AIMS Journal of Research

AIMS INSTITUTESPeenya, Bangalore

ISSN 2321 - 8487

Volume 10, Issue 2, September 2015

AIMS Journal of Research

A PREMIER INSTITUTE FOR HIGHER EDUCATION IN INDIA

7 8 94 5 6

Embedding UniqueIdentification in IoT

A Study on Work Life Balance Practices of Women Employees for Quality Work Force in Selected Service Sectors in Bangalore

Consumers' Buying Behaviour Towards Online Shopping - A Case Study Of Snapdeal.Com Users In Bangalore City

Strategies adopted for work life balance among male employees working inIT sector

Analyzing Employee Engagement and Motivation Programmes for Work Life Balance: A Case Study in Oracle India's Software Division

An Empirical Study on the Solid Waste Management Practices of and ChallengesFaced by PopularRestaurants in Bangalore

Arun Mudhol Thriveni Kumari, K

Dr. Karunakara Reddy, B.A.,Aravinda Reddy, M. N., Bhagyalakshmi, M

Dr. Padmaja, P.V., Suma, T.S., Kamala, S

Dr. Rajdeep, K. Manwani., Prof. Paramesha

Jayashree, T. S.,Vijayalakshmi Rao

1Individuals Personality �Multiple Affects -Gender Differentiation!?

Vijay Bhasker, V., Lakshmi, D

2A study on E- commerce inYemeni Organizations -an Empirical Study on theYemeni Organization

Maged kassem Al-sayani 3

Students' Attitude towardsCommerce Education withSpecial Reference toCommerce Students ofTumkur University

Dr. Paramashivaiah, P., Dr. Suresh, B.K., Jahnavi

10Case Study: Disingenuous Corporate Activism

Dr. Siddaiah, T

AIMSJournal of Research

Dr. Kiran Reddy - Chairperson (Founder & CEO) AIMS Institutes

Dr. Sheri Kurian - Member (Registrar, AIMS Institutes)

Prof. Jyothirmayee - Member(Director, ACSD, AIMSIHE)

Dr. Anupama - Member(Director, Dept. of Management Studies, AIMSIHE)

Prof. Jayashree Nair - Member(Dean, IT Programmes, AIMSIHE)

Ms. Anagha Reddy - Member(Director, Secondary Education, AIMS Institutes)

Dr. Chitra Das Gupta(Dept. of Languages, AIMSIHE)

Dr. Annapoorna(Prog. Manager, MTA, AIMSIHE)

Dr.R.Jayaprakash Reddy - Member Secretary(Director, ACR, AIMSIHE)

Editorial Board

Dr. Kiran Reddy, Founder & CEOAIMS Institutes

st st1 Cross, 1 Stage, Peenya,B angalore – 560 058E mail: [email protected]

Editor-in-Chief

ISSN 2321 – 8487 Volume 10, Issue 2, September 2015

Editorial support

Prof. M. Bhagyalakshmi (Sr. Manager, ACR)

Administrative Support

Sri M. Gopal Reddy, Director (AIMS Institutes)

Editorial Reviewers

AIMS School of Business

Prof. Vijay Bhasker Velury

Dr. Suman Pathak

Dr. Somanath V

Dr. R. Jayaprakash Reddy

Publisher

ACR, AIMSIHE

Frequency

Bi-Annual

Cover Design

Mr. Sajjad Shah (AIMS Institutes)


Volume 10, Issue 2

September, 2015

Editor-in-Chief

Dr. Kiran Reddy


About ACR

Aims Journal of Research is a bi-annual journal brought out by the AIMS Centre for Research (ACR) since its inception i.e. 2005. The journal is published in March and September every year. ACR is one of the vibrant focused centers of AIMS Institute of Higher Education (AIMSIHE). To promote research culture and to encourage high quality research activities amongst the faculty and students' fraternity are among the major objectives of ACR. The journal is addressed to corporate, researchers, faculty in the departments of Management, Commerce, Information Technology and Humanities. Thus it is a multidisciplinary and aims at providing a platform to research enthusiasts and publish high-quality Academic Papers, Reflective Practices, Case Studies and Book Reviews.

Research Review Committee

Dr. Kiran Reddy- Chairperson (Founder & CEO) AIMS Institutes

Dr. Sheri Kurian – Member (Registrar, AIMSIHE)

Prof. Jyothirmayee – Member (Director, ACSD, AIMSIHE)

Prof.Jayashree Nair – Member (Dean, IT Programmes, AIMSIHE)

Dr. Suman Pathak� (Director, AEEC, AIMSIHE)

Dr. Somanath� (Director, ACC, AIMSIHE)

Dr.R.Jayaprakash Reddy – Member Secretary (Director, ACR, AIMSIHE)

© 2015 AIMS Centre for Research, AIMS Institutes, Peenya, Bangalore – 560 058.

Views expressed in the papers are those of respective author(s) neither AIMS Journal of Research nor ACR, AIMSIHE, Peenya, Bangalore is responsible. Unless authorized, no part of the material published in the journal may be reproduced or stored in retrieval system or used for commercial and other purposes.

Research Advisory Committee

Dr. Kiran Reddy - Chairperson (Founder & CEO) AIMS Institutes

Prof. Maneesh Reddy, Member (Director, Strategic Planning, AIMS

Institutes)

Dr. T.Siddaiah - Member, (Professor of Management, AIMSIHE) Dr. Anjula Gurtoo - Member (Department of Management Studies,

Indian Institute of Science, Bangalore)

Dr. D.Anand – Member (Department of Management Studies,

University of Mysore, Mysore)

Dr. Indira – Member (Department of Sociology, University of

Mysore, Mysore)

Prof. Sandhya Sastry – Member (University of Bedfordshire, UK)

Dr. Kavitha Desai – Member

Dr. Sheri Kurian – Member (Registrar, AIMS Institutes)

Prof. Jyothirmayee – Member (Director, ACSD, AIMSIHE)

Prof. Ramesh Raj Ayer – Member (Director, ACIL, AIMSIHE)

Dr.R.Jayaprakash Reddy, Member Secretary (Director, ACR, AIMSIHE)


CONTENTS

Editorial Dr. Kiran Reddy

Individuals Personality � Multiple Affects - Gender Differentiation!?Vijay Bhasker, V., Lakshmi, D

A study on E- commerce in Yemeni Organizations - an Empirical Study on the Yemeni Organization Maged kassem Al-sayani

Students' Attitude towards Commerce Education with Special Reference to Commerce Students of Tumkur UniversityDr. Paramashivaiah, P., Dr. Suresh, B.K., Jahnavi

Embedding Unique Identification in IoTArun Mudhol

A Study on Work Life Balance Practices of Women Employees for Quality Work Force in Selected Service Sectors in Bangalore Thriveni Kumari, K

Consumers' Buying Behaviour Towards Online Shopping - A Case Study Of Snapdeal.Com Users In Bangalore CityDr. Karunakara Reddy, B.A., Aravinda Reddy, M. N., Bhagyalakshmi, M

Strategies adopted for work life balance among male employees working in IT sectorDr. Padmaja, P.V., Suma, T.S., Kamala, S Analyzing Employee Engagement and Motivation Programmes for Work Life Balance: A Case Study in Oracle India's Software DivisionDr. Rajdeep, K. Manwani., Paramesha

An Empirical Study on the Solid Waste Management Practices of and Challenges Faced by Popular Restaurants in Bangalore Jayashree, T. S., Vijayalakshmi Rao

Case Study:Disingenuous Corporate ActivismDr. Siddaiah, T

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Editorial


The second issue of tenth volume of our AIMS Institutes Research Journal is releasing with research papers in the areas of Management, Commerce and Humanities and a case study on Disingenuous Corporate Activism. The academics and research are given equal importance in our institutes. We followed the blind peer review process for selection of papers for publication.

Vijay Bhasker and Lakshmi in their paper, Individuals Personality – Multiple Affects - Gender Differentiation!?, extended their study b e yo n d f i ve f a c t o r ( E x t r ove r s i o n , N e u r o t i c i s m , C o n s c i e n t i o u s n e s s , Agreeableness, Openness to experience) model (FFM), elaborating each factor more concretely into ten; 5 + 5 sub-items resulted in 32 possible combinations of Personality Traits. They have covered 36 colleges spread across south India and collected data from 1145 students. They have concluded that assessing (absolutely/concretely) the human personality with its origination and its reflexes in attitude and behaviour is still void.

Maged kassem Al-sayani's paper, A study on E- commerce in Yemeni Organizations - an Empirical Study on the Yemeni Organization, aimed at recognizing the level of the Yemeni industrial organizations' awareness of e-commerce. Besides, it attempts to reveal the problems and difficulties that encounter the e- commerce and provide suggestions that help in developing its application in different organizations. . The study covers twenty-five Yemeni industrial organizations.

Dr. Paramashivaiah, Dr. Suresh, and Jahnavi in their paper, Students' Attitude towards Commerce Education with Special Reference to Commerce Students of Tumkur University, made an attempt to know the attitude of students towards commerce education in Tumkur University with special reference to B.Com and BBM students. One important feature of their study is that the number of girl students in commerce is on increase in absolute and relative terms both at M.Com and B.Com levels.

Arun Mudhol, in his paper, Embedding Unique Identification in IoT, made an attempt to study and analyze as to what would happen if UID is embedded or transplanted within the human system and what impact it would have on the sectors of Education and Health which are termed as the “Safety Nets”. He observed that IoT monitoring technology can create the most value by bringing care to underserved areas. A system wherein a Unique identification system like Aadhaar can bring about the necessary changes and have a wide ranging impact on the future of education and health sectors in India.

Thriveni Kumari, through her paper, A Study on Work Life Balance Practices of Women Employees for Quality Work Force in Selected Service Sectors in Bangalore, found that there is significance between work life balances of women employees in selected sectors.

Dr. Karunakara Reddy, Aravinda Reddy, and Bhagyalakshmi, in their paper, Consumers' Buying Behaviour Towards Online Shopping - A Case Study of Snapdeal.Com Users in Bangalore City, observed that the future of e-tailers in India looks very bright. E-tailers give the best way to save money and time through purchasing online within the range of budget. E-tailers offer some of the best prices and completely hassle-free shopping experience.

Dr.Padmaja, Suma, and Kamala done a descriptive study in their paper, Strategies adopted for work life balance among male employees working in IT sector, on male professionals chosen from different IT companies around the city of Bangalore. They concluded that Work-Life Balance is not a problem to be solved. It is an ongoing issue to be managed.

Dr. Rajdeep, Manwani, and Paramesha, in their paper, Analyzing Employee Engagement and Motivation Programmes for Work Life Balance: A Case Study in Oracle India's Software Division, focused on how employee engagement is an antecedent of job involvement and what should a company do to make the employees engaged. The study indicates that the

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the existing motivation programs have proved effective and there is room for new programs to be adopted. Employees are in favour of new programs and believe that can motivate them to perform better.

Jayashree, and Vijayalakshmi Rao, in their study, An Empirical Study on the Solid Waste Management Practices of and Challenges Faced by Popular Restaurants in Bangalore, identified that pproactive measures in waste management have been found to be very limited. Perceived challenges in solid waste management by restaurant business management are quite limited at the moment but not insignificant. They also found that there is an urgent requirement in translating waste management initiatives in monetar y terms and assessing the cost implications to establish their sustainability in the long run.

Dr. Siddaiah developed a case titled, Disingenuous Corporate Activism, on the two Sahara India Pariwar companies, viz., Sahara India Real Estate Corporation Limited (SIRECL) and Sahara Housing Investment Corporation Limited (SHICL) on their issue of Fully Convertible Debentures (OFCDs) on private placement basis to friends, associates, group companies, workers/employees and other individuals who are associated/affiliated or connected in any manner with Sahara India Pariwar.

Dr. Kerron G. Reddy, Editor-in-ChiefAIMS Journal of ResearchE-mail: [email protected]

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*Associate. Professor, Department of Management Studies, Behavioural Analyst & NLP Practitioner

** Associate Professor, Department of Information Technology,

AIMS Institute of Higher Education, Bangalore

Vijay Bhasker,V*., Lakshmi, D**

KEY WORDSBIG Five personality; Five Factor Model (FFM);Behavioural and Cognitive Model; Cognitive Psychology; Personality; Individual Differences

Abstract:

Personality of individuals displaying in attitudes and behaviours is always a point to ponder. This led to many, many debates, discussions and discoveries since BC times. The root of all the developments starts from Hippocrates who started with four temperaments Sanguine,

th th thCholeric, Melancholic and Phlegmatic. In the 18 , 19 , 20 century lot of research (extension) study taken place by many Psychologists in this domain. Many of these developments are based on BIG five Personality traits on five factor model (FFM) and latest one, which is widely being applied is NEO-PI-R (five factor theory) developed by Costa and McCrae's. The findings on Personality based on BIG Five is more of general in nature and limited to Extroversion, Neuroticism, Conscientiousness, Agreeableness, Openness to experience. This research paper is extended beyond this five factor model (FFM), elaborating each factor more concretely into ten; 5 + 5 sub-items resulted in 32 possible combinations of Personality Traits. To collect primary data (questionnaire design based on Cognitive Psychology) 36 colleges covered spread across

South India and completed questionnaire collected from 1145 students to be concrete in concluding; computer software is applied in processing data. Finally it has been analysed and accordingly both the null hypotheses were tested leading to result indicating acceptance, but in Cognitive Psychology testing and concluding with numerical data, either parametric or non-parametric, cannot be conclusive at any point of time.

Introduction

All human beings are common in nature; sharing a common humanity, like bodies, mind and thoughts & feelings. In other way, every individual is completely different and unique, applicable to identical twins too; outwardly identical but diverse reaction to given situations. The reason behind the differentiation of an individual with any other individual caused by 6000 DNA mutations and 100 billion neurons in the brain makes them different in the intellectual capacity and emotional behaviour. Apart from having different physical traits, like, height, weight, hair, & complexion in human beings, likewise, they also differ in mental and behavioural traits.

Personality can be defined in terms of individual differences in thinking feeling and acting. It is construed that Personality (P) is the resultant of Thinking (T), Learning (L), Intelligence (I) and knowledge (K); mathematical representation as a

mapping function as follows:

Personality (P) is the function of {T, L, I, K, (X)} or P = f {T, L, I, K, (X)} where,P – Outcome Result (influenced by)T – Set of attributes associated with cognitive thinkingL – Set of attributes impacting in learningI – Effects of multiple intelligencesK – Effects of knowledge competencies, and(X) – Cartesian product of all the attributes in various combinations

In another form, given in figure 1, Genetics and Learning & Experiences (over the growth in life) influences Cognitive Structure. This Cognitive thinkingin tandem with Environment & Society influences the Personality of an individual; leading to shaping Attitudes and Behaviour Patterns


Individuals Personality � Multiple Affects - Gender Differentiation!?

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Figure 1 -- Personality build-up

Literature ReviewFrom the era of human existence from BC time period there are many literatures on personality formation (some proven testing in a structured way&overlapping) and reviewed by various psychologists redefining many-a-times over the last few centuries; this literature review restricts to only few of them beginning with Greek period, w h i c h i s t h e b a s e i n d e f i n i n g h u m a n temperaments over thousands of years.

In ancient times, Hippocrates (460 - 370 BC), classified personality into four temperaments

a) Sanguine – people this temperament tend to be lively, sociable, carefree, talkative, outgoing, pleasure-seeking and sometimes warm-hearted and optimistic, can make easily friends, be imaginative and artistic; this personalities may struggle moving with their tasks all the way through b) Choleric – individuals tend to be egocentric and extroverted, may be excitable, impulsive and restless. They can be ambitious, strong-willed and like to be in charge; tend to be task oriented and focus on getting job done efficiently with motto “do it now” c) Melancholic – appear serious, introverted, cautious or even suspicious and may be focused and conscientious; susceptible to depression and moodiness. They often prefer to do things themselves, both to meet their own standards and because they are not inherently sociable d) Phlegmatic–This temperament may be inward and private, thoughtful, reasonable, calm, patient, caring and tolerant; tend to have a rich inner life, seek a quiet peaceful atmosphere and be content with themselves. People of this temperament may

appear somewhat ponderous or clumsy, speech tends to be slow or appear hesitant.

Immanuel Kant (1724–1804), Rudolf Steiner (1861–1925), Alfred Adler (1879–1937), Erich Adickes (1866–1925), Eduard Spranger (1914), Ernst Kretschmer (1920), and Erich Fromm (1947) all theorized on the four temperaments (with different names) and greatly shaped our modern theories of temperament. Hans Eysenck (1916–1997) was one of the first psychologists to analyze personality differences using a psycho-statistical method (factor analysis), and his research led him to believe that temperament is biologically based. The factors he proposed in his book Dimens ions o f Per sona l i ty were Neuroticism (N) which was the tendency to experience negative emotions, and the second was Extraversion (E) which was the tendency to enjoy positive events, especially social ones. By pairing the two dimensions, Eysenck noted how the results were similar to the four ancient temperaments.

Fundamental Inter personal Relat ions Orientation (FIRO) is a theory of interpersonal relations, introduced by William Schutz in 1958. This theory mainly explains the interpersonal underworld of a small group. The theory is based on the belief that when people get together in a group, there are three main interpersonal needs they are looking to obtain – affection/openness, control and inclusion. Schutz developed a measuring instrument that contains six scales of nine-item questions that he called FIRO-B. This technique was created to measure or control how group members feel when it comes to inclusion,

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control, and affection/openness or to be able to get feedback from people in a group.

Florence Littauer (1928), along with her husband, developed the personality profile system Personality Plus. She first began looking into personality groups as a way of trying to explain the differences in personality between herself and her husband. The Littauers based the system of Hippocrates's theory (Greek period) of the Four Temperaments. The system classifies the four personality groups of "Powerful Choleric", "Perfect Melancholy", "Popular Sanguine", and "Peaceful Phlegmatic". Unlike Hippocrates's system, Littauer stated that individuals could be made up of several personality types rather than to just be classified into one.

In psychology, the BIG Five personality traits are five broad domains or dimensions of personality that are used to describe human personality, the

. five-factor model (FFM) The five factors are Openness, Conscientiousness, Extraversion, Agreeableness, and Neuroticism. OCEAN is the acronym commonly used to refer to the five traits and beneath each global factor, a cluster of correlated and more specific primary factors are found.

The BIG-Five framework enjoys considerable support and has become the most widely used and extensively researched model of personality (John & Srivastava, 1999, and McCrae & Costa, 1999), although it has not been accepted universally (Block, 1995).

The BIG-Five framework is a hierarchical model of personality traits with five broad factors, which represent personality at the broadest level of abs t rac t ion. Each b ipo lar fac tor (e.g. , Extraversion vs. Introversion) summarizes several more specific facets (e.g., Sociability), which, in turn, subsume a large number of even more specific traits (e.g., talkative, outgoing). The BIG-Five framework suggests that most individual differences in human personality can be classified into five broad, empirically derived domains.

Several rating instruments have been developed to measure the BIG-Five dimensions. The most comprehensive instrument is Costa and McCrae's (1992) 240-item NEO Personality Inventory, Re v i s e d ( N E O - P I - R ) , w h i c h p e r m i t s measurement of the BIG-Five domains and six specific facets within each dimension. It takes

considerable time to complete, the NEO-PI-R is too lengthy for many research purposes and so a number of shorter instruments are commonly used. Three well-established and widely used instruments are the 44-item BIG-Five Inventory (BFI; Benet- Martınez& John, 1998; John & Srivastava, 1999), the 60-item NEO Five-Factor Inventory (NEO-FFI; Costa & McCrae, 1992), and Goldberg's instrument comprised of 100 trait descriptive adjectives (TDA; Goldberg, 1992). John & Srivastava (1999) have estimated that the BFI, NEO-FFI, and TDA take approximately 5, 15, and 15 min to complete, respectively. Recognizing the need for an even briefer measure of the BIG Five, Saucier (1994) developed a 40-item instrument derived from Goldberg's (1992) 100-item set.

Objective of the StudyWith the research literature review and extensive research on BIG-five Personality groups, it is construed that the personality trait influencing behavioural patterns in individual is transient (changes depending on situational factor for any age/gender group in a given situation and circumstances/environment) and never explicitly corroborated (more accurately) by any study. This research paper is primarily based on the BIG-five factor theory and develops more appropriate personality traits governing attitudes & behaviour in various situations or environments in various fields of engagement, in particular, influencing students. Also, to ascertain an approach to examine the gender differences in personality within the same group. If it is so, investigating the possible reasons governing.

HypothesisThe null hypotheses are indicated as follows:H -- Personality traits influencing attitude & O1

behaviour cannot be corroborated as the only unique to individual'sin all situationsH -- There is no gender difference in reaction O2

pattern in a given situation or circumstances at 5% level of significance

MethodologyReview of BIG-Five Personality Type Theory & New Model Construction The BIG-FivePersonality Types reflects a common pattern of five independent personality elements found by numerous personality researchers over the last fifty years;


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Factor 1: Extroversion, Factor 2: Neuroticism, Factor 3: Conscientiousness, Factor 4: Agreeableness, Factor 5: Openness to experience.

The prominence of personality traits influences variety of roles in exploring various associations with academic records. But, grouping with these five elements the personality types are very limited to identify more distinctly about an individual's behavior patterns; which are latent and drifts situation to situation in a given environment.

Hence, this research study is the extension to BIG-FivePersonality Typesand each element of BIG-Five model is featuring (extended) two personality types or archetypes (models or dimensions); indicated in Table 1. Each type will represent the opposite ends of the spectrum. One end of the spectrum comprises of S (Social), C (Calm), O ( O r ga n i z e d ) , A ( A c c o m m o d a t ive ) , I (Inquisitiveness) and the other end of the spectrum comprises of R (Reserved), L (Limbic), U (Unorganized), E (Ego Centric), N (Non-curious) -- abbreviated as SCOAI andRLUEN

Table 1 – Re-modeling of BIG 5 Personality Types

The combination of these ten (10) sub-elements the number of personality type may be increased based on the number of splits used in the spectrum of each sub-element. Use of single split towards each element having ten archetypes is portrayed in Tab le 2 . Hence, there a re 32 poss ib le combinations (of different personality traits) which are made out of extension toBIG five elements. Interplay of all the five elements constitutes each of the notations. In this research study, individual's personality type is expressed as one of the thirty two possible combinations of these attributes. For example, an 'SCOAI' would have a preference for Social, Calm, Organized, Accommodating and Inquisitive and 'RLUEN' for Reserved, Limbic, Unstructured, Ego-Centric and Non-Curious. A preference of one or the other category of a dimension may be mild or strong, varying attributes. Students with different type preferences (environment or audience is fixed) tend to respond differently to (variants of the situation), which depends on the nature on content, like, Theory, Logic/analysis, Practical, Problem solving.

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Table 2: BIG Five (5) Factors and Its Archetypes

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This re-constructed (extending the BIG-Five Personality) model has a combination of 32 p e r s o n a l i t y t y p e s e x t e n d i n g t h e applicability(double than the BIG -five 5 model) to have a more concrete idea about an individual 's personali ty – Cognit ive Psychology based – termed as 'SLOAN' model of BIG-five Personality. The Table 3 (SLOAN – model) indicates all the 32 types of personalities – with various possibility of combinations.

Table 3: SLOAN (Model) Personality Types

Quest ionnaire Constr uct ion/Design& Hypotheses testing methodsThe questionnaire design is based on Cognitive Psychology as Cognitive Psychology revolves around the notion that “if we want to know what makes students tick then we need to understand the internal processes of their mind” -- Cognition literally means “knowing”. Further to re-emphasize the questionnaire design adopted as Cognitive Psychology refers to the study of human mental processes and their role in

thinking, feeling, and behaving – mental activity – in a given environment or atmosphere.

Cognitive psychology focuses on the way humans process information, looking at how we treat information that comes in to the person (behavioural analyst - normally - call stimuli), and how this treatment leads to responses – indicated in figure 2. In other words, the research study conducted reflects in the variables that mediate between stimulus/input and response/output. Cognitive psychologists study internal processes including perception, attention, language, memory and thinking.

Figure 2: Behaviourist Model (Only study observable / external behaviour)

The questionnaire constructed (based on the above principle – Cognitive Model) contains 25 statements and selecting options based on Likert-scale method. This questionnaire of 7-scale developed with the principle of measuring attitudes (reflexes) by asking people to respond to a series of (reflective) statements about a situation, in terms of the extent, to which the respondents agree with.The seven (7) ranking scale adopted for each statement from one (1) to seven (7) point, where-in four (4) being balanced; Social & Reserved being bio-polar. The following is the statement no. 5 from the questionnaire construct as an example of the 25 designed for this study:

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This data is extended for testing the hypotheses by applying the Wilcoxon matching – pair method, to ascertain gender differentiation in personality (reflecting reactions) in the same environment or audience.

Sampling& Sampling Method The targeted population of this research study is taken from Engineering graduate students of southern region of India, namely, Tamil Nadu, Kerala & Pondicherry; participation of 36 colleges. Random (Convenience) sampling (Non - Probability) method is adopted covering all the 36 colleges.

Sample SizeMathematical principles named law of large numbers and the central limit theorem explains the phenomenon of large sample size and its implications towards precision estimation. This research estimates the unknown parameters and as it is intended to increase the precision rate a large sample size is taken (n=1145), subsequently paired for each personality type.

