Jun 9 Mba

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Dr. Vijila Kennedy
Associate Editor
Dr. Joji Chandran
RVS Institute of Management Studies and Research

Sulur, Coimbatore-641402, India
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Coimbatore Dr. Vijila Kennedy

15 July, 2009 Chief Editor
Dr. Joji Chandran
Associate Editor
Editorial Advisory Board
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Bharathiar University, Coimbatore
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All Nations University, West Africa
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Tata Consultancy Service, Bangalore
Chief Editor
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Director, RVS Institute of Management Studies & Research
Associate Editor
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Contents
1. Agent Technology to Predict Consumer Buying Behavior
in Electronic Commerce
S. Kumar Chandar 9
2. Recessionproof Marketing Practices
Regi Kumar G. and Sudharani Ravindran 17
3. A Study on Customer Preference and Satisfaction towards Gold Jewellery
M. Lakshmi Priya and S. Suganya 26
4. Maximization of Expected Returns in Personal Finance—Linear Programming
Approach to Construction of Investment Portfolio
S. Jaya Bharathi 36
5. Perception and Attitude of Entrepreneurs in Coimbatore District
of Tamil Nadu
K. Malar Mathi and K. Sumathi 42
6. Training and Business Performance of Small Scale Industries
in Puducherry State
R. Kayatry Sabitha and N. Panchanatham 48
7. Industrial Relations In Jhunjhunwala Industries Private Limited:
A Case Study
Sitansu Panda and S.F. Chandrasekhar 57
AUTHOR INDEX 58
Agent Technology to Predict Consumer Buying
Behavior in Electronic Commerce
S. Kumar Chandar
Systems and Operations, SCMS, Cochin
Abstract—Software agents automate a variety of tasks including those involved in

buying and selling products over the Internet. This Article surveys agent-mediated
electronic commerce systems by describing their roles in the context of a Consumer
Buying Behavior (CBB) model. The Consumer Buying Behavior model augments
traditional marketing models with concepts from software Agents research to
accommodate electronic markets. This article discus the variety of Artificial
Intelligence techniques that support agent meditation in buying and selling products
and conclude with future directions of agent-mediated electronic commerce research.
Keyword: Software Agent, Consumer Buying Behavior, Artificial Intelligence.
INTRODUCTION
Software agents are programs to which one can delegate a task. They differ from
“Traditional” software in that they are personalized, continuously running and semi-
autonomous. These qualities make agents useful for a wide variety of information and process
management tasks. Electronic commerce encompasses a broad range of issues including
security, trust, reputation, law, payment mechanisms, advertising, ontologies, on-line
catalogs, intermediaries, multimedia shopping experiences, and back-office management.
Agent technologies can be applied to any of these areas where a personalized, continuously
running, semi-autonomous behavior is desirable. For example, how much time or money
could be saved if a certain process was partially automated (Example: Comparing products
from multiple merchants), how easy it is to express your preferences for the task (Example:
shopping for a gift), what are the risks of an agent making a sub-optimal transaction decision
(Example: Making stock market buying and selling decisions or buying a car), what are the
consequences for missed opportunities (Example – Not being able to effectively monitor new
job postings). Generally, the more time and money that can be saved through automation, the
easier it is to express preferences, the lesser the risks of making sub-optimal transaction
decisions, and the greater the loss for missed opportunities- the more appropriate it is to
employ agent technologies in electronic commerce. Software agents will play an increasing
variety of roles as mediators in electronic commerce. This article explores these roles, their
supporting technologies, and how they relate to electronic commerce in its three main forms:
business-to-business, business-to-consumer, and consumer-to-consumer transactions.
ROLES OF AGENTS AS MEDIATOR IN ELECTRONIC COMMERCE

It is useful to explore the roles of agents as mediators in electronic commerce in the context of
a common model. The model is derived from traditional marketing Consumer Buying
10 RVS Journal of Management
Behavior (CBB) research and comprises the actions and decisions involved in buying and
using goods and services. Consumer Buying Behavior research covers many areas. For
example, Consumer Buying Behavior research focuses primarily on retail markets, Even
within in retail, not all shopping behaviors are captured (Example- Impulse purchasing).
Consumer Buying Behavior Model

These are several descriptive theories and models that attempt to capture consumer buying
behavior (Example – the Nicosia Model, the Howard-sheth Model, the Engle-Blackwell
model, the Bettman information-processing model, and the Andreasen model). These model
all share a similar list of six fundamental stages guiding consumer buying behavior. The six
stages also explain where agent technologies apply to the consumer shopping experience and
allow us to more formally categorize existing agent-mediated electronic commerce systems.
1. Need Identification: This stage characterizes the consumer becoming aware of some
need. Within this stage, the consumer can be stimulated through product information.
This stage is called problem recognition in the Engel-Blackwell model
2. Product Brokering: This stage comprises the retrieval of information to help
determine what to buy. This encompasses the evaluation of product alternatives based
on consumer-provided criteria. The result of this stage is called the “consideration
set” of products.
3. Merchant Brokering: This stage combines the “consideration set” from the previous
stage with merchant-specific information to help determine who to buy from. This
includes the evaluation of merchant alternatives based on consumer-selected criteria
(Example- Price, warranty, availability, delivery time, reputation, etc). The Nicosia
model merges both brokering stages into one search Evaluation stage. The Engel-
Blackwell model dissects these two stages orthogonally into Information Search and
Evaluation of Alternative stages.
4. Negotiation: This stage is about how to determine the terms of the transaction.
Negotiation varies in duration and complexity depending on the market. In traditional
retail markets, prices and other aspects of the transaction are often fixed leaving no
room for negotiation. In other markets (Example, stocks, automobile, fine art, local
markets, etc), the negotiation of price or other aspects of the deal are integral to
product and merchant brokering. Traditional Consumer Buying Behavior model do
not identify this stage explicitly, but the conclusion of the Negotiation stage is
comparable to the choice or decision stage found in other Models.
5. Purchase and Delivery: The Purchase and delivery of a product can either signal the
termination of the negotiation stage or occur sometime afterwards. In some cases, the
available payment options (Example-Cash only) or delivery options may influence
product and merchant brokering.
Agent Technology to Predict Consumer Buying Behavior in Electronic Commerce 11
6. Service and Evaluation: This post-purchase stage involves product service,

customer service, and an evaluation of the satisfaction of the overall buying
experience and decision. The nature of this stage depends upon for whom the product
was purchased.
TABLE 1: ROLES AND EXAMPLES OF AGENT SYSTEMS AS MEDIATORS IN E-COMMERCE
Person Firefly Bargain Jango Kasbah AuctionBot Tete-a-
Logic Finder Tete
1.Need Identification Only a few primitive event-alerting tools (Amazon.com’s “Eyes” program) help
anticipate consumer’s needs and provide paths into the subsequent CBB stages.
However systems like Firefly can alert a consumer with product recommendations
when consumers with similar interests purchase specific products.
2. Product Brokering × × × ×
3.Merchant Brokering × × × ×
4. Negotiation × × ×
5.Purchase and Delivery Post-purchase evaluation usually includes feedback about two distinct elements of the
6. Service & Evaluation shopping process: product brokering and merchant brokering. Traditional, customer
remarks are accessible by either the manufacturer or customer satisfaction staff
mechanisms enable customers to share and combine their experiences and use
merchant and product reputations as additional aspects of brokering and negotiation
Product Brokering
The product Brokering stage of the Consumer Buying Behavior model is where consumers
determine what to buy. This occurs after a need has identified and is achieved through a
critical evaluation of retrieved product information. Table 1 shows several agent systems that
lower consumers search costs when deciding which products best meet his or her personal
criteria: PersonaLogic, Firefly and Tete-a-Tete
PersonaLogic is a tool that enables consumers to narrow down the products that best
meet their needs by guiding them through a large product feature space. The system filters out
unwanted products within a given domain by allowing shoppers to specify constraints on a
product’s features. A constraint satisfaction engine then returns an ordered list of only those
products that satisfy all the hard constraints.
Like PersonaLogic, Firefly services help consumers find products. However, instead of
filtering products based on features, Firefly recommends products via a “Word of mouth”
recommendation mechanism called automated collaborative filtering (ACF). ACF first
compares a shopper’s product ratings with those of other shoppers. After identifying the
shopper’s “nearest neighbors” (User with similar tastes) ACF recommends products that they
rated highly. Essentially, Firefly uses the opinions of like-minded people to offer
recommendations. The system is currently used to recommend commodity products such as
music and books.
Merchant Brokering
BargainFinder was the first shopping agent for on-line price comparison. Given a specific
product, BargainFinder requests its price from each of nine different merchant Web sites
using the same request as from a Web browser. Although a limited proof-of-concept system,
BargainFinder offers valuable insights into the issues involved in price comparisons in the on-
line world. For example, on third of the on-line CD merchants accessed by BargainFinder
blocked all of its price requests. One reason for this was that merchants inherently do not
want to compete on price alone. Value added services that merchants offered on their Web
Sites were being bypassed by BargainFinder and therefore not considered in the consumer’s
buying decision.
Jango can be viewed as an advanced BagainFinder. The original Jango version “Solved”
the merchant blocking issue by having the product requests originate from each consumer’s
Web browser instead of from a central site as in BargainFinder. This way, requests to
merchants from a Jango-augmented Web browser appeared as requests from “real” customers.
This kind of “Aggressive interoperability” makes it convenient for consumers to shop for
commodity products but does not leave merchants with many options. If merchants provide
public on-line catalogs, they can be accessed by agents whether merchants want this or not.
Once a shopper has identified a specific product, Jango can simultaneously query merchant
sites (from a list now maintained by Excite, Inc) for its price. These results allow a consumer
to compare merchant offerings on price.
The MIT Media Lab’s Kasbah is an on-line, multiagent classified system. A user
wanting to buy or sell a good creates an agent, gives it some strategic direction, and sends it
off into a centralized agent marketplace. Kasbah agents proactively seek out potential buyers
or sellers and negotiate with them on behalf of their owners. Each agent’s goal is to complete
an acceptable deal, subject to a set of user-specified constraints such as a desired price, a
higher (or lowest) acceptable price, and a date by which to complete the transaction. The
latest version of Kasbah incorporates a distributed trust and reputation mechanism called the
Better Business Bureau. Upon the completion of a transaction, both parties may rate how well
the other party managed their half of the deal (Example – accuracy of product condition,
completion of the transaction if they should negotiate with agents whose owners fall below a
user-specified reputation threshold.
Negotiation
Negotiation stage is where the price or other terms of the transaction are determined. Example
of where we see negotiation used in commerce include stock markets (Example-NYSE and
NASDAQ), fine art auction house (Example- Sotheby’s and Christie’s) flower auctions
(Example- Allsmeer, Holland), and various ad-hoc haggling (Example–Automobile
dealerships and commission-based electronic stores). The benefit of dynamically negotiating
a price for a product instead of fixing it is that it relieves the merchant from needing to
determine the value of the good a priori. Rather, this burden is pushed into the market place
itself. A result of this is that limited resources are allocated fairly. In the physical world,
certain types of auctions require that all parties be geographically co-located, for example, in
auction houses. Negotiation may be too complicated or frustrating for the average consumer.
For instance, this sentiment inspired automobile dealerships to switch from price negotiation
to fixed-price in order to its customers. Finally, some negotiation protocols occur over an
extended period of time which does not cater to impatient or time-constrained consumers; In
general, real world negotiations occur transaction costs that may be too high for either
consumers or merchants.
On Sale and eBay’s Auction Web are two popular Web sites that sell refurbished and
second-hand products using a choice of auction protocols. Unlike auction houses, these sites
do not require that participants be geographically co-located. However these sites still require
that consumers manage their own negotiation strategies over an extended period of time. This
is where agent technologies come in. Table 1 show several representative agent system that
assist customers in negotiating the term of a transaction: AuctionBot, Kasbah, and Tete-a-
Tete.
AuctionBot is a general purpose Internet auction server at the University of Michigan.
AuctionBot users create new auctions to sell products by choosing from a selection of auction
types and then specifying its parameters (Example: clearing times, method for resolving
bidding ties, the number of sellers permitted, etc). Buyers and sellers can then bid according
to the multi-lateral distributive negotiation protocols of the created auction. In a typical
scenario, a seller would bid a reservation price after creating the auction and let AuctionBot
manage and enforce buyers bidding according to the auction protocol and parameters.
AuctionBot different from most other auction sites, however, is that it provides an application
programmable interface (API) for users to create their own software agents to autonomously
compete in the AuctionBot marketplace. Such an API provides a semantically sound interface
to the marketplace unlike the “Wrapper” technologies discussed in section 3.1 and 3.4.
Kasbah is a Web-based multiagent classified system where users create buying and
selling agents to help transaction products. These agents automate much of the Merchant
Brokering and Negotiation Consumer Buying Behavior stages for both buyers and sellers.
After buying agents and selling agents are matched, the only valid action in the negotiation
protocol is for buying agents to offer a bid to selling agents with no restrictions on time or
price. Selling agents respond with either a binding “yes” or “No”
Tete-a-Tete provides a unique negotiation approach to retail sales. Unlike most other on-
line negotiation system which competitively negotiates over price, Tete-a-Tete agents
cooperatively negotiate across multiple terms of a transaction – Example (warranties, delivery
times, service contracts, return policies, loan options, gift services, and other merchant value
added services. Like Kasbah, this negotiation takes the form of multi-agent, bilateral
bargaining but not using simple raise or decay functions as in Kasbah. Tete-a-Tete’s shopping
agents follow an argumentative style of negotiation with sales agents and use the evaluation
constraints captured during the product Brokering and Merchant Brokering stages as
dimensions of a multi-attribute utility. This utility is used by a customer’s shopping agent to
rank order merchant offering based on how well they satisfy the consumer’s preferences.
AGENT TECHNOLOGIES FOR ELECTRONIC COMMERCE

