Business Ethics and Corporate Governance Dr. T.Aranganathan Dr. S.V.Murugesan Dr. K.Thamizhselvan———EEEEEEE BUSINESS ETHICS: NEED OF THE HOUR S.ARUL, Lecturerin Management Stusies, Maha Engineering College, Sl P.MARISHKUMAR, Lecturer in Management Studies, Vinayaka Missions Univesity, Salem. Dimensions of Business Ethics ‘Along wit social progress and development, enterprise must more and more aware of business ‘GhicsT the enterprise inorder to damage someone else's interests firs, although the momen! can te profitable, but eventual it wil eventually lea to business fale. Therefore, enters it ro survive, and have long-term fothold in socety, must establish the corect concent of tosines ethics inal its functional areas. Ethics of Finance Fundamentally finance i socal science disipline. Finance being discipline is concerned wih Fetefonl issue such asthe optimal mix of debt and equity financing, dvidend policy, snd he creation etemative invesment projects, and more recently the valuation of oplons, fares, Stops, and other drivrive securities, portfolio diversification, ete. Often iis misaken 196 sc eiipine free Som ethical burdens. However, equent economic meltdowns that cout nt Pe plained by teories of business cytes alone have brought thie of finance to the forston treunce ethics are overlooked for another reason: issues in finance ae often addressed a ¢ ‘raner of law rather than ethics, Looked close into the literature concerning finance ethics ons spe convinced tha a it isthe ease with other operational areas of busines, the eis anceto ls vehemeniy disputed The following are the important areas of finance whee ees are to be established. «© Creative accounting, earings management, misleading financial analysis nlder trading, securities fraud, bucket shops, forex scams, manipulation of the financial markets. «Executive compensation, concerning excessive payments made to corpora CEOS 204 top management. «Drier, iokbcks, and faction pymens. While these may be inte teres of aaa rcserd is shareholder, hese pracces may be ani-competiive or fem ‘against the values of society. Ethics of Human Resource Management ‘amen resource management occpisthe spherof activity of recrdiment selection, cretion (eitrnance pps iaing ane development, Insti relson wd heath and 467 {36 BUSINESS ETHICS AND CORPORATE GOVERNANCEissues where ethics really matter. The ied i surounded by market interests that modify everything {forthe sake of profit claimed inthe name of shareholders. I should be predictable that there wil be contesting claims of HR ethics. Predictably, ethics of human resource management are a ‘contested terain like other sub-fields of business ethics. Business ethicists differ in ther orientation towards labour ethics. One group of ethicists influenced by the logic of neo-liberalism proposes ‘that there can beno ethics beyond utilizing human resources towards eaming higher profits forthe shareholders. The neo-liberal orientation is challenged by the argument that labour wel being is ‘notsecond to the gol of shareholder profiteering, Some others look at human resources management ethics as a discourse towards egalitarian workplace and dignity of labour. ‘+ Discrimination issues include discrimination onthe basis of age, gender, ace, religion, disabilities, weight and attractiveness. ‘+ _Issuesarising from the traditional view ofreationship between emplayers and employees, also known as at-will employment. ‘+ Issues surrounding the representation of employees and the democratization of the workplace. ‘+ Issues affecting the privacy of the employee such as workplace surveillance, drug testing. ‘+ Issues affecting the privacy of the employer, ‘+ Issues relating to the fairness of the employment contract and the balance of power ‘between employer and employee. Occupational safety and health, Ethics in Sales and Marketing Ethics in marketing deal with principles, values and ideals which marketers ought to act. Marketing, tthies to, like its parent discipline, are a contested terain, Discussions of marketing ethics are ‘focused around two major concerns, namely, one is the eoncern from politcal philosophy and the ‘others from the transaction focused business practice. The ethical prudence of targeting vulnerable sections for consumption of redundant or dangerous productsservics, being transparent about ‘the source of labour, declaration regarding fair treatment and fair pay tothe employees, bing fair and transparent about the environmental risks the ethical issues of product or service transparency, ‘appropriate labeling, the ethics of declaration of the risks in using the product/service, product | sevice safety and liability, respect for stakeholder privacy and autonomy, the ise of outsmarting sival business through unethical business tactics, etc. adverising truthfulness and honest, faimess inpricing and distribution, forthrightness in selling, et. are few among the issues debated among ‘concerned about ethics of marketing practice, * Pricing: Price xing, price discrimination, price skimming, ‘+ _Anti-competiive Practices: These include but go beyond pricing tactics to cover issues ‘such as manipulation of loyalty and supply chains. See: anti-competitive practices, antitrust aw, ‘BUSINESS ETHICS AND CORPORATE GOVERNANCE 137«Specific Marketing Strategies: Gren wash, ait and switch, sl, viral marketing Spam, pyramid scheme, planned obsolescence. «Content of Advertisements: Artack ads, subliminal messages, sex in advertising, products regarded as immoral or harmful + Children and Marketing: Marketing in schools. © Black markets, grey markets. Ethics of Production “Thisarenof business ethics usually deat with the duties of «company to ensure that products and processes donot ease harm. Some of the more acute dilemmas in thi area rise ont rte fet that there is wsually a degre of danger in any product or production process and if Sittcalt to define a degree of permissiblity, or the degree of permissibilty may depend onthe hanging state of preventative technologies o changing socal perceptions of acceptable isk, “s Defective, addictive and inherently dangerous products and services example, tobacco, vHeotol weapons, motor vehicles, chemieal manufacturing, bungee jumping. 