Work and Life Balance

Work and life balance deals with encouragement, and improvement in workers
retention and turnover, reduces recruitment and training costs, reduces all forms of
absenteeism, provides positive publicity for organizations, improves motivation and
loyalty and thence productivity and increases customers satisfaction. Work life balance
is all about flexible working, greater virtual communication, workload, work time, high
commitment and cognitive demands. This has been emphasised by Furnham (2005),
Rethinam and Ismail (2008), Connell and Hannif (2009), Zare, Hamid, Haghgooyan,
Zolfa and Asl, (2012), Gayathiri and Lalitha (2013

9. Role Ambiguity

Role ambiguity refers to not knowing what one‘s tasks are and also not knowing what
is expected from oneself (Van Der Doef and Maes, 1999; Kleynhans, Markham, Meyer
and Van Aswegen (2006). According to Diedieff and Rubin (2007), roles in
organizations are generally defined as the patterns of behaviors that are perceived by
organizational members to be expected or required. The clarity with which individuals
perceive their work roles has been linked to several important organizational outcomes,
including job performance, organizational commitment and Job Satisfaction (Tubre and
Collins, 2000). Work role ambiguity may result from unclear articulations of expected
role activities, performance contingencies and work methods.

10. Job Insecurity

Job insecurity refers to uncertainty about one‘s job (Van Der Doef and Maes, 1999).
According to Sverke, Hellgren and Naswall (2006) many organizations have strived for
functional and numerical flexibility which resulted in demands for new types of skills
as well as changes in employment contracts. Job insecurity has emerged as one of the
most important issues in contemporary work life (Sverke, Hellgren and Naswall, 2006).

11. Social Support Supervisor

Hawkins and Shohet (2004), also stated that a good supervisor can also help one to use
one‘s resources better, manage one‘s workload and challenge inappropriate patterned
ways of coping. Spencer, Wilson, Kavanagh, Strong and Worrel (2001), maintain that
the personal support aspect of supervision aims to optimize motivation, morale,
commitment, and to minimize work-related stress, burnout and mental health problems
of the employee. Supervision includes monitoring, implementing changes and
maintaining the co-operative culture. Supervisory behavior is to co- operate with others
in the team, persist in overcoming obstacles to complete a task, define the supervisor‘s
decisions and voluntarily do more than the job -requires to help others or contributing
to unit effectiveness.

12. Social Support Colleagues

Social support colleagues refer to instrumental and emotional support provided by

colleagues (Van Der Doef and Maes, 1999). According to Jenkins and Elliot (2004)
support can be emotional, such as the action of caring or listening sympathetically, or
instrumental, involving tangible assistance such as help with a work task. Social support
is a straightforward resource in that it is functional in achieving work goals (Bakker,
Demerouti and Euwema, 2005).

13. Physical Conditions

The perceived ability of an individual to perform accustomed functions and activities

of daily living as part of the expectation of an organisation largely depends on their
physical conditions. A healthy work environment provides the basis for the person to
enjoy working. Physical conditions include satisfaction with physical health. These are
also emphasized by Haworth and Hart (2007), Niosh (2010), Saha (2006), Reithinam
and Ismail (2008), Rutten, Meij, and Mathus- Vliegen (2009).

14. Working Conditions

Working conditions centers on the physical space that the employee is working in or a
space that will be of use in the future. It also includes features like temperature, loud
noise, crowding, poor lighting, cleanliness, ventilation, humidity and adequate tools.
An ideal work condition should be mentally stimulating. Many studies have been
reported by Niosh (2010), Vinopal (2009), Pandala and Suryanarayana (2010),
Gayathiri and Lalitha (2013).
Subjective Indicators of Quality of Work Life

1. Opportunities to use and develop Human Capacities

Walton (1973) asserts that experiencing a high QWL is dependent on the extent to
which jobs allow the employee to use and develop his/her skills and competencies. Jobs
should contain a number of features that would allow Employees the opportunity to use
and develop their human capacities and eventually experience QWL.

2. Social Interaction in the Work Organization

According to Walton (1973) and Orpen (1981), the importance of social interaction is
another determinant of QWL. Five factors, namely supportiveness, tolerance, equality,
mobility and identification are considered essential for these interactions to have
beneficial outcomes for individuals.

3. Acknowledgment for Achievement

Recognition for achievement is defined by Kotze (2008), as the recognition for

achievements by management, colleagues, subordinates and clients. Closely related to
task significance is feedback. Feedback refers to the necessity of organizations to
speedily provide employees with information and accurate knowledge regarding their
performance and its wider organizational impact (Orpen, 1981; Walton, 1973).
Hackman and Oldham (1976), suggested that feedback is a critical factor in reducing
absenteeism, and employee turnover. Further, feedback is effective in delivering the
personal and behavioral outcome variables.

4. Meaningfulness and Significance of Work

According to Chalofsky (2003), meaningfulness and significance work may present an

even greater challenge to define and purports that meaning at work implies that there is
a relationship between the individual and the organization in terms of commitment,
loyalty and dedication. Chalofsky (2003) identifies three themes which determine
meaningful work, namely, a sense of self, the work itself, and the sense of balance
which overlaps and intertwines and is reflected in the term integrated to wholeness or
meaningful work.
 5. Autonomy and Control

The feature of autonomy suggests that a job should be designed in such a manner that
it affords the employee a degree of independence and discretion in terms of how the job
is carried out (Orpen, 1981). Stein (1983) too emphasizes the importance of autonomy
or control and defines it as the ability to influence one‘s working environment.
Similarly, Newell (2002) suggests that QWL involves providing Employees with
greater responsibility and autonomy. In addition, Kerce and Booth-Kewley (1993)
reflect upon the work of Herman and Hulin (1972), and Loscocco (1990), who point
towards various situations and or structural factors, entitled the structural approach,
within a job that affect QWL. A job that lacks autonomy will result in low QWL.
Several studies with the Demand Control Model (DCM) have indeed confirmed that
autonomy may act as a buffer against the influence of job demands (work overload,
time pressure; Van der Doef and Maes, 1999).

