Case Study: Managing for Organizational Integrity

[pic] [pic] [pic] SUBMITTED BY: PARSHU RAM ACHARYA MOUNT DRUITT TAFE INTRODUCTION The aim/purpose of this report is to discuss how the information systems are managed systematically in an organizational operation. How those frontline managers should be competent in managing the systems, developing business plans and budgets as well as managing the resource proposal are made are researched in sources listed in the Bibliography and the practicable application of it in business as demonstrated by the case study of Blacktown city council which is followed by the theory of manage workplace information systems with the help of class notes and further researched on the Blacktown city council and is presented as two facts information as theory and practical. To manage information systems systematically and scientifically frontline managers must be capable of identifying, acquiring, analyzing, reviewing, and using appropriate information so that the organization would run effectively and efficiently. This report is written in such way that it satisfy all the 9 points needed for frontline managers to make right decisions at the right time for the successful operation of business, considering the proper management of a team to achieve team goals and objectives. This report has been written to satisfy the requirements of course in the ‘Electrical Engineering Unit,’ Ensure Team Effectiveness at WSI TAFE NSW Mount Druitt College. OVERVIEW: Management of information system (MIS) is a planned system of the collecting, processing, storing and disseminating data in the form of information needed to carry out the functions of management. In a way it is a documented report of the activities those were planned and executed. It can also be defined as the subset of the overall internal control of a business covering the application of people, documents, technologies, and procedures by management accountants to solving business problems such as costing a product, service or a business-wide strategy. Most importantly MIS are those systems that allow managers to make decisions for the successful operation of businesses. MIS is the process of allocating information an organization's inputs, including human and economic resources, by planning, organizing, directing, and controlling for the purpose of producing goods or services desired by customers so that organizational objectives are accomplished. If management has knowledge of the planning, organizing, directing, and controlling of the business, its decisions can be made on the basis of facts, and decisions are more accurate and timely. As a result, the manager could easily distinguish the weaknesses and the strength of the company so that they could work them out properly by removing the drawbacks and overcoming the weaknesses and overpowering the strength so that the company could properly achieve the set goals in efficient and effective manner. In addition to this, managers should be considerably aware of the aim/ goal of the company and the overall team participation taking care of the entire team member’s Occupational Health and Safety. In the age of information technology, the need for relevant and timely information to support management in decision making is increasing due to market competition. The quickly changing environment brought about by the rapidly expanding capabilities of computer equipment has substantially shortened system's life cycles. Consequently, management must continuously develop its organization's information system or, soon face the competitive disadvantage resulting from obsolete information systems. 1. Blacktown city council is a governmental organisation which governed and funded by the government of Australia and it is actively participating in the development projects in cooperation with Federal Government of Australia. It is a public sector as well as community sector organisation. Its nature includes developing and initiating plans and projects, developing the strategies for the welfare and facilitating the people of entire Blacktown including the dense multicultural and diverse community. It also includes the facilities like the basics of life including the leisure and lifestyle, arts and entertainment like libraries, parks, reserves, child care centres, clubs etc. The nature of work involves governing all the people living in Blacktown as a local government and providing each and every facilities that a local government should provide and is capable of. It includes the managing waste ,cleaning the public places, constructing the parks, reserves, clubs , child care centres and repairing of all those and lots of other projects. The aim and objectives of Blacktown city council can be briefly explained as below: 1. To serve a whole Blacktown community as a parent organisation. 2. To provide each and every facilities for the diverse and dense multicultural community. 3. Carry out different planned project and implementing it for the development of Blacktown city and its welfare. 4. To workout for the different ways that can satisfies the local people and maintains the social harmony, peace, etc. 5. To provide safe environment for people in working and enjoying freely. . Safeguarding the people needs and necessities and maintain secure place to live in. The project is on the Blacktown City council, Department of planning Engineering Team’s proposal of the ‘promotion of solar city products’ initiatives. 2. Effective use of the information system is the key for the success of the company so that it is extremely necessary to ensure the effective use of organisational information systems. In cas e if the information is not immediately available strategies should be developed and the decision should be made. There are different barriers for the effective information gathering and unavailability of the immediate information. Poor documentation, poorly designed information systems, poor searching skills, inexperienced, untrained, unskilled managers, imperfect computer systems, lack of human resources and the politics are the great hidden costs in organisation which will led us to the information shortage of immediate information. Hence, the strategies involved in sorting those problems out can be described as followed: a. All the information systems should be properly designed with all the new and advance technologies. b. Outdated computer systems should be renewed and supervised with the effective and useful information. c. Information managing staffs should be trained and should be experience with very good skills. d. Human resources should be properly managed and workload to the workers reduced. Also information should be gathered with best methods with raw data continually scanned and selected most useful pieces in timely manner. Examples of some common processes would include: 1. Interviews with focussed questions towards organisational goal. 2. Reports should be with good secondary source of information. 3. Focusing group also including a way of getting brainstorming ideas on a particular topic from people who represent a range of employee, client or supplier positions. 4. Questionnaires wit questions of carefully worded to lead to people to respond in a certain way. 3. To ensure the proper management of information systems it is necessary that collection of information should be timely, adequate and relevant to the needs of various teams. For the information to be on the effective use it should be available on when it is needed so that information should gathered and organised on the time. Adequate data is the complete data which is sufficient information when it is needed to be applied. Relevant information is also called as- to the point, means which is accurate information. Untimely and inadequate data or information could even mislead the information systems from achieving it goals. So it becomes necessary to monitor that information be relevant, sufficient and on at right time. Before the implementation of the strategies it is necessary to review the organisational goal or purpose as well as occupational health and safety as these are the things which matters the most. The range of strategies that ensures the collection of information is timely, relevant and adequate to the needs of the teams can be explained in details as below: a. Transactions processing systems: All the transactions should be constantly monitored by the information system . All the processes of the transactions should be recorded in the database as sale items, amount, time, date, employee etc. o that each and every data goes to the system. b. management information system: Data base plays the most important role in information management system covering in about each and every sections of the organisation. If database is managed timely and properly, it will be relevant, adequate and timely information. c. Decision support system: As decision making is the most important and crucial part of management of any organisation, decision support system plays a vital role in it. So it provides interactive information support to managers during the decision making process. This would help in timely and relevant decision making. . Manual systems: Although electronics and digital systems become the basics of information management, manual systems are equally important yet. Filing cabinets, message books, phone directories and card systems are all legitimate information systems which are still used and plays one of important role in timely and adequate information management. The success of these strategies could be measured by comparing that information with the new information and the weakness and drawbacks can be correctly categorized and figured out so that managers have the right vision of their outcomes and goal. Implementation of all those systems correctly would also ensure the managerial success as well as the strategic success in organisation. 4. Planning is the basics of organisational success, as every outcome depends upon its performance plan and its implementation. The organisational strategic planning processes produce a direct impact on the organisational aim or goal. So it becomes extremely necessary that it should be on the right tract on the organisational benefit. Hence the strategic processes that would identify and report relevant information to support the organisation’s strategic planning processes. At team level, resource planning involves planning for the resources ( staffs, equipment, budget, technology, Company databases, Integrated management software, Client relationship management tool, Supply chain management tool, Application jobs, Network infrastructure, Data servers and storage systems, Security devices) that is needed for next cycle. Not everyone will be involved in the macro- level resource planning that involves the acquisition of capital and other big ticket items. However it is important that everyone in an organization undertakes this at the macro level. Many organizations have specialists or staff whose roles are dedicated to resource planning. Computer plays main role as the prerequisites for all the information systems. While computers cannot create business strategies by themselves they can assist management in understanding the effects of their strategies, and help enable effective decision-making. MIS systems can be used to transform data into information useful for decision making. Computers can provide financial statements and performance reports to assist in the planning, monitoring and implementation of strategy. MIS systems provide a valuable function in that they can collate into coherent reports unmanageable volumes of data that would otherwise be broadly useless to decision makers. By studying these reports decision-makers can identify patterns and trends that would have remained unseen if the raw data were consulted manually. Those principles are relevant for the proposals that manager might take at a macro level. Most importantly the strategic planning processes can be identified and report relevant information can be supported by the following types of Systems: a. Management information systems can be used as a support to managers to provide a competitive advantage. The system must support the goals of the organization. Most organizations are structured along functional lines, and the typical systems are identified as follows: b. Accounting management