RURAL MARKETS- THE UNTARGETED BRIGHT SEGMENTS FOR FMCG

SECTOR

The Indian rural market with its vast size and demand base offers great opportunities to the Companies.

According to National Council of Applied Economic Research (NCAER) the rural population in India

accounts for around 627 million, which is about 74.3 percent of the total population. Almost half of the

national income is generated from rural areas. Rural markets are the natural markets form an important

part of the total market for goods in India. Indian rural market gains considerable rise in purchasing

power. Rural markets in India constitute a wide and untapped market for many goods and services

which are being marketed to the urban customers. The rural market in India is not a separate entity in

itself and it is highly influenced by the regional sociological and behavioral factors operating in the

country.

THE IMPACT OF CELEBRITY ENDORSEMENT ON CONSUMER BUYING BEHAVIOUR

Abstract

The concept of celebrities like film stars, sports persons endorsing the brands has been steadily increasing from past 20 years especially from the new millennium. Marketer acknowledging the image of celebrities in influencing the consumer’s buying decision. Marketers believe that favorable attitude, effection, likeability of consumers towards a celebrity will create favorableness towards their brands. Companies like Idea of Aditya Birla group, Boost, Vivel, Emami ,Fair n Lovely, Coke, Mobile companies as well as organized retailers like Khazana jewelers,Malabar spending crores of rupees towards endorsement of their brands with film stars, sports persons as their brands ambassidors. It is an established fact that celebrity endorsement can confer unique benefit to the product as well as to the brand. Hence an attempt is made in this connection to describe the brand endorsements of different companies, Influence of such endorsement on consumer behavior in terms of sales and creating positive image, brand endorsement scenario in India during past and present. An in detailed discussion is made in this paper.

Keywords: Brands, Consumers, Brand endorsement, Consumer behavior, Buying preferences etc.

“WOMEN ENTREPRENEURSHIP-OPPORTUNITIES IN PRESENT DAY

CHALLENGES”

Abstract

Entrepreneurship is very important criteria for the economic development. We may state that

the entrepreneurship plays very important role in uplifting the economy. Entrepreneurship

among the women is a severe concern today. If women don't play a meaningful role in

business, then half of the country's potential talent pool will remain under-utilized. In a recent

survey it is revealed that the female entrepreneurs from India are generating more wealth than

the women in any part of the world. Entrepreneurship has gained importance across the sphere.

Today businesses are facing a severe problem in entrepreneurial talent. Female-

entrepreneurship has become an important module now. Women Entrepreneurs have been making a

significant impact in all segments of economy of the world. Their willingness for the future is apparent in

their growing confidence, in their strengths and in their desire to seek different forms of work in order

to achieve a new balance between work and home. In former days, for Women there were 3 Ks-

Kitchen, Kids, Knitting, then came 3 Ps- Powder, Pap pad, Pickles and now at present there are 4 Es-

Electricity, Electronics, Energy, Engineering . The status of women in India during past tends to be in the

dark shades of illiteracy, exploitation, discrimination and low energy levels. Although this is still true for

many Indian women but survival and to feed their family are driving forces for entrepreneurial activities

There are immense opportunities for women to enter into entrepreneurship. The women have

the determination and potential to set up and handle an enterprise. Indian women had undergone a

long way and are becoming increasingly visible and successful in aspects and have shifted from kitchen

to higher level of professional activities. This paper focuses on problems and challenges faced by

women entrepreneurs, opportunities for women entrepreneurship. Also this paper talks about

abilities and traits of women entrepreneurs and their role in carving into new paths of

entrepreneurship.

CONTEMPORARY H R INITIATIVES : LOOKING AHEAD

Abstract

In the recent past, the pace of change has accelerated dramatically in global business. It is all because of globalization of business, technological advancement. The globalization and technological advancements have put together necessitated changes in work force also. Due to up coming changes.,HR plays a crucial role in both good and bad times. It determines a stand, survival , continuity of an organization. HR skills must be associated with knowledge base such as., making business plans, knowing the role of HR, managing HR needs, Paradigm shift from traditional to modern, developing a HR compass and designing a model competencies. More specifically, competencies driving HR personnel towards success. The model competencies required for HR includes ., strategic thinking, business knowledge, personal credibility,HR process expertise change management, diversity management, relationship managemet,financial perspectives etc..