Limitations1. It is not practical to define personality of

an indiv idual exact ly as var ious influencing factors exists; situation to situation

2. The respondents filing the questionnaire in its perspective with concentration and imagination

3. Cognitive biases

Data Collection & Analysis

Data CollectionThe data collection method applied is mixed-mode survey Type has been adopted. The total number of questionnaire based statements gathered is 1145; the break-up of it is as follows:

1. Face-to-face • Typology of Survey – Point to contact• Use of Material – Paper based survey

using 'Printed Booklets’• Number of samples - 845 • Design and Planning Considerations -

• I m p l i c a t i o n s a n d a d d i t i o n a l considerations

Benefit: Easy CalculationNegative: Manual Data Entry – Time consuming and Costlier

2. Computer -assisted survey information collection

• Typology of E-Survey – Point to contact • Use of Software - Open Source

Educational Software – MOODLE• Number of samples - 300• Design and Planning considerations -

Digital Questionnaire design – Notepad is used for the design where-as GIFT Format is used to upload the file into LMS.

• I m p l i c a t i o n s a n d a d d i t i o n a l considerations

Benefit: Cost Effective Negative: Additional efforts were taken i n d e v e l o p i n g t h e s o f t w a r e t o consolidate the data and collation.

The software is developed in automating the calculations for each inventory into excel sheet using JDK 1.1 - HSSF Apache POI Packages and Net Beans 7.4 Integrated Development Environment.

In the analysis aspect, the following are the BIG five personality factors and sub-factors (SLOAN – Model of BIGFive) on traits with its reflection on personality (internal make-up), then possible of various types personalities (beyond 32) and discussing on the test results. Analysis& FindingsThe governing statements of the questionnaire for Factor 1 – Extroversion are (4, 9, 11, 19, and 24) and chosen option by the respondents needs to be added. If the total sum is more than or equal to 20 that particular respondent is Reserved person, but if, the total is less than 20, then that individual is Social.

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Table 4: Factors Scoring - Method

Personality Type is: F1_____ F2_____ F3_____ F4_____ F5_____

The following Table no.5 displays some of the students (34) scores on the five factors of the total students (n

= 1145) to explain on personality; based on questionnaire statements

Table 5: Students Personality – Governing Factors

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Null Hypotheses H01

The points for Student N10 are (6, 10, 15, 13, 9)

which gives a personality notation as SCOAI and

the same forStudent N11 (18, 17, 14, 13, 18) and

Student N12 (9, 14, 13, 15, 17) respectively. The

SCOAI personality defines, in general, as:

SCOAI

“Happy, level emotions, not easily discouraged,

optimistic, fearless, self-confident, non-hostile, trusting,

rarely sad, social, content, positive, knows where life is

going, socially skilled, not quiet around strangers, acts

comfortably with others, takes on responsibilities, likes

public speaking, not prone to worrying, not

apprehensive about new encounters, flexible, adapts

easily to new situations, not afraid to draw attention to

self, likes to lead, not bored while working, likes others,

hard to annoy, calm in crisis,does not

second guess self, not embarrassed easily, high energy

level, easy to understand, thinks before acting, strong

sense of purpose, likes crowds, interested in science, not

prone to jealousy, comfortable in unfamiliar situations,

fearless, not- sceptical, true to self in all circumstances,

highly motivated to succeed, decisive, easy to get to know,

narcissistic, driven by reason, physically fit, passionate

about bettering the world's condition, finishes most

things they start, not easily confused, willing to explain

things twice, thinks they are extraordinary”

The scoring for (S, C, O, A, I) the minimum

points governs the personality (as per this scoring

method) in majority occasions. The above

explanation (in italics) is in general categorizing

personality, but minimum points (for a factor)

mostly governs the attitude & behaviour patterns

and moving towards 20 point will be a balanced in

that factor, for N10 (6, 10, 15, 13, 9) as an example,

the minimum scoring is with factor 1 (Extrovert),

which indicates that she is primarily a 'Social'

individual and the following governs in Thinking,

Feeling and in Behaving - Indicative:

“spends more time in group activities than solitary

activities, does not like to go long without speaking to

anyone, loves night life activities and crowds, competes

for the spotlight, fits in most places, trusting, self-

expressive, not the best listener, action oriented, if they

had to live their life over again they would not change

much, dresses to stand out, does not fear getting involved

with others,have more desire than fear, enjoys

leadership,”

Ms.N10 is strongly 'Social' but sometimes

'organized' or 'dis-organized' , low in

'accommodative' and more than average relating

with 'Inquisitiveness' and being 'Calm'.

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On the basis of scoring, Ms.N11is balanced in

'Inquisitiveness' and in 'Social', where-

asMs.N12Priya is low in 'Organizing'but little

balanced in 'Accommodating'.

In Cognitive Psychology domain Parametric or

non-parametric tests are not available in testing

(reject or accept) hypothesis as it cannot be based

on numerical values; justified with an example in

the second null hypothesis testing. Hence, based

on the primary (physical) data, that is, despite of

being the same type of personality'SCOAI', they

are differing in many angles with respect to its

intensity on traits, hence it can be concluded that

null hypothesis is accepted, that is, H -- O1

Personality traits influencing attitude & behaviour

cannot be corroborated as the only unique to

individual in all situations.

Null Hypotheses H02

The Table no.6 displays various Personality traits

of 1145 students across the survey in data

collection. On close observation… in few traits

the difference is marginal and in some wide.


Table 6: Students (1145) Personality Traits

The Wilcoxon matched-pair test is a non-parametric test designed to evaluate the difference between two treatments or conditions where the samples are correlated.

Explanation of resultsThe calculation part is given for both a W-value and Z-value. If the size of N is at

least 20, then the distribution of the Wilcoxon W statistic tends to form a normal distribution. This indicates the Z-value can be applied to evaluate this hypothesis. If the size of Nis low, and particularly if it is below 25, then the W-value (from the table) is applied to evaluate the hypothesis.

12


Table 7: Wilcoxon Matched-pair test

13


Result DetailsW-value: 213, Mean Difference: -17.19, Sum of pos. ranks: 213, Sum of neg. ranks: 283Z-value: -0.6859, Mean (W): 248, Standard Deviation (W): 51.03, Sample Size (N): 31Significance Level: at 5% level of significance

Result 1 - Z-valueThe Z-value is -0.6859. The p-value is 0.4902, which is greater than = 0.05. This evidence does not support to reject.

Result 2 - W-valueThe W-value is 213. The distribution is approximately normal. Therefore, the Z-value above should be used.Hence, this leads to accepting the null Hypothesis (H ), that is, there is no gender difference in O2

reaction pattern in a given situation or circumstances at 5% level of significance.

In reality, this test is done on the basis of purely numerical (physical) values by Wilcoxon matched – pair method, but it cannot be accepted in Cognitive Psychology as every individual is different in their make-up in a given situation. This reasoning will be valid despite of Notation (Macro Level) being the same for both Male & Female gender, but the numerical values (Micro Level) are different which is the critical factor for varying behavioural patterns; for example (to analyze more authentically) from the primary data (n =1145 students), Student N600 (Female gender – SCOAN – 8,9,10,8,23) and Student N601 (Male gender – SCOAN – 12, 19, 17, 13, 26) both are same in notation perspective, examining this within the second factor/dimension, that is, in Neuroticism(Calm – Limbic) they have 9 & 19 respectively, which can be explained as N600 (Female gender)more inclined to be 'Calm', where-as, N601 (Male gender) prone to be 'balanced'(19 points - one point less than 20) having both 'Calm' & 'Limbic'. Similarly, Student N1071 (Male gender – SCOAI – 17, 16, 11, 17, 19) and Student N1080 (Female gender – SCOAI – 8, 9, 9, 9, 7) both are belonging to the same group, that is, SCOAI at Macro level (in notation) but in micro level in all the sub factors they are different; behavioural patterns (& attitudes) in a given situation will be not be the same. Student N1071 (M)will be mostly towards 'balanced'where-as,Student N1080 (F)type will be stronger on all sub factors, that is, Social, Calm, Organized, Accommodative and Inquisitive. Hence, they are not the same at the micro level as every

individual (Male or Female) is completely different and unique; outwardly identical but diverse reaction to given situations.

ConclusionHuman Personality (behaviour patterns) theoretically viewed by many professionals since last many centuries; different theory or methods developed – from the times of Hippocrates. It is multi-faceted and there is no consistency in the behaviour patterns in a given situation or to any individual. Cognitive psychology focuses on the way humans process information, looking at how we treat information that comes in to the person (behavioural analyst - normally - call stimuli), and how this treatment leads to responses.

In the last three to four decades tools have been formed to investigate source of the traits – FIRO B, MBTI & DISC – few to indicate. These tools are essentially to assist in development and/or assessing personality superficially. This research study is the extension to BIG-Five Personality Types and each element of BIG-Five model is featuring (extended) two personality types or archetypes (models or dimensions) and led to a wider zone in finding the personality of individual little more concretely. In the null hypothesis (H ) 02

testing, 'Z' applied as the number of pairs are beyond (table value restricted to 25) in Wilcoxon matching – pair test.

Further, it is justified that parametric or non-parametric data for hypotheses testing is not applicable in Cognitive Psychology. Hence, to conclude, assessing (absolutely/concretely) the human personality with its origination and its reflexes in attitude and behaviour is still void; lot more research exists.

Future work: Extension to this primary research study have been considered (furtherin the academics) to apply on the personality dimensions influencing the presentation skills… leading to developing confidence and employable skills.

14


ReferencesChilds, Gilbert (2009). Understand Your

Temperament. Rudolf Steiner Press. Eysenck, Hans Jürgen. (1967). The Biological

basis of Personality, Thomas. 35-39.Kothari, C.R. Research Methodology – Methods

& Techniques.Paul, T. Costa Jr., Antonio, Terracciano., &

Robert R. McCrae. (1996). Gender Dif ferences in Personality Traits across Cultures: Robust and Surprising � Findings, New York, USA: National Institute on Aging, National Institutes of Health.

Richard C. Atkinson; Edward E. Smith; Daryl J. Bem; Susan Nolen-Hoeksema (2000). � H i l g a r d ' s I n t r o d u c t i o n t o Psychology (13th ed.). Orlando, Florida: Harcourt �College Publishers. 437.

S t e i n e r, Ru d o l f ( 2 0 0 8 ) . T h e Fo u r Temperaments, Rudolf Steiner Press.

Atkinson, Rita, L.; Paul, T. Costa Jr., & Robert, R. McCrae. (1992). Revised NEO Personality Inventory (NEO-PI-R) and NEO Five-Factor Inventory (NEO-FFI), Manual, Odessa, FL: Psychological Assessment Resources.

15

*Research scholar, M.B.A Dept. Aden University and Lecturer at the University of Science and Technology, Yemen

Maged kassem Al-sayani*

KEY WORDSe-commerce; ICT

Abstract:

It is not long ago that e-commerce service has turned to be one of the most important applications of the Internet and www. In all aspects of human life, especially in business activity, the application of ICT is so strong that in near future, the world will witness inevitability of this technology in most of the daily issues.

This study aims at recognizing the level of the Yemeni industrial organizations' awareness of the Importance of e-commerce. Besides, it attempts to reveal the problems and difficulties that encounter the e- commerce and provide suggestions that help in developing its application in different organizations.

Introduction

The evolution in the past decade in the means of communication and information technology has directly contributed in creating a change accompanying various sciences and affected by t h i s d e v e l o p m e n t . T h e c o m m e r c i a l administration and marketing sciences were of the most affected sciences by this development in terms of concepts in terms of the concepts or the evolution of the tools used by these sciences, one of the main advantages of global development is the emergence of electronic commerce as a competitor for traditional trade. As the shift to electronic form has added new concepts and modern tools contribute to the success of business transactions, whether between organizations and individuals or between organizations one another or between governments and nations.The Republic of Yemen is one of the developing countries which are expected to suffer from shortcomings in dealing through various electronic fields and with virtual communities and electronic markets, and this is prompting the researcher to focus on the importance of e-commerce in the Yemeni Organizations.

This is what makes the researcher considers the significance or including the most important concept in e-commerce and the influenced extent by technological environment. The Yemeni organizations were being examined in terms of recognition of the importance of e-commerce and knowing of the obstacles that prevent the practice of e-commerce in the Yemeni Organizations. Then try to reach the necessary suggestion to the possibility of e-commerce application.

The problem of the Study Emerged as important to study the Yemeni companies recognize and identify the obstacles faced by the exercise of this marketing trend in the Yemeni sectors, and can highlight the research problem of trying to answer the following questions:

1. What is the perception of marketing departments in organizations of the importance of e-commerce?

2. What are the problems and obstacles which prevent the application of e-commerce organizations?

The importance of the studyThe importance of this study being:


A study on E- commerce in Yemeni Organizations - an Empirical Study on the Yemeni Organization

The study is analytical and descriptive in a sense that it has certain hypotheses that need to be proved or rejected. It is empirical that takes the theoretical side into account. The researcher uses a questionnaire to prove its objectives. The subjects of the study were taken from (25) twenty-five Yemeni industrial organizations. The population of the study includes marketing and sales marketing, general managers, management managers, department managers and the like. The researcher used SPSS to perform statistic operations that the study required to prove its objectives such as frequencies, percentages, the mean, the standard deviation, ANOVA Test.

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1. One of the few studies in the field of e-commerce on the level of the Yemeni Organizations.

2. This study contributes to identify the reality of e-commerce in Yemen and the obstacles facing its diffusion.

3. Considering vital issue that is e-commerce, which represents local and international priority for organizations seeking to achieve a competi t ive advantage.

4. It will contribute in identifying the re la t ionsh ip na ture be tween the characteristics of the organization and the t r end na tu re towards e l ec t ron ic commerce.

The Objectives of the studyThe main objective of this study is to examine the reality of e-commerce organizations in Yemen and then reaching developed proposals, and its impact in this study. The study of this reality involves:

1. To determine the extent of perception of t h e m a r k e t i n g d e p a r t m e n t /administration for the important e-commerce in the Yemeni organizations.

2. To determine the obstacles that facing the implementation application of e-commerce in the Yemeni Organizations.

3. To submit of necessary proposals for the development of the application of the Yemeni organizations for electronic commerce.

4. To identify the impact of personal characteristics (the functional position - the scientific specialization- years of experience) on the fields of study.

Hypotheses In light of the problem of this study and its

objectives this study seeks to examine the following hypotheses:

1. The first hypothesis: marketing managers recognize the importance of e-commerce in the Yemeni Organizations.

2. The second hypothesis: there are obstacles which contribute to hinder the application of e-commerce in the Yemeni Organizations.

3. The third hypothesis: the personal characteristics of the study sample inducing (functional position - Scientific spec ia l i za t ion -and the yea r s o f experience) have a significant effect on the s tudy f i e lds o f e - commerce (perception, obstacle).

The sample of the studyThe sample of the study includes industrial organizations in the Republic of Yemen, where the questionnaire was distributed to the marketing administrative leaders, and these organizations are considered the study population. The study sample was chosen from sales and marketing department of different categories (director general, managing director, head of department), or their representatives, as this category closest to identify the e-commerce in their organizations. and the reasons that led to the lack of is the application, the research has focused on marketing and sales since they are concerned in marketing and facilitate the task of the researcher in achieving the results that will be closer to the nature of marketing activity. The subjects of this study are (25) industrial organization. The researcher distributed go questionnaire (60) to respondents who represent (25) organization the study sample and the percentage of responses to the questionnaire was (53) questionnaire and the rate response was (88.3%).

Figure 1: The schematic study model can be expressed as follows

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Statistical Analysis MethodsData that have been obtained through the application of appropriate statistical methods to study the nature and objectives of the analysis process, using the statistical software package for Social Sciences (SPSS) was:

1. To identify the proper ties of the individuals and organizations of the study. Through the information's that are provided by the frequencies and percentages.

2. Arithmetic mean and standard deviation. 3. The use of test T-TEST to test the

hypotheses on the level of the paragraphs of each area.

4. The Use of analysis variance style (ANOVA) to prove the hypotheses of the study.

The Theoretical FrameworkThe evolution in information technology reflected on the appearance of modern science positively the emergence of e-business and using the Internet in the marketing process are considered as an outset phase for development of the concept of traditional marketing mechanisms.

Pe r h a p s t h e m o s t i m p o r t a n t o f t h e s e contemporary trends associated with the buying and selling processes where the traditional trade relies on the concept of traditional marketing that has passed through several stages of evolution. It begins with the productive tendency sales trend marketing trend social trend and moral tendency for the practices of marketing and sales. e-commerce stage was the latest trend resulted from the corpora ting and the concepts of between information technology and globalization concepts and sales and modern marketing, where e-marketing was one of those tools through the development of the internet the development of e-commerce passed three outages/classification passed this stage in three classifications describes the emergence of e-commerce (PC 1960) (Internet era 1990-2000) (1990 wireless era 2000. (o, Connor, j.et al.2004,7-9) after the whole spectrum t h a t t h e m o r e w e t h o u g h t w e h a d reached/understood the understanding of trade and marketing operations a new concept appeared and must followed. (Kotler: 2009.1) (Tai, Abadi :2009).

T h e r e v o l u t i o n i n t h e w o r l d o f telecommunications and information profit technology allow trade gives new character added

to its traditional activities and despite the fact that e-commerce is fast movement and variable name and expands to include more than economic sector accompanied the evolution in the means of electronic communication. (Choi, s. Et, al.1997,), the partial sense of the term defines /regards trade as the activities in which the trading of goods and services between different institutions and are governed by specific, agreed-upon rules whereas the electronic is the use of electronic means to complete the trade process, including the Internet . (Raafat Radwan 1999.13) e-commerce has been defined as follows:

The concept of e-commerce refers to, "the wide range of electronic commercial activities for goods and services in addition to all forms of c o m m e r c i a l t r a n s a c t i o n s w h e r e t h e communication between the parties is electronic as well as communicating directly." (Andom, z.2003, p 6)

It can be understood that e-commerce, as it is defined in (encyclopedia management) as "the process of buying and selling of goods and services through the in Internet including the commercial transactions between businesses (B2B) as well as between organizations and consumers or consumer to consumer it includes electronic sales and purchases, paying bills electronically, and electronic auctions many techniques can be used as exchange data electronically, transfer electronic cash, credit cards and e-mail.

E-commerce can be defined "in terms of the benefiting capacity from the Internet and electronic means in the performance of the business process and therefore in this sense it refers to the trade, which is accelerated and enriched by means of information technology( IT) and the in Internet in particular." (nagm, 2009.49)

The researcher defines the e- commerce as the exchange of goods and services between the business organizations and individuals through electronic means of communication, whether electronic communication was full or part of sell ing and receiving the products, was materialistic and the other was electronic and it includes all the business transitions of quotes and buying and selling.

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Practical Analysis

Table 1: Sample characteristics: Responsive distributed sample properties as follows

The above table shows that:1. The 68% represents the senior management of

the director general and directors of departments and heads of departments as it is distributed among the members of the sample and the rest is marketing practitioners of the tasks associated with e-commerce.

2. The 60% of respondents are qualified in order to achieve the knowledge of e-commerce and requirements so that their specialties revolve around accounting, business administration and marketing.

3. Constitute a class of 5 years- less than 15 years the largest proportion of workers with years of experience and this confirms that the employees have sufficient capacity to judge the extent of their awareness of e-commerce and constraints associated with.

The first hypothesis: perception the importance of e-commerce in the organizations

Illustrated in Table (2) that the arithmetic average

year for the field perception the importance of e-commerce in the organizations has reached (4.02), the degree emphasizes the availability of perception, according to the approved measure, which indicates that the surveyed organizations recognize the importance of e-commerce, as the standard deviation of the field (reached. 617), which refers to the views of respondents focus and lack of dispersion.

19


The first hypothesis: Marketing managers are aware of the importance of e-commerce in the Yemeni organizations.

To test the first hypothesis of the study, the researcher calculated the averages and standard deviations of the related relevant paragraphs by to the organization awareness of the importance of e-commerce as well as the overall average for the area, so as to find out the degree of approval of the respondents to those paragraphs. Then the researcher tested the sign of the differences between these averages, using a t-test per sample, so as to rule on the degree of approval, where is the difference statistically significant if the level of actual significance P value is smaller than the significance level adopted in this study (0.05). This confirms the degree of approval while if the level of significance t value is greater than the significance level adopted in this study (0.05), this indicates that the respondents points at view on that paragraph was not clear.

T-test results for the one sample and described in table (2) has shown that there is statistically significant difference between the averages of the paragraphs relating to the realization of organizations for the importance of e-commerce, where were all the values of is smaller than the values of significance level adopted in this study, (0.05), this confirms the degree of approval for the Trends of managers to the paragraphs on the importance of e-commerce. And we can confirm this result by the average of the field (4.02), a degree of availability of perceptive paragraphs according to the approved measure. This indicates that the managers in the Yemeni organizations realize the importance of e-commerce. It is through what has already we come up with acceptance of the first hypothesis, which states that realize marketing managers the importance of e-commerce in the Yemeni organizations.

Table 2: The arithmetic mean and standard deviation of the field of recognizing the importance

significance of e-commerce

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The constraints facing the application of e-commerce it is clear from table no (3) that. overall the arithmetic average for the field of obstacles to the application of e-commerce in organizations has reached (3.77), the degree of availability constraints according to the approved measure, which indicates that the constraints in the questionnaire contribute to impede e-commerce application, as was the standard deviation of the field (.598), which refers to the views of respondents focus and lack of dispersion.

The second hypothesis: there are obstacles contributing to impede the application of e-commerce in the Yemeni organizations.

The results of t. Test of the one sample that is showed in table (3) that then are that there are statistically significant difference between the averages of the paragraphs where all the values are smaller than the values of the significance level in this study (0.05), which confirms the degree of approve of the paragraphs related to the constraints of e-commerce application. Through the above analysis it is clear that the members of the surveyed organizations assert the existence of obstacles to the application of e-commerce in the Yemeni organizations. This result can be confirmed by the average of the field of (3.77), a degree of availability of constraints according to the approved measure. This indicates that the

Yemeni organizations support the existence of obstacles to e-commerce application.

Through the statistics in table (3) we come up with the acceptance of the second hypothesis, which states that there are obstacles contributing to impede the application of e-commerce in the Yemeni organizations.

The third hypothesisThe personal characteristics of the study sample (Functional position – Scientific specialization-years of experience) have a significant effect on the fields of e-commerce study (perception, constraints).

To prove the third hypothesis the variance analysis (ANOVA) will be used to identify the differences between the responses of respondents about the areas of study which can be attributed to the personal characteristics of the members of the sample, where the difference statistically significant if the significance level value is smaller than the significance level adopted in this study ( 0 . 0 5 ) t h e f o l l o w i n g r e s u l t s a r e obtained/achieved:

The second hypothesisTable 3: the arithmetic mean and standard deviation of the field of obstacles to e-commerce application:

21


Table 4: Analysis of variance for answers to recognize the importance of e-commerce by the

personal characteristics of the study sample test results

Table 4indicates that:1. There are no statistically significant differences between the answers to the understanding of organizations of the importance of e-commerce according to the personal characteristics (Functional position - scientific specialization) at the level of (0.05), where we note that the statistical significance level is greater than the significance level at which test conducted the (0.05) and this shows that there are no differences.

2. There are significant differences between the answers to the understanding of organizations of the importance of e-commerce according to the personal characteristics (years of experience) at the level of (0.05), where we note that the statistical significance level is less than the

level at which is the test conducted (0.05) This shows the existence of differences. The researcher attributed this to the fact that the majority of the sample members concentrated its expertise for a period of 5-15 years and this wi l l a f f ec t the ex ten t o f cogn i t ion dramatically.

3. There are no statistically significant differences between the answers to the c o n s t r a i n t s o f t h e a p p l i c a t i o n o f organizations for e-commerce according to the personal characteristics (Functional position - scientific specialization - years of experience) at the level of (0.05), where we note that the statistical significance level is greater than the significance level at which is the test conducted (0.05) and This shows that there are no differences.

The source (SPSS output) and the table is prepared by the researcher

22


Results and recommendationsThe results of the studyThe most important findings can be summarized as follows:

1) The study found that the managers recognize the importance of e-commerce in the Yemeni organizations, and more aware that the areas of e-commerce helps to contribute to achieving the organization's objectives, and its contribution to raising the sales of organization products. 2) The study found that there are obstacles to contribute impede the application of e-commerce in the Yemeni organizations. And the most important reasons that lead to the obstruction of e-commerce application are the Proliferation of online shopping, the proliferation of computer illiteracy in Yemeni society, and the limited development service Internet in Yemen. 3) There are no statistical differences between the answers on the level of awareness of organization for the importance of e-commerce and personal variable (Functional position - Scientific specialization). 4) Statistical differences between the answers on the level of organizations awareness for e-commerce and personal variable (years of experience). 5) There are no statistical differences between the answers on the level of the obstacles facing application of e-commerce and personal variables (Functional position -Scientific specialization-years of experience).

