Master of Business Administration-MBA Semester I Subject Name Human Resource Management

Assignment Set- 1 (60 Marks)

Q.1 What are the functions that HR attempts to fulfill in any organization.[10 Marks]

ANS1: A Human Resource Management System (HRMS) or Human Resource Information System (HRIS), refers to the systems and processes at the intersection between human resource management (HRM) and information technology. It merges HRM as a discipline and in particular its basic HR activities and processes with the information technology field, whereas the programming of data processing systems evolved into standardized routines and packages of enterprise resource planning (ERP) software. On the whole, these ERP systems have their origin on software that integrates information from different applications into one universal database. The linkage of its financial and human resource modules through one database is the most important distinction to the individually and proprietary developed predecessors, which makes this software application both rigid and flexible. The function of Human Resources departments is generally administrative and common to all organizations. Organizations may have formalized selection, evaluation, and payroll processes. Efficient and effective management of "Human Capital" progressed to an increasingly imperative and complex process. The HR function consists of tracking existing employee data which traditionally includes personal histories, skills, capabilities, accomplishments and salary. To reduce the manual workload of these administrative activities, organizations began to electronically automate many of these processes by introducing specialized Human Resource Management Systems. HR executives rely on internal or external IT professionals to develop and maintain an integrated HRMS. Before theclientserver architecture evolved in the late 1980s, many HR automation processes were relegated to mainframe computers that could handle large amounts of data transactions. In consequence of the high capital investment necessary to buy or program proprietary software, these internally-developed HRMS were limited to organizations that possessed a large amount of capital. The advent ofclientserver, Application Service Provider, and Software as a Service SaaS or Human Resource Management Systems enabled increasingly higher administrative control of such systems. Currently Human Resource Management Systems encompass:

1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. 8.

Payroll Work Time Appraisal performance Benefits Administration HR management Information system Recruiting/Learning Management # TrainingSystem Performance Record Employee Self-Service

The payroll module automates the pay process by gathering data on employee time and attendance, calculating various deductions and taxes, and generating periodic pay cheques and employee tax reports. Data is generally fed from the human resources and time keeping modules to calculate automatic deposit and manual cheque writing capabilities. This module can encompass all employee-related transactions as well as integrate with existing financial management systems. The work time module gathers standardized time and work related efforts. The most advanced modules provide broad flexibility in data collection methods, labor distribution capabilities and data analysis features. Cost analysis and efficiency metrics are the primary functions. The benefits administration module provides a system for organizations to administer and track employee participation in benefits programs. These typically encompass insurance, compensation, profit sharing and retirement. The HR management module is a component covering many other HR aspects from application to retirement. The system records basic demographic and address data, selection, training and development, capabilities and skills management, compensation planning records and other related activities. Leading edge systems provide the ability to "read" applications and enter relevant data to applicable database fields, notify employers and provide position management and position control. Human resource management function involves the recruitment, placement, evaluation, compensation and development of the employees of an organization. Initially, businesses used computer based information systems to: produce pay checks and payroll reports; maintain personnel records; pursue Talent Management.

Online recruiting has become one of the primary methods employed by HR departments to garner potential candidates for available positions within an organization. Talent Management systems typically encompass: analyzing personnel usage within an organization; identifying potential applicants; recruiting through company-facing listings;

recruiting through online recruiting sites or publications that market to both recruiters and applicants.

The significant cost incurred in maintaining an organized recruitment effort, cross-posting within and across general or industry-specific job boards and maintaining a competitive exposure of availabilities has given rise to the development of a dedicated Applicant Tracking System, or 'ATS', module. The training module provides a system for organizations to administer and track employee training and development efforts. The system, normally called a Learning Management System if a stand alone product, allows HR to track education, qualifications and skills of the employees, as well as outlining what training courses, books, CDs, web based learning or materials are available to develop which skills. Courses can then be offered in date specific sessions, with delegates and training resources being mapped and managed within the same system. Sophisticated LMS allow managers to approve training, budgets and calendars alongside performance management and appraisal metrics. The Employee Self-Service module allows employees to query HR related data and perform some HR transactions over the system. Employees may query their attendance record from the system without asking the information from HR personnel. The module also lets supervisors approve O.T. requests from their subordinates through the system without overloading the task on HR department. Many organizations have gone beyond the traditional functions and developed human resource management information systems, which support recruitment, selection, hiring, job placement, performance appraisals, employee benefit analysis, health, safety and security, while others integrate an outsourced Applicant Tracking System that encompasses a subset of the above.

Q.2

Discuss the cultural dimensions of Indian Work force.[10 Marks]

ANS2: Cultural dimension of the Indian workforce The foundation for understanding the unique work practices at a country level can best be understood by first understanding the cultural aspects of the countrys workforce. The pioneering work done by Dutch scientist, Geert Hofstede is a useful tool in understanding the cultural differences used to differentiate countries. He identified five cultural dimensions around which countries have been clustered. The dimensions are: power distance, uncertainty avoidance, individualism, masculinity and long term orientation. Geert Hofstede dimensions are based on research conducted among over 1000 IBM employees working globally. While there continued to be other studies like the GLOBE (Global Leadership and Organisational Behaviour Effectiveness) project and Trompenaars' Framework, Hofstedes model is most popular. Power Distance Power distance is the extent to which less powerful members of institutions and organisations accept that power is distributed unequally. Countries in which people blindly obey the orders of superiors have high power distance.