Infact, such initiation towards competency building shall start from academic platform only. Subsequently, modification to those competencies could be made within the organization suitable to it. An in detailed discussion is made in the paper.

E-RETAILING- A MODERN STRATEGIC AND MARKETING TOOL FOR THE DIGITAL AGE

ABSTRACT

Over last few years the popularity of E-retailing has tremendously increased due to quick and convenient way of exchanging goods and services across the globe via internet. Enterprises all over the globe have either created or are in the process of creating the E-retailing models to their traditional businesses. India has become a booming ground for e-commerce business models Several new products and services are being innovated and marketed through Internet thus creating global business opportunity. As a result a good number of E-retail organizations such as homeshop18.com,ebay,Flipcart, Letsbuy.com,Naaptol, E-retailing in India have reached $14 billions in 2012 which was just $6.3 billions in 2011.Interestingly many companies have been creating an opportunity to customers to buy the products from their official websites. Now shopping is been made just one click away. Electronics and Apparel are the biggest categories in terms of sales through E-retailing. About 75% of the total revenue in E-retailing will be coming from airline tickets, railway tickets, hotel bookings, online mobile recharge etc The present study is conceptual survey with exploratory cum descriptive nature. This paper attempts to explain the concept of E-retailing, business models for E-retailing, differences between traditional retailing and E-retailing, merits and limitations of E-retailing, various trends in E-retailing and challenges in E-retailing. The study also focuses on major players in E-retailing in India and also their strategies in reaching the customers of the digital age. It concludes that E-retailing offers several benefits to various stakeholders. Even though there are several limitations as well as legal and technical barriers in the development of e-commerce E-retailing is penetrating with tremendous growth. An in detailed discussion is made in the final paper.

Keywords: Retailing, E-commerce, Internet, Online shopping, Competition, Customer service.

THE INFLUENCE OF CELEBRITY ENDORSEMENTS IN BUILDING SUCCESSFUL BRANDS-SOME INSIGHTS

   *D.Sidhardha

India as a country is known for loving its celebrities. In India, celebrities are idolized as gods. The concept of

celebrities such as film stars and sports persons endorsing brands has been steadily increasing from past

twenty years, especially since the new millennium. Marketers have been trying their best to connect with

the customers through their celebrities. Marketers are acknowledging the image value of celebrities in

influencing the consumers’ buying decision. Marketers believe that favorable attitude, affection, and

likeability of consumers towards a celebrity will create favorableness towards their brands. Companies like

Idea Cellular of Aditya Birla group, Boost, Vivel, Emami, Fair and Lovely, Coke, and other telecom companies

as well as organized retailers like Khazana jewelers and Malabar are spending crores of rupees towards

having celebrities such as film stars, and sports persons to endorse their brands,. It is an established fact that

celebrity endorsement can lend unique benefits to the products in becoming successful brands. This paper

attempts to discuss the endorsements of different companies, endorsement scenario in India, affect of such

endorsement on brand value, and the influence of Celebrities on consumer behavior in terms creating

positive image.

Keywords: Brands, Consumers, Endorsement, Consumer behavior, buying preferences.

