Sunil Kumar Maheshwari

Human Resource Issues Implications for Health Sector Reforms

Given the growing complexities and challenges it faces, reforms in the health sector are inevitable. They generally focus on making the health systems responsive through strengthening financial systems, ensuring local participation and public–private partnerships, and autonomy of health facilities. It is only through these reforms that deficiencies in the health sector can be addressed. The process is also likely to help in developing strategies that ensure effectiveness and efficiency of resource use. However, the reform process makes some fundamental assumptions about the intrinsic organisational and professional commitment and availability of skilled and competent health care professionals. This paper examines the commitment of district-level health officials in the new state of Chhattisgarh in India. Since development-oriented human resource practices are powerful tools that commit health professionals to enhance the quality of care, we believe that health sector reforms should concentrate on human resource issues and practices more than ever. This paper attempts to examine the following issues: (a) the status of professional and organisational commitment and the technical competencies of health officials managing the sector; (b) the characteristics of human resource management practices in the health sector in Chhattisgarh; and (c) the linkage of these management practices with professional and organisational commitment. Finally, the paper discusses the implications of these issues in the health sector reform process.

Insurance Industry in India: Structure, Performance, and Future Challenges

With the liberalization and entry of private companies in insurance, the Indian insurance sector has started showing signs of significant change. Within a short span of time, private insurance has acquired 13 per cent of the life insurance market and 14 per cent of non-life market. However, there is still a huge untapped demand for insurance. Insurance companies have a pivotal role in offering insurance products which meet the requirements of the people and, at the same time, are affordable. Some of the challenges faced by the insurance sector pertain to the demand conditions, competition in the sector, product innovations, delivery and distribution systems, use of technology, and regulation. To understand the growth and development and the future prospects of this sector, this colloquium addresses the following issues: What will be the demand for insurance? What types of innovative strategies of insurance education and awareness will we require to encourage the Indian consumers? With the changes following bank participation in insurance, will the nature of competition in this sector intensify? What kind of competitive and risk pressures will the insurance businesses experience? What are their implications for profitability, margins, and efficiency? The average size of the polices will continuously decline as the insurance companies increase the geographic coverage. As a result of this, the intermediation costs will go up. What are the implications of these on average costs? What will be the product market scenario? Has the insurance sector benefited from the knowledge base of global companies? To what extent have the technology gains in telecommunications, computer information, and data processing contributed to increased efficiency and productivity of insurance companies? The following key points emerged from the responses of the panelists: The future in life insurance will be determined by the increase in pure protection products, a refreshing look at unit-linked plans, launch of customized plans, and improved service levels. The insurance sector will grow steadily rather than rapidly. While the law and regulations are in place to ensure financial strength and solvency of insurers, the regulators challenge lies in monitoring compliance. The opportunity for financial services is increasing all over the world. Big domestic companies with significant market shares in the local countries will have the opportunities to commence business in other markets. Keeping in mind the complexities of the industry, multi-product, multi-channel, and multisegment route needs to be followed for growth. The challenge of successfully implementing bancassurance lies in training the staff, integrating the insurance products, and ensuring best quality service. Agents in the insurance sector are critical for its success and, in order to gain competitive advantage, quality people are needed but attracting and retaining agents is a challenge.

Parallel Systems and Human Resource Management in India's Public Health Services: A View from the Front Lines

There is building evidence in India that the delivery of health services suffers from an actual shortfall in trained health professionals, but also from unsatisfactory results of existing service providers working in the public and private sectors. This study focusses on the public sector and examines de facto institutional and governance arrangements that may give rise to well-documented provider behaviors such as absenteeism, which can adversely affect service delivery processes and outcomes. The paper considers four human resource management subsystems: postings, transfers, promotions, and disciplinary practices. The four subsystems are analyzed from the perspective of front line workers, that is, physicians working in rural health care facilities operated by two state governments. Physicians were sampled in one post-reform state that has instituted human resource management reforms and one pre-reform state that has not. The findings are based on quantitative and qualitative measurement. The results show that formal rules are undermined by a parallel modus operandi in which desirable posts are often determined by political connections and side payments. The evidence suggests an institutional environment in which formal rules of accountability are trumped by a parallel set of accountabilities. These systems appear so entrenched that reforms have borne no significant effect.

A re‐conceptualization of career systems, its dimensions and proposed measures

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to propose and generate initial evidence on the psychometric properties of a re‐conceptualized organizational career system (OCS).Design/methodology/approach – Data were collected from head of HR/head of business units on the career system variables. Reliability and exploratory factor analysis using SPSS and confirmatory factor analysis using AMOS helped the authors to test the theoretically derived factor structure. The psychometric properties of the three‐factor instrument were examined and provided initial evidence of the reliability and validity of OCS.Findings – The model fit indices confirm the three‐dimensional factor structure of organizational career systems. The three dimensions pertain to labor market orientation, employee advancement orientation and employee lateral movement.Originality/value – In proposing this conceptual model, the authors draw insights from a number of distinct literature streams. The further development of an instrument to evaluate pe...