6. Identification with and Enjoyment of Work

Experienced meaningfulness of work is enhanced primarily by skill variety, task

identity and task significance. Experienced responsibility for work outcomes is linked
to the presence of autonomy in a job. Knowledge of results is increased when a job
elicits a high level of feedback (Hackman and Oldham, 1980). An individual who has
a strong desire for accomplishment and growth should respond positively, but an
incumbent who has a low need for accomplishment or growth may feel intimidated and
consequently may not respond favorably (Lee-Ross, 2002).

7. Creativity and Innovation

Researchers defined creativity as the generation of new and useful products, practices,
services etc. Creativity is the prerequisite for an organization‘s innovation,
effectiveness and long-term survival and an organization‘s adjustment to shifting
environmental conditions and to take advantage of emerging opportunities (Oldham,
2002; Shalley, Zhou and Oldham, 2004).

8. Skill Discretion

The feature of skill variety allows Employees the opportunity to use and develop their
human capacities through exercise of their competencies, skills and abilities rather than
the reception of limited, narrow skills (Orpen, 1981; Walton, 1973). Ramlall (2004)
pointed out that the inclusion of task variety as an element of job design is consistent
with the concept of growth need satisfaction, as well as with more psychological
approaches taken by activation theory. It is not consistent, however, with Herzberg‘s
approach, which refers to the simple addition of tasks as horizontal job loading or as
job enlargement.

9. Task Control

According to Moen, Kelly and Huang (2008) occupational health literature have
recognized the importance of employees’ degree of control over how they do their jobs
and how they manage their multiple responsibilities. In the classic job strain model, job
control describes latitude or autonomy regarding how work is done using different skills
and knowledge. It does not attend to control over when and where work is done. While
job control is especially important for workers facing high job demands (Karasek and
Theorell, 1990), work time control may matter to workers with high family or job
demands, enabling Employees to alter their work schedules in response to exigencies
at home or at work.

10. Stress and its impact on QWL

Several theoretical concepts of stressful work have been developed (Antoniou and
Cooper, 2005)…and two models have received special attention recently: the demand-
control model (Karasek and Theorell, 1990) and the effort–reward imbalance model
(Siegrist, Starke and Chandola, 2004). The former model identifies stressful work by
job task profiles that are characterized by high demand in combination with low control
(low decision latitude), whereas the latter model claims that an imbalance between high
efforts spent and low rewards received in turn (money, esteem, career prospects, and
job security) adversely affect health. This is mainly due to the fact that a basic principle
of social exchange, reciprocity, is violated under such conditions

11. Resiliency

Resilience is a multi-dimensional construct and the efforts to be resilient, such as

adaptive strategies to manage demands, should be considered separately to resilient
outcomes, such as better mental health or better relationships (Kumpfer, 1999). By
managing the ups and downs in life, resilient individuals can be more effective in
managing the changing nature of the current workplace and finding a balance between
work and personal lives

12. Positive Attitudes

Employees who enjoy their work and feel happy make a very positive judgment about
their Quality of Work Life. This enjoyment or happiness is the outcome of cognitive
and affective evaluations of the flow experience (Diener, 2000). When Employees are
intrinsically motivated, they will continuously be interested in the work they are
involved in, therefore being fascinated by the tasks they perform.

13. Self-efficacy

There is considerable evidence regarding the positive effects of self-efficacy on work

performance and well-being in different domains such as the workplace, school, and
sports (Bandura, 2001). Research in the domain of work shows that high level of
efficacy beliefs to have a positive impact on employee well-being (Grau, Salanova and
Peiro, 2001) and work engagement (Salanova, Llorens, Cifre, Martinez and Schaufeli,
2003), and can buffer the negative impact of job demands on burnout. Efficacy beliefs
influence the challenges people pursue, the effort they expend and their perseverance
in the face of obstacles.

14. Self and Self Development

Self development occurs when one is recognized and appreciated of one‘s work within
the organization (i.e.) recognition and reward for doing a good job at work and also
outside the organization. It is also the degree of experienced meaning and purpose in
life which will naturally increase one‘s own self-respect, esteem and actualization.

15. Well-Being

It is the psychological and physical aspects of an individual in work environment. It is

achieved by the simultaneous and balanced satisfaction of personal, interpersonal and
collective needs and by a therapeutic relationship with natural, built and social
environment. This has been contributed in the studies by Sirgy, Efraty, and Siegal
(2001), Diener, Oishi and Lucas (2003), Veenhoven (2006), Tennath, Hiller, Fiahwick,
Platt, and Joseph (2007), Huang, Lawler and Lie (2007), Rethinam and Ismail (2008),
Rutten, Meij and Mathus-Vliegen (2009).
 16. Self-actualization

Self-actualization, according to Maslow (1954), is the desire to become more and more
from what one is to anything that one is capable of becoming. Promotion and career
progress are important in that regard. Promotion from within programs serves to
enhance the value of the work role identity and promotes multiple work role identities
(e.g., specialist, team player, and supervisor/manager). Meeting the needs of more role
identities and highly valued role increase the likelihood of experiencing positive self-
evaluations at work, which in turn contribute significantly to subjective well-being.

Principles of QWL
In order to humanize work and to improve the QWL, four basic principles may be
helpful:

 The principle of security:

Quality of work life cannot be improved until employees are relieved of the anxiety,
fear and loss of future employment. The working conditions must be safe and fear of
economic want should be eliminated. Job security and safety against occupational
hazards is an essential precondition of humanization of work.

