“If I can delay that for a moment and bring a little joy. . .

and help
them to see things a little differently , then I'll be successful.”

Bobby McFerrin

That was the idea on our mind when we started planning about
this month’s issue of E#mag!ne. We were ready to compromise on the
timelines to bring in the tinge of novelty in our enterprise. The June
issue has a new look and feel to few of its sections plus also a surprise
element to psyche you up.

First up, the growing enthusiasm in the Quiz section, compelled

Team E#mag!ne to awaken the quizzer in you. Yes, friends its time to
prove your mettle, to test you “Q#Quotient” Every month, we would
be posting 10 selected Business questions. If you think, you have the
grey matter that matters, then write in to us with the correct answers
and witness your name and picture on the next issue of E#mag!ne.

“From the Alumni’s Desk” section features an article from our

Annual Departmental Journal, “Manav” This comes as a note of
appreciation to all the faculty & the students body who
conceptualized this and also to those who work very hard every year
to ensure that the effort is flawless and one of its kind.

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 E#mag!ne comes to rescue to those of you who find it difficult to
download the entire E#mag!ne due to faulty networks and erratic
connections. Now, you can view the entire issue online. Just click on
the link given in the welcome letter you found this issue of the
E#mag!ne in.

Don’t you think its time for you to voice your opinions? We
mean, this is a free country and you have your freedom of expression.
So why not exercise it?? E#mag!ne gives you your personal
“ShoutBox”! To access this feature simply check out this link
http://spreadsheets.google.com/viewform?formkey=cnQ5eWJYZ3Uzc
TJXZGlnQzFkRzVZcFE6MA.. and fill in the form with your views.
Praise, Complaints, Reward, Ridicule…. We are game for all. Because
we believe, every expression of yours is invaluable for us.

Awaiting a plethora of your responses ☺

Warm Regards,

Team E#mag!ne

Srimoyee Ray & Bikram Sarkar

MHRM 2008#10

Page-3
# From the Faculty Desk…………………..5

# From the Alumni Desk………………….8

# Friends from Yonder…………………..12

# The concept of Competency…………...16

# HRM in Recession……………………..23

# Q#Quotient………………………....…27

# Ace the Case…………………………..29

# Campus Bytes…………………....……32

# Voice Box……………………………..35

Page-4
 Professor P.K. Misra

Work is not where you go but what you do

The employment of MBAs, in last few years is showing a very disturbing
pattern, especially those who are taking up jobs in marketing and finance
streams. The ‘Quality of Work Life’ and ‘Work Life Balance’ which are
most important for the organizations and its employees have taken a
backseat. The work environment prevailing in many companies is a
cause of concern.
Traditionally, there are three ways to make employees perform. These
are –
1. Threaten employees
2. Pay employees lots of monetary incentives.
3. Make employees work in an environment which makes them happy.

Page-5
Many companies today are using the first two options i.e. paying
employees lots of money for achieving high targets of revenue and those
who fail, to be harassed and axed. Take the case of private banking. The
reputation of the bank and the targets for the pay or ‘cost to company’
package have been co related. The reputed banks demand a revenue
target of 8 to 10 times of the CTC package. The lesser known may settle
for a revenue target of 5 to 6 times of the total package. The young MBA
starts at a lower pay package. Once he/ she gains experience, confidence
and tricks of the trade, he changes job for a higher pay package and
consequently higher revenue targets. Finally, he reaches a stage where he
is not able to achieve the target. He is first threatened, humiliated,
insulted, and placed on so called performance improvement plans. Some
over sell their products by telling subtle lies, promising returns on
investments which can never come. But by the time the results come,
they move out. Some, unable to cope up with all this, resign as a burnt
out, frustrated and broken person. There is hardly any growth in terms
of nature of work or career. The situation is likely to worsen further with
the recent RBI stipulation regarding entry load in respect of mutual funds
coming into effect.
The concepts of employee engagement, retention of talents etc. do not
appear to be relevant to these organizations. For them Maslow, Herzberg
and McGregor are irrelevant and concepts propounded by them are best
forgotten after examinations.
The organizations, adopting these methods do make quick progress in
terms of turnover and profits. But the issue is that whether these
organizations want to stay in the markets for long term or crash after few
years. A very large bank, which spread in India very fast and became a
multi product and multinational organization, practiced these policies,
but soon got into trouble. It will be no surprise that few more such
organizations following same methods may get in trouble soon. The

