Excellence, Sustainability and the Bottom of the Pyramid Paradigm

The kernel of the author’s published work on the subject especially between 1999 and 2011 can be stated thus. Managerial Ethics is the foundation upon which Corporate Governance is based. The two combine to create conditions and a culture within which Organisational Excellence can be attained. Excellence however, cannot be an end in itself and needs to cascade into Business Sustainability. This is at the micro level. At the macro level the interface between business and society is called for and hence Corporate Social Responsibility enters the calculus and when linked to micro reality concepts like the Triple Bottom Line emerge as a point of academic study and concern for management and social scientists. It is within this context that the argument of this paper has been predicated

The Realpolitik of Economic Welfare: Observations on Democracy, Arrow’s Impossibility Theorem and The Paretian Liberal Paradox in the Indian Context

This paper begins by painting the socio-political and economic map of Indian democracy in 2008. Accordingly, the paper posits six basic positions and six argumentative premises. Cataloguing a series of economic issues the paper clearly states that the twin evils of uneven distribution of income, wealth and opportunity on the one hand and the unequal development of peoples, sectors and regions on the other continued to plague Indian planners sixty one years after the country got rid of its colonial yolk. It attempts to explain the impossibility theorem of Arrow, the optimality issues of Pareto and Sen's liberal paradox. In the process, it tables a realpolitik of welfare in Indian conditions and takes the candid position that rational choice for voters in a multi-party parliamentary democracy is just not possible. Hence, the right candidates may never be elected. If the threshold of welfare is to be raised and the quality of life is to improve, the paper argues, India must ideally though not necessarily move from parliamentary system to a possible and preferred presidential form of democracy. However, for the greater good of the country the system must move from multi-party to a three party democracy. If not, regional and smaller parties will fragment people power and our democratic system will lack the muscle required to bring about sustained developmental growth. No claim of any epistemological breakthrough is made in the paper except that the author has taken well-accepted views of Arrow, Pareto, Sen and others to analyse the present form of democracy in India. Keywords: Indian Democracy, Arrow, Sen, Impossibility, Pareto Optimality, Monotonicit

Evaluation and Effectiveness of Training Systems in Indian Industry [A Research Study in Greater Pune]

Training and Development as an HRD intervention plays an important role in the success of the organization. The purpose of Training and development is to increase the skills of the employees; therefore it is increasingly believed that the training expenditures are not the costs but an investmentAttracting and retaining talent becomes difficult task for the organization. It is also true that successful outcomes are possible only with the quality of the training provided to the employees. It is equally important to assess the need of the training, the nature of the training provided, the methods and the selection of the training programs and ultimately evaluation of the training programs are important for the sound health of the organization.A study was carried out in the City of Greater Pune with the industries in different sectors excluding Information Technology and Chemical Industry

An Opinion on Strategic Directions for an Economy in the Capitalist Periphery: The Case of India

This paper is based on sixteen years of intensive examination and research into three Industrial Sectors (manufacturing, process and technology) of Western India and all observations contained herein are born out of and relate directly to those sectors. The premise upon which we stand is that if business ethics and corporate governance co-exists then with proper HR interventions a value centred corporate culture will very likely emerges and the journey towards achieving organisational excellence becomes that much easier. In the postgraduate textbook entitled Organisational Excellence through Business Ethics and Corporate Governance the authors had begun by defining ethics and stating that ethics was the precondition for generating value centred corporate cultures? They then delved deep into what ethics entrails and how it impacts the organisation as well as the individual within it. Thereafter they went in to the concept of Corporate Governance, defined it, viewed how it developed, examined how it was practiced overseas and then how it came to India. In this paper the authors attempt to show how good governance is based on ethics and how those who head the functions of People Management, Company Secretary, and Accountancy (cost and chartered) can gainfully use it for realising the larger interest of the organisations they belong to.  To that extent, this paper is just what the title suggests:  an opinion on the subject based on ongoing researc