 The principle of equity:

There should be a direct and positive relation between effort and reward. All types of
discrimination between people doing similar work and with same level of performance
must be eliminated. Equity also requires sharing the profiles of the organization

 The principle of individualism:

Employees differ in terms of their attitudes, skill, potential, etc. therefore every
individual should be provided the opportunity for development of his personality and
potential. Humanization of work requires that employees are showed to decide their
own pace of activity and design of work operations.

 The principle of democracy:

This means greater authority and responsibility to employees. Meaningful participation

in the decision making process improves the quality of work life.
Barriers to quality of work life

 Resistance to change both by management and employees

 There is general perception that QWL implementation will cost much to the
organization
 Continuous increase in quality of work life may result in less productivity, ie.
after a certain level the productivity will not increase in proportion to the
increase in QWL.

Specific issues in QWL

 Pay and stability of employment

 Occupational stress

 Organizational health programmes

 Alternative work schedule

 Participative management and control of work

 Recognition

 Congenial worker-supervisor relations

 Grievance procedure

 Employment on permanent basis

Techniques for Improving the Quality of Work Life

Some of the important techniques for improving the quality of work life are: Job
enrichment, uality circle (self-managed work teams). The term quality of work life
has becomes popular after 1970.Reaserch is going to find out the new ways and means
to improve QWL.

1. Job Enrichment:
Under traditional management, the principle of division of work and specialization was
applied so that an individual could do a particular work more efficiently. However, this
made the job of workers monotonous. They started feeling bored by doing the same
work again and again. Management also started realizing it as a process of
dehumanization. Kerzberg in his two factor theory of motivation tried to use job as a
medium of developing people and changing some organizational practices. Job
enrichment can lead to extension of job contents. It also develops competence of
employees who voluntarily come forward to share higher responsibilities.

2. Job Rotation:

A vertical job rotation means promotion whereas a horizontal job rotation means
transfer to some other j ob. Job rotation makes an employee to learn the new job at
the new seat here by creating interest in the new job. The problems associated with
specialization such as boredom and monotony are automatically removed as the
worker becomes generalist from specialist.

3. Quality circle (or self- managed work teams):

The concept of Quality Circles was made popular in Japan in 1960 by K. Ishikawa.
Japan has gained a lot by applying the Statistical Quality Control (SQC) techniques for
production. Quality circles can be defined as a small group of some people (may be
3 to 12) who meet for an hour every week to identify, analyze and solve the problems
related to their work. The solutions are sent to the management for implementation.
Quality Circles develop a culture of participation among the workers. It also reflects the
democratic set up where the management keeps full faith in the employees and also
there is a complete understanding between the management and workers

Quality of work life as HR strategy

In the modern scenario QWL as a strategy of Human Resource Management is being

the ultimate key for development among all the work system. This is an integral part to
any organization towards its whole growth. Since industrial revolution, much
experimentation has gone into exploiting the potential of human capital in work areas
either explicitly or implicitly. The need for new perspective of QWL was needed
because of the revolution in advanced technology. Major companies are tirelessly
implementing this paradigm in Human Resources Development.

The role of human resource department in QWL efforts varies widely. In some
organizations, top management appoints an executive to ensure that QWL and
productivity efforts occur throughout the organization. In most cases, these executives
have a small staff and must rely on the human resource department for help with
employee training, communications, attitude survey feedback, and similar assistance.
In other organizations, the department is responsible for initiating and directing the
firm‘s QWL and productivity efforts. Perhaps the most crucial role of the department
is winning the support of key managers. Management support, particularly top
management support appears to be an almost universal prerequisite for successful
QWL programs.

By substantiating employee satisfaction and bottom-line benefits, which range from

lower absenteeism and turnover to higher productivity and fewer accidents, the
department can help convince doubting managers. The policies and practices of the
65department also influence motivation and satisfaction indirectly.

How to improve quality of work life

1) Fair and equitable remuneration

2) Reasonable stability of employment

3) Employee health and safety programs

4) Alternative work schedules

5) Participative management or self managed teams

6) Recognition of employees as human beings

7) Congenital worker supervisor relations

8) Grievance procedures and effective leadership

DATA ANALYSIS AND INTERPRETATION

Age wise classification

Table 5.1 the age wise classification of employees

Age Number of the Percentage
%
Respondents

Below 30 2 2

30-35 23 23

36-40 40 40

41-45 30 30

Above 45 5 5

Total 100 100

(Source: Primary data)

Above 40

Figure5.1the age wise classification of employees

INTERPRETATION
Employees of all age groups are considered for the study. The majority of employees
belong to the age group of 30-35 years.

ANALYSIS
The table 5.1 shows the Age wise classification.Here most of the employees come
under the age 36-40.The remaining age groups are less than the number of age
36-40.
 Marital status classification

Table 5.2 the marital status classification of employees

Marital Status No.of Respondents Percentage

Married 97 97

Unmarried 3 3

Total 100 100

(Source: Primary data)

Figure5.2the marital status classification of employees

No.of Respondents

Married Unmarried

INTERPRETATION

It shows majority of respondents are married.97% of response is married and rests of

them are unmarried.