RecommendationsIn light of the findings of the study, we can display the most important recommendations that we will help in serving the study community as follows:

1. To facilitate the access to Internet lines.2. Increase the amount of Internet speed to facilitate the establishment and operation of interactive sites for companies. 3. Researcher recommends the necessity of expanding and developing the online service. 4. Allocating subjects in each stage of education to teach the net in addition to the programs and seminars in various media, to spread awareness of the importance of e-commerce and how to deal through. 5. Raise the level of dealing with electronic p ay m e n t m e t h o d s b y d e a l i n g w i t h organizations through modern electronic

systems. 6. Insuring the specialized skill for the success of e-commerce operations. 7. Seeking laws and regulations to adjust e-business. 8. Developing the plans and policies that are interested in marketing the products organization of online. 9. Continuous training to employees of the organization in the field of electronic commerce.10. Restructuring the marketing departments to suit the organization's policies in the field of e-commerce and the technological developments in this aspect.

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Al-Khalidi, Mohammed Mahmoud. (2007). stElectronic Technology (1 ed.).Amman: Dar

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ed.). Amman, Jordan: Dar maserh for publication and distribution.

Ahmed, Mohammed Samir. (2009). E-stgovernment (1 ed.). Amman, Jordan: Dar

maserh for publication and distribution, printing.

Ahmed, Mohammed Samir. (2009) . stElectronic Commerce (1 ed.). Amman,

Jordan: Dar maserh for publication and distribution, printing.

Amal Mustafa., & alziadat, Mamdouh Taya. (2009). Perceptions Almsttherh companies constraints in the external marketing environment according to the characteristics

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of companies. Insights magazine, Volume XIII, Issue I, Jordan.

Andoam,Z.(2003). E-Commerce & E-Business. Retrieved, January23rd, 2010 from www. Eprimers .org .

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Kotler, Philip. (2009). Kotler talking about th

marketing (8 ed.). Riyadh, Saudi Arabia: Translation Faisal Abdullah Babiker, Jarir Bookstore.

Lee.c. (2007).The Correlation Between internet and ICT, Web site Development and internet marketing :perception of marketers in Malaysia and Singapore. in Journal of Internet Banking a n d Commerce, 12 (2),1-27, Retrieved August 2007from http/www.curtin.edu.my.

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O'Connor,J.,etal.(2004).Electronic Marketing. Edinburgh: Pearson Education Limited.

Pavlou ,P.& EL-Sawy. (2002). A classification S c h e m e f o r B 2 B E xc h a n g e a n d implication for Inter- organizational E-Commerce. in Markenting (Ed), Business to Business Electronic Commerce: Chal l enges and So lu t ions (pp.1 -21).London: Idea Group Publishing.

Radwan, Raafat. (1999). World of Electronic Commerce, Cairo, Egypt: The Arab Organiza t ion for Admini s t ra t ive Development.

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*Professor & Chairman, **Assistant Professor, ***Research ScholarDepartment of studies and Research in Commerce, Tumkur University, Tumkur

** ***Dr. Paramashivaiah, P*., Dr. Suresh, B.K ., Jahnavi

KEY WORDSCommerceeducation;B.Com; BBM; Attitude;Motivation;Desire

Abstract:

This study makes an attempt to know the attitude of students towards commerce education in Tumkur University with special reference to B.Com and BBM students. Education is one of the important pillars of the society. If we include education as the fourth basic necessity of humans after food, clothing and shelter it will not be wrong. Student is the essence of the education system. According to educationalists, most of the under graduate students have an interests in absorbing class material only so that they may complete their required courses and receive a degree. Students lack enthusiasm about their general education course work because varied and broad subject matter does not pertain to their major field. Between 2001 and 2012 there has been a significant shift in students' attitude towards their stream in which they are studying and these changing outlooks have, intern, shaped, contemporary students' motivation and

IntroductionCommerce is the whole system of an economy that constitutes an environment for business. The system includes legal, economic, political, social, cultural and technological systems that are in operation in any country. Thus, commerce is a system or an environment that affects the business prospects of an economy or a nation-state. It can also be defined as a component of business which includes all activities, functions and institutions involved in transferring goods from producers to consumers.

Commerce EducationCommercial education is a type of training which, while playing its part in the achievement of the general aims of education of any given level, has for its primary objective the preparation of people to enter upon a business career, or having entered upon such a career, to render more efficient service therein and to advance from their present levels of employment to higher levels.

History of Commerce Education in IndiaThe Development of Commerce Teaching History in IndiaEducation of commerce was started by private commercial institutions. To start with only book-keeping was taught. We find Munims used to train junior Munims under their apprenticeship. Later on private commercial institutes started teaching of book-keeping and accountancy.

Table No.1: Mile stones of Commerceeducation in India


Students' Attitude towards Commerce Education withSpecial Reference to Commerce Students of Tumkur University

behavior. Students tend to view education as grades and diploma rather than what they learn. Commerce Education in India was started in 1886, over a hundred and twenty years ago. Since then it has experienced tremendous growth. In order to understand the progress of commerce education in India since Independence and its present position, we have to rely on statistics. There are the increasing numbers of commerce students since 1950-51. The increase in enrolment is substantial from 0.36 lakh in 1950-51 to 14.10 lakh in 1995-96 and to 20 lakh now. One important feature of it is that the number of girl students in commerce is on increase in absolute and relative terms both at M.Com and B.Com levels. As per the statistics of 2012 UGC report only 14.2% only are going for M.Com/higher education. About 92% stop with graduation. Remedial measures must be taken to increase the number of students in commerce education for post graduation.

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In the new scheme of education (I.C. 10+2+3 pattern of education) sufficient attention has been paid to commerce education in Indian schools.

The teaching of Commerce subjects starts from XI class and in class XII the syllabus is quite advanced. At present commerce education is considered as good education because of the distinct advantages that a commerce student has over his counter-part in the arts faculty. It is believed that a commerce student not only achieves just training and perfection, but also a general professional intelligence.

Growth of Commerce Education in IndiaIn order to understand the progress of commerce education in India since Independence and its present position, we have to rely on statistics.

Table No.2: Commerce Enrolment in Educational Institutions in India

Source: International journal for research in management and pharmacy vol.2, issue 4, April 2013.

Table No.2 presents the proportion of enrolment at B.Com and M.Com levels. It is clear from the table that about 8% only are going for M.Com/higher education. About 92% stop with graduation. Therefore there is a need to make commerce graduation courses more meaningful and purposeful In order to understand the progress of commerce education in India since Independence and its present position, we have to rely on statistics.

There are the increasing numbers of commerce students since 1950-51. The increase in enrolment is substantial from 0.36 lakh in 1950-51 to 14.10 lakhs in 1995-96 and to 20 lakhs now. One important feature of it is that the number of girl students in commerce is on increase in absolute and relative terms both at M.Com and B.Com levels. As per the statistics of 2012 UGC report only 14.2% only are going for M.Com/higher education. About 92% stop with graduation. Remedial measures must be taken to increase the number of students in commerce education for post graduation.

Research DesignIntroductionEducation is one of the important pillars of the society. Education is seen as a means of knowledge and skill transmission from one generation to another in a given society. If we include education as the fourth basic necessity of humans after food, clothing and shelter it will not be wrong. Student is the essence of the education system he or she is a person who studies, investigates, or examines thoughtfully. According to educationalists, most of the under graduate students have an interests in absorbing class material only so that they may complete their required courses and receive a degree. Students lack enthusiasm about their general education course work because varied and broad subject matter does not pertain to their major field. Between 2001 and 2012 there has been a significant shift in students' attitude towards their stream in which they are studying and these changing outlooks have, intern, shaped, contemporary students' motivation and behavior. Students tend to view education as grades and diploma rather than what they learn. Most students do not understand what education is, the educational process, or their role in the process. This study makes an attempt to know the attitude of students towards commerce education in Tumkur University with special reference to B.Com and BBM students.

Review of literatureThe review of all these related literature has helped the following observations, which further justifies the cause of taking up the present study.

Reethi Gupta (2006) conducted a study on “The challenges evolving for commerce students in


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dynamic world of commerce education” found that in this age of internationalization there is a need to provide global competitiveness to commerce students by adopting specialized, industry oriented, technology supported, practical based knowledge centric commerce education.

Nadine Vasilio (2010) in his study on “students' attitude towards commerce content in higher education” concluded that today's students are becoming increasingly flexible about their course materials selection, and more open to new product innovations than ever before so new innovation and creativity should be introduced to satisfy students' needs.

Rakesh Alwa (2012) presented an article titled “present role of commerce education for students” conclude that industry does not find commerce students up to the mark in terms of skills, and understanding the real problem. Therefore the government should try to establish a new trend and syllabus of commerce education in primary education. So students must need this type of education from the preliminary days of education.

Rohith Bhandari (2012) conducted a study on” effect of awareness training model on social skill in relation to psychological hardiness of IX graders of commerce stream” revealed that awareness training model in commerce stream had a significant positive effect on social skill of IX class students. The study also established that psychologically high hardy students scored higher level of gain mean scores than psychologically low hardy students for social skills.

Nilesh Gujjar (2013) in his study “relevance of commerce education in students' life” revealed that the preparation of students to enter upon a business career or having entered upon such a career to render more efficient service therein and to advance from their present levels of employment to higher levels.

Obul Reddy (2013) in his study “revitalizing commerce education” found that in growing economy, much of expansion takes place in service sector which particularly requires the type and knowledge that our courses offer. The learned members may take this opportunity for an objective introspection about commerce education-its objective, its problems, and its job

potential for students that the present day needs for our country.

Statement of the problemThe demand for commerce education is increasing day-by-day in Tumkur University. Keeping this in mind this study is being conducted to know, do the students of Tumkur University have a positive attitude towards commerce education? Most of the under graduate students fails to express their satisfaction level for the syllabus being taught to them this study tries to find out, whether the students are satisfied with the syllabus prescribed by Tumkur University for commerce stream ? This study also tries to find the confidence level of students like Do students have confidence to get a satisfactory job after their academics? All these questions require an in depth study. Hence, this study on “students' attitude towards commerce education with special reference B.Com and BBM students of Tumkur University” has been taken up.

Objectives of the study The objectives of the present study are as follows:

1. To identify the factors that motivates B.Com and BBM students of Tumkur University for joining commerce stream.

2. To know that the B.Com and BBM students of Tumkur University have a positive attitude towards the syllabus and assignments being offered to them for commerce education.

3. To know that students of B.Com and B B M a r e a w a r e a b o u t c a r e e r opportunities available for them after their academics.

4. To know the desire of students to continue their education in commerce stream.

5. To identify the improvement level, development level and confidence level of students after selecting commerce education in Tumkur University.

6. To know the beliefs and thinking's of students about commerce stream in Tumkur University.

Hypothesis of the study1. There is a significant difference between

the attitude of students of B.Com and BBM that commerce education education of Tumkur University assures them a bright future.


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2. There is a significant difference between the attitude of B.Com and BBM students that commerce education of Tumkur University assures them a bright future.

Scope of the study Tumkur University has 94 affiliated colleges in which 44 colleges offer commerce education to its students not only in Tumkur city but also to its surrounding areas like Madhugiri, Sira, Chikkanayakanahalli, Kunigal etc. As on today total number of students studying in B.Com are 10,774 and 2,227 BBM students in Tummkur University. The area of the present study is restricted to final year B.Com and BBM students of Tumkur University with 156 respondents of Tumkur city and rural areas like Madhugiri, Pavagada, and Tiptur. The study provides a clear picture of students' attitude for commerce stream being taught to them in Tumkur University for Under Graduate students.

Need of the study Education is the most cogent instrument in the progress of any nation. Hence, the quality of education has to be improved for all round development. To provide all round development, students' attitude plays a crucial role. It is the attitude through which students gain an emotional, social, and an intellectual attachment towards their stream in which they are studying. The role of positive attitude in students is to create powerful learners. So, it has become indispensible to find out the attitude of students towards their stream. The present study helps to know the attitude of students of B.Com and BBM of Tumkur University.

Method of researchThe method of research adopted for the current study is field work. It is the means of gathering primary data through questionnaire about the respondents' knowledge, attitude, and satisfaction level of students for commerce education of Tumkur University. The questionnaire is a short and simple means of asking B.Com and BBM students to express their opinion about commerce education being offered to them in Tumkur University.

Period of the study The time period or the reference period during which this study is carried out is from August 2013 to May 2014.

Sources of data Data for the present study has been collected from two sources:

Primary data: In the present study, primary data is collected by interviewing B.Com and BBM students of Tumkur Universi ty. As the questionnaire method is adopted, the respondents were the primary source of collecting primary data.

Secondary data: Secondary data has been collected by referring books, articles, journals, magazines related to commerce and education to achieve the objectives of the study.

Sampling designIn the present study, stratified random sampling was employed, it is a sampling technique in which the entire population n is divided into different starts and from these starts a required sample is drawn randomly from the population. The population from which the sample for the study drawn was comprised of the students enrolled in final year B.Com and BBM in Tumkur University. The population of the study is 13,001 students of commerce and management studying in Tumkur University. The size of the sample is 156 out of which 78 students are from B.Com course and 78 from BBM course were chosen as sample for the study with the help of stratified random sampling method.

Plan of analysisThe data collected with the help of questionnaires are analyzed with the help of mean, charts, graphs, and likert scale method and chi square method.

Limitations of the study • Due to time constraints, the study could

not include each and every student of B.Com and BBM studying in Tumkur University. Only 156 respondents were taken into consideration.

• Due to resource constraints, the information depends only on the information given by students of Tumkur University.

• The study does not focus on post- graduation students.

• This study is restricted to Tumkur University only.

Analysis and Interpretation of Data The students select a stream either by choice or by chance the following table shows which factor affected students to select commerce stream.


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The above table gives a clear picture about the factors that affected B.Com and BBM students to select commerce stream. maximum number of students have selected commerce stream by choice which is a good indicator that shows that students have an OPITMISTIC view about commerce education and only few students have

selected commerce stream by chance either they have no interest in other streams or they feel other streams as difficult so, they have opted commerce education. However, it can be concluded that maximum number of B.Com and BBM students have selected commerce education by choice.


Table No. 3: Factors affecting B.Com and BBM students to select commerce stream

Source: Field Survey

Factors affecting B.Com and BBM students to select commerce streamIf a student selects a stream he or she has been

motivated by someone. The following table shows the motivational factors of B.Com and BBM s t u d e n t s t o s e l e c t c o m m e r c e s t r e a m .

Table No.4: The motivational factors of B.Com and BBM students to join commerce e ducation


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The above table shows that in Tumkur University parents of both B.Com and BBM students wants their children to join B.Com and or BBM course it means they feel proud if their children are a part of commerce education. It is also a good indicator that even 24% and 31% of B.Com and BBM students are self motivated to join commerce education. The remaining students are motivated by their friends and their teachers.

The motivational factors of B.Com and BBM students to join commerce educationStudents must have the awareness of career opportunities in commerce stream available for them. The following table indicates the number of students who are aware about this.

The above table shows a clear picture of the B.Com and BBM students' awareness about the career opportunities available for them after their education. This shows that B.Com and BBM students in Tumkur University have selected

commerce stream by having an idea about the future opportunities available in commerce stream which is a good indicator of positive attitude of B.Com and BBM students towards commerce education.

Table No. 5: The awareness of students about career opportunities available for commerce

students after commerce education

Source: Field survey

0%

10%

20%

30%

40%

50%

60%

Parents

Teachers

Self motivated

Friends

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The awareness of students about career opportunities available for commerce students after commerce education Students who join the course will feel satisfied about the syllabus and some do not. The below

table indicates the level of satisfaction of students about syllabus of B.Com and BBM course in Tukur University.

Table No.6: Satisfaction level of students for syllabus of B.Com and BBM courses


From the above table it can be concluded that maximum number of B.Com and BBM students are satisfied with the syllabus being taught to them in Tumkur University. This may be because of their belief that from these syllabus, students can get an in-depth knowledge about commerce subject which are helpful for future education moreover syllabus is easy to study and

understand. Few students are not satisfied because they think that new concepts in commerce are not covered. However, since maximum students are satisfied which suggests attitude of students for syllabus of B.Com and BBM course in Tumkur University is POSITIVE.

Satisfaction level of students for syllabus of

B.Com and BBM courses

Students who join the course will feel satisfied

about the assignments given to them and some do

not. The below table indicates the level of

satisfaction of students about assignments of

B.Com and BBM course in Tumkur University.

Table No.7: Attitude of B.Com and BBM students towards assignments given to them


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The above table says that maximum number of B.Com and BBM students believes that the assignments given to them are not helpful because they feel that they write assignments just by copying the text books and they did not get much

opportunity to know about the practical commerce like paying visits to any bank, stock markets to know how they actually work.

Attitude of B.Com and BBM students towards assignments given to them B.Com and BBM Students in the 3 years of UG

course must have improved their level of confidence. The following table shows the same.

Table No.8: confidence level of B.Com and BBM students by selecting commerce education


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The above table gives s a clear image of the confidence level of B.Com and BBM students towards commerce education in Tumkur University. The students rated confidence to get a satisfactory job after their academics at first place this is a good signal which shows that students have a positive attitude that they will get a suitable job for them but they rated confidence to pursue higher education in international universities and

to present papers in national and international seminars and conferences at low level which means that they do not have that confidence to present themselves at international levels.

B.Com and BBM Students in the 3 years of UG course must have improved themselves. The following table shows the same

Table No.9: Improvement level of B.Com and BBM students by selecting commerce education


From the above it is clear that B.Com and BBM students of Tumkur University in improvement level test have rated improvement in knowledge of economics and investments as first rank, both improvements in practical business sense, and computing and interpreting skills have got second rank, and improvements in organizational and

administrative skills are ranked as third rank

B.Com and BBM Students in the 3 years of UG course must have some developments in decision making, team work and soft skills. The following table shows the same.

Table No.10: Development level of B.Com and BBM students by selecting commerce education


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The above table indicates that B.Com and BBM students are of the opinion that by selecting commerce education in Tumkur University they have developed ability to work in a team and graded them as first rank, students also mentioned that they have developed a good decision making power by giving it second rank, development of

soft skills has got third rank.

B.Com students' belief about commerce education is represented in the following table.

Table No.11: Belief of B.Com and BBM students about commerce education


The above table suggests that B.Com and BBM students of Tumkur University strongly believes that commerce education increases their standard of living by giving it first rank by 41%, students are of belief that University has a good library facilities by ranking it at second position by 30%, students have given their ability to participate in

in te r and in t ra co l l ege commerce and management fest at last place.

B.Com and BBM students think about accuracy and precision at work, adoption of new methodologies and demand for commerce education like this.

Table No.12: Changes in thinking level of B.Com and BBM students after selecting commerce

education

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The above table indicates that B.Com students

believes that the demand for commerce education

is increasing and rated it at first place, students

also believes that they are ready to adopt new

methodologies means they are ready to work

under any level of changes, students rated the

importance of accuracy and precision at work at

last position.

Few students after their UG course wants to

continue their education and few wants to

discontinue their education, the following table


Table No.13: Desire of students to continue their education in commerce stream


The above chart gives a clear picture that maximum number of B.Com and BBM students in Tumkur University have a strong desire to complete their education in commerce stream. This again indicates that students of B.Com and

BBM students in Tumkur University have an OPTIMISTIC view about the commerce education being taught to them in Tumkur University because of which they have a desire to continue their education.

Desire of students to continue their education in commerce stream

The students who want to continue their

education will select their courses of their interest as shown in the table.

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The above chart shows that , among the available courses, almost all B.Com and BBM students of Tumkur University wants to join Post-Graduation after which the CA course is their choice and the

CS course ranks after Post-Graduation and CA course and ICWA course is the last option Of B.Com and BBM students to pursue their higher education.

Table No.14: Courses which B.Com and BBM students want to join after under- graduation


Courses which B.Com and BBM students wants

to join after under- graduation course 56% of

B.Com and 78% of BBM students wants to join

for post graduation course the details of that are as

follows.

Table No.15: Number of B.Com and BBM students who want to join post -graduation course after

under- graduation


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The above table gives a clear picture about the students who wants to pursue their higher education. The above chart indicates that, maximum number of B.Com students i.e. 88% wants to join M.Com course and 12% wants to join MBA course, in case of BBM students 28%

students wants to join M.Com course and 68 % of them wishes to do MBA course and the remaining 4 % of students wants to join MFM course. It means that M.Com is first preference among B.Com students and MBA is among BBM students.

Number of B.Com and BBM students who want to join post -graduation course after under- graduation. 14 BBM students and 7 B.Com

students wants to discontinue their education the details about the same are as follows:

The above table gives a clear picture about the desire of students to join the jobs who wants to discontinue their education in which it was find that B.Com students are not interested to join corporate sector or to become an entrepreneur whereas maximum number of BBM students desired to become entrepreneur or to work in corporate sector more number of B.Com students wants to work in government sector compared to

BBM students on the other hand both B.Com and BBM students are interested in banking sector.

Table No.16: Desire of Students to work after discontinuing their education after B.Com or BBM

course


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Desire of Students to work after discontinuing

their education after B.Com or BBM course

Testing of Hypothesis

Hypothesis of the study

HO: There is no significant difference between the

attitude of B.Com and BBM students that

Commerce education of Tumkur University

assures them a bright future.

H1: There is a significant difference between the

attitude of B.Com and BBM students that

Commerce education of Tumkur University

assures them a bright future

Table No.17: observations for the statement of

hypothesis

Calculation of expected frequency: Row total * Column total / Gross totalCell 1.1 = 78 *120 /156 =60Cell 1.2 = 78 * 36/156=18Cell 2.1 = 78* 120 /156=60Cell 2.2 = 78*36/156=18

Table No.18: showing expected frequency

Table No.19: Calculation of hypothesis using Chi square test:

2 2C = S[(O-E) /E]=1.3Degree of Freedom or V = [ r-1] [c-1] = [2-1] [2-1] = 1*1 =1Degree of Freedom or V = 1

2For V=1, C = 0.05=3.841 The calculated value 1.3 is lower than table value 3.481, therefore, null hypothesis is accepted that, there is no significant difference between the attitude of B.Com and BBM students that Commerce education of Tumkur University assures them a bright future.

Findings of the studyThe findings of the study are done on the basis of the objectives of the study. In this report the researcher has to find out the attitude of B.Com and BBM students towards commerce education in Tumkur University. The findings of the study are as follows:

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Factors motivating students to select commerce

education The findings of the above statement revealed that:

• Maximum number of B.Com and BBM s tudent s has se lec ted commerce education by choice and only few students have selected commerce education by chance.

• Almost all B.Com and BBM students are influenced by their parents to join commerce stream means parents feels proud that their children are commerce students, some of them were self-motivated, and only few of them are motivated by their friends and teachers to join B.Com or BBM course.

Satisfaction level of students about syllabus and assignmentsThe findings of the above statement are as follows:

• Both B.Com and BBM students are satisfied with syllabus as they feel that syllabus is easy, helpful for future education and can get in depth knowledge about commerce education.

• Few B.Com and BBM students are not satisfied with the syllabus because they are of the opinion that emerging concepts are not covered, not helpful for future education and old concepts are being taught to them.

• 74% B.Com and BBM students believes that assignments given to them are not he lp fu l fo r knowledge and sk i l l development..Only 24% of students believe assignments given to them are helpful this shows an unfavorable attitude about assignments as they feel that they write them just by copying text books or notes to get internal marks.

Awa r e n e s s o f s t u d e n t s a b o u t c a r e e r opportunities in commerce streamThe findings of the above statement are as follows:

• Almost all students are aware about career opportunities available for them after education.

• This means that maximum number of have a positive attitude about their career as they can choose their career from available options and not follow others blindly.

Desire to continue education in commerce streamThe findings of the above statement reveled that

• 87% of students want to continue their education in commerce stream in which most of the students wants to join post-graduation course. Only few of them selected the other courses options like CA, CS, and ICWA.

• More B.Com students are desired to enroll themselves in M.Com course and large number of BBM students wants to join MBA course. This means that MBA is famous among BBM students and M.Com is popular in B.Com students.

• 13% of students want to discontinue their education. The students who wants to discontinue their education in which most of all B.Com students wants to work in government sector, B.Com students do not want to become entrepreneur but BBM students have a desire to become entrepreneur.

• Overall, Tumkur University succeeded in creating interest among students to learn more in commerce stream.

Confidence level, improvement level and development level of students after selecting commerce education

• Confidence level: B.Com students have the confidence to get a satisfactory job after their academics and BBM students have confidence to pursue higher education in international universities which means B.Com students are not confident to represent themselves in international universities when compared with BBM students.

• Improvement level: B.Com students have increased knowledge of economics and investments more, while BBM students have improved computing and interpreting skills. In both the ways, Tumkur Univers i ty succeeded in improving knowledge of B.Com and BBM students.

• Development level: both B.Com and BBM students have developed a strong decision making power and have understood the importance of team; Students have not developed enough soft skills.

• Almost all B.Com and BBM students are of the opinion that they have not learned to read budgets, business news and economic reviews.

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Beliefs and thinking of students about commerce education

• Beliefs: B.Com and BBM students strongly believe that the commerce education increase standard of living and are satisfies with the library facilities which they have in their college.

• Students also believe that they are not confident to participate in inter college and int ra col lege commerce and management fest.

• Thinking's: B.Com and BBM students think that the demand for commerce education is increasing day-by-day and they have also learned to adopt new methodologies and think that they give utmost importance to accuracy and precession at work.

