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CHAPTER 1
INTRODUCTION AND DESIGN OF THE STUDY
1.1 Introduction
Road Transport is indispensable for the development of the economy of a
country. It remains the elementary choice of mobility of people and transport of
goods due to its dexterity in utility, efficiency and inimitable litheness enhanced by a
flawless link to other transport means. Road Transport always plays a principal role
of transporting short and medium distance passenger interchange. In India, it is the
only mode of transport proficient of linking villages to the mainstream. Goods /
passengers have been moved by land and sea ever since our human race settled in
town and urban areas. With the increase in road network, and linking of more villages
with urban centers, the pressure on public Passenger Transport System is ever on the
increase. In India, passenger road transportation is afforded and operated by both
public and private sectors. The State Transport Undertakings (STUs) operate in the
public sector segment. As a major element of the nation’s transport infrastructure, the
STUs discharge the major percentage of general public transport needs. STUs
generally provide urban, rural and inter-state services to the country’s poor and
middle-income groups. They carry people and goods of household from far off
sprinkled locations, thus improving mobility and minimizing regional disparities.
They also contribute to the overall socio-economic rebuilding of the country. The
share of STUs in terms of total buses is increasing day by day.
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Management is concerned with four Ms – Money, Material, Machines and
Men among them, ie., management of men is not only fundamental but also dynamic
and challenging. Successful management depends upon the ability to predict and
control human resources. Since Passenger Transport System is mainly operated by
skilled human beings, the transport system is not an exception in maintaining
motivated human force quality.
According to Patty D. Renfrow (1982) the traditionalists use the term “Public
Personnel Administration” while modernists prefer “Human Resources Management”
for describing the term personnel management.
Human Resources Management is the process by which human resources are
organized and directed in making their contribution to achieve the goal of the
organization.
Human element is a key factor for obtaining organizational objectives in any
enterprise. In order to build a team of co-operative work force, it is essential to
manage the work force efficiently. The effectiveness with which human resources are
coordinated and utilized, determines the success in achieving organizational
objectives. It is imperative to notice that “Managing the Human Component” is the
central and most important task, because all aspects depend on how well it is
managed.
Human resources assume increased importance in modern days. The failure to
recognize this fact causes immense loss to the organizations and in turn to the nation.
Thus “Productivity is associated to the nature of human resources”. Physical
resources will not give results unless the human resources are used rationally,
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optimally and effectively so as to handle physical resources. To be precise, “man
power is primary and elementary in all societies”.
A nation with an abundance of physical resources will not benefit by itself
unless human resources make use of them. In essence, “The difference in the level of
economic development of the countries is largely a reflection of the differences in
quality of their human resources. The values, attitudes, general orientation and
quality of the people of a country determine nation’s economic development”.
The shift from manufacturing to service and the increasing pace of
technological change make human resources the key ingredient to the nation’s well
being and growth. In a service oriented industry like transport, the quantity, quantity
and utilization of human resources become all the more important.
1.2 Role of the Government in Human Resources Management
The Government interferes in the human resources management in industrial
organizations due to the following reasons. The pressure from the trade union
movement, failure of many employers to deal fairly with workers, fulfillment of plan
targets and the like. The Government has enacted legislations to regulate the human
resource management of industries who cannot afford to manage the human resources
unilaterally and have to abide by the legislations, rules and regulations imposed by
Government in this regard.
Human resources management has been duly recognized in the first four Five-
Year Plans of India. The first Five-Year Plan extolled the worker as the “principal
instrument in the fulfillment of the targets of the plan and in the achievement of the
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economic progress generally”. The second Five-Year Plan stressed the “creation of
industrial democracy as a prerequisite for the establishment of socialistic society”.
The third Five-Year Plan emphasized the “labour policy in India to the
specific needs of the situation in relation to industry and the working class to suit the
requirements of a planned economy”. The draft outline of the fourth Five-Year Plan
recognized the importance of labour and has stated that “labour has a vital role in
increasing productivity and management has to create conditions in which workers
can make their maximum contribution towards their objectives”.