ANALYSIS

The table 5.2 shows the marital status of employees.Most of the employees are
married.Unmarried are very less compared to the other
Education qualification classification

Table 5.3 the education qualification classification

classification of employees

Education Number of the Percentage

qualification respondents
PG 20 20
UG 25 25
HSC 18 18
SSLC 35 35
Other 2 2
Total 100 100
(Source: Primary data)
Figure5.3 the education qualification classification of employees
40
35
30
25
20
15
10
5
0
Education qualification PG UG HSC SSLC Other

INTERPRETATION:

From table 5.3,35% are SSLC Qualification,20 UG and 30% are pg. Here SSLC are
majority in number

ANALYSIS

Most of the respondents are educationally high acquired employees. Majority of

employees have under graduation. Few of employees are SSLC qualification.
Income level classification
Table 5.4 the income level classification of employees

Income level Number of the Percentage

respondents
Below 5000 6 6

5000-10000 35 35

10001-15000 32 32

15001-20000 18 18

Above20000 9 9

Total 100 100

(Source: Primary data)

40
35%
35 32%

30
18%
25

10 9%
6%
5
Below 5000 5000-10000 10000-15000 15000-20000 Above 20000

Figure5.4 the income level classification of employees

INTERPRETION
From the table 5.4 from chart 5.4 35% of respondents belongs to category of income
level 5000-1000, 32% belongs to 10001-50000, 6% belongs to 5000 and 9- 20000
ANALYSIS
The result explains majority of employees get income group of 5000-
10000.Employees are considered income as an important factor for organization.
Result shows majorit y of workers are working in 5000-10000 range of income group.
Experience wise classification

Table 5.5 the experience wise classification of employees

Experience Number of the Percentage

respondents
Below 1 year 0 0
1-5 years 13 13
6-9 years 54 54
10-13years 30 30
Above 3years 3 3
Total 100 100
(Source: Primary data)

Below 1 year 5-9 years Above

Figure5.5 the experience wise classification of employees

INTERPRETATION

From the table 5.5 and from the chart 5.5 the respondents belongs to category
have experience o, 54% Belongs to 6-9 ,-30% belong to10-13,13% belongs to
1-5 years and 3% to 13 years

ANALYSIS

The result shows that majority of employees have work experience with the
company for 5-9 years. Only few employees have work experience with the
company for above 13 years.
Work environment satisfaction

Table 5.6 the work environment satisfaction of employees

Category Number of the

Respondents
Highly satisfied 22

Satisfied 58

Neutral 16

Dissatisfied 2

Highly dissatisfied 2
Total 100

(Source: Primary data)

Figure5.6 the work environment satisfaction of employees

INTERPRETATION

From the table 5.6 and chart 5.6 about 22% are highly satisfied, 58 satisfied and about
4 dissatisfied and 16 don’t have any comments.

ANALYSIS

Majority of employees are satisfied with the working environment of the organization. That
means the organization provides good company culture for their work environment.
Satisfaction level in communication and information flow

Table 5.7 satisfaction level of employees in communication and information

flow

Category Number of the

Respondents
Yes 95

No 5

Total 100

(Source: Primary data)

5%

Yes
No

Figure5.7 satisfaction level of employees in communication and information flow

INFERENCE

The employee’s opinion that their communication and information flow with the
departments are fully satisfactory. The employees are satisfied in communication
and information flow, which include upward, down ward, horizontal or vertical
communication.
 Kind of communication

Table 5.8 kind of communication of employees

Category Number of the Percentage

respondents
Upward communication 3 3

Downward communication 32 32
Horizontal communication 61 61
Diagonal communication 4 4
Total 100 100
(Source: Primary data)

70
61
60
50
32
30
20
3 4
0
Upward Downward Horizontal Diagonal
communication communication communication

Figure5.8 kind of communication of employees

INFERENCE

The employees’ opined that the downward communication and horizontal communication are
the most important communication strategies of the organization. Majority of employees
are satisfied with the horizontal communication of the organization.
Level of satisfaction in attitude of management

Table 5.9 the level of satisfaction of employees in the attitude of management

Category Number of the Percentage

respondents
Highly satisfied 8 8
Satisfied 72 72
Neutral 20 20
Dissatisfied 0 0
Highly 0 0
dissatisfied
Total 100 100
(Source: Primary data)

72%

0% 0%

Highly Satisfied Neutral Dissatisfied Highly

satisfied
Figure5. 9 the level of satisfaction of employees in the attitude of
management

INFERENCE

The attitude of the organization is satisfactory, since attitude have impact the
performance of employees the company should try to make necessary changes to
take up the satisfaction level to highest.
The level of satisfaction in the salary

Table 5.10 the level of satisfaction of employees in the salary

Category Number of the Percentage

respondents
Highly satisfied 20 20
Satisfied 45 45
Neutral 20 20
Dissatisfied 15 15
Highly dissatisfied 0 0
Total 100 100
(Source: Primary data)

45
4
5

4
0 20 20
15
3
5
0
3
0
Highl Satisfie Neutr Dissatisfied
y Highl

Figure 5.10 the level of satisfaction of employees in the salary

INFERENCE

Majority of respondents are satisfied with the salary. Employees will not do their
best when they feel that they are not salary for what they do.
Level of satisfaction in nature of the job

Table 5.11 the level of satisfaction of employees in nature of the job

Category Number of the

respondents
Highly satisfied 30

Satisfied 50

Neutral 20

Dissatisfied 0

Highly dissatisfied 0

Total 100

(Source: Primary data)

50%
50

45
30%
40
20%
35

30
0% 0%
25

20 Highly Satisfied Neutral Dissatisfied Highly

satisfied dissatisfied

Figure5. 11 the level of satisfaction of employees in nature of the job

INFERENCE

Majority of respondents are satisfied with the nature of the job. Only 20%
employees are neutral opinion for that. Workers are mainly search to find job
with several challenges, they are liable for fulfilling their duties and have enough
power to do this task
The level of satisfaction in promotion

Table 5.12 the level of satisfaction of employees in Promotion

Category Number of the

respondents
Highly satisfied 24

Satisfied 40

Neutral 26

Dissatisfied 10

Highly dissatisfied 0

Total 100

(Source: Primary data)

