Vol. 2(9) September 2009
Quality Management in Higher Education: Enhancing
Students’ Employability through Self-directed Learning
Chatterjee Tilak and Roy Mousumi
Surveys were conducted amongst the potential employers
and amongst the tertiary level students (general courses) to gauge their skill and
mindset profile to explore the problem of students’ employability from both demand
and supply ends. A secondary survey of higher educational institutes (HEI) offering
general courses was also taken up in India to find out their role in providing students
support for progression and enhancement of employability. It was observed that tertiary
level students in general exhibited very low self-belief on their capabilities and
cognitive abilities which according to the present study was the root to poor employability.
Student’s dependence on both teacher centric instructions- based teaching-learning
and tutoring based preparation for summative assessment was observed as the possible
explanation behind this lacunae. The solution was therefore explored in how the
students learn and how much they apply themselves in varied situations of “new tasks’’.
The paper suggests an innovative approach of instilling learner’s self-directed
learning propensity by way of developing their cognitive capabilities by encouraging
them to learn how to learn through a process formative self assessment.
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A Management approach to identify Factors contributing
to Road Accidents in a developing Country
Jacob Jayanth and Suganthi L.
The need for identifying factors associated with road
accidents in a developing country based on end-user (vehicle user) perception has
been addressed in this study since data on road accidents are not easily available
in developing countries. Fifteen major factors contributing to road accidents within
city limits in a developing country have been found through factor analysis based
on a case study under taken in Chennai, a metropolitan city in India. Two distinct
sets of vehicles users have been categorised based on their accident proneness ratings.
Specific sets of factors associated with the two sets of vehicle users have been
identified using a general linear model (GLM). If action is taken by policy makers,
civic authorities and enforcement agencies to control the identified factors, the
number of road accidents can be curtailed in a developing country.
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Business Process Outsourcing (BPO) and India
Shete S. S.
This research paper focuses on Business Process Outsourcing
(BPO) since it plays very important role in the employment generation and economic
development of the country today. There is lot of scope for the young generations
for getting quick employement, handsome salary and host of other opportunities.
This further helps for improving economic development of the Indian population which
helps in raising the standard of living. The drive for greater efficiencies and
cost reductions has forced many organizations to specialize increasingly in a limited
number of key areas. This has led organization to outsource activities or business
process traditionally carried in-house. India is at the forefront of the rapidly
evolving Business Process Offshoring (BPO) market and is well established as a ‘destination
of choice’. Having grown manifold in size and matured in terms of service delivery
capability over the past decade, the Indian BPO industry is now at an inflexion
point –and faces a unique opportunity to enhance its role as a full service value
adding partner. There is significant headroom in the addressable BPO opportunity
for third party vendors and service providers and there are sizeable untapped opportunities
across a wide spectrum of segments.
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Human Resource Management – an analysis with special
reference to 21st century management for growth and development
Debnath Prallad
The greatest challenge in the 21st century is the challenge
of management and its people. Employees are human beings first and then the workers.
It is not only information that is causing changes but also a reality in every sphere
as well as in the corporate culture too. No doubt, changing technology has created
complexities which call for improved managerial practices through the use of the
tools of management for growth and development in the 21st century. It is the discovery
of the human resources development process and the realization that this single
variable of human resource development can account for all other development processes.
Human beings are the ultimate. Development is acquisition of capabilities which
are needed to do the present job or the future expected job with utmost accuracy
considering the goal of the organization. Management of human resources is essential
for every organization that would like to be dynamic and growth – oriented as per
the requirement to trigger the work force to the right way. Unlike other resources
for development and growth, human resources have rather unlimited potential capabilities.
Thus, it is now a challenge in the 21st century how to manage the human resources
for streaming up the organization keeping in view that they are not redundant after
the job is over. The potentialities of the human resources can be squeezed out not
by exploiting but only through the proper use of modern scientific management in
the organization and as such the job of the manager becomes more complicated and
magnified. Further the job of managing human resources has become more complicated
for the increasing awareness of the importance of the human elements in the 21st
century.
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Political Survival in an Organization
Sowmya K. R. and Panchanatham N.
