Public Sector Organizations In India Research Articles

Integrating Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) and Sustainability Linkages with Employees’ Perceptions and Competence-Mediating Role of CSR Culture

The study examines the effect of corporate social responsibility (CSR) culture on the relationship between CSR strategy–sustainability linkages, ethics and the CSR outcomes in public sector organizations in India. Using a sample of 200 lower-, middle- and upper-level CSR managers, a mediation model by Baron and Kenny was outlined and tested. Results demonstrate that CSR strategy–sustainability linkages and ethics have a positive relationship with CSR culture and CSR outcomes. Further, CSR culture has a positive relationship with the CSR outcomes of employees’ CSR perceptions and competence. While CSR culture fitfully mediated the relationship between ethics and competence, partial mediation was found in all other cases. Thus, the adoption of strategic and sustainable CSR not only leads to desirable CSR outcomes but is also associated with a better fit between CSR and culture. Hence, strategic and sustainable CSR and organizational ethics must facilitate greater congruence between CSR and organizational culture.

How Managers Make Sense of Human Resource Management’s Role in Building Trust: Enacting Espoused Human Resource Management in Indian Gas and Petrol Public Sector Organisations

The desire to mobilise effective strategic human resource management in India’s new public management domain has seen the role of organisational trust receive greater scholarly and practical scrutiny. This study explores managers’ perception of HRM’s role in building organisational trust in five public sector organisations in India using exploratory multiple case studies. In implementing HRM, the findings suggest that managers are cognisant of specific human resource practices that can be socially adapted to enhance their effectiveness. Implications from the study’s emergent process model of human resource management and trust highlight the cross-level influences that affect India’s public sector organisations’ outcomes.

The emotional constraints of emancipatory information systems

PurposeThis paper aims to highlight the importance of the study of emotions in the successful implementation of information systems projects in developing countries. This paper studies one emotion, namely, anger, and discusses its detrimental impact on information system interventions. This paper suggests that controls are necessary for the management of anger emotion.Design/methodology/approachThis research study explores the case of an Indian agricultural marketing board that implemented an information systems project on the integration of agricultural markets. The data was collected through semistructured interviews from four stakeholder groups. This paper uses a qualitative approach and analyzes the data using thematic analysis. Pierre Bourdieu’s theory of practice is used to study emotions in the case.FindingsThis paper finds that anger is the prominent emotion displayed at public sector organizations in India. This paper permeates all aspects of public organizations and has a detrimental impact on successfully implementing the information systems projects. Successful implementation of the information systems (IS) projects in India will need to have a framework for managing the anger emotion.Originality/valueTo the best of the authors’ knowledge, this is the first paper within the information systems discipline that focuses on anger and its detrimental impact on successful IS interventions. A unique contribution of this paper is a framework for the study of emotions. This paper also introduces the idea of controls for emotional management.

Levelling Up Organisational Learning Through Gamification: Based on Evidence from Public Sector Organisations in India

The concept of sustainability brought into focus the need for research into how to measure and achieve sustainable growth. The triple bottom line framework and the resource-based view of the firm suggest the need for organisations to look beyond profits and take into consideration the needs and effectiveness of its workforce. Research suggests that an effective workforce can be achieved through constant learning and development. Organisations have also expressed the need for training techniques that are more effective than the traditional methods. Gamification has been proposed as one such technique, and in the current study, the researchers evaluate the effectiveness of gamification in organisational training. For the purpose of the current study, 120 participants were chosen from public sector organisations in India. This is primarily because the technology-enhanced training effectiveness model (TETEM) suggests that the effectiveness of gamification would depend on the culture of the organisation, and prior research has been based in privately owned firms. The findings are in line with the theory of gamified learning and suggest that participants of the gamified module reported higher levels of learning, reaction and learner motivation. Additionally, learner motivation was found to strengthen the impact of gamification on the learning and reaction.

The effect of COVID fatigue on mental health in the public sector organizations: exploring compassion as a mediator

This study examines the impact of COVID fatigue on mental health amidst the pandemic. In particular, it tries to understand the mediating role of compassion in the equation between COVID fatigue, corona anxiety, social support, and mental health. Systematic review was conducted to understand the interrelationship among chosen variables. Hierarchical regression was used as a tool of empirical evidence for the derived interrelationships. The results from a survey of 307 white-collar employees from public sector organizations in India confirmed the mediating role of compassion on mental health. The results state that a unit change in the dependent variables of COVID fatigue, corona anxiety, and social support can have an impact of 9.7% on the mental health quotient. It was also found out that introducing a unit of compassion in the equation will mediate the impact to 3.7%. In this study, 61.1% of participants were categorized as psychologically fatigued and 38.9% as psychologically non-fatigued. Implications for the theory and practice of compassion are discussed, and future research directions offered.

