i

1- Day National Conference on

“Innovation for Growth, Sustainability,
Inclusion and Preservation”
14th June, 2016

Chief Patron
Dr.Thomas P.John
Chairman, T.John Group of Institutions

Conference Chairperson
Dr.ShikhaTiwari
Principal, T.John College

Advisory Committee
Dr.NilanjanaBasu,
Executive Director, Department of Management Studies
Prof. Gopan,
HOD, Department of Management Studies

Conference Convener
Prof. Sucharita Banerji

Conference Co-Convener
Dr.Mrinmoy Bhattacharjee

Conference Co-ordinator
Dr. Shashikala R.

Editorial Committee
Prof. Sonia Singh
Prof. AnjuAhuja
Prof. SwetaSethia
Prof. DevpriyaDey
Prof. Naveen Sananguly
Prof. Karpagavalli G.

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Contents
Articles

• Goods and Service Tax- A Roadmap for Better Tax System in India 1
Prof. AnithaD’silva
• Social Action, Gender Equity and Women Empowerment - 12
Influence of Kudumbashree
Prof. BhavyaVinil
• Strategies in Marketing of FMCG Products in Rural Markets: 22
A Winning Proposition
Dr. S. B. InayathAhamed
• A Comparative Study on Customer Satisfaction of 33
Three Leading Telecom Service Providers in Aizawl
Prof. ShamimAkhtar& Prof. Timothy Hnamte
• A Study on Customer Awareness & Satisfaction towards usage of 48
E-Banking Services in Bangalore
Prof. N. Sathyanarayana
• E-Banking & Rural Customer 62
Prof. Brijesh Singh & Prof. Namita P Konnur
• Work Life Balance and Implications of Spill-over Theory – 76
A Study on Women Entrepreneurs
Prof. Lakshmypriya K.&Dr.G. Rama Krishna
• An Overview of Indian Agricultural Marketing 86
Prof. AarthiDhakshana J D
• Alternatives to Bell Curve Appraisal System Adopted by 99
IT Companies – A Review
Prof. Sonia Singh
• Innovative HR Practices in Engaging Employees 108
Prof. DevpriyaDey

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iv
FOREWORD

Research is an intellectual pursuit and Research conferences are a quick way of

getting overview of recent knowledge and wider perspectives on chosen themes.
Conferences also enable researchers to keep abreast of advances in their field,
throughsharing of state-of-the-art research in their respective field. One-day
national conference on “Innovation for Growth, Sustainability, Inclusion and
Preservation” organised by Department of Management Studies, T. John College,
aimed at bringing together individuals who intend and seek to make businesses
more meaningful and contributory through innovations. The role of innovation
today is not limited to mere creation of new products but has been extended
towards ensuring sustainability, inclusive growth encompassing vulnerable groups
and preservation of scarce resources for future generations to come.

Samyoga, the academic journal of the T.John Group of Institutions, has been
persistently providing opportunities to the intellectuals towards exploring,
realizing and making valuable research contributions to the corpus of academic
knowledge. Being multidisciplinary in nature, journal consistently thrives on
publishing high quality content on diversified areas of research. This special issue
of the journal brings to you the selected papers of the national conference. I
congratulate and appreciate the research contributors, conference committee,
editorial board and staff members for their commendable efforts, dedication and
commitment in bringing out this issue. I believe our sincere endeavours will take
this journal to the peak of accomplishment and serve its purpose of spreading
knowledge for betterment of mankind.

Dr. Thomas P. John

(Chairman, T. John Group of Institutions)
Patron & Honorary Editor

v
vi
Editorial Preface
Today, the importance of innovation in business has become more obvious. The
ability to innovate is an essential part of a manager’s competencies and to a
large extent decides the success of an organisation in this dynamic, ever changing
business environment. Moreover, role of innovation is not meant for mere growth
in numbers but gearing organisation towards sustainable and inclusive growth
through ethical preservation of valuable resources. On this very theme, a one-
day National Conference was organised by department of management studies,
T. John College, on 14th June, 2016.

We were glad to have received heartening response from industry as well as

teaching fraternity. High quality research papers were presented in this conference
by teachers, research scholars and management students coming from various
institutions and different parts of the country. The Conference was successful in
providing a platform where innovative ideas were presented and deliberated upon
during the daylong proceedings. Selected papers of this National Conference
are being published in the special issue of Samyoga, an academic journal of
T.John Group of Institutions. I feel privileged in presenting this special issue as I
strongly believe that this collection would give right stimulation to the think tank
of academicians, practicing managers and researchers.

My heartfelt thanks to our Patron, Honorary Editor and Chairman of T.John Group
of Institutions Dr. Thomas P. John, for all the encouragement and support received
while organising National Conference and bringing out this special issue of
Samyoga. I congratulate and thank all the members of Conference Committee,
Advisory Board, Editorial Board, Staff members and student volunteers of TJC
for their efforts in making conference and this publication possible. I express
my sincere gratitude to all the authors who contributed quality papers for the
conference and made this publication happen.

Dr. ShikhaTiwari
(Principal, T.John College)
Chief Editor

vii
viii
Editorial
The special issue of Samyoga presents a diverse blend of research papers selected
from the National Conference. The topics range from latest GST Bill to rural and
agricultural marketing and touch upon women empowerment issues too. Thereby,
this edition guarantees a complete update on scholarly knowledge and ignites
further research in the area of business innovation and practices.

Prof. Anitha D’silva analyses how the new bill of Goods and Service Tax (GST) is
going to be the greatest reform in Indian Indirect Tax system.She opines that the
manufacturers, wholesalers and retailers of goods and services, as well as the
public will get suitable and acceptable value advantage after the implementation
of GST is done. Prof. Bhavya Vinil proposes that real development of any country
is possible only through gender equality and women empowerment. Taking a
case of Kudumbasree, a joint project of the Government of Kerala and NABARD,
the author argues that though such programmes are successful in empowering
rural women but only to a limited extent.

Dr. S. B. Inayath Ahamed throws light on the strategies particularly in terms

of logistics and supply chain management for FMCG products in Indian rural
markets, by highlighting both prospects and challenges of rural marketing. Prof.
Shamim Akhtar & Prof. Timothy Hnamte, compare and contrast three major
telecom service providers in India. India with second largest telephone users and
third-largest Internet user-base, pose lot of opportunity for innovations which
drives customer satisfaction.

Prof. N. Sathyanarayana feels that banks along with value added offerings must
use innovative ways of creating awareness to increase the utilization of e-Banking
services among customers.Prof. Brijesh Singh & Prof. Namita P Konnur discuss
some of the reasons for not adopting e-Banking services by rural consumers.
Security concerns, lack of awareness, privacy issues and higher fees charged by
banks are the hindering factors.

Prof. Lakshmypriya K. & Dr. G. Rama Krishna,tryto find out the effects of spill over
on work - life balance of women entrepreneurs. The study shows that support and
encouragement from spouse and other family members lead to positive spillover

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effects,contributing to an effective work life balance. Prof. Aarthi Dhakshana J D
discusses the current system of agricultural marketing highlighting some of the
drawbacks and various government scheme enacted to improve the scenario.

Prof. Sonia Singh presents a review of alternative methods of Performance

management as compared to Bell Curve Appraisal System which focuses more
on past performance rather than future promise. Many organizations including
HCL technologies, Accenture, KPMG and Infosys have done away with the bell
curve and moved on to better techniques. Prof. DevpriyaDey attempts to capture
the innovative HR practices that have been practiced recently to build employee
engagement. Such practices aim to attract, motivate, retain and most primarily
engage workforce in an organisation.

Dr. R. Shashikala
(Associate Professor)
Executive Editor

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Goods and Service Tax-
A Roadmap for Better Tax
System in India
Ms. Anitha D’silva1

Abstract
In the present context there are many different and overlapping taxes
levied and numerous fiscal barriers mounted between the states.
Under indirect tax system we have Excise duty, Service tax and Custom
duty which are payable to the Central Government. Under the state
purview we have VAT, Entry Tax, Luxury Tax, Entertainment Tax etc. These
different types of taxes have increased the tax calculations and burden
on the overall tax system. The State will continue in this type of scenario
until there is a new classification and arrangement is brought in. The
new bill towards goods and service tax is bought in which is the greatest
reform in Indirect Tax system that would be incorporated as a policy
for the Indian economy. The new bill of GST will make India single
common market, bring down the prices on goods and services, make
goods cheaper, and prevent tax-on- tax.It is applicable on all goods
and services sold or provided in India expect for the list of exempted
goods. The manufacturers, wholesalers and retailers of goods and
services, as well as the public will get suitableand acceptable value
advantage. The proposed GST is at 18% for both Centre as well as
state. The paper examines the challenges faced and the Tax saved and
collected by Central and State Government from diverse manufacturers
and service providers after the implementation of GST is presumed.

Keywords: GST, service tax, primary sector, Swachh Bharat cess.

1. Senior AssistantProfessor, RV Institute of Management, Bangalore - 41

Email id: anithasorcar@gmail.com

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Introduction to Tax System in India
In India, the revenue to the Government is mainly though the numerous taxes
imposed on the various category of people in the sectors. The taxes collected
by Indian Government are broadly classified into two categories Direct Tax and
Indirect Tax. Direct tax are the taxes which are levied directly on the income of the
individual which includes Income tax, Capital gain tax, corporate tax etc. On the
other hand indirect tax is those which remain indirectly levied on the individuals,
as these taxes are levied on the seller of the goods or service provider. These
on the other hand pass it on the end user or consumer who bears the ultimate
economic burden of the tax; it includes taxes such as Service tax, Custom duty,
Excise duty and VAT.

Direct Taxes: Are imposed on the individuals on the bases of their residential
status by applying a slab rates on their income during the previous year. Business
houses and corporates are come under the same band. Here the tax being
calculated in on the turnover incurred during the previous year. These direct
taxes are further divided into:

• Income tax: Income Tax is levied according to Income Tax Act 1961, where
an assessee shall be chargeable to income tax, if his total income exceeds
the maximum exemption limit. Income Tax is an annual Tax imposed
separately on each assessment year which is also called as Tax year. For all
calculations the assessment year commences on 1st of April and ends on
31st of March. The total income of an individual is determined on the basis
of his residential status in India. For tax purpose individual can be Resident,
Non-resident or Not ordinarily resident.

• Corporate Tax: The taxability of a company’s income depends on its dwelling.

If the company is an Indian Company then they are taxable in India on their
worldwide income. If on the other hand if it is a registered foreign company
then the tax is calculated on the taxable income occurred out of their Indian
operations. On the other hand, even income deemed to arise in India is
taken if it is in the form of capital gain, royalty, interest, gains from sale of
capital assets located in India, dividends incurred from Indian companies
and fees charged for technical services are all treated as income arising in
India.

• Wealth Tax: It is levied on the benefits derived from property ownership

according to Wealth Tax Act 1957, which is no longer collected in India
with effect from assessment year 2016-17 as Wealth Tax is replaced with
additional surcharge of 2% on income over 1crore annually.

2
• Capital Gains Tax: is the tax charged on the assesse for profits made by
him on the sale of capital asset for a price higher than the purchase price.

Indirect Taxation: Indirect tax influences all the business lines in India. These
indirect taxes are levied by central and state government where central
government collects income tax, custom duties, central excise and service tax
and state government collects value added tax, stamp duties and state excise.
Indirect Tax rates differ from one state to another.

• Service Tax is a tax collected on selective services provided by an entity.

• Custom Dutyis the new form of source of revenue to all countries especially
to developing country like India.

• Excise Duty: These taxes are collected from the manufacturers of the goods
and they are also called as Central Value Added Tax (CENVAT). There are
three types of Excise Duties, Basic Excise Duty, Additional Excise Duty and
Special Excise Duty. Excise Duty rates vary from product to product.

• Sales Tax: Sales Tax is a consumption Tax levied at the point of sale on the
sale of goods and services which are sold for the first time.

• VAT: It is a multiple point destination tax system where tax is been levied on
each stages of production or distribution chain.

• Stamp Duty: It is a legal tax payable on any sale or purchase of the property
which is collected on the basis of property value at the time of registration
which is usually paid by the buyer of the property.

• Entertainment Tax: It is levied on all financial transactions that are related

to entertainment and are reserved primarily for the state government. Some
of the forms of entertainment on which Entertainment Tax are levied on
includes Amusement parks, Video games, Celebrity stage shows, Arcades,
Exhibitions, Sports activities etc.

Goods and Service Tax: In the recent month of March 2016 Finance Minister
Arun Jaitley was planning to pass the Goods and Service Tax in the second part
of the session and is hoping for a major flip in the India’s reform process.

Framework of GST: GST follows same concept as VAT where the set off is
available in respect of taxes paid in the previous level against the GST charged
at the point of sale. The proposed GST model comprises of;

• Components: There are two components Central Goods and Services Tax
and State Goods and Services Tax

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• Applicability: It is applicable on all goods and services sold or provided in
India expect for the list of exempted goods.

• Payment: Goods and Services Tax is charged separately on Central and

state level.

Proposed Goods and Service Tax Model

India is planning to adopt “Dual GST Model” which is concurrently levied by
both Central and state government. This will comprise of

• Central GST (CGST) which will be levied by central

• State GST (SGST) which will be levied by state

• Integrated GST (IGST) which will levy by Central government on inter-state

supply of goods and service.

Review of Literature:
• Samyak Sanghvi (March 2016) states the importance of GST which includes
the meaning, justification for implementing. GST is clearly explained
incorporating the terminologies involved in the process and talks about the
positive impact of GST on Indian economy.

• Ranjeet Kunwar (February 2016) explains the different perspective and

expectation of taxpayers, who are classified into three categories in this
article. Firstly Industries which are hoping State and Central Government may
rationalize the service tax exemptions to align with exemption as proposed
under GST and other main aspect is clarity on the CENTVAT credit rule to
ensure smooth functioning of the proceedings. Secondly common man
who is hoping for reduction on grocery bill but on contrary GST will lead to
increase in bill as State and Central Government is planning to levy excise
duty on certain food products and also there will be a revised exemption
list which may affect the end user. Lastly Government authorities are hoping
to improve the country’s GDP by implementing the GST regime.

Objectives of the Study:

• To analyze the present Indian Tax Structure and

• To examine the effect of GST in selected sectors and its impact on Indian
economy

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Research Methodology
In India for theGDP as three sectors  namely Agriculture, Industry and
Services. Agriculture includes crops, milk, animal husbandry, fishing etc. Industry
includes various processing and manufacturing sub-sectors. Services include
hospitality, education, health care, banking and other services.

Agro based industry 2 products are taken and calculations of VAT assuming
it as 10% and IGST is assumed at 10% and as well as 18% for products Jute
and Leather. While in case of services – entertainment services is taken for
the study.

Source of Data: The data is mainly collected from secondary sources. The tax
bulletins, newspaper publications and the format collected from the Chartered
Accountants.

Data Analysis:
The data is assumed for a certain number of goods produced and the prices,
profit margin that will be charged on it. VAT is calculated under the present system.
Similarly under proposed GST system; Goods produced, dealt in the state as
well as outside the state in the form of Inter and Inner sales are taken. Proposed
percentage is charged for GST and calculations are drawn.

Understanding GST by Comparison of Present Tax and

Proposed
For understanding of tax that will be generated as Revenue to the Central and
state Government following analytics for sector have been drawn.

Agro Based Sector - Cash (Non-Food Crops): Fibres - Jute

• The Manufactures of agro based industries are spread across the country.
Assume that a jute manufacturing firm incurs a manufacturing cost of
Rs 10000 per 100kg in Karnataka. Benefit availed by the Jute
Manufactures by implementing GST system assuming VAT @ 10% and
IGST @ 10%.

5
 The Manufacturer is in Hubli
while the Dealer is in Bengaluru- within State
Present System GST system

Jute sold from Hubli to

Product sold from Hubli to Bengaluru
Bengaluru Rs 10000.
CGST @ 5% =500, SGST @5%=500
Assuming VAT @10%

If Jute Products are sold from Bengaluru to Gujarat

Present system GST system
Cost 10000 Cost 10000
Profit 1000 Profit 1000
Selling price 11000 Selling price 11000
CST @10% 1100 IGST @ 10% 100
Total cost of Jute 12100  Total cost of Jute 11100
Saving to the extent of 1000 compared to present system

Analysis: From the above table, a jute manufacturing company sells jute by
charging VAT @ 10% and when it sells to other state by charging central sales tax
@ 10% which sums up to 20% tax on the product whereas in case of Proposed
GST system, Central and state Goods and service Tax is charged @ 5% each
in case of same state and even then goods are sold outside the state Internal
Goods and Service Tax is charged @ 10% and it also allows input credit by
setting off SGST and CGST, by this the total price of the product reduces and
can save up to Rs.1000.

As a consumer he will buy the jute products at a lesser rate from the wholesaler
as well as from the dealer. Tedious calculations are also not seen if we assume
it will be effective. Consumers across India will have better advantage on
such system

• Assuming the Jute manufacturer and wholesaler dealer as well as retail

dealer is located in the same state. Manufacturing cost 100kg=Rs10000.
SGST @ 8% and CGST @ 8%

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 Mfg to Wholesaler Retailer to
Particulars
wholesaler to retailer consumer

Manufacturing Cost 10,000 11500 13225

Profit margin @15 % 1500 1725 1984

Assessable value for GST 11500 13225 15209

CGST @ 8% 920 1058 1217

SGST @ 8% 920 1058 1217
Sale value 13340 15341 17643
Tax liability      
i) To Central Govt.  920  1058  1217
PAYABLE
Less: Credit of CGST 0 920 1058
Tax payable in cash 920 138 159
ii) To State  Govt. 920 1058 1217
PAYABLE
Less: Credit of SGST 0 920 1058
Tax payable in cash 920 138 159
  Central govt. State govt.  
Total tax collection 1217 1217  

Analysis: Above table exhibits flow of goods from one distribution to channel
to another through the proposed GST calculations @ 8% carried out by the
Manufacturer, Wholesaler and retailer. It explains the calculation of tax liability
that is the tax obligation that the seller owns, input tax credit that the wholesaler
and retailer can claim on CGST and SGST and the total tax collected by State
and Central Government.

SECONDARY SECTOR - LEATHER GOODS

• The Manufactures of Leather industries are spread across the country.
Assume that a leather manufacturing firm incurs a manufacturing cost

7
 of Rs 12000 per 100kg in Karnataka. Benefit availed by the leather
Manufactures by implementing GST system assuming VAT @ 10% and
IGST @ 18%.

The Manufacturer and the Dealer in Bengaluru

Present System GST system
Leather Product sold from Bangaluru
Leather sold from Bangaluru
wholesaler to local dealer
wholesaler to local dealer
CGST @ 9% =900
Rs 10000,  Assuming VAT @ 10%
SGST @ 9%=900
Leather Product sold from Bangaluru to Kerala
Cost 12000 Cost 12000
Profit 1000 Profit 1000
Selling price 13000 Selling price 13000
CST @10% 1300 IGST @ 18% 540
Total cost of Leather 14300  Total cost of Leather 13540
Saving to the extent of 760 compared to present system

Analysis: From the above table, a leather manufacturing company sells leather
by charging VAT @ 10% and when it sells to other state by charging central
sales tax @ 10% which sums up to 20% tax on the product whereas in case of
Proposed GST system, Central and state Goods and service Tax is charged @
9% each in case of same state and even then goods are sold outside the state
Internal Goods and Service Tax is charged @ 18% and it also allows input credit
by setting off SGST and CGST, by this the total price of the product reduces and
can save up to Rs.760.

• Assuming the leather manufacturer and wholesaler dealer as well as retail

dealer is located in the same state. Manufacturing cost 100kg=Rs10000.
SGST @ 8% and CGST @ 8%

Mfg to Wholesaler Retailer to

Particulars
wholesaler to retailer consumer

Manufacturing Cost 10,000 11500 13225

Profit margin @15 % 1500 1725 1984

Assessable value for GST 11500 13225 15209

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 CGST @ 8% 920 1058 1217
SGST @ 8% 920 1058 1217
Sale value 13340 15341 17643
Tax liability      
i) To Central Govt.  920 1058   1217
Payable
Less: Credit of CGST 0 920 1058
Tax payable in cash 920 138 159
ii) To State  Govt. 920 1058 1217
Payable
Less: Credit of SGST 0 920 1058
Tax payable in cash 920 138 159
  Central govt. State govt.  
Total tax collection 1217 1217  

Analysis: Above table exhibits flow of goods from one distribution to channel
to another through the proposed GST calculations @ 8% carried out by the
Manufacturer, Wholesaler and retailer. It explains the calculation of tax liability
that is the tax obligation that the seller owns, input tax credit that the wholesaler
and retailer can claim on CGST and SGST and the total tax collected by State
and Central Government.

TERTIARY SECTOR
In the entertainment industry there is a lot of services generated. The service
providers are also getting benefit in the form of Tax revenue.

• Assuming a Multiplex theater located in Bengaluru charges the prevailing

indirect Tax in the following manner and on the same proposed GST
System is calculation by assuming GST rate @ 9%.Movie ticket amount
for a person = Rs. 250
 Amount
Present system Amount  Rs GST System
Rs
Subtotal for the ticket 250 Subtotal for the ticket 250
Internet Handling Fees 28.63 Internet Handling Fees 28.63

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 Booking Fees 25 Booking Fees 25
Service Tax @ 14% 3.5 GST @ 9% 2.25
Swachh Bharat Cess Swachh Bharat Cess
0.0125 0.125
@.05% @.05%
Total price 307.1425 Total price 306.005
Total savings 1.1375

Analysis: From the above table, it can be noted that a multiplex located in
Karnataka, on online booking of ticket follows the tax procedures by charging
standard rate of internet handling fee, service tax @ 14% and Swachh Bharat
Cess @0.05% on the total amount according to present system whereas in case
of proposed GST system a unified rate of GST is charged along with internet
handling and Swachh Bharat Cess @0.05% has been collected which reduces
the total price of the ticket and the customer can save up to Rs 1.1375

Discussion and Recommendations:

• Savings for the different category of stakeholders: We can assume that
by introducing Goods and service Tax there can be lot of savings for the
manufacturers, wholesalers and dealers. Hence the impact on the consumers
will also be less.

• Tax Revenue for Government: Through the above calculations it is seen that
tax revenue is also increasing over the period.

• Lesser Calculations: As the procedural aspects of tax are reduced the

finance departments in the firm as well as tax department will have lesser
tax calculation during a given period.

• Replacing the cascading effect: [tax on tax] created by existing indirect

taxes Tax incidence for consumers may fall Lower transaction cost for final
consumers

• By merging all levies on goods and services into one, GST acquires a very
simple and transparent character

Conclusion
Introducing the GST will an added advantage for Indian economy. Moreover
making the proposed GST uniform and integrated will actually change the entire

10
system what is prevailing presently. This can be effective if and only if all states
have a common understanding with the centre. Many experts are of the opinion
that it will add value and increase the GDP of the country. As the globalized
world is fast changing common markets are seen across the world, bringing in
GST system will also lead towards unified market.

