Pratibimb Dec14-Jan15

Dec-Jan 15-16

TARGETING MILLENNIAL

CELEBRITY ENDORSEMENT & CONSUMER BEHAVIOUR

UBER CABS IN INDIA

DELIVERING SUSTAINABLE VALUE

HUMAN CAPITAL ANALYTICS

The Reflection Of Management

Finance | General Management | Human Resources | Marketing | Health Care | Systems | Operations

T. A. PAI MANAGEMENT INSTITUTE Manipal, Karnataka

About TAPMI

T. A. Pai Management Institute (TAPMI) is a premier management institute situated in Manipal

and is well known for its academic rigor & faculty-student interaction. The Institute has been

recently ranked amongst top 1 per cent of B-schools in India & 2nd in the South Zone by The

Week Magazine.

Founded by the visionary, Late Shri. T. A. Pai, TAPMI’s mission is to provide much needed

impetus to the task of building professional management capability in the country. In the process,

it has also played a role in strengthening the existing educational and health infrastructure of

Manipal.

Our Mission “To excel in post-graduate management education, research and practice”.

Means:

• By nurturing and developing global wealth creators and leaders.

• By continually benchmarking ourselves against best in class institutions.

• By fostering continuous learning and reflection, achievement orientation, creative

interdependence and respect for diversity.

Value Bounds:

• Holistic concern for ethics, environment and society.

PRATIBIMB | Dec-Jan 15 | 2

DIRECTOR’S MESSAGE

Dear Readers,

TAPMI has thrived to be a source of insight into the realm of management. "Pratibimb“, through its choice articles has been a torch bearer and testament to the efforts of the hardworking editorial team. The magazine showcases the improvement in content and quality with every subsequent issue. There is a sure sign of our striding towards excellence. I am certain "Pratibimb" would provide for a satisfying and enriching read.

Dr. R. C. Natarajan Director, TAPMI

3 PRATIBIMB | Dec-Jan 15 |

FROM THE EDITOR’S DESK

THE TEAM

STUDENT EDITORIAL BOARD

Ayon Kumar

Mahesh Ramesh Deshpande

Aditya Tirumalai

Krishna Chaitanya Y.

Kanika Tandon

Shweta Varma

FACULTY ADVISORY BOARD

Prof. Aparna Bhat

Prof. R. C. Natarajan

Prof. Seena Biju

Prof. Vidya Pratap

Prof. Vinod Madhavan

Do celebrity endorsements reinforce the believability of a

product? How does an endorsement work for high and low level

product involvements? An empirical study in this issue of

Pratibimb should give you an insight into this! Read about the

role of analytics and planning as a catalytic combination for

decision making and achievement. A brief note on targeting the

new breed of consumers should excite those who want to know

why ads go wrong! From a similar school of thought we have our

in-house publication on HR Capital Analytics, addressing the

challenging questions that the HR leaders of today are dealing

with.

On an emphatic note is the case of the Uber cabs and the

challenges it faces given the present scenario the company has

driven itself into. A few suggestions out there for Uber to be

available for a better and safe cab drive and sustainability as a

business!! Speaking of sustainability also is our faculty member

Prof. Sushmitha, giving you a bird’s eye view of the emerging

issues for the modern corporate world while delivering

sustainable value!

From the corporate we introduce you to Mr. Satish

Ponnurnangam , Divisional Manager – HR Business Partner,

Daimler Commercial Vehicles(DCV) - get to know his views on

the growth of the automobile sector, how DCV plans to align

itself to the “Make in India” campaign and his advice to

prospective employees

When a TAPMIian returns, one can be assured that he/she brings

with himself/herself both fond memories and thought to look

forward to! Meet out alumnus Mr. Ashish Kumar, (Batch of

1994) GM & Head of Business Transformation – HLS, Wipro

Technologies Alumnus. “ Have your own goals and larger vision

to sphere into the course of your life but also have simple goals

for every moment that will help you lead a happier life”, he says

as he gives you an insight into what brings a TAPMIian back to

TAPMI!

Compliments to the team of editors for their good work as they

continue to grow in their efforts to consolidate and disseminate

valuable reading to the family of business scholars!

Keep reading, Keep reflecting

Prof. Seena Biju

Ex-Officio Editor-in-Chief

4 PRATIBIMB | Dec-Jan 15 |

CONTENTS

Cover Story

5

Student Chronicles

TARGETING MILLENNIAL ADITYA TRIVEDI

PGPM-SP JAIN MUMBAI.

UBER CABS IN INDIA CAN AN OPTIMUM SOLUTION BE FOUND TO THE CURRENT PROBLEM?

NEERAJ RATTAN

XIME ,KOCHI

HUMAN CAPITAL ANALYTICS ANKIT KUMAR BARANWAL

TAPMI

Corporate Edge

IN A DIALOGUE WITH SATHISH PONNURANGAM

Divisional Manager – HR Business Partner

Daimler Commercial Vehicles

CELEBRITY ENDORSEMENT & CONSUMER

BEHAVIOUR POOJA PUNJABI,

IIM KOZHIKODE

DELIVERING SUSTAINABLE VALUE SUSHMITA NARAYANA AGHALAYA

ASST. PROFESSOR

OPERATIONS MANAGEMENT AREA

TAPMI

Leading From The Forefront

7

11

12

16

18

20

PRATIBIMB | Dec-Jan 15 |

CONTENTS

6

MR ASHISH KUMAR

GM & HEAD OF BUSINESS TRANSFORMATION – HLS

WIPRO TECHNOLOGIES

Alumni Connect

22

PRATIBIMB | Dec-Jan 15 |

Theoretical Background

The buying process which any consumer goes through before making a purchase can be broadly classified into two categories- thought situations and feel situations. Whereas in the first case, consumers process information and arrive at outcomes using facts and logic, in the second case, he tends to reach a decision based on his subjective likes or dislikes. As per the Elaboration Likelihood model, for the first scenario, marketers follow the central route to persuasion and the buying process is said to be a high involvement one. For the second scenario, peripheral routes of persuasion are used and the process is characterized as a low involvement one.

