MSRF Rims journal July- Dec 2015

Vol.1(1), July - December 2015

RIMS JOURNAL OF MANAGEMENT ALL ABOUT STRESS Dr. Nalini Dwarakanath

EMOTIONAL QUOTIENT: ARE YOUR EMOTIONS IN CONTROL Dr. Md.Imrozuddin

A STUDY OF COST EFFECTIVENESS OF SUPPLY CHAIN MANAGEMENT IN SELECT GIANT RETAILERS IN INDIA Sunil M Rashinkar and Dr. Y Poornima

KNOWLEDGE MANAGEMENT IN HINDU MYTHOLOGY Dr. Radha. R

EMPLOYABILITY: NEED A PRAGMATIC APPROACH FOR MBA STUDENTS IN INDIA Dr. Y Rajaram and Mr. Murali. S

M S RAMAIAH FOUNDATION RAMAIAH INSTITUTE OF MANAGEMENT STUDIES RAMAIAH INSTITUTE OF MANAGEMENT SCIENCES

RIMS Journal of Management Vol.1(1), July - December 2015

Chief Patron Dr.M.R.Pattabhiram Director, RIMS Editor-in-Chief Dr.Y.Rajaram Dean, RIMS Editorial Advisory Board Dr. Ramesh, Dean, Mount Carmel College,Bangalore

Dr. Rejimon Thomas Registrar, RIMS, Bangalore.

Dr. U. N. Lakshman, Adjunct Faculty, RIMS, Bangalore

Prof. S. Nambiar, Professor, RIMS, Bangalore.

Mr. Anil B. Gowda, Professor, RIMS, Bangalore

Prof. Balaji T V, Adjunct Faculty , RIMS, Bangalore Editor

Dr. M. Swapna, Assistant Professor, RIMS, Bangalore RIMS JOURNAL OF MANAGEMENT RIMS Journal of Management is an ofďŹ cial publication of Ramaiah Institute of Management Studies / Sciences. It is a bi-annual journal published in January and July every year. The journal is committed to rapidly delivering high-quality research ďŹ ndings and results to the world. All manuscripts are subject to a double blind peer review by the members of the editorial board who are noted experts in the appropriate subject area. The accountability of the ideas, information, data and analysis presented by the authors rests on the authors.

RIMS Journal of Management Vol.1(1), July - December 2015

RAMAIAH INSTITUTE OF MANAGEMENT STUDIES / SCIENCES (RIMS) RAMAIAH INSTITUTE OF MANAGEMENT STUDIES/SCIENCES (RIMS) is an institution of higher education dedicated to the cause of business education. The institution is a part of the M S RAMAIAH Foundation, a charitable trust that has the avowed objective of providing exemplary service in all of its offerings.

Dr M S RAMAIAH, the founder of the MSR Group of institutions, was a pioneer in the educational sector in South India. A visionary leader who rose from humble beginnings to being one of the most respected figures in the field of higher education, he saw education as a noble way to serve society. M S RAMAIAH Institute of Technology was founded in 1962 and is today considered to be one of the best technology institutions in the country that attracts students from different parts of the world. Over the years, the legendary founder forayed into medicine, pharmacy, law, science, arts and dentistry. Today, the group is one of the largest of its kind in the country, with most of its programs having been given the autonomy to design and deliver the best because of their excellent track record.

Dr. M R PATTABHIRAM, the Managing Trustee of M S RAMAIAH FOUNDATION and Founding Director of RIMS is a chip off the old block. A deeply spiritual and ethical leader, he is well-known for his impeccable integrity and the ability to achieve results without cutting corners. Not surprisingly, besides his many qualifications at the graduate level, he has devoted his doctoral studies to an analysis of Mahatma Gandhi's ideas and ideals in terms of their profound relevance to the current world. Ever anxious to look beyond the ordinary and the local, he had an abiding passion for creating a management institution that would one day be counted among the best in the world. Thus was born RAMAIAH INSTITUTE OF MANAGEMENT STUDIES/SCIENCES (RIMS).

Within a short span of time, RIMS has established itself as an innovative B-School with a deep and uncompromising attitude towards quality as can be gauged from the following:  The FIRST and ONLY B-School in India to have earned two CHEA (Council for Higher

Education Accreditation, USA) recognized Accreditations for its PGPM and MBA Programs – the accreditations have been granted with commendations by the Accreditation Council for Business Schools and Programs (ACBSP), USA and the International Assembly for Collegiate Business Education (IACBE), USA.  The only B-School to have been awarded the highest STAR AWARD at the National Quality

RIMS Journal of Management Vol.1(1), July - December 2015

 Education Conference of the American Society for Quality (November 2012) and also the

only B-School in India to have won two Awards of Distinction at the National Quality Education Conference of the American Society for Quality (2010 and 2011)  The only B-School in India to have reached the finals of the International Team Excellence

Awards of the American Society for Quality in two successive years – 2011 and 2012. In 2011, RIMS received the Attendee's Choice Award for “Complex Project” and in 2012 for “Creative Solution / Action”  The youngest B-School in the country to be accorded the highest A++ grading by Business

India, the pioneer in B-School ratings, which has been grading B-Schools since 1982 (October 2011 and November 2012)  The youngest B-School in the country to be ranked by BUSINESS TODAY (October 2012) –

No. 33 in Learning Experience, No. 36 in Future Orientation, and No. 69 Overall.  Ranked No. 70 by MBAUniverse.com (December 2012)  The only B-School in India to have partnered with ASQ India Chapter to conduct innovative

programs on quality in different sectors (IT, Manufacturing, Health Care, Financial Services, and Pharmaceuticals).  The only B-School to have been featured in two Case Studies of the American Society for

Quality Our Value Perspectives Are:  Leadership that has a long-term perspective  Respect for the Individual  Service Orientation  Collaboration and Teamwork  Empowerment  Innovation  Accountability  Inclusive Growth and Progress  Global Outlook  Uncompromising Commitment to Quality and Continuous Improvement  Performance Orientation

All About Stress _______________________________________________________ Dr. Nalini Dwarakanath Counseling Psychologist, Centre for Counseling & Support, Indian Institute of Science, Bangalore.

Abstract Modern life is full of hassles, deadlines, frustrations & demands. While some are able to manage the pressures and demands of personal as well as work life, for many, it has become a way of life.

Stress is not always bad. In manageable dose, it helps an individual to perform under pressure and can motivate him/her to perform well.

But, when it exceeds, crosses the threshold, the mind and the body pay the price, resulting in MOOD SWINGS, BURN OUT, and STRAINED RELATIONSHIP AT HOME & WORK PLACE, affecting the QUALITY OF LIFE. Excessive stress always sends out warning signs to take stock of the situation. If neglected, it plays havoc, causing irreparable damage to the Physical as well as mental well being. The best way to manage the stress is to be aware of the symptoms and take remedial measures to reduce its harmful effects, at the earliest.

Keywords: Stress, Well being and health

reaction in response to the experienced stress. It is the way of protecting oneself.

What is stress?

Stress is a normal physical response to events that makes an individual feel threatened resulting in Emotional Imbalance in some way or the other.

Stress affects individuals differently and the experience faced is different from one another. When a danger is sensed, whether it is real or imagined, the body's defence mechanism takes to Fight-or Flight-or Freeze

The stress response helps to save life in emergency situations giving extra strength to defend and safe guard from the threat. It also helps to meet the challenges - keeps the individual on toes during presentation at work, sharpens concentration during exam and drives the person to study, when otherwise he / she may be watching TV.

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All About Stress _______________________________________________________ Attitude & Perception Matters A psychologist walked around a room while teaching Stress Management to an audience.

As she raised the glass of water, everyone expected that they would be asked, Half Empty, Half Full question. Instead with a smile on her face she inquired, how heavy is the glass of water?

Answer roughed out from 8oz to 20 oz.

The Psychologist replied, “Weight does not matter. It depends on how long I hold it”.

“If I hold it for a minute, it is not a problem; If I hold it for an hour, I will have an ache on my arm; If I hold it for a day, my arm will feel numb& paralyzed.

