Category: Business and Management

TRAINING IN MANAGEMENT

Training is the process of helping employees to acquire more knowledge of the job and to learn or sharpen the needed skills, attitudes and values associated with the efficient performance of their job and new employees, as also existing employees, often need training as a means of their progress in their jobs and careers and it is an important element of the staffing function and many organizations make formal or informal arrangements for providing training to their managerial and non-managerial personnel. Training is practical education and it is a technique that brings out the hidden abilities in a person and teaches him to use his skills effectively. Training is an art and the trainer selects the best methods for training, keeping because of the requirements of the job and the ability of the concerned persons. Training is an activity which changes the outlook and behavior of persons and training may be understood as the practice of theoretical knowledge and the importance of training is well-recognized all over the world but the methods of training may vary from job to job and from industry to industry and typically, a separate training department under the charge of an expert in training techniques is established for the purpose. As Dale Yoder said, “Training is the process by which manpower is filled for the particular jobs it is to perform”.

METHODS OD TRAINING

1. On-the-job Method

On-the-jib methods are the methods that are applied, while the employee is working and it means Learning while doing and training is provided by superiors to subordinates and it is economical and less time consuming and it is used where jobs are simple, as in case of plumbers and motor mechanics.

a. Apprenticeship Programme

   Under this method, trainees are apprentices and they work under the direct supervision of the experts, who guide and help them in learning the job.

 b. Internship Training

In this method, professional institutes enter into arrangements with big business enterprises and send their students to these industrial enterprises to gain practical work experience.

c. Job Rotations

It is shifting the trainees from one department to another department or from one job position to another job position.

d. Induction Training

 It is training to help a new employee to settle down quickly into the job by becoming familiar with fellow workers the job and its environment including other people and machines in the business.

2. Off-the-Job Methods

Off-the-road jobs methods are used away from the place of work and it means Learning before doing and it is provided by experts either from within or from outside the organization and it is more expensive and more time consuming than on-the-job and it is used where jobs are complex involving the use of sophisticated machinery.

a. Vestibule training

 Under this method, training is given in a classroom and where the actual work environment is stimulated, a supplicate model of the workshop is prepared and instead of using original equipment, employees are trained on the dummy models.

b. Programming Instruction

The total information amount the job is broken into meaningful small units and are arranged in a logical sequence from simple to complex and the trainee goes through these units one by one by answering questions or by filling the blanks.

GST DAY

Approx most of the day we heard about this Term GST, if we Recharge mobile current postpaid bill is Rs 500, we will have to shell out Rs 590. It is Rs 15 more than what you are currently paying. Food, electricity, gold, land, loans in these services GST is applicable

GST, Goods and Service Tax Act passed in the parliament of India on 27th March 2017 and came into effect on 1st July 2017.

The day was celebrated on 1st July 2018 to mark the first anniversary of the new indirect tax regime.GST is a single indirect tax on the supply of goods and services right from manufacturers to consumers. It’s replaced a number of taxes such As excise duty, service tax, central sales Tax, Value-added Tax(VAT), and Octroi.

Excise duty is an indirect tax that levies on the goods which, are produced within the country. This tax is not related to the Customs Duty. Excise Duty is also known as Central Value Added Tax. value-added Tax is collected by the state government. For example, if we purchase a good then we must pay an additional tax as Value Added Tax to the government. The VAT rate is decided based on the nature of the item and state.Custom duty and OctoroiThis tax is levied on those goods that are imported into India from outside. The Custom Duty tax is paid at the port of entry in the country as the airport. This tax rate also varies over the nature of goods. While the Octroi tax is charged on the goods entering the municipality.

GST was First coneceptual by Former Indian Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee,1999.