According to the FCB Grid developed by Richard Vaughn in 1980, for high involvement purchases, a consumer typically feels/ learns about the product first and then buys it. While for low involvement items, the do portion precedes the learning/ feeling.

Motivation for the study

The variation in the hierarchies of effects for these two categories has a lot of relevance for a marketer since it gives him direction on how to best portray his offering to the consumer so that he purchases it. Using an endorser to promote the product has been a tried and tested formula for many companies. Through a number of studies it has been established that endorsers in an advertisement influence the buying behaviour of a consumer. (Biswas, Biswas and Das, 2006) Many studies have also been conducted to demonstrate the influence of endorsers on various marketing variables such as attitude towards product, purchase intention etc. (Petty, Cacioppo, & Schumann, 1983; Block & Atkin, 1983).


CELEBRITY ENDORSEMENT

& CONSUMER BEHAVIOUR

POOJA PUNJABI

IIM KOZHIKODE

The aim of this paper would be to analyze and compare the effect of celebrity and expert

endorsers on high and low involvement products to see whether it is different for the two product

classes.

Experimental Methodology

For a high involvement purchase, a mobile phone was taken as the experimental product, while a

biscuit packet was taken as a low involvement purchase. For each of these two products, two

print ads of a fictional brand was designed, one endorsed by a celebrity and the other by an

expert, were shown to two sets of 30 respondents each. Care was taken to ensure that the two

groups were heterogeneous within but homogeneous across. Both the ads had the same celebrity

endorsing the product, mobile in one, biscuit in the other. The 120 respondents rated the ads on

the parameter of Claim Believability, the scale for which was adapted from Beltramini and Evans

(1985). It is a 10 item 7 point Likert scale. The scale item is listed below.

Believable 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 Unbelievable

Trustworthy 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 Untrustworthy

Not

Convincing 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 Convincing

Credible 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 Not Credible

Unreasonable 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 Reasonable

Dishonest 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 Honest

Honest 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 Questionable

Inconclusive 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 Conclusive

Authentic 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 Not Authentic

Likely 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 Unlikely

The parameters in red were reverse coded to ensure that respondents do not blindly mark all

the questions.

Initial Hypothesis

Obermiller and Spangenberg (2005) examined the relationship between ad skepticism and

informational versus emotional appeal. Their studies showed that high skeptics are less

responsive to emotional appeals. This result was consistent with Friestad and Wright (1994) who

proposed that emotional appeals are developed by marketers specifically to circumvent

o su ers skeptical resistance to informational arguments. In a related study, Lord and Putrevu

(2009) concluded that for products appealing to informational motivations, (high involvement)

credibility was influenced by the expertise of the endorser while for products appealing to

transformational motivations, attractiveness of the endorser has maximum impact on credibility.

Based on these studies, the following hypothesis was developed.

H1: Celebrity endorsement has a more positive effect on Claim believability of a low involvement

product compared to a high involvement one.

H2: Expert endorsement has a more positive effect on Claim believability of a high involvement

product compared to a low involvement one.


The posters of the four advertisements shown to the students are given below. The 1st one was

for a High Involvement product- Smart Phone while the other was for a Low involvement one-

glucose biscuit. Both ads had the exact same layout and colour scheme, with only the content

differing in each. The celebrity chosen was also same for both the sets. This was done to remove

any bias created due to the quality of the ad. For the brands, fictional names were chosen so as to

eliminate pre-conceived notions in the minds of the respondents.

The other set of ads had the same fictional brands being endorsed by an expert.

Expected Outcome

Since it is theorized that celebrities appeal more to the emotional senses, it is expected that the

claim believability of consumers will be more for the low involvement product. For a high

involvement product, a consumer is typically expected to gather further information before

deciding to buy.

Experiment Results

The responses to the questionnaire were tabulated. The mean scores for each of the parameters

were calculated to arrive at the final rating given by the respondents to the ad. Refer to the excel

sheet attached for further details.

It was observed that the mean score for the High Involvement product, mobile phone was 5.64

while that for the low involvement (biscuit) was 3.53. This showed that contrary to our initial

hypothesis, claim believability of consumers was more for the mobile than the biscuit.

Statistical Analysis

H1: Celebrity endorsement has a more positive effect on Claim believability of a low involvement

product compared to a high involvement one.

The ANOVA test for the dependent variable E dorser with respect to the independent variable

Clai Belie a ility for Celebrities showed the following result.


Product Mean

Std.

