A study to increase penetration level and brand loyalty among existing consumers of an organization

A Project Report

on

“A Study to increase penetration level and Brand Loyalty among existing consumers of an organization”

Submitted by

RITESH KHETAN

ROLL NO- XXXXXXXXXX

Submitted in partial fulfillment

of

the requirements for the degree of Master of Business Administration

(MARKETING)

Sikkim Manipal University, DE

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

XXXXXXXXXX

Session: FALL 2013


2 | P a g e R I T E S H K H E T A N ( S E M - I V ) - M B A

DECLARATION

I, RITESH KHETAN, hereby declare that the project report entitled “A Study to increase penetration level and Brand Loyalty among existing consumers of an organization” is the record of authentic

work carried by me during the academic year 2012-13 in SINGHAL

INFORMATION TECHNOLOGIES LTD.

This project is the result of original research work carried by me and the

same has not been previously submitted for any examination of this

university or any other university.

SIGNATURE

Name: RITESH KHETAN

Enrollment no: XXXXXXXXXX



BONAFIDE CERTIFICATION

Certified that this project report titled “A Study to increase penetration level and Brand Loyalty among existing consumers of an organization” is the bonafide work of RITESH

KHETAN who carried out the project work under my supervision.

SIGNATURE SIGNATURE

HEAD OF THE DEPARTMENT FACULTY INCHARGE

SMU-DE Learning Centre, SMU-DE Learning Centre,

EXAMINERS CERTIFICATION



This is to certify that RITESH KHETAN student of MBA IV

semester, Sikkim Manipal University, DE Learning Center, Platinum

College, Aashirwad tower, Jaisthambh chowk, Raipur has submitted the

project entitled Strategies for increasing the occupancy rate of the hotel

for the partial fulfilment of the award of MBA IV semester and has

completed this project in scheduled time.

We approve the sincere work done on this project and project report.

INTERNAL EXAMINER

EXTERNAL EXAMINER

ACKNOWLEDGEMENT

During the course of this project, valuable assistance and guidance

has been rendered to me by various persons.



I wish to record my thanks to all staff of M.B.A. Department for

their assistance and co-operation, in particular, to as my guide for

making all efforts in bringing out this paper expeditiously and in

excellent form.

I take this opportunity to express my sincerest thanks for their

unstinting help and efforts in completing this project successfully.

I sincerely thanks to my respondents who were given their precious

time to fill the questionnaire which helped me to reach to the

conclusions.

(RITESH KHETAN)

M.B.A. IVth sem.

Roll No:

XXXXXXXXXX

Contents Chapter 1- Introduction. .................................................................... 6



Chapter 2- Aims and Objectives of the Study. .................................. 14

Chapter 3- Literature Review ........................................................... 19

Chapter 4- Methodology used

Data Collection Method ................................ 23

Research Tools Used ..................................... 25

Sampling Methodology ................................. 27

Validity of Data ............................................. 37

Chapter 5- Data Analysis and Interpretation. .................................. 51

Chapter 6- Recommendations and Conclusion. ............................... 53

Chapter 7- Limitations of the Study ................................................. 59

Chapter 8 : Bibliography .................................................................. 62

Chapter 1- Introduction.



After the economic reforms of 1991-92, major fiscal incentives

provide After the economic reforms of 1991-92, major fiscal

incentives provided by the Government of India and the State

Governments, like, liberalization of external trade, elimination of

duties on imports of information technology products, relaxation

of controls on both inward and outward investments and foreign

exchange, setting up of Export Oriented Units (EOU), Software

Technology Parks (STP), and Special Economic Zones (SEZ), has

enabled India to flourish and acquire a dominant position in

world’s IT scenario.

In order to alleviate and to promote Indian IT industry, the

Government of India had set up a National Task Force on IT and

Software Development to examine the feasibility of strengthening

the industry. Venture capital has been the main source of finance

for software industry around the world. In line with the

international practices, norms for the operations of venture

capital funds have also been liberalized to boost the industry.



The Government of India is also actively providing fiscal

incentives and liberalizing norms for FDI and raising capital

abroad.

While the underlying theme of 2010 was that of steady recovery

from recession, thanks to the accelerated recovery in emerging

markets, worldwide spending in IT products and services

increased significantly in 2011. In 2011, India’s growth has

reflected new demand for IT goods and services, with a major

surge in the use of private and public cloud and mobile computing

on a variety of devices and through a range of new software

applications.

High inflow of FDI in the IT sector is expected to continue in

coming years. The inflow of huge volumes of FDI in the IT

industry of India has not only boosted the industry but the entire

Indian economy in recent years. Foreign direct investment (FDI)

inflow rose by more than 100 per cent to US$ 4.66 billion in May

2011, up from US$ 2.21 billion a year ago, according to the latest

data released by the Department of Industrial Policy and



Promotion (DIPP). This is the highest monthly inflow in 39

months.

Foreign technology induction is also encouraged both

through FDI and through foreign technology collaboration

agreements. India welcomes investors in Information Technology

sector. Greater transparency in policies and procedures has made

India an investor friendly platform. A foreign company can hold

equity in Indian company’s upto 100%.

COMPANY PROFILE

Singhal Information Technology Ltd. is a company

eastablished to nurture the IT sector. Singhal is a company by

dynamic industrial professionals. Head office of the company

situated in A-530, Chirivali Complex, Borivali, Mumbai.

The present case is about a leading IT company where the

technology services division of SINGHAL Information Technology

Ltd. is a global provider of consultancy, IT services, R & D,

infrastructure outsourcing and business process services.