This is a conceptual paper on the most unavoidable politics
at workplace. Politics is mostly viewed as a manipulative, deceptive and protectionist,
doing deals, point scoring, getting one over others, secrecy & subterfuge and a
win/lose situation. The political behavior may be deliberate or unconscious. It
is not uncommon to face politics in the workplace. Today's concerns about a recession
are adding to the level of stress which can lead to more politics. Left alone, politics
can build and intensify, but fortunately there are many ways that you can turn the
problem around. Politics can come in many different forms. For example, one might
be tired of dealing with a difficult relationship at work and find it easier to
avoid or limit interactions with the person, get frustrated because a co-worker
or boss does not care whether one may have a differing opinion and always wants
to do things in one’s way or feels like that the co-worker does not participate
and makes others do all the work. While these feelings might seem like just a personality
politics and not seem work-related, they often have a big impact on the effectiveness
of collaboration, exchange of ideas and information sharing. Politics in the workplace
can be demoralizing, but you can turn the situation around. By understanding the
issue and taking positive action, one can help solve the problem and make office
a place where one really wants to be.
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Entrepreneurship trends in Wal-Mart Company
Izadpanah Norouz
Wal-Mart is one of the largest companies in the world.
It has more annual revenue than the GDP of Switzerland. Wal-Mart is so huge that
it effectively sets the terms for large swaths of the global economy, from retail
wages to apparel prices to transoceanic shipping rates to the location of toy factories.
Indeed, if there is one single aspect to understand about the company, it is the
fact that Wal-Mart is transforming the relations of production in virtually every
product category it sells, through its relationships with suppliers. But its influence
goes far beyond the economy. Its construction of super-centers molds the landscape,
shapes traffic patterns and alters the local commercial mix. It is the largest retailer
in the United States, Mexico and Canada. Wal-Mart is also the largest private employer
in the United States, Mexico and Canada and it has 1.8 million employees around
the globe1. The Wal-Mart entrepreneurship story is full of simple but important
truths. It is a story about principled, focused leadership that has been able to
effectively and consistently balance values and the bottom line in a way that has
seldom occurred. It is a story about the power of the free – enterprise entre- preneurship
and indicated that how the system is the engine that drives democracy. It is a story
about trust- the bases of all successful relationships. It is a story about a special
man a special group of people and a special organization. It is a truly believe,
a story that has positive applications for millions of people and organizations.
The Wal-Mart entrepreneurs Sam Walton started to grow his own dream, with performing
twelve simple principles and developed one of the largest retailing industries.
Wal-Mart is one of the most powerful entities in the world. Concerning the deficiencies
in managing process of commodity distribution in the developing countries and Iran,
this conceptual article speculates on Wall-Mart's entrepre- neurship trends for
solutions in Iranian society.
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Investment Portfolio of Scheduled Commercial Banks
in India
Kaur Varinder and Kaur Rajinder
Commercial banks in an economy are supposed to discharge
their social obligations in terms of meeting credit needs of sections/sectors of
the economy. Also being growth oriented, they have to meet the objective of profitability
for which they rely upon various channels of investment. In case of Indian banks,
substantial quantitative change has taken place in their investment portfolio over
the period of time. Indian banks heavily rely upon central government securities
whereas they are reducing their share in public sector undertakings and gradually
diverting towards stock market.
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Strategic Management and its impact on Organizational
Effectiveness: A Study in Banks
Saksena Apoorva, Patwardhan Manoj, Bajpai Naval and Chatterjee R.N.
Strategic management is an intrinsic part of any organization.
Strategic management comprises of environmental scanning, strategy formulation,
implementation and evaluation and control. Through this process, an organization
plans its activities which shall be profitable for the firm. On the other hand,
organizational effectiveness is a tool for making best use of available talents,
skills and helping employees to achieve their personal goals along with organizational
goals and mission. Organizational effectiveness is the degree to which an organization
realizes its goals. Effectiveness implicitly takes into consideration a range of
variables at both the organizational and departmental levels. The presented study
is an attempt to correlate strategic management and organizational effectiveness
through a study in banks. The conclusion of the study supports that strategic management
has quite an impact on organizational effectiveness in terms of planning, formulation,
implementation and evaluation in relation to innovation, feedback, roles and communication
within an organization.
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E Banking –A Study with Reference to Customer Satisfaction
Jayalakshmi S.
The main purpose of the study is to know the E-banking
services. Traditionally the relationship between the bank and its customers has
been on a one-to-one process. This process takes time to complete a single transaction
and may result in frauds and mistakes. Modern banks can not depend on one-to-one
process as the customers demand advanced services. While computerization of banks
tries to satisfy expectations of the customer, it also reduces frauds and mistakes.
This research study makes an attempt to analyze how banks are attracting the various
customers and how the customers are satisfied with the services provided by the
banks.
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