Informatics Publishing Limited

C. H. Arunchand ¹, Hareesh N. Ramanathan ¹

Affiliations
1 TOC H School of Management and Research, TOC H Institute of Science and Technology, Arakkunnam, Cochin, IN

Abstract

Organizational culture is the collective behavior of employees who form the core of an organization. It is shaped by organization values, visions, norms, working language, systems, and symbol. It also includes beliefs and habits of employees. Employee morale describes the overall outlook, attitude, satisfaction, and confidence that employees feel at work. When employees are positive about their work environment and believe that they can meet their most important needs at work, their employee morale gets boosted up. Such a positive morale can lead to better organizational performance. But when employees are negative and unhappy about their workplace and feel that their work is not appreciated, their employee morale becomes negative or low. If the morale of the employees is low, the productivity of the company will be affected as employees will not be able to meet their goals. The prevailing culture in an organization can have an impact on the morale of the employees. The study was conducted in order to find out the Impact of Organizational culture on employee morale. From this study it was found that the culture existing in public sector undertakings is bureaucratic culture and the morale of the employees is low. But on further analysis it becomes clear that level of bureaucratic culture has no effect on employee morale. Results also pointed that employee morale vary among male and female employees. Level of morale was found to be more for male employees than their female counterparts.

Keywords

Organizational Culture, Organization Morale

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Hareesh N. Ramanathan ¹, S. Ganesan ², K. Kalyanaraman ³

Affiliations
1 Dept of Management Studies, School of Management Science and Research, Toc H Institute of Science and Technology, Arrakunnam, Kochi, Kerala, IN
2 Suguna Spark Business School, Kallipalayam, Coimbatore, IN
3 Department of Statistics, University of Kerala, Thiruvananthapuram, Kerala, IN

Abstract

Work-life balance has become one of the top items on the agenda of many large organisations and a top priority for workers everywhere. The role of work has changed throughout the world due to economic conditions and social demands. This paper addresses the objective of finding out the impact of liquor consumption on work life of people of Kerala, a state known for the highest rate of per capita liquor consumption in India. A descriptive research is carried out for addressing the objectives and the results are discussed. Questionnaire using a Likert framework was constructed and developed based on CAGE questionnaire for detecting Alcoholism. This study was designed to cover pan Kerala and so all the 14 districts of Kerala were considered while taking the sample. The main avenues of Alcohol consumption like, bar hotels and beverages outlets were identified as the place to meet the respondents. Sample size was estimated to be 500 and quota sampling was deployed. This study reveals that detrimental effects of alcoholism will be there irrespective of the type of drinkers, but the impact will be worse, when one drinker moves from normal drinker to moderate and then to heavy drinker and conclude that the more a person drink, the worse his work life will become.

Keywords

Liquor Consumption, Work-life Balance, Work Life Impact Score

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C. Pradeep Kumar ¹, R. Sakthivel ², Hareesh N. Ramanathan ³

Affiliations
1 Bharathiar University, Coimbatore Tamil Nadu, IN
2 No Affiliation
3 Department of Management Studies, Toc H Institute of Science and Technology Kochi, Kerala, IN

Abstract

The robust growth of tourism industry was quite satisfactory even in the toughest macroeconomic environment across the globe. Nearly 85 percent countries have reported positive growth and out of this 33 percent have recorded double digit growth. The travel and tourism industry holds tremendous potential for contributing to the Indian economy also. The Government of Kerala, by way of an aggressive marketing strategy has envisaged the achievement of a yearly growth rate of fifteen percent on foreign tourist arrivals and seven percent on domestic tourist arrivals respectively. Despite the sluggishness in targeted market, tourism operators are putting all efforts to attract tourists with innovative marketing techniques to achieve the envisaged target. Though the Government of Kerala has taken so many initiatives to reduce the gap in the man power requirement, this could not be achieved. Attrition rate of this industry has not only been causing a dent on the performance of existing staff but it has an adverse effect also in the tourism sector as a whole. Keeping this in view, a questionnaire survey was conducted among the professionalsassociated with tourism industry to find out the competency needs of tourism managers who can perform and meet the target in this dynamic environment. The data was subjected to statistical analysis and found the various generic and functional competencies that are required for managing the tourism industry effectively.

