ORGANIZATION STRUCTURE TRAINING

AT
Balmer Lawrie & Co. Ltd.

A Report submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of

Master of Business Administration

By

P Jhoti

REGISTER NUMBER
2128348

Under the Guidance of

PROF. Sumathi Annamalai

MBA PROGRAMME
SCHOOL OF BUSINESS AND MANAGEMENT
CHRIST (DEEMED TO BE UNIVERSITY), BANGALORE

JUNE 2020
 ORGANIZATION STRUCTURE TRAINING
AT
Balmer Lawrie & Co. Ltd.

A Report submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of

Master of Business Administration

By

P JHOTI

REGISTER NUMBER
2128348

Under the Guidance of

PROF. SUMATHI ANNAMALAI

MBA PROGRAMME
SCHOOL OF BUSINESS AND MANAGEMENT
CHRIST (DEEMED TO BE UNIVERSITY), BANGALORE

JUNE 2020
 Declaration

I hereby declare that the Organization Structure Training report on Balmer Lawrie & Co. Ltd., has
been undertaken by me for the award of Master of Business Administration degree. I have completed
this study under the guidance of Prof. Sumathi Annamalai.

I also declare that this Organization Structure Training report has not been submitted for the award
of any Degree, Diploma, Associate ship, Fellowship or any other title, in CHRIST (Deemed to be
University) or in any other university.

Place: Bengaluru ______Signature_____________

Date: 27/08/21 P Jhoti
 Certificate

This is to certify that the Organization Structure Training report submitted by P Jhoti is a record of
work done by him during the year 2020 under my guidance and supervision in partial fulfillment of
the requirements of Master of Business Administration degree..

Place: Bengaluru ______Signature______________

Date: 27/08/21 Prof. Sumathi Annamalai

MBA Programme
School of Business and Management
CHRIST (Deemed to be University)
Bangalore
Certificate by Corporate in Letterhead
 Acknowledgement

I am indebted to all the people who helped me accomplish this Organisation Structure
Training successfully.

First, I thank the Vice Chancellor Dr Fr Abraham VM, CHRIST (Deemed to be University),
Bangalore, for giving me the opportunity to do my project.

I thank Dr. Jain Mathew, Dean, Dr. GeorgyKurien, Associate Dean(Main Campus),
Dr. Jeevananda S, Associate Dean (Kengeri Campus), Prof. Sirish V, Head (Main Campus),
Prof. Krishna MC, Head (Kengeri Campus), of MBA programme, School of Business and
Management, CHRIST (Deemed to be University), Bangalore, for their kind support.

I thank Prof. Sumathi Annamalai for his support and guidance during my training. I remember
him with much gratitude for his patience and motivation, but for which I could not have submitted
this work.

I wish to express my sincere thanks to my corporate mentor, Ms. Mohar Mukhopadhyay,

Head (Corporate Communications), Balmer Lawrie & Co. Ltd., for giving me an opportunity to work
under her guidance and successfully complete my training.

I thank my parents for their blessings and constant support, without which this training would
not have seen the light of day.

P Jhoti
2128348
 Synopsis

The Chapter 1 of the report has a detailed introduction about the organization which includes topics
like the history of the company, about the company, its vision, mission, objectives and key result
areas. The key result areas have details of the 3 manufacturing strategic business units which are
industrial packaging, greases and lubricant, and leather chemicals.
The Chapter 2 is about the organization structure. This chapter consists the organization structure of
the head office, then the introduction of the strategic business unit specifically focused on, then the
organization structure of the industrial packaging unit, the policies and procedures followed by the
company has been studied, and finally the advantages and disadvantages of the organization structure
have identified.
The chapter 3 is about the functional departments of the organization. The company has four
functional departments which are human resource, finance, marketing, and supply chain. The
activities performed by these departments are explained in detail. Then a detailed description of
products is given. Then some functions performed by human resource department are explained in
detail like career planning and promotion policy of employees, training measures, human resource
development measures (including welfare measures), manpower planning, and performance
appraisal system. Then, the functions performed by the IT department are also explained in detail.
The system followed for purchase of materials by the supply chain department is also explained.
The chapter 4 is about swot analysis of the company in detail.
The chapter 5 is about the financial analysis which involves the detailed ratio analysis done to
evaluate the performance of the company.
The chapter 6 has the conclusion of the project, recommendations given for the betterment of the
company.
Chapter Page
TABLE OF CONTENTS
No. No.
1 INTRODUCTION TO ORGANIZATION 12-14
2 ORGANIZATION STRUCTURE 16-23
3 FUNCTIONAL DEPARMENTS 25-34
4 SWOT ANALYSIS 36-37
FUNCTIONAL HIGHLIGHTS ACROSS KEY RESULT
5
AREAS 39-40
FINDINGS, RECOMMENDATIONS AND
6
CONCLUSIONS 42

REFERENCES / BIBLIOGRAPHY 44
Table Page
No. LIST OF TABLES No.

