Definition and Concept of Industrial Relations

An Introduction to Industrial Relations Industrial relations constitute one of the most delicate and complex problems of the modern industrial society. This phenomenon of a new complex industrial set-up is directly attributable to the emergence of ‘Industrial Revolution”. The pre-industrial revolution period was characterized by a simple process of manufacture, small scale investment, local markets and small number of persons employed. All this led to close proximity between the manager and the managed. Due to personal and direct relationship between the employer and the employee it was easier to secure cooperation of the latter. Any grievance or misunderstanding on the part of either party could be promptly removed.   Also, there was no interference by the State in the economic activities of the people. Under such a set-up industrial relations were simple, direct and personal. This situation underwent a marked change with the advent of industrial revolution — size of Continue reading

Application of Direct Marketing Tools in Industrial Marketing

Direct Marketing  is a recent activity that has come up and is used extensively by the  industrial marketers. The various tools used in direct marketing are direct  mails, telemarketing and online marketing channels. A direct marketing  channel does not involve any intermediary and the sale is done by the  company by directly contacting the target customer. As the cost involved  in direct marketing activity is much less compared to the cost of company  sales force directly meeting the customers, many industrial organizations  prefer this tool. This tool aids the sales force to gain entry into  prospective customer’s office where prospective customers are identified  beforehand and are informed about the company products. Direct Mail The existing and prospective customers are mailed promotional letters, catalogs, CD’s etc. by the industrial marketers where they are provided with necessary information about the company’s products and services and any schemes or offers it has. This Continue reading

Comparison and Features of Future and Forward Markets

A Comparison Between Future and Forward Markets As a common trend and general preference, it is most unlikely that the investors would ever involve in the forward market, it is important to understand some of the attitudes, particularly as a good deal of the literature on pricing futures contracts typically refers to those contracts interchangeably. Specially differences resulting from liquidity, credit risk, margin, taxes and commissions could cause futures and forward contracts not to be priced identically. For example, in dealing with price risk, futures contracts have several advantages of transaction in comparison to forward contracts. Sequential spot contracts, which is also known as spot contracts where the terms of the contract are re negotiated as events unfold, do not inject any certainty into the transaction. Such a method of contracting is particularly liable to the hazards of opportunism and may deter investment because of the relatively high probability that Continue reading

Need of Customer Relationship Management (CRM) in Banks

Retail banking refers to mass-market banking where individual customers typically use banks for services such as savings and current accounts, mortgages, loans (e.g. personal, housing, auto, and educational), debit cards, credit cards, depository services, fixed deposits, investment advisory services (for high net worth individuals) etc. Before Internet era, consumers largely selected their banks based on how convenient the location of bank’s branches was to their homes or offices. With the advent of new technologies in the business of bank, such as Internet banking and ATMs, now customers can freely chose any bank for their transactions. Thus the customer base of banks has increased, and so has the choices of customers for selecting the banks. This is just the beginning of the story. Due to globalization new generations of private sector banks and many foreign banks have also entered the market and they have brought with them several useful and innovative Continue reading

John Holland’s Theory of Career Choice

It is John Holland’s view that career choice and career adjustment represent an extension of a person’s personality. People express themselves, their interests and values, through their work choices and experience. In his theory, Holland assumes that people’s impressions and generalizations about work, which he refers to as stereotypes, are generally accurate. By studying and refining these stereotypes, Holland assigns both people and work environments to specific categories. John Holland (1966, 1973, 1992, 1997) has published five books that explain his typological theory. Each book represents an update and a further-refined version of earlier work in the development of his theory. The -August 1999 issue of the book – The Journal of Vocational Behavior – contains 12 articles which describe John Holland’s 40-year contribution to career development theory. Two psychological inventories were important in the development of his theory: the Vocational Preference Inventory (Holland, 1985) and the Self-Directed Search (Holland, Continue reading

Case Study: Success of Amazon’s Kindle Fire

In 2007 Amazon introduced the first Kindle e-reader for $359, their first foray into selling a tangible product under their own brand. The media quickly named the product an e-reader, a limited use mobile device designed for downloading and storing content from online.  Perpetuating a successful, yet deceptively simple business model, the Kindle e-reader made “online [book] shopping so easy and convenient,” customers could browse, download and read books, magazines and newspaper content, at the click of a button on the Kindle. The e-reader market perked up as Amazon offered an affordable price point of $9.99 for book downloads and blended it with an easy to read e-ink, glare free device along with a simple user interface and operating system. Kindle’s launch success became the catalyst that opened up the e-reader market for big box book retailers, Barnes and Noble and Borders bookstores who shortly followed with introductions of their Continue reading