Bibliography
Journals and research papers:
1. Anjali Jain, Assistant Professor in Commerce, S.A.Jain College, Ambala
City,International Research Journal of Commerce and Law (Impact Factor-
3.767), Vol.03 Issue-04, (April, 2016)

2. SamyakSanghvi(March 2016)- GST- Impact on Indian Economy

Website and Online articles

• Article: GST rate to be moderate, bill likely in monsoon session: ArunJaitley-
Economic times 3 Jun, 2016

• BaveshSavla (2015) Full Overview Of Direct & Indirect Taxation Structure

In India

• http://indiainbusiness.nic.in/newdesign/index.php?param=investment_
landing/293/6

• https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Taxation_in_India

• ww.slideshare.net/fcaranjeet

11
Social Action, Gender Equity
and Women Empowerment -
Influence of Kudumbashree on
Women Empowerment
Prof. Bhavya Vinil1

Abstract:
Empowerment of women and their participation in the development
process has been considered an essential feature of development.
It is presumed that real development is possible only if the women
and men work in equal terms. Gender equality and empowerment
of women is recognized globally as a key element to achieve
progress in all areas. Rural women are regarded as voiceless and
defenseless. Raping cases are appearing in the newspapers every
day. Even politicians are not supporting them. So they are to be
empowered to fight against the evils faced by them. Kudumbasree
project was started in Kerala in 1998. Women empowerment is
one of the important objectives of Kudumbasree along with poverty
eradication. The aim of the Kudumbashree scheme is to improve
the standard of living of poor women in rural areas by setting up
Micro-credit and productive enterprises. It opened a new string of
expected events in our development history Kudumbasree is the
poverty eradication mission of the state of Kerala. It is a community
based self-help initiative involving poor women. Kudumbashree was
conceived as a joint programme of the Government of Kerala and
NABARD implemented through Community Development Societies of

1. CMR Institute of Commerce & Management, OMBR Layout, Banaswadi, Bangalore 43

12
 Poor Women, serving as the community wing of Local Governments.
As per documents associated with Kudumbashree, women want to
identify their inner strength, opportunities for growth and their role
in reshaping their own destiny. Thirteen years are so far covered
by this programme. The main objective of this paper is to know to
what extent this programme has influenced the rural women for their
empowerment. Kerala is considered as literate state compared with
all the states of our country. The study indicates that majority of the
members of Kudumbasree units are working on daily wages and their
total income is low. The women empowerment has achieved only a
limited extent by Kudumbasree members.

Key words: personal skills, decision making power, self-confidence,

awareness, women empowerment.

Introduction
Development is the mantra of globalization and liberalization. Women have
an important role in the development process. Empowerment of women and
their participation in the development process has been considered an essential
feature of development. It is presumed that real development is possible only if
the women and men work in equal terms. Gender equality and empowerment of
women is recognized globally as a key element to achieve progress in all areas.
Jawaharlal Nehru acclaimed “in order to awaken the people, it is the women
who has to be awakened first. Once she is on the move, the household moves,
the village moves, the country moves and thus we build the India tomorrow”.

But the present position of women in developing and underdeveloped countries

is not considered good. Rural women are regarded as voiceless and defenseless.
Rape cases are appearing in the newspapers every day. Even politicians are not
supporting them. So they are to be empowered to fight against the evils faced
by them .There had been intensive efforts in nineties to bring the women-folk,
especially those belonging to the weaker sections and poor, who had been
economically and socially underprivileged within and outside the family, to the
forefront and empower them through specific programmes and thereby empower
the entire family and community. Ensuring justice to women was one of the
prime objectives of the development agenda of the People’s Planning Campaign
initiated in 1997. Kudumbashree, a Malayalam coinage, means prosperity of the
family. It is an innovative programme of the Government of Kerala introduced
for the eradication of absolute poverty in ten years through concerted community

13
action under the leadership of local self-governments. Kudumbasree is the poverty
eradication mission of the state of Kerala. Kudumbasree project was started in
Kerala in 1998. The programme has 37 lakhs members and covers more than
50% of the households in Kerala. It has built around three vital components,
micro credit, entrepreneurship and empowerment. Women empowerment is
one of the important objectives of Kudumbasree along with poverty eradication.

The aim of the Kudumbashree scheme is to improve the standard of living of poor
women in rural areas by setting up micro-credit and productive enterprises. It
is a community based self-help initiative involving poor women. Kudumbashree
was conceived as a joint programme of the Government of Kerala and
NABARD implemented through Community Development Societies (CDSs) of
Poor Women, serving as the community wing of Local Governments. The aim
of the Kudumbashree scheme is to empower women as a strategy for Poverty
Eradication. Empowerment of women and poor women driving their development
is a powerful strategy to alleviate poverty. The Kudumbashree Community based
organizations are acting as social safety nets, increasing access to entitlements
and providing avenues for political participation

Origin of the Research Problem

Poverty is a serious problem faced by all developing and underdeveloped
countries in the modern world. It is felt that the problem of poverty can be
solved through a concentrated endeavor by the State. Viable opportunities can
be provided to the underprivileged and the destitute by means of lending asset
creating facilities. Women households are the cruelest victims of deprivation
and destitution. So any poverty eradication programs must aim at improving
the standard of living environment along with empowerment of the women
communities. Livelihood opportunities are to be provided to women. The micro
credit and self-help groupings are better sources for improving the standard of
living of people.

The aim of the Kudumbashree scheme is to improve the standard of living

of poor women in rural areas by setting up micro-credit and productive
enterprises. It opened a new string of expected events in development history.
As per documents related to Kudumbashree, women want to identify their inner
strength, opportunities for growth and their role in reshaping their own destiny.
Kudumbashree aims at the empowerment of women, giving them the central place
in the programmes meant for their benefit. The programme aims to empower
them through collective action. Gender equality gains (including inclusion of
women in education) will help to reduce fertility rates and improve maternal

14
and child health. This process of empowerment should become the signal light
to their children, their families and society at large. Seventeen years are so far
covered by this programme. The researcher is interested to know to what extend
this programme has influenced the rural women for their empowerment

Objectives of the Study

The main objective of the study is to assess whether there is any significant change
in empowerment of rural women through Kudumbasree.

Hypothesis for the Study

1. Kudumbasree makes no significant change in women empowerment.

Sub Hypothesis
1. There is no significant relationship of between acquisition of personal skills
and women empowerment.

2. There is no significant relationship of between Decision Making power and

women empowerment

3. There is no significant relationship of between self-confidence and women

empowerment

4. There is no significant relationship of between knowledge and women

empowerment

5. There is no significant relationship of between awareness and women

empowerment

Methodology and Sources of Data

Collection of Data
The influence of Kudumbashree on women is assessed by the field surveys and
personal interviews. Statistical evidences are also drawn from the sources available
with the Department of Economics and Statistics and the Project Directorate of
State Poverty Eradication Mission of the Government of Kerala. Micro-units, under
the scheme are surveyed and examined for arriving at conclusions. The study is
mainly based on primary data, and the secondary data is used to supplement
and support the primary data. A field survey was carried out covering rural areas.

15
Research Population and Sample
Micro units of Kudumbashree are selected as research population.

Sampling Design
Five micro units of Kudumbashree of Kozhikode district are selected by random
sampling method and members of the selected units are the respondents.
There are twelve block Panchayaths in Kozhikode district namely Vadakara,
Tuneri, Kunnummal, Thodannur, Meladi, Perambra, Balussery, Panthalayani,
Chelannor, Koduvally , Kuuamangalam and Kozhikode .Five micro units are
selected on random basis from these block Panchayaths. It consists of three
units of Vadakara-Deepam (Puduppanam), Harisee ( Chorode) and Peruma
(Orkkatteri) units, One unit of Kunnamangalam-Pulari (Mukkam) and one unit
of Kunnummal -Cheriyakappummel (Maruthonkara), Each unit consists of 20
members. So a total of 100 members of 5 units are taken as sample respondents
for the purpose of study.

Method of Data Collection

All the items shown in the questionnaire is asked to members of the units.
They are asked to fill the questionnaire in August –September 2015. Personal
interviews are also conducted with office bearers’ of Kudumbasree units in
the same period. Out of 100 questionnaires served, 90 respondents filled the
questionnaire completely and 10 respondents have not filled certain questions
and so they are rejected.

Data Analysis and Technique

The general information has been analyzed with the help of primary data
collected from among the respondents through structured questionnaires.
Likewise, acquisition of personal skills, Decision making power, self-confidence,
Knowledge and awareness empowerments of the Kudumbasree members have
also been analyzed on the basis of primary data.

Scaling Techniques
Scaling technique is used to measure variables related with level of improvement
on a three point scale with a weightage of three, two and one for Greatly
Improved, Fairly improved and not improved.

16
Tools of Analysis
Statistical techniques like percentage, mean, standard deviation, Z test etc are
used for analysis for data.

Variables used in the Study

The variables used for study related with empowerment of women consist of

1. Personal skills
2. Decision making power
3. Self confidence
4. Knowledge and
5. Awareness

Operational Definition
Women Empowerment - In simple terms we can define empowerment is giving
power. Power is the key word of the term Empowerment. According to the
International Encyclopedia (1999), power means having the capacity and the
means to direct one’s life towards desired social, political and economic goals
or status. Power means control over material assets, intellectual resources and
ideology. In Webster’s English Dictionary the verb empower means to give the
means, ability and authority. Empowerment implies a state of mind and attitude
of a person. It is a process through which people or communities increase their
control or mastery of their own lives and the decisions that affect their day-to-
day life. Women empowerment is any process that provides greater autonomy
to women through the sharing of relevant information and provision of control
over factors affecting their performance. Empowerment implies a state of mind
and attitude of a person. It is a process through which people or communities
increase their control or mastery of their own lives and the decisions that affect
their day-to-day life. Awareness is a necessary part of empowerment. Awareness
of rights is required for a person to develop his capacity of self-control, self-
strength and self-reliance and to build freedom of choice and action.

Empowerment is about change, choice and power. It is a process of change

by which the individuals and groups with little or no power gain the power and
ability to make choices that affect their lives. Women empowerment is a stage of
acquiring power for women in order to understand her rights and to perform her
responsibilities towards oneself and others in a most effective way. Acquisition

17
of personal skills, Power to take decisions, knowledge about their rights and
privileges, self-confidence and Awareness are necessary parts of empowerment.
Awareness of rights is required for a person to develop his capacity of self-control,
self-strength and self-reliance and to build freedom of choice and action. It is a
process of change by which the individuals and groups with little or no power gain
the power and ability to make choices that affect their lives. Women empowerment
is a process whereby women become able to organize themselves, to increase
their own self-reliance, to assert their independent right to make choices and
to control resources which will assist in challenging and eliminating their own
subordination. In this study it refers to empowerment of women especially the
women residing in rural areas.

Scope of the Study

The study is confined to Kudumbasree units of Kerala. Study is conducted on the
basis of sample units taken from rural areas of Kozhikode district.

Summary and Findings

Kudumbasree is the poverty eradication mission of the state of Kerala. It is a
community based self-help initiative involving poor women. It was launched
formally by the Government of Kerala on 17th May 1998. It is launched by the
Government of Kerala for wiping out absolute poverty from the state through
concerted community action under the leadership of Local Self Government.
Kudumbashree is a Malayalam word which means prosperity of the family.
The programme has 37 lakhs members and covers more than 50% of the
empowerment. The researcher studied the influence of Kudumbasree on the
rural women for their empowerment. For the purpose of study five micro units of
Kudumbashree of Kozhikode district are selected by random sampling method
and members of the selected units are the respondents. There are twelve block
Panchayaths in Kozhikode district namely Vadakara, Tuneri, Kunnummal,
Thodannur, Meladi, Perambra, Balussery, Panthalayani, Chelannor, Koduvally
, Kuuamangalam and Kozhikode . Five micro units are selected on random
basis from these block Panchayaths. It consists of three units of Vadakara-
Deepam (Puduppanam), Harisee ( Chorode) and Peruma (Orkkatteri) units,
One unit of Kunnamangalam-Pulari (Mukkam) and one unit of Kunnummal
-Cheriyakappummel (Maruthonkara), Each unit consists of 20 members. So a
total of 100 members of 5 units are taken as sample respondents for the purpose
of study. Personal interviews are also to be conducted with office bearers’ of

18
Kudumbasree units in the same period. Outof 100 questionnaires served, 90
respondents filled the questionnaire completely and 10 respondents have not
filled certain questions and so they are rejected. A scaling technique is used to
measure variables related with level of improvement on a three point scale with
a weightage of three, two and one for Greatly Improved, Fairly improved and
not improved.

The following are the major findings of the study.

1. Majority of them are working on daily wages.

2. Less than 50 percent of the members are earning income less than Rs
10,000.

3. Nearly forty two percent of respondents have 8th to 10th qualification.

4. Decision making power of Kudumbasree members have greatly improved

after joining in Kudumbasree.

5. Self-confidence has been improved.

6. Personal skills of members have greatly improved

7. Knowledge has not improved

8. Awareness about need for nutrition, dangers of using pesticides, use of

liquors and its affects has been increased.

9. Factors like acquisition of personal skills, self-confidence, knowledge

and awareness has not achieved as a contributing factor for women
empowerment.

Recommendations
The researcher put forward the following suggestions to enhance women
empowerment-

1. Proper information should be given to Kudumbasree members to know

about the aim and objectives of Kudumbasree. For this purpose anganawadi
teachers can be used.

2. Entrepreneur development programme should be started and proper

training should be given to members in this respect. Commerce teachers
who are working in higher secondary schools and colleges can be utilized
for providing training.

19
3. Active participation of Kudumbasree members in gramasabhas is to be
insisted.

4. The members should take active involvement in different activities including

politics.

Conclusion
The study has provided an insight on women empowerment acquired by
Kudumbasree members after joining in the Kudumbasree. Majority of the
members of Kudumbasree are women workers who are working on daily
wages. Decision making power, Personal skills, and awareness of the members
are improved except self-confidence and knowledge. By considering other
factors such as self-confidence and knowledge, we can conclude that women
empowerment has not achieved to the fullest extent. Women workers should
give due consideration for developing self-confidence and knowledge about
intellectual rights.

Each unit of Kudumbasree must give attention to the various factors for the
empowerment of members. Women have the potential and the determination to
set up, uphold and supervise their own enterprises in a very systematic manner.
Appropriate support and encouragement from the Society in general and family
members in particular is required to help these women scale new heights in
their business ventures. The right kind of assistance from family, society and
Government can make these Women Entrepreneurs a part of the mainstream
of national economy and they can contribute to the economic progress of India.

References:
1. Balan P.P & Retna Raj M (Ed.) (2006): Decentralised Governance and Poverty
Reduction: Lessons from Kerala, Kerala Institute of Local Administration,
Trissur

2. Bandhyopadhyay D, Yugandhar and Amitava Mukherjee (2002),

Convergence of programmes by empowering SHGs and PRIs, Economic
and Political weekly, June 29, PP 2556-2561

3. Burra, Ranadive and Murthy (2005): Micro-Credit, Poverty and

Empowerment: Linking the Triad, Sage Publications, New Delhi CRM, CSES
& SDC-Capdeck (2003)

20
4. Emerging Issues in Panchayati Raj in Kerala - A study report Thiruvananthapuram

5. Government of Kerala (2004): Planning and Economic Affairs Department:

Preparation of Annual Plans, under Tenth Five Year Plan by Local
Governments, Modified Guidelines, 31 March 2004, Thiruvananthapuram.

6. Government of Kerala (2007) Kudumbashree Mission, State poverty

eradication mission of Kerala, Department of Local self-government,
Handbook for Resource Persons (Malayalam) Thiruvananthapuram

7. Government of Kerala (2007), Budget speech 2014-15

8. http://www.kudumbashree.org

9. http://www.sjsry-kudumbashree.org

10. www.kudumbashree.org.

11. http://www.ulandslaere.au.dk/opgaves

12. top/2000/opgaveoversight-2000.htm.

21
Strategies in Marketing of FMCG
Products in Rural Markets: A
Winning Proposition
Dr. S. B. Inayath Ahamed1

Abstract
The rural market of India is fascinating and challenging at the same
time. It offers large scope on account of its sheer size. And, it is
growing steadily. Even a modest growth pushes up the sales of a
product substantially, in view of the huge base. It is attractive from
yet another angle. Whereas the urban market is highly competitive,
the rural market is relatively quiet. In fact, for certain products, it is
totally a virgin market. Simultaneously, the market also poses several
problems and hurdles. The firms have to encounter them squarely and
put in a great deal of effort, if they have to get a sizeable share of the
market. Efforts to capture the market with due thought and focus on
the constraints with streamlined strategies to overcome the same will
tend to define the path ahead for rural marketing in India. According
to the 2001 census, India’s population was 100 million, of which 73
percent lived in villages. This is average statistics. There are states like
UP, MP, Rajasthan, Kerala, Bihar and Orissa where the rural population
varies from 80 to 90 percent. The spread of population in 4,200 cities
and towns is to the extent of 25 percent, and of the Remaining 75
percent is in 5, 76,000 villages. This sheer base defines the volume
and scope of rural marketing. Marketing in India has for a long time
meant urban marketing. But now rural marketing is being widely
researched and discussed. This paper throws light on the marketing
strategies of FMCGs to be adopted in rural areas.

Key words: Rural marketing, FMCG, strategy, rural consumer.

1. Assistant Professor, Department of Business Administration, Kalasalingam University, Anand Nagar,

Krishnankoil-626 126.Tamilandu, Email id:inayathahamed@gmail.com

22
Introduction
Over the past few years, the rural markets have emerged as one of the most
lucrative markets for Indian companies. In the recent past, many organizations
have forayed into rural areas and this has proved fruitful and beneficial for
them. The majority of emerging market nations continues to have largely rural,
agrarian-based economies. The contribution of rural logistics and supply chain
accounts the major portion in the economy of a nation. Since logistics and supply
chain is an integral part of the business. The network of rural market is vast and
enormous to carry out the functions of logistics and supply chain thus it is also
seems to be a challenging task to accomplish the business strategy in rural market
thus the distinctive approaches, wide distribution channels, integrated processes,
product innovation, differentiated strategies, specified programs, proactive
attitude, extensive transportation system, Reliable and consistent supply chain
and logistical activity, mass customization and exclusive customer relationship
ensures the organization to sustain efficiently in the platform of rural market.

The opportunity in the rural market is wide and extensive to attain growth in the
business. The scenario for the rural market should be differentiable and widened
to gain prospects. Thus by concentrating in the functions and goals of the logistics
and supply chain, a company can easily cater to the needs and wants of the
rural market. The rural supply chain also strengthens the various activities of the
business functions and also acts as a perfect player in the growth and improvement
of the organization. The competitive advantage is the most vital and key objective
that can be attained by the organization when it acts actively in the rural supply
chain. The concept of integration process can be implemented in rural scenario
to nurture the capability of an organization to serve better than its competitors
and also helps to serve significantly in various competitive edge. In India alone,
of the one billion residents counted in the 2011 census, roughly 720 million
people lived in rural areas. Delivering products and services into this market
presents both unique challenges and enormous opportunities for companies.
The Indian rural markets provide abundant opportunities for organizations to
enter and operate profitably. The large population base of rural India enables
the companies to earn a reasonable amount of revenue. According to a white
paper prepared by CII-Techno park, the rural market grew at an impressive
25% in the year 2008 and by the year 2010-11 has grown to approximately
720-790 million customers with a size of US$425 bn. Rural India has emerged
as a large market for numerous goods and services such as financial services,
FMCG, healthcare and telecommunications. In today's competitive scenario, the
rural markets are as vital as the urban markets for marketers.

23
Therefore, the outline and nature of rural supply chain and logistics can be
sourced and highlighted in this frame work and the motto of this paper is to
replicate how the rural logistics and supply chain plays a crucial role in today’s
dynamic business world with rural market as its focal point.

Micro Challenges in Rural Logistics and

Supply Chain:
1. ORDER PROCESSING:- By managing the consistent and reliability in the
order processing time, the challenges in the rural logistics can be faced
and tackled easily since it aids to maintain higher lead time to sustain in
the business and it also helps the organization to retain its customer.

2. INVENTORY MANAGEMENT: Inventory is the important criteria which

judge the strength and stamina of the organization. Inventory planning can
helps the organization in maintaining an optimal level of inventory which
will also help in satisfying the customer. Activities like inventory forecasting,
engineering the order quantity, optimization the level of service, proper
deployment of inventory etc., are involved in this. Therefore safety stock is
always preferred for the rural market

3. WAREHOUSE MANAGEMENT: Warehousing plays a major role in the

business function where the finished goods are stored for the delivery to
the customer it is must for the company to maintain a stable warehouse to
ensure its fine service to the customers. Warehouse acts as an intermediary
between the organization’s service and responsibility.

4. TRANSPORTATION MANAGEMENT: Transportation is the physical movement

of the goods. Transportation plays a major role in the transportation. The firm has
to schedule the transportation decisions according to its capability and volume
of the business it acts as a mediator between the customer and organization
with extensive and wide transportation facilities and distribution network, a firm
can reach any heightened competition in the rural logistics and supply chain.

5. PACKAGING: Packaging and packing plays an efficient role in handling

the products/goods to the customers. The organization should ensure the
minimum damage for the products during the transportation and continuous
handling moreover the firm should be specific in the rural distributions where
the product should be taken care at most to ensure the quality among the
rural customers.

6. PROCUREMENT:- This process ensures how the firm has choosing its
suppliers and making the purchase decisions to strengthening its business.

24
 An organization should be focused in supplier rating; supplier relationship
and price negotiation power an organization can make its procurement
decision successfully.

7. OUTSOURCING: Transferring the manufacturing of modular products to an

outsider will helps the organization to concentrate in its core competence
it also helps to save the internal resources and increases the productivity
therefore the firm can also take outsourcing decisions to reach the rural
customers earlier to position itself into their minds.

8. DEMAND FORECASTING: The demand of the product or goods should

be forecasted and predetermined to meet the requirement of the customers
since demand forecasting is the complicated task for the firm to implement
by appropriate supply chain software the demand can be forecasted to meet
the customers to fulfil their needs and wants.

9. MANUFACTURING PLANNING: Manufacturing planning details the

coordination of all manufacturing activities. The firm should make
simultaneous manufacturing decisions to nurture its productivity. Therefore
the organization should sustain in the making the effective manufacturing
plan to meet its customers requirement.

10. MANAGING RETURNS: Returns and refund are important parts and also
the problem parts of supply chain management. Therefore the company
should focus carefully in managing the expense and returns of the revenue
since these return are contributed only by the customers satisfaction.

11. CUSTOMER RELATIONSHIP MANAGEMENT: Since the customers are the

backbone of the business. This is useful for the achieving of end customer
satisfaction. In order to achieve the customer satisfaction. In order to
maintain a optimum customer relationship management, the company has
to adopt the following strategy:-
1. Know your customer
2. Listen to your customer
3. Retain customers
4. Know their needs and wants
5. Pay attention to ‘special’ needs
6. Avoid non value activities
7. Getting feedback from the customer in order to satisfy more than
your competitors

25
12. SUPPLIER RELATIONSHIP MANAGEMENT: This will be maintained in order
to reduce the cost of suppliers. This includes
1. Supplier selection
2. Supplier integration
3. Supplier performance rating
4. Supplier training
5. Lifelong association
6. Sharing of benefits

Macro Challenges in Rural Logistics and

Supply Chain:
1. CONSISTENT DELIVERY: This is one of the big challenges for the firm to
maintain the consistent in the delivery the organization can maintain the
consistency in the delivery by widening its distribution network.