1 Financial Highlights 39
Fig Page
No. LIST OF FIGURES No.

Figure 1- Picture depicting the company’s various businesses 12

Figure 2- Picture shows the organisation structure of Balmer Lawrie 16

Figure 3- Organization Structure of Industrial Packaging 18

Figure 4- Various grease and lubricants of Balmerol 27

Figure 5- Picture depicting the chemical made under the brand
name:- Balmol 28

Figure 6- Lagoon Sludge Processing 29

Figure 7- Tank bottom sludge processing 30

Figure 8- Picture showing the e-Procurement platform of Balmer
Lawrie 32

Figure 9- Picture showing BL Konnect app view 33

 CHAPTER 1

INTRODUCTION TO
ORGANIZATION
1.1 History of Balmer Lawrie
According to (This Mini Ratna is 153 Years Old Debt Free Government Company is the Largest
Manufacturer of Steel Barrels in India with a Dividend Yield of 6%, 2020) in the year 1867, on the
1st of February, two enterprising Scotsmen Alexander Lawrie and Stephen George Balmer, started
this company at Kolkata. The story behind the organization name Balmer Lawrie is that a coin was
tossed, and Balmer won Balmer's name; it went before in the firm consolidation. Balmer Lawrie has
had presence in almost all the businesses since its initial business years, regardless of whether it was
from tea to shipping, insurance to banking, or trading to manufacturing. The organization has left its
very own characteristic at each progression of its surprising corporate journey.
Today, the company is a comes under the Ministry of Petroleum & Natural Gas of India which makes
it a public limited company. The company has six strategic business units which are greases and
lubricants, industrial packaging, chemicals, refinery and oil field services, travel, and vacations. All
these business units have offices spread across the country and in foreign countries as well. The
organizations has prospered tremendously in the last 154 years and has achieved the position of a
market leader in industrial greases & special lubricants, steel Barrels, corporate travel, and logistics
services. The organization has responded well to the demands of an rapidly changing environment
and has always used every opportunity to innovate. Balmer Lawrie has also developed enormously
through various joint ventures over the years.
1.2 About the company

Figure 1- Picture depicting the company’s various businesses

Balmer Lawrie & Co. Ltd. is a government entity and is under the proprietorship of the department
of petroleum and natural gas under the Government of India. On 1 February 1867 in Kolkata, this
partnership firm was founded by two Scotsmen named Alexander Lawrie and George Stephen
Balmer. Now this company is a government entity with sales of ₹1612 crores and a surplus yield of
₹232 crores on 31 March 2020. The company became a private limited company long ago in the year
1924 with a paid-up share capital of ₹40 lakhs, a joint-stock company in 1936, and then became a
government entity in 1972. Net sales or income from operations was ₹1534 crores in FY 2019–20 as
mentioned in (Balmer Lawrie and Company Ltd (523319: BOM) Stock Price & News - Google
Finance, n.d.).

1.3 Vision of Balmer Lawrie

The vision statement of the company is - "To be a leading diversified corporate entity having market
leadership in the chosen business segments, consistently delivering value to all stakeholders, with
environmental and social responsibility".

1.4 Objectives of the company

1. Quality Management- The company is dedicated to maintaining its standards of products and
services. The company guarantees quality assurance and zero defects along with customer
satisfaction.
2. Safety, the company’s priority- The Company gives high precedence to employee health and
safety. The company has executed this objective by establishing an integrated health and
safety management system in the organization. The company has issued an HSE manual
which is used as a reference book in the manufacturing plants.
3. Focus on continuous product improvement- The Company has succeeded in maintaining its
technical superiority by authorizing their qualified engineers and scientists giving them a free
hand to innovate and constantly improve the company’s products in their state-of-the-art
laboratories.
4. Reviewing and administering product prices on a timely basis.

1.5 Key Result Areas

Industrial packaging- This strategic business unit has its own focus areas and goals:
• Introduce new products to enhance the product portfolio
• Entering new markets through exports
• Increasing the customer base at Gujarat through the new plant at Vadodara
Greases and lubricants- This strategic business unit has also set up new goals:
• The Balmerol brand has an outstanding opportunity to grow with less than 2% market share
• Due to its long presence, it has a good brand image in greases and specialties
• Exceptional research and development facility
Leather chemicals- This strategic business unit had enough occasions to grow in other divisions like
beam and finishing house chemicals. The strategic business unit has introduced new chemical
substances inside the beam house segment like wetting agents, basic chrome sulfate (BCS), and so
on. The strategic business unit also disclosed a new range of finishing chemicals being produced in
a latest manufacturing facility. The path this strategic business unit has envisaged for the future are:
• Use the existing dealers to improve transaction volume and appoint new sellers to increase
disbursements channels in all three regions.
• Target the export markets like Bangladesh, China, East Africa, and Korea
 CHAPTER 2

