Advances In Management

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Advances In Management






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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