Deviation F Significance

Mobile 5.64 .64 9.804 0.000

Biscuit 3.53 .71

Total 4.58 .63

Given that the mean of claim believability for the consumers who were shown the print ad of the

high involvement product, mobile, is considerably higher, and the difference in means is

statistically significant, celebrity endorsement considerably increase the believability for the high

involvement product

H2: Expert endorsement has a more positive effect on Claim believability of a high involvement

product compared to a low involvement one.

The ANOVA test for the dependent variable E dorser with respect to the independent variable

Clai Belie a ility for Experts showed the following result.

Given that the mean of claim believability for the consumers who were shown the print ad of the

low involvement product, biscuit, is considerably higher, and the difference in means is statistically

significant, expert endorsement considerably increase the believability for the low involvement

product.

Experts bring in more confidence and make ad look more convincing. A case in point is that of

Colgate which has driven sales through certifications from the Indian Dental Association.

Conclusion

This research experiment showed that experts have the highest influence in brand promotions of

low involvement products. As the consumers have not invested their time to research about the

product, expert opinion reinforces the consumer belief in the product and brand leading to higher

claim believability.

However in case of high involvement products, celebrity endorsers are highly valued. Their impact

on the brand promotions is more because consumers have invested sufficient time and have taken

opinion from experts already. Celebrity endorsers help them achieve the aspirational value of

owning that product. Thus the claim believability is more.

References

Ahmed, Azmat, & Farooq. (2012). Effect of celebrity endorsement on customer's buying behavior;

A perspective from Pakistan. Interdisciplinary Journal of Contemporary Research in Business, 4(5),

584-592.

Biswas, Biswas, & Das. (2006). The differential effects of celebrity and expert endorsements on

consumer risk perceptions. Journal of Adveritsing, 35(2), 17-31.

Block, & Atkin. (1983). Effectiveness of Celebrity Endorsers. Journal of Advertising Research, 23(1),

57-61

Petty, Cacioppo, & Schumann. (1983). Central and Peripheral Routes to Advertising Effectiveness:

The Moderating Role of Involvement. Journal of Consumer Research, 10(2), 135-146.

Product Mean

Std.

Deviation F Significance

Mobile 5.03 1.37 13.85 0.001

Biscuit 3.41 0.66

Total 4.22 1.06


What happens when an advertisement that is banned in other countries appears on the Indian television? After all we are considered to be a conservative nation. Content that was considered a taboo is voraciously devoured by the millennial generation as the transition progresses from a patriarchal and religious society to a liberal one. It s also a place that s more ephemeral, more objective, more aspirational and definitely more accepting.

We (the 90 s generation) have been a generation of identity crisis. As children, we were unaware of when to wear bermudas and jeans, whether to play before exams or to eat out regularly. The Millennials, unlike us, are better managers of all stuffs post-li eralizatio . They can balance disc and puja as comfortably as a smartphone and a thali in each hand. They can like both saas-bahu dramas and MTV simultaneously. To spend, wear and flaunt brands, discuss about them intricately (including boys) is second nature to them. Family still comes first, but extra fun has suddenly become more manageable now, thanks to malls, multiplexes, social networking, online shopping and proliferation of internet and TV.

The four Ps of Marketing will change to 4Ps + Pla i g by 2020. A dynamic consumer palette, ever-confused customer, obese kid, atheist family, social media conscious female and a gym-going male are all examples of future customers. For selling to them, creating new value may turn out more significant than existing value offered by product. Sugar Free has been migrated from a diabetic product to a weight-watcher, and so has Dettol solution from an antiseptic to a shaving and cleaning products. Product placement is something which customers in India have always been very fussy about, India being an aspirational society. The abject failure of the Tata Na o s low-cost car advertising is a proof of the same. Now it s being advertised as a city car for the youth. Therefore, the right product placement needs to recognize the fact that a generic marketing strategy can help when most of the consumers are unsure about their needs. The ad for a product like the Tata Zest has helped the company re-bounce and it had a generic advertising strategy.

Analytics will play an empowering role in this value-creation process. Having worked in this field, I can say that this powerful tool set can unlock many patterns invisible to naked eyes. Trends like increasing sales of e s vanity products and casual wear can be noticed, but their correlation with seasons, movies releasing, religion and demography can be revealed via analytical regression. I think the force of these factors, along with prescriptive consulting can serve as a panacea for virgin value creation. The final revolution will come in the way consumers are being viewed. Right now, we view them as trend-setters, but they might become trend-followers, as marketing changes itself from one-way to two-way to multi-way. Also, it would depend on the right segmentation and amount of positivity that goes into it. Basically, a ait-and- at h approach needs to be changed to a see, what I made you i to approach.

References: http://www.newindianexpress.com/auto/Tata-Motors-on-Cloud-Nine-Zest-Waiting-Period-Soars-to-Six-Months/2014/11/20/article2532887.ece


TARGETING MILLENNIAL

ADITYA TRIVEDI PGPM-SP JAIN MUMBAI.

In 2004, an Australian woman took a pre-paid taxi from Delhi airport and was killed by the driver and his accomplice. At that time the authorities did not ban all pre-paid taxis as a consequence. But they also ignored that incident and no concrete action was taken. They did not put in place a system to verify, train and sensitise taxi drivers. This time a rape incident happened in a taxi booked through online taxi aggregator Uber. But thankfully the authorities have responded this time .They have banned Uber along with other online taxi booking apps such as Ola Cabs, Taxi for Sure. But a question looms in the air. Is this the right answer? Is this the right approach to solve this problem???