information systems: All accounting reports are shared by all levels of accounting managers. c. Financial management information systems: The financial management information system provides financial information to all financial managers within an organization including the chief financial officer. The chief financial officer analyses historical and current financial activity, projects future financial needs, and monitors and controls the use of funds over time using the information developed by the MIS department. d. Manufacturing management information systems: More than any functional area, operations have been impacted by great advances in technology. As a result, manufacturing operations have changed. For instance, inventories are provided just in time so that great amounts of money are not spent for warehousing huge inventories. In some instances, raw materials are even processed on railroad cars waiting to be sent directly to the factory. Thus there is no need for warehousing. e. Marketing management information systems: A marketing management information system supports managerial activity in the area of product development, distribution, pricing decisions, promotional effectiveness, and sales forecasting. More than any other functional areas, marketing systems rely on external sources of data. These sources include competition and customers, for example. f. Human resources management information systems: Human resources management information systems are concerned with activities related to workers, managers, and other individuals employed by the organization. Because the personnel function relates to all other areas in business, the human resources management information system plays a valuable role in ensuring organizational success. Activities performed by the human resources management information systems include, work-force analysis and planning, hiring, training, and job assignments. The above are examples of the major management information systems which would support the decision making and the report relevant information at the strategic level. There may be other management information systems if the company is identified by different functional areas. 5. Technology plays the role of backbone in the context of information management. All the technology should be used in such a manner that it ensures the complete utilization as well as it ensures that it can satisfy the level of information that an organisation need to fulfil its goal. So this technological information should satisfy the demand of the organisation. It is obvious that any organisation is not same every time and change according to the time. So the information system or technology cannot be able to satisfy the nature of change in the information system in an organisation. So it becomes an essential that technology should be constantly monitored and constantly improved. The manager should be able of getting most out of the available technology to the organisation so that at the minimum cost and expenses company could get the maximum benefits. It is necessary to understand that the amount of information is not the problem but rather the lack of effective tools and skills to manage, use and store the information. The information is in the system or technology is available is not a guarantee you are deriving maximum benefit from it. So the using of technology effectively can be briefly explained in the following ways: a. The resources of the organisation such as intranet and email or the existing developed system are reliable so that it does not affect the availability of information at any point of time. . People have been adequately briefed or trained on the use and features of the technology available so that they can properly handle the information systems and make the maximum use of available resources. c. Policies, training materials, the staff phone directory and other vital information stored on the company intranet. This saves paper and ensures all staff has up to date information. d. A filing system should be organ ised in such a manner that it can be clearly and easily available to the people who are in need of it and it saves the vital time. e. A regular maintenance process to remove documents, customers and other information that is no longer relevant or current. f. People should be trained on the regular manner so that they could properly deal with the demand of the new and developing information systems. 6. The proper management of information also includes the team involvement and it is extremely necessary that whole team is working as a unit so that maximum utilization of resources can be done with minimum input if the team work as one unit. So it becomes necessary to ensure team effectiveness. Ensuring Team Effectiveness in a team plays the most important role in achieving goals and objectives of the overall organization and the team itself. The team’s purpose, roles, responsibilities, goals, plans, and objectives should be identified and these are related to the organizational goals, plans and objectives. Each and every team members should be supported in meeting the expected outcomes. Plans are developed to ensure that work required by the organization to carry out its goals. Opportunities should be created and should be properly managed for the team to provide input into ny of the team’s operations including decision making. To get maximum out of team or utilising the involvement of team in the workplace is the responsibility of manager. So managers should come out with the strategies which would maximise team contribution, involvement and support for the business plan and budgets. The strategies would involve following: 1. Each and ever team membersâ€⠄¢ occupational health and safety should be ensured so that all the staff can concentrate on their work and give maximum of them. 2. eam members should be motivated towards their job and they should be constantly be considering the aim or goal of the organisation is and how they can contribute as an individual and as a team member for the company goal. 3. Team should be involved in business plan so that that the planning and its implement would be better. The common elements of business plan including Executive summary, vision, company description, action plan, market position, product or services, operation, marketing/ sales, financial information. So if all these information are available for entire team for the business plan, team contribution would be increased. . Budgeting process should involve feedback from all key stakeholders. Apart from the intimate knowledge, team members have of operation, involving them will make them know and understand what you are trying to achieve. If they are involved in target setting, they are more likely to accept the targets and be motivated to perform. The budgets including Revenue budget, expense budget, profit budget, cash budget, capital expenditure budget, variable budgets should be properly fixed out and the forecasting and its utilization should be properly managed. 7. Success of organisation depends upon its planning and implementation. Planning plays vital role as what ever is planned the ultimate destination of the company as well as workplace information systems. Planning is directly associated with the organisational aim or goal, it becomes necessary that planning would be effective and its implementation can be carried out efficiently. With only one development phase remaining before the new system is to put into use, managers and information specialists have a good understanding of the work necessary to implementation plan. This planning process should be a function of line management, at least as far as key decisions or alternative plans are concerned. The systems analyst may prepare plans to assist managers, but managers must have the last say. At the same time, managers require the services of the systems analyst to detail plans. The major strategies involved in implementation of plans, tasks, or milestones, can be discussed as following: a. planning implementation activities should be carried out in taking consideration of the aim or purpose of company, information systems and the occupational health and safety; b. nnouncing the implementation is to be done so as to inform the employees of the decision to implement the new system and to ask for the employees’ cooperation ; c. organising for implementation can be described as assigning the project and information managers as well as all the new facilities including offices and information resources and equipments; d. acquiring resources, facil ities and offices including the installation of a new system to replacea currentone and major revision of the facilities; e. btaining the hardware resources; it plays major role in information systems as it would be the equipment for the management of workplace information including computers; f. Obtaining the software resources; Information managers are assign with the responsibility of the management of software required for all the information systems. The software like intranet, company websites, database should be obtained and managed by the managers; g. preparing the database; data base should be designed according to the need of the information system of the organisation; h. ducating and training the participants and users; and i. the cutover to new system. The plans should list all subtasks for each of these major tasks so that individuals in the organisation may be assigned specific responsibilities. Developing good user documentation is an important part of the implementat ion process. Documentation is extremely important in diagnosing errors and marking changes, especially if end users or systems analyst that developed the system are no longer with the organisation. The documentation of manual IS may consist of: . Announce the implementation 3. Organise for implementation 4. Acquire resources, facilities and offices 5. Obtain resources-hardware 6. Obtain resources-softwares 7. Prepare the database 8. Educate and train the participants and users Managing the contingency plans should be prepared to address an unexpected change to the plan of the organisation and information systems. So managers should prepare the plans required in case of change like industrial disputes, supply problems, loss of a key customer, and fire damage to key equipment. The effective management of contingency plans would be : a. to identify the internal and external factor in the organisation that can cause a significant change to happen to the organisation b. ask a series of ‘what if †¦. ’ question around those factors that affect your organisation c. brainstorm some suggestions on how you could best meet those situations with no, or minimum, disruption to your business d. briefly record these plans and file in case of need. It will benefit you update these plans each year as part of your normal planning or budgeting process. 8. Resources plays important role in the organisational information systems as they are the basics of the information. So managing the equipments, like hardware software, databases etc. should be done. To do these resource proposals and estimates of the resources should be developed. For this, consultation should be carried out with the stakeholders and proposals should match the organisational business plans and organisational goal. The installation of a new system too replace a current on may require a major revision of facilities as well as completely new offices, computer rooms, and production layouts. The project manager must prepare rough layouts and estimates and submit a proposal for approval. Facilities and space planning should begin as soon as approval of gross space allocations has been obtained. the urgency for such planning is two-fold. First here may be a long lead-time if new partitions, electrical work, air conditioning and even new building are required. Second, the detailed workflow depends upon the physical arrangements of building. The training personnel will be more successful if their operations are base on exact physical relationships mong the people and the equipment in the work processes. Hardware resources: The system design is made available to the suppliers of the type of computing equipment contained in the approved configuration. Each supplier is provided with the request for proposal. The description of the system design enables the suppliers to select those computing units that will d the best job. The installation schedule tells the suppliers when the equipment must be delivered and made ready for use. When suppliers choose to complete for the order, they each prepare a written proposal. When all the proposal have been received and analysed, the steering committee selects the suppliers. The information specialists provide support for this decision by studying the proposals and making recommendations. With the acquisitions approved, the firm places the order. Software Resources: When a firm decides to create its own application software, the programmer uses the documentqation prepared by the systems analysts as the starting point. The programmer may prepare more detailed documentation, such as structured English or program flowcharts. The coding is performed and the programs are tested. The end products is a software library of the application programs. 