COMPETENCY MAPPING-A STRATEGIC FRAME WORK FOR HR

APPLICATIONS

ABSTRACT

The current globalization of economy necessitates innovative approaches in managing the human

resources. At the same time the rapid changes taking place in the demography and social systems

hence forth have given enough space for various contemporary HR practices enhancing the

employee productivity and growth. One of the most popular and commonly used HR practice is

competency mapping. Competency mapping is a process of identifying key competencies such

as Job knowledge, motivation, communication, leadership, managerial ability for a particular

position in an organization, and then mapping them for various HR applications such as job-

evaluation, recruitment, training and development, performance management, succession

planning, etc. The competency framework serves as the bedrock for all HR applications. As a

result of competency mapping, all other HR processes like talent induction, management

development, appraisals and training yield much better results .Identifying and development of

the competencies in organization will enable better performance management, reward and

recognition systems leading to successful career and succession planning programmees. The

objective of this paper is to identify various such competencies and their mapping to enhance the

performance of the human resources and various HR systems. An in detailed discussion is made

in this paper.

Keywords: Human resources, Skills, Competencies, Talent induction, career planning, HR

systems.

TECHNOLOGICAL DEVOLOPMENT IN BANKING SECTOR-AN INTERNET BANKING PERSPECTIVE

Abstract

Banking sector plays a significant role in development of Indian economy. Banks need

to leverage technology to increase penetration, improve their productivity, efficiency and

thereby, contribute to the overall growth and development of the country. Technology enables

penetration of the banking system, increases cost effectiveness and makes the transactions easier.

Technology enhances choices, creates new markets, allows transactions to take place faster

across the globe and offers convenience through various channels such as ATMs, Internet

banking, Mobile banking, NEFT, RTGS etc. In a country like India, effective use of technology

has a multiplier effect on growth and development of the banking sector. With the rapid and

significant growth in electronic commerce, it is obvious that internet banking and payments are

likely to advance the banking services. Besides making banking products and services affordable

and accessible, internet banking simultaneously ensures viability and profitability of bankers.

Online banking allows people access all of their accounts through a secure bank-created

website. Means any user with a personal computer and a browser can get connected to his bank’s

website to perform any of the virtual banking functions. Depending on the services chosen, a

customer may simply be able to view the day-to-day activity of every account they have with a bank.

Internet banking makes it possible to offer banking services around the world 24 hours a day The

impact of Internet banking on cost savings, revenue growth and increased customer satisfaction

on Industry is tremendous and can be a potential tool for building a sound strategy. The

dependence on Technology and the cross border nature of transactions also involves additional

risks for banks and new challenges for banking regulators. This paper analyses development of

Internet banking in India, proper regulatory system for internet banking system, how things can be

improved further for the efficient working of electronic banking. An in detailed discussion is made in the

final paper.

Keywords: Technology, Online banking, Cost, Efficiency, Customer Satisifaction,Strategy.

SOCIAL ENTREPRENEURSHIP-CREATING THE CHANGE, SPREADING THE SOLUTIONS

Abstract:

Social entrepreneurs are individuals with innovative solutions to society’s most pressing social problems.

They are motivated, determined and work for the social concern by tackling major social issues and

offering wide-scale scale of new ideas to the social problems rather than leaving societal needs to the

government. Interestingly the nature of social entrepreneurs is that they find what is not working and

solve the problem by changing the system, people, spreading the solution, and persuading entire society

to take new leads. While a normal entrepreneur typically measures performance in terms of profits and

returns, a social entrepreneur also measures profits but in the form of positive changes took place in the

society. A good number of institutions such as colleges, universities and especially NGOs taking an

important role in offering special programmes to promote Social Entrepreneurship. Many people are

taking Social Entrepreneurship as an opportunity to serve the society. This paper forwards a view that

Social Entrepreneurship as a process which brings some social challenges and addressing social issues as

a part of social responsibility,Key skills required for a social entrepreneur.

Keywords: Social Entrepreneurship, Society, Social needs, Social enterprise.

WORK PLACE BULLYING – A SILENT EPIDEMIC

Conflict at work place is a common syndrome in every organization. Severity of it is more in unorganized systems.

The superior and subordinate relationship is the success behind an organization. But differences between them

lead to failure of the system as whole.