4s hcal relations between the company and the environment for example, pollution, ‘environmental ethics, carbon emissions trading «Ethical problems arising out of new technologies for example, genetically modified ‘food, mobile phone radiation and health. «Product testing ethics such as animal rights and animal resting, use of economically disadvantaged groups as test objects. Ethics of Property, Property Rights and intellectual Property Rights “Th ehis of ropety, property rights and intellectual property rights are assiduously contested hooghou the history ofthe concept Discourse on property gained its momentum by te arn 7 onary within th heologieal eusion of thattime The ellowing ethics shouldbe maintained ‘+ Patent infringement, copyright infringement, trademark infringement «Misuse of intellectual property laws to stifle competition or to opportunistically exact Tigation settlements and awards ater than i Furtherance ofthe public policy sims behind the laws. ‘s The practice of employing all the most talented ina specific field, regardless of reed fo prevent any competitors employing them. ‘+ Biorprospecting and bio-iray. +Business intelligence and Industrial espionage. |ia8_ BUSINESS ETHICS AND CORPORATE GOVERNANCELaw and Business Ethics ‘Very often itis held that business isnot bound by any ethics other than abiding by the law. Milton Friedman isthe pioneer of the view. He olds tht corporations have te obligation to make a profit ‘within the framework ofthe legal system, nothing more. Friedman makes itexpict that the duty of the business leadersis ‘to make as much money as possible while conforming to the basic rules of {the society, both those embodied in the law and those embodied in ethical custom’. Ethics for Friedman are nothing more than abiding by ‘customs’ and ‘laws’. The reductions of ethics to sbidanee to laws and customs however have drawn serous criticisms, Law against a crime, tobe passed, the crime mast have happened. Laws are blind tothe crimes undefined in it. Further, a5 Ber law, conduct is not criminal unless forbidden by law which gives advance warning that such conduct is criminal, Als, aw presumes the accused is innocent until proven guilty and that the state must establish the guilt of the accused beyond reasonable doubt. As per liberal laws {followed in most ofthe democracies, until the government prosecutor proves the frm guilty with the limited resources availabe to her, the accused is considered to be innocent. Though the liberal premises of law are necessary to protect individuals from being persecuted by Government, ti nota sufficient mechanism to make firms morally accountable, International Business Ethics ‘While business ethics emerged asa field in the 1970s, international business ethics did notemerge ‘ntl the late 1990s, looking back on the international developments ofthat decade. Many new ‘practical issues arose out of the intemational context of business. Theoretical issues such as cultural relativity of ethical values receive more emphasis in this field. Other, older issues ean be {rouped here as well Issues and subfields include: ‘+ The search for universal values asa basis for international commercial behavior, ‘+ Comparison of business ethical traditions in diferent countries. Also on the basis of ‘their respective GDP and corruption rankings. ‘+ Comparison of business ethical traditions from various religious perspectives. * Ethical issues arising ouofinteational business transactions; bio-prospecting and bio-piracy inthe pharmaceutical industry; the fair rade movement; transfer pricing. ‘+ Issues such as globalization and cultural imperialism. + Varying global standards. ‘+ The way in which multinationals take advantage of international differences, such as ‘utsoureing production and services to low-wage countries. ‘+ The permissibility of international commerce with pariah states. ‘BUSINESS ETHICS AND CORPORATE GOVERNANCE 138Business Ethics and Corporate Governance br. TAranganathan is currently working as Professor and Head, Commerce Ping, DDE. Annamelat University. He has more than 34 years of teaching B Wing. e’both at U.G 8 .G level. He has authored 4 textbooks and has eaperts book, He has published more than 20 papers in reputed journals and cae say national and international conferences. Under his able | gone, 10 students have already received thelr Ph.D degrees, He has ]. guidances guided 70°N.Phil research students also. He has delivered @ Success guest lectures and also Chaired the UGC Sponsored seminar number he's guiding 4 research scholars in thelr Ph.D programme. His ‘zation is Finance and Accounting. _V.Murugesan is Assistant Professor, Commerce Wing, Directorate of amare ton, Annamalai University, Annamalal Nagar, Tamilnadu | Y'ince 2001, rior to this, he served as Guest Lecturer in Commerce 19 ‘)sings ZHomen college, In Ramanathapuram and as Lecturer in ‘nme Dezakir Husain College at lyankudl. Totally he put up 14 years rere dumm Research experience at Post and Under Graduate levels, To AS wee he guided 32 M.Phil Scholars and right now he has been guiding ca Setlarsin the Department of Commerce, Annamalai University les, he has published 9 papers in National end international peer Reviewed Journals 20 tes, he Nas Pipapers in Navonal and International Conferences, Current, he Nas bese eset on Franca Accounting for Graduate clases. His aren of research intrest Remarketing and Human Resource Management. pr. K-Thamizhselvan is Assistant Professor, Commerce Wing, Directorate of Or eereaegucaton, Annamalal University, Annamalei Nagar, Terlinade Pesan since 2001, He putin 10 years of Teaching cum Research experience ot Cncta) = rier Graduate levels. To his credit, hehas guided 22 M.Phil Scholes Fostand'mow he has guiding two Ph.D Scholes In the Depertment of ‘Commerce, Annamalai University. 19, Kannadhasan Salai, ‘T.Nagar, Chennai - 600 017 = |MMigeeit te. ro clusive Management Online : ISSN 2249 - 2585 Print : ISSN 2249 - 8672 IJEMR www.ijemr.in _ APRIL 2014 Special IssueSERVICE QUALITY OF THE NEW GENERATION PRIVATE BANKS IN SALEM DISTRICT: AN EMPIRICAL STUDY *P, Marishkumar **M. David Vasantha Raj * Assistant Professor of Management Studies, VMKV Engineering College, Vinayak Missions University, Saler- 636 308 ” M.Phil Research Scholar, VMIKV Engineering College, Vinayak Missions University, ‘Salem 636 308 Abstract In India, the services offered by commercial banks, especially after the reforms that took place fier 1991, have improved notably. After the entry of private and foreign banks in India, even the nationalized banks have become competitive in nature and have attempted to improve their service Private banks in Salem district. The most common 5 dimensions of service quality, namely, ‘assurance, empathy, reliability, responsiveness and tangibility only are studied in this atudy, Moreover, the study is confined only to five new generation private banks namely, Axis Bank, HOPG Bank, ICICI Bank, Indusind Bank and ING Vysya Bank. The researchers have adopted multi stage sampling technique. The sample size consists of 500 customers, The present study is empirical character, based! on survey method. As an essential part of the study, the primary data were collected ‘rom $00 customers with the help of questionnaire. In order to study the perception of the customers, analysis of variance, student ¢ test, paired comparison t-test, analysis of coefficient of variation, discriminant function analysis and percentage analysis were employed. The results showed that there. is significant difference in the acceptance level of the respondents between the expected and Perosived levels of various dimensions of service quality such as assurance, empathy, relabily, ‘esponsiveness and tangibility. The researchers suggest measures to improve the service quality of the ‘select new generation private banks in Salem district. Keywords: Service quality, new generation private banks, service gap analysis, banking services * Introduction Service sector is the lifeline for the social and economic growth of a country. It is today the largest and fastest growing sector, contributing more to the global output and employing snore people than any other sector. The valid reason for the growth of the service sector is the increase" ‘in urbanization, privatization and more demand for intermediate and final consumer services During the last two