1. EXECUTIVE SUMMARY: The project for the Blacktown solar cities is running from 2006 to 2013 and this business plan has been developed in the context of the solar city vision for the promotion of solar cities products. As planning and development section of Blacktown city council are committed to the conservation, restoration and enhancement of an environment which plays an important role in balancing the social, economic and environmental imperatives in Blacktown city. This initiative has the aim to promote solar products that reflect the Council’s positive vision towards environment. The initiative is to train and equip a team of consultants who will promote solar products offered by Blacktown council as a solar city initiative. This team will conduct home interest in the range of solar products and encourage people for using these solar products so that they could get reasonable benefits as well as contribute towards the environment. The members of this team will inform and register the potential consumers of the council’s range of products. The timing period of this initiative is one year after which it will be reviewed for its inclusion onto 2010-2011 Blacktown council’s management budget. The estimated cost of this initiative is $53,705. Details of expenditure are listed as facts in the action plan summary. As the total budget allocation for health and environment services for 2009-2010 is $1,676,128. With its help Blacktown residents, business and community organisations save money by using energy more wisely, contribute towards environment, saving energy and generating their own energy then it should be considered worthwhile. This initiative is taken in response to a lack of formally recruited consultants who will be promoting the Solar City products in the Blacktown area. The types of products being promoted includes different packages that will be provided featuring solar PV, solar hot water, energy efficiency, free energy audits, smart meters, demand management, cost reflective pricing and innovative financing which would be easy, economic, effective and efficient. 2. Vision: The ‘promotion of Solar City Products’ initiative is consistent with the Solar City Vision of the Blacktown Council. This is outlined below: Blacktown Solar City Facts Blacktown City is the first Solar City in New South Wales. With funding under the Australian Government’s $75 million Solar Cities initiative, the Blacktown Solar City consortium is working with industry, businesses and the local community to rethink the way they produce and use energy. PRACTICAL BENEFITS OF SOLAR CITY VISION FOR THE LOCAL COMMUNITY †¢ Over one megawatt of solar electricity technology will be installed on private and public housing and on commercial and iconic buildings, which saves a lot of electricity which could be sold to the foreign country to have a good national income as well would be supplied to the remote part of the country. †¢ Financial solutions will be available to help consumers finance their solar systems so that there will be no financial problems for it. †¢ About 5000 job vacancy will be created so as to fight with the current job losses and economic downturn in the country. More than 2,100 solar water heaters will be installed in private and public housing, which will help to reduce the bill as well as use right source of energy. †¢ 3,500 energy efficiency consultations for households and businesses which would serve people. †¢ 30,000 energy efficinency packs will be available for households and commercial customers, to support their energy efficient choices. †¢ Offering 1,000 customers the opportunity to adopt pricing structures that allow them to save money by changing the times they use energy. 200 households will receive discounted ceiling insulation packages to participate in a trial to measure energy savings from properly installed insulation. †¢ A trial giving energy providers direct access to air conditioner and pool pump switches will be conducted during periods of peak electricity demand. †¢ 4,000 smart meters will give residential customers timely information on energy use. 3. PROFILE OF BLACKTOWN CITY COUNCIL: Blacktown city council is just 35 km from the Sydney CBD. It is a home to over 295,000 people making it as the largest local government area in New South Wales. Blacktown city population is spread across 46 suburbs. The 12 industrial estates, 2 major retail centres and 30 local retail and commercial centres are providing employment for more than 100,000 multicultural and varied diverse individuals. Five leisure centres, four libraries , over 20 child care facilities, as well as high profile clubs, tourism , sporting, entertainment, accommodation, conference and other recreational facilities and some 850 parks and reserves are fulfilling the demands of leisure and lifestyle, and arts and entertainment of local people. The council has a debt free budget of over $275 million. 15 councillors including Mayer of Blacktown city are running the council. This council is highly efficient in waste management and strongly protective of our environment. This council was awarded the state’s most prestigious local government award for performing to the highest standards of excellence in public services. 4. ACTION PLAN |Long Term Goal |To promote the range of Solar Products provided by Blacktown Council in the city of Blacktown by | | |2010. |Short to Medium Term Objectives |To train and equip 15 consultants to represent the range of Solar Products offered by Blacktown | | |Council. | | |To Support a team of consultants to inform and register potential consumers of the Blacktown | | |council’s range of Solar Products. | Strategies over next 1 |Actions to achieve Key Results |Expenditure |Timing |Responsibility | | |year | | | | | | |Recruit and determine |Planning for all activities: Advertisement , | |June 01-june09 |Human resources, | | |Training needs of |training, managing people, interviewing, | | |15 engineers. | | |Consultants Team. |workshops etc. | | |External | | | |Salary for working 2 days Per week or 15 |$30*15*16 hrs |June09-june10 |organisation for | | | |consultants |$70*6hrs*4days |June*4 days |all those | | | |Training with the operation of solar panels |$35*4hrs*2days |July*2days |activities | | | |and solar technology |$30*15stud |July*6hrs |including, | | | |Training in council code of conduct. $80*15stud |July*6hrs |trainer, | | | |TAFE course: 24962A customer service |$775*15stud |June*16hrs |advertisement | | | |Laptop computer course | | |agents, | | | |Consulting workshop(consultant training | | |interviewer, | | | |Australia) | | |trainer | | |Determine and implement |Council uniforms:$10/shirt*5shirts(each |$50 |July |Team leader, | | |facilities and equipment |working day). 50 /pair of pants *5(each |$250 |July |purchase | | |ofr Consultants Teamà ¢â‚¬â„¢s |working day) | |July |department | | |home visits |Paper copy contract |$15000 |July | | | | |Toshiba laptops at $1000ea*15 |$720 |July | | | | |Sample kits containing pamphlet and DVD |$1500 | | | | | |showcase at $5ea* 10kits *15 consultants. $33750 |July | | | | |Nokia Mobile pone $100 ea |$3750 |july | | | | |Council fleet car/ Petrol card 45*15*50 weeks | | | | | |3. Determine and | |$3582 | | | |implement support systes |Wireless internet for support(unwired | |July09-June10. |Engineers, external | |to enable the consultants|internet)$19. 0/month x15x 12 months | | |sources | |team’s home visit | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | 5. Key Aims, objectives and benefits to be gained: a. Savings of over 22 gigawatt-hours of electricity annually. b. Contribution to the national economic growth and fight against job losses. c. Reduced greenhouse emissions by more than 24000 tonnes each year which would contribute on the environment. d. Annual savings of $3 million in electricity bills for the Blacktown City community. e. Valuable information and lessons learned will inform energy and greenhouse policies. f. Use of perpetual source of energy and contribution towards safe and healthy environment. g. Increasing the economy of Blacktown as well as Australia. 6. Capital and other requirements: The total expenditure for the action plan would be utilised to implement the plan. So the capital amount would be required to be $100,000 as $81,037 would be the total expenditure in performing the above mentioned activities in the case of implementing the action plan. Within the capital amount, the expenditure should be satisfied fulfilling all necessary equipments including laptops, personal office setups, salaries, training etc. 7. TIMELINE: As the whole project of Blacktown solar city has got a big timeline of 7 years from 2006 to 2013. But it is for the completion of the project. This action plan for project of solar city should be completed within 2010. When starting from June 1, the starting or the implementing the action plan would take up to July 30. But this is just the starting of the implementation of the action plan. The entire year left from July till 2010 would include the implementation, which would include the working days for team of 15 members of engineers. 8. RESEARCH UNDERTAKEN AND DATA COLLECTION: A research undertaken includes the survey conducted in the Blacktown city. The survey through telephone, direct conversation, Feedback from the website, consultation with the analysts of the Blacktown city council also with all the staffs, public areas, e-mail, mailbox etc. can be done to collect the data and know the weakness area and the strong ponit. The data collection in the database would also includes the feedbacks with recommendations, which can be reviewed for the change in strategies and plan for the Blacktown solar city. 9. VERIFICATION OF DATA: The forth coming data collected from the overall survey is needed to be verified. All of those data should be checked and confirmed that those data would give the idea that what brings the clear concepts of the public vision and city council can know what they want and how they want. So this data must be review by the approved person in the organisation who can sort out the issues relating the data collection through the researched. This data is send to the team manager or the chief engineer for review. 10. FINANCIAL CALCULATION AND CAPITAL SOURCES: Blacktown City Council is dedicated to providing residents with the best possible living and working environments, as well as making plans for the future that promote the interests of those who live, work and play in the City. The 2009-2012 Management Plan (including 09/10 Budget) was adopted by Council on the 17 of June 2009. It outlines how Council will allocate it's resources to service the City in a financially responsible and equitable manner, to ensure quality services and resources are delivered to our community. Based on the expenditure, the capital amount which is the direct source from the budget is to be outlined. Blacktown city council expanses in the field of solar city project are about $100,000 and which includes $53,705 for the initiatives and remaining of the budget is to be modified or reviewed by the chief engineer or the team leader, So that the proper utilization of budget is carried out. 11. RECOMMENDATIONS: This proposal recommends that the idea behind implementing the project, Blacktown solar city is the best thing to do by a local government like Blacktown city council. The benefits of solar products such as solar water heater, solar PV, etc to the people would certainly encourage the Blacktown city resident for contributing in environment conservation and global warming reduction. This projects should run not only on the Blacktown premises but should be carried out in whole world so that every one in the world would get benefit of it and we could see better future. Conclusion: The above mentioned facts of theoretical way of managing workplace information systems and their practicable application in the Blacktown city councils’ solar city project would satisfies all the basics required for the management of workplace information systems. Bibliography: 1. www. blacktown. nsw. com. au 2. www. integral. com. au 3. Handouts given in the class about the case study of blacktown city council. THE END