Putting Sense and Mind into Your Enterprise Systems: A Qualitative Study of IS Assimilation in Large Public Organizations in India

The purpose of this paper is to investigate the information systems (IS) assimilation level of an enterprise system in the post-implementation phase, through the lens of IS governance mechanisms and IS support structures, impacted by the socio-cognitive processes. The research follows a qualitative approach and builds on semi-structured interviews with enterprise system stakeholders in large public sector organizations in India. The study posits that high levels of IS governance mechanisms and high levels of IS support structures lead to a high level of IS assimilation only in the presence of higher level socio-cognitive processes. A not-so-higher level of socio-cognitive fabric results in low or moderate IS assimilation levels in spite of high levels of IS governance and/or IS support structures.Despite close to a couple of decades of IS research on enterprise systems, IS assimilation is still an enigma for practitioners and academicians. The generalizability of the results of this study may be applicable to any public organization in a developing country, like India, which are using enterprise system solutions but are yet to reap the potential benefits. The results present a way forward for practitioners to ensure optimal resources and focus for the triad- IS governance, IS support structures and socio-cognitive processes.

Impact of corporate social responsibility on employees commitment: an empirical study of public sector organisations in India

Impact of corporate social responsibility on employees commitment: an empirical study of public sector organisations in India

Impact of corporate social responsibility on employees commitment: an empirical study of public sector organisations in India

This paper attempts to study the important relationship between firms' corporate social responsibility (CSR) initiatives and its effect on the commitment shown by the employees working in these organisations. Data was collected from 813 employees working in diverse industries in India like oil and gas, power, and telecom. The study hypothesised and also found supportive evidence that there exists a positive relationship between CSR and employee commitment. The regression analysis confirmed a significant positive relationship between CSR and employee's organisational commitment. An additional finding of the study suggested that the amount of time that a person serves in the organisations also affects the employee commitment positively. The findings of the study provided great insights to management, regarding the important role CSR plays not only to the external stakeholders but also positively affects the commitment levels of its employees.

A study on the effectiveness of internal trainers- A case study of Oil India Limited

Training is one of the key aspects for effective management of human resources. Training is the aim of increasing the knowledge and skills of an employee for doing a particular job. Modern organisations are focusing a lot on training and the stress is on building the capability of internal trainers and delivering more and more internal training programs. Oil India limited is one of the largest public sector organizations in India which is focusing a lot on training and a lot of the training programs are conducted by internal trainers. The focus of this paper is to understand the effectiveness of the training programs conducted by the internal trainers and give recommendations for making the internal trainers and the training programs conducted by them more effective. Keywords: Internal trainers, Training, Effectiveness of training, Evaluation.

Deflating power imbalance through personal identity enhancement

PurposeThe purpose of the paper is to identify how the intersection of power, context, subjectivity and directionality makes it possible for the targets of workplace bullying to deflate power imbalance between them and the perpetrators.Design/methodology/approachThe paper is based on nine in-depth interviews with self-reported targets from different public sector organizations in India. The targets were purposively selected keeping in mind that they made deliberate attempts to counter bullying. Constructivist grounded theory approach was used to analyze the data.FindingsSix themes emerged as sources of power imbalance and eight themes as the way of deflating power imbalance. The core category that emerged was “enhancing personal identity”, which was the underlying phenomenon leading to deflation of power imbalance, through the intersection of power, context, subjectivity and directionality.Research limitations/implicationsThe study indicates that power, context, subjectivity and directionality of bullying help the targets to identify effective strategies of deflating power imbalance. In the process, the targets indulge in personal identity enhancement. It further reinforces the understanding that power does not remain static and may shift from the perpetrator to the target of bullying.Practical implicationsThe study provides various tactics that targets can use to counter workplace bullying. It implies that targets need not always leave the organization or succumb to the situation in order to deal with bullying. It encourages the targets of bullying and those who deal with bullying targets to indulge in personal identity enhancement through problem-focused strategies of tackling workplace bullying.Originality/valueIt also furthers our understanding of workplace bullying from the point of intersection of the four aspects of the phenomenon – power, context, subjectivity and directionality – which allows the targets of bullying to enhance their personal identity.