If you think about them all day long, you will feel paralyzed, incapable, left with drained energy, ending up in doing nothing but sit back, worrying over the past happening or incidents.

We should all learn to let go off the stress realized from past happenings. That is the only way to move forward in life. Living in the past is like trying to gather the spilt milk and it is a futile attempt. What matters and important is to take care of the future by living in the present productively with give & take; forget & forgive Attitude.

As early as in the evening as you can, put all your burdens down. Do not carry them through the evening and into the night.

Remember to put the glass down at your earliest and divert your thinking onto what needs to be done, from thereon”.

Coping With Work Stress

In each case, the weight of the glass does not change, but the longer I hold it, the heavier is my perception of the weight”.

She continued, “The stresses and worries are like the glass of water.

Think about them for a while, nothing happens.

Think about it a bit longer, they begin to hurt, and

While some work place stress is normal and understandable, excessive stress can interfere with individual's performance, productivity, impacting the physical and emotional health.

Individual's ability to deal with the stress makes the difference. Finding ways to manage workplace stress is not about making drastic or huge changes or rethinking career ambitions, rather it is focusing on what is within one's control.

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All About Stress _______________________________________________________ In any work set up or in a place the work is to be carried out in a team or if you have more than a one under you to function, the best way to avoid induced stress, is to take everybody along and walk. Delegating the work and involving them in scheduling the work and planning strategies, ensures involvement and commitment. Individual's ability needs to be valued and respected. Being liberal in offering rewards and incentives, praising good performance both verbally and officially, providing for career development, producing entrepreneurial work climate gives the employees more control over their work.

Genuine interest to give their best will be seen. Personal interest alone can sustain the pressures and demands of WORK STRESS. Another important factor in angry outbursts is managing one's Emotions. Emotions are contagious. If you express happy emotions, you will get back the happiness in multifolds.

Your tone of talk, the words that you use and the way you express them has profound impact on the moods of the people and the climate in the environment.

Unparliamentarily, words aired in anger causes unpleasantness not only to the affected person but also to the one who uses.

On the other hand when you speak with composure, receptivity to listen and understand the message (empathetic attitude) that you are trying to convey will be optimally high.

Our mind functions like a computer. It functions as per the command it receives. If Emotions are positive, behaviour will be positive. Negative emotions will result in finding faults, anger outbursts and strained relations Emotions go through three cyclic process namely cognitive (Thinking), Affective (feeling) and behavioral domains. If thinking is progressive and positive, positive and productive emotions get generated resulting in appropriate and agreeable behaviour. If thinking gets distorted for some reason, it generates negative Emotions affecting the behaviour.

As emotions are contagious, the quality of one's behaviour is bound to affect the inter personal relations and communication, be it in a home environment or at work place.

Negative Emotions result in unproductive Distress.

Ways People Respond To Stress According to the Psychologist Connie Lillas, people respond to stress in three predominant ways.

Foot on Gas: angry, agitated, or Fight response. High exhibit of Emotions Foot on brake: Withdrawn, depressed or Flight Stress response. Avoiding people, spacing out and showing very little energy or emotion Foot on both: A tense or Freeze

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All About Stress _______________________________________________________ response, getting frozen under pressure, experience inability to do anything, feel paralyzed and can't do anything. But feel extremely agitated at the surface.

Signs & Symptoms of Stress Cognitive Symptom: Memory problems, Inability to concentrate, Poor judgement, seeing only the negative, Anxious or Racing thoughts, Constant worrying.

Physical Symptoms: Aches & pains, Diarrhea or constipation, Nausea or Dizziness, Chest pain or Rapid Heartbeat, Loss of sex drive and frequent colds.

Emotional Symptoms: Mood swings, Irritability or short temper, agitation or inability to relax, feeling overwhelmed, sense of loneliness & isolation, Depression & general unhappiness.

Behavioral Symptoms: Eating in Excess or less, sleeping too much or too little, Isolating from others, Procrastinating or neglecting responsibilities, Using alcohol, Cigarettes or drugs to relax. Indulge in Nail Biting or taking to some kind of behaviour habituation.

life, Children & family Internal Factors: Chronic worry, Pessimism, Negative Self talk, Unrealistic Expectations/ Perfectionism, Rigid thinking/ Lack of Flexibility, Do or Die Attitude, Being harsh on self.

Not only the exhausting work schedules and Rocky relationships, known as stressors can cause stress but anything that puts high demands on an individual or forces to adjust beyond tolerance can also be stressful.

This can include expecting Promotions, investment on a House or vehicle, going to work or study place, getting married, submission of thesis, giving colloquium etc.

The stress is not always created by external factors, sometimes it can be even self generated like, getting into relationships knowing the problems of house , procrastinating the committed work, extending beyond deadlines taking things easy , worrying unnecessarily about something that may or may not happen, having irrational and pessimistic thoughts about life etc.

Many a stress is due to Perceptual Distortions and Wrong Attitude.

Causal Factors Effects Of Chronic Stress External factors: Major Life Changes, Financial Problems, Work or Place of Work, Relationship Difficulties, Too busy a

Many Health problems are due to stress that includes pain of some kind, Heart disease,

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All About Stress _______________________________________________________ digestive problems, sleep problems, depression, weight problems, Auto immune diseases, skin conditions as eczema.

Dealing With Stress 'There is no one size fits all' solution. The best is to focus on what makes one feel cam and helps to control their emotions, It can be going for music class, playing any instruments, burning calories in Gym, taking a long shower, going for a walk, Swimming or Exercising, Reading a novel or anything that is of interest.

It is said the beneficial way to manage the stress is either try to Change the situation or change your own Attitude and approach. The first step is to try to avoid the stressor. Though not all stressors can be avoided, at least one can learn to know how much not more is or to draw a line at the appropriate instance.

Learning to say a 'No' or to distinguish between 'should' and 'Must' will go a long way in avoiding people and the situations that stress an individual out of gear.

If that fails, the next possibility is to Change 'self'. Try to look at the problems from out of box, focusing on the larger picture or positive things in life. Pose a question-is this really something worthy of getting upset?

The next possibility is to Accept and reconcile with the reality when nothing can be done about a situation or make the person see sense or reason. Sometimes, even the most stressful circumstances can be an opportunity for learning or help in personal growth.

Managing The Work And Work Place Stress: 1. Taking Responsibility for improving Physical And Emotional Well Being 2. Avoiding Knee Jerk habits as smoking, Drinking and Drugs 3. Avoiding negative Thoughts, Attitudes and negative people 4. Being organized

The second try is, if avoidance is not possible try and Alter the stressor. Be assertive to deal with the problem directly. Instead of allowing yourself to experience chronic stress by bottling up your feelings, it is better to express your concerns and feelings in a diplomatic and respectful manner and let the people involved understand your concerns and apprehensions.

5. Effective Time Management = Effective Self management ( of day to do activities) 6. Learning Better Communication skills to ease and improve relationships with authorities and colleagues. Make the

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All About Stress _______________________________________________________ communication friendly and efficient.

Cultivate a friendly , social climate.

Relaxation Techniques to Manage the Stress

7. B e a w a r e o f t h e m o s t i m p o r t a n t component - Emotional Intelligence.

Well nourished physical health helps to cope with stress. Morning exercise or any kind of physical activity helps to stay active throughout the day. Ideal it will be to start the day with a nourishing Breakfast to get the required energy to actively involve in day to day routine-be it studying, research or any kind of work at the work place. Better to minimize intake of coffee and sugar, cut back on alcohol and Nicotine.

All About Emotional Intelligence It is the ability to manage one's emotions appropriately in a work place or in a social set up. Knowing what to express and how to express without hurting the personal EGO of fellow employees, reveals the mental maturity. This is known as Emotional Intelligence in Psychological terms. There are four most important components to have check on the Work Place Emotional Intelligence.

1. Self Awareness: It is the ability to recognize one's Emotions and their impact while taking any decisions.

2. Self Management: The ability to adapt to changing circumstances 3. Social Awareness: The ability to sense, understand and react to other's Emotions and Feel comfortable socially.

4. Re l a t i o n s h i p M a n a g e m e n t : T h e ability to inspire, influence and connect with others and manage the conflicts effectively.