Performance Appraisal of Mahindra Finance

CONTENTS CHAPTER NO PAGE NO CHAPTER – 1 2-9 †¢Introduction †¢Need for the study †¢Objectives of study †¢Scope of study CHAPTER – 2 10-31 †¢Company Profile †¢Industry Profile CHAPTER – 3 32-66 †¢Research Methodology †¢Primary Data †¢Secondary Data †¢Review Literature Data Analysis & Interpretation CHPATER – 4 67-68 †¢Limitations Of study CHPATER – 5 69-73 †¢Findings and Suggestions †¢Conclusion CHAPTER – 6 74-77 †¢Questionner CHAPTER–7 78-79 †¢Bibliography CHAPTER- I INTRODUCTION NEED FOR THE STUDY OBJECTIVES OF STUDY SCOPR OF STUDY INTRODUCTIONPerformance Appraisal is the process of assessment systematically the performance and progress of an employee on the present job and his potential for higher level jobs in future. It consists of all formal procedures used in working organizations to evaluate personalities, contributions and potentials of employees. It is the process of analyzing, obtaining and recording information about the relative worth of an employee. According to Flippo performance appraisal is the systematic, periodic and impartial rating of an employees excellence in matters pertaining to his present job and his potential for a better job.Beach has defined performance appraisal as the systematic evaluation of individual with regard to his/her performance on the job and his potential for development, Heyel observes â€Å"It is a process of evaluating the performance and qualifications of the employees of the employer in terms of the requirements of the job for which he is employed. For the purpose of administration including placements, selections for promotions, providing financial rewards and other actions which require differential treatment among the members of a group are distinguished from action affecting all members equally.The performance appraisal is the evaluation of present performance and future capabilities of an employee or group of employees. It is regarded as a process of estimating or judging the value, excellence, qualities or status of some object, or person. Performance appraisal is the part of all the other staffing process, namely recruitment, selection and placement. Performance appraisal is essential to understand and improve employees performance through HRD. In fact performance appraisal is the basis for HRD. It is a good mechanism to control people.Employees want to promotions, salary increments, and good work conditions and they would like to be placed in prestigious positions and would like to be transferred to places of their choice and like jobs giving them maximum satisfaction and so on. Therefore, employees get what they want, they should give what their superiors want. And performance appraisal is one mechanism to make sure that people at every level do things the way their superiors want them to do. Thus the superiors at every level strive for better writing of th eir own performance by assessing the performance of their subordinates and thus controlling their behavior.The success of an organization will therefore depend on its ability to measure accurately the performance of its members and use it objectively to optimize them as a virtual resource. At the every outset, it may be pointed out that the performance appraisal is a continuous function and not merely an issue of formal reports at particular point of time. Organization needs to measure employee performance to determine whether acceptable standards of performance are being maintained.The six primary criteria on which the value of performance may be assessed are quality, timeliness, cost effectiveness, need for supervision and interpersonal impact. If appraisals indicate that employees are not performing at acceptable levels step can be taken to simplify jobs, trains and motivate workers, or dismiss them depending upon the reasons for poor performance. EVALUTION OF PERFORMANCE APPRAIS AL. Employees appraisal techniques are said to have been used for the first time. During the first world war, when, at the instant of Walter Dill Scott, the US Army adopted the ‘Man-to- Man' rating system for evaluating military personnel.During the 1920-30 period, rational wage structures for hourly paid workers were adopted in industrial units. Under this system, the policy of giving grade wages increment on the basis of merit was accepted. These early employee plans were called merit rating programs, which continued to be so called up to the mid-fifties. By then, most of these plans were of the rating scale type, where emphasis was given to factors, degree and points in the early professional & managerial personnel, Since then, as a result of experiments and a great professional and managerial personnel.Since then, as a result of experiments and a great deal of study, the philosophy of performance appraisal has undergone tremendous changes. Consequently, a change has also t aken place in the terminology used. Now, the older phrase merit rating is largely restricted to the rating of hourly paid employees, and it is used frequently in developing criteria for salary adjustment, promotions, transfer etc. the later phrase, personnel appraisal, places emphasis on the development of the individual as and widely used to evaluate technical, professional and managerial personnel.Prof. Beach has provided a useful chart, showing the changes in the terminology of employee appraisal which have taken place since 1920. Although the interest in the use of performance appraisal has increased over the last thirty years, the practice of formally evaluating employees has existed for centuries. The performance appraisal system has undergone a lot of changes over the years as shown below: 1900; Subjective appraisals. 1940:Increased psychometric sophistication. 1950:Management by objectives (MBO). 1960:BARS. 1970-90:Hybrid system & approach.The appraisal of individuals in an employment has been labeled and described by experts over the years in different ways. Common descriptions include performance appraisal, merit rating, behavioral assessment, employee evaluation, personnel review, progress report, staff assessment, service rating and fitness report. Some personnel authorities use such concept interchangeably, while interpret some of these appraisal phrases differently. However the term performance appraisal or evaluation is most widely used. NEED / IMPORTANCE OF STUDY Performance Appraisal is a formal exercise in which an organization makes an evaluation in a documented form of its employees, in terms of contributions made towards achieving organizational objectives and or their personal strengths and weakness, and in terms of attributes and behaviors demonstrated for meeting whatever objectives the organization may consider relevant. ?Appraisals are judgments, trades and performances of employees. Performance Appraisal is an effective instrument fo r helping, people grow and develop in organizational settings.It could as an effective mechanism of continuing education learning from one another. ?Provide information about the performance ranks. Decisions regarding salary fixation, confirmation, promotion, transfer and demotion are taken based on performance. ?Provide feedback information about the level of achievement & behavior of the subordinate. This information helps to review the performance of the subordinate, rectifying performance deficiencies and to set new standards of work ? Provide information which helps to counsel the subordinate. ?To prevent grievances and in disciplinary activities in organization. Provide information to diagnose deficiency in the employee regarding skill, knowledge, determine training and development needs and to prescribe the means for employee growth provides information for placement. OBJECTIVES OF STUDY: Performance appraisal aims at attaining different purposes, they are: ?To enable each em ployee to understand his role and become effective on the job. ?To intensify the development needs of each employee. ?To create and maintain a satisfactory level of performance. ?To contribute to the employee growth and development through training, self and management development programmes. To help the superiors to have a proper understanding about their subordinates. ?To guide the job changes with the help to continuous ranking. ?To facilitate fair and equitable compensation based on performance. ? To facilitate for testing and validating selection tests, interviews techniques through comparing their scores with performance appraisal ranks. ?To ensure the organizational effectiveness through correcting the employee for standard and improved performance and suggesting the change in employee change in behavior. ? To serve as mechanisms for importing communication between the superiors and subordinates. To help management in fixing employees according to their capacity, interest and aptitude and qualifications. ? To provide a valid data base for personal decisions concerning placements, pay, promotions, transfer and punishment. Main Objectives of Performance Appraisal From the organizational point of view, performance appraisal serves two sets of goals, 1. Evaluation goals. 2. Coaching and development goals. Evaluation goals ?Give feedback to subordinates so that they know where they stand. ?To develop valid data for pay an promotion decisions and to provide a means of communicating these decisions. To help the organization in making discharge and retention decisions and to provide a means of warning subordinates about satisfactory performance. SCOPE OF THE STUDY: The scope of the study encompasses managerial and non-managerial cadre employees of Mahindra & Mahindra finance ltd. To asses the performance appraisal system, to know the employees perception towards PAS. CHAPTER – 2 COMPANY PROFILE INDUSTRY PROFILE COMPANY PROFILE Mahindra Group Incorporated as Mahindra & Mahindra in 1945. the company was re-christened Mahindra &Mahindra in 1948. J. C Mahindra K.C. Mahindra Core purpose â€Å"Indians are second to none in the world. The Founders of our Nation and of our organization passionately believed this. We will prove this right by believing in ourselves and by making Mahindra & Mahindra Ltd. Known worldwide for the quality, durability and reliability of its products and services. † Anand Mahindra Keshub Mahindra Auspices of JIPM Japan. † Mahindra & Mahindra Tractors was awarded the Deming prize for excellence in quality Mahindra & Mahindra becomes the first Indian tractor company to achieve sales of 1 million tractors. Mahindra Champion† becomes India's highest selling large 3 wheeler within four years of launch. 