Introduction

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1. Introduction:

With a repaid changes in social, economic and political fabric and the

entry of women employees in the retail sector working equally to the men and

work life balance has become a hot topic in recent years, fueled in part by

changing trends in women social roles.

Women struggle with balancing work and personal life demands to a greater

extent than their male counterparts, Compared to men, women were found to

undertake the majority of the household duties and therefore more likely to suffer

from role overload and moreover women were more likely to have made

sacrifices with regard to having children.

The changing economic conditions and social demands have changed the nature

of work throughout the world. The concept of Work life balance is becoming

more and more relevant in an ever dynamic working environment and it becomes

an issue while considering women employees.

Work–life balance is a concept including proper prioritizing between "work"

(career and ambition) and "lifestyle" (health, pleasure, leisure, family and spiritual

development/meditation). Related, though broader, terms include "lifestyle calm

balance" and "lifestyle choices".

Career and goals are the most important factors in life, most of the women are

coming forward to work in order to support their family, others work to reach

their dreams ambitions and desired status, these changes are now natural and

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dynamic due to change of environment and economic conditions. The biggest

challenge for women is how to balance the demands of family and career and they

deal with different aspects such as career advancement, work Stress, career

aspiration, work family conflict and family work conflict, child care in context of

Work Life Balance (WLB).

Work Life Balance of Women employee has become an important subject since

the women are equally sharing the earning responsibility for the betterment of

their family. Women are getting into jobs and they continue to work even after

marriage. A married woman has more responsibility than man in taking care of

young children and family. The working women efficiently overcome difficult

situations by their commitment and perseverance. The participation of women in

income generation activities lends them to satisfy their home needs to a greater

extent.

2. Problem statement:-

To determine the factors affecting work life balance of woman employees

3. Objective of this study:-

To identify the determinants of Work Life Balance of Women Employees

To access the impact of age and marital status on WLB.

Discovering the perception of women employees towards benefits and challenges

towards WLB.

To examine the effect of work life balance on women’s performance and work

attitude.

To recommend / suggest ways for improving WLB.

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4. Need for the study:-

The success of any organization depends largely on

the workers, the employees are considered as the backbone of “BIG

BAZAAR PVT LTD.”. The Study is to identify the work life balance

among women employees. Due to improper work life balance among

women employees there will be a loss in productivity level of the

organization. The important need for the study is to reduce the stress and to

improve the work life balance among the women employees in the

organization and improve the quality of work and motivate employees.

Hence, there is a necessity to conduct the research.

5. Scope of the study:-

This project is based on the work life balance prevailing among women

employees working in big bazaar, an attempt is made to analyze the company’s

performance through the employees’ satisfaction about the work life balance and

to arrive at suggestions and recommendations to improve the work life balance

among women employees in order to increase their efficiency level. The scope of

this study is extended only to the Employees working in Big Bazar Mysore. It

does not cover employees working in other outlays of Big Bazar.

6. Research methodology:-

The study of this project is based on both qualitative and quantitative approach, which will give

the benefits of both qualitative as well as quantitative researches. The data collection will be

done through both qualitative and quantitative sources of data. The research approach will be

deductive to critically investigate and analyze the views of women employees on work-life

balance. The research philosophy of positive will be most useful for this study because it will

comprehensively described the objective aspects of research.

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The steps in which the project would be carried out is by collecting both the primary and the

secondary data. The secondary data will be collected first. This collection of data will be done by

means of reading various materials such as books, journals, magazines, newspaper articles, etc.;

looking for similar content online (i.e., on the Internet). Then a structured questionnaire and

survey would be used as a primary data collecting tool which will be filled by the employees of

organizations using convenience sampling.

Types of Research.

Exploratory (Primary data)

Descriptive (Primary data)

Data source

Primary source

Secondary source

PRIMARY DATA: the primary data will be collected from the respondents by administering a

structured, Questionnaire and also through Observation, interview and discussion with the

management team.

SECONDARY DATA: Apart from primary data the secondary data will be collected through

text books, records of the company, journals, from library, academic reports.

TOOLS FOR ANALYSIS:

Primary data will be collected through the observation, discussion, interview and questionnaire

by distributing the questionnaires; questionnaire with both close ended and open ended questions

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will be used as sample respondents. On the basis of the tables, the facts are presented in the form

of BAR, PIE charts and tables.

7. LIMITATION OF THE STUDY:

The research study is limited to employees of Big Bazar Only.

Some of the observations and interpretation will not be reliable (bias and difference in

perception).

Lack of exposure to the culture of employees who come from different background.

Language to communicate will be a limitation because of the difference in languages.

Some Employees will hesitate to answer the questions correctly.

The analysis will be done assuming that the respondents have given correct respond

through questionnaire.

Chapter One

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“Review of the

literature”

1. Literature Review:-

1.1 History

The expression was first used in the United Kingdom in the late 1970s to

describe the balance between an individual's work and personal life. In the United

States, this phrase was first used in 1986.

Over the past twenty-five years, there has been a substantial increase in work

which is felt to be due, in part, by information technology and by an intense,

competitive work environment. Long-term loyalty and a "sense of corporate

community" have been eroded by a performance culture that expects more and

more from their employees yet offers little security in return.

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Many experts predicted that technology would eliminate most household chores

and provide people with much more time to enjoy leisure activities; but many

ignore this option, encouraged by prevailing consumerist culture and a political

agenda that has "elevated the work ethic to unprecedented heights and thereby

reinforced the low value and worth attached to parenting".

Many Americans are experiencing burnout due to overwork and increased stress.

This condition is seen in nearly all occupations from blue collar workers to upper

management. Over the past decade, a rise in workplace violence, an increase in

levels of absenteeism as well as rising workers’ compensation claims are all

evidence of an unhealthy work life balance.

Employee assistance professionals say there are many causes for this situation

ranging from personal ambition and the pressure of family obligations to the

accelerating pace of technology. According to a recent study for the Center for

Work-Life Policy, 1.7 million people consider their jobs and their work hours

excessive because of globalization.

These difficult and exhausting conditions are having adverse effects. According to

the study, fifty percent of top corporate executives are leaving their current

positions. Although sixty-four percent of workers feel that their work pressures

are "self-inflicted", they state that it is taking a toll on them. The study shows that

seventy percent of US respondents and eighty-one percent of global respondents

say their jobs are affecting their health.

Between forty-six and fifty-nine percent of workers feel that stress is affecting

their interpersonal and sexual relationships. Additionally, men feel that there is a

certain stigma associated with saying "I can't do this".

1.2 Work statistics

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According to a survey conducted by the National Life Insurance Company, four

out of ten employees state that their jobs are "very" or "extremely" stressful.

Those in high-stress jobs are three times more likely than others to suffer from

stress-related medical conditions and are twice as likely to quit. The study states

that women, in particular, report stress related to the conflict between work and

family.

1.3 What work-life balance is not:-

Despite the worldwide quest for Work-Life Balance, very few have found an

acceptable definition of the concept. Hence let’s first look at what work-life

balance is not.

Work-Life Balance does not mean an equal balance. Trying to schedule

an equal number of hours for each of your various work and personal activities is

usually unrewarding and unrealistic. Life is and should be more fluid than that.

Your best individual work-life balance will vary over time . Often on a

daily basis. The right balance for you today will probably be different for you

tomorrow. The right balance for you when you are single will be different when

you marry, or if you have children; when you start a new career versus when you

are nearing retirement.

There is no perfect, one-size fits all, balance you should be striving

for . The best work-life balance is different for each of us because we all have

different priorities and different lives.

However, at the core of an effective work-life balance definition are two key

everyday concepts that are relevant to each of us. They are daily Achievement

and Enjoyment, ideas almost deceptive in their simplicity, engraining a fuller

meaning of these two concepts takes us most of the way to defining a positive

Work-Life Balance.

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Achievement and Enjoyment answer the big question "Why?" Why do we want a

better income, a new house, the kids through college, to do a good job today, to

come to work at all?

Most of us already have a good grasp on the meaning of Achievement. But let's

explore the concept of Enjoyment a little more. As part of a relevant Work-Life

Balance definition, enjoyment does not just mean happiness. It means Pride,

Satisfaction, Happiness, Celebration, Love, and A Sense of Well Being and all the

Joys of Living.

Achievement and Enjoyment are the front and back of the coin of value in life.

You can't have one without the other, no more than you can have a coin with only

one side. Trying to live a one sided life is why so many "Successful" people are

not happy, or not nearly as happy as they should be.

You cannot get the full value from life without both Achievement and Enjoyment.