Adequate, 7 to 8 hours of sleep is required for an effective functioning and to keep one's emotional balance in control. Staying late night or inadequate sleep tires the physical and cognitive domains, increasing irrational and negative thinking.

Some of the Most Effective Relaxation techniques: Deep Breathing, Meditation for Stress Relief, Progressive Muscle relaxation, Mindfulness ( Quiet environment, comfortable position and Point of Focus), Observing intruding thoughts-not fighting against the racing thoughts, bringing it back to the focus, Guided imagery or visualization, Yoga and Meditation.

To Conclude Managing stress is all about taking charge of your thoughts, Emotions, work or personal

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All About Stress _______________________________________________________ schedules and the way you deal with problems & issues. There may be innumerable factors which leave you with minimum or no option at all to do anything about the demanding work, the Research Process or Career and Family responsibilities etc.

The way to manage a desperate situation is to realize that it is your life and you have to take control of everything that happens in your life.

Taking charge and owning responsibility to your life is the foundation for Stress management.

The minute you realize the inability to

carry out day to day activities, it is better to 1. Start identifying the source of your stress-look closely at your habits, attitudes and Excuses.

2. Be a proactive person, show your assertiveness, manage the time better 3. Focus on positives, 4. A c c e p t t h e t h i n g s t h a t c a n n o t b e changed, finally 5. Do not try to control the uncontrollable and finally,

DON�T CHEW FROM BOTH ENDS AND ALLOW YOURSELF TO BURN OUT.

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Emotional Quotient: Are Your Emotions In Control? _______________________________________________________ Dr. Md. Imrozuddin Associate Professor in MBA Koshys Institute of Management Studies, Bangalore E-mail Id: imrozmgt@gmail.com Mobile No: 8197546238 Abstract The role of emotional balance when communicating to others is great and can change the scenario of human life and businesses. A person who adheres to balancing the emotions can win the world---friends businesses and also foes. The best to way to communicate is to follow the emotions in yourself and in other person which is popularized as emotional quotient which is difficult to maintain but not impossible. But unfortunately the concept of emotions in communication is not fortified and the social communications are sometimes ineffective. Former IPS officer Kiran Bedi said that India needs to focus on “moral quotient” along with Intelligence quotient and Emotional quotient.

Keywords: Emotional quotient, emotional balance and emotions.

Introduction A person good at heart, manners, behaviour, values, care and concern can only understand others emotions and exhibits good emotional quotient. If we analyse the emotional aspects o f Ta t a , h e i m b i b e d t h o s e f r o m h i s grandmother Navajbai Tata who raised Ratan Tata and his brother when their parents got divorced. Ratan Tata is the chairman of two of the largest private sector promoted philanthropic trusts in India. He has made automotive history last year with his $2,200 Tata Nano, the world's cheapest auto, calls “The People's car”.

In another instance Infosys campus was visited by some students located in the heart of electronic city, Bangalore. To harness the students communication & Interpersonal skills there, was a programme on “Soft skills” and its importance in the corporate world taken by Mr. Manoj. He has emphasized on two facts emotional quotient & Intelligence quotient.

How to improve Emotional quotient?

I. Tap into your emotions 1. Note your emotional reactions to events throughout the day

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Emotional Quotient: Are Your Emotions In Control? _______________________________________________________ 2. Pay attention to your body

3. Discover the stress busting techniques that work for you

3. Observe how your emotions and behaviours are connected

V. Beat relationship stress with emotional awareness

4. Avoid judging your emotions VI. Improve Nonverbal communication 5. Notice patterns in your emotional history

VII. Resolve conflict positively.

6. Practise deciding how to behave

Emotional Quotient: Man vs Women

II. Connecting with other people 1. Improve your empathy skills

While research has found that women have an edge over men when it comes to expressing their emotions and perceiving the emotions in those around them, men are better at compartmentalizing emotions so an upset in one area doesn't spill over into other areas.

2. Be open minded & agreeable 3. Read people's body language 4. See the effect you have on others

Four parts of Emotional Intelligence:

5. Practise being honest emotionally III. Put Emotional Quotient to practical use 1. S e e w h e r e y o u h a v e r o o m f o r improvement 2. Lower your stress level by raising your Emotional Quotient 3. Be more light-hearted at home & work IV. Rapidly reduce stress in the moment 1. Realise when you are stressed 2. Identify your stress response

 Self-awareness  Managing emotions  Empathy  Social skills

There are many tests of emotional intelligence, and most seem to show that women tend to have an edge over men when it comes to these basic skills for a happy and successful life. That edge may matter more than ever in the workplace, as more companies are starting to recognize the advantages of high Emotional Intelligence when it comes to positions like sales, teams, and leadership.

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Emotional Quotient: Are Your Emotions In Control? _______________________________________________________ On the other hand, it's not that simple. For instance, some measures suggest women are on average better than men at some forms of empathy, and men do better than women when it comes to managing distressing emotions. Whenever you talk about such gender differences in behavior, your are referring to two different Bell Curves, one for men and one for women, that largely overlap.

What this means is that any given man might be as good or better as any woman at empathy, and a woman as good as or better than a specific man at handling upsets.

senses signals from our whole body. When we're empathizing with someone, our brain mimics what that person feels, and the insula reads that pattern and tells us what that feeling is.

Here's where women differ form men. If the other person is upset, or the emotions are disturbing, women's brains tend to stay with those feelings. But men's brains do something else: they sense the feelings for a moment, then tune out of the emotions and switch to other brain areas that try to solve the problem that's creating the disturbance.

Three kinds of Empathy: ď‚&#x; Cognitive empathy: being able to know

how the other person sees things ď‚&#x; Emotional empathy: feeling what the

other person feels ď‚&#x; Empathic concern, or sympathy: being

ready to help someone in need.

Women tend to be better at emotional empathy than men, in general. This kind of empathy fosters rapport and chemistry.

People who excel in emotional empathy make good counselors, teachers, and group leaders because of this ability to sense in the moment how others are reacting.

Neuroscientists tell us one key to empathy is a brain region called the insula, which

Thus women's complaint that men are tuned out emotionally, and men's that women are too emotional - it's a brain difference.

Neither is better - both have advantages. The male tune-out works well when there's a need to insulate yourself against distress so you can stay calm while others around you are falling apart - and focus on finding a solution to an urgent problem. And the female tendency to stay tuned in helps enormously to nurture and support others in emotional trying circumstances. It's part of the "tend-andbefriend" response to stress.

There's another way of looking at male-female differences in Emotional Intelligence: Simon Bar-On Cohen at Cambridge University, says that there's an extreme "female brain" which is high in emotional empathy - but not so good

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Emotional Quotient: Are Your Emotions In Control? _______________________________________________________ at systems analysis. By contrast, the extreme "male brain" excels in systems thinking and is poor at emotional empathy (he does not mean that all men have the "male brain", nor all women the "female brain" of course; many women are skilled at systems thinking, and many men at emotional empathy).

Psychologist Ruth Malloy at the HayGroup Boston studies excellence in leaders. She finds when you only look at the stars -- leaders in the top ten percent of business performance - gender differences in emotional intelligence abilities wash out: The men are as good as the women, the women as good as the men, across the board.

That echoes a discovery by scientists who study primates. When a chimp sees another chimp who is upset, say from an injury, she mimics the distress, a way of showing empathy. Some chimps will then go over and give some solace to the upset chimp, for example, stroking the other to help it calm down. Female chimps do this more often than male chimps do - with one intriguing exception: The alpha males, the troupe leaders, give solace even more often than do female chimps. In nature's design, leaders, it seems, need a large dose of empathic concern.

Men and women have different kinds of Emotional Intelligence, high EQ for both sexes is key to workplace success.

Both men and women have emotional intelligence, according to EQ test developers MHS, but each gender has a significantly different Emotional Intelligence profile.

Women have much stronger interpersonal skills than their male counterparts but men have significantly higher sense of self and independence. The original research in Canada, performed on 4500 men and 3200 women is being confirmed by recent EQ testing being done by human performance consultants, Buckholdt Associates, in Gloucestershire.