1.3 Changing Structure of the Workforce
Workers have entered the organization with increased level of formal
education in recent years. Increased level of formal education in recent years
increased “formal education led changes in attitude of employees”. The well
educated employees always challenge and question the management’s decision and
want a voice in the company’s affairs affecting their interest. The changing structure
of the work force has led to the introduction of new values of work force in
organization. Consequently it has become imperative for the management to improve
the morale by providing fringe benefits, creating machinery for negotiating
grievances, encouraging employees’ participation in decision making and the like.
At present the employee’s organizations constitute one of the power blocks in
many countries including India. The issues relating to employees interest are no
longer determined by the unilateral action of the management. At present, trade union
representatives due to their collective bargaining status also have a say in the matters
concerning the workers.
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1.4 State Road Transport Undertakings in India (SRTUs)
Right from the first Five-Year Plan, various attempts were made to unify the
large number of private operators in the country into economically viable units.
However, the private operators did not reorganize or organize themselves into viable
groups. Since the private operators were reluctant to become viable units, there was
no alternative except to promote the viable units through large size Public Sector
Undertakings. The nationalization of bus services was undertaken partly to overcome
the inefficiency associated with the private bus transport operators, such as flouting of
labour laws, skipping or curtailing the run of scheduled bus services and irregularity
in fixation of bus fares.
The national transport policy committee in 1980 observed that public sector
undertakings have been providing satisfactory services with regularity of bus
schedules and lesser malpractices in fares charged and collected. Better scales of pay
to the employees, operational efficiency, passenger benefits and employees’ welfare
are more tangible in the SRTUs than in the private sector transport industry.
Apart from satisfactory wages and better working conditions, the employees
of SRTUs also have opportunities for growth through systematic training and
development. There has been improvement in the productivity of the SRTUs during
the seventh plan period. Vehicle productivity has increased from 218 kilometer per
bus per day to 259 kilometer. There has been similar improvement in manpower
productivity from 30.5 kilometer to 35.3 kilometer in the corresponding period. Fuel
efficiency during the period also increased from 4.21 kilometer per litre to 4.3
kilometer per liter. There are however wide difference in the performance, efficiency
and productivity of the individual SRTUs.
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Every SRTU has its own training school to impart training to workers on a
regular basis. As a result, productivity in SRTUs has gradually increased. Similarly
emphasis is laid on road safety, and SRTUs are spending money on providing safety
training to their drivers, conductors and others.
There is no uniform pattern in the organizational set up of passenger bus
services, in the public sector. Several states in India have established corporations
under the Road Transport Corporation Act, 1950 and some states are operating
SRTUs through either companies registered under the Indian Companies Act, 1956 or
departmental undertakings or municipal undertakings.
1.5 Profile of Association of State Road Transport Undertakings
(ASRTUs)
The Association of State Road Transport Undertakings (ASRTUs), New Delhi
came into existence on 13th September, 1965. One of the objectives of ASRTUs is to
help the member undertakings to improve their performance through training and
management development programmes. For the above said purpose Central Institute
of Road Transport (CIRT) was formed in Pune.
In order to promote diesel conservation, ASRTU has instituted trophies
presented annually for the highest improvement in fuel efficiency among ASRTUs
showing the best performance in the areas of tyre economy and vehicle productivity.
ASRTU is the largest Indian organization in public sector in the world having
membership of 67 ASRTUs. ASRTU is the only organization in the world
coordinating the purchases of many undertakings in automobile sector having more
than eight lakh employees and carrying more than six crore passengers daily.
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1.6 Model Employer Concept
The public sector undertakings including the SRTUs act as model employer in
respect of wages, working conditions, welfare facilities, workers participation in
management, implementation of labour laws, recognition of trade union rights and the
like. The profit motive and exploitation of workers for private gain have no
significance in SRTUs.
In the SRTUs, the worker has a dual role as master and servant, master as a
citizen of the country and servant as a worker of the undertakings. The efficiency of
the SRTUs is not judged by the profits earned, but by other factors such as quality of
services, social benefits and good industrial relations.
The National Commission on labour has suggested that the public sector
should adhere to labour laws and should ensure cordial labour management relations
by evolving exemplary personnel policies, practices and procedures.
1.7 Profile of Research Organization: Karnataka State Road
Transport Corporation (KSRTC), Bangalore Division
Karnataka State Road Transport Corporation (KSRTC) is a Government
public transport bus operator in Karnataka State, India established in 01-01-1961.