Focusing on Achievement and Enjoyment every day in life helps you avoid the

"As Soon As Trap", the life dulling habit of planning on getting around to the joys

of life and accomplishment "as soon as".

Meaningful daily Achievement and Enjoyment in each of our four life

quadrants: Work, Family, Friends and Self.

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Daily achievement and enjoyment

Work Family

Friends Self

At work we can create our own best Work-Life Balance by making sure we not

only achieve, but also reflect the joy of the job, and the joy of life, every day. If

nobody pats you on the back today, pat yourself on the back. And help others to

do the same.

When we do, when we are a person that not only gets things done, but also enjoys

the doing, it attracts people to us. They want us on their team and they want to be

on your team.

1.4 Work-Life Balance Defined - What it really means!

We all play many roles: employee, boss, subordinate, spouse, parent,

child, sibling, friend and community member. Each of these roles imposes

demands on us that require time, energy and commitment to fulfill. Work-family

or work-life conflict occurs when the cumulative demands of these many work

and non-work life roles are incompatible in some respect so that participation in

one role is made more difficult by participation in the other role.

Work/life balance, in its broadest sense, is defined as a satisfactory level of

involvement or ‘fit’ between the multiple roles in a person’s life. Although

definitions and explanations vary, work/life balance is generally associated with

equilibrium, or maintaining an overall sense of harmony in life. The study of

work/life balance involves the examination of people’s ability to manage

simultaneously the multi-faceted demands of life. Although work/life balance has

traditionally been assumed to involve the devotion of equal amounts of time to

paid work and non-work roles, more recently the concept has been recognized as

more complex. There exists three basic aspects of work life balance

Time balance, which concerns the amount of time given to work and

non-work roles.

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Involvement balance, meaning the level of psychological involvement

in, or commitment to, work and non-work roles.

Satisfaction balance, or the level of satisfaction with work and non-

work roles.

This model of work/life balance, with time, involvement and

satisfaction components, enables a broader and more inclusive picture to emerge.

For example, someone who works two days a week and spends the rest of the

week with his or her family may be unbalanced in terms of time (i.e. equal

measures of work and life), but may be equally committed to the work and non-

work roles (balanced involvement) and may also be highly satisfied with the level

of involvement in both work and family (balanced satisfaction). Someone who

works 60 hours a week might be perceived as not having work/life balance in

terms of time. However, like the person who works only a few hours a week, this

individual would also be unbalanced in terms of time, but may be quite content

with this greater involvement in paid work (balanced satisfaction). Alternatively,

someone who works 36 hours a week, doesn’t enjoy his or her job and spends the

rest of the time pursuing preferred outside activities may be time-balanced but

unbalanced in terms of involvement and satisfaction. Thus, achieving balance

needs to be considered from multiple perspectives.

Work life and personal life are the two sides of the same coin.

According to various work /life balance surveys, more than 60% of the

respondent professionals surveyed said that are not able to find a balance between

their personal and professional lives. They have to make tough choices even when

their work and personal life is nowhere close to equilibrium. Traditionally

creating and managing a balance between the work-life was considered to be a

woman's issue. But increasing work pressures, globalization and technological

advancement have made it an issue with both the sexes, all professionals working

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across all levels and all industries throughout the world. Achieving "work-life

balance" is not as simple as it sounds.

Work life and personal life are inter-connected and interdependent. Spending

more time in office, dealing with clients and the pressures of job can interfere and

affect the personal life, sometimes making it impossible to even complete the

household chores. On the other hand, personal life can also be demanding if you

have a kid or aging parents, financial problems or even problems in the life of a

dear relative. It can lead to absenteeism from work, creating stress and lack of

concentration at work.

Work-personal life conflict occurs when the burden, obligations and

responsibilities of work and family roles become incompatible. Obligation of one

can force an individual to neglect the other.

Work-life balance concerns of men and women alike

Similar discrimination is experienced by men who take time off or reduce

working hours for taking care of the family.

For many employees today—both male and female—their lives are becoming

more consumed with a host of family and other personal responsibilities and

interests. Therefore, in an effort to retain employees, it is increasingly important

for organizations to recognize this balance.

Young generation views on work-life balance

According to Kathleen Gerson, Sociologist, young people “are searching for new

ways to define care that do not force them to choose between spending time with

their children and earning an income" and “ are looking for definition of personal

identity that do not pit their own development against creating committed ties to

others”. Young adults believe that parents should get involved and support the

children both economically and emotionally, as well as share labor equally.

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Young people do not believe work-life balance is possible and think it is

dangerous to build a life dependent on another when relationships are

unpredictable. They are looking for partners to share the house work and family

work together. Both men and women believe that women should have jobs before

considering marriage; for better life and to be happy in marriage. They also do not

think they were powerless because they were not economically dependent.

Work-life balance issues and their influence on children

An increasing number of young children are being raised by a childcare provider

or another person other than a parent; older children are more likely today to

come home to an empty house and spend time with video games, television and

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the internet with less guidance to offset or control the messages coming from

these sources.

No one knows how many kids are home after school without an adult, but they

know the number is in the millions. Also, according to a study by the National

Institute of Child Health and Human Development, the “more time that children

spent in child care, the more likely their sixth grade teachers were to report

behavior problems. “The findings are the results of the largest study of child care

and development conducted in various countries; the analysis tracked 1,364

children from birth.

Role of Women and WLB:-

Women are mostly into full time services and are working 8 hours per day and 5

days in a week minimum and are confronted by increasing workload every day.

So, most of them carry work and responsibilities to home but balancing between

these two complex situations in the present day fast life requires talent, tact, skill

and caution. Women have to cope with high work targets, office commitments,

tight meeting schedules and the duties and responsibilities of life and home.

Employers should concentrate on framing various policies and schemes to

facilitate Work life balance to encourage and attract women employees.

Employees learn different kinds of behavior from workplace life and private life.

Since reciprocal interactions between both the life domains occur a Green Work

Life Balance Concept is suggested to facilitate environmentally friendly behavior

for them.

Most of scholars agree that a strong organizational culture increases employee’s

intent to remain in the organization. Work life balance must be supported and

encouraged at all levels of the organization including senior management, line

managers and all staff.

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Career Advancement and WLB:-

Different factors across three levels play a role to determine the progress of

women through organizational hierarchy.

Women Employees Career and Life References:-

The segregation of men and women into different occupations is the principal

reason for earnings differences between men and women. The occupational

segregation restricts people’s choice of career, especially in the crucial early years

of adult life. This was the reason for both the European Commission and ILO

belief regarding the occupational segregation can and should be eliminated.

The women working in all types of professions demonstrating that there are no

gender differences in work. The increasing demands at work place, the interface

between work life and personal life needs more attention. It leads to stress and

such situation affects person’s health both physiologically and psychologically.

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Framework of Women’s career advancement

Organizational ContextWork life BalancesFlexible Working HoursConducive WorkEnvironmentHR process & Benefits

Work EnvironmentSupportive SupervisorJob AssignmentsSupportive Colleagues

IndividualCareer PlanningPerformancePromotion

1.5 Changing & increasing work pressures:-

A decade back, employees used to have fixed working hours or rather a 9 to 5 job

from Monday to Friday. The boundary between the work and home has

disappeared with time. But with globalization and people working across

countries, the concept of fixed working hours is fading away. Instead of just 7 or

8 a day, people are spending as much as 12-16 hours every day in office.

The technological blessings like e-mail, text messaging and cell phones which

were thought of as tools to connect them to their work being away from their

workplace, have actually integrated their personal and professional lives. Now

professionals find themselves working even when they are on vacations.

The ever-increasing working hours leave the individuals with less time for

themselves and to pursue his hobbies or leisure activities. This hinders the growth

of the person as an individual in terms of his personal and spiritual growth.

Professionals working in the BPO industry, doctors and nurses and especially IT

professionals are the few examples who are facing the brunt of the hazard

constantly.

Reasons of imbalance:-

There are various reasons for this imbalance and conflicts in the life of an

employee. From individual career ambitions to pressure to cope up with family or

work, the reasons can be situation and individual specific. The speed of

advancement of information technology, the increasing competition in the talent

supply market has led to a "performance-driven" culture creating pressures and

expectations to performance more and better every time. Also, many a times,

many people find it difficult to say "NO" to others especially their superiors. They

usually end up over burdening themselves with work. The increasing

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responsibilities on the personal front with age can also create stress on personal

and professional fronts.