2. AFTER SALES SUPPORT: To prolong the customer relationship and to build

up long term relationship with the customer to ensure the growth of the
organization. This include meeting the complaints, handling the claims,
attending the grievance and meeting the sensitive issues(touch point) of the
customers will helps the organization to attain its goal in the business. The
up sell and the cross sell should also concentrated in the ASS to support
the customers in all the aspects.

3. REVERSE LOGISTICS: Reverse logistics is the greater challenge in the

business function especially it is the key process in the rural logistics. The
firm has to adapt a wide strategy to enhance the reverse logistics. Reverse
logistics always strengthens the integral part of the business. A systemized
approach can help in handling the reverse logistics effectively. Therefore, its
acts as a complete logistical cycle for the growth in the organization. Reverse
logistics acts as a challenging process in the today’s logistical scenario.
Therefore the reverse logistical functioning should be very effective for the
organization to attain its mutual growth in the rural logistics.

4. DISTRIBUTION NETWORK: The distribution network is the major challenge

for the company to sustain the logistics field. Distribution network will prove
the efficiency of the organization to gain advantage and benefit from various
geographical regions. Therefore the organization should have a wider and
large distribution channels to reach its customers at time. Thus the spread of
lengthier distribution network is must for the organization in the rural areas

26
 to monitor the customers to fulfil their requirements. Hence the distribution
network will only lifts the product to the customer and brings the returns to
the organization.

5. LOCATION FOR MANAGING STOCK: Currently suppliers and CFAs can

only find out that stockiest needs more inventory when he notifies them of
what products he wants, and at what quantities. If the CFA has the desired
product in stock, they send a delivery vehicle to supply the required products.
Otherwise, the CFA must request that stock from the supplier. These deliveries
are not coordinated with the needs of nearby stockiest. For example, another
stockiest may request the same products shortly thereafter. This might
require the CFA to again request additional stock from the supplier, and
again send another delivery vehicle to the same area. If the CFA had more
timely access to stockiest inventory levels, restocking routes could become
automated and optimized. This would also reduce the currently labour
intensive coordination efforts required between participating agencies in
the supply of products in rural areas. This motivates the need for location
information about individual stockists, their current stock, and their historical
restocking patterns. If this information is gathered and made available to
the CFA and the supplier electronically, planning restocking routes and
predicting demand for a particular product would become automated and
thereby more efficient. Aggregate sales data from stockists to RSOs will help
management to understand which RSOs are successfully selling products
along their RPJCs. The management will know when an RSO bought how
much and what stock at what price, and from which stockist. However, this is
not sufficient to understand the purchasing patterns of individual customers
(rural retail stores). For this granularity of information, RSOs themselves
have to be equipped with mobile devices to capture sales transactions as
they occur along their RPJC.

6. NEED FOR TECHNOLOGY: Company X is currently only utilizing technology

at the top tiers of their supply chain. The supplier uses a PC-based solution
to manage product inventory and distribution arrangements between
themselves, the CFAs and stockiest. Company X’s management also uses
a PC-based system to aggregate paper-based records gathered from TSMs
and RSOs. Paper is used ubiquitously throughout Company X’s supply chain.
The current use of manual information systems restricts the ability of decision
makers to obtain accurate, timely and meaningful observations about the
current state of demand and supply in outlying areas. Due to the large
geographic distances between the company and its stockiest, sales force, and
customers, paper becomes an even more inefficient medium. The RSOs use
fax machines in urban hubs located near their sales routes to transmit sales
data to the head office. At times, we observed RSOs traveling up to50 km

27
 to find an available fax machine, and having to wait for prolonged period
of time due to the unavailability of electricity. This greatly limits the efficiency
of the information flow between the sales team and management. In order
for management to have the accurate and timely information to direct future
marketing schemes, and evaluate individual and group sales performance,
these solutions are not sufficient. Technology-based solutions should also:-

1) Automatically collect information about the whereabouts of sales and

distribution officers, and capture all of their sales transactions and

2) Deliver relevant information to the management and suppliers. In this

section we motivate the need for a mobile information system that
couples transaction capture and location-enhanced services to better
inform rural supply chain processes.

MOBILE PHONES AND POSITIONING

TECHNOLOGIES:
Mobile phones are a uniquely appropriate device to combat various barriers
to entry for technology in rural supply chain management. Solid-state memory,
extended battery-life and a compact, rugged form factor are all great design
choices for the rural environment. Even in a developing country like India. Cell
phones are the most ubiquitous computing platform, making it an excellent
candidate to be the end-user device by capturing the user’s location (and
other contextual factors) automatically; the user interface requirements for
our proposed mobile solutions can be greatly reduced. This is an important
consideration given the difficulty of using mobile user interfaces, and the
fact that RSOs and stockists generally do not have much education and
are unfamiliar with computing devices. There are a variety of positioning
technologies that mobile devices can use to automatically determine their
location. In this section we discuss some alternatives given the context of the
rural supply chain management application.

GPS: Perhaps the most widely-used example of a positioning system that provides
ubiquitous coverage is GPS. GPS relies on satellite observation to determine the
user’s location precisely in any outdoor setting. However, GPS does not work
well indoors, as satellite signals are “too weak to penetrate most buildings”. GPS
provides excellent accuracy of between 8-10 meters, suitable for most outdoor
applications. GPS devices that can interface with mobile phones are now widely
available. However, purchasing a separate GPS device can add significantly to
the cost of the end user solution

28
RURAL PRICING STRATEGY: The rural customer is price sensitive and expects
value for money. Therefore, the pricing has to be in line with this expectation.
Marketers have to therefore devise strategies that can make their products
affordable for rural customers. Many companies have opted to offer their products
in smaller units so as to make them more viable for the rural markets. More
importantly, the concept of value engineering should be applied to rural markets
to make the products affordable. This technique involves replacing costly raw
materials with cheaper ones, without sacrificing quality and functionality. This
concept has already been implemented in the food industry, where soya protein
has replaced milk protein in many food products. Although soya protein is cheaper
as compared to milk protein, the nutrition value remains the same. However, if the
product belongs to an expensive category like high end mobile phones, then the
positioning has to be done in a way that the product is perceived as a bundle of
utilities by the rural customer, which still provides value for money in its category.

MINIMIZING AMBIGUITY: Periodically the key decision makers in a supply

chain evaluate how well their business is infiltrating the market, and redesign
business processes to take advantage of new market potentials or to expand
upon current ones. Such iterative business processes require the repositioning of
sales and distribution routes, marketing strategies, and organizational structures
and hierarchies. However, inadequate information measuring supply chain
performance can lead decision makers to make impromptu decisions that could
lead to misaligned business strategies, Technology can automate a number of
labour-intensive information processes required for providing decision makers
with timely and complete data to evaluate present business growth, thereby
maximizing the potential of building successful future business strategies.

HUL S’ RURAL LOGISTICAL SCENARIOS:

1. CHALLENGES:
- Brand trust
- Distribution network logistics
- Education for the customers
- Affordability
- After sales service

2. STRATEGIES:
- Indirect coverage approach
- Operation harvest

29
 - Cinema van operations
- Project stream line
- Project Shakti
- The last mile challenge
- HULs “khushiyonkidoli “- a new campaign strategy

Exhibit 1: Pictorial Representation of HUL Distribution Network

Rural Markets are Becoming more Important:

The rural markets have become a favourable destination for marketing companies
in view of the following reasons:

COMPETITION IN URBAN MARKETS: The level of competition in the urban

markets has intensified and is increasing tremendously. It is also stated by many
experts that the urban markets are almost saturated. Therefore, penetration into
rural markets is inevitable for sustained business growth. The rural markets are
relatively untapped and this provides better scope for growth.

CHANGING CONSUMPTION PATTERN IN RURAL AREAS: The consumption

pattern in rural India and the demand for new products have shown an
encouraging trend. The purchasing power of rural consumers has increased

30
significantly over the past decade. This, in turn, has transformed the consumption
pattern.

IMPROVED LIFESTYLE: The rural consumer is no longer dependent only on

traditional products. For instance, in most villages, shampoos have substantially
replaced the traditional product shikakai which the rural people have been using
since years. Similarly, the use of gas cylinders has become popular in place of
conventional chulas. Today, the consumption basket of rural people is not limited
to agricultural and allied products. They are keen on buying modern products
that can augment their style of living.

HUGE POPULATION BASE: The huge population base in rural India provides a
massive opportunity for the companies to sell their products and services on a
sizeable scale. Apart from a large population, the increased presence of media
and higher literacy level has created a lot of awareness amongst them.

Conclusion
Therefore, the rural market has an enormous power to transform the business
functions of the organization into very effective and efficient way. Thus the rural
market is the base for the company to sustain and survive. The rural logistics and
supply chain therefore acts as a tool which deploys all the critical factors that is
affecting the growth of the organization in all the ways. Hence the rural logistics
and supply chain acts as a platform where the company can sustain and land up
with its growth by attaining its objective. Thus the rural supply chain and logistics
will serves as a strong basement, where the company can sustain as longer as
concerned by functioning in most efficient way. Hence the rural logistics acts a
tool which nurtures the organization in achieving the competitive advantage to
tackle its rivals to prove its capability.

References:
1. Azad, Priyanka (2010, November), “Go Rural: Marketing Mantra for the
Competitive Era” Marketing Mastermind, pp.20-23.

2. Baijoor, Harish. (2009, June18). Knowledge@wharton.

3. Krishnamacharyulu, C.S.G. and Ramakrishna, Lalitha (2002). Rural

Marketing.

4. Paul, Nidhi (2010 May), HUL’s “Khushiyon Ki Doli” – A new Campaign

Strategy. www.technospot.in

31
5. Srivastava, Arpita. (2008, November), “Effective Product Positioning
Strategies for the Rural Markets – A Winning Proposition”, Marketing
Mastermind, pp.42-47.

6. Subramanian, Samanth. (2009 March), “Mother of all Rural Marketing

Schemes”. www.livemint.com

7. Vijayraghavan, Kala. Malviya, Sagar. (2011 May), “Hindustan Unilever

taps banks, telecom firms to reach rural India wider”, www.economictimes.
indiatimes.com

8. HUL Corporate website. www.hul.co.in

9. T. S. Parikh. Using Mobile Phones for Secure, Distributed Document

Processing in the Developing World,” IEEE Pervasive Computing Magazine,
4(2):74–81, April 2005.

10. G. Borriello, M. Chalmers, A. Lamarca, P. Nixon, “Delivering RealWorld

Ubiquitous Location Systems,” Communications of the ACM, 48(3): 36-41,
March 2005.

11. Shopping.com, an eBay Company, http://www.dealtime.com/.

12. C. Drane, M. Macnaughtan, C. Scott, “Positioning GSM Telephones,” in

IEEE Communications Magazine, 36(4):46-59, April 1998

32
A Comparative Study on
Customer Satisfaction of
Three Leading Telecom Service
Providers in Aizawl
Shamim Akhtar1 & Timothy Hnamte2

Abstract:
The telecom industry is one of the fastest growing sectors in India since
more than a decade. The India's telecommunication network is the
second largest in the world based on the total number of telephone
users and has the world's third-largest Internet user-base. The remote
northeastern city of Aizawl is also not an exception to this mega telecom
revolution. All the major telecom companies are operating in this
city and also offering their latest services. However, there has been
a growing sense of customer dissent being observed in recent times
with the poor quality of services offered by these telecom companies.
Under these circumstances we chose to do a customer satisfaction
survey of the three major telecom players in Aizawl namely the Aircel,
Airtel and Vodafone with a sample size of 90. The study reveals
that the overall satisfaction level is generally low among customers
in Aizawl. However, there are significant differences between the
satisfaction scores of Aircel, Airtel and Vodafone. Among the three
telecom service providers, Aircel scores marginally higher in customer

1. Research Scholar, Department of Commerce, Mizoram University, Email:worldofshamim@gmail.

com, Ph: 8974244215
2. Assistant Professor, Faculty of Management Studies. Icfai University Mizoram, Email: timothy@
iumizoram.edu.in, Ph: 9436148694

33
 satisfaction compared to Vodafone and followed by the Airtel. The
study also reveals that customers are generally dissatisfied with the
internet access speed offered by all the three telecom companies
operating in Aizawl.

Key words: customer Satisfaction, Telecom Service Providers, Indian

Telecom Industry

Introduction:
Customer satisfaction is one of the most common terms used in marketing and is
obviously a determining factor to company’s long term growth and profitability.
In general, customer’s satisfaction is a quantitative or qualitative measure of how
(or to what extent) products and services meets customer’s expectation and thus
is relative to customer’s experiences and perception of the same. This present
study attempts to measure the satisfaction level of telecom users based on their
perception of the quality of services experienced by them.

The telecommunication network in India is second largest in the world based

on the total number of telephone users (both fixed and mobile phone). Due to
high competition among various telecom players and strict regulations the call
tariffs are among the one of the lowest in the world. India is also home to the
world's third-largest Internet user-base. According to the Internet and Mobile
Association of India (IAMAI), the Internet user base in the country stood at
190 million at the end of June, 2013. In terms of type of services, the Indian
telecommunication industry has three major sectors namely telephony, internet
and television broadcasting. The growth of the Indian telecom industry was mostly
accelerated during the last decade when private telecom companies spread their
mobile networks beyond major cities and towns and even connected some of the
remotes regions of the country. The Northeastern part of India is often described
as one of such remote regions of the country. The state of Mizoram is one of the
eight states in the northeast with a population of and is divided into eight districts
namely – Aizawl (3,577 sq km), Champhai (3,168 sq km), Kolasib (1,386 sq
km), Lawngtlai (2,519 sq km), Lunglei (4,572 sq km), Mamit, (2,967 sq km),
Saiha (1,414 sq km), and Serchhip (1,424 sq km). Aizawl is the capital city of
Mizoram with a population of 2,93,416 (Census, 2011) The telecom services
in Mizoram and in Aizawl in particular started to expand nearly a decade ago.

34
Airtel started offering its telecom services in mid of 2006. The very next year in
June, 2007, Aircel also started its services in Aizawl and in March 27, 2009
Vodafone also launched its services in Aizawl. According to official estimates till
May 2015, Aircel is the leading telecom service provider in Aizawl with around
3,50,00 total number of customers, followed by Airtel with 150,000 customers,
followed by Vodafone with more than 80,000 customers in Mizoram.

Table 1: Leading Telecom Service Providers in Aizawl

Service Providers Aircel Airtel Vodafone
Total
Number of
Subscribers
(till May, Aizawl 3,50,000 1,50,000 80,000
2015
approxim-
ately)
Total
Number of
Subscribers
(till May, Mizoram 5,00,000 8,00,000 3,00,000
2015
approxim-
ately)
Vodafone
Aircel Store, Near Airtel Store,
Store, Aizawl,
Mizoram Rural PEMARIN
Z kamlova
Bank, Mana Customer
Building
international Service, Airtel
Address of Customer (Ground
(DODO) Zarkawt, Relationship
Care and Service Point Floor,
Aizawl- 796001,. Centre,
Zarkawt,
Near Mizoram Chanmari,
Chanmari,
Rural Bank, Aizawl.Pin-
Aizawl, Pin
Mizoram 796001,
796001

Objectives and Limitations:

The objectives of the study are as follows

(a) To measure the customer satisfaction levels related to different service

parameters of three leading telecom service providers in Aizawl.

(b) To compare the overall customer satisfaction levels between three leading
telecom service providers in Aizawl and rank them accordingly.

35
(c) To make recommendations to telecom service providers in Aizawl to improve
their services and level of customer satisfaction.

In spite of taking best possible care during the course of the study following
limitations cannot be ignored:

(a) Customer satisfaction level is dependent on customer expectation. Due to

certain infrastructural limitations the customer’s expectation level regarding
telecom services may be generally low in Aizawl.

(b) The survey has been carried out during the pre-monsoon season when the
telecom services are generally adversely affected by bad weather conditions.

(c) Due to the geographic characteristics of Aizawl city and the rough terrains,
the network connectivity varies from one location to another location.

(d) The telecom service quality like internet speed is highly dependent on the
type and quality of handset being used.

Methodology:
Data Collection: The primary data has been collected using a structured
questionnaire. We have used close ended multiple choice questions (from
question no. 1 to 5) and close ended questions based on five point Likert Scale
technique (from question no. 6 to 10.8) in our survey to measure the level
of customer satisfaction. All the statements with Likert Scale were of positive
orientation. The criteria identified for measuring customer satisfaction levels
were as follows:

(a) Network Coverage

(b) Uninterrupted Call Service
(c) Customer Care Service
(d) Internet Access Speed
(e) Local Call Charges
(f) STD Call Charges
(g) ISD Call Charges
(h) Local SMS Charges
(i) National SMS Charges
(j) Internet Data Charges
(k) VAS Charges

36
Sample Design: The sampling technique used for the study was Simple Random
Sampling. Sampling area was identified as the entire Aizawl city which was further
sub-divided into broad localities namely Aizawl North, Aizawl South, Aizawl West
and Aizawl East. The total sample size was 90 with 30 each dedicated for Aircel,
Airtel and Vodafone respectively.

Analysis and Representation: The data have tabulated and analyzed using
Microsoft Excel 2007 and represented in the form of contrasting bar graphs.
Basic statistical tools like Percentage and Mean calculation have been used and
t-test has been used for testing hypothesis. The Likert scaling technique has been
used to measure the level of customer satisfaction where values from 1 to 5 have
been assigned according to the degree of satisfaction level.

Analysis, Interpretation and Discussion:

Demographic Compositions of the Sample: Most of the respondents were from
the 18-30 age groups which is generally perceived to be an age group of highly
active telecom services users. Gender wise the sample selected was almost
evenly distributed among males and females. The bulk of the respondent’s
average monthly income was less than Rs. 15000. This may be explained and
correlated with the fact that most of the respondents were students without any
steady formal source of income. Most of the respondents were students followed
by service holders.

Figure 1: Age Composition

37
 Figure 2: Sex Composition

Figure 3: Average Monthly Income

Figure 4: Occupation Composition

Customer Satisfaction Regarding Network Coverage: In terms of customer

satisfaction regarding network coverage, Aircel marginally beats both Airtel and
Vodafone by equal margins.

38
 Figure 5: Comparison in Network Coverage

Customer Satisfaction Regarding Uninterrupted Call Service: Aircel also scores

higher compared to Voidafone, followed by Airtel in terms of customer satisfaction
regarding uninterrupted call services.

Figure 6: Comparison in Uninterrupted Calls

Customer Satisfaction Regarding Customer Care Service: In customer care service

Aircel scores significantly better followed by Airtel and Vodafone

Figure 7: Comparison in Customer Care Service

39
Customer Satisfaction Regarding Internet Speed: In terms of Internet Speed
Vodafone scores higher than Airtel and Aircel. However it may be highlighted
that overall satisfaction regarding internet speed remains low across all three
companies.

Figure 8: Comparison in Internet Speed

Customer Satisfaction Regarding Local Call Charges: In local call charges Aircel
is perceived to be the cheapest service provider followed by Vodafone followed
by Airtel. It may be pointed out that all three companies offer local call reducers
to their customers.

Figure 9: Comparison of Local Call Charges

Customer Satisfaction Regarding STD Call Charges: Customer satisfaction

regarding STD call rates seems to be slightly higher for Aircel compared to
Airtel but a little low for Vodafone. Here also it may be pointed out that all three
companies offer STD call rate reducers to their customers.

40
 Figure 10: Comparison in STD Call charges

Customer Satisfaction Regarding ISD Call Charges: Regarding ISD call charges
the customer satisfaction seems to be evenly balanced across all three companies.
This may be because of the fact that common customers rarely use ISD call
facilities in Aizawl and therefore they were quite undecided and gave average
scores to all three telecom companies.

Figure 11: Comparison in ISD Call Charges

Customer Satisfaction Regarding Roaming Charges: Roaming charges are

generally perceived to be high by customers of all three telecom companies and
coincidentally satisfaction scores of all three service providers stands at 2.97.

Figure 12: Comparison in Roaming Charges

41
Customer Satisfaction Regarding Local SMS Charges: Aircel customers are more
satisfied than Vodafone followed by Airtel in terms of local SMS rates.

Figure 13: Comparison in Local SMS Charges

Customer Satisfaction Regarding National SMS Charges: In terms of national

SMS rates both Aircel and Airtel scores equal followed by Voidafone

Figure 14: Comparison in National SMS Charge

Customer Satisfaction Regarding Internet Charges: Vodafone customers followed

by Airtel customers are more satisfied than Aircel customers regarding internet
charges.

Figure 15: Comparison in Internet Charges

42
Customer Satisfaction Regarding VAS Charges: Regarding VAS charges, Aircel
scores marginally higher compared to both Airtel and Vodafone.

Figure 16: Comparison in Value Added Services Coverage

Overall Customer Satisfaction and Company wise Comparative Satisfaction

Levels: After calculating the overall scores regarding customer satisfaction for all
three telecom service providers, it is clear that Aircel customers are slightly more
satisfied than Vodafone customers followed by Airtel customers.

Table 2: Combined Tabulated Satisfaction Scores

Mean Scores ( X)
Satisfaction Criteria
Aircel Airtel Vodafone
Network Coverage 3.77 3.6 3.6
Uninterrupted Calls Service 3.33 2.77 3.1
Customer Care Service 3.57 3.1 3.03
Internet Speed 2.47 2.6 2.83
Local Call Charges 4.1 3.6 3.97
STD Call Charges 3.23 3.2 2.97
ISD Call Charges 3.1 3 3
Roaming Charges 2.97 2.97 2.97
Local SMS Charges 3.87 3.63 3.8
National SMS Charges 3.17 3.17 3
Internet Charges 2.9 3.07 3.17
VAS Charges 3.17 3.07 3.07
Overall Satisfaction Score 3.3 3.14 3.21

43
 Figure 17: Comparative Satisfaction Levels of
Aircel, Airtel and Vodafone

Figure 18: Comparison of Overall Satisfaction Scores

44
 Table 3: Hypothesis Testing for the Three Companies
Aircel Airtel Vodafone
H0: There H0: There is no H0: There
is no significance significance difference is no significance
difference between between the mean difference between the
the mean satisfaction satisfaction score of the mean satisfaction score
score of the sample with sample with average of the sample with
average satisfaction satisfaction score of 3) average satisfaction
score of 3) score of 3)
H1: ≠
H1: ≠ H1: ≠
X = 3.14
X = 3.3 X = 3.21
Degree of freedom
Degree of freedom v = n -1 = 11 Degree of freedom
v = n -1 = 11 v = n -1 = 11
2.30 1.1562
σ= σ=
=0.324
11 11 1.4913
σ= = 0.368
11
σ = 0.457 Critical region
|t| = 2.201 Critical region
Critical region
|t| = 2.201 X −µ 3.14 − 3 |t| = 2.201
t=
= = 0.432
σ 0.324
X −µ 3.3 − 3 X −µ
= 3.21 − 3
=
t= = 0.656 t= = 0.570
σ 0.457 σ 0.368
This value (0.432) does
This value (0.656) does not lie in the critical This value (0.570) does
not lie in the critical region; therefore, not lie in the critical
region; therefore, we accept the null region; therefore,
we accept the null hypothesis at 5% level we accept the null
hypothesis at 5% level of significance, which hypothesis at 5% level
of significance, which means that there is no of significance, which
means that there is no significance difference means that there is no
significance difference between the mean significance difference
between the mean satisfaction score from the between the mean
satisfaction score from average score of 3. satisfaction score from
the average score of 3. the average score of 3.