Page-6
crash of several banks in USA should have made the world to sit up and
analyze, as to what was the reason for this. Everyone agrees that the
greed of top management led to present financial meltdown.
It is not that the organizations, where employee engagement was given
due attention did not prosper. They did progress albeit slowly but
steadily. These are the organizations which will weather all types of
storms and make hay in the long run.
The MBAs passing out from management institutes should also examine
the ‘Quality of Work Life’ of the companies and not only the pay package
alone. The working hours normally being put in by the executives daily,
the ratio between targets and pay package and attrition rate should be
enquired into when the companies make presentations before starting
placement process. The alumni of the management institutes should be
made use of in selection of companies for placements.
The objective of writing this article is not to dwell on what elements
contribute towards maintaining a good quality of work life. The objective
is to caution the young aspirants from the pitfall of taking employment
on the basis of ‘CTC’ alone overlooking the culture of the organization.

Page-7
 Aishwarya Singh , Raymond Limited

Why HR?

Once upon a time in the history of business the product was the
Differentiator in the market. The entire business process or the entire
market evolved around the Product.
A product was created, and in order to maintain the economies of scale,
the production was made in large quantities and then the customer was
targeted to sell these products and make profit. The concern or
expectation of the customer was alien till this period of time. This was
due to the sudden increase in the pace of industrializa tion where there
was no time, except to produce a product which had an economic value.

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Then came the concept of Customer Satisfaction and the markets
changed into a customer driven market where the customers were
identified and their needs and expectations were taken into consideration
and then the product was made and sold to these targeted customers.
This was the turning point in global business. This lead to the increased
importance of various disciplines like Marketing, Sales, Customer Service
etc.

Soon the concept changed from Customer Satisfaction to Customer

Delight!
The market soon adopted and lead to an extensive research in the
behavioral pattern and the factors which Delight the customers and not
only make them satisfied. This was taking the next evolutionary step in
product design and development and capturing the customer base which
was of the arch rivals. This lead to a war like situation within the
corporate jungle of organizations and economies.

All this lead to the identif ication of the key areas where an organization
could capitalize and have a competitive edge over its competitors. Earlier
capitalizing in one field could leave an organization so well ahead that
they found it useless to capitalize over the other areas. An organization
during the initial industrial revolution phase if had a competitive edge in
the production process would certainly be a market leader even if it had
a poor marketing strategy. This in today’s world would be fatal. An
organization in today’s 3G environment has to have a perfect co#
ordination in all the dimensions like Finance, marketing, Human

Page-9
Resource, Logistics etc. A lacuna in any one department or dimension
would lead to a wide scale downfall and the situation would quickly get
out of control and the organization would soon become an example of
mismanagement.

The Organizations and its mentors with the passage of time and the
evolution of business processes have realized that they can get the same
technology, capital, assets etc as these are now available in the free trade
markets and the only competitive factor that remains organic , which
cannot be produced , is the human capital. Also that with time this
human factor appreciates and yields higher returns and profitability.
This has lead to the famous talen t war within the organizations. The
people associated with this discipline of Human Resource Management
have gained a position right from the sub#function to the core#function
of the organization and business. This has resulted to the HR’s secured
position in the board room and the HR People are now a Strategic Movers
of any organization which has kept pace with recent times.

A healthy organization, motivated workforce, delighted customersOare

all part of a cyclic phenomenon. A dedicated and loyal workforce will
reflect, in a positive way, the company and its value, keeping up the
brand name. They will work towards taking the company towards the
growth path.

Page-10
The mighty organizations have realized the importance of the Human
dimension and the impact, which its workforce can have if given the
right climate and opportunity.
The first in the line to realize this were the organizations in the areas of
Research and Development and areas involving a creative set of people.
Soon in the line of realization were the IT Mighties and today the
concepts of Human Resource management has become the Buzz word.

It would not be too early to say that the change has begun from
Customer Delight to Employee Satisfaction and would certainly lead to
the Employee Delight!
Delight!