First let us understand that how a company founded in 2009 has now become a $ 40 billion company though surrounded by many controversies. Uber is a California-based company that has disrupted the service for taxis in many countries by combing the use of mobile technology and electronic payments with an aggressive pricing strategy. In the words of Steve Jobs, presently we live in a digital age economy and the best way to create value in the 21st century is to connect creativity with technology and Uber has rightly hit the mark. Uber has been a favourite among the tech-savvy population worldwide, who find the ride-sharing service of these start-ups as another mode of public transport. After downloading the o pa y s app, customers can book a taxi of their choice by using GPS location data tracked by their iPhones or Android phones and connect with other passengers, registered with the app, who are travelling in the same direction. This helps passengers bring down the cost of travel. Uber's USP is providing a private car experience to hirers. A passenger can walk out of the car at the destination without any payment.

The company has about 15,000 drivers in 10 metropolitan cities where it provides services in India. Bhavik Rathod, General Manager of Uber-India, says the company runs an attractive vehicle finance scheme which allows drivers to purchase cars along with iPhones that provide GPS backup and access to the app by which drivers get paid. A driver who was making between ₹1,000 to ₹1,200 per day has seen his income double to about ₹2,500 a day by associating with Uber or similar Kind of apps.

Uber and similar start-ups are changing the attitude of the people .People are viewing taxis as a viable option for local urban commutes and airport trip. Even those with personal transport are shifting, as cabs help them avoid the parking nightmares that plague business districts in Indian cities. They are also engendering a sense of entrepreneurship among their drivers, with their bring-your-own-car business model. The driver is undergoing a transformation from an employee to an entrepreneur. But is it the 1st time that Uber has run into a controversy. It has been banned in other countries also like Spain for violating law and engaging in uncompetitive practises.


UBER CABS IN INDIA

CAN AN OPTIMUM SOLUTION BE FOUND TO THE CURRENT PROBLEM?

NEERAJ RATTAN XIME ,KOCHI

It has been criticised in the US, UK, Brazil and Belgium for failing to abide by local rules and for lack of safety provisions But is it the 1st time that Uber has run into a controversy. It has been banned in other countries also like Spain for violating law and engaging in uncompetitive practises. It has been criticised in the US, UK, Brazil and Belgium for failing to abide by local rules and for lack of safety provisions But here let us try to see the operations of Uber from an Indian point of view. It has been in news earlier also for violating the Law. Whether it was related to Tax payment , Payment gateway and now the largest regarding safety and regulation .Now, let us deal with these controversies one by one.

The RBI was the 1st one to go after Uber to it for breaking the Cards Not Present (CNP) transaction rules in the country. Uber used its standard payment system in India where users register credit-card details on the Uber application. Their cards would then be automatically charged—without any other method of confirming their identity–when they finished their rides. This violated the T o-“tep authentication system which is mandatory for all CNP transactions according to RBI (This was started by RBI in 2009). Two-step authentication mostly relies on "one-time passwords" sent to a user's registered phone. In other words, the additional security of her registered phone is provided by the Card Holder. To solve this Uber has forged partnership with an Indian e-commerce service, Paytm. Under the new set-up customers have to create a virtual wallet with Paytm and put money in it using a debit or credit card. After every ride, Uber will deduct the fare from the wallet. It increased Uber customer base in India as Debit Card penetration is India is much more in India as compared to credit cards.

Now the second controversy is related to service Tax Payments. The service tax authority pursued Uber in this case. Service Tax department noticed that Uber had not paid any service tax till date. All services attract tax @ 12% unless specifically exempted or included in the negative list. Taxi services are not on the list and therefore liable to pay tax. The argument was that other cab services are registered with the department and pay tax. Uber argued that the service tax authorities should collect tax from the drivers as Uber does not have any presence in the country and the service is only provided through a mobile or online application. The authorities did not want to collect tax from Cab drivers. They wanted that the company should collect the tax through a reverse charge mechanism and pass it on to the government. Also Service tax is liable only on revenue above. 10 lakh and an individual cab driver may not attract tax if the turnover is lower than the threshold. But after the rape incident it has agreed to pay service tax to the Indian authorities.

Uber has been able to solve most of these problems but this time the problem is much bigger and it has led to its ban in Delhi as well as invited different opinions from all sections of the society. After the rape of a 27-year-old woman executive in a cab booked through Uber, the Delhi government banned the company from operating in the city. Uber has been banned in Karnataka, Maharashtra, Chandigarh and UP.A case of cheating, under Section 420 of the IPC has been registered against Uber. The government said Uber was carrying out its business in contravention of the Motor Vehicle (MV) Act, 1988. The o pa y s regional manager, NCR admitted that Uber did not conduct any background checks or police verification of the drivers. They never verified their addresses but relied on the addresses on which their bank accounts have been opened. They never checked the authenticity of their addresses. Uber provides its drivers with an iPhone 4s which has an Uber application that cannot be deleted. However, if the phone is switched off, the GPS also gets switched off. Uber does not have cars equipped with GPS. If the phone is off, so is the GPS. There is no way to track the vehicle then. The department also found fault with the company for engaging vehicles with All India Tourist Permits (AITMP) for trips within the capital, thus violating a Supreme Court ruling that only CNG-run taxis could run in Delhi. AITMP vehicles mostly run on diesel .According to Govt., Uber is a radio taxi company and not merely an aggregator as claimed by it. Mere compliance with information technology rules for running a


web-based App service is not enough to run taxi services. Uber connects passengers with a taxi through an app and pocket the fee while radio cabs provide similar services on a phone call and yet are regulated. The app-based firms like Uber, Taxi for Sure must be "evaluated in the right perspective" for the focus on what they really do. They provide a simple taxi service by transporting people from one point to another through a vehicle driven by a driver for a fee, which is collected by Uber directly from the passenger. It just does these things through an online platform, App but without any legal contract between itself and the cab drivers.

