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Table of Contents

Articles

CUSTOMER PREFERENCES WITH REFERENCE TO PRIVATE LABELS OF BIG BAZAAR

Vijay Kumar Reddy Prodhuturi, Dr Jayashankar Prasad Cherukuri, Mr Sambhasivudu Valivella

HYGIENIC HANDLING OF KITCHEN EQUIPMENTS OF MOTHERS IN SOUTHERN DISTRICTS OF TAMIL NADU – INDIA

Ramesh Kumar S

THE HUMAN RELATED DIMENSIONS OF TQM PRACTICES IN SERVICE ORGANIZATIONS: A EMPIRICAL STUDY OF COMMERCIAL BANKS IN HYDERABAD KARNATAKA REGION

Giridhari Tiwari

A STUDY OF CHOICE OF CUSTOMERS TOWARDS DISTRIBUTION CHANNELS OF LIFE INSURANCE INDUSTRY

Sanjay Manocha, Sr. Subhash Chand Chitkara

www.theinternationaljournal.org > RJCBS: Volume: 01, Number: 07, May-2012 Page 1

Abstract

Many of the retailers try to make better profits private labels

as a strategy. For that they have to maintain the performance

of private labels to gain their expected profit margins.

Maintenance of only private brands in the store may not

bring good results and maintenance of national labels alone

may not result in achievement of required profit margins. In

saturated markets, given the intensity of competition,

customer bonding has become more important for the

simple reason that such relationships generate greater profits

for a firm (Juhl, Kristensen, & Ostergaard, 2002; Reichheld

& Sasser, 1990). So they were maintaining a tradeoff

between labels. And the tradeoff should be in a way such

that profit has to be achieved and product availability has to

be in a satisfactory level, and all this is to happen while

strong bonding is created between the customer and the

private labels. This study is taken to find out the

performance of private labels over national labels in the Big

Bazaar store. The data collected related to this study is

analyzed and used for testing the hypothesis using Signed

rank test statistical tool.

Company Profile

BigBazaar is a unit of pantaloon Retail (India) Ltd and

caters to the great Indian Middle class. It is a hypermarket

format head quartered in Mumbai.Itstag-line is “Is se sasta

aur achcha kahin nahin”. It sells a large range of

merchandise at affordable prices, the prices of which it

claims are lowest than the market in so many times. Usually

the items are clubbed together for offers as on the lines of

Wal-Mart and Carrefour, weekend discounts and works on

the same economy model as Wal-Mart and has considerable

success. It is currently operating out of more than 150 stores

and top 25 stores having a cumulative footfall (Number of

visitors) of 30 lakh a month on an average.

Future group led its founder & group CEO Mr. Kishore

Biyani. He is the one of Indian leading business house with

multiple businesses. The retail firms are the core business

activity of future group. Its subsidiaries are presently in

consumer finance, capital, insurance, brand development &

entertainment. First Big Bazaar store open in 2001 in

Kolkata, Hyderabad and Bangalore.

The Indian retail sector is one of the most hectic marketing

activities of all times. The companies are fiercely fighting to

win the hearts of customer, and the FDI into the retail sector

fuels the fire. In India, the first mover advantage goes to

“BIG BAZAAR”. It has created all items under one roof at

low rates, or so it claims. All the merchandising is done

through ARS (Automatic Replacing System).

The large young working population is a preferred customer

segment. BigBazar targets this segment of working women

and home makers who are the primary decision makers.

BigBazar has made a big name in the retail industry of India,

Shopping experience in Big Bazaar is further made a

memorable experience with the discounts on products as well

as discount vouchers available in a variety of amounts, Like

INR 2000, 3000,4000, 5000 and `10000 on all Big Bazar

products and accessories.

Awards and recognition:

In 2007 won the International Retailer of the year´

at US based National Retail Federation Convention

in New York.

In the same year it also won Emerging Retailer of

the year award at the World Retail Congress heal in

Barcelona.

Big Bazaar Privet labels

Big Bazaar is a retailer and sells so many brands

manufactured by some companies. Along with them Big

Bazaar is offering its own brands to the customers. It is

generating turnover above 200 crores from its private labels.

Koryo: in this brad Iron boxes, mixers, micro woven,

Televisions, Air conditioners, coolers, heaters, vacuum

cleaners, electrical stoves, ceiling fans, coffee maker, head

blander, sandwich toaster.

NYX &STUDIO: Party wares, formal shorts, jeans & T-

shorts all men wares are provided.

Spunk: Sports items and T-shorts are available

Promotional activities

Tag -line: Big Bazaar tag-lines are the key components in

advertising. These tag-lines are framed according to

demographic profile of customers. These catchphrases

appeared on hoardings and newspapers in areas where Big

Bazaar was launched. Everybody easily understood and

connected easily with the single line simple. The catch-liners

are in "Hindi - Chan ekebhawkaaju","Bengali - Ruier dame

illish", "Hindi - Stall kebhaw balcony", etc.

Print Advertisements:Newspaper advertisements are

present just before launch of any new scheme. It is to create

aura about the Big Bazaar brand in the customers mind.

TV Advertisements:Big Bazaar spending a lot of money in

Customer Preferences with reference to private

labels or Big Bazaar

Prodhuturi Venkata Vijaykumar (Main & Corresponding Author)

Dr Cherukuri Jayasankaraprasad (Co-Author)

V.Samba Sivudu (Co-Author)


brand building exercise. Its commercials are shown on

various channels in India.

Radio Advertisements:This technique is used in Tier 1 /Tier

2 cities. Now-a-days, it is replaced by advertisements on FM

radio channels.

Reason for buying from big bazaar

Here shopping is a great experience as one can find

almost everything under the single roof. It has

different features which caters all the requirements

of the customers.

o The Food Bazar/the grocery store is the

department selling fruits and vegetables

o Furniture Bazar is a large section dealing

with furniture.

o Electronics Bazar is electronic goods and

cellular phones.

The online shopping portal, shopping products of

Big Bazar at the same price from home.

Pantaloon Retail (India) Limited, is India’s leading retailer.It

operates multiple retail formats in value and lifestyle

segments of the Indian market. Headquartered in Mumbai

(Bombay), operates over 10 million square feet of retail

space, has over 1000 stores across 61 cities in India with

over 30,000 employees. The company’s leading formats

include Pantaloons, chain of fashion outlets, Food Bazaar,

Big Bazaar, uniquely Indian hypermarket chain,

supermarket chain, blends the look, touch and feel of Indian

bazaars with aspects of modern retail like choice,

convenience, quality and Central, a chain of seamless

destination malls. Some of its other formats include, Fashion

StationDepot, Shoe Brand Factory, Factory, Blue Sky, , all,

Top 10, bazaars. The company also operates an online

portal, futurebazaar.com. A subsidiary company, Home

Solutions Retail (India) Limited, a large-format home

solutions store, selling home furniture products and E-Zone

on catering to the consumer electronics segment.

Big Bazaar Wholesale Club

The Big Bazaar Wholesale Club provides an opportunity to

save in bulk as the customers buy in bulk. It brings to

customers bulk deals at wholesale prices. The Big Bazaar

Wholesale Club offers multi-packs and bulk packs of a

selected range of merchandise at wholesale prices. The

merchandise categories are from Food & FMCG to Home

Linen and many more. Customers will not find any

loose/single unit (except fresh) at a Big Bazaar Wholesale

Club. It has created ‘Fashion @ Big Bazaar’, a sub-brand, to

position the format more than food or general merchandise.

Brand building strategy The store brand products are benchmarked to the market

leader in terms of features and benefits and easily captures

customer’s mind due to low price. For example a branded

product is priced at higher and the Big Bazaar’s labeled is

available at lower. Private labels are major impact on

retailer’s activities. Now a day’s frequently decisions’ food

industries and retailers have to face regarding private labels

Sood. J. (1993). The private labels are the brands developed

and managed by distributors (retailers, wholesalers,

foodservices). Retailers print their brands on products and

sell them to final consumers. Store brands are differentiate

retailers themselves from their competitors and to create

loyalty. The manufactures are responsible for the success of

their national brand products retailers play a key role in the

success or failure of their private label products (Sheth, J. N

1972).

Methodology/Analytical procedure

The data collected related to this study is analyzed and used

for testing the hypothesis using Signed rank test statistical

tool. Sampling design was basically done as non-probability

and probability/random sampling. The data is used both

primary and secondary for questionnaire. The survey was

conducted from the customer visiting the Bigbazar Stores.

The percentage analysis charts are shown in this paper for a

better understanding of the novice readers and scholars

studying the retail industry and private labels.

Chart Showing Frequency of purchase of Private labels

Daily 47%

Weekly 33%

Monthly 15%

Yearly 5%

Frequency of purchase


From collected data it is obvious that most of Big Bazaar’s customers are come to the big bazaar daily and some customers

are come to weekly and then some customers are come to the monthly and yearly.

Chart Showing factors that stimulate Preferences of private labels:

It reveals that most of Big Bazaar’s customers wants to the quality and then on the basis of price of the product. Very less

(5%) of the people are looking for after sales service.

Chart showing Source of awareness to customer for private labels:

Most of the people know the private products of the Big Bazaar only when they are visiting. And 23% through newspapers,

20% through reference groups and only 17% from electronic media.

Chart Showing Purchase preference for private labels compared to National Brands:

The customers have mostly opted for functionality, to the next features and then reliability. But when compare these three

options can say that these three are having equal importance.

Price 27%

Quality 56%

Awareness 12%

After sales service

5%

Factors

After visiting the

store 40%

Reference groups

20%

Newspapers 23%

Electronic media 17%

Information Sources

Functionality

38%

Features 34%

Reliability 28%

Purchase Preference


Chart Showing Brand preference for selectedPrivate Label Categories:

For Oils, Jams, Flours, Furniture Private Brands are preferred by most of the people. The remaining national brands were

preferred.

Chart Showing Satisfaction levels of consumers on Private Labels:

18% of the respondents are dissatisfied. The remaining are satisfied. So 82% of the private brand users are favorable.

Research findings and limitations

From the data analyses and interpreted the findings

for the store and products under promotional offers are as

follows

From collected data it is obvious that most of the

customers purchase preference is basing up on the

product functionality then after features and

reliability.