Recommender Systems
The majority of product recommender systems are developed using content-based,
collaborative-based or constraint-based filtering methods as their underlying technology. In
content-based filtering the system processes information from various sources and tries to
extract useful features and elements about its content. The techniques used in content-based
filtering can vary greatly in complexity. Keyword-based search is one of the simplest
techniques that involve matching different combinations of keywords (Sometimes in Boolean
form). A more advanced form of filtering is the one based on extracting semantic information
from a document’s content. This can be achieved by using techniques like associative
networks of keywords in a sentence or price list, or directed graphs of words from sentences.
Systems like BargainFinder and Jango try to collect information (Example: product
description, prices, reviews, etc) from many different Web information sources. These
sources were intended to be read by humans and their content is rendered accordingly
(Example in HTML). Different sources have different inputs (example-CGI Scripts, Java
applets) and presentation methods depending upon the Web site. Since there is no standard
way of defining and accessing merchant offerings, most recommender systems employ
“Wrappers” to transform the information from a specific Web site into a locally common
format.
Firefly uses a collaborative-based filtering technology to recommend products to
consumers. Systems using collaborative techniques use feedback and ratings from different
consumers to filter out irrelevant information. These systems do not attempt to analyze or
“understand” the features or the descriptions of the products. Rather they use consumers’
ranking to create a “likability” index for each product. This index is not global, but is
statistically computed for each user on the fly by using the profiles of other users with similar
interests. Products that are liked by similar minded people will have priority over products
that are disliked.
In PersonaLogic, Constraint satisfaction problem (CSP) techniques are used in the
product Brokering CBB stage to evaluate product alternatives. Given a set of constraints on
product features, PersonaLogic filters products that don’t meet the given “hard” constraints
and prioritizes the remaining products using “soft” constraints (Which will not be completely
satisfied).
User Interface Approaches

Traditional shopping experiences vary depending upon the needs of the consumer and nature
of the product offerings. For instance, sometimes a shopper is just browsing without a specific
intention to buy or sometimes the shopper intends to buy, but is unfamiliar with the features
of the specific product category (Example-I just need a camcorder whose tapes are compatible
with my VCR”). Other times, the shopper intends to buy and has a deep understanding of the
product category (Example- I need a camcorder with *16 optical zoom). Matching the
system’s user interface with the consumer’s manner of shopping will likely result in greater
customer satisfaction. The user interface that mot systems offer today is an “electronic
catalog” which resembles an enhanced price list with search capabilities. Unfortunately, these
searchable lists still make it hard for consumers to associate a product with their specific
needs and afford less engaging shopping experiences than their physical-store counterparts.
One approach to help overcome these problems is the on-line mimicking of familiar
physical-world shopping elements. For example, 3D VRML shopping malls have been
developed to provide a more familiar shopping context. Shopping environments have not yet
lived up to their expectations due to the awkwardness of navigating 3D world with 2D
interfaces and other technical limitations (Example-bandwidth). Sales agent that interact in
natural language with the consumer and features a long-term consistent “personality” that
remembers each customer, his or her shopping habits etc. Through immediate positive
feedback and personalized attention, sales agents can help build engaging, trusted
relationships with customer. However Artificial Intelligence technologies behind the
graphical representations of today’s are not yet up to meeting the criteria when money is
involved. A crucial issue in developing trust in agent systems is the ability of an agent to
exhibit somewhat predictable behavior and to provide an explanation for its actions. For
instance, a consumer can follow the decision process of a constraint satisfaction system like
PersonaLogic much easier than that of a collaborative filtering system like Firefly, which
bases its recommendations on “Invisible” clusters of like-minded people.
Infrastructure, Language, Protocols

Agent mediated electronic commerce systems, each roughly focused on only one or two
Customer Buying Behavior stages. Web pages are currently written in HTML (Hypertext
Markup language), which is data format language. In contrast XML (extensible markup
language) is a data content meta language allowing for the semantic tagging of data.
Microsoft and Netscape have each promised support for XML with style sheets in their
respective Web browsers to help replace HTML with XML as the language of the Web.
Agent-based language and protocols include KIF (Knowledge Interchange Format), KGML
(Knowledge Query Manipulation Language) an ontology sharing protocol. These were
designed so heterogeneous agents and systems could describe knowledge and communicate it
meaningful in order to interoperate. In electronic commerce, knowledge would include the
definitions and semantics of consumer profiles, merchants, goods, services, value added
services, and negotiation protocols. For Business-to-Business electronic commerce, the
dominant protocol is EDI (Electronic Data Interchange). EDI is a set of ANSI and UN
standard protocols for inter-business transaction. Standard EDI transactions are performed
through expensive, proprietary, Value-added networks (VAN). EDI has several
disadvantages: it is ambiguous, expensive to implement and maintain, and it is focused on
large scale business-to-business transactions leaving small and medium-sized enterprises
(SME) without business-to-business transaction protocol standard.
There are several competing technologies, which including the Object Management
Group’s CORBA/IIOP (Common Object Request broker Architecture / Internet Inter ORB
protocol), Microsoft’s COM and DCOM, and Sun’s Java and RMI (Remote Method
Invocation and well as several mobile agent platforms such as Object Space’s Voyager,
Mitsubishi’s Concordia, General Magic’s Odyssey, and IBM’s Aglets, several of which have
been proposed for OMG’s Mobile Agent Facility (MAF).
CONCLUSION
Today’s second-generation agent-mediated electronic commerce systems are already creating
new markets (Example: low-cost consumer-to-consumer and refurbished goods) and
beginning to reduce transaction costs in a variety of business tasks. Software Agent
Technologies mature to better manage ambiguous content, personalized preferences, complex
goals, changing environments, and disconnected parties. The greatest changes may occur,
however, once standards are adopted and evolved to unambiguously and universally define
goods and services, consumer and merchant profiles, value-added services, secure payments
mechanisms, inter-business electronic forms, etc. During this next generation of agent-
mediated electronic commerce, agents will enhance customer satisfaction and streamline
business-to-business transactions, reducing transaction costs at every stage of the supply
chain. The third generation of agent mediated electronic commerce will be most agile and
approach the market with perfect efficiency.
REFERENCES
Books and Journals
[1] Robert H. Guttman, Alexandros G. Moukas, and Pattie Maes, “Agent Mediated Electronic Commerce: A
Survey”, Software Agent Group, MIT Media Laboratory, http://ecommerce.media.mit.edu
[2] Bargain Finder: http://bf.cstar.ac.com/bf
[3] Beam, Carrie, Arie Segev, “Automated negotiation in Electronic Commerce”, in proceedings of NGITS, 1997
[4] Chen, Chu et al., “A Negotiation Based Multi-agent System for Supply Chain Management”, (1997).
[5] Chavez, A. and P. Maes, “Kasbah: An agent marketplace for buying and selling goods”, proceedings of
PAAM’96, London, UK (April 1996): 75–90.
[6] Firefly Network: http://www.firefly.com
[7] Guttman, H. Robert and Pattie Maes, “Agent-mediated Integrative Negotiation in for Retail Electronic
Commerce, workshop on Agent Mediated Electronic Trading (AMET), 1998.
[8] Guttman, R., A. Moukas, and P. Maes, “Agent-mediated Electronic Commerce: A Survey.” Knowledge
Engineering Review (June 1998).
[9] Kasbah: http://kasbah.media.mit.edu
[10] MIT Media Laboratory: http://www.ecommerce.media.mit.edu
[11] PersonalLogic: http://www.personallogic.com
[12] P. Maes, R. Guttman and A. Moukas, “Agent that buy and sell”, Communications of the ACM, Vol 42, No.3
(March 1999).
[13] P. Maes, R. Guttman and A. Moukas, “Agent mediated electronic commerce: An MIT media laboratory
perspective”, proceedings of the International Conference on Electronic Commerce ICEL Seoul, (April 6–9,
1998): 9–15.
[14] R. Kalakota and A. Whinston, “Frontiers of Electronic Commerce”, Addison Wesley (1999).
[15] Wong, Paciorek, Moore, “Java-based Mobile Agents”, Communications of the ACM, Volume 42, no.3
(March/ 1999).
[16] IBM’s Aglets URL:http://www.trl.ibm.co.jp/aglet
Recessionproof Marketing Practices
1
Regi Kumar G. and 2Sudharani Ravindran
1
Anna University Coimbatore, Coimbatore
2
PSGIM, Coimbatore
INTRODUCTION
Recession!.......the most discussed word in present day management articles, seminars and
meetings. It is also considered as the most helpful word to organizations to sack its
employees, to cut costs, to reduce salaries and to introduce new practices. The organizations
use recession as a shield to cover its hidden agenda of implementing new policies without
considering the aspirations of employees. Is that all? Of course it is not. It is an occasion for
the organizations to look inward and find out the areas where more attention should be
diverted to continue the growth path. The aim of this article is to highlight marketing
practices, which would help companies navigate this most recent crisis and create a stronger
company in the end.
These are certain statistics about recession
• Real housing price declines at average rate of 35%.
• Equity prices fall 55% over three and a half years.
• GDP falls by an average of 9% p.a.
• Unemployment increases by 7% over previous norms.
• Government debt "explodes", increasing at an average of 86%.
WHAT IS A RECESSION?
The U.S. Federal Government considers the country to be in recession when it experiences
two consecutive quarters of negative Gross Domestic Product growth. However, on a more
practical basis, a recession more generally refers to a slowdown in business activity and
consumer spending.
Before, understanding “Recession”, we need to understand the word market economy. A
market economy is an economic system based on the division of labor in which the prices of
goods and services are determined in a free price system set by demand. There are two stages
as well as two factors for market economy. Two stages are
1) Growing
2) Declining
Similarly, two factors of market economy are
1) Demand
2) Supply
The growing stage of market economy is explained as below.
Growing Market Economy Wheel

The declining stage of market economy is explained as below
Declining Market Economy Wheel

Recessionproof Marketing Practices 19
The two factors of market economy such as demand and supply are complex concepts to
understand. If you think in perspective of producer and customer these words carry different
meanings. Producer wants his demand to be always high. Similarly Consumer wants his
buying cost to be always low. Actually, Demand is the price at which consumer is ready to
buy and producer is ready to sell. The word Supply also differs in concept from the point of
view of producer and consumer. The producer is interested to supply only sufficient quantity
to maintain demand, whereas consumer wants the commodity in excess quantity to increase
his bargaining skills.
Recession is the economy shrinking for two consecutive quarters with a decrease in the
GDP. GDP is the total Value of all the reported goods and services produced by the people
operating in the country, i.e. MONEY VALUE OF {C + I + G + (X – M)}, where C =
Consumables, I = Gross Investments, G = Government Spending, X = Exports, M = Imports.
GDP is a good indicator of economy; other indicators are,
• Unemployment Rate
• Consumption Rate
• Actual Personal Income, etc
It is widely believed that recession is the result of
• Over production
• Low confidence level
The first reason for recession is the result of pseudo demand. There was a surplus in
production due to wrong projection of demand. This is a situation in which the supply
exceeds the nation’s ability to consume what has been produced. This leads to non-productive
utilization of resources of the company which ultimately lead to shortage of resources,
including money, to carry out routine operations. Low Confidence level of millions of
consumers and producers after they hear about job cuts, Demand coming down, Companies’
bankruptcy, etc creates a fear feeling among Consumers. So, they have less confidence to
spend money and buy goods. Consumers start saving money instead of spending money. This
will result in reduction of demand in the market. Similarly Producers do not stock materials;
they reduce their productions, gets into the cost reduction activities, worried about the
profitability, etc. This will reduce supply of products in to the market. This phenomenon
accelerates the declining stage of market economy.
Marketing is a major area where companies should focus to create a more recession-proof
company. This is the time we should go to the basics of marketing. In modern marketing
concepts the attention is on customer. The customer is considered as the king. The interest of
the company is to give more value and satisfaction to its customers and thereby increase
income giving equal importance to social considerations. Customer orientation and customer
satisfaction should always top the priority ladder of every company. The cash reserves of the
company as well as the customer are limited during the periods of recession. Hence
expenditure cuts are common in company’s budget and customer’s budget. However
elimination of marketing activities can result in danger to the basic requirement of survival.
Instead a much more sorted budget allocation and utilization for retaining the customers
should be given priority. Therefore, don’t’ stop marketing—but you must scrutinize your
budget and make sure you’re spending it wisely. There should be renewed focus on your
customers and products as it is always easier to keep a customer than to find a new one. This
is particularly true when money is tight.
It is advisable to renew your products for satisfying your target segment of customers.
Customers may still wish to purchase their products even during the time of reduced
expenditure, if offered at a lower cost. During times of recession, explore the scope of
possible modifications available to create a similar experience of popular products at a lower
cost. Also offering deals and special incentives to good customers can create an added loyalty
for both the tough times and the good.
THE NEED FOR VALUE ADDITION