Neutral Highly

Figure 5. 12 the level of satisfaction of employees in promotion

INFERENCE

Majority of respondents are satisfied with the promotion. In some employees are simply
bored in their current position or they believe the company is not utilizing their talent.
So, the organization should promoting employees to improve job satisfaction of
organization.
Level of satisfaction in working hours
Table 5.13 the level of satisfaction of employees in working hours

Category Number of the Percentage

respondents
Highly satisfied 0 0
Satisfied 80 80
Neutral 20 20
Dissatisfied 0 0
Highly 0 0
dissatisfied
Total 100 100
(Source: Primary data)

80%
80

70

60
20%
50
20 0% 0% 0%

10
Highly Satisfied Neutral Dissatisfied Highly

Figure5. 13the level of satisfaction of employees in flexibility in working hours

INFERENCE

The working hours of the organization are satisfactory. This can be understand the
organization have flexibility in working hours. The flexible working time positively
associated with both working time fit and job satisfaction
Level of satisfaction in health and safety
Table 5.14the level of satisfaction of employees in health and safety

Category Number of the Percentage

Respondents
Highly satisfied 10 10
Satisfied 70 70
Neutral 20 20
Dissatisfied 0 0
Highly 0 0
dissatisfied
Total 100 100
(Source: Primary data)

80
70%
70

60

50

40
20%
30 10%
20 0% 0%

Highly Satisfied Neutral Dissatisfied Highly

satisfied dissatisfied
Figure5. 14 the level of satisfaction of employees in health and safety

INFERENCE

The health and safety of the organization are satisfactory. Majority of employees are
satisfied with the health and safety of the organization. Workplace that will positively
affect the health and safety of an organization. In many cases employers do not provide
satisfactory wear which can help minimize the impact of accidents.
Level of satisfaction in canteen facilities

Table 5.15 the level of satisfaction of employees in canteen facilities

Category Number of the Percentage

respondents
Highly satisfied 15 15
Satisfied 55 55
Neutral 20 20
Dissatisfied 0 0
Highly dissatisfied 0 0
Total 100 100
(Source: Primary data)

55%
60

50

20%
15%
20
0% 0%

0
Highly Satisfied Neutral Dissatisfied Highly
satisfied dissatisfied

Figure5.15 the level of satisfaction of employees in canteen facilities

INFERENCE

The canteen facility of the organization is satisfactory. There 55% of employees

are satisfied with the canteen facility of the organization.
Employee –employer relationship

Table 5.16 the employee –employer relationship of the organization

Category Number of the Percentage

Respondents
Very good 10 10

Good 20 20

Neutral 30 30

Poor 36 36

Very poor 4 4

Total 100 10
0
(Source: Primary data)

poor very poor

Figure5. 16the employee –employer relationship of the organization

INFERENCE

There is a good relationship between employer and employee in the organization.

The management should try to maintain a good relationship with employees so
that they feel a sense of social association and belongingness.
Working environment of employees

Table 5.17 working environment of employees

Working Number of the Percentage
environment
Respondents

Participative 90 90

Autonomy 5 5

Whimsical 5 5

Red tapism 0 0

Others 0 0

Total 100 100

(Source: Primary data)

100
90%
90

80

70

60

50

40 5% 5%
0% 0%
Participative Autonomy Whimsical Red tapism others
Figure5. 17working environment of employees

INFERENCE

The organization working environment is mainly in participative environment

.The employees are highly participative for the achievement of the organization
goal. So this helps easy to achieve the organization goal.
Rate on work life balance

Table 5.18 Employee’s rate on work life balance

Category Number of the Percentage

respondents
Very good 0 0

Good 80 80

Neutral 20 20

Poor 0 0

Very poor 0 0

Total 100 100

(Source: Primary data)

20%

Good
Neutral
Figure5. 18 Employee’s rate on work life balance

INFERENCE

There is a good work life balance of the organization. Employees are satisfied
in work life balance on the bases of their self management, time, stress, change,
technology, leisure etc
Rate on company’s financial stability

Table 5.19 Employee’s rate on company’s financial stability

Category Number of the Percentage

Respondents
Very good 0 0
Good 90 90
Neutral 10 10
Poor 0 0
Very poor 0 0
Total 100 100
(Source: Primary data)

Figure5. 19Employee’s rate on company’s financial stability

INFERENCE

The financial stability of the organization is good. Majority of employees’ opined

that there is a good financial stability of the organization.
Rate on career development

Table 5.20 Employee’s rate on career development

Catego Number of the Percentage

ry
respondents
Very good 9 9
Good 50 50
Neutral 27 27
Poor 14 14
Very 0 0
Poor
Total 100 100
(Source: Primary data)

50%

50

45

40
27%
35

30 14%

25 9%

20 0%

15
Very good Good Neutral Poor Very Poor

Figure5. 20 Employee’s rate on career development

INFERENCE

The career development of the organization is good. 50% of employee’s opined

that, there is a good career development in the Subicsha.
Rate on job security

Table 5.21 Employee’s rate on job security

Cate Number of the Percentage

gory
respondents
Very good 25 25

Good 40 40

Neutral 10 10

Poor 25 25

Very poor 0 0

Total 100 100

(Source: Primary data)

40%
40

35
25% 25%
30

25

20 10%
15

10 0%

5
Very good Good Neutral Poor Very poor

Figure5.21 Employee’s rate on job security

INFERENCE

The job security of the organization is good. Majority of employees’ opinion that
there is a good job security of the organization
Employee’s opinion on quality of work life of an organization

Table 5.22 Employee’s opinion on quality of work life of an organization

Factors Number of the Percentage

respondents
Good working environment 80 80
Good welfare measures and 5 5
benefits
Social recognition 0 0
Career development and 10 10
opportunities
High standard of living 5 5
Total 100 100
(Source: Primary data)