Likert 5 point scale is used in survey to know satisfaction score of consumers.

Therefore average satisfaction score is assumed to be 3.

45
To test if there is no significant difference between satisfaction scores of Aircel,
Airtel and Vodafone, we formulate the hypothesis as follows:
H0 : 



H1 : ≠

X = 3.22

Degree of freedom v = 3 -1 = 2

0.0129
σ= = 0.0803
2
Critical region |t| = 2.201

X −µ 3.22 − 3
t= = = 2.739
σ 0.0803

This value (2.739) lie in the critical region, therefore, we reject the null hypothesis
at 5% level of significance, which means that there is significant difference between
the satisfaction score of Aircel, Airtel and Vodafone.

Conclusion and Recommendations:

It has been found that the overall satisfaction level of customers regarding the
three major telecom companies remains marginally above the neutral point.
However, there are little significant differences in the level of customer satisfaction
across these three companies though all of them may still be considered as
poor. The worst area of satisfaction is regarding internet speed. However we can
conclude that out of these three companies the customer satisfaction of Aircel is
the best followed by Vodafone and Airtel remains the worst in Aizawl.

Using the inputs of findings from our survey we are recommending the following
steps to the companies to improve their services in Aizawl:

1. Improve Infrastructure: there is an urgent need to improve infrastructure in

terms of setting more towers to extend the network coverage. For this the
companies have to identify location where network coverage is poor.

46
2. Prioritize Important Services: Companies need to prioritize the most important
telecom services for improving customer satisfaction like network connectivity,
internet access and uninterrupted call services.

3. Appoint locally stationed technicians and engineers: Companies should

have enough manpower available 24 X 7 to address technical faults and
service failure instead of importing them from outside the state.

4. Address Customer Queries and Issues regularly: The telecom companies

should become more customer-centric by regularly addressing to customer
related problems.

5. Design Services according to Local Needs: The Aizawl market should be

treated differently from the rest of the telecom circle as customers here have
slightly different needs

References
1. http://www.ibef.org/industry/telecommunications.aspx (accessed on
02.06.2015)

2. http://www.askcomreg.ie/business/types_of_telecoms_services.339.LE.aspa
(accessed on 02.06.2015)

3. http://www.census2011.co.in (accessed on 30.05.2016)

47
A Study on Customer Awareness &
Satisfaction towards usage of
E-Banking Services in Bangalore
Mr. N. Sathyanarayana1

Abstract:
The implementation of globalization, government policies and
liberalization has made the banking industry very competitive by
providing various products and services to the customers. The various
services offered by the banks can be utilized by the customers only
when they are made aware of these services. The banker and customer
have to know about one another. The banker has to understand the
customers’ needs and in the same way, the customer has to know about
the carious services offered by the banks. Increased level of awareness
among the customers leads to increased preferences. The purpose of
this study was to investigate the awareness and satisfaction level of
customers towards usage of various E-Banking Services in Bangalore
region. The researcher adopted multi stage random sampling by using
self-administered structure questionnaires. The statistical technique
like Chi-square, ANOVA, has been used for the analysis by using
SPSS v-23. The major findings are as follows: The majority of female
respondents are not aware compared to male respondents about
the usage of e-banking services. There is a relationship between the
customer’s education and awareness about the usage of e-banking
services. The majority respondents are satisfied since these are

1. Asst. Professor, Department of Management Studies, T John Institute of Technology, Bangalore,

Karnataka-560083. Email: n.sathya1985@gmail.com, Phone - +91- 9986314840

48
 convenient and saves their time and cost of making transactions.
Few respondents felt difficult of usage on their own and requesting
the others help to do the transactions due to lack of education and
awareness of usage.

Key Words: E-Banking, customer awareness, ATM, internet banking,

mobile banking

Introduction:
E-BANKING is changing the banking industry and is having the major effects
on banking relationships. Banking is now no longer confined to the branches
were one has to approach the branch in person, to withdraw cash or deposit a
cheque or request a statement of accounts. In true E-BANKING, any inquiry or
transaction is processed online without any reference to the branch (anywhere
banking) at any time. Providing E-BANKING is increasingly becoming a "need
to have" than a "nice to have" service. The net banking, thus, now is more of a
norm rather than an exception in many developed countries due to the fact that
it is the cheapest way of providing banking services. Customers access e-banking
services using an intelligent electronic device, such as a personal computer (PC),
personal digital assistant (PDA), automated teller machine (ATM), kiosk, or Touch
Tone telephone. While the risks and controls are similar for the various e-banking
access channels, this booklet focuses specifically on Internet-based services due
to the Internet’s widely accessible public network.

Benefits of E-Banking:
• Checking with no monthly fee, free bill payment and rebates on ATM
surcharges

• Credit cards with low rates

• Easy online applications for all accounts, including personal loans and
mortgages

• It provides Quality customer service with personal attention

• It provides the quick services to their customers.

• Enables transfer of funds from one place to another (banks).

• Exchange of statistical information among banks.

49
• Enables foreign exchange operations.

• Inter-bank applications like settlement of funds between banks.

• Provides facilities like 24-hour account access, demote operation, ATM

operation, online banking etc.

Review of Literature:
Sumedha Kalia and Urvashi Kalra (2012) investigated various factors influencing
customer’s perception and satisfaction level towards E-Banking. They found that,
lack of knowledge, inadequate legislations and security concerns are the major
reasons for not using E-Banking by the SBI customers. They suggested that, banks
should provide “demo” on their website for new users to know about online
banking services and facilities of experts to increase awareness in the minds of
customers to use e banking safely.

Pooja Malhotra & Balwinder Singh (2010) examined the factors affecting the
extent of internet banking services. The data for this study are based on a
survey of bank websites explored during July 2008. The sample consists of 82
banks operate in in India at 31rst March 2007. Multiple regression technique is
employed to explore the determinants of the extent of Internet banking services.
The results show that the private and foreign Internet banks have performed
well in offering a wider range and more advanced services of Internet banking
in comparison with public sector banks.The findings are expected to be of great
use to the government, regulators, commercial banks, and other financial
institutions, e.g. co-operative banks planning to offer Internet banking, bank
customers and researchers.

Uppal, R.K. & Chawla, R. (2009) this study highlights customer perceptions
regarding e-banking services. A survey of 1,200 respondents was conducted in
October 2008 in Ludhiana district, Punjab. The respondents were equally divided
among three bank groups namely, public sector, private sector and foreign
banks. The major finding of this study is that customers of all bank groups are
interested in e-banking services, but at the same time are facing problems like,
inadequate knowledge, poor network, lack of infrastructure, unsuitable location,
misuse of ATM cards and difficulty to open an account. Keeping in mind these
problems faced by bank customers, this paper frames some strategies like custom
education, seminars/meetings, proper network and infrastructure facilities, online
shopping facilities, proper working and installation of ATM machines, etc., to
enhance e-banking services.

50
Agarwal, Reeti, Sanjay Rastogi, and Ankit Mehrotra (2009), stated about the
Customers perspectives regarding e-banking in an emerging economy. So
that, the author determining various factors affecting customer perception and
attitude towards and satisfaction with e-banking is an essential part of a bank's
strategy formulation process in an emerging economy like India. To gain this
understanding in respect of Indian customers, the study was conducted on
respondents taken from the northern part of India. The major findings depict
that customers are influenced in their usage of e-banking services by the kind of
account they hold, their age and profession, attach highest degree of usefulness
to balance enquiry service among e-banking services, consider security &trust
most important in affecting their satisfaction level and find slow transaction speed
the most frequently faced problem while using e-banking.

Problem Identification:
Though there were several studies done by various researchers/authors pertaining
to e-banking. The researcher could not find research pertaining to awareness
of customers towards perception & Satisfaction towards E –Banking Services in
Bangalore region. Thus the researcher has made an effort to do study in this area
and topic has been entitled as “A Study on Customer Awareness & Satisfaction
towards usage of E–Banking Services in Bangalore.”

Objective of the Study:

• To study the innovative banking services and its current trend.

• To evaluate customer prospective to the innovative banking services.

• To examine customer service and satisfaction level.

• To examine the relation with the demographic variable(Age, Gender,

Education, occupation) and respondent’sawareness about e- banking.

• To conduct the research for identification of popularity of various E-banking

services.

Research Methodology
The present study has been conducted on the basis of primary data and was
descriptive in its nature. Primary data obtained by interacting with various people,
getting the questionnaires filled by them. The data was collected by means of
questionnaire and was classified and analyzed carefully. Questionnaire was

51
constructed innovatively and systematically distributed to respondents in the study
field. In this research, the questionnaire was formed as a direct and structured
one. The questions were mostly close-ended questions. Open-ended question
has been used only for deriving suggestions from the respondents.

Sampling Design:
The researcher has decided to make division of Bangalore in four Zones such
as South, North, East and West. From each zone researcher has taken 50
respondents from various banks randomly. After collecting more than 235
questionnaires filled up by various respondents only 200 questionnaires were
used for the further analysis.

Tools and Techniques of Data Analysis:

The statistical analysis carried out in the study by using SPSS (Statistical Package
for Social Science) Software 23 version. The statistical technique like Chi-square,
ANOVA, has been used for the analysis. Analyzed & interpreted data have been
presented in the form of tables.

Questionnaire Reliability Test:

The researcher has used Cronbach’s Alpha reliability test to evaluate the reliability
of the questionnaire for the survey study. The analysis was done using SPSS.

Table: 1Cronbach's Alpha Reliability Statistics

Cronbach's Alpha N of Items
.914 24

(Data Compiled by using SPSS)

As statistics tells more the Alpha value near to 1 more will be the reliability. The
above table-1 reveals that the Cronbach’s Alpha value = .914. Therefore,
based on the Alpha value it can be decided that the framed questionnaires are
more reliable with each other and the questionnaire survey can be conducted
by using the questionnaire.

52
Data Analysis & Interpretation:
Hypothesis: 1
H0: There is no relationship between the customer’s education qualification and
awareness about the usage of e-banking services like Internet banking, ATM,
Demat, Mobile banking, SMS banking, Cash depositing machine, Account
Printing Machine & etc.

H1: There is a relationship between the customer’s education and awareness

about the usage of e-banking services like Internet banking, ATM, Demat, Mobile
banking, SMS banking, Cash depositing machine, Account Printing Machine &
etc.

Table 2: Education qualification wise awareness about the

usage of e-banking services
Distribution of respondents
according to their
Total
awareness about the usage
of e-banking services
Particulars
At least
At At least
5 and
least 1 2 to 4
above
service services
services
Lessthan Count 29 24 0 53
according to their Education
Distribution of respondents

or equal
to SSLC % of Total 14.5% 12.0% 0.0% 26.5%
Qualification

PUC / Count 21 20 10 51
Diploma % of Total 10.5% 10.0% 5.0% 25.5%
UG Count 22 15 13 50
degree % of Total 11.0% 7.5% 6.5% 25.0%
PG degree Count 0 17 29 46
and above % of Total 0.0% 8.5% 14.5% 23.0%
Count 72 76 52 200
Total
% of Total 36.0% 38.0% 26.0% 100.0%

53
Table 3: Chi-Square Tests
Asymptotic Significance
Value df
(2-sided)
Pearson Chi-Square 63.460a 6 .000
Likelihood Ratio 86.121 6 .000
Linear-by-Linear Association 49.790 1 .000
N of Valid Cases 200
a. 0 cells (0.0%) have expected count less than 5.
The minimum expected count is 11.96.

From the table 2 showed the classification based on education qualification and
awareness about the e-banking services. It can be identifying that, based on
education qualification majority of respondents fall under Less than or equal to
SSLCcategory is 53 (26.5%) followed by PUC / Diplomacategory is 51 (25.5%)
followed by UG degreecategory is 50 (25%) and the lowest level of respondents
fall under PG degree and abovecategory is 46 (23%). Based on awareness
about e-banking services majority of respondents aware 2 to 4 services 76 (38%)
followed by at least 1 serviceaware 72 (36%) and the lowest level of respondents
fall under 5 and above servicesaware category are 52 (26%).

From the table 3 it can be identifying that, the Pearson chi-square value is 63.460
and p-value is less than .05, (p = 0.00). So we can reject the null hypothesis,
and say that, there is a relationship between the customer’s education and
awareness about the usage of e-banking services like Internet banking, ATM,
Demat, Mobile banking, SMS banking, Cash depositing machine, Account
Printing Machine & etc.

Hypothesis: 2
H0: There is no relationship between the customer’s age and awareness about the
usage of e-banking services like Internet banking, ATM, Demat, Mobile banking,
SMS banking, Cash depositing machine, Account Printing Machine & etc.

H1: There is a relationship between the customer’s age and awareness about the
usage of e-banking services like Internet banking, ATM, Demat, Mobile banking,
SMS banking, Cash depositing machine, Account Printing Machine & etc.

54
Table 4: Age wise awareness about the usage of e-banking
services

Distribution of respondents
according to their awareness about
the usage of e-banking services
Total
Al least Al least 5
Al least 1
2 to 4 and above
service
services services
18 to 30 Count 22 35 21 78
Distribution of respondents

years % of Total 11.0% 17.5% 10.5% 39.0%

according to their age:

31 to 40 Count 20 15 13 48
years % of Total 10.0% 7.5% 6.5% 24.0%

41 to 50 Count 21 16 15 52
years % of Total 10.5% 8.0% 7.5% 26.0%
51 and Count 9 10 3 22
above
years % of Total 4.5% 5.0% 1.5% 11.0%
Count 72 76 52 200
Total
% of Total 36.0% 38.0% 26.0% 100.0%

Table 5: Chi-Square Tests

Asymptotic Significance
Value df
(2-sided)
Pearson Chi-Square 6.254a 6 .395
Likelihood Ratio 6.606 6 .359
Linear-by-Linear Association 1.742 1 .187
N of Valid Cases 200
a. 0 cells (0.0%) have expected count less than 5.
The minimum expected count is 5.72.

From the table 4 showed the classification based on age and awareness about
the e-banking services. It can be identifying that, based on age majority of
respondents fall under 18 to 30 years category is 78 (39%) followed by 41 to
50 years category is 52 (26%) followed by 31 to 40 years category is 48 (24%)
and the lowest level of respondents fall under 51 and above years category is 22
(11%). Based on awareness about e-banking services majority of respondents
aware 2 to 4 services 76 (38%) followed by at least 1 service aware 72 (36%)

55
and the lowest level of respondents fall under 5 and above services aware
category are 52 (26%).

From the table 5 it can be identify that, the Pearson chi-square value is 63.460
and p-value is more than .05, (p = 0.395). So we cannot reject the null
hypothesis, and say that, there is no relationship between the customer’s age
and awareness about the usage of e-banking services like Internet banking,
ATM, Demat, Mobile banking, SMS banking, Cash depositing machine, Account
Printing Machine & etc.

Hypothesis: 3
H0: There is no relationship between the customer’s occupation and awareness
about the usage of e-banking services like Internet banking, ATM, Demat, Mobile
banking, SMS banking, Cash depositing machine, Account Printing Machine & etc.

H1: There is a relationship between the customer’s occupation and awareness

about the usage of e-banking services like Internet banking, ATM, Demat, Mobile
banking, SMS banking, Cash depositing machine, Account Printing Machine & etc.

Table 6: Occupation wise awareness about the usage of

e-banking services
Distribution of respondents according
to their awareness about the usage of
e-banking services
Total
Al least Al least 5
Al least
2 to 4 and above
1 service
services services
Count 27 19 10 56
Business
according to their occupation:

% of Total 13.5% 9.5% 5.0% 28.0%

Distribution of respondents

Govt. Count 5 6 3 14
Employees % of Total 2.5% 3.0% 1.5% 7.0%
Private Count 26 31 15 72
Employee % of Total 13.0% 15.5% 7.5% 36.0%
Count 3 6 6 15
Retired
% of Total 1.5% 3.0% 3.0% 7.5%
Count 9 16 18 43
Others
% of Total 4.5% 8.0% 9.0% 21.5%
Count 70 78 52 200
Total
% of Total 35.0% 39.0% 26.0% 100.0%

56
Table: 7 Chi-Square Tests
Asymptotic Significance
Value df
(2-sided)
Pearson Chi-Square 13.422a 8 .098
Likelihood Ratio 12.976 8 .113
Linear-by-Linear Association 9.860 1 .002
N of Valid Cases 200
a. 2 cells (13.3%) have expected count less than 5.
The minimum expected count is 3.64.

From the table 6 showed the classification based on age and awareness about
the e-banking services. It can be identifying that, based on occupation majority
of respondents fall under Private Employee category is 72 (36%) followed by
Business category is 56 (28%) followed by others category is 43 (21.5%) and
the lowest level of respondents fall under Govt. Employees category is 14 (7%).
Based on awareness about e-banking services majority of respondents aware
2 to 4 services 78 (39%) followed by at least 1 service aware 70 (35%) and the
lowest level of respondents fall under 5 and above services aware category are
52 (26%). It is identified that majority of respondent from business & private
employees are ware about less than or equal to 4 services usage.

From the table 7 it can be identify that, the Pearson chi-square value is 63.460 and
p-value is more than .05, (p = 0.098). So we cannot reject the null hypothesis,
and say that, there is no relationship between the customer’s occupation and
awareness about the usage of e-banking services like Internet banking, ATM,
Demat, Mobile banking, SMS banking, Cash depositing machine, Account
Printing Machine & etc.

Hypothesis: 4
H0: There is no significance difference between the awareness about the
e-banking servicesand Convenient mode of banking, Transactions they made
through e-banking services, Purpose of using e-banking services, Satisfaction level
in the e-banking service, Reasons for satisfaction towards e- banking services &
Duration of their usage in the e-banking services.

H1: There is significance difference between the awareness about the e-banking
servicesand Convenient mode of banking, Transactions they made through
e-banking services, Purpose of using e-banking services, Satisfaction level in
the e-banking service, Reasons for satisfaction towards e- banking services &
Duration of their usage in the e-banking services.

57
Table 8: ANOVA
Sum of Mean
df F Sig.
Squares Square
Between
12.846 2 6.423 2.454 .089
Convenient Groups
mode of Within
515.534 197 2.617
banking: Groups
Total 528.380 199
Transactions Between
4.769 2 2.384 3.401 .035
they made Groups
through Within
138.106 197 .701
e-banking Groups
services Total 142.875 199
Between
Purpose 2.552 2 1.276 .986 .375
Groups
of using
Within
e-banking 254.968 197 1.294
Groups
services
Total 257.520 199
Between
Satisfaction 1.535 2 .767 .399 .671
Groups
level in the
Within
e-banking 378.620 197 1.922
Groups
service
Total 380.155 199
Reasons for Between
5.240 2 2.620 2.131 .121
satisfaction Groups
towards Within
242.260 197 1.230
e- banking Groups
services Total 247.500 199
Between
Duration of 2.636 2 1.318 .628 .535
Groups
their usage in
Within
the e-banking 413.519 197 2.099
Groups
services
Total 416.155 199

Convenient mode of banking, Purpose of using e-banking services, Satisfaction

level in the e-banking service, Reasons for satisfaction towards e- banking services
& Duration of their usage in the e-banking services 2is the between-groups
degrees of freedom, 197is the within groups degrees of freedom, 2.454, 0.986,
0.399, 2.131 and 0.535 is the F ratio from the F column, 0.089, 0.375, 0.671,
0.121 and 0.535 is the value in the Sig. column (the p value), respectively.

58
In these above cases, the p value equals 0.089, 0.375, 0.671, 0.121 and
0.535which are greater than the α level (.05), so we fail to reject null hypothesis
and say that, there is no significance difference between the awareness about the
e-banking servicesand Convenient mode of banking, Purpose of using e-banking
services, Satisfaction level in the e-banking service, Reasons for satisfaction
towards e- banking services & Duration of their usage in the e-banking services.

Regarding Transactions they made through e-banking services2 is the between-

groups degrees of freedom, 197is the within groups degrees of freedom, 3.401 is
the F ratio from the F column, 0.035 is the value in the Sig. column (the p value),
respectively. In these above cases, the p value islesser than the α level (0.05),
so we can reject null hypothesis and say that, there is significance difference
between the awareness about the e-banking servicesand Transactions they made
through e-banking services.

Findings:
The major findings are as follows:
• The majority of female respondents are not aware compared to male
respondents about the usage of e-banking services.

• The majority of respondents falling under the age group of 31 to 40 years

are highly aware about the usage of e-banking services.

• It is identified that majority of respondent from business & private employees

are aware about less than or equal to 4 services usage.

• There is a relationship between the customer’s education and awareness

about the usage of e-banking services like Internet banking, ATM, Demat,
Mobile banking, SMS banking, Cash depositing machine, Account Printing
Machine & etc.

• There is no relationship between the customer’s age and awareness about

the usage of e-banking services like Internet banking, ATM, Demat, Mobile
banking, SMS banking, Cash depositing machine, Account Printing Machine
& etc.

• There is no relationship between the customer’s occupation and awareness

about the usage of e-banking services like Internet banking, ATM, Demat,
Mobile banking, SMS banking, Cash depositing machine, Account Printing
Machine & etc.

59
• There is no significance difference between the awareness about the
e-banking servicesand Convenient mode of banking, Purpose of using
e-banking services, Satisfaction level in the e-banking service, Reasons for
satisfaction towards e- banking services & Duration of their usage in the
e-banking services.

• There is a significant difference between the awareness about the e-banking

servicesand Transactions they made through e-banking services.

• The majority respondents are satisfied since these are convenient and saves
their time and cost of making transactions.

• Few respondents felt difficult of usage on their own and requesting the
others help to do the transactions due to lack of education and awareness
of usage.

Recommendations:
The researcher would here by like to put forth the following recommendations
to the bank based on observation, analysis and interpretation of the collected
data from the respondents.

• The bank has to providecustomer support servicesin the local languages

and allocate some staff to educate the customers about e-banking services.

• The bank has to provide the usage guidelines / demos in the local
languageson usage of e-banking services in the website.

Conclusion:
It is felt that more than offering good value added products the bank has to make
proper reach of its innovative products & services to the customers by effective
awareness strategies to increase the utilization of bank services. On the basis
of the findings of the present study some constructive, practicable and viable
suggestions have been made. If the Administrative Policy Makers of the Indian
bankers seriously considers all the suggestive measures it will help to make
development of banking sector even in the rural corners of India.