Page-11
 Saurav Bansal, PGDM 2007
2007##09

International Management Institute, New Delhi

GLOBALIZAT ION VS. AMERICANIZAT ION

“Are we going Americanized?” The question may seem to be ridiculous

but a little stress on our mind would reveal the answer in an affirmative

sense. In the name of globalization we are blindly following American

Page-12
ways of living as from Education to Entertainment, from music to

machinery and from food to fashion, we are simply copying America.

The direct consequence of such a freaky activity is that we

are now unable to inherit our rich and exquisite culture and vivacity.

Since its inception, our culture had shown that it is flexible enough and

can bear touch of all the cultures prevailing in the world and hence can

harbour Globalization also. So Globalization itself is innocuous but

fervently adopting Americanization would succumb Indian culture and

the very first victim would be India’s youth because it is their facile

thinking that only increases in materialistic possessions would bring

happiness in their lives. But money can’t buy happiness and this truth is

supported by World Values Survey also which revealed that

economically underdeveloped Nigerians are the happiest people in the

world. Different countries rated different factors for happiness. This

survey revealed that Indians cite family, society values and friends as

important for being happy while for Americans it was personal success,

pride and self#esteem.

Americanization has not only affected our socio#economic

values but also our economy as most of the MNCs active in India are

America based. Coca#Cola, Pepsi, Microsoft, GM etc. are few names in

Page-13
the long list. These MNCs have intangible effect on our thinking as these

MNCs get only services from Indians, who are already known for their

quality service.

Condition is still getting worse as we are forgetting our

indigenous industries in the light of these MNCs. The dominance of

Coca#Cola or Pepsi over Dabur Real Fruit Juices, Levi’s over Arvind Mills

etc. are the clear indica tion in this context. So we can say that things had

taken an ominous turn and posing threat to viability of Indians.

America, being the only super power of the world, has its

affect only on developing but also on developed nations like France, Italy

etc. The difference is that the developing and underdeveloped are

affected severely because of their comparatively more dependence on

America. According to IMF, only America is the nation which is in a

position of taking substantiated steps to improve the economic conditions

of the underdeveloped and developing Asian and African countries, So

we can very well imagine the role of America in the world.

So the question arises as to how to check the rising

influence of America in our country. This can be done only when some

bold and stern steps are taken in two basic systems of our country i.e.

educational system and financial system. As far as education is concerned

Page-14
it is admitted that western education is the need of the hour but along

with it our own ways of education and enlightenment like Vedas,

Upanishads etc. must be taught to the students so that they could

themselves dignify them and in future could reflect Indian ethos. On the

Financial grounds our Government should bring in such reforms that

MNCs could not make our indigenous setup obsolete.

In nutshell, we admit that we can't escape

Americanization but its affect can be controlled to some extent which

demands some reforms in already set up systems. These steps should be

taken firmly so as to develop the feeling of oneness amongst Indians.

The writer is the student of PGDM 2007#

2007#09 batch of
International Management Institute, New Delhi. He can be
reached at saurav.younggenius@gmail.com

Page-15
 The Concept of Competency
A Competency is an underlying characteristic of a person which enables
him /her to deliver superior performance in a given job, role or a
situation.

# Knowledge: The technical or professional information, acquired

through formal education, training, Personal experience needed to
perform the job.

Page-16
 #Skills: The proficient application of knowledge & behavior in
completing job tasks or duties. They describe actual physical or mental
activities.

#Attitude: The observable actions an employee uses to achieve job#

specific results.

Some definitions...
definitions
Boyatzis (1982)
“A capacity that exists in a person that leads to behavior that meets the
job demands within parameters of organizational environment, and that,
in turn brings about desired results”

Albanese (1989) –

Competencies are personal characteristics that contribute to effective

managerial performance.

Iceberg Model

Page-17
COMPETENCY
COMPETENCY vs. COMPETENCE
Competency: A person# related concept that refers to the dimensions of
behavior lying behind competent performer

Competence: A work# related concept that refers to areas of work at

which the person is competent

Types of Competency
Competency
Generic Competencies
Competencies which are considered essential for all employees
regardless of their function or level.

Managerial Competencies
Competencies which are considered essential for employees with
managerial or supervisory responsibility in any functional area including
directors and senior posts.

Technical / Functional
Specific competencies which are considered essential to perform any job
in the organization within a defined technical or functional area of work.

