CHAPTER 1

IINTRODUCTORY AND THE FRAMEWORK OF

THE STUDY

Introduction

Human resource functions are no longer specialized functions,

merely confined to the human resource or personnel department. The
management of human resources is the responsibility of every manager in
the present competitive business scenario. It is almost a fact that most of
the problems in an organization are human related, since human being is
dynamic, complex and highly sensitive to environment. Managing the
human resource in any organization is therefore a challenging task, unless
the organization learns to tune human resources, success will be elusive.

In the present competitive market situations one of the better ways

to survive and grow is to adopt new strategies and policies for human
resource management both for managerial and non managerial staff.
Many private and public sector organizations in India and abroad have
realized the importance to develop their human resource.

Human Resources Management may be described as that activity in

an enterprise which strives to mould the human resource into the effective
organization provides opportunity for maximum individual contributions
under healthy working conditions promote individual development and

1
encourage mutual confidence and understanding between the employer
and the employees and between the employees themselves. Human
resource management is responsible for maintaining good human
relations in an organization. It is also concerned with the development of
individuals and achieving integration of goals of the organization and
those of the individuals. While people have always been central to
organizations, today they have taken on an even more central role in
building firm’s competitive advantage. Particularly in knowledge based
industries such as software, information technology, telecom and others,
success increasingly depends on ‘people embodied know how’.

The human resource dynamics prevalent in Indian Organizations

are different from those in the other counties of the world. But in the
recent past some new orientation is taking place in the Indian
organizations due to the global impact on business activities. In the light
of the changing business scenario that has led to many emerging human
resource issues. In this context Reliance Industries in India need no
introduction which is successfully adopting and implementing innovative
human resource practices for creating competitive advantage.

The Reliance Group founded by Dhirajlal Hirachand Ambani, also

known as Dhirubhai, was born on 28 December 1932 at Chorwad, Gujarat,
India , and died July 6, 2002 (aged 69)Mumbai, Maharashtra, India , was an

Indian rags-to-riches business tycoon who founded Reliance Industries in

Mumbai with his cousin. Ambani took his company (Reliance) public in
1977, and by 2007 the combined fortune of the family (sons Anil and
Mukesh) was 60 billion dollars, making the Ambani's the second richest
family in the world, next to the Walton family. Dhirubhai has been one

2
among the select Forbes billionaires and has also figured in the Sunday
Times list of top 50 businessmen in Asia. [1]

Dhirubhai was born on 28 December 1932 at Kukaswada near

Chorwad, Junagadh district (now the state of Gujarat, India) to Hirachand
Gordhandhas Ambani and Jamnaben [2] in a Modh family of modest
means. Hirachand Gordhandhas Ambani was a village school teacher with
little earning. But his wife, Jamanaben knew how to stretch every dollar
in a long way. Hirachand and Jamanaben had two daughters -
Trilochanaben and Jasuben and three sons - Ramnikbhai, Dhirubhai and
Natubhai. Dhirubhai was the second son. [3] Dhirubhai was precocious and
highly intelligent. He was also highly impatient of the oppressive
grinding mill of the school classroom. He chose work which used his
physical ability to the maximum rather than cramming school lessons.
When Jamnaben once asked Dhirubhai and Ramnikbhai to help his father
by earning money. He angrily replied "Why do you keep screaming for
money? I will make heaps of money one day". During weekends, he
began setting up onion/potato fries stall at village fairs and made extra
money which he gave to his mother.

Dhirubhai started off as a small time worker with Arab merchants

in the 1950s and moved to Mumbai in 1958 to start his own business in
spices. After making modest profits, he moved into textiles and opened
his mill near Ahmedabad. Dhirubhai founded Reliance Industries in 1958.
After that it was a saga of expansions and successes.

When he was 16 years old, he moved to Aden, Yemen. He worked

with A. Besse & Co. for a salary of Rs.300 (Present Day $6.49). Two

3
years later, A. Besse & Co. became the distributors for Shell products,
and Dhirubhai was promoted to manage the company’s filling station at
the port of Aden. He was married to Kokilaben and had 2 sons, Mukesh,
Anil and two daughters, Nina Kothari, Deepti Salgaonkar. He also
worked in Dubai for some time during his early years.

During those days of him, the Yemini Rial was made of pure silver
coins and was in much demand at the London Bullion Exchange. Young
Dhirubhai bought the Rials, melted them into pure silver and sold it to the
bullion traders in London. During the latter part of his life, while talking
to reporters, it is believed that he said “The margins were small but it was
money for jam. After three months, it was stopped. But I made a few
lakhs. In short, I was a manipulator. A very good manipulator. But I don’t
believe in not taking opportunities.