In an official message on the occasion of GST Day, Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Wednesday said that more efforts are required to ease tax compliance further for the taxpayers, especially the micro, small and medium enterprises (MSMEs). Wednesday marked the third anniversary of the launch of the Goods and Services Tax (GST) regime.In message, Ms Sitharaman herhighlighted the steps taken towards easing the return filing process, including the recently introduced feature of SMS-based filing for nil return

SELECTION

Selection is the process of choosing the most suitable candidates from applicants for the various jobs and it follows the recruitment and much information has to be obtained, from the prospective candidates to facilitate the selection process and it is then analyzed and evaluated and the information relates to the qualifications, work experience, age, levels of skills and other accomplishments, family background, aptitudes and interests, physical and mental fitness and so on. The enterprise has to choose the best and the most promising persons from among the applicants and in this sense, it may be said that while recruitment is a positive function, in that it seeks to induce as many persons as possible to apply for a job in the enterprise, the selection is a negative function because it aims at eliminating or weeding out those applicants who are not found suitable in one respect or the other. Thus, the selection is the process of securing relevant information about an applicant to evaluate his qualifications, experience, and other qualities to match these with the requirements of a job, and it essentially a process of picking out the man or men best suited for the organization’s requirements. According to Dale Yoder “Selection is the process in which candidates for employment, are divided into two classes-those who are to be offered employment and those who are not”.

SIGNIFICANCE OF SELECTION

Hiring of employees is an important function of the personnel department and this function must be performed careful because errors committed at the time of selection may prove to very costly and of selection process is faulty, absenteeism will be too high and the rate of labour turnover will also be higher and whenever unsuitable candidates are hired, the efficiency of the organization will go down and such persons will shrink work and will be absent themselves from the work more often and in many cases unsuitable employees have to leave their jobs and this will lead to waste of time, energy and money in hiring such employees and the training cost incurred on them will also go waste and proper selection and placement of personnel go a long way towards building up a suitable workforce and it will keep the rates of absenteeism and labour turnover low and will increase the morale of the employees and if the employees are quite suitable according to the requirements of the jobs, they will show higher efficiency and will enable the organization to achieve its objectives effectively. Recruitment and selection are two separate functions that usually go together and recruitment aims at stimulating and attracting job applications for positions in the organization, while selection consists of choosing among the applicants, to choose those, most suited to the job requirements, keeping in view the job analysis information. Recruitment is simple and candidates are not required to cross several hurdles whereas the selection process is complex and consists of many hurdles created by the management internally and Recruitment initiates the procurement aspect of personnel management whereas the selection completes the procurement aspect of personnel management.

Indian it firms plan to move to Mexico & Canada due to h-1b visa restrictions

Indian and U.S. technology firms advise the Trump administration to reverse an executive order restricting access to certain job visas, saying the change would disrupt a market model used to bring high-skill expertise to Wall Street and Silicon Valley clients.

Last week’s order from Donald Trump inhibits approvals of a range of visas all through to the year-end, including those for intra-company transfers and study-outside programs, and aims to give American preference after recording job losses from the coronavirus pandemic. H-1B visas used by Indian workers and other countries to occupy key roles are vital to the tech industry.

Visa delivery is an complex, month-long undertaking and some interruption could affect vital employees’ ability to fly to consumer locations for an prolonged period of time. The virus lockdowns have now delayed vital consulate access to the network and pushed hundreds of thousands of employees into demanding work-from – home conditions.

India’s technology trade group, Nasscom, called Trump’s order “misguided and harmful to the U.S. economy” and warned it would exacerbate the country’s economic pain. 

Indian companies provide technology staff and services to U.S. hospitals, drugmakers and biotechnology companies, Nasscom pointed out. In addition, the industry may send more workers to Canada or Mexico without access to the U.S. market.

“These are highly-skilled workers who are in great demand and they will be mobile no matter what,” said Shivendra Singh, president of global trade development at Nasscom.

Among the other critics of the order were Alphabet Inc. Chief Executive Officer Sundar Pichai, Microsoft Corp. President Brad Smith and Tesla Inc. founder Elon Musk. Pichai, himself a beneficiary of the H-1B visa system in the 1990s, tweeted, “Immigration has contributed immensely to America’s economic success making it a global leader in tech, and also Google the company it is today.” Tata Consultancy Services Ltd., Infosys Ltd. and Wipro Ltd., among the largest outsourcing companies in Asia, declined to comment.