In this research the respondentsmale personae’s

are more than the females

In the customers occupations Employees peoples

are more than to Business and students

Store found located is high more than people store

location is conveniently

Most of the people prefer the privet labels on the

basis of quality and price

From collected data it is obvious that most of

BigBazaar’s customers after using privet labeled

product most of the peoples give the statement is

satisfied another statement is no dissatisfaction

People come to know about the promotional offers

more from after visiting the store and newspapers.

The private labeled products more customers

preferred flours, furniture, oils, hence the

remaining people preferred remaining products.

Most of the customers purchase preference is

based on the product functionality and then

features and reliability.

0

10

20

30

40

50

60

70

80

90

100

Private label

National label

Highly Satisfied

20%

Satisfied 40% no

dissatisfaction

22%

Dissatisfied 18%

Satisfaction level


After using private labeled product most of the

people give the statement is satisfied another

statement is no dissatisfaction.

Conclusion

The Indian retail sector is basically divided into two

categories Organized and Unorganized. So the total

potential of the Indian retail sector is very hard to measure

exactly, as the number in terms of sales and stores grow in

multiples every day. In case of organized sector there are

satisfactory stats developed by numerous researchers and the

Govt. The positive effect of private labels turned out to play

a significant role in creating loyalty among the consumers as

the. The results are reliable with recent prior study of Brown

(2000) and Erik et al. (2011). In the global competition for

foremost share in the wallet of the customers, Retailers are

shelling out millions on the strategic marketing efforts. With

the help of their own private labels the margins that the

organized retailers aim are significant. All these efforts are

not with an unadorned objective of positioning themselves

in the market, but to create a pool of customer who can be

bonded to the organization.The role of private labels in

generating business to the retailers is adorable in the present

scenario. This is due to the increasing inflation and the

prices of basic commodities have turned the consumers from

national and branded items to the cheaper private labels. To

maximize the profits of the retailers own branded products

are receiving the lion share in the advertising budget, which

in turn reaping the best out of customers’ wallet to the

retailers. Most of the private labels are of low prices,

everything available under one roof, spot discounts, other

discounts, coupons etc, and these feature make them the

most preferred items in a mall.

Key References

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at: http://in.nielsen.com/news/201011243.shtml

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***


ABSTRACT

The aim of the present research paper is to examine

mothers’ hygienic practices in handling kitchen equipments.

This study highlighted the gaps in awareness and handling

of kitchen equipments and kitchen utensils. The survey was

conducted randomly selected mothers (N=2,685) who had

the primary responsibility in keeping the kitchen equipments

hygienically. The result shows that the urban mothers

regularly clean the kitchen equipments. But this is not

possible among the rural mothers due to the limitations of

time, money, energy and interest. Awareness should create

among the rural mothers regarding evils of not cleaning the

kitchen equipments and improper hygienic practices.

Keywords: Kitchen equipments, Hygienic

Introduction

In our various daily activities at home and work,

hands get quickly contaminated. Some activities such as the

use of toilet paper to clean up following a diarrhoeal

episode, changing the diaper of a sick infant, blowing a nose

and touching of raw food materials, increase the risk of

finger contamination by pathogens. Washing and drying of

hands reduce microbial contamination (Todd EC 2010). In

the implicated food handling, the hands of food handlers are

the sources of pathogens. The most convenient and efficient

way of removing pathogens from hand is a thorough hand

washing practice. There are possibilities of cross-

contamination at home due to incorrect house work

procedures, such as those involved in cleaning, the hygiene

of food preparation, and the care of a baby or the sick

(Bloomfield and Scott 1997). Snelling, A. M., et al., (1991).

It is known that poor hand washing practices inevitably lead

to retention of bacterial and viral pathogens on the hands,

which are obtained from handling raw produce or from toilet

activities. Guzewich, & Ross, (1999); in their study they

analysed different factors for causing the food born diseases.

Finally, they concluded that food handlers and poor hand

washing practices have been implicated as the source of

food borne disease outbreaks. Scott A. R., J. D, Anding,

suggested in their study that proper hand washing is

important to everyone, including low-income families who

often have limited resources for medical treatment.

2. MATERIALS AND METHODS

2.1 SAMPLE SIZE

Quantitative data was collected from 2685 mothers

randomly selected from the five districts of Tamil Nadu.

Equal importance had given both urban and rural mothers.

In the field, data were collected through the questionnaire in

the personal interview mode in the residence of the

respondents after obtaining informed consent from them.

2.2 RESEARCH DESIGN

The survey examines the impact of food safety

knowledge and practices of mothers food adulteration and

unawareness of lodging of complaints during the period of

February 2010 to September 2011 as a part of Doctoral

research work. A food safety and food adulteration

questionnaire was designed, which consisted of

demographic questions (age, education, income, occupation

and locality) and 39 questions covering issues related to

food safety, and food adulteration. The second part of the

study is presented in the paper. The questionnaire was

divided into three sections (1) a demographic section, (2)

hygienic practices and (3) kitchen equipments. The

investigator and research assistants were trained in

collecting data. The questionnaires were prepared in both

English and Tamil. In rural areas, Tamil questionnaires were

given to collect data. In addition, the research assistants

explained the questions in detail. Each respondent took 25 to

30 minutes to complete a questionnaire. Each collected

questionnaire was allotted a separate code number for cross

references. The respondents were interviewed in person by

well structured questionnaire through eight trained research

assistants and the investigator. Approximately, 34% of the

questionnaires were filled in by the respondents while 66%

was guided in filling the questionnaire.

2.3 PILOT STUDY

The questionnaire was pre-tested by collecting data

from 105 mothers both in urban and rural areas in the

months of November and December 2010. This helped to

confirm practical applicability, clarity and to avoid

unnecessary questions. The questionnaire was revised and

restructured based on the results of the pilot study. Some

additional questions were added after evaluating the

questionnaires in the pilot study.

Hygienic handling of Kitchen equipments of

mothers in southern districts of

Tamil Nadu - India Dr. S. Ramesh Kumar,

G. Padma Parvathy, Dr. G. Paulraj, & G.Subbulakshmi,

PG and Research Department of Commerce,

V.O. Chidambaram College, Tuticorin, TamilNadu, India.


2.4 DATA ANALYSIS

The responses from mothers were analyzed by using a

statistical package. Scores for each test category were

calculated by assigning correct responses. Mean responses

with standard deviation and percentage analysis of each

category were calculated and presented in the tabular form.

Cross tabulations and chi-square tests 5% significance level

was used to compare indicators across demographic

characteristics (age, educational level, urban and rural

background).

3. RESULTS AND DISCUSSION

3:1 PROFILE OF RESPONDENTS

TABLE 1 Demographic Characteristic of Respondents

Demographic characteristics Frequency %

Age (n = 2685)

< 25 237 8.8

25-30 771 28.7

31-36 1039 38.7

37-42 362 13.5

> 43 276 10.3

Education (n = 2685)

Illiterate 770 28.7

School level 1453 54.1

College level 462 17.2

Occupation (n = 2685)

Housewife 1577 58.7

Employed 624 23.2

Daily wages 484 18.0

Locality (n = 2685)

Urban 1295 48.2

Rural 1390 51.8

Source: Primary Data

Table 1 shows the demographics of the 2685

mothers by age, education, income, occupation and place of

living. Analyzable questionnaires were obtained from 1295

urban mothers and 1390 rural mothers. They were

randomly from household in India in which they had the

primary responsibility of food preparation at home. None of

them were professional food handlers. These respondents

were interviewed face-to-face by well structured

questionnaire by eight trained research assistant and one

investigator. Appropriately 63% of the questionnaires were

filled in by the respondents, while 37 percent was guided in

filling the questionnaires. The majority of the respondents

(38.7%) were in the age group of 25-30 years. About 54.1%

of the respondents were school level educated and more the

one fourth were (28.7%) illiterate. Of all mothers

interviewed, majority of the respondents (55.4%) were

housewives.

HANDLING OF KITCHEN EQUIPMENTS

One of the main causes of contamination is

improper handling and cleaning of kitchen equipments

before and after every use. Ensuring food safety is possible

only through right cleaning methods of kitchen equipments.

There are different methods followed in cleaning of kitchen

equipments such as manual washing and mechanical

washing. The frequency in cleaning kitchen equipments is

main criterion to avoid food borne illness. In this table,

percentage test is used to analyse the frequency of cleaning

kitchen equipments.

TABLE: 2 Frequency of Cleaning Kitchen Equipments Before and After Use

Table 2 shows that the cleaning of kitchen

equipments before and after use. Majority of the mothers

(61.5%) regularly clean the kitchen equipments before and

after use, 29.9% of the mothers clean kitchen equipments

occasionally and the remaining 8.6% of the mothers never

clean the kitchen equipments before and after use. Majority

of the mothers clean the kitchen equipments before and after

every use.

Cleaning of Equipments before and after using

Respondents Percentage

Regularly 1651 61.5

Occasionally 804 29.9

Never 230 8.6

Total 2685 100.0


TABLE: 3 Cleaning of Kitchen Equipments in Urban and Rural Areas

Locality Cleaning of Equipments before and after using

Total Regularly Occasionally Never

Urban

Respondents 857 367 71 1295

Locality 66.2% 28.3% 5.5% 100.0%

Cleaning of Equipments before and after

using 51.9% 45.6% 30.9% 48.2%

Rural

Respondents 794 437 159 1390

Locality 57.1% 31.4% 11.4% 100.0%


using 48.1% 54.4% 69.1% 51.8%

Total

Respondents 1651 804 230 2685

Locality 61.5% 29.9% 8.6% 100.0%


using 100.0% 100.0% 100.0% 100.0%

Table 3 indicates the cleaning of kitchen

equipments before and after every use by mothers in

different localities. More than half (51.8%) of the mothers in

rural area affirm to cleaning the equipments before and after

every use. In it, 57.1% of the mothers clean the kitchen

equipments regularly. 31.4% of the mothers clean the

kitchen equipments occasionally and the remaining 11.4%

of the mothers never clean the kitchen equipments. Further,

48.2% of the mothers in urban area, (66.2%) regularly clean

the kitchen equipments. 28.3% of the mothers clean the

kitchen equipments occasionally and the remaining 5.5% of

the mothers never clean the kitchen equipments.