The importance of value and satisfaction needs special reference during the time of recession.
The value of a product is defined as the ratio between cost to customers and benefits to
customers. If a product provides more value to the customers naturally it will impart more
satisfaction to customer. A shift in customer’s preferences can be expected due to his change
in spending attitude. A product must have a value to enjoy customer loyalty. In today's
competitive market there may be several companies offering the same product or service with
the same baseline value. This is the reason they adopt value-added benefits. Value addition is
adding additional value to product or service above the baseline. It's a way of differentiating
your company from others. If value addition is possible, then even during the period of
recession, the products are likely to be purchased by customers.
All consumers look at purchases from a cost/benefit analysis. Does the benefit equal or
outweigh the cost? Some of that is subjective. Different consumers have different definitions
of benefit. Because of this, it is important to make sure that the value added is considered to
be beneficial to the prospective customers. How do you figure this out? Follow these steps:
1. Identify the actual baseline value of product or service. This is the value clients see -
not necessarily the value believed to exist. It is advisable to conduct market research
to assess the general public's view of the baseline value.
2. Consider complementary products or services that could be added to the main product
as a bonus.
3. Consider non-complementary products or services that could be added.
4. Understand the preferences of target market by efficient customer relations
management.
POWER OF CUSTOMER RELATIONSHIP MANAGEMENT (CRM)

CRM helps in gaining a complete view of customer at any given time and has advanced
reporting functionality, which provides a crucial basis for sales planning, marketing
investment and tracking. CRM is about understanding the buying habits and preferences of
customers and prospects so:
• Build and strengthen customer relationships to keep them coming back

• Provide value-added services that are difficult for competitors to duplicate
• Improve your product development and service delivery processes
• Increase company-wide awareness of your customer needs.
By effectively integrating marketing, sales and customer service functions, a good CRM
system makes it easier for everyone inside company to work together and share critical
information.
RENEWED ADAPTATION TO CUSTOMER ENTHUSIASM

One thing all marketers should always keep in mind is the fact that their Strategy is based on
enthusiastic customers. Despite their multi-tasking titles such as service provider and sales-
manager, their most important title is Customer-Enthusiasm Expert. Customer enthusiasm can
be considered as the level of consumer commitment where consumers are not only satisfied
and loyal to the offer of a company but are surprised by that company when it anticipates or
creates consumer needs and desires. Consumers develop a strong emotional link with the
company and its offer, which becomes part of their lives; or customer loyalty.
The isolated view of traditional marketing techniques has to be replaced by a holistic
orientation toward the consumer. Consumers have to be enthused if sustained growth is to be
achieved. Companies who want to protect and strengthen their position in the coming years
must differentiate themselves and strive for higher levels of consumer commitment. Three
levels of consumer commitment are Consumer satisfaction, consumer loyalty and Consumer
Enthusiasm.
In today’s world of competition and recession it is essential for the company to adapt with
customer enthusiasm for achieving organizational objectives.
The following simple steps can be helpful in building customer enthusiasm.

THREE STAGE APPROACH TO CUSTOMER ENTHUSIASM

Need for Marketing Flexibility
Both marketers and academics are today realizing the need to adopt more relevant and newer
marketing approaches to serve the requirements of organizations seeking to survive in an
increasingly competitive and turbulent world. It is now being increasingly recognized that
marketing practices need to be based upon both responding appropriately to market
circumstance and on exploiting those internal competences which form the basis of an
organization's competitive advantage. This explains the need to develop a more flexible
approach to marketing strategy.
Marketing flexibility refers to the ability of the company to enter and leave market and to
position itself within existing and new markets. The ability to change and reposition itself in
market rapidly imparts competition advantage to the company. Such companies can
immediately develop strategies to retain customer loyalty in light of changes in customer
preferences, attitudes and fiscal considerations. Also it helps in exploiting the opportunities in
the market more quickly and cost effectively. Marketing flexibility imparts easiness in routine
functioning and provides more opportunity for marketing personnel to develop ideas and
strategies to retain customers.
Essential Areas of Flexibility
Use of Integrated Marketing Communication System

Integrated Marketing Communication is more than the coordination of a company's outgoing
message with different media and the consistency of the message throughout. It is an
aggressive marketing plan that captures and uses an extensive amount of customer
information in setting and tracking marketing strategy. Integrated Marketing Communications
is a simple concept. It is vital during the recession period as lack of uniformness in
communication of messages can lead to doubts in the minds of the customer regarding the
prospects of the company. Promotion is one of the Ps in the marketing mix. A promotion has
its own mix of communication tools. This is enhanced when integration goes beyond just the
basic communications tools. Integration is required both internally and externally. Internal
Integration is required to keep all staff informed and motivated about any new developments
from new advertisements, to new corporate identities, new service standards, new strategic
partners and so on. External Integration, on the other hand, requires external partners such as
advertising and PR agencies to work closely together to deliver a single seamless solution - a
cohesive message - an integrated message
INTEGRATED MARKETING COMMUNICATION LOOP

Need to Shift from 4 P's to 4 C's
It is the time to think about four C’s of marketing rather than the classic four P’s.
The Need to Give Emphasis to 4Cs is Widely been Realized and Accepted by the Marketing Experts for Strengthening
the Customer Base of the Company and to Achieve Organizational Objectives.
Recession is an eye-opener. Hence open your eyes. There in no advantage in worrying
about recession but think positively to develop strategies to enhance customer attention,
customer interest, trial and loyalty.
REFERENCES
Books and Journals
[1] Kahle K.E. and Kahle L.R., Creating Images and Psychology of Marketing.
[2] Kotler P. (2002). Marketing Management, Prentice Hall Publication.
[3] Paxon P. Media Literacy, unit 2, page 24, Walch Publishing.
[4] www.wekipedia.com free encyclopedia- Recession.
[5] Mill ward Brown’s “Marketing during recession” Survival Tactics, Article.
[6] John Quelch, “Marketing your way through a recession”, March 2008, Article.
[7] D.J. Francis “Marketing during a recession E-Book”.
A Study on Customer Preference and
Satisfaction towards Gold Jewellery
M. Lakshmi Priya and S. Suganya
Department of Management Studies
Coimbatore Institute of Management and Technology, Coimbatore
Abstract—"Gold is where you find it," so the saying goes, and gold was first
discovered in its natural state, in streams all over the world. No doubt it was the first
metal known to early hominids. With the price of one sovereign gold reaching
Rs. 10,500 and expected to rise to Rs. 16,000 in next three months, gold has become
the most wanted metal by consumers and the stockholders. In spite of the rising
prices, the demand for gold goes up in the graph. Thus, with a need to analyze the
current trend, this paper “A study on customer preference and customer satisfaction
towards Gold Jewellery” analyses the customer’s preference and satisfaction towards
Gold Jewellery.
INTRODUCTION
Indian jewellery sector should focus on developing brands that stand for quality and
transparency. As the customer age is decreasing over the years, jewelers need to address
changing needs of the customers. In the past 50 years jewellery trade has undergone a
transformation. The brands are gaining more popularity and customers are expecting more
and more transparency apart from the choice to choose from variety of designs. To meet the
needs of the customers according to changing trends, it is important to focus on all the aspects
such as quality, pricing, branding strategy and more importantly knowing customers
preferences. Those who can address all these issues will stay ahead and grow even after the
retail boom and the possible phase of consolidation of the sector.
Chronicle of gold is an embodiment of augmented vividness and sovereignty. It is
believed to be one of the most valued metals since pre-historical times. It had remained a
symbol of wealth and a guarantee of power since its use first emerged.
Archaeologists in India have found pieces of Gold jewellery in the Indus Culture as well
as Buddhist Afghanistan that date from near the time of the birth of Christ indicating its use in
jewellery in the world since pre-historic times. India’s gold and jewellery use reached its
summit during the Mughal Empire’s reign between the 1500s to the mid 1700s. This not only
signified the place of gold in the Indian culture but also dignified the gold embedded
jewellery as an integral part of the typical Indian appearance since centuries.
Most of the gold in India is imported. We have an insatiable appetite for it. Almost all of
it is in private hands, widely distributed even into the villages, as compared to many other
countries where it is principally held by the Central banks as an element of their financial
role. This is because it remains, in the form of Jewellery the only form of wealth available to
A Study on Customer Preference and Satisfaction towards Gold Jewellery 27
the women of India. Approximately, our country consumes 1,000 tones of gold annually; this
averages to 1 gram of gold per Indian. This is a fantastic situation for a so-called developing
economy. In a recent presentation by DTC they portrayed 50% of Indian’s above the marginal
line in their demographic status, it implies 50% of Indians can be tapped and they have
purchasing capacity to buy lifestyle products. Following are some more salient features of our
jewellery trade:
1. High quality skills & manufacturing capacity
2. Biggest consumer of Jewellery
3. One of the biggest marketing networks worldwide
4. Diamond / Emerald cutting is synonym to us
5. Undisputed world leader in handcrafted jewellery
6. One fifth of total Indian export basket
7. Industry growing at the rate of 35% since last 10–12 years
8. Processes 95% of small diamonds for global consumption
9. New brands launched almost regularly
10. Celebrity endorsement – a regular feature
11. Families run businesses are getting rapidly organized to meet with emerging
challenges
STATEMENT OF THE PROBLEM

The customers’ choice and awareness have been increasing tremendously during this decade
mainly due to the opening up of the economy, the advent of information technology and the
media revolution. As market becomes increasingly competitive, customers have an option to
choose what they want. Continuous development to gain the competitive edge, increased
market share and higher profits can be attained by the banks only if they can find new ways to
retain the loyalty of existing customers. “Customer focus” is the ability to meet or exceed the
customers’ perception. There is a phenomenal change and a paradigm shift towards customer
focus for the past five decades.
In this present situation jewellery owners have to evolve new approaches, new and
innovative products to keep pace with growing expectations of customers with the opening up
of the economy. “Customer service” has acquired new meaning and different dimensions.
Despite so many measures initiated at various levels to improve the standard of customer
service, the level of satisfaction perceived by various segments of customers has been very
low. Hence it is intended to analyze the customers’ preference and customers’ satisfaction
towards Gold jewellery. This will stand as a base to analyze customers’ preference and to
draw up appropriate strategies not only to acquire new customers but also to satisfy, create
loyalty and retain the existing customers.
OBJECTIVES OF THE STUDY

The objectives of the study are as follows
1. To study the customers’ preference towards purchase of gold jewels
2. To study the customers’ satisfaction towards the purchase of gold jewellery.
3. To understand customer’s opinion and perception towards attitudinal environment
prevailing in the jewellery sector and its services.
4. To offer suitable suggestions to enhance the customer relationship practices.
RESEARCH METHODOLOGY
Area of study and Sampling Technique
The study is confined to Coimbatore city. The data has been collected using Random
Sampling Method, wherein the researcher collected the questionnaire from the purchasers of
gold jewellery from the jewel shops located in Coimbatore.
Sample Size
Two hundred and fifty customers were selected at random in Coimbatore city.
Sources and Collection of Data

For the purpose of the study, primary data were collected through questionnaire from the
respondents directly. The questionnaire was designed in such a way that, it analyses the
customer’s preferences and satisfaction towards gold jewellery. The first part of the
questionnaire sought the general information about the respondents and the remaining part
was directed towards finding out the views of the respondents on different areas of the
objectives in the study.
Tools and Techniques for Analysis

The researcher applied the following statistical tools to analyse and interpret the data
collected from the respondents.
• Simple Percentage analysis
• T-test
• ANOVA
• Chi-square analysis
• Factor Analysis
ANALYSIS AND INTERPRETATION

