Saswata Narayan Biswas

Personal and Economic Empowerment in Rural Indian Women A Self-help Group Approach

The present study examined the empowerment of women by addressing two dimensions: economic empowerment and personal empowerment. One hundred women, aged between 16 and 65 years, participating in self-help groups from two rural Indian villages in North-West India took part in the study. Both quantitative and qualitative data were gathered through self-report surveys and interviews, with the analysis yielding contradictory findings. The quantitative data found that working women reported moderate to high levels on collective efficacy, proactive attitude, self-esteem and self-efficacy with no significant reporting of psychological distress. In contrast, examination of the qualitative data revealed positive appraisals of self-worth, purpose and independence and negative appraisals of pressure, challenge and stress. The implications of these findings and the importance of this study are discussed.

Effect of Entrepreneur Network and Entrepreneur Self-efficacy on Subjective Performance

The article presents results of a study on the impact of entrepreneurial demographic characteristics (age, experience and education), entrepreneurial network structure (size, density and centrality), entrepreneurial network types (competitive and supportive) and entrepreneurial self-efficacy on subjective performance. The sample consisted of 148 micro and small enterprises in a textile handicraft and handloom cluster in Kutch, Gujarat, India. Regression analysis results suggested that size, density, centrality, entrepreneur self-efficacy, competitive network and supportive network predicted subjective performance significantly and together they accounted for about 56 per cent of the variance in the dependent variable. However, the unique contribution of the demographic variables and supportive network was not significant. Results are explained in the light of the theory of social capital and the entrepreneur cognitive theory. The research has implications for policymaking, research and entrepreneurship training and education.

Governance of NGOs Contextualizing in the Indian Experience

In the contemporary reformulations of governance for development, NGOs are both courted and critiqued; while counted upon to replace the state in a variety of arenas and activities, their capacity, credibility and legitimacy to do so is increasingly questioned. Growth has made the sector visible; visibility in turn has attracted critical attention, particularly on questions of governance of NGOs, from policy and research communities. In this paper we briefly review governance literature and suggest that the question of governance of and in NGOs would profit from studying the how and why of governing structures and decisions, the manner of their operation, including processes of mediation and reshaping. We seek to contextualize the issue by reviewing the growth of NGOs in post–independence India, delineating the diversity in the field, examining the organizational characteristics, and reviewing some of the governance challenges as they are negotiated. We then discuss the governing structures of NGOs and stakeholder linkages by taking the vantage point of a ‘median’ NGO. Noting that the debate on NGO governance has oscillated between the two extremes of autonomy and accountability, we conclude by suggesting further scholarship on the construct of ‘accountable autonomy’ that would further both democratic norms and practice, and developmental outcomes.

Measuring fairness in franchisor-franchisee relationship: a confirmatory approach

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to develop, test and validate a measure of fairness in the context of franchisor-franchisee relationship and test for the dimensionality of fairness. Design/methodology/approach The authors surveyed 300 franchisees of a large-scale franchisor in India. The authors employ confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) to analyse the data. Findings The authors tested four models of the fairness construct through CFA using structural equation modelling. The three-factor corrected model of the fairness construct exhibits comparatively better goodness of fit indices as compared to the other correlated models of the fairness construct. It clears the threshold level of validity and reliability test. The findings of the study suggest that the factor structure of fairness is three-factor correlated model with aspects of procedural fairness and informational fairness getting subsumed into one construct. Research limitations/implications Factor structure of fairness construct differs with earlier empirical research findings with both interpersonal fairness and informational fairness subsuming into each other to form one construct. Practical implications This measure can be utilized by franchisee managers to track perceptions of fairness among franchisees to manage the franchise relationship in a better way. Franchisees expect information sharing from the franchisor and not the representative of the franchisor. Originality/value To the best of the authors’ knowledge, this study is the first to develop a valid and reliable measure of fairness construct in the context of franchise relationship. This study also identifies factor structure of fairness construct.

Legitimising Leadership: A Framework for Institutional Leadership

Different theoretical frameworks on leadership influence process are briefly reviewed. Particularly the process of leadership legitimisation crisis in organisations is highlighted and the transition of leadership influence process, from the transactional perspective to transformational leadership perspective, is discussed. The paper argues that leadership influence process is important and the intensity and resilience of this influence process makes a difference in organisational functioning and growth, which is rooted in the legitimacy of leadership in the eyes of the followers. The crisis of legitimacy and ways and means for attaining legitimacy, has been a major concern for many leaders and researchers. While acknowledging the inherent strength in the transformational leadership model as a major step towards legitimising the leadership influence process, this paper illustrates certain gaps in the existing transformational leadership framework. Based on later research and instances of leadership influences in organisations, a value based institutional leadership framework is proposed. It is argued that the value based institutional leadership will legitimise the leadership influence process in organisations and will be pervasive and enduring.

Child In Need Institute (CINI): Changing Lives of Homeless Children on Railway Stations

The case is about a non-profit organization named Child In Need Institute (CINI), based at Kolkata, India. CINI is a respected name in the voluntary sector in India and has good credentials in nutrition, health, education and protection of women, children and adolescents. The case raises global concerns of child protection and homeless children. It discusses in detail CINI’s child protection programme at an Indian railway station. The programme was funded largely by a UK-based charity. Following the Indian government’s policy of disbursing funds to non-profits in the broad area of child protection, the funding pattern could substantially change. The case engages learners to comprehend the nature and extent of issues relating to homeless children on railway platforms in India, form a broad idea about the external environment and strategy of a non-profit engaged in child protection and understand the merits and disadvantages associated with governmental funding.

Organizational Behaviour Research in Rural Producers’ Cooperatives A Neglected Domain

Cooperatives are important organizational forms helping millions of people, particularly in rural areas, to improve their socio-economic conditions. They are also unique in that they are member-centric business organizations with democratic control, where the shareholders are also users of their services. In this article, first, I discuss the importance of cooperatives as organizational forms, particularly the rural producers’ cooperatives (RPCs); second, analyze the research trends within the organizational behaviour (OB) area in the last one-and-half decade on RPCs; third, chart out directions for future research. The analysis suggests that cooperatives as organizational forms throw up special challenges to the OB researchers, as they are special types of organizations that incorporate business-like features of the investor-owned firms as well as the voluntary nature of nonprofits, thereby increasing the complexity of the context to make it an interesting area of research. For future research, OB researchers will have to go beyond the employee-centric research to include cooperative members as important constituent of the organization, specifically focussing on trust, commitment, organizational citizenship behaviour and leadership behaviour. The article identifies certain roadblocks in getting the attention of the researchers in the OB area and suggests certain ways to overcome these roadblocks.