decades, the service oriented industry has potential growth and now constitutes a major portion of the world economy. One of the few things that companies are left swith is to distinct themselves in terms of quality of service they offer, which has a direct impact ‘on profit making. Service delight is now the ethos of several progressive companies over the ward, With this increasing emphasis on service delight and service quality, the banking induety’ ih India is becoming increasingly competitive. Banking being a service business, the best straveay- can only be to identify with the customers and offer them what they actually need. This objectise can only be achieved through best customer service. In India, the services offered by commercial banks, especially after the reforms that took place after 1991, have improved notably. After the ‘entry of private and foreign banks in India, even the nationalized banks have become competitive ‘in nature and have attempted to improve their service delivery to customers, Importance of Service Quality in Banking Industry Prior to the liberalization era the banking sector in India was operating in a protected environment and was dominated by nationalized banks, Banks at that time did not feel the need to pay attention to service quality issues and they assigned very low priority to identification and. ‘satisfaction of customer needs. The need of the hour in the Indian banking sector is to build up 7ilPage‘competitiveness through enhanced service quality, thus making the banks more market oriented Shu provide more loans to the customers as they want to improve their standard of living. Service Gtauty has emerged as one of the most important issues in Indian banking sector. Therefore, SGivice quality has become the basic mantra for not only the survival but growth as wel. Regulatory, structural, and technological factors are significantly changing the banking environment throughout the world. Regulatory changes have reduced or eliminated barriers tt Sfose-border expansion, creating a more integrated global banking market, Structural change fave resulted in banks being allowed a greater range of activities, enabling them to become mor Competitive with non-bank financial inetitations. Technological changes are causing banks tl semnpti their strategies for services offered to both corporate and individual customers. It is within this rapidly changing environment that customer satisfaction and service quality are compeling the atention of all banking institutions. In this digital era, the service sector has been growing el ft lightening speed across the globe, In India, banking has seen momentous changes in the post Thdgpendence era. Te has witnessed a remarkable shift in its operating environment during thy ast decade, Various reform measures, both qualitative and quantitative, were introduced with ay Sersice quality s eosential inthe banking services because bankers tend to be viewed as relative lundifferentiated, and hence it becomes a key to competitive advantage, In recent years, servi [duality has been widely used to evaluate the performance of banking services. Service quality ha teen Viewed as a significant issue in the banking industry. In the present competitive India banking context, characterized by rapid change and increasingly sophisticated customers, it hs determine the service quality factors, which an pertinent to the customers selection process. With the advent of international banking, the trea Fwards larger bank holding companies, and innovations in the marketplace, the customers haw] {greater difficulty in selecting one institution {rom another. ‘Statement of the Problem New generation private banks are oriented toward niche banking, unlike the public banks, which mect the mass banking requirements, The strategies adopted by the new private banks are more in tune with those of the foreign banks, where emphasis is given BStablishing superior benchmarks of efficiency, focusing on niche customers, providing impressi Eketomer service and bringing about operating efficiencies by using high-end technology. The Generation private banks recruit the finest manpower, employ state-of-the-art technologies Ere oriented towards building a strong brand image. Even though the new generation priv ‘Danks do not have an extensive range of branch networks, the emerging trends indicate that pose a great threat to the public sector banks because of their increasing market share. The generation private banks have made a strong presence in the most lucrative business areas in Country because of technology upgradation. Undoubtedly, being tech-savvy and full of the new generation private banks have played a major role in the development of Indian Indust. in the process they have jolted public sector banks out of complacency and forced to become more competitive, The new generation private banks find new products avenues inake the industries achieve expertise in their respective fields by offering quality service Guidance. Therefore, excellent service performance can improve the bank's ability to lure Prospects, clevate the bank’s profitability, lower bank operation costs, and create Gustomer loyalty. It has become essential for the service firms in general and banks in fo identify what the customer's requirements are and how these requirements can be effectively. In the view of the study broadly, intends to find answers for the following questi ‘What are the factors that influence service quality dimensions of customers? What is the level ‘quality of service being offered by the new generation private banks? What factors mitigate ninimiaing the service delivery gap? In this context, the researchers have made a modest a to find out the answers for these questions. ripObjectives of the Study ‘The study has the following objectives: 1. To analyze the perception ofthe customers towards service quality of the select new generation private bares in Salem district. 2. To find out the gap in the service performance of the select generation private banks in Salem district. 3. To offer suitable suggestions to improve the service quality of the select new generation privat ‘banks based on the findings of the study. Testing of Hypotheses ‘The following null hypotheses were formulated and tested. oy: There is no significant relationship among the acceptance levels of the respondents belonging to different demographic profiles towards the perceived level of service quality in the select new {generation private banks. ‘ar: There is no significant diference in the acceptance levels of the customers between the fapected and perceived levele of service quality in the select new generation private banks in Selem district. Scope of the Study “The study is confined only to savings bank and current account holders who have account vith select new generation private banks in Salem district. Service quality is the vast subject; Therefore, the most common S dimensions of service quality, namely, assurance, empathy, reliability, responsiveness and tangiblity only are studied in this study. Moreover, the study is ‘confined only to five new generation private banks namely, Axis Bank, HDPC Bank, ICICI Bank, Indusind Bank and ING Vysya Bank. ‘Sampling Design. ‘There are 21 public sector banks and 16 private sector banks