High power distance countries have norms, values and beliefs that support: Inequality is good; everyone has a place; some are high, some are low Most people should be dependent on a leader, The powerful are entitled to privileges, and The powerful should yield their power. India scores 77 on power distance, indicating high power distance as a result of the inequalities both at the level of the society as well as the at the workplace. Indian organizations typically have hierarchical structures, position yields power and subordination is acceptable. The dimension of high power distance at the workplace can be best understood as: People dislike work and try to avoid it. Managers believe that they must adopt Theory X leadership style, that is, they must be authoritarian, and force workers to perform and need to supervise their subordinates closely. Organisational structures and systems tend to match the assumption regarding leadership and motivation Decision making is centralised. Those at the top make most of the decisions. Organisations tend to have tall structures. They will have a large proportion of supervisory personnel, and The people at the lower levels often will have low job qualifications Such structures encourage and promote inequality between people at different levels.

Uncertainty Avoidance Uncertainty avoidance is the extent to which people feel threatened by ambiguous situations, and have created beliefs and institutions that try to avoid these. India scores 40 indicating low to average uncertainty avoidance characteristics. Countries with low uncertainty avoidance have people who are more willing to accept that risks are associated with the unknown, and that life must go on in spite of this. Specifically, high uncertainty avoidance countries are characterised by norms, values, and beliefs which accept that:

Conflict should not be avoided, Deviant people and ideas should be tolerated, Laws are not very important and need not necessarily be followed, Experts and authorities are not always correct, and Consensus is not important Low uncertainty avoidance societies such as ours have organization settings with less structuring of activities, fewer written rules, more risktaking by managers, higher labour turnover and more ambitious employees. Such an organisation encourages employees to use their initiative and assume responsibility for their actions. Denmark and Great Britain are good examples of low uncertainty avoidance cultures. Germany, Japan, and Spain typify high uncertainty avoidance societies

Individualism Individualism is the tendency of people to look after themselves and their family only. The opposite of this is collectivism which refers to the tendency of people to belong to groups and to look after each other in exchange for loyalty. India scores 48 on Individualism, indicating somewhat low scores, therefore tending towards a more collectivistic society. Collectivist countries believe that: One's identity is based on one's group membership, Group decision making is best, and Groups protect individuals in exchange for their loyalty to the group.

Organisations in collectivist societies tend to promote nepotism in selecting managers. In contrast, in individualistic societies, favouritism shown to friends and relatives is considered to be unfair and even illegal. Further, organisations in collectivist cultures base promotions mostly on seniority and age, whereas in individualist societies, they are based on one's performance. Finally, in collectivist cultures, important decisions are made by older and senior managers as opposed to individualist cultures, where decision making is an individual's responsibility. Individualism is common in the US, Canada, Australia, Denmark, and Sweden. The people of India,

Indonesia, Pakistan and a number of South American countries exhibit collectivism

Masculinity Masculinity refers to a situation in which the dominant values in a society are success, money and other material things. Hofstede measured this dimension on a continuum ranging from masculinity to femininity. India scores 56 tending to be closed to masculinity than feminity. In highly masculine societies, jobs are clearly defined by gender. There are men's jobs and women's jobs. Men usually choose jobs that are associated with long-term careers. Women usually choose jobs that are associated with short-term employment, before marriage.

Q.3

Explain the need for Human Resource Planning system .[10 Marks]

ANS3: In simple words Human Resource Planning is understood as the process of forecasting an organization's future human resource demand for, and supply to meet the objectives such as the right type of people in the right number. After this process only the HRM department can initiate recruitment and selection process. HRP is a sub-system in the total organizational planning. Human resource planning is important for helping both organizations and employees to prepare for the future but you might be thinking "Are not things always changing?" Human resource planning is the process by which an organization ensures that it has the right number and kind of people, at the right place, at the right time, capable of effectively and efficiently completing tasks that will help the organization achieve its overall objective. Human Resource Planning System. A. Objectives of Human Resource Planning:Human Resource Planning fulfils individual, organizational and national goals; but, according to Sikula, "the ultimate mission or purpose is to relate future human resources to future enterprise needs, so as to maximize the future return on investment in human resources. In effect, the main purpose is one of matching or fitting employee abilities to enterprise requirements, with an emphasis on future instead of present arrangements." The objectives may be laid down for a short term (i.e. for one year). B. Estimating the Future Organizational Structure or Forecasting the Manpower Requirements:The management must estimate the structure of the organization at a given point in time. For this estimate, the number and type of employees needed have to be determined. Many environmental factors affect this determination. They include business forecasts, expansion and growth, design and structural changes, management philosophy, government policy, product and human skills mix, and competition. Forecasting provides the basic premises on which the manpower planning is built. Forecasting is necessary for various reasons, such as:

a) The eventualities and contingencies of general economic business cycles (such as inflation, wages, prices, costs and raw material supplies) have an influence on the short range and long run plans of all organizations. An expansion following enlargement and growth in business involves the use of additional machinery and personnel, and a reallocation of facilities, all of which call for advance planning of human resources. Changes in management philosophies and leadership styles. The use of mechanical technology (such as the introduction of automatic controls, or the mechanization of materials handling functions) necessitates changes in the skills of workers, as well as a change in the number of employees needed. Very often, changes in the quantity or quality of products or services require a change in the organization structure. Plans have to be made for this purpose as well. C. Auditing Human Resources: Once the future human resource needs are estimated, the next step is to determine the present supply of manpower resources. This is done through what is called "Skills Inventory". A skills inventory contains data about each employee's skills, abilities, work preferences and other items of information which indicate his overall value to the company. D. Job Analysis: After having decided how many persons would be needed, it is necessary to prepare a job analysis, which records details of training, skills, qualification, abilities, experience and responsibilities, etc., which are needed for a job. Job analysis includes the preparation of job descriptions and job specifications. E. Developing a Human Resource Plan: This step refers to the development and implementation of the human resource plan, which consists in finding out the sources of labour supply with a view to making an effective use of these sources. The first thing, therefore, is to decide on the policy should the, personnel be hired from within through promotional channels or should it be obtained from an outside source. The best policy which is followed by most organizations is to fill up higher vacancies by promotion and lower level positions by recruitment from the labour market. Currently Human Resource Management Systems encompass: The payroll module automates the pay process by gathering data on employee time and attendance, calculating various deductions and taxes, and generating periodic pay cheques and employee tax reports. Data is generally fed from the human resources and time keeping modules to calculate automatic deposit and manual cheque writing capabilities. This module can encompass all employee-related transactions as well as integrate with existing financial management systems. The work time gathers standardized time and work related efforts. The most advanced modules provide broad flexibility in data collection methods, labour distribution capabilities and data analysis features. Cost analysis and efficiency metrics are the primary functions. The benefits administration module provides a system for organizations to administer and track employee participation in benefits programs. These typically encompass insurance, compensation, profit sharing and retirement. The HR management module is a component covering many other HR aspects from application to retirement. The system records basic demographic and address data, selection, training and development, capabilities and skills management, compensation planning records and other related activities. Leading edge systems provide the ability to "read" applications and enter relevant data to