Conclusion of the studyThe project entitled “A study on students' attitude towards commerce education with special reference to B.Com and BBM students of Tumkur University” can be concluded that students have a favorable attitude towards courses offered to them in Tumkur University for commerce stream. Students are satisfied with the syllabus being offered to them for B.Com and BBM course, s t u d e n t s a r e a l s o awa r e a b o u t c a r e e r opportunities, they are satisfied about the library facilities in their college, and a maximum number of students wants to continue their education in commerce stream either by joining post graduation course or professional courses in both national and international universities and are confident about the satisfactory job which they get after their academics, after joining commerce stream they have increased their increased knowledge of economics and investments, computing and interpreting skills, strong decision making power. Students believe that the demand for commerce education is increasing day-by-day and it also helps in increasing standard of living.

However, students are of the opinion that they have not adopted the habit of reading news papers, budgets and economic reviews; they have not developed soft skills and thinks that assignments given to them are not helpful.

Overall, all students are satisfied with commerce education and can be concluded that students have a FAVORABLE and POSITIVE attitude towards commerce education being offered to them in Tumkur University

Suggestions from the studyThe researcher has made an attempt to give the following suggestions based on the following findings:

1. The syllabus of B.Com and BBM course must be revised for every 3 years and it must include the following

2. In B.Com syllabus, the corresponding specialty programme may be offered to students like accounting and finance, international business, banking and insurance, marketing, E-commerce, Tally etc.

3. In BBM course, optional papers like Information technology management, rural and urban management, public system management, heal th care administration, organizational behavior, international business can be offered to students as optional papers.

4. Students suggested not merging two subjects in one subject like Financial Markets and Services offer either Financial Markets or Financial services.

5. The chapter revealed that students are not satisfied with the assignments given to them.

6. The suggestion is that students can get assignments like paying visit to banks, stock markets and prepare a report on how they work or how banks and stock markets works, students can also get assignments l ike inter viewing an entrepreneur or commerce subject author and prepare a repor t about their experience.

7. Allow students to present seminars using power point presentations and consider it as a part of assignments, seminars may be presented not only on the syllabus related parts but, also give topics of seminars like profile of a company, life history of a businessman.

8. In order to create awareness about commerce education the following steps may be taken:

9. Organize the programmes that help students to increase their employability skills.

10. Organize CS, CS, ICWA, and other courses guidance programme, invite any CA, CS, ICWA experts to guide students on how to apply and pass in the above said courses.

11. The researcher found that students have not developed soft skills. suggestions for this are as follows:.

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12. Organize more soft skill and personality development programmes and make students participation as mandatory one and consider the attendance of this programme as a part of their internals.

13. Plan a day in a week for soft skill and personality development of students and prepare a time table for that day. The time table may consists of the following subjects like spoken English classes, communication skill classes, anger management classes, meditation classes, computer classes, guest lecturing on personality development programmes.

14. Give students a choice to communicate with bank manager and stock market brokers which help students to know how they exactly work so that, they can get practical knowledge instead of only theoretical knowledge.

15. Plan for a demo interview class for students which give them a clear idea of how to attend interviews and how to write resumes to get suitable jobs.

16. M o n t h ly eva l u a t e t h e s t u d e n t s ' development and improvements, take feedback from students about their development and improvement levels of soft skills

17. Arrange teacher-parents meet once in a semester which results in the overall development of a student.

18. Only BBM student's gets opportunities to carry on project works, it would be helpful to B.Com students if they get an opportunity to carry on project work.

19. It is better if all the colleges in the university have an internet facility with Wi-Fi connection so that students can get benefits from it.

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iron cage revisited: Institutional isomorphism and collective rationality in organizational fields. American Sociological Review, 48: 147-160.

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Hofstede, G. H. (2001). Culture's consequences: Comparing values, behaviors, institutions, and organizations across nations (2 ed.). Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage Publications.

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Modernization, cultural change, and the persistence of traditional values. American Sociological Review, 65: 19-51.

Mead, R. (1998). International management: Cross-cultural dimensions (2nd ed.). Malden, MA: Blackwell Business.

Rugman, A., & Hodgetts, R. (2001). The end of global strategy. European Management Journal, 19: 333-343.

Vance, C. M. (1993). Mastering management education: Innovations in teaching effectiveness. Newbury Park, CA: Sage.

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Mead, R. (1998). International management: Cross-cultural dimensions (2nd ed.). Malden, MA: Blackwell Business.

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*Research Scholar, Manipal Univeristy., Manipal &Associate Professor, Department of Management Studies, AIMS Institute of Higher Education.

Arun Mudhol*

KEY WORDSIoT;Embedded systems; Aadhaa;, Unique Identification (UID); Health;Education;Management

Abstract:

The Unique Identification Project implemented by UIDAI for all the residents of India is one of the historic ventures ever tried out in the government sector. The entire nation is out to share their personal details along with their fingerprints and iris scan for verification and authentication purposes at any point of time and at any place as and when required. The data so collected can be stored and retrieved without the issue of dealing with duplication. This system can also avoid the need for various other IDs like the Pan card, Voter id, PDS ID, census ID etc. There are several factors that suggest that the impact that this unique identification number allotted to all the residents of India can influence almost every other policy making decision that the government intends to come out with, However, this article would like to study and analyze as to what would happen if UID is embedded or transplanted within the human system and what impact it would have on the sectors of Education and Health which are termed as the �Safety Nets�.

Introduction

Possibilities that IoT brings and the future that IoT projects for the future, are simply amazing and to an extent makes it impossible to dream. The immense capabilities that IoT can harness are better understood by looking at what the future generations are likely to enjoy. The kind of innovations that IoT is throwing up and the control that it can bring about for electronically connecting and monitoring devices are so huge that its impact would be felt on almost all the sectors of human development in the near future. Days are not far when cities are monitored, health and fitness of humans measured, companies are controlled, pollution rate stabilized, emergencies prevented, automotive maintenance is timely, accidents averted and economic stability is brought about for the overall development of a nation.

Literature ReviewKevin Ashton of MITs Auto ID lab had this to say in 1999:

“If we had computers that knew everything there was to know about things—using data they gathered without any help from us -- we would be able to track and count everything, and greatly reduce waste, loss and cost. We would know when things needed replacing, repairing or recalling, and whether they were fresh or past their best.

We need to empower computers with their own means of gathering information, so they can see, hear and smell the world for themselves, in all its random glory. RFID and sensor technology enable computers to observe, identify and understand the world—without the limitations of human-entered data.”

Though he was laying the foundation of what would later turn out to be a big concept impacting the world wide economics of electronic industry, the technology at that time was not yet ready to immediately bring about the necessary changes. Technology improvements in the field of wireless communications, data gathering, storing and sharing of data amongst billions of devices communicating with each other and cost effectiveness in bringing about these changes was required.

Now most of those issues have been resolved. Electronics companies are building Wi-Fi and cellular wireless connectivity into a wide range of devices. ABI Research estimates over five billion wireless chips will ship in 2013.

Mobile data coverage has improved significantly with many networks offering broadband speeds. While not perfect, battery technology has improved and solar recharging has been built into numerous devices. There will be billions of objects connecting to the network with the next several


Embedding Unique Identification in IoT

42

years. For example, Cisco's Internet of Things Group (IOTG) predicts there will be over 50 billion connected devices by 2020.

IoT describes a system where items in the physical world, and sensors within or attached to these items, are connected to the Internet via wireless and wired Internet connections. These sensors can use various types of local area connections such as RFID, NFC, Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, and Zigbee. Sensors can also have wide area connectivity such as GSM, GPRS, 3G, and LTE.

What IoT can do?1. Connect both Inanimate and living things2. Use Data Sensors for data gathering3. Change what types of item communicate

over an IP NetworkIoT data differs from traditional computing. The data can be small in size and frequent in transmission. The numbers of devices or nodes that are connecting to the network are also greater in IoT than in traditional PC computing.

Machine-to-Machine communications and intelligence drawn from the devices and the network will allow businesses to automate certain basic tasks without depending on central or cloud based applications and services. These attributes present opportunities to collect a wide range of data and also provide challenges in terms of designing the appropriate data networking and security.

Three Cs of IoT1. Communication

For example, an IOT-enabled HVAC system can report if its air filter is clean and functioning properly. Almost every company has a class of assets it could track. GPS-enabled assets can communicate their current location and movement. Location is important for items that move, such as trucks, but it's also applicable for locating items and people within an organization. In the healthcare industry, IoT can help a hospital track the location of everything from wheelchairs to cardiac defibrillators to surgeons. In the transportation industry, a business can deliver real-time tracking and condition of parcels and pallets. For example, Maersk can use sensors to track the location of a refrigerated shipping container and its current temperature.

2. Control and AutomationFor example, a business can remotely turn on or shut down a specific piece of equipment or adjust the temperature in a climate-controlled environment. Meanwhile, a consumer can use IoT to unlock their car or start the washing machine. Once a performance baseline has been established, a process can send alerts for anomalies and possibly deliver an automated response. For example, if the brake pads on a truck are about to fail, it can prompt the company to take the vehicle out of service and automatically schedule maintenance.

3. Cost SavingsFor Example, IoT can help a company save money by minimizing equipment failure and allowing the business to perform planned maintenance. Sensors can also help in measuring items, such as driving behavior and speed, to reduce fuel expense and wear and tear on consumables. New smart meters in homes and businesses can also provide data that helps people u n d e r s t a n d e n e r g y c o n s u m p t i o n a n d opportunities for cost savings.

How can IoT be embedded?Devices could be connected to internet using various means like WiFi, Ethernet and so on. Furthermore devices may not need to be connected to internet independently. Rather a cluster of devices could be created (for example a sensor network) and the base station or the cluster head could be connected to internet. This leads to more abstract architecture for communication protocols which ranges from high level to low level.

IoT Applications in the context of Human bodyThese applications fall into two broad categories: improving health and education & raising Human productivity. Unlike other IoT applications, where a reading from a sensor might initiate a specific action-turning off a valve, for example-in the human setting, sensor data can provide information that people will use to guide their actions and decisions. Value would arise from improving quality of life and extending healthy life spans for patients with chronic illnesses, and reducing cost of treatment. The second-largest source of value for humans would be improved wellness-using data generated by fitness bands or other wearables to track and modify diet and exercise routines.


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Ingestibles and injectables-smart pills and nanobots-have the potential eventually to replace many surgeries with less invasive procedures that could offer faster recovery, reduced risk of complications, and lower cost. While these technologies are still in development, if they are adopted widely in the next ten years, they have the potential to raise the economic impact of IoT in health care substantially.

Human health applicationsThe devices used in human health fall into three categories:

1. Wearables: Devices designed to be worn or carried.

2. Implantables, injectables, and ingestibles: Smart devices that are inserted, injected, or swallowed.

3. Non-wearable measurement devices: Devices that gather and transmit health data from the human body periodically but are not attached continuously, such as Bluetooth-enabled pulse oximeters or WiFi-enabled scales.

Aadhaar as an Implantable smart deviceThe impact that a unique identification number

like Aadhaar can have if implanted in a human being as an IoT smart device are immense. Let us look into some of the possibilities that it is likely to bring in if implanted:

1. Every individual is a hub of information with a unique Identification and can be directly and automatically linked to his health and educational records.

2. The health and educational records of an indiv idual would be automat ica l ly transmitted to the concerned service provider the moment an individual walks in.

3. An individual would be alerted about his intake of medicines, his impending exams, routine health checkups, payment of fees, change in his lifestyle etc.

4. An individual would be alerted about his sugar and blood pressure levels if there is a drastic change in it and the likely actions that he needs to take. It can also alert him by giving the directions to the nearest hospital.

5. Based on the latest educational qualifications of an individual, a system alert might be possible if a suitable position is available for a job opening if he is passing by a company.

6. Each time an individual earns a certificate enhancing his qualifications; an alert can be generated and sent automatically to all the companies where his qualifications might be of use.

7. Duplication of an individual is almost impossible and specific information of an indiv idual can ge t updated a lmost dynamically by each and every action that the individual takes in his walk of life.

8. It would be easy for an individual to file his returns, keep track of his expenses, maintain his bank accounts and verify his authenticity for all his individual transactions.

9. Tracing of an individual would be a lot easier. It would be possible for his service providers to easily locate him and provide with the necessary services at a faster pace.

10. An Individuals health and educational records can be authenticated without any scope for duplication.

Impact of IoT on Human Health and Educational servicesThe use of IoT technology to monitor and manage human health and fitness is expanding rapidly. Analysts estimate that 130 million consumers worldwide use fitness trackers today. With the rise of smart watches and other wearable

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devices, the number of connected fitness monitors is expected to exceed 1.3 billion units in 2025. The basic technology for f i tness monitoring devices—sensors and low-power chips—is well established, and prices are expected to decline as volumes rise. We also expect rapid growth in devices and systems for in-home monitoring of patients, particularly those with chronic conditions such as diabetes. These devices, which may be worn or only used intermittently, have already demonstrated potential to improve health outcomes and reduce health-care costs among patients with acute forms of chronic heart failure, diabetes, and COPD (chronic obstructive pulmonary disease). In developing economies, home health monitors may be prohibitively expensive, but such devices can be used to evaluate patients remotely at rural health clinics. The basic technology is available, though adoption has been

limited by high cost and limited efficacy for non-acute patients. As technology evolves, costs will continue to fall, enabling broader adoption and use by a wider range of patients. Also, as the technology evolves, monitors become portable, and more frequent readings are taken, further benefits are likely to emerge.

In addition to wearables and home health monitors, IoT devices for human health include implantables, ingestibles, and injectables, such as nanobots that can clear arteries or help detect early-stage cancer. These devices have not yet reached the clinical trial stage, and we do not attempt to size their potential impact in 2025. However, when they are ready for widespread adoption, their impact could be as large as or larger than the benefits of the other technologies.

Economic ImpactHuman Health: Potential direct economic impact of $170 billion to $1.6 trillion per year by 2025

Source : McKinsey Global Institute analysis.

ConclusionIn a developing world, the highest-priority health-care and educational challenges are different than in advanced economies. Often, the greatest needs are improving capacity and reach of health-care and educational systems. Therefore IoT monitoring technology can create the most value by bringing care to underserved areas. A system wherein a Unique identification system like Aadhaar can bring about the necessary changes and have a wide ranging impact on the future of education and health sectors in India.

References

Algo Engines. (2015). - The Internet of Things (IoT) - An Introduction

CISCO- Lopez Research LLC. (2013). An Introduction to the Internet of Things. (IoT)”. Part 1. of The IoT Series.

Grasshopper. (2014). A beginners guide to Internet of Things-.IICS.

Kramp, T. (2013). Introduction to the Internet of Things - Springer.

Lopez Research. (2013). Introduction to Internet of Things, LLC.

McKinsey Global Institute - The Internet of Things: Mapping the value beyond the hype

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Websiteswww.algoengines.com/the-internet-of-things-iot-

introduction.http://kevinjashton.com/2009/06/22/the-

internet-of-things/https://www.abiresearch.com/press/over-5-

billion-wireless-connectivity-chips-will-shhttp://www.cisco.com/web/about/ac79/docs/i

nnov/IoT_IBSG_0411FINAL.pdfhttp://www.codeproject.com/Articles/832492/

Stage-Introduction-to-the-Internet-of-Things-Wha

www.coull.com/our-blog/internet-of-things-introduction

w w w. c s e . w u s t l . e d u / ~ j a i n / c s e 5 7 0 -13/m_18iot.htm - Raj Jain on the Internet of Things.

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*Assistant Professor, Dept. of Commerce and Management Studies, Don Bosco Institute of Bio-Sciences and Management Studies, Bangalore.

Thriveni Kumari, K*

KEY WORDSWork life balance; Women employees; Organizational policies; Sectors

Abstract:

Work-life balance refers to maintaining the balance between performing roles and responsibilities at work and at home. Work-life balance is one of the most challenging issues

stbeing faced by the women employees in the 21 century. This problem is more for women employees because of the type of roles they play at home and the spillover of personal life over work life and vice-versa. Based on the contemporary issue of work-life balance of women employees, the present research is done. The study aims to examine work-life balance of women employees and analyze the relationship between work life conflict and work life balance.

The women employees in Bangalore city constitute universe for the study. The researcher has drawn 360 women employees working in various sectors like banking, insurance, IT, BPO, health

Introduction

In the traditional era, the women were confined to household work like cooking, washing, cleaning, taking care of children, etc. They were considered as home makers and were deprived of the right or opportunity to go outside home. But now the story is different. Apart from home maker role, they also have a significant role to engage even outside the home. With the increase in cost of living on one hand and the improved education and employment opportunities on the other hand, both husband and wife started working and many families became dual earners. The growth of higher education has improved job prospects for women and resulted in the move from stay-at-home mothers to thriving professional women. Over a period of time women accomplished remarkable progress in every walk of life and made a noteworthy mark in the respective fields. But there is no significant change in performing the role of home maker. In majority homes, the women still does household work, cooks, takes care of the family members and manages the house. With increase in demands at work place and at home, the work- life balance of women employees is at stake.

Review of LiteratureMajor factors that affect work-family conflict among women executives are harmony in home and office, organizational support, family expectations, parenting effect and professional skills, nature of organization, education (Sandhu and Mehts, 2006). In another study, five factors of work-life balance are examined out of which three are work related and two are family related. Flexi time, telecommuting and option for part time work are the work related factors. Provisions of child care facility and flexibility in times of emergencies at home are the family related factors (Niharika and Supriya, 2010).

In India, the major factors influencing work-life balance of women employees are role overload, quality of health, difficulties in managing time, problems in taking care of dependents and insufficient social support (Mathew and Panchanatham, 2011). Another study revealed that the major factors that affect WLB are education, income, length of service, spouse stress and work load (Fan Wei and Liangliang, 2009).

In an empirical study, Krishna Reddy and Vranda,

2010 reported that Family and Work Conflict (FWC) and Work Family Conflict (WFC) put forth negative influences in the family domain


A Study on Work Life Balance Practices of Women Employees for

Quality Work Force in Selected Service Sectors in Bangalore

care and education constituting 60 employees from each sector for the purpose of the study. Data was collected with the help of a structured questionnaire and data was analyzed using various statistical tools like Mean and ANOVA. The analysis shows that there is significance between work life balances of women employees in selected sectors.

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that will reduce life satisfaction and generate more conflicts within the family. WFC and FWC are affected by variables such as the size of the family, age of the children, work hours and the level of social support.

L o n g wo r k i n g h o u r s c u l t u r e i n m a n y organizations does not support appropriate parenting (Glenice.J.Wood, 2006). Work-life balance may contribute positively to women only when the labour market conditions are tight. Moreover more work needs to be done with male managers in order to humanize the work place for men and woman who wishes to lead rounded lives (Liz Doherty, 2010).

In the high-tech sector, women are expected to work long hours which will come in the way of care-taking activities. However, it should be emphasized that mother struggles to manage both active family caring and career, rather than give up either of them. Another research study revealed that mothers devoted more weekly hours in work than fathers (Raphael Snir & Dorit, 2009).

Dimensions of working conditions and autonomy may cause risk in balancing life and work (Diane,

22002) .Specific leave entitlements and framing rights for example reduction in working time can represent a way forward for women and help to rebalance (Abigail Gregory and Susan Milner, 2009).

Part-time and other flexible contracts are beneficial for women employees as they provide alternative working patterns and break down traditional long hours cultures which act as a barrier to women workers (Tomlinson and Durbin

13,2009) . Comparatively women who were part timers reported greater work family balance than full time and they are relatively more successful in integrating family life and career (Jeffrey Hill, 2004).

Women with caring responsibilities were consistently viewed as less productive and more likely to leave their employment (Julie & Diane, 2009). Work family relations observed in U.S and Indian firms reflect two important factors: 1. Varying social contracts between workers and the state and private sector provide different types of support for families. 2. Varying trends in the perseverance or setback of historical, societal work family divisions create pressures and opportunities either to insulate the household

from the workplace or to merge them together (Winifred & Srirupa Prasad, 2005).

Need for the StudyThough there are studies on Work-Life Balance, relatively there are fewer studies on work-life balance of women employees. The studies were more confined to sectors like IT/BPO. Therefore there is a need to study how women are balancing their work and family life in different sectors like IT, BPO, health care, education, insurance and banking.

The present study “A study on sustainable work life balance practices for sustainable quality work force of women employees in selected service sectors in Bangalore” is undertaken to analyze Work-Life Balance of women employees in d i f f e r e n t s e c t o r s, a n d t o s t u dy a b o u t implementation of sustainable work force policies provided to women employees for better work life balance.

Scope of the studyThe present study is confined to women employees in Bangalore city. Bangalore city is one of the developed cosmopolitan cities in India. Women employees who have been working in different organizations covering different sectors like Banking, Insurance, Education, IT, BPO and Health care were considered for the purpose of the study.

Research MethodologyThe study of the objective and testing of hypothesis is dependent primarily on the reliable measurement of the variables and secondly on the methods and procedures applied for deriving conclusions.

Sample DesignThe women employees in Bangalore city constitute universe for the study. The researcher selected women employees working in various sectors like banking, insurance, IT, BPO, health care and education sector as the sample frame.

Sample SizeThe sample size comprised of 360 working women employees selected from various professions and jobs. The sample respondents includes doctors, teaching faculty, software engineers, customer relationship officers, bank employees, etc. working in different sectors such as Education, Banking, IT, insurance, Health care and BPO.

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Sampling methodSimple random sampling method is used for the present study to ensure that different strata from different sectors are adequately represented in the sample.

Data collectionBoth primary data and secondary data are collected for the purpose of the study. The survey method is used to gather primary information for the study.

Statistical Tools used for the researchThe tools used for analyzing data are ANOVA, mean score and percentages method.

Objectives• To study work life balance of women employees

in select service sectors in Bangalore.• To study about the significance difference of

work life balance of • women employees in selected service sectors.• To study about work-life balance practices and

the expectations of women employees in selected service sectors at Bangalore.

Analysis of the objectivesAs the nature of the job differs based on sector, work-life balance of employees may differ. Table 1 presents work-life balance of employees at different sectors. Mean score is calculated based on the responses on a five-point scale.

Hypothesis

Ho: There is no significant difference in

satisfaction with work-life balance of women

employees in select service sectors.

H1: There is significant difference in satisfaction

with work-life balance of women employees in

select service sectors.

Hypothesis is tested using ANOVA. The results

have shown that F value is significant at 5% and

therefore alternative hypothesis that there is

significant difference in the levels of work- life

balance of women employees in select service

sectors in Bangalore is accepted.

Table 1: Mean Scores of Satisfaction with Work-Life Balance of Women Employees in different

sectors

Source: Primary Data (VS-Very Satisfied, S-Satisfied, N-Neutral, DS- Dissatisfied, VDS-Very dissatisfied)

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Organizational Policies and Practices followed

for WLB

Organizations have certain policies and practices

that affect the work-life balance of employees.

These relate to flexi time, holidays, job sharing,

career break, child care, etc. When such facilities

are provided, the employees will have better work-

life balance.


Table 3: Policies and Practices Followed by Organizations for Work-Life Balance (Figures indicate YES (percentage))

1- Flexible starting and ending time 2-Flexible hours in general 3-Holidays/ part timeoff4- Career break 5-Job sharing 6-Child care facilities

Figure 1: Types of Policies and Practices followed by the organizations in Select Service Sectors

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Table 3 reveals the type of work-life balance policies and practices followed by select sectors of the study. It is observed that majority of the respondents reported that policies and practices like flexible starting and ending time, flexible hours in general, holidays or part time off, job sharing and child care facilities are present in IT and BPO sectors. Later followed by health care sector, banking and insurance sector. It is also

observed that the respondents in education sector reported that such policies and practices are not very much present in education sector. IT and BPO sectors are majorly concentrating on policies and practices for good work-life balance to their employees. This is because of their nature of work which affects their work-life balance.


Table 5: Additional Facilities Provided by the organizations (figures indicate YES)

1-Telephone for personal use 2-Counselling services for employees 3-Health care programmes 4-Parenting or family support programmes 5- Exercise facilities6-Transportation 7-Health check up

Figure 2: Additional facilities provided by the organizations

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Table 5 reveals additional facilities provided in selected sectors of study that affect work-life balance of the employees. Additional provisions considered for the study are telephone for personal use, counseling services for employees, health care programmes, parenting or family support programmes, exercise facilit ies, transportation and health check up. Among the total respondents, it is observed that respondents in IT sector reported the presence of additional provisions followed by the BPO, Health care, Banking and Insurance sectors. It is also observed that majority of the respondents in education

sector expressed that they do not have additional provisions.

Hindrances to Work-Life Balance for EmployeesWork-life balance of the employees will be adversely affected with certain impediments. These may relate to either work environment or personal life. Both the organization and the individual employee have to make an attempt that these hindrances are kept a low level in order to ensure a better work-life balance.


Table 6: Hindrances to Work- Life Balance in Different Sectors (Figures indicate YES (percentage))

1- Long working hours 2- Compulsory overtime 3- Shift work 4-Meetings / training after office hours

5- Negative attitude of peers at workplace 6- Negative attitude of supervisors7- Negative attitude of family members

Figure 3: Hindrances for Work-Life Balance for employees

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Table 6 shows the hindrances encountered in work-life balance of the employees. Major hurdles affecting the work-life balance considered for the study are long working hours, compulsory overtime, shift work, meetings or training after office hours, negative attitude of peers and colleagues, negative attitude of superiors, negative attitude of family members. Majority of the employees from IT, BPO and health care sector

reported that they are having major hindrances which affect their work-life balance. Their nature of job requires them to stay for long working hours, compulsory over time, shift work, etc. IT, BPO and health care sectors are having more hindrances when compared to education, banking and insurance sectors.