Ten years later, Dhirubhai Ambani returned to India and started

"Majin" in partnership with Champaklal Damani, his second cousin, who
used to be with him in Aden, Yemen. Majin was to import polyester yarn
and export spices to Yemen. The first office of the Reliance Commercial
Corporation was set up at the Narsinatha Street in Masjid Bunder. It was
350 sq ft (33 m2). room with a telephone, one table and three chairs.
Initially, they had two assistants to help them with their business. During
this period, Dhirubhai and his family used to stay in a one bedroom
apartment at the Jaihind Estate in Bhuleshwar, Mumbai. In 1965,
Champaklal Damani and Dhirubhai Ambani ended their partnership and
Dhirubhai started on his own. It is believed that both had different
temperaments and a different take on how to conduct business. While Mr.

4
Damani was a cautious trader and did not believe in building yarn
inventories, Dhirubhai was a known risk taker and he believed in building
inventories, anticipating a price rise, and making profits. In 1968, he
moved to an up market apartment at Altamount Road in South Mumbai.
Ambani's net worth was estimated at about Rs.10 lakh by late 1970s. [4]

[5]
Asia Times quotes : "His people skills were legendary. A former
secretary reveals: "He was very helpful. He followed an 'open-door'
policy. Employees could walk into his cabin and discuss their problems
with him." The chairman had a special way of dealing with different
groups of people, be they employees, shareholders, journalists or
government officials. He exported spices, often at a loss, and used
replenishment licenses to import rayon. Later, when rayon started to be
manufactured in India, he exported rayon, again at a loss, and imported
nylon. Ambani was always a step ahead of the competitors. With the
imported items being heavily in demand, his profit margins were rarely
under 300 percent."

Sensing a good opportunity in the textile business, Dhirubhai

started his first textile mill at Naroda, in Ahmedabad in the year 1977.
Textiles were manufactured using polyester fibre yarn. Dhirubhai started
the brand "Vimal", which was named after his elder brother Ramaniklal
Ambani's son, Vimal Ambani. Extensive marketing of the brand "Vimal"
in the interiors of India made it a household name. Franchise retail outlets
were started and they used to sell "only Vimal" brand of textiles. In the
year 1975, a Technical team from the World Bank visited the Reliance
Textiles' Manufacturing unit. This unit has the rare distinction of being

5
certified as "excellent even by developed country standards" during that
period. [6]

Reliance, acknowledged as one of the best-run companies in the

world has various sectors like petrochemicals, textiles and is involved in
the production of crude oil and gas, to polyester and polymer products.
The company’s refinery at Jamnagar accounts for over 25% of India's
total refining capacity and their plant at Hazira is the biggest chemical
complex in India. The company has further diversified into Telecom,
Insurance and Internet Businesses, the Power Sector and so on. Now the
Reliance group with over 85,000 employees provides almost 5% of the
Central Government's total revenue.

Dhirubhai Ambani was admitted to the Breach Candy Hospital in

Mumbai on June 24, 2002 after he suffered a major stroke. This was his
second stroke, the first one had occurred in February 1986 and had kept
his right hand paralyzed. He was in a state of coma for more than a week.
A team of doctors was unable to save his life. He died on July 6, 2002, at
around 11:50 P.M. (Indian Standard Time).

In 1986 after a heart attack he has handed over his empire to his
two sons Anil Ambani and Mukesh Ambani.

Reliance after Dhirubhai

In November 2004, Mukesh Ambani in an interview, admitted to

having differences with his brother Anil over 'ownership issues.' He also
said that the differences "are in the private domain." He was of the
opinion that this will not have any bearing on the functioning of the

6
company saying Reliance is one of the strongest professionally-managed
companies. Considering the importance of Reliance Industries to the
Indian economy, this issue got an extensive coverage in the media. [7]

Kundapur Vaman Kamath, the Managing Director of ICICI Bank [8]

was seen in media, a close friend of the Ambani family who helped to
settle the issue. The brothers had entrusted their mother, Kokilaben
Ambani, to resolve the issue. On June 18, 2005, Kokilaben Ambani
announced the settlement through a press release.

The Reliance Empire was split between the Ambani brothers,

Mukesh Ambani getting RIL and IPCL & his younger sibling Anil
Ambani heading Reliance Capital, Reliance Energy and Reliance
Infocomm. The entity headed by Mukesh Ambani is referred to as the
Reliance Industries Limited whereas Anil's Group has been renamed Anil
Dhirubhai Ambani Group (ADAG).

When the present research work was started Reliance Industries

Ltd was one group. But the group was divided into two empires in the
year 2005 therefore; it is difficult to study the innovative human resource
management practices of all the enterprises that come under the flagship
of Reliance Industries Ltd and Anil Dhirubhai Ambani Group (ADAG).
Also due to limited financial resources and the vast area of operations
covered by these organizations it was decided by the researcher to choose
Reliance Communication (earlier known as Reliance Infocomm) which
comes under Anil Dhirubhai Ambani Group (ADAG) to conduct the
study, since Indian Telecom industry is one of the fastest growing
telecom markets in the country and the world. Reliance Communication is

7
ranked 2 nd in the country on the basis of its subscribers’ base and one
such company that is expected to spur the growth in future.