According to immigration numbers, India accounts for around 70 per cent of the 85,000 H-1B visas granted annually. Of this number, 65,000 visas are given to international professionals with bachelor’s degrees, while the remaining 20,000 will be assigned to employees with more advanced degrees. The visa program was developed to allow businesses to recruit foreign staff to address a lack of highly qualified technical services and product creation expertise. The reality that every year Indian outsourcers receive a large amount of the visas has rendered the scheme problematic, with opponents alleging that businesses misuse the system by replacing American employees with cheaper foreign labour.

Shortly after assuming office, Trump promised to clamp down on work visas and overhaul the “broken” immigration framework. A long-term issue for outsourcers is the proposed redesign of the existing H-1B visa scheme by the government, which will substitute the established allocation mechanism to decide who accepts visas with a merit-based method that prioritizes wage-based applicants.

Now, outsourcing firms are grappling with the unpredictability of the visa situation and the possibility of an H-1B revamp being able to make it impossible to take all but the most important of talent outside the world.

Source:https://www.livemint.com/industry/infotech/indian-it-firms-may-set-up-new-outposts-in-canada-mexico-amid-h-1b-visa-curbs-11593495677657.html

RECRUITMENT

The term Recruitment denoted that process by which the management locates the source of supply of manpower and then traps that source and it encourages outside manpower to apply for the jobs in the organization and search for the proper person for the right type of job at the right time is the basic function of the personnel department. The selection of wrong persons for the right job can ruin the process of work. A well-planned recruitment policy ensures increased productivity, decreased costs, increased employee morale and goodwill of the organization and thus recruitment is the process of searching for prospective employees and encouraging them to apply for the jobs in an organization and it aims at securing as many qualified applicants for the jobs as possible so as to decrease the hiring ratio and before searching for applicants, an organization should consider the most likely sources of the type of employees it needs. According to Edwin Flippo “Recruitment is the process of searching for prospective employees and stimulating and encouraging them to apply for jobs in an organization”. Recruitment also includes seeking and attracting a pool of people from which qualified candidates for job vacancies can be chosen. There are various sources of recruitment of workers and the personnel manager will select a source of recruitment, keeping in view the requirements of the departments concerned, the type of persons needed and the advantages of a source of recruitment and different sources of recruitment can be tapped on different occasions for different types of persons.

INTERNAL RECRUITMENT

One important source of recruitment is a promotion from within and it is the best method for recruitment of high and the medium cadre of managers and many companies feel that the best practice is to fill jobs from within the organization and they feel that inside employees already know the company and its policies and presumably have proved their ability and loyalty. This keeps the employees happy contented and in good morale and they know that they will earn promotion to a higher position. A performance test is the best test to determine a person’s suitability for a job. Filling of a vacancy from an internal source is very economical and no time and money are required to spend on a new candidate and a person who is selected for a job from within an organization knowns the organizational relationships.

EXTERNAL RECRUITMENT

By the external sources of recruitment, a vast mass of skilled, semi-skilled, and unskilled people is recruited from outside the organization. By using external sources of recruitment the organization can expect to get talented candidates from outside and the selection process is characterized by competition and the prospects that the organization can pick up the best candidates and fresh talents for the job are high. External candidates are expected to be trained and be efficient in work as they join the organization they work with great vigor and put in their best efforts to achieve the objectives and this creates healthy competition and congenial work environment in the organization.

GOVERNMENT LIKELY TO SPEND MUCH LESS THIS FISCAL YEAR

Rationalisation of expenditure by the government for the second quarter of the current fiscal year has led to rising concerns. Fear’s have plummeted as many believe that the government may end up spending way less than the budget level, it has previously estimated, this would result in the economy taking even longer to recover than before.

Lower revenue intake and rising debt rates of central and state governments due to increased borrowing to cope with COVID-19 pandemic-related spending have also contributed to worries about the debt-GDP ratio crossing the 80 per cent notional red line from the 70 per cent rate seen in the last fiscal period. Nevertheless, the worries are being challenged by some analysts who stress the need to focus on economic recovery and prosperity instead of relying exclusively on debt figures, with high economic costs of debt reining in terms of jobs and loss of life and wellbeing.