Percentage Analysis
Percentage analysis reveals the background details of the respondents. According to the study,
majority of the respondents are in the age group of 20-30 years, female, undergraduates,
business people, married, earn income between Rs.5000 to Rs.10000 per month, purchase
jewels only on some occasions, purchase jewels for their spouse or children, prefer gold
jewels and know the current market rate of the gold.
Chi-Square Analysis
Chi-square test is used to test if the two variables are statistically associated with each other
significantly. It is used to test the significance of influence of one factor over the other factor.
Hypothesis: ‘There is no significant difference between the Frequency of purchase and
Jewels preferred by the respondents”
TABLE 1: FREQUENCY OF PURCHASE AND JEWELS
Value df Asymp. Sig. (2-sided)
Pearson Chi-Square 229.200 24 .000
Source: Primary Data
From the table it is clear that with the significant value of 0.000 at 5% level of
significance, there is significant relationship between the Frequency of purchase and Jewels
preferred by the respondents. Hence the hypothesis is rejected.
Hypothesis: ‘There is no significant difference between the age group of the respondents
and the jewels preferred by the respondents”
TABLE 2: AGE GROUP AND THE JEWELS PREFERRED
significance, there is significant relationship between the age group of the respondents and
Jewels preferred by the respondents. Hence the hypothesis is rejected.
Hypothesis: ‘There is no significant difference between the age group of the respondents
and the need for purchasing jewels by the respondents”
TABLE 3: AGE GROUP AND THE NEED FOR PURCHASING JEWELS
significance, there is significant relationship between the age group of the respondents and the
need for purchasing jewels by the respondents. Hence the hypothesis is rejected.
Hypothesis: ‘There is no significant difference between the Source of awareness and the
need for purchasing by the respondents”
TABLE 4: AWARENESS AND THE NEED FOR PURCHASING

significance, there is significant relationship between the Source of awareness and the need
for purchasing by the respondents. Hence the hypothesis is rejected.
ANALYSIS OF VARIANCE (ANOVA)

ANOVA is an important technique in the context of all those situations where we want to
examine the significant mean differences between more than two groups. The result of the
ANOVA will show whether or not the means of various groups are significantly different
from one another as indicated by F statistic. ANOVA is used to examine the relationship
between the level of preference with the demographic variables of the respondents like age of
the respondents, educational qualification, occupational status, monthly income and family
size of the respondents.
Ho: “There is no significant difference between the age group of the respondents and
their level of preference towards the jewels purchased”
TABLE 5: ANOVA TABLE
Sum of Squares df Mean Square F Sig.
Between Groups 1332.173 4 333.043 35.423 .000
Within Groups 2303.491 245 9.402
Total 3635.664 249
The ANOVA result shows that at 5% level of significance, with the ‘Significant value
of.000’ there is significant difference between the age of the respondents and their level of
preference towards the jewels purchased. Hence the hypothesis is rejected.
Ho: “There is no significant difference between the educational qualification of the
respondents and their level of preference towards the purchase of Jewellery”
Between Groups 572.536 4 143.134 11.448 .000
Within Groups 3063.128 245 12.503
Total 3635.664 249
of.000’ there is significant difference between the educational qualification of the respondents
and their level of preference towards the purchase of Jewellery. Hence the hypothesis is
rejected.
Ho: “There is no significant difference between the family size of the respondents and
their level of preference towards the purchase of Jewellery”
Between Groups 54.549 4 13.637 .933 .445
Within Groups 3581.115 245 14.617
Total 3635.664 249
of.445’ there is no significant difference between the family size of the respondents and their
level of preference towards the purchase of Jewellery. Hence the hypothesis is accepted.
T-TEST
T-test is used for judging whether there is any significant difference between the means of
two samples. The t-test will indicate if the perceived differences between the two groups are
significantly different.
Relationship between Level of Preference and Gender of the Respondents

The following table depicts the relationship between the level of preference and gender of the
respondents with their mean vale and standard deviation.
TABLE 8: GROUP STATISTICS
Gender N Mean Std. Deviation

Male 61 24.7705 3.72108
Female 189 24.1640 3.85089
The mean values of the overall groups vary between 24 and 25. The mean values of the
male and female respondents are 24.16 and 24.77 which shows that male respondents have high
level of preference towards the purchase Jewellery is high when compared to other group.
Ho: “There is no significant difference between the male and female respondents
regarding level of preference towards the purchase of Jewellery”
TABLE 9: T-TEST FOR EQUALITY OF MEANS

t df Sig. (2-tailed)
1.078 248 .282
The ‘T’ test results states that at 5% level of significance, there is no significant
difference between the male and female respondents regarding their level of preference
towards the purchase of Jewellery. Hence the hypothesis is accepted.
Relationship between Level of Preference and Marital Status of the Respondents

The following table depicts the relationship between the level of preference and the marital
status of the respondents with their mean vale and standard deviation.
TABLE 10: GROUP STATISTICS
Marital status N Mean Std. Deviation
Single 40 25.7000 3.95617
Married 210 24.0476 3.74646
The mean values of the overall groups vary between 24 and 26. The mean values of the
single and married respondents are 25.70 and 24.05 which shows that unmarried respondents have
high level of preference towards the purchase of Jewellery is high when compared to other
group.
‘T’test has been applied to find out if there is any significant difference between the
married and unmarried respondents regarding level of preference towards purchase of
Jewellery.
Ho: “There is no significant difference between the married and unmarried respondents
regarding level of preference towards purchase of Jewellery”.
TABLE 11: T-TEST FOR EQUALITY OF MEANS
t df Sig. (2-tailed)
2.534 248 .012
The ‘T’ test results states that at 5% level of significance, there is significant difference
between the married and unmarried respondents regarding their level of preference towards
purchase of Jewellery. Hence the hypothesis is rejected.
FACTOR ANALYSIS
Factor Analysis technique has been applied to find the underlying dimensions (factors) that
exists in the 10 variables relating to the level of satisfaction of different factors regarding the
purchase of gold Jewellery.
Using the Principle Component Analysis three factors have been extracted based on the
variance (Eigen value greater than 1). Table 4.46 shows the percentage of variance,
cumulative percentage and the total variance of the variable identified for the study.
TABLE 12: TOTAL VARIANCE EXPLAINED
Initial Eigen Extraction Sums of Squared Rotation Sums of Squared
values Loadings Loadings
Component Total % of Cumulative Total % of Cumulative Total % of Cumulative
Variance % Variance % Variance %
1 3.482 34.820 34.820 3.482 34.820 34.820 2.587 25.875 25.875
2 1.677 16.774 51.593 1.677 16.774 51.593 2.197 21.973 47.847
3 1.417 14.175 65.768 1.417 14.175 65.768 1.792 17.921 65.768
4 .941 9.414 75.182
5 .728 7.277 82.459
6 .687 6.866 89.325
7 .440 4.395 93.720
8 .283 2.826 96.547
9 .206 2.060 98.606
10 .139 1.394 100.000
Source: Primary Data Extraction Method: Principal Component Analysis
The three factors extracted together account for 65.77% of the total variance (information
contained in the original ten variables). This is pretty good, because we are able to economize
on the number of variables (from 10 we have reduced them to
3 underlying factors), while we lost only about 35% of the information content
(65% is retained by the 3 factors extracted out of the 10 original variables).
Since the idea of factor analysis is to identify the factors that meaningfully summarize the
sets of closely related variables, the rotation phase of the factor analysis attempts to transfer
initial matrix into one that is easier to interpret. Varimax rotation method is used to extract
meaningful factors. This is given in Table 4.47.
TABLE 13: ROTATED COMPONENT MATRIX
Component
Factors 1 2 3
Price .649 -.338 -.228
Branded quality -.247 -.214 .709
BIS / Hallmark seal .718 .09266 .07984
Prompt settlements / Delivery -.06737 .826 .114
Current trends -.303 .308 .651
Different varieties / models -.423 -.08297 .702
Style .01436 .849 -.152
No overestimation / underestimation of weights .870 -.01892 -.145
Exchange of jewels at current market rate -.341 .589 .468
Promotional activities .665 -.419 -.197
Extraction Method: Principal Component Analysis. Rotation Method: Varimax with

Kaiser Normalization a Rotation converged in 5 iterations.
We notice that variables price, BIS/ Hallmark, No overestimation/ underestimation of
weights and promotional activities have loadings of 0.649, 0.718, 0.870 and 0.655 on factor 1,
this suggests that factor 1 is a combination of these four variables. Incase of the factor 2
columns, the variables Prompt settlements / Delivery, Style and Exchange of jewels at current
market rate have high loadings of 0.826, 0.849 and 0.589 respectively. This indicates that
factor 2 is the combination of these three variables. Incase of factor 3 columns, the variables
Branded quality, Current trends and Different varieties / models have high loadings of 0.709,
0.651 and 0.702 respectively. This indicates that factor 3 is the combination of these three
variables.
Thus 10 variables, which were selected for the study, using principle component analysis,
have been reduced to 3-factor model and each factor has been associated with the
corresponding factors based on the values obtained from the rotated component matrix table.
SUGGESTIONS AND RECOMMENDATIONS OF THE STUDY

The following suggestions are offered to remove the customer dissatisfaction as enumerated
from the research findings.
1. Taking advantage of computerization and technological up gradation, jewellery shops
need to develop customer information system so as to know the customer better and
understand the customers’ needs accurately. Database on various aspects of customer
profile, the models preferred by the respondents, frequency of transaction, the period
of their association with the shop and the need for purchasing jewellery should be
developed to strengthen customer-relationship in jewellery shops.
2. Still more awareness can be created among the customers to select the models and to
know about the recent trends and models through Internet so as to update the
customers with the new arrivals. This will motivate the customers and encourage the
customers to purchase new arrivals, which will ultimately increase the standard of
living of the customers.
3. The attitude and the expectations of the customers can be studied and the jewellery
shops can react accordingly. This approach would enhance the level of satisfaction
and create loyalty, which would obviously respond, favourable towards customer
relationship.
4. The jewellery shop owners should try to get information about the long time
customers and greet them on special occasions by sending birthday and anniversary
cards.
5. The trends and preferences of the customers changes from place to place and even
from time to time, currently the young girls and women are attracted towards light
weight and platinum jewels therefore the jewellery shop can display various varieties
of platinum and light weight jewels so as to attract them.
6. Window display is also an attractive method for attracting the minds of the people,
especially the housewives.
CONCLUSION
The service sector in India is fast growing and their contribution to economic development is
really impressive due to advancement in Information Technology. The study will be useful to
the jewellery owners to understand the perception and expectation of the customers in relation
to the service rendered by them. Without customers the service firm has no reason to exist.
Every service business needs to proactively define and measure customer satisfaction.
Jewellery shop owners can further identify the extent to which they are able to maintain
customer relationship and the measures they can take to improve their relationship. The study
would also be informative to the customers.
REFERENCES
Books and Journals
[1] Adrian Payne, Martin Christopher, Moira Clark, Helen Peek, “Relationship Marketing for Competitive
Advantage-Winning and Keeping Customer”, Buttenworth HeienMann, pp. 1–129, 1998.
[2] Alfred Tack, “Profitable Customer Care”, Butterworth and Co Ltd, London, 1989.
[3] Balaji B., “Services Marketing and Management”, S.Chand & Co. Ltd, New Delhi, 2002.
[4] Berry L.L., Shostack G.L. and Upah G.D. (Eds), “Emerging Perspectives on Service Marketing”, American
Marketing Association, Chicago, pp. 25–28, 1983.
[5] Christopher Lovelock and Jochen WIrtz “Services Marketing, People Technology, Strategy”, Fifth edition,
Pearson Education, 2004.
[6] Ford Phillip, “Customer Services Marketing and The Competitive Environment”, Pitman Publishing, London,
1989.
[7] George S. Day & Katrina J. Hubbard “Customer Relationships Go Digital”, February, 2002.
[8] Goldmann. M. Herriz, “How to Win Customer”, Ruper and Company Publication, New Delhi, 1993.
[9] Gregory H. Herriz, “Ten Keys to Dynamic Customer Relations” Horizon Publishers, Urah, 1979.
[10] Lynda King Taylor, “Sustaining Customer Service”, Century Business, London, 1993.
[11] Martin Skea “Link CRM system to business processes”, American Banker, The Financial Services Daily, July
1, 2005.
[12] Parasuraman A., Valarie A. Zeithamal & Leonard L. Berry “A conceptual model of service quality and its
implications for future research”, Journal of Marketing, Volume 49, pp 41–50, 1985.
[13] Ronald L. Hess, Jr. Shankar Ganesan & Noreen. M. Kpein “Service failure recovery: The impact of
relationship factors on customer satisfaction”, Journal of the Academy of Marketing Science, Volume 31, pp
127–145, 2003.
[14] Shirley Taylor “Waiting for services: The Relationship between delays and evaluation of service”, Journal of
Marketing, Volume 58, April 1994, pp 56–69.
Websites
[15] www. fashion-era.com
[16] www.regione.sardegna.it
[17] www.blessingsonthenet.com
[18] www.onlygold.com
[19] www.nma.org
[20] www.gold-eagle.com
[21] http://www.goldwrap.com
[22] http://jewellery.indianetzone.com
Maximization of Expected Returns in Personal
Finance–Linear Programming Approach
to Construction of Investment Portfolio
S. Jaya Bharathi
Guruvayurappan Institute of Management, Coimbatore
Abstract—Money management is a crucial part of every individual. In the rapidly