Technology driven business solutions by SINGHAL Ltd. meet

the strategic objectives of Fortune 1000 customers. With over 30



years in the Information Technology business, SINGHAL Ltd. is

the world’s largest R & D outsourcing service provider and one of

the pioneers in the remote delivery of software services. Key

benchmark of the company includes end to end services, an

adaptive, knowledge driven engagement model and an obsessive

focus on quality in every aspect of service deliverer.

At SINGHAL technologies knowledge management initiative

has its roots in a quality assurance system that the company

developed over a decade ago. Through this case we present the

practice of KM initiative at SINGHAL Ltd. which strengthens

individuals, teams, organizations and communities across the

globe.

What is impacting his business further is a drop in revenues

from the hotel's restaurants and bars as people cut discretionary

spending. For Le Meridien in Delhi, this June was one of the worst

with occupancy dropping 15% over last year and average room

rates falling 20%.

The economic meltdown in India has left many hospitality

players in Ahmedabad under declining occupancy rates, said a

report in Business Standard. While major IT Industry have been

banking on corporate meetings and business travellers in



Ahmedabad, the market gloom has instead pulled down

occupancy rates in city.

"There are no new corporate projects being announced in

Gujarat in the recent times. Business travel has taken a hit in the

state and to add to that, the hospitality industry is in the middle

of an off-season till October," said Girish Ganeshan, General

Manager, Hyatt Ahmedabad, the only other five star hotel in the

city with 178 rooms which is running at a less than 50 per cent

occupancy rate, stated the report.

Similarly, Bhagwati Banquets and IT Industry, which has

hotel properties in Ahmedabad, Surat and Rajkot, has seen an

impact of around 15 per cent on its occupancy rates. "Corporates

are on a cost cutting spree. Usually occupancy rates in the

current period range around 55-60 per cent. However, there has

been a severe drop in business as well as leisure travel due to

economic gloom especially post rupee depreciation. This has

impacted occupancy rates in the industry by around 10-15 per

cent, which have now come down to 45 per cent," said Narendra

Somani, Chairman & Managing Director, Bhagwati Banquets & IT

Industry Limited.



With the USD 23 billion software services sector pushing the

Indian economy skywards, more and more IT professionals are

flocking to Indian metro cities. ‘

Hotel Industry in India’ is set to grow at 15% a year. This figure

skyrocketed in 2010, when Delhi hosted the Commonwealth

Games. Already, more than 50 international budget hotel chains

are moving into India to stake their turf.

WHY IS THIS PROBLEM SIGNIFICANT / NEED FOR THE STUDY

If you don't use the correct figures in any problem the outcome

will not be correct. Any of the wrong figures will throw off the

true answer. This is true on any type of problem solving. Gather

facts, use only facts to have a correct outcome.

TOOLS / TECHNIQUES TO BE USED FOR DATA ANALYSIS:

Data analysis techniques include univariate analysis (such as

analysis of single-variable distributions), bivariate analysis, and

more generally, multivariate analysis. Multivariate analysis,

broadly speaking, refers to all statistical methods that

simultaneously analyze multiple measurements on each individual

or object under investigation (Hair et al., 1995); as such, many



multivariate techniques are extensions of univariate and bivariate

analysis. The diagram presented below as Figure 4 proposes an

approach to decide when a specific type of data analysis

technique is appropriate. Each data analysis technique is later

defined in the glossary (Section 7).



Chapter 2- Aims and Objectives of the Study.

The research aims to achieve the following objectives:

1- Identifying the factors that affect hotel occupancy rates.

2- Analyzing the factors that affect hotel occupancy rates.

3- Classifying the affecting factors according to their importance.

4- Providing recommendations to assist employees in determining

factors that affect the occupancy rates and suggesting some

solutions.

Research importance: IT Industry industry is one of the

modern industries in Arab countries because hotel chains started

paying more attention to it because, just like any other industry,

it is subject to quality standards in service, efficiency and

continued development to maintain a competitive status.

This forces IT Industry to think seriously to exploit their full

potential and absorption capacity due to the high completive

activity of the market. Therefore, the research importance comes

from the study and analysis of the most important factors that

affect the occupancy rates in IT Industry which positively or



negatively affect IT Industry profitability rates in order to

diagnose them and find appropriate solutions.

The ISSPP utilized a multi-case study methodology that

employed purposive sampling in selecting schools in each

country. Study sites were selected using, whenever possible,

evidence o student achievement that exceeded expectations on

standardized tests, principals’ exemplary reputations, and other

indicators of site-specific success.

In other words, ‘successful’ principals were selected based

on a range of evidence indicating that their schools had been

successful under their leadership. Thus, the project rests upon an

a priori and mainly circumstantial argument that if school

improvement (however measured) had occurred during a

principals’ term, s/he may have had some hand in making it

possible.

Our primary objectives were to determine, in each case,

whether key participants – teachers, support staff, parents,

students and the principals themselves – believed the principal

had played a key role in a school’s success and, if so, what was it

about principal traits, attitudes, beliefs, behavior which had made

it happen.



Primary data were then gathered from interviews with each

school’s principal, teachers, support staff, parents and students

employing a common, semi-structured interview protocol

developed specifically for the ISSPP and used in every case.

Essentially, the interview protocols were derived from the four

research projects described in the theoretical framework, focusing

particularly on the four core leadership practices identified by

Leithwood and Riehl (2005): 1) setting directions; 2) developing

people; 3) redesigning the organization; and 4) managing the

instructional program.