Consequences of an Imbalance:-

Constant struggle and effort to maintain a balance between the work and personal

life can have serious implications on the life of an individual. According to a

survey, 81 per cent of the respondents have admitted that their jobs are affecting

and creating stress in their personal lives. The pressures of the work or personal

life can lead to stress. According to studies, it has been found to that such

situation can take a toll on the person's health both physiologically and

psychologically. Heart ailments, cardiovascular problems, sleep disorders,

depression, irritability, jumpiness, insecurity, poor concentration and even

nervous breakdowns are becoming common among the victims of such

imbalance. Pressure, stress or tension in work life can lead to bad social life and

vice versa.

Why Should Employers Care about Employees’ Work-Life Balance?

Many organizations feel that helping employees balance competing work and

non-work demands is not their responsibility. Rather, they subscribe to a

somewhat outdated view called the “myth of separate worlds” that is based on the

premise that work is work and life is life and that the domains do not overlap.

Such organizations argue that “it was the employee’s choice to have a family so

balancing competing demands is their problem not ours.” Such organizations also

note that they are “in the business” of increasing shareholder value and serving

customers and not helping employees cope with stress.

In other organizations, employees without dependent care responsibilities

interpret “family friendly” as favoritism and complain that they are being

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“unfairly” or inequitably treated. Such employees feel that their colleagues with

childcare or eldercare responsibilities are “getting away with less work” and that

the needs of childless employees are being ignored. This backlash against “family

friendly” makes it harder for organizations who wish to address the issue.

Our research debunks the above preconceptions and supports that the inability to

balance work and family is “everyone’s problem.” High work-life conflict

negatively impacts the employer, the employees’ colleagues, the employee, the

employees’ family, and society as a whole. From the employer’s perspective, the

inability to balance work and family demands has been linked to reduced work

performance, increased absenteeism, higher turnover, lower commitment and

poorer morale. Work-life conflict has also been linked to productivity decreases

associated with lateness, unscheduled days off, emergency time off, excessive use

of the telephone, missed meetings, and difficulty concentrating on the job.

Conflict between work and family demands is also a problem for employees and

their families.

Responsibility of the employer:-

Companies have begun to realize how important the work-life balance is to the

productivity and creativity of their employees. Research by Kenexa Research

Institute in 2007 shows that those employees who were more favorable toward

their organization’s efforts to support work-life balance also indicated a much

lower intent to leave the organization, greater pride in their organization, a

willingness to recommend it as a place to work and higher overall job satisfaction.

Employers can offer a range of different programs and initiatives, such as flexible

working arrangements in the form of part time, casual and telecommuting work.

More proactive employers can provide compulsory leave, strict maximum hours

and foster an environment that encourages employees not to continue working

after hours.

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Benefits of Work Life Balance Initiatives:-

Work Life Balance initiatives have been an integral part of the HR policies for a

long time. There are certainly obvious benefits to the employer as well as the

employee.

Benefits for employers include:

Lower staff turnover and increased return on training

Reduced absenteeism and lateness

Improved employee morale and commitment

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Reduced stress and improved productivity

A more flexible workforce

Increased ability to attract and recruit staff

Potential for improved occupational health and safety

Fulfilment of equal opportunity objectives

Good corporate citizenship and an enhanced corporate image.

Benefits for employees include:

Ability to manage work and individual commitments

Improved personal and family relationships

Flexible working arrangements resulting in reduced work overload and stress

Increased focus, motivation and job satisfaction knowing that family and work commitments are being met

Increased job security from the knowledge that an organisation understands and supports workers with family responsibilities

Increased ability to remain employed.

Increased ability to remain competitive in career advancement

Improved health and wellbeing of staff

Critical Success Factors

To achieve the benefits of introducing work life balance initiatives, the critical success factors are:

Choose work life balance practices that are suitable to the workplace and the employees’ jobs, and ones that will meet the needs of the employees.

Ensure there is good communication with employees, and they are well informed of the options available to them.

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Provide clear guidelines to all employees on how the work life balance practices are to work.

Ensure that supervisors do not inhibit employees from accessing the work life balance practices that are available to them.

Treat all employees fairly and equitably, regardless of their family/personal responsibilities.

Be flexible with the changing needs of employees.

Ensure that any changes in work practices are consistent with award or agreement requirements.

Check whether the new work practices are actually assisting employees to better balance

Balancing the work and life of your employees:-

Researches indicate that balanced work-life can lead to greater employee

productivity. With the progressive shift of the economy towards a knowledge

economy, the meaning and Importance of tile quality of work life is also assuming

a new significance. The article details the factors that should be tuned to attain

balance between work and life of an employee.

You must have both love and work in your life to make you healthy. Don't you

agree? Well, this is what Sigmund Freud had said decades ago for healthy

workers. Family is an essential ingredient for the love that exists in the life of the

employees. But are the corporate structuring the work patterns so as to ensure the

necessary balances? Are the corporate providing opportunities to their employees

to spend quality time in their personal lives? Many researchers indicate that

maintaining a good balance in work and life has become a priority for the

corporate in the developed nations.

At the dawn of industrialization, the needs and priorities of employees were at the

lower end of Maslow’s need hierarchy pyramid. The priority was given more to

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physical and material security. However, with rapid cultural and economic

developments, the priorities outside job became very different. Employees started

looking for higher and meaningful quality of life as a result of the outcomes of

their work. After all, what are they working for? A good happy and a decent life.

With the increasing shift of the economy towards knowledge economy, the

meaning and importance of the quality of work life is also assuming a new

significance. Today, the connotation of the term 'work' has also become different.

It has more to do with the intellectual exercise than physical labour. As a result,

the corporates need to streamline and restructure their work schedules in order to

bring about a balance in work life of their employees. Understanding and

managing the levels and complexities of diverse motivational needs is another

area, which requires careful attention from the corporates to bring about work-life

balance.

Various researchers have pointed out the following.

Shifts in Societal Patterns:-

Gone are the days of joint families where you had to care for elders and they, in

turn, had to nurture your emotions. Today's nuclear families with both the

partners working, have created new dynamics that has become emotionally

demanding to the employees. Financial and social obligations have assumed a

different level of significance today. Not only this, the needs of organisations

today have also changed. Money is getting accumulated in tiny pockets, among

those sections of people who possess the ‘most wanted’ knowledge. And these

so-called ‘knowledge workers’ are the ones who are in acute need to balancing

their work and life.

Technological Breakthroughs:-

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Tremendous progress in the fields of information technology and communication

system has changed our worldview. At the same time, it demands more from

today’s employees. Strict deadlines, tighter schedules and ever-escalating

corporate targets are the natural outcome of it.

New Horizon of Expectations:-

Due to the above reasons there has been a total shift in the level of expectations

for today’s employees and how attitudes towards work and life balance varies

from generation to generation.

Researchers have pointed out that a balance between work and life is maintained

when there is no conflict between work and family demands. Though this seems

to be idealistic situation, what the corporates need to remember is that the

conflicts should not reach unacceptable levels where it would tend to affect the

productivity of the employee and the management recognises the importance of

their personal and family life.

Striking a balance between work and life is as difficult for the corporates as it is

for the employees. The HR managers, along with the functional heads and line

mangers, should try to bring in flexibility to the working patterns within the

organisations. A trade-off between organizational needs and personal needs of

the employees has to be worked out. Following are some of the ways in which it

can be done. Though this is in no way an exhaustive list, yet it does provide a

starting point for corporates to develop flexible work schedules that can balance

work and life.

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I. Creating Institutional Support Mechanisms

The first and the foremost requirement is to create conditions that will provide

organisational support towards maintaining the flexibility of work and life of the

employees. These entail the propagation of the culture of work flexibility, HR

policies and other organisational regulations that allow the employees to maintain

a good mix of personal lives with their career.

There is a need to clearly chalk out the connection between maintaining this

flexibility and the corporate objectives. For instance, managers at corporatioons

begin their job in the company with a clear understanding of what the company

expects. They undergo a weeklong program, called Supervisor School that blends

the business case for work life initiatives. Thus, the management ensures that the

flexibility in work is linked with the objectives of the organisation. But this is not

enough. What is needed is to ensure and communicate the support of the senior

management. The top management of the company must clearly communicate its

eagerness and willingness to restructure the work schedules in such a manner that

it can balance the work and life of the employees. This will require clear

articulation from the company that it values the personal lives of its employees.

The employees must understand that their organisation also keeps in mind the

value of their life and personal relationship. Such articulation can be done

through the company’s vision and mission statements.

II. Providing Managerial Support:-

Only lip service towards work life balance will not suffice. Organisations

must make sure that there are proper organisational systems of work design that

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allows employees to have flexible time. This may even require a new look

towards HR manual, which the organization may have.

It is also necessary to evaluate such systems of flexibility from time to time.