changing financial trends, there is a need for individuals to plan for revenue and
expenses. This planning will help to cope up with the fluctuations in commodity
prices, inflation, interest rates and cost of living. Personal finance has gained
significance in this context. Creating and maintaining a balanced investment
portfolio needs delirious analysis of various factors affecting returns expected from
the investments. The amount of risk one can bear is a significant factor in deciding
an investment portfolio. Generally a combination of low risk-low return and high
risk-high return securities is worked out. There are many proven methods of
investment portfolio construction in finance literature. This article proposes linear
programming, a popular operations research technique, as a tool to design a personal
portfolio.
INTRODUCTION
Personal investments are needed to protect individuals from future uncertainties and also
helps for capital appreciation. There is a need for setting aside a portion of our income as
savings or investments to safeguard against financial fluctuations. Every individual differs in
the sources of income like monthly salary, business, and inherited property etc. Fixed income
is available for certain people and their investment pattern and objectives are different from
those who do not have regular income. The investment objectives can be high returns through
rapid growth of capital, dividends at periodical intervals, attainment of certain amount of
money after a fixed period, safe and slow growth of principal and the like. There are
innumerous investment options available in today’s financial markets with varied levels of
risk and return. Unlike earlier days of bank deposits, post office savings, purchase of gold or
real estate, there are endless opportunities in the current scenario like theme based mutual
funds, shares, commodities and many such financial instruments. The choice of investments
should be made after due diligence since these options have their own risk levels and returns.
Personal investment portfolio construction is a crucial area in financial planning as the
combination of securities in the portfolio decides the return magnitude and safety of principal.
There are many scientific approaches to the construction of investment portfolio in finance
literature. This article proposes a simple method of investment portfolio construction for
individuals based on linear programming approach. It highlights the different components of
the linear programming model and helps to design a portfolio in a easy and understandable
manner.
Maximization of Expected Returns in Personal Finance 37
INVESTMENT PORTFOLIO IN PERSONAL FINANCE

Personal finance is a growing field of managing money by individuals. It comprises of
planning and executing current and future expenses, savings and investments. The major
factors that are considered in personal financial planning are financial needs of self and
family; revenue; risk protection; assets and liabilities; and the like. Basically, investment
involves putting money in one or more assets which are not necessarily marketable in short
run to enjoy a series of returns. Expected features are safety, liquidity, collateral value,
income stability, capital growth, tax benefits, purchasing power stability, transferability etc.
Real assets are land, building, machines etc. and financial assets are stocks or bonds,
Insurance, Post office small savings schemes, bank savings, RD, time deposits, Certificates,
PPF etc. An investment portfolio is the combination of different securities in which an
individual invests money. It is designed based on the level of returns expected and the risk
that can be tolerated by the individual.
The investment portfolio for an individual should be aligned to his/her financial
objectives and needs. The risk levels that can be borne by individuals vary according to their
income, financial needs, sacrifice, futurity, gains expected and risk appetite. Investment
objectives become the basic criterion for designing an optimum investment portfolio. The
common investment objectives are safety of capital, regular income, capital growth, tax
savings, liquidity, speculation, hedging and arbitrage. Time value of money is also important
in investments, as it decides the level of returns. The investment options are available in
categories of low risk, low return and high risk, high return. The common low risk, low return
investment options are treasury bills, government securities, bank and post office deposits,
debentures and PSU bonds. High risk, high return options are shares, debentures of high risk
companies, deposits with non banking financial companies and mutual funds. Nowadays,
there are also investment avenues to design portfolio with moderate risk securities and
financial services.
MAXIMIZATION OF EXPECTED RETURNS

Investment means sacrifice of some money value at present with the expectations to gain in
the future. Expectations are the compensation for waiting, loss in purchasing power and risk
premium. Risk plays a major role in the amount of returns that can be realized from the
various investment options. It is systematic or non-diversifiable through the common sources
like inflation, interest rate, political, market, government policies, natural calamities, scams,
monsoon, industrial growth, international events, war etc. The other type of risk is non-
systematic or diversifiable through sources like business, financial, industry specific policies
and disputes. Returns are the actual payback an investor realizes from investment. The returns
can be in the form of interest, dividend, capital gains due to disinvestment and the like. The
level of returns depends on the type of investment, risk level, market trends, financial
performance, expected returns, premise like reward for writing, risk and loss of purchasing
power.
The other significant term in personal investment portfolio is the yield. It is the effective
returns per annum obtained during holding period, the period till which an investment is held
in a particular investment avenue. The returns involve calculation of present value by taking
the discounted value of future value of an investment. Discount rate is taken as the
opportunity cost of not saving the money. Portfolio analysis includes determining future risk
and return in holding various blends of individual portfolios. Expected return is the weighted
average of expected return of individual securities. Contribution to portfolio’s expected return
depends on its expected returns and its proportionate share of the initial portfolio’s market
value. For ascertaining the total risk, estimates of variance of each asset and covariance of
correlation coefficient to each asset with each of the other assets is needed.
LINEAR PROGRAMMING MODEL

Linear Programming is one of the most popular Operations Research model used in various
industry applications. It is basically an allocation model in which the limited resources
available are to be distributed among competing activities in the best possible or optimal
manner. It can be used to select the level of certain activities that compete for scarce
resources. Common industrial applications are product mix problems, manpower or machine
hour allocation to different activities and production scheduling. It is a mathematical model
that helps in managerial decision making. The objective of the model can be maximization of
profits or minimization of costs. A set of linear constraints represent the restriction on various
resources. The decision variables in the model will not take negative values and hence a non
negativity constraint is included. The general format of a Linear Programming model is as
follows.
Objective Function
Maximize or Minimize Z = C1X1 + C2X2 + C3X3 + …… + CnXn
Z – function to be maximized or minimized
Ci – profit or cost coefficient of ith variable
Xi – decision variable for ith variable
n – number of decision variables
Constraints for Maximization
A11X1 + A12X2 +……+A1nXn ≤ B1
A21X1 + A22X2 +……+A2nXn ≤ B2
Am1X1 + Am2X2 +……+AmnXn ≤ Bm
Constraints for Minimization

A11X1 + A12X2 +……+A1nXn ≥B1
A21X1 + A22X2 +……+A2nXn ≥ B2
Am1X1 + Am2X2 +……+AmnXn ≥ Bm
Note
Xi ≥ 0 for all values of I from 1 to n
A ij – coefficient of jth constraint and ith variable
Bi – Resource limitation for ith constraint
m – Number of constraints
There can be equality constraints or mixed constraints also in Linear Programming
problems. The methods for finding solution are Graphical method and Simplex procedure.
INVESTMENT PORTFOLIO CONSTRUCTION THROUGH LINEAR PROGRAMMING

Portfolio selection can depend on various models like utility theory, indifference curves,
Markowitz model, Sharpe single index model, CAPM, arbitrage pricing theory, factor
models. Portfolio construction involves identifying specific assets in which to invest and
determining how much to invest in each. The concepts involved are nonsatiation, risk
aversion, utility, certainty equivalents, risk premium, indifference curves, expected returns,
efficient set theorem, market model, diversification, risk free lending and borrowing, dividend
discount models. These models involve detailed calculations and assumptions. The Linear
Programming model is simple as compared to these models and can be applied to ascertain
the amount of investments to be made in various investment options on an annual basis. The
objective of the model is to maximize the expected return on such personal investments.
A representative linear programming model for investment portfolio construction is given
below.
Objective Function
Maximize Z = R1 X1 + R2 X2 + R3 X3 + ……+ RnXn
Subject to
X1 + X2 +X3+…...+Xn ≤ DI
X1, X2, X3, …… Xn ≥ 0
Note
1. R1…Rn – Approximate Returns from various investment options
2. X1…Xn – Amounts to be allocated for various investment options
3. DI – Disposable Income
Assumptions
1. More Constraints can be added that vary from individual to individual
2. There can be mixed constraints
3. Disposable Income is known
4. Approximate Rates of Return are known

5. Individual can decide the investment options
The model represents a simple way of deciding on an optimum combination of securities
based on personal financial objectives, amount available for investment, risk appetite and
required growth. Nevertheless, it includes lot of individual variables and assumptions. The
calculations are easy to make and involves the determination of value of discretionary
income. Discretionary income is the disposable income minus the cost of fixed life expenses
like rent, food, payments etc. Disposable income is the total amount of income an individual
makes after direct taxes. The discretionary income can be saved or spent on goods and
services and is also the amount available for savings and investments. It can be calculated
from the annual revenue after deducting the essential expenses and payments. The common
essential expenses and payments are professional tax, income tax, house tax, water tax,
domestic expenses, loan repayments, credit card payments, rent, entertainment, purchase of
goods, medical expenses, insurance premiums, education of children, gold, external
payments, annual fees, subscriptions and miscellaneous expenses. Thus the model can be used
for arriving at an approximate combination of securities in personal portfolio. It can also be
used as a precursor before going in for detailed portfolio construction techniques.
CONCLUSION
Money management is a crucial function in every individual’s life since it decides the
financial well being and life style. Personal finance is gaining more significance in the current
turbulent environment. Portfolio construction should be diligently carried out and lot of
planning has to go in before deciding on investments. Linear programming is a resource
allocation tool especially in case of availability of many restrictions. Investment portfolio
decisions have similar criteria like resource limitations, external constraints and a goal of
return maximization. Hence this tool can be applied in Investment Portfolio construction for
individuals to assign money for different possible investments under the given situation of
restrictions. It is an uncomplicated tool that is easy to understand and calculations are simple
to carry out. It can also be used as a prelude to extensive and detailed calculations and
development of other portfolio construction models.
REFERENCES
Books and Journals
[1] Alexander Gordon, J. et al. Fundamentals of Investments. New Jersey: Prentice Hall International Inc. 2001.
[2] Bhalla, V.K. Investment Management – Security Analysis & Portfolio Management. New Delhi: S.Chand &
Company Ltd. 1982.
[3] Bodie, Zvi et al. Investments. Singapore: McGraw Hill Book Company, 1999.
[4] Khatri, Dhanesh Kumar, Investment Management & Security Analysis. New Delhi: Macmillan India Ltd.
2006.
[5] Venkatakrishnan, Dharani. S., Operations Research Principles & Problems. Coimbatore: Keerthi Publishing
House Pvt. Ltd. 2000.
Websites
[6] http://www.mathworks.com/access/helpdesk/help/toolbox/finance/...
[7] http://www.thefundsupermarket.co.uk/Investment_Portfolio_Construction.htm
[8] http://www.patentstorm.us/patents/7050998/description.html
[9] http://www.ehow.com/how_14747_create-investment-portfolio.html
[10] http://www.investopedia.com/articles/pf/05/060805.asp
Perception and Attitude of Entrepreneurs
in Coimbatore District of Tamil Nadu
1
K. Malar Mathi and 2K. Sumathi
1
Bharathiar School of Management and Entrepreneur Development
Bharathiar University, Coimbatore, Tamil Nadu
Captain, Indian Army, 56 APO
Abstract—With the increasing unemployment, growing students’ un-rest in

academic institutions and for harnessing the vigor of the educated youth the role of
entrepreneurship is growing year after year in India and world over. The state of
Tamil Nadu over the period of time has a tremendous growth in the field of
entrepreneurship. Coimbatore city has realized a sizeable growth in various types of
industries such as Automation, Lathe, Automobile and Construction. Industries are
ISO 9000 Certified and follow stringent QMS Guidelines to deliver the services to
the customers. The manufacturing facilities are practicing Japanese standards in
their work processes to attain defect-free products. It is a centralized hub for weaving
and electronics industry. This paper examines at the various source of motivation,
sources of funds and the attitudes towards the support agencies. A total of 50
respondents were selected randomly for the study. A structured questionnaire was
prepared and with the help of structured interview and in depth discussion with the
entrepreneur, the information was collected.
INTRODUCTION
Small enterprises have made considerable contribution in the socio-economic development of
almost all the countries including India, although in our country the increasing pressure of
population and unemployment has made this contribution a little insignificant. In India ever
since the days of Gandhiji, the small industry movement has been largely regarded as a
vehicle for the uplifting the weaker sections of the population whether it is handloom
weavers, handicraft workers, rural women spinning at home, the rural artisans or the urban
craftsmen. It is now well recognized that small industry forms an important sector of the
national economy. Presently, it accounts for nearly 40 percent of the gross turnover in the
manufacturing sector and 80% of employment in the industrial sector. More than 15 million
persons are employed in small scale sector. The viability of small scale sector can be judged
by the fact that net value added per one rupee of fixed investment with respect to the small
scale is 0.96 as against 0.41 in the large scale sector, while the production per unit of
investment in the small scale is estimated to be 5.60 against 1.80 in the large scale sector. The
relevance of small scale sector to India’s economic development has been increasing with the
passage of time.
Perception and Attitude of Entrepreneurs in Coimbatore District of Tamil Nadu 43
With the increasing unemployment, growing students’ un-rest in academic institutions