60
References:
Books:
1. Cooper Donald R., Business Research Methods, New Delhi, Tata McGraw
Hill Education Private Limited, 2009

2. Gupta, S. P., Statistical Methods, New Delhi, Sultan Chand & Sons., 2008

3. Kothari, C.R., Research Methodology Methods and Techniques, New

Delhi, New Age International Pvt Ltd, Publishers., 2004

Articles/Journals:
1. Agarwal, Reeti, Sanjay Rastogi, and AnkitMehrotra (2009). Customers’
perspectives regarding e-banking in an emerging economy. Journal of
Retailing and Consumer Services, Vol. 1, Issue 5, pp. 340-351.

2. Jithendra Kumar Mishra (2007), “Constituent Dimensions of Customer

Satisfaction: A Study of Nationalized and Private Banks”, (RevistaTinerilor
Economist), The Young Economists Journal, Vol. 1, No.8, pp. 40-47.

3. PoojaMalhotra, Balwinder Singh, (2010) "An analysis of Internet banking

offerings and its determinants in India", Internet Research, Vol. 20 Iss: 1,
pp.87 – 106

4. Ravi and Kundanbasavaraj (2013) “Customers Preference and Satisfaction

towards Banking Services with Special Reference to Shivamogga District in
Karnataka”, Trans Asian Journal of Marketing & Management Research,
Vol.2, Issue 1, pp. 28-38.

5. Selvaraj (2011), “A Study on Customers' Awareness and Level of Satisfaction

with Special Reference to SBI of Erode District of Tamil Nadu”, JMIJMM,
Vol.1, Issue 2, pp. 1-7.

6. SumedhaKalia and UrvashiKalra (2012), “Analysis of SBI Customer’s Attitude

towards E-Banking”, RJSITM, Vol.1, Issue 4, pp. 1-5.

7. Uppal, R K. &Chawla, R. (2009),“E-Delivery Channel-Based Banking

Services:An Empirical Study. Institute of Chartered Financial Analysts of
India”, pp. 62-70.

61
E-BANKING & RURAL CUSTOMER
Mr. Brijesh Singh1 & , Ms. Namita P Konnur2

Abstract
Innovative Banking is the new definition of the Banks. Day to day
banks is bringing new facilities for their customers. As the technology
is growing day by day which even creates more opportunities for
the Banks to make the banking system more convenient and easily
accessible for the customers. Even there is a rise to innovations in the
product & service designing and their supply in the banking sector
and finance industries, customer services and satisfaction are their
center point of all the efforts. With networking and inter connection
new problems are taking place related to security, privacy and
confidentiality to e-banking transactions. Banking through electronic
channels has gained increasing popularity in recent years. This
system popularly known as E-banking provides alternatives for faster
delivery of banking services to a wide range of customers. This study
aims to collect customers opinions regarding this adoption of various
e-banking technologies, its importance and problems associated with
e-banking in Karnataka. Structured questionnaires addressing the
various research questions were used coupled with personal interviews.
The result of the research finding is that there is a high adoption level
of e-banking technologies in Karnataka with ATM well favoured. The
internet banking is gradually gaining an increasing awareness but
faced with the problem of high cost of internet connectivity and lack of
telecommunication infrastructure. The study equally discovered that there
are no enough security measures to protect Internet Banking. Owing to
this, the researcher therefore recommended that e-banking transaction
should have desirable properties like authenticity, confidentiality,
Unforgivable and integrity coupled with provision of adequate
telecommunication infrastructure and increased culture of internet usage.

1. Research Scholar, VTU, Belagavi.

2. Research Scholar, VTU, Belagavi.

62
 Keywords: electronic banking, online banking security, technology.

Introduction
Banks are playing an important role in the economic development country.
Economic development of a country involves investment in various sectors of the
economy. The bank collects small savings from the public for investment in various
projects. In general banking means the banks performs various agency works
for their customers such as purchase and sales of investment securities, equity &
preference shares, making payments, receiving subscription funds and collection
of utility bills for the Government department. Therefore, banks are saving time
and energy of their busy customers. Bank also arranges foreign exchange for
the business transactions of customer with other countries. Banking sector is not
only collecting funds but also serve as a financial guide to the customer for the
investment of their money. The conventional functions of banking are confined
to accept deposits and to lend money through loans and advances. Now-a-days
banking is known as innovative banking. Use of Information technology has given
rise to innovations in the product and service designing and their delivery in the
banking sector and finance industries, customer services satisfaction are their
principle work. Present banking scenario has come up with many new initiatives,
which are oriented to provide a better customer service and facilities with the
help of information technology. Banking sector focuses the larger economy its
linkages to all sectors make it representative for what is going on in the economy.
Indian banking sector, presently has the same sense of opportunity that is evidence
in the Indian banking market and economy. The current developments in the
worldwide markets offer too many opportunities to the banking sector. In today's
competitive banking, word improvement day by day in customer services is the
most significant tool for their growth and development. Banking company offers
so many changes to access their banking and other services.

Dynamics of Rural Economy

Problems, prospects and solutions to many of the issues mentioned have been
researched and debated, primarily with a view to strengthening, revamping or
re-orienting rural financial institutions. However, there is merit in viewing the
problems of rural credit and rural banking in a wider context. In this regard, it will
be useful to recognize some dynamics of rural economy. Services sector is getting
increasing importance in the rural areas also -from coffee shops to cable television
operators. Assessing and meeting of credit needs of this sector is important. The

63
integration between rural and urban areas has increased significantly, with the
result, mobility of labour, capital, products and even credit between the two is
increasing. Commercialization of agriculture, particularly the increasing role of cash
crops like cotton has resulted in substantial role for suppliers and buyers' credit.
Compared to cereal production, other food items, including poultry and fish are
growing at a faster pace. In other words, rural agriculture is getting increasingly
diversified in terms of products and processes. In areas where commercialization
of agriculture has reached significant levels, the traditional landlord-based tenancy
is replaced with commercial-based tenancy. Where intensive cultivation of cash
crops such as cotton is called for, this has become quite common. However, the
present credit and banking procedures do not cater to the working capital needs
of such commercial based tenancy relationship.

Technology and Rural Banking

At present, ATMs are city oriented in our country. It is inevitable that ATMs will be
widely used, in semi-urban and rural areas. The technology-led process is leading
us to what has been described as virtual banking. The benefits of such virtual
banking services are manifold. Through the competition, many banks quickly
realized that there are a momentous number of customers like to do banking
electronically. As such, many banks, based on their existing 24-hour telephone
banking systems, have developed and implemented several important e-banking
applications so that their customers now are able to pay bills, transfer money
among accounts, check account history, download statement information, and
computerize their checkbooks online all at easy and around the clock.

Electronic Banking
Electronic Banking in simple terms means, it does not involve any physical
exchange of money, but it's all done electronically, from one account to another,
using the Internet. Internet banking is just like normal banking, with one big
exception. You don't have to go to the bank for transactions. Instead, you can
access your account any time and from any part of the world, and do so when
you have the time, and not when the bank is open. For busy executives, students,
and Home makers, e-banking is a virtual blessing.

Electronic Banking and Its Utilization

Electronic Banking also known as Internet Banking is the latest in the series of
technological wonders of the recent past. ATMs, Tele-Banking, Internet Banking,

64
Credit Cards and Debit Cards have emerged as effective delivery channels for
traditional banking products. Banks know that the Internet opens up new horizons
for them and moves them from local to global frontiers. IB refers to systems that
enable bank customers to get access to their accounts and general information
on bank products and services through the use of bank's website, without the
intervention or inconvenience of sending letters, faxes, original signatures and
telephone confirmations. It is the types of services through which bank customers
can request information and carry out most retail banking services such as balance
reporting, inter account transfers, bill-payment, etc., via telecommunication
network without leaving their home/organization.

Impact on Banking System

The banking system is slowly shifting from the Traditional Banking towards
relationship banking. Traditionally the relationship between the bank and its
customers has been on a one-tone level via the branch network. This was put
into operation with clearing and decision making responsibilities concentrated
at the individual branch level. The head office had responsibility for the overall
clearing network, the size of the branch network and the training of staff in the
branch network. The bank monitored the organization's performance and set the
decision-making parameters, but the information available to both branch staff
and their customers was limited to one geographical location.

Benefits of E-Banking
To the Customer
• Anywhere Banking no matter wherever the customer is in the world. Balance
enquiry, request for services, issuing instructions etc., from anywhere in the
world is possible.

• Anytime Banking – Managing funds in real time and most importantly, 24

hours a day, 7days a week.

• Convenience acts as a tremendous psychological benefit all the time.

• Brings down “Cost of Banking” to the customer over a period a period.

• Cash withdrawal from any branch / ATM.

• On-line purchase of goods and services including online payment for the
same.

65
To the Bank
• Innovative, scheme, addresses competition and present the bank as
technology driven in the banking sector market.

• Reduces customer visits to the branch and thereby human intervention

• Inter-branch reconciliation is immediate thereby reducing chances of fraud

and misappropriation.

• On-line banking is an effective medium of promotion of various schemes

of the bank, a marketing tool indeed.

• Integrated customer data paves way for individualized and customized

services.

Review of Related Literature

Technology has revamped entire business scenario all around the world. In
this reference e-banking has emerged out to be a boon for ensuring smooth
and quicker flow of funds. It has transformed and revolutionized the traditional
banking industry (Mols, 2000). It is a wonderful media to reduce transaction
cost. Further, the increased volume of transactions may compensate the fixed
cost that a bank may have to bear for providing click bank services. Wise and
Ali (2009) remarked that the objective to invest in ATMs by Bangladeshis banks
is to reduce the branch cost. It argued that the marginal increase in fee income
could substantially be offset by the cost of significant increment in the number
transactions. It empowers banks to deliver variety of value added services to its
customers (Bitner 2001).

In fact, internet banking is such an internet portal through which customers may
use vivid range of banking services from bill payment to making investments
(Pikkarainen, Karjaluoto, and Pahnila, 2004). It provides number of services
to its users and access to almost any type of banking transaction (except cash
withdrawal) at the click of a mouse (Young, 2001). Flavián, Torres, & Guinalíu,
(2004) argued that use of internet as an alternative channel for financial
services has now become a competitive necessity instead of being simply a
competitive advantage. Lustsik (2003) pointed out that offering of e-banking
services facilitates better branding and responsiveness to the bank. E-banking
has eliminated the boundary of time and geography. Now the customers have
relatively easy access to their accounts, 24 hours per day, and seven days a week
all-round the globe (Karjaluoto et al. 2002).

66
There is an availability of number of researches to display different factors that
motivate customers to adopt e-banking as their primary media for banking.
Joseph et al. (2003) found that reliability, accuracy, personalized and better
customer services are some of the factors that are considered by the customers
before opting any service delivery channel. Some researchers recognized
convenience, flexibility, security concern, complexity, and responsiveness as
some of the prominent determinants of e-banking at global level (Barczak et
al., 1997; Danniel & Strong, 1997; Lia et al., 1999; Polatoglu & Ekin, 2001;
Devlin & Yeung, 2003).

In the common parlance the study of perceived easiness in using website and
the privacy policy found that, the most important factor influencing adaptability
of e-banking is security. Further the study noticed that perceived ease of use is
of less importance than privacy and security (Hua 2009). In a study of assessing
the impact of e-banking functionality factors over satisfaction, it was found that
among all the variables security, privacy, and content appear to have the greatest
impact on satisfaction (Ahmad & AlZubi 2011).

Need for the Study

In general most of the research work conducted in the field of e-banking has
targeted urban population but perception of rural customers has not been
studied in opulence. In this reference, the present research attempts to analyze
the satisfaction level of rural customers. In this research paper the researcher
will try to find the major obstacles due to that rural customers hesitate to use
the E-Banking services and even the researcher will try to put the light on the
importance of E-Banking services from the Rural customers point of view.

Objectives of the Study

1. To understand the perception of the E-Banking services from the Rural
customers point of view.

2. To identify the factors that influence rural customer’s satisfaction through

E-Banking.

3. To analyze overall satisfaction of rural customers from E-Banking services.

4. To find out the Importance and Obstacles of E-Banking services from the
Rural customers point of view.

67
Research Methodology
The study is primarily based upon primary data collected through a structured
questionnaire addressing the various research questions were used coupled with
personal interviews. The researcher has conducted the exploratory research.
Quantitative data has been used for the purpose of analysis. The geographical
area for the research work was rural users of e-banking channels from different
villages of KARNATAKA. The selection of variables is based upon previous
research work. Data has been collected from the 500 respondents from the
villages have been taken for this research work. Structured questionnaires
addressing the various research questions were used coupled with personal
interviews. The result of the research finding is that there is a high adoption level
of e-banking technologies in KARNATAKA with ATM well favoured

Limitations of the Study

The present study is based upon the results of survey conducted on 500 users
of e-channels. The results of the study are subject to the limitations of sample
size, regional territory, psychological, financial and emotional characteristics of
surveyed population.

Analysis
Table 1: People Opinion about E- Banking as a New
System of Delivering Banking Services
S. No Particulars No of Respondents Percentage
1 Vital 80 16
2 Essential 280 56
3 Cannot say 140 28
Total 500 100

Table 2: People Came To Know About E-Banking Services

Through
S. No Sources No of Respondents Percentage
1 Bank officials 125 25
2 Advertisement in print media 175 35

68
 3 Television & radio advertisement 175 35
3 Online advertisement 0 0
5 Family members 0 0
6 Friends 25 5
Total 500 100

Table 3: Personal Adoption of E-Banking Services

S.No Sources No of Respondents Percentage
1 ATM 400 80
2 Internet 30 6
3 Mobile 70 14
Total 500 100

Table 4: ATM Facility is used for

S.No Variable No of Respondents Percentage
Withdrawal of cash and
1 380 76
checking account balance
2 Deposit of cash 45 9
3 Request cheque book 25 5
4 Paying bills 0 0
5 Any other (only for a/c) 50 10
Total 500 100

Table 5: People use Bank Website

S.No Variable No of Respondents Percentage
1 Transfer funds 300 60
2 Check balance 50 10
3 Know products 125 25
4 Change password 15 3
5 Order cheque book 10 2
6 After sales service 0 0
Total 500 100

69
Table 6: Mobile Banking Is Useful Electronic Channel
S. No Variable No of Respondents Percentage
1 Strongly agree 95 19
2 Agree 290 58
3 Neutral 70 14
4 Disagree 35 7
5 Strongly disagree 10 2
Total 500 100

Table 7: People Use Mobile Banking For the Following

Purpose
S. No Particulars No of Respondents Percentage
1 Transfer Of Funds 260 52
2 Balance Enquiry 110 22
3 Not Using 0 0
Know Last Few
4 120 24
Transactions
5 Stop Payment 10 2
Total 500 100

Table 8: Importance of Adopting E-Banking Services

Strongly Strongly
Agree Neutral Disagree
S. Agree Disagree Total
Statement (2) (3) (4)
No (1) (5)
Values in Percentage
1 E- banking
services are
generally faster 40 55 01 02 01 99
than traditional
banking
2 E- banking
services have no
time limit since i
36 45 08 08 02 99
can use them at
any time of the
day.

70
3 There is high
degree of
convenience
17 53 16 03 01 90
in accessing
e- banking
services.
4 E- banking
channels are
easier to use 19 56 04 07 09 95
than traditional
channels.
5 E- banking
services are
generally
cheaper than 19 41 16 13 07 96
traditional
banking at the
branch.
6 Using e-
banking
service is more
25 51 08 01 09 94
prestigious than
queuing at the
bank halls

Table 9: Possible Reasons for Non Adoption of E-Banking

Services by Customers
Strongly Strongly
Agree Neutral Disagree Total
S. Agree Disagree
Statement (2) (3) (4) %
No (1) (5)
Values in Percentage
Security
concerns
are the most
1 discouraging 20 45 20 07 03 95
factor in using
E-banking
services.

71
 Most of the
customers are
not aware of
2 E-banking 21 51 09 04 07 92
services
provided by
their banks.
E-banking
services
generally
3 do not have 11 41 19 12 11 94
privacy of
customer’s
information.
Most of the
customers
4 prefer 13 42 22 21 01 91
traditional
banking.
Most banks
provide few
E-banking
5 services 15 47 11 19 03 95
and some
have not yet
adopted.
Some banks
charge high
6 fees on using 26 44 13 02 06 91
E-banking
services.

Discussion
In the Table 1 it is interpreted that 16% of the customers felt it important, about
56% of them are completely aware that it is essential in the present day and rest
are not sure about its use. In the Table 2 it shows that 70 % of the respondents
came to know about the E-Banking services through Advertisement in print media
and Television & radio. 25% of the respondents come to know through Bank
Officials. In Table 3 it clearly shows that with respect to the Personal adoption of

72
E-banking is happening due to the ATM Services that is almost 80% and Internet
and Mobile is 6% and 14% respectively.

In Table 4 it shows that the respondent uses the ATM facility mainly for the purpose
of withdrawal of cash and checking account balance that is almost 76% and
9% of the respondent’s uses for the purpose of Deposit of cash and 5% of the
respondents for the Request of Cheque Book and Remaining 10% for the other
services. In Table 5 it indicates about People uses Bank websites for the different
purposes like almost 60% of the respondents uses for the transferring of funds,
25% of the respondents for the information about the products, 10% for the
purpose of checking the balance and for the purpose of changing password and
ordering the cheque book the respondents percentage is 3% & 2% respectively.

In the Table 6 it is interpreted that 77% of the respondents agree that Mobile
banking is useful as a Electronic Channel and 14% of the respondents are neither
agree or disagree and 9% of the respondents are disagree that mobile banking
is useful as a Electronic Channel. In the Table 7 it is interpreted about the Mobile
Banking purpose like Respondents uses the Mobile banking for the purpose of
Transferring of funds that is 52%, 24% of the respondent’s uses to know the last
few transactions, 22% of the respondents for Balance enquiry and only 2% of
the respondents for the purpose of stopping the payment.

In the Table 8 it is interpreted that 95% of the respondents agree that E-Banking
services are generally faster than the traditional banking system. 81% of the
respondents agree that E-Banking services can be used without having any
time limit as it exist in the Traditional system. 70% of the respondents agree that
E-Banking is more convenience to the access for the respondents. Almost 75%
of the respondents agree that E-Banking channels are easier for the respondents
to use. 60% of the respondents agree that E-Banking services are cheaper
than the Traditional Banking system. 76% of the respondents agree that using
E-Banking services is more prestigious than queuing at the bank halls. In the
Table 9 it is interpreted that 65% of the respondents agree that respondents
are not using the E-Banking services due to the Security reasons. 72% of the
respondents are not aware about the E-Banking services provided by their
banks. 52% of the respondents generally feel that there is no privacy about the
customer’s information therefore they are avoiding the use of E-Banking. 55%
of the respondents agree that they feel more comfortable in Traditional banking
system. 62% of the respondents agree that all the banks don’t have the facility
of E-Banking services. 70% of the respondents agree that few banks charges
high service charges for all the E-Banking services therefore to avoid the extra
charges respondents will hesitate to adopt any new technique or service provided
by the Bank.

73
The concept & Technology are new to the rural consumer in recent year, mostly
people are using nearer to two year. The different facilities of E-banking which
are provided by the bank in that, balance inquiry are the mostly preferred out
by its various facilities, the concept are not much developed so the other types
of facilities are provided by the bank are not having much usage likes Term
loan, online FD, Demand Draft facilities etc. Comparing the traditional banking
with E-banking it seems that most respondent are satisfied with E-banking that
E-banking provide the different types of facility available to the respondent to use.
Expectations of consumers towards E-banking are, it should be time saving and
convenient to use, Rural banking through internet. Reasons for using E-banking
facilities are, by having traditional account in the same bank and excellent
services provided by it.

Conclusion and Suggestions

There is a no doubt that if many of the customer uses the F-Banking which may
create the economic development and even the customer can make effective
use of the banking facility. Based on the requirement of the customer the banks
can also improve the quality of the services for their all the customers. As per
the research it is found that the rural based customers generally they will not do
the much of the transactions with regards to the stock exchanges. They uses for
the Transferring of funds and mainly for the deposit and withdrawal purposes
and they are much satisfied with the services provided by the banks. They feel
it’s more accurate and convenient for them to use. They are not much satisfied
when it comes to the regulatory system which the bank follows. The respondents
especially finds very difficult due to technical issues like server down and all. As
the research is based on the rural the respondents doesn’t even come to know
the facility different languages provided by the Banks. This is a responsibility of
the banks to advertise about the services in the regional languages based on the
different regions and it should be well promoted among the targeted respondents.
Even the different security system brought by the banks to make the Transaction
easier and safe should be bringing it in the knowledge of customer.

References
1. E. Gordon, Dr. K. Natarajan, Financial Markets & Services (Himalaya
Publishing House, Mumbai)

2. ‘E-banking in India and its present scenario and future prospects’, by

Basavarajappa.M.T.

74
3. H.S. Srivatsa, Srinivasan., (2007), research on Banking Channel Perceptions,
An Indian Youth perspective, International Marketing Conference on
Marketing & Society, 8-10 April, 2007, IIMK.

4. Lichtenstein, S., and Williamson, K. (n.d.). Understanding consumer adoption

of internet banking: an interpretive study in the Australian banking context.

5. Ogilvie, M., Bank and Customer Law in Canada (Toronto: Irwin Law, 2007)

6. Polatoglu, V.N., Ekin, S.,(2001), International Journal of Bank Marketing,

“An empirical investigation of the Turkish consumers' acceptance of internet
banking services".

7. Ray Vareen, A Green Dream, 4P's of Business and Marketing 21st November,
2008.

75
Work Life Balance and
Implications Of Spill Over
Theory – A Study on Women
Entrepreneurs
Lakshmypriya K.1 & Dr. G. Rama Krishna2

Abstract
A good work life balance between work and family domain is a growing
concern today. There has been quite a lot of research being done to
understand the effects of negative work life balance on health and
well being of employees and their family. Individuals are increasingly
looking to balance their responsibilities at work and in their personal
life. Especially women do not view their job as a justification for
attending less to their families, household work, and other social
activities. Entrepreneurship is the alternate route that people opt for in
this situation, as self employment has no specific or defined boundary
between work and home compared to organizational employees.
They are responsible for dividing their time and energy between work
and life domains themselves, and have no boss who determines their
working hours. To most women becoming self-employed means having
flexible work schedules, which offers possibilities to stay active, take
care of the children and other family commitments at the same time
have economic independence and discover their potential. Work-life is
integrated when there is no distinction and mental boundary between
work and home but segmentation occurs when there is a clear-cut
mental boundary separating work and home. In between segmentation

1. Asst. Professor, Dept. of MBA, The Oxford College of Business Management, Sector 4, HSR
layout, Bangalore
2. Assistant Professor and Coordinator, Dept. of MBA, Rayalseema University, Kurnool, Andhra
Pradesh

76
 and integration lies a range. An individual can be at either ends of
segmentation or integration or can be at any point of the range,
actively engaged in mentally defining the boundaries. The present
study tries to find out the effects of work-family spill over and family
work spillover effects on work life balance of women entrepreneurs
in selected districts in Kerala.

Key words: Positive spill over, negative spill over, work – family conflict,
women entrepreneurs.