The following steps should be taken-

1. The company licensed to run taxi fleets be it be an aggregator or through some other model they must subject all their drivers to a thorough process of screening and police verification so that their identity, address, antecedents and background are clearly established.

2. Option to the customer of requesting a call back from the company after the budgeted travel time has elapsed, with a failure to establish contact triggering further steps to ascertain the passenger's status. Initially ,it may be a little impractical to equip all taxis with standalone GPS systems that the driver cannot disable but a monitoring centre must be established to contact with the taxi's passenger if the location app (which the driver controls) is switched off mid-journey.

3. The process for getting a taxi driving license should be made more stringent than the original process, with mandatory lessons sensitizing drivers about how to treat women passengers.

The ban would simply put the brakes on an industry that promises to bring convenience, an affordable commute and transparent fares to millions of Indians for whom personal transport is expensive and public options overburdened and unreliable. But what is notable is that both government and Uber are taking steps to end the current fiasco though they are still a long way from solving the problem.

Taxi app Uber has updated its safety regulations in New Delhi in an attempt to persuade the local authorities to lift the ban. It will re-verify all its Indian drivers with the police, and carry out independent verification of their documents and independent background checks. It is introducing a dedicated incident response team, and safety feature called ShareMyETA for its app. The button will allow the user to send their complete trip details to a contact, including live GPS tracking and the dri er s name and photo. The Delhi govt. has modified its rules. The amended regulations allow taxi aggregators, companies which do not own vehicles, to apply for a licence alongside groups that own a fleet of taxis but Uber insists that its operations fall under I dia s IT laws rather than the new transport regulations, which include detailed requirements on the recruitment of drivers and the type of vehicles used. The Radio Taxi Scheme 2006 has been modified laying down guidelines for cab companies such as mandatory installation of GPS devices, a panic button and providing full database of drivers to Delhi police. According to it, the cab aggregators can operate under rules meant for radio taxis and must maintain a minimum fleet of 200 radio taxis. They can either directly own the cars or acquire them through agreements with individual drivers who have licensed taxi permits. But aggregators like Uber, Ola Cabs insist they only provide a technology platform linking customers and drivers and hence they can not be covered under this law. Uber and its other competitors propose that they should be covered under the Information Technology Act as an intermediary.


Can Uber safely conduct its services safely in India? Anyone who has spent any amount of time

in India would know that background checks just do t work and a certificate from the cops is just

paperwork.

what law enforcement can do? “o eo e suggested that Uber adopt a ore Indian ay of

background checking by asking a few neighbours of each driver — as silly as it sounds, a crazy,

unsalable, localised approach like this might yield way better results.

The regulators in partnership with the taxi aggregators should modify laws -- made for an age

when the average Indian hired a taxi only to attend, say, a wedding or a funeral in another city –

compatible with the mobile Internet era so as to foster a hassle-free, and safe, urban

transportation.

Refrences-

Articles in different newspapers like times of India, The Economic Times, Livemint

An article in the magazine Down to Earth.


Change is the only thing constant in this world and this theory applies at every place, including various business functions. There was a time when a Human Resources (HR) manager did not have to worry much as there were rules and policies in place. However, the situation is not the same now. Today, most of the HR leaders are dealing with much more complex and challenging questions than the ones they faced before. To answer these questions, the managers require exhaustive data and new thinking. They are forced not to think like an ordinary person but rather like an economist. Like any other resource, talent is also a scarce commodity.

Thus, the concept of human capital analytics, also known as human resource analytics or talent analytics is developed. It refers to the application of sophisticated data mining and business analytics techniques to human resource data. In simple words, it is a process of applying the analyst techniques to the data of human resource department of an organisation in order to improve the performance of its employees and achieve better return on investments. It aims to provide an insight of each process by gathering data and then use them to take relevant decisions, so that business goals can be reached more quickly and efficiently.

However, the main challenge that lies here is to identify what data should be captured and how it should be used to model and predict capabilities so that the organisation gets an optimal return on investment on its human capital. Gene Pease, Boyce Byerly and Jac Fitz-enz, mentions that Human Capital Analytics provides essential action steps for implementation of advanced analytics on human capital.

Now the question that arises is why human capital analytics so important for decision making in the present world. Firstly, today an HR can recruit and manage people around the world as the boundaries have been erased because of increased mobility and advancement of social media. Secondly, there is immense competition which is influenced almost at all level. Thirdly, scarcity of talent is one of the biggest drivers of enterprise performance and profitability than it was before. The answer to the question looks very obvious but it is a fact.

Although the area of human capital analytics is pretty new, most of the organisations are still looking to pioneer in it so as to improve the performance of their organization and workforce. The first step of analytics approach is to understand and articulate the human capital question that is needed to be answered. Then the expert team assembles to perform the analytics program and proceeds to identify the data requirements and make a data collectionplan.

Finally, the data collected is analysed to answer the questions identified in the first phase, or may be to refine the questions for further analysis.