Out of the above said group of companies Reliance

Communication Ltd., which comes under the flagship of Anil Dhirubhai
Ambani Enterprises group companies, is one of the India's largest private
information and communication services provider, with a subscriber base
of over 11 million. Reliance Communication has established a pan-India,
high capacity, integrated (wireless and wire line), convergent (voice, data
and video) digital network, to offer services spanning the entire
Communication value chain.

The Anil Dhirubhai Ambani Enterprises group, comprising of

Reliance Communication, Reliance Energy and Reliance Capital are part
of the Reliance Group, founded by Shri Dhirubhai H. Ambani.

In the light of the above facts an attempt has been made in the
present study to highlight the status of various aspects of human resource
management practices initiated by Reliance Industries Ltd, with special
emphasis on Reliance Communication which is one of the largest and
fastest growing industries of the country and has a vast global presence.
The study also intends to identify the leading and innovative human
resource management practices adopted by Reliance Communication Ltd,
for the development of its employees.

Review of the literature

During the course of this study entitled “Human Resource

Management practices of Reliance Industries Ltd” a number of books,
journals, Research papers, articles, periodicals, annual reports etc have

8
been consulted and reviewed. The available literature on the present study
has been extensively reviewed in the following paragraphs.


Ravishankar S and Mishra RK (1984) in their book management
of human resource in public enterprises providing an understanding
of the system of human resource management rather than merely
the activities assigned to those who provided various personnel
services for effective public enterprises management. The book
also gave a balanced and comprehensive grasp of the concept,
problems, approaches and strategies of human resource
management . 9


Verma KK and Roa TV (1989) in their book Alternatives
approaches and strategies on human resource development,
presented the ways to develop human resource, their potential for
organizational growth. It includes performance appraisal, potential
development, performance feedback and counseling systems, career
development, interventions, role analysis etc. 10


Jogiah T (1990) in his book ‘Frontiers of management science
training and development of executives’ discussed a rigorous and
in the depth research study of training and development of
executives in the Indian power sector, the first of its kind in the
country. Apart from providing a strong theoretical and conceptual
foundation on training and development of executives, it has
covered an exhaustive training and development and institutional
training network. It has embodied the result of a probe into the
executive training and development methods, technology,
achievements and failures of Andhra Pradesh State Electricity

9
 Board. The views of top, middle and lower level executives
concerned, the training faculty and executives association are also
incorporated to present a diversified account of their assessment of
the electricity boards, policies and practices in India. 11


Rajen Gupta (1990) has given commendable work in a real
research study. He has been undertaken in an action research made
to simultaneously improve the implantation process and develop
theoretical understanding about the process of implementation.
Hence it has reported on a large human resource development
program in a large organization, illustrated interventions which can
improve the implementations as well as has been examined the
relevance of existing theoretical knowledge. It has finally proposed
a model of multi level action research system (MARS) for
effectively implementing human resource development programs in
large organizations. 12


Nair MRR and Roa TV (1990) focused on “Excellence through
Human Resource Development”, an edited compendium, has
contained experiences available from 25 organizations. These
experiences has dealt with human resource planning mechanism
like performance appraisal, counseling and review discussions,
taming organizations development (OD) interventions, carrier
planning and development, job rotation and role clarity exercises. 13


Rao TV (1991) in his book Reading in Human Resource
Development presented an edited compendium and dealt with a
conceptual framework on development and integrated personnel
policies and ended with an account of the research in HRD. It has

10
 also focused on human resource development instruments like
performance appraisal, potential appraisal counseling, training and
rewards and implementation of the same in different organizations.
It has also dealt with human resource development in government
systems, primarily focused on educational system. 14


Misra Santrupt (1992) made attempt to study scope of personnel
management in public services’ is an empirical research study of
Orissa education service, this study has dealt with theoretical
prospective of human resources and education, recruitment,
selection, induction and placement, training and development of
technical personnel, their motivation, integration, and job
satisfaction, performance appraisal, carrier development, discipline
and grievance handling. 15


Sogani Meena and Mehta Anil (1996) in their book Training for
change presented essays on different dimensions of organizational
training with primary focus on role playing in facilitating goal
directed change. The theme relates to the key realms of training,
philosophy, strategies, leadership, Ethics, effectiveness, business
and other significant areas of personnel management. 16


Wright Peter and Kroll J Mark (1996) their book comprised of
two major parts first relate to the concept and techniques of
strategic management and second cases in strategic management. It
also reflects the change in the business environment and
development in the field of strategic management in corporate
governance. 17

11

Harvey Don and Bowin Robert Bruce (1996) have presented
conceptual and experimental approaches to the study of human
resource management. A revolution is under way in how
individuals use education to improve their performance. The book
focuses on the development of interpersonal skills. The book also
provides a conceptual framework necessary to understand the
relevant issues in HRM. This text is the first to directly relate
students learning experiences in HRM with these skills judged by
18
experts to be essential for potential HR managers.