TABLE 4 Locality of Mothers and the Cleaning of Kitchen Equipments

Chi-Square Tests

Value df Asymp. Sig. (2-sided)

Pearson Chi-Square 38.855a 2 .000

*

Likelihood Ratio 39.688 2 .000

Linear-by-Linear Association 35.917 1 .000

N of Valid Cases 2685

Source: Primary Data *Significant at five per cent level

In this table, the ‘P’ value is less than 0.05. The

null hypothesis is rejected at 5% level of significance.

Therefore, there is association between localities and the

cleaning of kitchen equipments before and after use. Hence,

the mothers’ locality is related to the cleaning of kitchen

equipments before and after use. It is concluded that the

urban mothers take more care to clean the kitchen

equipments when compared to rural mothers.

TABLE: 5 Impact of Age Group in Cleaning the Kitchen Equipments

Age

Cleaning of Equipments before and after using


Below 25


Age 59.1% 31.2% 9.7% 100.0%

Cleaning of Equipments before and

after using 8.5% 9.2% 10.0% 8.8%

25-30


Age 61.3% 28.5% 10.1% 100.0%


after using 28.6% 27.4% 33.9% 28.7%

31-36


Age 61.4% 32.5% 6.1% 100.0%


after using 38.6% 42.0% 27.4% 38.7%

37-42


Age 58.3% 29.8% 11.9% 100.0%


after using 12.8% 13.4% 18.7% 13.5%

Above 43 Respondents 189 64 23 276

Age 68.5% 23.2% 8.3% 100.0%



after using 11.4% 8.0% 10.0% 10.3%

Total

Respondents 1651 804 230 2685

Age 61.5% 29.9% 8.6% 100.0%


after using 100.0% 100.0% 100.0% 100.0%


Table 5 indicates the relationship between cleaning

of kitchen equipments before and after use by the mothers of

different age groups. In cleaning the kitchen equipments,

majority (38.7%) of the mothers are in the age group of 31-

36 years. In this age group, 61.4% of the mothers clean the

kitchen equipments regularly, 32.5% of the mothers clean

the kitchen equipments occasionally and the remaining 6.1%

of the mothers never clean the kitchen equipments. In the

age group of 25-30 years (28.7%), 61.3% of the mothers

clean the kitchen equipments regularly, 28.5% of the

mothers clean the kitchen equipments occasionally and the

remaining 10.1% of the mothers never clean the kitchen

equipments before and after use. In the age group of 37- 42

years (13.5%), 58.3% of the mothers clean the kitchen

equipments regularly, 29.8% of the mothers clean the

kitchen equipments occasionally and the remaining 11.9%

of the mothers never clean the kitchen equipments. In the

age group of above 43years (10.3%), 68.5% of the mothers

clean the kitchen equipments regularly, 23.2% of the



equipments before and after use. In the age group of below

25 years, (8.8%), 59.1% of the mothers clean the kitchen

equipments regularly, 31.2% of the mothers clean the

kitchen equipments occasionally and the remaining 9.7% of

the mothers never clean the kitchen equipments before and

after use. It is concluded that, majority of the mothers under

the age group of 31-36 years clean the kitchen equipments

regularly before and after use.

TABLE 6 Age Group of Mothers and Cleaning the Kitchen Equipments

Chi-Square Tests



*





In this table, ‘P’ value is less than 0.05. The null

hypothesis is rejected at 5% level of significance. Therefore,

there is an association between the age of the mothers and

the habits of cleaning the kitchen equipments before and

after use. Hence, the age of the mothers is related to their

habits in cleaning the kitchen equipments before and after

use.

TABLE: 7 Impact of Level of Education in Cleaning the Kitchen Equipments

Educational

Qualification

Cleaning of Equipments before and after using Total

Regularly Occasionally Never

Illiterate


Educational Qualification 54.9% 34.7% 10.4% 100.0%

Cleaning of Equipments before

and after using 25.6% 33.2% 34.8% 28.7%

School level

Respondents 896 427 130 1453



and after using 54.3% 53.1% 56.5% 54.1%

College level




and after using 20.1% 13.7% 8.7% 17.2%

Total

Respondents 1651 804 230 2685



and after using 100.0% 100.0% 100.0% 100.0%

Table 7 indicates the relationship cleaning of

kitchen equipments before and after use by mothers of

different educational qualification. In cleaning of kitchen

equipments, more than half (54.1%) of the mothers have

completed their school level education. In this group, 61.7%

of the mothers clean the kitchen equipments regularly before


and after use, 29.4% of the mothers clean the kitchen

equipments occasionally and the remaining (8.9%) the

mothers never clean the kitchen equipments before and after

use. It is followed by (28.7%) of the mothers have no

educational qualification and they are considered illiterate.

Among them, 54.9% of the mothers clean the kitchen

equipments regularly before and after use, 34.7% of the



equipments. In addition, 17.2% of the mothers completed

their college level education. In it, 71.9% of the mothers

clean the kitchen equipments regularly before and after use,

23.8% of the mothers clean the kitchen equipments

occasionally and the remaining 4.3% of the mothers never

clean the kitchen equipments before and after use. It is

concluded that, when compared to mothers with college

education and illiterate mothers, more than half of the

mothers with school level education clean the kitchen

equipments before and after use regularly.

TABLE 8 Education of Mothers and Cleaning the Kitchen Equipments

Chi-Square Tests



*





In this table, the ‘P’ value is less than 0.05. The

null hypothesis is rejected at five per cent level of

significance. Therefore, there is a significant association

between the level of education and the habit of cleaning the

kitchen equipments. Hence, the education level of the

mothers is related to their habit in cleaning of kitchen

equipments before and after uses. It is concluded that, the

level of education influences the mothers in cleaning the

kitchen equipments. When the level of education increases,

the habit of cleaning kitchen equipments also increases.

TABLE: 9 Occupational Impacts on Cleaning of Kitchen Equipments

Occupation Cleaning of Equipments


Housewife

Respondents 979 449 149 1577

Occupation 62.1% 28.5% 9.4% 100.0%


and after using 59.3% 55.8% 64.8% 58.7%

Employed


Occupation 62.8% 31.1% 6.1% 100.0%


and after using 23.7% 24.1% 16.5% 23.2%

Daily wager


Occupation 57.9% 33.3% 8.9% 100.0%


and after using 17.0% 20.0% 18.7% 18.0%

Total

Respondents 1651 804 230 2685

Occupation 61.5% 29.9% 8.6% 100.0%


and after using 100.0% 100.0% 100.0% 100.0%

Table 9 indicates the relationship cleaning of

kitchen equipments before and after use by mothers in

different occupation. In cleaning of kitchen equipments,

more than half (58.7%) of them are housewives. Among

them, 62.1% of the mothers clean the kitchen equipments

regularly. 28.5% of the mothers clean the kitchen

equipments occasionally and the remaining 9.4% of the

mothers never clean the kitchen equipments. It is followed

by employed mothers (23.2%). Among them, 62.8% of the

mothers clean the kitchen equipments regularly, 31.1% of

the mothers clean the kitchen equipments occasionally and

the remaining 6.1% of the mothers never clean the kitchen

equipments. Further 18% of the mothers receive daily

wages. In the midst, 57.9% of the mothers clean the kitchen

equipments regularly before and after use, 33.3% of the



equipments. Majority of the mothers who are housewives

clean the kitchen equipments regularly before and after

every use.


TABLE: 10 Occupation of Mothers and Cleaning of Kitchen Equipments


In the study, the ‘P’ value is less than 0.05. The

null hypothesis is rejected at five per cent level of

significance. Therefore, there is a significant association

between the occupation of mothers and their habit of

cleaning the kitchen equipments. Hence, the occupation of

the mothers is related to their habits in cleaning of kitchen

equipments before and after use. It is concluded that,

cleaning of kitchen equipments is influenced by the

occupation of the mothers.

TABLE: 11 Influence of Income in Cleaning the Kitchen Equipments

Monthly Income Cleaning of Equipments


Below Rs.5000

Respondents 980 531 173 1684

Monthly Income 58.2% 31.5% 10.3% 100.0%

Cleaning of Equipments 59.4% 66.0% 75.2% 62.7%

Rs.5000-Rs.15000


Monthly Income 66.1% 27.9% 6.0% 100.0%


Above Rs.15000


Monthly Income 69.5% 25.6% 4.9% 100.0%


Total

Respondents 1651 804 230 2685

Monthly Income 61.5% 29.9% 8.6% 100.0%



Table 11 indicates the relationship between

cleaning of kitchen equipments before and after use in

different income levels of mothers. In cleaning the kitchen

equipments, majority (62.7%) of the mothers’ monthly

income is below Rs.5000. Among them 58.2% of the

mothers clean the kitchen equipments regularly before and

after use, 31.5% of the mothers clean the kitchen



use. The income group of Rs.5000-Rs.15000 (27.4%),

66.1% and 27.9% of the mothers clean the kitchen

equipments regularly and occasionally respectively and the

remaining 6% of the mothers never clean the kitchen

equipments before and after use. Only 9.9% of the mothers’

monthly income is above Rs.15000. Among them, 69.5% of

the mothers clean the kitchen equipments regularly before

and after use, 25.6% of the mothers clean the kitchen



use.

TABLE: 12 Monthly Income of Mothers and Cleaning the Kitchen Equipments

Chi-Square Tests



*





In this table, the ‘P’ value is less than 0.05. The null

hypothesis is rejected at five per cent level of significance.

Therefore, there is a significant association between the

income of mothers and their habits of cleaning the kitchen

equipments. Hence, the income level of the mothers is

related to their habits of cleaning kitchen equipments before

and after use.

CONCLUSION

Majority of mothers (61.5%) regularly clean the

kitchen equipments. Only negligible respondents (8.6%)

never clean the equipments. The middle age group of

mothers (31-36 years) takes regular effort to clean kitchen

equipments compare to other age groups of mothers. In the

different levels of education, school level educated mothers

give more importance to clean the kitchen equipments than

Chi-Square Tests



*


Linear-by-Linear Association .169 1 .681



the illiterate and college level educated mothers.

Housewives take much effort to clean the kitchen

instruments before and after cleaning use.

In compare to different levels of income of mothers,

majority of the income group of below RS.5,000 never clean

the kitchen equipments. The mothers in the age group of

below 30 years and the mothers in the illiterate and college

level mothers should be advised to regular cleaning of

kitchen equipments. Awareness should be created among

the employed and daily wagers about the importance of

hygienic practices of cleaning kitchen equipments for the

family health.