Last week, the Finance Ministry released spending control guidelines in the quarter of July-September, extending an earlier order for the cash management system, dated April 8. The April order had grouped divisions of government and ministries into three, detailing their April-June quarter budget limit. Class A has without limitation ministries and agencies such as the Department of Agriculture, Cooperation and Farmers’ Welfare, the Ministry of Civil Aviation, the Department of Health and Family Welfare, the Department of Rural Development and the Supreme Court of India.

Category B ministries and departments such as fertilizers, taxation, home affairs, election commissions and road and highways are expected to restrict spending to 20% of the 2020-21 budget total, whereas Category C ministries such as petrochemicals, energy, commerce, telecommunications, education , housing and urban affairs will only spend 15% of the budget.

The budget rationalization is likely being undertaken to allow enough headroom to dovetail the stimulus package unveiled last month, particularly when receipts are projected to be significantly smaller than this year’s projections. Direct taxes dropped by more than 25 per cent in the first quarter, though GST collections were just 45 per cent of the monthly mark. Economists point to some key aspects of the stimulus program, such as the allocation of funds to micro, small and medium-sized businesses under the 100 percent Emergency Credit Line Guarantee System that are failing to take off, thus exacerbating the effects of the continuing reduction of government spending.

With insufficient cash outgoing, fiscal support from the government in the aftermath of the COVID-19 pandemic has been constrained. Schemes that are part of the stimulus plan, such as providing funds to micro, small and medium-sized enterprises under the 100% Emergency Credit Line Guarantee Programme, are failing to take off, with banks able to disburse a little over 7% of the volume distributed under this heading over the last one month. For MSMEs, hard hit by the pandemic lockdown, credit remains a challenge amid the demand slump. Official data shows that as of June 18, state-owned banks sanctioned loans worth Rs 40,416 crore under the scheme, of which Rs 21,028.55 crore has been disbursed, which is a little over 7 per cent of the Rs 3 lakh crore package under this head.

Source:https://indianexpress.com/article/explained/explained-why-the-government-is-likely-to-spend-much-less-this-fiscal-6481331/

STAFFING


Staffing may be defined as the managerial function of employing and developing human resources for carrying out the various managerial and non-managerial activities in an organization. The function is concerned with attracting, acquiring and activating the human resources for achieving organizational goals and staffing also involves upgrading the quality and usefulness of members of the organization with a view to getting higher performance from them and in other words the policy of selecting ‘right man for the right job’ should be adopted. The staffing function includes such activities as manpower or human resource planning, recruitment, selection, placement, training and development, remuneration, performance appraisal, promotion, transfers, and so on. Staffing is a continuous function of managers and this is because the organization’s need to retain and maintain its personnel is a need ending process and managers have to keep a regular watch on the size and composition of personnel needed by the organization. As said by Weihrich and Koontz “The managerial function of staffing involves the filling and keeping filled, positions in the organizational structure”.

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NATURE OF STAFFING

Staffing is related to people not with goods and it is a human factor related to people and staffing is also influenced by the social, economical, political, and educational environment of the country. Speaking, staffing is a function of far-reaching consequences and the reason is that managers are not shown as an asset in the balance-sheet of the organization whatsoever money we may have to spend on their selection, education, training and development and hence, we may conclude that staffing is a function of a for reaching consequences. According to Theo Haimann “Staffing is also a liability of the management like its other functions which is to be done by a manager continuously”. Recruitment, selection, training, and development of employees is a continuous process and with the increase in the size of the organization, continuity in staffing also increases. Staffing is influenced by the internal and external environment of the organization and the internal environment includes policies regarding promotion, retirement, etc., while the external environment includes the social, economic, political, and educational environment of the country and speaking both internal and external effect the staffing function.

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In management selection, training, development, and evaluation of manpower are interlinked and hence convert staffing into a system and it is treated as a sub-system of management system because it is linked with organizational structure. Staffing is done not only to fulfill the present vacancies but also to fulfill the future vacancies and here we have to forecast the number and type of vacancies in near future and the level of the educated and trained people required for fulfilling these vacancies and arrange for the fulfillment, education, and training for these vacancies in advance. Staffing is not a phase of organizing but a separate managerial function and staffing is the responsibility of the managers. Staffing helps in determining and securing qualified and capable personnel for various jobs and it places round pegs in round holes and square pegs in square holes and it aims at economical and better employee performance.