The total number of buses under operation is 7011 (as on 2010) and employees are
33843. It operates buses in intra-state, inter-state, and city bus routes. KSRTC is one
among the profitable transport operator in India and is well known for its route
coverage, encompassing almost every remote area in Karnataka. The prices charged
are significantly lower than that of the private sector. Also, Student Concession Passes
bear 75 per cent to 80 per cent concessions on normal fare. Karnataka State Road
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Transport Corporation (KSRTC) has been working towards carving a niche in the
public transport system with a vision to be the best transport service provider in the
World, which is safe, reliable, courteous, economic and environment friendly to
commuters.
KSRTC is the first and leading State Transport Undertaking in the country to
adopt “Information and Communications Technology” in its administrative and
operational processes. KSRTC’s primary objective is to adopt IT in its day-to-day
operations and bring every staff under the Information Technology net. KSRTC has
been deploying the IT tools in the best possible measures to optimize its efficiency
and reduce operational cost and at the same time, providing quality services to its
customers.
KSRTC is the first public transport organization in India to deploy the
“Electronic Ticketing Machine” (ETM) on August 15,2004 with several applications
embedded in it. The ETM records information such as the ticketing, fueling, kilometer
of operation, checking etc. After completion of route operation, it also makes
available information on important performance parameters like earning per km,
kilometer per liter, percentage of cancelled kilometer, bus-checking details etc.
Electronic Ticketing Machine has just made beginning in India with KSRTC taking
the lead, while other corporations convinced by its efficient operations and benefits
thereof, have started implementing ETM operations.
KSRTC is the first State Transport Undertaking (STU) in India to have a “web
based passenger seat reservation system” since April 29, 2006. KSRTC is today
providing any where to any where booking at all of its counters and franchisee
counters situated across Karnataka and also in other prominent places wherever
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KSRTC operates. It is a win-win situation for both the Corporation in realizing higher
revenue and private franchisees in obtaining assured business, besides providing
better facilities for travelling public.
KSRTC is the first state transport organization to introduce the total
“computerization of the driver recruitment process”. Safe driving is the assurance
that any passenger expects from a passenger transport company. This requires a
highly skilled driver manning a passenger bus. A “rigorous driving test” adopted for
selecting drivers for a passenger transport company would ensure the highest
reliability and safety to the general public. In this regard, Karnataka State Road
Transport Corporation has done an innovative work in adopting an “automated
electronic driving system” for selecting the drivers. The system is based on digitally
addressable and optical sensors. A digital Body Mass Index measuring machine is
connected to the PC for capturing the height and weight of the candidate and a web
camera is used to capture his photograph. The eligible candidate has to drive a bus
through a rigid reverse S path, forward 8 paths, up gradient and reverse park. As a
last test, he has to match the traffic signal with the correct descriptive answer on a
computer kiosk. The application would generate a result sheet. KSRTC
infrastructure include one Corporate Office, 12 Divisional Offices, 66 depots, 124 bus
stations, 8 Divisional Work Shops, 2 Regional Workshops, One Printing Press, 2
Hospitals, 3 training institutes, 782 Officer/Employee Quarters and one Sports
Complex.
For operating the buses, human resource is needed and its management
requires convoluted techniques. Be in public, private or co-operative sector, human
resource is considered to be the spinal column of an industrial enterprise. It is the
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most vivacious and important source among all other kinds of wherewithal that are
considered necessary to move the wheels of an economic activity. Fundamentally,
resource mechanism can be grouped as human, material and time. Unlike other
resources, the human resource displays its own exceptional distinctiveness. Though
the history of industrial development in India is fairly old, the theory of growth of
human resource management is only of recent origin. In the short span of its growing
concept, it has undergone many makeovers in its form and content, which includes
design of recruitment, scientific selection, training and development method,
reasonable recompense, employee discipline, promotion and transfers and the like.
1.8 Employee Perceptions of HRM Practices and Statement of the
Problem
Human beings are by and large sensitive as they think, speak and act.