HUMAN CAPITAL ANALYTICS

ANKIT KUMAR BARANWAL TAPMI

There are five key steps of measuring the human capital:

Evaluating the existing data: A detailed evaluation of all the employees and human resource data

is needed to be done. Its location should be identified and plan for integrating with the internal (or

external) system application should be made.

Determine the metrics that matter: Once the data is integrated, the e tity s HR manager should

identify what he needs to measure. A few metrics that can be monitored is the top level

organisational effectiveness that may include data with regard to the total revenue, number of full

time equivalent employee (FTE) or even the total remuneration cost. HR function can be measured

by including data such as total HR department cost and total FTE HR employees. These kinds of

data collected can also help an entity in finding out its retention success rate.

Consider the right technology: The choice of technology is another important factor here.

Technology adopted can either be widely accepted SAP, or developed in house depending on the

requirement of the entity.

Determine how you want the data to be presented: Depending on the solution chosen, the data

can be represented in different ways, such as choosing graphical report with interactive tools and

dynamic dashboards that allows user to manipulate and drill down the data as needed.

Consider how data changes over time: The leader should be ready to change and refine the data

analytics approach to meet the changing demand. What is important may not be important a few

months later. Further, there are some metrics that, at a given time, requires extra focus, such as

during the time of recession.

Some of the benefits of using Human Capital Analytics can be the increase in sales and

profitability, as the companies can derive workforce insights. Further, the top performers can be

retained in the workforce, and they can better understand the leadership behaviours and cultural

attributes that can drive desired business results. The future demand supply of talent can be

predicted as it takes into consideration business growth, future attrition, and employee movement

for efficient workforce planning. Moreover, the solution derived from the application of this

process integrates human capital with diverse sources and consolidates them with other

enterprise data to provide a 360 degree view to the e tity s workforce.

It is important to have right person with the right analytical skills for successful management of

the human capital analytics program. Managing the changes in culture, process, behaviour and

capabilities caused by an analytics initiative is also very important. However, such changes call for

advocacy by senior executives who are passionate about analytics and fact based decision making.

Thus, with the right tool and goal in mind, analytics provide the specific, fact based insight for

improving the return on their human capital investment.

References:

http://www2.deloitte.com/content/dam/Deloitte/global/Documents/HumanCapital/dttl-

humancapital-trends13-hc-analytics-no-exp.pdf

http://www.accenture.com/SiteCollectionDocuments/PDF/Accenture_Human_Capital_Analytics.p

df

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Humankind has been continuously looking to enhance its chances of survival, as a species, through various means. Of late, there is a growing realisation of the ripple effects created by our activities on the environment and society as a whole. As a result, society is rediscovering that its survival hinges on its effective treatment of its natural environment. In a consumer-centric society such as ours, the corporate world is also beginning to assess its role as a driver of positive change that can be sustained over time. Hence, more organizations and industrial bodies the world over are adopting a vision that can be operationalized to deliver sustainable values.

By attempting to deliver sustainable value, an organization tries to simultaneously manage the long-term impacts of its activities on the three pillars of sustainability – namely, People, Planet and Profit . Delivering sustainable value is known by various names, such as corporate social responsibility (CSR), green initiatives, social responsibility, etc. With growing interest in responsible businesses, customer pressures and regulatory constraints, organizations are interested in a plethora of questions related to the three dimensions of sustainability which form the Triple Bottom-line (3BL) Framework. International bodies such as United Nations International Development Organization have recognized that while CSR initiatives are generally considered to within the realm of large MNCs ad corporate houses, there is a burgeoning interest among smaller enterprises to be wholly sustainable and competitive at the same time. Thus, the questions related to delivering sustainable value are not limited to only the larger enterprises. This article attempts to define the basic questions that any business professional should try to address.

The environmental impact: Practices such as organic farming, sustainable sourcing, product recycling, remanufacturing and safe disposal alternatives aim at reducing the detrimental impact of the activities of the individual and the society on the environment. Despite the presence of a multitude of laws attempting to stem environmental pollution, the success of their implementation in India has been debatable. However, with greater awareness, consumers are becoming more eco-sensitive and seek out companies that provide products and services with minimal impact on the environment. Thus, it is no surprise that organizations have been explicitly reviewing their role towards environmental protection and have devised innovative ways to be more eco-friendly in the raw materials they procure, their processing methods and the final products and services that they deliver. Typically the questions of concern tend to be:

Are we being eco-friendly in the procedures we have adopted? Are regulatory guidelines available for the organization to adopt? If not, can we develop eco-friendly procedures and best practices for our activities?