2004 Mahindra & Mahindra and Renault set up a joint venture Mahindra & Mahindra announced the launch of Mahindra Australia Mahindra & Mahindra Joint Venture with China's Jingling Tractor Company. Mahi ndra Auto motive Steel Pvt Ltd (MASPL) a newly formed subsidiary of Mahindra & Mahindra Ltd. Acquired Chakan unit of Amforge Industries Ltd. 2005 Leaders in diverse business sector SectorLeaders in AutomotiveUtility Vehicle Farm EquipmentTractors Telecommunication & software Time Share Resorts & Technology ParksRural Finance Mahindra & Mahindra Financial Services Limited History: Mahindra Finance was incorporated on January 01,1991 with Mahindra & Mahindra Ltd. Leading Manufacturer of utility vehicles and tractors in the country and Kotak Mahindra Finance Ltd. Vision Statement: To be the number one Rural Finance Company and continue to retain leadership position for Mahindra products. Mahindra Finance will provide products and services tailored to the needs of M&M, its most favoured customer. In case of demand supply mismatch of funds, Mahindra finance Will Put all their resources to find a solution.Mahindra Finance may finance other products after catering to the need of M&M. Howev er, this would always constitute a small proportion of mahindra Finance's total business. Mahindra Finance will help M develop better products by providing first hand information received from the target market. Mahindra Finance Strengths The vision of Mahindra Finance is validated by its strength, which are ?Parentage of M Ltd. RBI classification as HP Company ?Excellent reputation for prompt repayment. ?Wide rural net work. ?Dealer shareholding and relationship of dealers with M ?ensure dealer commitment Well connected to M& M / Dealer network. Wide knowledge of rural financing Mahindra Finance Values: ?Good corporate Citizen ship ?Professionalism ?Customer First ?Quality Focus ?Dignity of the Individual. Milestone 1991Mahindra Finance Incorporated on 1st January Commenced Regular Operations Employees : 5 Disbursement: 6 Crores Disbursement: 37 Crores Employee: 15 Branches: 4 1994Disbursement: 757 Crores 1994-95Employee: 52579 Branches: 343 1999-00Significant Milestone in terms of total assets 2000-01Steep rise in business volume with total contracts of 76663. Celebrated their 10* Anniversary.Retail Financing Covered 80% of Indian Districts. Financing Non- M Vehicles. 2001-02MMFSL Network covered 180 branches (98% of total districts throughout the nation) 2004Mahindra Insurance Brokers Ltd is incorporated 2005Branches:256 Employee : 1812 Contracts : 336891 Department of Mahindra Finance: To ensure smooth & effective functioning of the organization, Mahindra Finance has been divided into various departments ? Operations ?Finance ?Marketing ?Legal ?IT ?HR ?Administrator Each department has its own norms. Let's see the Do's and Don't of each Department. ?General Do's Mark attendance on a daily basis oTake prior approval form your immediate supervisor for Leave, travel or any expenses oInform your Supervisor immediately in case you come across any case of misconduct relating to cash or assets o Trust and respect colleagues, customers, vendors and associates. Don 'ts oSalary information should not be shared or compared oDon't indulge in misappropriation of cash or assets, this will invite disciplinary action. o Do not use abusive language in public. ?Operation Do's oOnly Mahindra Finance employees should deal with customers/dealers for their payments and collections. Collect & Habituate Customers to pay â€Å"On or Before Due Date†. oDocuments must have Duly Stamped and signed agreement along with PDC's and security cheques. Don'ts oNo payment and / or collection should be carried out by any of the dealers/brokers/DSAs/ DmAs etc. ?Finance Do's oCustomer Centric (Internal as well as External): Adhere and observe compliance to Company policies. o Data Accuracy and updation. o Always meet / Best the deadlines. Don'ts oDo not Accept / relay on anything without proper documentation and authorization there by ensuring audit trail. Do not make any activity people oriented but try to make it process oriented with help of systems. oAvoid dupli cation of work. ?Marketing Do's oAlways keep your eyes open for any competitive marketing activities like new media campaigns. oKeep yourself updated with the latest happening s in the industry /function through continuous learning (like books etc). oMaintain strict confidentiality of the company's marketing plan. oAlways provide a structured and written brief to the advertising agency for all kinds of communication. Don'ts Never tamper with the corporate identity of the organization (like logos, symbols, font colors etc). o Don't execute any activity (eg: promotional campaign, product launch, etc. ) without the involvement and inputs from the local representatives of the field operation team. ?Legal Do's oBe proactive rather than reactive. oKeep the documentation immaculate. It's better to prepare than to repair. Don'ts oDon't ignore any correspondence, whether from the customer, guarantor, their lawyers, insurance company, statutory authorities or any court or forum. oRepossessed vehicles are not to be used by any officials IT Do's ?Utilize IT to the maximum of its potential and thereby reduce unnecessary paperwork. ?Save power and reduce wastage of consumables. Don'ts ?Don't use pirated software of nay nature while working with MMFSL. Mahindra Finance maintains a strict policy against Piracy. ?As a member of the IT department, you may have access to sensitive company information contained in he system database. The company trusts yo with this information. Don't violate company trust by prying through this information or disclosing the same. ?HR Do's oMaintain confidentiality of all information All employees of the organization are our internal customers. Treat them with respect & Provide necessary resources to help them perform better, o Reserve criticism for private discussions whereas rewards and recognition to be addressed in public Don'ts oDon't make biased decision – all employees should receive equal respect and opportunity o Do not make commit ments on behalf of management without prior permission. Organization structure A sound organization structure ensures a smooth progress path & achieving of milestones. Mahindra Insurance Broker Ltd (MIBL) ?MIBL is a wholly owned subsidiary of Mahindra Finance MIBL manages the Motor insurance for Mahindra Finance's retail customers ? MIBL is a direct insurance broker for Life and Non-life products, and operates in the Retail and Corporate lines of business Vision: To be come India's most admired insurance Intermediation Company Goal: To be among the top 5 direct insurance brokers of India by 2010 Work Culture & Classification Mahindra Finance's work culture is a framework of shared attitudes and beliefs. Some of the important aspects of this work culture are ?Open and transparent communication and feedback ?Internal and external customer focus Creating and upholding a learning environment ?Proactive orientation ?Creating result through synergy. INVESTMENT ADVISORY We at Mahindra Fina nce are all-encompassing of clients needs. So while we believe in making assets easily available, we also believe in catering to those who want to create wealth from these assets. Our Investment Advisory Services act as an avenue to help create and multiply wealth. Mutual Fund Distribution Recently we have received the necessary permission from Reserve Bank of India (RBI) to start the distribution of Mutual Fund products through our network.Hitherto we were only participating in the liability requirements of our customers but with a mutual fund distribution business, we can also participate in their asset allocation. When it comes to investing, everyone has unique needs based on their own objectives and risk profile. While many investment avenues such as fixed deposits, bonds etc, it is usually seen that equities typically outperform these investments, over a longer period of time. Hence we are of the opinion that, systematic investment in equity allows one to create substantial wea lth.However, investing in equity is not as simple as investing in bonds or bank deposits, because only proper allocation of portfolio gives maximum returns with moderate risk, and this requires expertise and time Our investment advisory services you invest your money in equity through different Mutual Fund Schemes. We ensure the best for our clients by identifying products best suited to individual needs continent except Antarctica. M&M one tractor manufacturing plant in China, three assembly plants in the United States and one at Brisbane, Australia.It has made strategic acquisitions across the globe including Stokes Forgings (UK), Jeco Holdig AG (Germany) and Schoneweiss & Co GmbH (Germany). Its global subsidiaries include Mahindra Europe Srl. based in Italy, Mahindra USA Inc. and Mahindra South Africa. M&M has entered into partnerships with international companies like Renault SA, France, and International Truck and Engine Corporation, USA. Forbes has ranked the Mahindra Group in its Top 200 list of the World's Most Reputable Companies and in the Top 10 list of Most Reputable Indian companies.Mahindra has recently been honored with the Bombay Chamber Good Corporate Citizen Award 2006-07. INVESTOR ZONE: At Mahindra Finance, we pride ourselves on having pioneered rural finance in India. We have grown with each passing year, met targets, exceeded expectations and in the process created wealth for our shareholders. Here we have a dedicated section of up-to-date information, from our financials to our events and presentations – easy access to information at the click of button. Much like most of our quick and simple processes at Mahindra Finance.PRODUCT PORTFOLIO: At Mahindra Finance we have a wide range of products and services, with something to suit everyone's needs. Right from finance for two wheelers, tractors. Farm equipment, cars and utility vehicles to commercial vehicles and construction equipment, we also have a group of experts providing invest ment advice, surveying available market products and choosing the most suitable to our customers' needs. GROUP STRUCTURE: We are a company with a strong foundation and a shining legacy, growing every day to create a legacy of our own.Our leading promoter Mahindra & Mahindra holds the majority of our Equity Shares and is also a leading tractor and UV manufacturer with over 60 years' experience in the Indian market. As a supplement to our business, in May 2004, we started an insurance broking business through our wholly owned subsidiary, Mahindra Insurance Brokers Limited. ABOUT MAHINDRA GROUP: The US $6 billion Mahindra Group is among the top 10 industrial houses in India. Mahindra & Mahindra is the only Indian company among the top tractor brads in the world.Mahindra's Farm Equipment Sector has recently won the Japan Quality Medal, the only tractor company worldwide to be bestowed this honor. It also holds the distinction of being the only tractor company worldwide to win the Deming Prize. Mahindra is the market leader in multi-utility in India. It made a milestone entry into the passenger car segment with the Logan. The Group has leading presence in key sectors of the Indian economy, including the financial services, trade and logistics, automotive components. Information technology, and infrastructure development.With over 62 years of manufacturing experience, the Mahindra Group has built a strong base in technology, engineering, marketing and distribution which are key to its evolution as a customer centric organization. The Group employs over 50,000 people and has several state-of- the-art facilities in India and overseas. The Mahindra Group has ambitious global aspirations and has presence on five continents. Mahindra products are today available on every. Company profile of Mahindra & Mahindra Limited, we are one of India's leading non-banking finance companies.Focused on the rural and semi urban sector, we provide finance for utility vehicles, tractors and cars and have the largest network of branches covering these areas. Our goal is to be the preferred provider of retail financing services in the rural and semi – urban areas of India, while our strategy is to provide a range of financial products and services to our customers through our nationwide distribution network. PERFORMANCE APPRAISAL SYSTEM IN MAHINDRA & MAHINDRA FINANCE SERVICE LTD. In MAHINDRA & MAHINDRA FINANCE SERVICE LTD. the performance appraisal report is annual and is co-terminus with financial year, i. e. , 1st April, to the end of March next year. There is no need to write in duplicate. No Annual Appraisal Reports are required to be written by officers under suspension and on duty for less than two months during the reporting year. Where officers are transferred before the full period should write the appraisal reports for that part period straight away after obtaining the self assessment reports from the officers concerned and send the same to competent authority through proper channel.Reporting Officers who get relieved without writing AAR's are liable for disciplinary action. In case of death or non-availability of reporting officer for any acceptable reason, the AAR's can be written by the next higher authority straight away. Counter signing of the AAR's is normally done by the officer under whom the Reported officer works. In case of sudden illness, death retirement or for any acceptable reason, the counter signing officer or the Head of the