80%
80

70

60

50
10%
40 5% 5%
0%
30
Good Good welfare Social Career High
working measures and recognition development standard of
environment benefits and living
opportunity
Figure 5.22 Employee’s opinion on quality of work life of an organization

INFERENCE

Majority of employees’ said that their good working environment is quality of work
life of that organization. Because proper working environment provide good work life
quality of the organization
Rate on stress of the work

Ranking of motivational factors

Table 5.24ranking of motivational factors

Factors Rank (1-5) Total

5(point 1) 4(point 2) 3(point 3) 2( point4) 1(point 5)
Salary increase 0 8 7 10 75 100
Promotion 0 5 4 72 19 100
Leave 83 8 9 0 0 100
Training 17 66 11 6 0 100

Recognition 0 13 69 12 6 500

Calculation of weight total

Weighted average method=
(X1W1+X2W2+X3W3+………….)/
N a) Salary increase =
(0*1+8*2+7*3+10*4+75*5)/100
= (0+16+21+40+375)/100
= 468/100
= 4.68
b) Promotion = (0*1+ 5*2+4*3+ 72*4+19*5)/100
= (0+ 10+12+288+95)/100
= 405/100
= 4.05
c) Leave =(83*1+8*2+9*3+0*4+0*5)/100
= (83+16+27+0+0)/100
= 142/100
=1.42
d) Training = (17*1+66*2+11*3+6*4+0*5)/100
= (17+132+33+24+0)/100
=206/100
 = 2.06
e) Recognition = (0*1+13*2+69*3+12*4+6*5)/100
= (0+26+207+48+30)/100
= 317/100
=3.17

Rank

1 - Salary increase (4.68)

2- Promotion (4.05)

3- Recognition (3.17)

4- Training (2.06)

5- Leave (1.42)

Figure 5.31 ranking of motivational factors

Salary

INFERENCE

From the above figure clear that among the motivational factors salary increase has
ranked top with a weight of 4.68 followed by promotion with a weight of 4.05
Correlation between income level and experience

Table 5.32 correlation between income level and experience

Experience Income level

(x) (y)
0.5 2500
3 7500
7 12500
11 17500
15 22500

(Source: Primary data)

Calculation of
coefficient of correlation
n= 100
∑xy = 641250
∑ x= 36.5
∑ y= 62500
∑x2 =404.25

∑y2 = 1031250000

݊(∑xy) − (∑x)(∑y)
‫=ݎ‬
ඥሼ݊(∑‫ ݔ‬ଶ ) − (∑x)ଶ ሽ ඥሼ݊(∑‫ ݕ‬ଶ ) − (∑y)ଶ

100 ∗ (641250) − (36.5 ∗ 62500)

‫=ݎ‬
ඥ100(404.25) − (36.5)2 ඥሼ100(1031250000) − (62500)ଶ

Correlation coefficient, r = 0.99300

INFERENCE
Correlation coefficient is a pure number lying between -1 & +1. When the correlation
is negative, it lies between 0 & -1. When the correlation is positive it lies between 0 &
1. If the correlation is zero, indicate that there is no correlation between the variables.
So, here the calculated value lies between 0 & 1 i.e., 0.99300. There is a positive
correlation between the income level and experience.
1) CHI SQUARE TEST 1

RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN WORKING ENVIRONMENT AND EMPLOYEE

EMPLOYER RELATIONSHIP

A) Setting Hypothesis

Null Hypothesis (H0): There is no relationship between working environment

and employee employer relationship

Alternative Hypothesis (H1): There is a relationship between working

environment and employee employer relationship

B) Computing Statistics

(Oij − Eij)2 /Eij

Oi=ObservedFrequency

Ej=Expected Frequency

Calculation of expected frequency

Expected value = row total*column total
 Testing whether is any relationship between working environment and employer
relationship

WORKING EMPLOYEE EMPLOYER RELATIONSHIP

ENVIRONMENT VERRY GOOD NEAUTRAL POOR VERRY TOTAL

GOOD POOR
HIGHLY 2 3 9 8 0 22

SATISFIED
SATISFIED 2 16 18 22 0 58

NEAUTRAL 4 1 3 6 2 16

DISSATISFIED 2 0 0 0 0 2

HIGHLY 0 0 0 0 2 2

DISSATISFIED
TOTAL 10 20 30 36 4 100
O ij Eij (Oij-Eij) (oij − Eij)2 (Oij − Eij)2 /Eij
2 2.2 -0.2 0.04 0.0182
3 4.4 -1.4 1.96 0.4455
9 6.6 2.4 5.76 0.8727
8 7.92 0.08 0.0064 0.008
0 0.88 -0.88 0.07744 0.088
2 5.8 -3.8 14.44 2.4897
16 11.6 4.4 19.36 1.6689
18 17.4 0.6 0.36 0.0207
22 20.48 1.52 2.3104 0.1128
0 2.32 -2.32 5.3824 2.32
4 1.6 2.4 5.76 3.6
1 3.2 -2.2 4.84 1.5125
3 4.80 -1.8 3.24 0.675
6 5.76 0.24 0.0576 0.01
2 0.64 1.36 1.8496 2.89
2 0.2 1.8 3.24 16.2
0 0.4 -0.4 0.16 0.4
0 0.6 -0.6 0.36 0.6
0 0.72 -0.72 0.5184 0.72
0 0.08 -0.08 0.0064 0.08
0 0.2 1.8 3.24 16.2
0 0.4 -0.4 0.16 0.4
0 0.6 -0.6 0.36 0.6
0 0.72 -0.72 0.5184 0.72
2 0.08 -0.08 0.0064 0.08
Total 52.7248

