Asian Journal of Management

C. D. Balaji ¹, S. Praveen Kumar ¹, T. Lawrence ², N. Thamizhselvi ³

Affiliations
1 MBA Department, Panimalar Engineering College, Chennai, IN
2 MBA Dept. Meenakshi Engineering College, Chennai, IN
3 JNN Institute of Engineering, Chennai, IN

Abstract

It is a truism that India live in its villages. Though research reports by globally renowned agencies predict that India will be the fourth largest economy by 2030 and can sustain its strong GDP growth rates, the fact that there is a growing divergence between urban India and the rural Bharat cannot be wished away. Be it economic, social or human development indicators, rural India lags behind urban India and the gap is only widening. Even after a decade of economic reforms, the trickle down impact of urban development to rural areas has been a mirage. While 70 per cent of the Indian population lives in rural areas, 58 per cent of them depend on agriculture. A major reason for rural poverty is that a large mass of rural population is dependent on agriculture whose contribution to national income has been on a secular decline from 70 to 75 per cent at the time of our independence to only 16.8 per cent currently. Farmer suicides have been a sickening reality and many of the government schemes do not reach the ultimate beneficiaries due to corruption, nepotism and ignorance of the rural population. Though the situation in rural areas is depressing, the developmental activities undertaken by the government, NGO's and corporates to provide sustainable livelihood to the rural masses is creating a slow but profound transformation in the rural economy as well as in the social status of women. The objectives of this paper study are to highlight the growth of the Self Help Group (SHG) movement and also study the significant contribution made by HUL's Project Shakthi, a pioneering model combining corporate goals and social responsibility to provide sustainable livelihood opportunities to the rural women.

Keywords

Poverty Alleviation, Micro Entrepreneurship, SHG Movement And Bank Linkage

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C. D. Balaji ¹, S. Praveen Kumar ¹, R. Arasu ², K. Suresh Kumar ¹

Affiliations
1 Department of Management Studies, Panimalar Engineering College, Chennai, IN
2 Department of Management Studies, Velammal Engineering College, Chennai, IN

Abstract

The Indian telecom industry is the second fastest growing in the world next only to China in terms of subscriber additions. The intense competition witnessed among players has resulted in price wars resulting in lower revenues and further the huge license fee imposed by the government has had a severe negative impact on the operating margins of the industry players. In this challenging scenario, the authors felt the need to analyse the financial position of one the leading players in the industry by employing the tool of leverage analysis. The company's EBIT growth has been moderate. All the three leverages has shown a marked increase during the study period. The interest expense to total debt ratio and concomitantly, the interest expense to total expenditure has also increased during the period of study. Variable costs as percentage of fixed costs has declined while variable costs as percentage of revenue has been stable. It was suggested that the company considered for the discussion and in general all telecom companies need to revisit their business model and focus on earning higher share of revenues through providing a comprehensive suite of value added services. Consistent efforts need to be taken on revenue generation and cost control in order to improve earnings visibility. Measures need to be taken to retire high cost debt in a phased manner so as to improve the liquidity and solvency position of the organizations.

Keywords

Operating Leverage, Financial Leverage, Combined Leverage, Fixed Costs, Variable Costs

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C. D. Balaji ¹, S. Praveen Kumar ¹, R. Arasu ², K. Suresh Kumar ¹

Affiliations
1 Department of Management Studies, Panimalar Engineering College, Chennai, IN
2 Department of Management Studies, Velammal Engineering College, Chennai, IN

Abstract

The insurance sector in India is on a high growth trajectory and has been growing at an attractive pace in the post liberalization era. Though insurance penetration has increased from 1.4% in 1999 to 4.7% currently, it also points out the huge potential that is waiting to be tapped. The liberalization of the sector in the year 1999, opened up the flood gates of competition. The intense competition has led to paradigm changes in the industry in terms of product offerings, introduction of riders, emergence of new distribution channels etc., The industry for a long time had been relying on the agency channel for garnering business. However the need for remaining competitive, reaching out to customers in different demographic segments and the imperative of faster growth have led insurers to innovate with regard to distribution channels also. In this context, a new emerging channel is malassurance, which is the distribution of insurance through malls. With the organised retail sector expanding at a rapid pace, there has been a phenomenal increase in the construction of malls. The rising foot falls in malls has motivated Future Generali Life Insurance Co., to tap the potential of this emerging trend and distribute insurance through malls. This paper discusses the concept of malassurance, the performance and potential of malassurance, the current scenario and also the measures taken by the company to make it successful.

Keywords

Insurance, Customer Acquisition, Innnovative Distribution Channels, Malls, Mallassurance

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