ORGANIZATIONAL STRUCTURE
2.1 Organization structure- Balmer Lawrie

Figure 2- Picture shows the organisation structure of Balmer Lawrie

2.2 Industrial Packaging
According to the information in (This Mini Ratna is 153 Years Old Debt Free Government Company
is the Largest Manufacturer of Steel Barrels in India with a Dividend Yield of 6%, 2020) Balmer
Lawrie is the biggest producer of MS drums in India and is a renowned market leader within the
industry with over 40% marketplace proportion. The management function is further accentuated
owing to the provider orientation of the company's team and the geographical spread of the various
manufacturing facilities.
History
The genesis of the Calcutta Drum Plant lay in Industrial Containers Ltd., which was commissioned
in 1960 at Paharpur. As with the Bombay unit, Industrial Containers Ltd., too was merged with
Balmer Lawrie on 1st January 1975 and was renamed as Barrel Division, Calcutta. Till 1992, Balmer
Lawrie set up four more manufacturing facilities – Mathura in 1981, Madras in 1988, Turbhe near
Navi Mumbai in 1991 and
Chembur, Bombay in 1993. After 1992 till the current times, the company has set up six more plants
including the purchase of the assets of a competitor. With rationalisation of facilities, presently the
company has six operating units in the country.
Product Range
According to the information in (Balmer Lawrie Industrial Packaging, 2021), Balmer Lawrie's drums
are manufactured in a range of various thicknesses and configurations to suit different types of
products (solid and liquid), types of filling (cold and hot), stackability (conical and cylindrical), etc.
The product range in the industrial packaging segment consists of:
• Plain steel drums (tighthead and open head)
• Lacquer lined drums (tighthead and open head)
• Galvanized drums
• Composite drums
• Conical drums
• Asepton drums
It operates in the semi bulk packaging industry and offers products such as the 200/210 liter capacity
MS Barrels for packaging of:
✓ Lubricating oils and greases
✓ Additives
✓ Transformer oil
✓ Chemicals and agrochemicals
✓ Food and fruit products
✓ Bitumen emulsion
2.3 Industrial packaging- Organization structure

Director of Manufacturing
Business

Exective Director

Head of Head of Supply

Head of Marketing Head of Finance
Operations Chain Management

Plant Heads Regional Heads- Senior Manager SBU Finance

East, West, North, Head
South
Production Officer Manager
Plant
Assistant Accountant
Production Manager, Deputy Employees
manager, Finance, Manager
HR, SCM
Employees
Workers

Figure 3- Organization Structure of Industrial Packaging

*Due to the format constraint of this above hierarchy chart one level up could not be accommodated
which is that the Director of manufacturing businesses ultimately reports to the Chairman and
managing director of the company.
2.4 Policies and Procedures

According to policy articles in (Codes & Policies, n.d.), these are the company policies-

A. HSE Progressive Disciplinary Policy –

The HSE progressive disciplinary moves are aimed to correct/ prevent risky practices and behaviors
so that it will enhance and maintain a secure environment across the organization and at the
production site, CFS, warehouses, workplaces and assignment sites, airports, ports, and so on., and
in any place connected with the corporation's business. This policy is pertinent to all employees of
the Company.

B. Related Party Transaction Policy-

This policy lays down a system to ensure that transactions through and between an associated party
and BL are nicely-identified and reviewed to ensure that related party transactions are well approved
and disclosed according to applicable law. Such related party transactions are appropriate only when
they are in the best knowledge and interest of the Company and its stakeholders. The principal cause
of this policy is to ensure that there may be no misuse of allied party transactions, and the same is
endeavored to be done by using well-timed approvals sought from the suitable authorities and well-
timed reporting of transactions between the Company and its associated parties.

C. Dividend Distribution Policy-

The Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) Regulations, 2016, had mandated through the
introduction of regulation 43A on dated 8th July 2016 that based on market capitalization, the top
five hundred listed entities should formulate this policy which should be disclosed in the Company's
annual reports and also on their websites. The motive of this policy is to make certain a stability
between the quantum of dividend paid and quantity of income retained in the Company for internal
requirements.

D. Corporate Social Responsibility And Sustainability Policy –

Vision - "We are committed to serving the community by empowering it to achieve its aspirations
and improving its overall quality of life."

Mission-To undertakes CSR activities in chosen areas through partnerships, particularly for the
communities around us and weaker sections of the society, by supporting need-based initiatives.

Objectives-
 ✓ Enhance the health and nutrition condition of communities, particularly for vulnerable groups
such as girls, kids, and the elderly, by way of improving health infrastructure and facilitating
service provision.

✓ Target quality education and encourage kids from marginalized sections and girls to finish
school education and opt for higher education.

✓ To focus on livelihoods and ability improvement with a purpose to offer opportunities to

women and children and cause them to be self-reliant.

✓ Initiate holistic improvement packages for otherwise abled children and orphans so as to
provide them possibilities to lead a significant lifestyle

✓ To support the countrywide efforts in rehabilitation and remedy post unfortunate natural
disasters.

E. Fraud Prevention Policy-

The Company has issued numerous systems, policies, and procedures to make sure that all official
dealing and agreements are accepted and managed in a sincere, ethical, and clear manner without any
approval or bias. The objective of the policy is to furnish a system for observation, reporting, and
prevention of fraud, regardless of whether committed or suspected.

F. Policy on Determining Material Subsidiary

This policy was framed for the determination of the material subsidiaries of the Company and to
issue the governance framework for such subsidiaries.

G. Policy for determination of materiality of an event

The purpose of this policy is to make sure continuous, sufficient, precise, and timely information
disclosure by the Company to the stock exchange board of India on a continuous basis.

H. Whistle Blower Policy

The motive of this policy is to offer a framework to encourage accountable and comfortable whistle-
blowing. It protects personnel wishing to elevate a difficulty about any critical irregularities in the
Company.

Objectives-
The organization believes in conducting its affairs and the affairs of its constituents in a truthful and
transparent manner via adopting maximum requirements of professionalism, honesty, integrity, and
ethical behavior.

The business enterprise is dedicated to growing a culture wherein it's miles safe for all personnel to
raise concerns approximately any irregular, unwanted, or unacceptable practice and any event or
incident of misconduct.