DECENTRALIZATION AND CENTRALISATION

DECENTRALIZATION

Decentralization is a systematic effort to delegate to the lowest levels of the authority except that which can be expected that can be exercised at central points. It is the pushing down of authority and power of the decision-making to the lower levels of the organization and the essence of decision making is dispersed throughout the organization. The essence of decentralization is the transference of authority from a higher level to a lower level. It is a fundamental principle of democratic management where each individual is respected for his inherent worth and constitution as Newman and Summer rightly said “Decentralization is simply a matter of dividing up the managerial work and assigning specific duties to the various executive skills”.

FEATURES OF DECENTALISATION

The following are the chief characteristics of decentralization:

  1. It is an extended form of delegation.
  2. It gives importance to the role of subordinates.
  3. It reduces the work-load of the managers in the top hierarchy.
  4. It is a process applied to the entire organization.
  5. Under it its decisions are taken by those employees who implement them; and
  6. Under it along with authority, responsibility is also transferred.

CENTRALIZATION

Centralization is the reservation or withholding of authority by individual managers within the organization and according to Henry Floyd “Everything that goes to increase the importance of the subordinate’s role in decentralization, everything which goes to reduce it is centralization”.

In centralization a little delegation of authority is the rule; power and discretion are concentrated in a few executives. Control and decision-making are in the hands of top-level management, however, absolute centralization is untenable because it would mean that the subordinates have no duties, power, or authority.

Centralization may be essential in a small organization to survive in a highly competitive world, but as an organization becomes more complex in terms of increasing size, the interdependence of work-flow, complexity of tasks and spatial physical barriers within and among groups, a requisite for efficiency is to move decision-making centres to the operating level. Thus, the larger the size of an organization, the more urgent is the need for decentralization and this does not mean that denaturalization is good and centralization is bad. According to Allen “ Centralization is the systematic and consistent reservation of authority at central points in the organization” and according to Fayol “Centralization is that organization where the role of subordinates is reduced”.







FEATURES OF CENTRALIZATION

          On the basis of the properties, the following are the characteristics of centralization:

  1. Right of decision is centralized and withhold with the top level of the management.
  2. The lower level of management executives only follows the decisions and necessary actions taken by top-level management.
  3. There is the least use of the process of delegating rights as it brings down the taken for making a decision and reduces the number of people involved as there is the direct involvement of the top-level management.
  4. There is reduction in the role of subordinates.
  5. There are a great distance work site and the decision-making place.

MAKE IN INDIA OR INVENT IN INDIA?

PC: Indian Express, Feb 28, 2018.

India must focus on discovering, inventing and making in India and not just make in India. Many feel that India cannot produce its own Google or Facebook or Apple because we have an attitude in us that we keep borrowing things from the world and not invent our thoughts that can compete on the world level. ‘Make in India’ is a much-needed program for India. The government and our prime minister have brought at a good time. The country has a fiscal deficit and perhaps, with ‘Make in India’, foreign investments in the country and exports will grow to stabilise the Indian rupee in the international market. If our currency appreciates, then we can also focus on many other initiatives. It is a politically correct decision but for the scheme to succeed the country has to invent and discover locally too.

It must be understood that for India, making things here are quite important, but the quintessential aspect should be making things here without depending on other nations. For this, we must discover and invent and make things in India. A reasonable portion of Indian GDP must be dedicated to research and development and also to the education system so that discoveries and inventions take place from school to college level to start-ups. There must also be a simultaneous effort to foster entrepreneurship so that ‘make in India’ and ‘invent in India’ go hand in hand. The government must also create a culture conducive to entrepreneurship. In Singapore, one can start a business in just 2.5 days whereas in India, on an average it takes about a month. Also, a person aspiring to invent something does not get the required infrastructure and financial assistance to pursue dreams. Given this unfavourable environment, Indian are not interested in discovering and developing. There are perils of Indian bureaucracy which is outdated, definitely inflexible and many times irrational but with breakthroughs by students and can present them with immediate commercial opportunities. There is tremendous talent in India, and it must bloom during college, if not school time. Schools have an instrumental role to play in imparting scientific education from the right age of a child with an emphasis on project development. Children are curious, and if the right direction is given to them in science, they will give India the right direction.