Employees of any organisation are therefore cannot be treated and handled like a
contrivance. They are the most valuable positive feature that is regarded as human
capital of the organisation and they can alone create a cutting edge for the
organisation. Hence, the administration of human resources in any organisation calls
for the best feature of mind and heart, since the treatment of employees is an ever
exigent task to any management. An organisation which gives less value to HRM
practices witnesses work to rule and production losses together with more differences
of opinion between labour and administration. On the other hand, the organisations
which follow better Human Resource Management (HRM) practices attain industrial
tranquility and earn profits.
The Human Resources Management in transport sector undertakings is gaining
importance in recent years because of the vast improvement in the measure and value
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of services and increase in employee strength, which call for managing a number of
issues on the selection of right personnel, training process, and rapport of employees
irrespective of the chain of command. The Human Resource Management mainly
centers on employee development for improved performance and is basically a
viewpoint shared by management and labour. Correspondingly, the productivity of
transport sector undertakings mainly depends on the competence of human resource
and its management. If an organisation espouses high level of Human Resource
Management, surely the dedication of workers towards the organisational objective
increases which results in high manpower productivity.
As a matter-of-fact, the imperfect formulation and implementation of Human
Resource Management policies and practices adopted by many of the public sector
transport undertakings has resulted in criticism and displeasure on the functioning of
the administration and generated dispute and disagreement among the employees
against the management. The reasons which have been identified from various earlier
studies for the poor human resource management practices in the public sector
transport undertakings in Karnataka are : 1) Traditional prototype of motivation based
on economic rewards, 2) Complications involved in labour welfare approach,
3) Growth of unionism and political alignments, 4) Rise in standard of living and
consciousness of workers, 5) Expansion in technology, and 6) Privatization and
disinvestment policies of Government and these issues have raised the anticipation of
transport employees which require a well-organized and talented human resource
administration.
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In this context, the researcher has tried to know all the existing human
resources policies and practices and the individual perceptions of employees which
influence the human resource management.
Perception is an important aspect to be studied because people’s behavior is
based on their perception of what reality is not on reality itself (Robbins and Judge,
2007).
Perception is the mental process of observing the outer physical world and
processing that information into patterns meaningful to the brain (Fritz, Brown, Lunde
and Bunset, 2005).
Perceptions are fundamental to our forming opinions about ourselves, others
and reality which involves the interaction of the outer world with our inner world
(Fritz, Brown, Lunde and Bunset, 2005).
Hence, research problem “Employee Perception of Human Resource
Management Practices in Karnataka State Road Transport Corporation” (with
reference to Bangalore Division) has been identified for the current research.
1.9 Methodology
The present study is mainly explorative and analytical in nature with the use of
both primary data and secondary data. The secondary data needed for this study have
been collected from the Publications of the Department of KSRTC and the
Publication of the Central Institute of Road Transport (CIRT).
The primary data were collected through a well-designed questionnaire. The
collected primary data have been summarized and tabulated for the purpose of
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consequential statistical analysis and processed with the help of appropriate statistical
tools in order to fulfill the objectives of the study. The collected data were analysed
using the Software “Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS) version 18”.
SPSS is utilized to compute the perception of HRM Practices through the relevant
hypotheses. The main analysis consists of Factor analysis, and correlation
coefficients and also descriptive statistics to enumerate the other aspects of analysis.
Other than the SPSS analysis, t test, one way Anova were used to measure the
perception of employees on the human resource management practices of the
Karnataka State Road Transport Corporation, Bangalore.
1.10 Sampling Frame
For the study Employee Perception of Human Resource Management
Practices, KSRTC, Bangalore has been selected. 14 Divisions and 69 Depots are
operating in the Bangalore Division from which the respondents have been chosen.
Accordingly, interview program was carefully designed and questionnaire served to
318 employees of the study area after an exercise of pre-tested pilot study of
questionnaire with 10 employees and in the light of the experience gained by the
researcher, the final Questionnaire was drafted and finalized. This sample size
consists of 10 per cent of the stratified total employees (3181) (excepting Class I and
Class II employees numbering 25 who are primarily responsible of HRM Policy
making) at the Karnataka State Road Transport Corporation, Bangalore Division. The
sample data have been congregated from three groups of composite employees,
namely, drivers and conductors (i.e., 229), technical staff (i.e., 52), and administrative
staff (i.e., 37) who are the basic level operating staff in KSRTC, Bangalore.