Introduction
Women have been entering the field of entrepreneurship like never before
(annink, 2011), especially to improve their work life balance (Campbell Clark,
2000), which is the satisfaction by fulfilling personal goals in both life and
work domains; by using appropriate means. Entrepreneurship gives greater
autonomy and flexibility to women to balance both work and life domains but
they also experience greater involvement both physical and psychological as
they are responsible for sustainability and profitability of their ventures. Higher
job involvement will create work pressure and life disturbances which would
create an imbalance in both spheres thus, resulting in higher levels of stress.
Economic crisis can even worse the situation (Parasuraman, 2001). Hence,
women entrepreneurs may experience greater work family conflict than women
working in organizations as employees. Women employees have much less to
juggle compared to a woman entrepreneur, on one hand they have day-to-day
management of company’s growth strategies, finances, and on the other hand
family commitments, children, socializing, extended family commitments etc. The
2010 American Time Use Survey pinpoints that Self-employed women spend
an average of 56 fewer minutes at work each day to accommodate household
demands and family activities and 85 percent of employed women spent time
doing household activities (including housework, cooking, childcare, lawn
maintenance or finances) compared to 67% of men.

Literature Review
Overcoming the conservative societal barriers women are engaged in traditional
and nontraditional entrepreneurial activities. They also perform the roles of a
spouse, mother, caretaker managing, home, work and societal obligations

77
and duties (Panchanatham, 2011).They often neglect personal care and self
developmental activities because of role overload and time limitation which results
in work life issues or rather an imbalance between the two domains. A large part
of the working population in emerging economies is engaged in unorganized
sector. Entrepreneurship leads the way to organize this workforce and provide
them better working environment and skills development.

GEM 2014 showed that 58% of Indian adults (18-64 years old) consider
entrepreneurship a desirable career choice; around 66% think that entrepreneurs
receive a high level of status and respect. However, on these measures India
ranks below its peers in the factor-driven (least developed) economies as well
as among the BRICS (Brazil - Russia - India - China - South Africa) nations. We
see more early-stage entrepreneurs in the 18-44 age groups than any other age
range. In India, about one third (34%) of early-stage entrepreneurs are women.

GEM data consistently confirm that early-stage entrepreneurial activity is gender

sensitive and influenced by cultural, societal and economic factors. According
to this men dominate early stage entrepreneurial activity. In India also there are
relatively more men who started their businesses out of necessity. 

In India, 32% of entrepreneurship activity out of necessity is related to early

stage, while 37% is 'improvement-driven' (in pursuit of a business opportunity).
According to GEM 2014 findings 4.1% of adults are ‘nascent entrepreneurs’
(actively involved in setting up a business) while 2.5% are ‘new business owners’
(in operation for more than 3 but less than 42 months).

According to the GEM National Experts Survey, the three major constraints on
entrepreneurship in India are:

• Government regulation and policies;

• Entrepreneurial education at primary and secondary school level, and;

• Transfer and commercialization of R&D – new know-how and technologies.

The major enablers are:

• Commercial Infrastructure- the presence of property rights and commercial,

accounting, and other legal services and institutions that support or promote
SMEs

• Internal market dynamics – the extent to which markets change dramatically

from year to year;

78
• Ease of access to available physical infrastructure – communication, utilities,
transportation, land or space, at a price that does not discriminate against
new, small or growing firms.

• Cultural and social norms- the extent to which social and cultural norms
encourage or allow actions leading to new business methods or activities
that can potentially increase personal wealth and income

Women Entrepreneurship in India

Women in India today are expressing themselves in myriad colors. From flying
choppers on the high seas to plying taxis on unsafe roads, women are exploring
new frontiers like never before. Their entrepreneurial spirit and political ambition
can break new ground and do wonders for the country and society at large.
This new assertiveness has not taken away from them their healing and caring
touch (TOI, 2012).

Women are playing increasingly important roles in leadership and we‘re seeing
some of the most exciting global growth coming from female-led companies,
said Moira Forbes (2010), publisher of Forbes Woman. She noted that in Asia,
―female business leaders and entrepreneurs are changing the face of business
and India is at the forefront of this phenomenon. In Modern India, more and
more women are taking up entrepreneurial activity especially in medium and
small scale enterprises. Even as women are receiving education, they face the
prospect of unemployment. In this background, self employment is regarded
as a cure to generate income .The Planning commission as well as the Indian
government recognizes the need for women to be part of the mainstream of
economic development. Women entrepreneurship is seen as an effective strategy
to solve the problems of rural and urban poverty.

Due to recent developments in society, work-life balance is an issue for many

workers (Kossek, 2010). Research on this topic is very recent and many different
terms are used to describe and measure this complex phenomenon. Some
researcher consider a balance as a certain state or moment in time which can
be measured in terms of time, energy, involvement, and satisfaction with work
and family roles (Panchanatham, 2011). A comprehensive literature survey shows
that studies in this area is scarce, most of the available literature is on studies
related to work life issues of women entrepreneurs in developed countries (Key
et al., 2003; CIBC, 2004; Godwyn, 2009; Marks and MacDermid’s, 1996;
Kirchmeyer, 2000; Greenhaus, Collins, Shaw, 2003). There are very few studies
on women entrepreneurship in India (Khanka, 2010; Mann & Phukan, 2010;

79
Anitha & Lakxmisha, 1999) and these studies mainly focus on reasons for women
entrepreurship or cases on few successful entrepreneurs (Panchanatham, 2011).

Theoretical Frame Work

Work life studies have been guided through various theories namely roles theory,
compensation theory, Boundary management theory and spill over theory to
mention a few. This study tries to understand work life balance issues of women
entrepreneurs from the Spillover theory perspective. Invariably every theory
explores the positive and negative effects of overlapping of the two domains
which affects work life balance.

Spillover theory defines the conditions which results in positive or negative spill
over work micro system and the family micro system (Hill, 2003). If work-family
interactions are rigidly structured in time and space, then spillover in terms of
energy, time and behavior is generally negative. Work flexibility, helps to integrate
various factors of time and space between work and family resulting in positive
spillover and is instrumental in achieving healthy work and family balance.
The Spillover-Crossover explains the impact of the work domain on the home
domain, and consequently the effect of work-related emotions from the individual
(employee) to others at home (particularly the partner). The ways in which well-
being can be transferred have been categorized into two different mechanisms
spillover and crossover. Spillover concerns the transmission of life states of
well-being from one domain to another. The experiences that are transferred
from one domain to the other can be either negative, or positive. An employee
may experience a time based conflict between work and private life when work
overload results in overwork at the expense of leisure time. An employee who
experiences strain or an unpleasant moment at work would continue worrying
about the same in the evening at home. Crossover involves transmission across
individuals, whereby demands and their consequent strain cross over between
closely related persons (Westman, 2002).

Thus, Spill over between work and family and the extent to which work and work
obligations intrude into family and family obligations intrude into work domain
has been discussed and researched to enable people balance between the two
equally demanding domains.

Spill over theory examines the impact of the work domain on home domain and
the transference of work related emotions from the employee to others at home.
Spill over concerns the transmission of states of well being from one domain of
life to another. This is a process which happens at intra individual level, within

80
one person but across different domains. The experiences that are transferred
from one domain to the other can be either negative or positive.

Although the focus in most work family studies has primarily been on negative
spillover, research has clearly indicated that positive spillover is also possible
(Greenhaus & Powell, 2006; Wayne et al., 2007 ).Whereas work family conflict
refers to incompatibility between work and family roles, work family enrichment is
defined as “the extent to which participation at work (or home) is made easier by
virtue of the experiences, skills, and opportunities gained or developed at home
(or work)” (Frone, 2003, p.145). This means that participation in the family role
is facilitated by what has happened at work.

Negative spillover
Inter role conflict results in Spillover effect. Role conflict includes work – family spill
over and Family work spillover. Work family spill over is a state where pressures
at work results in a negative effect on family roles whereas family work spill over
is where pressures in the family have a negative impact on work.Unfavourable
work schedules, work overload, emotional job demands etc can result in negative
work life spill over while family issues, ill health, lack of support from spouse
result in family work spill over.

Positive spillover
Spillovers can also be in positive direction which is called work family enrichment.
This is facilitated by job related environment of autonomy, social support which
improves job performance and in maintains a good work life balance.

Research Methodology
The study was conducted to analyze how women entrepreneurs manage and
strike balance between running their own ventures as well as manage family
responsibilities. The Spillover theory is the basis of this study. Work variables like
work hours, support at work, and family variables like age of children, support
from husband, support from extended family and family role quality is considered
for the study. A sample size of 152 women entrepreneurs were chosen from south
Bangalore (urban & Rural). The sample consisted of women who were involved
in traditional and nontraditional ventures involving micro, small and medium
enterprises as well as nonprofit organization. Relevant secondary data is also
used in the study. Non probability sampling technique of snowball sampling

81
was used to collect the relevant sample. Hypothesis was tested using correlation
analysis and regression techniques using Excel.

H1: There is a positive and direct relationship between higher the age of children
on positive family work spill over of women entrepreneurs

H2: There is a direct relationship between perceived attitude to work-life and

family support on work family conflict of women entrepreneurs

Analysis and Discussion

The empirical study was conducted with a structured questionnaire and schedule
wherever required. 51% of the respondents were from micro enterprises, 42
from small and 7% from medium scale organizations. Work hours were a major
concern as cited by many women entrepreneurs which makes it difficult to spend
quality time at home. Those running non profits found it even more difficult as
they had other parameters of constraint like societal requirements than for profit
entrepreneurs.

H1: There is a positive and direct relationship between higher the age of children
on positive family work spill over of women entrepreneurs

Table 1. Analysis of relationship between age of children

and family - work positive spill over
Regression Statistics
Multiple R 0.135465011
R Square 0.018350769
Adjusted R Square 0.011806441
Standard Error 0.696273613
Observations 152

ANOVA
  df SS MS F Significance F
Regression 1 1.359405675 1.359406 2.804072 0.096108937
Residual 150 72.71954169 0.484797
Total 151 74.07894737      

82
   Coefficients Standard Error t Stat P-value Lower 95% Upper 95%
Intercept 2.339995756 0.102196386 22.89705 8.15E-51 2.138065375 2.541926138
age -0.054063229 0.03228549 -1.67454 0.096109 -0.1178563 0.009729841

The value of r2 = 0.018, indicating a negative correlation between age of

children of women entrepreneurs and positive family work spillover conflict. It
can be understood that age of children necessarily do not contribute to a positive
overlapping on work and life. The general assumption that higher the ages of
children better the positive spillover of family on work is not true.

H2: H2: There is a direct relationship between perceived attitude to work-life and
family support on work family conflict of women entrepreneurs

Table 2. Analysis of relationship between perceived attitude

to work-life and family support on work family conflict of
women entrepreneurs
Regression Statistics
Multiple R 0.621740906
R Square 0.386561754
Adjusted R Square 0.352243531
Standard Error 0.56372177
Observations 152

ANOVA
  df SS MS F Significance F
Regression 8 28.63608786 3.579510982 11.26403743 2.73339E-12
Residual 143 45.44285951 0.317782234
Total 151 74.07894737      

  Coefficients Standard Error t Stat P-value Lower 95% Upper 95%

Intercept 4.829967433 0.518202571 9.320616491 1.94998E-16 3.805640469 5.854294396
Priority to
0.069562316 0.10845646 0.641384722 0.522299431 -0.144822718 0.283947351
family
decisions
-0.251239686 0.078111171 -3.216437311 0.001605259 -0.405641427 -0.096837945
bene_both
Bene_F_EB -0.170303942 0.052141619 -3.26618055 0.001364576 -0.273371872 -0.067236012
Bene_B_EF 0.056996252 0.062170405 0.916774663 0.360804263 -0.0658955 0.179888003

83
support
from 0.177073533 0.124601671 1.421116843 0.157459812 -0.069225614 0.42337268
spouse
family
considers
-0.498129439 0.088537725 -5.626182988 9.38725E-08 -0.673141266 -0.323117613
business
imp.
encourage
-0.048709542 0.071271809 -0.683433503 0.495438818 -0.18959197 0.092172885
B_ideas
PIL support -0.023060806 0.038791481 -0.594481215 0.553129705 -0.099739622 0.053618009

There is a positive relation between entrepreneurs attitude to work – life and family
support factors on work family conflict as r2 = .38. Here calculated value is more
than the table value hence null hypothesis is rejected which means attitude to
W-F and family support is crucial in determining the level of work family conflict.
The better the support from family the chances of work family conflict is lesser.
Attitude and approach of Priority to family, decisions beneficial to both family
and business has a significant impact on reducing conflict and reducing spillover
effect. The encouragement of family for business ideas, spouse support and in
laws support create a positive spill over of Family to work.

Conclusion
The study reveals that women entrepreneurs face many constraints apart from
the generally discussed fund unavailability and red tapism. Most women do
not shun their family responsibilities for running their enterprises which often
results in negative family work spill over. The study shows that support and
encouragement from spouse, family members and extended family members
are crucial in deciding the extent of positive family-work spillover. The better the
support from family the spillover effects are positive contributing to an effective
work life balance.

References
1. Anitha, H. S., & Lakxmisha, A. A. (1999, 15 June). Women entrepreneurs.
Southern Economist, 38(9), 1–9.

2. Arnaud daymard (2015) Determinants Of Female Entrepreneurship In

India Economics Department Working Papers No. 1191, http://www.
oecd.org/officialdocuments/publicdisplaydocumentpdf/?ote=ECO/
WKP%282015%299&docLanguage=En retrieved on 22/11/2015

84
3. Godwyn, M. (2009). This place makes me proud to be a women: Theoretical
explanation for success in entrepreneurship education for low-income
women. Research in Social Stratification and Mobility, 27(1), 50–64.

4. Greenhaus, J. H. Collins, K. M., & Shaw, J. D. (2003). The relation between

work, family balance and quality of life. Journal of Vocational Behaviour,
63, 510–531.

5. Khanka, S. (1998). Woman entrepreneurship in India. Journal Assam

University, 3(1), 11–16

6. Marks, R.M., MacDermid’s, S.M. (1996). Multiple Roles and the Self: a
Theory of Role

7. Balance. Journal of Marriage and Family 58(2): 417-432.

8. Mann, A., & Phukan, R. (1998). The motivational aspects of women

entrepreneurs in India. New Delhi, India: Himalaya Publishing House

9. Key, R., Gunterberg, B., Holz, M., & Wolter, H. J. (2003). Female entrepreneurs
in Germany. Bonn, Germany: Institute for Mittelst and sforschving

10. Kirchmeyer, C. (2000). Work-life initiatives: Greed or benevolence regarding

workers time. In

11. C. L. Cooper & D. M. Rousseau (Eds.), Trends in organizational behavior

7: 79-93.

12. http://www.gemconsortium.org/report/49480 retrieved on 12/3/2016

13. http://www.gemconsortium.org/report/49281 retrieved on 22/1/2016

Abbreviations
Bene_F_EB -decisions beneficial to family at the expense of business
Bene_B_EF - decisions beneficial to business at the expense of family
PIL support - parents in law support
WFC –Work family conflict
W-F – work -family

85
An Overview of Indian
Agricultural Marketing
Aarthi Dhakshana J D

Abstract
“If the farmer is poor, the country is also poor”
India is agricultural country. The growth of agriculture is significant one.
The Indian agriculture system is dynamic, it updates it rules, regulation,
marketing techniques, production techniques towards healthy global
competition as well as to empower the farmers status. This paper
discuss about the current system of agricultural marketing and various
government scheme enacted to improve the agricultural marketing.
The paper also highlights the problems in Indian agricultural marketing

Key words: Agricultural marketing, rural India, rural marketing,

government initiatives.

Introduction
Rural India is the backbone of the country. Agriculture is the major income of
the rural India. 58% of Household in rural India depends on the agriculture
(source – www.ibef.org/industry/agriculture-india.aspx). There are several
agriculture activities takes place such as production, harvesting, buying and
selling of agriculture inputs, marketing, trade, etc. In that, agricultural marketing

1. Research scholar, Periyar Maniammai University, Vallam, Thanjavur, aarthi.rathi02@gmail.com

86
plays a vital role. The immense selling of more agricultural products will leads
to growth of the national income. The effective marketing system implies to
getting best returns to farmers for their produce and satisfies the customer with
quality and price. The agricultural marketing provides link between the rural farm
producers with urban – rural consumers. It also provides alternative marketing
channels. Thus concurrently, agricultural marketing enhance and empower the
rural development.

Review of Literature
Mr.Vadivelu and Mr.B.R.Kiran (2013) stated that, Awareness of farmers on
different components of market information and its utility was very poor (11 to
37 %) as compared to that of traders (75%). Out of the expectations of farmers
on grades, quality, prices in potential markets, price projections; only real time
arrivals and prices were documented and disseminated with traditional approach.
Hence there is a need to create awareness among the farmers through the
agricultural extension agencies like the State Department of Agriculture, Krishi
Vigyan Kendras so that the marketing information on agriculture commodities
are incorporated in the extension services along with production aspects to the
farmers.

Mr. Shakeel -Uh –Rehman (2012) emphasized that, Social mobilization,

community participation and decentralized approach is necessary to make the
market available at low cost to the farmer community. Private trade in agricultural
commodities must be enforced. Moreover there should be an agricultural
marketing awareness program, which should have a reach to whole of the country.

Tajmeela Jahan (2011) stated that, as food production and marketing has become
more customers driven, the relationships between food producers, processors
and marketing firms have to be changed. Now successful food marketing people
need to understand and anticipate the needs and wants of consumers.

Dr G. Rajendran, Mr. P. Karthikesan, (2014) concluded that, the necessary reforms

coupled with proper price discovery mechanism through regulated market system
will help streamline and strengthen agricultural marketing. In order to avoid
isolation of small-scale farmers from the benefits of agricultural produce they
need to be integrated and informed with the market knowledge like fluctuations,
demand and supply concepts which are the core of economy.

Dr. Gaurav Bissa, Vijay Vyas, (2014) stated that, the sound market infrastructure
system provides nourishment to production activity, income generation and positive

87
effect on income distribution. Improved infrastructure is primary driving force
under every condition for commercialization. The benefit of commercialization
and specialization to a large extent depend upon infrastructure and both have
push and pull relationship

Objectives of the Study

• To examine the concept of agricultural marketing
• To analyses the present agricultural marketing system
• To analyses the problem and challenge in agricultural marketing
• To find out the involvement of government in agricultural marketing

Research Methodology
This study is descriptive method. The secondary data were collected from different
source such as article, e-book, text books, journals, and websites.

Concepts of Agricultural Marketing

Agricultural marketing means marketing of agricultural products. It is defined as
moving a product from the point of production to consumption. This is perform
under some function and services which are interconnected activities such as
planning production, growing and harvesting, grading, packing, transport,
storage, processing, distribution, advertising and sales. These activities cannot
takes place without the information exchange and availability of finance. The
marketing strategy is highly focusing on customer orientation.

Present Marketing Structure

• State trading
• Private Trading
• Co-operative Marketing
• Future Trading

State Trading
The government procures some agricultural product to safeguard the farmers
under MSP and availability of agricultural produce to the poor people at
affordable price. And the state agencies store the products by own in warehousing

88
godowns of warehousing corporation to help the farmers. The government
protects the farmers from various risk, the risk involves on production risk due
to weather, price risk due to price flotation etc., the minimum support price is
calculate on the basis of recommendation of the commission of agricultural cost
and price (CACP) and also consider the cost of agricultural inputs and output
price parity, cost of production, effect on cost of living and the reasonable margin
for the farmers for their produce. The minimum support price were announced
by the government of India for the first time in 1966-67 for wheat in the wake
of the green revolution and extended the harvest, to save farmers from depleting
profits. Since then, the MSP regime has been expanded to many crops. The MSP is
announced by the government of India for 25 crops currently at the beginning of
each season viz. Rabi and Kharif. Following are the 25 crops covered under MSP.

S.No Kharif Crops S.No Rabi Crops

1 Paddy 15 Wheat
2 Jowar 16 Barley
3 Bajra 17 Gram
4 Maize 18 Masur (Lentil)
5 Ragi 19 Rapeseed/Mustard
6 Arhar (Tur) 20 Safflower
7 Moong 21 Toria
8 Urad Other Crops
9 Cotton 22 Copra
10 Groundnut 23 De-Husked Coconut
11 Sunflower seed 24 Jute
12 Soyabeen black 25 Sugarcane
13 Sesamum
14 Nigerseed

(Source: www.gktoday.in/minimum-support-prices/)

The Food Corporation of India (FCI) joint with hand of state agency and procure
the wheat and rice under MSP scheme. For instance of wheat procurement more
than 20000 procurement centers were operated during RMS 2015-16 & for rice
procurement more than 44000 procurement centers were operated. (Source:
fci.gov.in/procurements.php). Thus the MSP made a high impact on supply.
APMC is established state markets and government mandis at various places in
the state. In mandis the products were sold by auction. The trader needs to get
legal license to operate the mandis.

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Private Trading
Most of the farmer sale their produce directly to the traders and money lenders
due to high transportation cost, lack on credit. The money lenders and trader act
as middlemen of the wholesalers. The haats is the oldest form of village market.
It is utilized by the local and in nearby village people. It is rural to rural market.
The management of haats is hold by the local authority of village panchayat or
municipality. Haats has poor infrastructure run in open air market.

The wholesalers buy the products from farmers and sells to retailers and
consumers. The wholesaler markets are mainly located in the city region. They
act as intermediaries between producer and consumer. The entry of middlemen
is high in agricultural marketing in India. They are the giant in marketing, by
enjoying more profit and cheat the farm produce with providing low price for
their produce.

Regulated Market
In India there are about 2477 principal regulated markets based on geography
(the APMCs) and 4843 sub-market yards regulated by the respective APMCs
in India. (source: www.arthapedia.in/index.php?title=Agricultural_Produce_
Market_Committee_(APMC). A fine infrastructure is available in every regulated
market. In 1886 first regulate market was amended. Karanja was the first
regulated market in India situated in Hyderabad. The primary objective is to
safeguard the producer and seller and to raise the standard of local markets.
Farmers are the member of market committee. The market committee should
consist of 12 to 18 members depending upon the size of the market. The member
should have to pay the market fees, license fee, and renewal fee in order to meet
out the administration expenses and development of infrastructure. The state wise
regulated markets are given below.

Regulated Markets
S.No State & U.Ts
Principal Sub yards Total
1 Andhra Pradesh 323 578 901
2 Arunachal Pradesh 16 53 69
3 Assam 20 206 226
4 Bihar * *APMR Act Repealed
5 Jharkhand 28 173 201
6 Goa 1 7 8

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 7 Gujarat 196 218 414
8 Haryana 106 178 284
9 Himachal Pradesh 10 37 47
10 Jammu & Kashmir APMR Act not yet implemented
11 Karnataka 146 355 501
12 Kerala APMR Act not enacted
13 Madhya Pradesh 241 272 513
14 Chhattisgarh 73 111 184
15 Maharashtra 299 581 880
16 Manipur APMR Act not enacted
17 Meghalaya 2 - 2
18 Mizoram APMR Act not implemented
19 Nagaland ---- Nil ----
20 Orissa 45 269 314
21 Punjab 139 349 488
22 Rajasthan 127 303 430
23 Sikkim 1 - 1
24 Tamilnadu 277 15 292
25 Tripura 21 - 21
26 Uttar Pradesh 249 356 605
27 Uttarakhand 25 33 58
28 West Bengal 46 641 687
29 A & N Island APMR Act not enacted
30 Chandigarh 1 - 1
31 D & N Haveli APMR Act not enacted
32 Daman & Diu Reported Nil
33 Delhi 8 13 21
34 Lakshadweep APMR Act not enacted
35 Puducherry 4 5 9
Total 2404 4753 7157

(Source: http://agmarknet.nic.in/Regulated_Mkt_31.htm)

Note: --*Bihar Agril.Produce Marketing (Regulation) Act Repealed from 1st

September, 2006.
In West Bengal sub yards include cold storage and hence figures of total regulated
markets are not comparable.