An Exposition of Research Methodology in Management and Social Sciences

In writing this paper the author has consciously stood apart from his earlier works and attempted to dispassionately review his own position so that some degree of clarity of thought might emerge in the process. The paper is based on the author’s contribution between 1992 and 2012 to this subject and which has been used as the basis for several doctoral level investigations under the author’s guidance. They had played a major role in helping the author to crystallize his views. To these scholars, therefore, the author’s gratitude is unflinchingly extended. Management has been described as being concerned with and based on the science of decision making and operating from the foundations of the art of decision executing. Hence, research in the area of modern Human Resources Management, especially, is both interesting and challenging having its one foot planted in industrial sociology and industrial psychology while the other placed in supply chain management and organisational restructuring. Hence, the argument of this paper is more relevant to serious research scholars and to those management teachers who wish to pursue rigorous academic research. This is not meant for those in the cut-copy-paste league, which unfortunately is, of late, becoming quite prevalent within the Indian academia

Ethical Issues in Insurance Marketing.The Case of Western India

This is a paper based on empirical investigation conducted in Western India between 2002 and 2012 especially at a time when the Indian economy is in a stage of transition from state capitalism to free market capitalism, albeit both of a retarded variety. It takes the 7 Ps of services marketing and cross verifies responses against seven dimensions of ethical conduct. The study is based on questionnaires followed by interviews. The target respondents were life insurance employees of banc assurance involved in marketing life insurance policies to customers in the urban sector. The study brought to the fore the fact that commissions were more important that telling the truth while selling policies. In the process ethical considerations conveniently went out of the window. To protect the interest of the unsuspecting clients a plea is made to have governance machinery in place that will make the insurance marketing personnel accountable for what and how they sell their wares. This need is especially felt in a country where the social security net is virtually non existent and the erstwhile joint family system is on a fast decline. In such circumstances a lack of ethical norms on the part of the insurer is an unacceptable sociological proposition and borders on gross unethical behaviour. The task of people management experts to address this issue is of the paramount importance and urgency if the Indian life insurance industry is to sustain its social image in a highly competitive market where foreign players are steadily entering the domestic scene

Sustainable Quality of Work Life and Job Satisfaction [an Indian Case Study]

As HR experts would propound, organizational success is highly dependent on attracting, recruiting, motivating, and retaining its workforce. The quality of work life (QWL) pertains to favourable or unfavourable work environment in keeping employees motivated so as to enable increase per capita productivity. It aims at achieving an effective work place environment that satisfies  both the organizational and personal needs and values of employees , promoting well being by job security,  job satisfaction, development and thereby helping to maintain a better  balance between work and non-work life. The word sustainability is derived from the Latin sustinere (tenere, to hold; sus, meaning up. Dictionaries provide more than ten meanings for sustain, the main ones being to “maintain", "support", or "endure”. However, since the 1980s sustainability has been used more in the sense of human sustainability on planet Earth and this has resulted in the most widely quoted definition of sustainability as a part of the concept sustainable, that of the Brundtland Commission of the United Nations on March 20, 1987: “sustainable development is development that meets the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their needs.

THE NEED FOR CHANGE IN THE DESIGN AND STRUCTURE OF PROFESSIONAL SOCIAL WORK EDUCATION AS A CIVIC RESPONSIBILITY.