DELIVERING SUSTAINABLE VALUE

EMERGING ISSUES FOR THE MODERN CORPORATE WORLD

SUSHMITA NARAYANA AGHALAYA ASST. PROFESSOR

TAPMI

The societal impact: A large portion of CSR (corporate social responsibility) initiatives focus on involving and developing of the local communities at various levels. These levels may view the community as an active participant in the business activities (e.g. raw material sourcing, product design, development and manufacturing, etc.) who can also be an employee of the organization, an end-consumer, a third party that is affected by the industrial activities of the organization, an end-consumer who is also a co-creator of value, etc. The vision of the company directs the level at which the organization views the community and hence, determines the manner in which the firm impacts the society. Popular examples such as e-choupal (ITC) and the Amul model for dairy producers are globally acknowledged for their involvement of the community in the value chain as a partner in the creation of value. Sustainable sourcing initiatives also help in providing labour opportunities to the local communities, making them self-sufficient as well as competitive players in a market. At the other end, organizations also lend support to philanthropic activities such as charities and fund-raisers that address social needs such as health and disabilities, education, etc. Although such involvement with the community can also be highly effective, it tends to be more in-direct if it is not in line with the objectives towards creating value for an end-consumer. The relevant questions would thus, include - To what extent are our operations impacting the social fabric? What employment opportunities can be provided to the community? To what extent does the organization believe in providing welfare versus providing opportunities to the community? How does this fit in with the vision of the organization? The economic impact: Investing in CSR initiatives is traditionally viewed as an additio al ost or a mandatory activity that leads to unnecessary expenditures for the firm. By not considering it as priority or a part of the o pa y s vision, CSR activities lend themselves to mismanagement that can have a detrimental impact on the economic outcomes of its core business activities. Accounting standards (e.g. Global Reporting Initiative, SA8000) are prevalent for standardizing sustainability audits and reporting across organizations. In addition, regional laws and agreements within an industry may require additional checks and measures to be put in place. As a result, even a well-meaning firm maybe under pressure to cater to several requirements and hence, incur large costs with respect to CSR initiatives that are, otherwise, in line with its vision. Thus, in order to address the economic impact of the CSR activities, organizations need to be specific about how they define and value these activities. Additionally, firms that are valuing the economic dimension of sustainability should also consider expanding their lens beyond the traditional focus on the fir s profitability to also assessing the benefits derived by the various stakeholders involved in co-creation. Some questions of interest in economic assessments may include: What does it cost to be an eco-friendly and socially responsible organization? Does this cost matter? Can the activities of the organization be developed to result in a win-win situation for all of the three stakeholders (environment, community and the organization)? Can the organization remain a competitive player by being an environmentally and socially responsible entity? Does a method of processing wastes avoid heavy investment in expensive equipment to treat it? Has supplier development improved the resale value of the products? Can socially responsible initiatives help in driving up the per-capita income of the community while improving the success of the products in the market? Can such mechanisms be sustained over time? These questions provide a snapshot of the challenges a business professional faces today in ensuring the success of his/her organization. With growing awareness, there has been a surge in social entrepreneurs who are trying to effect positive change in the society and the environment. In parallel, firms are beginning to develop intrapreneurs who are able to recognize the need for positive change in the society and the environment, identify the avenues wherein the vision of the firm can be aligned with the need for change (or vice versa), and develop and implement innovative ways to drive these changes. Effectively , the modern corporate world is rapidly begin to question and assess its contribution to delivering sustainable value as it is crucial to determining the survival of the organization.


Corporate Edge

In a Dialogue with

Sathish Ponnurangam

How do you feel about TAPMI campus and being here?

I was impressed with the overall campus. The facilities and infrastructure are very good. It was evident from today s interaction with the students that they are very energetic

and charismatic – was impressed with the thought process, articulation and information possessed.

Understand the business, being a HR person one supports and enables the business, shows value addition and a positive impact on the overall business. The requirements, needs and concerns the employees have in a company and how can the HR solve the issues with available resources. Then they are provided with training, talent management schemes, specific interactions, etc.

Which sector you found to be more challenging?

Every sector has its own challenges, e.g. IT has attrition, Healthcare has quality manpower along with attrition, manufacturing sector has stable attrition, but challenges are in operational streamlining and business development.

What are the employee engagement activities taken in Daimler to retain employees.

Employee engagement crews: Arts, sports, social, women, CSR, etc. – events/fests – all supported by HR, be it budget allocation, initiative drives – it s a voluntary effort (employees voluntarily come forward, understand the needs and deliver). By the people, for the people concept. The management does t have decision role here, the employees decide what they need – the point of difference against other firms. Inter-departmental cohesiveness and communication increases by this, be it white collared or blue collared – hierarchical levels are broken here for mutual benefit. Employees are empowered to exercise the implementation of the things that shall fulfil their needs, entirely done by them.

In regard to talent acquisition, do you find a gap between students recruited from B-schools and your industry standard requirement?

There can never be a 100% match. The industry has its level of expectations, specific approaches in manufacturing. It is not expected that the institute caters to the talent in complete entity. National skill development programmes are conducted to bridge this gap in some form, but every organization has its own unique set of requirements, which the college cannot foreseeably train the student. A base requirement is expected over which we can build on.


Divisional Manager – HR Business Partner

Daimler Commercial Vehicles

By Aakansha Shukla

There is no shortage of Jobs, but shortage of skills. It is also the responsibility of the organization

to ensure proper training to the employees.

What is the success quotient of the ake in I dia concept – the Daimler view? Is Daimler

planning to increase its production capacity in India?

2008 – Procured land

April 2012 – plant construction complete

June 2012 – first truck roll out

Heavy investment already done on the 400 acre campus, ruthless manufacturing facility, Daimler

group has invested a lot. Apart from trucks, we are into bus manufacturing, expected roll out in

2015. Tamil Nadu government support is good.

Are you exporting your products outside India?

The export business is already taking place. We have three brands now – Mercedes Benz, Bharat

Benz and Daimler. There is fourth brand coming in as FUSO – purely for export purpose. Target is

for eastern and African countries.