About 20% of teachers were randomly selected for

interviews, but parents and students were largely selected on a

volunteer basis. For the purpose of triangulation, secondary data

were also obtained from official school documents, minutes of

meetings, press reports, historical sources and ethnographic

notes made during visits by the research teams. Interviews were

fully or partially transcribed, coded and then analyzed specifically

in relation to the key questions noted above and more generally

in terms of the theoretical framework.



Figure 4. Decision Tree for Choosing Best Form of Data Analysis

It should be noted that when selecting a data analysis technique, a researcher should

make sure that the assumptions related to the technique are satisfied (i.e., normal

distribution, independence among observations, linearity, and lack of multi-collinearity

between the independent variables, etc.). Structured Equation Modeling, SEM, can be

applied as a preferred substitute for many of the techniques in the diagram, in some

cases providing additional statistics and examinations. For a detailed discussion refer

to Gefen, Straub, and Boudreau (2000) and to Gefen (2003).



EXPECTED RESULTS OF THE STUDY

The project aims at improving the knowledge in the areas of

sustainable development, natural resources exploitation,

technology transfer and business regulation and administration.

The project will support co-operation, mutual cross-fertilization

including cultural integration, capacity building and know how

exchange between institutions of higher education in a

perspective of mutual interest.

A preliminary stage of co-operation regards mobility, student

exchanges double titles, and common research activities and

mobility to be further enhanced in the short, medium and long

term.

Medium term results will be enhanced human capital skilled to

cope with emerging social, economic and environmental issues.

Teachers and students mobility in this project covers mainly

technology and focused humanities.

The participant institutions will review their curriculum designs in

order to be able to recognise study and stages abroad, bringing

new perspectives in existing curricula.



Chapter 3- Literature Review

Peter Drucker defines KM as “the discipline of enabling

individuals, teams and entire organizations to collectively and

systematically capture, store, create, share and apply knowledge

to better achieve their objectives (Young, 2008). Useful

knowledge leads to better strategy, practices, methods and

approach and answers the how and why questions.

Bellinger, 2004 defines knowledge as the appropriate

collection of information, so that its intent is useful to the users.

This definition answers the questions as to who, what, how

and why an organization will benefit from KM strategies.

Knowledge can be categorized into two types: tacit knowledge

and explicit knowledge (Marwick, 2001). Tacit knowledge can be

defined as already known facts, experience, value and beliefs.

Explicit knowledge is characterized by some type of artifact such

as a codified document, manual or procedure and is easily

disseminated (Stenmark, 2000). According to McNabb, KM is a

blue print for innovation.



Effective management of organizational knowledge is

believed to be linked with competitive advantage and is

considered critical to the success of an organization (Nonaka,

1994; Spender and Grant,1996). O’Dell and Grayson (1998)

define knowledge management as a conscious strategy of getting

the right knowledge to the right people at the right time and

helping people share and put information into action in ways that

will strive to improve organizational performance.

Whereas Beckman (1997) refers to KM as formalization of

and access to experience, knowledge and expertise that create

new capabilities, enable superior performance, encourage

innovation and enhance customer value. Quintas et al., (1997)

suggest that human resources, processes and IT are critical to

KM. Holsapple and Joshi (2000) on the other hand, highlighted a

range of factors that can influence the success of KM initiatives

which include: culture (Leonard, 1995; Szulanski, 1996),

technology (Anderson, 1996), leadership (Anderson, 1996),

organizational adjustments (Szulanski, 1996) and employee

motivation ((Szulanski, 1996).



According to the Ernst & Young Hospitality Investment

Survey, which surveyed more than 300 investors and industry

executives worldwide, capitalization rates for hotel properties are

expected to stabilize and possibly even increase over the short-to-

mid-term in the US. Even with the dramatic shift in the debt

markets over the last few months, hotel industry sector

fundamentals continue to be strong.

Hospitality Industry in India

The history of the hotel industry is as old as the history of

tourism and travel industry. In fact, both are two sides of the

same coin. Both are complementary to each other. Hotel is an

establishment which provides food, shelter and other amenities

for comfort and convenience of the visitors with a view to make

profit (Chakravarti, B.K).

Hotel is a commercial establishment and intends to provide

visitors with lodging, food and related services with a view to

please them so as to build goodwill and to let them carry happy

memories. Ernst & Young survey reveals likely targets for



hospitality investment in 2008. Brian Tress of Ernst & Young's

Hospitality Advisory Services Group

In general, a "hotel" is defined as a public establishment

offering visitors against payment two basic services i.e.

accommodation and catering (Ghosh, Biswanath). However,

during the last few years great changes have taken place in the

scope of hotel industry. During 6th century BC, IT Industry were

known as "inns" or "dharamshalas" and were providing only food

and overnight stay facilities.

At that point of time the standard of an inn was quite normal

with earth or stone floor, common bedroom and simple food. As

travel became easier, inns grew in size and number.

The spirit of competition raised the standard of inns. Industrial

revolution and trade expansion resulted into increase in the

number of visitors crossing international border. In this era, room

furnishing and catering received greater attention. Emphasis was

made on accommodation with spacious assembly hall and dinning

hall for organising functions and parties etc. But the real growth

of the modern IT Industry started in the last decade



Chapter 4- Methodology used

Methodology means the total work criteria for the project and

survery. This methodology consists of some extra topics as under

Data Collection Method

Data collection is the process of gathering and measuring

information on variables of interest, in an established systematic

fashion that enables one to answer stated research questions,

test hypotheses, and evaluate outcomes. The data collection

component of research is common to all fields of study including

physical and social sciences, humanities, business, etc. While

methods vary by discipline, the emphasis on ensuring accurate

and honest collection remains the same.