applicable database fields, notify employers and provide position management and position control. Human resource management function involves the recruitment, placement, evaluation, compensation and development of the employees of an organization. Initially, businesses used computer based information system to: Produce pay checks and payroll reports; Maintain personnel records; Pursue Talent Management.

Online recruiting has become one of the primary methods employed by HR departments to garner potential candidates for available positions within an organization. Talent Management systems typically encompass: Analyzing personnel usage within an organization; Identifying potential applicants; Recruiting through company-facing listings; Recruiting through online recruiting sites or publications that market to both recruiters and applicants.

Q.4

Elucidate the classification of wages in the Indian System.[10 Marks]

ANS4: On 18 January 1826, the Government of the French Indian Ocean island of Runion laid down terms for the introduction of Indian labourers to the colony. Each man was required to appear before a magistrate and declare that he was going voluntarily. The contract was for five years with pay of eight rupees per month and rations provided. By 1830, 3,012 Indian labourers had been transported from Pondicherry and Karikal. The first attempt at importing Indian labour into Mauritius, in 1829, ended in failure, but by 1834, with abolition throughout most of the British Empire, transportation of Indian labour to the island gained pace. By 1838, 25,000 Indian labourers had been shipped to Mauritius. [edit]Colonial British Indian Government regulations

Colonial British Indian Government Regulations of 1837 laid down specific conditions for the dispatch of Indian labour from Calcutta. The would-be emigrant and his emigration agent were required to appear before an officer designated by the Colonial British Government of India with a written statement of the terms of the contract. The length of service was to be five years, renewable for further five-year terms. The emigrant was to be returned at the end of his service to the port of departure. Each emigrant vessel was required to conform to certain standards of space, diet etc. and carry a medical officer. In 1837 this scheme was extended to Madras and Bombay. Ban on export of Indian labour

As soon as the new system of emigration of labour became known, a campaign, similar to the anti-slavery campaign sprang up in Britain and India. On 1 August 1838, a committee was appointed to inquire into the export of Indian labour. It heard reports of abuses of the new system. On 29 May 1839, overseas manual labour was prohibited and any person effecting such emigration was liable to a 200 Rupee fine or three months in jail. After prohibition, a few Indian labourers continued to be sent Mauritius via Pondicherry (a French enclave in South India). Resumption of Indian labour transportation

The planters in Mauritius and the Caribbean worked hard to overturn the ban, while the anti-slavery committee worked just as hard to uphold the ban. The Government of the East India Company finally capitulated under intense pressure from planters and their capitalist supporters: On 2 December 1842, the Indian Government permitted emigration from Calcutta, Bombay and Madras to Mauritius. Emigration Agents were appointed at each departure point. There were penalties for abuse of the system. Return passage had to be provided at any time after five years when claimed. After the lifting of the ban, the first ship left Calcutta for Mauritius on 23 January 1843. The Protector of Immigrants in Mauritius reported that a ship arrived every few days with a human consignment and the large number of immigrants was causing a backlog in processing and he asked for help. During 1843, 30,218 male and 4,307 female indentured immigrants entered Mauritius. The first ship from Madras arrived in Mauritius on 21 April 1843. Attempts to stamp out abuses of the system

The existing regulations failed to stamp out abuses of the system continued, including recruitment by false pretenses and consequently, in 1843 the Government of Bengal, was forced to restrict emigration to Calcutta and only permitted departure after the signing of a certificate from the Agent and countersigned by the Protector. The frantic rate of migration to Mauritius to meet its labour shortages continued into the early months of 1844. The immigrants of 1844 (9,709 males and 1,840 females) were mainly the Hill Coolies (Dhangars) and the women were wives and daughters of the male migrants. The repatriation of Indians who had completed indenture remained a problem with a high death rate and investigations

revealed that regulations for the return voyages were not being satisfactorily followed. Without enough recruits from Calcutta to satisfy the demands of Mauritius planters, permission was granted in 1847 to reopen emigration from Madras with the first ship leaving Madras for Mauritius in 1850. Indian labour transportation to West Indies

After the end of slavery, the West Indian sugar colonies tried the use of emancipated slaves, families from Ireland, Germany and Malta and Portuguese from Madeira. All these efforts failed to satisfy the labour needs of the colonies due to high mortality of the new arrivals and their reluctance to continue working at the end of their indenture. On 16 November 1844, the Indian Government legalised emigration to Jamaica, Trinidad and Demerara (Guyana). The first ship, the Whitby, sailed from Port Calcutta for British Guiana on 13 January 1838, and arrived in Berbice on 5 May 1838. Transportation to the West Indies stopped in 1848 due to problems in the sugar industry and resumed in Demerara and Trinidad in 1851 and Jamaica in 1860. Persuading labourers to prolong their indenture Renouncing claim to free passage The planters pressed consistently for longer indentures. In an effort to persuade labourers to stay on, the Mauritius Government, in 1847, offered a gratuity of 2 to each labourer who decided to remain in Mauritius and renounce his claim to a free passage. The Mauritius Government also wanted to discontinue the return passage and finally on 3 August 1852, the Government of India agreed to change the conditions whereby if a passage was not claimed within six months of entitlement, it would be forfeited, but with safeguards for the sick and poor. A further change in 1852 stipulated that labourers could return after five years (contributing $35 towards the return passage) but would qualify for a free return passage after 10 years. This had a negative effect on recruitment as few wanted to sign up for 10 years and a sum of $35 was prohibitive and the change was discontinued after 1858. Increasing proportion of women It was also considered that if the labourers had a family life in the colonies they would be more likely to stay on. The proportion of women in early migration to Mauritius was small and the first effort to correct this imbalance was when, on 18 March 1856, the Secretary for the Colonies sent a dispatch to the