Otherwise, stagnancy will creep into the work schedules, which might create new

dimensions of the problem in the work life patterns. To keep pace with the

changing patterns of work and life of employees, the organisations can arrange

special training programs that will inform the employees about the new working

trends. This can be done through sharing successful models of work schedules

and real life case studies.

III. Practising What You Preach

Above all, the organization’s need to execute their flexible work

schedules. Flexible work patterns must become a part of organisational

initiatives. This will require the creation of a networked environment that can

provide a ‘back up’ system to support work relationship. Essentially this will

require employees to become cross functional, so that a temporary emergency or a

shortfall in one department can be met by other departments. Thus, the role of

HR department needs to be revisited and made more expansive and supportive

towards organisational and individual needs.

IV. Sustain It:-

Once the organisation follows and internalises the practice of flexible

work schedules for its employees, it is very necessary that it sustains it over a long

period of time. Such sustainability can brought about by clear demarcations of

accountability and means to measure it. In other words, the focus and purpose of

creating balanced work life should be maintained at any cost. This will also call

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for review and evaluation of the current work environment and make

modifications in the schedules accordingly.

Several researchers have shown that a balanced work-life creates greater

employee productivity. What important is the long-term and not the short-term,

which seems to become the focus of many organisations. So, though it may

apparently seem that employees are having more leisure, the effect of a balanced

work-life will show up positively in the bottom line of the company.

ACTUAL BALANCE

27

Work-Life Balance in Indian Context:-

"Hardworking, committed” are words that we hear every time when we try to

understand the work ethic of Indians. Whilst EU insists on a 40 hour week and the

western world moans about working 50 hours an average Indian works at least 50

hours if not more in a week. We have culturally been groomed to believe in a

day’s honest work. It is not that we are incapable of working smart. There are

many smart workers who manage their tasks and time efficiently but they also

tend to put in long hours. The question that comes is what does work life balance

mean in an Asian and specifically Indian context?

In India, these days it is very rare to find a house wife or a house husband. When

families have both husband and wife working discussing work life balance

28

discussions from a woman’s perspective is not relevant. More and more couples

became vocal about sharing the burden of running a household. Blame it on

education, increased awareness.

The Top 50 companies to work for in India:-

These are the list of companies who offer better working environment and work

life balance to its employees in India.

Rank Name of the Company

Location Number of Employees

Gender Ratio (F:M)

Voluntary Turnover

1 Google India Bangalore 1,259 1:0.99 30%

2 MakeMyTrip Gurgaon 674 1:2.55 23.89%

3 Intel Technology Bangalore 2,430 1:3.99 4.4%

4 Marriott Hotels Mumbai 2,433 1:9.01 27.37%

5 NetApp India Bangalore 1,042 1:4.51 5.95

6 American Express Gurgaon 5,200 1:1.33 15.00%

7 NTPC New Delhi 24,708 1:8.11 0.12%

8 PayPal India Chennai 419 1:3.6 0.48%

9 Ajuba Solutions Chennai 1,612 1:1.41 23.45%

10 SAS Institute Mumbai 108 1:5.75 13.89%

11 Crowne Plaza Today Gurgaon 399 1:5.23 48.87%

12 Dow Corning Mumbai 241 1:6.3 9.96%

13 Taj Hotels Resorts Mumbai 13,009 1:6.58 11.55%

14 Godrej Consumer Mumbai 1,314 1:30.29 6.24%

15 Whirlpool of India Gurgaon 1,128 1:13.28 8.69%

29

16 Interglobe Enterprises Ltd

Gurgaon 5,040 1:1.86 12%

17 iNautix Tech Chennai 2,263 1.21 8.66%

18 Hilti India Delhi 427 1:13.72 12.88%

19 Titan Industries Bangalore 4,329 1:3.49 4.87%

20 Intelenet Global Mumbai 25,810 1:2.27 NA

21 Qualcomm India Mumbai 1,073 1:6.5 4.38%

22 Federal Express Corp Mumbai 514 1:4.3 12.65%

23 Kotak Mahindra Mumbai 6,461 1:4.04 18.77%

24 Domino’s Pizza India Ltd

Noida 5,650 1:9.58 53.35%

25 Classic Stripes Ltd Mumbai 325 1:3.28 6.46%

26 Viacom Media 18 Ltd

Mumbai 363 1:2 15.43%

27 Bharti Airtel Ltd Delhi 17,227 1:7.33 17.99%

28 BNY Mellon International Ops

Pune 1,816 1:2.71 6.11%

29 Visakhapatnam Steel Plant, Rashtriya Ispat Nigam

Visakhapatnam 17,225 1:35.49 NA

30 Talentica Software India

Pune 104 1:0.2 6.73%

31 Indian Oil

Corporation

Delhi 33,954 1:11.93 0.04%

32 Yum Restaurants Gurgaon 1,713 1:6.39 36.19%

30

33 Monsanto India Limited

Mumbai 785 1:6.2 22.93%

34 HDFC Standard Life Mumbai 14,228 1:5.51 82.72%

35 Tata Teleservices Limited

Mumbai 8,743 1:11.13 18.99%

36 Marico Mumbai 1,266 1:5.9 16.87%

37 Claris Life sciences Ahmadabad 1,312 1:22.02 20.43%

38 Cadbury India Mumbai 2,347 1:23.45 5.45%

39 Intuit Technologies Bangalore 304 1:5.2 5.26%

40 Quintiles India Bangalore 1,317 1:0.73 9.57%

41 Blue Dart Express Mumbai 6,015 1:16.33 7.95%

42 Hardcastle Restaurants

Mumbai 891 1:16.76 6.29%

43 Eureka Forbes Mumbai 9,048 1:18.92 52.58%

44 Godrej Industries Mumbai 1,223 1:12.7 2.92%

45 S.C. Johnson Products

Delhi 578 1:10.12 16.78%

46 Bajaj Capital Limited Delhi 873 1:4.49 32.88%

Chapter Two31

Industry Profile:

Introduction:

The Indian retail industry has presently emerged as one of the most

dynamic and fast paced industries as several players have started to enter the

32

market. It accounts for over 10 per cent of the country’s gross domestic product

(GDP) and around eight per cent of the employment in India. The country is today

the fifth largest global destination in the world for retail.

Several corporates have planned to exploit the opportunities in the Indian retail

space, such as Reliance Industries Ltd (RIL), which has lined up capital

expenditure of 1.8 trillion (US$ 29.41 billion) for the next three years for its₹

petrochemicals, telecom and retail ventures.

Compound Annual Growth Rate:

33

With the growth in the retail industry, the corresponding demand for real

estate is also being created. Further, with the online medium of retail gaining

more and more acceptance, there is a tremendous growth opportunity for retail

companies, both domestic and international.

Retail is one of the fastest growing sectors in India. With infrastructure

development and the spread of awareness more and more major retail brands are

entering the market. The capacity to pay has increased and there is a change in

consumer buying behavior; this is making the retail industry slowly but steadily

inch its way to be a dynamic industry.

Great Place To Work Institute and Retailers Association of India (RAI) have

recognized the Best Retail Companies to work for in 2014. Pride, credibility,

camaraderie, fairness and respect were the 5 dimensions on the basis of which

various companies were judged and here is the list of top ten retail companies of

2014.

1. Lifestyle International Pvt. Ltd.: -

Lifestyle International started its journey in India with their first store in

Chennai in the year 1999. The company is a part of the Landmark Group which is

a Dubai based retail and hospitality conglomerate. In 15 years, they now have 41

stores across 26 cities in India. The stores sell apparel, footwear, children’s wear 34

and toys, household and furniture items and health and beauty products. Lifestyle

International has also won several awards, a few of the most recent are:

Images Most Admired Beauty Products Retailer Of The Year: Department Store

Chain At Images Beauty & Wellness Awards 2013

Most Admired Retailer Of The Year, Department Store Category At The Images

Retail Awards 2012, 2011 & 2008 and

Most Respected Company In The Retail Sector' By Business World – IMRB In

2003 And 2004.

2. Titan Company Ltd.:-

 The Titan Company follows the philosophy of ‘people first’ and they

believe that the company’s success depends on the strengths and contribution of

the people working with them. The work-culture in the company encourages

employees to learn, innovate, experiment and grow. Titan Company has been

rated highly by the Gallup engagement survey – with scores for satisfaction,

loyalty and advocacy far higher than the average score of Gallup India. They have

also been rated No.1 in Retail category and 24th overall by Great Places to Work

(2009), an institutional study, in Economic Times. Titan currently employees

7000 people and have two manufacturing units. It has received numerous awards,

couple of the most recent being: 

Gold Award and the Best-of-the-Best Award (among the top 5 in

Asia Pacific) at the Retail Asia-Pacific Top 500 Awards in 2013.