The aim of this study is to identify the critical factors that

ensure the effectiveness of knowledge management (KM)

initiatives before, during and after their implementation, within

the context of Indian based IT company. Management of

personnel within IT companies remains a complex and difficult

issue.



Nevertheless, Indian IT organizations are increasingly

becoming aware of the potential of the tacit knowledge held by

their employees and the need to manage it (Carrillo and

Chinowsky, 2006). Although employees play a vital role in

ensuring the successfulness of an organization, the significance of

employees-related practices in providing effective KM solutions

within IT firms, particularly in relation to rewards and

encouragement for KM has received a lack of coverage in the

literature . This paper, therefore considers the impact of

employees on KM initiatives at SINGHAL Ltd.



Research Tools Used

The Average Daily Rate, or ADR, is a hospitality

industry metric measuring the average amount paid per room

over the total rooms occupied over that period. For example, if a

hotel earned $100,000 in a year with 500 rooms occupied, its

ADR would be $100,000/500 or $200. ADR excludes rooms used

for "house" purposes (those occupied by hotel employees) and

usually complimentary rooms, depending on the hotel. The ADR is

useful to measure a property's financial performance, as well as

to compare the hotel's performance to its competitors.

However, ADR does not provide an adequate snapshot for a

hotel's performance and should be used along with Occupancy

and Revenue Per Available Room (RevPAR) to make a more

accurate judgment on a hotel's performance. For example, a hotel

may have a high ADR, but low occupancy rates, meaning that the

hotel is not very profitable.

Quantitative research is concerned with testing hypotheses

derived from theory and/or being able to estimate the size of a

phenomenon of interest. Depending on the research question,

participants may be randomly assigned to different treatments.



If this is not feasible, the researcher may collect data on

participant and situational characteristics in order to statistically

control for their influence on the dependent, or outcome,

variable. If the intent is to generalize from the research

participants to a larger population, the researcher will employ

probability sampling to select participants.

Typical quantitative data gathering strategies include:

Direct occupancy observation.

Observing and recording well used instruments (e.g.,

counting the number of customers at specified times of the

day).

Obtaining relevant data from management information

systems.

Administering surveys with closed-ended questions



Sampling Methodology

This research includes a review of KM literature, which provides

an understanding of KM issues in general and different types of

factors that determine KM initiative’s success in particular. The

present research utilized ten qualitative interviews with KM

Managers operating within the field of KM practices. The analysis

of the interviews has resulted in the formulation of a number of

key conclusions related to KM issues about SINGHAL Ltd. which

takes a high-level view of the people-related KM issues.

1. Background

SINGHAL Information Technology Ltd. was founded in 1945 and

manufactured a variety of consumer and electronics products. In

1980, A Ltd. entered the information technology field. Based near

Bangalore, India, SINGHAL Technologies now serves more than

300 clients including such companies as Cisco, Sony, IBM and

Ericsson. About half of its work relates to regarding IT

development in which SINGHAL helps companies to run their IT

system and rest of the work relates to engineering involving the

design of software products that their clients will use internally.



Over the last five years SINGHAL technologies has experienced

impressive growth in revenue, profitability and market

capitalization. SINGHAL growth is the result of single-minded

focus on customer satisfaction, quality, developing people and

providing innovative value for money knowledge-enabled

software solutions. Once employees start understanding what

was happening in their projects, they understood the process of

acquiring knowledge and began using it to improve the quality.

At SINGHAL, knowledge management initiatives are strategic and

operational which has resulted for the company to acquire the

capability of increasing productivity, relations and quality across

the globe.

2. KM Journey at SINGHAL LTD.

Faced with the new challenges, SINGHAL technologies has

realized the fact that employees are the human capital and the

only asset to meet the competitive edge on the global economy

and renewed focus on human resource strategies that can ensure

retention, commitment, as well as continued growth and

effectiveness of the personnel. But question arises how can we

enhance the effectiveness of employees?



The growth of international business has drawn increasing

interest in knowledge management in the context of a

revolutionary organizational change process because it is one of

the most common phenomena in this universe. Therefore, it is

not change which is new to business and industry, but it is the

speed of change that is challenging for the contemporary skills of

people to manage and adapt to changing environments not only

efficiently but also effectively.

It is essentially a matter of concern for the winning

organizations to choose appropriate strategies not only for

retaining talented people with them but also to create

opportunities for enhancing the effectiveness of their workforce.

KM initiative is one of the basic activities as well as one of the

ultimate objectives in the efforts of organizations to maintain their

existence. The reason for this is that through successful KM

programme employees are more compatible, satisfied and

productive, work with a sense of greater loyalty and responsibility

to fulfill the requirements of clients.



Objectives

The main objective of the Hotel Occupancy Survey is to ascertain

the behaviour of a series of variables which allow us to describe

the basic characteristics of the hotel sector.

Statistical unit

This statistic is monthly and the data refers to the activity

carried out by the hotel establishments situated within the

national territory. The population object of the study is

constituted by all the hotel establishments existing within the

national territory, registered as such in the corresponding Tourist

Offices of the Autonomous Communities.



A hotel establishment is understood to beall units that

render hotel accommodation services (hotel, apartment hotel,

motel, hostel, B&B, boarding house, guest house), situated in the

same geographic location and in which one or more persons work

on behalf of the same company.