This means that women are much more aware of their own feelings as well as those of others and relate much better interpersonally than do men. Men however score more highly on self regard and independence than women and also do better on dealing with events that are immediately stressful.

These findings have important implications in the workplace. In the past men have dominated the top positions, partly because of their stress tolerance and independence, but people skills are now becoming more important as a culture of team working and partnerships takes effect. Women's higher scores in the interpersonal areas will now help them reach higher levels in the corporate world. This is especially true if they also develop high stress tolerance. Men need to develop their empathy to balance their strong independence scores.

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Emotional Quotient: Are Your Emotions In Control? _______________________________________________________ 4. https://depts.washington. edu/soccomm/definition.html.

References: 1. Business line NewsPaper, December 6, 2012.

5. www.tata.co.in

2. Langley, William, 30 March 2008, “ Ratan Tata rode the tiger economy and now he drives Jaguar”, The Daily.

6. www.forbes.com

3. “The Brain and Emotional Intelligence: New Insights, More Than Sound. ISBN 978-1-93444-115-2, Dr. Daniel Goleman,P h.D, 2011.

8. Ismeexcel.blogspot.in/2012/11/globalshapers-infosys-visit.html.

7. www.helpguide.org.

9. www.wikihow.com/develop-emotionalintelligence

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A Study Of Cost Effectiveness Of Supply Chain Management In Select Giant Retailers In India

_______________________________________________________ Sunil M Rashinkar Assistant Professor, Community Institute of Management Studies, Affiliated to Bangalore University, Bangalore Research Scholar, Tumkur University, Tumkur, Email: getrashinkar@gmail.com, Phone No.: +91-9916266127 Dr. Y Poornima Professor, CMR Institute of Technology, Bangalore Research Supervisor,Tumkur University, Tumkur.

Abstract Supply chain management is one of the indicator of the cost effectiveness of an organization especially retail organization viz. Big Bazaar, Star Bazaar, and Reliance Mart.

Cost has been considered when four decisions must be optimum viz. location decision, production decision, inventory decision, and transportation decision. These four decisions are important to reduce the cost of supply chain management. It leads to reduce the cost of goods sold and maximize the profit of an organization.

Keywords: Cost, India, Retail, and SCM.

Introduction A supply chain is a network of facilities and distribution options that performs the functions of procurement of materials, transformation of these materials into intermediate and finished products, and the distribution of these finished products to customers. Supply chains exist in both service and manufacturing organizations, although the complexity of the chain may vary greatly from industry to industry and firm to firm.

It classifies the decisions for supply chain management into two broad categories – strategic and operational. As the term implies, strategic decisions are made typically over a longer time horizon. These are closely linked to the corporate strategy, and guide supply chain policies from a design perspective. On the other hand, operational decisions are short term, and focus on activities over a day to day basis. The effort in these types of decisions is to effectively and efficiently manage the product flow in the “strategically� planned supply chain.

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A Study Of Cost Effectiveness Of Supply Chain Management In Select Giant Retailers In India

_______________________________________________________ There are four major decision areas in supply chain management viz. location, production, inventory, and transportation (distribution), and there are both strategic and operational elements in each of these decision areas.

Location Decision: The geographic placement of production facilities, stocking points, and sourcing point is the natural first step in creating a supply chain. The location of facilities involves a commitment of resources to a long term plan. Once the size, number, and location of these are determined, so are the possible paths by which the product flows through to the final customer. These decisions are of great significance to a firm since they represent the basic strategy for accessing customer markets, and will have a considerable impact on revenue, cost, and level of service. These decisions should be determined by an optimization routine that considers production costs, taxes, duties and duty drawbacks, tariffs, local content, distribution costs, production limitations, etc.

(Arntzen, Brown, Harrison and Trafton, 1995). Although location decisions are primarily strategic, they also have implications on an operational level.

Production Decision: The strategic decisions include what products to produce, and which plants to produce them in, allocation of suppliers to plants, plants to DC's (Distribution Centres), and DC's to customer markets. As before, these decisions have a big

impact on the revenues, costs and customer service levels of the firm. These decisions assume the existence of the facilities, but determine the exact path(s) through which a product flows to and from these facilities.

Another critical issue is the capacity of the manufacturing facilities and this largely depends on the degree of vertical integration within the firm. Operational decisions focus on detailed production scheduling. These decisions include the construction of the master production schedules, scheduling production on machines, and equipment maintenance. Other considerations include workload balancing, and quality control measures at a production facility.

Inventory Decision: These refer to the means by which inventories are managed.

Inventories exist at every stage of the supply chain as either raw materials, semi finished or finished goods. They can also be in process between locations. Their primary purpose is to buffer against any uncertainty that might exist in the supply chain. Since holding of inventories can cost anywhere between 20 to 40 percent of their value, their efficient management is critical in the supply chain operations. It is strategic in the sense that the top management sets goals. However, most researchers have approached the management of inventory from an operational perspective. These include deployment strategies (push versus pull sales strategies), control policies – the determination of the

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_______________________________________________________ optimal levels of order quantities and reorder points, and setting safely stock levels, at each stocking location. These levels are critical, since they are primary determinants of customer service levels.

goods or products in large quantities from manufacturers directly or through a wholesaler, and then sells smaller quantities to the consumer for a profit. Retailing can be done in either fixed locations or online.

Retailing includes subordinated services, viz. delivery. The term “retailer� is also applied where a service provider services the needs of a large number of individuals, viz. a public utility, like banking, electrics, and etc.

Transportation Decision: The mode choice aspect of road transport, rail transport, water ways, air ways, and pipelines decisions are the more strategic ones. These are closely linked to the inventory decisions, since the best choice of mode is often found by trading off the cost of using the particular mode of transport with the indirect cost of inventory associated with that mode. While air shipments may be fast, reliable, and warrant lesser safely stocks, they are expensive.

Meanwhile shipping by sea or rail may be much cheaper, but they necessitate holding relatively large amounts of inventory to buffer against the inherent uncertainty associated with them. Therefore customer service levels, and geographic location play vital roles in such decisions. Since transportation is more than 30 percent of the logistic costs, operating efficiently makes good economic sense.

Shipment sizes (consolidated bulk shipments versus lot for lot), routing and scheduling of equipment are the key in effective management of the firms' transport strategy.

Big Bazaar

Retail is the sale of goods and services from individuals or businesses to the end user.

Retailers are part of an integrated system called the supply chain. A retailer purchases

Mr. Kishore Biyani has studied Indian shoppers and their buying habits and preferences thoroughly. Big Bazaar, for example, looks crowded when one visits the store for the first

Shops may be on residential streets, streets with few or no houses or in a shopping mall.

Shopping streets may be for pedestrians only.

Sometimes a shopping street has a practical or full roof to protect customers from precipitation. Online retailing, a type of electronic commerce used for business to consumer (B2C) transactions and mail orders, are forms of non shop retailing.

Shopping generally refers to the act of buying products. Sometimes this is done to obtain necessities viz. food and clothing; sometimes it is done as a recreational activity. Recreational shopping often involves window shopping (just looking, not buying) and browsing and does not always result in a purchase.

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_______________________________________________________ time. But, few realize that it is consciously designed to look crowded. According to Biyani, when a ship looks neat and empty, the masses never walk into it. There has to be, what he calls, the “butt and brush effect” and an “organized chaos”. Indian shoppers like bumping into each other, and chat, gossip, and eat while they shop. Shopping, he realized, is a form of entertainment for Indian shoppers.

This is the most important reason why Big Bazaar, the Indian format of hypermarkets, is so successful and is able to open 100 stores in just 7 years, the fastest ever organic expansion of a hypermarket. It has emerged as a classless destination where every section of the socioeconomic strata of the Indian society enjoys shopping. And the inspiration behind this idea was not any foreign retail format, but a 25 year old, family run retail store in Chennai Saravana a store, which operates on the “low margin, high turnover” principle.

India is a land of diversity. What a customer in Delhi demands need not be the same as what a customer from Bangalore or Chennai would want. Similarly, a Gujarati from Ahmedabad would have totally different shopping preferences from a customer in West Bengal.