Governor of Demerara that stated that for the season 1856-7 women must form 25 percent of the total and in the following years males must not exceed three times the number of females dispatched. It was more difficult to induce women from North India to go overseas than those from South India but the Colonial Office persisted and on 30 July 1868 instructions were issued that the proportion of 40 women to 100 men should be adhered to. It remained in force of the rest of the indenture period. Land grants Trinidad followed a different trend where the Government offered the labourers a stake in the colony by providing real inducements to settle when their indentures had expired. From 1851 10 was paid to all those who forfeited their return passages. This was replaced by a land grant and in 1873 further incentives were provided in the form of 5 acres (20,000 m2) of land plus 5 cash. Furthermore, Trinidad adopted an ordinance in 1870 by which new immigrants were not allotted to plantations where the death rate exceeded 7 percent. Recruitment for the French Colonies

Recruitment to the French sugar colonies continued via the French ports in India without knowledge of the British authorities and by 1856 the number of labourers in Runion is estimated to have reached 37,694. It was not until 25 July 1860 that France was officially permitted by the British authorities to recruit labour for Reunion at a rate of 6,000 annually. This was extended on 1 July 1861 with permission to import 'free' labourers into the French colonies of Martinique, Guadeloupe and French Guinea (Cayenne). Indenture was for a period of five years (longer than British colonies at the time), return passage was provided at the end of indenture. (Not after ten as in British colonies) and Governor-General was empowered to suspend emigration to any French colony if any abuse was detected in the system. Transportation to other Colonies

Further information: Indian South Africans Following introduction of labour laws acceptable to the Government of India, transportation was extended to the smaller British Caribbean islands; Grenada in 1856, St Lucia in 1858 and St Kitts and St Vincent in 1860. Emigration to Natal was approved on 7 August 1860 and the first ship from Madras arrived in

Durban on 16 November 1860, forming the basis of the Indian South African community. The recruits were employed on three-year contracts. The British Government permitted transportation to Danish colonies in 1862. There was a high mortality rate in the one ship load sent to St Croix and following adverse reports, from the British Consul on the treatment of indentured labourers, further emigration was stopped. The survivors returned to India in 1868 leaving about 80 Indians behind. Permission was granted for emigration to Queensland in 1864 but no Indians were transported to this Australian colony under the indenture system. Streamlining the Colonial British Indian indentured labour system

There were a lot of discrepancies between systems used for indentured Colonial British Indian labour to various colonies. Colonial British Government regulations of 1864 made general provisions for recruitment of Indian labour in an attempt to minimise abuse of the system. These included the appearance of the recruit before a magistrate in the district of recruitment and not the port of embarkation, licensing of recruiters and penalties to recruiters for not observing rules for recruitment, legally defined rules for the Protector of Emigrants, rules for the depots, payment for agents to be by salary and not commission, the treatment of emigrants on board ships and the proportion of females to males were set uniformly to 25 females to 100 males. Despite this the sugar colonies were able to devise labour laws that were disadvantageous to the immigrants. For example, in Demerara an ordinance in 1864 made it a crime for a labourer to be absent from work, misbehaving or not completing five tasks each week. New labour laws in Mauritius in 1867 made it impossible for time-expired labourers to shake free of the estate economy. They were required to carry passes, which showed their occupation and district and anyone found outside his district was liable to arrest and dispatched Immigration Depot. If he was found to be without employment he was deemed a vagrant. Transportation to Surinam

Transportation of Indian labour to Surinam began under an agreement that has been declared as Imperial. In return for Dutch rights to recruit Indian labour, the Dutch transferred some old forts (remnants of slave trade) in West Africa to the British and also bargained for an end to British claims in Sumatra.

Labourers were signed up for five years and were provided with a return passage at the end of this term, but were to be subject to Dutch law. The first ship carrying Indian indentured labourers arrived in Surinam in June 1873 followed by six more ships during the same year. [edit]Colonial British Indian labour transportation until 1870

Between 1842 and 1870 a total of 525,482 Indians emigrated to the British and French Colonies. Of these, 351,401 went to Mauritius, 76,691 went to Demerara, 42,519 went to Trinidad, 15,169 went to Jamaica, 6,448 went to Natal, 15,005 went to Runion and 16,341 went to the other French colonies. This figure does not include the 30,000 who went to Mauritius earlier, labourers who went to Ceylon or Malaya and illegal recruitment to the French colonies. Thus by 1870 the indenture system, transporting Indian labour to the colonies, was an established system of providing labour for European colonial plantations and when, in 1879, Fiji became a recipient of Indian labour it was this same system with a few minor modifications. The Indenture Agreement