Hotel establishments are classified according to their

category, gold and silver, and within these by the number of

stars. The category of the establishment is assigned by the

Tourist Offices of the Autonomous Communities and varies from

one autonomous community to another.

Definitions

A hotel establishment open for the season is understood to be

that establishment in which the month of reference is included

within its opening period.

Estimated vacancies

The number of vacancies estimated by the survey of the hotel

establishments open for the season.The number of vacancies is

equal to the number of fixed beds in the establishment. Extra



beds are not included and double beds are considered as two

vacancies.

Travellers

All persons who stay for one or more consecutive nights in the

same accommodation. Travellers are classified by their country of

residence, and people residing in Spain are classified by the

Autonomous Community they usually live in. The chapter is

divided in two sections. The first section highlights some of the

limitations

of this research. The second section discusses few suggestions

and directions for future

research focusing on the subject matter for reducing the effect of

the limitations.

Average Stay

This variable is an approximation to the number of days which,

on average, the travellers stay at the establishments, and is

calculated as the quotient between the overnight stays and the

number of travellers.

Level of occupancy by rooms



The ratio, as a percentage, between the average daily number of

rooms occupied in the month and the total number of rooms

available.

Level of occupancy by vacancies

Ratio, as a percentage, between the total number of overnight

stays and the product of the vacancies, including extra beds, by

the days the overnight stays refer to. Extra beds are those that

do not have a fixed nature and are not included in the vacancies

declared officially by the establishment but do appear in the

directory.

Estimates

VARIABLES USED

E = number of establishments open during the month, existing in

the directory

ET = number of establishments existing in the directory

e = number of establishments that respond to the survey

(incidents 1 and 2)

e’ = number of establishments that answer the monthly survey

(with incidents 1 and 2 in the monthly questionnaire)



c = number of sample establishments that are closed within their

opening period (incident 3)

c’ = number of establishments that are closed within their

opening period (with incident 3 in the monthly questionnaire)

P = number of vacancies according to the directory

N’= number of supplementary vacancies used

H = number of rooms according to the directory

V = number of travellers checked in

VM = number of travellers checked in during the whole month

N = number of occupied vacancies (overnight stays)

NM = number of occupied vacancies (overnight stays) during the

whole month

B = number of occupied rooms

T = employed personnel

AC = percentage of employed personnel dedicated to

accommodation activities

ES = average stay

BD = number of occupied double rooms

BI = number of occupied single rooms

GP = level of occupancy by vacancies

GH = level of occupancy by rooms

D = number of days of the reference month (28, 29, 30, 31)



dm = number of days the establishment has been open during

the reference month

M = price of the room according to the different rates

A = percentage of implementation of the different rates

considering the total number of occupied rooms

I1 = percentage of establishments that have a website / web

page 16

I2 = percentage of establishments that use the Internet as a

means to contract their services

I3 = percentage of establishments that use the Internet to

advertise their establishment

I4 = percentage of occupied rooms booked using the Internet

THE SUB INDICES USED ARE:

I = establishment

j = province

K = category (5, 4, 3, 2, 1 gold: 3, 2 and 1 silver)

m = modality (professional situation, place of residence, month,

etc.)

t= rate: 1 (normal), 2(weekend), 3 (tour operator), 4

(companies), 5 (groups), 6 (others)



The following two groups of estimates will be obtained:

1.- Estimators using the week: these will only be used for

establishments with 1 and 2 gold stars, 1 and 2 silver stars and

non-comprehensive categories in Galicia, for the dissemination

and calculation of interannual rates.

2.- Estimators with monthly totals and with dm: calculated for all

provinces with establishments with 3, 4 and 5 gold stars and

comprehensive strata in



Validity of Data

KM Journey of SINGHAL Information Technology Ltd.

Implementation of KM initiatives is not an easy task at SINGHAL

Ltd. It is a long journey in order to innovate faster, speed up

response to workplace demands, customer demands that leads to

increased productivity and workforce competence.

At SINGHAL knowledge sharing is not only a simple exchange of

information but it affects relationships and helps in establishing a

culture of sharing and learning from each other. At SINGHAL KM

implementation process starts with three phases:

Pre-implementation Phase: This is an early phase in which

the company diagnoses the areas for implementing content

specification ( a way to manage documents and web content);

areas for discussion are:

Cultural Analysis for Accepting change

Level of Knowledge examination among employees,

units and different departments

Identification of most attractive users for collaboration

capabilities

Identification of gaps in existing infrastructure

Analysis of various available and existing technologies.



Implementation Phase: Under this stage many portal

systems incorporate content and document management,

providing a way to manage documents and web content. It can

include versioning, security, metadata searching and a host of

other features while implementing all these contents, the

organization work together in a number of areas.

It is all about providing the infrastructure of software and

collaboration of information/portals which enable employees to

work together more effectively. Things which have to be

remembered during implementation phase are:

Awareness creation and brand building

Knowledge architecture

Defining and establishing processes for KM

Designing and setting up the KM Portal

2.3. Post-Implementation Phase: After implementation

of KM programme at SINGHAL a unique and collaborative

environment is found where collaboration technology is

integrated for the information to be gathered, organized,

classified , accessed, presented and distributed. After

implementation of KM process a unified system is



developed which not only improves project quality but

also centralizes knowledge store house for workers.

SINGHAL technologies is a global information technology

company offering world-class solutions to its customers. The

company launched a corporate knowledge strategy in September

2000. Earlier, it had started KM initiatives in isolated pockets-

mainly for collaboration, re-use and knowledge sharing in smaller

groups within the business units or projects teams. But in current

scenario the process of creating, storing and sharing information

has continued to grow in the company.