In addition to other conflicts at work, work place bullying is a long-lasting conflict, where one person is

systematically harassed by one or more colleagues or superiors, resulting in severe damage to the victim's

psychological and physical health. It also creates an unhealthy working atmosphere usually by intimidating the

rest. Infact, talented people are targeted by bullies(one who target the other for bullying). Consequently, the

organization’s talented human capital is often negatively affected and are driven out of the company.

Bullies are often hard to identify because on the surface they appear to be good and cooperative, while

they do everything in their power to destabilize those they target for destruction. This phenomenon appears in all

types of jobs and it is deep rooted in corporate sectors like., IT companies, hospitals and now in educational

institutions also. Presently, this issue is a common discussion all platforms where a congregation of employees.

Unfortunately, no specific legislation on this syndrome in our country.

Bullying at work is when someone tries to intimidate another worker, often in front of colleagues. It is usually done

to someone in a less senior position. It is similar to harassment, which is where someone's behaviour is offensive.

For example, making sexual comments, pointing out weaknesses or abusing someone's race, religion. Bullying is

ongoing pattern of repeated behavior.

WOMEN ENTREPRENEURSHIP-THE NEXT PILLAR OF INDIAN ECONOMY

Abstract

Women owned business are highly increasing in the economies of almost all over the

world. Women in business are a recent phenomenon in India. With the emergence of growth of

the business, the role and contribution of women in the economic value of the chain is highly

remarkable. The hidden entrepreneurial potentials of women have been realizing with the

changing economic status of the society. If women don’t play a meaningful role in business, then

half of the country’s potential talent will be underutilized. Women entrepreneurs are now a days

effectively utilizing the resources, efficient in making and execution of decisions. Women

entrepreneurs too have clear vision mission, determination and potential to start up and handle

an enterprise. Women Entrepreneurs have been making a significant impact in all segments of

economy of the world. Their willingness for the future is apparent in their growing confidence,

in their strengths and in their desire to seek different forms of work in order to achieve a new

balance between work and home .Women entrepreneurs have specific qualities such as patience,

bearing the sufferings on behalf of others which are very much required for any business. In this

regard this paper examines the characteristics of women entrepreneurs, factors influencing the

growth of women entrepreneurs in India. This paper also discusses the contributions of women

entrepreneurs to the corporate world, career restraints and Challenges, and strategies to develop

women entrepreneurship in India.

Portability is a new dimension in the service sector: Case of Insurance Sector

Abstarct

News in early October has reported that the portability implementation has come to India. They referred

to the ‘portability’ of health insurance; an option which would subsequently be expanded to general

insurance policies too. This means that the insurance holder—who in an erstwhile process was stuck to

one company for his/her life span—could now choose to switch between companies if he/she finds the

offerings or service levels better at a different company. This has multiple implications across different

levels in the insurance sector. There is an argument that it would benefit the policy holder. But there are

also challenges that such a change—like portability in this case—can pose to the operations of the

industry. This paper explores what exactly ‘portability’ brings in to the insurance sector. In the process

the authors try to identify if this ‘portability’ in insurance sector has any similarity with ‘portability’ of

mobile numbers in the telecom sector; exploring if there are any lessons to be learnt. Perhaps, portability

itself is a new dimension in the service sector.

Keywords: Insurance, Portability, Service Sector, Change Management, Anecdotal Study

SERVICE QUALITY AND ITS IMPLICATIONS FOR CUSTOMER SATISIFACTION IN BANKING SECTOR-AN OVERVIEW

ABSTRACT

Service quality is an approach to manage business in order to ensure full satisfaction of the

customers which will help to increase competitiveness and effectiveness of the banking industry.

Quality is considered to be the management’s top competitive priority and a prerequisite for

growth and sustenance. Customer satisfaction has a positive effect on service sector. The

importance of customers in service sector is unquestionable. Because the success of service

sector business is mostly depending on customer who is the major stake holder of the business.