Kumar Ashok (1998) in his book ‘HRM challenge of change’ ,
dealt with management in transition and generation gap integrating
organization and individual goals reconsiderations of concept of
job satisfaction, approach to excellence, managerial improvement
and work re-organization, super sub ordinate relations, approach to
performance appraisal, supervision and discipline, manpower
management and corporate grid analysis, human resource
development studies etc. 19


Robert F Mager (1999) provided a practical procedure for
increasing effectiveness and efficiency in an easy to understand
and approachable style which simplifies the complicated task of
developing instruction. This book also takes us step by step
through the design and development process, providing an
invaluable overview of the steps critical to achieving your
organizational goals. 20


P Subaroa (2000) presented an analysis of development in the
human resource development in a comprehensive form. He has also

12
 attempted to loom into the current trends in the Human resource
functions with a view to outline the future development that are
likely to take place in the years ahead. It has also discussed in a
lucid manner the topics such as job analysis, job evaluation,
employee benefits recruitment and selection, line staff conflicts,
social responsibility policies along with other current topics such
as organizational effectiveness, follower ship, participative
management quality circles and organizational development. 21


Arya PP (2001) focused on human resource development which
has gained importance in working of various types of
organizations. In this book he apprises the requirements of
manpower and how to generate corresponding supply to build up
on educational training information structure, measurement of the
costs and benefits of existing human resource development
program for short term, long term point of view. Apart from
analyzing the concepts and issues involved in human resource
development, attention is also focused on manpower planning,
education and training impact of liberalization and globalization. 22


Becher E (2002) examined in his book that human resource system
should be described to maximize the overall quality of human
capital throughout the organization to build and maintain a stock of
talented human capital. Human resource manager should develop
strategies that provide timely and effectively support for the skills
demanded and enacts performance management, policies that
attract retain and motivate high performance employees. The main

13
 motive of human resource manager should make their employees as
strategic asset. 23


Lawler E Edward (2002) examined that how the organizations are
acknowledging that human capital is their greatest asset.
Organizations should actually implements practices that create true
benefits for both employees and organizations. He also explains
that how companies can treat people right by doing more than
simply ensuring good working conditions and good pay. He gives
detail specific practices designed to keep employees satisfied but
still motivated to continue improving their performance. 24


Singh PN (2005) in his book “Developing and Managing Human
Resource” contributes consistently to the management literature in
the current Indian context. He has drawn directly from his own
wide experience in his specialized area and also in management in
general. Since the term human resource management and human
resource development has entered in widespread usage in Indian
scene, a number of different views on their concepts, applications
and outcome have been evolved. 25


George Bohlander and Thompson Snell Scott (2005) in their
book “Managing Human Resource” the authors discussed how
organizations can gain sustainable competitive advantage through
people. The role of human resource managers is no longer limited
to serve functions such as recruitment and selection of employees.
Today human resource managers assume an active role in the
strategic planning decision making at top level of management.
Meeting challenges head on and using human resource effectively

14
 are critical to the success of any working organization. Managing
Human Resource focuses on development of high performance
work systems. They also outline various components of the system
including work flow design, human resource practices,
management processes and supporting technologies. The book also
discusses about strategic processes used to implement high
performance work system and outcomes that benefits both the
employee and the organizations. 26


Aswathappa K (2005) in his book on Human and Personnel
Management has made a modest but sincere attempt to
understanding of human resource in its proper perspective. The
contents have been logically divided into six sections to enable the
reader comprehend thoroughly the vital aspects and applications of
the various principals of human resource management. The sections
are nature of human resource management, employee hiring,
employee and executive remuneration, employee motivation,
employee maintenance and industrial relations. The text is replete
with illustrations, examples and anecdotes drawn from the
contemporary business world. In all, the book provides a refreshing
and rewarding insight into all that a reader wants to know about
management of human resource. 27


Thornhill, Adrian Lewis Phil, Milllmore Mike, Saunders Mark
(2006) in their book Managing Change a human resource strategy
approach focused on the relationship between strategy and change
and in particularly the relationships between the use of human
resource strategies and the management of change. 28