REFERENCES

Todd, EC,

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed?term=%22Todd

%20EC%22%5BAuthor%5D Michaels BS, Smith D,

Greig JD, Bartleson CA., (2010). Outbreaks where

food workers have been implicated in the spread of

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hands to reduce microbial contamination. Department

of Advertising Public Relations and Retailing,

Michigan State University, East Lansing, Michigan

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Bloomfield, S. F., & Scott, E. (1997). Cross-contamination

and infection in the domestic environment and the role

of chemical disinfectants. Journal of Applied

Microbiology, 83(1), 1–9.

Snelling, A. M., Kerr, K. G., & Heritage, J. (1991). The

survival of Listeria monocytogenes on fingertips and

factors affecting elimination of the organism by

handwashing and disinfection. Journal of Food

Protection, 54, 343–348.

Guzewich, J. J., & Ross, M. P., (1999). White paper, section

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Science, Texas Agri Life Extension Service, College

Station, TX.

***

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed?term=%22Todd%20EC%22%5BAuthor%5D

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed?term=%22Todd%20EC%22%5BAuthor%5D

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mailto:[email protected]

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/21067683


Abstract

This paper attempted to explore the human related aspects of

TQM practices in Service organizations (commercial

banks). Soft TQM signifies any forms of business efforts

dedicated to human-related dimensions of TQM, namely,

leadership and top management commitment, customer

focus, training and education, empowerment, and reward &

recognition. The samples of the study were 250 employees

of commercial banks located in Hyderabad Karnataka

region. The tool of analysis used in this study was

descriptive statistics. The finding of the study showed that

all Soft TQM dimensions were well implemented as part of

commercial bank’s quality management practices with

empowerment appears to be a dominant practice. The result

of the study prescribed potential implications for the

management of commercial banks in Hyderabad Karnataka

region to include human related aspect of TQM as an

integral part of the company’s strategic vision to obtain

higher level of employees’ commitment.

Keywords : Empowerment, Human aspects, Management

commitment, Service organization, TQM.

I. Introduction & Literature review

A number of researchers urge that for TQM to be fully

successful, it requires a wide-ranging adoption of “softer”

approaches (Schonberger,1994) whose dimensions

comprise, in essence, elements of human resources

management (Dale et al., 1994, Wilkinson, 1992). In

addition, substantial amount of inquiries on the linkage

between various TQM facets with company performance

showed that it is the software determinants of TQM that

mainly affect business performance (Powell, 1995;

Sureshchandar et al.,2002; Weeks et al., 1995). For

example, Powell (1995) found that only three out of the 12

dimensions of TQM, namely, top executive’s dedication,

open management, and empowerments, are significantly

related to the whole business results. He concluded that

“STQM oriented companies can surpass their rivals with no

supplementing TQM philosophy”.

Sureshchandar (2002) investigated the association of total

quality service (TQS) with customer perception on service

quality and concluded that TQS elements, all together, are

definitely excellent forecasters of service quality. Besides,

the soft side of TQS (including top leaders commitment,

customer orientation, empowerment, staff member’s

contentment, training and education, reward and

recognition) appear to be more important than the hard side

of TQM in positively affecting consumer perception on

service. The results of these inquiries support the statement

that TQM is human-oriented management approach (Evans

& Lindsay, 2002).

Unlike other resources like technology, for instance, Human

Resources (HR) are different because their skills are unique,

which cannot be replicated flawlessly by their rivals, hence

making it a natural aptitude for synergy (Evans & Lindsay,

2002; Rahman, 2002). Therefore, to be effective, TQM

adoption should depend mostly on the enthusiasm, expertise,

dedication and extra-role behavior of staff members in

organizations. It has been argued that the benefits of TQM

will come to surface when business organizations seriously

consider employees as the critical success factor for TQM

adoption (Pfeffer, 1994).

Due to its significance, increasing attention has been paid by

scholars in examining human factors in TQM (e.g. Boselie

& Van der Wiele, 2002; Brah, et al., 2002; Chen, 1997; Fok

et al., 2000; Helen & Gerry, 1996; Karia & Abu Hassan

Asaari, 2006; Mehra & Ranganathan, 2008; Montes et al.,

2003; Ooi et al., 2005; Ooi et al., 2006; Powell, 1995, Yang,

2006). TQM HR-related facets such as joint effort,

participative management, ingeniousness, effectual

communication, consumer response, workers participation

and autonomy, staff members and leaders trust and

encouragement, have been looked into (Guimaraes, 1996).

But despite the existing works, the number is still deficient.

For that reason, more inquiries on the soft dimensions of

TQM in service settings are certainly needed.

Leadership plays a role as a determinant of successful TQM

implementation. According to Kochan et al. (1995),

employees should be held accountable for any deviation

between business achievement and applied technology

capacity. As claimed by Mehra and Ranganathan (2008),

quality improvement program cannot be treated as the

responsibility of the production department alone; instead it

becomes every one’s job in the institution. Quality

enhancement should work as an important belief and guide

in running the business. Hence, everybody in the

organization should enthusiastically participate in the

overall business.

A number of scholars have suggested that the survival of a

business is determined by its ability to integrate HRM and

TQM into operation (Redman & Mathews, 1998). Quality

scholars, researchers, lecturers and practitioners are aware

The Human related dimensions of TQM practices

in service organizations: A empirical study of

commercial banks in Hyderabad, Karnataka Region

Giridhari Tiwari, Asst. Prof., MBA dept., Rural Engineering College, Bhalki , Dist : Bidar (Karnataka)

Dr. P.T. Chaudhari, Professor, Head Commerce dept., M. J. College, Jalgaon (Maharashtra)


that HR matters can be at the centre of the quality theory

and that worker participation and dedication are the critical

success factor in implementing quality programs (Blackburn

& Rosen, 1993; Hart & Schlesinger, 1991; IPM, 1993;

Soltani et al., 2004)..

To date, scholars and practitioners appeared to be concerned

with the inquiry and adoption of the hard sides of quality

upgrading (mainly ISO 9000 certification), which are

evidenced in the literatures since 1990s. However, there is a

growing interest among scholars on the need for a shift in

quality thought by giving more attention on the management

of labor and also on strategic human resources management

(Blackburn & Rosen, 1993; Soltani et al., 2004; Vouzas,

2004). It is suggested in the literature that TQM

implementation will fail if applied in isolation; therefore it

should be integrated with other management approach such

as HRM. To this end, additional effort should be made to

assess organization by appraising their HR capacity and the

prospective level of quality adoption (Vouzas, 2007).

II. Objectives of the study

1. To understand the various human related aspects of

soft TQM practice by commercial banks in

Hyderabad Karnataka region.

2. To study & analyze the human resources

dimensions are integrated with practices soft total

quality management (TQM) in commercial banks

of Hyderabad Karnataka region.

3. This study is attempted to describe the extend of

soft total quality management (TQM) practice by

commercial banks in Hyderabad Karnataka region.

III. Hypotheses H0 : HR related dimensions of soft TQM practices

have a significant positive effect on employee

performance of commercial banks in Hyderabad

Karnataka region.

H1 : HR related dimensions of soft TQM practices

do not have a significant positive effect on

employee performance of commercial banks in

Hyderabad Karnataka region.

IV. Methodology

This study is descriptive in nature which describes soft

TQM practices by commercial banks in Hyderabad

Karnataka region. The survey instrument was six-page

questionnaire divided into three sections. The first section

was designed to obtain the respondents profile and

particulars of the company with regards to nature of

business and mode of execution. The second section relates

to the implementation of Soft TQM programs and is divided

into five parts. The research statements were developed by

the researchers, taking into account the past literature and in

consultation with experts in the industry. The third section

in the questionnaire relates to employees work related

outcomes, however they are not presented in this paper.

The variables measured in this study consist of five

dimension of Soft TQM as the independent variables,

namely:Top Management Commitment; Customer Focus;

Training and Education; Employee Empowerment; and

finally Reward and Recognition. The methods of analysis

used were descriptive statistics and the respondents of the

study were employees of commercial banks located in

Hyderabad Karnataka region. The study was conducted

between July 2011 until December 2011. About 500

questionnaires were sent to respondents and 265 were

returned. However only 250 were usable for further

analysis.

V. Results

The following table describes the means and standard

deviation bank’s commitment to Soft TQM in Hyderabad

Karnataka region.

Table 1: Descriptive Statistics on Soft TQM (n=250)

Table 1: Descriptive Statistics on Soft

TQM (n=250)

Minimum Maximum Mean Std. Deviation

Top Management Commitment 2.00 7.00 5.7312 0.86296

Reward and Recognition 1.50 7.00 5.7545 0.91518

Education and Training 1.71 7.00 5.5972 0.88225

Employee Empowerment 1.75 7.00 5.9256 0.78529

Customer Focus 1.00 7.00 5.2781 1.01720

Table 1 shows that Commercial banks in HK region

emphasize more employee empowerment (mean= 5.9256,

standard deviation= 0.78529) than other dimensions of Soft

TQM. On a Likert’s seven point scale (1= very low to 7=

very high), it can be concluded that commercial banks in

HK region pay good attention to the implementation of top

management commitment, customer focus, and employee

empowerment. Detailed responses on soft TQM are

presented in Table 2.