How did Biyank tackle this issue? “We left it to the store manager to make a lot of decisions based on local tastes and preferences and to customize our offering depending on what the customers in a particular region wanted,” says Biyani. He focused more on merchandise than on operations. The main thrust of an

operations driven store is toward reducing expenses and improving efficiency. As Biyani learned from Sam Walton's book Made in America, merchandise driven store can always work on improving operations but the operation driven ones tend to level off and begin to deteriorate. He, therefore, offers a lot of freedom to his store manager in deciding the merchandise and the product mix at the sores depending on the tastes, preferences, and buying habits of the local customers. His model is based on the principle of building and strengthening the front end, creating demand through the front end, and letting the supply follow.

How can a retailer who sells insurance, runs restaurants, manager's private equity funds, and charges brands for airing their advertisements on LCD screens within his stores be so successful? What is his core competency? “Our core potency lies in understanding and delivery to Indian consumers. We have significant insights into the mind of the Indian consumer, a deep understanding of their emotions, needs and aspirations, and how we can connect with each one of them” says this undisputed “badshah” of Indian retail. As an acknowledgement of its achievements and contributions to the Indian retail industry, Biyani's Pantaloon Retail was awarded the International Retailer of the year 2007 by the US based National Retail Federations, the world's largest retail trade association.

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_______________________________________________________ The biggest joy for Biyani comes from “shaping the future”. The future Group is, therefore, based on the belief that the future will be even brighter than what it is today. He aims at “shaping the future and make an enduring mark on the Indian consumption space of tomorrow.”

Future Group is India's largest retail chain. Its retail network touches the lives of more than 200 million Indians in over 90 cities and rural locations across the country. The group currently operates around 1,000 stores spread over 16 million square feet of retail space.

Star Bazaar Hypermarkets like Star Bazaar are changing the way people shop for their groceries and household essentials. People how used to visit the local shops and vegetable markets frequency are now buying at hypermarkets viz. Star Bazaar that offer customers a variety of products at affordable prices, in a comfortable environment. But while affordability is a big factor for customers, they also seek value and quality which they know they will get at Star Bazaar, a Tata Enterprise.

The uniqueness of each Star Bazaar store lies in the size and spread of its merchandise range. Shoppers can select from a large range of staples, fresh goods, apparel, luggage, consumer durables, household products and

much more and also enjoy the benefit of generous reductions on the market rate.

“A customer who is buying in a hypermarket is, in his mind, comparing it with what is available elsewhere. There is always in the customer's mind a blue equation and we have to be able to deliver that,” says Neeti Chopra, head, marketing, Trent. The store stock goods according to regional customer preferences, as customers in different regions favor different essentials. For instance, in Gujarat, people tend to stock up on their pulses whereas in northern India, basmati rice is a big item. Star Bazaar is aware that people today look at value as a critical component while shopping. And that the first visit may be put down to curiosity but customers will keep coming back only if they are satisfied with the choices, the quality and the value of the products on sale. So the big focus is on understanding its customers – who they are, what they want, what is relevant to them, and how to package it in a manner that makes the store more attractive to them.

Reliance Mart Growth through Value Creation. With a vision to generate inclusive growth and prosperity for farmers, vendor partners, small shopkeepers and consumers, Reliance Retail Limited (RRL), a subsidiary of RIL, was set up to lead Reliance Group's foray into organized retail.

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_______________________________________________________ Since its inception in 2006, Reliance Retail Limited (RRL) has grown into an organization that caters to millions of customers, thousands of farmers and vendors. Based on its core growth strategy of backward integration, RRL has made rapid progress toward building an entire value chain starting from the farmers to the end consumers.

Reliance Retail continued to expand presence of its value and specialty formats. During the year, Reliance Retail opened 90 new stores spanning across 'value' and 'specialty' segments. In store initiatives, wider product choice and value merchandising enabled the business to achieve robust growth during this period.

Its presence in the optics business is in partnership with Grand Vision. 51 new stores were added during financial year 2011 taking the total presence to 100 stores across key markets in the country. The retail chain offers single brand optical products including vision express frames, lenses, contact lenses, sunglasses, solutions and accessories.

For the very first time, consumers in India got the opportunity to experience Hamleys, which is considered to be the world's most wonderful toy shop. The brand was launched in India with opening up of 2 stores during the year. iStore by Reliance Digital is a one stop shop for

all Apple products and services. There are 17 such stores currently operational. Reliance brands also announced exclusive licensing arrangement with two leading international brands: 1. Steve Madden, a leading designer, wholesaler and retailer of fashion forward footwear and accessories for women, men, and children.

2. Quicksilver, a leading outdoor sports lifestyle company to launch their core brands 'Quicksilver' and 'Roxy'.

Across India, Reliance Retail serves over 2.5 million customers every week. Its loyalty program, “Reliance One�, has the patronage of more than 6.75 million customers.

Cost effective analysis is a form of economic analysis that compares the relative costs and outcomes of two or more courses of action.

Cost effective analysis is distinct from cost benefit analysis, which assigns a monetary value to the measure of effect. Cost utility analysis is similar to cost effective analysis.

William Black (1990) states the several key benefits of cost effective analysis are often visualized on a cost effectiveness plane consisting of four quadrants. Outcomes plotted in quadrant I are more effective and more expensive, those in quadrant II are less effective and more expensive, those in quadrant III are more effective and less

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_______________________________________________________ effective and more expensive, those in quadrant III are more effective and less expensive, and those in quadrant IV are less effective and less expensive.

Review of Literature 1

Coyle et. al. (1996) state several key benefits of good logistics outsourcing, including operating cost reduction, service level improvement, core competence prioritization, and capital cost reduction.

Choi and Krause (2006)2 argued that, the number of suppliers' increases; it should also consider the level of inter-relationships among suppliers in a supply base, another factor contributing to the complexity of a supply chain. With a low level of inter-relationships among suppliers it should be difficult for one supplier to step in for another supplier in case of an unexpended event. That is, the low level of inter-relationships would be associated with a high risk. By contract, as the interrelationships increase, the risk mitigation strategies could be implemented more readily and thus the level of risk would decrease.

Chow et. at. (2008)3 investigated the supply chain management in the US and Taiwan: an empirical study argued that SCM and IS practices are structurally or contextually dependent, as there may be different perceptions from country to country concerning the implementation of SCM and IS

practices are structurally or contextually dependent, as there may be different perceptions from country to country concerning the implementation of SCM and IS practices. Each country's context may have its own idiosyncrasies and should be carefully assessed for better implementation of SCM and IS practices.

Statement of the problem Supply chain management has become an integral part of world economies. The way retailers price various goods and services in supply chain management has attracted the attention of researchers for a long time. The activities of supply chain management require effectiveness, and the way supply chain cost are fixed. Supply chain management is concerned with the creation of value for customers, suppliers and stakeholders of the firm. It creates time and place desired by the customers. Good supply chain management views each activity in the supply chain as contributing to the process of adding value.

According to IMF, average logistics (SCM) cost have been estimated to be about 12 percent of the world's gross domestic product. For individual forms in the US logistics costs have been found to vary from 4 percent to over 30 percent of sales. The costs of physical distribution have ranged from 7 percent to 9 percent of sales over the last decade. These costs are minimized to add value to the products. The objective is to design or configure the logistic of supply chain network

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_______________________________________________________ so as to minimize annual system wide costs including production and purchasing costs, inventory carrying cost, facility costs (storage, handling and fixed cost) and transportation costs subject to a variety of customer service levels required.

Objectives of the Study 1. To study the factors affecting the supply chain management.

many challenges business organization viz. Big Bazaar, Star Bazaar, and Reliance Mart were successful in supply chain management at an optimum cost. The retail outlets are providing the customers at competitive prices. It all about the managing the supply chain management at effective cost and it should reach to the consumers at last.

Key Notes : 1

2. To study the cost effectiveness of supply chain management.

Coyle, J. J., Bardi, E. J., and Langley, C. J. (1996) The Management of Business Logistics, 6th ed. USA: West Publishing Company.

