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RIMS JOURNAL OFMANAGEMENT

M S RAMAIAH FOUNDATION

RAMAIAH INSTITUTE OF MANAGEMENT STUDIESRAMAIAH INSTITUTE OF MANAGEMENT SCIENCES

ALL ABOUT STRESSDr. Nalini Dwarakanath

EMOTIONAL QUOTIENT: ARE YOUR EMOTIONS IN CONTROLDr. Md.Imrozuddin

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

Dr. Y Rajaram and Mr. Murali. S

KNOWLEDGE MANAGEMENT IN HINDU MYTHOLOGY

EMPLOYABILITY: NEED A PRAGMATIC APPROACH FOR MBA

Dr. Radha. R

STUDENTS IN INDIA

Vol.1(1), July - December 2015


RIMS Journal of Management

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 ThomasRegistrar,

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 official 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 findings 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.



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



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 DwarakanathCounseling Psychologist, Centre for Counseling & Support, Indian Institute of Science, Bangalore.

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

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.

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.

_______________________________________________________1 RIMS Journal of Management, Vol.1(1), July - December 2015

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.

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

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

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.

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

c l i m a t e i n t h e e n v i r o n m e n t .

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 l isten 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,

p e o p l e r e s p o n d t o s t r e s s i n t h r e e

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

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.

Causal Factors

External factors: Major Life Changes,

Financial Problems, Work or Place of Work,

Relat ionship Dif f icult ies, Too busy a

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

k n o w i n g t h e p r o b l e m s o f h o u s e ,

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.

Effects Of Chronic Stress

Many Health problems are due to stress that

includes pain of some kind, Heart disease,

All About Stress_______________________________________________________


digest ive problems, s leep 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.

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.

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 Responsibil ity 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

5. Effective Time Management = Effective

Self management ( of day to do activit-

ies)

6. Learning Better Communication skills to

ease and improve relationships with

authorities and colleagues. Make the

All About Stress_______________________________________________________


communication friendly and efficient.

Cultivate a friendly , social climate.

7. Be aware o f the most important

component - Emotional Intelligence.

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 abi l i ty to

sense, understand and react to other's

E m o t i o n s a n d F e e l c o m f o r t a b l e

socially.

4. Relat ionship Management: The

a b i l i t y t o i n s p i r e , i n f l u e n c e a n d

connect with others and manage the

conflicts effectively.

Relaxation Techniques to Manage the

Stress

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.

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,

M i n d f u l n e s s ( Q u i e t e n v i r o n m e n t ,

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

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. Accept the th ings that cannot be

changed, finally

5. Do not try to control the uncontrollable

and finally,

All About Stress_______________________________________________________


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

_______________________________________________________Emotional Quotient: Are Your Emotions In Control?

Dr. Md. Imrozuddin

Associate Professor in MBA

Koshys Institute of Management Studies, Bangalore

E-mail Id: [email protected]

Mobile No: 8197546238

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

of Tata , he imbibed those from his

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”.

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.

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


2. Pay attention to your body

3. Observe how your emotions and

behaviours are connected

4. Avoid judging your emotions

5. Notice patterns in your emotional

history

6. Practise deciding how to behave

II. Connecting with other people

1. Improve your empathy skills

2. Be open minded & agreeable

3. Read people's body language

4. See the effect you have on others

5. Practise being honest emotionally

III. Put Emotional Quotient to practical use

1. See where you have room for

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

3. Discover the stress busting techni-

ques that work for you

V. Beat relationship stress with emotional

awareness

VI. Improve Nonverbal communication

VII. Resolve conflict positively.

Emotional Quotient: Man vs Women

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.

Four parts of Emotional Intelligence:

Self-awareness

Managing emotions

Empathy

Social skills

There are many tests o f emot iona l

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.

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.

Three kinds of Empathy:

Cognitive empathy: being able to know

how the other person sees things

Emotional empathy: feeling what the

other person feels

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 cal led the insula, which

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.

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 o thers in emot iona l t ry ing

circumstances. It's part of the "tend-and-

befriend" 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



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.



References:

1. Business line NewsPaper, December 6,

2012.

2. Langley, William, 30 March 2008, “

Ratan Tata rode the tiger economy and

now he drives Jaguar”, The Daily.

3. “The Brain and Emotional Intelligence:

New Insights, More Than Sound. ISBN

978-1-93444-115-2, Dr. Daniel Golem-

an,P h.D, 2011.

4. https://depts.washington. edu/soccom-

m/definition.html.

5. www.tata.co.in

6. www.forbes.com

7. www.helpguide.org.

8. Ismeexcel.blogspot.in/2012/11/global-

shapers-infosys-visit.html.

9. www.wikihow.com/develop-emotional-

intelligence



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

Sunil M RashinkarAssistant Professor, Community Institute of Management Studies, Affiliated to

Bangalore University, Bangalore Research Scholar, Tumkur University, Tumkur, Email: [email protected], Phone No.: +91-9916266127

Dr. Y PoornimaProfessor, CMR Institute of Technology, Bangalore Research Supervisor,Tumkur University, Tumkur.

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.

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.

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.


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

cus tomer markets , and wi l l 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

r e s e a r c h e r s h a v e a p p r o a c h e d t h e

management of inventory from an operational

perspective. These include deployment

strategies (push versus pull sales strategies),

control policies – the determination of the

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


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.