Table 2: Item Score for Each Construct

Factor 1: Top Management Commitment

Items 1) Top mgmt. actively participates in quality management and improvement process

2) Top mgmt. empowers employees

3) Top mgmt. arranges adequate resources for employee’s education and training

4) Top mgmt. pursues long term business success

5) Top mgmt. actively promotes and communicates the culture of service quality and excellence

6) Top mgmt. encourages staff participation when setting quality management strategy


Items 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 Total

1 F

P

0

0

2

0.8

4

1.6

17

6.8

102

40.8

50

20.0

75

30,0

250

100.0

2 F

P

0

0

0

0

5

2.0

23

9.2

75

30.0

81

32.4

66

26.4

250

100.0

3 F

P

0

0

2

0.8

8

3.2

20

8.0

60

24.0

88

35.2

72

28.8

250

100.0

4 F

P

1

0.4

1

0.4

5

2.0

21

8.4

64

25.6

78

31.2

80

32.0

250

100.0

5 F

P

0

0

0

0

10

4.0

32

12.8

58

23.2

83

33.2

67

26.8

250

100.0

6 F

P

0

0

2

0.8

5

2.0

22

8.8

71

28.4

75

30.0

75

30.0

250

100.0

Total 1 14 111 540 2150 2730 3045 8591

Total score for Top Management Commitment - (8591/10500) *100 = 81.8% (very good)

Factor 2: Rewards and Recognition

Items 1) Co. improves working conditions in order to recognize employee quality improvement efforts

2) The Co’s compensation system encourages team and individual contributions

3) Rewards and recognitions system within the company is based on work quality

4) Employee’s reward and penalties are clearly communicated

5) Employees are involved in determining kind of rewards


1 F

P

1

0.4

3

1.2

4

1.6

27

10.8

71

28.4

77

30.8

67

26.8

250

100.0

2 F

P

2

0.8

1

0.4

5

2.0

34

13.6

64

25.6

82

32.8

62

24.8

250

100.0

3 F

P

2

0.8

0

0

11

4.4

32

12.8

65

26.0

83

33.2

57

22.8

250

100.0

4 F

P

4

1.6

1

0.4

12

4.8

50

20.0

64

25.6

59

23.6

60

24.0

250

100.0

5 F

P

15

6.0

2

0.8

19

7.6

75

30.0

40

16.0

48

19.2

51

20.4

250

100.0

Total 24 14 153 872 1520 2094 2079 6756

Total score for Reward and Recognition - (6756/8750) *100% = 77.2 % (very good)

Factor 3: Education and Training (ET)

Items

1) Resources are available for employee’s education and training within the company

2) Quality and customer service training are given to staff throughout the company

3) Employees are trained on how to use quality management methods

4) Employees are involved in the evaluation and improvement of the training program

5) Employees are consistently trained on team building and group dynamics

6) Our institution consistently link quality training with spiritual values

7) Employees are encouraged to accept education and training within the company satisfaction


1 F

P

1

0.4

2

0.8

6

2.4

24

9.6

66

26.4

83

33.2

68

27.2

250

100.0

2 F

P

0

0

3

1.2

4

1.6

18

7.2

61

24.4

80

32.0

84

33.6

250

100.0

3 F

P

2

0.8

0

0

4

1.6

32

12.8

64

25.6

79

31.6

69

27.6

250

100.0

4 F

P

0

0

1

0.4

7

2-8

40

16.0

63

25.2

77

30.8

62

24.8

250

100.0

5 F

P

0

0

1

0.4

18

7.2

18

7.2

71

28.4

80

32.0

62

24.8

250

100.0

6 F

P

2

0.8

0

0

8

3.2

36

14.4

70

28.0

71

28.4

63

25.2

250

100.0

7

F

P

8

3.2

5

2.0

9

3.6

56

14.4

62

24.8

45

18.0

65

25.2

250

100.0

Total 13 24 168 896 2285 3090 3311 9787


Total Score for Education and Training - (9787/12250)*100% = 79.9% (very good)

Factor 4: Empowerment

Items 1) The company always encourages me to offer ideas about workplace improvement

2) I am fully responsible for the work that I have been assigned to

3) Our staffs are encouraged to work as a team rather than individual their responsibility

4) Employees are given adequate authority in controlling the quality of their jobs


1 F

P

0

0

0

0

2

0.8

15

6.0

61

24.4

75

30.0

97

38.8

250

100.0

2 F

P

0

0

1

0.4

6

2.4

31

12.4

75

30.0

76

30.4

61

24.4

250

100.0

3 F

P

0

0

0

0

12

4.8

13

5.2

54

21.6

73

29.2

98

39.2

250

100.0

4 F

P

0

0

2

0.8

2

0.8

12

4.8

53

21.2

103

41.2

78

31.2

250

100.0

Total 0 6 66 284 1215 1962 2338 5871

Total score for Empowerment - (5871/7000)*100% = 83.9% (very good)

Factor 5: Customer focus

Items 1) The company conducts a customer satisfaction survey every year

2) We continuously build and sustain a customer oriented culture

3) All employees believe that delivering high quality service to customers are their responsibility

4) Our Co. directs resources optimally for meeting and exceeding customer satisfaction


1 F

P

4

1.6

2

0.8

10

4.0

38

15.2

61

24.4

72

28.8

63

25.2

250

100.0

2 F

P

1

0.4

3

1.2

4

1.6

28

11.2

60

24.0

82

32.8

72

28.8

250

100.0

3 F

P

1

0.4

1

0.4

2

0.8

9

3.6

55

22.0

78

31.2

104

41.6

250

100.0

4 F

P

0

0

10

4.0

3

1.2

23

9.2

63

25.2

84

33.6

67

26.8

250

100.0

Total 6 32 57 392 1195 1896 2142 5720

Total Score for Customer Driven - (5720/7000)*100% = 81.7% (very good)

Note: F = Frequencies; P = %age

Based on the above analysis, three out of five dimensions of

soft TQM have a score above 80%. It can be concluded that

the implementation of soft TQM in commercial banks in

Hyderabad Karnataka region is very good. Employee

empowerment is among the best practice of soft TQM

dimension in bank with a score of 83.9%. However,

commercial banks should be concerned about rewards &

recognition as it shows lowest score than other dimensions

of soft TQM.

VI. Discussion

There are five dimension of soft TQM: top management

commitment, reward and recognition, education and

training, empowerment, and customer focus. As mentioned

earlier, commercial banks in Hyderabad Karnataka region

emphasize more on employee empowerment (mean=

5.9256, standard deviation= 0.78529) than other dimensions

of soft TQM. On a seven-point scale (1= very low to 7=

very high), it can be concluded that commercial banks in

Hyderabad Karnataka region pay good attention to the

implementation of top management commitment, customer

focus and employee empowerment. Based on descriptive

statistics performed on each category of soft TQM, as

depicted in table 2, conclusion can be made regarding best

practices in commercial banking in Hyderabad Karnataka

region.

There are three best practices of top management

commitment based on the responses obtained. A majority

(90.8%) of respondents agree that top management of

commercial banks in HK region actively participate in

quality management and improvement process, while 88.8%

agree that top management pursue long term business

success & empowers employees. The third best practices are

related to top management commitment in commercial

banks to encourage staff participation when setting quality

management strategy, as reported by 88.4% of the

respondents. Leaders should authorize and support their

employees to participate in quality improvement effort, and

develop cross-functional teamwork and customer-supplier

partnership. True leaders should promote quality in several

ways. In fact, a leader can inspire people to do things they


do not believe they can do. Commercial bank’s top

management commitment in this case are aligned with the

world’s leading practices on quality leadership in which

leaders should build a strategic vision and precise quality

values that serve as a source for business decision; create

high expectations; show strong personal commitment and

participation in quality which appears to be a missionary-

like fashion; assimilate quality values into every day

leadership and management; and uphold quality excellence

environment (Evans & Lindsay, 2002).

Among the best practices related to the second dimension of

STQM are as follows: improvement of working condition

by bank’s management in order to recognize quality

improvement efforts (86.0%); the compensation system of

commercial banks is considered good because it encourages

team and individual contributions towards the company’s

betterment (83.2%). This successful practice is already

applied by some quality-oriented companies in the world.

The second practice revealed in this case is good

compensation schemes, that should attract, retain and

motivate employees individually and teams, which as

reported 83.2 % of respondents. The third best practice is

related to the reward and recognition system imposed by

commercial banks in HK region (82 %) that is based on the

quality of work performance. Leading companies place a

strong emphasis on recognizing and rewarding behavior, not

just results (Evans & Lindsay, 2002). Awards systems that

go against quality values should be modified and eliminated.

The other two indicators of rewards and recognition

construct obtain a score below 80%. Only 73.2% of the

respondents support the view that “employees of the

commercial banks perceived that rewards and penalties were

not optimally communicated”. Unexpectedly, the fifth

indicator of reward and recognition obtains the lowest score.

Only 55.6 % support the statement that employees are

involved in determining kind of rewards. This means

employees thought that institutions do not involve their

employees in determining rewards and kinds. Most

important of all, rewards should create favorable work

behaviors that increase customer satisfaction.

The third dimension of soft TQM is education and training.

The top three best perceived practices are: quality and

customer service training are given to staff throughout the

company (90 %), there is a sufficient amount of resources

available for education and training within commercial

banks (86.8%) and employees are consistently trained on

team building and group dynamics (85.2 %). Despite

education and training being one of the largest initial costs

in a total quality initiative, commercial banks management

in Hyderabad Karnataka region have shown satisfactory

efforts in improving their employees quality through

education and training. Quality related training and

education would enhance the knowledge and skills of

Commercial bank employees which result in job efficiency

and effectiveness. Every production effort should be

performed at the lowest possible cost, as zero defect is a

performance standard. Zero defect means doing things right

the first time and every time. Such performance can only be

shown by well-educated and trained employees.

The fourth dimension of soft TQM is empowerment.

Around 93.6 % of commercial banks employees in

Hyderabad Karnataka region agree that Employees are given

adequate authority in controlling the quality of their jobs and

93.2% respondents agree that the institution always

encourages employees to offer ideas about workplace

improvements. Moreover, education and training is

promoted as a necessary step towards empowerment. Highly

educated employees are expected to make better decision

than those who are not. In addition, 90 % of respondents

feels that they are encouraged to work as a team rather than

individual within the companies. Empowerment requires

substantial training & commercial banks management

devotion to resources to education and training support the

process of empowerment. Individual and teams within the

commercial banks are empowered to make decisions that

affect quality and customer satisfaction.

The fifth dimension of soft TQM is customer focus. In

quality-oriented firms, every effort made must be customer

driven. This is also the case for commercial banks in

Hyderabad Karnataka region. The assessment made on

Commercial banks customer orientation indicates that

94.8% believe that delivering high quality services to

customers are their responsibility,85.4 % of respondents

agree that their institutions direct resources optimally to

meet and/or exceed customer satisfaction and support the

idea that continuously building and sustaining a customer-

oriented culture. Finally 78.4% employees report that their

institutions conduct customer satisfaction survey every year.

Management of Commercial banks are aware that focusing

on customer is not just a matter of quality issue; but it is

rather a sound business practice. High competition in the

industry forces Commercial banks to provide excellent

services to customers so that customer retention is

accomplished. Through customer satisfaction survey, the

management of commercial banks could gauge the level of

customer satisfaction and evaluate and improve their

internal processes.