Example

Page-18
Ethics & Integrity
Integrity

Earn the trust, respect, and confidence of coworkers and customers

through consistent honesty, forthrightness and professionalism in all
interactions.

Behavioral Indicators

• Confidentiality
• Honesty
• Role model
• Integrity
• Avoid inappropriate situations
• Core values/beliefs
• Ethical behavior
• Avoid misrepresentation
• Appropriate use of resources

Why use competency?

Help companies ‘raise the bar’ of performance expectations.

Help teams and individuals align their behaviors with key organizational
strategy
Each employee understands how to achieve expectations.

Concept of Competency Mapping

Page-19
It is about identifying preferred behaviors and personal skills which
distinguish excellent and outstanding performance from the average.

Techniques

• Critical Incident Analysis

• Interview

• Questionnaires

• Psychometric tests

Critical Incident Technique

Respondents are asked to rela te specific incidents, which highlighted

exemplary behaviors in critical situations. This is based on the
assumption that the best and the worst of a person surfaces in a crisis.

Interview technique

Interaction with the interviewer and interviewee followed by iden tifying

areas with proper agreement and disagreement thus resulting to a
tentative decision about the candidate

Questionnaires
Questionnaires

Page-20
Questionnaires are written lists of questions that users fill out
formulating questions based on the type of information one wants to
know.

Sources of Questionnaires:

• Common Metric Questionnaire (CMQ)

• Functional Job Analysis

• Multipurpose Occupational System Analysis

Inventory (MOSAIC)

• Occupational Analysis Inventory

• Position Analysis Questionnaire (PAQ)

• Work Profiling System(WPS)

Psychometric tests

A psychometric test is a standardized objective measure of a sample of

behavior

Types

Page-21
 • Aptitude Tests

• Achievement Tests

Applications of Competency Map

• Candidate appraisal for recruitment

• Employee potential appraisal for promotion or

functional shift

• Employee training need identification

• Employee performance diagnostics

• Employee self development initiatives.

Competency Mapping is not a Rocket Science

Page-22
 Sanghita Ojha, MHRM 2008#
2008#10
Human Resource Management in Recession
Human Resource Management (HRM) is the function within an
organization that focuses on recruitment of, management of, and
providing direction for the people who work in the organization. Human
Resource Management can also be performed by line managers.”
The above definition of Human Resource Management shows single face
of a coin which has limited HRM involvement but HRM leads to survival
of an organization in recessionary period
In India, Recession has not taken its toll likewise in U.S, indirect effects
like exports decline and Funds crunch has made Indian economy
shaking. Tough times call for tough measures and you will have to figure
out how to hold on to your employees, while staying on budget at the
same time.

Most of the countries all over the world are going through this phase of
economic recession. Many old and big companies have already been

Page-23
brought down on their knees to bite the dust. Many companies as well as
countries have become bankrupt or are on the verge of it. Millions and
millions of people have lost their jobs. Many people have lost millions
and billions of dollars. People in general are scared and fearsome. This is
not the first time that the global economy is going through recession and
this is also not the last time. This article is an attempt to highlight some of
the issues involved and some of the possible solutions.

In such times of global recession when everyone is trying hard to survive

and pass through one of the toughest phase of their life, no one thinks
about making the profit out of adversity. Everyone is trying to survive
and it will be survival of the fittest. Anyone who will be able to pass
through this will come out as a stronger entity or person or country.
Companies are no exception to this rule. They are also trying hard to
survive. With them they are also trying to float and swim through as
many people as possible but cer tainly not all. There is a set process that
needs to be followed at the time of laying#off
1) Freezing the recruitment
2) Last in, First Out
3) Average performers or difficult employee will also be shown the door
4) Outsourcing to increase

It is not important to know what is happening across the world but it is

important to know what is happening in your company. It is also
important to keep an eye on the market situation and keep yourself
updated with the latest.