91
Co-operative Marketing
When producers of agricultural commodities or any other product form a society
with an objective of carrying out marketing of their produce, such society is
called as co-operative marketing society. It is associated by the farmers to sell
their surplus product to get fair prices. It is the farmer’s direct marketing to the
customer. So the farmer can prevail is several malpractices. The co-operative
marketing eradicates the entry of intermediaries and middlemen. It provides
credit to the farmers for to support their in production and also afford loans for
various personal uses to farmers. It is regulated under the national agricultural
co-operative marketing federation (NAFED). It was founded in 1958 to promote
the trade of agricultural produce.

Future Trading
Future trading is the contract between buyer and sellers of a standard quality,
quantity and deliver sale of price of the product. Farmers get desire benefit of
future trading. Indian commodity futures have had a long and chequered history.
Until 2003, the futures contract was being traded only at regional exchanges that
specialized in one or few commodities. In 2003, the government mandated the
setting up of nation-wide online commodity exchanges and allowed futures in a
wide gamut of commodities. There are four national level commodity exchanges,
namely, the Multi Commodity Exchange (MCX), National Commodities and
Derivates Exchange of India (NCDEX), National Multi Commodity Exchange
(NMCE) and the National Board of Trade (NBOT). The first three exchanges
trade in all permitted commodities, while NBOT trades only in soya bean. The
forward markets commission (FMC) currently regulates the Commodities futures
market. The FMC headquarters in Mumbai. The commission allows commodity
trading in 22 exchanges in india, of which 6 are national. On 28th September
the FMC was merged with the securities and exchange board of india (SEBI). It
allows futures trading in 23 fibers and manufacturers, 15 spices, 44 edible oils,
6 pulses, 4 energy products, single vegetable, 20 metal futures and 33 other
futures. (Source: www.sebi.gov.in/sebiweb/)

Problems and Challenges in Agricultural

Marketing
Inadequate Storage facility
More storage facilities are required to the Indian farmers. Due to poor
storage, the perishable goods are getting damaged easily. The farmers are

92
force to sell their produce so they left their chance to hold the product for
to get better price.

Lack of Transportation
The road facilities in the rural area are very poor. It is big trouble to transport the
goods to the target market. More wastage is happen because of poor transport.
In some rural areas, there is no possible way to use any mode of transport.

Existence of Middlemen
The entry of middlemen is the bottle neck to farmers. The middlemen earns good
margin amount from the farmers income and the farm producer who puts big
effort will not getting good earnings.

Lack of credit facilities

The poor farmer needs the hand of money lenders to adequate their requirement.
After harvesting farmer gives the produce to moneylenders to accomplish his/
her credit.

Absence of grading and standardization

There is no proper grading methods are conducted for the product. The good
and bad products are mixed and it reduces the quality of the product. Thus
farmers gets low price.

Lack of awareness in market

Choosing a right crop while at the time of production is important. It is depend
upon the market demand. Unfortunately farmers were not having sufficient
market knowledge.

Lack of Market Information

Maximum Indian farmers are illiterate. They cannot able to read the news paper
and magazine to update information. Most of the farmers gathered news from
the middlemen or moneylenders and they easily cheat them. So they cannot
able to get the real price.

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Government Schemes to Improve Agricultural
Marketing
To support the agricultural marketing government providing various scheme.
Some of the government schemes are discussed below.

Schemes of Ministry of Agriculture

This Scheme for Development of Agricultural Marketing Infrastructure, Grading
and Standardization.

Reform linked investment scheme:- To encourage rapid development of

infrastructure projects in agricultural and allied sectors including dairy, meat,
fisheries and minor forest produce.

Investment subsidy:- 25% of the capital cost up to Rs 50 lakh on each project

providing direct service delivery to producers/ farming community in Post harvest
management/Marketing of their produce. In case of North Eastern states, hilly
and tribal areas and to SC/ST entrepreneurs and their co-operatives investment
subsidy shall be 33.33% of the capital cost up to Rs 60 lakh.

Central Sector Scheme – Agmark Grading and

Standardization:
The promotion of grading and standardizations of agricultural and allied
commodities come under Agricultural Produce (Grading & Marking) Act,
1937. Parties desirous to grade their commodities under Agmark have to
obtain Certificate of Authorization. For the purpose, they should have adequate
infrastructure to process the commodity and access to an approved laboratory
for the determination of quality and safety factors

Central government scheme – agricultural marketing

information network:
To establish a nationwide information network for speedy collection and
dissemination of market data for its efficient and timely utilization; To ensure flow
of regular and reliable data to the producers, traders and consumers to derive
maximum advantage out of their sales and purchases, and to increase efficiency
in marketing by effective improvement in the existing market information system.
The eligible markets are identified in consultation with State Governments based

94
on their volume handled and commercial importance in commodity flow of the
Region/ State.

Schemes for market development

Activity for development of packaging standards and design. Development
and dissemination of market information data base on products, infrastructure,
markets and pre-feasibility surveys / study etc. Assistance to exporters, grower’s
organizations, trade associations for conducting surveys, feasibility studies etc.
Assistance to Semi Government, State Government, Public Sector Undertakings
for Conducting surveys, feasibility studies etc.

Schemes for quality development

It provides assistance to exporters, producers, trade associations, public
institutions. Assistance to exporters & producers for installing quality management,
quality assurance and quality control system such as ISO series, HACCP, TQM
etc. Activities related to standardization and quality control such as preparation
of quality assurance manuals, guidelines, documents standards, up gradation
and recognition of labs for export testing, certifying exporters as Premium Quality
Exporters etc.

Schemes of National Co-operative Development

Corporation
Strengthening of share capital base for fruit and vegetable cooperatives. Margin
money assistance for raising working capital and assistance for purchase of
transport vehicles. Construction of packing and grading sheds godowns cold
storages & Ice Plants. Creation of marketing infrastructure including retailing.

Ministry of Food Processing

Scheme for Technology upgradation /Establishment/Modernization of food
processing industries:- To Increase the level of processing, reduction of wastage,
value addition. Enhance the income of farmers as well as increase exports thereby
resulting in overall economic development. Scheme for quality assurance and
total quality management.

Market information scheme

It was implemented on March 2000/ up to March 2002 till now. 210 nodes have
been supplied with computers with the peripherals. Administrative approval for

95
another 500 nodes during 2001-2002 has been accorded. National Agricultural
Policy has proposed for coverage of another 2000 nodes during the Tenth Plan.

Research schemes: (Ministry of Agriculture)

Scheme for estimation of marketable surplus and post-harvest losses of food
grains in the country. Scheme for market survey, investigation and research
grants in the field of agricultural marketing.

Research scheme: (APEDA)

Assistance to support research development for export efforts through R & D
organizations in government sector – 100% APEDA’s internal scheme. Assistance
to exports, trade associations, cooperative institutions etc. to support relevant
research and development for export enhancement through R & D organizations
in cooperative/ private sector – upto 50% of the total cost of the project subject
to a calling of Rs. 10 Lakhs.

Scheme for Infrastructure development

Food Park, Integrated cold chain facilities, value added centre, Irradiation
facilities, packaging centre.

Schemes offered spices board for marketing major spice

crops
• It is the export promotion scheme

• Adoption of high-tech processing

• Reimbursement of freight/courier charges for sending samples of spice

board

• Marketing development assistance to individual exporters for export

promotion activities abroad

• Packaging development

• Export of pepper and value added pepper products

• Technology upgradation.

96
Conclusion
The present study concluded that the effective marketing of agricultural products is
depending on the favorable circumstance as well as the provision of resource and
system. The current agricultural marketing system is good and the measure taken
by the governments are enormous. But still there is a problem in marketing. The
farmers are unable to update the new marketing trends. The effective programs
like E-Choupal programs, ICT program are not reaching the farmers properly.
The government should have to conduct many more training programs to the
farmers and also create awareness on emerging marketing like internet trade.
There is need for the agriculture extensions. The government has to allocate
more funds for the agriculture marketing research. Thus, Finding and fulfilling
the gap is the way of ultimate efficient marketing.

Reference
1. Acharaya (2006) “Agricultural Marketing and Rural Credit for Strengthening
Indian Agriculture”, Asian Development Bank, India Resident Mission Policy
Brief Series No. 3

2. Gaurav Bissa and Vijay Vyas (2014), “Study of Infrastructural status in

agricultural marketing”, Indian Journal of Research, Vol.4 No.1

3. Government of India (2011) “Agricultural Statistics at a Glance”, Directorate

of Economics & Statistics, Department of Agricultural & Cooperation, Ministry
of Agriculture, Government of India, Krishi Bhavan, New Delhi.

4. Izraeli, D., Izraeli, D. N. and Zif, J. (1977) “Integrative Process in Agricultural

Marketing Channels” Journal of The Academy of Marketing Sciences, Vol.
5 (3), pp. 203-220.

5. Rajendran.G and Karthikesan.P (2014), “Agricultural marketing in india – an

overview”, Asia Pacific Journal of Research, Vol.1 Issue XVII.

6. Shakeel-UL-Rehman (2012), “Agricultural marketing services in india”,

Journal of Economics and Management, Vol.1 Issue 3.

7. Tajmeela Jahan (2011), “Agricultural marketing management of Bangladesh:

The New era of marketing” World Review of Business Research, Vol.1 No.4,
pp 53-65

8. Vadivelu.A and Kiran B.R (2013), “Problems and Prospects of agricultural

marketing in india: an overview”, International Journal of Agricultural and
Food Science, Vol.3 No.3, pp 108-118.

97
9. Website URL Links:

http://agritech.tnau.ac.in/agricultural_marketing/agrimark_
Cooperatives.html
http://www.economicsdiscussion.net/agriculture/marketing/
agricultural-marketing-in-india-defects-and-their-remedial-
measures/12854
www.gktoday.in/minimum-support-prices/
www.arthapedia.in/index.php?title=Agricultural_Produce_
Market_Committee_(APMC).
http://agmarknet.nic.in/Regulated_Mkt_31.htm
www.sebi.gov.in/sebiweb/

98
Alternatives to Bell Curve
Appraisal System Adopted by
IT Companies – A Review
Ms. Sonia Singh1

Abstract
The topic of performance reviews triggers a wide range of complex
responses. Bell curve model is claimed as the most debated topic
amongst HR personnel and corporate world. The model is about
force ranking employees to label them as top, average and bottom
performers with fixed percentages so as to resemble a normal
distribution curve for the entire work force. In a gist it is about survival of
the fittest built on an assumption that organizations continue to evolve
and outperform themselves by wiping out the bottom performers. It is
unfair on the part of a manager to force rank his team of employees
and identify the bottom performers despite the fact that the team had
achieved all its targets and all the employees had given their best
to achieve the team results. Performance management processes
that follow a Gaussian distribution (bell curve) and focus on past
performance rather than a future promise have come under critical
focus. Many organizations have done away with the bell curve but the
move has raised questions about the alternatives. This paper reviews
the alternative methods to Bell curve appraisal system adopted by
selected IT companies and highlights certain propositions that can be
adopted by organizations in combination.

Keywords: performance appraisal, bell curve, feedback

1. Assistant Professor, Department of Management Studies, T John College, Email: soniasingh@

tjohngroup.com

99
Introduction
A study by the Society for Human Resource Management found 90% of
performance appraisals are painful and don’t work. Most employees seethe
process as painful and it leaves them more agonized than ever resulting in friction
with the managers, the ripple effects of which can be seen on their productivity.
The appraisal system based on normal distribution curve, informally known as a
bell curve, has been a matter of much discussion since it forces a ranking system
on the employees. In a large organization, the system ranks employees on various
performance parameters on a scale of 5 — high, strong, medium, average and
low performer. The bell curve-based performance appraisal that leads to forced
ranking which measure up to employees' performance comparative to others
and necessitate that managers plot team members along a distribution curve.

In the Indian circumstance, the bell curve creates too much disturbing stress,
and most prominently, it destroys the faithfulness factor and lead to high levels
of wear and tear.A target-achievement based replica is the way forward and
the employees don’t agree any more with the guiding principle of force-fitting.
Over the past few years, some of the most accepted companies such as Google,
Microsoft, HCL, IBM, Accenture, Infosys, GE (the company that pioneered this
model) and KPMG are drifting away from the Bell curve model to a more practical
and concrete ways of motivating higher performances amongst employees.

Objectives of the Study

1. To identify the alternative methods to bell curve appraisal system adopted
by selected IT Companies.

2. To review various points of discussion and draw alternate propositions.

The study is descriptive in nature. The paper is based on the secondary data
collected on alternative methods adopted by four companies namely – Infosys,
HCL, Accenture, & KPMG and data available through various research journals,
published reports and company’s official website.

Literature Review
Bell curve system of appraisal is a forced ranking system imposed on the
employees by the management. Forced ranking has been defined as “a workforce
management tool based on the premise that in order to develop and thrive, a
company must identify its best and worst performers, then nurture the former
and rehabilitate and / or discard the latter” – SW learning. Forced ranking is a

100
differentiation process where managers are required to evaluate an employee's
performance, based on predetermined categories, against other employees in the
department or peer group (Gary, 1990). These employee performance rankings
are then applied to a bell curve. Those that rank at the bottom of the curve: usually
the bottom 10%, are put on probation, coached to improve performance, or
terminated. Those at the head of the curve, usually the top 20%, are generously
rewarded for their performance (Grote, 2005).

While traditional performance appraisals tend be criterion based (setting a

performance bar), forced ranking is about distinguishing people. Forced ranking
demands a differentiation among performers.

Forced ranking differs from other well-known performance management tools

such as balanced scorecard and 360-degree analysis.While the balanced
scorecard and 360-degree analysis tend to focus on individual goals and
development, forced ranking is a more specialized tool ranking individuals
against their peers. The balanced scorecard is an evaluation tool used to link an
organization's strategic goals to the activities of individuals within the organization.
Users claim that this type of evaluation allows an employee to see how his work
is affecting the organization (Sasse, 2005).

Benefits of Forced Ranking

Proponents of forced ranking claim that it has a positive employee impact by
forcing managers to separate the top performers from the bottom performers
(Grote, 2005). Those identified as top performers, argue proponents, should
be kept in the organization at any reasonable cost because these individuals
are most likely to leave. Jack Welch (2005) defends forced ranking as a way to
reward high performers who are "passionate about their work" and who value
the recognition vis a' vis their peers. Welch asserts that forced ranking is also
best for low performers because, he argues, it is better to let employees know
truly how they are doing and let them find a job more suitable to their skills.
Welch claims that not firing bottom performers is "false kindness”. Other forced
ranking proponents say that those at the bottom are a drag on the organization
and, therefore, should be released (Gary, 1990).

Forced ranking is advocated as an effective tool for managers. First, proponents

argue that ranking systems force managers to be honest with employees.
Without forced ranking, managers are tempted to be too kind and not confront
performance problems. Furthermore, it may be difficult for a manager to admit
he or she has made a hiring mistake (Grote, 2005; Boyle, 2001). Ranking forces

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managers to evaluate employees based on performance, reducing the chance
that factors like kindness will play a role in the evaluation. Second, forced ranking
can assist with budgeting (Boyle, 2001).

Grote and others do offer the caveat that forced ranking cannot be universally
adopted for all companies nor implemented for a long duration. The system
must be a good fit to be successful. First, the company and its departments
must be of sufficient size. Grote recommends that a company should have at
least 100 employees and the department should be large enough to provide
adequate comparisons among peers (Grote, 2005). Second, some say that the
system should be limited to top management at an organization because these
individuals have the greatest impact on overall organizational success. Third,
an organization cannot successfully implement forced ranking if the culture isn't
appropriate. Finally, forced ranking systems tend to have diminishing returns; after
a few years of weeding out low performers, forced ranking becomes unnecessary
as most of the lower performers should have been trained or let go. (Grote, 2005).

Potential pitfalls of Forced Ranking

Critics argue that forced ranking hurts employees and their companies in several
significant ways. First, critics claim that the system damages morale and job
satisfaction within teams or departments (e.g., Bates, 2003). Employees in a
forced ranking system may mistrust both the system and management. According
to Clark (2003), many employees do not clearly understand the standards
against which they are being ranked, claiming the system is arbitrary, subjective,
and subject to the temperament of the manager ranking them. Furthermore,
the forced ranking system can create an unfair result. An example often cited is
the situation of ranking individuals in a high-performing team. Specifically, an
individual ranked at the bottom of a high-performing team may actually perform
better than an individual at the top of a low-performing team (Miesler, 2003;
Scullen, Bergey, and Aiman-Smith, 2005).

Jack Welch, and General Electric brought forced ranking into the spotlight with
the publication of GE's 2000 annual report where Welch "explained and extolled"
the use of forced ranking at GE (Grote, 2005). Since then its popularity as a
performance evaluation tool has continued to grow. By some estimates as many
as one-fifth to one-third of all companies are using forced ranking in some form
(Grote, 2005).

R e c e n t a c

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 Alternative
methods adopted by IT companies
HCL Technologies
iSuccess is the new method which is used as an alternative method to Bell Curve
system.HCL uses a feedback-based performance appraisal system, where the
priority is given to giving feed back to employees on specific task.iSuccess also
focus on goal setting process where individual performance and contribution
towards the organization is given importance.In HCL, management follows an
absolute rating model by avoiding forced ranking method. The company also
states that, the management is trying to slowly strengthen a culture of dialogue
and feedback, even though it is difficult for a company to change the entire
organizational culture.Typically the forced distribution method and following Bell
Curve categorizes all employees into different baskets, which are high, average
and bottom performance. Among this the average performance category will
include the majority of the employee population. When the company is moving
away from Bell Curve, iSuccess ensures that the respective line managers will
take a call and reward.Through the new method of performance appraisal which
is distribution-led rating, managers and leaders have to be accountable and
take the responsibility and ownership for ranking their team members.HCL also
aims at reducing the attrition rate from 20% to 13% for this coming financial
year. During the initial stages the situation was organization’s half population
will follow Bell Curve and the rest will follow dialogue and feedback system for
performance appraisal. But after a financial year, it is found and observed that
the new system is fruitful and they can continue with the new one.

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Accenture
The change in Accenture kick started in September 2015 when the company
discarded the Bell Curve system of performance appraisal for their employees.
The new approach is called Performance achievement approach. This include
forward-looking, real-time discussion and dialogue about goal setting priority,
creating rewarding carrier and growth opportunity for the employees.It aims
at maintaining high focus on the talents and achievements of each and every
employee.The new method results in a holistic view of potential and performance
and gives a clarity towards appropriate decision making, which will direct the
management and HR team to career progression and apt reward and recognition.
In this new system managers and leaders will spend fruitful time in coaching
and talking with employees at the organization. The company also states that
they are on a journey and the organization is highly committed to move across
the right pace.Performance achievement approach will always reward individual
and team performance by giving the organization a clear cut clarity and image
about the growth and opportunities and hidden talents of their top performers.

KPMG
Instant feedback approach is the alternative method which is adopted by KPMG
in April 2015.KPMG in India discarded the Bell Curve and came out with a real
time feedback approach. Employees at KPMG are given instant feedback as soon
as they complete a project or an engagement.Because of this the employees
can work on their own areas of interest and development on a continuous and
ongoing basis and it obviously avoid the year end or annual appraisal related
confusions and disappointments, if there are any.

From March 2016 KPMG is fully equipped and prepared to implement the
instant feedback approach and method across the organization, across globe.
The company is committed to provide adequate and requisite training and
development for preparing the managers, who will be responsible and delegated
to give feedback to employees.The two important and basic pillars for successful
implementation and transition are ranking and rating absolute performance and
providing constant feedback and conversation.

Infosys
Infosys technology limited replaced Bell Curve with a new performance appraisal
model and system, which is called iCount. This new system helps to reward
individual performance which is based purely on target and specific goals.This

104
is a challenging move that India’s second largest exporter in software industry
gave up the traditional old method of assessment tool that is Bell Curve. As a
part of iCount system, employees will be given feedback and depending upon
the review, job task will be updated. Infosys is giving greater focus on individual
performance instead of comparing with others. The company states that it has
moved away from forced distribution method by giving leaders and managers
more empowerment and flexibility, but still the company will focus on keeping
a high performance culture.

Discussion
The bell curve appraisal for performance rating has been a topic of debate for
long, with supporters and opponents making equally compelling arguments.

• The answer to many ills attributed in the bell curve may lie in addressing
the subjective and inflexible rating of employees that usually creates the
bell curve, including force fitment of employees. Hence, it is essential to
redesign the appraisal methodology where limited numbers of well-defined
goals that are objective in nature are set.

• The bell curve appraisal has its downsides such as encouraging unhealthy
internal competition occasionally and limiting collaboration, dependence
on the subjectivity of the manager and rigidity in terms of slotting performers
into percentage brackets, which is making organisations look at alternative
assessment methods.

• The age-old mechanism of performance reviews is moving towards a more

interactive and interpersonal form, placing the emphasis more on feedback
and review as a key priority for an employee. With the bell curve appraisal
system, positive and constructive criticism had taken a backseat, leaving
forced ranking to make decisions about an employee’s future.

• Organisations need to promote meritocracy to stay competitive. Bell curve

is a tool to differentiate people based on performance and reward them
accordingly. Its better to have a good mix of team-based and individual-
based rewards and be pragmatic about using bell curve in smaller teams.

• The bell curve appraisal tool cannot be completely weeded out from the
HR tools and techniques used for performance analysis.Focus should be
on feeding ‘forward’ on what can an employee improve upon rather than
scrutinizing errors or poor performance of the past.

• Regular feedback sessions is the need of the hour wherein assessing the
creative mind on the basis of numbers is not possible

105
Alternate propositions to forced ranking that company can
use to bolster their performance review schemes
Calibration:-
Calibration is a face-to-face process, in which managers who oversee similar
groups review one another’s employee-performance ratings. Supervisors discuss
each of their employee’s performance rankings and their reasons behind the
evaluation. "A calibration session catches the 'easy graders' and 'tough graders'
and helps them rate their employees more realistically.

360-Degree Feedback:-
Instead of relying on one supervisor to evaluate an individual’s performance,
some companies ask everyone with whom the employee interacts to weigh
in.360-degree feedback is a technique that collects performance data from a
number of stakeholders like team members, customers and direct reports. When
it’s done well, 360 programs allow all your team members to improve in key
areas that might be limiting their upward career path or actually causing major
conflict within a team.