The following is the indenture agreement of 1912: Period of Service-Five Years from the Date of Arrival in the Colony. Nature of labour-Work in connection with the Cultivation of the soil or the manufacture of the produce on any plantation. Number of days on which the Emigrant is required to labour in each Week-Everyday, excepting Sundays and authorized holidays. Number of hours in every day during which he is required to labour without extra remuneration-Nine hours on each of ve consecutive days in every week commencing with the Monday of each week, and ve hours on the Saturday of each week. Monthly or Daily Wages and Task-Work Rates-When employed at time-work every adult male Emigrant above the age of fteen years will be paid not less than one shilling, which is at present equivalent to twelve annas and every adult female Emigrant above that age not less than nine pence, which is at present equivalent to nine annas, for every working day of nine hours; children below that age will receive

wages proportionate to the amount of work done. When employed at task or ticca-work every adult male Emigrant above the age of fteen years will be paid not less than one shilling, and every adult female Emigrant above that age not less than nine pence for every task which shall be performed. The law is that a man's task shall be as much as ordinary able-bodied adult male Emigrant can do in six hours' steady work, and that a woman's task shall be three-fourths of a man's task. An employer is not bound to allot, nor is an Emigrant bound to perform more than one task in each day, but by mutual agreement such extra work may be allotted, performed and paid for. Wages are paid weekly on the Saturday of each week. Conditions as to return passage-Emigrants may return to India at their own expense after completing ve years' industrial residence in the Colony. After ten years' continuous residence every Emigrant who was above the age of twelve on introduction to the Colony and who during that period has completed an industrial residence of ve years, shall be entitled to a free-return passage if he claims it within two years after the completion of the ten years' continuous residence. If the Emigrant was under twelve years of age when he was introduced into the colony, he will be entitled to a free return passage if he claims it before he reaches 24 years of age and fullls the other conditions as to residence. A child of an Emigrant born within the colony will be entitled to a free return passage until he reaches the age of twelve, and must be accompanied on the voyage by his parents or guardian. Other Conditions-Emigrants will receive rations from their employers during the rst six months after their arrival on the plantation according to the scale prescribed by the government of Fiji at a daily cost of four pence, which is at present equivalent to four annas, for each person of twelve years of age and upwards. Every child between ve and twelve years of age will receive approximately half rations free of cost, and every child, ve years of age and under, nine chattacks of milk daily free of cost, during the rst year after their arrival. Suitable dwelling will be assigned to Emigrants under indenture free of rent and will be kept in good repair by the employers. When Emigrants under indenture are ill they will be provided with Hospital accommodation, Medical attendance, Medicines, Medical comforts and Food free of charge.

An Emigrant who has a wife still living is not allowed to marry another wife in the Colony unless his marriage with his rst wife shall have been legally dissolved; but if he is married to more than one wife in his country he can take them all with him to the Colony and they will then be legally registered and acknowledged as his wives.

Q.5 Ms. S. Sharma is the General manager HR of a private educational group. She is planning for the promotion policy for the faculty members. The norms are also ruled by the government policy and criteria. Moreover the options to promote are limited. Suggest Ms Sharma the alternative way to vertical promotion. What are the challenges in implementing that option?[10 Marks]
ANS5: In Vertical Promotion, employees are promoted from one rank to the next higher rank in the same department or division. This is based on the belief that this leads to effective utilization of experience gained in the same department. It also gives an opportunity to the employees to go up while increasing their specialization in their area of operation. However, it has got one disadvantage. The vacancies may be very few in a department. Me Sharma can promote Faculty member to a Professor, but In this Case a biggest challenge for Me Sharma is, a Lecturer working in a particular Department may not become a Professor or the Head of the Department unless his superiors die/retire/resign. This makes the person frustrated. Besides, this type of promotion limits a person's contact with other departments and does not permit him to enhance his knowledge/expertise with each year's experience. Because his experience would be one or two year's knowledge multiplied by 10 to 15 years rotation. If he does not get his promotion at the right time since the room at the top is limited he will also start disliking his job / organisation. As a result, he becomes counter-productive. As we can suggest to Ms. Sharma to consider the Horizontal promotions as an alternative way to vertical promotion. Under this policy, an employee may be transferred from a position in one department to a position of higher rank in another department or to the same rank in a different department if the transfer gives him an opportunity to acquire greater knowledge and wider experience. E.g. if a Senior Lecturer cannot get promotion in a particular Department for obvious reasons, he may be transferred as Registrar of the University or as Controller of Examinations or Director of Distance Education. However, there is one difficulty. Unless the person is quite dynamic and intelligent, he may find the new assignment a tough one and irksome. To some, it may be a cause for frustration. However, for many, Horizontal promotion even if it is only a paper promotion is a challenge since it allows them job rotation.

Q.6

ABC is an organization that wants to revise the HR policies. Before doing that it wantto

have some details about the following: What the emplyees think about the company? What do they think ,in the company is going well? What practices in the company they think are not doing well?

 Get the feedback on managerial effectiveness. Suggest the suitable method to collect the employee opinion and explain the method. [10 Marks]
ANS6: Employee survey techniques have developed significantly over the past few years, with web based