The banking industry has realized the need of consistent development in their service quality

offered to the customers. In the present scenario banking sector of India is running in a dynamic

challenge concerning with competition, customer base and performance. In order to survive in

this competitive environment and to provide continual customer satisfaction, the banking service

providers are required to increase the quality of service. In the banking sector, the service

features offered are as important as how they are delivered. On one hand, delivery of high service

quality to customers offers banks an opportunity to differentiate themselves in competitive

markets. On the other hand, high service quality results in customer satisfaction and loyalty,

reduction in customer complaints, and improved customer retention. Service quality in banking

sector could be evaluated in terms of the mutual relationship between banks and customers and

their loyalty to the bank. The main aim of the study is to identify the dimensions of service

quality and to study the implications of these dimensions on customer satisfaction in banking

sector.

Keywords: Service quality, Banking, Customer, Customer satisfaction ,Competition,

SERVEQUAL, SERVPERF.

BUILDING BRAND EQUITY THROUGH SOCIAL MEDIA-A

STUDY

ABSTRACT

The traditional pillars of the brand equity are incensed under the power of the higher standards of

the 21st century consumer. Marketers are disengaged with the present day customers where they

are losing the way of influencing them .The problem is that marketers are still using branding

methodologies that are designed for the old world to build their brands. Social media has

changed the traditional communication between brands and consumers. When well executed,

social media vehicles such as Facebook and Twitter can be very engaging and influencing by

appealing to a wide range of customers. Social media has been a great tool for brand building. It

is extremely less costly than any other type of branding strategy. Social media helps create brand

equity, because it encompasses both elements viz.., brand perception and brand experience

Many companies have started facebook links and twitter links to their brands and asks their

customers to follow them. It allows people a two way conversation with a brand. People are able

to share, comment and follow their favorite brands. Social media can provide many advantages

to brands such as securing the reputation of a brand, increase sales, and involve consumers in

brand creation process. Social media brings more positive brand associations and increase

consumer loyalty to a brand which builds brand equity.

Work place equality a study on Participative Management”

Abstract:

In today’s dynamic and competitive environment ever one and ever thing is changing with effect of adopting new technology and changes in people attitudes. Ever one is struggling to give their best in order to sustain their jobs and their career growth. In this Twenty-first century many organizations are struggling to retain the contemporary employees is the biggest challenge to them. For this ever organizations will have different techniques and process to retain them. Organizations required tacit knowledge which is one of the greatest strength. Participative management gives employee to more strength because employees always expect a kind of recognition and importance from the management by giving importance to employees in taking decision makings of the firms growth so that employees moral and ethics will improve. In this conceptual paper we discusses about the importance and outcomes of participative management. Key words: Participative management, Job satisfaction, retention

RURAL MARKETS- THE UNTARGETED BRIGHT SEGMENTS FOR FMCG SECTOR

ABSTRACT

The Indian rural market with its vast size and demand base offers great opportunities to the Companies.

According to National Council of Applied Economic Research (NCAER) the rural population in India

accounts for around 627 million, which is about 74.3 percent of the total population. Almost half of the

national income is generated from rural areas. Rural markets are the natural markets form an important

part of the total market for goods in India. Indian rural market gains considerable rise in purchasing

power. Rural markets in India constitute a wide and untapped market for many goods and services

which are being marketed to the urban customers. The rural market in India is not a separate entity in

itself and it is highly influenced by the regional sociological and behavioral factors operating in the

country.

Impact of Knowledge Management in Functional Areas of Management – A Conceptual Work

ABSTRACT

“Information is Wealth” a famous quote on which the modern era believes in. traditional word for information is knowledge. Businessmen uses knowledge to run his business, a scientist uses knowledge for invention of a product; an actor uses his knowledge to act much better. In fact everyone in this era use knowledge for survival and success in their field.

Management is not an exception to this. In this article we will discuss the importance and use of knowledge management in functional areas of management individually and how they collaboratively work towards efficiency of organisations. Further, we also elaborate the above aspect with a real time application for better understanding and knowledge which is our goal in this entire process.

Key words – Information, Businessmen, Survival, Success, Management, collaborative