SINGHAL started a Knowledge Net (KNET), a Web portal solution

using Microsoft® Windows® SharePoint® Services and Microsoft

Office SharePoint, Portal Server, unique share point for its

document repository, to collate the knowledge gained by its

employees so that other employees could access this information

easily.

Company provides a unified repository of various knowledge

artifacts to every department. Another goal is to make it easy to

search for and find people with the right knowledge and domain

expertise. KNET became an easy-to-access repository for all

documents, processes and knowledge artifacts generated by

company employees. The portal has helped to reduce time-to-



market, increase efficiency, and improve collaboration among

employees.

SINGHAL technologies use KNET portal to create, store and share

knowledge. KNET connects people to people, people to content,

and people to the organization through the collaboration of

individuals, workgroups, and business lines. Effective knowledge

management system provides new and innovative processes daily

and weekly that make the employees and the organization

continuously learning and innovative.

KNET is made up of five sub portals and together, these portals

are the repositories for all forms of SINGHAL content. Employees

have two responsibilities toward KNET: use and contribute: these

are

2.3.1. DocKNet : DocKNet is a comprehensive document portal

that contains knowledge artifacts relevant to all employees.

DocKNet pertains to one of the most convenient ways to

communicate containing general and technical information that is

accessible to all employees.

2.3.2. KoNnEcT: KoNnEcT is a directory of employees who are

experts in various technologies. If someone needs the services of



an expert in any technology one can go to KoNnEcT, find an

expert and post a query to that person. If an expert isn’t found,

the query is sent in an email message to the entire company.

Replies are captured in a database for future reference.

2.3.3. KNetworks: KNetworks are online discussion forums

designed to enable employees to discuss or exchange information

on a particular project or technology. Any employee can start a

new query or participate in existing discussions.

2.3.4. Reusable Components: Reusable Components is a high-

value portal, which helps users save a significant amount of time

in all aspects of work. Its mission is to help “stop reinventing the

wheel.” Within this portal, employees can find items such as

ready-to-use templates, best practices, reusable code, tools, and

methodologies. The goal of this portal is to minimize time-to

market and create corresponding cost savings to their clients.

2.3.5. War Rooms: These virtual workplaces are used for time-

bound and task-oriented activities like proposal preparation,

framework conceptualization etc. It is an invitation-only area and

is used for large-scale projects.



3. Knowledge Management as a Strategy

SINGHAL Ltd. launched a corporate knowledge strategy in

September 2000 which enabled individuals, teams and entire

organizations to collectively and systematically capture, store,

create, share and apply knowledge to better achieve their

objectives. One of the main drivers behind an organization-wide

knowledge strategy was that SINGHAL Ltd. grew rapidly

During its growth period company realized to fulfil the

requirements of their project customers demanding shorter time

and more information to complete their projects effectively.

Through information and knowledge, employees can easily avail

much information on KNET and their sub portals which enable

employees to deliver accurate information to their clients and in

turn deliver cost savings projects to them. Company identified

some key drivers for KM and business excellence. These are:

3.1. Organizational values and culture:



Since its inception, SINGHAL, with its open culture, has believed

in cultivating knowledge and expanding its business. Therefore,

it has become all the more critical to get knowledge intensive and

implement an enterprise wide KM system.

SINGHAL has evolved a framework in accordance with its needs

to achieve its business vision. It has been designed to build on

the existing efforts in the organization and enhance the culture of

knowledge sharing and utilization of the most important requisite

to build and sustain a KM system, is culture and organizational

values. It also requires a strong leadership to bring in cultural

changes, set the right direction, and continuously monitor

progress. At SINGHAL Ltd. organizational values and culture help

in building a competency based knowledge driven organization

which further helps in creating new business opportunities.

The company has three main drivers for knowledge management

framework. First is learning (people build their competency using

a mix of tools and processes like E-learning, competency

assessment and competency development), second is ‘KEEP’

(knowledge extraction, enhancement and practice). It has four

pillars taxonomy (a uniform structure through which knowledge



can be stored and accessed) IT enablers, practice based offering

and knowledge channels. Third and last driver is CARE

(Competency Augmentation through Research and Excellence)

through which the company leverages expertise knowledge to

build up the organization for innovative products and services.

1.2. KM vision and strategy

“To be an organization where knowledge capturing and sharing is

the way we work, offering customers speed-to-deploy as well as

innovative products and services focused on their needs and

offering employees an environment of continuous learning and

productivity improvements.”

At SINGHAL KM vision is broad and consists of 50 knowledge

managers and knowledge executives who help in developing

knowledge management process. These executives and managers

build a KM team to capture the tacit knowledge of employees for

bringing improvement in every field of the organization. This KM

team provides a platform for the employees to learn from the

explicit knowledge while developing a culture of sharing

knowledge.



The Company has following three pillars for KM strategy:

1. Infrastructure (includes technologies, tools and applications).

2. Business Processes (through which the knowledge life cycle

is managed).

3. Knowledge management Team (consist of knowledge

managers, executives and knowledge workers including

subject matter experts and authors, editors, reviewers and

users).

This KM strategy at SINGHAL Ltd. encompasses best practices for

human resource development and organizational development.

As per the opinion of the company managers; “Our first action is

engagement, getting people to work on a project and derive a

steady flow of knowledge from it. Secondly, we look at our

effectiveness - are we using the knowledge and avoiding past

mistakes. Finally, we distil this knowledge and use it as an edge

for SINGHAL Technologies.”

