Technological Change and Modernisation in the Fishing Sector: The Question of Sustainability

Department of Applied Economics, Cochin University of Science And Technology.

Entrepreneurship and Motivation in Small Business Sector of Kerala

This thesis Entitled entrepreneurship and motivation in small business sector of kerala -A study of rubber products manufacturing industry.Rubber-based industry in Kerala was established only in the first half of the 20th century.the number of licensed manufacturers in the State has increased substantially over the years, particularly in the post- independence period. 54 rubber manufacturing units in 1965-66, the number of licensed rubber-based industrial units has increased to 1300 units in 2001-02. In 2001-02 Kerala occupied the primary position in the number of rubber goods manufacturers in the country.As per the latest report of the Third All India Census of Small Scale Industries 2001-02, Kerala has the third largest number of registered small scale units in the country next after Tamil Nadu and Utter Pradesh.This study of entrepreneurship in the small-scale rubber goods manufacturing industry in Kerala compares a cross section of successful and unsuccessful entrepreneurs with respect to socio-economic characteristics and motivational dynamics. Based on a sample survey of 120 entrepreneurs of Kottayam and Ernakulam districts successful and unsuccessful entrepreneurs were selected using multiple criteria. The study provides guidelines for the development of entrepreneurship in Kerala.The results on the socio-economic survey support the hypothesis that the successful entrepreneurs will differ from unsuccessful entrepreneurs with respect to education, social contacts, initial investment, sales turnover, profits, capital employed, personal income, and number of employees.Successful entrepreneurs were found to be self~starters. Successful entrepreneurs adopted a lot more technological changes than unsuccessful entrepreneurs. Successful entrepreneurs were more innovative — the percent of successful entrepreneurs and unsuccessful entrepreneurs reporting innovations in business were 31.50 and 8.50 percent respectively.

Personnel management practices in the co-operative sector in Kerala

A study on the personnel management practices in the co+operative sector in the Kerala State is carried out during the years 1989-91, with the overall objective of assessing the extent of application of modern personnel management concepts in the cooperative organizations in the Kerala State. The specific objectives of the study are to assess the effectiveness of the various personnel management practices followed in the cooperative sector, to analyse the nature and extent of compensating the employees in co—operatives, to measure the level of job satisfaction derived by the employees, to evaluate the industrial relations existing in the co-operative organizations and to suggest, if found necessary, ways and means of toning up the personnel management practices followed in the co-operative sector in Kerala

Inventory management in public sector electrical industry in Kerala

The thesis entitled Inventory Management In Public Sector Electrical Industry In Kerala. Investigations were carried out on inventory management in public sector electrical industry in Kerala and suggest methods to improve their efficiency. Various aspects of inventory management, its scope and need in industry are detailed. The objectives of the present study concentrates to get an overall view of the system of inventory management, assess the positions and levels of inventory. It analyzes the inventory management policies and practices, the organizational set-up for materials by the electrical undertakings. The study examines the liquidity of the electrical undertakings as well as techniques of inventory management in the electrical industry in Kerala. Hypotheses state that the existing organizational systems and practices are inadequate to ensure efficient management of inventories in electrical industry. Introduction of scientific inventory techniques has a favourable effect on the workings of inventory departments. The financial performance of the public sector electrical undertakings is not at all satisfactory on account of the high raw material costs, heavy borrowings and huge interest burdens. The scope of this study is limited to the assessment of savings, in inventories of electrical products due to inventory management. The methodology of the study is to project the cost reduction of the inventory department on the basis of data collected and to validate this projection with the aid of analysis and survey. The limitations of the study is that the data obtained relate to the period 1989-90 and earlier and the current position is not available and uniform norms cannot be applied to evaluate different inventory management organisation.

Financial planning and Control in public sector undertakings in kerala

Today India is seeking a speedy transformation of her semi-stagnant economy to a dynamic one by means of economic planning in a democratic set up. In the context of this growth oriented endeavour public sector has a vital role to play. After three decades of planned development, it has become important that India must make fresh appraisals on the role of public sector in the economic renaissance of the country. Almost no comprehensive study has been made on this vital segment of the economy vis-a-vis the growth economics. This study is an attempt to fill this need in a very modest way. It presents the subject in a new perspective. An earnest attempt is made to reveal the critical problems inhibiting the growth of the public sector from a new angle which focusses the spot-light on the economics of development.