which include 6 new generation private banks in operation in Salem district as on March 2012. In order to collect primary data for the purpose of the study, multi-stage samoling technique is adopted. At the first Stage, § new generation private banks which outaumber in number of branches were selected out of the 6 new generation private Banke, In the second stage, 40 per cent of the branches ie. 10 branches were selected out of the 5 selected new generation banks. In the final stage, from each of the branch 40 savings bank account holders and 10 current account holders were selected on the purposive basis, Therefore, the sample size consists of 500 customers. ‘Tools for Data Collection “The present study is empirical ip character, based on survey method. As an essential part ‘of the study, the primary data were collected from S00 customers, Taking into consideration the objectives of the study, a questionnaire was prepared after a perusal of available literature, Each ‘Question was improved for ite relevance and meaning by constant interaction with the experts in the areas. The questionnaire consists of 23 service quality statements which are fall under the tangiblity, reliability, responsiveness, assurance and empathy dimensions of service quality. The ‘questionnaire was constricted based on Likert scaling technique. Pre-testing of questionnaire was one during April 2012, involving 25 respondents to know the relevance of the questions. The ‘secondary data have been collected mainly from journals, magazines, government reports and books. 73\PagePramework of Analysis, ‘The data collected for the purpose of the study were quantified, categorized and tabulated, in ‘order to study the perception of the customers, analysis of variance, student t test, paired comparison ‘test, analysis of co-efficient of variation, discriminant function analysis and percentage analysis wert employed. Findings 1, ‘The overall influence of all the sixteen factors is considered ‘very important’ in motivating the customers to prefer banking services by 24.40 per cent of the respondents, as ‘important’ by 42.40 per cent of the respondents, ‘neither important nor not important’ by 18 per cent of the responcients, a8 ‘not important’ by 8.20 per cent of the respondents and as ‘not at all important by 7 per cent of the respondents. The average attitude score reveals that excellent customer service is the most important factor (4.09) for the respondents to prefer banking services from the new generation private banks, followed by personal services (4.05). 2. There is no significant relationship among the acceptance levels of the customers belonging to different genders, educational status groups and monthly income groups towards perceived service quality in the new generation private banks. However, a significant relationship is found among the acceptance levels of the customers belonging to different age groups, occupations, ‘banks they belong to and holding different type of accounts towards perceived service quality in the new generation private banks. 3. Female respondents, respondents in the age group 46-55 years, respondents belonging '» postgraduate and above qualifications, businessmen, respondents having monthly income above Rs.40000, customers of the ING Vysya Bank and current account holders have higher acceptance level towards perceived service quality in the select new generation private banks in Salen| district 4, ‘There exists consistency among the acceptance level of female respondents, respondents is the age group 36-5 years, respondents who have Diploma/ITI qualification, students respondents having monthly Rs.30001-40000, customers of the Indusind Bank, and savings ban} ‘account holders towards perceived service quality in the select new generation private banks. 5. Discriminant function analysis was applied to examine how do the respondents who hav ‘on service quality? Do service quality dimensions like assurance, empathy, reliably, responsiveness and tangiblity significantly exist among these two groups? The results of the analysis reveals that ‘assurance’ is the maximum discriminating variable (R°%=30.36%) betwee savings bank account and current account holders, followed by ‘empathy’ (10.96%, tangibliy| (10.24%), ‘responsiveness’ (9.26%) and liability” (4.24%)" being the least discriminating variable 6. There is a significant difference in the acceptance level of the respondents between th expected and perceived levels of various dimensions of service quality such as assuranct empathy, reliability, responsiveness and tangibility 7. In regards to the various factors that contribute to the assurance dimension of service quali ‘the majority of the respondents (25%) disagree with the list, followed by neither agree nor disagre ‘agree (24.60%) and agree (23.20%), 6.40% and 20.80% of the respondents strongly agree ani strongly agree respectively on the assurance dimension of service quality in the select nal generation private banks in Salem district. 8, Out of 500 respondents, majority of the respondents indicate that they disagree (31.40%) wit the empathy dimension of service quality in select new generation private banks, followed close by neither agree nor disagree (21.60%) and strongly disagree (21%). 6.06% and 19.40% of th respondents strongly agree and agree respectively9, The majority of respondents indicate that they disagree (34.60%) with the reliability dimension of ‘sevice quality in the select new generation private banks, followed by strongly disagree (22.60%) and ‘ather agree nor disagree (21.40%). 4.40% and 16.80% ofthe respondents strongly agree and agree ‘respectively. 10.1n regards to the responsivencss dimension of service quality in eelot new generation private banks, majority of the respondents (8295) disagree, felowed by neither agree nor disagree (22.60%) land strongly disagree (21-40%) 4.20% and 19.80% of the respondents strongly agree and agree respectively 11. Out of 500 respondents, 28.40% of the respondents reveal that they disagree with the tangbilty dimension of service quality in the select new generation private banks, followed by strongly disagree (22.20%), and neither agree nor disagree (21.40%). 7.40% and 20.60% of the ‘respondents strongly agree and agree respectively 12, Ranging from 27.60 per cent t 48.60 per cent of the respondents’ problems with their prime bank te absence of customer intimate strategy, poor-quality customer service, inadequate range of product, Inadequate customer communication and delay in service. Absence of creativity and innovatveness, inadequate customer contact programmes, absence of update information and lack of customer specific ttraeges are the probleme of the customers in the select new generation private bank st 52.40%, 58.60%, 60.20% and 64.40% respectively. ‘Suggestions 4, The select now generation private banlcs must open the aperture and create operational benchmarks that include financial institutions in other segments of the market. The customer Strategy should create differentiation through the bank's own operational strengths and by emulating the capabilities ofthe bankers outside ofits peer group. Therefore, the select new generation private banks must keep innovating and serve their customers with better quality services. 