I. Policy for the preservation of documents

The goal of the policy is to ensure that all critical documents generated or acquired via Balmer Lawrie
are appropriately maintained and preserved in compliance with the relevant statutory provisions and
to facilitate the destruction of files that are no longer required at a suitable time. The policy establishes
the guidelines for control, retention, maintenance, and destruction of files, each in physical shape and
digital form, by way of Balmer Lawrie.

J. Enterprise risk management policy

The corporation has instituted this policy which has been updated for the duration of the year as a
part of nicely laid down risk evaluation and management technique. Chief Risk Officer heads the risk
management structure, reviews the various dangers related to the business of the organization. Risk
Management Committee is constituted by the Company comprising of complete-time and unbiased
directors for overseeing the risk control activities. On a regular basis, a risk management report is
submitted to the audit committee and the board.

K. Policy on Black Listing

This policy aims to ban a vendor, supplier, contractor, or consultant if they indulge in any corrupt or
unethical practices to provide service as per acceptable services.

2.5 Advantages of the organisation structure

Functional structure
• The industrial packaging business structure is divided into four support functions, and each
support function has a manager who reports one level up. This shows that the organization
has a functional layout.
• The advantage of this type of structure is that the employees are appointed according to their
skills and specializations.
• Segregation of the workforce according to the function makes the responsibilities of their role
clear. This also eliminates duplication of work and effort, which might have occurred
otherwise.
• This will also help employees to give their 100 percent towards their work because they are
appointed in the area of their interest.
• Also, when the work is done by an employee who is specialized and has an educational
qualification in that work, it will increase the quality of work done.
• Also, work done by employee specialized in it will help in customer satisfaction and retention;
for example, if an employee who is specialized in marketing will have skills to handle and
convince the customer.
• Another related benefit of this type of organizational structure is the operational speed. An
employee having knowledge in the specific field will tackle the issue or work faster than any
other person who has less knowledge and experience.
Divisional structure
• The company has regional heads for their respective divisions, so this means that a divisional
organizational structure is also followed.
• This actually makes decision-making more accessible and reduces the burden of top
management.
• Also, this type of structure will help in making timely decisions, and the regional heads have
enough years of experience and knowledge, which allows them to deal with the situation
accurately.
2.6 Disadvantages of the organization structure
Functional structure
• Though this structure comes up with some drawbacks like employees of different teams, do
not get chances to meet and share their perspectives but this disadvantage was eliminated as
it is a closely-knit company where everybody knows each other very well.
• Another disadvantage that is its expected that there can exist weakening of common bonds as
different support functions work for other teams, so the common bond which emphasizes a
single overarching organizational purpose becomes weaker. This expected issue is also
eliminated in the company as the company organizes a town hall meeting where each
employee gets a chance to share their ideas, perspectives, or any questions directly with board
members. This is done in batches, and the board roams in all the regions to conduct this
meeting. This meeting is done for the permanent employees, not the outsourced ones. Apart
from this, they also conduct departmental meetings quarterly or annually where they go to an
outdoor location and suppose the HR team is working, and they invite the heads of other
support functions like Finance, IT, etc.
 Divisional structure
• This structure has a disadvantage that is the limited sharing of ideas. But even this is an issue
that does not arise in the company has the town hall meeting where every employee gets a
fair chance to put their ideas forth.
 CHAPTER 3

FUNCTIONAL DEPARMENTS
3.1 Functions of departments
3.1.1Human Resource Department-
The functions of the department are
• Sourcing and placement involve recruiting employees for categories, namely, permanent
position, fixed-term contract, outsourcing, and direct contract.
• Learning and development- This function ensures that employees adapt to changes in
technology, processes, or any other field.
• Benefits and payment administration- In this function, the company provides its employees'
benefits like salary, perquisites, medical benefits, transport, etc. In the payment
administration part, the department is responsible for deciding employee compensation.
• Industrial relations
• Attendance and leave management
• Succession planning- This is the process of planning contingencies in crucial employees
leaving the company.
• Manpower planning.
• Issuance of various communication, namely employee life cycle orders, circulars, notices,
memos, etc.
• Maintenance of employees' lifecycle
• Timely updating of database and record keeping;
• Formulation of company's policies
• Assisting the businesses of the company
• Other functions involve full and final settlement, long-term settlements, exit interviews,
employee engagement activities, grievance redressal, disciplinary proceedings, etc.
3.1.2 Finance Department
The functions performed by this department are costing, which helps the accountant to understand
the value of inputs and outputs in the manufacturing process; the next function is the preparation of
the financial statement to ascertain the profit gained, they also keep a check on the stocks of the
company, they also have to take part in the internal audit, and they also need to do their reporting
regarding the work target reached.
3.1.3 Supply chain department
Their functions are to keep a track of the raw material requirement, stores requirement, spares
requirement for the untroubled functioning of the manufacturing process so that they are no delays
in making the item according to the demand. The department also needs to coordinate with the central
purchase team to accommodate the requirements and make them available on time.
3.1.4 Marketing department
The first point is that since the company is a market in industrial packing, they already have built a
good customer base who are its regular customers. Hence, the marketing team understands the
customers' demands and supplies them accordingly. Also, the marketing team's job is to identify new
customers and convince them why the company charges a special price by making them understand
the product quality and specialty. A vital function performed by the marketing team is the collection
of the dues from the customers. The marketing team also needs to keep track of the steel price daily
and convince customers of any product price changes based on fluctuating steel prices. Also, the
marketing team needs to report about their work.
3.2 Profile of the Products
The company has four manufacturing businesses which are
1. Industrial packaging
The transport of dangerous goods is done in the most widely used and highly safe packaging, steel
drums. This particular strategic business unit has a wide product range in the industrial packaging
domain, which consists of:
• Plain steel drums
• Composite drums
• Conical drums
• Galvanized drums
• Necked in drums
• Internally painted drums
These steel drums are produced in various configurations or thicknesses to carry different products,
be it liquid or solid, stackability being conical and cylindrical, type of filling being cold or hot.
2. Greases and lubricants
Balmer Lawrie's history of greases & lubricants goes back to its inception like most other
businesses. In 1937, the first factory was set up at Peelkhana in Howrah to make greases.
Lubricating oil involves blending mineral oils at varying temperatures and adding
additives to impart the oil-specific characteristics. On the other hand, Lubricating greases
are thick, dense, semi-solid lubricants and are made through fat saponification with an
alkali-forming soap. This soap is then emulsified with different mineral oils and additives
added to it to impart unique characteristics. Traditionally, Balmer Lawrie used to make
calcium and sodium-based greases and manufactured bitumen blends with mineral oil,
primarily to cater to the industries. In the 1980s, India saw the emergence of lithium-based
greases, which imbibed the strength of both sodium and calcium-based greases. In a way,
it was incredibly versatile and was, therefore, termed as ‘multipurpose grease.’ The
developments became very rapid, and in 1980, Balmer Lawrie set up its Application
 Research Laboratory, focusing on building in-house Research & Development
capabilities in a process-driven way for manufacturing greases and lubricants. The
company kept growing with the ever-changing needs of the market. In 1982, the company
launched Balmerol wheel bearing HD and Balmerol Chassis-L in the selected pockets of
West Bengal post, which branded all its greases and lubricants launch with the name
Balmerol.