Capital expenditure decision in private and public sector entreprises in India A comparative evaluation

This study is focussed on public and private sector The study is confined to industrial Public companies in the states of Kerala and Orissa along with companies in India. undertakings only. sector and private sector private sector companies in other states were studied. Even though the original plan of 190 companies as the sample size could not be accomplished, as the responses were very poor, but data could be collected frmn 6 public and 5 private sector companies in Kerala, 8 public and 8 private sector companies in Orissa along with 27 private sector companies in other states totalling to 54 companies. The number of years of data collected varies from 2 years to 6 years. Factors which are affecting capital expenditures and hence leading to the performance of private sector compared to public sector companies are studied. After the study and analysis, comparisons are made between public sector and private sector, and suitable recomendations are made so that public sector industries can also perform equally well as the private sector industries in India.

Processing, procurement and marketing of pepper with particular reference to co-operative sector

The present Study is designed to gather, record and analyse data on history of pepper, pepper production, procurement and marketing with particular reference to Kerala. The main emphasis is given to study the'role of cooperative sector with regard to procurement and export efforts and also the services rendered by cooperative sector agencies under MARKETFED and NAFED to pepper trade. The scope of the Study covers the botany, methods of cultivation, fertilizer application, pest control management and other related aspects of pepper. Taking into consideration Kerala's supremacy in pepper cultivation and production, detailed study of its production, procurement, internal and export marketing with reference to Kerala has been given importance. As Kerala accounts for 96 per cent1 of the pepper cultivation and 94 per cent of the pepper production, the present study is entirely confined to Kerala

Materials Managenent Practices in Major Public Sector Undertakings in India

One of the basic functions of management is to employ capital efficiently so as to provide maximum customer service and earn a profit in the proces1s. It is possible to achieve these objectives in different ways with the given amount of capital, either by maximising the output or by maximising the margin of profit or by a combination of both these methods. This would mean that the management must try to make this capital work as fast as possible, which is often difficult to achieve under the present conditions of the factors of production. It is also not possible to increase extensively the margin of profit due to competition in business and in this process the capital turn over and productivity of capital often becomes totally ineffective. Several modern techniques have been developed and employed by managers to remedy this situation. Among these, materials management has become one of the most effective methods to achieve both the above goals. Materials management enables a manager to improve productivity of capital by reducing material costs, preventing blocking up of large working capital for long periods and improving the capital turn over This study examines the working of materials management departments in public sector undertakings in India and Suggests méthods to improve its efficiency.

A study of industrial co-operatives in kerala with special reference to modern small scale sector

The report of the Steering Committee of the Kerala State Planning Board for the preparation of the VIII five Year Plan on Industry and Hiningzslisted several factors inhibiting and promoting growth of small industrial units. Kerala's educated manpower, the native intelligence of the Keralites best suited for taking up logic—based professions and availability of a Hell—developed and broad~based physical infrastructure particularly in the transport and communications sectors, are a few of the positive factors identified. On the negative side, may be mentioned high wage rates, preference on the part of the educated for white collar Jobs, lack of entrepreneurship, paucity of essential resources for industrial use, high density of population and the distance factor which places Kerala away from the major domestic markets. In this context, it would appear that the industrial co-operative movement could possibly play a vital role in accelerating-the momentum of small industrial development of Kerala which has a Health of highly educated and skilled manpower. However, in spite of the encouragement extended by the Government, the movement does not seem to have.been picking up in the modern small scale sector. The present study is an attempt to analyse the factors that have affected the performance of the industrial co—operatives in the small scale industrial sector of Kerala.

Women Entrepreneurship In the Industrial Manufacturing Sector of Kerala

This study was on women's industries programme in Kerala, to assess the involvement of manpower in this field and to analyse the difficulties and problems faced by the women entrepreneurs which impede the growth and smooth functioning of units. It was supported by the views of 275 women entrepreneurs of Kerala. Census method was adopted and only 58 per cent of units responded by supplying necessary details. Details were collected from these: units through mailed questionnaires designed for the purpose. The study highlights the profile of workers in the women's industrial units, but the profile of the entrepreneurs is neglected. Problems faced by women entrepreneurs are analysed under the following major heads viz., capital, raw materials, marketing, competition from other units and availability of power. But the conclusions drawn from the survey are not on proper empirical support. It also includes suggestions of entrepreneurs. The major findings of the study are as follows : Nearly 82 per cent of the women's industrial units are functioning throughout the year. Proprietory concerns and co—operative societies are the popular ones. Majority of the units are running on profit. Women's units are still in their infancy and so the problems faced by them are many. The characteristics of having other business or sister concerns is lacking among women entrepreneurs. Nearly 94 per cent of the employees are permanent. About four-fifth (81%) of the workers are full time employees. Only a very small proportion of the employees (1%) get a reasonable income that is above Rs.50O per month. The workers are very young and 63 per cent workers have no experience at all.