and for harnessing the vigor of the educated youth the role of entrepreneurship is growing
year after year in India and world over. Unemployment is not only increasing among the
simple arts graduates but this problem has also gripped the graduates from professional,
management and technical discipline. More recently when the problem of unemployment has
began to take an acute form; the ability of small industry to provide jobs at a comparatively
lower cost has made it an attractive pattern of economic development for the planners and the
administrators. In fact for a developing country like India, the SSI sector is most suited
because it provides high employment opportunities at lower capital investment, harnesses
locally available resources and entrepreneurship; provides balanced economic and regional
development, helps in reducing unrest and social tension amongst youth by providing gainful
employment to them and is more innovative in nature. Entrepreneurship is going to be one of
the trends in the 21st century as described in 1982 in the book Megatrends by John Naisbitt
and Patricia Aburdene. There is a shift from Industrial society to information society, forced
technology to high tech/high touch, national economy to world economy, short term to long
term, and centralization to decentralization and Institutional help to self help.
The state of Tamil Nadu over the period of time has a tremendous growth in the field of
entrepreneurship. Coimbatore city and its surrounding areas, in particular, have shown to the
world as to how industrial development could be built up and sustained through small
entrepreneurship, even in the absence of large investments by big public and private sector
industries. The City has realized a sizeable growth in various types of industries such as
automation, lathe, automobile and construction. Industries are ISO 9000 Certified and follow
stringent QMS Guidelines to deliver the services to the customers. The manufacturing
facilities are practicing Japanese standards in their work processes to attain defect-free
products. It is a centralized hub for weaving and electronics industry. In the wake of the
recent changes in the economic policies of a higher magnitude, and the rising competition will
see the survival of the fittest. Survival in such a competitive environment underscores not
only the importance of entrepreneurship, but also of the need for enhancing their professional
skills by making them more adept in the use of modern management tools and techniques.
Objectives of the Study

The present study is addressed to the above and various other aspects of entrepreneurship. Its
scope is however, restricted to that of Coimbatore city alone. More specifically, the study is
concerned with following objectives.
• To identify the sources of motivation for entrepreneurship.
• To study the business skills and attributes associated with the entrepreneurs.
• To identify the sources of funds.
• To analyse the attitude of entrepreneurs towards the funding agencies.
The study is based on the primary data collected from the small scale entrepreneurs located in
Coimbatore district of Tamil Nadu. The sample consisted of 50 entrepreneurs selected
randomly. The required information was collected with the help of a pre-tested questionnaire
by personal interview and in-depth discussions with the entrepreneurs themselves.
Findings
Profile of Entrepreneurs
A majority that is 84% of the entrepreneurs were below the age of 40 years, of which 64% are
of the age group 30 to 40 years as depicted in the table 1.1.
TABLE 1.1: DISTRIBUTION OF ENTREPRENEURS ACCORDING TO AGE AND EDUCATION
Age group No. of Entrepreneurs Education Level No. of Entrepreneurs
20-30 15 (30%) Below +2 6(13%)
30-40 32(64%) Graduates 33(66%)
40 & above 13(26%) Post graduates 11(22%)
Sources of Motivation
Human motivation depends largely on the need structure of a person. Entrepreneurial
motivation is no exception. The study revealed that 57% of the respondents have been
motivated by hearing about the entrepreneur who had been successful in their career.
(Figure 1.1). Teachers, friends and career advisors have very insignificant role to play as a
motivator. Table 1.2 reveals the reasons for taking up this new venture. 57% of the
respondents have said that they are into this field because of family responsibility.37%
responded that some of the work can be started at a small scale level and even at home. Other
factors like satisfaction, challenging and higher income does seem to be the reason for
jumping into entrepreneurship (Table 1.2). The study also revealed that 60 % of the
respondents would like their children to continue with the same work whereas 40% are not
willing to encourage their children to follow them. (Figure 1.2)
37.8
40 34.2 30.7
35 24.9
30
25 18.8
20 14.2 12.6
15
10
5
0
Hearing T he P arents Media R elatives F riends T eachers
about subjects
people you have
becoming studied
successful
S oures of motivation
Fig. 1.1: Sources of Motivation

Fig. 1.2: Encourage the Children to become Entrepreneur
TABLE 1.2: REASONS FOR PREFERRING ENTREPRENEUR AS CAREER

S. No Factors Percentage of Respondents
1 Personal satisfaction 13%
2 High Income 13%
3 Challenging 17%
4 Can be started at small level 32%
5 Family responsibility 57%
Skills and Attributes Associated with Entrepreneurship

The study (Figure 1.3) revealed that determination, persistence, confidence, customer
relationship and being energetic have been given high score followed by other skills like
intelligence, honesty and ruthlessness. 62.8% have declared that they already have all this
characteristics and need not to go for a special training to acquire them, where as nearly
12.6% have said that they would like to grow more and acquire more of these skills. (Figure
1.4)
Fig. 1.3: Skills and Attributes Associated with Entrepreneurship

Fig. 1.4: Possesion of Skills
FINANCIAL STRUCTURE
Entrepreneur tapped different sources of funds for financing their projects in the initial stages.
Funds coming from both banks and family formed a significant portion of capital employed.
Table 1.2 depicts the financial structure. As many 18(36%) entrepreneurs brought capital
from both banks and family members’ contribution. There were 16(32%) entrepreneurs who
could manage to get funds from the bank alone. A considerable number that is 10 (2%)
entrepreneurs could bring in capital from their own savings, while 4 units (0.8%) had to
borrow from other sources such as money lenders.
TABLE 1.2: SOURCES OF FUNDS
Sources Respondents
Family and Bank together 18.36%
Bank alone 32%
Friends and relatives 24%
Personal savings 10.2%
Others 0.08%
Attitude of Entrepreneurs towards Support Agencies

It is evident from table (1.3) that 70% of the respondents agree that the support agencies have
very little role to play in the beginning of the enterprise. Though a significant number of
respondents says that the behaviour of the support agencies and the advertisement given by
the support agencies is effective but 40% of the respondents says that the success of the
enterprise cannot be vest on the support agencies.64% of the respondents feels that there is no
co-ordination among the various support agencies.
TABLE 1.3: ATTITUDE TOWARDS SUPPORT AGENCIES

Attitude towards Support Strongly Agree Undecided Disagree Strongly
Agencies Agree Disagree
Insignificant role in start of an 10(20%) 25(50%) 5(10%) 8(16%) 2(4%)
enterprise
Behaviour of officials of support 12(24%) 22(48%) 4(8%) 10(20%) 12(24%)
agencies regarding their schemes
of assistance is effective
Advertisement by support 9(17%) 24(49%) 6(12%) 11(22%) -
agencies regarding their schemes
if assistance is effective
Success of an enterprise depends 3(6%) 13(26%) 5(10) 20(40%)4 9(18%)
largely on the help provided by
these support agencies
Officials of support agencies 4(8%) 4(8%) 4(8%) 14(28%) 24(48%)
show gender biasness
There is no co-ordination between 4(8%) 32(64%) 7(14%) 5(10%) -
various support agencies
CONCLUSION
For a developing country like India, which is striving to move from a predominantly
agricultural society to an industrial society, entrepreneurship has an important role to play.
Moreover, part of the solution to the growing unemployment, particularly among educated
youth, lies in self employment, and entrepreneurship. Coimbatore have shown how the
individual initiative and zeal backed by local endowments of craftsmanship and support
systems can usher industrial development into region even in the absence of large investments
both by public sector and private sector business houses.
REFERENCES
Books and Journals
[1] Baty, Gordon B., Entrepreneurship: Playing to Win, Reston, VA, Reston Publishing Co., 1974.
[2] Buchele, Robert B., Business Policy in Growing Firms, San Francisco, Chandler Publishing Co., 1967
[3] Dandekar, V.M., ‘Integrated Approach to Rural Development: The south Asian Experience, IJPA, April–
June, 1997.
[4] Kulkarni, D.D. and Mehar C. Nanawatty, Social Issues in Development, Uppal Publishsing House, New
Delhi. 1996.
Training and Business Performance of Small
Scale Industries in Puducherry State
1
R. Kayatry Sabitha and 2N. Panchanatham
1
Department of Management Studies
Rajiv Gandhi College of Engineering and Technology Puducherry-607402
2
Department of Business Administration, Annamalai University, Tamil Nadu
e-mail: sabithakayatry@yahoo.com, panchanatham@gmail.com
Abstract—This research paper is based on the premise that training programmes are
required to support the human resource for the purpose of improving overall
effectiveness of an organization. Achieving business performance through training is
the new mantra, and it should be clearly understood that training programmes not
only enhance the ability of the human resource but also create professional relations
among individuals and groups within the organization. This paper explores the
relationship between training and the performance of organizations. As there is no
specific analysis for measuring the business performance, this study has been
specifically designed to assess the impact of training on business performance. The
business performance indicates the level of performance achieved by units and eight
performance variables were choosen after several reviews for this analysis. The study
emphasizes that the SSI training organizers of Puducherry State would have to
concentrate on certain critical areas so as to reap the full benefits of training
programme imparted to participants for enhancement of business performance.
Keywords: business performance, training and development.
INTRODUCTION
The shift from planned economy to market driven economy has given boost to industries, and
with the upgradation of technology, industrialization has expanded and diversified. The
Indian economy has shifted from the domestic market to global market, and Puducherrry state
is no exception to this. In order to compete in the world market, industries of Puducherry
State have to endeavor to improve quality and ensure competitive edge for their survival.
Presently, all industrial organizations have realized the importance of training for better
production and improved productivity. But the precise contribution of training activities to the
overall performance of the organization is unresolved.
The present study was done to measure the impact of training on business performance.
As there is specific analysis for measuring business performance, this study was done
specifically to assess the impact of training on business performance in SSI units in the five
industrial estates of Puducherry City. Business performance was assessed from the
entrepreneurs of the SSI units who acquired knowledge and skills from the training program
Training and Business Performance of Small Scale Industries in Puducherry State 49
given by PIPDIC (Pond cherry Industrial Promotion, Development and Investment

Corporation), Puducherry. The performance variables for the study was chosen after reviwing
articles pertaining to performance of entrepreneurs.
OBJECTIVES OF THE STUDY

1. To find the business performance of the SSI units with specific reference to
Puducherry city.
2. To find whether there is any difference in the performance of the Industrial Estates
within Puducherry.
3. To find whether the profile of the entrepreneurs has influence on their perception of
their business performance.
HYPOTHESIS OF THE STUDY

1. There is no significant difference in the performance of the Industrial Estates within
Puducherry City.
2. There is no significant influence by the profile( sex, age and education) of the
entrepreneurs on their perception of their business performance.
A clear objective provides the basis of design of the project. The main objective of this study
was to find out the level of business performance in SSI units within the five Industrial
Estates with specific reference to Puducherry City.
Research Design
This study involved the descriptive research design. It included surveys and fact finding
enquiries of different kinds. The main purpose of this research design was to describe the state
of affairs as it exists at present. It had no control over the variables. This research design gave
only a report what had happened or what was happening.
Source of Data — Primary

The data which were collected were fresh. Since it was original in character it was called as
primary data. Data collected from the entrepreneurs of SSI units in the Industrial Estates in
Puducherry city through the questionnaire method was first hand information and in research
terms -primary data.
Sampling Size and Technique