They believe that the company is just moving into the third stage

and has not yet achieved the full benefits that this edge will

provide. Moving aggressively to excel in product quality, business

processes and staff development, SINGHAL Technologies has



established a comprehensive and effective knowledge

management program and begins to share its knowledge

management expertise with clients who want to develop and

benefit from their own knowledge management programs.

This unified framework has helped build a cohesive knowledge

base across the company and accessible to the entire user

community in SINGHAL Ltd.

The company has started offering its collaboration and knowledge

management solutions and expertise to global corporate

enterprises by providing end-to-end collaboration and knowledge

management services including KM application development for

knowledge portals, expertise management systems, knowledge

repositories and executive dashboards through a unique blend of

domain knowledge, technology expertise and process excellence.

4. KM Measurements:

SINGHAL KM framework continuously ensures the feedback of

results into the system and allows system to focus on experience

of user’s quality. For KM measurements, the company has four

indices as KM contribution index, KM user’s index, engagement

index and usage index. The entire indices collectively measure the

number of users, level of usage, number of unique users as well

as monitor the effectiveness of the whole programme.



SINGHAL Ltd. has received Information Today’s KM World-KM

Reality Award. This award recognizes SINGHAL efforts in building

and maintaining a successful corporate-wide knowledge

management programme in 2012. Besides, SINGHAL Ltd. has

also gained good recognition for its KM initiatives in various

external communities like IIM Bangalore and presented ideas in

national and international conferences.

CONCLUSION

SINGHAL identified the key business drivers for implementing KM

tools and technologies which are the necessary to capture and

leverage employees’ knowledge. Successful KM system increases

the productivity and sustainability of the company while

developing global knowledge sharing networks and relations.

SINGHAL technologies provides effective creativity and innovation

promise for sustainability. This case has explored the importance

of the cultural and structural dimensions (taxonomy, IT enablers,

CARE (Competency Augmentation through Research and

Excellence) etc. for leveraging expertise knowledge to build up

innovative products and services.



This case identification of the KM initiatives with respect to KM

practices such as content, support and collaboration and

effectiveness are the critical success factors of KM practices. In

today’s scenario, the organizations are required to manage their

knowledge well. Current organizations require more skillful and

knowledgeable manpower; this requires KM at the grassroots to

manage organizational knowledge resources. This case study has

given some worthy thoughts of how organizations should manage

the competitive knowledge to ensure organizational effectiveness.

WORK DONE

Project Preparation consists of all the work necessary to ensure

that a proposed project is feasible and appropriate and that it can

be successfully implemented. The process ensures the

identification and elimination of key risks at the earliest possible

time and maximizes development opportunities by ensuring that

projects are well conceptualized.

Preparation work is social, technical and financial in nature.

Typical preparation activities include: the identification of funding

sources, needs assessments, community and stakeholder



consultations, socio-economic studies, the development of project

concepts, assessments of site suitability (e.g. topography,

geotechnical and environmental conditions, bulk services), land

availability negotiations and agreements, participative planning,

preliminary design, estimates for capital and operational costs

and applications to funders or implementation partners.

Most of this work takes place during the pre-feasibility and

feasibility phases. Please also refer to the project preparation

cycle diagram which illustrates more fully PPT’s systematic

approach to project preparation.

Systematic and effective Project Preparation is important for a

range of reasons outlined below:

Project risks are managed and controlled.

Scarce implementation resources (e.g. capital funding) are

optimally utilized and are only allocated to viable projects.

Projects are well conceptualized and planned.

Development is appropriately tailored to local needs and is

integrated in nature.

Projects are supported by the key stakeholders (including

the community, municipality, funders and implementation

partners).



Government and other funders can predict and therefore

manage their cash flows by enhancing the predictability of

project outcomes and timeframes for implementation.

Overnight stays or occupied vacancies

An overnight stay or occupied vacancy is understood to be each

night that a traveller stays in the establishment. As occurs with

travellers, overnight stays are broken down according to place of

residence.



Chapter 5- Data Analysis and Interpretation.

The most striking feature of the demand for hotel

accommodation is its temporal variability. In an industry

characterised by high risk capital investment and heavy fixed

costs in property, facilities, staff and equipment, this temporal

variability produces a range of problems in resource usage and

management, and results in a continuing battle to minimise its

impact on the efficiency and profitability of hotel operations

(Buttle, 1986; Danielson, 1987; O'Neill and Orr, 1996).



In this battle an understanding of the nature of the temporal

fluctuations in demand in different market segments, and their

differential impact on the occupancy performance of IT Industry,

are prerequisites for the development of effective management

and marketing responses. Two principal temporal patterns of

demand are manifest in hotel occupancy data; the seasonal

pattern over the course of the year, and the within-week pattern

over the course the week. Together, they constitute the two

``fundamental frequencies'' of demand for hotel accommodation,

and and for tourism in general.

The causes and characteristics of seasonality in tourism have

been thoroughly explored, and broad strategies to reduce its

impact have been proposed (BarOn, 1975; Witt et al., 1991;

McEniff, 1992). In comparison, within-week fluctuations have

received relatively little attention.

Empirical studies of hotel occupancy have usually focused on

the seasonal variation in hotel occupancy levels, with within-week

variations being ``filtered'' from the analysis by aggregating

occupancy data into monthly occupancy rates.



Chapter 6- Recommendations and Conclusion.

The major objective of the survey was to establish if there

is a shared need for a National Property Index. Although it is

evident from those interviewed that some form of performance

measure and analysis takes place and information gathered from

various sources is reliable and adequate, the need for a property

index received overwhelming acceptance. Accordingly we can

draw the following specific conclusions:

There is a shared need for a property index. The Index should

not only cover the entire country but also have regional and

sector specific indices.