Figure 4- Various grease and lubricants of Balmerol

In this domain of industrial and automotive lubricants, Balmerol is the most trusted and
experienced brand. The products manufactured for the automotive sector are gear oil, other
specialties, greases, engine oil- passenger car motor engine, engine oil- diesel, and engine oil
– two-wheeler. The products manufactured for the industrial sector are gear oil, turbine oil,
transmission oil, transformer oil, thread compounds, spindle oil, rust preventives, rolling oil,
quenching oil, other specialties, mould oil, metal working fluid, marine engine oil, hydraulic
oil, greases, compressor oil, and cylinder oil.
a) Chemicals
According to the information in (Balmerol Lubricants, n.d.), the leather chemicals business
was indeed an exception. Balmer Lawrie entered the field of leather chemicals in 1981
through a collaborative research project to develop and manufacture synthetic fat liquors,
which were predominantly imported during that time. The company set up a pilot plant first
in 1983, and after that, a successful set up of a commercial plant was done in 1987. By 1992,
Balmer Lawrie established itself as a quality supplier of synthetic and semi-synthetic fat
liquors at competitive prices.
 Figure 5- Picture depicting the chemical made under the brand name:- Balmol

Lawrie was the first Indian company and, until today, the only public sector company which
has made a strong presence in the leather chemicals market. Since its inception, the company
has achieved many milestones. Prime one is that it was becoming the market in the fat liquor
segment. Balmer Lawrie manufactures end-to-end leather chemicals based on indigenous
technology under Balmol, Balsyn, Balchem, and Balfin's modern manufacturing facility in
Chennai.
b) Refinery and oil field services
According to the information in (Balmer Lawrie - Refinery & Oil field services, n.d.), The
company specializes in providing value-added technical services focusing on the oil & gas
Industry. In this domain, the prominence is on delivering services focused on pollution
prevention & recovery of hydrocarbon from wastes. The company takes pride in being the
introducers of mechanized oily sludge processing in the country, possessing state of the art
technology and thorough expertise in the field, having successfully carried out projects with
all significant refineries & oil installations in the country. The organization is also making
steady strives to enrich our business portfolio and appeared as the precursors in providing
value-added services to our chosen sectors of business activity.
The service range is lagoon sludge processing and tank bottom sludge processing.
Lagoon sludge processing- the company has designed this to effectively resolve the
potentially harmful environmental pitfalls connected with lagoon sludge, ensuring maximum
 recovery of hydrocarbon and eliminating pollution and HSE issues at the site.

Figure 6- Lagoon Sludge Processing

The organization has developed and adopted a technically advanced procedure for Lagoon Sludge
Processing. The technology is being incessantly upgraded and improved upon to enhance efficiency.
The company has emerged as a critical player in this field, having processed over 70,000 Kilo Liters
of Lagoon Sludge in refineries in the last six years.
Benefits:
• Maximum recovery of hydrocarbons
• It has reduced processing time.
• Environment-friendly process
• No HSE risk
• No housekeeping problems
Tank bottom sludge processing- The company’s resources in the area of hydrocarbon and tank bottom
sludge processing are created to efficiently pay attention towards oily sludge-related tank
preservation issues and, simultaneously, made a considerable value addition opportunity by way of
which maximum recovery of trapped hydrocarbon.