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

equ ipment are the key in e f fect ive

management of the firms' transport strategy.

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

goods or products in large quantities from

manufacturers direct ly 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.

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

ful l 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.

Big Bazaar

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



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 a i r ing the ir

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

“ b a d s h a h ” o f I n d i a n r e t a i l . A s a n

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.



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 whi le

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 , smal l

shopkeepers and consumers, Reliance Retail

Limited (RRL), a subsidiary of RIL, was set up

to lead Reliance Group's foray into organized

retail.



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



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

1Coyle et. al. (1996) state several key benefits

of good logistics outsourcing, including

operating cost reduction, service level

i m p r o v e m e n t , c o r e c o m p e t e n c e

prioritization, and capital cost reduction.

2Choi and Krause (2006) 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 inter-

relationships increase, the risk mitigation

strategies could be implemented more readily

and thus the level of risk would decrease.

3Chow et. at. (2008) 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



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.

2. To study the cost effectiveness of supply

chain management.

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.

Limitations

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

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 :

1Coyle, J. J., Bardi, E. J., and Langley, C. J.

(1996) The Management of Business Logistics,

6th ed. USA: West Publishing Company.

2Choi, 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.

3Chow, W. S . , (2008) Supp ly Cha in

Management in the US and Taiwan: an

empirical study, Omega, 36 (5), pp. 665-679.

References

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



empirical study, Omega, 36 (5), pp. 665-

679.

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

(1996) The Management of Business

Logistics, 6th ed. USA: West Publishing

Company.



_______________________________________________________Knowledge Management in Hindu Mythology

Dr. Radha.R, M.Com. M.Phil. ACS., PhDProfessor, Ramaiah Institute of Management Studies, (RIMS),

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

Abstract

Knowledge Management is the collection of processes that govern the creation,

dissemination, and utilization of knowledge. It refers to the and processes strategies

designed to identify, , , , , and an capture structure value leverage share organization's

intellectual assets performance competitiveness to enhance its and . It is based on two

critical activities documentation individual tacit knowledge: capture and of explicit and ,

and its within the organization. Knowledge Management has gained dissemination

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.

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


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 th is 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 creat ion,

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

cu l ture . Devdut t Pat tana ik a noted

Mythologist states that, “From Mythology

comes bel ief and from bel ief 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

connect ion 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

re levance even today a s 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

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

a c k n o w l e d g e t h e p r e s e n c e o f

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.



After listening to this Pandavas have a

b e t t e r u n d e r s t a n d i n g o f G o o d

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

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

organ izat ion . I t shou ld be proper ly



Idenfication of knowlwdge needs

1. Discovery of existing knowledge

2. Acquisition of knowledge

4. Storage & organisation of knowledge

6. Use & application of Knowledge

5. Sharing of Knowlwdge

3. Creation of New knowledge

documented, stored, retrieved and reused

whenever required. Following the path of

Infosys is a sure way for organizational success

through knowledge management.

References

1. Pattanaik, Devdutt.Jaya – An illustrated

Retelling of the Mahabharata.

2. Penguin India, 2010

3. Pattanaik, Devdutt.Myth = Mithya : A

Handbook of Hindu Mythology.

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



_______________________________________________________Employability: Need a Pragmatic Approach for MBA Students in India

Dr. Y RajaramDean, Ramaiah Institute of Management Studies, Bangalore.

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

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

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

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


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

d r a w n i n d e p e n d e n t i n f e r e n c e s .

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 l iterature 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

educat ion 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 ski l l development, pract ical

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.

Employability: Need a Pragmatic Approach for MBA Students in India_______________________________________________________


'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 all-

around 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

also invest more in job training

Individuals with better training would focus

more on i nnova t ion and proces s

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



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



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, att ire, 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.

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


MBA Graduates 2012



Stream

Finance

Marketing

HR Management

Other Functions (Operations, Systems)

%

40 %

30 %

19 %

11 %

Functional Roles

Customer Service

Logical Decision Making

Communication Skills

Adaptability

Employability

16 %

48%

16 %

32 %

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


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

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

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



Employabil

ity

Analytic

al

Client

Interacti

on

Function

al

Operatio

nal

Business

Consulti

ng

Analys

ts Corporat

e sales B2C

Sale

s

BFSI

Sales Marketi

ng roles

Selection Operatio

ns

Marketing 3.46 9.11 12.61 23.9

1

7.56 7.01 3.84 16.32

Finance 2.19 7.29 9.46 19.8

8

8.34 7.36 32.86 14.72

HR 1.34 5.76 8.38 18.9

9

5.04 4.30 30.43 4.56

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

I nd i a , t h i s r ep o r t ma kes f o l l o w ing

recommendations:-

Emphasis on skills which are counter-

productive 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 B-

schools 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 . & Po l l a r d , E . ( 1 9 9 8 )

Employability: developing a framework for

pol icy analysis. Research Brief 85,

D e p a r t m e n t f o r E d u c a t i o n a n d

Employment.

4) Indo Asian News Service (2013); President

Pranab Mukherjee (June 8 2013), Saturday,

Indore Morley, L. (2001) Producing New

Wo 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



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

f i f t h b a s i c s k i l l ” , E r i c D i g e s t

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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