Below are seven human resource strategies that are easy to implement
and can make a big difference

Page-24
1.) Lead with Confidence# During the period of recession companies
need better leadership to prosper. Providing direction inspires
confidence in employees and helps build a faithful staff.
2.) Communicate effectively# Making sure people have the information
they need is the foundation for any good relationship. Being honest
and open with employees is especially impor tant at a time when they
may be dealing with serious concerns outside of the office.
3.) Recruit purposefully# Companies who make severe staffing cuts and
don't keep their HR people connected to poten tial hires will be caught
severely short staffed. Companies have a great opportunity right now
to hire talented people who have been down#sized by other
organizations.
4.) Make cuts strategically# Outsourcing some functions can reduce
costs but people who have been eliminated should be taken care of.
Generous packages create goodwill and increase loyalty from those
who remain. Generous packages might seem out of the question in
tight times but a serious consideration should be given regarding the
packages as much as possible.
5.) Be strategic about delivering Personnel Development#In tight times
technical and personal skills can be given to the employees to better
equip them and keep them engaged.
6.) Take great care of customers# Instead of seeing business declining,
employees should be trained for better customer services. It’s the
right time to get customer centric.
7.) Avoid layoffs with creative strategies#Alternatives apart from lay#offs
should be looked for. A day off without pay, work sharing
arrangements, worker sharing with other companies, salary cut#
backs are few options that can be taken into consideration.

Page-25
The recession provides a great opportunity for HR professionals to use
the economic challenges to emphasize fundamentals of human
capital management. Fear and the drive to keep your business up and
running can unify an organization and become a great motivational tool
for employees. A shared challenge enables team members to set aside
their individual concerns and rally around a greater common cause.
Employees should be motivated enough to stick with their leaders during
tough times and put in the extra effort required for the business to come
out of the storm unscathed.

But above and over all the fact that no one can deny is that trust is the
most important element in today’s world of business, at the personal,
institutional and global level. Why a financial crisis on Wall Street and
Main Street? We are living a crisis of trust. The success of any enterprise
depends largely on the amount of trust existing among its members. High
productivity is almost always related to an organization's team spirit and
an environment of trust among its members. Lack of trust is associated
with high stress, low satisfaction and low relationship commitment, and
low perceived task performance. Trust is a dynamic concept: trust does
not always remain stable. Trust changes and evolves as organizations
change and need to adapt to the constant challenges of the market. These
changes affect the relationship with employees creating fears, instability,
and distrust between individuals.

So as future HRs we must try more to keep trust and faith among
employees and create a win#win situation for all and thus play the
strategic role in bringing back days when “boom” used to be the buzz
word.

Page-26
 If you think you have the grey matter that matters, then mail us the
answers to the following questions at emagine.mhrm@gmail.com.
The entry with the maximum number of correct entries will
witness his/her name and picture in this space in the next edition of
E#mag!ne. So its time to let the world know your Q# quotient

1. Which brand of Scooter when translated into Italian means “wasp”

2. With a presence in 27 countries, name of which company means

“three oceans”

3. How many mutual funds are there n India?

4. What do you call a stock trend market which is neither Bullish nor
Bearish?

5. By what name is “Phiroze Jeejebhoy Towers” better known as?

6. What publication advised itself with the line “Softwares for the
most advanced microprocessor on the planet?

7. Which was the first bank to start ATM service in India?

Page-27
8. Name the autobiography of JRD Tata.

9. If Power & Simplicity is the tagline of Tally, then Sense & Simplicity
is the punch line for?

10. Harmony is the name of the Textile brand of which renowned

company?

Reference : http://www.quizquestions.in

Page-28
 Motorola: Employee financial education

The issue

All employees need to make important decisions about their financial

situation at some point in their lives, such as how to save for retirement
or how to achieve competing financial goals. While Motorola’s benefit
plans emphasized a ‘shared responsibility’ philosophy, a general lack of
understanding by some employees about their benefit options made it
difficult for them to take control of their financial situation.
Motorola wanted to run financial education workshops for its staff in
approximately 23 locations throughout the USA, to:
• create employee awareness and appreciation for company benefits
• increase usage of company benefits
• increase employee productivity
• retain key employee talent
• increase employee goodwill by providing tools to achieve a sound
financial base.