Figure 7- Tank bottom sludge processing

3.3 Product Promotional Measures

The company doesn't do any advertisements as it has an excellent reputation in the market, so their
customers have their faith in the company. Also, the company believes in word of mouth and the
quality of products which they guarantee on.
3.4 Career planning and promotion policy of employees
This is also handled by the corporate HR team and SBU- HR. The Strategic business unit HR has the
role of taking care of the entire lifecycle of the employees associated with that particular business.
The strategic business unit HR sits with the concerned SBU Head to fix up the annual KPI's. They
need to be floated by the employees same gets approved by the reporting, functional, and reviewing
officer. Functional may not be there in all cases. Functional is there if in case there is a person from
HR, IT, finance who are not directly linked with the business and are the support functions so for
them, there is a functional manager who is deputed in-unit otherwise people who are related to the
company they only have a reporting and reviewing officer. The entire key performance target gets
approved. They have first to undergo the mid-year appraisal, which usually takes place around
October or November, and then the final appraisal, which starts in April. The strategic business unit
HR derives the entire process of getting the reviews done and key performance target setting mid-
year appraisal. For example, if she is the strategic business unit HR of industrial packing, she would
ensure that all employees of her strategic business unit will set their key performance target (KPT)
at the beginning of the year, they will fill the mid-year appraisal in October or November, and then
they will fill the final appraisal in April next year and finally the moderation. So this entire process
is the responsibility of the SBU- HR, and centrally, the corporate HR derives the whole thing. Again
unit HR has no role here. The company has an SAP-based platform over there the concerned
employee needs to sit with the reporting officer, fix their KPT's, fill the KPT's, get it approved online
the during mid-year they have to put comments regarding what all they have achieved during these
months and then that is also reviewed by the reporting and reviewing then they fill the final appraisal
in April against the annual KPT what all they were able to achieve or not able to achieve. Post the
last check, and then the person gets a particular grade (excellent, good, very good). The company
follows a bell curve model, so moderation occurs at the end of the appraisal cycle.
3.5 Training measures
In most cases, it is done by the corporate HR team. There is a dedicated training cell. They take care
of the training of the executives. Under permanent employees, there are executives, and then there
are unionized employees. Pan India all executives for their training the corporate HR team is
responsible. Now for officer and below categories like fixed-term contract employees, outsourcing,
so the concerned regional HR is accountable for their training. In the eastern region, outsourcing HR
is responsible for the training of the types like officer, unionized, fixed-term contract. The regional
HR can take help from the unit regarding how many employees require training. For example, the
GNL HR can demand that the employees need training in sales or collection. They can send
nominations to the regional HR and take up the administrative arrangement, but the regional HR
executes and finalizes a training module, the payment part, and everything. Similarly, if the training
is being conducted for executives, it is done by the corporate HR.
3.6 System followed for purchase of materials
The company uses an e-procurement platform according to the guidelines of the ministry. The
platform helps simplify the involvement of new vendors through its self-registration form, which
seeks all the relevant information about the potential supplier at once and with reduced effort.

Figure 8- Picture showing the e-Procurement platform of Balmer Lawrie

3.7 IT Systems used

e-Saksham: (SAP Payroll, PMS & ESS):
Balmer Lawrie (BL) had planned to implement SAP Payroll, Performance Management (PMS), and
Employee Self Service (ESS) on 22nd January 2018. This project was named "e-Saksham." The
company floated a tender on the e-Procurement platform through which PWC got selected as the
implementation partner. This project's scope was the implementation of Payroll, PMS, and ESS,
which was planned to be done in a phase-wise manner. An SAP roadmap was set. According to Phase
- 2, SAP - HCM and Time Management were already implemented previously. In Phase 2, the
implementation of SAP ESS would enable the company to streamline employee and manager-
specific HR processes and provide end users a platform to utilize the self-service applications directly
integrated with SAP. The Payroll Solution was designed to enable the company to do away with
multiple existing systems. Now there is only one SAP HCM system which is the employee data hub.
The payroll run tool automatically posts the employee salary cost to the SAP Finance System. The
PMS solution helps the organization in evaluating the employees' performance and their training and
development needs.
Enhancements on BL Intranet
In 2016 BL Konnect was launched with all new-age features like communities, chat, polls, employee
directory, survey/quiz, reward points (for increasing employee engagement), suggestions,
notifications, birthdays, buy & sell, helpdesk, etc. Keeping in mind the ministry initiatives towards
digitalization, a new option, "e-Sahayak," was launched on BL intranet with many new features like
e-filling, knowledge management, e-requisitions, new joiners requisitions, etc. To increase the
application's popularity and improve the ease of use, Android Mobile Application with few modules
has been developed that can be downloaded from the play store.

Figure 9- Picture showing BL Konnect app view

Master Data Management

Master data is the fundamental data that is significant to operations in a specific business or business
unit. The nature of the data is mainly static. The functionality of SAP majorly depends on the
correctness of master data. Hence, proper maintenance of master data is essential as the success of
the implementation of SAP depends on it; Master Data Management (MDM) team is responsible for
performing this role. . The company’s MDM team maintains master data such as customer, materials,
vendor, formulation, tax combination, general ledger code, and recipe.
Secure Web Gateway
There is a huge dependency for employees/users on the internet. Due to an increase in the usage
patterns, there was a need to secure information from cybercriminals stealing valuable corporate
information by taking advantage of new security weaknesses in the Web. To avoid such threats, the
company has successfully implemented a secure web gateway (SWG) solution for advanced threat
defense, URL filtering, visibility into encrypted site visitors to guard users/employees against net-
borne threats, and assist in implementing internet policy compliance.
Enterprise Antivirus (Anti-Malware) Solution
The corporate IT department has installed Enterprise Anti-Virus (Malware) Application, which
observes and controls any danger internally such that the business enterprise can shield all of the
laptops from cyber-attacks.