Work-Life Balance Initiatives Provided to the Respondents in Different Sectors

Table 7: Work-life Balance initiatives in different sectors (Figures indicate YES (percentage))

1- Paid maternity leave 2- Opportunity to return to the same job after maternity 3- Staggered return to work after pregnancy 4- Opportunity to negotiate part time work 5- Telecommuting

Figure 4: Work-Life Balance initiatives provided to the respondents

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Table 7 presents work-life balance initiatives provided to employees in different sectors. The initiatives considered for the study are paid maternity leave, opportunity to return the same job after maternity, staggered return to work after pregnancy, opportunity to negotiate part time work and telecommuting.

Majority of the respondents in different sectors barring education and BPO expressed that they are provided paid maternity leave. Opportunity to return to the same job after maternity and staggered return to work after pregnancy are mostly available in all sectors other than BPO sector. Opportunity to negotiate part-time work is prevalent in all selected sectors but relatively less in IT sector. Finally telecommuting facility is available mainly in IT sector where employees will have the opportunity to sit at home and work.

Findings of the studyWork-life balance practices like flexible starting and ending time, flexible hours in general, holidays or part time off, job sharing and child care facilities are mostly present in IT and BPO sectors as expressed by the respondents. Respondents in education sector opined that such policies and practices are not very much present in education sector.

As far as additional provisions (i.e) telephone for private purpose, counselling services, health care programmes, family programmes, transportation, health check up to the employees, majority of the provisions are available in IT sector followed by BPO, health care, banking and insurance sectors and less provisions are available in education sector.

IT, BPO and health care sectors are having more hindrances like extended work hours, shifts, meetings after office hours, negative attitude of peers, colleagues, superiors, family members when compared to education, banking and insurance sectors.

Majority of the respondents in different sectors exclusive of education and BPO expressed that they are provided paid maternity benefit, opportunity to work after maternity and pregnancy are mostly available in all sectors. Negotiation of part-time work is prevalent in all selected sectors but relatively less in IT sector but telecommuting facility is available mainly in IT sector where employees will have the opportunity

to sit at home and work.

ConclusionIndia is a developing country and many of the companies are globally competing. In the cut-t h r o a t c o m p e t i t i v e e nv i r o n m e n t t h e organizations' expectations from the employees are increasing. The forward looking organizations believe that people are the assets of the organization and they determine the success or failure of the organization. It is very true that employees can change the fortune of the organizations provided when employees are engaged. But employee engagement is a two – way street. It is necessary that employees are also taken care of by the organizations.

Women workforce is increasing and their contribution to the organizations is also considered to be valuable. It is very necessary for the organizations to acknowledge women employees by providing more appropriate work-life balance measures for them. Striking a healthy work-life balance is imperative for all the employees irrespective of the industry to which they belong. It is the joint responsibility of the employer and the employees to ensure strong work-life balance that can bring in fruitful results to organization as well as employees also.

References Abigail Gregory., & Susan Milner. ( 2 0 0 9 ) .

Editorial: Work-life balance: A m a t t e r o f choice? Gender, work and organization, Vol 16 .No.1, Jan, pp. 1-13.

Diane-Gabrielle Tremblay. (2002). B a l a n c i n g w o r k a n d f a m i l y w i t h t e l e w o r k ? Organizational issues and challenges for women and managers. W o m e n i n Management Review, Bradford:, Vol. 17, No. 3/4; pp. 157.

Fan Wei, Feng Ying., & Wu Liangliang (2009). The Stressors in Professional Women's Work-family Conflict: A Chinese Study, Canadian Social Science. Montreal, Vol. 5, No. 3; 62.

Glenice J Wood., & Janice Newton (JUL 2 0 0 6 ) . Childlessness and Women Managers: 'Choice', Context and Discourses. Gender, Work and Organization. Oxford, Vol. 13, No. 4; 338.

E.Jeffrey Hill., Vjollca K. Martinson., Maria Ferris., & Robin Zenger Baker. (Spring 2004). Beyond the Mommy Track: The Influence of New-Concept P a r t - T i m e W o r k f o r

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Professional Women on Work and Family, Journal of Family and Economic Issues, New York:, Vol. 25, No.1; pp. 121.

Julie A Waumsley, Diane M Houston (Dec, 2009). Flexible Working, Professional Success and Being Female: Are They Incompatible? Review of European Studies, Toronto, Vol. 1, No. 2, 39.

Krishna Reddy, N., Vranda, M.N., Atiq Ahmed., Nirmala, B.P., & Siddaramu. ( 2 0 1 0 ) . Wo r k - l i f e b a l a n c e a m o n g m a r r i e d wo m e n e m p l oye e s, I n d i a n Journal of Psychological Medicine,' July – December, vol. no. 32(2), 112- 118.

Liz Doher ty. (2004). Work- l i fe balance in i t ia t ives : impl icat ions for women, Employee Relations, Bradford, Vol. 26, No. 4, 433.

Mathew, R. V., & Panchanatham, N. (2009). Work-life balance issues among the women entrepreneurs in South India. In K. J. Cherian, & S.

P. A . M a t h e w ( E d s . ) , E m e r g i n g e n t r e p r e n e u r i a l s t r a t e g i e s f o r s e l f development and skill development, 46–57, Kottayam, India: Kuriakose Gregorios College (KGC).

Niharika Doble., & Supriya, M.V. ( 2 0 1 0 ) . Gender differences in perception of work-life balance, Management (4), Vol. 5, No.4, 331- 342.

Raphael Snir., Itzhak Harpaz., & Dorit Ben-Baruch. (Nov 2009). Centrality of and Investment in Work and Family Among Israeli High-Tech Workers: A Bicultural Perspective. Cross - Cultural Research, Thousand Oaks, Vol. 43, No. 4, 366.

Sandhu, H.S., & Ritu Mehta. (2006). Work-family conflict among women executives in service sector: an empirical study. Journal of Advances in Management Research, Bingley, Vol. 3, No. 2, 68.

Jenn i f e r Toml inson . , & Susan Durb in (2010). Female part-time managers; Work-life balance, aspirations and career mobility, Equality, Diversity and Inclusion: An International Journal. Birmingham, Vol. 29, no. 3, 255.

Winifred R. Poster., & Srirupa Prasad. (Feb 2005). Work-Family Relations in Transnational Perspective: A View from High-Tech Firms in India and the United States, Social Problems, Berkeley, Vol. 52, No. 1, 122.

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*Professor, School of Commerce, AIMS Institute of Higher Education, **Assistant Professor, MSRIM*** Asst. Professor, School of Business, AIMS Institute of Higher Education

Dr. Karunakara Reddy, B.A*, Aravinda Reddy, M. N**, & Bhagyalakshmi, M***

KEY WORDSE-commerce;E-tailing;Consumer buying behavior; snapdeal.com;Bangalore City; Online Shopping

Abstract:

Bangalore being the hub of IT park and often referred as Silicon City of India, is one among the favorable destination for e-commerce companies. The increasing use of Internet by the younger generation in India provides an emerging prospect for online retailers. If online retailers know the factors affecting consumers' buying behavior, and the associations between these factors and type of online buyers, then they can further develop their marketing strategies to convert potential customers into active ones.

The purpose of this study is to examine and analyze the consumer's buying behavioral pattern towards online shopping (especially in case of sanpdeal.com users in Bangalore city).

The research also finds out various attitudes of snap deal users of Bangalore city towards the online

Introduction

Sitting at the comfort of your home, you can order just about anything, ranging from electronics, clothes, cosmetics, jewellery, medicines, home needs, toys, books to even pets and plants. The online shopping hasn't spared anyone. As payment and replacement guarantee are in place for most products, even kids buy what they like with the 'Cash on Delivery' mode.

E-tailing is the new trend of shopping in India that is used to refer to computer-based-shopping or E-shopping same like Internet banking or E-banking. Online shopping consumer behavior is also called E-shopping consumer buying behavior. The research or case studies of online consumer buying behavior is important because it helps to know about consumers demands, it helps to understand and analyze that when consumers buy products online and who buy products online ? and how consumers mindset for purchasing the products online? E-tailing is depending upon its quality, its branding image, its uniqueness and its popularity etc. Snapdeal.com is an Indian E-tailer. It is considered as a E-commerce company. Sanpdeal.com founded in year 2010 and its main

head office is located in New Delhi, India.

Snapdeal.com is one of the India's largest E-commerce companies that made online shopping. As a online shopping company sanpdeal.com is very popular among Indian online shoppers. Snapdeal.com offers free home delivery, cash on delivery options, 24 x 7 customer case services, payment through Debit or Credit cards of their customers. Here in this case study we want to know about online consumer's buying behavioral pattern towards online shopping (especially in case of snapdeal.com users in Bangalore city). This paper identifies the consumer perception, awareness about online shopping. Study is exploratory as well as descriptive, both primary & secondary data have been collected and utilized.

Review of LiteratureCheung et al (Online Consumer Behavior: A Review and Agenda for Future Research, 2003), a base model called Model of Intention, Adoption, and Continuance (MIAC) for the development of an online consumer behavior framework. This model predicts that behavior is governed by intention. Satisfied consumers are most likely to continue hence adoption and continuance are


Consumers' Buying Behaviour towards Online Shopping

- A Case Study of Snapdeal.Com Users in Bangalore City

respondents through scheduled containing questions. The study result concluded that future of e-tailers in India specially in cities looking very bright. Snapdeal.com offering best prices, good products and completely hassle-free shopping experience for our customers. The success of any e-tailer company in India is depending upon its popularity, its trademark icon, its unique & reasonable policies, and its customer relations etc.

57

connected to each other through several mediating and moderating factors such as trust and satisfaction.

Reinhardt and Passariello, (2002) In the US, says that online sales are forecasted to exceed $36 billion in 2002, and grow annually by 20.9 percent to reach $81 billion in 2006. Europeans are spending more money online as well. Whereas combined revenues for Amazon.com's European operations grew at more than 70 percent annually in each of the past three quarters, topping $218 million. While these figures show that a large number of consumers in the US and Europe frequently use the Internet for shopping purposes, it is not clear what drives them to shop online and whether these numbers could be even more.

Venkatesh (2000) online shopping “Computer playfulness” is the degree of cognitive spontaneity in computer interactions. Playful individuals may tend to underestimate the difficulty of the means or process of online shopping, because they quite simply enjoy the process and do not perceive it as being effortful compared to those who are less playful “Computer anxiety” is defined as an individual's apprehension or even fear when she/he is faced with the possibility of using computers. This inf luences consumers ' perceptions regarding the “ease of use” of the Internet as a shopping medium in a negative way, since using a computer is one of the necessary requirements for online shopping.

Benedict et al. (2001) in his study on perceptions towards online shopping reveals that perceptions toward online shopping and intention to shop online are not only affected by ease of use, usefulness, and enjoyment, but also by exogenous factors like consumer traits, situational factors, product characteristics, previous online shopping experiences, and trust in online shopping.

Burke et al. (2002); Relevant exogenous factors in this context are “consumer traits” “situational factors” “product characteristics” “previous online shopping experiences” and “trust in online shopping” By incorporating these exogenous factors next to the basic determinants of consumers' perception and intention to use a technology, the framework is applicable in the online shopping context. Together, these effects and influences on consumers' perception toward online shopping provide a framework for understanding consumers' intentions to shop on

the Internet.

Zenithal et al. (2002) in addition to these four latent dimensions, “site characteristics” like search functions, download speed, and navigation, also play a role in shaping “ease of use. But since these site characteristics merely influence the “ease of use” of a particular Web site or online store, and not the Internet as a shopping medium in general, we choose not to elaborate on these sites.

Holbrook (1994) Intrinsic motivation for Internet shopping is captured by the “enjoyment” construct in our framework. Intrinsic value or “enjoyment” derives from the appreciation of an experience for its own sake, apart from any other consequence that may result.

Childers et al. (2001) concluded that “enjoyment” results from the fun and playfulness of the online shopping experience, rather than from shopping task completion. The purchase of goods may be incidental to the experience of online shopping. Thus, “enjoyment” ref lects consumers ' perceptions regarding the potential entertainment of Internet shopping found “enjoyment” to be a consistent and strong predictor of attitude toward online shopping.

Menon and Kahn, 2002; Mathwick et al. (2001) says that If consumers enjoy their online shopping experience, they have a more positive attitude toward online shopping, and are more likely to adopt the Internet as a shopping medium. In our framework, we identify three latent dimensions of “enjoyment” construct, including “escapism”, “pleasure”, and “arousal” “Escapism” is reflected in the enjoyment that comes from engaging in activities that are absorbing, to the point of offering an escape from the demands of the day-to-day world. “Pleasure” is the degree to which a person feels good, joyful, happy, or satisfied in online shopping.

Morris (2013) conducted a study on 'More Consumers Prefer Online Shopping' Shoppers increasingly want what's called a “seamless omni channel experience,” meaning one in which retailers allow them to combine online and brick and mortar browsing, shopping, ordering and returning in whatever combo they would like.


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HypothesesH01 - Perception of online shoppers is independent of Age and Gender.H02 - Perception of online shoppers is independent of Income and Gender.

Research Methodology Research Methodology states what steps were employed to carry out the research study. The technological facts about the study are given below:-

Research Objectives To achieve the goal of the study, the following research questionnaire addressed as primary research objectives: 1. The primary objective of these studies is to know about online consumer's buying behaviors towards online shopping (especially in case of Snapdeal users in Bangalore city). 2. To identify the respondents awareness about online shopping. 3. To find out various attitudes of Snapdeal users of Bangalore city towards the online shopping.

Research Design In case of research design we used exploratory as well as descriptive research design for this study.

Sampling TechniqueThe convenience sampling method was applied in this case study. Source of the sample is Limited to Bangalore city. Keeping in mind the objectives of the study, a structured questionnaire was prepared for the purpose of collecting the primary data. A part from variables like - Gender, Age and overall customer satisfaction were collected and average, percentage method used for this study.

Sample Size The present study was conducted in a Bangalore city. In case of sample size we have taken 40 Respondents of Snapdeal.com. Out of the total 40, 22 were males and rest 18 were females and the age group of the respondents between 18 to 65

Research Instrument For this study we used structured questionnaire as a research instrument.

Data Types In the context of the current study we used both primary and secondary data.

Method of Data Collection Primary data has been collected with the help of

structured questionnaire. In case of secondary data we have used internet websites, journals, newspaper etc. For this study collected data has been processed and tabulated by the way of tables and graphs and the data was presented with the help of different types of graphs and Tables.

Limitation of the Study The result of the study is specific to the sample selected and dimensions used. Hence, they may not be generalized for overall population. Actually this study is limited in sample size.

Data Analysis and InterpretationTable 1: Choosing Snapdeal.com for online shopping (N=40)

Source: Primary Data

Graph 1: Choosing Snapdeal.com for online shopping


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Interpretation From the above Table 1 and Graph 1, the researchers interpret that respondents choose snapdeal.com for online shopping. It is clear that maximum 43% respondents said that they choose online shopping with snapdeal.com for attractive prices, 28% choose snapdeal.com for its popularity, 17% (Approx.) respondents choose snapdeal.com for mass variety of products and rest minimum 13% (Approx.) respondents said that they choose snapdeal.com for its reliability.

Table 2: Frequency of buying products/items from snapdeal.com (N=40)


Graph 2: Frequency of buying products/items from snapdeal.com

Interpretation From the above Table 2 and Graph 2, it can analyzed that majority of the respondents i.e. 45% of respondents have bought products online once a month. 28% of respondents bought online items once in a six months. 20% of the respondents bought online product once in a year, and least 8% (approx...) of the respondents bought products online once in a week.

Table 3: Listing retail stores first before online purchasing with snapdeal.com (N=40)


Graph 3: Visiting retail stores first before online purchasing with snapdeal.com


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Interpretation From the above Table 3 and graph 3, 38% of the respondents said that they visit retail stores before online purchasing with snapdeal.com to see and check actual product face, Prices etc, maximum 55% of the respondents do not visit retail stores before online purchasing with snapdeal.com as they believe in snapdeal.com prices, quality etc. Least 8% (Approx.) Respondents can't say for this regard.

Table 4: When did you like online shopping with snapdeal.com? (N=40)


Graph 4: When did you like online shopping with snapdeal.com?

Interpretation Above table 4 and graph 4 clearly shows that most of (58%) of the respondents do like online shopping with snapdeal.com in a heavy discount time period. Whenever, 22% (Approx.) of the respondents do shopping with snapdeal.com in festive seasons and 10% of the respondents like shopping with snapdeal.com when they have need and same 10% respondents do shopping when they have desire.

Table 5: Age group of people in your family does m o s t o n l i n e s h o p p i n g w i t h snapdeal.com(N=40)


Graph 5: Age group of people in your family does most online shopping with snapdeal.com

Interpretation From above table 5 and graph 5, we can easily analyze that most of the 58% of the respondent said, that (18-25) Age group of family members like do most online shopping with Snapdeal.com. 25% of the respondents says that (26-35) Age


group of family members like online shopping with Snapdeal.com. Whenever 12% respondent said that (36-45) Age group of family members like buy products via Snapdeal.com and least 5% of the respondents said that in (45-65) Age group of family members like do online shopping with Snapdeal.com

Table 6: What would you buy on online shopping with Snapdeal.com? (N=40)


Graph 6: What would you buy on online shopping with Snapdeal.com?

Interpretation From the above table 6 and graph 6, it is clear that 30%, 12 Respondents bought Apparel from Snapdeal.com and same percentage & no. of respondent purchased Accessories (Like :

perfumes, make-up kit, watches etc.) from online s h o p p i n g v i a S n a p d e a l . c o m , 2 3 % , 0 9 Respondents like to purchase Electronic goods and Least 17%, 07 Respondents like to buy home & kitchen appliances from Snapdeal.com.

Table 7: What will you dislike to buy on online shopping with Snapdeal.com? (N=40)


Graph 7: What will you dislike to buy on online shopping with Snapdeal.com?

Interpretation From the table 7 and graph 7, it is clear that most of the respondents i.e. 17 respondents (43%) dislike buy perfumes on online shopping with snapdeal.com. Whenever 16 respondents (40%) dislike buy footwear on online shopping with snapdeal.com 12% and 5% respondents dislike buy electronic goods and apparel from snapdeal.com respectively.


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Ta b l e 8 : Re l i a b i l i t y C h e c k A n a l y s i s (N=40)


Graph 8: How much reliable is Snapdel.com for online shopping?

Interpretation From the above table 8 and graph 8, try to find out online consumer reliability status among the Snapdeal.com users. Majority of the 20 respondents (50%) are said that Snapdeal.com is cent percent reliable for online shopping. 14 respondents (35%) said that Snapdeal.com is fifty percent reliable for online and rest 06 respondents i.e. 15% respondents can't say for this purpose.

Table 9: How much satisfied are you online shopping with Snapdeal.com?(N=40)


Graph 9: Satisfaction level online shopping towards Snapdeal.com

Interpretation Above table 9 and graph 9, clearly shows that majority of the respondents i.e. 20 respondents (50%) are agree that they are 100% satisfied from online shopping with Snapdeal.com, 35% respondents are 50% satisfied, 10% respondents can't say anything for this purpose and rest 5% respondents i.e. 02 respondents are unsatisfied from online shopping with Snapdeal.com.

Table 10: Like to continue online shopping with Snapdeal.comN=40)



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Graph 10: Like to continue online shopping with Snapdeal.com

Interpretation Above table 10 and graph 10 clearly shows that majority of 80% of the respondents are like to continue online shopping with snapdeal.com. Whenever 18% respondents are not like to continue online shopping with snapdeal.com and 2% (i.e. 1 respondent) can't say anything for this purpose

H01 - Perception of online shoppers is independent of Age and Gender.

Table 11: Perception of online shoppers is independent of Age and Gender. (N=40)

To test whether the age and gender have significant impact on internet usage for online shopping, chi-square test is conducted.

Table 12: Age * Gender

The analysis reveals that the calculated value is 2.877. As the P-Value (Asymp. Sig 2 sided) is found to be 0.411, the hypothesis is accepted at 5% level of significance, so the perception of on-line shopping is independent to Age and Gender.

H02 - Perception of online shoppers is independent of his Income and Gender.

Table 13: Gender * Income

Table 14: Gender * Income

To test whether the income and gender have significant impact on internet usage for online shopping, chi-square test is conducted. The analysis revealed that the calculated value is 2.973 as the p value is (assump. Sig2 sided) is found to be .453. Hence hypothesis H02 is accepted at 5% significance which indicates the perception of online shopping is independent of income and gender.

Findings and Concluding Remarks On the basis of information collected from the users of snapdeal.com in Bangalore city, some important facts which come as a result of this research are as follows:

• The first and foremost finding of this study is that most of users are happy on online shopping with Snapdeal.com because most of the users responses are in favor of Snapdeal.com • Most respondents (users) are satisfied for online shopping wi th Snapdeal .com. So most respondents want to continue online shopping w i t h S n a p d e a l . c o m , t h e y b e l i eve d i n Snapdeal.com reliability, its policies and they said


that Snapdeal.com is reliable e-tailer in the field of online shopping. • On the basis of user responses we can easily analyze that users of Snapdeal.com (Bangalore city) mainly interested in buy online apparel- Like mens, womens and kids clothes, watches, home & kitchen appliances etc. and they dislike buy online perfumes & footwear etc. they bought products online once in a week and like to do online shopping mostly on discounted time period and festive seasons. • Use r s o f Snapdea l . com be l i eve tha t Snapdeal.com products prices are lesser than the prices in the market.• Mostly youngsters and youth generation (18-25 Age groups) are very much interested in online shopping with Snapdeal.com because they know about technology, they know about e-shopping, and they know about very well when and how purchase products from this e-tailer. • In case of various parameters for loyalty, commitment, and reliability e-tailer most of the respondents gave positive responses/view for this e-tailer (Snapdeal.com).

From the above discussion, it is concluded that future of e-tailers in India looking very bright. E-tailers give us the best way to save money and time through purchasing online within the range of budget. Snapdeal.com offers some of the best prices and completely hassle-free shopping experience. Whole concept of online shopping has altered in terms of consumer's purchasing or buying behavior and the success of E-tailers in India is depending upon its popularity, its branding image, its unique policies. ReferencesCheung et al. Online Consumer Behavior: A

Review and Agenda for Future Research, 2003.

https://domino.fov.unimb.si/proceedings.nsf/0/c9beda3ca328c8b7c1256ea1002c72b8/$FILE/16Cheung.pdf

Greenberg, P.A. (2000). B2B E-Commerce: The Q u i e t G i a n t , E - C o m m e r c e T i m e s , http://ecommercetimes.com downloaded on 14 September 2002.

Jarvenpaa, S.L., & Todd, P.A. (1997). Consumer Reactions to Electronic Shopping on the World Wide Web, International Journal of Electronic Commerce, Vol. 1, No. 2: 59-88.

Hoffman, D.L. & Novak, T.P. (1996). Marketing in Hyper media Computer -Media ted Environments: Conceptual Foundations,

Journal of Marketing, Vol. 60, Vol. 3: 50-68.M o r r i s ( 2 0 1 3 ) , [ O n l i n e ] Av a i l a b l e ,

http://online.wsj.com/news/articles/SB1000 1 4 2 4 1 2 7 8 8 7 3 2 4 0 6 3 3 0 4 5 7 8 5 2 3 1 1 2 1 93480212

META Group. The 2001 World E-Commerce and Internet Market Report (WECIM), META Group Inc. 2001.

Sorce, P., Perotti, V., & Widrick, S. (2005). Attitude and age differences in online buying. International Journal of Retail & Distribution Management, Vol. 33, No. 2/3, pp. 122-132.

Shergill, G., & Chen, Z. (2005). Web Based Shopping: Consumers' Attitude towards Online Shopping in New Zealand, Journal of Electronic Research, Vol. 6, No. 2.


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*Principal, ** &***Asst. Professors, Dept. of Commerce & ManagementMLA Academy of Higher Learning, Bangalore

Dr.Padmaja, P.V*., Suma,T.S**., Kamala,S***

KEY WORDSFamily;Work; Work life;Work life balance

Abstract:

Many contemporary studies of 'work�life balance' either ignore gender or take it for granted. Gender roles are changing at work and at home. As fathers and husbands increase their responsibilities in the home, they're also experiencing more difficulties in balancing work and family duties. The purpose of our research is to 1) Understand whether there are work life balance problems faced by male employees working in IT sector (2) What are the individual strategies adopted by them towards balancing their work and life and (3) Understand the organizational support provided to the employees towards work life balance. The study is descriptive and exploratory in nature. It is based on the qualitative and quantitative analysis of the information solicited through a survey of a sample of 100 male professionals chosen through simple random sampling from different IT companies around the city of Bangalore. The key

Introduction

The expression “Work –life balance” is used to describe the balance between an individual's work and personal life. It intends to provide satisfaction and good functioning at work and at home, with a minimum role conflict. It is a generally agreed fact that work-life balance is important for an individual's psychological well-being, satisfaction and overall sense of harmony in life which can be regarded as indicators of a successful balance between work and family roles. The term 'work-life balance' is preferred due to the fact that it encompasses the experiences and needs of parents and non-parents alike, and is a more progressive theoretical framework in which to think about new ways of living and working that are satisfactory to all. In practice, it involves “adjusting work patterns so that everyone, regardless of age, race or gender can find a rhythm that enables them more easily to combine work and their other responsibilities and aspirations” (Pillinger 2001: 1). Drew, Humphreys and Murphy point out “that personal fulfillment is important inside work and that satisfaction outs ide work may enhance employees ' contribution to work” (2003:13).