2

Significance of the Study The study facilities the adoption of new technology and cost reduction in supply chain management. Thus will help the concerned to get the products and services at affordable prices. This enables the company to reduce the supply chain cost and maximize the profit.

Choi, T. Y. and Krause, D. R. (2006). The supply base and its complexity: Implications for transaction costs, risks, responsiveness, and innovation, Journal of Operations Management, 24 (5), pp. 637-652.

3

C h o w, W. S . , ( 2 0 0 8 ) S u p p l y C h a i n Management in the US and Taiwan: an empirical study, Omega, 36 (5), pp. 665-679.

Limitations References The study is limited to three organized retail outlets in India viz. Big Bazaar, Star Bazaar, and Reliance Mart.

Conclusion Supply chain management is really challenging to every organization in this competitive era of modern and general marketing. In-spite of

1. Choi, T. Y. and Krause, D. R. (2006). The supply base and its complexity: Implications for transaction costs, risks, responsiveness, and innovation, Journal of Operations Management, 24 (5), pp. 637-652.

2. Chow, W. S., (2008) Supply Chain Management in the US and Taiwan: an

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_______________________________________________________ empirical study, Omega, 36 (5), pp. 665679.

(1996) The Management of Business Logistics, 6th ed. USA: West Publishing Company.

3. Coyle, J. J., Bardi, E. J., and Langley, C. J.

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Knowledge Management in Hindu Mythology _______________________________________________________ Dr. Radha.R, M.Com. M.Phil. ACS., PhD Professor, Ramaiah Institute of Management Studies, (RIMS),

Abstract Knowledge Management is the collection of processes that govern the creation, dissemination, and utilization of knowledge. It refers to the strategies and processes designed to identify, capture, structure, value, leverage, and share an organization's intellectual assets to enhance its performance and competitiveness. It is based on two critical activities: capture and documentation of individual explicit and tacit knowledge, and its dissemination within the organization. Knowledge Management has gained prominence in the recent times. Organizations of today have realized that in order to succeed in this maze of heavy competition it is imperative to adopt Knowledge Management which helps in retrieval and reuse of data and acts as a guide to the employees. But, it is truly amazing to understand that ancient Hindu mythologies have already focused on the concept of knowledge management and knowledge transmission. This paper is an attempt to elicit two scenes from the great epics of Ramayana and Mahabharata and how these epics have the roots of the aspect of knowledge management.

Key Words: Knowledge Management, Knowledge Transmission, Epics, Ramayana, Mahabharata.

Introduction Knowledge Management in Hindu Mythology "The aim of any KM initiative is to move towards a culture where knowledge sharing is built into the organizational fabric. Creating such a culture of sharing is governed by principles that have much in common with Metcalfe's Law - as more people grow

convinced of the benefits of participating in the knowledge-sharing movement, it becomes easier to convince more people to buy in.�

- Vivekanand P. Kochikar, Principal K n o w l e d g e M a n a g e r, I n f o s y s Technologies Knowledge Management has been hailed as a healthy management practice in the recent times and is garnering support from all organizations alike. Organisations are making

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Knowledge Management in Hindu Mythology _______________________________________________________ tall claims that Knowledge management is the sure fire way to organizational stability, longevity and success. The overall buzz created has made the Researchers wonder whether this concept of Knowledge Management is a totally innovative concept or it has its roots in some ancient mythological practices and exists from time immemorial. It is very important to understand and trace back the development of these practices and discover the very roots of these management practices which happen to be the ancient mythologies or specifically ancient Hindu mythologies. The roots of this current trend lie in our ancient mythology and the great epics of Ramayana and Mahabharata. ..

Knowledge Management is the collection of processes that govern the creation, dissemination, and utilization of knowledge. It refers to the strategies and processes designed to identify, capture, structure, value, leverage, and share an organization's intellectual assets to enhance its performance and competitiveness. Though Knowledge Management is an upcoming trend in many organizations it is a well established fact that the modern management practices has its roots in ancient mythology. Mythology is a collection of stories, rituals and symbols that a culture believes in. Mythology can be a belief or a myth but it is believed to be true culturally.

The mythology of a culture sets the framework for the people following that c u l t u r e . D e v d u t t Pa t t a n a i k a n o t e d

Mythologist states that, “From Mythology comes belief and from belief comes Behaviour�. Nike is the name of the Greek goddess of strength, speed and victory.

Apollo, Amazon, Delphi, Mars, odyssey and Olympus are the names after mythological characters. There has been a strong connection between mythology and management and many of the management practices which are hailed as recent or best practices has evolved from or has been found in ancient mythology.

This study focuses on the application of mythology in modern Indian Management Practices. Using two stories from Ramayana and Mahabharata this study explores how the concepts discussed in the mythology has got relevance even today as a modern management practice.

In the great epic of Ramayana the war ends not only with materialistic victory but also with transmission of knowledge. The following scene from Ramayana is a great example for Knowledge transmission or Knowledge management as it is popularly called today.

The war between Rama and Ravana is over. Ravana lies wounded in the battlefield and all the monkeys are prancing around celebrating the victory of good over evil. Rama calls his brother Lakshmana and says, “It is true that Ravana was a brute but it is also equally

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Knowledge Management in Hindu Mythology _______________________________________________________ true that he was a great scholar. So, go over to him and quickly request him to share all his knowledge before he dies”.

Lakashmana, the ever obedient brother goes to the side of Ravana and says, “Ravana, all your life you have been a receiver. Now the great Rama is giving you an opportunity to give. Share your wisdom and knowledge and let it not die with you”. Ravana refused to talk or even acknowledge the presence of Lakshmana. Lakshmana goes back to Rama and says, “As always Ravana is arrogant and does not want to share his knowledge with the world”.

Rama looks deeply in to the eyes of Lakshmana and asks, “Where did you stand while asking him for knowledge?”

Next to his head replies Lakshmana.

Rama smiles benevolently and walks near Ravana and kneels at Ravana's feet. With his hands joined in extreme humility Rama says, “Lord of Lanka, I feel sorry that I had to punish you like this, but this punishment is for the crime you committed by abducting Sita. I know that you are the son of Rishi Vishrava who is a sea of knowledge and wisdom. Let the knowledge you have be shared with the world. Let the entire world receive your bounty of knowledge and gain from your immense knowledge and experience”.

Ravana opens his eyes and salutes Rama.

“How I wish I had more time as your teacher than as your enemy. Standing at my feet as a student, unlike your unworthy brother, you are a worthy recipient of my knowledge and wisdom. I have very little time and therefore, I am going to share with you the most important lesson I learnt in my life. Things that are bad for you seduce you very easily and you tend to run towards them impatiently. But, good things fail to attract you and you shun them with good number of excuses and procrastination.

That is why I was so impatient to abduct Sita but avoided meeting you. This is the wisdom of my life, Rama”. With these final words of wisdom Ravana dies.

Knowledge management happens in the great epic of Mahabharata also.

The bitter war between Gauravas and Pandavas is over and the triumphant Pandavas are about to assume power at Hastinapur. Lord Krishna advises the Pandavas to talk to Bhisma who lies mortally wounded in the battlefield on a bed of arrows. Lord Krishna says to Pandavas, “Make him talk till he breathes his last because he has a lot of wisdom to offer ”. The dying Bhisma discusses various topics with the Pandavas ranging from history, geography, politics, economics, management, war, ethics, morality, astronomy and spirituality.

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Knowledge Management in Hindu Mythology _______________________________________________________ After listening to this Pandavas have a better understanding of Good Governance.

A discussion on the above two scenes only confirms that the concept of KM has been in existence for a long time. Lord Rama and Lord Krishna were the leaders or the mentors who recognized the need for knowledge and discovered the existence of Knowledge in Bhisma and Ravana . Having identified the knowledge, they devised plans to acquire the knowledge and share it. The acquired knowledge from Bhisma had helped the Pandavas to govern Hastinapur with ethics and morality. Good governance principles were the result of the knowledge acquired and shared. The happenings in the two epics are just a confirmation that KM was existent even before and it fits in to the model of Knowledge Management which is followed today.