 Indian youth is always driven towards engineering colleges in numbers far more significant than science and discovery, as they consider it a safer choice. With these talented individuals, India has the potential to become an influential scientific nation. Brain drain is an issue in which an Indian goes abroad and contributes immensely to a foreign country. The government must introduce lucrative programs that pull back pool of talented Indians in abroad and also let the existing citizens stay back willingly.

India must become an innovative country in the next 5-10 years. Strong academia is required, which can come through collaboration with the US, and that will lay a strong foundation for India’s growth in the long run. The partnership with the US in primary, higher education and research would benefit India tremendously. Such kind of a strategy will uplift India in high-tech product and service category and increased exports along with domestic consumption of such offerings will take the nation forward to achieve its ‘superpower’ ambition. Only a technologically advanced country can become a superpower. If there is a tie-up with universities for PHD, then we must check that once the students, who’re sent to the US for higher education in the technology field, finish their school, they must come back and serve India. People who go for studies there seldom come back. India will have the onus to provide these people with the employment and opportunities in research and development and give them a life which is on par with the US. Both countries will win in this situation where bilateral trade will increase ten folds also benefiting the ‘make in India’ scheme. Locally assemble and manufactured products will be cheaper; it will lead to much employment, will increase exports and give Indian companies a better global platform and presence.

Since the topic of aspiring to become a superpower is mentioned; it must be noted that ‘Make in India’ will take us in that direction but ‘Discover, Invent and Make in India’ will make us a superpower.

DELEGATION OF AUTHORITY


Just as no person alone in an enterprise can do all the tasks necessary for the accomplishment of goals, so also it is impossible, for one person to exercise all the authority for making decisions. There is a limit to the number of person managers can effectively supervise and for whom they can make decisions and once this limit is crossed, the authority must be delegated to the subordinates, who will make decisions within the area of their assigned duties. Then the question is how authority is delegated when decision-making power is vested in a subordinate by his superior and superiors cannot delegate all their authority without, in effect, transferring their position to their subordinates. The entire process of delegation involves four steps. They are:

  1. The determination of results expected from persons in a position;
  2. The assignment of tasks to persons;
  3. The delegation of authority for accomplishing these tasks; and
  4. The holding of people responsible for the accomplishment of these tasks.

Thus, delegation is the process that a manager follows in diving the work assigned to him so that he performs that part, which because of his position, can perform effectively. According to F.G.Moore “ Delegation means assigning work to others and giving them authority to do it”.

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FEATURES OF DELEGATION OF AUTHORITY

The salient features of the delegation of authority that can be derived are:

  1. Delegation essentially means passing on authority.
  2. Only a part of the authority is delegated by a superior.
  3. Authority is delegated to a subordinate.
  4. A superior can delegate authority only when the superior possesses that.
  5. The limits within which a subordinate is expected to exercise delegated authority, have to be fixed.
  6. Delegation of authority does not imply the abdication of responsibility on the part of the superior.
  7. Delegation of authority is for the discharge of some responsibility or duty assigned.
  8. It creates accountability or obligation on the part of the person who has been delegated authority, for proper use of authority and accomplishment of the task assigned.
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A manager cannot delegate all his authority and for the purpose of the delegation, all authority of a manager can be divided into three broad categories:

  1. The authority which must be delegated as authority to take routine decisions for the accomplishment of tasks;
  2. The authority which can be delegated as the administration of policies; and
  3. The authority cannot be delegated at all as the authority to make policy decisions.

A successful manager is one who can delegate his authority successfully and he must delegate the authority to do work of routine and subsidiary nature. For instance, the marketing manager of a business enterprise is responsible for many operations like conducting marketing research, development of means of sales promotion, management of advertising, employment and training of sales forces, etc. The marketing manager cannot look after all these operations and he can entrust the responsibility of the performance of some of these operations to his subordinates.