Best Governed Company Award 2012 from Asian Centre for

Corporate Governance and Sustainability.

3. Shoppers Stop Limited:-

 They have a retail network of 69 Shopper's Stop stores in 33 cities, 19

Mothercare stores, 48 of Crossword (including franchisees and shop–in–shops)

35

stores, 3 HomeStop outlets, 4 MAC and 25 Food and Beverage outlets. Shoppers

Stop is the only retailer of India to become a member of the prestigious

Intercontinental Group of Departmental stores. The Company believes that their

success would not have been quite possible without the constant support and

ability of the people they hire. The company is committed to the growth and

development of their employees and focuses on building an environment that is a

learning experience for all. Shoppers Stop has an environment that is conducive to

openness and believe in the power of innovation. 

 

4. United Colors of Benetton India:-

Benetton Group has over 9500 employees and 6500 stores all over the

world. The company understands the importance of human resource and is

constantly improving and increasing the skills and competitive ability of every

individual that works with them. They have a work environment that is dynamic

and creative and they believe in giving employees the opportunity to express

themselves and lead the company in its path of success. They first came to India

in 1990 through a joint venture with DCM Ltd. and operate about 80 stores in the

country today. United Colors of Benetton is also widely known to support social

causes like road trauma and domestic violence among others.

5. Future Retail:-

 Future Retail formerly known as Pantaloons’ Retail (India) is a multi-

format retailer. They aspire to be an employer of choice in Indian retail – as they

offer exciting new possibilities and encourage people to rise up to new challenges

every day. They engage people who are passionate about what they do, want to

make a difference in the lives of customers, and who live their brand pillars of

Indianness, valuing and nurturing relationships, and leading positive change.

The group has bagged awards like:-

36

Big Bazaar Direct Retail store of the year honored with eRetailer of the

Year 2014.

Best Run Award in IT (Technology Solutions) at SAP ACE 2013.

Best marketing communication towards women, youth and children –

Future Learning, among others.

Following tail Enders are:-

1. METRO CASH & CARRY INDIA PVT. LTD.

2. MARKS AND SPENCER RELIANCE INDIA PVT. LTD.

3. PUMA SPORTS INDIA PVT. LTD.

4. JUBILANT FOODWORKS LTD.

5. LEVI STRAUSS (INDIA) PVT. LTD.

Emerging Areas:- 

Some sectors that occupy a prominent position with the retail industry

are:-

Apparel and fashion – Everybody understands the impact of fashion and

textiles on the environment. Almost $19.5 billion were spent on online apparel

shopping in the year 2009 and increasing since then.

Fashion & Lifestyle - In India the vast middle class and its almost

untapped retail industry are the key attractive forces for global retail giants

37

wanting to enter into newer markets, which in turn will help the retail to grow

faster.

Food & Beverage retail - Backed by huge potential and changing

lifestyles, the food and beverage retail market is growing at a robust 30-35 per

cent per year.

Pharmaceutical Retail – Driven by therapies like anti-diabetic, vitamin,

anti-infective and dermatology, it accounted for a robust 15% growth in 2011.

E-commerce or E-tailing – the next big revolution - With the advent of e-

commerce in the retail industry, retail stores are facing stiff competition from e-

stores. The rising demand for e-shopping has led to a new debate cropping up in

the world.

Factors driving growth are:

Emergence of nuclear families

Falling real estate prices

Growing trend of double-income households

Increase in disposable income and customer aspiration

Increase in expenditure for luxury items

Large working population

Low share of organized retailing

Growing liberalization of the FDI policy in the past decade.

Market size:-

In 2013, the Indian retail sector was estimated at US$ 520

billion and was among the largest employers in the country. By 2018,

38

the Indian retail sector is likely to grow at a compound annual growth

rate (CAGR) of 13 per cent to reach US$ 950 billion. Food and

grocery is the largest category within the retail sector with 60 per cent

share followed by the apparel and mobile segment.

Organized retail, which constituted seven per cent of total retail in

2011-12 is estimated to grow at a CAGR of 24 per cent and attain

10.2 per cent share of total retail by 2016-17, according to a study

titled 'FDI in Retail: Advantage Farmers' conducted by an industrial

body.

India has about one million online retailers - small and large - which

sell their products through various e-commerce portals. Presently,

these online retailers have started to use the medium of online mobile

apps to increase their reach to the customers. Several e-commerce

firms - Myntra, Flipkart, Jabong, etc., have launched their own mobile

apps. Flipkart plans to use their US$ 1 billion funds raised to acquire

companies in mobile applications.

According to the TCS Gen-Y 2013-14 survey, a total of 68 per cent of

teenagers shop online, while 91 per cent own mobiles in smaller

metros. Mobile phones and tablets were the most popular gadgets

among teenagers, highlighted the survey.

Investments:-

39

The foreign direct investment (FDI) inflows in single-brand retail trading during

the period April 2000 - July 2014 stood at ₹ 842.53 crore (US$ 137.70 million),

as per data released by the Department of Industrial Policy and Promotion (DIPP).

Some of the other notable investments and developments in the Indian retail

sector in the recent past are as follows:

IKEA has entered into a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with the

Government of Telangana to set up its first store in India at Hyderabad.

Liberty Shoes has planned to improve its retail presence as it plans to double the

revenue to ₹ 1,000 crore (US$ 165.38 million) within three years.

Walmart Stores invested ₹ 623 crore (US$ 101.82 million) into its Indian cash-

and-carry operations in June 2014 to expand its network, thereby taking its total

investment in the country to nearly ₹ 2,000 crore (US$ 326.91 million).

Online marketplace Infibeam looks to build an online presence for large retail

clients in West Asia with its technology platform Buildabazaar. The company has

partnered with Axiom Telecom and will handle its e-commerce business.

Argentina-based luxury brand La Martina - a polo lifestyle company known for its

apparel, technical equipment and accessories - has started operations with its

maiden store in New Delhi. La Martina has also diversified the brand to add

general fashion products for ladies, men and kids.

Japan-based Uniqlo plans to open up to 1,000 stores in India in the coming years

to tap into the growing consumption story and has announced a strategy to source

garments from the country. Uniqlo, which started as a chain of suburban roadside

stores in Japan, is targeting close to 1,500 stores across the globe by the end of

August.

The combined entity of Flipkart and Myntra plans to launch a fashion incubator, a

first-of-its-kind move by an Indian startup, in its aggressive push to gain complete

dominance of the fast-growing online apparel category.

40

UK-based Tesco in equal partnership with the Tata Group's Trent plans to open

six to eight new stores in Maharashtra and Karnataka under three of its formats

this financial year. The stores will take the total number of Tesco-Trent outlets in

the country to 20.

Government Initiatives:-

The Government of India has taken several initiatives to boost the Indian retail

sector. For instance, the Ministry of Labor, Government of India has recently

signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with Flipkart to provide short-

term training to its new employees through its skill development initiative.

The changes in foreign direct investment (FDI) norms along with the relaxation of

certain regulations by the government are also seen as positive moves to attract

more foreign investments and enhance foreign trade. The government has allowed

100 per cent FDI in Single-Brand Retail Trading (SBRT) and 51 per cent FDI in

Multi-Brand Retail Trading (MBRT).

In the Union Budget 2014-15, the Government of India announced a reduction in

the excise duty from 12 per cent to six per cent on footwear with retail price

exceeding ₹ 500 (US$ 8.17) per pair but not exceeding ₹ 1,000 (US$ 16.34) per

pair.

The Government of India has also proposed the Goods and Services Tax (GST).

Once implemented it will simplify the supply chain and bring down prices. This

will help to boost the Indian retail sector.

It has also formulated specific regulations for foreign investors; for instance,

global chains planning to set up cold storages and warehouses in India will now

41

need to invest only 50 per cent of the initial compulsory investment of US$ 100

million.

Road Ahead:-

Driven by a combination of demand, supply and regulatory factors, the

Indian retail sector is set to grow rapidly with a gradual shift toward organized

retailing formats. Organized retail penetration is expected to increase from 7.5 per

cent in 2013 to 10 per cent in 2018 at a robust CAGR of 19-20 per cent during

that period.

Tier-II and Tier-III cities such as Jaipur, Nagpur, Ludhiana, Vadodara,

Aurangabad, Kochi, etc., are emerging as the new ‘hot spots’ of consumption.

Organized retailers are increasingly setting up stores in these smaller cities with

increasing focus on profitable growth in the sector. E-commerce is also expected

to be the next major area for retail growth in India. Along with this, achieving

profitable growth and inventory management are also some major areas of focus

in the times ahead for the retail companies in India.