15

Balkishan V and Sivasubramanim M (2006) have presented
edited papers of the academicians and HR practitioners to
regenerate, refresh and rejuvenate the ideological underpinnings in
the minds of those professionals who are in the process of
perfecting their knowledge on human resource through critical
evaluations of ideological presentation of the intellectual changed
in this domain. This book has been compartmentalized into six
segments viz, human resource practices, leadership, organization
change, stress management, training and development and allied
topics in Human Resource. 29


P Chandran Mohan (2003) in his article on Human Resource
Accounting in India deal with the most important asset of the
company i.e. human resource and its valuation. In past less
importance was given by organizations to value their human assets,
moreover, it was also considered difficult to value them as there
were no parameters of valuation. The importance and value of
human assets was recognized in early 1990s and in 1995-96.
Infosys became the first software company to value its human
resource. He explains that employees are the most valuable
resource like any other resource of the company. 30


Malikarjunan K (2006) in the article Best of HRM Practices
pointed out that HR policies form the framework for effective
functions of HR management: they form the culture in business
management i.e. they are the very functioning of a business
enterprise. The practices should necessarily result in benefits to all
the stakeholders like shareholders, creditors, suppliers, consumers

16
 and the employees. Such practices create an awareness of the need
to achieve the business goals in the best possible and ethical
manner. If HR practices adopted by an organization include
periodic review of employees performances adequate training for
workforce and most important of all, well thought out career
advancement norms for its personnel it will be the organization that
will reap the full business benefits and emerge successful to the
great satisfaction of all the stakeholders. 31


Ekkirla Viramaditya (2006) in his article focused on HRM in
Cross Cultural Context Challenges and Responsibilities in which
he highlighted that multicultural workforce congregations have
become today’s workplace realities. The cross border market
terrorism sponsored by Multi National Companies evoked counter
insurgency and strategic workforce from domestic business.
Partnering people in this race is vital for success in the market
place. He highlighted the challenges of HR professionals in
orienting HR processes and practices to cross cultural work
settings, building inter cultural competence and minimizing the
impact of culture shock. The issues involved in cross cultural HR
initiatives are discussed, reviving industry practices and the road
ahead this journey. 32


Krishna S Jaya (2006) in the article e-HR The source of
competitive advantage article expressed that escalating
imperatives in recent times are facing HR departments to adopt
innovative, real time interactive HR transactions and delivery
systems. Besides, effective management of HR increasingly turning

17
 out to be source of competitive advantage for organizations. e-HR
has emerged as a sustained trend and source of innovation at both
strategic and operational level. e-HR uses the conventional IT and
web enabled technologies to develop HR systems and deliveries.
The implementation of e HR strategy can have far reaching benefits
including advance services delivery, better productivity and cost
savings. 33


Curringham Li Xue & Rowley Chris (2008) Made an attempt in
their study on The development of Chinese small and medium
enterprises and HRM a review article provides an overview of
such firms, detailing their emergence, development and the
opportunities and the challenges facing them given the importance
of employees and their management, they look in HRM in the light
of whether practice transfers occur resulting in some convergence,
versus reasons for continuing distinctiveness in Chinese context. 34


Rothwell J (2008) in his study on Next Generation Talent
Management A Global Challenge, focused that most business
authorities believe that Talent Management has emerged as an
important global business challenge. In developed economies
employers anticipate may experienced workers to retire, creating a
vacuum of talent that will not be easy to fill, in developing
economies talent needs are fuelled by explosive business expansion
and pending waves of retirements. Typically TM has focuses on
attracting, developing and retaining talented people, but that is not
enough for the future. Organizations will need next generation
Talent Management. 35

18

Longenceker O Clinton and Simone L Jack (2008) in their
article on Staffing for better results key practices of high
performance managers shows that organizations are constantly
looking for opportunities to create competitive advantage. This
article reviews and highlights the best practices of a sample of over
2000 high performance business leaders concerning the issue of
progressive staffing. The findings make it clear that result oriented
business leaders take great care in planning and anticipating
staffing needs, developing and employing selection hurdles and
developing work schedules. All these activities are paramount in
creating high performance and require a partnership and teamwork
between HR professionals and line managers. 36


S Seema (2008) in her article on HR Managers Exploring new
dimensions examines the role of HR managers is changing the
competitive environment. Managers play a key role in the future of
an organization. HRM supports strategic management, talent
acquisition and retention has become a significant job of a HR
manager. The success of an organization depends on deploying
employees who can adopt to be comfortable in the changing
environment. Acquisitions and mergers are taking place so rapidly
that organizations have to grow by them or get swallowed by
others. There is an increasing demand for HR personnel who are
capable of managing the increasing workforce. 37


Singh (1966) Attempted to highlight the labor management of
sugar Industries of Uttar Pradesh in his published doctoral thesis
entitled “Labor Management in Sugar Industries”. The author look

19
 into all the aspects of industrial relations i.e. recruitment,
placement and training, conditions of work and employment,
welfare, wages and financial incentives, morale etc. He found that
one of the major problems which the sugar industries of India are
facing is low productivity of labor. He also found that main defects
on respect of conditions of work of employment do not relate to
industry. It has also been found that no initiative on the part of
38
employer willfully is taken to improve the conditions.