3.8 HRD measures (including welfare measures)

In the regional or head office, they have a dedicated human resource and admin team, not in a unit
that is not the case. As in the unit, the HR is responsible for human resource-related activities as well
as admin-related activities. So this is the central role of unit HR also. They need to take care of
industrial relation issues, licensing, safety measures if there is no dedicated safety officer.

3.9 Manpower Planning

The strategic business unit HR will take care of their SBU. The SBU HR will decide what the
recruitment for the entire financial year is. They usually make a report they identify; for example,
there will be how many retirements in the next five years, or there can be other cases when people
are getting retired, but there is no replacement required. Currently, two people are retiring on April
2022, but SBU HR may hire one replacement instead of two. So all this planning is done by the SBU
HR and the SBU head. In case of death, the SBU HR will do the needful. Even in an unexpected
resignation, the SBU HR will put up a requisition stating all the facts. The SBU HR does the initiation
of approval, and then the same process follows.
 CHAPTER 4

SWOT ANALYSIS
4.1 Swot Analysis of Balmer Lawrie
Strengths
• Overbought by money flow index (MFI) - The company stocks with a money flow index of
above 80 are said to be overbought. This means that the stocks may have a temporary dip or
pause in value.
• Company with low debt- This means that the company gives a message to the outside world
that they can control their investment necessities predominantly through internally generated
cash, and hence they are a cash-rich company. During the economic slowdown, many firms
with heavy debts faced a dip in profit to falling sales and had the burden of payment of fixed
interest, while the company with low debt need not worry regarding the same. Thus, it means
that Balmer Lawrie would also have a low-interest rate risk. Since the company has a joint
obligation, which will show in the balance sheet would give a message to its investors about
the company’s conservative nature.
• Increasing Revenue every quarter for the past two quarters- This means that there is growth
in the company’s sales. In general, when the company earns Revenue, this increases the
company’s current assets and the retained earnings of the stakeholders.
• Strong Momentum: Price above short-, medium- and long-term moving averages- The
indication of rising moving averages is an uptrend.
• MFs increased their shareholding last quarter-Mutual Funds increasing their shareholding in
stock is considered positive for the stock.
Weakness
• Ineffective usage of capital to generate profits - ROCE declining in the last two years.
A decrease in return on capital employed could signal the loss of competitive advantage because the
return on capital employed evaluates profitability regarding invested capital. The return on capital
employed is significant for a capital-intensive company that needs large upfront investments to start
manufacturing goods.
• Inefficient use of shareholder funds - ROE declining in the last two years
Sometimes return on equity figures are compared at different points in time. Declining return on
equity could indicate whether the company’s management is making appropriate business decisions
towards generating income for the stakeholders. Declining return on equity suggests that the business
enterprise is becoming less efficient at generating profits and increasing shareholder value.
• Ineffective use of assets to generate profits - ROA declining in the last two years.
A declining return on assets indicates that the company might have invested excessively in assets
that have failed to generate revenue growth. This can also signal that the company might be in trouble.
• Degrowth in revenue and profit- Degrowth refers to an economic situation wherein the
financial wealth created does not increase or decrease.
 • The decline in Net Profit with falling Profit Margin (QoQ)- A declining net profit means that
the company effectively needs to take a pay cut to keep the business functioning at standard
capacity.
• Decrease in quarterly net profit with a falling profit margin (Year on year)
• Declining Net Cash Flow: Companies not able to generate net cash- This means that the
business cannot cover its expenses with sales.
• Annual net profit declining for last two years- means that company is using an ineffective
cost structure or/and poor pricing strategy. To revive its business, the company might have to
opt pay cut as a solution.
• Significant fall in trailing twelve-month net profit- An organization’s trailing twelve-month
period constitutes its financial performance for 12 months; it does no longer normally
constitute a financial-year finishing period.
Opportunities
• High rise in momentum scores (means the technical scores are greater than 50) - Since the
company had good returns earlier, it will have high momentum scores. Evaluation of
momentum scores is a relative measurement, so they will approximately always have the
same number of high momentum score stocks heedless of the market conditions.
• RSI indicates price strength- The Relative strength index (RSI) is a dimension utilized by
stock traders to evaluate a stock's price momentum or other security.
• Volume shockers- This means that stocks are trading on an unexpectedly high volume.
Threats
• Declining profitability: Falling ROCE
Falling return on capital employed is not suitable for the company's health as it signals the
loss of competitive advantage.
 CHAPTER 5

FUNCTIONAL HIGHLIGHTS
ACROSS KEY RESULT AREAS
5.1 Financial Highlights
Serial Description Formula FY20 FY19 FY18
No.
1 Current Ratio Current Assets /Current 2.33 2.28 2.2
Liabilities
2 Quick Ratio (Current assets - 2.04 2 1.96
inventories)/Current Liabilities
3 Cash Position Cash and Cash Equivalents/ 0.92 0.85 0.88
Current Liabilities
4 Proprietary Ratio Equity share capital / total 0.073 0.049 0.052
assets
5 Solvency Ratio (Net Profit after tax + 0.073 0.084 0.087
depreciation)/ Total Liabilities
6 Fixed assets to net Fixed assets / Net worth 1.2 1.04 0.79
worth ratio
7 Return on Equity Net income / shareholder’s 10.37 10.74 11.34
equity
8 Return on assets Net income / total assets 6.9 7.16 7.52
9 Earnings per Share Net profit after tax / no of 6.91 14.13 14.46
equity shares
10 Interest coverage Profit before interest and taxes/ 12.66 35.61 57.37
ratio interest expenses