Model of Knowledge Management 1. Discovery of existing knowledge

IdenďŹ cation of knowlwdge needs

2. Acquisition of knowledge

4. Storage & organisation of knowledge

3. Creation of New knowledge

5. Sharing of Knowlwdge

6. Use & application of Knowledge

It can be seen that the model, of KM as it exists today was adopted even during the epic times.

Hindu mythology in general and the above stories in particular focuses on the value of knowledge. When one triumphs it is easy to claim the materialistic possessions. But, it is never easy to claim the knowledge. Everyday an organization churns out vast amounts of knowledge. People leave the organization taking their knowledge with them. They take with them the knowledge of customers, market, business processes, procedures and all such information that does give an organization the competitive edge.

Globalization has lead to a lot of western concepts and practices it would not be an exaggeration to say that there has been problems in implementation of these practices. It will be a good idea to revisit the mythologies, go back to the roots and bridge the gap between planning, execution and implementation.

Looking at the success story of Infosys in Knowledge Management and the rich dividend reaped by the organization due to this, it is only appropriate for other organizations to follow suit. Knowledge is a scarce resource and it should not be wasted.

Knowledge of the employee should not go away when the employee leaves the organization. It should be properly

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Knowledge Management in Hindu Mythology _______________________________________________________ documented, stored, retrieved and reused whenever required. Following the path of Infosys is a sure way for organizational success through knowledge management.

2. Penguin India, 2010 3. Pattanaik, Devdutt.Myth = Mithya : A Handbook of Hindu Mythology.

References

4. New Delhi, India : Penguin India, 2006.

1. Pattanaik, Devdutt.Jaya – An illustrated Retelling of the Mahabharata.

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Employability: Need a Pragmatic Approach for MBA Students in India _______________________________________________________ Dr. Y Rajaram Dean, Ramaiah Institute of Management Studies, Bangalore.

Mr. Murali. S Assistant Professor, Ramaiah Institute of Management Studies, Bangalore.

Abstract The prosperity of the country, its industry and economy are directly proportional to the quality of the academia. The right spot on skill development and its 'saleability' is what decides the employability of the talent [Hofstrand, 1996]. This commerce on talent and opportunity has to take into consideration the fact that education must meet the employability factor. Apparently, the word employability is not just about Degree. It extends more into feasibility of the Degree in terms of the most present form of knowledge, technology and application. This paper looks into the ability of the management graduates to hit the ground, running. This investigation tries to identify the gaps in the existing infrastructure that affect the employability of an MBA student. This includes the ivory-tower approach of the academicians and their undue inclination towards conceptual learning.

Keywords: Employability, students and skills

Introduction The reports [CRISIL, 2011] suggest that the MBA seats have grown at 30% annual compounded growth rate in the last 5 years.

During the year 2006-07 there were 95,000 seats, which rose to 3, 60,000 during the year 2011-2012. Whether or not, the quality of education and the number of opportunities have seen a proportionate rise should explain the employability factor. Apparently, the placement doesn't commensurate the fees being charged. Post liberalization, the

Education sector in India has tried to inculcate the global practices on JIT 'Just In Time' and TQM 'Total Quality Management', but the results are mostly inconspicuous. The researchers couldn't find clarity over the skills, knowledge, training, abilities and the value system at most Management institutes [Rao, 2013].

Research Aim and Hypothesis The present work adopts a mix of qualitative and quantitative research design. When on one hand, the secondary data has been used to

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Employability: Need a Pragmatic Approach for MBA Students in India _______________________________________________________ build the contextual framework of the paper based on critical review. On the other hand, a primary research, based on hypothesis development, is being conducted to substantiate the literature findings. In line with a qualitative research, the researcher has drawn independent inferences.

Simultaneously, for a quantitative research, the primary data has been used to identify the employability factor of an MBA student. Also, for the research strategy part, survey has been conducted among a base of 20 hr executives at different sectors on employability factor. This paper aims to conduct a reality check on the employability of management graduates. In view of the same following hypothesis would guide the work:Hypothesis 1 MBA students are employable Hypothesis 2 M B A s t u d e n t s a r e n o t employable Literature Review The literature suggests that a lot of management institutes do still believe in conceptual learning and there is a very strong bias towards theoretical learning. Application of knowledge and appropriation of skills are still 'not' present on the priority list [Rao, 2013]. The Academicians do seem to have a liking for teaching Kotler's models and Theories on Management but little efforts are done to relate them to a practical world situation. An outcome to this is that only 10% of the Management Graduates are actually

employable and the rest would settle for petty sales and marketing jobs (figure 1). To add insult to the injury, the past few years have seen a downfall of the economic scenario and this has had a similar impact on the job market [CRISIL, 2011].

Source: Aspiring Minds' National Employability Report – MBA Graduates 2012 The researchers [Hofstrand, 1996] have made suggestions for improving the quality of education at a business school with 'Employability' being the first of all. There exists a gap within the course curriculum and its workplace applicability. The goals on management education must therefore be set towards skill development, practical orientation and value clarification. Most importantly, the faculty must aim for having an inter-disciplinary approach and a synergistic relationship between the industry and the management institution. Expectedly, the collaboration should yield results on selective skill generation for a much greater economic performance.

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Employability: Need a Pragmatic Approach for MBA Students in India _______________________________________________________  Individuals with better training would focus

'Employability' Employability should be the strategic word under management education (Hillage & Pollard, 1998). It is very important for any country to extend its skills base for an allaround development. Evidently, the human capital theories must trickle down their effects on the economic performance. The 'Productivity Shortfalls' should be contained by an effective policy making towards growth in the stock of human capital and employability is what determines this (Morley, 2001; Knight & Yorke, 2001). Jackson (1999) concludes that massification of human capital wouldn't serve the purpose until it is comes along with an employability agenda, key skills, widening participation and objective learning (not subjective). To achieve the results, the education must see constant innovation in the academic environment. Knight (2001) argues that 'bottom-up' approach is more likely to see a positive outcome on employability. A planned investigation in the human capital education is expected to meet the economic perspective for generating a future flow of income. Also, the investment should yield results on employee productivity and income.

The theorists on human capital (Davies, 2000) do also conclude that employability and wages are directly proportional. The 'Ben-Porath' model explains this more emphatically: An individual with better schooling would

more on innovation and process improvement  The right education and training would

create assets in terms of skills and knowledge, which ultimately affect the employability of the individual  Education must be considered a process of

skill formation that aims at not just employment generation, but employment appropriation The economists in India do often argue that the supply-demand cycle between the education and employment is largely unmet in India [Rao, 2013]. In most cases the education in India has been commoditised and it hardly meets the industry demands (figure 2).

Source: Aspiring Minds' National Employability Report – MBA Graduates 2012

also invest more in job training

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Employability: Need a Pragmatic Approach for MBA Students in India _______________________________________________________ This is one of the major stumbling blocks on the growth cycle as the education is not based on objective needs. The country fails to gather economic benefits, in spite of having the largest base of Engineers, Scientists and Management Graduates. The researchers believe that such 'unguided' policy making on education programs has created a big gap on university output and industry needs [Hemali Chhapia, 2011]. This paper therefore aims at identifying the right criteria on employability for a management graduate and how this should lead to value creation.

Management Education in India In the last few decades the Management Education in India has gained prominence.

Contrary to the past, the management education is more available today. The management institutes have mushroomed across tier I and tier II cities. However, most employers in India do still find it hard to suffice their manpower requirements. Still there is a dearth of employees to match the skills criteria. A lot of research studies do substantiate this with similar outcome. In the Indian context, only 25% of the Business School graduates are found to be employable [National Employability Report, 2012]. This suggests that the rest 3/4th fail to make a space for them in the corporate world. Much to the dismay of the employers, the conceptual skills, soft skills, life skills and the technical skills are very much absent in the ready stock of the

workforce.

Lankard (1990) has suggested that 'a man needs to be considered an expensive machine after all that investment of labour and time'.

Clearly, the EXPENDITURE on an individual has to be evaluated in terms of future INVESTMENT. The skillful and intellectual base of citizens has to be constantly monitored for the employability factor. Clearly the investment should yield into future benefits.