Turner, Clack and Geoffrey (1968) have made a study to look
into the problems of labor especially in motor industries in New
York in their research project entitled “Labor Relations in Motor
Industries”. They found that there is a remarkable rise in number of
strikes in British car industries. They assumed that in the car firms
the strike waves seem to have arises from authentic causes and
grievances. They concluded that the recent strikes reflect a failure
39
of institutions to provide the solutions of labor problems.


Masood M Jawaid (1983) in his research on the topic “A case
study of personnel management in the cotton textiles industries of
Kanpur” critically and analytically examined the problems of
workers employed in the cotton textiles units of Kanpur and
suggests measures for bringing about improvement in the industrial
relations in the industry. He emphasized to put the industry on even
keel through improved human relations. Personnel problems
therefore require immediate attention and wider outlook.
Organization of industries is on organization of men, material, and
machinery. Proper conditions between these three and continuous

20
 review of labor management relations is essential for the efficient
working of these industries. Unless there are cordial human
relations exuding a sprit of cooperation between persons working
in different capacities in the Kanpur cotton industry, it is difficult
to keep the industry at its optimum efficiency. 40


Singh Mahandra (1984) in his research studied the Manpower
Management in Indian Industries A case study of Modi Enterprises
in which he pointed out that the success and continuity of a
business organization depends on the productive efficiency of its
employees who are real appreciating assets. In the past much of the
time and efforts was spent on a variety of things which had a little
impact on the productivity ignoring human element for long. It
dates back to the early years of 1940s when the employees and the
management realized that the industrial productivity could only be
enhanced through an effective management of industrial manpower
resources. The problems of hiring, holding and motivating the
employees have been faced by all big and small industrial
undertakings. The manpower management function is assuming
more significance under the continuous changing socio-economic,
41
political and technological conditions.


Ahmad Mahboob (1995) made an attempt in his dissertation on
the topic “Human Resourced Development in Indian Railways” to
study the human resource utilization and their management in
Indian Railways. In this study attempts have been made to
critically examine the efficiency of human resource as well as
Indian Railways in the fast changing business environment. Indian

21
 Railways are the biggest service industry employing more than
16.6 lacks workers spread over length and breadth of the country.
A dynamic, effective workforce and their management are essential
for the success of Indian Railways. This study is an attempt to
correlate the success of Indian Railways with effective utilization
of human resource. 42


Khan Ali M Younus (1996) made an attempt to study the various
Personnel Policies and Practices in Bharat Heavy Electrical
Limited (BHEL) A study of BHEL’s personnel policies and
practices i.e. recruitment, promotion, transfer benefits, training and
development, industrial welfare, pay and allowances, award and
incentives. The study shows that BHEL’s personnel policies are
commensurate with national economic policy and conforms to the
global standards. The study also reveals that the personnel of
BHEL are skilled, experienced and hard working. BHEL’s
schemes, programmes and policies as regards recruitment,
promotion, transfer benefits, training and development, industrial
welfare, pay and allowances, award and incentives have been
suitably tuned to the changing needs and times. HBEL has been
making continuous investment in the development of its personnel
for success and growth. 43


Naseem Ghazanfar (1999) in his research on the topic “Human
Resource Development and its Role in Development of Tourism in
India” made an attempt to study the role of human resource
development in Indian tourism which is one of the most efficient
and commendable earner of precious foreign exchange for the

22
 country. Tourism is a capital extensive industry and broadly the
promotion of international tourism will mainly be the responsibility
of the central government. Development of tourism does not
confine to development of infrastructure but it is equally dependant
upon trained and efficient human resource. Tourism industry is
famous for its service and therefore its personnel should be highly
professionalized. Human resource development in the expanding
tourism raises a sense of critical new problems that are of concern
to both private and public interest. Without human resource
management no industry can perform its work even in
technological era. 44


Ahmad Farug (1999) in his thesis on the topic “Strategic Human
resource Management (SHRM), A Case Study of Firms in
Bangladesh” made a modest attempt in highlighting the latest
development in the area of SHRM in Bangladesh business firms.
The study shows that how the practices of SHRM are responsible
for the improvement in productivity in firms in Bangladesh. The
study also reveals how the growth domestic product increasing
gradually in Bangladesh from 1949 to till the date. 45


Islam Ziaul (2001) in his research on the topic Manpower
Management in India’s aluminum industries, a case study of
HINDALCO Company, focused all the important issues relating to
the manpower management and their adequate utilization by
critically examining and appropriate suggestions are given for
improving function of Hindalco. The study is made on the three
aluminum industries Nalco, Hindalco and Indal to examine the

23
 overall strength of manpower, its training and development and
business sector. The study also examines the recruitment and
remuneration. It is an attempt to integrate and coordinate the
relevance importance of manpower and the success of these
46
industries.