Literature reviewDuring the 1980s, recognizing the value and needs of the women contributors in pioneering organizations such as Merck, Deloitte & Touche, and IBM began to change their internal workplace policies, procedures, and benefits. The changes included maternity leave; employee assistance programs (EAPs), flextime, home-based work, and child-care referral. During the 1980s men also began voicing work-life concerns. By the end of the decade, work life balance was seen as more than just a women's issue, affecting men, families, organizations and cultures. The 1990s solidified the recognition of work-life balance as a vital issue for everyone-- women, men, parents and non-parents, singles, and couples. This growing awareness of the central importance of the issue resulted in major growth in attempted work-life solutions during this decade. (Jim Bird 2006) Many contemporary studies of work and home life either ignore gender or take it for granted (Gerson, 2004).

A small body of research has investigated how men perceive the connections between work and home life. Much of this work has taken place in the last decade (for example, Collinson and Hearn, 1996; Halford, 2006; Hatten et al., 2002;


Strategies adopted for work life balance among

male employees working in IT sector

findings' emerging from this survey focuses on strategies adopted for effective work life balance among male employees of IT sector.

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Smith and Winchester, 1998; Speakman and Marchington, 2004), although research began earlier in the USA (for example, Cohen, 1988; Pleck, 1985; Weiss, 1987). Recently, UK government policy documents also seem to be including men by noting that parents (not just mothers) need more choice about how to balance work and family life (HM Treasury, 2004). However, in practice, the large disparity in maternity and paternity leave entrenches traditional gender roles, and the assumption remains that exible working and work–life balance are predominately issues for the working mothers of young children (Smithson and Stokoe, 2005).

The recent past is a witness to changes in work schedules. A larger part of the IT sector is hence moving from a standard eight-hour a day to operating twenty four hours a day for seven days of the week(Bharat2008).Many employees need to work on Saturdays and Sundays too. Moreover, there is a changing pattern in the working hours which is quite different from the standard one, which normally operates from 9 am to 5 pm (Bharat 2009). While some employees work in the standard time some others need to be available for work that normally starts early in the evening and continues well through the night. Sometimes they need to even work beyond the normal eight hours (Rai 2009). Work life balance studies are largely gender-blind (Carol Emslie* and Kate Hunt, 2009)

Global Men's Study (2011) reveals that men are equally concerned with work-life integration. The findings of this study conflicts with a widely held assumption that male identity is rooted in work whereas women place a higher priority on personal/family life.

According to a survey by the Pew Research Center in 2013, 56% of working mothers said it was very o r s o m ew h a t d i f f i c u l t t o b a l a n c e t h e responsibilities of their jobs and their families; 50% of working fathers, nearly as many as working mothers, said the very same thing.

Work-life balance has been defined differently by different scholars. In order to broaden our perspectives, some definitions will be presented. Greenhaus (2002) defined work –life balance as satisfaction and good functioning at work and at home with a minimum of role conflict.

Felstead et al. (2002) defines work-life balance as the relationship between the institutional and cultural times and spaces of work and non-work in societies where income is predominantly generated and distributed through labor markets. Aycan et al. (2007) confined the subject only with work and family and put forward the concept of “life balance” with a more whole perspective. Scholars defined life balance as fulfilling the demands satisfactorily in the three basic areas of life; namely, work, family and private. Family demands include such subjects as the roles of the individuals (e.g. Father, mother, etc.,) family responsibilities (e.g childcare, house chores, etc) looking after the old members, children. Work –life balance is not the allocation of time equally among work, family and personal demands. (Delecta, P. 2011)

Research ObjectivesWork-life Balance has always been a concern and hot issue for discussion among employees working in IT sector as they don't really believe working in physical organizational set up unlike other sectors because of their virtual working environment and their work spills beyond the geographical boundaries of office and house and also spills beyond normal working hours which is not so for employees working in other sectors. Their frequent travelling also keeps them away from their families. The importance of work-life balance is dual in nature-it provides motivation, job satisfaction, productivity etc. to an employee and controlled attrition and improved retention rates, reduced absenteeism, high performance and efficiency, high commitment to an organization.

The study aims to:• Understand whether there are work life

ba lance problems faced by male employees working in IT sector

• What are the individual strategies adopted by them towards balancing their work and life and

• Understand the organizational support provided to the employees towards work life balance.

Hypotheses1) H = The male employees working in IT 0

industry do not allow family life to interfere in their job performance.

2) H = The male employees working in IT 0

industry do not allow job responsibilities to interfere in their family life


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Research methodologyThe present paper is essentially an empirical research focusing on the strategies adopted for work life balance among male employees working in IT sector.

The research work is based on primary data and secondary data. An effort is made to collect actual data about the strategies adopted for work life balance among male employees working in IT sector. For this purpose a structured questionnaire was administered to the respondents.

Sampling plan Sample Unit: Target groups [Male employees working in IT sector in Bangalore] Sample Size: 71 respondents

Limitations of the study• Personal bias of respondents• Limited sample size

Statistical analysis and resultsTable No.1: Personal Profile

• A large number of respondents are above 35 thyears (about 64%). About 1/4 of the respondents

are between 25-30 years.

• About 87% of the respondents are married.

• About 67% have 1 or 2 children and 69% have 1-

3 dependent adults.

• 62% of respondents are from nuclear families

and 35% are from joint families.

• About 83% are living with the spouse and 3% of

the respondents even though married are

currently not living with the spouse.

• About 58% have non working spouse.

Table No.2: Work Profile


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• About 45% of respondents have more than 15 years of work experience.

• Majority of respondents (48%) are in the middle

level of management

• 89% of respondents work 5 days in a week.

• Around 68% of respondents work for 8 to 10

hours in a day.

• Majority of 70% say that they work outside the

usual working hour

• Majority of 48% acknowledge that their spouse

take up the responsibility of child care.

• 31% of employees spend less than 2 hours in a

day with their children.

• Majority (34%) say that they get less than 2

hours of time to spend with dependent adults

in their family.


Table No.3: Work Life Balance

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• Abou t 35% o f the employees have

acknowledged that sometimes family

responsibilities reduces the time they can

devote to work and 32% say rarely interferes

with work.

• 34% have mentioned that sometimes family

worries distract them from work

• Significant percent (34%) of respondents have

mentioned that family activities stop them

from getting the amount of sleep required to

perform their job well. About 30% of

responses range from sometime (20%) to often

(10%).

• 27% feel that rarely family obligations reduced

their time to relax. However 28% of

respondents say it is sometimes.

Negative or non co-operative attitude of family

members never interfere with work opine 59%

of respondents.


Table No.4: Family interference in job performance

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* Degree of freedom =5-1=4, Table value at 5%

significance level

From the above table it can be inferred that family

life interfere in the job performance and therefore

H (1)is rejected.0


Table No.5: Statistical analysis of family interference in job performance

Table No.6: Job interference in family life

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• About 37% of the respondents have agreed that sometimes their job reduced the amount of time they get to spend with their family.

• 28% say that rarely problems at work makes them irritable at home whereas 24% opine that they never have such experience and another group with same percentage say that they sometimes feel irritable at home because of

problems at work.• 28% acknowledge that rarely their job takes up

lot of energy because of which they don't feel to do things that need attention at home whereas 24% said sometimes it happens.

• Negative attitude of supervisors (38%) and colleagues (35%) has never interfered in their family life.

* Degree of freedom =5-1=4, Table value at 5%

significance level

From the above table it can be inferred that job

responsibilities interfere in their family life and

therefore H (2)is rejected.0

Strategies to cope up with the issues of work life

balance

To manage the pressures of work life balance the

individuals' device their own mechanisms.

Similarly the organizations also support their

employees by designing mechanisms to handle

pressures of work life balance. The tables reflected

below indicate both individual and organizational

mechanisms.

Table No.7: Statistical analysis of Job interference in family life

Table No.8: Individual strategies

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OthersSocial service, sleeping, cycling, photography, associated with the activities of spiritual organizations, badminton, service at temple, spending time with friends, visiting places,

cooking a meal for the family on Sunday, cleaning the house, reading philosophical books and practicing devotional life.

Table No.9: Organizational strategies

Table No.10: Organizational strategies

More than half of the respondents resort to entertainment like watching TV or listening to Radio as a strategy to balance work and life. 40% of them have opted music and spending time with family.

• 39.5% of employees say that there is a policy for work life balance for male employees in their company and same percent of employees say that they don't know.

• Majority of respondents acknowledge that

they are not aware as to whether there is uniformity in the application of work life balance policies at different levels of management.

• Majority of the respondents are of the opinion that work life balance policies should be customized to individual needs of the employees.

• A majority of 72% of respondents agree that the organization provides with mobile phone, laptops and internet facilities at home

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followed by 62% acknowledging the provision of paternity leave.54% agreed that they get medical facilities in the form of medical checkup or medical services by the company and few respondents also acknowledged the counseling services received by the company along with transportation and gym facilities.

Findings and ConclusionToday with increasing demands at work place, the interface between work life and personal life assumes significance which demands more attention. The pressures of the work and personal life can lead to stress. According to research studies, that such situation affects person's health both physiologically and psychologically. Therefore, it is important for employees to maintain a healthy balance between work and their private lives.

Through our study it is understood that the male employees working in IT sector encounter WLB issues. The family pressure spills over to work life and work pressure spills over to family life.To manage pressures arising out of this, employees are using mechanisms like pursuing a hobby, yoga and meditation; relax by watching TV, spending time with family and many other ways.

Organizations have also realized the need for support system to help employees manage WLB conflict. The respondents in our study have indicated that their organizations provide them with various policies like work from home option, medical facilities, transportation, paternity leave etc.

Work-life balance of employees is an important input in designing appropriate policies for employees to address work –life balance conflicts. Work-life balance initiatives should be designed to help employees to balance their work and personal life. Thus, Work-Life Balance is not a problem to be solved. It is an ongoing issue to be managed.

ReferencesAshwini,S., &. Kumaraswamy, M. (Feb, 2014).

Work Life Balance with Special Reference to Public Sector Bank Employees in Karnataka, Global Journal For Research Analysis ,Volume : 3,Issue : 2.

Carol Emslie., & Kate Hunt. January. (2009). 'Live to Work' or 'Work to Live'? A Qualitative Study of Gender and Work–life Balance among Men and Women in Mid-life. Gender,

Work and Organization, Vol. 16 No. 1Chandrasekar, K.S., Suma, S.R., Renjini, S. Nair.,

& Anu, S.R. (2013). Study on Work - Life Balance among the executives in IT Industry with special reference to Technopark, Trivandrum, Kerala, Asian Journal of Multidimensional Research Vol.2 Issue 3.

Delecta, P. (April, 2011). Review Article Work Life Balance, International Journal of Current Research, Vol. 33, Issue, 4, pp.186-189.

Farah Mukhtar. (2012). Work life balance and job satisfaction among faculty at Iowa State University, Iowa State University Digital Repository @ Iowa State University.

Jennifer Redmond., Maryann Valiulis., & Eileen Drew. (June, 2006). Literature review of issues related to work-life balance, workplace culture and maternity/childcare issues, Crisis Pregnancy Agency Report No. 1.

Ioan Lazar., Codruta Osoian., & Patricia Ra�iu. (2010). The Role of Work-Life Balance Practices i n O r d e r t o I m p r o v e Organizational Performance, European Research Studies, Volume XIII, Issue (1).

Mohammad Niaz., Asadullah Rosa., & Fernández,M. (July, 2008). Work-Life Balance Practices and the Gender Gap in Job Satisfaction in the UK: Evidence from Matched Employer- E m p l o y e e D a t a , Institute for the Study of Labor, Discussion Paper No. 3582.

Niharika Doble., & M. V. Supriya. (2010). Gender Dif ferences in the Perception of Work-Life Balance, winter 2010 Management 5 (4): 331–342.

Noor Fatima., & Shamim, A. Sahibzada. (April, 2012). An Empirical Analysis of Factors Affecting Work Life Balance among University Teachers: the case of Pakistan, Journal of International Academic Research (2012) Vol.12, No.1. 30.

Susi, S., & Jawaharrani, K.(2011). Work-Life Balance: The key driver of employee engagement, Asian Journal Of Management Research, Volume 2 Issue 1.

74

*Professor & Coordinator, JAIN University** Assistant professor, JAIN College

Dr. Rajdeep K Manwani*., Prof Paramesha**

KEY WORDSEmployee engagement; Motivation

Abstract:

Employees may be motivated on the job by many things, such as a sense of achievement, recognition, enjoyment of the job, promotion opportunities, responsibility, and the chance for personal growth. Employee motivation and performance are tied directly to the style of management that is applied and to principles of positive or negative reinforcement. Employee engagement is the level of commitment and involvement an employee has towards their organization and its values. An engaged employee is aware of business context, and works with colleagues to improve performance within the job for the benefit of the organization. It is a positive attitude held by the employees towards the organization and its values. The paper focuses on how employee engagement is an antecedent of job involvement and what should a company do to make the employees engaged. The study is conducted to analyze the existing

Introduction

Each and every employee needs to be motivated cons tan t ly th roughout h i s s t ay in the organization. An employee needs to be encouraged to put his best for the organization. He needs to be made comfortable to put all his efforts and achieve both organizational and personal goal. Thus it has become very essential to implement various HR policies which support every employee and make them feel valuable. Improving employee engagement can increase productivity and profitability while also reducing employee absenteeism and turnover. This paper deals with the detail study of employee engagement programs and motivational techniques adopted for junior and middle level management in Oracle India. The purpose of the study is to find out how far the engagement activities and motivational techniques are beneficial and how it has helped employees both personally and professionally. This study aims at finding out the best practices and flaws (if any) among the existing system. It helps to find out the positive and negative aspects of the current system. It will also help to find the amount of employee satisfaction and its direct impact on their performance. The area covered would be Oracle India Software Division Bangalore, branch-Divyashree chambers Shantinagar.

Company Profile: Oracle India Ltd Oracle India is an integrated technology company with activities in the fields of Cloud computing, data base management and intelligent business applications. Oracle has been synonymous with international focus and its subsidiaries employ approximately 120,000 People nearly 140 countries and reported global revenue of approx. US$37.2 billion total GAAP revenue in FY2013.

The Oracle Group in India has emerged as a leading inventor, innovator and implementer of leading-edge technology enabled solutions operating in the core business segments of Cloud computing, data base management and intelligent business applications. The Group's business is represented by various companies that span across these various segments. Oracle India brings to India state-of-the-art technology that adds value to customers through a combination of multiple high-end technologies for complete solutions. The Group has the competence and capability to integrate all products, systems and services. It caters to Industry needs across market segments by undertaking complete projects such as Hospitals, Airports and Industrial units. Today, Oracle, with its world-class solutions plays a key role in India's quest for developing modern infrastructure. Oracle India Software Division Divyashree chambers Bangalore Oracle India


Analyzing Employee Engagement and Motivation Programmes for

Work Life Balance: A Case Study in Oracle India's Software Division

employee engagement and motivation programs for junior and middle level employees adopted in the Oracle India Software Division, Bangalore.

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software division was started in the year 2009 after the acquisition of SUN Microsystems branch in the same location. It is a new division of Oracle and is one of seven branches of Oracle India in Bangalore. The main objective of this division is to support systems product with software which are used to trigger devices. Hence this division works in various areas so that they can develop best products and services used to support their customers worldwide. It consists of 700 employees at present and there are multiple teams under them. Each team is divided based on the application they work on. They work on different platforms depending on the requirement for the product namely Oracle Cloud Solutions, Oracle Database, and Oracle Fusion Middleware etc. They also have a testing team which consists of manual testing, automatic testing and load. Once the programs are developed, they are tested by the testing team and then approved for final product use.

SWOT and Competitive analysis SWOT analysis was conducted as part of the study to analyze the internal and external environment of Oracle India Ltd Software Division. Major competitors of Oracle India Software division are Honeywell, SKF, CTS, TCS, Bosch, IBM, Accenture, and Persistent System which are into software development.

Employee engagement and motivation Operational definition of variables is given below:

a) Employee Engagement : 'Engagement represents the energy, effort, and initiative employees bring to their jobs'. Engagement is about motivating employees to go the extra mile in the workplace. It is about encouraging employees to have a passion for their work, and identifying the organization as more than a place to earn money.

b) Motivation: Motivation is defined as the process that initiates guides and Maintains goal-oriented behaviors. Motivation is what causes us to act. It involves the biological, emotional, social and cognitive forces that activate behavior.

Objectives of the study 1. To conduct an in-depth study of employee

engagement and motivation in the software division of Oracle India, Bangalore

2. To analyze the existing employee engagement program for lower and

middle level management. 3. To discover new techniques and its

implementation with suggestions taken from employee feedback.

Basic assumptions Following are the basic assumptions made during the study:

1. Every employee needs to be motivated in eve r y s tage o f the i r s t ay in the organization.

2. Their mindset is assumed to directly affect the performance of the organization.

Limitations of the study Following are the limitations in the study:

1. Effectiveness of each program may vary from time to time.

2. Activities are designed for the entire organization without any difference in gender or age group which may sometime prove ineffective.

3. All these activities need to be constantly monitored to make it effective.

Literature Review Engagement represents the energy, effort, and initiative employees bring to their jobs'. It is high when employees consider the workplace more than a earning place. The International Survey Research (ISR) defines employee engagement as, “a process by which an organization increases commitment and continuation of its employees to the achievement of superior results.” A distinct and unique construct that consists of cognitive, emotional , and behavioral components associated with individual role performance" (Saks, 2005). A motive is a reason for doing something. Motivation is concerned with the factors that influence people to behave in certain ways. The three components of motivation as listed by Arnold et al (1991) are: direction – what a person is trying to do; effort – how hard a person is trying; persistence – how long a person keeps on trying. According to Gareth R. Jones and Jennifer M. George, "Contemporary Management," motivation is defined as "psychological forces that determine the direction of a person's behavior in an organization, a person's level of effort and a person's level of persistence."


persistence."

Approaches to motivation are underpinned by motivation theory. The most influential theories are classified as follows: Instrumentality theory, which states that rewards or punishments (carrots and sticks) serve as the means of ensuring that people behave or act in desired ways. Content theory focuses on the content of motivation. It states that motivation is essentially about taking action to satisfy needs, and identifies the main needs that influence behavior. Needs theory was originated by Maslow (1954), and in their two-factor model, Herzberg et al (1957) listed needs which they termed 'satisfiers'. Process theory focuses on the psychological processes which affect motivation, by reference to expectations (Vroom, 1964), goals (Latham and Locke, 1979) and perceptions of equity (Adams, 1965). The term 'job satisfaction' refers to the attitudes and feelings people have about their work. Positive and favorable attitudes towards the job indicate job satisfaction. Negative and unfavorable a t t i tudes towards the job ind ica te job dissatisfaction. Morale is often defined as being equivalent to job satisfaction. Thus Guion (1958) defines morale as 'the extent to which an individual's needs are satisfied and the extent to which the individual perceives that satisfaction as stemming from his (sic) total work situation'. Other definitions stress the group aspects of morale. Gilmer (1961) suggests that morale 'is a feeling of being accepted by and belonging to a group of employees through adherence to common goals'. The level of job satisfaction is affected by intrinsic and extrinsic motivating factors, the quality of supervision, social relationships with the work group and the degree to which individuals succeed or fail in their work. Purcell et al (2003) believe that discretionary behavior which helps the firm to be successful is most likely to happen when employees are well motivated and feel committed to the organization and when the job gives them high levels of satisfaction. Their research found that the key factors affecting job satisfaction were career opportunities, job influence, teamwork and job challenge. It is a commonly held and a seemingly not unreasonable belief that an increase in job satisfaction will result in improved performance. But research has not established any strongly positive connection between satisfaction and performance. A review of the extensive literature on this subject by Brayfield and Crockett (1955) concluded that there was little evidence of any

simple or appreciable relationship between employee attitudes and their performance. An updated review of their analysis by Vroom (1964) covered 20 studies, in each of which one or more measures of job satisfaction or employee attitudes was correlated with one or more criteria of performance. The median correlation of all these studies was 0.14, which is not high enough to suggest a marked relat ionship between satisfaction and performance. Brayfield and Crockett concluded that: Money, in the form of pay or some other sort of remuneration, is the most obvious extrinsic reward. Money provides the carrot that most people want. Doubts have been cast by Herzberg et al (1957) on the effectiveness of money because, they claimed, while the lack of it can cause dissatisfaction, its provision does not result in lasting satisfaction. As noted by Goldthorpe et al (1968) from their research into the 'affluent worker', pay is the dominant factor in the choice of employer and considerations of pay seem most powerful in binding people to their present job.

Conceptual framework Based on the literature review and the data collected from the company, independent and non independent variables are identified

Inputs Outcomes • Independent Variables • Supervisor relations • Benefits • Employee pay • Work environment • Corporate communications • Dependent Variables • Overall satisfaction • Attitude of the employee • Employee commitment • Employee loyalty • Productivity • Employee Engagement and Motivation • Enhanced productivity & Profitability

Existing employee engagement and motivation programs in Oracle India Software Division

a) Team outing Every team plans for a outing which aims mainly at improving bonding among team members. Certain funds are allocated to each team and the team has the right to use the fund in a fruitful manner. This mainly encourages active participation in various activities of the organization. Team members get to know one another better and are comfortable working in a


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team. This has positively impacted in team performance.

b) One-to-one help.net: It is an online help center where employees can attend counseling sessions regarding work or personal life when they are in need. Experts help employees overcome problems affecting them and suggest feasible solutions. This has helped many employees to open up when they have an issue and has made them realize somebody is interested in solving your problems. This boosts up employees morale when they require a helping hand and doesn't hamper employee performance.

c) International Conferences International conferences are held in different branches of Oracle India. Employees are selected based on their performance in the organization during a specific tenure. Delegates all over the world take part. This has resulted in deserving employees being elated with the opportunity given where they get to meet a bunch of colleagues from different parts of the world. This has motivated many people to perform better.

d) Part Time Education Policy When the professional courses are in alignment with business needs, Oracle India provides the benefit of part time education. The course needs to be of a duration ranging from six months to four years. The company will reimburse 75% of the total course fee or maximum of Rs 300,000, whichever is lower. The course fee will include Registration / Admission fees, Tuition fees, and Examination fees. Research Hypotheses Following are the two research hypotheses framed for the study:

Hypothesis 1: Employees from both junior and middle level are equally satisfied with the existing motivation programs.

Hypothesis 2: Both male and female employees feel Oracle India has helped them to balance work life.

Research Methodology Mixed approach of Descriptive and Exploratory approach is used. Descriptive approach is used to study in detail and analyze the existing programs adopted in Oracle India. Exploratory approach is used to come up with innovative techniques which are feasible to be adopted to improve employee

engagement in the software division of Oracle India. The f irst stage deals with detail understanding of the activities adopted in Oracle India, Bangalore. The next part deals with analyzing its effectiveness by finding out employee opinion about these programs. This is done with the help of a questionnaire. Each program is analyzed based on its feedback received from employees and the outcome for each program is measured with respect to individual's performance. Then the feasibility of new programs suggested by an employee is considered and any scope for improvement is entertained. Thus information collected from both primary and secondary data is combined and thorough analysis is made about existing and potential employee engagement and motivational activities. Primary data was collected from distributing questionnaires and secondary data was collected from the management of Oracle India Ltd and the official website of Oracle. Secondary data was used in framing the q u e s t i o n n a i r e s . T h e d a t a w h i c h w a s predominantly used was primary data as this was used in analyzing the existing programs of Oracle India Ltd. Probability sampling was used out for the study. Stratified sampling shall be applied to ensure that there is no biasing done while choosing the sample. Strata is identified from Junior level and middle level employees divided into groups based on their gender thus involving both the genders equally while taking up the survey. This ensures there is no bias when the results are analyzed and point of view of both the categories can be acquired. The sample size is 40 Employees which is approximately 5 percent of the population as there are a total of 700 employees working in Oracle India, Software Division. Kolmogorov-Smirnoff test is used for testing hypothesis.

Data Analysis, Interpretation and Finding Questionnaires were distributed to 40 employees. Employees were selected based on stratified random sampling. The sample contained equal number of male and female employees of Oracle India. This was done in order to analyze both perspectives regarding employee engagement and motivation without any discrimination.

Distribution of the respondents Among the 40 respondents, 20 consist of female and 20 of male employees. It included 26 employees from the junior management grade and 14 from middle management grade.


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Among the interviewed people, there were 32.5 percent employees with work experience f 0-3Years, 50 percent with 3-8Years, 10 percent with 8-12Years and 7.5 percent with greater than12 Years of work experience. About 45 percent of the respondents had prior work experience before joining Oracle India and remaining 55 percent started their career with Oracle India.

Reasons which make employees happy coming to office The study indicated that employees come to office because of different factors and not just money. Only 7 percent of the employees feel they come to office because they are paid for it. This means this segment needs to be targeted and it directly implies they need to be motivated so that they come to office to love, learn and feel comfortable working in the office. The positive aspect is that only a very small percent feels so, hence less effort needs to be taken to bridge this gap.