Management by Objectives:-
First outlined by Peter Drucker, MBO occurs when supervisors work with employees
to outline goals and desired outcomes. Managers evaluate staff members based
on their ability to achieve results. The advantage of the MBO process is that it
allows employees to actively participate in goal setting.

Peer Review:-
It requires co-workers to comment about each other’s’ performance.Co-workers
often know more about their peers' strengths and weaknesses than supervisors
do, and letting employees review one another is a great way for management
to share in that knowledge. In Short, the combination of traditional and modern
ways of assessments which include 360 degree feedback, Management by
Objectives (absolute rating based on goals), Graphic rating scale (evaluating on
behaviours and job characteristics) customized for every organisation will have
desired results of upward swing eliminating the ill effects of bell curve.

Companies should adopt either a task-based or a continual assessment system

so that course correction is not delayed and workplace processes are continually
improved. Unless reward and punishment follow closely on the heels of an event,

106
how can positive attitudes be reinforced and the negative ones rooted out. Task-
oriented appraisal shifts the focus from ‘who could have done better’ to ‘what
could have been done better. Instead of one annual review check-in, companies
can move towards quarterly check-ins where the employee and manager have
a regular discussion on how the employee is performing against customized set
objectives. This way the feedback loop stays open through the year.

Conclusion
Appraisals are a yearly affair for most HR managers and employees in India
Inc. However, the trend is changing with appraisals or performance reviews
becoming continuous with feedback at frequent intervals and bell curve appraisal
taking a back seat. It’s time to relook at the different other ways of performance
assessment which encourages proactive performance reviews through continuous
feedback that is less time consuming and focuses on improving performance
and not monetary gains.

References
1. (Breaking Free From the Bell Curve: An Alternate Proposition for Performance
Management Shrihari S. SohaniBijuVarkkey W.P. No. 2015-10-04 October
2015)

2. Buckingham, M, &Goodall, A. (2015, April). Reinventing Performance

Management. https://hbr.org/2015/04/reinventing-performance-
management

3. Javad, S. (2015). It‟s time to bring performance appraisal into the twenty-
first century: The lessons from companies like Cisco, Google and Infosys.
Human Resource Management International Digest, 23(7), 23-26.

4. http://www.iimahd.ernet.in/assets/snippets/workingpaperpdf/
6096466172015-10-04.pdf

5. http://www.consultancy.uk/news/1285/kpmg-pilots-alternative-to-bell-
curve-evaluation-system

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Innovative HR Practices
in Engaging Employees
Prof. Devpriya Dey1

Abstract
Innovation in the area of human resource management has been
followed from ages. Various buzzwords such as HR Analytics, Digital
HR etc. have surrounded this management function in creating an
aura for driving newer strategies. Evolution of Gen Y at workplace
has bound the HR professionals to think differently, customize the
offerings to the internal customers. This has led to the delivery of
“just-in-time performance support” at work place resulting into an
actively engaged workforce.

This paper is an attempt to capture the recent innovative practices

that has been practiced in organisations leading to a creation of a
culture of building engaged employees. Such practices are unique in
nature, new to the industry and a result of out of box thinking. These
practices aim to attract, motivate, retain and most primarily engage
workforce in an organisation.

Keywords: Employee engagement, HR practice, innovation, employee

motivation.

1. Assistant Professor, T John College, Bangalore, India, Email: devpriya@tjohncollege.com; dev.

hrm@gmail.com

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Introduction:
From the age of salary administration, provisions for health and safety of
employees, the role of HR function in an organisation has learnt and grown
up to a stage of being strategic partners. From administrative experts the role
of HR has evolved into employee champions. This has been possible because
the objective of a human resource process in an organisation has passed from
achievement of employee satisfaction level to employee motivation and finally
reached to realization of employee engagement. This journey has been made
possible due to the continuous innovation of HR practices in the industry. Employee
engagement is the exhortation and its benefits are now being rapidly recognized
and appreciated by managers, academicians, human resource practitioners and
employees. Employee engagement practices are a vital ingredient for individual
employees and organisational success.

Objective of the Study:

The objective of the research paper is to emphasize the innovative HR Practices
in engaging employees

Review of Literature:
HRM strategies and practices that stem from functionally logical strategic
initiatives in response to a hypercompetitive, complex, but opportunity-rich
environment that had opened up due to economic liberalisation in India
(Ashok Som, Thunderbird International Business Review, 2006). Retention
below the senior level is seen as a key success factor for business in India.
Steven Helmholz, director of executive talent acquisition at Dell, says: “At the
lower and mid level, you’ve got higher attrition rates. The company that has
the better retention strategy will win” (Frauenheim, 2006: 6). Majority of the
researchers are of the opinion that it is imperative that an organization adopts
innovative HR practices, which helps in breaking the monotony and motivates
the employees to work hard and be more productive. It improves the quality
of the organization’s performance (Som, 2007). (Mahal, 2012) emphasized
that innovative HRM practices in training, compensation and reward lead to
reduction in employee turnover, absenteeism, better productivity and motivation
and improved financial performance.

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Methodology of the Study:
An exploratory research design was followed for this study, with an objective to
the innovative HR Practices which engages employees. The exploratory research
was chosen due to its nature of collecting information in an unstructured and
informal manner. This involved an in-depth secondary study of various research
papers, white papers and articles on best practices and considering general
views in regards to the objective of the research.

Research Findings and Interpretations:

Ultimate Autonomy at Workplace
No attendance tracking system – This is a rare practice where the organisation
does not track the employee’s attendance. There are two organizations in India
which does not have an attendance system as a part of their Human Resource
Policy. Hence their employee’s presence or absence in campus is not monitored
by any attendance system.

First organisation is SAP Labs India which has more than 5000 employees in
India spread across various campuses. Although the organisation is spread across
with a large number of employees yet it does not have a system of recording or
monitoring the attendance time in and out. This clearly reflects a message to
all employees regarding the faith that the organisation has on the employees
and considers them as responsible employees. In fact, this system has helped
to build a culture of trust and bonding of the employees with the organisation.
The record shows that till date the number of misuse case of this system is zero.

The second organisation is Icertis, a mid size technology oriented company

based at Pune also does not track their employees attendance. But at the same
time the employees are expected to be present between 10:30 AM and 3- 4 PM
which is considered the core working hours. Keeping this central time of working,
employees can choose their free time to come and go.

Using Gamification in HR functions:

Gamification is the usage of game-thinking and game mechanics in non-game
scenarios such as business environment and processes, specifically in the area
of HR function; in order to engage users and solve problems, as defined by
Gartner Group

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The success of a leader depends on his interpersonal skills. Global talent
management consultancy, Development Dimensions International (DDI) has
identified this key way of managing people and has come out with an animated
leadership Video Game called “Zapp! Zone: Jane’s Dilemma” with an objective
to engage the leaders in learning the required interpersonal skills and drive a
behavioral change in a funny and interactive manner.

Here the leader who is the prime learner assumes the role of an animated
character called Jane who has his team comprising of different personality types
based on which various use of internal personal skills needs to be implemented.
Jane interacts with the team members using the key principles based on various
responses given by them in all 5 levels and monitored by a progress meter. Overall
the leaders are made an expert using situational conditions with appropriate
usage of interpersonal skills.

Some of the other companies who use Gamification are Deloitte, Cisco and
Google.

• Deloitte had built a gamified based leadership training curriculum for senior
executives who resulted a drop of average time to complete the training
curriculum by 50 percent and the program has seen with a participation
increase of 46.6 percent in the number of users that return to the site daily.

• Cisco had invested in a global social media training program for its
employees where more than 650 Cisco employees have been certified with
over 13,000 courses taken.

• Google, gamified its travel expense system and translated into 100 percent
compliance within six months of launching the program.

Extended Maternity Leaves

According to the Maternity Benefit Act, 1961, a women employee is entitled to
get a paid maternity leave for 3 months. It has been noticed that majority of
the employees do not return back to the employment post maternity period due
to related reasons due to which the number of the women employees in the
leadership roles have become severely low. Considering this scenario, many
Indian organizations are extending the maternity leave period with additional
benefits too. Some of the eminent players supporting the extended maternity leave
are Flipkart, Godrej, Vodafone, Intel, Intuit, Accenture, ICICI, Adobe.

Flipkart Maternity Leave Policy has 6 months of Paid Leave, 4 months of optional
flexible working with pay, 1 year of career break without pay, after which they

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return to available jobs, Transport Reimbursement of Rs.600 per day during the
last 2 months of pregnancy and Stock Parking Facility i.e Reserve Parking slot
for 2 months before and after the delivery. Godrej & ICICI also has a 6 month’s
paid leave for maternity as a policy. Adobe India has extended to paid maternity
leave or adoption leave to 6.5 months. Vodafone India’s maternity policy states 4
months of paid maternity leave, working hours of 6 hours per day for 6 months
post return of maternity. Intel India provides extended paid maternity leave of
5 months, 1 month of flexible working option for new mothers, 150 days of
paid adoption leave for women employees, continuous touch with the women
employees during the maternity period to reduce the anxiety level which could
arise among the employees being away from work for a long period and
sensitivity training for all senior managers for a smooth transition to work post
maternity.

Accenture has not only extended paid maternity leave of 5 months, additional
1 month of paid leave, 3 months of unpaid leave options as well which makes
it to a total of 9 month leave. They also have Maternity Returners Programme
which is a Career guidance facility for parents for re-entry into new roles
post maternity period depending on the choice of the employees. Parents at
work Programme which is Assistance provided to women employees during
the maternity period to continue their job and advance in their roles and
responsibilities. Maternity Counseling Calls – Facility for the women employees
during the maternity period to get counseled by a professional counselor for 6
sessions. Employee Assistance Programme – This helps the employees to cope
up with their personal and professional hurdles which they generally face during
the maternity period. Availability of these facilities to helps to attract, motivate
and retain women employees thereby reducing the attrition rate of potential
talents in the organisation.

Engaging the LGBT Employees at Workplace:

In spite of the current status of section 377 i.e Lesbians, Gays, Bisexual &
Transgender (LGBT), there are major corporate giants in India who has been
openly promoting LGBT rights at workplace and have been positively included it in
their diversity policy. Some of these eminent players are Godrej, Google, Genpact,
Goldman Sachs, Coca Cola, Intuit, ThoughtWorks, Microsoft, Accenture, IBM etc.

Godrej – Runs a series of workshops with an agenda of sensitizing the on LGBTs

for their employees across functions and teams. Various plays, film screenings,
talks are hosted to encourage more openness towards the LGBT employees. In
fact actively Godrej sponsored KASHISH - the Mumbai International LGBT Film
Festival in 2014. Not only this, the organisation proudly hosted the “MINGLE”

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– the Indian LGBT Youth Leadership Summit at March 2015. All official forms of
Godrej have “Others” for selecting the gender as an option for LGBT employees.

Infosys – An employee resource group has been created called “Infosys Gays
Lesbians and You” (IGLU) which brings together LGBT staffs from various functions
and have discussions on the various policy changes which can support the LGBT
employees at workplace. Moreover, various theatre workshops, online chat
sessions are conducted for awareness and sensitizing fostering and encouraging
the overall LGBT issue at workplace.

Google – In India, Google runs a voluntary employee group called Gayglers

who promotes, creates awareness about LGBT employees at workplace

Goldman Sachs encourages LGBT employees to meet the organization’s senior

members and discuss about setting up the best practices leading to career
development, retention of LGBT employees.

Accenture - It has a Meritocracy Policy which has reference to various sexual

orientations which is being communicated to employee’s right from the time
of Induction, training on diversity etc. Accenture has a Global LGBT network
which brings all LGBT employee together for networking, information sharing
and mentoring.

In fact recently The NHRD Chapter of Mumbai had a dedicated session on

LGBT diversity at workplace in its HR leadership conference at the Mahindra
Management Development Centre in Nashik because today’s workforce prefers
to work in companies which supports and celebrates with all employees despite
of their sexual orientation

Innovative Induction Practices

The response towards traditional day long induction practice through PPT and
Videos was not engaging enough for the new hires. Hence the startup organizations
have come up with innovative pre-induction and on boarding practices which
starts engaging the employees from day 1. Even some organizations have started
to engage even before the induction.

Simplilearn, an online learning and training platform provider has introduced a

30 day “Free Look Period” from the date of joining. During this period and new
hire is allowed to continue or leave the organisation without any obligations
based on their understanding of the company culture, and challenging aspects
of the work and process. This opportunity gives a new employee to evaluate a

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perfect cultural fit with the organisation.

FreshMenu, an online meal delivery company based out of Bangalore has an

induction program called “Food For Thought” where some of the new hires
can get in touch with the senior executives directly from day 1 and participate
in small projects based on their area of interest. In fact the new joinees have an
opportunity to meet the chefs, witness the food preparation, do food tasting and
packing process. They are even allowed to dive into the key process and share
their keen observations on the same. Not only this, the new hires are allowed to
accompany the delivery staff and interact with the customers.

Free Charge, a recharge app company; have come out with a Post Offer
Candidate Engagement Program which begins from 4 to 8 weeks before the
joining date of the new hire. During this time, a buddy is assigned whose
responsibility is to engage the new joinee by interacting with them, making them
aware of the company culture, the expectations from the organisation etc. Even
laptops are sent to the new hires before joining with meet and greet sessions
with the hiring managers.

ZopNow, an online grocery organisation gives an opportunity to all senior hires

to visit the warehouses and stores for a process review. This gives a new hire to
have a clear understanding and match their expectations from the organisation.

Urban Ladder, an online based furniture store has chalked out an induction
program where every new joinee gets an opportunity to attend, handle and
manage calls from customer and even spends two days on delivery/ shipment
of the products.

Innovative Wellness Program:

It was observed that Border police force of India were increasingly becoming
unfit and suffering from obesity which became a cause of concern. Hence
an employee wellness scheme has been launched stating that those who will
maintain the required ideal weight will be transferred to the work location as per
their choice and will also receive a cash reward to maintain the ideal weight. A
recommendation will be also included in their Annual Confidential Report which
will help them to get promoted to the next rank. The scheme is applicable for those
employees who are overweight by 20 percent of their ideal weight. Availability
of high fiber based meals in the canteen, removal of non-vegetarian food from
dinner to lunch; taking away of oily and fried items from the canteen menu is
an addition to the scheme. In last 10 months, more than 250 employees have
been able to qualify and succeed in achieving the desired weight. This is surely

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a new motivation linked incentive based employee wellness scheme.

Unique Selection Practice by startup organizations:

Speed Hiring is a selection practice where a candidate is filtered out in 12
minutes by going through a Cognitive Ability Speed Test (CAST) which consists
of 50 objective questions on English grammar, percentage, ratios and basic
reasoning. Offer letters are handed over to the candidates who are successfully
tested on their cognitive skills. Many start up organisations such as Ola, Snapdeal,
Quikr, Foodpanda are rapidly accepting this unique practice of this new hiring
tool developed by CoCubes Technologies. This helps the HR’s to recruit at a
faster rate without losing the potential candidates since it is believed that the top
performers do not wait for the offers when there is a delay in the hiring process.

“Workation” – An innovative way to Engage Employees

A workation is a practice where the employees are taken for a vacation while
doing the regular work activities side by side. Although the employees might
be in an exotic location yet need to attend meetings etc. Recently, MindTickle
took the entire team for a Workation(Work + Vacation) to a hill station called
McLeodganj (suburb of Dharmashala, Himachal Pradesh) for 10 days with their
families, kids. The temporary exotic office was covered with snow clad mountains,
open restaurants, temple with an option to sit and work at place of choice by the
employees. The typical itineraries were trekking from 6AM to 8AM followed by
work from 9AM to 3PM and then full fledge fun with the family and colleagues
most importantly, the official objectives of each team were pre-decided before
they left and then the teams were left free to do their job.

Focus on PWD – Work Place Diversity

In India 8551 are disabled employees (PWD), out of which 35.85% are women.
Majority of the companies do not have written policies on PWD employment.
The highest numbers of PWD employees are recruited by State Bank of India
with 2692 employees. Among the private sector in India, TCS and Wipro
are the biggest recruiters of such talents. Wipro has more than 500 PWD
employees in many main stream roles such as consulting, testing, marketing,
leadership and HR.

Vindhya E Infomedia Pvt Ltd, Bengaluru has 95 % of the employees from PWD
category doing the data management, data entry, data processing, conversion
jobs.

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Titan arranges for special competency mapping, training sessions to the
supervisors as well as peer level staff to sensitize them about working with talent
with disabilities. It has 4% PWD work force.

Devyani International (Largest Franchisee of Pizza Hut & KFC) - 200 PWD’s
with hearing impairment recruited in all departments starting from dough
making, pizza making, delivery, cash handling and record keeping. Lemon Tree
Hotels has 400 PWD employees consisting of speech and hearing impairment,
orthopedically handicapped and even with down symptoms. In fact one visually
impaired employee is working in the corporate office as a part of the President
and Executive Director’s team.

Shakti Masala: 200 physically and mentally challenged employees working at

different levels

ITC has 90 PWD’s with orthopedic impairment, hearing impairment, visual

impairment and cerebral palsy for secretarial role, desk jobs, sales and
reservations. These organizations feel that such talents are more engaged to
their jobs, exhibit more sense of loyalty with low absenteeism and are good at
their performance level.

Employment Exchanges conversion into Counseling

Centers
Currently there are 978 employment exchanges in India, out of which 100 would
be transformed into National Career Counseling Centers (NCCC). The role of
these counseling centers would be to identify the skill wise demand in across
various parts in India and abroad and supply of Jobseekers. They will help in
finding out the right opportunities for the job seekers depending on their skills and
area of interest by counseling the job seekers about various roles available and
their prospects in respective industries and making them to undergo psychometric
and skill assessment tests. Through this job skill mapping and identifying the right
job fit for the job seekers, these National Career Counseling Centers (NCCC)
will engage the prospective candidates and make them available to the right
organizations.

Detecting Attrition during Recruitment:

Reputed IT companies HCL, INFOSYS, TCS have started using algorithmic tools
and programs that can predict the attrition rate for the future. These predictions
are made possible by collecting a series of data regarding the socio economic
background from the candidates during the interview that are being used by the

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HR department by application of analytics in talent resourcing stages. Wipro is
one of such employer to use such a tool. A 75% positive correlation between a
prediction using analytics have been proved successful as of now. It clearly reflects
that the HR function is moving towards data-driven decision-making rather than
gut-based decision-making.

Removal of AIDS (Appraisal and Increment Deficiency

Syndrome)
In the bell curve method of PMS many high performers miss the chance of
getting into the top rank in-spite of their excellent performance level since there
is no space left for them to get into the top 5 percent. Hence it disengages them
leading to attrition of the top performers. Moreover in order to get into the top 5
% top performers list, lot of unwanted internal competition, office politics crops
up. Looking at this scenario, many leading employers such Google, KPMG,
Accenture, Twitter, LinkedIn, Microsoft, Adobe, Cisco, Infosys, Ola Cabs have
stopped the usage of bell curve method of appraisal and started following the
absolute rating of employees.

Work Life Balance for Public Sector Employees

Recently it was declared that the second and the forth Saturday of the every month
will be an off day for all Government bank employees with effect from September
2015. Soon after this decision, the management of Life Insurance Corporation
(LIC) and the associated trade unions after fifteen rounds of joint meetings has
arrived at the final agreement that the LIC employees will also enjoy the benefit
of alternative Saturdays off. This initiative is expected to increase the work life
balance among the LIC employees thus taking the employees to the next level
of engagement towards the work and the organisation.

In House Incubation Centers at Workplace

Simplilearn.com, an e-commerce company witnessed that 15% of the employees
use to quit starting their own venture but rarely could they be successful in their
ventures. Hence the organisation came up with an idea of setting up an incubation
center, where the employees with an entrepreneurial spirit will get an opportunity
on work on their idea and at the same time get mentored within the organisation.
Every year during February and August, four ideas will be screened, selected and
converted into product or service within 90 days. Simplilearn will invest up to Rs.30
lacs into each team to execute and transform the idea into reality. Organisation

117
such as Google has a best practice allowing their employees to work 20% of
their time on the project of their choice. In fact Gmail and Google News is an
outcome of such best practice. Godrej have a program called “LOUD –Live
Out Your Dream” where the organisation will fund the employees to fulfill their
entrepreneurial ambitions. Similarly WIPRO has created a fund called “WIPRO
VENTURES” which funds the start up ideas of the employees.

Concept of Self-Managed Teams

Here Teams work without supervision. This is also called also called supervision-
less system. RPG Group (Ceat/ Spencers) has come out with this concept. This
concept was started by P&G, followed by DuPont and a few other organizations.
Here the employees are trained and empowered to plan, review the gaps,
brainstorms among them to identify the reason for gaps, take work place
decisions & execute their day to day operations. This enables them to come out
with the best possible ways to execute tasks. The accountability & responsibility of
accomplishment of the tasks complete rests on the team members. This practice
was initiated at the CEAT Plant at Halol (Gujrat). It resulted in higher productivity
& harmony among the employees.

Conclusion:
It has been seen that there are many practices which the industry has offered to
the employees which leads in motivating the employees but rare practices has
evolved which leads to engagement of the employees towards their organization.
Such practices have been developed by not only by multinationals but also by
upcoming E-Commerce organisations, startups and small scale companies. This
clearly highlights that the size of the organisation does not matter in engaging
employees, but its philosophy of the founders that creates the culture of the
organization which is the incubator of employee engagement.

References:
1. Athreya, M. B. (1988). Integrated HRD System- Intervention Strategies. In
T.V. Rao; K.K.Verma; Anil K. Khandelwal; E. Abraham S.J. (Eds.) Alternative
Approaches and Strategies of HRD (p 378). Jaipur: Rawat Publications.

2. Bhalerao, M. K. (2012). Innovative Practices in HR- “Taking organizations

to new Horizons”. Mumbai: vnbrims.

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3. Homera A Durani1, K. U. (2015). Innovative HR Strategic Practices of Indian
and Foreign MNCs. Journal of Management Research and Analysis , 173-
176.

4. Jain, V.K.; Singhal, K.C. & Singh, V.C. (1997). HRD Climate in Indian
Industry.Productivity, 37 (4), 628-639.

5. Kinicki, A.J.; Carson, K.P.; & Bohlander, G.W. (1992). Relationship Between
an Organizations’ Actual Human Resource Efforts and Employee Attitudes.
Group & Organization Management, 17 (2), 135-152.

6. Mohapatra, S. (2012). Unique HR Practices in the Indian IT industry. Delhi

Business Review , 13 (1), 49-65.

7. Murthy, M. B. (2015). Innovative HR Practices in IT industry in India - An

Empirical Study. Mumbai: UGC Sponsored.

8. S, N. S. (2015). Innovative Human Resource Practices - A Study in Indian

Context. International Journal of Management Research and Social Science
(IJMRSS) , 2 (4), 100-103.

9. Saul Carline, B. S. (2005). Innovative Human Resource Practices in Select

Organizations:A Study from India. ASTD 2005 Research-to-Practice (pp.
19-26). Montreal: ASTD.

10. Venkataratnam, C. S. (1997). HRM Spurs Company Performance. Human

Capital, 1 (1), 60.

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