VII. Conclusion and Recommendations

This study contributes to the understanding to the human

related aspects of TQM practice by commercial banks. It has

been revealed from this

study that the human resources related dimensions of soft

total quality management have a significant positive effect

on the employee performance in the commercial banks of

Hyderabad Karnataka region. Hence the hypotheses is

accepted.

Empowerment appears to be a dominant practice of soft

TQM among commercial banks management followed by

rewards and recognition and top management commitment.

Successful soft TQM implementation with respect to top

management commitment, reward and recognition,

education and training, empowerment, and customer focus,

is crucial to develop favorable work attitudes and behaviors

such as job satisfaction, organizational commitment,

organizational citizenship behavior, and loyalty. These

findings suggest several courses of action for improving


work related outcomes of commercial bank employees in

Hyderabad Karnataka region. First, there should be strong

top management commitment on quality of human

resources; second, reward system should be based on quality

performance & it should be clearly communicated; third,

investment should be made on employee education and

training; fourth spiritual values must be integrated with

human resources management in commercial banks. To

obtain employee favorable behavior at work, continuous

training facilities must be provided. Furthermore,

competency based human resources management training

should be adopted to ensure employees effectiveness &

efficiency at work.

References

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human resources management: lessons learned from

Baldridge award-winning companies‟‟, Academy of

Management Executive, Vol. 17 No. 3, pp. 49-66.

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perceptions of HRM and TQM and the effects on

satisfaction and intention to leave. Managing Service

Quality, 12(3), 853-864.

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Relationship between TQM and performance of

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and Reliability Management, 19(4), 356-379.

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management in Taiwan: Leadership and human

resources management. International Journal of Quality

& Reliability Management, 14(1), 24-45.

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Managing quality and human resources: A guide to

continuous improvement,Oxford: Blackwell

6. Evans, J. R., & Lindsay, W. M. (2002). The

management and control of quality (5th ed.). Cincinnati,

OH: South-Western.

7. Fok, L., Hartman, S., Patti, A., & Razek, J. (2000).

Human factors affecting the acceptance of total quality

management. International Journal of Quality and

Reliability Management, 17(7), 714-729.

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intentions before/after TQM, International Journal of

Quality and Reliability Management, Vol.14 No.1,

pp.46-63

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A comparative case analysis. International Journal of

Manpower, 17(6/7), 89

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people. Boston, MA: Harvard Business School Press.

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People Management Matters, IPM Research Series,

Short Run Press Ltd, Exeter.

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effects of total quality management practices on

employee work-related attitudes,The TQM Magazine,

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Total quality management and human resource systems:

an international comparison, The International Journal

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total quality management with a focus on enhancing

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and Reliability Management, Vol. 25 No. 9, pp. 913-

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management and organizational performance,

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Management, Vol.20, No.2, pp.189-209

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practices and affective commitment: a case of

Malaysian semiconductor packaging organizations,

International Journal of Management and

Entrepreneurship, Vol.2, No.1, pp. 37-55

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competitive advantage: A review and empirical study.

Strategic Management Journal, 16, 15-37.

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management lessons from a decade of total quality

management and reengineering. California

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Williams, T. (2004), „„HR performance evaluation in

the context of TQM: a review of the literature‟‟,

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Management, Vol. 21 No. 4, pp. 377-96 .

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N. (2002). The relationship between management

perception of total quality service and customer

perceptions of service quality. Total Quality

Management, 13(1), 69-88.

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context and content on TQM, business excellence and

ISO 9001:2000, Measuring Business Excellence, Vol.

11 no. 3 2007, pp. 21-29,

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and the management of labor, Employee Relations, Vol.

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issues and human resources dimension. Total Quality

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Competitive Advantage, Vol.1, No.1, pp.97-105

***


ABSTRACT

In today’s scenario, Insurance Companies must move from

merely selling Insurance to marketing it as an essential

financial product. The distributors play a dual role – as

trusted financial advisors for the clients and trusted business

associates for the Insurance companies.

An insurer needs to think about the appropriate distribution

channel to reach its target customer as well as the product

that it is going to sell. The choice of customer and the nature

of product will influence the distribution structure. However

in India, joint ventures are formed such that distribution

structures are often pre-determined by the nature of partners.

For instance, if one of the partners in a tie-up is a bank, the

focus is commonly on bancassurance whereas if the joint

venture is one with a corporate house, invariably the

majority business is through the agency channel. This

implies that the insurer’s decision on product features;

pricing and target market will necessarily be influenced by

the distribution structure that the joint venture is endowed

with.

Keeping in mind the importance of distribution channels in

life insurance industry the present research consists of a

study of concept of insurance, distribution channels of life

insurance and also a survey has been done by the researcher

to know preferences of customers towards choice of

distribution channels like insurance advisors, bancassurance,

brokers, corporate agents etc. for buying insurance plans.

1. INSURANCE

1.1 CONCEPT OF INSURANCE

Definition of Insurance1

Insurance is a policy from a large financial institution that

offers a person, company, or other entity reimbursement or

financial protection against possible future losses or

damages.

Insurance is something that everyone will need sometime,

and it's worth understanding it before you buy.

Insurance include vehicle insurance, which includes auto,

motorcycle, and boat insurance, health insurance, life

insurance, home insurance, travel insurance, personal

property insurance, keyman insurance, dental insurance,

rental insurance, and more.

1 http://www.economywatch.com/insurance/DOAccession

07/06/11

What is Insurance

Insurance is a form of risk-management which spreads the

risk of many people in exchange for small payments from

each individual. Specifically, insurance transfers some type

of risk (accident, theft, natural disaster, illness, etc) from

one person or group to a more financially-sound entity in

exchange for a payment (also known as an insurance

premium). Premiums are often annual or monthly, but

depending on the type of insurance they can be at other

intervals.

For example, a consumer can pay a certain amount to an

insurer such as ICICI Lombard each year to insure that

person's car. This sum represents the insurance company's

assessment of the likelihood that the car will be damaged or

wrecked. These data are normally taken from historical

figures relating to the age, sex, profession, driving record,

and accident history of the insured, as well as statistics

concerning make and model of the car and its accident

record, as well as the engine size, number of passengers, and

even color of the vehicle.

Statistically, if the make and model of the vehicle in

question, and/or its driver have been in numerous accidents,

the insurance company will charge a higher premium in

order to hedge expected losses. As the risk increases, so too

do the premiums. In fact, sometimes, insurance companies

will not even insure certain people and/or vehicles as the

chance of them having to make a payout (in the event of an

accident) will be almost guaranteed.

Definition of Life Insurance

Insurance that guarantees a specific sum of money to a

designated beneficiary upon the death of the insured or to

the insured if he or she lives beyond a certain age.Life

insurance is meant to replace the loss of earned income on

the death of the breadwinner. An individual may insure to

protect the education or marriage plans of his children or to

offset a home loan liability on his untimely death2.

1.2 LIFE INSURANCE: DISTRIBUTION CHANNELS3

2 http://www.shvoong.com/medicine-and-health/1773832-exact-

meaning-life-insurance/#ixzz1RVL0qH32DOAccession 06/05/11 3 http://www.docstoc.com/docs/53255029/6-Distribution-of-life-insurance-products-in-India-and-inherent-risks-Kunj-Behari-10th-GCA D.O.Accession 26/06/11

A Study of choice of customers towards

distribution channels of Life Insurance Industry

Sanjay Manocha, Assistant Professor, BVIMR, New Delhi, India

Sr. Subhash Chand Chitkara, Reader & Head (Retired), Department of Commerce, S.S.V. (PG)

College, Hapur (U.P.), India

http://www.economywatch.com/insurance/DOAccession

http://www.shvoong.com/medicine-and-health/1773832-exact-meaning-life-insurance/#ixzz1RVL0qH32DOAccession

http://www.shvoong.com/medicine-and-health/1773832-exact-meaning-life-insurance/#ixzz1RVL0qH32DOAccession

http://www.docstoc.com/docs/53255029/6-Distribution-of-life-insurance-products-in-India-and-inherent-risks-Kunj-Behari-10th-GCA%20D.O.Accession




Two distinct forms of distribution systems may be

recognised viz. personal distribution systems and direct

response systems. Personal distribution systems include

channels like agencies, bancassurance and work site

marketing. Direct response distribution systems are methods

whereby the client purchases the insurance directly. This

segment, which utilizes various media such as the internet,

telemarketing, direct mail, call centers etc., is just beginning

to grow.

Traditionally, tied agency has been the primary channel for

insurance distribution in the Indian market. Whilst this

continues, there is increasing contribution by bancassurance

and an emergence of other channels such as Direct

Marketing/Tele Marketing, brokers, call centres and mall-

assurance.

Agency, as a channel of insurance distribution involves

selling insurance policies through tied agents which are

hired by insurance companies on a commission basis. Prior

to 2000, the Life Insurance Corporation of India (“LIC”)

was the only player in the Indian insurance market and it

emphasised on hiring agents to sell its insurance policies. At

that time, LIC had around 800,000 agents across the

country. Therefore it was not surprising that agency was the

core distribution channel in the insurance market, when the

market was opened up to new entrants.

With over 2,000 branches and one million agents to

distribute its policies at present, LIC’s distribution structure

is still agency dominated. It emphasises on hiring local

agents in every locality, which helps build credibility of the

agents with the customers and provides a sense of security

to the policyholders while buying the policies.

With the liberalisation of insurance sector in 2000, many

private insurers emerged in the market. This also saw an

emergence of alternative distribution channels besides

agency, such as bancassurance, tele-marketing, corporate

agents etc.

Important as it is, tied agency is expected to continue to be a

dominant channel of insurance distribution in the coming

years. It provides an opportunity to develop a good

distribution network quickly across the country, including

rural areas. Many companies are constantly increasing their

agency force in order to capture a larger market.