According to panel members at the seventh Food and Grocery Forum India, the

opportunities in food and grocery retail in India are immense, given that it

constitutes about 69 per cent of India’s total retail market. The Indian retail

market, currently estimated at $490 billion, is project to grow at a compounded

annual growth rate of 6 per cent to reach $865 billion by 2023. Modern retail with

a penetration of only 5% is expected to grow about six times from the current 27

billion USD to 220 billion USD, across all categories and segments.

 

Organized Retail is emerging as the new phenomenon in India and despite the

slump, the market is growing exponentially. As economic growth brings more of

42

India’s people into the consuming classes and organized retail lures more and

more existing shoppers, by 2015, more than 300 million shoppers are likely to

patronize organized retail chains.

Consumer markets in emerging market economies like India are growing rapidly

owing to robust economic growth. India's modern consumption level is set to

double within five years to US$ 1.5 trillion from the present level of US$ 750

billion.

The growing middle class is an important factor contributing to the growth of

retail in India. By 2030, it is estimated that 91 million households will be ‘middle

class’, up from 21 million today. Also by 2030, 570 million people are expected

to live in cities, nearly twice the population of the United States today.

Thus, with tremendous potential and huge population, India is set for high growth

in consumer expenditure. With India's large ‘young’ population and high

domestic consumption, the macro trends for the sector look favorable.

References: Media Reports, Press Releases, Deloitte report, Department of Industrial Policy and Promotion website, Union Budget 2014-15

Company Profile:-History

The first Big Bazaar store, with an area of about 24,000 square feet,

opened on VIP Road, Kolkata in August 2001.This was followed by stores in

Hyderabad, Bangalore, Mumbai and Gurgaon. The initial categories on offer were 43

apparel, general merchandise and food. Later, several brands from categories like

electronics, furniture, music, communications and books were added to the

bouquet of products.

Big Bazaar implemented SAP in 2005 to run its stores in the most efficient

manner that technology could provide. With an increasing number of customers

26 SUPERBRANDS Business Super brands- 2nd edition (Main) 8/27/08 3:15

AM Page 26patronising its stores, it was time for Big Bazaar to reach out to them.

To pay tribute and to tell them how much they were appreciated, Big Bazaar

launched a co-branded credit card. In association with ICICI bank, the Big

Bazaar-ICICI Bank credit card made its first appearance in May, 2002. As an

extension of its customer relationship initiatives it also launched Shakti, a credit

card for housewives, in February 2006.The card was unique, for it required no

proof of income.

Today the Big Bazaar-ICICI Bank co-branded card is one of the largest loyalty

credit card programmes in the country. Big Bazaar is now an agglomeration of

multiple, carefully chosen categories and brands. Within the store, Big Bazaar has

created several sub categories: Depot is its books and music section; Staples

offers office stationery products while Star & Sitara is a beauty salon. Future

Money provides consumer credit for products purchased within Big Bazaar.

Big Bazaar Retail forayed into modern retail in 1997 with the launching of

fashion retail chain, Big Bazaar in Kolkata. In 2001, it launched Big Bazaar, a

hypermarket chain that combines the look and feel of Indian bazaars, with aspects

of modern retail, like choices, convenience and hygiene. Its aim is to capture the

middle income value focused customer. Product offerings are mainly general

merchandise and apparels. Apparels forms 40% of total revenue 60% being

general merchandise. At Big Bazaar, customers can definitely get the best

products at the best prices- that’s what company guarantee. With the ever

44

increasing array of private labels, it has opened the doors into the world of fashion

and general merchandise including home furnishings, utensils, crockery, cutlery,

sports and much more at prices that will surprise. And this is just the beginning

Big Bazaar plans to add much more to complete customer shopping experience.

Currently there are around 116 Big Bazaar stores in 71 cities. It’s the fastest

growing format in organized retail space.

Every day, Future Group brings multiple products, opportunities and services to

millions of customers in India. Through over 16 million square feet of retail

space, we serve customers in 95 cities across the country. Most of all, we help

India shop, save and realize dreams and aspirations to live a better quality of life

every day.

At Big Bazaar super Centre one can a find variety of department as shown as

below.

Food Bazaar.

General Merchandise.

Apparels or Fashion.

Home Bazaar.

Navaras.

Electronic Bazaar.

These departments are managed by two departments:-

Operation Department.

Supporting Department.

45

Operation Department:-

The operation team includes assistant store managers, team leaders and team

members. Their job is to enable to a store function smoothly without any

hindrances. These are few functions assigned to operational department.

Supporting Department:-

As the name suggest, this department is for the support of operational department.

We can see different types of supporting department at Big Bazaar super Centre.

Marketing department.

Human Resources Department.

Logistic Department.

Customer service desk department.

Cash department.

Administrative department.

Maintenance department.

Housekeeping department.

Name : Big Bazaar:

Type : Public

Industry : Retailing

Founded : 2001

46

Headquarters : Mumbai, Maharastra, India

Products : Department

Revenue : 11000 crores (in 2012) (Big Bazaar and Food Bazaar combined)

Employees : 36000 people

Parent : Future Group

Divisions : 214

Website : [http://www.bigbazaar.com]

Background:-

Future group is India’s largest retailer and one of the leading business

houses with a strong presence in retail. Its founder and group CEO is Mr. Kishore

Biyani.

Future group India was established in 1994 with a vision to provide diverse

service and global markets. The business areas of future group cover business

process, new media, security management and construction. Through their

strategic investment and services, the future of future group shows a rising star in

the business sky of India. Led by flagship enterprise, pantaloons retails, the group

operates over 16 million square feet space in 73 cities and 65 rural locations

across India.

Mysore Big Bazaar Super Centre was opened on 26th September 2008 it is the

96th Big Bazaar of future value retail. It has around 250 employees with an

occupied space of 82.055 sq.ft and catering to the needs of 12, 00,000 Mysoreans.

Mysoreans at Big Bazaar can definitely get the best product at better price. It sells

variety of merchandise at affordable rates, the price which it claims is lowest in

the city. Usually the items are clubbed together for others and it also offers

weekend as well as monthly discounts.

47

Future Group Manifesto:-

“Future” – the word which signifies optimism, growth, achievement,

strength, beauty rewards and perfection. Future encourages us to explore areas yet

unexplored, write rules yet unwritten: create new opportunities and new

successes. To strive for a glorious future brings us our strength, our ability to

learn, unlearn and re-learn our ability to evolve.

We, in Future Group will not wait for the future to unfold itself but create future

scenarios in the consumer space socio-economic development for our customers,

employee, shareholders, associates and partners.

Our customers will not just get what they need but also get them where, how and

when they need. We will not just post satisfactory results, we will write success

stories.

We will not just operate efficiently in the Indian economy but we will evolve it.

Promoters:-

Future Group understands the soul of Indian consumers. As one of India’s

retail pioneers with multiple retail formats, they connect a diverse and passionate

community of Indian buyers, sellers and businesses. The collective impact on

business is staggering: Around 300 million customers walk into the stores each

year and choose products and services supplied by over 30,000 small, medium

and large entrepreneurs and manufacturers from across India. And this number is

set to grow.

Future Group employs 30,000 people directly from every section of our society.

We source our supplies from enterprises across the country, creating fresh

48

employment, impacting livelihoods, empowering local communities and fostering

mutual growth.

They believe in the ‘Indian dream’ and have aligned their business practices to the

larger objective of being a premier catalyst in India’s consumption-led growth

story. Working towards this end, they are ushering positive socio-economic

changes in communities to help the Indian dream fly high and the ‘Sone Ki

Chidiya’ soars once again. This approach remains embedded in our ethos even as

we rapidly expand our footprints deeper into India.

Big Bazaar has been credited with some of the biggest consumer campaigns in the

history of Indian retail. In celebration of Republic Day, Big Bazaar created a

three-day shopping bonanza called Sabse Saste Teen Din. This has now become a

national event that attracts millions of customers eager to benefit from the once-

in-a year smart deals. In January 2008, the three-day event generated sales worth

over 240 crore (US$ 60 million) in 80 Big Bazaar stores.

15th August, India’s Independence Day is billed as the Maha Savings Day. So

successful has this become that to cater to the rush Big Bazaar stores in many

cities stay open till midnight.

Wednesday Bazaar is the Hafte ka Sabse Sasta Din. It was initially created with

the intent of decongesting weekends and driving footfalls on weekdays. As it

transpired, most Big Bazaar stores now attract as many customers on Wednesdays

as they do on weekends. A property that offers special benefits and privileges to

senior citizens was built around Senior Citizens Day.