Keywords

Competency Model, Generic Competency, Technical Competency, Kerala Tourism

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Simmy Kurian ¹, Hareesh N. Ramanathan ¹, Pearly Saira Chacko ¹

Affiliations
1 Department of Management Studies, TOC H Institute of Science & Technology, Arakkunnam, Ernakulam, Kerala, IN

Abstract

There is a growing trend of eroding business profits among manufacturing firms owing to higher cost of materials and services, and constant shutdown of factory. Profit and profitability are most often used as index for measuring performance. Pricing of a product is affected by many factors; one of them being the transportation cost. Nevertheless, because of the increasing fuel price, transportation cost is also increasing day by day. This study examines the benefits of following the optimum method of transportation with the help of a case study. The study found out that if the company is adopting a systematic transportation model on the basis of the Vogel’s Approximation Method, there will be considerable saving in the transportation cost which will improve the profitability. Reduction in transportation cost will help the company to consider reducing the price of their product which in turn will help them to compete successfully and improve their sales. This would particularly serve beneficial to companies with mounting excess stock.

Keywords

Vogel’s Approximation, Optimization,Transportation Model

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Pranav M. Sol ¹, Hareesh N. Ramanathan ¹

Affiliations
1 Department of Management Studies, Toc H Institute of Science and Technology, Arrakunnam, Kochi, Kerala, IN

Abstract

A brand gets its personality from how manufacturers or advertisers have highlighted them. But for sure, every buyer will have an imagery regarding products or brands which are familiar to them. There are many motorcycles brands in the market and every brand carries a personality with it. This study is to examine the correspondence between motorcycle brands and the personality traits associated with each brand. An instrument was framed to collect relevant data which can further be analysed with modern statistical tools to check the correspondence with associated personality. Almost all major brands of two wheelers are taken into account for this study. The results clearly draw the correspondence between the brands and the associated personality traits.

Keywords

Motorcycle Brands, Personality Traits, Correspondence Analysis, Self-Image.

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Soumya Subash Uma ¹, Hareesh N. Ramanathan ¹

Affiliations
1 Department of Management Studies, Toc H Institute of Science and Technology, Arrakunnam, Kochi, Kerala, IN

Abstract

The current generation lives in a passionate world of speed. Their thirst for speed is never ending. When it comes to travelling from one space to the other, this phenomenon is not different. Nowadays as the standard of living of the people is on a increasing scale most of them who own two wheelers are switching to four wheelers due to many reasons. This paper mainly focuses on identifying the various unique selling propositions that a customer keeps in mind while buying an entry level hatchback car like Maruti Suzuki Alto, Hyundai Eon and Renault Kwid. A questionnaire was prepared and distributed among the people to collect relevant data. The data obtained from the questionnaires were later analysed using Multi-Dimensional Scaling (MDS) technique. For this particular study in order to interpret the data ALSCAL Multi-Dimensional Scaling (MDS) was used.The perception mapping was done at the end of the study which typically explains about what people think of these cars in the entry segment.

Keywords

Entry Level Cars, MDS, Perception Mapping, Hatchback Cars.

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S. Sreejith ¹, S. Ganesan ², Hareesh N. Ramanathan ³

Affiliations
1 School of Legal Studies, Cochin University of Science and Technology, IN
2 KPR School of Business, IN
3 Department of Management Studies, Toc H Institute of Science and Technology, IN

Abstract

Initiated in 2002 under Public Private Partnership, Akshaya Telecentres are the common access points for the Information and communications services offered by Government of Kerala. It was established with an objective of bridging the digital divide, starting from the most basic level of administration, the panchayaths. One among its key objectives is to have at least one ICT literate member per household who can access public services and information easily. The present study was an attempt to compare the number of Akshaya centres on the basis of Panchayath size and Districts. The study could bring out that the sanctioning of Akshaya centres in a Panchayath is based on the size of the Panchayath in all the Districts.

Keywords

Akshaya, Telecentre, Public Private Partnership, Geographical Coverage, Factorial Model, Chi-Squire.

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Simmy Kurian ¹, Hareesh N. Ramanathan ²

Affiliations
1 Toc H Institute of Science and Technology, Ernakulum, Kerala, IN
2 Department of Management Studies, Toc H Institute of Science and Technology, Ernakulam, Kerala, IN

Abstract

With the advent of a new philosophy towards ICT and its role in education, a wide body of research has developed investigating the role of ICT and its effect in developing an interactive education environment. However it is yet to be ascertained how teachers from different schools across the state of Kerala have reacted to this paradigm shift from traditional pedagogical methods to adoption of ICT in Teaching and Learning process. It is also vital to understand the difference in trends across Private v/s Government schools. This study reveals stark differences in the implementation pattern with private schools leading with better infrastructural support and teacher readiness. School leadership is one of the major factors which have emerged as reasons for better ICT implementation in schools. This study tries to provide an understanding of the issues surrounding Technology acceptance by Teachers of government, aided and private higher secondary schools. This paper investigates the ground realities of ICT usage by school teachers for teaching and learning purposes and their perception on technology adoption. The paper also investigates the availability of basic ICT infrastructure facilities in different schools.