Type of Universe
In this study, the universe was the total number of entrepreneurs in all the SSI units of the five
Industrial Estates within Puducherry city. The first step in developing any sample design is to
clearly define the set of objects, which is technically called as the universe. The universe may
be finite or infinite. As per this study the total number (N) of employees was 496(ie) finite.
Sample Size
It refers to the number of items to be selected from the universe to constitute a sample. The
sample size should be neither excessively large nor too small. It should be optimum. 410
number of entrepreneurs in all the SSI units with Puducherry city were selected as size of
sample (n), using the formula shown below.
The formula for selecting the sample size:
n= Z2.p.q.N
e2 (N-1) +Z2.p.q
Where
N = Population
z = value of standard variate at 95% confidence level (1.96)
p = probability of success
q = probability of failure
e = acceptable error 2% of true value
n = Sample size
Sampling Design
This project involved the Stratified quota random sampling. In this study the population was
divided into a number of non-overlapping subpopulations or strata and sample items were
selected from each stratum. In Puducherry City the SSI units can be categorised on the basis
of sector into 5 stratas. The following table shows details about the distributions of samples
drawn.
TABLE 1.0: TABLE SHOWING THE DISTRIBUTION OF SAMPLES
Name No. of Units (N) Sample
Thattanchavady 110 91
Mettupalayam 257 211
Sedarapet 83 69
Kattukuppam 27 23
Kirumampakkam 19 16
total 496 410
The above table shows the distribution of samples of SSI units in various industrial
estates of Puducherry city. The samples were drawn from each stratum (Industrial Estates) by
using Stratified quota random Sampling. The quota had been fixed at 82%.
Statistical Tools
To make an effective research, the following four statistical tools were used to analyze and
interpret the collected data.
1. PERCENTAGE METHOD
2. ONE WAY ANOVA(Analysis of Variance)
Percentage Method
The percentage method can be extensively used to find various given details. It was used to
make comparison between two or more series of data.
One Way ANOVA

Analysis of variance is used for judging the significance of more than two sample means at
one and the same time. Under one way ANOVA only one factor is considered and the reason
for said factor to be important is that several possible types of samples can occur within that
factor.
Data Collection
The questionnaire method was used in data collection. The questionnaire was prepared on the
basis of the objective of the study by referring to ‘A handbook of training and Development’
American Society for Training and Development. (ASTD)
Pilot Study
In order to test the appropriateness of the questionnaire, a pilot study with 10% sample of the
total population was done. Based on the results a full fledged questionnaire was administered.
All questions were translated in local language for easy understanding.
FRAMEWORK FOR ANALYSIS

As per the need of the study the fourth level of Kirkpatrick model was applied. The result part
was measured after the entrepreneurs acquired training and started their business.
The business performance variables for this study are as per the review of Dess et al
(1984), Quinn(1992), Harish Verma(2000) and Denis et al (2001)
The performance variables are
1. product development
2. staff retention
3. access to market
4. competitiveness
5. confidence
6. number of business worked with
7. sales
8. profit
The participants were asked to rate the above mentioned variables on a five point rating
scale namely
high +ve impact +ve impact Impact No impact -ve impact
5 4 3 2 1
The mean score on various performance variables perceived by the entrepreneurs
belonging to the five Industrial Estates in Puducherry City were calculated to exhibit the
entrepreneur’s perception on their business performance as a result of the training they
underwent.
The F statistics was computed using one way ANOVA to identify if there was a
significant difference among the entrepreneurs of the five different industrial estates with
respect to the eight business performance variables.
The resulted mean score of the performance variables and F statistics are illustrated in
table 1.1
TABLE 1.1
No. BUSINESS Thattanchavady Mettupalayam Sedarapet Kattukuppam Kirumampakkam F result
PERFORMANCE I II III IV V statistics
variables
Mean scores
1 Product development 3.4 2.8 3.1 2.6 3.1 2.83* significant
2 Staff retention 2.9 2.0 1.9 3.0 2.0 2.73* significant
3 Access to market 3.1 2.3 2.0 3.1 2.4 1.41 Not
significant
4 competitiveness 3.1 2.6 2.3 2.0 2.7 2.91* significant
5 Confidence 2.9 2.0 1.9 1.8 1.8 2.74* significant
6 No of business 2.4 3.8 3.3 2.7 2.4 2.11 Not
worked with significant
7 Sales 3.2 3.9 2.8 2.4 2.8 2.97* significant
8 profit 2.9 2.0 3.9 2.0 2.1 3.01* significant
AVERAGE SCORE 23.9/40 20.4/40 21.2/40 19.6/40 19.3/40
rank I III II IV V
OVERALL 20.88
PERFORMANCE
20.88
*
8 16 24 32 40
Poor average good excellent
In group I, Thattanchavady, the highly perceived performance variables are product

development and sales
In group II, Mettupalayam, the highly perceived performance variables are number of
business worked with and sales
In group III, Sederapet, the highly perceived performance variables are number of
business worked with and profit
In group IV, Kattukupam, the highly perceived performance variables are staff retention
and access to market
In group V, Kirumampakkam, the highly perceived performance variables are product
development and sales
Overall there is significant difference (95.5%) among the five groups of entrepreneurs
was identified in all six performance variables except access to market and number of
business worked with.
The perception of business performance among the participants may be influenced by the
profile of the entrepreneurs. This influence is also measured in this study.
The influence of the profile variables (sex, age and education) of the entrepreneurs on
their perception of business performance was identified.
TABLE 1.2: SEX WISE DISTRIBUTION OF ENTREPRENEURS
Serial Number Sex Number of Participants
1 Male 369
2 Female 41
Total 410
In total 90 % of the participants in this study are male
TABLE 1.3: AGE WISE DISTRIBUTION OF ENTREPRENEURS
Serial Number Age Number of Participants
1 Less than 21 14
2 21 to 30 97
3 31 to 40 220
4 41 to 50 60
5 Above 50 19
Total 410
The important age groups of the participants was in the range of 31 to 40 as it constitutes
53.6% of the total sample.
TABLE 1.4: LEVEL OF EDUCATION AMONG THE ENTREPRENEURS
Serial Number Education Number of Participants
1 Less than 10th 21
2 10th 47
3 12th 72
4 Diploma/degree 240
5 Post graduate 30
Total 410
The important education level of the participants was diploma or degree as it constitutes
58.5% of the total sample.
TABLE 1.5: INFLUENCE OF THE PROFILE VARIABLES OF ENTREPRENEURS ON THEIR VIEW

OF BUSINESS PERFORMANCE
Sl. Number Profile Variables F value Table Value Result

1 Sex 2.50 3.84 Not significant
2 Age 2.61 2.37 Significant
3 Education 2.54 2.37 Significant
Significant influence on the perceived business performance existed with age and
education level of the entrepreneurs.
The F statistics related to the above profile variables of age and education level were
significant at 5% level.
Hence null hypothesis was rejected in the case of age and education level of
entrepreneurs. Thereby we can conclude that there is significant influence by the age and the
education level of the entrepreneur on his or her peceived business performance.
FINDINGS
1. Businesss performance of all the SSI units in the five industrial estates within
Puducherry city is 20.88 (average score), which indicates an average level of
performance in business
• The five industrial estates on individual analysis shows
Industrial Estate Average Business Performance Rank
Score
I Thattanchavady 23.9 Average 1
II Mettupalayam 20.4 Average 3
III Sedarapet 21.2 Average 2
IV Kattukuppam 19.6 Average 4
V Kirumampakkam 19.3 Average 5
With the above analysis, the training for these industrial estates should be given in the
area where the perceived performance variable have a low score.
1. There exists significant difference among the five industrial estates within Puducherry
City on 6 business performance variables
• Product development
• Staff retention
• Competitiveness
• Confidence
• Sales
• Profit
Out of the eight performance variables, the two variables which are insignificant are
• Access to market
• Number of business worked with
This has to taken in the right sense by the trainers of SSI. As the access to market and the
number of business worked are insignificant with respect to the industrial estates, training
should have focus on the above mentioned six performance variables.
If training improves the significant performance variables, then all the estates would
improve in their performance, which would automatically enhance the overall performance of
the Industrial estates within Puducherry State.
There exists significant influence on the perceived business performance with respect to
the age and education level of the entrepreneurs.
SUGGESTIONS
Distinct training modules should be framed based on the profile vairiables viz:age and
education of the entrepreneurs.
The trainers can employ certain types of management exercises such as
• Risk taking exercises
Leadership games
Psychological games
• Team building excercise
• Investment games
• Role playing
• Goal setting exercises
• Practical exposure through prototype models.
As given by Jain RK(1970), training programmes whould be conducted in subject matters
in depth. In the same way, the entrepreneurs of Puducherry State should be given in depth
training to help them their level of performance and confidence. In addition, practical
exposure through models should be in tune with the business and technological environment.
1. Separate session for computers and Internet can help the entrepreneurs to find out
suitable opportunities.
2. Sessions for enhancing the human relations of the entrepreneurs can be given, sincce
training programmes provide only their objective. This is as per the survey conducted
by Bannerji, which indicated that employees gained little knowledge in the uman
relations area of any training module.
3. Furthermore the timing of the training programme is very important. Venkataraman
(1995), has stated that every training programme must conceentrate more oon timings
of the programme.
CONCLUSION
Any training program should not be a ready made package. The training should be offered
and constructed according to the needs of the participants, with importance and consideration
given to the age and the education level of the participants. The business performance of the
SSI units of the five industrial estates have shown only an average performance in business.
Attention should be given for the needed business performance variables.
Wise entrepreneurs should see training as their long term investment. They should clearly
understand that just an investment in training will not show increased profits, but its
implementation gives the yield. This means waiting with faith for the entrepreneurs of the SSI
units of the different industrial estates within Puducherry city.
REFERENCES
Books and Journals
[1] Bannerji (1984), Survey of Indian Engineering Companies, July pp 154.
[2] Dess G. et al., “Measuring organizational performance in the absence of objective measure—A case of
privately held firms and conglomerate business unit”, Strategic Management Journal, July–September, pp
265–273, 1984.
[3] Devins D. and Johnson S., “Training and development activities in SMEs”, International small Business
Journal, 21(2) pp 213–228, 2003.
[4] Jain R.K., The Value of Training, Report to ASTD, 1970.
[5] Qwin J.B., “Intelligent enterprise: A knowledge and service based, paradigm for industry”, New York, Free
Press, 1992.
[6] Rao P.L., Enriching Human Capital through Training and Development, Excel books, New Delhi, 2008.
[7] Vekataraman, “Market orientation and business performance”, Paradigm, 4(1), January–June,
pp 12–27, 2000.
Industrial Relations In Jhunjhunwala Industries
Private Limited: A Case Study
Sitansu Panda and S.F. Chandrasekhar
Siva Sivani Institute of Management, Secunderabad
INTRODUCTION
Industrial Relations (IR) is an integrative field. It needs a collective approach from different
actors in side and outside the perview of an industry. IR is effected by the policies and
activities of management, trade unions and employees. However, the Government regulations,
policy measures, political parties and their activities also attribute in shaping the IR scenario.
In this case, some issues on union rivalries, politicization of industrial activities, union-
management relationship; have been addressed. It will help the management students not only
in sharpening the decision-making skill but also in keeping them abreast with changes in the
external political environment.
KEY ACTORS IN THE CASE
Mr. Subodh Bose-Senior Technician

After passing ITI in fitter trade, Mr. Bose joined in a manufacturing company producing light
and heavy water motors. This company was located in Ghaziabad. His job was not regularized
after working for seven years. The transfer of the Manager (HR) and implementation of
restructuring strategies the policy decision for regularizing the contract employees was
delayed further. Being depressed and frustrated by the policy, he left the job and joined in
Jhunjhunwala Industries Private Limited located near to his hometown in Orissa. He had
joined as a Senior Technician. In his eight years of work in Jhunjhunwala Company, he
received many awards for creativity in his work.
Mr. Shyamlal Chatterjee- Supervisor (Production)

He is sincere, punctual and a generous man. Because of his positive and greater vision, he was
the member in five committees including company’s grievance handling committee. After
completing his Diploma in Mechanical Engineering from Government Engineering School in
Berhampur (Orissa), he joined in Jhunjhunwala Industries Limited. He has an excellent name
and fame in the organization and the youngest employee in the company. At the age of
twenty-six, he has solved many complicated problems in the company.
Mr. Jatin Paranjape-Union Leader

He is the General Secretary of the ‘Jhunjhunwala Shramik Sangha’. The current recognized
union.
Dr. Sitansu Panda, and Dr. S.F. Chandra Sekhar defeated this union by 13 votes in the
recently held secret ballot election. Mr. Paranjape was an active leader since his college. He is
a strong follower of CITU. He is in his early fifties. He is working in the Mechanical
department.
Mr. Gagan Khurana- Senior Technician

He is the senior most employee in the company; for the last twenty-nine years. He joined with
his matriculation qualification. His strong learning ability, co-operative team spirit and jovial
positive attitude made him an asset for the company. He works in the production department.
He is a source of inspiration for the employees.
Mr. John Patrick- DGM (HR)

Having vast experience in different indigenous and MNCs for around two decades, he joined
in Jhunjhunwala Industries recently. In his last four months, he has initiated various
innovative HR practices in the company. He is a post-graduate from Labour Related Institute,
Jamshedpur. He is also a Mechanical Engineer from NITIE (Trichy).
CURRENT SCENARIO IN JHUNJHUNWALA INDUSTRIES PRIVATE LIMITED