Factors hindering effective partnering in Indian public sector construction organizations

Purpose The Indian public sector construction industry is normally driven by traditional contracting practices. Though no formal partnering agreement is being used in public sector projects in India, improvement in Indian public sector organizations could be observed in the post-liberalization era, as they get the opportunities to work with multinational companies from countries with experiences in partnering. The purpose of this study is to explore the extent of partnering strategies being adopted by Indian public sector organizations and identify factors hindering the adoption of formal partnering. Design/methodology/approach Critical success factors for successful partnering were first identified through literature review. This guided the collection of primary data through semi-structured interviews with 36 top management personnel and secondary data in the form of organizational documents and site reports from several site visits of four public sector construction organizations. The evidence collected from four cases were arranged and compared against organizational strategies of successful partnering. Findings Most of the strategies adopted by the organizations were found to be in line with the suggested partnering practices. However, partnering performance of these organizations was found to be not satisfactory. This study has identified 14 factors hindering effective partnering such as reservations over joint risk-sharing process, limited bid evaluation criteria, difficulty in time-bound payment to contractor, absence of incentive mechanism, obsolete training procedures and absence of time-bound dispute resolution mechanism. Research limitations/implications The research findings are based on a case study with four public sector organizations only. Additional cases need to be undertaken to generalize the findings. Further study should also be undertaken to explore partnering relationships between contractors and subcontractors in public sector projects. Practical implications To improve project performance, top management of public sector organizations in India can take these factors into account while formulating strategies on introduction of project partnering in their organizations. Originality/value The work is novel providing insights into organizational strategies promoting and hindering partnering in Indian public sector construction organizations.

Employee optimism in India: validation of the POSO-E

Purpose The purpose of this paper was to validate the short version of personal optimism and self-efficacy optimism scale developed by Gavrilov-Jerkovic et al. (2014) on a sample of 398 employees working in private and public sector organizations in India. Design/methodology/approach The study needs to test the psychometric properties of the Indian version of scale by using exploratory factor analysis, convergent validity, discriminant validity and confirmatory factor analysis. Findings The results supported for the two-dimensional factor-structure of optimism in consonance with Gavrilov-Jerkovic et al. (2014). Research limitations/implications The findings will benefit both the management and the employees. Also, the study expands the existing literature on the variable in the Indian context. Originality/value The work validates and provides a unique instrument to measure the employee optimism that can help the management and the employees to focus on themselves to increase the positivity to provide an innovative and creative environment. Also, the work supplements the existing literature on positive attitude or outcome expectancies and helps in establishing the bi-dimensional nature of the construct of optimism.

Human resource flexibility and organisational effectiveness: mediating role of organisational citizenship behaviour

The study examines the influence of human resource (HR) flexibility on organisational effectiveness. It also examines the mediating role of organisational citizenship behaviour between HR flexibility and organisational effectiveness. Using structural equation modelling on survey data collected from 350 executive respondents randomly selected from various manufacturing industries of public sector organisations in India, the study has revealed significant influence of HR flexibility on organisational effectiveness. The findings also reported that organisational citizenship behaviour has significant mediating effect on the relationship between HR flexibility and organisational effectiveness. The findings have very important implications for organisations to nurture good citizenship behaviour among its executives to achieve optimum organisational effectiveness. The study also suggests that HR flexibility is the essence for any organisation to deal with the global business demands in a timely manner. Thus organisations must practise HR flexibility for maximum benefit with minimum investment in its HRs. The future scopes of the research along with other managerial implications are discussed in the light of empirical evidences.

Implementing Competency Framework at Bharat Dynamics Ltd. (BDL)

Competency based practices have been in existence for quite some time; yet, not many public sector organizations in India have been formally practicing it. In 2010, the HR guidelines issued by the Department of Public Enterprises (DPE) highlighted the need for competency based HR practices as one of the four pillars of the HR function. Bharat Dynamics Limited (BDL) is a Central Public Sector Enterprise (CPSE) and has received the status of Mini Ratna (Category-I) company of India. The article discusses the implementation of the competency framework at BDL and links it to performance management system. The linkage of the competency framework to compensation and training and development at BDL has also been highlighted. The article provides useful guidelines for other companies, which are planning to initiate competency based HR practices.

A Review of Work-Life Balance Practices Prevalent in Public Sector Undertakings in India

Work-life balance has become an important issue in the twenty first century. Work and family life are two sides of the same coin as both are interconnected and interfere with each other. Increased work demands interfere with family life, and on the other hand, family demands interfere with the work-life of employees. Therefore, conflicts occur, which negatively affect an employee's performance at work as well as at home. Looking at the trend, organizations have increasingly started to take an active interest in implementing practices that enable employees to cope with the work-life balance issues. The study attempted to explore the work-life balance practices of selected public sector undertakings and their impact on organizational performance. The finding suggested that public sector organizations in India have realized that work-life balance practices are crucial for organizational performance.