2. In order to keep the gap between the expected service and perceived service as minimum as possible, it is important thet the promises about how then service will perform, given. Oy traditional marketing activities, and communicated by words of mouth, must not be unrealistic ‘when compared to the service the customers eventually will perceive. Hence, efforts of the banks Should not be only equationalise the customer expectations with what the banks offer but tndeavotirs have t0 be put into ensure thatthe select new generation private banks provide sch ‘level of quality service which exceeds the perceived expectations of customers, 43. The select new gerseration private banks should take internal marketing seriously with respect te good communication flow, rewards and incentives to internal customers so as to deliver excellent service to the customers. Therefore, the select new generation private banks should brovide the necessary logistics to their staff decause they help to achieve customer satisfaction, ‘The select new generation private banks should be aggressively engaged in internal marketing to surive at a synergy of satisfied employees and upgraded service performance. 4, The select new generation private banks must create the culture and model needed to promote geater commitment, accountability and competency for staff allowing them to become more Fesponsive in delivering consistently in spite ofthe natural barriers that size and silos can create 8. The select new generation private banks must upgrade the level of advisory sls for stl dealing ‘wth customers; whether they are working in branches, delivering online services via email witha view {0 maximize relationships with individuals 6. The select new generation private banks shall keep on tracing the customers and get thorough ‘about customers’ problems. Database on various aspects of customers’ profile should Ye created which should ‘fnction in every branch and it must develop an excelent total customers’ care programme tb suit the specific requirements ofits customers. 7\Page7. The select new generation private banks should focus more on improving the infrastructure | The infrastructure not only involves the information technology input in the branches but also the physical evidence, internal environment and layout. This will help in delivering quick ani Accurate services to customers as well as reducing the workload of frontline staff and there providing ways to employees to respond to customer requests. Conclusion ‘The efficiency of a banking sector depends on how best it can deliver services to its tang customers. In order to survive in the competitive environment and provide continual custome satisfaction, the providers of banking services are now required to continually improve the quali of services and technology and other aspects. The finding of this study brings to light that ther exists a significant gap between the expected and perceived levels of service quality in the selea ew generation private banks. The researchers suggest measures such as customer intimad} strategy, training to employees, high-quality customer service, customer communication} ‘creativity and innovativeness, customer contact programmes, customer compliant monitoring cel| providing update information, improving reliability, customer segment specific strategies, staf involvement, provisions of prompt service and understanding the customers to improve serv ‘quality of the select new generation private banks. If the study provokes the authority conceme( to take some positive measures for improving it, the researchers will feel amply rewarded. References 1, Almossari, M (2001). “Bank Selection Criteria Employed by College Students in Behaviour: Smpirical Analysis", International Journal of Bank Marketing, Vol.19, and No.3. 2, Buttle, F (1996). Relationship Marketing: Theory and Practice, London, Paul Chapmay Publishing, 3. Cos 16, A and Newman, K (1995). “Banking on People”, Personnel Review, Vol.24, No.7. 4, Hoffman, KD and Bateson, J.E.G (2002). Essentials of Service Marketing: Concept Strategies and Cases, New York, Harcourt College Publishers, 5. Lee, H, Lee, Y and Yoo, D (2000). “The Determinants of Perceived Service Quality and Relationship with Satisfaction”, Journal of Services Marketing, Vol.14, No.3. 6. Rust, R-T, Zahorik, AJ and Keiningham, T.L (1996). Service Marketing, Harper Collins, Ne York. & 761\through Entrepreneurship SSO FI Cuede TCR Of oa crn Ete Dea ari Ae treoy CUE LE CUWomen Empowerment—An Impediment behind Women PMarishkumar BSachidhanandhan Lecter Senior Lecturer Deparment of Master of Business Administration Department of Management Studies "VMKV Enginecring College MBS ‘Women empowerment isthe ability of women to extract complete power over one’s actions. Out ‘of 1.3 billion people sho live in absolute poverty around the globe, among which 70 percent are ‘omen, Wornen work two third of the world’s working hours. They ear only 10 percent ofthe ‘world’s income. Women own less than 1% of the worlds’ poverty. They make up two third ofthe ‘educated 876 million adults world wide who cannot read or write. Mostly women were treated as ‘mere house-makers but nowadays itis reversed. They wer slowly picking up the level in the ladder MAJOR IMPEDIMENTS FOR EMPOWERMENT ‘Based onthe available secondary data, sources for women empowerment are identified through six major issues. These six issues become a blockade for them to excel in their eld. Reproductive Health 1 refers to physiological and social reason. Women are fist protected by her parents, and then by ther husband and thereer by her child or children. After marriage of women giving bir to young fone make her socal health weakness such as reproductive health problem. Because it makes the ‘worn a physiological heath problems like a maternal morality and morbidity. Failure to provide ‘eprodction causes a gender-based discrimination and it may cause a violation of woman's rights tard health and life. Where a woman has no control over money, there she cannot choose to get good tow bih weight and premature babies. More than 7% ofthe new born babies perish every year [Neatly 2.3% of the babies who survive the first year perish before they complete five years. The ‘number ie more incase of female babies ‘Stewardship of Natural Resources ‘Women are caretaker o her family. She dd not prefer to waste natural resoures ike heath and diet of her family, securing savings for future, securing curent food, ful, and water258 C1 Empowerment af Women through Enlreprenuership neighbors she tend to put into immediate practice. Women are working t0 regain the tradition methods. She tries to get adapted to the new methods the ecosystem and developing marketing linkages for the surplus leafy vegetables, vegetables, medicinal herbs, fruits and forest plants that the women cultivate from their new or renewed area of cultivation. Through this she can acess to microfinance services like contol over own income, contol over own productive asses and ‘property, aceess to markets, eduction in burden of unpaid domestic work et. Economic Empowerment ‘Eeanomic disparities persis, because much of the unpaid work within the family and community, re ‘pared by the women shoulders. In aditon to this, she is consoling her spouse rather than blaming ‘when failure