Department is not available, AAR's can be signed by the incumbent at the time of receipt of AAR's by him.A self assessment Report in the proffering designed is obtained from the reported officer on the duties performed by him during the period under report within 15 days after the expiry of the reporting year for writing the AAR. If the Self Appraisal Report is not received, for any reason, the reporting officer may write the AAR duly recording the fact of non receipt of SAR. The acceptanc e or otherwise of the SAR should be endorsed in the column provided. The reasons for non acceptance should be recordedAdverse remarks, if any with, proper substantiation should be communicated to the Reported officer by the final counter signing authority. The Adverse remarks should be supported by specific instances. The format of AAR's for P&G services contains grading A,B,C, D & E indicating Outstanding, Very Good, Good, Satisfactory and Poor performance. Grading A,B & E are to be supported by justification along with recorded proof. Without such justification, the overall writing can be reduced to ‘C' grade by the counter signing officer duly recording that the grading is allotted as no justification is forth coming from the reporting officer.If the countersigning officer wants to award different grades, full justification with specific instances should be furnished by them. The grading awarded by foreign employers in the AARs of MAHINDRA & MAHINDRA FINANCE SERVICE LTD. em ployees on deputation is to stand but the grading so awarded is not binding on the Departmental Promotion Committees. The sum total of marks against rating awarded in respect of each item will determine the over all rating as follows: ‘A’ Grade 81% and above B’ Grade 71%to80% ‘C’ Grade 61% to 70% ‘D’ Grade 50% to 60% ‘E’ Grade below 49% Another column â€Å"General Remarks† is also provided for writing the General Remarks on the Reported Officer by the Reporting Officer in a nut shell. To evolve a performance appraisal system to serve as the basis for transfer policy and incentive/dis-incentive schemes, the MAHINDRA & MAHINDRA FINANCE SERVICE LTD. approved performance appraisal system based on objective, tangible parameters.The appraisal system consists of performance indicators evolved for the staff in P & G Service on the basis of the job charts prescribed for the staff, nature of duties performed by the staff of di fferent levels, nature of decision involved vis-a-vis, the cadre of employee and the sequential tasks involved in each HRD function like recruitment, promotions terminal benefits etc. The tasks to be performed by an employee in a given cadre form the performance indicators for the employee. A time frame is set for performance of a given task keeping in view the mandatory nature of compliance under the service regulations, leave regulations etc. optimum time required for performance of the task and the periodicity of performance. The points earned on an average overall the relevant Performance Indicators in a month by an employee will be the GPA (Grade Point Average per month) and the performance of an employee is rated on the basis of CGPA (Cumulative Grade Point Average) obtained as an average of GPA earned over 12 months period. The scale adopted and weightage given in grading the performance of an employee in a given parameters is Scale GradeWeightage > 95% A4 points – Out standing 85% to 95%B3 points – Good 0% to 85% C2 points – Satisfactory < 75% Grade Point Average (GPA) = Total Grade Points (per month) No. of performance Indicators Cumulative GPA (CGPA) – Total of GPA 12 CGPA=A=4-Outstanding B = 3 to 4 -Good C = 2 to 3 -Satisfactory D = 1 to 2-Poor The Impact of AARs on Promotions in MAHINDRA & MAHINDRA FINANCE SERVICE LTD. In terms of regulation 9(B) (1) of APSEB SRs – part-Ill, the following criteria is adopted for fixing the merit in respect of Class-Ill and above Officers for promotions to higher categories. ) The total marks obtained in last five years AARs/CRs are added and divided by five to obtain the average marks. b) Where an employee has not put up five years of service in the category from which promotion is to be made and for purpose of considering his/her case for out of turn promotion if the average marks of the AARs/CRs earned by him/her in that category is 90% and above, the last AARs/CRs in the lower c ategory to make up the total pfperiod of five years shall also be taken in lo consideration. If the average marks of the five AARs/CRs earned is 90% and above, the only he/she shall be considered for out of turn promotion. ) Based on average marks so obtained, the grading is made as follows: Out of turn —- 90% & above In turn —- less than 90% Unfit —- not to be considered † provided that the â€Å"out of turn† grading shall be awarded only if two different reporting officers have written the last five years AARs and also that each of these reporting officers have awarded one out standing A – grade report†. d) Provided, further, that the candidate selected for promotion under the grading of ‘out of turn' shall not be assigned more than five ranks.These five ranks shall be assigned as indicated below. Marks 90 and above up to and inclusive of 92 -1 Rank Marks above 92 up to and inclusive of 94 -2 Ranks Marks above 94 and up to and i nclusive of 96 -3 Ranks Marks above 96 and up to and inclusive of 98 -4 Ranks Marks above 98-5 Ranks e) The grades obtained based on the above criteria shall form the basis for fixing the ranking among the candidates considered suitable for promotion. The inter-se-ranking in each group shall be their inter-se-position/seniority in the existing cadre. CHAPTER – 3 RESEARCH METHODOLOGY a) PRIMARY DATA ) SECONDARY DATA REVIEW LITERATURE DATA ANALYSIS AND INTERPRETATION RESEARCH METHODOLOGY Research is an academic activity and as such the term should be used in a technical sense. Meaning of Research D. Slesinger and M. Stephenson in the Encyclopedia of Social Sciences define research as â€Å"the manipulation of things, concepts or symbols for the purpose of generalizing to extend, correct or verify knowledge, whether that knowledge aids in construction of theory or in the practice of an art†. Objectives of Research 1. 2. To gain familiarity with a phenomenon or to achieve new insights into it. 3.To portray accurately the characteristics of a particular individual, situation or a group. 4. To determine the frequency with which something occurs or with which it is associated with something else. Types of Research The basic types of research are as follows: 1. Descriptive & Analytical 2. Applied & Fundamental 3. Quantitative & Qualitative Research Process The following order concerning various steps provides a useful procedural guidelines regarding the research process: 1. Formulating the research problem; 2. Extensive literature survey; 3. Developing the hypothesis; 4. Preparing the Research design; 5.Determining sample design; 6. Collecting the Data; 7. Execution of the Project; 8. Analysis of data; 9. Hypothesis testing; 10. Generalizations’ and Interpretation, and 11. Preparation of the report or presentation of the result, i. e. formal write-up of conclusions reached. Sample Design Samples can be either probability samples or non-probability samples. Probability samples are those based on simple random sampling, systematic sampling, etc. Non-probability samples are those based on convenience sampling, judgement sampling and quota sampling techniques. Sample designs are as follows: 1. Deliberate Sample . Simple random Sample 3. Systematic Sample Collection of the Data The methodology being following for the study is data collections through (primary and secondary sources), interviews, views of employees and other personnel and questionnaire etc. A)Primary Data: The main source of primary data comprises of: 1. Structured Questionnaire 2. Formal and Informal interviews 3. Feedback obtained form the employees B)Secondary Data: The sources of secondary data comprises of: 1. Manual of the Organization 2. Books published by different agencies – 3. Other relevant books, magazines, periodicals and Journals etc. REVIEW OF LITERATURE Main Components of a Performance Appraisal System. The specific objectives of an Appraisal determine the components to be used in a performance appraisal system. Basically the following components are in use in Indian Organizations. 1. Key Performance Areas (KPAs):- For role clarity and key result areas (KRA's) for accountability. While KPAs stress what main functions the appraisal as an individual is expected to perform in the performance period, KRAs emphasis the accountability or the results the appraisal is expected to achieve in the performance period.However KPAs are to be preferred over KRAs as KOAs stress on what the appraiser should do and the effort he has to put in moreover, an identification of KPA's given and understanding of the nature, quality and level of performance expected of the time in which the tasks are expected to be completed. 2. Attributes/Qualities/Trait: – Attributes as a part of performance Appraisal help in reinforcing the behavior of qualities or competencies that are required or are to be developed by the executives.Most organizatio ns, however, realizing the extent of subjectively involved in trait based appraisals and recognizing the need to promote performance orientation rather than merely trait orientation have stated using a mixture of KPAs and attributes for assessment. 3. Self Appraisal: – Development or change takes place only if the appraise is interested in development or change. Self-appraisal is an opportunity for the appraise to recapitulate and list down the accomplishments and failures during the performance period. The most important part of self-appraisal is the process of review and reflection and through Performance appraisal.Such performance analysis should be done both by the appraise and appraiser separately and exchanged during review discussions. 4. Performance Analysis: – Performance Appraisal should be based on the performance planning dimensions. The work done or the performance during the year should be broken down into various KPAs/KRAs/tasks/targets. Performance unde r each of the above should be analyzed under the following headings. How is the actual performance with respect to the planned performances what factors contributes to the achievements from the point of view of the appraise, appraiser environment etc. 5.Performance Review Discussion or counseling: – A number of objectives can be achieved through performance review discussions which aims at making the appraiser and the appraise understand each other better by communicating the performance analysis of appraiser's performance. Performance Appraisal does not serve the purpose of developing employees unless an effective system of performance counseling in practiced in the organization performance counseling can be defined as the help provided by a manager to his subordinates in analyzing their performance and other job behaviors in order to increase their job effectiveness. . Performance Ratings: – One of the useful out comes of an appraisal is the ratings assigned at the e nd of the appraisal to the appraise. This practice distorts the main purpose of appraisals. In view of this, some organizations are seriously considering dropping rating as a part of the development oriented appraisal system and keep simple, short and confidential form separately for it. 7. Identification of training/development needs: – Appraisal provides a good opportunity to identify the developmental needs of an employer.Developmental needs should flow from performance analysis. It is important to identify the ‘competency' or ‘capability' (he appraise needs to develop in order to perform a given task better. This rather than (raining program titles. It is useful to needs of all employees and work out strategies and plans to meet them. 8. Final assessment by the Appraise: – In some organizations the final ratings given by the appraiser are not shown to the appraise because the final ratings are given taking into consideration comparative performance of o ther in the department.If an organization subscribes to such philosophy, it is useful to have separate formats for ratings rather than mixing it up with development oriented appraisals. 