technologies it is easier and cheaper than ever to collect and manage data. In the past, any HR driven initiative was seen as tactical and of little real benefit to the organization as a whole. Now many enlightened organizations see HR and employee surveys as a powerful business improvement tool. Customers now have a greater range of choices than ever and are becoming increasingly better informed. This in turn means that many have very high expectations and, if they feel they are being short changed in any way, they take the initiative and switch their allegiance. This reduction in consumer loyalty can create difficulties in retaining existing customers, causing organizations to increase the amount they spend on engaging new customers. Consumer choice has also brought greater competitiveness to the market and in many situations it is difficult for an organization to differentiate itself from the competition in terms of production range, quality and price. As a result, the main differentiator for organizations has to be the quality of service that the customer receives. It is vital for every interaction to be a positive one, not just for the customer, but for the employee as well. If the customer is happy, they spend more money, which naturally improves the organizations overall business performance. Different Types of Employee Survey Programs Annual climate and employee satisfaction surveys are by far the most popular kind of employee survey activity. However, the following types of survey programs are also gaining in popularity: Combining employee and customer satisfaction studies. Procedure/policy evaluation. Alignment of employees behind new product development. Alignment of employees behind organizational rebranding and repositioning efforts. Managing employees through organizational change programs (e.g. merger, acquisition/downsizing, etc.). Internal customer service evaluations. Internal communications evaluations. Evaluation and design of different benefits schemes. Defining Employee Survey Goals and Objectives Before starting on a staff survey process, it is vital to define a set of objectives for the survey. Without these objectives, the survey program will lack focus and it will be difficult to raise enthusiasm for the survey among your key influencers and decision makers. All employee survey programs need to be seen as a company-wide initiative that is driven by managers and employees from across the whole organization and not something that is solely initiated and managed just within HR Deciding on the Appropriate Survey Methodology Defining objectives at the outset will help to determine the methodology because, to meet the desired objectives, you will need to consider the following: Are all employees affected and should all employees need to be involved? Will changes and improvement action be required at different levels across the organization? How will managers and employees be engaged in the improvement process? How will awareness of the survey, its results and improvements be raised and managed among employees? How will the progress of improvement actions be reviewed, monitored and communicated over time? Quantitative and qualitative research methods can both be highly effective in employee surveys. It is essential, though, to ensure that the correct methodology is used for the type of survey being conducted. Employee satisfaction surveys are the most common form of quantitative research. There are occasions when both methodologies can be effectively combined. For example, in an employee satisfaction survey, you may decide to use focus groups before designing the survey in order to determine the survey content and/or pilot questionnaire.

Employee Satisfaction Surveys It is worthwhile examining employee satisfaction surveys in more detail given that they are the most popular type of employee survey. Pre Survey During the Survey Post Survey Between Surveys AN INTRODUCTION TO EMPLOYEE SURVEY TECHNIQUES Planning for Employee Satisfaction Surveys The following outlines some of the factors that should be communicated at each stage of the process: Pre Survey Objectives of the survey, rationale for the survey and how the results will be fed back Use an independent, third-party agency for data collection and analysis Timing of the data collection Senior management commitment to the survey Importance of getting a good response rate so that all employee opinions are heard Importance of participation Methodology to be used Assurance that the study will protect anonymity and preserve confidentiality During the Survey Reminder of the objectives and assurance that action will be taken Assurance that individual surveys cannot be seen Regular reminders and a notice of when the survey completion period will end How the results will be acted upon Update on current response rate Reinforce the importance of participation How employees can participate and what employees should do if having problems accessing or completing the survey Reinforce anonymity and confidentiality of the results Post Survey Thank employees for participating and communicate how results will be shared Final response rate (Company wide vs. Business Units/Divisions) Detail on how employees should get involved in the improvement action planning process Local results and local improvement action planning Provide top-level summary results Reminder of the action planning process Between Surveys Highlight and recognize successful examples of action planning and progress made Recognize the contributions of teams and individuals to the action planning process Senior management endorsement and support of the final action plan/survey outcomes Detailed plans for the next survey Highlight any areas where action cannot be taken and the reasons for this Highlight the impact of action planning on customer service and business performance Electronic and Web-Enabled Increasingly, organizations are starting to move towards electronic methods of surveying their employees and the most common method is hosting a web-enabled survey.

Questionnaire Design The design of the questionnaire is important as it can have as much influence over the response rate as the method of completion. The key incentive In contrast to the weak influence of incentives, research shows that employees are more likely to participate in an employee survey if they believe that the results will be acted upon. The golden rule of this type of survey is that, if you do not intend to act on the results, then do not conduct the survey in the first place. Results Analysis and Reporting There are many different ways of analyzing, cutting and reporting results and each organization has to decide individually on the best method for their needs. IMPROVEMENT ACTION PLANNING Background As noted earlier, the guiding principle of employee survey is that, if you are not prepared to act on the results, then do not conduct the survey in the first place. You have spent time and effort getting employees enthusiastic about the survey and they now have high expectations that there will be improvement activity in which they will be involved. Improvement action planning should be top down process where the priorities for the organization are identified, communicated and acted upon at the senior management level. Then moving down to Divisional and Unit levels, local teams should identify and tackle the things that they have direct control over and escalate anything else back upwards. Prioritizing Improvement Actions Prioritization of improvement actions should be taken under consideration. Some organizations struggle with improvement action planning because they try to tackle far too many improvement actions at once and start spreading the valuable resources they have too thinly over too many actions. Our recommendation is that not more than three to four improvement actions should be tackled at one time and that further actions should not be pursued until at least one of the existing actions has been fully completed. The specific components of the plan should be as follows: 1. Area for improvement: What is the problem? What impact is it having on employees and customers? What is causing the problem? 2. What Needs to Happen: Specify the specific improvement action that is required to address the problem. 3. How It Will Happen: Specify the process and activities required as part of the improvement action. 4. Timelines: It is important to have a target date for completing the delivery of the action. This sets the focus that any target delivery date is realistic and achievable and it may be stretched if not met. 5. Action Owner: It is important for one person to be allocated ownership for the action. This does not necessarily mean that this person is solely responsible for the delivery of the action, but they are responsible for ensuring that the delivery does actually happen. Ownership for actions should be spread around the team so that no one person is overburdened. 6. Resources: Specify and determine what individual resources are required such as personnel, money, materials or support from other parts of the organization. 7. Improvement Targets: It is important to be able to determine whether improvement actions are having the desired effect by setting improvement targets. The survey can be used as a source for this by pulling out appropriate questions and setting targets for improving the results to these questions in the next survey. 8. Method of Measurement: List the data sources that will provide the information needed for improvement targets. 9. Review Dates: Specify all of the dates when the improvement action will be reviewed. 10. Review of Progress: This step should be completed after each review to outline the progress made against the action. 11. Completion Date: The date when the action was finally completed. 12. Impact: Completed after the action has finally been delivered to define the impact and difference that the improvement action has made to employees, customers and the business overall. Reviewing the Action Plan Regular review of the action plan is perhaps the most important element of the improvement action

planning process because it ensures that the momentum is being maintained, enables progress to be tracked and identifies any barriers that may exist.