occurs, managing the children on the occasion of not falling their requirements, Taking eareof aged mother-in-law, father-in-law and the respective family members of her spouse. Global financial insecurity studies shown that women experince higher rates of unemployment, poverty, violence, and an incteasing lack of control over economic and financial resources. The {isis as highlighted the need for philanthropic organizations and individuals to do more to find ‘women's human rights groups and provide the necessary resources to build and sustain women’s ‘movements. Educational Empowerment [About two thirds of te iliterat adults inthe word are female. Higher level of women's education js srongly connected with both lower infant mortality and lower feility. This inward affects the higher levels of education and economic opportnity for their children education. f women are ‘educated she can empower in literacy, high health and nutrition status, awareness of and access to reproductive health services, access to public welfare services, personal security and freedom fiom violence contol over ov frility adequate leisuretime. Over 70 per cent ofthe world’s iterate all (62 million persons ive in nine countries. About half live in India 41 milion girs worldwide ae stil denied a primary education.” Political Empowerment ‘Social and legal institutions still donot giving equality to women incase of “Legal and human right like access to or contol of asset o other resources. If women ‘become a politician, she can develop assertiveness and sense of autonomy, recognition ‘of possibilty of challenging gender subordination including cultural “waitin, legal discrimination and political exclusion. + Social and political participation like nominating her name in election etc. As being & politician she will get feedom of movement and access to the world outside the home, Fnowledge of cata, legal and political processes. Further, she can develop individual action to challenge and change, cultural perceptions of women’s capacities and rights at household and community levels, individual engagement with and taking positions of authority within cultural, legal and political ‘She can develop women's networks or support in times of crisis, local ‘to challenge cultural, political and legal gender subordination at the community Jevel. Empowerment through the Life Reproductive beat refers to lifetime concern for both men and women. The stage initially starts from infancy to old age. I's a lifetime strgele for both men and women to bring good child! etEmpowerment of Women through Enireprenuership O. 259 children inthe society. If women are educated, she will et awareness of and acess to reproductive [cali services, she can have a knowledge of ight to use public welfare services, personal security ‘and freedom from violence control over own fertility adequat: leisure time. In ation to this, she ‘can get equal rights of freedom outside the hime, she ear equa right to politi! participation, she ‘an gain equal value given to women and men's roles and capacities, WOMEN'S’ EMPOWERMENT DISPARITY IN GENDER EQUALITY Nowadays the positon of male and female tends not be value neural. The roles, rights, and ‘obligations assign to each sex are not just diferent, but prevailing situation in all he sectors shows ‘unequal with male roles and rights of male i being valued more highly than female roles and igh. ‘As per the data of power of gender, female situation shows unequal rights to encompass legal and informal rights, access to resources, and pursuit of knowledge and personal goals, and cuts across ‘most domains of human function. The power of men is highly than women in the domains of control over socital and household resources, cultural and religious ideology and some domains, they have more power than women. Gender-based diferences in power and resouce-access have consequences for the quality of lie ofthe population, including its heath, as shown inthe gure below, As per the above figure shows, gender affects health outcomes through male and female dierences in roles, rights, responsibilities, power, access, value and sex, This ference affects the ‘health of women and men because of biologically determined physiological and genetic differences that manifest in differences in needs and vulnerabilities. The type of heath care needed can vary by sex, whether, for example the typeof care neded can be accessed which is aflected by gender, ‘empowerment, and se. Disparity In Adult literacy Literacy of adult rate shows that only 55% of women and 78% of men are itera in India, Literacy has, however, been increased overtime for both women and men as measured by changes across age groups ’ Education of Household Head + Among all children age 6-17, only $3% of girls are attended the school in 2005-06. They ‘belonged toa household with an uneducated head. + By contrast, 9 out of 10 boys and girls attended school if they belonged to «household where the head had 12 or more years of education. * Belonging toa houschold in which the household head has ahigh evel of education i associated with higher educational attainment forthe next generation—almost three ou of four children ‘age 15-17 in houscholds where the household head has 12 or more years of education were ‘tending school, compared with the national average of 35% for girs and 48% for boys age 15417, Disparity in Education of Wealth Quintile Further, a great disparity is being existed in literacy by wealth, especialy for women. Inthe lowest wealth quintile, only 19% of women ae iterate, compared with 47% of men, However, literacy1260 © Empowerment of Women through Enireprenvership Increases sharply with wealth and the increase for women ace greater than fr men. Consequently, the gener differential in literacy narrows rapidly with wealth, so that inthe highest wealth quintile, 90% of women at literate, compared with 97% of men. «To develop the gender sensitivity of population the government should take care while framing pie making and programme formulation. Thsinciues designing frameworks and guidelines Povtlltate womens’ participatory gender population and development study atthe country level To promote Women Standard in advance, anew strategy shouldbe framed by the goverament forthe postion and protection of Women workers inchuding protection of matemity and ‘promotion of Safe Working Mother strategies. + Toimprove the knowledgebase in critica areas where synthesis of evidence is required through design and promotion of studies about women education is necesary fr development of family ‘and eountry. «+ Asarey is needed to collect, combine and disseminate information about suecessfl initiatives that have empowered women and to explore their enhanced productive and reproductive variety + For the development of women, taining is to be conducted at national, state, district and tillage level though the development of special materials, methods and programmes in clase Collaboration with specialized technical UN agenci Societal developments partially depend on women's’ progress. If women's ae educated, they can loud a family by concentrating on future and other savings, there by raising the funds at GDP {Euel Women who donot eam can take decisions alone or jointly within the family. However, some ‘eaten who eam