The property market is well diversified with properties types

including Commercial, Residential, Industrial, Agricultural and

Recreational.

Support in the development of the Index is evident. This is

mainly in the form of providing information, technical support

and subscriptions. Donors or sponsors are however lacking.



Some form of performance measurement and analysis takes

place but the methods used are traditional and vary from one

individual/organization to the next.

The information used to carry out performance measurement is

from diverse sources and there is no one common and reliable

source.

The preferred method to publish the index is through Newsletter

in both hard copy and in electronic format.

There is need for additional services in the form of production

real estate research reports, customized portfolio analysis and

comparisons between other types of investments.

Recommendations

From the conclusions we would like to make the following

recommendations:

That a National Property Index be developed. The approach to

be adopted is participatory with each identified stakeholder being

given an opportunity to contribute in a way they are comfortable

with.



Efforts be made to look for sponsors or organizations (Investors)

that will provide seed money to start the development process.

The index is a sustainable venture, which will be able to incur

limited costs in terms of data availability and collection, generate

income from subscriptions and also other customized services.

A survey should be carried out in the other provinces to establish

whether the investors and property consultants located in those

areas have a similar need

Explore ways of extending the index to cover the East African

Countries.

There is need to carry out an awareness campaign among

property owners and property consultants to share information

for the purpose of research. Secondly creating awareness

through a marketing campaign will have a direct positive impact

on the sustainability of the index as it is likely to attract more

subscribers. However where information is shared, there must be

an assurance of confidentiality.



The limitations and delimitations sections of your research

proposal describe situations and circumstances that may affect or

restrict your methods and analysis of research data.

Limitations are influences that the researcher cannot

control. They are the shortcomings, conditions or influences

that cannot be controlled by the researcher that place restrictions

on your methodology and conclusions. Any limitations that might

influence the results should be mentioned.

When considering what limitations there might be in your

investigation, be thorough. Consider all of the following:

Occupacy Rates of IT Industry

The nature of self-reporting is independent.

The instruments I utilized were average calculation method.

The sample collected were used to aggregate the total of

occupancy rate of a hotel. The same was also used for the

average calculation purpose.

Time constraints.



In qualitative research certain limitations might mean

that the findings cannot be generalized to the larger population.

This is especially true when the definition of the population is

broad (ex: elderly women)

Delimitations are choices made by the researcher which

should be mentioned. They describe the boundaries that you

have set for the study. This is the place to explain:

The things that you are not doing (and why you have chosen not

to do them).

The literature you will not review.

The population you are not studying.

The methodological procedures you will not use.

Limit your delimitations to the things that a reader might

reasonably expect you to do but that you, for clearly explained

reasons, have decided not to do.

Delimitations define the parameters of the investigation. In

educational research the delimitations will frequently deal with

such items as population/sample, treatment(s), setting, and

instrumentation.



As you complete the limitations and delimitations

sections on your planning guide, you may want to go back to the

Sample Proposals page of this web site, as well as your

Reflection: Reviewing Sample Proposals journal for ideas, before

you begin writing your own.



Chapter 7- Limitations of the Study

The most obvious limitation of the study is its cross-sectional

design. Therefore, firm conclusions about the directions of

causality implied in the model cannot be drawn. Thus,

relationships among variables must be interpreted with caution.

Interpretations of models using structural equation modelling are

also not proof of causality. True causal inferences can only be

drawn testing models using longitudinal data. This is especially

important for a subject like online occupancy behavior that is not

static but is a developmental process that changes over time.

Since only self-report measures were used, common-method

variance and response consistency effects may have biased the

observed relationships. However, perceptions of usefulness and

ease of use are not objective measures. Because perceptions are

necessarily self-reported, such measures are the most effective at

measuring these cognitions. Therefore, this is an unavoidable

criticism of the study of online occupancy behavior.

The data collection was confined to only five relatively large

cities of India since constraints were faced during data collection.

The replication of the study at different regions of India would

enable better generalizability of the findings of the study. At the



126 same time data collection during real occupancy experience

could have elicited better responses improving findings.

The sample for the present study comprised of 509 shoppers

of Electronic Gadgets and Home Appliances. This sample is only a

very small proportion of the entire population of retail shoppers in

the country. Therefore, research studies with much larger sample

size would be required to ensure appropriate generalization of the

findings of the study.

The study was limited to individual occupancy behavior.

India being a collectivistic country, most of the occupancy

happens in a Hotel set up. Consideration of Hotel occupancy

behavior might have revealed interesting findings.

The construct of Occupancy orientations was measured

through an instrument developed by a researcher in other

country. Though the instrument shows scientific reliability and

validity, yet this is the first study for which it has been adapted in

India and more studies are required before it is established as an

acceptable tool for exploring Occupancy orientations.

The present study has relied largely on quantitative

methodology of data collection (though qualitative methodology

was used to a limited extent) and is therefore restrictive.



Therefore, more of qualitative methodology of data

collection should be undertaken in future to provide wider

perspective to the present study. For instance, the research

design can employ case study methodology or content analysis to

provide a holistic picture to the given subject.

This study explored Perceived Usefulness and Perceived

Ease of Use as antecedents of Attitude towards using online

occupancy. The inherent assumption was that Perceived

Usefulness and Perceived Ease of Use gets derived from a

person’s beliefs and values. A more rigorous research design

should consider Behavioral, Normative and Control



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