Journal of Management Research and Analysis

1-4

Authors: Amal Tom Jose, K. N. Jayakumar.

Abstract: Strike acts as a defensive tool in the hands of employees when they feel exploited by their management. It empowers the employees to have a say in what is decided for them in an industry. Strike, generally involves quitting of work by a group of workers for the purpose of influencing their employer or management to protect their common interest in the organization. When the labour unions or workers collectively cease to work in a particular industry, they are said to be on strike. A strike usually takes place in response to employees’ unmet grievances. Strike can cause huge losses for the organization. Strike propensity is different from actual strike. Strike propensity is the extent to which workers are willing to engage in strike. It is a strong predictor of actual strike action. This paper explores the significance and consequence of understanding strike propensity of the employees in workplace and further tries to explore it’s relevance in today’s volatile organizations.

10-14

Authors: R. K. Srivastava.

The theory and practise of traditional cost and management accounting has been under severe criticism in recent years. Professionals working in industry and academia world over have critically debated over traditional concept’s relevance for cost control, performance appraisal, product costing/pricing and decision-making purposes. Critics contend that in a world class manufacturing environment (WCM) characterised by concepts of just in time (JIT) and total quality management (TQM), traditional costing becomes redundant as a performance measurement, decision making and cost control tool (Johnson,1987). They argue that traditional costing induces dysfunctional behaviour amongst employees because of fear of adverse variances being attributed to them (Birnberg. 1992) and also promotes the concept of cost plus pricing (Kaplan, 1984) which is not relevant in the modern day dynamics where selling prices are decided by market forces. Concepts as target costing and activity based costing are thought of to be more appropriate in today’s manufacturing environment. The impact of these criticisms has had a profound impact on the way this subject is perceived, be it academia or the industry or professional bodies regulating the profession of accounting. Arguments in favour of traditional costing still remain , however, the winds of changes appear continuous .A long and time tested language is being pushed into oblivion, being replaced with tools and techniques of the modern era which have and are being brought forward as betterments over the so called limitations of the traditional structure. The objective of this paper is two fold; 1. To identify various limitations attributed to traditional cost and management accounting in modern competitive environment. To critically examine these various limitations in terms of both assumptions and objectives attributed by critics to the functional domain of cost and management accountancy.

22-28

Authors: Deepankar Sinha.

Register India, like any other country, in the world is concerned about increasing air pollution arising out of CO2 emissions from use of cars and vehicles. The government has been promoting use of electric vehicles and is likely to announce a full proof policy. However, several factors such as cost of production, growing prices of battery and environmental concerns arising out of battery waste are likely to be elements that will lead to limits to growth of e-cars (electric cars or electric vehicles) in the country. In this paper, a study has been made regarding projection of growth of electric vehicles (EV) and the causes that may hinder such a growth. Results show that leading car manufacturer is apprehensive about keeping the price of car in the range affordable by the Indian customers; companies worldwide are concerned about economic viability and technical feasibility of recycling battery waste; the battery charging infrastructure and the damage that the environment is also likely to sustain due to mining of lithium and cobalt.

34-41

Authors: Atul Kumar.

Purpose: The main purpose of this study is to examine the effects of Service Quality Dimensions on Customer Satisfaction and Service Loyalty in Telecom Industry. Design/Methodology/Approach: Service Quality, Customer Satisfaction and Service Loyalty were measured using 5-point Likert scale from the literature. Exploratory Factor Analysis, Confirmatory Factor analysis and Structural Equation Modeling were conducted to examine the effects of Service Quality on Customer Satisfaction and Service Loyalty. Findings: Not all dimensions of Service Quality affect Customer Satisfaction and Service Loyalty. Only Empathy and Reliability have significant effect on Customer Satisfaction, whereas, Empathy, Assurance, Responsiveness and Tangibility have significant effect on Customer Loyalty. When it comes to mediation, Customer Satisfaction partially mediates between Empathy and Customer Loyalty. Research Limitation/Implications: The main limitation of the study is that it was confined to the city of Delhi only. India is a big and diverse nation, so the findings of Delhi city cannot be generalized for the entire nation. Secondly, present study focuses only on Telecom Service Industry. Practical Implication: The findings clearly indicate the dimensions of Service Quality which the practioners has to focus to provide better service quality.

48-51

Authors: Ramasamy R, Nithyanandan D. V.