9. Reviewing officer's Role: – In almost all organization the requiring officer given an important role. As the reviewing officer has a larger responsibility, span of control, authority and accountability, it is useful to design a significant role for him in the appraisal process. The remaining officers, to examine the rating behavior of the reporting officers, give recommendations on developmental needs. 0. Potential Appraisal: – A system of developing employees for occupying higher positions in the organizational hierarchy to undertake higher potential appraisal. A good potential appraisal system attempts to generate data about employees and their potential for occupying higher positions from a variety of sources, and helps the top management to make decisions about the suitable perso ns for given job. 11. Signature by the Appraiser: – Some organizations require the appraiser to sign the form after the review discussion is over and ratings are assigned.The intention is that the appraiser should know what is being stated about him and he should be given a chance to express his own views in case of negative marks. APPRAISERS; 360 Degree Performance Appraisal: The appraiser may be any person who has thorough knowledge about the job contents, contents to be appraised, standards of contents and who observes the employee while performing a job. The appraiser should be capable of determining what is more important and what is relatively less important.The appraiser should prepare reports and make judgments without bias. Typical appraisers are: supervisors, peers, subordinates, employees themselves, users of service and consultants. Performance appraisal by all these parties is called 360 degree performance appraisal. Supervisors: Supervisors include superiors of the employee, other superiors having knowledge about the work of the employee and department head. Peers: Peers appraisals may be reliable if the work group is stable over a reasonably long period of† time and performs tasks that require interaction.However, little research has been conducted to determine how peers establish standards for evaluating others for the over all effect of peer appraisal on the groups attitude. Subordinates: The concept of having superiors rated by subordinates is being used in most organizations. This method can be useful in organizational settings to provide the relationships between superiors and subordinates are cordial. Users of services: Employee performance in service organizations relating through behaviours, promptness, speed in doing the job and accuracy can be better judged by the customers or users of services.Consultants: Some times consultants may be engaged for appraisal when employers do not trust supervisor appraisals and management does not trust self appraisal, peer appraisals or subordinate appraisals. In this situation, consultants are trained and they observe the employee at work for a sufficiently long time for the purpose of appraisal. Process of Performance Appraisal Performance can be undertaken either on informal basis or on formal or systematic basis. Informal appraisals are conducted when ever the supervisor or personal managers feel it necessary.However, formal and systematic appraisals are conducted on a regular basis. The systematic performance appraisal process follows a set pattern and consists few Steps: Establishing Performance Standards Communicating the Standards Measuring actual performance Comparing the actual with the Standards Discussing the Appraisal Taking corrective action 1. Establishing Performance Standards The Appraisal process begins with the setting up of criteria to be used for appraising the performance of employee. The criteria is specified with the help of job analysis whic h reveals the contents of the job.The criteria should be discussed with the supervisors to ensure that all the relevant factors have be included. These standards should be indicated on the appraisal form. Appraisal form should be carefully designed and printed. Performance standards will depend upon the objectives of the appraisals. 2. Communicating the standards The standards set for performance should be communicated to all the employees. The standards set must be explained to the employees, so that they come to know what is expected of them. When the standards are made known to the employees, they will try to make their performance equal or above them. . Measuring actual performance Once the performance standards are specified and accepted, the next stage is the actual performance. This requires choosing the right technique of measurement, identifying the internal and external factors influencing performance and collecting and results achieved. Personal observations, written repo rts and face to face contacts are the means of collecting data and performance. 4. Comparing the actual with the standards Actual performance is compared with the predetermined performance standards. Such comparison will reveal the deviations. Deviations may be positive or negative.Positive deviations occur when the actual performance exceeds the standards. Negative deviations occur when the actual performance is less than the standards. 5. Discussing the appraisal The results of the appraisal are communicated to the employees and discussed with the employees. Such discussion will enable the employee to know his weakness and strengths. There fore employee will be motivated to improve themselves. 6. Taking corrective action Appraisal process will be useful only when corrective action is taken on the basis of reports. Corrective action may be in the form of advice, council or warning.It may also be in the form of additional training, refresher courses, delegation of more authority, sp ecial assignment and coaching, etc. these actions will be useful in helping employees to improve their performance in future. If the actual performance is very poor and behind the scope of improvement, it may be necessary to take steps for demotion or retrenchment or any other suitable measure. Methods and technique of Performance Appraiser The Performance Appraiser methods differ in the approach for the following reasons. ?Firstly, they differ in the resources of traits or qualified to be appraisal. Secondly, they differ because of the different kinds of worked who are being rated. ?Thirdly, the variations may be caused by the degree of precision attempted in an evaluation, ?Finally, they may differ because of the methods used to obtain weightings for various traits. A number of performance Appraisal methods are available. The idea used categorizations is that given Strauss and sakes the methods are classified into traditional and modern methods. METHODS OF PERFORMANCE APPRAISAL Tr aditional Methods Modern Methods 1. Straight ranking method 1.Assessment Center 2. Man to man comparison method 2. Appraisal by Results or 3. Grading Management by Objectives 4. Graphic Rating Scales 3. Human Asset Accounting 5. Forced choice description method Method 6. Forced distribution method 4. BARS (Behaviorally 7. Check List anchored rating scales ) 8. Freeform or essay method . Critical Incidents 10. Group Appraisal 11. Field Review Method TRADITIONAL METHODS 1. Straight Ranking Method 2. Man to Man comparison method 3. Grading 4. Graphic Rating Scale 5. Forced choice Description method 6. Forced Description method 7. Checklists 8. Free Form Essay method 9. Critical incidents 10. Group Appraisals 11. Field Review method MODERN METHODS 1. Assessment Center 2. Appraisal by Result of management by Objective (MBO) 3. Human Asset According method 4. BARS (Behaviorally Anchored Rating Scales) TRADITIONAL METHODS STRAIGHT RANKING METHOD:It is the oldest and simplest method of per formance appraisal by which persons are tested in order of merit and placed in a simple grouping. One of the disadvantages of the system is that it permits similar total scores for two or more individuals. But it is a similar method of separating the most efficient form of the least efficient. MAN TO MAN COMPARISION METHOD: By this method, certain factors are selected for the purpose of analysis (such as leadership, dependability and initiatives) and a scale is designed by the rates for each factor, and personnel are compared to the ‘key man' in respect to the factor of a given lime.But it is not of much use because the designing of scale is a complicated task. GRADING METHOD: Under third system, the rater considers certain features and marks them, according to a scale they may be: A—Outstanding; B– very good; C— good or coverage; D—-Fair; E —poor; The actual performance of an employee is then compared with these grade definitions, and he is allotted the grace which best describes his performance. GRAPHIC RATING METHOD: These methods assess the degree of certain qualified required for the job such as industriousness, reliability and dependability.The degree usually, measure on a scale that can vary from 3 points (good, coverage and poor) to several points. When rating and objectively given, they provide useful feedback. But a serious drawback is that the rating is generally subjective. FORCED CHOICE DESCRIPTION METHOD: The forced choice method from contains a series of groups of statements, and the rater checks how effectively the statements describes each individuals being evaluated The use of this method calls for minimum subjective judgment nd objective reporting, but at the each time, the results of evaluation do not prove useful for counseling and training purpose because the rater is ignorant of evaluating the individuals. FORCED DISTRBUTION METHOD: In this method the rater is forced to distribute his subordinates into performance categories such as outstanding good poor etc. Everyone cannot be given average or good rating. Hence some percentage of the subordinates is rated better then the others. This-method is useful for rating a large number of employers.CHECK LIST: Under this method, the rater does not evaluate employee's performance, he supplies report about it and the personnel department does the final rating. A series of questions are presented concerning on employee to his behavior and the rater the checks to indicate if the answer to a question about and employee is positive or negative. This method suffers from bias on the part of the rater. FREE EASSY METHOD: In this method the supervisor makes a free form, open – ended appraisal of employees in his own words.The description is always a factual and concrete as possible. An essay can provide a good deal of information. However no attempt is made to evaluate an employee in a quantitative manner. CRITICAL INCIDENT METHOD: Und er this method work performance is measured in terms of certain events or episodes shall occur in the performance of the rater job. This method provides objectives basis for conducting a discussion of individual performance. How ever, negative incidents are generally more noticeable than positive ones. GROUP APPRAISAL METHOD:Under this method, employees are rated by an appraisal group, consisting of their supervisor and there are four other supervisors who have same knowledge on this performance. The advantage of this method is thorough, very simple and is divide of any bias, of it number multiple judges. But it is very time consuming. FIELD REVIEW METHOD: Under this method, a trainer employee from the personnel department interviews line supervisor and is required to give his opinion about the progress of the subordinates. This system is useful for a large organization.The man defect is that helps two management representatives busy with the appraisal. MODERN METHODS OF APPRAISAL: These methods place more emphasis on the evaluation of work of job achievements that in personality traits. Result oriented appraisals tend to be more objective and worthwhile, especially for counseling and development purposes. APPRAISAL BY RESULTS OR MANAGEMENT BY OBJECTIVES (MBO): MBO differs significantly from the traditional approach for it shifts the emphasis from appraisal to analysis; the subordinate is no longer examined by his strength and potential.Thus he assumed the role of and ‘active agent' rather than a ‘passive agent1. But the major problems that company's face in implementing MBO is in defining objectives. In the same organization, the purpose of the worker is different from that of management. ASSESSMENT CENTER METHOD: In this method, the organization develops its own internal reoccurred for the continuous assessment of its members for the recruitment of new members the purpose of this method is to