“Nothing goes wrong. All aspects of our employees have been covered. I am trying to make
my company a model one in the country. Still then what happens?” Mr. Patrick, DGM (HR)
asked to other Managers in the emergency meeting. He could not believe how suddenly all the
contract labour went for strike.
The peaceful climate drastically changed. The Company declared good package to the
regular employees, better incentives to all the employees, welfare provisions for all the
employee family members last month. The company announced on its 42nd Foundation day
(2007) for regularizing the contract labour in a phase wise manner based on their performance
shortly.
In the last three months, the management has been taking best care of its employees. The
company’s innovative practices results in incurring 3.4 per cent more expenditure towards
wage and salary hoping better expectation from its employees. It is also in order to retain the
best talents. Still then, the company does not earn more profits as per the projections. All the
departments are exploring strategies to have better economic returns.
The Production Manager was unable to explore the reasons with regard to decline in
production. The installation of new machinery, competent technicians, and experienced
employees with the entire conducive work environment would have accelerated the pace of
production. However, reality is something different.
Industrial Relations In Jhunjhunwala Industries Private Limited: A Case Study 59
It was a Sunday (23rd May, 2007). On that day, the night shift work was going on as
usual. Mr. Shyamlal Chatterjee, the Supervisor (Production) was on leave for two days for his
sickness. He joined on duty on that day. Some thing happened to him. He suddenly rang to his
boss and asked other two junior mangers of other departments to have a surprise visit to the
plant. It was around 3 a.m. all went to the plant and visited different sites individually to
avoid any sort of doubts in the employees’ mind.
It was the production department. Except twenty-nine regular technicians working, other
workers were not there. As per the usual requirement, there should be sixty-nine labour for
the night shift in the production department. No contract labour was there. Mr. Chatterjee
counted based on employee list working for that shift. Peculiarity was that Mr. Subodh Bose’s
name was there in the working list. Then Mr. Chatterjee and other Managers went. It was
informed that after one hour all the employees including Mr. Kaushik in the shift came to
their work but did not run the machine.
Next day, the Supervisor asked for explanation to selected technicians. The technician,
Mr. Kumar Behera revealed that it was unintentional. He was forced to do that. He was also
threated to withdraw his membership from Jhunjhunwala Labour Sangh to Jhunjhunwala
Shramik Sangh. As per the instruction of Mr. Kaushik, no contract labour has started
cooperating with management. He had negatively motivated the employees not to trust on
management policy. As per Mr. Kaushik, Jhunjhunwala Company is following the same
policy of his previous organization where he had bitter experience. It is better not to work
sincerely especially in night shift as the frequency of inspection (surprise) was less. He had
also promised to lead a union of his own members for whom he would do better things. He
had requested to help his relative in the MLA election.
The management came to know that Mr. Kaushik is creating groupism in the department.
He is more interested in politics than his own activities. He is a close relative of the defeated
MLA candidate belonging to Congress party. Mr. Kaushik takes counseling from him. It is
peculiar that Mr. Kaushik is having close man in all unions in the plant.
It is quite interesting that in the plant, two unions are functioning under the banner of
INTUC. It is a rare case, which reflects the extent of union rivalries. The MLA election is
going to be held in the next year.
The HR department got strong evidence regarding the activities of Mr. Subodh Bose.
“Negligence on duty will give no room for any employee in the company to continue
their employment and serious action will be taken against them.” - Patrick told in a general
meeting addressing the employees.
Mr. Kaushik was Charge-sheeted. Suddenly, the next morning all the contract labour
started protest and giving slogan in front of the third gate “Victimization-down, down”.
Placards, shouting, Open Criticisms really gave another message about Jhunjhunwala
Company. They were demanding for withdrawing Charge- sheet issued to Mr. Kaushik and
regularizing all the contract labour without any performance yardstick. The recognized union
also supported. Mr. Paranjape openly criticized the company policy.
“Personal performance is more than the personnel performance is the yardstick in

company.” -commented by Mr. Gagan Khurana.
The situation was tensed. First time the company has faced a strike in its history.
What is about the Jhunjhunwala Industries Private Limited?
JHUNJHUNWALA INDUSTRIES PRIVATE LIMITED

Jhunjhunwala Indusries Private Limited was established in the year 1966. It is located in
western part of Orissa. It has excellent profit record. It is one of the oldest aluminium
producing companies in the State. It exploits the larger deposits of bauxite from the Southern
part of the State. It is an ISO-9002 certified company. It has well integrated smelter plant and
captive power plant. The calendar of events of the company is given in Annexure-I.
ANNEXURE I: CALENDAR OF EVENTS, JHUNJHUNWALA INDUSTRIES PRIVATE LIMITED
Sl. No. Important Event of the Company Year
1. Displacement of villagers for plant construction 1962
2. Year of Establishment (3rd January) 1966
3. Construction of Smelter Plant 1969
4. Construction of Captive Power Plant 1972
5. Full fledged production 1981
6. New France based machine installed 1983
7. Major accident in the Captive Power Plant 1989
8. Best Safety award 1993
9. New Retirement policy implemented 1997
10. Company started its new Rural Development Society (SIRDS) 2001
11. Agreement signed with a Korean Company 2005
12. New welfare scheme implemented 2006
Source: Data collected and collated from HR Department as on 31st December, 2007
Jhunjhunwala Industries Private Limited has its own captive power plant of 400MW
capacities. Its power plant is interconnected with the State Grid. Though it is an old company,
but all of its customers are indigenous. However, it has planned to modernize the plant by
implementing new technology borrowed from abroad. It is especially in order to attract the
foreign customers. In the coming three years, the Company was planning to take certain
measures on cost effectiveness, reutilization of wastage, less supervision, environment
friendly production, business diversification. This Company has made an agreement with one
of the Korean companies. This Jhunjhunwala Company has incurred a net profit of Rs.
1909.31 million for the year 2007-08. The sales turnover for the same year is Rs. 9396.7
million. Its manpower strength is 2269. It includes 398 executives, 1444 permanent workers
and 427-contract labour.
What is the Industrial Relations Scenario in this Company?
TRADE UNIONISM IN JHUNJHUNWALA INDUSTRIES PRIVATE LIMITED

In this company, ten unions are functioning. In Smelter Plant six unions and in Captive Power
Plant four unions are there. Some unions have been deregistered due to non-submission of
annual returns in time. These unions have been deleted from the list of unions given in
Annexure.
The basic information about the unions is given in Annexure-II.
ANNEXURE II (A): UNIONS IN SMELTER PLANT, JHUNJHUNWALA INDUSTRIES PRIVATE LIMITED
Claimed
Sl. Unions Functioning Registration Date of Affiliation
Membership
No. in the Industry No. Registration Status
Strength
Jhunjhunwala
1. 2497-JYP 30.4.1968 BMS 219
Employees’ Union
Jhunjhunwala
2. Karmachari Sangha 515-JYP 12.10.1972 INTUC 643
®
Jhunjhunwala Labour
3. 794-JYP 25.09.1979 Independent 781
Union
Smelter Workers
4. 145-JYP 02.02.1982 Independent 219
Union
Jhunjhunwala
5. 193-JYP 07.08.1987 CITU 498
Shramik Sangha
Jhunjhunwala Labour
6. 197-JYP 29.8.2003 INTUC 119
Sangha
Total claimed membership
Total number of unions: 6 2479
strength
® indicates the recognized union
Source: Data collected and collated from unions as on 31st December, 2007
In the Smelter Plant (SP) ‘Jhunjhunwala Employees’ Union’ is the first union. It is
afflilated to Bharatiya Mazdoor Sangha. The ‘Jhunjhunwala Karmachari Sangha’, affiliated to
INTUC is the recognized union. This union has got recognition status for the last twenty
years. But interesting is that two INTUC affiliated unions are there in this plant. In the second
INTUC affiliated union (Annexure-II-A), both contract and regular labour are there. Some of
other contract labours have applied for the formation a new union of their own. The inter-
union rivalry, monopoly by some of the front leaders, politicization of industrial issues all
have led to multiplicity of unions in the plant. The list of the unions in Smelter Plant is given
in Annexure-II (A).
In Captive Power Plant (CPP), ‘Jhunjhunwala Labour Union’ is the first union. This
union is the recognized union in CPP. New unions came into being almost at an interval of six
to seven years. This trend occurred up to 2003. Then the fourth union emerged in 2003
(Annexure-II-B). All the unions in captive power plant are affiliated to central federations.
ANNEXURE II (B): UNIONS IN CAPTIVE POWER PLANT, JHUNJHUNWALA

INDUSTRIES PRIVATE LIMITED
Claimed
Sl. Unions Functioning in the Date of Affiliation
Registration No. Membership
No. Industry Registration Status
Strength
Jhunjhunwala Labour Union
1. 1443-JYP 19.08.1978 INTUC 487
®
Jhunjhunwala Aluminium
2. 1520-JYP 21.11.1984 AITUC 289
Shramik Congress Union
Jhunjhunwala Non-executive
3. 1687-JYP 11.03.1991 HMS 559
Workers’ Union
Jhunjhunwala Electric
4. 126-JYP 15.04.2003 BMS 312
Karmachari Sangha
Total claimed
Total number of unions : 4 membership 1647
strength
® indicates the recognized union
Source: Data collected and collated from unions as on 31st December, 2007
ANNEXURE III: INDUSTRIAL DISPUTES IN JHUNJHUNWALA INDUSTRIES PRIVATE LIMITED
Form Cause Year
Lay off Breakage of the machinery (for 17 days). 27.5.1976 -7.6.1976
Lay-off Power failure (for 3 days) 18.3.1979 – 20.03.1979.
Dharana By unions, demanded for more bonus (for 3 hrs.) 8.10.1989
Gherao By contract labour against supervisor due to ill treatment 11.10.1994
Lay off Due to fire and major accident in plant
27.05.1996
Against Management’s monopoly, for redeploying a worker
Dharna
of Smelter Plant by the recognized union 13.10.2003
Source: compiled the data collected from unions as on 31st December, 2007
In both the plants, five major Central federations contributed for the growth and
emergence of unions. In the Smelter Plant two independent unions are there where as no
union is independent in Captive Power Plant. The union formed during the first five years of
industrial establishment was largely serving for the wage related problems of workers. But
later, different problems relating to working conditions, welfare measures, transport facilities,
medical benefits extended to the family members of the workers all have given rise to other
unions. The proximity influence, initiatives taken by the union activists followed by the
support of the local political parties gave a momentum for the development of unionism in the
plant. The dissident members of different unions have joined to form new unions. All the
unions except those two independent unions have taken outsiders in different hierarchal
positions.
The company has excellent HR policy. The best performance award, creativity award,
cash benefit to the committed employees, extending co-operative benefits to the contract
labour, Mr. Safety award; in the plant are some of the innovative HR policy measures
implemented by the plant since last three years. The industry has been incurring profits during
last six years. During the middle phase of the company’s life cycle, it had a tough time. Many
problems like accumulation of stocks, breakage of machinery, union disputes dominated the
scene during that period. The company declared lay off for seventeen days (Refer Annexure-
III). Then, the Marketing Department took excellent policy for reviving the plant.
Development of quality product, adoption of market driven strategies, emphasis on customer
services, better customer relationship all have altered the status of the company. Really all
credit goes to the Manager (Marketing).
The company is famous for providing lucrative package of remuneration to the
employees. The economic benefits given to the workers are better in comparison to other
major industries in the State. The regular employees in the industry are affluent which has
shaped the unions differently.
The secret ballot election is a big issue in the plant. Many State level politicians, union
activists come forward and take active involvement in the campaigning. The dissident leaders
have formed their own unions. It has taken trade unionism in the plant in a different way.
Some issues regarding the legal aspect of unions have been created, intentionally. One union
has filed cases against another union.
The management in the first decade mostly dominated Union-management relationship in
the Company. Then, in due course of time, management created different bipartite forums in
which recognized union along with other unions are being invited to share their views. All the
unions feel proud and privilege by the management approach. The recognized one is
exception to it. Performance evaluation is a critical area of concern both for the management
as well as for the union/s. The recognized union has a vital role to play in the implementation
of wage plan, employee promotion and annual benefits for its employees.
QUESTIONS FOR DISCUSSION

Q.1) What are the major issues in this case?
Q.2) How far the union’s steps taken is justified?
Q.3) Trade Unionism is strengthening the IR scenario of the Company. Comment
Q.4) Had you been Mr. Patrick, what strategies would have you taken for improving the
IR climate in Jhunjhunwala Industries Private Limited?
Author Index
B P
Bharathi, S. Jaya, 36 Panchanatham, N., 48
C Panda, Sitansu, 57
Priya, M. Lakshmi, 26
Chandar, S. Kumar, 9
Chandrasekhar, S.F., 57 R
K Ravindran, Sudharani, 17
Kumar, G. Regi, 17 S
M Sabitha, R. Kayatry, 48
Suganya, S., 26
Mathi, K. Malar, 42 Sumathi, K., 42

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RVS Institute of Management Studies and Research

EXCEL INDIA PUBLISHERS

Coimbatore Dr. Vijila Kennedy

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