Even within the channel, companies are looking at

innovations to improve the low productivity of agents,

which has been a cause of concern for long. There have

been suggestions in the media that productivity levels have

been low because of companies focusing more on head

count expansion rather than improving productivity as well

as due to relatively lower levels of commissions. Some

companies are now beginning to understand the social needs

and attitudes of the consumers and are accordingly

sensitizing their agents. For instance, there is a considerable

respect for age in Indian society and a general belief that an

older person knows better. Playing on such sentiments, there

may be a case for recruiting some older people to sell

products such as pensions and annuities. To increase

penetration in rural areas, some companies have found it

beneficial to recruit more female agents in rural areas, with

whom women customers can relate, e.g. nurses, gram

sevikas, and thus target the female segment of the

population more effectively. Max New York Life has

adopted a version of this strategy by appointing gram

sahayaks to sell and service the rural customers.

Emergence of bancassurance

Bancassurance, as the name suggests, refers to sale of

insurance policies through the bank’s established branch

network. It is basically selling insurance products and

services by leveraging the large customer base of a bank and

fulfilling, both, the banking and insurance needs of the

customer at the same time.

With the entry of private players in the Indian insurance

market, bancassurance emerged as an important channel of

distribution for insurance products. Banks have emerged as

the preferred alternative distribution channel in the last 3 to

4 years. India has close to 69,000 bank branches spread over

rural and urban locations, offering a good network for

potential insurance penetration. For the private insurers,

bancassurance channel contributes about 20% to 30% of the

business volumes.

Other alternative distribution channels

Many insurers, in order to gain an edge over the others and

capture a larger market share are beginning to use

alternative distribution channels such as corporate agency,

brokers, direct mail, tele-marketing etc.

Corporate agency refers to any third party corporate/firm

licensed by the IRDA as a "corporate agent" to distribute

life insurance business. Current and potential corporate

agents range from multi-level marketing companies to

finance and Non-Banking Finance Companies (“NBFCs”),

stock brokers and so on. Most insurers have tied-up with

NBFCs to provide extra leverage on distribution.

Individual Financial Advisor (“IFA”) is another potential

channel for insurance distribution, though presently it is

virtually non-existent in India. IFAs are independent

professionals who offer unbiased advice on financial

matters. In the UK, the term IFA was coined to describe

advisors working independently for their clients, rather than

representing an insurance company. As of now life

insurance business written through IFAs is relatively low in

India, but looking at the experience of other developed

markets, this channel’s potential cannot be ruled out.

Another set of channels, which are undeveloped in India are

Direct Mail (“DM”) and Tele Marketing (“TM”). This

mainly refers to marketing of insurance policies via the mail

or over the phone.

2. REVIEW OF PRESENT LITERATURE

Considering that the Indian Insurance industry relies heavily

on the traditional agency distribution channel, the IRDA

Chairman suggested the need to develop alternative

distribution channels of independent intermediaries,

Bancassurance, Direct Marketing, the Internet, and

Telemarketing - all of which cost less and enable reaching a

wider target market.

Though various aspects of Insurance have been studied so

far, not much attention has been paid to the distribution

channel analysis of the Insurance sector companies. A brief

survey of the studies done on Insurance is presented briefly.


On 19th

January 1956, the government promulgated Life

Insurance (Emergency Provisions) Ordinance through which

it took temporary charge of the Life Insurance business of

154 Indian and non-Indian insurers and of 75 provident fund

societies operating in the country (Aggarwal, 1960). On

18th June 1956, the government brought the bill in the

parliament for the formation of LIC. The bill, better known

as Life Insurance Corporation of India Act, 1956, came into

force on 1st September 1956 through which the government

took over the Life Insurance business of the country. The

LIC is a monopolistic and monolithic institution, the only

exception being the postal Life Insurance and a few

compulsory schemes of Life Insurance for state employees

managed by some state governments.

Edmister (1987) opines that Insurance is a mechanism,

which involves two fundamental characteristics, viz.,

transferring and shifting risk from one individual to a group

and sharing losses on some equitable basis by all members

of the group. Insurance companies using the law of large

numbers predict what percentage of persons of a group

would die at a certain age and thus prepare tables containing

these percentages called Mortality Statistics. These

Mortality Statistics are an important aspect of portfolio

management of the company because the timing and

frequency of death affect the timing and amount of liquid

asset that the company needs.

Bhole (1999) comments, that, historically, Life Insurance

Corporation of India, and, General Insurance Corporation of

India, dominates Insurance sector. The Government set up

the Malhotra Reforms Committee in 1993 to make

recommendations for reforms and privatization in Indian

Insurance. Consequent to it, these six international

Insurance chains were allowed to enter the Indian Insurance

Market in early 1996 by tying up with India’s leading

industrial groups but this process of privatization suffered a

setback when the Insurance Regulatory Authority (IRA) Bill

was withdrawn.

Anand Prakash (2006) in his article, “Revitalization of

Rural Markets through Insurance”, has mentioned that

awareness is the most important thing as people in poor

regions are not familiar with the concept of Insurance.

Insurance companies must work around this problem as a

corporate social responsibility in countries like India where

there is no state social security system.

The traditional agency channel for doing so may not be

sustainable in the longer term in rural segment unless

significant changes are made towards poor training, lower

productivity, ineffective sales management, part-time sales

of low quality, and high agent turnover.

Shikha Sharma, MD, ICICI Prudential Life Insurance

Co. Ltd. (2009), in her article, “Life Insurance - The

Challenges Ahead”, has mentioned that Increasing the

penetration of Insurance is probably the single greatest

challenge before Life insurers today. Not only is it just over

one-fifth of the insurable population of this country actually

insured, but most of those who possess Life Insurance are

underinsured - evident from the fact that in a country of over

1 billion people, Life Insurance premium until very recently

formed only 1.8 per cent of GDP. In fact, it’s in recognition

of the huge potential of the market and the need to make

Insurance, particularly Life Insurance, available on a wider

scale, that the government opened the industry to private

players.

A large part of the success of the new entrants ran be

attributed to the government appointed Insurance

Regulatory and Development Agency (IRDA), which

developed the regulatory framework. The regulations

governing the Life and non-Life insurers are pragmatic and

forward-looking, ensuring the customer is protected and

creating an environment for thriving private sector

participation and a level playing field.

Undoubtedly, the largest beneficiaries of privatization have

been the customers, who now have an array of policies to

choose from, a number of channels to approach insurers

through, levels of customer service so far unseen in this

industry, and more information about their investments than

ever before.

3. RESEARCH METHODOLOGY

This research under consideration is an attempt to study the

customer preferences towards life insurance among other

saving alternatives, with the following objectives.

Objectives of the Study:

The study is conducted with the following objectives;

To know about concept of Insurance

To know about various distribution channels

Customer preferences towards choice of

distribution channels for buying life Insurance

plans.

Customer consideration of various parameters like

name & reputation of the company, low premiums,

rate of return, risk coverage and tax savings before

buying life Insurance plans.

Scope of Study: This study is conducted in commercial

location in New Delhi, which is Connaught place, regarded

as Central Business District (CBD) by collecting primary

data through Questionnaires.

Nature of Research: The study is of an analytical nature. It

is also a hypothesis testing research, as hypothesis are

developed as follows-

Hypothesis 1: - Before buying Life Insurance Plans

customers considers only the name and reputation of the

company.

Hypothesis 2: - Before buying Life Insurance Plans

customers considers the following parameters;

Low premiums

Rate of return

Risk covered

Tax Savings

Hypothesis 3: - Customers prefer to purchase life insurance

plans from insurance advisors.

Sample Selection : The purposive sampling has been used

for selecting offices from the universe.

Sample Size: 500

5. CONCLUSION


At present the distribution channels that are available in the

market are listed below.

Direct Selling

Individual Agents

Corporate Agents

Brokers and Cooperative

Societies

Bancassurance

Customers have tremendous choice from a large variety of

products from pure term (risk) Insurance to unit-linked

investment products. Customers are offered unbundled

products with a variety of benefits as riders from which they

can choose. More customers are buying products and

services based on their true needs and not just traditional

money back policies, which is not considered very

appropriate for long-term protection and savings. There is

lots of saving and investment plans in the market. However,

there are still some key new products yet to be introduced -

e.g. health products.

While companies have been successful in product

innovation, most of them are still grappling with right mix

of Distribution Channels for capturing maximum market

share to build brand equity, building strong and effective

customer relationships and cost effective customer service.

While the traditional channel of tied up advisors or agents

would be the chief distribution channel, insurer should

innovate and find new methods of delivering the products to

customers. Corporate agency, brokerage, Banc assurance, e-

Insurance, cooperative societies and panchayats are some of

the channels, which can be tapped by the insurers to reach

the appropriate market segments. Now days, the urban

masses are tapped with the new techniques provided by

Information Technology through Internet.

REFERENCES

1. Agrawal A.N. (2008): Indian Economy - Problems

of Development and Planning, Wishwa Prakashan,

N. Delhi.

2. Ahluwalia, Montek S., India's Economic Reforms:

An Appraisal, in Jeffrey Sachs and Nirupam Bajpas

(eds.), India in the Era of Economic Reform,

Oxford University Press, New Delhi, 2000.

3. Avadhani, V.A., Investment Analysis : Portfolio

Management, Ist ed. ( New Delhi : Himalayan

Publishing House, 1997 ), pp. 115-117.

4. Bajpai, O.P., Elements of Life Insurance, Ist ed.

(Allahabad: Kitab Mahal, 1959).

5. Bhole, L.M., Financial Institutions and Markets:

Structure Growth and Innovations, 2nd

ed. (New

Delhi: Tata McGraw Hill, 1995), pp. 167-176.

6. Chhabra T N and Grover S K (1997), Marketing

Management, Educational and Technical

Publishers, Dhanpat Rai and Co., 1st Edition, Delhi.

7. Tripathy Nalini Prava and Pal Prabir (2008):

Insurance- Theory and Practice, Prentice Hall of

India Private Limited, New Delhi.

8. Goyal Kamesh, “Defining Strategies for the Future

– Innovations and Developments in Insurance”,

IRDA Journal, Sept. 2009, IRDA, New Delhi.

9. Jawaharlal U, “Adopting Best Practices – In Letter

and Spirit’, IRDA Journal, Sept. 2009.

10. Jawaharlal U, “Asymmetry of Information –

Primary Hurdle to Success in Insurance’, IRDA

Journal, Oct. 2009, IRDA, New Delhi.

11. Krishnamurthy R (2003): ‘Blueprint for Success –

Bringing Bancassurance to India’ IRDA Journal,

pp2023 December 2003, IRDA, New Delhi.