test candidates in a social situations, using a number assessors and a variety of procedures the most important features of the assessment center is job related simulations.These simulations involve characteristics that managers feel are important to the job success. Assessments are made to determine employer potential for purposes of promotion. Assessment center ratings are said to be strongly influenced by the participants inter personal skills. Judges tend to evaluate the quality of the individuals social skills rather than quality of the decisions themselves. HUMAN ASSET METHODS: This method refers to activity devoted to attaching money estimates to the value of a firm's internal human organization and its external customer goodwill.The current value of the firm's human organization can be appraisal by developed procedures, by understanding periodic measurements of â€Å"by casual† and intervening enterprise variables. The â€Å"by casual† variables include the structure of organizations management policies, business leadership, strategies, skills of behavior. The â€Å"intervening† variables reflect the internal state and health of an organization. This method is not yet popular. BEHAVIOURALLY ANCHORED RATING SCALES (BARS): This technique, which has been recently developed, provides a more equitable appraisal as compared to other techniques.In this method, persons with knowledge of the job lo be appraised are asked to describe critical incidents of effective performance behavior. A second group is asked to rate the behavior described in the incident. Subjects to incidents arc used as â€Å"behaviors anchors† for the performance dimensions. The main advantages of this method are that experts do this, and hence the results are sufficiently accurate the use of critical incidents may be useful in providing feedback to the people being appraised. PROBLEMS OF PERFORMANCE APPRAISAL.The ideal approach to performance evaluation is that in which the evaluator is free biases, pre judicious. This is objective, it minimize the potential capricious and dysfunctional behaviors of the evaluator which may be detrimental to the achievement of the organizational goals. However, a single foolproof evaluation method is not available. Inequalities in evaluation often destroy the usefulness of the performance system resulting in accurate and invalid appraisals, which are unfair too. There are many significant factors, which deter or impede objective evaluation. HALO EFFECTIt is a tendency to let the assessment of an individual one-trait influences the valuation of that person on other specific trait. There is this effect in appraisal when the appraiser assigns the same rating to all traits regardless of an employee's actual performance on these traits. The â€Å"Halo effect† refers to be tendency to rate an individual consistently high or low or average on the various traits, depending upon whether the rater's overall impression of the individual is favorable or not this me ans that the halo effect allows one characteristic, observation or occurrence to influence the rating of all performance factors.The halo effect arises when the traits are unfamiliar; it defined and involves personal relations. This often occurs when an employee tends to be more contentions and dependable, that the appraiser might become biased towards that individual to the extent that the appraiser rates him high on many desirable attributes; or when the employee is more friendly or unfriendly employee towards the appraiser. In such cases, a very high role may be given to an unfriendly employee so that he may be by passed even though he is very capable one. LENIENCY/STRICTNESS TENDENCY:Every evaluator has his own value system, which acts as a standard against which he makes his appraisals. Relative to the true or actual performance an individual exhibits, some supervisors have a Tendency to be liberal in their ratings, i. e. , they consistently assign high values to their employee s, while at other times they may have a tendency to assign consistently low ratings. The former tendency is know as â€Å"positive leniency error†, while the latter in lenient in his appraisal, an individual performance becomes overstated, i. e. , rated higher than it actually should be.Similarly, under the negative tendency, performance is understated, than what is should. Both these trends usually arise from varying standards of performance observer by supervisors and form different interpretations of what they evaluate in employee performance. The tendency can be avoided by holding meetings or training sessions for raters so that they may understand what is required of them in rating. SIMILARITY ERROR This type of error occurs when the evaluator rates other people in the same way he has perceived himself. For example the evaluator, who peruses himself s aggressive, may evaluate others by looking for aggressiveness. MICELLANEOUS BIASES Bias against employees on ground of Se x, Religion and Caste position is also a common error in rating. For example a higher rating may be assigned to a senior employee. The rater may be influenced and give higher ratings to those holding higher positions. Besides this, there may be opportunity bias, group characteristic bias and knowledge of predictor bias. Analysis And Interpration The techniques of analysis are based on the response received from the employees.The sample consists 50 employees randomly selected from various departments. The responses were analyzed and interpreted. Period Of Study: The data is collected for the period 2007-2008. 1. In your opinions what should be the frequency of writing performance appraisal reports c. Annually. a, Monthly b. Half-yearly To understand the overall employees opinion on frequency of writ in performance appraisal report, with the help of 100 responses following data observed. SI. No. Category No. of respondents Percentage of respondents 1Monthly1632% 2Half-Yearly1020% 3Yea rly2448%Analysis and Interpretation; By observing the above data, most of the employees are satisfied with the performance appraisal policies in the company, preferred annually performance appraisal. 2. In your opinion who will be right person to appraise your performance? a. Immediate boss b. countersign authority. To understand the overall employees opinion on who will be right person to appraise performance of employee, with the help of 50 responses following data is observed. SI. No. CategoryNo. of respondentsPercentage of respondent 1Immediate Boss2550% Counter Signing Authority2550% Analysis and Interpretation: By observing the above data, most of the employees of the organization preferred that immediate boss is the right person to appraise his performance. 3. Is the present appraisal system helping you to know your strengths an weakness? a) Yes b) No The employee's strengths and weaknesses will be known through the person appraisal system with the help of 50 respondents data is observed. SI. No. Category No. Of respondents Percentage respondents 1 Yes 2550% 2 No 2550% Analysis and InterpretationBy observing the given data, The performance appraisal report speaks about the strengths and Weaknesses of the employees in the Organization. 4. Arc monthly reports of performance of each employee are prepare and taker as basis for preparing performance appraisal reports? a) Yes b) No To understand the given data Monthly report of performance of each employee's are prepared and taken as basis with the help of 50 responses following data is observed. SI. No. Category No. of Respondents Percentage respondents 1 Yes 33 66% 2 No 17 34% Analysis and InterpretationBy viewing the above data, the Performance appraisal report can be prepared based on the Consolidation of monthly report of each employee in the Organization. 5. Do you feel career part and succession plan should become part of performance appraisal? a) Yes b) No To know the employee's opinion on the career part and succession plan should become part of performance appraisal, by taking 50 responses following data is observed. SI. No. Category No. of Respondents Percentage of respondents 1 Yes 33 66% 2 No 17 34% Analysis and InterpretationBy observing the given data, employees are referred for the career part and Achievement of succession plan become the part of performance appraisal. 6. Performance appraisal reports should be revealed or not? a) Yes b) No To understand the overall Employee's opinion, performance appraisal repo should be revealed or not on the basis of 50 responses following data observed. SI. No. Category No. of Respondents Percentage Of respondents 1 Yes 33 66 2 No 17 34 Analysis and Interpretation By viewing the above data, Most of the employee preferred to reveal this performance appraisal report. . Are you satisfied with the present appraisal system? a) Yes b) No To know the employee's that they are satisfied with the present appraisal system on the basis of 50 res ponses following data is observed. SI. No. Category No. of Respondents Percentage of respondents 1 Yes 35 70 2 No 15 30 Analysis and Interpretation: By viewing the data, Most of the employees are satisfied with the present performance appraisal System followed in the organization. 8. Does the performance appraisal system followed by your organization Improves the overall performance of organization? a) Yes b) NoTo understand the performance appraisal system followed in your organization' Improves the overall performance of organization, by taking 50 respondents d? is observed. SI. No. Category No. of Respondents Percentage of Respondents 1 Yes 35 70% 2 No 15 30% Analysis and Interpretation By observing the given data, the performance appraisal system followed in the MAHINDRA & MAHINDRA FINANCE SERVICE LTD. improves overall efficiency in the management and control over the staff towards the promotional policy and achievement of the goals. 9. Performance appraisal should be evaluated? ) More than once in a year b) Once in a year c) Occasionally To know the Employees opinion Performance appraisal should be evaluated for the period by taking 50 respondents data is observed, SI. No. Category No. of Respondents Percentage. Of respondents 1 More than Once in a Year 1327% 2 Once in a Year 3366% 3 Occasional 47% Analysis and Interpretation: By viewing the above data, Most of the employees preferred to evaluate the performance appraisal yearly. 10. Do you get any guidance from your superior in your day today work? a) Regularly b) Occasionallyc) Not at allTo understand the employees opinion, to get the guidance from your superior in your day today work with the help of 50 respondents following data is observed. SI. No. CategoryNo. of RespondentsPercentage of respondents 1 Regularly 27 54% 2 Occasionally 20 40% 3 Not at all 3 6% Analysis and Interpretation; By observing the given data, most of the employees wish to guide by the superior regularly in day to days and occasi onally in specific purpose. 11. Do you think the performance appraisal Performa / program covers all aspects of the job? a) Covers all aspectsb) Does not cover some aspects ) Does not cover many aspects. To know the overall employees opinion performance appraisal Performa / program covers all aspects of the job with the 50 respondents following data is observed. SI. No. Category No. of Respondents Percentage of respondents 1 Covers all aspects 20 40% 2 Does not cover some aspects 3 8% 3 Does not cover many aspects 27 52% Analysis and Interpretation: By view the above data, most of the employees have reported that the appraisal Performa that does not cover many aspects of the jobs. 12. Which of the following is a better form of appraisal? a) Self appraisal b) Confidential reportsTo know the overall employees opinion which will be the better form of appraisal system, with the help of 50 respondents the following data is observed. SI. No. Category No. of Respondents Percentage of respo ndents 1 Self Appraisal 40 80% 2 Confidential Reports 10 20% Analysis and Interpretation: By observing the above data, most of the employees wish to have their self appraisal is better than the confidential report. CHAPTER – 4 LIMITATIONS OF STUDY LIMITATIONS OF THE STUDY The study is limited to the policies and practices being followed in Mahindra & Mahindra finance ltd. Time factor is the main constraint for the study as it was restricted only to eight-nine weeks. ?Sampling error is not taken into consideration. ?The information given by the