How far is the IT revolution significant in the automotive sector? Is the use of software like

BIgData predominant?

IT support is necessary for all sectors, including automotive, since a lot of processes which are

automated and semi-automated. IT also required to complement support functions to improve

productivity and efficiency, creating more impact. World class systems are in place in Bangalore.

As a HR, in your perspective, what are your expectations from an MBA graduate?

Open for learning, humble, hard-work oriented, skill gatherer, adaptive nature, and good

communication skill.

Dirty your hands, do t look for comfortable jobs which may not help to progress in future. Rise

from bottom of the pyramid to understand the company as a whole – later it ll help u to take

leadership roles.

A word for TAPMI students, who intend to join the automobile/manufacturing sector.

The industry is already booming, agree to stick to the sector once entered into – to gain

appropriate experience over time. The sector is more stable in comparison to IT, more secure and

has long term future potential.

An opportunity to apply learnt skills – from product design to sales and service. Necessary for

prospective to understand the full life cycle of the product.

TAPMI students must be well prepared to take on this sector successfully. There are good quality

candidates here, good faculty and fine teaching methodologies practiced – I am sure there is

going to be a lot of success stories.


Corporate Edge

In a Dialogue with

Mr. Ashish Kumar

Q1: How do you feel to be back here at TAPMI?

A: Overwhelming will be the word that could describe that feeling. Two years of bond that was created lasted for 2 decades and will continue for many more decades. Though we look different now we are all still the same at heart.

It was a very good initiative taken by college to propose the idea of the meet and there was so much of enthusiasm and momentum. It is great to see people travelling from overseas for the meet.

Q2: Can you share some of your special experiences at TAPMI. What changes do you see?

A: It will take a month to summarize the experience at TAPMI. The campus now is so beautiful and the management has done a great job maintaining the campus. The change here is overwhelming. And the confidence you people have at this early age will take you long way in shaping you as an individual.

Q3: Since you were one of the founding members of 24*7, can you give us some insights about the strategy required to start a new venture?

A: New ventures come out of passion and not strategy. Be passionate about an idea and have the will to give up everything and pursue that passion. Strategy comes later and it evolves eventually with time.

Q4: What is your role as the GM and head of business transformation for HLS sector at Wipro?

A: Wipro, like other IT companies, is structured around business verticals so SBUs are defined around industry verticals. Healthcare and Life sciences is the business unit that I am aligned to. My strategic role as Head of Business Transformation is to help drive more nonlinear revenue growth.

To explain that further, in IT industry the revenue growth is directly proportional to head count growth. That is a self-defeating prophecy in the long term because you are always under price pressure. Prices keep coming down and costs of people keep increasing and your margins are always under pressure. So how do you come up with a newer engagement model with the customer and solutions that will help decouple the relationship between revenue growth and


GM & Head Of

Business Transformation – HLS

Wipro Technologies

By Aakansha Shukla

head count growth? How can we offer more platform based services and solutions which can

scale without necessarily adding people? How can we do commercial constructs with customers

which are more based on outcomes rather than the output?

Q5: Wipro started looking into its HLS division 3 years ago and they are planning to overcome

Cognizant Technology Solutions that is the current business leader in this field. So what are the

strategies you are planning to adopt?

A: HLS is an area of tremendous growth. While CTS made smart strategic moves to focus on this

sector before any other IT company and are thus reaping the rewards of that today. They got the

first movers advantage and now capture a large share of this market.

But this being a vast unexploited market, it has enough rooms for all the other companies. Rather

than eating up other s share, you can grow your own business. Especially with Obama care at US

there is so much transformation that is happening in healthcare sector using IT. Wipro is second

to Cognizant currently.

Our charter is not to beat CTS but focus on our revenues.

I strongly believe that we should focus more on growing the pie rather than eating someone

else s pie. This gives a win-win opportunity to all and comes with redefining the existing business

Q6: What difference did you find between the theoretical and the practical application of the

knowledge in the industry?

A: The purpose of education is to help you sharpen your ability to think, analyze and make

decisions to solve problems. Besides the amazing academics at TAPMI, it brings everyone at a

common ground through elementary courses and gives a holistic understanding of business

ecosystem and then it is up to you to apply those learnings.

The number of opportunities we got here to work as a team and to compete against each other

was so ferocious that we planned, executed and worked hard to win. This gave us a real

experience of working in tough competitive situation and made us ready for life

And the best part is you end up making lovely friends.

Q7: Lastly, after a very insightful lecture of “uccess can you redefine your success mantra?

A: Success is overrated. Do t make it relative and competitive. Have your own goals and larger

vision to sphere into the course of your life but also have simple goals for every moment that will

help you lead a happier life.


PRATIBIMB TAPMI’s bimonthly e-Magazine, is primarily intended to provide

insights into the plethora of knowledge that relate to the various

departments of management and to give an opportunity to the students

of TAPMI and the best brains across country to exhibit their creative

cells. The magazine also strives to bring expert inputs from industries,

thereby bringing the academia and industry together.

Pratibimb is committed in continuing this initiative by bringing in

continuous improvement in the magazine by including quality articles

related to various management issues and eventually creating a more

engaging relationship with its readers by providing them a platform to

showcase their talent.

We invite all the best brains across country to be part of this initiative.

Visit:

Team Pratibimb

[email protected]

TAPMI

http://www.tapmi.edu.in/student-life/pratibimb/overview/


