Innovation in corporate governance

By Prof. Abhijit Bhattacharya

It would be a mistake to see the current crisis of corporate governance triggered by the multi-billion swindles involving some iconic companies primarily through the prism of transparency and compliance. The failure of Sarbanes-Oxley and other stringent disclosure norms to control unbridled growth of corporate greed is a pointer to this.

The problem of ensuring good corporate governance has become knottier with increasing frequency of radical or disruptive innovations, especially in the information and communication technology (ICT) sector during the last couple of decades.

In the pre-ICT era radical innovations were comparatively less frequent. Often these innovations produced a series of incremental innovations leading to smooth growth of productivity for prolonged periods.

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Prof. Bhattacharya is the Dean of Globsyn Business School, Ahmedabad

Source: The Economic Times

Top Ten Ways to Show Appreciation to Employees

By Susan M

You can tell your colleagues, coworkers and employees how much you value them and their contribution any day of the year. Trust me. No occasion is necessary. In fact, small surprises and tokens of your appreciation spread throughout the year help the people in your work life feel valued all year long.

Looking for ideas about how to praise and thank coworkers and employees? Here are ten ways to show your appreciation to employees and coworkers.

• Praise something your coworker has done well. Identify the specific actions that you found admirable.
• Say "thank you." Show your appreciation for their hard work and contributions. And, don't forget to say "please" often as well. Social niceties do belong at work. A more gracious, polite workplace is appreciated by all.
• Ask your coworkers about their family, their hobby, their weekend or a special event they attended. Your genuine interest - as opposed to being nosey – causes people to feel valued and cared about.
• Offer staff members flexible scheduling for the holidays, if feasible. If work coverage is critical, post a calendar so people can balance their time off with that of their coworkers.
• Know your coworker’s interests well enough to present a small gift occasionally. An appreciated gift, and the gesture of providing it, will light up your coworker’s day.
• If you can afford to, give staff money. End of the year bonuses, attendance bonuses, quarterly bonuses and gift certificates say "thank you" quite nicely. TechSmith staff receive a percentage of their annual salary for their end of year bonus.
• Almost everyone appreciates food. Take coworkers or staff to lunch for a birthday, a special occasion or for no reason at all. Let your guest pick the restaurant.
• Create a fun tradition for a seasonal holiday. ReCellular employees draw names for their Secret Santa gift exchange.
• Bring in bagels, doughnuts or another treat for staff and coworkers. Offerings such as cookies or cupcakes, that you've baked personally, are a huge hit. (Have you tried baking cupcakes in ice cream cones? People love them.) Another hit? Bring chocolate - chocolate anything.
• Last, but not least, provide opportunity. People want chances for training and cross-training. They want to participate on a special committee where their talents are noticed. They like to attend professional association meetings and represent your organization at civic and philanthropic events.

These are the top ten ways to show appreciation to employees and coworkers. Stretch your imagination. There are hundreds of other employee and coworker appreciation ideas just waiting to be found. They'll bring you success in employee motivation, employee recognition and in building a positive, productive workplace.

Contributed By:
Prof. D. P. Chattopadhyay
(Globsyn Business School)

Source: An e-magazine: Trans4mind

General Competence Development

In HR it is important to have a policy for developing competencies. Dreyfus and Dreyfus have introduced a language of the levels of competence development. The levels are:

• Novice: Rule based behaviour, strongly limited and inflexible.
• Experienced Beginner: Incorporates aspects of the situation.
• Practitioner: Acting consciously from long term goals and plans.
• Knowledgeable Practitioner: Seeks the situation as a whole and acts from personal conviction.
• Expert: Has an intuitive understanding of the situation and zooms in on the central aspects.
• Virtuoso: Has a higher degree of competence, advances the standards and has an easy and creative way of doing things.
• Maestro: Changes the history in a field by inventing and introducing radical innovations.