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Table 1.1 Sampling Distribution of Respondents
Grouping for Analysis Employees’ Category Respondents
Level 1 Drivers and Conductors 229
(2290)
Level 2 Technical Staff 52
(520)
Level 3 Administrative Staff 37
(371)
Total
318
(3181) Source: Personal inquiry with the HR Department of KSRTC, Bangalore. Note : Study sample consists of 10 per
cent of total employees. Drivers, Conductors and Technical Staff inclusive of both ordinary and selection grade
employees in each category. Administrative staff category consists of employees in administration, managers and
executives. Figures in the parentheses refer to the total population as on 01-12-2009 in KSRTC, Bangalore
Division.
1.11 Objectives of the Study
The following are the objectives of the present study,
1) To study the profile and management performance of the Karnataka State
Road Transport Corporation, Bangalore.
2) To understand the Human Resource Management Policies adopted by the
Karnataka State Road Transport Corporation, Bangalore.
3) To study the effects of demographic variables of the employees on their
levels of perception towards Human Resource Management Practices in
the Karnataka State Road Transport Corporation, Bangalore.
4) To evaluate the perception of the employees towards Human Resource
Management Practices in the Karnataka State Road Transport Corporation,
Bangalore.
5) To suggest appropriate measures to improve the Human Resource
Management Practices in the Karnataka State Road Transport Corporation,
Bangalore.
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1.12 Hypotheses
The study intends to test the following hypotheses,
H0 01 There is no relationship between the level of employees and the
Overall HRM practices.
H1 01 There is a relationship between the level of employees and the Overall
HRM practices.
H0 02 There is no relationship between the gender of employees and the
Overall HRM practices.
H1 02 There is a relationship between the gender of employees and the
Overall HRM practices.
H0 03 There is no relationship between the age of employees and the Overall
HRM practices.
H1 03 There is a relationship between the age of employees and the Overall
HRM practices.
H0 04 There is no relationship between the educational qualification of
employees and the Overall HRM practices.
H1 04 There is a relationship between the educational qualification of
employees and the Overall HRM practices.
H0 05 There is no relationship between the income of employees and the
Overall HRM practices.
H1 05 There is a relationship between the income of employees and the
Overall HRM practices.
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H0 06 There is no relationship between the level of experience of employees
and the Overall HRM practices.
H1 06 There is a relationship between the level of experience of employees
and the Overall HRM practices.
H0 07 There is no relationship between the Membership of Trade Union of
employees and the Overall HRM practices.
H1 07 There is a relationship between the Membership of Trade Union of
employees and the Overall HRM practices.
H0 08 There is no relationship between the dependents working in the same
organization of employees and the Overall HRM practices.
H1 08 There is a relationship between the dependents working in the same
organization of employees and the Overall HRM practices.
H0 09 There is no relationship between the dependents of employees and the
Overall HRM practices.
H1 09 There is a relationship between the dependents of employees and the
Overall HRM practices.
H0 10 There is no relationship between the annual income of the family of
employees and the Overall HRM practices.
H1 10 There is a relationship between the annual income of the family of
employees and the Overall HRM practices.
1.13 Significance of the Study
It is a well known fact that a number of studies are available in the field of
human resource management, but the present study not only aims to examine the
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multi-dimensional aspects of human resource management policies and practices in
the organisational framework, but also the perceptions of employees on the HRM
climate in the acuity of different categories of employees. In this research, an attempt
to make practical suggestions on the basis of the Employees Perceptions on HRM
characteristics and also on the relative weightage given to each measurement scale of
the HRM characteristics exhibited by the respondents. The transport organisation
which employs only human power as the means of achieving its target is taken for the
study, as it is considered very much opposite which cover all the elements of HRM.
By far and large, the study is aimed to correlate employee perceptions with their
involvement and to find out the determinants of such involvement in terms of HRM
practice environment. Importance has also been focused in the present study on
positively illustrating the ideas that job involvement and satisfaction can be improved
in the good HRM practice environment perception.
1.14 Operational Definitions and Concepts
Human Resource Management
Human resource management refers to man management in important
functional areas like selection and placement, training, promotion, transfer,
compensation, welfare, safety, performance appraisal, grievance handling, workers
participation stated in the study. It is also denoted by the term personnel
administration.