Number of programs employees came across during their stay in the organization which has motivated them to perform better Respondents answer: Team outing/ Team lunch , Assertive training , Problem solving and decision making methods, Outbound training ,1 to 1 help net (Counseling Session), Regular e mail updates from the superior on the work progress, Team building activities(outdoor activities) , Training given by international colleagues, Sports, Christmas and Pongal celebration , Oracle India SWAGAT program (induction program) , Awareness program for women, how to balance professional and personal life, International Certification programs , Health awareness programs like cervical cancer, breast cancer etc , Conferences at national and international level Among the 40 respondents 10 percent of the employees couldn't answer the question. These 10 percent are the people who have not been motivated during their tenure. They are either self motivated or they are people who couldn't distinguish motivating factors happening in and around the organization. Majority of the employees are satisfied with the engagement and motivation programs adopted in Oracle India. Only 2 respondents among the 40 have felt the programs adopted are poor. Hence when it comes to the effectiveness of the already adopted programs, it proves to be satisfactory. They are happy with the existing programs which mean it has made them improve their performance and also not de-motivated them at any point of their

work. More than 62 percent employees feel the existing programs in Oracle India have affected them positively. It gives a positive picture about the existing programs. Now the concentration should be on people who have felt they are motivated only sometimes and the 12.5 percent who feel they are not affected positively.

Management Involving employees in decision making Nearly 50 percent employees are involved in decision making. This shows a fair scenario where the top management feels there should be a need for the employees to participate in the activities of the organization and contribute towards the growth of the organization. But the picture is not clear when it comes to 20 percent of the employees who are not considered for decision making. This can be because of several reasons. Either they are not of the required potential to give ideas or they are not given an opportunity to contribute ideas. This implies all the employees have different opinion about the senior management's response to employees.

Need for more programs With reference to the previous data it is proved that employees are satisfied with the existing programs. On the contrary here it shows that majority of the employees (78 percent) would prefer implementing more programs. This can mainly be because additional motivational programs can prove beneficial and also because the same programs can become monotonous over the year hence not motivating. Thus a need for implementing new programs is very high among majority of the employees which gives a positive direction in bringing about change. Challenging job with more responsibility The entire employee population agrees with “challenging job with more responsibility”. They find this factor necessary to motivate. This increases their self-esteem and it avoids monotony. Hence it makes employees perform because of the new job given to them which is both challenging and helps them showcase their potential.

Supportive Supervisor In Oracle India, all the activities are done in a team hence it is necessary to be headed by an efficient supervisor. 49 percent employees feel it is a very effective way of motivation and another 49 percent feels it is good to have a supportive

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supervisor. Only 2 percent of the employees feel it is not relevant to have a supportive supervisor to perform better in the organization. Thus it indicates that it is necessary to have a superior who motivates employees to perform better and show them the right direction.

Good Work Environment All the employees feel it important to have good work environment. That is the prime factor which motivates them to come to office and perform to their maximum potential. 41 percent feel it is a very effective way of motivating employees and remaining 59 percent feels it is a good way of improving performance of the employees. Good work environment includes many aspects in the organization including its ambience which motivates them to do their job in a better way.

Pay hike Pay hike is an extrinsic factor which motivates employees to stick to any organization and do their best. Only 28 percent of the employees feel it very effective in motivating, 62 percent of the employees feel it is a good way in keeping employees motivated and the remaining 10 percent feels it is not a relevant factor in motivation. This implies 90 percent of the employees feel it is motivating when there is a pay hike. Money is always considered to be a performance booster for any workforce. This has proved to be right. This implies that timely pay hike needs to be done in order to recognize good work.

High interaction with superior When all the activities are done in a team, it is necessary to have good interaction with the superior so that any queries relating to the work is clarified. 59 percent of the employees feel it 'good' and 13 percent of the employees feel it is 'very effective' to have high interaction with the superior. When there is good rapport with the superior, employees feel comfortable and they realize their need in the organization through their timely contribution which is valued. When there is very less interaction with the employees they feel left alone and lose interest to participate actively in any decisions.

Promotion Promotion is an extrinsic factor which is used in any organization. 84 percent of the employees in Oracle India feel it is a factor to increase the motivation of the employees. Only 18 percent feels it is not relevant in motivating employees.

Team building activities Team building activities are essential in keeping the bond strong among the employees who work together. Employees may possess different skill set and it is difficult to expect the same kind of people in a group. With this survey it is proved that 26 percent of them prove it to be “very effective “and 72 percent proves it to be “good” in motivating employees to perform better as a team. Only 2 percent of the employees feel it not very relevant in motivating employees. Thus considering a total of 98 percent employees find it necessary and think it is very important to have team building activities so as to perform in a team by sharing a good environment with coworkers.

Counseling sessions With work life balance becoming difficult for the employees, counseling sessions are the best solution to solve their problems. This data proves that 95 percent of the employees feel it important as a tool in solving their problems without creating any mental distress. Oracle India has started with counseling sessions where employees can personally contact psychologists and handle issues damaging their family or work life. The survey reveals that the sessions are of great importance to the employees and most of them prefer to attend such sessions when in need.

Appreciating good performance Appreciating good performance is an intrinsic factor which helps motivate employees. 41 percent of the employees felt appreciating good performance has not helped in motivating them to perform better. This shows that these employees need not be appreciated individually to perform better. They need other factors to keep them engaged rather than personal ly get t ing appreciated for their work. On the other side there are 59 percent employees who feel they need to be acknowledged for their work. This section of the employees wants to be recognized if they have performed well. This motivates them to keep doing well. They feel if the work is done well it needs to be recognized.

Oracle India Helps in Balancing Work life About 78 percent of the employees feel Oracle India helps in balancing work-life. It shows a positive sign that they don't feel pressurized and doesn't hamper their personal life. Among the 78 percent, 42 percent of the female employees feel they have been able o balance family and work.

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Thus it shows that they are not overburdened by the work in Oracle India.

Design of new programs which can be adopted in Oracle India Ltd Suggestions made by employees regarding new motivation programs which can be adopted in Oracle India: Talent Show/ cultural activities as to

showcase employees talent and try to explore New ventures apart from working Flexible

work timing Fun activities during training to avoid

monotony from work Organize sessions to build self- confidence in

people. Team outing which would encourage people

to open up and treat colleagues as friends P e r f o r m a n c e b a s e d a w a r d s

(monthly/quarterly) with cash. Team building activities on regular basis to

improve bonding. A Program for employees to learn balancing

between work & family as IT life leads to little amount of sacrifice to personal life.

Rewards - appreciation programs which would boost the morale of the individual.

Involve employees in decision making. Motivate with more communication skills. Foster innovative thinking which can come

into use during work. 360 feedback system which can help in

finding out one's performance. Increments for the best employees of the

year/ month. Personality development program. Presentation skills. Regular or periodical one to one session with

the reporting manager/Team lead apart from the appraisal meeting

Get together with family. This can help in bonding with each other's family.

Time management workshop

Hypothesis testing Hypothesis 1: Employees from both junior and middle level are equally satisfied with the existing motivation programs.

Table: Kolmogorov-Smirnoff test to test employee satisfaction among junior level with the existing

motivation programs

Source: Survey Data

Table: Kolmogorov-Smirnoff test to test employee satisfaction among middle level with the existing motivation programs

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(Sample (N) =40, and the significance level of the data is 5 percent)

Note: (i) Largest absolute difference D1 =0.23; D2 = 0.36 (ii) Significance Level = 5 percent (iii) Critical Value =1.36/√n = 1.36/√ (40) =0.215

The test was conducted at a significance level of 5 percent. Largest absolute difference D1 (0.23) and D2 (0.36) are greater than the critical value (0.215) hence the hypothesis is satisfied. Hence the test result proves the hypothesis i.e. both Junior and middle level employees of Oracle India are satisfied with the existing motivation programs.

Hypothesis 2: Both male and female employees are able to balance work life.

Table: Kolmogorov-Smirnoff test to test male employee response on work-life balance

Source: Survey Data

Table: Kolmogorov-Smirnoff test to test female employees' response on work-life balance

Source: Survey Data

(Sample (N) =40, and the significance level of the data is 5 percent)

Note: (i) Largest absolute difference D1 =0.367; D2 = 0.517 (ii) Significance Level = 5 percent (iii) Critical Value =1.36/√n = 1.36/√ (40) =0.215

The test was conducted at a significance level of 5 percent. Largest absolute difference D1 (0.367) and D2 (0.517) are greater than the critical value (0.215) hence the hypothesis is satisfied. Hence the test result proves the hypothesis i.e. both male and female employees of Oracle India are able to balance work-life.

Conclusion The study concludes that: 1. Employees come to office not just because they are paid. They come to office because they believe office is a place where they get to learn. Hence they love their job. 2. About 90% of the respondents could recollect and name the motivation programs in Oracle India. Awareness about the programs among employees is very high. 3. Overall employees are happy with the existing motivation programs adopted in Oracle India Ltd, Software division, Chennai They feel the programs have affected them positively and have motivating them. 4. Employees have a positive feel about management when it comes to motivation. They are encouraged with the current programs. 5. Not all the employees feel management involved them in


decision making. They have varied opinion when it comes to involvement by superiors in decision making. 6. As the number of programs exclusively for motivation is less, they feel a need to implement more programs which can further motivate them and make them perform better. 7. All the 9 factors which were mentioned i.e. challenging work with more responsibility, supportive superior, good work environment, high interaction with superior, pay hike, promotion, team building activities, counseling session, and appreciating good performance were considered good by majority of the employees. They feel these factors relevant for motivation. Hence when new programs are framed these factors need to be considered in order to come up with favorable programs. The study indicates that the existing motivation programs have proved effective and there is room for new programs to be adopted. Employees are in favor of new programs and believe it can motivate them to perform better.

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* & ** Assistant Professor, MLA Academy of Higher Learning, Bangalore

* **Jayashree T. S. , Vijayalakshmi Rao

KEY WORDSBio degradable; Food waste;Garbage Disposal; Restaurants; Waste management

Abstract:

Change in urban lifestyle and a burgeoning affinity of present day public towards a variety of national and international cuisines has been instrumental in mushrooming of numerous restaurants in every nook and corner of big cities, catering to diverse food groups. Gastronomically attractive as much as this business may be, this sector generates a sizable amount of waste comprising of biodegradable and non-biodegradable nature. While cooking is an art, cleaning and clearing also becomes an integral part. Space for dumping wastes, health and hygiene, environmental concerns, government regulations and similar such issues need to be given due consideration as a part of social obligation by the restaurant industry. Bangalore is currently reeling under a garbage management and disposal crisis. The 'Garden City' of yester years is struggling to regain its title while there is garbage strewn all over the place. Of late, there

Introduction

Restaurants not only cater to the taste buds and cravings of city dwellers but also contribute significantly to the country's economy. More and more people are seen opting for eating out and thus surging the demand for restaurant-like businesses. Eating joints, big and small, have mushroomed in every major city of India to meet the public demand. Restaurant is any place where people pay to sit and eat meals that are prepared and served on the premises. Besides dine-in service, they also cater to take-away, home delivery and outdoor catering for functions and gatherings. Moreover, food business generates substantial waste on a daily basis, both biodegradable and non-biodegradable and needs a proper mechanism for handling, management and disposal. Garbage is an integral part of a civilisation be it a city, town or village and is proportionate to urbanisation and economic development. Garbage is also known as Solid Waste which can be defined as non-liquid material which no longer has any value to the person who is responsible for it. As the IT capital of the country increases in its geographical size and population,

huge amount of garbage gets generated in Bangalore on a daily basis. Bangalore generates around 3000-4000 tons/day of urban solid waste (USW) and a major constituent (72%) of which is organic waste. Between the 70s and 90s a significant fraction of the fermentable wastes was composted or used directly in the fields. In spite of rapid growth in USW production over the years, the capacity of compost plants has not increased. (Chanakya, et al) The usual practice of dumping Municipal Solid Waste in landfills outside Bangalore is being met with stiff resistance by villagers residing in those areas due to impending health concerns arising out of toxic gases, ground water contamination, street dogs and scavengers menace. Consequently, the 'Garden City' is undergoing an ugly metamorphosis with heaps of garbage littered on roadsides thereby becoming a precursor to diseases.

Solid waste management is regulated in India by the provisions of Environment (Protection) Act, 1986 and Municipal Solid Waste (Management and Handling) Rules, 2000. As per the statute, Municipal Solid Waste (MSW) includes commercial and residential wastes generated in


An Empirical Study on the Solid Waste Management Practices of and

Challenges Faced by Popular Restaurants in Bangalore

have been instances of citizens' and activists' movement in creating awareness among localities for effective disposal of all kinds of waste. In this background, this paper titled �An Empirical Study on the Solid Waste Management Practices of and Challenges faced by Popular Restaurants in Bangalore� aims to: 1) understand the prevailing practices in the disposal of solid wastes generated in restaurant business; 2) understand the challenges faced by restaurants in disposal of solid wastes; and 3) suggest strategies in improvising solid waste management practices. This study is descriptive and exploratory in nature. It is based on the qualitative and quantitative analysis of the information solicited through convenience sampling of popular restaurants in Bangalore.

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in municipal or notified areas in either solid or semi-solid form excluding industrial hazardous wastes but including treated bio-medical waste. The Rules are descriptive on compliance criteria f o r c o l l e c t i o n , s e g r e g a t i o n , s t o r a g e, transportation, processing and disposal of MSW. According to the Municipal Solid Waste Annual Report 2013-14 of Karnataka State Pollution Control Board (KSPCB), bulk generators of waste like Hotels, Restaurants, Kalyan Mantaps, Apartments etc., have been notified to establish a system to handle MSW generated in their premises or through empanelled service providers. BBMP has given a six-month ultimatum to bulk waste generators to set up compost units for the wet waste they generate. (Bangalore Mirror, Oct 2014) Any establishment that generates more than 100 kg of wet waste per day is termed as bulk waste generator. In this background, a study was initiated to under s tand the p reva i l ing so l id was te management practices of restaurant industry in Bangalore which may or may not be bulk waste generators.

Review of Literature Solid waste need not literally be a solid. It may be a solid, a semisolid, a liquid or a contained gaseous material. (Liu, David H. F., ed, 1999) New York S t a t e D e p a r t m e n t f o r E nv i r o n m e n t a l Conservation defines solid wastes any garbage, refuse, sludge from a wastewater treatment plant, water supply treatment plant, or air pollution control facility and other discarded materials including solid, liquid, semi-solid, or contained gaseous material, resulting from industrial, commercial, mining and agricultural operations, and from community activities, but does not include solid or dissolved materials in domestic sewage, or solid or dissolved materials in irrigation return flows or industrial discharges that are point sources or source, special nuclear or by-product material. Solid waste can be sub-categorized as MSW which is commonly known as trash, garbage, refuse or rubbish and consists of everyday items discarded by the public. It predominantly includes food wastes, market wastes, yard wastes, plastic containers and product packaging materials and other miscellaneous solid wastes from residential, commercial and institutional sources. (USEPA, Non-hazardous Waste)

Solid waste is inextricably linked to urbanization

and economic development. As countries urbanize, their economic wealth increases. As standards of living and disposable incomes increase, consumption of goods and services increases, which results in a corresponding increase in the amount of waste generated. A 2012 r e p o r t f r o m t h e Wo r l d B a n k ' s U r b a n Development department estimates that at present almost 1.3 billion tons of MSW are g e n e r a t e d g l o b a l ly e ve r y ye a r o r 1 . 2 kg/capita/day. In South Asia, approximately 70 million tons of waste is generated per year, with per capita values ranging from 0.12 to 5.1 kg per person per day and an average of 0.45 kg/capita/day. (Hoornweg, Daniel 2012) MSW, as def ined in th is World Bank repor t , encompasses residential, industrial, commercial, institutional, municipal, and construction and demolition waste. Waste generated by restaurants has been identified as commercial source rather than municipal source. On a global scale, OECD countries generate 44% of waste as compared to 5% waste generation by SAR countries. Lower middle income countries like India and China, generated about 369 million tons/year of urban waste in year 2010 and this is projected to rise to 956 million tons/year by year 2025.

Urban Local Bodies (ULBs), responsible for the MSW management, spend 60 to 70% of the total budgetary allocation on collection of the MSW and another 20 to 30% on transportation thus leaving less than 5% for the final disposal of the MSW. (iDeCK, 2009) Since food waste or organic waste is a sizeable portion of the solid waste generated from restaurant business, there is a huge potential to compost the biodegradable waste. There is an urgent need of research and development in this sector, especially in following areas: Biogas technologies (small scale and large scale); landfills of low-cost for smaller cities, recycle and reuse benchmarking, combustion technology adaptation based on Indian MSW feedstock etc. (Clean India Journal, October 2012) As part of the Nirmal Bharat Abhiyan (NBA), local people at Gangtok were trained in composting techniques for bio-degradable waste and Solid Waste Management. (Clean India Jour nal , December 2013) The Greater Visakhapatnam Municipal Corporation has gone to great lengths to give its citizens a clean and green city. The GVMC has tied-up with Ramky group to install a Refuse-Derived Fuel (RDF) plant in its 50 acres of landfill. It also plans to recycle the storm-water and drainage water which


will be sold to the industries. (Clean India Journal, June 2012)

MSW can be directly combusted in waste-to-energy facilities to generate electricity. Because no new fuel sources are used other than the waste that would otherwise be sent to landfills, MSW is often considered a renewable power source. The United States has about 87 operational MSW-fired power generation plants, generating approximately 2,500 megawatts, or about 0.3% of total national power generation. (USEPA, 2013) There are a number of new and emerging technologies that are able to produce energy from waste and other fuels without direct combustion. Thermal technologies include Gasification (produces combustible gas, hydrogen, synthetic fuels), Thermal depolymerisation (produces synthetic crude oil, which can be further refined), Pyrolysis (produces combustible tar/bio-oil and chars), Plasma gasification process (PGP) (produces rich syngas including hydrogen and carbon monoxide usable for fuel cells or generating electricity to drive the plasma arch, usable vitrified silicate and metal ingots, salt and sulphur). Non-thermal technologies comprise of anaerobic digestion (Biogas rich in methane), Fermentation production (examples are ethanol, lactic acid, hydrogen), Mechanical biological treatment (MBT) [MBT + Anaerobic digestion and MBT to RDF]. (Waste to Energy, Wikipedia) The terminal stage of anaerobic digestion is the process of Methanogenesis or Biomethanation wherein the substrate is converted to methane, carbon dioxide and water by microbes known as Methanogens. Biomethanation of organic waste from MSW has been practiced by the Pune Municipal Corporation. The process yields methane rich biogas that can be used as a source of renewable energy to produce electricity. The remaining solid residue can be utilized as manure. (Pathak,Mahesh 2014)

MSW can be subjected to microbial fermentation along with other wastes like animal waste, sewage, agricultural residue, for recovery of Bioethanol which can be blended with petroleum to be used as a biofuel. (Lal, Banwari et al, 2011) The city of Chandigarh has managed its solid waste management by employing measures like energy production from solid waste, energy from biomass and anaerobic filters for biogas production. (Garg et al, 2006) The KSPCB annual report confirms that four of BBMP's Biomethanation plants out of 13 have been made functional along with 170 Dry

Waste Collection Centers. Incorporating waste pickers into waste management and recycling programs can in many cases be socially desirable, economically viable, and environmentally sound. To do so, however, decision makers need to recognize that waste pickers can be an asset, and municipalities need to engage with them as po ten t i a l pa r tne r s. In some coun t r i e s governments have launched programs to support this formalization. Similarly, international donors are increasingly integrating waste pickers into programs to foster urban development, promote a cleaner environment, and increase recycling activities. (Medina, Martin 2008)

In terms of communicating and promoting SWM, the three Rs and the two Es are very effective tools. The 3 Rs are - Reduce, Reuse, Recycle and 2 Es are - Environment, Economics. The concept is to apply the 3Rs in an organisation to help the two Es. The systems approach is an integral concept to the successful implementation of SWM and serves as the basis for the solution methodologies. The systems approach examines solid waste problem from a macro level and the hierarchy examines it from a micro level (Franchetti, 2009).

Research objectivesObjectives of this study are to:

1) Understand the prevailing practices in the disposal of solid wastes generated in restaurant business; 2) Understand the challenges faced by restaurants in disposal of solid wastes; and 3) Suggest strategies in improvising solid waste management practices.

Methodology The geographical scope of sampling for this study was restricted to popular restaurants of Malleswaram area for the sake of simplicity and focus. Malleswaram is a well recognised residential and commercial hub of Bangalore which is frequented by the young and old alike. It is representative of any market of Bangalore and is dotted with popular restaurants that cater to a variety of food groups by serving a host of vegetarian and non-vegetarian cuisines. The term 'popular restaurants' here means those brands of restaurants which are well-known, preferred by public, visited often and/or serve a sizable number of customers on any given day.

Popular restaurants in Malleswaram area amount to approximately 26, out of which 16 restaurants constituted the sample size for this study as they


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were forthcoming in sharing information on the subject. Out of the rest, some were either hesitant, reluctant or refused to part with any information. In some cases, information was to be obtained from the designated personnel only like the manager or owner. Effor t was made to accommodate a healthy diversity on the type of cuisines served by any restaurant without any inhibitions whatsoever.

Data on solid waste generation, handling and management was collected by means of a questionnaire, to be filled in by the restaurant designated personnel and in some cases by interviews, where information was then filled directly by researchers. Information solicited was categorised as, a) business related information, b) solid waste management practices, c) awareness in solid waste management, and d) challenges in sustaining their waste management practices.

Data Analysis and InterpretationBusiness Information: About 88% of the restaurants sampled worked all the seven days a week and 75% operated nearly 15 hours a day. A very small portion of the sample were found to be veterans in this business (19%) with an operating period of more than 20 years while the rest got almost equally distributed (25%) with an experience of 1-5 years, 5-10 years and 10-20 years. Increase in the number of people opting to eat out increases restaurant business potential but increase in competition in the sector is assumed to be one of the reasons for showing only a moderate increase in quantity of waste generation compared to previous years.

Sampled outlets varied in the type of cuisines served ranging from South Indian, North Indian, Chinese/oriental, Continental fast food, Italian and Indian fast food. Usually restaurants serve a combination of two or more type of cuisines although serving of only a singular cuisine was also found. The categories of food supplied by outlets were found to be vegetarian (62%) and a combination of vegetarian and non-vegetarian food (38%). None of outlets sampled served only non-vegetarian food. Obvious as it may be, customer crowd increases in weekends with nearly 19% of sampled restaurants serving more or less 1000 customers.

Restaurants not only provide dine-in service but also services like take-away, home deliveries and outdoor catering. The latter involves use of

packaging material which may range from use of degradable substances like plantain leaves, areca nut plates, papers and cardboard boxes, to non-degradable items like plastic containers, edible grade plastic covers, aluminium foils, cling wrap sheets, polythene carry bags. Take-away was found to be the external service provided by 94% of the restaurants.

Fig. 1: Quantity of Biodegradable and Non-biodegradable packaging material used in sampled restaurants

Solid waste management practice information: All restaurants reportedly practice segregation of wet and dry waste without exception. The common practice is to store the wet waste directly in plastic storage barrels covered with a lid while the dry waste is collected in plastic storage barrels with garbage bag inner lining. Every outlet had made arrangements for disposal of wet waste on a daily basis. Dry waste was also disposed off on a day-to-day basis but in some cases it was collected by rag pickers or sold to waste paper marts once a fortnight or once a month.

Fig. 2: Nature of waste generated in sampled restaurants


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Information on an approximation of quantity of food waste generated on a daily basis was solicited. A total of 1187 kg/day of food waste was generated by sampled restaurants. Here food waste includes pips n peels of chopped vegetables/fruits, spoilt and damaged perishable items, leftover cooked food and plate waste.

Fig.3: Quantity of Food waste generated from sampled restaurants

About 56% of the sampled outlets operate without a full-fledged kitchen. These restaurants have a centralised kitchen which delivers pre-prepared meals every day with only a limited amount of cooking done in location outlet kitchens. This explains reduction in bulk food waste generation in some outlets even though their customer turnover may be quite significant.

Wet and dry waste is collected daily by BBMP contractors on chargeable basis that ranges from Rs.1000/- to Rs.9000/- per month. About 50% of eating joints sampled bifurcate their wet waste into raw and processed food waste and the latter is collected and disposed off to pig sties daily. This reduces their wet waste outgo to BBMP contract collectors significantly. Neither any of the restaurants nor restaurant industry association has set up any composting or recycling unit anywhere in this area to process wet or dry waste. Eating outlets housed in the shopping mall have a common practice where all wet waste is collected by mall housekeeping department and only the compostable wet waste is processed in the Organic Waste Composter (OWC) to make manure.

Fig.4: Disposal methods of biodegradable waste other than BBMP contractors

Awareness in Solid waste management: About half the personnel interviewed were not aware of the 3Rs (reduce, reuse, recycle) of waste management although, they were quite aware of the importance of segregating wet and dry waste as per BBMP rules on garbage disposal. It is usually the Manager or Supervisor of the outlet who is in-charge of waste management while some outlets did not have any such designated person. Working staff is made aware of waste management practices by way of constant supervision and there is hardly any formal training for the same. Protective equipment given to waste handling staff is predominantly disposable gloves.