Master of Business Administration-MBA Semester I Subject Name Human Resource Management

Assignment Set- 2 (60 Marks)

Q.1

Discuss the factors affecting recruitment?[10 Marks]

ANS1:The recruitment function of the organisations is affected and governed by a mix of various internal and external forces. The internal forces or factors are the factors that can be controlled by the organisation. And the external factors are those factors which cannot be controlled by the organisation. The internal and external forces affecting recruitment function of an organisation are:

FACTORS AFFECTING RECRUITMENT

ANS2: Advantages: Low cost - does not require the development of potentially expensive training materials or classroom/computer-based instruction. Task-based - Since OJT is performed at the work area, training tends to be focused on performing real job tasks. Well suited for small groups - OJT is often the most practical training method when you only need to train one or two employees at a time.

Disadvantages: Inconsistent - Traditional OJT relies heavily on an experienced employee to provide the instruction based on what they feel are the most important topics. What is important to one employee may not be important to another. The result is what is learned may vary greatly, depending on who is assigned as the trainer. Incomplete - Without a structured lesson guide, OJT trainers often forget to cover important information. What is learned is likely to be based on what happened that day rather than on what a new employee needs to know to be safe and productive. Lack of founding principles - While the hands-on aspect of OJT may appeal to the practical learner, often the underlying theories of operation are not covered in sufficient detail or accuracy. Without this foundation of knowledge, trainees often learn what to do, not why they are doing it, resulting in poor decision making when things don't go exactly right. Bad habits - The trainee observes and may adopt the trainer's habits and attitudes about all aspects of the job including safety, quality, customer service, and relationship with management. Poorly selected trainers can have many unintended consequences. Low cost - does not require the development of potentially expensive training materials or classroom/computer-based instruction. Task-based - Since OJT is performed at the work area, training tends to be focused on performing real job tasks. Well suited for small groups - OJT is often the most practical training method when you only need to train one or two employees at a time. Disadvantages: Inconsistent - Traditional OJT relies heavily on an experienced employee to provide the instruction based on what they feel are the most important topics. What is important to one employee may not be important to another. The result is what is learned may vary greatly, depending on who is assigned as the trainer. Incomplete - Without a structured lesson guide, OJT trainers often forget to cover important information. What is learned is likely to be based on what happened that day rather than on what a new employee needs to know to be safe and productive. Lack of founding principles - While the hands-on aspect of OJT may appeal to the practical learner, often the underlying theories of operation are not covered in sufficient detail or accuracy. Without this foundation of knowledge, trainees often learn what to do, not why they are doing it, resulting in poor decision making when things don't go exactly right. Bad habits - The trainee observes and may adopt the trainer's habits and attitudes about all aspects of the job including safety, quality, customer service, and relationship with management. Poorly selected trainers can have many unintended consequences.

Q.3

Write a note on 360 degree appraisal method.[10 Marks]

ANS3: Performance appraisal is the employee appraisal method which helps in the evaluation of the job performance on the basis of the quality, quantity, cost and time. Performance appraisal can help in the career development of the employees. Some objectives of performance appraisal include the feedback on the performance of the employees, recognition of employee training needs, and employee assessment etc.

360 degree feedback is also known as multi-rate feedback and in this performance appraisal a comprehensive feedback about the employees comes. 360 degree performance appraisal comes

from the people who are in direct contact with the employees and can provide valuable insights and information. There are four integral components of 360 degree appraisal and these components include self appraisal, Superiors appraisal, Subordinates appraisal and Peer appraisal.

Q.4

Given below is the HR policy glimpse of ZoomVideo, a multimedia company

1. It offers cash rewards for staff members 2. It promotes the culture of employee referral and encourages people to refer people they know, maybe their friends, ex. colleagues, batch mates and relatives. 3. It recognizes good performances and gives good titles and trphies to the people who perform well and also felicitates them in the Annual Day of the company. Identify what all aspects does it take care of, based on different levels of Maslows Need Hierarchy ?[10 Marks]
ANS4: Maslow's hierarchy of needs is a theory of motivation and personality developed by the psychologist Abraham H. Maslow (1908-1970). Maslow's hierarchy explains human behavior in terms of basic requirements for survival and growth. These requirements, or needs, are arranged according to their importance for survival and their power to motivate the individual. The most basic physical requirements, such as food, water, or oxygen, constitute the lowest level of the need hierarchy. These needs must be satisfied before other, higher needs become important to individuals. Needs at the higher levels of the hierarchy are less oriented towards physical survival and more toward psychological wellbeing and growth. These needs have less power to motivate persons, and they are more influenced by formal education and life experiences. The resulting hierarchy of needs is often depicted as a pyramid, with physical survival needs located at the base of the pyramid and needs for self-actualization located at the top. Description Maslow's hierarchy specifies the following levels: Physiological needs: These are the basic requirements for human physical survival. They include such essentials as food, water, shelter, oxygen, and sleep. When these needs are unmet, human beings will focus on satisfying them and will ignore higher needs. Safety needs: Once the individual's basic physical needs are met, his or her needs for safety emerge. These include needs for a sense of security and predictability in the world. The person tries to maintain the conditions that allow him or her to feel safe and avoid danger. Maslow thought that inadequate fulfillment of these needs might explain neurotic behavior and other emotional problems in some people.