PWC approach

Motorola appointed PricewaterhouseCooper s, to advise on and

implement the employee financial education programme. Being their

Page-29
preferred adviser for several HR issues, including their international
equity plan, they already had a strong understanding of Motorola,
including its culture and benefits. Their team had several discussions
with Motorola to learn about their existing employee education
schemes, to set priorities for future training and agree the key messages
to convey to employees.
Based on these discussions, they designed a programme called ‘Take
Charge of Your Financial Future’ to truly fit Motorola’s needs. The
programme comprised workshops, a telephone counseling service,
‘CounseLine’, and a web#based tool called PwC eAdvisor, which also
includes ‘PwC planner’, an on#line financial plan generator. To gain
buy in and trust from both Motorola management and employees, they
held initial training sessions with PwC telephone counselors, workshop
presenter s, and a pilot workshop. This allowed the client to meet
our people and gain confidence in their team. At PwC, the per sonal
financial services team is dedica ted to employee education and does not
sell any products. Their independence in this respect was vital in
gaining the employees’ trust. One of the most challenging aspects of
this project was creating a financial education programme that
appealed to a diverse audience in terms of education, age, seniority and
income levels. By providing a programme with various tools and
services, they had created a solution with something for everyone.

The outcome
Employees are more aware of the excellent company benefits Motorola
provides as well as better equipped to proactively control their
financial future. ‘Take Charge of Your Financial
Future’ is seen as an overwhelming success at Motorola:
• Over 1,500 employees attended the workshops during a three month
period.

Page-30
• 96% of attendees were satisfied they could now make a positive
difference in their financial future.
• In the last eight months, there have been 700 requests from
employees through the PwC financial counseling service, and hits on
the web#based tool, PwC eAdvisor, exceeded 300,000. PwC eAdvisor
works well for Motorola, and is being considered as a financial
education tool for its worldwide workforce.

Reference:
http://www.pwc.com/extweb/newcoatwork.nsf/docid/86FD4D81F5C
48D5D8525712F00577BFB/$file/motorola.pdf

Page-31
These have been testing times for the Studen ts of the Department of

MHRM. Early May marked the beginning of the Summer Internship

projects (SIP) of the First year students. We all were excited and

anxious in equal measure over what lay in store for us in these coming

60 days and what met our senses could not have been farther from the

vision we had in mind for our SIP’s.

The general situation has been that the students on reporting to

their Organization were appointed a mentor to be a guide along their

SIP route, they were then briefed on the Organization culture, norms,

rules and regulations that they are supposed to adhere to and then after

a brief period of being introduced to the who’s who in the

Organization they were informed about their project titles# the domain

where they are going to exercise their efforts. The mentors appointed to

guide the students in their Organizations have been very supportive

and, in most cases, have been instrumental to the progress that their

wards are making. Some of us have been blessed with a proper office
Page-32
environment, Chair#tables, the confines of 4 walls and an air#

conditioned roof overhead, whereas others have been sweltering off in

vast but spectacular Iron ore Mines, gigantic factories and rusty

warehouses. Many of us have been awarded a strict 9 to 5 office

routine while others have been given flexible office reporting and

leaving times, often the ones with the best of the offices to work in have

also been the ones to get the 9 to 5 routine! But come what may the

students have embraced all with a smile, nothing has been a deterrent

to the real purpose of these 60 days# gaining as much insight and

experience about HR management in the “REAL” corporate scenario.

College life didn’t come to a standstill in this period though.

Students have been regularly visiting college premises to catch up with

friends and have discussions about how their respective SIP’s are

progressing, exchanging notes and picking up tips to make their

projects better in every way possible. They have also been regular

visitors to the accommodating and benevolent faculty members of our

department, who have guided the students a lot on matters relating to

their SIP’s and everything else. As such it has been a common incidence

to spot groups of first years gathered together in the college premises

Page-33
enthusiastically discussing their Projects and the experience adjoined to

it.

Second Year students have already begun the Journey into their

work lives and are busy acclimatizing to the respective work &

organization culture of the firms where they have joined. They all hope

to progress fast along their career tracks and we wish them the very

best in all their endeavors. We also hope that they do maintain their

bond with this college and visit us often to share with us the wealth of

knowledge and experience they shall gain as a result of their corporate

life exposure.

Meanwhile College administration has undergone a sea change in this

period, and we all look forward to a bright and prosperous future for

our college with this fresh administrative machinery in place. The next

batch of students (2009#20011) is also going to start its academic

session soon and we all are putting our best foot forward to greet them

with a warm heart and a big smile on our faces, to welcome them to

the world of MHRM, where nothing is impossible and the only

requisite to attain the unattainable is to : E# mag!ne !!

Page-34
Please write to us at emagine.mhrm@gmail.com with your suggestion
and feedback
Page-35