considerably likely to take decision alone within the family by dominating men. ‘Women srho have more wealth is able to take care ofher heath own, make household purchases, jpurchace for daily need and visit to her family and others than the women whose position is very Toor Fundamentally its noted tha an educated women can safeguard her lif and take care of er Family So, education isan esrenial factor for all the women ise is educated she can overcome the barriers, to lead a good ie.eu aii il are) aay a tatay through lige gaat Issues, Challe: and Opportunities Dat nc eee ayINH fal HE es% fe‘Banking and Micro Finance in India important nor not important’ by 21.25 percent of the respondents, and efkent service (2.50) the mst important for for the respondents to prefer retail banking services from the i as ioe iy ng rs 630 Horn with regard to branch network, the respondents have assigned least importance (3.00). . No significant association among the level of satisfaction of the respondents belonging to different gender, age ‘groups, educational status, occupation, monthly income ‘groups, and type of bank towards retail banking services was found in Erode district. There is a significant association in the level of satisfaction of the belonging to different locations, the bank they belong to and the type of account towards retail banking services. . Male customers, respondents in the age group 31-40 years, respondents having education up to H.Sc. qualification, students and housewives, whose © 15,001-8 25,000, urban56 ‘Banking and Micro Finance in India disagree, and respectively towards reliability of service. The respondents have higher level of towards bank promises to do acceptance help ‘customers (3.08), followed by their prompt service (2.95). 12, Out of 640 respondents, 18.44 percent, 30.78 percent, 21.72 percent, 20.31 percent and 8.75 percent of the respondents strongly agree, agree, neither agree nor disagree, disagree and strongly disagree respectively towards tangibility dimension of service quality. The mean customers have lower acceptance score (3.28) towards visual appealing of physical facilities in the selected ‘commercial banks. 13. Out of 640 respondents, 14.06 percent, 20.78 percent, 20.94Retail Banking Services of Commercial Banks a7 14.69 percent, 23.91 percent, 2.03 percent, 23.75 percent 1641 percent, 25.47 percent, 22.81 peo 21.88 and SEL 4 eepbtdeats 1734, percent, 25.31. percent, Sree58 Banking and Micro Finance in India the customers have lower acceptance score (2.79). 18, 10.16 percent, 18.59 percent, 22.81 percent, 26.72 percent and 21.72 percent of the respondents strongly agree, agree, pase ys Sed eens erent ding private sector banks have higher level of acceptance towards overall service quality of the selected commercial ‘banks. Moreover, the variation in the acceptance is high among the customers of the private sector banks (7.93 percent), followed by the customers of the public sector banks (5.93 percent) towards overall service quality of the selected commercial banks. 20. Discriminant function analysis has been used for analyzing hhow do the respondents who are customers of public sector, bbanks differ from those who are customers of private sector banks in terms of their level of attitude on the than 5 percent. 21. No significant difference is found among theat 41.87 percent, 42.65 percent, percent respectively.‘Banking and Micro Finance in India resource in delivering the services of the bank. In addition, the management of banks should take internal marketing ‘seriously with respect to good communication flow, rewards i ‘excellent selected banks should be aggressively engaged in internal ‘marketing to arive ata synergy of satisfied employees upgraded organizational The selected commercial banks must formulate a customer intimate strategy based on a comprehensive market segmentation policy that moves beyond to include ic attributes. They also need to pay meticulous attention 10 technology as the of customer retention. Therefore, it is important that the current level of service is not only maintained but also ‘enhanced, if they are to retain the evidently good relationship that they have with the very important and. profitable customer segment. measures and restructuring of ». Retail banking is still untapped in rural andRetail Banking Services of Commercial Banks 61 areas due to lack of awareness about the use of modern technology, fear of frauds and security, lack of infrastructural facilities, illiteracy, ete. Further, tailor-madeBanking and Micro Finance in india ‘The retail banking has been introduced in the Indian banking sector in recent years. Customers of Indian commercial banks are responding to a great extent to this new banking strategy. Now-a- days, banks are in a fluctuating business environment as they to strengthen their core competitive decision to focusRetail Banking Services of Commercial Banks 63 ‘based more on their “high-touch” factors than on their “high- factors. ‘Although the satisfaction levels are on the higher side, yet remains a lotto be done by the managements of the retail i ize their(= S ==] Pa fen a] foal o td wa ea i} = = = = ay = = o Bo os GLOBAL RECESSION and: e EN ee OTe Kg aeRO ataGlobal Recession and Indian Insurance Sector 55. ‘to mutual funds. As new players join the fray, the tion in respect of various financial products is expected “to go.up in the near future. ~The key policy challenge required at the current stage is to ‘ensure the financial stability of the new insurers, while at the ‘same time encouraging entrepreneurship, product innovation and increasing insurance penetration especially in rural and semi-urban areas. Public sector companies require time to mould themselves to the competitive environment and associated contemporary structural changes, though the post-deregulation period has ‘seen greater diversification in their product offerings, with added stress on marketing and distribution strategies. The regulatory policy has taken a cautious and calibrated approach in sequencing various elements of the reform process, which ‘aims not only at a level playing field, but also takes into account the structural constraints in the insurance sector. Insurance along with biotechnology, business process ‘outsourcing (BPO) and software has provided tremendous job ‘opportunities. Following these prospects, the number of training schools is on the rise and management institutes are increasingly including courses on insurance in their curriculum. ; ‘Overall, the reach of the sector has increased since ‘opening up with a wider choice available to the policy holder. Simultaneously, the increase in resource mobilisation has resulted in the investment in the infrastructure and social sectors. Global Financial Crisis Globalization has meant greater freedom for capital flows. But the downside is that a financial crisis in one place has magnified effects elsewhere. Indeed that has happened. Some of the largest and most famous Wall Street Institutions have gone bankrupt. Despite massive bailouts the US crisis has infected the global economy and similar bailouts have been56 Global Recession & Indian Economic Development Tequired in Europe, Asia in every sphere of economic activities. The impact of the global economic meltdown would be less