The process of competence development is a lifelong series of doing and reflecting. And it requires a special environment, where the rules are necessary in order to introduce novices, but people at a more advanced level of competence will systematically break the rules if the situation requires it. This environment is synonymously described using terms such as learning organisation, knowledge creation, self organising and empowerment.

Contributed By:
Prof. D. P. Chattopadhyay
(Globsyn Business School)

Two important thoughts to remember everyday

1. Refuse to fill your time, your life or your brain with garbage. Read the best stuff. Talk with the healthiest, wisest, smartest, most challenging people you can. Attend the seminars and learn from the experts! Listen to great music and to the whisperings of your heart. Laugh a lot. Worship often, and be grateful.
   
   
2. Do what you love. You will make your biggest contribution when you passionately pursue your talents and use your strengths. Martin Luther King, Jr. did many great things, but perhaps his greatest moment came in Washington when he proclaimed, "I have a dream!" We all remember that, and millions have been inspired by it. What's your dream?

"There's no scarcity of opportunity to make a living at what you love. There is only a scarcity of resolve to make it happen." - Wayne Dyer

Contributed By:
Prof. D. P. Chattopadhyay
(Globsyn Business School)

Understanding the imperative linkage between Business Strategies and HRM Practices

Understanding Strategic Human Resource Management practices in emerging economies is fast emerging as an area of special importance among academicians, researchers, HR professionals and others. Current research in this area tries to examine the nature of linkage between business strategies and human resource management. Existing literature also highlights the need for the formulation of an integrated and a mutually consistent set of HR practices in consonance with the business strategy of an organization, all aimed towards achievement of organizational objectives.

Central to this area of research study is an analysis of the issue of “fit” or integration between business strategy and HRM practices of an organization. This concept of “fit” has been analyzed from different perspectives. However, studies carried out in this area in emerging economies like India are almost negligible and inadequate.

Hence it is important to investigate the nature of linkage between business strategies and human resource management practices of organizations in various Industries in an emerging economy like India with a special thrust to IT/ITeS sector. The vast contribution made by this sector in development of the Indian economy by providing employment to a large number of unemployed youth, developing infrastructural facilities, improving competitiveness etc. has made it an interesting subject for academicians, researchers and others. NASSCOM has predicted that India is going to experience a talent shortage of 500,000 by 2010 (Business Today, 2007). With the unprecedented rate of growth of the IT/ITeS sector and the turbulent business environment, the HR professionals in this sector have to grapple with several challenges of the industry and the business. As the firms in the IT/ITeS sector are confronting lots of challenges, it is high time for the HR professionals to make a paradigm shift from the conventional HR practices to contemporary HR practices to cope up with the ever changing demands of the vivacious industry. This calls for more emphasis on strategically aligned HR issues and need for a proactive role on the part of the HR professionals in the IT/ITeS Industry.

This understanding gets further validated in the recent IMA India’s Annual Human Resource (HR) Survey 2008-09 (IMA India is an Asia-focused business intelligence firm that provides enterprises with strategic research, business intelligence and market insights together with sound independent advice on various aspects of the operating environment) which came up with some startling strategic HR issues which indicates significant change in HR Paradigm -


“The role of the human resource function is defined by the environment in which businesses operate. As the global environment changes, the foremost concerns in HR in India have done a dramatic turnaround. Attrition is no longer as much of a concern as the management of talent. Managing compensation is now less of an issue than employee motivation and productivity, necessitating that corporations increase their focus on the human resource issue as one of extreme strategic importance.

Over the course of the past decade, HR and the management of talent has been identified as the greatest challenge facing businesses in the country. Going forward, the texture of this debate – as indeed, the challenges in HR – are set to change as the paradigm of operation shifts from rapid growth to sustenance mode where productivity and high motivation will be key to success. Retention strategies, the creation of leadership skills, and compensation structures linked to performance remain amongst the most important issues of focus.”

Contributed By:
Ranjan Sarkar
(Vice President - HR & Corporate Communication)
Acclaris Limited