C(no.of columns) = 5 r (No.of Rows) = 5

Degree of freedom ( c-1)(r-1)

= (5-1) (5-1)

= 16
Level of significance = 5%

Table value at 5% level of significance and 16 degree of freedom = 26.29

Calculated value = 52.7248

INFERENCE

Since the calculated value is greater than the table value, we reject the null
hypothesis and accept the alternative hypothesis. Hence there is significant
relationship between medical facility and motivation.
 1) CHI-SQUARE TEST-2

RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN EDUCATION

QUALIFICATION AND STRESS
QUALIFICATION Stres
s

Very high High Neutral Low Very low TOTAL

PG 3 3 26 10 2 44

UG 5 3 11 11 2 32

HSC 2 2 12 3 1 20

SSLC 0 0 1 0 1 2

OTHERS 0 0 2 0 0 2

TOTAL 10 8 52 24 6 100
 CALCULATION

O ij Eij (Oij-Eij) (oij − Eij)2 (Oij − Eij)2 /Eij

3 4.4 -1.4 1.96 0.4455
3 3.52 -0.52 0.2704 0.0768
26 22.88 3.12 9.7344 0.4255
10 10.56 -0.56 0.3136 0.0297
2 2.64 -0.64 0.4096 0.1552
5 3.2 1.8 3.24 1.0125
3 2.56 0.44 0.1936 0.0756
11 16.64 -5.64 31.8096 1.9116
11 7.68 3.32 11.0224 1.4352
2 1.92 0.08 0.0064 0.0033
2 2 0 0 0
2 1.6 0.4 0.16 0.1
12 10.40 1.6 2.56 0.2461
3 4.8 -1.8 3.24 0.675
1 1.2 -0.2 0.04 0.0333
0 0.2 -0.2 0.04 0.2
0 0.16 -0.16 0.0256 0.16
1 1.04 -0.04 0.0016 0.0015
0 0.48 -0.48 0.2404 0.5008
1 0.12 0.88 0.7744 6.4533
0 0.2 -0.2 0.04 0.2
0 0.16 -0.16 0.0256 0.16
2 1.04 -0.04 0.0016 0.0015
0 0.48 -0.48 0.2404 0.5008
0 0.12 0.88 0.7744 6.4533
Total 21.2565
 c (No. of columns) =5

r (No. of rows) =5

Degree of freedom = (c-1) (r-1)

=(5-1) (5-1)

=16

Level of significance = 5%

Table value of significance and 16

degree of freedom = 26.29
Calculated value =21.2565

INFERENCE

Since the calculation value is less than the table value, we accept the null
hypothesis and reject the alternative hypothesis. Hence there is no significant
relation between stress and educational qualification.
6.1 Findings

 The employees are not satisfied with employer-employee

relationship of the organization. This will adversely affect quality
of work life.

 Some of the employees are not satisfied with participation in

decision making. In the organization employee participation in
decision making is mainly according to the situation.

 The employees are not satisfied with the grievance redressal system of
an organization.

 The employees are not satisfied with job security provided by the
organization. This is the main dissatisfaction factor of an
employee in the working environment.

 Some of the employees are not satisfied with the stress rate of the
organization.

 In the organization some of the employees are not satisfied with

their career development. This is the one of the important factor
for quality of work life.
6.2 Suggestions

 The company can increase the employer-employee relationship

for achieving the organizational goal. Because, employer-
employee relationship helps to improve the quality of work life
of the organization.

 The company can try to involve employees in decision making.

So, the employees feel they have control over their work and
make real contribution to the job satisfaction.

 The company can increase the grievance redressal system of the

organization. This helps easy to solve any problem of
organization

 The organization can be increase the job security of the workers.

So, increase the job security employees are more satisfied with
their job

 The company can decrease the stress of the employees work and
work is allocated to all employees to equally. This helps to the
achievement of organizational goal.

 The company can increase an effective career development

process. Because, an effective career development process
ensures that organization have right people with the right skill.
6.3 Conclusion
This project was conducted at AL Manama hypermarket kollam, by
collecting data from 100 employees. This study was conducted to know
the Quality of Work Life in the organization. The study showed that most
of the employees have a positive attitude towards the present Quality of
work life in the organization.

The company is effectively managed by a group of women. Also there

are various factors which influence the employees such as working
environment, salary, nature of job, working hours, training and
recognition. The company is successful in creating an effective and
efficient work force.

The firm mainly conducts the following four functions like production,
finance, HRM and marketing.
QUESTIONNIRE
I ARJUN P VINOD, from Kerala Institute of Co-operative Management, Neyyardam
is doing a project on study of employee work life in Al Manama Hypermarket Kollam
as a part of my MBA curriculum. So I will be pleased if you would spare a few minutes
to fill the questionnaire. I assure that information will be confidential and use only for
academic purpose.

To Study the Organization Culture

1. Do other departments into company cooperate with each other
a)Yes b)no
2. There is a harmanous relationship with our colleagues in company
a)Strongly agree b) agree
c)disagree d)strongly disagree
3. How is your relationship with employers
a)Good b)satisfactory c)not satisfactory
4. What is your opinion about your senior
a)motivator b)cooperative
c)rude d)dominating

To study working environment of the employees at Al Manama

5. What degree of influence does your working environment has on your
performance?
a)High b)Low c)Moderate
6. Is the work environment
a)Motivation b)Demotivating
c)Neutral c)Monotous(Boring)
7. I am satisfied with the working conditions provided by the company
a)Strongly agree b)Agree
c)Disagree d)Strongly Disagree
8. The place where I work i am treated with respect
a)Strongly agree b)Agree
c)Disagree d)Strongly disagree
To study the development programmes conducted by the organization