severe in India and other south Asian countries since they are less exposed to the Ug,cconomy and the financial ‘market, a top International Labout Organization (ILO) official has said. Duncan Campbell, director of ILO" s Department of Economics and Labour Market Analysis has also said that India should focus on imparting education to continue its growth in future. “The effect of the economic downturn in India and south Asian countries would be less severe as they are less exposed to the US economy and the financial market. Progress could be halted if suitable education is not imparted now. In fact, in India only education can ensure equal distribution, access to economic opportunities and brisk growth path for everyone”, said Mr. Campbell. ‘The ILO in its recent report on Global Employment Trends hhad predicted a global job loss to the tune of 1.5 million in 2009 as a direct impact of the global financial meltdown, Lauding India’s rural employment guarantee scheme it mentioned that the NREGA programme was helping in reducing poverty in the rural areas. The time for India is to look inwards, Though it has achieved considerable reduction in the level of acute poverty, the economic crisis can result in increase in levels of working poverty in India,” he said. Campbell was recently on a visit to India to form an inter- ‘ministerial task force for promoting the concept of “green jobs” in the country. For India to rethink the structure for long-term, the future for India is in green jobs. We are in consultation with ministries of Environment and Forest, Medium and Small Industries, Labour and Employment, Agriculture and others to arrive at certain common policy platforms on this,” Campbell said. The official said that the observations about India are based on the fact that the level of stimulus package in the Indian economy had been much less when compared with other South Asian economies like China, “We are living in anGlobal Recession and Indian Insurance Sector 57 cra wherein world trade has been expanding at a pace faster than world output. Globalization regime is endeavouring to ‘expand continuously the scope of multi-literalism not only in trade of goods and services but also ir the area of investment. ‘The spectacular progress in information technology is virtually transforming world’s financial markets into a single entity with ‘a phenomenal increase in cross border capital flows as well as in the operation of Multinational Companies. In such a rapidly globalizing environment how feasible is it for the India ‘economy and industry in particular to remain unaffected. Impact on Indian Economy The global financial crisis started visibly impacting the Indian economy from September 2008 onwards. Gradually it spread over all the sectors of the economy. Till the third ‘quarter of the current fiscal year, both Reserve Bank of India (RBI and the Finance Ministry were concerned about the accelerating inflation, It was also believed that the impact on Indian economy would be only marginal. However, as the crisis started impacting the GDP growth rate, the stock market, exports and capital inflows, the pressing need for appropriate policy measures became pronounced. In this paper, an attempt is made to examine the impact sector by sector, the strategy followed so far and the lessons India can learn from the policy measures of other countries, particularly from China. ‘The world economy which was passmg through experienced a jolt in September 2008 when the failure of ‘Lehman Brothers led to widespread panic across global financial markets. Many systemically important commercial ‘banks, investment banks, insurance companies and other financial institution in the US and Europe suffered large losses that undermined their capital bases. The US Federal Reserve and other central banks/governments rescued * financial institutions through large bailout packages, but financial markets continue to suffer from a crisis of confidence.4 58 Global Recession & Indian Economic Development. Consumer price inflation reached near zero in several advanced countries, raising concerns about sustained deflation ‘on the way forward. The unemployment rate in the US rose to 8.5 percent, the highest since 1983. Unemployment rate in the Euro area, the UK and Japan too increased significantly, Meanwhile, in tandem with others, India’s stock markets also crashed, losing 60 percent of its value this year. Foreign Portfolio investors, who had last year put in USS 17.4 billion, have tured tail. This mounted pressure on the rupee, which hhas lost some 20 percent of its value against the dollar since January, when the markets peaked. The global financial freeze accelerated the currency’s fall. Part of the problem may also be that, unable to raise the capital abroad, Indian companies have been turning to Indian banks for funds, for lower income group of people, the penetration is expected to rise in the recession times. The insurance company may reduce the price of motor policies, health policies and other personal lines of business in view of research findings that when unemployment rates rise by @ point the number of fatal car crashes decrease by 24 Percent. “People when worried about their job losses do things that keep them from getting laid off. They drink less and they take fewer risks”, says Ralpit Catalano professor of public health at the University of California, As Christopher Rukm, Professor of Economics at the University of North Carolina analyzed, that for every 1 percent increase in unemployment rates, there was a 0.5 percent decline in death rates. People not ‘only eat more healthily in recessions, even they tend to drive less, either as an economy measure or because they are noGlobal Recession and Indian Insurance Sector 59 Pensions, life insurance, general insurance and reinsurance ‘may well become the next victim of The Great Unwind ‘a result of the unprecedented level of disruption in the bal financial markets. The scale, speed, severity and onization of the global downturn are turning new in history at the speed of light and comparisons with 129 are being rendered inadequate in real time. It is said that erals always prepare to flight the “last war. The aments and central banks are doing the same with the nt Great Unwind global financial ersis by dealing with it stimulus. Along the way we have forgotten to ect the dots of how this crisis is likely to affect the entire Roof Top & Underlay”, ie. life pensi “insurance, and “The Pillars of State conten eee, corporate bonds; commercial and _ residential property; credit card debt; currencies and credit ‘card debt; and credit default swaps within derivatives which ‘we have already hightighted and quantified in the previous sections. Pensions, life, general insurance and reinsurance are the DNA of modem capitalism. In order to understand how ‘modern capitalism works and how risk is syndicated, one has ‘to be above to understand the mechanisms of risk transfer that | are inherent within insurance and reinsurance. The vital role, which the insurance industry plays in our future within a globalized economy, as the underlying fabric of commerce, community and globalization, is often overlooked.Asian Economic and Financial Integration Business Environment in India Nae ar Sat Teco IN 978-81-7708-2 tin