Challenges faced in waste management:a) Management of MSW generated from restaurant industry is a complicated task and requires constant training of the new staff or those on rotation, due to frequent vacancies created by cleaning & serving employees, which is seen as avoidable management time.b) The working staff employed in restaurant business conforms to only elementary literacy level.c) There is a need to educate customers on reducing leftover food. d) Customer awareness for segregation of waste is equally important as restaurant initiatives take a back seat due to non-compliance of segregation directives.e) Garbage clearance cost is exorbitant and needs to be fixed by municipal authority on some uniform formula.

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SuggestionsSolid waste from restaurant industry can be managed by implementing some of the following measure: Although, portion sizes are pre-fixed but

establishments should consider offering flexible portions to suit customer needs along with cost reduction. This will help in reducing plate waste.

Restaurants should proactively offer packaging of leftover food for the customers.

Underprivileged people, street urchins, or phanages may be approached for consumption of unused or un-served edible quality food.

Waste to Energy' is a concept that should be adopted by every business house. Technical expertise may be roped in to design state-of-the-art models to convert bio-waste to bio-fuels, which can supplement energy needs of the same restaurant.

Custom designed portable stoves with biofuel cylinders or pellets should be made available at affordable and attractive prices to slum dwellers, migrant populations and other poorer sections of urban society.

There is a need to focus on containment and piping of landfill gases which can be then used for energy requirements in nearby areas thereby reducing release of Green House Gases in the open atmosphere.

State government, municipal authorities ( B B M P ) , N G O s , a n d S c i e n t i f i c establishments should come forward with training programmes for people directly concerned with MSW management.

Educational tours and projects should be conducted to select group of students, residential welfare associations and members of business associations, in waste disposal mechanisms successfully adopted by different institutions including local municipality. This will create awareness in general public towards a serious approach for contribution to a cleaner city.

Po l i c y m a k e r s mu s t r e c o g n i s e t h e contribution of rag pickers and human scavengers as they reduce burden on landfills.

ConclusionEvery restaurant has managed to develop its own set of practices to deal with its waste management but only after clear guidelines was issued by the local municipal authority. Proactive measures in waste management have been found to be very limited. Perceived challenges in solid waste

management by restaurant business management are quite limited at the moment but not insignificant. There is a need for more study in exploring the possibility of restaurant industry induced initiatives for waste management applicable to all restaurants in Bangalore. Also, there is an urgent requirement in translating waste management initiatives in monetary terms and assessing the cost implications to establish their sustainability in the long run.

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Bundela P.S., et al, Municipal solid waste management in Indian cities - A review, International Journal of Environmental Sciences Volume 1, No 4, 2010

Chanakya, Dr. H. N., Towards a sustainable waste management sys tem for Banga lore, h t t p : / / s a a h a s . o r g / w p - c o n t e n t -saahas/uploads/2015/02/SWMindia11.pdf, accessed 02 April 2015

Chaturvedi, Atul, 6-month deadline for bulk waste generators, Bangalore Mirror, 15 October 2014,

http://www.bangaloremirror.com/bangalore/civic/6-month-deadline-for-bulk-waste-generators/articleshow/44818194.cms, accessed 20 March 2015

CPCB, Pollution control Acts, Rules and N o t i f i c a t i o n s i s s u e d t h e r e u n d e r : Environment (Protection) Act, 1986; Municipal Solid Wastes (Management and Handl ing) Rules 2000; The Plast ics Manufacture, Sale and Usage Rules, 1999, as a m e n d e d t o d a t e , http://cpcb.nic.in/NewItem_19_PollutionControlLaw.pdf, accessed 19 March 2015

Electricity from municipal solid waste, USEPA, Sep 2013, http://www.epa.gov/cleanenergy/energy-and-you/affect/municipal-sw.html, accessed 03 April 2015

Franchetti, Matthew J., Solid Waste Analysis and Minimization: A Systems Approach, ISBN: 9780071605250, McGraw-Hill Education, 2009, http://books.google.co.in/books?id=kOzhjtzSc80C, accessed 02 April 2015

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http://wgbis.ces.iisc.ernet.in/energy/paper/ijetm/casestudy.htm, accessed 02 April 2015

Garg, M. R., Bansal, V.K., Tiwana,, N. S., ed, Environmental Pollution and Protection, ISBN: 8171005276, New Delhi, India, Deep & Deep Publications Pvt. Ltd., Reprint 2006, F i r s t E d i t i o n 1 9 9 5 , https://books.google.co.in/books?id=-hVZfzRKsRsC&pg=PR10&lpg=PR10&dq=environmental+pollution+and+protection+garg+bansal+tiwana&source=bl&ots=hcHSqH 6 4 4 F & s i g = 7 -qtKG3jUhxVsL0Vv6r60xf3lAo&hl=en&sa=X&ei=SfUcVabSL8u4uASBgYHoBg&ved=0CCwQ6AEwAw#v=onepage&q=environmental%20pollution%20and%20protection%20garg%20bansa l%20t iwana&f=fa l se, accessed 02 April 2015

Hoornweg, Daniel and Bhada-Tata, Perinaz, What a waste: A Global Review of Solid Waste Management, © World Bank, 2012, https://openknowledge.worldbank.org/handle/10986/17388, accessed 02 April 2015

Implementation of Integrated Municipal Solid Waste Management System in Tumkur - Fe a s i b i l i t y Re p o r t , I n f r a s t r u c t u r e Development Corporation (Karnataka) L i m i t e d [ i D e C K ] , M a r c h 2 0 0 9 , http://www.iddkarnataka.gov.in/docs/18.Prefea_TSWM.pdf , accessed 19 March 2015

Lal, Banwari and Sharma, Priyangshu M., We a l t h f r o m Wa s t e : T r e n d s a n d Technologies, ISBN: 9788179934241, New Delhi, India, TERI Press, Third edition 2011, F i r s t e d i t i o n 1 9 9 5 , https://books.google.co.in/books?id=7KVjS4ttEgkC&pg=PR8&lpg=PR8&dq=wealth+from+waste+trends+and+technologies&source = b l & o t s = w T c I X M Q -79&sig=bfZUp2qSb0KwKFUDEBoS2GLg6Sc&hl=en&sa=X&ei=QuscVajRG8uJuwS8hYK4Bg&ved=0CEAQ6AEwCg#v=onepage&q=wealth%20from%20waste%20trends%20and%20technologies&f=false, accessed 02 April 2015

Liu, David H. F., Hazardous Waste and Solid Waste, ISBN: 1566705126, Lewis Publishers, 1999, http://www.amazon.in/Hazardous-Waste-Solid-David-H-F/dp/1566705126, accessed 02 April 2015

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Municipal Solid Waste Annual Report 2013-14 of Karnataka State Pollution Control Board, K S P C B , 2 0 1 4 , http://www.kspcb.kar.nic.in/MSW%20Annual%20Report%20%202013-14%20.pdf , accessed 19 March 2015

M u n i c i p a l S o l i d Wa s t e , W i k i p e d i a , http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Municipal_solid_waste, accessed 03 April 2015

New York State Department for Environmental C o n s e r v a t i o n , http://www.dec.ny.gov/chemical/8732.html, accessed 03 April 2015

Pathak, Mahesh, Biomethanat ion f rom Municipal Solid Waste, PMC, 2014, http://icrier.org/Urbanisation/events/26-27-August-Kerala/Mahesh%20Pathak-Pune.pdf, accessed 02 April 2015

Policy on Integrated Solid Waste Management, BBMP, Dept of Environmental Cell, 2012, http://218.248.45.169/download/engineering/iswmp.pdf, accessed 19 March 2015

R. S., Dr. Sandhya, Nirmala Nagaram Nirmala Bhavanam - A model for decentralized and community based solid waste management system, International Journal of Research in Social Sciences Vol. 5, Issue 1, Feb 2015

Sikkim to achieve Zero-Waste status in villages, Clean India Journal, December 2013, http://www.cleanindiajournal.com/sikkim-to-achieve-zero-waste-status-in-villages/, accessed 02 April 2015

Solid Waste Pollution: Environmental Issues in I n d i a , W i k i p e d i a , http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Environmental_issues_in_India, accessed 20 March 2015

Solid waste policy in India , Wikipedia, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Solid_waste_policy_in_India, accessed 20 March 2015

Vishakapatnam towards a bin-less city, Clean I n d i a J o u r n a l , J u n e 2 0 1 2 , http://www.cleanindiajournal.com/visakhapatnam_towards_a_bin_less_city/, accessed 02 April 2015

Waste-to-Energy Research & Technology Council, WTERT India to discuss municipal waste management policies, Clean India J o u r n a l , O c t o b e r 2 0 1 2 , http://www.cleanindiajournal.com/wtert_india_to_discuss_municipal_waste_management_policies/, accessed 02 April 2015

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http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Waste-to-energy#WtE_technologies_other_than_incineration, accessed 31 March 2015

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*Professor of Management, AIMS Institute of Higher Education

Dr. Siddaiah, T*

The Sahara India Pariwar is a USD 50 billion conglomerate having business interests in financial services, infrastructure development, mass media, retail ing, IT services, etc. Established in 1978 by Mr Subrata Roy Sahara, this multi-billion Indian corporate group is known to be the second largest employer in India, next only to the Indian Railways.

The core value statement of Sahara India Pariwar reads as follows.

“We believe in the spirit of togetherness, professional and personal integrity and fair play practices in business operations leading to national pride.”

The two of the Sahara India Pariwar companies, viz., Sahara India Real Estate Corporation Limited (SIRECL) and Sahara Housing Investment Corporation Limited (SHICL) issued Optionally Fully Convertible Debentures (OFCDs) on private placement basis to friends, associates, group companies, workers/employees a n d o t h e r i n d i v i d u a l s w h o a r e associated/affiliated or connected in any manner with Sahara India Pariwar. The OFCDs were unsecured securities having a face value varying from Rs 5000 to Rs 24,000 and maturity period ranging from 48 to 180 months. The OFCDs, priced at a premium, had given the option to the investors to fully convert the debentures into equity shares at a rate to be decided by the company. The two companies had targets to raise money for projects worth Rs 40,000 crore between them through OFCDs.

The main objectives of the issue as mentioned in the Red Herring Prospectus filed by SIRECL were to finance the acquisition of lands for the purpose of development of townships, residential apartments, shopping complexes, etc. Similarly, the other company (Sahara Investment Corporation Limited) mentioned in its Red Herring Prospectus the major objectives of the issue as to finance the acquisition of lands for the

purpose of development of townships, residential apartments, shopping complexes, etc.

The SIRECL started raising funds in 2008 while SHICL began fund raising in 2009 by issuing OFCDs. It means that the companies kept their OFCDs issue open for more than three years or two years. An aggressive marketing plan, named 'Mega Development' was launched in July 2009, under which the agents and 15 levels of sales staff were entitled to awesome sales commissions besides lucky draw prizes. The cash prizes ranged from Rs 60,000 to Rs 2.5 crore. These incentives to sales staff and agents helped the companies ramp up average monthly collections to more than Rs 450 crore.

Meanwhile, another constituent of Sahara India Pariwar by name Sahara Prime City Limited filed a Red Herring Prospectus with the SEBI on 30 September 2009 in respect of its proposed IPO. The lead managers of the proposed issue were Enam Securities Private Limited (Coordinating Lead Manager), J M Financial Consultants Private Limited, Edelweiss Capital Limited, IDBI Capital Market Services Limited and Daiwa Securities SMBC India Private Limited. While the SEBI was examining the Red Herring Prospectus, it received a complaint on 25 December 2009 from Professional Group for Investor Protection stating that the Sahara Prime City Limited had not disclosed in its Red Herring Prospectus the OFCDs issued by its sister concerns. There was also another complaint of similar kind in January 2010 by one Mr Roshan Lal addressed to the National Housing Bank (NHB) under copy to SEBI. Acting on the said complaints, the SEBI had asked the coordinating lead manager to inform as to whether the issuance of OFCDs was in compliance with the Companies Act 1956, the rules made there under and the applicable rules, regulations and guidelines issued by the RBI, Ministry of Corporate Affairs and also the NHB. In reply, the coordinating lead manager stated that the


Disingenuous Corporate Activism

Case Study

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issuance of OFCDs was in compliance with all applicable laws. It was specifically mentioned that the two issuer companies were not required to be registered with NHB and therefore not subject to any rules, regulations, guidelines, notifications or directions framed there under.It was also informed to the SEBI that the two companies issued debentures on tap basis and issued and circulated an information memorandum prior to opening of the offer. It was further informed that the said companies had also filed Red Herring Prospectus with the concerned Registrar of Companies (RoC). It was contended that the issuance of OFCDs would not come under the purview of SEBI as Section of 55A of the Companies Act, 1956 delegates the administrative power to SEBI only with respect to the listed companies and those public companies which intend to get their securities listed in India. Since the said companies had not intended to get their OFCDs listed on any stock exchange(s), the issuance of OFCDs would not come under the purview of SEBI. It was further contended that when securities are issued to more than 50 persons by following the procedure laid down under Section 60B of the Companies Act, 1956 (by circulation of information memorandum and filing of prospectus with the ROC), it would be necessary to list the securities so offered but the issue shall be outside the regulatory purview of SEBI.

In the light of these contentions, the SEBI sought the following information about the OFCDs, vide letter dated 22 April 2010, from the coordinating lead manager, Enam Securities Private Limited.

i. Details regarding the filing of Red Herring Prospectus with the concerned Registrar of Companies (RoC);

ii. Date of opening and closing of the subscription list;

iii. Details regarding the number of application forms circulated after filing of the Red Herring Prospectus with RoC;

iv. Details regarding the number of applications received;

v. Number of allot tees;vi. List of allot tees;vii. Date of allotment; andviii. Date of dispatch of debenture certificates.

The SEBI had also asked the copies of application forms, Red Herring Prospectus, pamphlets and other promotional materials circulated. As the SEBI had not received the required information

from the coordinating lead manager, it sought the same from the companies concerned (vide letter dated 12 May 2010). But the companies did not respond properly in spite of many reminders. Instead of providing details that had been sought by the SEBI, the two companies made requests to certain Government Departments seeking clarifications as to the approach to be followed by them in the circumstances.

In view of the complaints from the public and evasive replies by the concerned companies, the SEBI initiated an investigation in the matter of issuance of OFCDs. The SEBI felt that issuance of OFCDs might be detrimental to the investors or the securities markets. Therefore, the SEBI issued summons on 30 August 2010 and 23 September 2010 under Section 11C of the SEBI Act to the companies to provide the required information. But the companies instead of providing the information that was sought contested the jurisdiction of powers of SEBI. Their arguments ran as under.

The jurisdiction to deal with the matters relating to the issuance of OFCDs by a company, which is unlisted or which does not intend to get its securities listed on stock exchanges, vests with the Government of India, in terms of Section 55A(c) of the Companies Act. Accordingly, they had represented the matter with the Ministry of Corporate Affairs on 31 May 2010 and were awaiting response from the Ministry.

A special resolution was passed by the respective shareholders of the two companies under Section 81(1A) of the Companies Act to issue OFCDs by way of private placement to friends, associates, group companies, workers/employees and other individuals who are associated/affiliated or connected in any manner with Sahara India group of companies without advertising and offering these OFCDs to the general public.

They had followed the procedure prescribed in Section 60B of the Act (as they are not listed companies and do not intend to get their securities listed on any stock exchanges) and filed their Red Herring Prospectus with respective RoC.

It was mentioned in the Red Herring Prospectus that only those persons to whom the information memorandum was circulated and/or approached privately and no advertisement had been issued canvassing


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applications from the general public. In the application forms of OFCDs it was

mentioned that individuals including HUF through its karta and companies having dealings with the group companies or associates of Sahara India group or persons connected in any manner with Sahara India Pariwar alone can apply for OFCDs.

Since the OFCDs were offered on a private placement basis to a select class of persons, it was not a public issue and therefore did not attract SEBI (Issue of Capital and Disclosure Requirements) Regulations, 2009, the companies contended.

If the offer was made to an identifiable class of persons through a preferential allotment under Section 81 (1A) of the Act and if the issue was restricted to a select group, however large it might be, the offer would not be a public offer and would not therefore attract the provisions of SEBI (ICDR) Regulations.

Since OFCDs are convertible securities, the SEBI (Issue and Listing of Debt Securities) Regulations, 2008 is also not applicable.

Putting forth all the above arguments, the companies made a request to SEBI to withdraw the summons and the order of investigation issued in the matter.

At the opposite side, the SEBI made the following counter arguments. With reference to Section 67 (3) of

Companies (Amendment) Act, 2000, if an offer is made to fifty or more persons, it would be deemed to be a public issue, even if it is of domestic concern or shown that the shares or debentures are not available for subscription or purchase by persons other than those receiving the offer or invitation.

Even if an issue is made by way of private placement to 50 or more persons, it would be deemed to be a public issue irrespective of whether it was offered to public at large or to just a section of the public chosen, in whatever manner.

The intention of legislature is that any and all mobilization of funds from a group of investors, 50 or more in number should be classified as a public issue and consequently be accorded all the safeguards provided, that typically accompanies the safety and protection accorded to their funds, in law.

The companies had filed Red Herring Prospectus with RoC which would make it clear that their OFCDs were intended to be

offered to the public. As per Section 73 (1) of the Act, every

company intending to offer shares or debentures to the public for subscription by the issue of a prospectus shall, before such issue, make an application to one or more recognized stock exchanges for permission for the shares or debentures intending to be offered to be dealt within a stock exchange or each such stock exchange. Such statutory obligation cannot be evaded by merely stating in the prospectus that the company does not intend to list its securities.

In view of the above, the companies shall comply with the relevant provisions of the Act concerning public issues and the regulations and guidelines framed by SEBI in this regard.

As a next step on this complex issue, the Whole Time Member of SEBI issued an interim ex-parte Order dated 24 November 2010, according to which: The two companies are restrained from

mobilizing funds under the Red Herring Prospectus dated 13 March 2008 and 6 October 2009, till further directions.

They shall not offer their equity shares or any other securities to the public and invite subscription in any manner, either directly or indirectly till further directions.

Along with the two companies, the persons who are named as promoters and directors of the said companies in the Red Herring Prospectus are prohibited from issuing prospectus or any offer document, or issue advertisement for soliciting money from the public for the issue of securities, in any manner whatsoever, either directly or indirectly, till further directions.

The companies should also show cause as to why action should not be initiated against them including issuance of directions to refund the money solicited and mobilized by the impugned OFCDs.

Aggrieved by the ex-parte Orders of the Whole Time Member of SEBI the two companies filed a writ petition in the Lucknow Bench of the Allahabad High Court. In the writ petition, it was argued that Section 55A of the Companies Act, 1956 gives SEBI jurisdiction only over listed companies or companies that intend to list on the stock exchange. Since the offerings were made by private placement to a select group of investors and no intention to list on any of the stock


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exchanges, the issuance of OFCDs would not come under the jurisdiction of powers of SEBI. It was also pointed out that as it was an unlisted company and did not intend to list, the issuance of OFCDs might come under the jurisdiction of Ministry of Corporate Affairs but not under SEBI. It was further argued that OFCDs were 'hybrid' products and hence did not come under the definition of securities.

While admitting the writ petition filed by the companies, the Lucknow Bench of the Allahabad High Court by its interim orders dated 13 December 2010 stayed the operation of the SEBI's Order, but allowed the SEBI to proceed with the inquiry. The High Court also directed the RoC/Government of India to proceed with the matter at their end to investigate in the interest of investors and submit a status report.

The SEBI filed a special leave petition in the Supreme Court challenging the interim orders of the Allahabad High Court. The Supreme Court on 3 January 2011 refused to stay the two companies' ongoing fund raising exercise as sought by SEBI, but allowed the SEBI to seek information about investors' details from the companies. Following the Order of the Supreme Court, the SEBI made a further inquiry on the matter and found that the companies had raised substantial amounts of money from the public without conforming to the prudential norms which govern public issues. Therefore, the SEBI on 23 June 2011 directed the two companies to refund the money, along with interest of 15% p.a., raised through OFCDs for violating regulatory norms. As per the SEBI's Order, the two companies, Sahara Commodity Services Corp (a r e n a m e f o r S a h a r a I n d i a Re a l E s t a t e Corporation), Sahara Housing Investment Corporation, and the directors—Vandana Bhargava, Ravi Shankar Dubey and Ashok Roy Choudary—jointly and severally to return money collected through OFCDs to investors along with interest at 15% p.a. Further, the two companies were restrained from accessing the securities market for raising fund, till the time payments were made to the satisfaction of the SEBI. The Ministry of Corporate Affairs also expressed its support to the SEBI's order against the two companies.

Further in the sequence of events, a three-member bench of the Supreme Court of India, headed by Chief Justice SH Kapadia, through its judgment

(dated 15 July 2011) directed the two companies to approach the Securities Appellate Tribunal (SAT) against the SEBI's order directing the return of money collected from investors by OFCDs. The Apex court also said that the SEBI's order would not be operational till the appeal was decided by SAT. Further, the Apex Court directed the Sahara Group firm to withdraw its petition filed against SEBI in Allahabad High Court. The Court also directed the SAT to decide the appeal against SEBI's order within a period of eight weeks. Further, the Supreme Court also directed the Ministry of Corporate Affairs to be a party in the matter keeping in mind the issue of jurisdiction on OFCDs.

Appearing before the SAT, the representative of Sahara India Pariwar disclosed that it was not the first time the group companies had raised funds via optionally fully convertible debentures (OFCD) route from the public. In a submission, the lead counsel of Sahara India Pariwar said that a company called Sahara India Commercial Corporation had mobilized about Rs 17,258 crore by issuance of OFCDs during the period, 1998 to 2008. In those 10 years, the SEBI neither raised any objection nor sought any information from the company. The lead counsel also said that the SEBI's stand in separate cases in the past was that it had not got powers to regulate unlisted companies, but it changed its stand now. The lead counsel continued to maintain the stand that SEBI had no jurisdiction in this OFCD matter as it was only the Government of India that had the powers to regulate the unlisted companies.

Having heard both the parties, the SAT, the quasi-judicial body, in its order dated 18 October 2011 upheld the order of SEBI asking the companies to return the money to the investor with interest at the rate of 15% p.a. from the time of the receipt of the money from investors until disbursement. The order shall be executed within six weeks from 18 October 2011. The SAT also ruled that SEBI had the jurisdiction to regulate optionally fully convertible debentures (OFCDs) issued by the Sahara companies as they were securities and it was a public issue that required mandatory listing. The SAT made the following observations.

i. The fact that information memorandum was circulated to more than 30 million persons through 10 lakh agents and more than 2900 branch offices is nothing but advertisement to the public.


Red Herring Prospectus were not true and fair.iii. The RoC while registering the Red Herring

Prospectus with undue haste had acted in dereliction of his duty.

iv. The OFCDs issued were a form of debentures and they can be classified as 'other marketable security' as per the Security Contract (Regulation) Act. The OFCDs were also freely transferable as per the Red Herring Prospectus.

v. The OFCDs issued are securities and that the issue was a public issue requiring mandatory listing and that SEBI has the jurisdiction under the SEBI Act to deal with all kinds of securities and companies, whether listed or not.

vi. Sections 11, 11A and 11B of the SEBI Act applied to all securities, listed and unlisted, and that Section 55 A of the Companies Act (relating to issue of capital, transfer of securities and investor protection) was in addition to the powers SEBI already had and did not whittle down its powers under the provisions of Sections 11, 11A and 11B.

vii. A company, though unlisted, issuing OFCDs which were securities within the meaning of the SEBI Act, was a person associated with the securities market, and would fall under the regulatory jurisdiction of SEBI.

viii. Sahara had tried to use the information memorandum to assess the demand for the OFCDs which was synonymous with the book building process used by companies coming out with public issues to raise funds.

ix. When it comes to regulating the securities market and protecting the interests of investors, the SEBI Act is a standalone enactment and SEBI's powers there under are not fettered by any other law including the Companies Act.

x. The fact that the OFCDs were issued to more than 22.1 million investors was evidence enough to deem the company's intention to go public.

The management of Sahara India Pariwar challenged the SAT orders in the Supreme Court of India in the month of November 2011 and obtained stay orders. But the Supreme Court pronounced its final judgment on the matter on 30 August 2012 and directed the Sahara India Real Estate Corporation Ltd. (SIRECL) and the

Sahara Housing Investment Corporation Ltd. (SHICL) to refund the amounts collected through Red Herring Prospectus (RHPs) dated 13 March 2008 (Rs. 17,400 crore) and 16 October 2009 (over Rs. 7,000 crore), along with interest at the rate of 15 per cent p.a. from the date of receipt of the subscription amount till the date of repayment, within three months. One of the judges of Supreme Court of India who dealt with the case observed that: “It seems the two companies collected money from investor s without any sense of responsibility to maintain records pertaining to funds received. It is not easy to overlook that the financial transactions under reference are not akin to transactions of a street hawker or cigarette retail made from a wooden cabin. The present controversy involves contributions which approximate Rs. 40,000 crore, allegedly collected from the poor rural inhabitants of India. Despite restraint, one is compelled to record that the whole affair seems to be doubtful, dubious and questionable. Money transactions are not expected to be casual, certainly not in the manner expressed by the two companies.”

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