Human Resource Management Policies
Human resource management policies mean general guidelines on human
resource functions for action in the Karnataka State Road Transport Corporation,
Bangalore.
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Human Resource Management Practices
Human resource management practices means the actual practices covering
the service conditions of human resources, including conventional personnel
management practices, which are implemented in the Karnataka State Road Transport
Corporation, Bangalore.
KSRTC
KSRTC refers to the Karnataka Government owned public corporation called
Karnataka State Road Transport Corporation, Bangalore.
Corporation
The term corporation denotes the study unit namely Karnataka State Road
Transport Corporation, Bangalore and also it has denoted as organisation.
Perception
Perception means opinion of sample respondents on various human resource
management factors.
Employee’s Satisfaction
The term satisfaction for the purpose of the study connotes the attitude of the
employees of the Karnataka State Road Transport Corporation, Bangalore, towards
the human resource management practices.
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Attitude
Attitude refers to the feelings, beliefs and opinions of the employees with
human resource management practices of the Karnataka State Road Transport
Corporation, Bangalore.
Technical Staff
It is one of the staff of Transport Corporation which includes Engineers,
Mechanic, Electrician, Carpenters and the like.
Crew
It refers to the staff which includes Drivers, Conductors, Checker and
Timekeeper and the like.
Fleet
It refers to the number of buses possessed by Transport Corporation.
Depot
The organizational unit of a transport undertaking directly responsible for the
operation of the bus service.
Route
A route is a line of travel between two terminal points of a regular service in
operation.
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Mofussil Routes
Mofussil routes are the inter district routes operated within the boundaries of
the state or operated on the basis of reciprocal arrangements with neighbouring states.
City Routes
City routes mean routes operated within the corporation or municipal limits of
the cities
Trip
Trip means a single journey from one point to another and every return
journey shall be deemed to be a separate trip.
Scheduled Trip
All trips planned as per the approved vehicle schedule are known as scheduled
trips.
Scheduled Kilo Meters
It is a sum total of revenue earning kilometers planned and approved for all
vehicle schedules.
Effective Kilo Meters
Kilometers actually operated by buses for the purpose of earning revenue are
known as effective kilometers.
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Fleet on Road
A vehicle which performs effective kilometers is a fleet on road.
Fleet Held
This represents the total number of vehicles held by a unit such as depot,
division or undertaking at a particular point of time.
Fleet Utilization
Fleet utilization is the ration of the number of vehicles on road to the fleet held
by a unit.
Standing Orders
Standing orders are the rules framed by RMTC and they deal with matters
such as probation, confirmation, leave sanction, suspension, misconduct, domestic
enquiry and dismissal of the employees.
Service Rules
The service rules deal with matters which are not dealt in the standing orders.
Productivity
Productivity refers to the total effective kilometers operated by KSRTC during
a particular period.
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Vehicle Productivity
Vehicle productivity means the effective kilometers run per vehicle held
Man Power Productivity
Man power productivity is the effective kilometers run per employee per day.
Personnel Cost
Personnel cost is the total expenditure incurred in employing the personnel
and it covers payment to employees such as wages, allowances, and incentives bonus
and welfare expenditures.
Breakdown
Breakdown is defined as stoppage of bus due to mechanical defects or other
failures rendering the bus unable to operate irrespective of time involved.
a) Mechanical Breakdown
Stoppage of a bus on road due to mechanical defects irrespective of the time
involved.
b) Other Breakdown
All breakdowns due to non-mechanical causes like fuel shortage, engine oil
shortage tyre puncture or burst etc., stoppage of bus due to accidents should not be
counted as breakdown.
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Bus Productivity
Bus productivity is defined as kilometers done per bus held per day.
Average effective kilometer done per day
Average Bus Productivity = ---------------------------------------------------
Average no of buses held per day
Bus Utilization
Bus Utilization is defined as kilometers done per bus on road per day.
Total Effective kilometer done on a day
Average Bus Utilization = ----------------------------------------------------
Total Buses on road on that day
Capital Employed
Capital employed is calculated as
= [Fixed assets (net of depreciation) + current assets – current liabilities]
Capital Invested
Capital contributions from government and long term loans including fixed
deposits from public and free reserves including accumulated profits (less
accumulated losses to the extent these have not been adjusted).