A Review of Work-Life Balance Practices Prevalent in Public Sector Undertakings in India

Work-life balance has become an important issue in the twenty first century. Work and family life are two sides of the same coin as both are interconnected and interfere with each other. Increased work demands interfere with family life, and on the other hand, family demands interfere with the work-life of employees. Therefore, conflicts occur, which negatively affect an employee's performance at work as well as at home. Looking at the trend, organizations have increasingly started to take an active interest in implementing practices that enable employees to cope with the work-life balance issues. The study attempted to explore the work-life balance practices of selected public sector undertakings and their impact on organizational performance. The finding suggested that public sector organizations in India have realized that work-life balance practices are crucial for organizational performance.

Performance Appraisal as a Sub-system of HRD – A Case Study

Performance Appraisal is most traditional but widely used method of measuring employee performance on the job, his relative abilities and skills to enable him to take up higher job responsibilities The organizations today are putting increased accentuate on performance appraisal practices to improve employee performance on the one hand and use it as a motivational tool on the other. It is one of the most important HRD mechanisms which contribute significantly to the building up of developmental climate in the organization. The present case study is an attempt to explore and assess the existing performance appraisal practices of public sector organizations in India. The study seeks to examine the existing performance appraisal practices in Indian Public Sector and its likely impact on productivity and efficiency. The study also examines the role of Performance appraisal in interpersonal relations, employee development and motivation development. A total of 125 executives of two public sector undertakings were selected for the purpose of the study.

Managers' perception with reference to the Durand's model of competency development

Organisations to be competitive must strive to produce the better results constantly. The ways in which the work is done requires a need for upgrading workplace knowledge, skills and competencies. Developing a competent workforce is a key component for any organisation; despite this it is understood that little attention has been paid to the competence development especially in India. This article attempts to explore the way competencies are developed by the executives of two large public sector organisations in India with reference to the Durand’s model. This study uses the quantitative methodology with a sample size of 375 managers of two public sector units to analyse the objective. ANOVA and Tukey HSD test were employed to see the mean difference across these managerial levels and to statistically test the significance of this assertion with the 12 styles. The findings of the study reveal that not all the elements are equally important for managers belonging to one of the four levels. The research analyses the justification and rationale on the integration of the competency developmental elements of the model into practice to provide a road map for the HRD interventions.

A system dynamics' based study of Indian public sector units

Public sector organisations in India were established after the independence to build infrastructure for economic development, generate employment and various other reasons. Since the liberalisation of the economy in 1991, the mortality rate of public sector units (PSUs) has been found to be on the rise. This dynamics has been captured using soft systems methodology. A system dynamics model representing the operational and performance dynamics of Indian PSUs in the era of transformation from the preglobalisation through globalisation and post-globalisation periods was developed. Policy experimentation reveals that chief executive officers with strategic orientation towards research and development improve revenue generations. Furthermore, it revealed that Indian PSUs would have earned more revenues had there not been globalisation.

Impact of Knowledge Management on Learning Organization in Indian Organizations-A Comparison

The concept of knowledge management (KM) and learning involves creation, analysis, storage, dissemination and usage of knowledge for improved decision-making and continuous learning. Learning occurs when knowledge is absorbed and results in action. Organizations do not organically develop into learning organizations (LO); there are usually factors prompting their change. Successful LOs are those which are capable of learning faster than their competitors in development of new product and services, customer responsiveness, managing intellectual capital, processes and technology. Such rapid adaptation requires the efficient and effective use of knowledge. The following paper is based on a research study conducted to gain an understanding of the relationship between the dimensions of KM and LO. Further, we investigate whether there are any significant differences between the relationships that occur in the case of private and public sector organizations in India. A convenience sample of 51 top-level and middle-level executives representing 16 private and public sector organizations participated in this study. The results show that private sector organizations fare better on all dimensions of LO as compared with public sector organizations, although the scores are just satisfactory and there is scope for improvement. We also found that the KM dimensions that we have identified have a positive impact on dimensions of LO, which is consistent with our proposed hypotheses. Finally, the impact of the type of organization, that is public/private, is found statistically insignificant in the relationship between KM and LO. These findings may help decision makers in initiating KM to develop processes for transforming the organization into the LO. Copyright © 2011 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.