Shahid Faisal (2002) studied Human Resource Management in
food processing industries with special reference to Heinz India
Ltd, and pointed out that the growth of modern industry and
corporate giants has established that a good management is not
attributable only to effective organizational culture. It is indeed the
outcome of the inter policy of a number of factors, to a great extent
it is due to the ingrained vision of key members who navigate the
organization and are the main driving force of their growth. The
success of an organization of course greatly depends on a variety of
factors particularly vision, leadership, teamwork style, human
resource information system etc. The strength of those factors
cannot exist alone but should be effectively galvanized to activate
them in the nucleus of the organization’s structure which is
dynamic in nature. This study also suggests a long range of
strategy to make a considerable improvement in food processing
industries in India through the effective implementations of human
resource. 47


Garg Jhilmil (2003) has made study on Human Resource Related
Policies and Strategies of Information Technology in India, this
study shows that one of the important duties of modern manager is
to get things done through people. He has to bring employees into

24
 contact with the organization in such a way that the objectives of
both groups are achieved. He must be interested in the people, the
work, and the achievements of assigned objectives. To be effective,
he must balance his concerns for people and work. In other words
he must know how to utilize human as well as no human resources
by translating goals with action. It is with this significance of
human resource development that in the present work she examined
the role compensation, management training and development of
personnel, their mobilization and recruitment of human resource as
a factor of organizational development. 48

Research Gap

From the foregoing review of literature it is evident that there are

plethora of research studies on the variegated aspects of human resources
policies and practices. It is nevertheless found that there is still dearth of
research studies mainly focusing on the human resource policies and
practices in Telecom and IT industry in India in post liberalization and
globalization regime. The present study is conducted against this back
drop. It includes empirical studies on human resource in Telecom and IT
industry including planning, recruitment, selection and development and
wage and salary administration, etc.

Need For Research

1. Reliance Communication is a leading telecom company

ranked 2 nd in the county on the basis of the subscribers’ base.

2. The undertaking selected is of unique in nature, size and

organization structure.

25
 3. The units and operations of the organizations are spread in
different political, socio economic conditions, which might
affect the styles, techniques and policies of human resource.

4. An important has reason has been the proximity of research

avenues to the work place of the researcher.

Scope of the study

There are very few empirical studies on Human resource

Management. Very few researchers outside corporate management have
attempted to study Human resource Management and its variables. Unlike
the previous studies the present study is an empirical study hence, the
focus is on the development of its variables viz, performance appraisal,
job satisfaction, human resource and its impact of computerization on
changing work technology and the work culture. The present study is
conducted with a focus on creating a competitive advantage through the
effective utilization of human resource.

Aims and Objectives of the study

The main objective of the study is to go through the various

innovative practices of Human Resource Management of Reliance
Communication Ltd and try to find the correlation between organization’s
success and Human Resource Management. The specific objectives of the
study are:

1) To study the various innovative human resource management

practices of Reliance Communication.

26
 2) To see the degree of satisfaction of employees pertaining to
various innovative human resource management practices of
Reliance Communication. .

3) To understand the relation of success and the contribution of

human resource in Reliance Communication.

4) To suggest measures to overcome the problems of Human

Resource Management and increase the productivity of
manpower.

Hypothesis

Organizations are gaining sustainable competitive advantage

through people by adopting innovative practices of Human Resource
Management. It is hypothesized that.

 Ho1 . Reliance Communication is adopting and implementing the

various innovative Human Resource Practices with the maximum
support and satisfaction of their employees. (Irrespective of the
age, qualifications, position and sex of the employees)

 Ho2 . The motivated and satisfied workforce is contributing to the

maximum of their abilities to the success and growth of the
organization.

 Ho3 . The role of human resource is quite significant of Reliance

Communication for creating a competitive advantage over their
competitors.

 Ho4 . A dynamic, effective workforce and their management are

essential for the success of an enterprise.

27
 The following research was conducted to study the role of human
resource management in an organization, which is quite significant. It
was assumed that Reliance Communication requires human faculty and
human skills for better performance. Other facilities like finance, material
and machinery form a significant segment of this sector. Yet, without the
presence of competitive human resource other factors may not contribute
significantly for the success and growth of the organization.

Research Methodology and Design

For the purpose of this study one questionnaire (attached as

appendix A) was prepared for the survey to judge the responses of the
employees regarding the various human resource policies of the Reliance
Communication. Reliance Communication covers nationwide, terabit
bandwidth covering 99% of the population. Broadband connectivity in
180 cities and wireless connectivity in 673 towns and cities using 60,000
route kilometers of optical Fibre.