Unfortunately, in Indian perspective education is more about the degree (or rather social recognition) and little about the employability.

A well planned and carefully designed management education should therefore be aligned critically to the human capital requirements of the country.

1. Findings and Analysis India has a huge base of employable workforce but it drastically falls short on the quality aspect. No doubt, unemployment is a big challenge but lack of employability makes it worse. The reports suggest that quality and skills need to complement each other. The problem gets plagued with incongruity of curriculum, poor quality of examination system, irrelevant content and obsolete technology [National Employability Report, 2012]. The researchers do also acknowledge the 'disparity' with the type of skills being taught at an MBA institution and those being

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Employability: Need a Pragmatic Approach for MBA Students in India _______________________________________________________ demanded by the industry [Rao, 2013].

Apparently, commercialization of MBA education has taken over the core objective of imparting education. Except for the premier ones, majority of the institutions impart only the elementary knowledge of the subject.

There is an extant lack of in-depth exposure to subjects such as portfolio management, financial management, security analysis and project planning. Researchers conclude that most b-schools would highlight the number of placements made during the year and 'not' the necessary skills required for the purpose. The emphasis would remain on fancy CVs, conference management, attire, PPT presentation and interviews [Hemali Chhapia, 2011]. The students would also seek admission to institutions that have the most 'pampered' placement history. Indian President confirms this at IIM Indore [Indo Asian News Service, 2013] - Not one management institution in India ranks among the top 200 institutions across the world and this speaks a lot about the quality of education here in India and how fragile, we stand against the competition in the corporate world.

The role of an MBA student is multifaceted.

The students are expected to perform a variety of tasks at different sectors in the industry. The study therefore investigates the various HR executives, keeping in mind the employability of MBA students. Following outcomes were achieved on diverse areas-

Segregation of MBA students as per various streams, as they pass out from a management institute in India.

Stream

%

Finance

40 %

Marketing

30 %

HR Management

19 %

Other Functions (Operations, Systems)

11 %

Source: National Employability Report – MBA Graduates 2012 The figures reveal that Finance remains the most sought after specialisation area for MBA students as 40% of the students belonged to this category. This was followed by 30% in Marketing, 19% in HR and the rest for other functions. What became evident was the fact only 1/5th of the total lot showed inclination towards HR stream.

1. Employability based on functional role Functional Roles

Employability

Customer Service

16 %

Logical Decision Making

48%

Communication Skills

16 %

Adaptability

32 %

Source: National Employability Report – MBA Graduates 2012

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RIMS Journal of Management, Vol.1(1), July - December 2015

Employability: Need a Pragmatic Approach for MBA Students in India _______________________________________________________ It was evident that only 16% of the students were able to scale the graph on customer service. On a more detailed investigation it became clear that conscientiousness and agreeableness were the 2 key criteria where the students stumbled. Such figures clearly indicate that only a fraction of MBA students make a conscious effort to learn from the basics. Apparently, the MBA institutions need to be more practical with their purpose of imparting management education. More importantly, 52% of the students couldn't show logical decision making and basic cognitive skills for the job. Across the groups, ability to understand the job and produce a likely outcome was significantly low.

2. Employability Based on Stream Employabil

Analytic

Client

Function

Operatio

ity

al

Interacti

al

nal

on Business

Analys

Corporat

B2C BFSI

Marketi

Consulti

ts

e sales

Sale

Sales

ng roles

7.56

7.01

3.84

16.32

8.34

7.36

32.86

14.72

5.04

4.30

30.43

4.56

ng Marketing

3.46

Selection

Operatio ns

s 9.11

12.61

23.9

lowest score on employability i.e. 9.85%. The analysis reveals that 50% of the employees lose their job within the first year of employment because of lack of knowledge, language and cognitive skills. The institutions are therefore required to raise the level of education on knowledge domains and personality traits. The HR function shows the most pressing needs as the HR personnel need to perform strongly on employability. There is an evident need for understanding the practical application and basic concepts on HR skills. In the shoe of a Marketing Manager, the students need to shown an in-depth understanding of subject and the ability to think 'out of the box'. The figures reveal that the marketing function shows the highest employability among the students and HR gets the least votes. The BFSI sector also shows concerns on employability as only a small proportion showed business consulting skills.

Conclusions and Recommendations

1 Finance

2.19

7.29

9.46

19.8 8

HR

1.34

5.76

8.38

18.9 9

Source: National Employability Report – MBA Graduates 2012 Employability based on different streams was also deduced, based on functional role competencies. It was found that, across all groups, employability was only 10%. Most importantly the HR function showed the

This investigation tried to identify the gaps in the existing infrastructure that affect the employability of an MBA student. This includes the ivory-tower approach of the academicians and their undue inclination towards conceptual learning. The researcher tried to conduct a reality check on the employability of management graduates. The study finds that only 10% of the management graduates pass the grade on employability.

Especially for HR, the number of employable

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RIMS Journal of Management, Vol.1(1), July - December 2015

Employability: Need a Pragmatic Approach for MBA Students in India _______________________________________________________ management graduates remains below than 10%. Even worse, the employees would leave the job for reasons of lack of knowledge and cognitive skills. Most MBA students are found to be unemployable as they don't have the proper knowledge of the functional domain and the conceptual understanding of the subject. Such shortcomings with the existing infrastructure are a major impediment for the fundamental idea of management.

In view of the same following hypothesis would guide the work:Hypothesis 1 MBA students are employable Hypothesis 2 M B A s t u d e n t s a r e n o t employable Going by the research findings, Hypothesis 2 stands correct.

For a pragmatic approach for MBA students in India, this report makes following recommendations:Emphasis on skills which are counterproductive and not just theoretical Emphasis on Personality Development for a more pronounced application of behavioural skills Focus on Cognitive Skills as the most functional area on MBA education Focus on Communication skills for an increased performance at the workplace

Most importantly, the entrepreneurial abilities in MBA students should be nurtured so that the employment seeking behaviour can be transformed into employment generation behaviour.

References 1) CRISIL (2011); Many Engineering & MBA Colleges May Shut Down – CRISIL Report Davies, L. (2000) Why kick the 'L' out of 'LEarning'? The development of students' employability skills through part-time working. Education & Training 42, 436-444 2) Hemali Chhapia (2011); Business dull, 65 Bschools across India to shut down, TNN Hofstrand , R., [1996]; “Getting all the skills employers want. Techniques: Making Education & Career Connections” 71(8), 51] 3) H i l l a g e , J . & P o l l a r d , E . ( 1 9 9 8 ) Employability: developing a framework for policy analysis. Research Brief 85, Department for Education and Employment.

4) Indo Asian News Service (2013); President Pranab Mukherjee (June 8 2013), Saturday, Indore Morley, L. (2001) Producing New W o r k e r s : q u a l i t y, e q u a l i t y a n d employability in higher education. Quality in Higher Education, 7 (2) 131-138

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RIMS Journal of Management, Vol.1(1), July - December 2015

Employability: Need a Pragmatic Approach for MBA Students in India _______________________________________________________ 5) Jackson, N. (1999) Modelling change in a national HE system using the concept of unification. Journal of Education Policy 14 (4) 411-434 6) Knight, P. & Yorke, M. (2002); Work-related learning and the first cycle of higher education, Skills Plus Project Report 7) Knight, P. (2001); Employability and Assessment; Skills plus – a paper prepared for the fourth colloquium, 3rd October 2001 8) Rao, (2013) Boosting Indian Economy, , Vice Chancellor, The ICFAI

9) Lankard, B.A., (1990); “Employability- the fifth basic skill”, Eric Digest N0.14.Colunbus: Centeron Education and Training for employment. the Ohio State University (2012) B-schools and Engineering colleges shut down- Big Business Struggles" by The Associated Chambers of Commerce and Industry of India (Assocham).

10)NATIONAL EMPLOYABILITY REPORT, MBA Graduates, Annual Report 2012 Yorke, M. (2001) Employability in the first cycle higher education. A working paper for the 'Skills plus' Project. Liverpool John Moores University.

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RIMS Journal of Management, Vol.1(1), July - December 2015

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