 Love and belonging needs: When the individual's physiological and safety needs are met, needs for love and belongingness emerge. These needs include longings for an intimate relationship with another person as well as the need to belong to a group and to feel accepted. Maslow emphasized that these needs involve both giving and receiving love. Esteem needs: Esteem needs include both self-esteem and the esteem of others. Self-esteem is the feeling that one is worthwhile, competent, and independent. The esteem of others involves the feeling that other people respect and appreciate the person. Once the person has satisfied his or her basic needs, concerns about worthiness emerge. The focus becomes not just surviving, but doing well according to meaningful communal standards. Self-actualization needs: These are the needs associated with realizing one's full potential. As these needs emerge, the person focuses on doing what he or she is meant to do in life developing his or her talents and abilities to their fullest extent

Q.5

Describe the emerging employee empowerment practices. [10 Marks]

ANS5: In todays organizations the focus is moving towards collaboration at the workplace. One of the most common instruments established in large organizations has be the Employee Suggestion Schemes (ESS). The ESS has proved effective in allowing employees a discrete method of voicing their opinions and suggestion for what can be better managed in the company. The management invites the employees suggestions on all/any issue that is a source of irritation for the employees including topics mentioned in 13.3 above are open for comment. What however is different is that the employee is encouraged to frame it as a suggestion and make a recommendation for a change, rather than the classic fault finding approach about what is going wrong or what is not working well. There are ESS forms/ templates that are left in common places or the employee can download from the company intranet and fill in the suggestion for change and drop it in boxes left common places like the coffee area or the lunch rooms etc.. These suggestions are then collated by the HR team and on a quarterly basis the Suggestion Committee meets to review all of the suggestions received. The Suggestion Committee includes line managers, HR representative and Finance and Facilities & Administration team members and senior management representative who can provide the necessary guidance for approval of the suggestions. The committee meets and discusses each suggestion in depth and evaluates the scope for implementation of the suggestion. The feasibility of implementing the suggestion and its other implications are evaluated closely and the suggestion accepted/set aside for future review/rejected. There are awards

given away for excellent ideas that help the company optimise costs, productivity and improve quality, customer satisfaction etc.. The HR then communicates the suggestion committee report with all employees through a mail or during the employees Open-house sessions. The employeesopen house also called the all hands meeting is one more communication forum effectively used by the senior management of a company to connect with its employees. This usually is a quarterly or a halfyearly meeting to which all employees are invited. There is a brief sharing of the companys performance and the rest of the time devoted to answering any queries that employees might have on any issue that concerns the company and its employees. This is often followed with by a informal interactions over lunch/breakfast, where once again employees can speak to the senior executives and ask general questions. Often employees might not feel comfortable asking tough questions in a open forum, hence there are drop-boxes provided where the employee can write and drop a question or a opinion that he wants the senior management to answer. The employee need not mention his name on the question slip. If the senior management is unable to answer a question then and there the same is reviewed subsequently by the senior management and a response shared with all employees over mail or posted on the notice board or on the intranet site for everyone to read. Some organizations also operate a email communication method where any employee who has a query or a observation can write his question to the mail alias and obtain a response. Usually the HR is the custodian of this mailid and they do the necessary review to suitably answer the questions and seek the managers inputs on a as needed basis. The concept of taskforce is also a common mechanism that organizations use to build cross-functional teams (with one representative each from each department) that will work on concerns that are commonly voiced. For example a leading medical transcription company wanted to review its incentive policy and in order to have a collaborative approach put together a team of employees one each from each of the departments including representatives from HR and Finance. The team was provided with all the historical information they would need and were given all of 6 weeks to work on the project and make a presentation to the senior management of the company. After the first presentation to them and having incorporated the feedback received the taskforce then presented the new scheme to the employees. Finally it was approved as a policy and made effective. Todays organizations therefore adopt a collaborative approach to employee issues. While the technology companies are more informal the traditional brick-and-motor companies have formal processes. Whatever

the approach whether formal or informal employees are encouraged to open-up and ask questions and perform as contended employees.

Q.6

Write a note on directive, permissive and participative type of leadership.[10 Marks]

ANS6: Leadership is the process through which an individual tries to influence another individual or a group of individuals to accomplish a goal. Leadership is valued in our culture, especially when it helps to achieve goals that are beneficial to the population, such as the enactment of effective preventive-health policies. An individual with leadership qualities can also improve an organization and the individuals in it, whether it be a teacher who works to get better teaching materials and after-school programs or an employee who develops new ideas and products and influences others to invest in them.

Leadership can be exhibited in a variety of ways and circumstances. Mothers and fathers show leadership in raising their children with good values and encouraging them to develop to their potential. Teachers show it in inspiring students to learn and to develop their intellectual capacity. Health care workers can be leaders and develop services that meet the needs of the communities they serve, or work in collaboration with other organizations to create cost-effective, prevention-oriented programs and services. Many studies have been done and many books and articles have been published on this subject. Through this work a consistent set of leadership attributes has emerged. An effective leader does most, if not all, of the following: Challenge the Processsearch out challenging opportunities, take risks, and learn from mistakes. Inspire others to come together and agree on a future direction or goal create a shared vision by thinking about the future, having a strong positive vision, and encouraging others to participate. Help others to acthelp others to work together, to cooperate and collaborate by developing shared goals and building trust, and help to make others stronger by encouraging them to develop their skills and talents. Set an examplebehave in ways that are consistent with professed values and help others to achieve small gains that keep them motivated, especially when a goal will not be achieved quickly. Encourage othersrecognize each individual's contributions to the success of a project.

Another way of defining leadership is to acknowledge what people value in individuals that are recognized as leaders. Most people can think of individuals they consider to be leaders. Research conducted in the 1980s by James Kouzes and Barry Posner found that a majority of people admire, and willingly follow, people who are honest, forward-looking, inspiring, and competent An individual who would like to develop leadership skills can profit from the knowledge that leadership is not just a set of exceptional skills and attributes possessed by only a few very special people. Rather, leadership is a process and a set of skills that can be learned.