9. Does the company provide training for enriching the skills of employees?

a)Yes b)No

10. Do you think proper training improves the productivity of the company
and employees?

a)Yes b)No

11. Do you think there are good career prospect in your organization?

a)Yes b)No

To Study about the facility provided by Al Manama

12. What is your perception with leaves provided by the organization?

a)Excellent b)Good

c)Average d)Poor

13. What is your opinion about the canteen and transport facilty?

a)Excellent b)Good

c)Average d)Poor

14. What is your opinion about the sanitation and cleanliness?

a)Excellent b)Good

c)Average d)Poor

To study the welfare facility provided by the management

15. Sanitary facility provided by the organization is:

a)Excellent b)Good c)Average d)Bad

 16. Rank the following facility benefits

Facilities 1 2 3 4 5

Medical

Housing

Travelling

Education
for children

Compassion

To study the social security provided by the company

17. Does Social Corporate Responsibilty have a satisfactory human resource

planning

a)yes b)No

18. Does Social Corporate Responsibility makes justice in the compensation?

a)Yes b)No

19. Are you provided with all basic amenties in the organization?

a)Yes b)No

20. Does organization function as a social responsible unit?

a)Yes b)No

21. What are the facilities you feel should be improved?Kindly specify?

……………………………………………………………………………
……………………………………………………………………………
……………………………………………………………………………
……………………………………………………………………………
……………………………………………………………………………
….
BIBLIOGRAPHY

Books and Articles

1. . Allen, et al., (2000), “Consequence Associated With Work-to-Family Conflict:
A Review and Agenda for Future Research”, Journal of Occupational Health
Psychology, 5, pp. 278-308.
2. Andreatta, H. and Rumbold, S. (1974), Organisation Development in Action,
Melbourne Productivity Council of Australia, 64.
3. Ayodeji, I. O., (1987), “Job Design and Improved Quality of Work Life of
Nigerian Secondary School Teachers”, department of Business
Administration, University of Iiorin, Iiorin.
4. Ayres, J. and Malouff, J. M., (2007), “Problem-Solving Training to Help
Workers Increase Positive affect, Job Satisfaction, and Life Satisfaction”,
European Journal of Work and Organizational Psychology, Vol. 16, No. 3, pp.
‘ 279-294.
5. Baba, V. V. and Jamal, M., (1991), “Routinisation of job context and job
content as related to employees quality of working life: a study of psychiatric
nurses”, Journal of organisational behaviour, 12, pp. 379-386.
6. Baker, W., (2002), “Mentoring - Improving the Quality of Work Life and
Organizational Effectiveness: A case study of a formal mentoring programme
implemented in a higher education organization”, HERDSA Conference
Proceedings, pp. 35-43.
7. Ballou, B., Godwin, N. H., and Shortridge, R.T., (2003), “Firm Value and
Employee Attitudes on workplace Quality”, Accounting Horizons, Vol. 17,
No. 4, pp. 329-341.
8. ' Barker, C. (1973), “Job Enrichment and Job Satisfaction; Selected Overseas
Studies”, Part-1, American Studies Personnel Practice Bulletin, 29 (4), pp.
277-288.
9. Beh, L. S. (2007), “Predicting Quality of Work Life: The Implications of
Career Dimensions’ University of Malaysia, Malaysia.
10. Bentley, M. T., (1985), “Giving Quality Its Due”, Training and Development
Journal, Vol. 39, Issue-2, pp. 94-96.
I
11. Bemadin, H'. J., (2007), “Human Resource Management- An Experiential
Approach”, TMH Publications, p. 398.
12. Bharadwaj, S. B. L., (1983), “QWL Perspectives, Dreams and Realities”,
Paper Presented at National symposium on QWL, Hyderabad.
13.. Biosvert, P., (1977), “The Quality of Working Life: An Analysis”,
Commercial de Montreal, Vol. 30, no. 2, pp. 155-160.
14. Bluestone, I., (1980), “Quality of Work Life: Its Status and Its Future”, in
Proceedings of the General Motors Quality of Work Life Executive
Conference, pp. 21-35.
15. Bodek, N., (2003), “The Quality of Work Life”, Industrial Engineer, Vol. 35,
No. 3, p. 25
16. Bragg, T., (2006), “Betrayed at Work: How to Heal Betrayed Work
Relationships”, Manage, Vol. 53, No. 2, pp. 8-10.
17. Brown, J. S., (1975), “How many Workers Enjoy Discretion on the Job?”,
Industrial Relations, pp. 196-202.
18. Camman, C. and Ledford, G. E., (1985), “Productivity Management through
Quality of Work Life Program”, in Strategic Issues in Human Resource
Management, Wiley, Chicago, pp. 361-379.
19. Cascio, W. F., (2006), “Managing Human Resources: Productivity, Quality of
Work Life, Profits”, TMH publications, New Delhi, pp.24-25.
20. Cascio, W.F., (2005), Managing Human Resources: Productivity, Quality of
Work Life, Profits, Tata McGraw-Hill, New Delhi
21. Chen, Z. X. and Aryee, S., (2007), “Delegation and Employee Work
Outcomes: An Examination of the Cultural Context of mediating Processes in
China”, Academy of Management Journal, Vol. 50, No. 1, pp. 226-238.
22. Cohen R. and Rosenthal, E. (1980), “Should Union Participate in Quality of
Work Life Activities”, The Quality of Work Life- the Canadian Scene, 1(4),
pp. 7-12.
23. Cohen, S. G., Chang, L., and Ledford, G. E., (1997), “A Hierarchical
Construct of Self-Management Leadership and its Relationship to Quality of
Work Life and Perceived Work Group Effectiveness”, Personnel Psychology,
Vol. 50, Issue-2, pp. 275-308.