The services of Reliance communication are present in the

following states of India.

• Andhra Pradesh • Haryana • Orissa

• Assam • Himachal Pradesh • Punjab

• Bihar • Jharkhand • Rajasthan

• Chattisgarh • Karnataka • Tamil Nadu

• Delhi • Kerala • Utter Pradesh

• Goa • Madhya Pradesh • Uttaranchal

• Gujarat Maharashtra • West Bengal

28
 For the purpose of survey 50 cities and small towns of Uttar
Pradesh, Delhi, Haryana, Punjab, Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh and
Uttaranchal were covered as the study sample.

The relevant information obtained was collected through the

questionnaires both by mail as well as by personal interview. Through
and detailed personal interviews with different employees working at
different levels were conducted for the purpose of the study As far as the
collection of basic information relating to the Reliance Infocomm is
concerned data was collected from official records, annual reports of the
company etc.

Keeping in view the gravity of the situation the direct personal

observation were followed to obtain reliable information as much as
possible and therefore, tried to investigate by the researcher on the spot to
make patient and purposeful observations, so as to know how the
employees are behaving and responding in response for various human
resource policies of the organization.

The available data have been analyzed through the application of

various statistical methods, combined with economic reasoning.

The Universe of the Study

For the purpose of conducting this study the universe selected

mainly covered 50 cities and small towns of Uttar Pradesh, Delhi,
Haryana, Punjab, Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh and Uttaranchal. The
communication services of Reliance are available in almost every region
of India, considering the time limit, financial resources, and geographical
area to be covered it was not within the reach of the researcher to survey

29
all the regions. Hence efforts are made to cover all the nearby States and
cities as extensively as possible to see the impact of various human
resource policies on personnel of Reliance Communication.

The Final Sample

The questionnaire as mentioned above after pre testing were sent to

majority of the personnel of Reliance Communication and the responses
received from 150 employees that formed total planned sample for the
purpose of the study. The responses from these employees were received
both through mail as well as personal contact.

Statistical Tools Used

The role of statistical tools is important in analyzing the data and

drawing inferences there from. In order to drive the substantial results
from the information colleted through questionnaires, statistical tools like
Proportion Test and Pearson’s Chi Square Test have been used.

The information gathered from questionnaires from employees was

further supplemented on the basis of discussion, made with the concerned
persons and with scientific observations. This has made the data more
authentic and reliable.

Analysis of Data

The collected data have been codified and tabulated in the

respective chapters. Relevant statistical relationships have been
established and analyzed. The analysis of data has helped in
understanding the relationship between the progress of Reliance
Communication and management of its human resource. Besides this
various problems concerning human resource management have also been

30
discussed. The analyses of data have been presented in the respective
chapters of the thesis.

Interpretation of Data

The data have been interpreted with some concrete conclusions.

The problems identified concerning the human resource management of
Reliance Communication and some suggestions to overcome such
problems have also been evolved on the basis of interpretations of data.
Various statistical methods, formulations and techniques have been
applied for interpretation of data.

Limitations of the Study

Though in the present research work attempts have been made to

analyze the problems on unbiased methods but there are certain
limitations behind the study which cannot be neglected. Some limitations
of the study are mentioned as under:

1. It has not been possible to obtain all types of information from the
employees; they did not cooperate in providing primary data from
the organization. They did not speak clearly about the
organization’s policy of managing human resource.

2. Sufficient funds were not available to carry on the research work

on depth.

3. Shortage of time was another limitation attached, since the thesis

has to be completed within specified period of time the as the topic
is vast and many more years are required than available to carry on
the research in depth.

31
4. Reliance Industries are spread in almost every part of India and
also abroad hence it was not within the reach of the researcher to
conduct surveys in every part.

5. Lack of interest on the part of employees in providing the relevant

information or filling the questionnaire.

In spite of these above limitations faced during the study, the

present study has been taken in an honest mood of academic enquiry, and
some valuable suggestions of practical significance have also been
incorporated in the thesis.

Presentation of the Study:

Finally the researcher has made an attempt to give a shape of the

study in the form of thesis. A detailed report on the survey has been giv en
in the relevant chapters. The overall study covers six chapters. Chapter
first deals with the introduction, review of literature and research
methodology, while second Chapter deals with the origin, meaning,
nature, need and importance of human resource management. The third
Chapter focuses on a profile of various industries working under the
flagship of Reliance. The fourth chapter is providing the details of the
various innovative practices of human resource management of Reliance
Communication. The fifth chapter is devoted to analysis and
interpretation of the data and finally the last chapter i.e chapter six is
related to the summary, conclusion and suitable suggestions to be
followed by the Reliance Communication and other industries. At the end
a detached bibliography, questionnaire and appendix have been given.

32
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37