Websites

1. www.economywatch.com/indianeconomy/indian_i

nsurance_Sector.html_30K

2. www.thehindubusinessline.com

3. http://www.asiainsurancereview.com/edsynopsis.as

p

4. http://www.insuremagic.com/content/Articles/Life/

bkng_bancassurance.asp

ANNEXURE

4 DATA ANALYSIS AND INTERPRETATION

1. Age of the Respondents

Table 1

PARTICTULARS NO.OF.RESPONDENT PERCENTAGE

Less than 25 55 11%

25 - 35 200 40%

35 - 45 100 20%

Above 45 145 29%

TOTAL 500 100

ANALYSIS:

From the survey it was found that amongst 500 respondents

a) 11% of the respondents are less than 25 years old.

b) 40% of the respondents are between 25 and 35 years of age.

c) 20% of the respondents are between 35 and 45 years of age.

d) 29% of the respondents are more than 45 years of age.

http://www.economywatch.com/indianeconomy/indian_insurance_Sector.html_30K

http://www.economywatch.com/indianeconomy/indian_insurance_Sector.html_30K

http://www.thehindubusinessline.com/

http://www.asiainsurancereview.com/edsynopsis.asp

http://www.asiainsurancereview.com/edsynopsis.asp

http://www.insuremagic.com/content/Articles/Life/bkng_bancassurance.asp

http://www.insuremagic.com/content/Articles/Life/bkng_bancassurance.asp


2) Occupation of the Respondents

Table 2

PARTICULARS NO.OF.RESPONDENT PERCENTAGE

Business man 170 34%

Professionals 90 18%

Job holders 185 37%

Others 55 11%

TOTAL 500 100%

ANALYSIS:


a) 34% of the respondents are businessmen.

b) 18% of the respondents are professionals.

c) 37% of the respondents are jobholders.

d) 11% of the respondents are background.

3) Average Annual Income of Respondents

Table 3


Up to 1 lakh 165 33%

1 lakh - 3 lakh 215 43%

3 lakh - 5 lakh 100 20%

5 lakh & above 20 4%

TOTAL 500 100%

ANALYSIS:


a) 33% of the respondents have an average annual income up to 1 lakh

b) 43% of the respondents have an average annual income from 1 lakh to 3 lakh

c) 20% of the respondents have an average annual income from 3 lakh to 5 lakh

d) 4% of the respondents have an average annual income above 5 lakh

4) Percentage of Respondents Having Life Insurance Policy.

Table 4


Yes 280 56%

No 220 44%

TOTAL 500 100%

ANALYSIS:


Only 56% have taken life insurance policy and out of these 56% means 280 respondents –

5) Percentage of respondent’s towards decision influencing factors to purchase Insurance plan:

Give numbers 1 to 5: While;

a. For Strongly Agree

b. For Agree

c. Neutral

d. For Disagree

e. For Strongly Disagree

Table 5

PARTICUALRS

NO.OF.RESPONDENT

Numbers

1 2 3 4 5

Total

Name and reputation of

the company 280 - - - - 280

Low premiums - 28 22 36 194 280

Rate of return - 25 185 28 42 280

Risk covered - 180 31 38 31 280

Tax Savings - 47 42 178 13 280

TOTAL 280 280 280 280 280


a) Response For Name And Reputation Of Company As A Particular

ANALYSIS:


100% tick for name and reputation of the company as strongly agree.

b) Response For Low Premiums As A Particular

ANALYSIS:

10% opted for Low premiums as agree.

8% opted for Low premiums as neutral.

13% opted for Low premiums as disagree.

69% opted for Low premiums as strongly disagree.

c) Response For Rate Of Return As A Particular

ANALYSIS

9% opted for Rate of return as agree.

66% opted for Rate of return as neutral.

10% opted for Rate of return as disagree.

15% opted for Rate of return as strongly disagrees.

d) Response For Risk Covered As A Particular

100%

0% 0% 0% 0% Name and reputation of the company

Low Premiums

Rate of Return

Risk covered

Tax Savings

0%

10%

8%

12%

70%

strongly agree Agree

Neutral Disagree

Strongly Disagree

0%

9%

66%

10%

15%

0%

strongly agree Agree

Neutral Disagree

Strongly Disagree

0%

64%

11%

14% 11%

strongly agree agree

Neutral Disagree

strongly Disagree


ANALYSIS:

64% opted for Risk covered as agree.

11% opted for Risk covered as neutral.

14% opted for Risk covered as disagree.

11% opted for Risk covered as strongly disagrees.

e) Response For Tax Savings As A Particular

ANALYSIS:

17% opted for Tax Savings as agree.

15% opted for Tax Savings as neutral.

63% opted for Tax Savings as disagree.

5% opted for Tax Savings as strongly disagrees.

6) Percentage of respondent’s approach towards distribution channel for taking life insurance policy

Table 6


Life insurance advisors 207 74%

Corporate agents like Banks 48 17%

Corporate brokers 25 9%

Individual Brokers 0 0%

TOTAL 280 100%

ANALYSIS


74% respondents have taken insurance policy from life insurance advisors.

17% respondents have taken insurance policy from corporate agents.

9% respondents have taken insurance policy from corporate brokers.

No respondent has approached individual brokers.

CHI – SQUARE TEST

HYPOTHESIS 1: - Before buying Life Insurance Plans customers considers only the name and reputation of the company.

NULL HYPOTHESIS: Before buying Life Insurance Plans customers considers only the name and reputation of the

company.

ALTERNATE HYPOTHESIS: Before buying Life Insurance Plans customers does not considers only the name and

reputation of the company.

Before survey, researcher thinks that 95% of the respondents consider name and reputation buying insurance plan. We use

Chi-Square with 5% level of significance and 3 degree of freedom.

0% 17%

15%

63%

5%

strongly agree

agree

Neutral

Disagree

strongly Disagree

74%

17% 9% 0%

Life insurance advisors

Corporate agents like Banks

Corporate brokers like Karvy, Religare, Indiabulls, Sharekhan etc.

Individual Brokers


Observation Expectancy O-E (O-E) 2 (O-E)2/E

100 95 5 25 0.26

Degree of freedom =1

Level of Significance = 5%

Result:-

At 5% level of significance and 1 degree of freedom our calculated value of Chi- Square is 0.26. But Table value of Chi –

Square is 3.84 at same degree of freedom. So, our null hypothesis is accepted. It Means customers consider only company

name and reputation before purchasing Policy.

HYPOTHESIS 2: - Before buying Life Insurance Plans customers considers the following parameters;

Low premiums

Rate of return

Risk covered

Tax Savings

Null Hypothesis

Before buying Life Insurance Plans customers considers the following parameters;

Low premiums

Rate of return

Risk covered

Tax Savings

Alternate Hypothesis

Before buying Life Insurance Plans customers does not consider the following parameters;

Low premiums

Rate of return

Risk covered

Tax Savings

Respondents Preference Towards Above Listed Parameters (Observed)

Table 7

PARTICUALRS

NO.OF.RESPONDENT

Numbers

1 2 3 4 Total

Low premiums 28 22 36 194 280

Rate of return 25 185 28 42 280

Risk covered 180 31 38 31 280

Tax Savings 47 42 178 13 280

TOTAL 280 280 280 280 1120

Table 8

Expectancy Table

PARTICUALRS

NO.OF.RESPONDENT

Numbers

1 2 3 4 Total

Low premiums 70 70 70 70 280

Rate of return 70 70 70 70 280

Risk covered 70 70 70 70 280

Tax Savings 70 70 70 70 280

TOTAL 280 280 280 280 1120

Note: - Formula for Calculation: Row Total X Column Total/ Grand Total

Table 9

Calculation Table of Chi Square Table

Particulars Obs. (O) Exp. (E) O-E (O-E)2 (O-E)2/E

Low Premium (1) 28 70 -42 1764 25.2

Low Premium (2) 22 70 -48 2304 32.91

Low Premium (3) 36 70 -34 1156 16.5

Low Premium (4) 194 70 124 15376 219.66


Rate of Return (1) 25 70 -45 2025 28.93

Rate of Return (2) 185 70 115 13225 188.93

Rate of Return (3) 28 70 -42 1764 25.2

Rate of Return (4) 42 70 -28 784 11.2

Risk Covered (1) 180 70 110 12100 172.86

Risk Covered (2) 31 70 -39 1521 21.73

Risk Covered (3) 38 70 -32 1024 14.63

Risk Covered (4) 31 70 -39 1521 21.73

Tax Saving (1) 47 70 -23 529 7.56

Tax Saving (2) 42 70 -28 784 11.2

Tax Saving (3) 178 70 108 11664 166.63

Tax Saving (4) 13 70 -57 3249 46.41

Total X2 =1011.28

Note:- Critical Value of Chi-Square at 10% Significance Level and 9 Degree of Freedom = 21.7

Degree of Freedom (r-1) (c-1) = (4-1) (4-1) = 9

Test of Significance Level = 10%

Result: At 10% Level of Significance and 9 degree of freedom, we found that the calculated value of chi-square (1011.28)

is much higher than table value of chi-square (21.7). It means, before buying Life Insurance Plans customers does not

consider the following parameters;

Low premiums

Rate of return

Risk covered

Tax Savings

Hence, Our Null Hypothesis Rejected.

HYPOTHESIS STATED: 3

“Customer prefers to purchase life insurance plans from insurance advisors” This statement is expected to be believed 85%,

and observed as 74%.

Null Hypothesis: The difference observed is significant, and the difference is due to the Sampling.

Alternate Hypothesis: The difference observed is insignificant. So, the Observed percentage should be the actual value for

Customer prefers to purchase life insurance plans from insurance advisors.

CHI – SQUARE TEST

Customer prefers to purchase life insurance plans from insurance advisors

(% AGE)

(Expected) (Observed) [(O-E) ^2]/E

85 74 1.42

DEGREE OF FREEDOM, df = (n-1) = 1

CRITICAL VALUE = 3.84

(Value of CHI-SQUARE for 5% level for one degree of freedom is 3.84)

HERE CRITCAL VALUE IS GREATER THAN THE CALCULATED VALUE.

ACCEPT THE NULL HYPOTHESIS, i.e.

Customer prefers to purchase life insurance plans from insurance advisors”. This statement is expected to be believed 85%,

and observed as 74 %. And the difference is due to the Sampling.

***

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