Price Challenge was created to reinforce Big Bazaar’s value proposition of Isse

sasta aur accha kahin nahi. The scheme simply offers twice the price difference

should the cost of an item at a Big Bazaar store be found to be more than the

market price.

49

THINGS YOU DIDN’T KNOW ABOUT BIG BAZAAR:-

2 million customers walk-in each week into Big Bazaar stores

Collectively, Big Bazaar stores cover nearly 4 million square feet of space.

In three days between January 25 and January27 2008, Big Bazaar sold

over 100,000 pairs of Jeans and 200,000 shirts.

Big Bazaar has a base of over 1 million loyalty card members.

More than 160,000 products are sold at Big Bazaar stores.

Board of Directors

Name Designation

Mr. Kishore Biyani Managing Director

Mr. Rakesh Biyani Whole time Director

Mr. Gopikishan Biyani Whole time Director

Mr. Shailesh Haribhakthi DirectorMr. S Doreswamy DirectorMr. Darlie Koshy DirectorMr. Anil Harish Director

Mr. Bala Deshpande DirectorMs. Vijay Kumar Chopra Director

Management Team

Name DesignationRakesh Biyani CEO-Retail

Anshuman Singh CEO-Logistics

50

Arvind Chaudary CEO-Aadhar

Damodar Mall Group customer Direcctor

Hans Udeshi CEO-General Merchandising

Kailash Bhatia CEO-Integrated Merchandising group

Sadhashiva Kumar CEO-Big Bazaar

Sanjeev Agarwal CEO-Pantaloons

Vishnu Prasad CEO-Central and Brand Factory

Kruben Moodilar Head HR

Mayur Toshnival President- Retail Operation value formats [North]

Sandip Tarkas President Customer Strategy

Chandra Prakash Toshnival CFO

Rajesh Joshi Head-operation [West Zone]

Venkateshwara Kumar Head-operation [South Zone]

Sandeep Marwaha Head-operation [East Zone]

Ushir Bhat Executive Board member

Sanjeev Agarwal President - marketing

Atul Takle Head corporate communication

Prashanth Desai Head group IR & new venture

Jaydeep Shetty Chief new business lifestyle retailing

Vishal Kapoor Chief Visual Merchandising

Rahul Balchandra Head Wellness Business

Preeti Vyas Business Head Books & Music

Vision, Mission and Quality Policy:-Vision:-

“Future Group shall deliver Everything, Everywhere, Every time for

Every Indian Consumer in the most profitable manner”

51

One of core value of future group is., Indians and its corporate credo is – “Rewrite

Rules Retained Value.”

Mission:-

We share the vision and belief that our customers and stakeholders shall

be served only by creating and executing future scenarios in the

consumption space leading to economic development.

We will be the trendsetters in evolving delivery formats, creating retail

realty, making consumption affordable for all customer segments - for

classes and for masses.

We shall infuse Indian brands with confidence and renewed ambition.

We shall be efficient, cost- conscious and committed to quality in

whatever we do.

We shall ensure that our positive attitude, sincerity, humility and united

determination shall be the driving force to make us successful.

Group Values:- 

1) Indianness. 

Believing in the Indian way and in oneself. 

52

Positive Behavior Negative BehaviorUnderstands community diversity and takes

Does not understand the community diversity

decisions based on community diversity and takes decision based on the one size fits

  all approach

Incorporates ideas from the nuances & Does not incorporate any ideas from the

peculiarity of Indian customs in business nuances and peculiarity of Indian customers

Treats all customers equally Treats customers unequally

 

2) Leadership: 

To be a leader, both in thought and business. 

Positive Behavior Negative Behavior

53

Innovative, proactive, discovering new ways of

Not comfortable with new ideas, unwilling to

doing things and taking ownership move out of comfort zone.

Instills confidence in team, is approachable, is

Instills respect out of fear, and is not

respected & not feared approachable

Influences in a positive way Not comfortable with change

First to implement new & innovative ideas and

Does not take initiative to improve state of

takes responsibility for his actions affairs, is complacent

 

3) Respect & Humility: 

In dealing with everyone within & outside the organization 

Positive Behavior Negative BehaviorRespect individuals and values the work Demands respect based on hierarchy and

Environment position

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Understands and appreciates others point of view

Is inconsiderate towards fellow colleagues

Facilitates changes and includes everyone Not inclusive in communicating changewhen communicating about changeGives credit to people for their ideas Criticizes others ideas and pushes his own

ideas 

4) Introspection: 

For continuous learning, self-development and personal excellence. 

Positive Behavior Negative BehaviorSolicits feedback and takes effort to correct

Does not take feedback positively and

the mistakes becomes defensive

Finds alternative solutions to problems Is closed to alternative solutions and ideas

Unbiased analysis of situation to learn from

Unable to reflect and draw unbiased analysis

failures and to strengthen the factor from failures and learn from mistakescontributing to success  Accepts mistakes and seeks support to correct

Does not accept mistakes and seeks no

Mistakes support to correct them. 

5) Openness: 

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Open to new ideas, knowledge, and information across the organization and seamless flow of the same.

 Positive Behavior Negative Behavior

Respects the point of view of others Is closed to ideas, imposes own viewsShows compassion Exhibiting defensive behaviorUnderstands and accepts the fact that multiple

Getting defensive and is not able to

realities can co-exist understand the existence of multiple realitiesFeels free to give ideas & suggestions in non

Goes into a shell when confronted or if ideas

secretive manner are not accepted 

6) Valuing and Nurturing Relationships: 

With customers, business associates, stakeholders, communities and society. 

Positive Behavior Negative BehaviorHonours commitments and nourishes the Not adhering to commitmentsRelationshipsIntegrates with stakeholders to achieve Exploiting relationships for a selfish motivecompany goals and does not collaborate towards a common  goalCreates working conditions which are a winwin

Creates work conditions which are not

situation. conducive to a win win solutionTreating stake holders (employees / vendors /

Operates from a position of power and

government / statutory bodies / Consultants)

exploits the weakness or stakeholders

as an extension of the organization   

7) Simplicity & Positivity: 

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To foster innovation, speed and imagination. 

Positive Behavior Negative BehaviorIs frugal , optimistic Being cynicalUsing real life examples/analogies/stories to reinforce

Using jargons and complex words

Ensures ease of implementation and replication.

Fails to implement and overlooks ease ofreplication

Looking at problems as challenges & moving

Thinks that tasks are too hard & not even

forward without letting them affect business.

making an attempt to complete it

Not affected by negative sentiments Allows the environment to get the better ofself

Derives more from less Unable to optimize resources efficiently 

8) Adaptability: 

Be proactive in meeting challenges emerging from changing business scenarios. 

Positive Behavior Negative BehaviorOpenness to change Unwelcoming of change and is rigidPicks up new skills easily Slow to pick up new ideas and thoughtsHas the ability to multitask and is flexible Leaving a task unfinished and moving on to

another task 

9) Flow: 

Learn and be inspired from the universal laws of nature. 

Positive Behavior Negative BehaviorDemonstrates creativity and is resourceful Has a closed mind and is not flexible in

thoughts and actionsFinding out alternatives and different ways to

Not wanting to step out of comfort zone

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move towards the goalsIs not hindered with obstacles in the path Does not show a recurring tendency to battletowards success against odds

Products/Service Profile:

Infrastructure Facilities:

Occupied Space: 82.055 sq.ft

Parking lot in basement (Both Cars and Bikes).

Customer waiting lounge with seating arrangements.

Drinking water facility in every floor.

Toilet and Latrine facility in the second floor.

Fun Zone for employees to play some games.

Training room.

Wi-Fi Facility.

Big Bazaar is built with centralized AC for free fresh air flow and good lighting

facility.

Large go down facility to provide stock inventory management.

Competitors Information:

COMPETITORS OF BIG BAZAAR:

1. RELIANCE FRESH

Is the convenience store format which forms part of the retail business of Reliance Industries of

India which is headed by Mukesh Ambani. Reliance plans to invest in excess of 25000 crores in

the next 4 years in their retail division. The company already has in excess of 560 reliance fresh

outlets across the country. These stores sell fresh fruits and vegetables, staples, groceries, fresh

juice bars and dairy products. A typical Reliance Fresh store is approximately 3000-4000 square.

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feet and caters to a catchment area of 1-2 km. Reliance Fresh, Reliance Mart, Reliance Digital,

Reliance Trendz,Reliance Footprint, Reliance Wellness, Reliance Jewels, RelianceTimeout

and Reliance Super are various formats that Reliance has rolled out.