Keywords

ICT, Teaching and Learning Process, Technology Acceptance, School Leadership.

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R. Preeja ¹, Hareesh N. Ramanathan ²

Affiliations
1 Bhavan's Royal Institute of Management recognised by CUSAT, Kochi, Kerala, IN
2 Department of Management Studies, Toc H Institute of Science and Technology, Arakkunnam, Kerala, IN

Abstract

India is adopting various steps to bring women into the system of governance. Providing reservation for women in local selfgoverning bodies was one such initiative. With this many women had come forward and took part in various roles in the functioning of local self-governing bodies. But most of them are not having sound educational background or experience in political administrations. So the situation is like, we have a pool of women candidates in administrative roles who need to be equipped with certain skill sets to perform their duties well. The objective of the study is to identify the level of various skills among elected women representatives and suggest training requirements. It was found that that the ability of elected women representatives to work in teams, learn new things and make decisions is below the benchmark level. Thus training programs need to be initiated by government in this regard to enable women representatives to outshine in their performance.

Keywords

Training Needs, Leadership, Managing Skills, Learning and Development, Decision Making, Innovation, Flexibility, Teamwork, Responsiveness, Communication and Technical Expertise.

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R. Preeja ¹, Hareesh N. Ramanathan ²

Affiliations
1 Bhavan’s Royal Institute of Management recognised by CUSAT, Kochi, Kerala, IN
2 Department of Management Studies, Toc H Institute of Science and Technology, Arakkunnam, Kerala, IN

Abstract

The constitutional amendment in 1992 has entrusted local self-governing departments with the task of rural development. This system facilitates the emergence of governance at local level. Governance refers to the political and administrative authority which is responsible for the development of the society. It is the process of decision-making and its implementation by political leaders who are in the system. A clear understanding about the barometers of governance is very essential for improving the process and thereby ensuring development. This paper tries to identify the various factors that contribute to governance at grass ischolar_main level.

Keywords

Governance, Political Leadership, Elected Women Representatives, Equity, Accountability and Efficiency, Effectiveness, Transparency.

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Pearly Saira Chacko ¹, Hareesh N. Ramanathan ¹, Sherin Saji ²

Affiliations
1 Department of Management Studies, Toc H Institute of Science & Technology, Kerala, IN
2 Toc H Institute of Science & Technology, Arakkunnam, Ernakulam, Kerala, IN

Abstract

For any manufacturing firm, transportation cost could be a considerable part of the logistics cost. This along with the mounting fuel cost is ultimately passed on to the customers. With rising competition, firms are forced to find out methods of optimising the transportation cost thereby reducing the total cost. There are many methods available in solving a transportation method. However, the traditional Vogel’s approximation method has many drawbacks when dealing with situations where the supply and demand are unbalanced. This study examines the effectiveness of using the modified Vogel’s method when compared to the traditional approach with the help of a case study. The study found that the use of the proposed method will bring in considerable cost reduction in transportation thereby increasing the profitability of the firm. Moreover the proposed method is easy to implement and will be highly beneficial for the decision makers.

Keywords

Transportation Problem, Vogel’s Approximation Method, Initial Solution, Modified VAM.

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P. B. Bibin ¹, Hareesh N. Ramanathan ²

Affiliations
1 Department of Management Studies Toc H Institute of Science and Technology, Kerala, IN
2 Department of Management Studies, Toc H Institute of Science and Technology, Kerala, IN

Abstract

Telecommunication network is one of the important and emerging industries in the world. India is holding the second position in terms of largest telecom network in the world. It is based on the number of telephone users. India is having 1.206 billion subscribers as on 30th September, 2017. In India, there are many telecommunication service providers. India is the second largest in number of telecom users. Every telecom customer prefers their network provider mainly depend upon various factors like network coverage, customer service, tariff packages and offers. But the utility of various factors be differing by person to person. But even there are many offers provided by various service providers but many customers are feeling dissatisfied with the same. This study is to find out the optimum combination of Data/Voice/SMS which is preferred mostly by post graduate and under graduate students and to explore the usage of it by them. In the field of market research, conjoint analysis is one of the top most tool in that area. Basically, it deals with how the decision making process of peoples been done and what are the important factors that they are considering while selecting a products and services. conjoint analysis helps the peoples to determine various options of alternatives for their choices. And then analyzing the factors influenced for those choices or alternatives. It is found that, better network and low cost are the main reasons for their choice of service provider. Most of the respondent’s having highest importance to free minutes followed by data packs and SMS while they have least importance to price factor. The combo offer proposed from the study is for Rs. 450, 400 minutes free with 300 MB free data and 600 SMS.

Keywords

Mobile Tariff-Plans, Conjoint Analysis, Professional Students, SMS, Call, Data.

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