Recruitment And Training Of Managers In The Public Sector Concerns In Kerala

Public undertakings have been assigned a significant role to play in the systematic socio-economic development of India. My interest in the subject was kindled while I was doing my Masters Diploma in Public Administration at the Indian Institute of Public Administration, New Delhi during 1960-61. It was further strengthened by my teaching of the subject in different courses offered by me at the School of Management Studies and in several programmes organised by various voluntary and training organisations like the Institute of Management in Government, Trivandrum, Centre for Management Development, Trivandrum, etc. The several years in which I served as a member of the faculty in the School of Management Studies, University of Cochin,gave me the opportunity to come into close contact with different public sector concerns and their managers at various levels. This rich opportunity gave me a better insight into the problems faced by these concerns. The present study is a result of the interest so developed.

Higher Education Sector in India: Issues and Imperatives

The 21st century is marked by a paradigm shift in education that has resulted both in threats and opportunities. It has brought new challenges and an opportunity for higher education. Higher education in India is undergoing rapid changes. The challenges ahead are multifaceted and multidimensional. Though the data show a massive growth in the number of students' enrollment in colleges/universities, holistic view reveals that still only a meager of the total population has access to higher education. Globalization and privatization are imposing new challenges but the nations are still entangled in solving the basic problems of accessibility to higher education for all. In the wake of the transition from elitist to mass education, universities worldwide are under pressure to enhance access and equity, on the one hand, and to maintain high standards of quality and excellence, on the other. Today the notion of equity not only implies greater access to higher education, but also opportunities for progress. In recent debates on higher education, the notions of equity and access go beyond minority to diversity. Affirmative action, too, has become raceexclusive and gender-neutral.1

Jitter measurements for Performance enhancement in the Service Sector

In a leading service economy like India, services lie at the very center of economic activity. Competitive organizations now look not only at the skills and knowledge, but also at the behavior required by an employee to be successful on the job. Emotionally competent employees can effectively deal with occupational stress and maintain psychological well-being. This study explores the scope of the first two formants and jitter to assess seven common emotional states present in the natural speech in English. The k-means method was used to classify emotional speech as neutral, happy, surprised, angry, disgusted and sad. The accuracy of classification obtained using raw jitter was more than 65 percent for happy and sad but less accurate for the others. The overall classification accuracy was 72% in the case of preprocessed jitter. The experimental study was done on 1664 English utterances of 6 females. This is a simple, interesting and more proactive method for employees from varied backgrounds to become aware of their own communication styles as well as that of their colleagues' and customers and is therefore socially beneficial. It is a cheap method also as it requires only a computer. Since knowledge of sophisticated software or signal processing is not necessary, it is easy to analyze

Educational Loans And The Higher Education Sector In India

In 2001 the Indian Banks Association have come up with a model frame work for educational loans in the country. With the approval of the Central Government the public sector banks in India started to give education loans. The private and cooperative banks also joined the fray. Due to growing NPAs and the intervention of the Government these norms were modified in 2011. The budget allocation for the primary and higher secondary education is on the increase in India. However, higher education has been of late relegated or left to the mercy of the private players. There has been a steady growth of educational loans disbursed, private colleges and deemed universities started and enrolments of students in higher education during the years 2001 to 2011. This paper is a humble attempt to 1) analyse the growth of the educational loans vis-à-vis other forms of personal loans at the national level, 2) showcase the disbursements of educational loans in Kerala State, 3) to assess the growth of educational institutions and enrolment of students in higher education in India from secondary data and 4) to make suggestions based on the findings

A Study on Non Performing Assets of Public Sector Banks in India with Special Reference to State Bank of Travancore

The reforms in Indian banking sector since 1991 is deliberated mostly in terms of the significant measures that were implemented in order to develop a more vibrant, healthy, stable and efficient banking sector in India. The effect of a highly regulated banking environment on asset quality, productivity and performance of banks necessitated the reform process and resulted the incorporation of prudential norms for income recognition, asset classification and provisioning and capital adequacy norms, in line with international best practices. The improvements in asset quality and a reduction in non-performing assets were the primary objective enunciated in the reform measures. In this context, the present research critically evaluates the trend in movement of nonperforming assets of public sector banks in India during the period 2000-01 to 2011-12, thereby facilitates an evaluation of the effectiveness of NPA management in the post-millennium period. The non-performing assets is not a function of loan/advance alone, but is influenced by other bank performance indicators and also by the macroeconomic variables. In addition to explaining the trend in the movement of NPA, this research also explained the moderating and mediating role of various bank performance and macroeconomic indicators on incidence of NPA