2. SPENCER

Spencer's Retail is one of India’s fastest growing retail stores. It has multiple

formats for retailing food, apparel, fashion, electronics, lifestyle products, music and books. It is

owned by the RPG Group, a major business house. Established in 1996, Spencer’s is one

of the popular destinations for shoppers in India with supermarkets, hypermarkets and

dailies spread all over India.

3. SUBHIKSHA :

Subhiksha is an Indian retail chain with more than 1400 outlets selling groceries,

fruits, vegetables, medicines and mobile phones. It was started and is managed by

R Subramaniam, an IIM Ahmedabad alumni. Subhiksha plans to open 1000

outlets by December 2008. He also plans to invest ₹500 crore to increase the

number of outlets to 2000 across the country by 2009.The name Subhiksha means

prosperity in Sanskrit. It opened its first store in Thiruvanmiyur in Chennai in

March, 1997 with an investment of about ₹ 5lakhs. The retail chain has seen a

considerable growth by offering goods at cheaper rates and thereby increasing

its customer base.

4. Trent (Westside):

Trent is the retail arm of the Tata group. Started in 1998, Trent operates Westside,

one of the many growing retail chains in India. The foresight of the Tata group,

which invested in retail relatively early, is paying high dividends as retail is one

of the booming sectors in India. The company has a turnover of ₹ 357.6 crores

(FY 2005-2006) and currently operates 22 stores in the major metros and mini

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metros of India. An international shopping experience, a perception of values, and

offering the latest styles, has created a loyal following for Westside's own brand

of merchandise. 

Westside operates stores in Mumbai, Ahmedabad, Bangalore, Delhi, Chennai,

Kolkata, Hyderabad, Pune, Surat, Vadodara, Indore, Noida, Gurgaon, Ghaziabad,

Mysore, Jaipur, Lucknow, Nagpur.

5. Bharti Walmart:

Private Limited is a joint venture between Bharti Enterprises, one of India's leading business

groups with interests in telecom, agri-business, insurance and retail, and Walmart ,the world’s

leading retailer, renowned for its efficiency and expertise in logistics, supply chain management

and sourcing. The joint venture is establishing wholesale cash-and-carry stores and back-end

supply chain management operations in line with Government of India guidelines. Under the

agreement, Bharti and Walmart hold 50:50 stakes in Bharti Walmart Private Limited. The first

Wholesale Cash-and-carry facility named "Best Price Modern Wholesale" Opened in Amritsar

in May 2009and subsequently in Zirakpur (Near Chandigarh), Jalandhar, Kota, Bhopal,

Ludhiana, Raipur, Indore, Vijaywada, Meerut, Agra, Lucknow, Jammu, Guntur, Aurangabad ,

Bathinda, Amravati , Hyderabad and Rajahmundry.

SWOT Analysis:

Strength:

High brand equity.

Everyday low pricing.

Point of purchase.

Variety of stuffs under single roof.

Has outlets all over India.

Weakness:

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Unable to meet store targets.

Unavailability of popular brands.

High cost of operation due to large fixed costs.

Very thin margin.

High attrition rate of employees.

Opportunities:

Can enter into production line since it has in depth knowledge of customer

preferences.

Increasing population of the country is demanding more outlets.

Threats:

High business risk involved.

Lot of competitors.

Changing government policies.

Future Growth and Prospects:

Future Retail’s network now extends into 98 cities. With a pan-India network that

has been optimized for operational efficiencies, Future Retail is present in almost

every city where consumption is growing.

Even though they added 20 new hypermarkets and entered eight new cities, taking

the footprint to 98 cities across the country, store space rationalization and

network optimization led to only a marginal increase in store space. Now with a

more comfortable margin model, our focus for the forthcoming year will be on

driving a higher rate of growth. While the revamp within the store is generating

higher footfalls, a couple of initiatives is already bringing in new sets of

customers.

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Wednesday Bazaar as a tool to acquire new customers was pioneered by the

company and subsequently replicated by other chains. We have re-energized the

proposition and this has already resulted in a substantial growth in footfalls. Fruits

and vegetables acts as a key footfall driver.

They have introduced packaged fruits and vegetables which can even be branded

tomorrow to provide a higher assurance of quality and freshness for customers.

Their new fashion merchandize has attracted the attention of younger customers.

They believe the brand has the potential to become the leader in the fashion space

not just in terms of market share but also in terms of mind share and they are

committed to actualizing this. Beyond the retail business, they are happy to share

with all that two of the company’s key subsidiaries operating in the general

insurance space and supply chain space have posted net profits for the first time

this year. Both these businesses operate in a highly competitive and fragmented

Space and to achieve this in a difficult business environment is testament to their

strength. They expect to unlock substantial value as and when they decide to

monetize the company’s investments in these companies.

Big Bazaar was the harbinger of change in the way many Indian’s shopped and

their renewed focus on upgraded merchandize provided in a superior spatial

experience for customers is helping consolidate the leadership position the brand

enjoys in the retail sector. I am pleased to share with you that Big Bazaar

continued to feature among the top five most trusted service brands in the country

in the annual survey conducted by Nielsen and The Economic Times Brand

Equity. The new look, feel and merchandize range attracted new customers into

the stores and existing customers to spend more within our stores. The new

merchandise mix has not only helped increase average selling price and store

productivity but also translated into superior margins. This coupled with a firm

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focus on reigning in costs, despite an inflationary environment, has helped the

business move into a more profitable path.

Financial Statements:

Sales:

The Company’s Sales and Other Operating Income has increased from ` 6,987.73

Crores to ` 11,577.44 Crores with YOY growth of 98.82% for fifteen Months

period ended March 31, 2014. The Company has also recorded Same Store Sales

growth of 5.8% for fifteen months period ended March 31, 2014.

Profit before Tax:

Profit before Tax (including exceptional items) of the Company for fifteen

months period ended March 31, 2014 stood at ` 1.27 Crores as compared to `

288.32 Crores during the previous financial period.

Interest:

Interest & Financial charges outflow has increased from ` 460.41 Crores in

previous period to ` 692.54 Crores for fifteen months period ended March 31,

2014. The increase in interest and financial charges is on account of additional

borrowings, transfer from FVRL merger, funding the growth plans and increase in

rate of interest during the period. The interest & financial charges cover for fifteen

months period ended March 31, 2014 under review is 1.59 times as compared to

2.30 times in the preceding financial period.

Net Profit:63

Net Profit (including exceptional items) of the Company for fifteen months period

ended March 31, 2014 under review stood at ` 2.81 Crores as compared to `

273.26 Crores in the previous financial period with a decrease of ` 270.45 Crores.

Dividend:

The Company has proposed a dividend of ` 0.60 (30%) per equity share. The

dividend would be payable on all equity shares of the Company including Class B

Shares. Class B Shares would be entitled to 2% additional dividend as per the

terms of issue of Class B Shares (Series 1).

Capital employed:

The capital employed in the business is ` 9,519.59 Crores as at March 31, 2014.

Return on capital employed during 2013-14 is 10.75% as compared to 12.05%

during 2011-12.

Surplus management:

The Company generated a cash profit of ` 405.36 Crores for fifteen months period

ended March 31, 2014 as compared to ` 593.06 Crores in the previous financial

period, registering the de-growth of 17.98%. The balance amount, after cash

outflow on account of proposed dividend, is ploughed back into the business to

fund the growth. The growth of the Company has partly been funded by the cash

generated from the business as well as from additional funds borrowed during the

financial period.

Equity Share Capital:

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There is no change in the equity share capital of the Company and it has remained

at ` 46.32 Crores.

Debt-equity:

Debt-equity ratio of the Company has increased with the additional funds

borrowed for the expansion of the retail operations of the Company. Debt-equity

ratio has increased from 1.06 in the previous period to 1.93 as at March 31, 2014.

Earnings per Share (EPS):

The Company’s Basic Earnings per Share (EPS) has reduced from ` 12.08 to `

0.12 per share for fifteen months period ended March 31, 2014.

Cash Earnings per Share (CEPS):

The Company’s Cash Earnings Per Share (CEPS) has reduced to ` 17.50 in

compare to ` 26.22 in the preceding financial period.

Investment:

The Company’s investment portfolio has reduced from ` 2280.23 Crores to `

1349.52 Crores for fifteen months period ended March 31, 2014. The reduction in

investment during the financial period is mainly due to sale of investments,

merger and demerger of business.

Note: 1. All Profit & Loss account numbers for fifteen months period ended

March 31, 2014 have been annualized to calculate year on year growth on 2011-

12 (18 Months) numbers.

2. Financial numbers for the period ended March 31, 2014 are for the period of

fifteen months hence not comparable with that of previous financial period of

eighteen months.65

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