5.2 Analysis
Current ratio- As can be seen each year, the ability of the company to pay back its creditors is
increasing. As of March 2018, the company has the lowest ability to pay back its creditors compared
to other years.
Quick ratio- According to the ratio calculated for each year, there is a massive increase from the year
2018, which indicates that the business is holding much cash compared to previous years that could
utilize in other areas.
Cash position- The above table displays that the cash position of Balmer Lawrie has been fluctuating,
with the highest cash position being in 2020.
Proprietary ratio- This ratio provides a rough estimate of the total capitalization used from
shareholders' equity to finance the business. According to the calculated figures in the above table,
the company employed fewer shareholders' capital to fund business activities in 2019 but again, in
the next year, they used more wealth.
Solvency ratio- This ratio acts like a tool that helps measure an organization's capacity to pay back
its debt obligations. According to the figures calculated, it is clear that the company's ability to pay
its debt obligations is decreasing by significantly less amount but is decreasing from 2018 to 2020.
Fixed assets to net worth ratio- This ratio helps to measure the amount to which the business owner's
liquid cash is frozen in the form of fixed assets such as machinery, plant, etc., and the amount to
which finance is available for the company's current operations. According to the table, the company
is increasing the liquid cash investment in the form of fixed assets year after year.
Return on equity- This ratio calculates how much the company can earn in profit using the funds
collected from the equity shareholders. According to the table, the company's earnings are decreasing
from 2018.
Return on assets- This ratio helps determine how efficiently a company utilizes its assets to generate
profit. According to the table, the company's efficiency in earning profit using the assets is
decreasing.
Earnings per share- According to the figures in the table, the revenues have decreased little from
2018 to 2019, and it has reduced more from 2019 to 2020.
Interest coverage ratio- This ratio indicates how much cost the company pays in terms of interests to
the debt finances taken for the business. According to the figures in the table, the company's finance
costs, the interest payment, are decreasing year on year, which is a good sign as it means that the
company is reducing the amount of debt taken to finance business.
 CHAPTER 6

FINDINGS, RECOMMENDATIONS
AND CONCLUSIONS
6.1 Conclusion
The company has centralized and decentralized decision-making systems, as the various
manufacturing units spread across India in different zones have their respective departmental heads
who look after the issues related to these manufacturing units. Only when there is any big issue is it
necessary that the top management in the head office are made aware of and take their consent on
the matter. The company has produced different policies for standardizing the action which needs to
be taken in those matters. Still, the company has not formalized its day-to-day activities or any other
daily operations. So basically, the company has kept the doors open for any new suggestions.
6.2 Recommendations
The company organizes the company's foundation day every year on the 1st of February, where flag
hoisting takes place. Then the employees take the pledge, 1st Sunday of February every year that the
company has a family get together, so all employees come with their family. A celebrity is invited to
brace the function. So, due to covid, all these events cannot occur where employees enjoy and feel
motivated. A small suggestion would be to conduct fun meets on a monthly or weekly basis for the
employees. It can be a departmental affair or a mix of employees from other departments. It can also
be conducted online to lighten the mood of the employees working from home, motivate them, and
reduce their stress, which every individual is facing due to the covid time.
REFERENCES/BIBLIOGRAPHY
Bibliography
1) (2021, 07 28). Retrieved from Balmer Lawrie official website:
https://www.balmerlawrie.com/
2) Balmer Lawrie - Refinery & Oil field services. (n.d.). Retrieved from
rofs.balmerlawrie.com: http://rofs.balmerlawrie.com/
3) Balmer Lawrie Industrial Packaging. (2021). Retrieved from
packaging.balmerlawrie.com:
http://packaging.balmerlawrie.com/balmerpack/about
4) Balmer Lawrie Organisational Gazette. (2018, 01 22). BLOG.
5) Balmerol Lubricants. (n.d.). Retrieved from lubricants.balmerlawrie.com:
http://lubricants.balmerlawrie.com/balmerlub/about
6) BSE Experience The New. (n.d.). Retrieved from BSE India:
https://www.bseindia.com/stock-share-price/balmer-lawrie--
coltd/balmlawrie/523319/financials-annual-reports/
7) Rehan, A. (2015, 09 03). Balmer lawrie & co. Retrieved from Slideshare.net:
https://www.slideshare.net/AltamashRehan/balmer-lawrie-co
8) The making of next. (n.d.).
9) This Mini Ratna is 153 Years Old Debt Free Government Company is the Largest
Manufacturer of Steel Barrels in India with a Dividend Yield of 6%. (2020, 06 12).
Retrieved from Wolf of Dalal Street:
http://wolfofdalalstreet.com/2020/06/12/this-mini-ratna-is-153-years-old-debt-
free-government-company-is-the-largest-manufacturer-of-steel-barrels-in-india-
with-a-dividend-yield-of-6/