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Crew Productivity
Effective km operated per day
during the period
Crew Productivity is defined as = ---------------------------------------------- x 100
Total number of crews paid for
Load Factor (%)
Total passenger kilometer
Load factor = ---------------------------------------------- x 100
Total carrying capacity kilometer
Passenger Lead
Passenger lead is defined as the average length of journey performed by
passengers.
Percentage Operating Ratio
Percentage operating ratio is defined as the percentage of the operating costs
to the total traffic revenues.
Retreadability Factor
Retreadability Factor is defined as the average number of retreads obtained per
tyre before finally scrapped.
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Staff Ratio
Staff ration is defined as
Total Staff
Staff Ratio = ----------------------------------------------
Average number of buses on road
1.15 Scope of the Study
The present study highlights and covers the followings which are the major
areas of analyses. They are socio economic characteristics’ influences on the human
resource management and the perception of employees on the human resource
management practices which consists of Recruitment and selection, Training and
development, Wages and Salary, Performance Appraisal, Working Conditions and
Employee’s Safety, Promotion, Transfer, Employee Motivation, Welfare Measures,
Leave Facilities, Job Designing and Maintenance of Employees.
The ultimate object of the study is to evaluate the perception of employees on
the human resource management practices of the Karnataka State Road Transport
Corporation, Bangalore.
1.16 Period of the Study
For the analysis of performance of Bangalore Division, data for the period of 8
years from the year 2001-2002 to 2008-2009 have been taken for studying the
workings of KSRTC Bangalore. To study the perception of employees on the human
resource management practices of this division, the primary data were collected
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during the period from 2009-2010. The entire research have been taken up between
March, 2008 and March, 2011.
1.17 Framework of Analysis
The collected data, both primary and secondary, were processed with the help
of appropriate statistical tools in order to fulfill the objectives of the study. Raw data
collected from the respondents through the questionnaire were analysed using the
Software “Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS) version 18”. SPSS is
utilized to compute the Employees’ Perception of HRM practices through the relevant
hypotheses. The main analysis consists of factor analysis, correlation coefficients and
also descriptive statistics to enumerate the other aspects of analysis. Other than the
SPSS analysis, t test, one way Anova were used to find out the perception of
employees on the human resource management practices of the Karnataka State Road
Transport Corporation, Bangalore. To arrive at possible solution simple percentage
analysis are also employed in this study.
1.18 Limitations of the Study
The study has following limitations.
1) This study is based on the opinion of the sample respondents of Karnataka
State Road Transport Corporation, Bangalore. Some respondents were
reluctant to give information regarding their opinion on the HRM practices
in order to maintain secrecy. The researcher could collect information by
oral reports only and incorporated opinions in the structured questionnaire.
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2) The perception of the respondents on the HRM practices confined to only
Karnataka State Road Transport Corporation, Bangalore and it does not
cover to other Divisions of Karnataka State Road Transport Corporation.
3) Since the human resource management is a recent and complicated subject
consisting of number of activities, the most common practices that are
implemented in this corporation only are considered in this study.
4) Few elements of the socio economic characteristics of the respondents
were only taken into analysis with the perception of respondents on the
HRM practice.
5) The time and fund constraints personally restricted the researcher to select
only the Karnataka State Road Transport Corporation, Bangalore for the
current research.
1.19 Design of the Study
This study has been arranged in to five chapters.
The First Chapter provides, the Introduction, concepts of HRM, statement of
the problem, objectives of the study, operational definition of concepts, testing of
hypotheses, scope of the study, sampling design, tools for data collection, frame work
of analysis, limitations of the study and scheme of the report.
The Second Chapter presents the Review of Literature, which presents
previous studies related to the research and gap identification leading to the objectives
of the present study.
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The Third Chapter deals with the Profile of Organisational Characteristics
and HRM Practices adopted by the Karnataka State Road Transport Corporation,
Bangalore.
The Fourth Chapter presents the Empirical Analysis of Perception of
Employees towards Human Resource Management Practices and furnishes the profile
of the sample employees and highlights their perception towards HRM Practices of
the Karnataka State Road Transport Corporation, Bangalore and
Chapter Five deals with Research Summary, Conclusion and Suggestions of
the study and also offers various suggestions for improving the HRM Practices in
KSRTC, Bangalore.