PREAMBLE :The Social work Education in India is now 70 years old and it is widely recognized that social work education is vital for the national development.  The most important challenge in the coming decade of 21st Century will be the optimum us of social work know how in the non corporate, unrecognized and other socially relevant sectors of the economy.  In fact, we are living, as we all know in a fascinating dynamic world of challenges and opportunities. The challenges could be of satellite wars, AIDS, Terrorism and Environmental Pollution.  There is a need for an organized human effort supported by alert human mind to face these challenges and exploit the opportunities by managing the inventions and innovations effectively. Over the past decades, the post war consensus on the welfare state has been undermined by economic crisis, political instability and right-wing social policies.  In all western countries public debate has focused on the reduce it.  Austerity policies have squeezed welfare provisions under Governments of the various parties in India in last decade.  In India all sides are dissatisfied with the old Systems of welfare.  The new right denounces the profligacy and inefficiency of public services while feminists and leftists insist that social welfare provisions must be transferred to establish near democratic forms of socialized provisions.  After fifty years of consensus, the debate about welfare has entered a new phase.When we take stock of our social work education one may like to ask a very pertinent question as to whether this profession would be in a position to handle the social situation of the present society in the third world. I do the concepts, methodology & objectives of Social work profession fit well in the present fast changing social environment. Because of pre occupation of social work education in the third world, the great idea that are of immediate concern revolve around such things as social development, quality of life & conscientization. There are many great ideas that have been carried from the illustrious past by social work education, that one idea that deserves to be attended is the familiar of social change & individualized service as inspirerable concern fore social work profession. To day one man find social case work as an approach  irrelevant to major social  problems, in insignificant in its contribution to social change & ineffective in true content of its claims for  voluntary in Practice. Today literally a  war exists between  those who teach social  policy & those who are concerned with social treatment or otherwise individvilised approaches. A question is being asked in may quite of the world with regard to whether change oriented social work such as community development programmes actually belongs to social work profession e.g.  In funnel the traditional social work is challenged by a new development called social education or  socio – cultural animation, which has emerged from youth movement & popular educational activities, Thus, to day the third world is more concerned about vast social needs that are largely unmet. Consequently social work schools  in Asia are moving from an emphasis on individualised services towards developmental functions  involving large populations.There are certain criticism passed on Social work education. Some of them are as under.Over professionalisation has led to the failure  of  creating systematic body of knowledge and skill as a base for operation in practice.Social work education is too narrowly technical due to which our graduates have to little or no breadth of vision and also they lack specific technical competence for the jobs in hands.In view of the dilemmas faced by the schools of social work in view the light of paradoxical statements of the critics, there is an apparent need to revitalize the field of social work practice that could meet the demands our requirements of the agencies and also tackle the modern human & social problems. In other words shared expectations by schools & agencies will be highly appreciated. The schools will have to incorparate the needs & expectations of the agencies in their field work practices & in return the agencies will have to incorporate in their functions the established objective of the education and assume educational responsibilities relevant to the filed.Since social work is a profession its code of ethics & appropriate attitude can be & must be communicated in the overall educational process. Effective social work practice requires basic knowledge and skills. They area. Understanding of human needs & behaviour.b. Understanding of human beings interacting with social circumstances.c. Knowledge of cause  & effect in social and interpersonal disharmony.d. Knowledge of resources in the community.e. The skill in the use of professional helping process with individuals, group & communities.        An educational programme designed to impart knowledge and skill of this nature would be welcome by expiring professionals agencies and communities. With this background and curriculum development the UGC had appointed review committee in social work in India under the chairmanship of. N.A. Gokarna of T.I.S.S.Mumbai. The Committee has already completed its work and has identified & suggested the curriculum to be adopted for improving both efficiency of the social work education. It has made efforts to be modify the total curriculum that was in vogue for last more than seven decades. In practice the attempts by Governments in India to restructure welfare service have encountered difficulties. Welfare professionals,  trade unions and substantial bodies of public welfare and that appeal of anti-welfare prejudices can create a new consensus of support to such a policy. Others argue that the economic and political consequences of dismantling the welfare state infrastructure would be too great for any developing democracy to face.  The arrack on welfare and debate about the future of welfare services, provide the context for reorganization of social work education curricular,  which will need to include the new series of topics devoted to the “ State of Welfare”  covering the different aspects of welfare state,  analyzing new and merging trends in social work organizations and delivery  of services and the economic and political determinants of welfare policy

Foreword - (reviewers’ view)

It is indeed a singular honor to be asked to write this Foreword for a prestigious journal like JEDEP that has now come out with its fifth issue. I would like to share a thought that came to me as I was reading the abstracts. When you are presented with a bouquet of flowers all of the same hue and color it is beautiful. But when the flowers are in various colors but yet of the same biological genre this beauty is enhanced. That is true of this issue of the journal and the contribution of the authors as well. To begin with, for a person who has been looking into organizational excellence and business sustainability for the past two decades, this cluster of essays made delightful reading..