Organizational Decline and Turnaround Management

A panel of turnaround leaders, consultant, and academia responded to the theme on Organizational Decline and Turnaround Management. The panel members addressed the following issues: What are the causes of organizational decline? How do stakeholders respond to organizational decline? What are the turnaround challenges? The salient features of the responses are as follows: There is a divide among the turnaround leaders regarding the causes of decline. Some view the decline purely as the result of the failure of management to anticipate and act appropriately in time. For others, the decline is caused primarily due to external changes. People in academia and consulting view the problem as a mix of the two. According to them, a complex mix of variables-organizational processes, structure, leadership, vision, and technologies-lead to organizational decline. To safeguard against decline, organizations must carefully monitors difficulties in adapting changes and rigidity of systems declining profitability shift in customer preferences working capital problems like inventory build-up; dumping products on dealers; and increasing receivables from customers inability to plough back into the business lack of vision and explicit direction for the future frequent labour unrest regular plant breakdowns. The response of stakeholders to organizational decline becomes hostile. Often, financial institutions include compound interest and increase penal charges to secure their dues. The employees and union members tend to become aggressive owing to loss of credibility of management. Suppliers tend to evaluate the risk of their dues. Their hostility reduces if the management assures them of payment. Managers experience erosion of pride in their company. It leads to low individual initiatives. The turnaround challenges include the following: Leadership that provides a vision, induces creativity, challenges the existing business assumptions, and shows willingness to take tough decisions. The support of financial institutions by way of loan restructuring. Industry is experiencing a definite shift in the approach of financial institutions and banks; they are now tending to support the turnaround effort. Gaining the trust of the suppliers to seek their support. Internally, management needs to be concerned about: maximizing productivity of all resources and capacity utilization manpower rationalization stringent working capital management stretching the targets and making assets ‘sweat’ streamlining systems investing in technology upgradation through internal generation financial restructuring in low interest cost regime.

Problem of Plenty: Managing Employee Surplus

The article deals with understanding the phenomena of employee rationalisation in firms especially the ones operating in dynamic environments. In this paper the authors do an extensive review of literature to understand the complete cycle, which is from environmental conditions leading to employee surplus consequently leading to firm implementing relevant strategies to deal with the situation and the consequences thereof on firm and individuals. The authors focus their attention on high technology firms and the relevant strategies for managing employee surplus in such firms. They extend the literature by proposing the relevance of tacit knowledge in situations where employee surplus needs to be managed and how it can be retained for preserving the competitiveness of firms.

Rejuvenation of Amal Products Limited

Amal Products Ltd (APL) was a company situated in the southern part of Gujarat manufacturing intermediate dyes and specialty chemicals, mainly for the textile market. The company incurred losses in 1998 due to the recession in the textile industry and fierce competition from Chinese manufacturers as well as local manufacturers who sold their products at much lower rates than APL. In response to the competition APL went for cost reduction and offered voluntary retirement scheme (VRS) to its employees as one of the measures to reduce cost. 51 out of 264 employees opted for VRS. The case explains the process of VRS adopted by the company and how it helped to save costs. It highlights the role of the human resource department in the successful implementation of VRS and the role of line managers. It explains how a VRS should be handled so that the survivors remain productive. It also mentions the role of various stakeholders in the implementation of VRS. The company has reported profits in 2002.

Mangalore Chemicals and Fertilizers Limited: Strategic Renewal

This case provides a comprehensive account of the origin, foundation, growth, managerial and operational problems, labor relationship, decline in performance, change of ownership, and the initiatives taken by the new management team to revive the company. Mangalore was an initiative by Karnataka State Government in India. Originally, MCFL was conceived as a private sector organization. Eventually it was converted to a state-owned public sector undertaking. There was no accountability for the senior managers in managing the plant. Often, they had to make a trade off between their loyalty to the elected representatives and the prosperity of MCFL. Invariably, the operating officers who were usually drawn from Indian Administrative Services chose to neglect the commercial prospects of MCFL. Erratic power supply and hostile labor situation (as a consequence of inappropriate labor policies) led to frequent shut down of the plant. Consequently, the financial health of the plant deteriorated. The precarious financial position made MCFL a candidate for either closure or for sale. The Indian Government, in an attempt to revive the plant, put MCFL through two rehabilitation packages supported by its Board and its financial institutions. Eventually, MCFL was sold to UB Group in 1990. The Chairman Mr. Mallya nominated a team from UB group to manage and revive MCFL. As of 2002, MCFL is a profit-generating organization. The management has to decide, how MCFL should grow from now onwards.