Aim: The present study aims to explore the psychological correlates that are related to career oriented positive psychological strengths, namely, Career Adaptability, Career Optimism and Perceived Knowledge among the panchayat school students. Materials and Methods: It is basically a report of the pilot study for a major ICSSR fellowship study which is exploratory and descriptive in nature. A popular village panchayat school in Salem district with a 300 students was chosen as the target school. 134 students were randomly selected. Of them 80 were girls and 54 were boys. They were all administered career futures inventory developed by Patrick Joseph Rottinghaus (2004). It measures career optimism, career adaptability capacities and perceived knowledge. In this study these variables are considered positive psychological variables for positive psychology has emerged as a separate branch of study and the field has started attracting controlled randomized experimental investigations. Synopsis of the Result: The percentage analysis revealed that 70.1% of students have chosen a career and have not investigated about their chosen career. 21.6% of students investigated a number of careers and have selected only one. 47.8% of the students quite often think about their career goals. 40.3% of students said they put high level of effort for their school work. 66.4% of students said they put high level of effort for learning about their career options. During a typical week, only 2.2% of students spent over 60 hours of activities related to their school work. 4.5% of students are found to be very dissatisfied about their current major. 41% of students are spending 16-30 hours and 6% are over 60 hours to explore their career options during the last 6 months. The analysis of correlation revealed no significant relationship among these three variables. However, results of independent t’ test revealed that Female village panchayat school students were found to have more career adaptability capacities and perceived knowledge. It was also revealed that 11th Std. students are found to have more career adaptability and perceived knowledge than the 12th Std. students. Implications: Students in the city have many career related advices and advantages but in the rural area, for the Panchayat School students their career development is not systematic. Hence, the main study focuses on enhancing these through a systematic positive psychological intervention. The implications are discussed in the main article in line with the contemporary career psychological perspectives.

57-60

Authors: Shahid Ali, Aijaz Ahmad Mir.

The effervescent growth of the services rendered by Indian railways in satisfying the passenger needs in the current scope of the business development leads its coverage over the macro segments of social, economic and environmental development. Even after the necessary efforts and literature analysis by the various researchers, the scope of contributions by the Indian Railways towards Sustainable Development remains a less discussed. The present paper focuses on the pivotal role of Indian railways Services in the Sustainable Development by contributing towards social, economic and environmental aspects of the society. The paper also highlights the key factors that need immediate attention by the concerned authorities under the respective segments in order to provide a proper platform for the Sustainable Development.

69-75

Authors: Shreshth Chhabra, Sachin Mittal, Vivek S. Kushwah.

In classical economics, labour is one of the three factors of production, along with capital and land. The word welfare has historically been related to happiness and prosperity. Labour welfare implies the adoption of measures to promote the physical, social, psychological and general well-being of the working population. Welfare work in any industry aims, or should aim, at improving the working and living conditions of workers and their families. Adequate levels of earnings, safe and humane conditions of work and access to some minimum social security benefits are the major qualitative dimensions of employment which enhance quality of life of workers and their productivity. Constitution of India, national and internal labour bodies, labour laws, especially the factories act, 1948 and contract labour (Regulation and abolition) Act, 1970 strive to make the working conditions more humane with a view to make workers not only satisfied but also productive. The paper studies the statutory welfare facilities and the provision of leaves as enumerated under Factories Act and contract labour act and social security provisions under different acts. The study was conducted in engineering companies to know the perception of workers about the different dimensions of welfare i.e. statutory welfare measures, social security measures and leaves provided and also to know the impact of worker’s status (permanent/contractual) on such measures. The sample comprised of 97 workers employed with different engineering companies. These companies can be categorised as light and heavy engineering companies employing varying strength of workers. The results indicated that though significant workers were satisfied with the welfare facilities, some workers perceive welfare facilities to be inadequate and there is impact of worker’s status on the perception of workers.

89-99

Authors: Sunita Behera, Urmimala Das.

This article starts with the presumption that women experience gender in different ways. For example, Black women experience various forms of oppression simultaneously, as a complex interaction of race, gender, and class that is more than the sum of its parts. By focusing on gender as the primary locus of oppression, main-stream feminist legal thought often forces women of colour to fragment their experience in a way that does not reflect the reality of their lives .The recognition of women's differences, however, does not negate the fundamental premise of feminism that women are oppressed "as women ."'It is still, therefore, useful to make patriarchy a focus of feminist inquiry and opposition. How, then, do we understand our condition as women and work towards our liberation? Recent feminist scholarship has established that racism makes women different, even though women are all subject to patriarchy. What I wish to examine is the relationship between racism and patriarchy. Racism and patriarchy are not two separate institutions that intersect only in the lives of Black women. They are two interrelated, mutually supporting systems of domination and their relationship is essential to understanding the subordination of all women. Racism makes the experience of sexism different for Black women and white women. But it is not enough to note that Black women suffer from both racism and sexism, although this is true. Racism is patriarchal. Patriarchy is racist. We will not destroy one institution without destroying the other. I believe it is the recognition of that connection along with the recognition of difference among women that is truly revolutionary.1